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Names Released of Soldiers Killed in Raid; Jerry Falwell Dies; Former Assistant Attorney General Speaks out about Gonzales; Warm Weather, Wind Contributes to Florida Fires

Aired May 15, 2007 - 13:00   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: Found unconscious in his office. Now we're being told that his condition is gravely serious in a Lynchburg, Virginia, hospital. We're talking about TV minister, televangelist, rather, Reverend Jerry Falwell. We're just getting word in, trying to confirm if, indeed, he is fighting for his life. A number of calls are out here on behalf of CNN, but we can't tell you.

Apparently, he was found in his office there in Lynchburg, Virginia, at Liberty University. We're told that they were performing CPR on him, now in a hospital. We are trying to work these developments for you and bring them to you as soon as they happen.

Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN center here in Atlanta, Georgia.

DON LEMON, CO-HOST: And I'm Don Lemon. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And our other top story this hour: missing in Iraq, mourning back home. New developments in the search for those three U.S. soldiers.

You're looking at new video just in to CNN of that search under way. The missing, apparently kidnapped in a Saturday ambush that killed four of their comrades. We're expecting to learn more in a news conference next hour.

For now, we now know the names of the two fallen. Forty-year-old Sergeant First Class James Connell of Lake City, Tennessee, was a 17- year Army veteran. Nineteen-year-old Private First Class Daniel Courneya was from Vermontville, Michigan. He'd wanted to serve since he was a little kid.

Let's get started now with CNN's Barbara Starr with the very latest for us -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, as we saw from that video that has just been released from the Pentagon, hundreds of U.S. troops combing that area of Iraq down near Mahmoudiya (ph), the so- called Triangle of Death, on a very urgent hunt, hour by hour, for the three soldiers who are still missing, still believed by the United States military to be alive and in captivity.

This is an extremely serious situation. U.S. troops going house- to-house, arresting some people, working on tips, trying to get whatever information they can as the hours tick by.

Now, as you say, two of those who have fallen have been identified to their families.

What we are dealing with here is a very sensitive issue. There are officially four soldiers listed as missing. But what they have is one set of remains that they have yet to be able to identify. It is very badly damaged remains. They're going to conduct DNA testing. And then they will have the identities, of course, on three soldiers that were killed in action.

And it is then that they will be able to inform the other three families that their loved ones are missing. And it is not until all of that is completed that we will get the actual names of all of the seven officially released by the Pentagon because of this sensitive situation.

Top U.S. military officials tell us as they continue to analyze what unfolded here when this unit was attacked, they believe now this was a very sophisticated, preplanned attack by insurgents, perhaps as many as ten insurgents moving in on these two vehicles.

They were set up there to look at an area to watch throughout the night for insurgents placing IEDs. They got attacked about 4 a.m. in the morning by a sophisticated group of insurgents, using, it is believed, multiple weapons systems. All of this indicating that there's every reason to believe this was a very sophisticated operation by al Qaeda or al Qaeda elements in Iraq -- Don.

LEMON: And Barbara, when we talked about this -- what I'm going to ask you next about helicopters. We come to you, and you're the one usually reporting this. I want to ask you about an incident that we're hearing about in Taji involving U.S. helicopters. What do you know about that?

STARR: Well, that's right. We just want to bring people up to date. We have confirmed that in the last 24 hours, senior U.S. military officials have confirmed to us there was a mortar attack against a U.S. air base in Taji. And eight helicopters were damaged in that mortar attack, both Black Hawks and Apache helicopters. The way they calculate it, four .122 millimeter mortars came into the base.

At this point, they do not believe -- the early reports are that anyone was injured or killed. But four U.S. military helicopters in the base damaged in that mortar attack, perhaps just underscoring once again that the insurgents do have the capability to strike even inside secure U.S. military bases -- Don.

LEMON: CNN's Barbara Starr. Thank you, Barbara.

PHILLIPS: More on televangelist Reverend Jerry Falwell right now. We're telling you -- we just got word that he was found unconscious in his office at Liberty University. Now we are being told by an executive there at the university his condition is gravely serious. He's in a Lynchburg, Virginia, hospital. You know, he's a big thinker from a very small town in Virginia. Had a 35-member congregation at the Thomas Road Baptist Church. As you know, he built that empire into not only a radio show, but a television show. Now one of the most well-known televangelists in this country and across the world. Also, very controversial.

We'll let you know as soon as we get more information on the condition that Dr. Rev. Jerry Falwell is in at this time.

LEMON: The dead and the missing. All seven of the soldiers missing in Iraq were based at Ft. Drum in upstate New York. Now their families are either mourning or desperately clinging to hope. CNN's Jim Acosta is at Ft. Drum with the very latest -- Jim.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're standing by outside of Ft. Drum, New York, where we're hearing from military officials on the base that there will be a 2 p.m. press conference this afternoon about the seven soldiers killed or went missing in that attack over the weekend, in that ambush south of Baghdad in that area known as the Triangle of Death.

