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Bipartisan Group of Senators Reach Deal on Immigration; Electrical Plant Explosion in Houston; Wiretap Showdown; Rescue Effort for Humpback Whales; Honor Killing in Iraq

Aired May 17, 2007 - 14:00   ET

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

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

Out of the shadows, into the sunshine. A suddenly brighter future for millions of illegal immigrants in America.

LEMON: Well, they won't be illegal for long under a bipartisan breakthrough that is breaking right now on Capitol Hill.

Details in the CNN NEWSROOM.

It is the top of the hour, and we start with this: It's one of the most volatile debates in the country today, what to do about illegal immigration. It divides Democrats from Republicans and Republicans from their own president. But now a bipartisan group of senators says they've reached a compromise on immigration reform.

And let's get the latest from our Dana Bash. She joins us right now from Capitol Hill -- Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, what's important about this breakthrough is that it's not just a bipartisan group of senators, it is a group of senators that really represent all points of view when it comes to the very divisive, very emotional issue of immigration. It also includes representatives from the White House.

Now, these are a group of lawmakers and White House officials who have been behind closed doors in an intense way really for a couple of months. But really intensely talking and negotiating for the past couple of days. And they just had a press conference -- you see there it's actually still going on -- and tried to make the point to the broad public, especially many of their colleagues who are going to be looking for the fine print in this, that they did the best they can, that this is a true compromise.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Well, now, it's time for action. 2007 is the year we must fix our broken system. We must strike while the iron is hot.

I've been around here long enough to know that opportunities like this don't come very often. The American people are demanding a solution. The president is committed. Senator Reid has made this a priority. Senators from both parties are now determined to solve this crisis.

SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R-PA), RANKING MEMBER, JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: The bill hasn't even been presented and it has already drawn criticism as being amnesty, although the critics don't know what is in the bill. On one side and on the other, not sufficiently humanitarian.

We have required that the undocumented immigrants earn their right to citizenship. It is not amnesty. This will restore the rule of law. Without legislation, we will have anarchy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, we understand this is a very lengthy, very complicated agreement. But let's tick through some of the highlights.

First of all, it would give legal status for the some 12 million or so illegal immigrants in this country. What it would do is it would give them a so-called Z (ph) visa to stay in this country, require them to pay a $5,000 fine and other fees, and after about eight or 13 years, these currently illegal immigrants would get legal status. But that would not happen, the actual legal status, until law enforcement and specifically border enforcement is certified. And the border enforcement would be things like doubling Border Patrol agents, doubling the agents in terms of interior enforcement, and also create a new border fence.

The other thing that this would do is address the immigration system as a whole, talking about future legal immigrants. And this is part of the controversy at the end. It sets up a point system for immigrants to get green cards. And it, for the first time, credits immigrants for their education over just family connections, and that is a segment in this very complicated piece of legislation.

Now, for the conservatives, from their point of view, they say that what is critical is, as you just heard from Arlen Specter, this is not so-called amnesty, a hot-button issue that sent many -- Republicans furious at the polls, especially in November. And from some of the Democrats' point of view, they are making the point that while this particular -- these legal statuses don't -- they don't kick in until border enforcement is certified, there can be a probationary period.

So, as you heard Ted Kennedy say, the currently illegal immigrants can come out of the shadows right now -- Kyra.

LEMON: It's Don.

BASH: Thank you, Don.

LEMON: That's OK, Dana. Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Well, I'll take it from here. We'll go to the NEWSROOM. Fredricka Whitfield is working details on a developing story out of Houston -- Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello to you, Kyra.

Well, let's take you to southwest Houston, where we understand that a power substation has exploded. You are looking at live pictures right now where you can see the plumes of smoke.

And if you look just to the left, you will see that it is impacting traffic somewhat. They have kind of closed off the inside lanes closest to that substation. You see it's really at a crawl there.

And we understand this is Southwest Freeway, where it intersects with the Buffalo Speedway. If you know anything about Houston, Buffalo Speedway is a pretty major thoroughfare taking you right through downtown Houston.

Now, we don't know whether this explosion at this substation is in any way impacting electricity or power as a whole to any parts of the Houston area. We're continuing to check that. When we get any more information on it, and perhaps the cause of what is taking place here, we'll be able to bring that to you -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Fred. Appreciate it.

