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Straight Talk at the White House Regarding Iraq; War and Justice in Baghdad; Michael Moore Controversy; Fists Fly at the Boston Pops; Gang Members Learning New Skills in the Military

Aired May 10, 2007 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Don lemon.

A hot-button issue is on the hot topic of the day. GOP presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani clarifies his position on abortion rights. He's personally opposed, but supports a woman's right to choose.

PHILLIPS: We're learning more about a closed-door meeting with the president and Republican lawmakers. The topic? Iraq, and how fast it can be fixed.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Doors closed, gloves off. Details are emerging from an unannounced meeting that took place Tuesday at the White House. In attendance, the president, his senior aides, and several Republican members of Congress.

The topic was Iraq. And by all accounts, the back-and-forth was frank and candid.

Our Ed Henry is at the White House. He'll have more on that. He just came out of the briefing there. We're going to hear from him in just a moment.

LEMON: Recruiting, retention, the war and the draft. The Army's number two officer spoke at length to CNN a couple of hours ago about the challenges of going to war. Is the Army spread too thin?

Well, here's General Richard Cody in the CNN NEWSROOM with CNN's Heidi Collins.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. RICHARD CODY, VICE CHAIR OF STAFF, U.S. ARMY: This is the first time we've taken an all-volunteer Army and an all-volunteer force, Marines and Air Force and Navy, to a protracted war, six years.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: A long war.

CODY: It's a long war. And we started this war with an Army that was too small, a Marine Corps that was too small. And the successive deployments are taking a toll on our families and on our soldiers.

The remarkable thing, though, through all of this, is we still have great young men and women signing up to basically tell America, in your time of need, send me, I'll defend you. And our retention rates right now are holding pretty -- pretty well. But this plus-up bears watching -- the additional months that we've had to ask our soldiers and their families.

I mean, there's another side to this. And we talk about this all-volunteer force. You have a family also that has volunteered to stay with their soldiers.

COLLINS: No question about it.

CODY: And they are great heroes in their own right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Dick Cheney has end his unannounced visit to Iraq after doing something no other American VIP has done since the war began. He spent the night. That at a U.S. base near Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit. Before he moved on, the vice president addressed the most pressing question of U.S. troops -- when will they go home?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Many of you have had your deployments extended. And that puts an unexpected hardship on you and your families.

I want you to know the extension is vital to the mission. The Army and the country appreciate the extra burden that you carry. Because of your willingness to serve today, our children and grandchildren will grow up in a better world, and you will be proud of your service for the rest of your lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Cheney's now in the United Arab Emirates. He will be in the Middle East for a week.

PHILLIPS: The political guessing game is over. In Britain, that is.

Prime Minister Tony Blair says he'll step down June 27th, less than seven weeks from today. Mr. Blair says 10 years is long enough. He's been under withering fire for his support of the Iraq war, as well as recent political scandals. But he says his conscience is clear.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I ask you to accept one thing -- hand on heart, I did what I thought was right. I may...

(APPLAUSE) BLAIR: I may have been wrong. That's your call. But believe one thing, if nothing else, I did what I thought was right for our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Blair's replacement is expected to be chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown. President Bush today saluted Blair as a remarkable person and a good friend.

LEMON: Police in Colorado are swarming Boulder High School today, looking for two suspicious men spotted there early this morning. A school cook says she saw two men in camouflage, one wearing a ski mask. Police shut down the school before students arrived. The police chief offered a progress report after the first of three planned security sweeps.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF MARK BECKNER, BOULDER, COLORADO, POLICE: We have yet to find anything unusual or suspicious. We have not found anybody in the school. We have not found anything that would raise any further concern. Again, we're just trying to be thorough to make sure that the school is safe before we reopen the school.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Classes have been canceled for the day, and school officials say they'll wait until the search is over before deciding when classes will resume.