From what we understand right now, three of those soldiers are reported missing by the military. An insurgent group in Iraq has claimed that they have kidnapped those soldiers, but that has not been confirmed by the Pentagon.

We are hearing from some of the family members of some of those soldiers that died in that assault over the weekend. Two soldiers' families have now positively identified their loved ones. They are identified as Sergeant First Class James Connell Jr., a 40-year-old from Lake City, Tennessee, and a Private First Class Daniel Courneya, 19-year-old from Vermontville, Michigan.

Family members of both of those soldiers receiving the news over the weekend that those soldiers will not be coming home.

Sergeant First Class Connell Jr. from Lake City, Tennessee, he was in the Army for 17 years and was home just two weeks ago, according to his family members.

Private First Class Daniel Courneya, he is from Eaton County, Michigan, and according to his family, he had dreamed of being in the military ever since he was 3 years old, and was a gunner currently with the Army serving in Baghdad up until that attack over the weekend.

And both of those families are notifying the media, letting them know that, yes, their loves ones were killed in that attack.

WENDY THOMPSON, DANIEL COURNEYA'S MOTHER: Daniel's dead. And I -- I just started screaming, begging her to tell me it was a joke, just some stupid sick Mother's Day prank. And it wasn't.

I'm more proud of Daniel now than I was the day I signed the papers and watched him take his oath.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm extremely proud of him. It's hard to say at this time with the emotions so raw whether or not the sacrifice was worth it.

COURTNEY CONNELL, JAMES CONNELL'S DAUGHTER: I'm proud of my dad. I can see he didn't really fight for himself; he fought for the country.

ACOSTA: And as for those missing soldiers, the Pentagon is working to identify those missing soldiers. It's a little complicated right now because one of the soldiers who was killed over the weekend cannot be positively identified at this point. So as soon as that identification is made, we'll know more about those missing soldiers.

Meanwhile, as we mentioned earlier, that 2 p.m. press conference coming up here at Ft. Drum, where officials here are expecting to talk a little bit about what they're planning to do to help the loved ones of these soldiers.

Jim Acosta, CNN, outside Ft. Drum in upstate New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: The ambush in Iraq and the aftermath. We're awaiting an Army news conference at Ft. Drum at 2 p.m. Eastern. The NEWSROOM will bring that to you live when it happens.

Also, although the focus is on Ft. Drum today, all 3,401 U.S. military personnel have died since the war in Iraq started. And 25,245 have been wounded.

PHILLIPS: He says it's not related to the fired prosecutors' controversy, but the resignation of deputy attorney general Paul McNulty is raising some eyebrows. McNulty announced the move yesterday, and in his formal letter, cited financial realities for his family.

McNulty became a key figure in the firing of nine prosecutors with his testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Despite that, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said he's sorry to see his deputy go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALBERTO GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL: Obviously, Paul's departure is a loss. I think he did a good job as deputy attorney general. We're getting to that point in time in any administration where you're going to suffer departures, people leaving. And so that's -- that's not unusual for any administration during this time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: But Gonzales also said he relied on McNulty more than anyone else to decide which U.S. attorneys to fire last year. Meanwhile, some news out today of Senate hearings looking into the prosecutor firings. A rare behind-the-scenes look at the controversy that fuelled concern over that infamous eavesdropping program by the National Security Agency. It came from the man directly involved in that process.

Andrea Koppel has details now.

Andrea, this started out as a hearing about those fired U.S. attorneys, and then it took an interesting twist.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It did, Kyra. And the testimony, dramatic testimony today from the former assistant attorney general, James Comey.

For the first time, new information about attempts by the White House, according to Comey, in March of 2004 to override the Department of Justice's refusal to approve or certify the NSA's warrantless wiretapping program.

Now in that testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Comey discussed publicly for the first time a late-night hospital visit by then White House chief of staff Andrew Card and then White House counsel Alberto Gonzales to the sick bed of the attorney general, John Ashcroft.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES COMEY, FORMER DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: The door opened and in walked Mr. Gonzales carrying an envelope. And Mr. Card -- they came over and stood by the bed, greeted the attorney general very briefly.

And then Mr. Gonzales began to discuss why they were there: to seek his approval for a matter. And explained what the matter was, which I will not do.

