Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

T.B. Traveler Apologizes; Fighting Renewed in Lebanon Refugee Camp; Engineers Say New Orleans Not Protected from Hurricanes; eHarmony Discriminating Against Gays and Lesbians?

Aired June 01, 2007 - 13:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
T.J. HOLMES, CO-HOST: And I'm T.J. Holmes sitting in today for Don Lemon.

The T.B. traveler, in his own words. What -- did he fly and what are his fears about the future?

PHILLIPS: And remember him? Dr. Jack Kevorkian, a.k.a. Dr. Death? He's out of prison. Will he help someone else die?

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

The man at the center of an international tuberculosis scare says he's sorry. Thirty-one-year-old Atlanta lawyer Andrew Speaker gave his first television interview to ABC's Diane Sawyer.

Speaker flew to Europe and back to North America even though he has a drug-resistant form of T.B. He says he's sorry he put his fellow passengers at risk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW SPEAKER, T.B. TRAVELER: I don't expect those people to ever forgive me. I just hope they understand that I truly never went to put them at harm. I never meant to hurt their families or them. And I just hope they can find a way to forgive me for putting them in harm, because I didn't mean to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Speaker says that health officials told him he was no threat, and he has tape of that conversation to prove it.

He says he learned about the severity of his disease only after he was already in Europe. He says in hindsight, it wasn't a good idea for him to return to the U.S. on a commercial airliner.

Andrew Speaker is at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver which specializes in treating drug-resistant forms of T.B.

CNN's Ed Lavandera joins us live from there.

Hi, Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

Well, Andrew Speaker remains in that isolated room where he's been undergoing a long series of tests over the last 24 hours since he arrived here yesterday morning.

And one of those tests -- two of those tests, I should say, rather, were done yesterday afternoon. We still don't know the results of them, but they're going to be key in helping doctors figure out the best course of action in how to treat Andrew Speaker in the weeks ahead.

That was a C.T. scan and a lung x-ray. Doctors said yesterday that that will give them a better indication of just how infection the -- his lungs are. And it will really guide them better in how to combat the rare form of tuberculosis that he has.

What is for sure is that there will be a rigorous series of antibiotics that he will be placed on, probably as many as five strong antibiotics, which would require that they do a lot of blood testing to make sure that he's not having any adverse effects to that medication.

And surgery isn't out of the question here. Doctors talked about that yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. GWEN HUITT, NATIONAL JEWISH MEDICAL CENTER: We'll be evaluating how he's responded to the antibiotics. And then as the next probably days to a week or so go on, we'll be likely evaluating whether he should be a candidate for surgery.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: And Andrew Speaker in that isolated room now. He was taken out of that room yesterday to have those tests performed yesterday.

As I mentioned, we don't know the results of it yet, but there is a press briefing scheduled here in just a few hours where we hope to learn the results of those tests, and perhaps doctors will have a better idea and a better indication of what they need to do to help him get over this disease.

Although yesterday they sounded very optimistic. They said he was feeling fine and was in good spirits. And they felt good that they he would be able to overcome his illness -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Ed, just quickly. I know that it was Diane Sawyer that had the chance to sit down and actually interview Andrew Speaker. But he mentioned something about a recording, that he recorded his conversation with his doctors. Because obviously, there's a back and forth of did the doctors warn him? Did he know? Did he make this decision unethically? There's all kinds of different stories out there.

Do you know anything more about that recording?

LAVANDERA: I don't know anything else about that recording. At this point, there has been talk about it. I don't know if anyone who's actually heard it or has seen it outside of perhaps his immediate family, people who were maybe in that room. So we're still waiting to see what happens with that.

PHILLIPS: All right. Our Ed Lavandera, live out of Denver. Thanks, Ed.

More fallout from the tuberculosis story. An inspector who worked at this U.S. border station in Champlain, New York, has been removed from duty now. That inspector actually allowed Andrew Speaker to cross from Canada into the United States even though Speaker's passport had been flagged.

That inspector reportedly disregarded instructions to hold Speaker for health authorities, apparently, because Speaker showed no outward signs of illness.

Now, we want to hear from you. Actually, hearing Speaker's story, what do you think? Would you have boarded that airplane? E- mail us. The address is CNNNEWSROOM@CNN.com. And we'll read some of your responses throughout the afternoon.