And CNN I-Reporter Damien Allen captured the lockdown in progress right on his cell phone. He was on his way to school when he saw police shutting down the street and he took this photo of Boulder High just before police entered the building.

You, too, can be an I-Reporter. Log on to cnn.com/ireport.

PHILLIPS: Fires on the East Coast and L.A. Swollen rivers in the heartland. Flooding in parts of Missouri may last several days longer, we're told, and reach areas not yet affected.

We're going to have a full report in just a moment.

The fire in L.A.'s Griffith Park is now 75 percent contained, but it's already burned close to 1,000 acres, including parts of Mt. Hollywood.

Huge problems again in extreme southern Georgia and across the state of Florida. Hundreds of wildfires are raging and a choking haze is spreading far and wide. These folks need rain.

Reynolds Wolf, he's in the severe weather center tracking all of those areas for us.

(WEATHER REPORT) PHILLIPS: And tonight on CNN, floods, fire and wind. CNN's Larry King takes a closer look at recent weather and attempts to explain it. That's "LARRY KING LIVE," 9:00 p.m., and only on CNN.

LEMON: And Kyra, we want to head back into the NEWSROOM. Fredricka Whitfield working on the details of a developing story for us.

Hi, Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Don, a 40-year-old case now gets a little bit closer to going to trial. A 73-year-old former Alabama trooper has been indicted, and now has surrendered today after facing charges that he murdered a then 26-year-old farmer.

Today, James Fowler, pictured right here, surrendered, but he remains free on $250,000 property bond. Fowler sells it was self- defense, when he says Jimmie Lee Jackson struggled over the trooper's weapon. But other stories over the years have indicated that Jackson was in a group of demonstrators and was shot twice in the stomach.

And you're looking at file pictures of him at a memorial of his grave site there.

Well, this 1965 killing helped lead to the historic marches from Selma to Montgomery. And so now the feeling is, when this case does go to trial, it will be a very difficult one, and closely watched.

Fowler is 73 years old. Many witnesses have died over the years, and there will likely be challenges about old evidence or lack thereof -- Don.

LEMON: Yes. And several of these old civil rights cases, it's really tough to prosecute them. But they're on it. So we'll see with this one, Fredricka.

We appreciate that update. Thank you so much.

PHILLIPS: It's a basic right in the U.S., but fair and speedy trials in Iraq? Forget about it. A disturbing and unprecedented trip inside a women's prison in Baghdad. Our Arwa Damon takes us there.

LEMON: From his wheelchair to behind the wheel, and to a Florida courtroom. The long, strange trip of a man appropriately named Wiley.

Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Doors closed, gloves off. Details are emerging from an unannounced meeting that took place Tuesday at the White House.

In attendance, the president, his senior aides, and several Republican members of Congress. The topic was Iraq. And by all accounts, the back and forth was frank and very candid.

Our Ed Henry is at the White House to give us detail on that -- Ed.

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good afternoon, Don.

You're right, some of the Republicans were in that meeting Tuesday afternoon with the president, some of his top aides, including Secretary of State Rice, Karl Rove as well, here from the White House. The meeting was in the White House residence.

And what these Republicans are privately and now publicly saying is that they really took the bark off and they really gave, in their view, the unvarnished truth to the president about their individual districts around the country, people all around the United States expressing to these members that they feel time is running out, their patient is running thing about the mission in Iraq.

Now, White House spokesman Tony Snow just wrapped up his briefing, got a little contentious with reporters, but he tried to push back a little bit, basically saying that not all of the Republicans were lashing out at the president. Others had different views, didn't necessarily beat up on him, but acknowledged certainly that there was some blunt talk, but he tried to downplay it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I don't see that as a big moment. It's not a watershed moment. The president has heard real criticism before. He's heard vigorous criticism before. It hasn't all been in the press.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Now, when you talk to other top officials here at the White House, what they say is that Snow is referring to the fact that the president has had many other meetings like this with Republicans, as well as Democrats, where he's listened to them. He's heard these concerns. But they point out that in the short term, right now, the president still has these moderate Republicans on board in this war- funding fight. They still have not deserted him.