Well, their trail gets colder by the day, but the effort to find them is massive and nonstop. Three of these U.S. soldiers are missing for a sixth day. The body of one of the four, we don't know which one, has been found, but a positive I.D. has not been made.

New video here of American and Iraqi troops by the thousands combing the so-called Triangle of Death for physical clues or tips from possible witnesses. A reward is out there, $200,000, for anyone who leads searchers to the missing troops. They were reported missing after a deadly ambush on their unit last Saturday.

Now, one of those American troops killed Saturday not only didn't make it home, he didn't even make his 20th birthday. PFC Daniel Courneya of Vermontville, Michigan, is one of the seven troops caught in that ambush. And his family is one of the three who received the most horrible news.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER COURNEYA, WIDOW OF SOLDIER: Oh, god. I was so devastated. I was just -- I wanted to curl up in a little ball and just die.

I was -- I couldn't imagine it. I still don't believe -- I still don't believe he's dead. It's just so hard to grasp.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: A lot of those troops killed or missing since Saturday were from the same unit, the 10th Mountain Division, 2nd Brigade Combat team out of Fort Drum, New York.

LEMON: The trials of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, just when it seemed the uproar had passed, or at least subsided over the federal prosecutor purge, an uproar from the past comes back louder than ever. The two senior members of the Senate Judiciary Committee had this to say today about the attorney general. First, the top Republican.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPECTER: I believe that the Department of Justice is close to being dysfunctional now, with an attorney general who is unable to perform the duties of that position, a deputy attorney general who is on his way out, and what I've sensed to be considerable demoralization within the department.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D), JUDICIARY CHAIRMAN: As chairman of this committee, and as a United States senator, I have absolutely no confidence in the attorney general or his leadership. I have confidence in the professionals in the Department of Justice. I have none in the leadership.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Now, here's what's new -- suspicion among some of Gonzales' critics that he may not, may not have told the whole truth about the post-9/11 warrantless eavesdropping program. There's also the news that while eight U.S. attorneys ended up fired after last year's election, the Justice Department considered firing more than two dozen.

Republican senator Chuck Hagel today became the latest big gun in his party, the president's party, to call for Gonzales' recognition.

Now back to wiretaps. Dateline, Washington, March 2004, a race to the hospital. Sirens blaring. A showdown at the sickbed of then Attorney General John Ashcroft. A top-secret program and a secret tug-of-war, details of which only came out Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Here's our Joe Johns.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This really happened, sirens blaring and speeding through Washington, a race to stop the president's men from getting a signature from a drugged and weakened attorney general on a document they knew he absolutely did not want to sign -- coming from the White House, Bush Chief of Staff Andrew Card and then White House counsel Alberto Gonzales. Rushing to stop them and to protect his hospitalized boss, Attorney General John Ashcroft, was this man, James Comey, Ashcroft's second in command.

JAMES COMEY, FORMER DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: That night was probably the most difficult night of my professional life. So, it's not something I forget.

JOHNS: It's March 10, 2004. At the White House, the president's men are under intense deadline pressure.

The next day, a secret program to eavesdrop on people in the U.S. without a court order is set to expire, and the president and his men do not want that to happen.

What they want, and don't have, is a certification from the attorney general that the program is legal. In fact, Ashcroft had already concluded it wasn't.

But, now, on the eve of the expiration, Ashcroft is seriously ill, in intensive care at George Washington University Hospital, not taking visitors, not signing anything. And the man he left in charge, acting Attorney General James Comey, won't sign, because he agrees with Ashcroft, that the National Security Agency's program is probably not legal.

Out of the blue, Comey gets a call.

COMEY: I was headed home at about 8:00 that evening. My security detail was driving me. And I remember exactly where I was -- on Constitution Avenue -- and got a call from Attorney General Ashcroft's chief of staff.

JOHNS: Ashcroft's wife, Janet, had called the office to say that Card and Gonzales were on their way to the hospital. To Comey, it sounds all wrong. If he's in charge, why are the president's men trying to get to Ashcroft?