Now, the hospital treating Andrew Speaker has scheduled a news conference for 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time. We'll have it live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

HOLMES: And word that we're just getting that we want to pass along to you about a search going on in Maryland right now for a missing 3-year-old boy. You're looking at a live picture here of the search area.

Not really many details right now about exactly what police think may have happened, if they think the child is in danger. But he's described as a 3-year-old boy who is missing in the Urbana area in Frederick County. Frederick County Sheriff's authorities now looking for them.

They say he's an Hispanic boy with light brown hair, last seen wearing khaki shorts and black Spider-Man slippers. Reported missing around 10:34 this morning from a home in that area.

But the search, as we've seen here, from this -- from this live shot from a helicopter, apparently, this appears to be a wooded area. But this is not showing as much there. But we can't -- do understand that this is part of the search area.

But again, a 3-year-old boy missing. Keeping an eye on this story as it begins to develop, trying to get more an idea of the circumstances surrounding that -- that child. So, we'll bring those details to you as we get them. PHILLIPS: So much for a lull in the fighting in Lebanon. Tanks, artillery fire, more casualties, all around the Palestinian refugee camp north of Tripoli. It's the heaviest clashes in more than a week between Lebanese troops and an Islamic militant group that claims to link to al Qaeda.

Our Beirut bureau chief Brent Sadler is in Tripoli.

Brent, what's the latest?

BRENT SADLER, CNN BEIRUT BUREAU CHIEF: Yes, Kyra, what we have now is a continuing battle by Lebanese government forces, using heavy artillery tank fire, as well as at least one naval gun ship, pouring shell fire into suspected militant strongholds of Fatah Islam in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp that's a couple of miles behind me.

Even though it's dark, let's try to zoom in behind me here to a -- the column of black smoke that you can see rising from the darkness of the camp there.

Somewhere in there, Kyra, there are as many as 10,000 to 12,000, it's estimated, Palestinian refugees who did not evacuate the camp during a lull in the battle, so they're still trapped inside.

We've seen tracer fire over the past several minutes as heavy machine guns clatter consistently through the hours of darkness here and after some 12 hours of battle that has been raging throughout this day.

The government of western-backed Prime Minister Fouad Siniora are vowing to crush these militants, he says, after negotiations to create a peaceful end to this two-week siege seem to have failed -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Brent Sadler, reporting live from Tripoli. We'll continue to follow what's happening there outside the refugee camp. Thank you.

HOLMES: Sent to prison for second-degree murder. Today he is a free man, Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the pathologist and supporter of assisted suicide for the terminally ill.

He was sentenced in 1999 to as much as 25 years for helping a Michigan man end his own life. Kevorkian says he's looking forward to a few days of privacy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JACK KEVORKIAN, RELEASED FROM PRISON: One of the high points in life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you feeling?

KEVORKIAN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, one of the terms of Kevorkian's parole? He promises not to help anyone commit suicide.

And just days after his release from prison, Jack Kevorkian sits down with our own Larry King. Will the man known as Dr. Death help someone commit suicide again? Find out on "LARRY KING LIVE". That's Monday night at 9 Eastern, only here on CNN.

PHILLIPS: Now, one of President Bush's closest advisors is stepping down. Independence Day will be Dan Bartlett's last day as counsel to the president. Bartlett says he needs more time to be a father to his three young sons -- they're all under 4 years old -- and to begin a career outside of government.

Bartlett has worked for Mr. Bush for nearly 14 years since his first campaign for governor of Texas. No word yet on a possible replacement.

HOLMES: A severe, often fatal form of tuberculosis. So what will doctors do to treat Andrew Speaker? Those details ahead right here in the NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: Hurricane season 2007 off and running. So are the hurricane hunters. Buckle up: the NEWSROOM is taking you on a bumpy ride, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, it's 12 after 1. Here are three of the stories we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM this hour.

The T.B. patient who flew from the United States to Europe says he's sorry he may have exposed his fellow passengers. He says health officials did not warn him of the risks, and he says he has tape to prove it.

Renewed fighting today outside a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon. At least two Lebanese soldiers are dead.

Also, a construction worker was injured today outside of Minneapolis when the building he was working on collapsed.