But what these senior officials admit privately is that what is ominous for the White House right now is the medium term, and the fact that come late this summer, early fall, when General Petraeus has said he'll come up with a progress report, that essentially if there has not been a lot of progress, then a lot of these moderate Republicans, other more senior Republicans, may really desert the president.

That is what they are worried about, not right now, but in the medium to the long term, that basically the White House is on borrowed time right now. And if they don't show more progress, this meeting is just a warning sign of many more meetings to come -- Don.

LEMON: CNN's Ed Henry at the White House.

Thank you, Ed.

HENRY: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Conditions in Iraq by any standard are a mess. Basic human needs, food, shelter, security are a luxury for many. Now try to imagine life in an Iraqi prison awaiting some semblance of justice.

CNN's Arwa Damon managed to get into a maximum-security women's prison in Baghdad. The first TV reporter ever to do so.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Six-month-old Miriam (ph) was born behind bars. Her mother, a victim of Iraq's chaos judicial system.

They live, or rather exist, in a cell with 24 other women and at least two other children. Miriam's (ph) mother says she was arrested for a murder she never committed. She's been in the Khadmiye women's prison for 18 months but has not yet been charged.

The first thing that strikes you here is the low murmur, the voices of the 162 inmates. The prison authorities would not let us show their faces, but we heard their stories.

Miriam (ph) has a playmate. She's 8 months old and in the care of her grandmother who is serving a seven-year sentence for stealing. The baby was brought to the prison after the rest of her family was slaughtered by Sunni insurgents. That was how her grandmother found out about the killing.

(on camera): From detainees to prisoners, every woman here has a story. From the moment that our crew arrived at this facility, we were being cornered by women who wanted their voices heard and their stories told.

(voice over): We were only allowed brief conversations, a glimpse into these women's lives. "Come inside so we can talk to you," a woman beckons. One woman after another told us of desperation and injustice.

A young woman sits silently focused on writing. "Mr. Bush, where are my four babies?" in broken English. Then she speaks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Bush, where are my babies?

DAMON: This mother, too, desperate for news of her children, shows us tattered pictures.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I have 11 children. I don't know where they are.

DAMON: She's into her third year here, awaiting a retrial for murder charges.

Eighteen-year-old Rasha (ph) was picked up for prostitution. Like many prisoners, she has no lawyer and has been waiting for about a year. The head warden refuses to disclose how many of the women are yet to be tried. But the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq says it's just under half. It has begun a huge uphill battle for these women's basic rights.

DALAL RUBAIE, WOMEN'S RIGHTS ACTIVIST (through translator): The tragedy of the prison is the detainees. Most have been waiting for a year and a half to two years to reach a courtroom. What is the role of the courts? What is the judge waiting for?

DAMON: But, she says, accountability in Iraq is hard to come by.

RUBAIE (through translator): The detainee's waiting for her turn in court. So, if she ends up innocent, she's just spent a year in prison. Whose responsibility is that?

DAMON: Iraq's Ministry of Justice admits that the system is "suffering," incapable of handling the thousands of detainees.

HASHIM SHIBLI, FMR. MINISTER OF JUSTICE (through translator): We now have extraordinary circumstances. We cannot apply the normal to an extraordinary situation. We are going through a major security crisis.

DAMON: The ministry blames a shortage of judges for the ever- growing number of Iraqis behind bars. But Iraq's vice president has a harsher assessment.

TARIQ HASHIMI, IRAQI VICE PRESIDENT: Unreliable, and lost much of its integrity, and to some extent it's corrupted.

DAMON: Ignored by a judicial system that's been crippled by Iraq's security crisis, many of these women have no option but to wait.

As we leave, we see one woman prisoner briefly reunited with her children. For all of them, a few minutes to cling to amid the days, weeks and months of waiting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Our Arwa Damon now joining us live from Baghdad.