And Attorney General Ashcroft then stunned me. He lifted his head off the pillow and, in very strong terms, expressed his view in the matter, rich in both substance and fact, which stunned me, drawn from the hour-long meeting we'd had a week earlier and in very strong terms expressed himself and then laid his head back down on the pillow, seemed spent, and said to them, "But that doesn't matter, because I'm not the attorney general."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOPPEL: The acting attorney general was in fact James Comey, because the current attorney general was in the hospital. And he told senators that he was very upset. He was very angry because he thought he just witnessed an attempt by Andrew Card and Alberto Gonzales to take advantage of a very sick man who was still in the hospital -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Andrea Koppel. Live on the Hill. We'll continue to follow that. Also, when we come back, more on a developing story we've been telling you about. Reverend Jerry Falwell found unconscious. He was taken to a hospital. We'll get more details as we get them.

LEMON: And also ahead, you can fight it or you can flee it. But the Bugaboo fire spanning two states won't be controlled or contained, at least not yet. We're on the front lines straight ahead right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: It is 15 past the hour. Here are three of the stories we're working on for you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Breaking news, Jerry Falwell reported in gravely serious condition at a Virginia hospital. The televangelist was found unconscious at his office earlier today. The 73-year-old Falwell founded the Moral Majority. That was back in 1979. We're working on that one for you.

Still no sign of them, of three U.S. soldiers. The massive search for the three apparently abducted in Iraq in its fourth day now. Meantime, the bodies of four of their slain comrades are being flown back to the U.S. today.

And roll out the shuttle. Atlantis is back on the launch pad after more than two months of repairs for hail damage. That's right; damage from hail. NASA hopes to send the shuttle to the International Space Station starting early this June.

We want to update you now on the situation of televangelist Jerry Falwell. Joining us now from Washington, D.C., our very own Wolf Blitzer, who has -- he's been a frequent guest on your show, Wolf. Tell us about his importance and what you found out interviewing this man.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, he's been a very strong voice, don, for Christian conservatives over the many years. He's had a very strong following, going back to his days with the Moral Majority. And since then, he's been actively involved in politics.

He's made many controversial statements over the years; he's got a lot of critics, a lot of detractors. But, in all of the interviews I did with him over the years, and there have literally been dozens of times we've invited him here on CNN, always passionate, always outspoken, never shied away from saying very controversial things.

And one of the most controversial was shortly after 9/11 -- in fact, the day after 9/11. I'll just read to you what he said on Pat Robertson's, "The 700 Club" on September 13, two days after 9/11.

He said, "I really believe that the pagans and the abortionists and the feminists and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative life style, the ACLU, People for the American Way, all of them have tried to secularize -- all of them who have tried to secularize America, I point the finger in their face and say, 'You helped this happen'."

That caused a huge, huge uproar. The next day, he came here on CNN, and he said, "I would never, ever -- I would never blame any human being except the terrorists, and if I left that impression with gays or lesbians or anyone else, I apologize."

But that, as you remember, did cause a huge stir. And to this day, a lot of people complain about his immediate reaction to 9/11 and who was responsible.

LEMON: Was he -- because this is back in the late '70s, early '80s when he founded the Moral Majority. And some people credit him with sort of the conservative movement to the right, at least as far as it goes with religion in this country -- Wolf.

BLITZER: He did play a significant role in -- in charging up that base which has emerged as an important base of the Republican Party. And we see its influence to this very day. And especially today, we're going to have later tonight a Republican presidential debate in South Carolina.

And that Christian conservative movement there is a -- is a critical element, especially of the Republican Party, of the conservative movement. And they've had an enormous impact on the Republican -- the Republican Party platforms, positions over the years.

And there's no doubt, like Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell has been very, very influential in galvanizing people in the Christian right to make sure their stance on a lot of issues including abortion -- prayer in schools, other issues, are really felt.

LEMON: CNN's Wolf Blitzer. Wolf will be following this on his shows today on "THE SITUATION ROOM". And we'll be following it, as well, on the condition, again, of Jerry Falwell.

He has been hospitalized, taken to the hospital, and is receiving care, and is reported to be in grave -- gravely serious condition. More on that later -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Another day on alert. People living along the burning Georgia-Florida border are keeping an eye on the winds, which have been fanning the flames for weeks now.

CNN's Rob Marciano is with weary firefighters in Lake City, Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The fire here in northern Florida continues to grow. Today the winds a little bit less than yesterday. But the sun out heating up the ground. It's going to be hotter, and relative humidity levels are going to be lower.

So, again, a critical day weather-wise. And just a matter of picking your poison. The battle continues on the front lines as they dig and bulldoze and try to clear vegetation to stop this fire. And then also, on this staging area where a lot of these fire crews have already left for the day, these guys are out to protect structures of homes, of people that have evacuated. Over 500 people have evacuated from this fire as it continues its press towards the west.

Fifty percent containment, but most of that is in the eastern and southern flank. Here on the western flank with the winds blowing easterly, from the east to the west, this is the area that is vulnerable.

Days and days of fighting this fire. And as you would imagine, the firefighters are getting tired.