PHILLIPS: Watch out for Barry, Chantal, Dean, and maybe more. It's June 1, the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season. Federal forecasters predict there will be 13 to 17 named storms this year. Seven to ten will become hurricanes, with three to five of those growing to Category 3 or greater.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, says it's ready for a busy six months.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID PAULISON, FEMA DIRECTOR: I'm very comfortable where we are. I'm very comfortable that we are ready for this hurricane season. We have good communications plans in place. We have pre- positioned supplies across the Gulf Coast and up the Atlantic Coast. We're ready to pre-deploy as soon as we do get a hurricane. And again, making sure that we have those open lines of communication with the states so we know what those needs are and we can work together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Now, even though today marks the official start to the season, Andrea couldn't wait. The tropical storm formed in early May off the East Coast but didn't make landfall.

Barbara weakens but isn't off the map just yet. And a different system brings Florida something it desperately needs.

Bonnie Schneider tracking it all from the CNN Weather Center.

Hey, Bonnie.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HOLMES: And with the start of the hurricane season, you can't help but think of New Orleans and all the rebuilding that's taken place there in the past 21 months since Katrina.

Yet, critics say, despite repairs, the city's levies still probably cannot endure a powerful storm. CNN's Sean Callebs takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A winding, twisting mass of pipes and metal. It looks like something Dr. Seuss may have designed. But this is one of the new pump systems in New Orleans. And residents here have little choice but to hope these new flood gates, as well as repairs to 225 miles of levies, protect the city.

JOHN KITE, HOMEOWNER: And I think there's a lot of oversight that may not have been around the last time, a lot of people looking over their shoulders. I think they're doing the best they can do.

CALLEBS: The Army Corps of Engineers received $5.7 billion to strengthen and rebuild flood walls and levies. But is it enough? Will it stand up to a Category 3, 4, or 5?

COL. JEFF BEDEY, ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS: Well, I'm not going to try to even begin to try to measure in terms of the category of protection. What I will tell you is this system is stronger today than it was pre-Katrina. And I think that's a powerful statement.

CALLEBS: But Ivor Van Heerden, an engineer with the LSU Hurricane Center, has a different assessment.

IVOR VAN HEERDEN, LSU HURRICANE CENTER: The problem is there's still weak links. And as we all know, it takes one hole to sink a ship. CALLEBS: Critics say the problems are widespread. These new pumps at the 17th Street Canal haven't worked properly. The Corps, however, believes they have the problems under control.

And another major flooding threat persists. This area, called the Mississippi River Gulf Outlets, or MR. GO. It was carved out of marshland to create a shipping channel, but everyone now admits it created a funnel, allowing a storm surge to flood the city.

Just weeks ago, the Army Corps of Engineers proposed damming up MR. GO.

And repairs to the flood walls in the Lower Ninth Ward are already showing problems. The channel is 40 feet deep. The pilings for the flood walls go down into the soil 19 to 23 feet. The Corps of Engineers says there's no problem.

VAN HEERDEN: And what we see is this damp spot.

CALLEBS: A sign, Van Heerden says, that water is seeping through.

VAN HEERDEN: This is a potential site where you could have significant piping and potential blowout.

CALLEBS (on camera): Some engineers believe that a prolonged Category 2 hurricane over this area would once again swamp New Orleans. And anything stronger than a Category 3 would once again create a Katrina-like result.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers disputes that. It says it would like to tell people in this region they are completely safe, but says that is an impossibility.

Sean Callebs, CNN, in New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, a tribute to America's pastor. Hundreds on hand for the Billy Graham Library dedication. We'll tell you about it, straight ahead from the NEWSROOM.

HOLMES: And warming up in New Hampshire for another political scrimmage. We'll check in ahead on the Democratic and Republican debates. That's ahead right here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: I just want to give you a quick update that we have, and it is good news. A 3-year-old boy who was missing in Maryland has been found and has been found safe.

We don't have all the details exactly about what happened that allowed him to go missing, why he was missing, any sort of circumstances where he was in danger. Don't know that. But we do have the good news, at least, that the boy has been found safe, the 3-year-old in Maryland in the Urbana area. Just want to bring you that update that he has been found safely.

PHILLIPS: All right. We're getting word now of a tornado warning in Iowa. Bonnie Schneider tracking it for us.

Bonnie, what do you see?

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, you know, Kyra, we've been talking a lot about hurricane season starting today. We are still in severe weather season, tornado season, the springtime.

And this is from Muscatine County in Iowa. And also Louisa County. And this goes until 12 -- actually, 1 p.m. Central Time.

A tornado was spotted near the Fruitland area. That is in this county. And as we take a better look at the perspective, you can see very strong thunderstorms working their way towards the Davenport area south of Cedar Rapids.