And Arwa, I remember when you were working on this story, you really found a tremendous mixture inside this prison. A number of women that you felt could possibly be innocent and be in here for a really -- in there for a really long time and not get out. But then you also met the women that admitted to murder and admitted to doing pretty heinous crimes.

DAMON: That's right, Kyra. In fact, one of the women who we met inside the prison, she was actually serving tea to us. And it was only later that we realized she was an inmate, and she was in for having murdered her husband's lover. According to her, she caught them in bed just too many times and then eventually snapped. There was also the story of a woman named Sazhi (ph), and she was actually in for forgery. And her artwork is plastered on the walls of the first floor of the prison. And hers is quite a tragic story, because she's been in since 2003. And while she was in jail, she was pointing to what she says was her favorite painting, and it's an image of -- a representation of her and her daughter.

And that is because her daughter, at 16 years old, a day after she came to visit her mother in jail, and her mother was able to hug her that one last time, was killed by gunmen in the streets of Baghdad. So, really, the stories that these women have, the stories that land them behind bars and the stories of the things, the horrible things, that are still happening to their families outside, really do grip you.

PHILLIPS: And something that is very different there versus the United States, you were telling me also that for a short period of time the younger kids actually get to live in the prison with the moms, right?

DAMON: That's right. They can actually stay with their mothers until they are about 3 or 4 years old. And then at that point the mother can either hand them over to a family member or the prison will make some sort of arrangement for them to end up in an orphanage.

But when you walk into the storage room of the prison, not only does it have the inmates' basics, such as clean clothing, toothbrushes, toothpaste, but it's also packed floor to ceiling with things like baby diapers and powdered milk.

PHILLIPS: Wow.

And you mentioned this one prisoner who makes art. How do they pass the time? Are there others there that work on art projects, and are they assigned any type of projects besides just waiting out their time?

DAMON: Well, really, the prison tries to do what it can. And there is this interesting relationship, or at least that was the relationship that we saw while we were there, between the warden and the guards and the women.

It's sort of a sympathetic relationship. There wasn't really much hostility between them.

But they do have the option of, you know, being artistically creative. The prison has even gone so far as to organize classes for some of the women that want to learn, in the hope that when they do eventually get out, they might have better job opportunities.

There is an entire room that is filled with sewing machines, and that's where the girls work on project like stitching together the vests, the cover for the vests for the Iraqi security forces. But really, a lot of the time is just spent waiting, and the women tend to develop relationships between each other. Really, they were saying deep friendships to try to just pass the time. And again, they are really all just hoping that one day they will see justice and they will get out.

PHILLIPS: Well, I know you're going to follow the cases and follow up with us, and we look forward to those reports. Incredible access. An exclusive, first time ever.

DAMON: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Our Arwa Damon did it there in Baghdad.

Thanks, Arwa.

LEMON: What is scarier than a gang member with a grudge against society? How about a gang member with a grudge against society and military training?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why were you there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To just gain knowledge, gain understanding. The military made me a better recruiter, organizer, and propagandist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Gang members in uniform. A frightening look straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Rising gas prices translated into slumping sales for many retailers last month.

Susan Lisovicz joins us from the New York Stock Exchange with the numbers on that.

(BUSINESS REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Take a look at this. What is this, Jerry Springer meets Symphony Hall? It gives a new meaning to "pop," that's for sure.

Fists fly at the Boston Pops.

LEMON: Oh my goodness.

PHILLIPS: We'll have more in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Hi, everyone, I'm Kyra Phillips live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon. Beyond basic training enlisting in the military to sharpen their skills as gang members.

PHILLIPS: CNN's Thelma Gutierrez uncovers shocking details. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

LEMON: It is the bottom of the hour. You can consider it the part of the law of unintended consequences. Gang members answering their country's call to serve, returning home and putting their military training to bad use.