TOM SPEAKS, DEPUTY INCIDENT COMMANDER: Fatigue is becoming a huge issue. This is going on for four weeks with everything going on in the Okie Swamp (ph).

But, you know, we're talking about record drought, incredible fuel loadings on the ground. Weather has not been helping one bit with that with that. So our resources are getting tired. And, you know, the only thing that would help us is a lot of rain.

MARCIANO: A lot of rain is something they're not going to get today. Might get a little bit the next couple of days but not enough to put these fires out and relieve the drought.

Finally, yesterday, after days of waiting for the skies to clear, air tankers got in here to drop some fire retardant. Heavy helicopters got in here to drop some water to help slow the speed of this fire.

But at last check yesterday, moving at about a half a mile an hour. Forecasts today, could move one to two miles per hour. And again, this western flank is vulnerable.

Rob Marciano, Lake City, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Rain without wind, that certainly would help. Right, Jacqui Jeras?

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: OK, Jacqui. Thanks.

Well, coming up, if you're on a certain e-mail chain, you may think you can drive down gas prices by what you don't do today. Well, get the real story from the NEWSROOM.

LEMON: And find out why several states attorneys general want MySpace to name names of dangerous members.

You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: More on our top story. We've been telling you about Reverend Jerry Falwell. We got word about 45 minutes ago that he was found unconscious in his office at Liberty University, taken to the hospital. We're being told by an executive there at the university that he's in gravely serious condition.

He has had congestive heart failure in the past. We're going to talk about that in a few minutes with our medical correspondent. But at this moment right now, we can't tell you the exact condition of televangelist Jerry Falwell. We are working all of our sources at this point.

But we can tell you that an executive from his university -- they found him in his office -- said that his condition is gravely serious. We'll follow it, bring you more information as we get it.

LEMON: Following other developing news here now. This one in terms of mortgages. One in every 232 households in Nevada went into foreclosure last month. That's according to a new report on the battered housing market.

Susan Lisovicz joins us from the New York Stock Exchange to tell us: the numbers nationwide, they aren't very good either, are they?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, Don. And this is the other side of a very hot housing market and how quickly it can turn, especially when there's a lot of speculation involved and all of that was true when it came to our housing sector.

April, another tough month for homeowner. According to Realty Track, foreclosure filings soared 65 percent from the same period a year ago.

Nevada again topping the list of states with the highest foreclosure rates for the fourth straight month. There was a lot of speculation going on there when housing was booming through 2005. Also high on the list, Colorado, Connecticut, California, and Ohio.

One bright spot: overall, foreclosure filings were actually down slightly from the levels we saw in March.

LEMON: Yes, but down slightly from those levels. Those were still very high levels. So, you know...

LISOVICZ: That's right.

LEMON: Put it into perspective there. Every time we do a story like this, I always ask, does this mean it's the bottom, finally? The market has hit bottom? Is there -- hopefully, there -- it doesn't go any lower, but...

LISOVICZ: Well, you know, no one is going out and saying this is it. And Realty Track among them, the organization behind this survey. Way too early to say. It expects the number of foreclosures to stay above last year's levels for at least the rest of this year.

As for the reasons behind April's big jump, the usual factors at work: interest rates rising on many of those risky loans we've talked a lot about. People then can't swing their monthly mortgage payments.

On top of that, home prices are falling in many places. A new report from the National Association of Realtors shows the median price of a single family home fell nearly 2 percent in the first quarter of the third straight quarter of declines. And that makes it tougher for troubled borrowers to sell their properties if they need to bail out quickly, which is also a factor for the rising foreclosures.

Weakness in the housing market hurting the No. 1 home improvement chain, Home Depot, the company posting a nearly 30 percent drop in quarterly profits. The company says it expects weakness in the housing market for the rest of the year.

(STOCK REPORT)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: Record-setting gas prices now, the Internet fuels a gas boycott but is it having any effect? We'll have a report straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

LEMON: And when we come back, more on a developing story. The Reverend Jerry Falwell found unconscious taken to a hospital with more details as we get them. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: And this just coming in to CNN. We're getting word now that Reverend Jerry Falwell has died. We've been reporting for the past hour or so that he was found unconscious in his office. He was rushed to the nearby hospital where they were conducting CPR for about 30 minutes. Now we are getting word from Liberty University that the fundamentalist pastor, controversial for his beliefs on gay rights and abortion has died. That is according now to the Associated Press. Judy Fortin, our medical correspondent here at CNN. He's had problems in the past for congestive heart failure, something that there is no cure for.

JUDY FORTIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's true. He's 73 years old, was 73 years old and has a history of heart problems. Let's talk about that a little bit. About two years ago, in 2005, when he was 71, we understand that he was treated for congestive heart failure. That's when fluid builds up in the heart area and the heart can no longer pump enough blood to the body's other organs. Once that gets serious enough, it can back up into the lungs. We understand also in 2005, he was treated for a very serious case of pneumonia, twice in a five-week period. So those put together and what we know now, Kyra, about how he was treated with CPR today, he was found unconscious, because we know there is no cure for congestive heart failure. It can be treated with drugs and life style changes may have led to his condition today.