These storms are moving at about 40 miles per hour. And we have reports of frequent cloud-to-ground lightning, as well.

Now, in the meantime, we are also monitoring the heavy rain that's coming into Florida. This is a beneficial situation. But of course, the tornado warning, that goes until 1 p.m. into Iowa, central regions there, Muscatine and Louisa counties -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Bonnie Schneider, appreciate it.

HOLMES: The nation's economy nearly stalled in the first quarter of the year. But, there's new evidence that the labor market is hanging in there. Susan Lisovicz, hanging in there for us at the New York Stock Exchange...

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ha-ha.

HOLMES: ... to break down the government's May jobs report.

Hello to you now.

LISOVICZ: Well, we all understand jobs. They're important, and that's probably the most important report that comes out every month, whether the economy is red hot or not.

Last month was surprisingly upbeat for the job market. The government says the nation's employers added 157,000 new jobs in May. And that beat Wall Street's estimates.

A separate survey within the report showed the unemployment rate hanging in there, as well, at 4.5 percent.

The job gains coming mostly in service-related industries, areas such as finance, education, government, and hospitality. But things weren't as rosy in the construction industry or the manufacturing sector. Factories shed nearly 20,000 jobs last month alone -- T.J.

HOLMES: Well, things not so rosy, as well, at Dell. Is that right? WE always hear about them being a beacon in that industry, doing so well. And they're shedding some jobs. Kind of surprised to hear that.

LISOVICZ: That's right. And you know, sometimes this is a -- obviously, it's a painful step, but sometimes, you know, folks here in Wall Street think it's the right step.

Dell says it's slashing 10 percent of its global workforce over the next year. That amounts to about 8,800 full and part-time jobs.

The computer giant has been struggling in recent quarters, and it's been under intense pressure from investors to turn things around. The company recently lost its spot as the No. 1 P.C. maker to Hewlett- Packard.

And over the past two years, Dell has seen its stock price tumble more than 30 percent while HP shares have more than doubled. That's a big reason why Michael Dell, who founded the company when he was in college, came back as a CEO.

Dell today posting a slightly lower profit for the latest quarter but still came in better than expected. And Dell shares are up, according up, 2 percent off session highs. But a nice rally for Dell.

(STOCK REPORT)

LISOVICZ: In the next hour of NEWSROOM, I'll have the latest numbers from Detroit. You know, they've had some pain there, as well.

In the meantime, I'll throw it back to you, T.J.

HOLMES: All right, Susan. We will see you soon. Thank you.

PHILLIPS: EHarmony hits a sour note. The popular dating web site is targeted for allegedly discriminating against gays and lesbians. Details from the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Straight to the White House. Don't kill the immigration reform bill. That's what President Bush is going to come before reporters and talk about now. We'll see if a deal is hammered out, some sort of negotiation.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... and you're concerned about our country. And the two go hand-in-hand.

I believe that now's the time to address the issue of immigration. I think it's in our national security interests, and I think it's in the interest of making sure America never loses sight of who we are.

This is a difficult issue for a lot of folks. I understand that. But because it's difficult probably means we need to work doubly hard to get it done. And now's the time to get it done.

No matter how difficult it may seem for some politically, I strongly believe it's in this nation's interest for people here in Washington to show courage and resolve and pass a comprehensive immigration reform.

My administration is deeply involved in this issue. I feel passionate about the issue. I believe it's in this country's interest to solve the problem. I believe it's in our interest, when we find a system that is broken, to fix it. And the immigration system today is broken.

And I've asked that -- Michael and Carlos Gutierrez to work the issue on the Hill. And I -- these men are doing good work. They understand the issue. They understand the bill, and they understand they need to work with Republicans and Democrats to get the job done.

I say the system isn't working, because there's a lot of Americans who say that the government is not enforcing our border. I say the system is broken, because there are people coming into America to do work that Americans are not doing and -- and there are good, decent employers who unknowingly are hiring them, which is against the law.

The system is broken, in my judgment, because there are 11 to 12 million people living in the shadows of a free society. The system is broken, because there are people who are exploiting human beings for material gain.

There are coyotes -- those are human smugglers -- charging decent people large sums of money to come and work and put food on the table for their families.

There are -- there's a document forgery industry in place, because the system is broken, providing people with false documentation so they can do work that Americans are not doing, in order to provide for their families.