CNN's Thelma Gutierrez reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUTIERREZ (voice over): Airman First Class Miguel Robinson, AKA scuby, (ph) Los Angeles Crips. Marine PFC Thomas James Leyden, aka, Irish, Hammerskin (ph) White Supremacist. And Lance Corporal Andreas Reyes (ph), affiliation North Enyo Gang (ph).

They are gangsters in uniform that infiltrated every branch of the United States military and marked their territory on base, in barracks, even overseas in Iraq. At this NCO club at Ft. Bragg a sea of hands openly flash gang signs. The rank and file so brazen, their affiliation is often no secret at all.

T.J. LEYDEN, FORMER MARINE/FORMER SKINHEAD: I started recruiting active-duty military personnel to join a white supremacy movement to eventually overthrow the United States government.

GUTIERREZ: T.J. Leyden was an extremist, a recruiter for a white supremacist anti-government group who joined the marines.

(on camera): Why were you there?

LEYDEN: To just gain knowledge, gain understanding. The military made me a better recruiter, organizer and propagandist.

GUTIERREZ: Miguel Robinson is a crip. He joined the Air Force to get away from gang life. It didn't last long.

MIGUEL ROBINSON, FMR. AIRMAN/CRIPS GANG MEMBER: I was guilty of drug trafficking in the military and I was guilty of setting up a gang atmosphere.

GUTIERREZ: Robinson and Leyden say the military trained them to become more lethal.

LEYDEN: Give me a 50-cal sniper rifle and I can take down a 747 tomorrow over any major United States city.

ROBINSON: They put me in the military and gave me a gun and taught me how to shoot straight now. I'm not just spraying, I'm actually knocking things down.

GUTIERREZ: No one knows for sure just how many gang members are in the military. By some estimations it's less than 1 percent of all military personnel. Hardly an epidemic, but enough to prompt the FBI to issue this report.

(voice over): Gang members at military installations from Ft. Lewis, Washington, to Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, has been involved in drug distribution, robberies, assaults and murder. According to this 2007 internal FBI document, the report found that gang activity in the U.S., quote, "is increasing and poses a threat to law enforcement officials and national security."

AL VALDEZ, GANG EXPERT: Military men, training gangsters on how to use weapons.

GUTIERREZ: An issue law enforcement is taking seriously. Al Valdez is a former detective. He trains police around the country on gangs in the military.

VALDEZ: It's not illegal to be a gang member in the United States. It's a protected right. In fact, they had an army recruitment command correctly states that. What happens is, they bring that gangster mentality within the military.

ROBINSON: When these cats come back from Iraq, these gang members come back from Iraq. We're going to have some hell on these streets. These dudes are coming back with training that's on another level.

LEYDEN: A gang member has military training, he doesn't run. He stands his ground and goes after that cop.

GUTIERREZ: Ceres, California, 2005. Lance Corporal Andreas Reyes is home from Iraq. The 19-year-old marine who police say has close ties with a Mexican gang but no criminal history, sets up a police ambush. No one knows why.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're still shooting. We're still shooting!

GUTIERREZ: Wearing a poncho and carrying an automatic assault rifle, Andreas calls 911 and lures police to a liquor store. Security cameras capture the rest.

SAM RYNO, FORMER POLICE OFFICER: I was yelling orders at this fellow to show me your hands.

GUTIERREZ: Officer Sam Ryno and his partner are first on the scene. Reyes spots them, he takes cover at the corner, and then using a military tactical technique called slicing the pie, Reyes searches out his targets and then begins firing.

RYNO: The next thing I remember is, hearing the shot and instantaneously getting hit in the lower left leg.

GUTIERREZ: Reyes continues firing, hitting Ryno four times.

RYNO: I could feel the bullets hitting on the pavement by me. I know that this guy is still trying to kill me. GUTIERREZ: That's when Officer John King arrives. A seven-year veteran of the army, King grabs his rifle and returns fire.

A marine on the rampage that begins firing at a fourth officer, using a technique called suppression fire.