COMEY: I was concerned that, given how ill I knew the attorney general was, that there might be an effort to ask him to overrule me, when he was in no condition to do that.

JOHNS: Comey tells his driver to gun it.

COMEY: They turned on the emergency equipment and drove very quickly to the hospital. I got out of the car and ran up -- literally ran up the stairs with my security detail.

JOHNS: Comey, Card and Gonzales surround Ashcroft's hospital bed. And then something no one anticipated happens.

COMEY: And Attorney General Ashcroft then stunned me. He lifted his head off the pillow and, in very strong terms, expressed his view of the matter, 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." JOHNS: Ashcroft, sick, in pain, on medication, tells the president's men, that, because he was in the hospital, Comey, as acting attorney general, was in charge.

The next day, the secret wiretap program was reauthorized without Comey's suggested changes. The president did it without a signature from the Justice Department. And, that day, Comey prepared his letter of resignation.

And this is the story's epilogue. On Friday, before he could resign, and after meetings at the White House, it was decided that Comey could have the changes he wanted to the wiretap program to make it legal. What had been the worst day of his life ended up a victory of sorts.

John Ashcroft resigned the next year. A year later, Comey resigned. And the president's man, Alberto Gonzales, became attorney general.

Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: President Bush was asked twice about the intrigue at his news conference today with Tony Blair. He defended the wiretaps but refused to talk about the hospital visit.

PHILLIPS: Straight to the NEWSROOM now. Fredricka Whitfield with more details on that developing story -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Well, Kyra, more on that situation in Houston.

We understand that a transformer at a Houston power substation has exploded not a long time ago. It's happening right off the intersection -- if you can see it over my shoulder here -- the Southwest Highway and the Buffalo Freeway, specifically at the Buffalo Freeway at Kirby, at that exit.

Well, I tell you about the roads nearby, because it has, indeed, impacted the travel there of people traveling in that downtown Houston area. Two of the lanes on the northbound Southwest Freeway feeder have been blocked, and firefighters are on the scene, as well as hazmat officials are on the scene.

At least it looks from this latest video that the smoke has dissipated. So perhaps they've got the situation under control. But it is impacting customers.

Seventeen thousand customers are now without power because of this problem. And we don't know what is at the root of this explosion taking place not a long time ago -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll keep checking in.

Thanks, Fred. Well, they'll always have Baghdad. But today marks a symbolic end to a beautiful friendship forged in the war in Iraq. The Bush- Blair years straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

LEMON: And the barbaric killing. A young woman stoned all in the name of honor. Her crime was falling in love.

You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

PHILLIPS: Fighting waned today between the two governing factions of Palestinians. But that's not to say it was peaceful in Gaza. Israel launched air strikes at key Hamas targets, even as Israel's government said it won't let -- it won't get lured, rather, into the quagmire in Gaza by Hamas rocket attacks.

Joining us now from Jerusalem, CNN's Atika Shubert -- Atika.

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, after days of fighting between Fatah and Hamas on the streets of Gaza, Israel today now has decided to step into the fray.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHUBERT (voice over): A precise and devastating strike in the heart of Gaza City. Israel used air power to destroy the headquarters of Hamas' executive force, its elite military wing.

Hours later, Israel carried out two more attacks on a Hamas post and a vehicle carrying members of Hamas' Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, an armed unit that had claimed responsibility for launching a barrage of rocket attacks into Israel. Israel says the air strikes were an unavoidable response to terror attacks on Israel.

MIRI EISEN, ISRAELI GOVERNMENT SPOKESWOMAN: Today in Israel we have had enough. Israel will take every defensive measure to stop these rocket attacks. We will defend our citizens against the rockets, against the weapons, against the Iranian-backed Hamas who are attacking Israel.

SHUBERT: Earlier in the week it was Palestinian against Palestinian, Hamas versus rival faction Fatah, battling it out on the streets for control of Gaza. In the last three days, dozens have been killed in the violence.

In the midst of the fighting, Hamas dramatically increased the number of rocket attacks into Israel. More than 80 rocket attacks in the last three days, most of them falling into the town of Sderot, hitting homes and a school. The Israeli response was swift and harsh. Palestinians immediately rallied together, condemning Israel's action, pushing aside their differences to focus on an old, common enemy.