PHILLIPS: You mentioned life style changes. When you have a condition like that, changing your diet, exercising plays a tremendous part in trying to prevent that from happening again.

FORTIN: Exercise, rest, cutting back on salt, making sure that your stress level is lowered. All of those things can make a difference in longevity for someone with congestive heart failure. We talk about treatments like ace inhibitors and beta blockers. We don't know that he was taking any of those drugs but those are some of the typical treatments that are given to patients who have congestive heart failure, 73 years old, some patients, they just don't battle back as well for some of these conditions and it sets them up for even bigger problems later on.

PHILLIPS: Judy Fortin, thank you so much. If you're just tuning into CNN, breaking news now, Jerry Falwell, fundamentalist pastor and televangelist, founder of the Thomas Road Baptist church, a church that started off Don with about 35 members, grew into a multimillion dollar TV operation. He was the preacher that brought news to the pulpit and of course, influenced a number of televangelists throughout this country. We're getting word now at the age of 73, he has died.

LEMON: And one of the original founders of what we call now mega churches and also the founder of the Moral Majority. He was an outspoken religious and political leader. Here's CNN's Candy Crowley with a look back at the life and times of Jerry Falwell.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Son of an alcoholic who sold bootleg whiskey during prohibition, father of a movement to restore America as God's country. A big thinker from small town Virginia growing his 35-member Thomas Road Baptist Church into a congregation of thousands and then millions as the fundamentalist reverend raised on radio preachers pioneered a new televangelism, the TV pulpit, beaming his old time gospel hour into American homes, turning living rooms into pews.

Jerry Falwell said he found Jesus in 1952. He found politics in 1979, forming the Moral Majority to lobby against abortion rights, gay rights, pornography and a host of social issues. He claimed credit for helping elect Ronald Reagan and a string of officials down the government ladder.

REV. JERRY FALWELL: We have a goal of 200 of our people running for office this year at different levels across the country.

CROWLEY: A visionary to conservatives.

FALWELL: We admire and respect you, the president of the United States.

FORMER PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH: Jerry, I'm glad to have been introduced by a loyal friend.

CROWLEY: A Lucifer to liberals.

FORMER PRESIDENT JIMMY CARTER: In a very Christian right way, as far as I'm concerned, he can go to hell. CROWLEY: Pilloried by a high priest of porn in the pages of "Hustler."

FALWELL: I personally was anguished, am anguished, am still hurt.

CROWLEY: Always provocative. AIDS, he said, was God's punishment to homosexuals. September 11? That was God's punishment too, unleashed on the America of abortionists, feminist, pagans and gays. Falwell apologized for that one, claiming a lack of sleep, asking for the Lord's forgiveness. Through the decades his targets ranged from terrorist to teletubbies, first touting lovably lavender Tinky Winky (ph) was an agent for the homosexual agenda.

FALWELL: Parents, be very careful what your children are watching.

CROWLEY: Despite the occasional colorful outburst, Falwell retreated from the secular world in his later years, dedicating himself to the once tiny church he turned into a multimillion dollar empire.

FALWELL: Twenty million religious conservatives to the polls nationally.

CROWLEY Leaving politics to those who followed the road he paved. Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And if you're just tuning in, you're seeing here the breaking news, Reverend Jerry Falwell dead. That's been confirmed now to CNN. Delia Gallagher, our faith and values correspondent joining us on the phone. No doubt, Delia, making a tremendous impact on the Christian world, very controversial at times. But taking a very small -- small-town church in Virginia and building it up to become one of the most famous televangelists in the entire world.

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And, you know, not only that, Kyra, but the point about the importance of Jerry Falwell for the evangelical movement cannot be underestimated. He was really the father of the evangelical political movement, the first time that evangelicals knew he'd get out and get into politics with his Moral Majority in 1979 over the issues of school prayer, over the issue of Roe v. Wade and the Supreme Court, issues that really haven't gone away. He was the original. He was the one who started it.