There are so-called inn keepers, providing substandard hovels for people who are smuggled into our country.

In other words, we have got a system that is causing people -- good, decent people -- to be exploited. And therefore, now's the time to get it fixed.

For those concerned about border security, this bill focuses on border security. For those concerned about making sure that we have workers available to do jobs, decent jobs, to make sure that our economy continues to grow, this bill addresses that issue.

For those concerned that we must enable 11 to 12 million people to come out of the shadows of our society, this bill addresses that. For those concerned about whether or not America will still have capacity to assimilate the newly arrived, it addresses that issue too.

This is a good piece of legislation. I'm sure this some of you in the audience here will say it's not perfect. There's some aspects of the bill that I would like to see changed.

On a piece of legislation this complicated, the question people have to answer is, are we going to sacrifice the good for the sake of the perfect? And my call to you is that we need to work on a comprehensive bill together. And first of all, I know you're already doing that so I'm really here to thank you.

The -- I want to address a couple of the key issues that people are addressing. If you want to kill a bill, then you just go around America saying, this is amnesty. There are some words that elicit reactions from our fellow citizens. Amnesty is when a person breaks a law and is completely forgiven for having done so. This bill is not amnesty.

For those who call it amnesty, they're just trying to, in my judgment, frighten people about the bill. This bill is one that says we recognize that you're here illegally and there's a consequence for it. We can argue about the consequences. But you can't argue about the fact that there are consequences in this bill for people who have broken our law.

People say, well, the bill is really not going to do much to enforce the border. The truth of the matter is certain aspects the law do not come into being until certain border measures are taken.

But I would remind people that you can not fully enforce the border until you can do the things that Americans aren't doing. You can try. But doesn't it make sense to help the Border Patrol do their job by saying you're going to come and do a job, there is a legal way to do it? So you don't have to sneak across in the first place.

If you're interested in border security, you have got to recognize that giving people a chance to come here on a temporary basis makes it more likely the border will be enforced.

There are some who -- I don't know if they say this explicitly, but they certainly allege or hint that probably best way to deal with 11 million or 12 million people is to get them to leave the country. That's impossible. That is a -- that's the kind of statement that sometimes happens in the political process aimed to inflame passion. But it's completely unrealistic. It's not going to happen.

And therefore fundamental question for those who kind of disagree and, thee are some good folks disagree on both political parties, I might add, is what's the solution? Well, this bill is not amnesty. But it recognizes that it is impossible for this country to rout people out of our society and, quote, "send them home."

It's just -- it's just not going to happen. So good people come together and derived a solution based upon compromises that addresses this problem in a humane way.

I recently gave a speech at the Coast Guard Academy. And I was preceded by a young man, a Latino who stood up as the head of his class. Addressing his classmates and their families and the president of the United States.

And he talked about his migrant grandfather, how proud the migrant grandfather would be. It struck me again what a remarkable country it is. Where a person with a dream for his immediate family and future family could come to this country, work hard, make sacrifices, and have his grandson address the president and his class.

This has been the American story for decades and decades. Waves of people looking for a better life, seeking something better for themselves and their families. Willing to sacrifice and work hard.

And we've got to understand -- and great successes have been -- have resulted from that spirit and this country must never lose sight that what has made us unique and in my judgment great is that we welcome people like that in a legal way.

That throughout history there's been stories of people who have enriched our soul and lifted our spirit by coming to America. One of the great things about our country is we've had capacity to welcome people throughout our history and we've become all Americans. We've got different backgrounds, different heritages. Our forefathers may have spoken different languages, but we're all American.

We've been able to assimilate under the -- under the -- under the laws and traditions of our country. And as a result, we're a stronger nation for it. America must not fear diversity. We ought to welcome diversity.

We ought to have confidence in what we have done in the past and not lose confidence about what we will do in the future. And so I want to thank you all for joining me on a very important piece of legislation. It's the right thing do. It's the right approach to take. It is right to address the problem. It is right to work with people in both political parties. It is right to argue for what you believe and recognize that compromise might be necessary to move the bill along.

And it is right to take political risks for members of the United States Congress. I say political -- I don't think this is risky, frankly. I don't view this as risk-reward. I frankly view it as doing what you ought to do. See, people ought to be running for office to do what's right for the United States of America. That's what I believe people run for office for.