(END VIDEOTAPE) SHUBERT: Now, this is an ongoing situation here. Just a little more than an hour ago, Israel conducted another air strike. This time on a vehicle in southern Gaza. And Hamas has had a very quick response to this, saying that it would respond with more violence, more attacks, also possibly suicide attacks -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Atika Shubert, thank you.

LEMON: Lost, injured and in trouble waters. Biologists are trying to save a pair of humpback whales this hour that have wandered into the Port of Sacramento. And you won't believe how they are going about doing this.

Jon Cilley is with the U.S. Coast Guard. And he is helping with the rescue effort with all of this, and he joins us now by telephone.

How is it going, Mr. Cilley?

JON CILLEY, U.S. COAST GUARD: Pretty good. How are you guys doing?

LEMON: We're doing quite well.

How are the whales doing? That's what we want to know. And how long are you in the effort? Do they seem to be following? Or is that too early to ask?

CILLEY: Well, more or less, right now, what we had -- what we have actually is digitized whale vocalizations. And we have a speaker that's actually -- we descended down on the right side of our vessel 10 feet, and that's sending these low-frequency whale soundings throughout to try to coerce the mammals actually in the right direction and get them -- move them down south out of the Sacramento River.

LEMON: Yes, and that's -- we have some of the whale sounds if you can -- if you can hear us. But that's -- that's what these whales are hearing under water. And again, I don't know if you're a biologist, or do you know specifically about these sounds, but we're hearing that it's a different dialect, and that may post somewhat of a problem for you but hopefully not much?

CILLEY: Yes, I wouldn't comment too much on the -- I'm not a biologist, so I wouldn't comment too much on the whale soundings themselves. Who is actually working on these soundings is Bernie Cross (ph). He's with the wild sanctuary team. He actually worked with getting Humphrey the whale out 22 years ago in a similar situation that these whales are in right now.

LEMON: Yes. And we spoke to a marine biologist here in the Atlanta area as well who told us the same sort of thing.

Tell us about the equipment and manpower you have, and about all the devices. Talk to us about what you're using for this whale and then the whale calf. CILLEY: More or less, what we have is a low-frequency speaker that we lower into the water. What we then do is actually send these low-frequency whale sounds.

It's actually whale soundings of when they found food, and then they'll also send these back. It's what whales would usually normally do to communicate with one another. So we're actually -- go ahead.

LEMON: Hey, Jon -- Jon Cilley, from the U.S. Coast Guard, we thank you for joining us, but we have to get on, we have some breaking news.

We're going to continue to check back in on this story -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Democrats on the Hill right now talking about the future of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. You know he's been under fire for past behavior with regard to -- we have Chuck Schumer and Dianne Feinstein stepping up to the mic. Let's just listen in.

SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D), CALIFORNIA: The way I look at this is this way: One of the most critical and key departments the federal government has is the Department of Justice. It is a huge department. It houses all of federal law enforcement, as well as the federal court process.

United States attorneys are prosecutors with enormous powers. Federal sentences are generally substantial. And I believe that the concept of a dual-hatted attorney general is not a positive concept for the American people.

Whoever is attorney general of the United States is the chief law enforcement officer for all of the people of the United States. He is not part of the president's staff. He is not an arm to the president. He is to call the shots on the law as the law requires.

And I have significantly lost confidence in the independence of Attorney General Gonzales from the White House. The United States attorney incident for me has been an eye-opener. Because of the power of these prosecutors, and because of the fact that all of the prosecutors filed on one day -- fired on one day, December 7th, had excellent, excellent performance records, all were involved in substantial cases one way or another, and, yet, all were terminated without cause.

And no one in the Department of Justice owns up to putting any one of them on that list. And the attorney general said, first of all, he knew nothing about it, or he couldn't recall, or he didn't know.

That's just not acceptable. Because all of this has a ripple effect all the way through the rest of the United States.

So, I join with Senator Schumer in saying I think the time has come for the Senate to express its will, and that will is simply to say that we lack confidence in this attorney general. I don't like saying this. I very much regret saying it. I want to say exactly the opposite. But in view of what I know, I can't.