His televangelism was certainly influential and important, but I think a lot of evangelicals look on him as the father of this movement that continues today, that' in fact has spawned a number of breakout movements. We're so used to talking about it today -- evangelicals in politics. But before Jerry Falwell, that discussion wasn't happening. And his influence really did seep into the corridors of Washington. I mean, he was -- he was one of those advisors to all of the presidents since 1979. They always brought him in to talk about -- Republican or Democrat, to talk about how to address some of these issues and how to address the religious community. So he was certainly an important advisor for -- for Washington and he still has a lot (INAUDIBLE) there today. The American Liberty Council. We have Liberty University. He has set in place a number of institutions that will continue without him. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: And Delia, just to sort of put it in perspective for our viewers, maybe this is I don't know, a little too inside baseball or not, but, within the past five years, especially with dealing with 9/11 and issues of extremism -- extremists in the Middle East, we talked a lot about the Christian faith and comments that have been made about that and started to define evangelical, fundamental, contemporary, charismatic, all these various words to describe Christianity. And a number of people, whether it's Pat Robertson, Billy Graham or Jerry Falwell, have come forward and say, look, there are difference and there are similarities. And Jerry Falwell stands out in sort of a different segment from those various descriptions of Christianity. Is there a way to even kind of bottom line it on where he stood?

GALLAGHER: Well, I think a lot of evangelicals and maybe even other Christians would say that they agreed with him on a lot of issues. Those issues about school prayer, about abortion, about gays and lesbians -- while he sometimes came out with sort of crazy statements which, you know, the one after September 11, it's the most obvious one that he later apologized for, I think that some in the Christian right said, you know, he's got the right idea. He does represent our views on some of these issues and more importantly, he's willing to go to Washington with that.

And again, he becomes the first person to sort of take it from the pulpit to the public square to Washington and I think that evangelicals really were empowered by that and started to follow that example and try to make their voices heard more in politics. I mean, we debated always today, you know, is it the right thing to have all of these voices? Do they have too much power and so on? But, the fact is that they represent a significant portion of the American voter and they wanted to make themselves heard.

Now, the interesting thing is how is this changing today? And I think that you do see kind of generational shifts. Falwell is 73 and the younger evangelicals that are coming up -- really, there's nobody that's replacing him. There's no one person that you could point to to say he's the successor of Falwell. There are a number of evangelicals in important positions, Richard Lamm (ph) comes to mind of the Southern Baptist Convention. But evangelicals today are a little bit more spread out on some of these issues.

For example, they still maintain their positions on abortion and the importance of Roe v. Wade, they're looking at things like global warming. That's been a divisive issue for evangelicals. The National Association of Evangelicals come out in support of taking up that issue and I think a younger generation of evangelicals is also in support of that. They don't sort of think that that's just a canard of the left. So you are seeing now some other issues which were the traditional issues that Falwell took up coming to the fore for evangelicals. That's also a generational thing. PHILLIPS: Faith and values correspondent Delia Gallagher and no doubt, you'll be following this for us. Thanks so much. If you're just tuning in, Rev. Jerry Falwell dead at the age of 73. We're going to continue to follow this, obviously, Don, throughout the afternoon.

LEMON: And we're also waiting on a press briefing from the hospital in Virginia where he was taken and apparently died at the hospital. Before we get to that -- during the White House, daily White House press briefing, Tony Snow, the spokesperson there, was notified about the death of Jerry Falwell and here's what he had to say just moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think at this particular point, rather than trying to do political (INAUDIBLE), the first thing you do is you pray for him and you pray for his family. If, in fact, he's died, he died suddenly, this is the kind of thing that's going to be a shock to those who love him and were around him. I think the proper attitude at this juncture is to pass on our condolences and prayers and we'll try to do the fixing place in history a little later.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: White House spokesperson Tony Snow just moments ago. CNN's Wolf Blitzer has known Jerry Falwell for a long time, interviewed him, he's appeared on the show a lot. We've been talking about this, Wolf, about his influence on the political arena. He was one of the first, if not the first, to garner political power through his religious power, through his churches. He took over for Jim Baker, PTL back in 1979 and then from there, it just sort of snowballed into this powerful Christian and political leader.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And you can't forget the Moral Majority which he helped to create and enormous political influence that the Christian right certainly developed throughout the '80s and '90s, going back to the Ronald Reagan presidency throughout all of that period, the Republican assent, if you will, not only in the White House, but in the legislative branch. A lot of that support came from Christian -- Christians on the right -- Christian conservatives who were very much influenced by televangelists like Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and others that had an enormous impact and they still have an enormous impact. I suspect it will be felt very seriously in the Republican primaries, the Republican contests leading up to their nomination early next year. I think it will be felt, it will be observed tonight in the Republican debate in South Carolina tonight, especially in a conservative state like South Carolina. The whole Jerry Falwell influence will be very, very significant. His personal influence in recent years -- more recent years went down somewhat. But there's no doubt that the whole Christian conservative movement remains a very, very formidable force in American politics.