So I want you to know that you have got an administration that looks forward to working with people. I will do my best to make sure this debate does not denigrate into name calling and finger pointing and we'll spend the time, the energy, the effort, to help you advance a really important piece of legislation for the good of this country.

I've come by to say thanks. Chertoff and Gutierrez can tell you how the bill has got then far and what we see in the future. But I am looking forward to signing a bill. And I think we will.

I truly believe that when people with goodwill, and good heart, and with focus on helping this country come together, we can get a good piece of legislation out. I'm looking forward to signing it. I hope you'll be there when I do.

God bless, thank you.

PHILLIPS: Bottom line, the president of the United States sending out a message, don't kill his immigration reform bill. He's saying he's looking forward to signing it. But it's got to make it through the House and the Senate prior to that. And that is going to be tough. Bottom line, the measure would combine tougher border security and work place enforcement measures to a guest worker program to legalize millions of illegal immigrants.

We'll of course continue to follow that back and forth to see if that deal that has been reached between Democrats and Republicans will make through the House and Senate. As the president said, he wants to be able to sign it and make it law.

HOLMES: All right. Ring the bell, get ready for round two. Got some heavyweights and some lightweights and some featherweights and some welterweights in the Democratic Party who are about to duke it out Sunday for the next round of presidential debates live from New Hampshire. You can see it right here on CNN when the Republican candidates debate next Tuesday.

CNN's chief national correspondent John King live in Manchester, New Hampshire where all the duking out is going to take place. All right, John? There it is. He's ready. He's a boxer. So he got all the featherweight, welterweight references I was making.

So hey, John, who has the most at stake? Who has the most at stake coming up on a Sunday?

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Take a look at it two ways, T.J., anytime you go to the debate, the frontrunners have the most at stake. And the polls nationally and the polls in New Hampshire right now show Senator Hillary Clinton way up.

The Barack Obama challenge is still there. John Edwards is still doing quite well, especially out in Iowa. But nationally and in here, she has a two-to-one lead according to most of the polls. And she has got great deal at stake. You don't want to slip up and create any kind of mistake that would create an opening even this early in the campaign.

Many also would say it's the little guys. You were just mentioning the featherweights, the lightweights, the people in the second tier is probably the more polite way of putting it, who want to get noticed. And it's very hard when you have eight candidates onstage in the Democrat environment, 10 candidates in the Republican environment. It's hard to get notice. But frontrunners go into these things thinking don't slip up. And the lesser known candidates go in saying, hey, don't forget about me. HOLMES: All right. We'll see if they're waving around like that. Of course, you have so many candidates as we know on the stage. Everybody is trying to fight to get a word in. Is this debate the way we've got it set up going to be different? Anything distinctive about this particular debate?

KING: I think we have to applaud or folks at CNN who put this together as well as WMUR and the "Union-Leader" of New Hampshire, our partners in this debate. You will have questions not only from our Wolf Blitzer, doing our follow-up questions in the middle, but you'll have questions from journalists who are here every day who know the issues that the New Hampshire voters want to talk about it.

And also have some audience questions as well for New Hampshire voters. It's considered a cliche, sort of the legend, the myth of New Hampshire, that voters like to see the candidates face-to-face, ask them questions themselves. But sometimes that's exaggerated. But it's also true to some extent.

So we will have some seasoned journalists asking some questions and we'll have some interaction from voters as well. So hopefully it will be a little more lively than we see sometimes in these debate formats. Especially, again, when you have so many candidates.

HOLMES: All right. We'll pray for a little more lively, John.

Also let's head - talk about the Republicans here for a bit. Does it matter? Does it really count yet if Fred Thompson is not on stage? He says he 's getting - it is out there now he's going to be getting in the race. Everybody wants to see him and how he stacks up against these other Republicans. So does that take anything away the fact that he's not going to be on stage?

KING: I think to be perfectly candid, yes, it does take something away. Because Senator Thompson, if you talk to undecided Republican here in New Hampshire or anywhere else, Senator Thompson has effectively hit the pause button in the campaign. They want to see if he's actually going to get in. It looks like he will in early July.

Then they want to see, OK, he's gone from the mythical figure on the sidelines. This actor with great communication skill, a politician with a record in the Senate, what is he going to say about taxes, about the war, about stem cell research and so many other issues?

So what the other candidates are trying to do before Senator Thompson actually jumps in, as he prepares to jump in, is say he's a nice guy. We'll welcome him to the field, but we don't need him. Vote for me.