Whether it was the torture memo, whether it's Guantanamo, whether it's Geneva Convention, whether it's U.S. attorneys, whether it's "I don't know, I can't recall," over a department as major as this, I don't think the American people are well served. I'm hopeful this can be worked out, but there comes a time when you have to say what you think, and this is what I think.

PHILLIPS: Senator Dianne Feinstein not mincing any words there, just coming straight forward and saying she has an absolute lack of confidence in Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Chuck Schumer now continuing this news.

This, of course, comes amid a number of allegations against the attorney general for inappropriate behavior. You heard Dianne Feinstein mentioning just a few things that have been swirled around him with regard to controversies continuing, talking about torture, Gitmo, the firings of those U.S. attorneys that we've been talking about in the past couple of weeks.

Also, most recently, the eavesdropping program. You may remember that testimony coming forward from the man in charge when John Ashcroft got sick, the attorney general, and how they showed up actually at the hospital, Alberto Gonzales, allegedly, trying to convince him to sign off on this program, one of the most recent controversies to surface right now within the news.

Kelli Arena has been listening to this. She just got seated for us there in Washington.

Very complex to try to lay this out, all the details of it, Kelli Arena, but bottom line is, Democrats coming forward saying they don't have confidence in the attorney general. And it will be interesting to see what happens next.

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, and it's not just Democrats, Kyra.

You know, yesterday we heard from Senator Arlen Specter, who said that he didn't think that any professional with any integrity could continue to work at the Justice Department. And he was referring to the impending departure of the deputy attorney general, Paul McNulty, who just announced that he would be leaving the Department of Justice at the end of the summer.

So lots of skepticism on Capitol Hill. This is what was predicted some time ago, that the attorney general would not be able to get out from under this cloud to lead the Justice Department effectively. But, you know, as we all know, it comes down to the president, Kyra.

You know, he serves at the pleasure of the president. And the president, thus far, has said that he remains committed to keeping Gonzales in his job.

PHILLIPS: So even though politicians are coming forward now, saying, look, we don't have confidence in this attorney general, it doesn't necessarily mean he's going to lose his job, correct?

ARENA: It doesn't necessarily mean it, but it does put some pressure on the White House to reassess where they are at, to see if this really is causing more political damage than it's worth. And especially when you're hearing from Republicans.

And you just had another Republican, Chuck Hagel, this week, after the whole Comey testimony that stunned everyone here on Capitol Hill. He said, look, you know, I think he's got to go. I am calling for his resignation.

You have people like Specter, who have not gone that far, but who clearly do not think that he should be in the job that he is in. And today again, Kyra, I mean, every time you turn around, there's some other new revelation that comes out that just does not look good.

I mean, today "The Washington Post" was able to get its hands on some documents and we were able to confirm that there were actually 26 U.S. attorneys that the were targeted for dismissal. That's a far larger number than we've heard any official admit to up until now.

So, 26 people, and these were attorneys, U.S. attorneys, that have very good reputations. And, you know, senators today said that they were flabbergasted by some of the names on that list. And it just looks like a very arbitrary process that nobody was in charge.

I mean, that's sort of the indication here. And none of this, none of it, looks good for Gonzales.

PHILLIPS: Well, let's have a reality check, though. Gonzales has, what, a year left, right?

ARENA: Right.

PHILLIPS: And so, let's say the pressure is put on the White House to do something about him, try to push him out of office. I mean, you have to have an investigation. You have to have hearings. You have to have confirmation hearings, who would be the individual to take his place.

And you think about all the time and effort to go into that for one more year, what's the reality that something will really happen?

ARENA: Well, but, on the other hand, Kyra, you have, you know, a Senate that says, we are going to block every confirmation that comes forward for the Department of Justice unless you put in a career guy in the deputy job when Paul McNulty leaves, someone who has no political affiliation, he's not a political appointee. Someone from the career ranks.

I mean, so you've got a standoff here. And so, you know, you have to weigh, you know, all right, well, are there initiatives that we want to get through that we're going to need an attorney general who has the confidence of the Senate to help us get through or, you know, do we just sort of let it, you know, go along and hope for the best?