JOHN KING, OFFICER: He continued to fire on Howard the whole time, keeping Howard pinned down behind the wall.

GUTIERREZ: Sergeant Howard Stevenson, a 23-year veteran of the Ceres Police Department, didn't have a chance.

KING: Ran up to him within three feet and shot him in the head twice at point blank range in the head with an automatic rifle.

GUTIERREZ: Reyes is then cornered and killed in a firefight with the officers.

RYNO: In this case, the killer was hiding in a United States marine corps uniform.

GUTIERREZ: The defense department declined an on-camera interview for this story. But acknowledged to CNN it is concerned about gang activity. The United States Army, Criminal Investigation Command states, quote, "we do not deny there is some gang activity and gang association with the military, but we do not see it as a rampant issue."

LEYDEN: They will tell you straight to your face, we don't have a problem with gangs in the military. Wow. Amazing.

GUTIERREZ: T.J. Leyden, a former marine and former skinhead, now writes about extremists.

LEYDEN: You have racist graffiti, gang graffiti in Baghdad. On military installations, in the United States, guys wearing gang clothes to E-clubs. But you don't have a problem with gang members in the military? Quite interesting.

GUTIERREZ: Miguel Robinson, a Los Angeles crip who now brokers cease-fires between warring gangs says, some gang members may change for the better in the military, but warns, most will not.

ROBINSON: You can take the gang member out of the hood, but you can't take the hood out of the gang member. You see what I'm saying? So when they come back and they shed that uniform, they are still going to put their rags back up.

GUTIERREZ: No comfort to Sam Ryno, who was forced to retire because of his wounds. He says a day doesn't go by that he doesn't think about the marine with street-gang roots who took his friend's life and nearly ended his.

Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Ceres, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE) PHILLIPS: New hearings, same questions and pretty much the same answers on the purge of those federal prosecutors. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales today told the House Judiciary Committee he still has trouble remembering specifics and can't offer new details about the firings of eight U.S. attorneys after last year's elections. Gonzales appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee last month and says he's done everything in his power to cooperate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALBERTO GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL: And everything that I've done here, the principles I've tried to support are truthfulness and -- and being forthcoming and accountability. And that's why we've provided thousands of pages of very internal, deliberative documents. Why we've made the DOJ officials available for interviews and testimonies because I want to reassure the American public and this committee that nothing improper happened here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: The Senate panel, meanwhile, is looking into the dismissal of a ninth prosecutor. The -- suspects Todd Graves was fired as U.S. Attorney for Kansas City because he refused to go along with a voter fraud lawsuit.

LEMON: Take a look at this video. Is it opening night at the pops, on is it Wednesday night at the fights? Tough crowd there in symphony hall. Loose your shirt and you lose your feet as well. In the NEWSROOM, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Ah, 44, past the hour. Three of the stories we're working on for you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM, include President Bush is threatening another veto of Democratic legislation on the Iraq war. The House is working on plan to fund the war just through the end of July. The president says that won't work.

Classes are canceled at Colorado's Boulder High School after a cafeteria worker spotted two young men wearing camouflage. So far, police searches have turned up nothing.

And Republican Presidential Candidate, Rudy Giuliani, plans a new statement on abortion within the next week. Aides say he will reassert his personal opposition to abortion but emphasize a woman's right to choose.

PHILLIPS: Well, he has no arms, one leg and still allegedly managed to lose police in a high speed chase. Police in Newport Richie, Florida, caught up with him yesterday. Forty-year-old Michael Wiley has been charged with fleeing and driving with a revoked license. Despite a childhood accident that cost him three limbs, Wiley taught himself how to drive. He's been pulled over 20 times in the past 20 years, but judges always felt sorry for him and let him go. Well, not this time. Bail has been set at $500,000. LEMON: Well, don't mess with Barbarella, that and other life lessons for Lindsay Loahan courtesy of Jane Fonda. Details straight ahead right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Hi, Brooke.