LEMON: Real quick, we've got to run because we want to get to someone else, but listen, I got to ask you -- when was the last time you interviewed him? BLITZER: I was just looking at that. I interviewed him last October. And we spoke -- let me make sure I got this date right. We spoke about what was going on at that time in the Christian community and about some of the horrible things that have happened. I interviewed in October of 2005. But I interviewed him -- oh, here it is, in September -- September of last year. And we spoke about some of the controversies that have been going on in the Christian right and about some of the issues involving Democrats and Republicans and Hillary Clinton. We did a good strong political interview. As you know he's no great fan of the Clintons, one of the most outspoken critics of the Clintons throughout the eight years of the Clinton presidency. And I was just looking through that transcript and trying to get him to explain who he would support among the various Republican candidates and he made it very clear that Rudy Giuliani who supports abortion rights and gay rights was not going to be the candidate that he would support. He was looking at the others. He hadn't made a commitment yet other than saying Rudy Giuliani was not acceptable to him.

LEMON: All right, Wolf. We would love to see some of that interview and we'll be tuning in today, 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Eastern in the "Situation Room," thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: I'll tell you who did talk with Jerry Falwell last week was our own Christiane Amanpour. She joins us now live from London and Christiane, before we got into the discussion of that interview, had he mentioned anything about his health?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Actually, he did in a way. Because I thought he was looking a little bit sort of white, a little bit perspiring. He is a heavy man but he did say he hoped to live another 15 years at least and this was all in context of all the things that he and now his Liberty University and his basic activism are trying to change about American law, about the way the situation exists there. He was at war with the secular society as he called it in the United States.

And the reason we interviewed him was because we are doing a documentary on CNN for later this year in a few months on religious conservatism amongst the monotheistic faiths and the impact they have on politics and culture. So no doubt, Jerry Falwell had a huge impact from really the years of Ronald Reagan, the years of the Moral Majority and onwards. And of course, they had suffered a bit of a setback if you like with the congressional elections of 2006 where it seemed like the right, the conservative agenda was being pushed back, rejected at least in that election cycle. We asked him about politics. We asked him who he would be backing and who the evangelicals, the conservative right would be backing in the 2008 elections.

And he said something that frankly really surprised me. Because after talking about the hot button social issues that the conservative Christians care about so much, he actually said that he was going to be looking to somebody who first and foremost was strong on security. I thought that was really interesting because usually they talk about Roe versus Wade, about gay marriage, about all of the other different sort of hot-button issues that are on the social conservative agenda. He obviously wanted that to happen as well. But he said first and foremost, along with the other issues, we want somebody strong and tough on security and defense.

I thought that was really interesting. We challenged him on some of his very controversial comments that he has made over the years, particularly he drew a lot of people's wrath after 9/11 when he insinuated -- said that America's secularism, it's, as he said, it's permissive culture, he basically said, lifted God's protection and therefore 9/11 happened.

Afterwards, he sort of stepped back in public on that, Kyra, but to us, he stood by it 100 percent. He said, yes, that's what I meant. So he has had a controversy in what he said in public and also a enormous amount of controversy in leading the movement that's sought to have cultural impact, political power, and to try to change some of the constitutional amendments and some of the laws that are -- that are the basis of the -- the American judicial system.

PHILLIPS: What's interesting -- I remember talking to some of the producers talking about this special that you are working on, Christiane, that you mentioned. And I remember this discussion came about. What's the difference between an evangelical, a fundamentalist, a conservative, a -- a contemporary Christian, and everybody had a different -- a lot of people thought they were all the same thing. A lot of people thought there were just a lot of similarities. But they were very different.

And if you look at articles written about him, some call him a fundamentalist, others call him an evangelical. Is there a way to sort of explain the difference? Because a lot of people think it's all one. But actually it's very different as you know as you're working on this special.

AMANPOUR: Well, you know what? There's so much imprecision in the language about how exactly you define somebody on the extreme right, which is what he was in terms of conservative Christianity, the religious right. He started as I say the Moral Majority, many 30-odd years ago. This is what he said when we asked him about how this whole movement got started.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: You've been at this. You created the Moral Majority just about 30 years ago. Did you imagine that you would become such an important figure, such an important force that presidential candidates would have to come here to be blessed?

FALWELL: When we started Moral Majority, we were novices, you could have gotten much of our preachers who were interested in public policy in a phone booth at the time. But it was an idea whose time was come, and, no, none of us envisioned anything. We were simply driven into the process by Roe v. Wade and earlier than that, the expulsion of god from the public square -- prayers in school, etc. We had -- we were motivated not to be politicians, but to try to put together the people of faith in the country who at least speak to the issues.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: But, of course, they weren't politicians, perhaps, but they had huge political clout. And that wasn't accidental. That was a really well-oiled machine with all of the mechanics and the -- the public relations, the activism, the megachurches, the lobbying, the pressure of a big and successful lobby group. And they did have a huge amount. And that do still, the conservative Christians, the religious right, have a huge amount of power when it comes to politics, most particularly, obviously, pretty much exclusively in the Republican Party.