I mean, and I think that, you know, there are -- there are more savvy, you know, political minds than mine that are, you know, I'm sure, huddled in the White House wondering, OK, when -- you know, if we do pull the plug, when do we do it?

Again, you've got that -- you've got that relationship question as well. You know, this man has known and worked with this president, Gonzales, has worked with the president, for a very long time. Their history is a long one. And Gonzales has been, by all accounts, a very loyal soldier -- soldier, Kyra, and we all know that the one thing that everybody who has ever worked with this president has said he is very big on loyalty.

PHILLIPS: And now the question is, will he be able to keep that job? We'll follow it, Justice Correspondent, Kelli Arena. Thank you.

ARENA: Thank you, Kyra.

LEMON: Coming up, a hospital with a warranty for surgery?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Maybe a dime a dozen with most consumer products. Now they could be coming to a health care facility near you. Details next. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We broke the news to you just moments ago that Democrats and Republicans in the Senate have reached a proposal on immigration for our country. So they have done that just a short time ago. We want to tell you that at 4:00 p.m. eastern President Bush will be making comments on that proposal. You can catch that with CNN's Wolf Blitzer at 4:00 p.m. eastern in the "Situation Room." The president's comments on the proposed immigration bill.

New cars with some warranties, they come with warranties. So do computers, televisions and many other household products. But what about surgery? Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange tells us about one group with a radical new idea. And, Susan, what did you do? You look fantastic. Before you get to that, you look great.

(MARKET REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Northern Iraq: a tale of young love and ancient taboos. A girl who dared to love a boy of a different faith and who paid with her life. Some call it honor. To many others, it's murder. CNN's Phil Black reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We don't know much about Do'a Khalil. This 17-year-old girl from Iraq's Kurdish region. But we're told she ignored local custom and fell in love with a boy from a different religion. This was her punishment. As security forces look on, Do'a Khalil is dragged from her home. Reports from the region say many men participated in stoning her, and many others stood by and watched. No one appears to help. But many are seen capturing the moment on their cell phone cameras.

HOUZAN MAHMOUD, ORG. OF WOMEN'S FREEDOM IN IRAQ: How a young girl is going through so much pain and so many men are actually enjoying her being killed in public, in such brutal way.

BLACK: Do'a was a member of the Izidi religious sect, which generally does not approve of mixing with people outside the faith. Her crime, falling in love with a Sunni Muslim boy. This story of young love and horrific violence inspired a vigil in London's Trafalgar square. It was a so-called honor killing. They are considered common in Iraq and parts of the Middle East, especially the Kurdish region. But an Iraqi female rights activist says this one was different. It was a very public murder.

MAHMOUD: It's new in nature in Kurdistan or in Iraq, generally speaking, but in reality, this tells us a lot. That the climate, political and social climate, is such that people can do that in daylight and that the authorities do not intervene.

BLACK: The Kurdish regional government changed laws that were sympathetic to honor killings in 2002. But here in London, Amnesty International's world headquarters says this incident can learn something they've long known -- there remains a powerful cultural sympathy, and that means women are still dying and little is done to prosecute those responsible.

MALCOM SMART, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: That people could stand by and see such an atrocious act committed and take no action, I mean, that's complicity.

BLACK: Complicity in the murder of a teenage girl. Who dared to choose who she loved.

Phil Black, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: That horrifying video of that young woman being stoned to death has made its way to the Internet and it's opening a lot of eyes to this brutal form of mob justice. Joining me now, Farida Deif, a Middle East researcher with Human Rights Watch. Farida, how can you even call something like that honor? It's murder.

FARIDA DEIF, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: It is absolutely murder. In fact, honor is used as a sort of veneer to justify these types of attacks throughout the region and laws themselves, as was mentioned earlier, provide a reduction in penalty for these types of murders that are committed, you know, to avenge a family, a family's honor. And, in fact, they are just murders and we call upon the government to deal with them as such and to deal with them on par with all other violent crimes of this nature. PHILLIPS: So how do you do that when it's such a big part of the culture? Because that's why little is done to prosecute, because this is a cultural belief, and we know in the Middle East, there are some very strong ties to the culture.