BROOKE ANDERSON, ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Don.

I'm Brooke Anderson in Hollywood. Michael Moore doing what some say he does best, causing trouble. Why Moore is now under investigation by the government, next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANE FONDA, ACTRESS: I got you a job

LINDSAY LOHAN: What?

FONDA: Starts Monday, just a brisk walk from here. I'll wake you at 7:00.

LOHAN: I'm not working.

FONDA: One more rule. You live here, you work!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, art imitates life or maybe the other way around. On last night's "Larry King Live" Jane Fonda said she had to confront Lindsay Lohan over her showing up late for work on their new movie Georgia Rule. Fonda also had some wisdom for her co-star.

FONDA: When she showed up for work, she was totally brilliant. And, you know, for most of the time when I was working with her, she was on time. It was one or two days she was late. I got mad at her. I went into her trailer and told her to get her ass on the set, left and she said to her makeup person, Barbarella just yelled at me. She's got a sense of humor. I like her a lot.

KING: Did she ever -- ever ask your advice on anything?

FONDA: No, no, she didn't. And you don't give it if it's not asked for. But she knows, because I have told her on several occasions that if she ever needs me, I'm there for her. And I would hope that she does need me. Because I -- I think that I can say things to her that, you know, that need to be said.

One of them is, it's so important that young people understand that you're never number one forever. This is not going to last. And you have to have other things in your life besides celebrity. Or you're just going to end up lonely and unhappy.

(END VIDEOTAPE) LEMON: Larry always has the best interviews on television. Tonight on "LARRY KING LIVE," floods, fire and wind. Larry takes a closer look at extreme weather and what's causing it. That's tonight at 9:00 Eastern only here on CNN.

The government's ticked at Michael Moore again. What has he done this time? And only for you, Brooke Anderson.

CNN's Brooke Anderson, joins us now for all the entertainment news and the answer to the Michael Moore question. How do you like that introduction?

ANDERSON: I like -- I feel like I should do some sort of song and dance now after that.

LEMON: Well, go ahead. We'll take it if you want to do it.

ANDERSON: Well, you know -- I don't have that. But I do have Michael Moore here, Don. You know, the controversial filmmaker is in the hot seat and it's a position he's very familiar with. He is ticking off the government with his new film, "Sicko." Moore says this movie is going to take the U.S. health care system to task, similar to how his film "Bowling for Columbine" attacked America's gun culture. As part of the movie, Moore took a group of sick people who were involved in the Ground Zero rescue effort after 9/11 to Cuba for medical attention.

Now, the U.S. Treasury Department is investigating him for possibly violating the U.S. trade embargo with Cuba. Moore did request permission from the Treasury Department to make the trip, but the permission was never granted.

Now, it's a little bit unclear what sort of penalties Moore would face if he is found to have committed violation. But in the past, the penalty has typically been a fine. Don, "Sicko" is going to premiere actually at the Cannes Film Festival May 19th and it will open in the U.S. late June.

You may remember, at the Cannes Film Festival in 2004, his film "Fahrenheit 9/11" won the top prize.

LEMON: Yes, I remember that, I remember that one very well. And there's another controversy out there these days. It involves an R&B star, is that correct?

ANDERSON: Yes, it does, Don. Hip-hop star Akon publicly apologizing now for what happened at a concert in Trinidad last month. Here's what happened. Akon pulled a fan on stage and simulated having sex with her. The singer was criticized because the girl was underage and she shouldn't have even been allowed into the club to begin with to watch the performance. The whole thing was caught on tape, and as it started popping up on the Web, the girl's father, a pastor, and others expressed outrage over what they saw.

Verizon, which was a corporate sponsor of Akon's current tour with Gwen Stefani is dropping its support. Akon has apologized for as he puts it, any embarrassment or pain he may have caused. And Don, Akon also said that he had no idea that the girl was underage since everybody in the club was supposed to be over 18-years-old.