To that end, Newt Gingrich, the for former speaker of the House is going to be -- he was, until this moment, scheduled to be the graduation speaker at Jerry Falwell's university which is this Saturday at Liberty University in Lynchburg which is where we talked to him.

Jerry Falwell said that he expected to have a great warm reception for Newt Gingrich. He didn't expect Newt Gingrich to announce any presidential plans there. Although as you know, a lot of the speculation in the United States has been around whether Gingrich will announce a run for the 2008 presidential bid

I also asked him, what about Newt Gingrich? He's a man who's public confessed to having had an extramarital affair. That when he was going off to President Clinton for those situations -- the Monica Lewinsky affair back in the late '90s. What about the sort of hypocrisy I asked him, about many on the conservative right, in the religious right?

And he said, well, people make mistakes. That pretty much is their panacea when you bring them up on these issues. So many members of the church and others have had these scandals and have been, if they were frocked -- they were defrocked. They had to leave the church, get treatment, if you like, go and apologize and lots of mea culpas.

So, the power is out there. On Roe versus Wade, the thing that really, really motivates the conservative Christians and the religious right, which is the landmark Supreme Court decision on abortion rights, and also as you heard him say, on the issue of prayer in the public square -- these are issues that they remain committed to. These are issues that for them is basic. They want to see America living on Christian principles and they're not going to give up the fight to overturn some of these laws.

On Roe versus Wade, he said, we don't expect to change it yet, he said. He said we're two votes short in the Supreme Court. But their efforts to continue lobbying, to continue to putting the pressure on, he said to continue to try to get like-minded justices onto the Supreme Court continue. Kyra? PHILLIPS: Christiane Amanpour live from London. Christiane, thanks so much.

LEMON: And I want to remind our viewers we're waiting for a press conference in just about five minutes, it should get under way close to 2:00. That's Lynchburg General Hospital, that's where Reverend Jerry Falwell was taken after being found in his office unconscious. We're going to have that for you as soon as it happens. Expect it, again, to happen at 2:00.

We're also getting statements from people who were figures here in the U.S., one today we're getting from the Reverend Al Sharpton. He's saying, "I'm deeply saddened by the passing of Reverend Jerry Falwell. Though he and I debated much and disagreed often, we shared a very cordial and warm friendship."

That's part of the statement from the Reverend Al Sharpton on the death of the Reverend Jerry Falwell. Let's bring now our political analyst, Bill Schneider. Bill, talk to me about the political power that this man had. I spoke to Wolf a little bit before there was a Pat Robertson, before any of the conservatives, Pat Buchanan, Newt Gingrich, there was Jerry Falwell.

BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: That's right, in 1979, he organized the Moral Majority.

LEMON: Bill, I have to interrupt. We'll get back to you. We're gong to go to that news conference in the hospital.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dr. Godwin?

RONALD GODWIN, LIBERTY UNIVERSITY EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. I'm just reporting that this morning, Dr. Falwell was found by office staff in the mansion at Liberty University unconscious and emergency services were immediately called. And did administer resuscitation efforts at the mansion, in the ambulance here and of course following.

Those very timely and very efficient and effective efforts were unsuccessful. And I want to talk about the time of death and that sort of thing. I will say that I had breakfast with Dr. Falwell this morning. And he seemed to be in good spirits and he went to his office, I went to mine, and he was -- he was found later unconscious, working -- where he was working in his office. And I have nothing further to -- to share about that.

QUESTION: Doctor, I noticed that when you came into the emergency department, you were riding with him. Did he at all regain consciousness at any point in that ride or ...

GODWIN: Not that I'm aware of. But I was not -- I'm not a technician and -- but he was under a very effective and efficient care. I'm very confident that everything possible that could be done was done and was done in a most timely and efficient manner.

QUESTION: To all of the students and members of Thomas Rowe Road members of Liberty University, to all of them, what would you say ...

GODWIN: Well, I'm going to leave here now and they're gathering at Thomas Road Baptist Church even as I speak. And we'll be holding a service there within 30 minutes at the Thomas Road Baptist Church.

QUESTION: (inaudible) this morning, can you share anything that you all ...

GODWIN: Falwell was talking about the future and about plans for the future and about some encounters he had had with Liberty students yesterday that were very encouraging to him.

He had been up on the mountain by the logo there and students were up there picnicking and he had had happy exchange with those students.

QUESTION: His family, how are they doing?

GODWIN: They are bearing up as best as could be expected with having experienced this blow.

QUESTION: Had he complained about his health at all recently?

GODWIN: This - I don't want to get into any of those kinds of questions.

QUESTION: Can you talk about how you are doing, how the staff is doing, the people who heard about it first and how your faith may play a role in getting through this?

GODWIN: Well, Dr. Falwell is a great leader and because of that he has made timely and now prescient preparations for such an event as this. And Dr. Falwell did a lot of ...

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