DEIF: Well, I think there are a number of things that can be done to create deterrents for these type of abuses. For one, you have to create a -- you have to repeal any types of legislation that condone or perpetuate these abuses, that provide, real kind of impunity for these abuses and at the same time you've got to create an institutional structure to deal with these crimes, to prevent these crimes, to assist victims and to hold perpetrators accountable.

And it's only when perpetrators will be held accountable that you'll create a sort of societal situation in which these crimes will no longer be tolerated. Perhaps there are some that still feel that they have the authority and the right to kill their wives or their daughters or their sisters for these attacks. But once lessons are learned and once there's a situation in which people are -- and perpetrators are penalized to the highest extent of the law, I think generally it will create a system in which there is a real deterrent for these abuses.

PHILLIPS: But how do you do that? How do you make it happen? We've been talking, this is not one isolated case. There are dozens of cases out there. Do you think the fact that it was captured on a cell phone? It is now on the Internet, we're talking about it and it's circulating across the world because a lot of cases have happened and nobody hears about it. Do you think it will trigger some sort of outrage, action, results?

DEIF: We certainly hope so. Certainly the very brutal nature of the crime, the very public nature of the crime, has elevated it in many circles. I think it really is a very important time right now to look at the criminal justice system in Iraq and to get a sense of whether and where there are deficiencies in terms of the prosecution of all forms of violence against women including honor crimes and its a really opportune time now to look into those abuses.

PHILLIPS: Are these type of honor crimes illegal in some parts of Iraq and not other parts of Iraq? Is that the problem that it's illegal in some parts and still legal in others?

DEIF: Well, penal laws across the region, including in Iraq, provide a reduction in penalty for crimes that are committed in a fit of fury. To, you know, protect the family's honor. Often that law is not gender neutral. In fact, only men benefit from that type of reduction in penalty. And so you've got that situation. As was mentioned before, the Kurdistan regional government in 2002 repealed that provision of the law. But as you can see, these type of attacks are still happening. Although Do'a Khalil, although she was Kurdish, she was killed in the Iraq -- inside Iraq and not in the Kurdistan regional government's jurisdiction.

PHILLIPS: The fact that anybody can do that to an innocent person is appalling. And we'll follow the case. Farida Deif, with the Human Rights Watch, we appreciate your time today.

LEMON: We told you just a short time ago about Senate Democrats and Republicans reaching an immigration proposal and that President Bush would speak on it at 4:00 p.m. eastern. We're getting word now from the White House that he's going to do it earlier, move it up to 3:30 eastern. We'll will carry that for you live here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

In the meantime we're going to talk about saving the whales. Rescuers sound the call for a pair of humpbacks. Will it lure them to safety? Well, we're watching it for you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Ah, it's a beautiful shot there at the aquarium. Look at that.

We're keeping tabs on an amazing rescue effort. It's unfolding right now in California's Sacramento River. Biologists are trying to lure a pair of lost, injured humpback whales, there they are, 90 miles down the river and out towards sea. They are piping recorded whale sounds into the water, almost like a marine version of the pied piper.

And here's what the whale noises sound like. Listen to this. It sounds a bit ominous, but it is whale-speak so to speak.

Dennis Christen is a marine expert with the Georgia Aquarium, and Dennis, pointblank, I asked the last guest we had, does it seem like it's a viable plan to you?

DENNIS CHRISTEN, GEORGIA AQUARIUM: Oh, absolutely. It's been known to be used in the past, and known to be used successfully, so I think it's definitely worth a try.

LEMON: Yes, it was used in the '80s with Humphrey, the humpback whale and they named Humphrey during the saga when he was trapped. Do you know, I mean, because you guys, I would imagine, you sort of keep in contact with each other, have they come up with a name for this whale and the cast who are stuck out there?

CHRISTEN: Not that I've heard yet ...

LEMON: Maybe we should have ...

CHRISTEN: ...but it's conceivable.

LEMON: Yes, we should do a campaign for them. Now, we understand ...

CHRISTEN: They are a little busy right now.

LEMON: Yes, they are. With Humphrey, they used -- they used a sound of a female when they were doing it. And now, they're using the sound of feeding. What it sounds like when, you know, when there's lots of food around, what whales sound like. Tell us about that. What would be the strategy behind that? It's a bit obvious, but you may give us some insight on it.