LEMON: Oops.

ANDERSON: Oops is right, a big oops.

LEMON: Yes, a big oops. Well, with that type of publicity, I don't think Akon will be "Time" magazine's most influential people, one of them at least, next year, don't you think?

ANDERSON: Probably not. But, you know the folks on that list don't always steer clear of controversy either. And George Lucas is wrapped up in what we can only call a silly brouhaha after a comment that he made. Lucas was appearing at the "Time" magazine gala for their 100 most influential people on Tuesday when he told a reporter/blogger that he thought "Spider-Man" was, "a silly movie."

Despite the attention that comment is getting on the Web, it seems like a lot of movie-goers disagree with Lucas because "Spider- Man" racking up the box-office records. I'm looking at the totals right now, $169 million just domestically. The film hasn't even been out a week.

And by the way Don, Lucas is currently working on the fourth installment of the "Indiana Jones" series. And, you know, maybe we can just hope that that one isn't silly. What do you think?

LEMON: Yes, well, we hope not.

ANDERSON: Yes, this is the guy that gave us you know, Jar Jar Binx and Jabba the Hutt and R2-D2 calling "Spider-Man" silly.

LEMON: Silly, well.

ANDERSON: Anyway.

LEMON: Everybody has an opinion, you know what they say. We don't (ph), we won't say it.

ANDERSON: Everybody does. We won't.

LEMON: Hey, you know what, did you see Stephen Colbert last night? We saw Jane Fonda on "LARRY KING," she did the entire interview on his lap, which was amazing.

ANDERSON: No way.

LEMON: Yes, she did.

ANDERSON: I love Stephen Colbert and I love Jane Fonda.

LEMON: I've never seen him flustered. Yes, and he was flustered, never have seen him flustered ever. Jane Fonda on his lap and gave him a big, wet kiss. ANDERSON: She caught him off guard, that's great. And I love how she's speaking out about Lindsay Lohan and how she acted on that movie set. Good for Jane Fonda.

LEMON: Very important that she do that. What time is your show on?

ANDERSON: The show is on 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, Headline Prime. We're going to be talking about Paris Hilton, Don, you know, why is she famous anyway, and what about all those other pseudo-stars. Tonight, why fame is not what it used to be on TV's most provocative entertainment show. We hope to see you, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT."

LEMON: You will see us at 11. Brooke Anderson, thanks as always.

ANDERSON: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: Well, what was this, Jerry Springer night at Symphony Hall?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Then there was a big scream and then you could hear chairs falling over.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We heard a thump and a scream and we thought somebody might have fallen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: But it was fists that were flying at the Boston Pops. We'll tell you what happened, from the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Music and melody, sophistication and finery and a fist fight. It was an unusual opening night at Boston Symphony Hall.

Reporter Ryan Chaufiz (ph) has the story now from our Boston affiliate, WHDH.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN CHAUFIZ (ph), WHDH REPORTER: It was the Boston Pops biggest night.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SINGING)

CHAUFIZ: Everyone dressed in their fanciest outfit, excited to be a part of all the glitz and glamour of opening night, when about a third of the way into the program, it all came to a screeching halt.

JUNE MACINDOE, WITNESS: Well, the first time, there was a scream. Keith (ph) looked up that way, but he kept going. And then about, maybe a minute and a half later, then there was a big scream and then you could hear chairs falling over and then you could see them up there, fists going.

CHAUFIZ: Our cameras are rolling as two people duke it out. You can see here, one guy loses his shirt and he is escorted out. Conductor Keith Lockhart (ph) actually stopped the program.

MACINDOE: And just stood there, you know, quiet, and that was probably about, what, two minutes?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

CHAUFIZ: The knock down, drag out (ph) fight catching everyone off guard.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We heard a thump and a scream, and we thought somebody might have fallen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It wasn't classical, a beautiful performance like this, but things like that happen and you know, no one has control over that ...

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