CHRISTEN: Well, yes, I mean, it makes sense from a standpoint of these animals should actually be migrating north to approximately the Gulf of Alaska to their summer feeding grounds, so playing sounds of other animals that might be associated with animals foraging might actually help cue the animals into the right direction or head downstream and out to open water so they can continue their migration.

LEMON: And tell us about this. I mean, obviously regardless if they're endangered or not, we want these whales to get to safety. Tell us about these particular whales. As far as being endangered, how many of them are there left, are they in danger?

CHRISTEN: Well, yes, absolutely. Humpback whales are -- at one time, were one of the most critically endangered whales on the planet. And they've actually made a remarkable recovery since the Institution of the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act. So, these animals are bouncing back. But, it's -- they are very long- lived animals, and it takes an incredible amount of time for this population to recover. They are still listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act as an endangered species, so they're the most protected of animals out there so ...

LEMON: And -- Dennis ...

CHRISTEN: There's approximately -- yes?

LEMON: And Dennis, sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off. There's a bit of a delay, so I apologize for that.

CHRISTEN: No problem.

LEMON: But, one of them's injured and there -- she's also with a whale calf. So that makes it a little bit dicier and a little bit trickier than what happened with Humphrey, correct?

CHRISTEN: Sure, absolutely. No one likes to see these animals in distress or injured. The fact that they are in such close proximity to other shipping traffic and other vessels is putting them at greater risk, so the sooner we can resolve this, the better chances they'll have of recovering from their injuries and -- and heading on and being humpback whales.

LEMON: Well said. Dennis Christen, a marine biologist, a marine expert at the Georgia Aquarium. We thank you so much for joining us in the CNN NEWSROOM.

CHRISTEN: Thank you.

SIBILA VARGAS, ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Sibila Vargas in Hollywood with entertainment news. A celebrity defendant tells his side of the story on video, and you have to see it to believe it. We'll have that story and more in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Paris gets a break, not sure why. And Phil Spector proclaims his innocence.

CNN Entertainment Correspondent Sibila Vargas here to give us all the latest in the world of entertainment. All right Sibila, Phil Spector claims that he's innocent. What's so surprising about that?

VARGAS: Well, we are hearing of him on videotape, and that's what's kind of interesting. As you probably know, music Phil Spector is on trial for killing actress Lana Clarkson in 2003. Now, back in 2005, Spector took the time to videotape his own explanation for what happened that night. That tape, which was shot by his personal assistant, was obtained by Inside Edition and here's Spector's reason as to why he couldn't have possibly killed Clarkson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHIL SPECTOR: She was 5'11 and she would have been 6'2 with heels on which she was wearing at the time of her death and that the gun was in a downward position. I am 5'5, it would have been physically impossible for me to have administered the death wound to her in any shape, way, or form.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VARGAS: In this explanation, Spector also speculates that Clarkson killed herself and claims that other women who have accused him of threatening them are just out for the money. Spector hasn't taken the stand in his defense, so this tape may be the only explanation we ever hear from him again -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, we don't know if Phil will be spending any time in jail, but we know someone who is going to be doing a little time, isn't that right?

VARGAS: A little time, or should I say, half the time? Paris Hilton is only expected to serve around 23 days in jail for her probation violation. The judge had sentenced her to 45 days, but prison officials say they reduced the term for good behavior.

Now, you might wonder what type of good behavior she could be getting credit for. Well, according to a spokesperson for the L.A. Sheriff's Department, several factors were considered, among them the fact that she showed up for her last court date.

Hilton will be spending her time in a special needs housing unit made up of 12 cells, reserved for high profile prisoners. She's expected to check in to her prison accomodations by June 5th. Certainly, no help though (ph).

Well tonight, on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," we are going to have a lot more on Paris Hilton as her jail sentence is shortened even before she begins serving it. "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" is asking, do celebrities who get in trouble with the law get special treatment? The controversial story on TV's most provocative entertainment news show, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on Headline Prime.

Back to you, Kyra. PHILLIPS: All right, Sibila, thanks.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

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