So it's a last opportunity for them if there's a voter who says maybe I'm with Senator McCain, maybe I'm with Governor Romney or Mayor Giuliani, any of the others. But I still need more convincing. It's a last chance to convince them before there's somebody else saying, if you're not sold just yet on the new guy. Take a peek. HOLMES: All right. John King, never been mistaken for a lightweight in the political game. A heavyweight no doubt.

I didn't mean it like that, John. But OK. Thanks so much, John. We'll see you again soon. No, thank you so much. And of course, Sunday join the best political team on television which includes that John King beginning at 5:00 p.m. Eastern for a pre-game of all of the player, their weaknesses, who's expecting to shine, all that good stuff.

Then, at 7:00 Eastern Democratic candidates square off. For the first time, take questions from the voters. Then immediately following the debates, who scored, who stumbled.

Join Larry King, Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, John Roberts and the Democratic candidates themselves live for RAW POLITICS, a post debate breakdown. It all starts right here Sunday night at 5:00 Eastern.

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, a severe, often fatal form of tuberculosis. So what will doctors do to treat Andrew Speaker? We'll have all of the details straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, now back to the story of Andrew Speaker, the 31- year-old Atlanta lawyer who flew to Europe and back to North America even though he had drug resistant form of tuberculosis. Speaker says he's sorry about that. But he claims that health officials who talked to him beforehand never warned him of the danger. Health officials say they told Speaker not to go. So was he defying orders?

Joining us now CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. Was he?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fulton County health authorities said we looked him in the eye, we told him, we do not want you to fly and then they say that Andrew Speaker then asked them, well, how about if I fly with a mask? And then they said, OK, we concur that would be OK if you fly with a mask. CNN is interviewing passengers on a plane which do not recall him wearing a mask which is of course very interesting.

Now if you asked Andrew Speaker what authorities tell you before you left Atlanta to go to Paris, he would say something very different. And in fact on "Good Morning America" this morning with Diane Sawyer, he did have something very different to say. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW SPEAKER, TB TRAVELER: My father said, OK, now, are you saying you'd prefer not to go on the trip because he's a risk to anybody or are you simply saying that to cover yourself. They said, well, we have to say that to cover ourselves but he's not a risk.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: Right. So he's saying it sounds like that it was mixed messages. But Kyra, the bottom line is what we do know is that no health authority took the legal step of saying you cannot go. They didn't say don't leave the state in Georgia. They didn't say don't put yourself on crowds which is something they could have done if they wanted to. They didn't to the CDC and said put him on a no-fly list immediately. They didn't do any of those things.

PHILLIPS: They did try to go after a legal order. That just takes time, right?

COHEN: Right. And he was getting married in Greece. He was out of there. It's interesting that he recorded his discussions with the doctors at Fulton County. Why did he record that discussion? You go to the doctor, you probably don't record it. It's sort of interesting. He's a lawyer, his father's a lawyer. They're recording things. They're splicing up words here. It's interesting.

PHILLIPS: And just to point out we haven't heard that recording. So he's saying he recorded that conversation, right? But we have not heard it yet.

COHEN: We haven't heard it.

PHILLIPS: OK. Talking about the TB itself and trying to contain it, were we all immunized as kids or not? We had this huge discussion. We used to all get that booster shot when we were little kids?

COHEN: People get confused. Because what you got was this prong, this multi-prong thing.

PHILLIPS: I have the scar.

COHEN: That's smallpox. What you have on your shoulder is small pox which is very different.

PHILLIPS: That's what we were talking about today.

COHEN: Two different things. So what you got was this thing, probably didn't hurt that much. A couple of prongs that go into your skin. It's called the TB skin test. That's to see if you had TB.

PHILLIPS: I don't even remember that.

COHEN: It was not to actually vaccinate you.

PHILLIPS: That happened when we were kids?

COHEN: You got one when you were a kid. I'm sure. You grew up in this country. I'm sure you got one. However, in the United States, what they don't give children is a TB vaccine.

There is a vaccine against TB but there's some very problems. One, it's not a lot effective, it's only about 15 percent effective. Secondly, it can have some nasty side effects. I can give people some very serious skin infections. So you've got serious side effects mixed up with not all that effective. That's why in this country they decided we're just not going to give it anymore.

PHILLIPS: OK.

COHEN: Unless you're going some place that has tons of TB. In that case you might get it. But they don't give it routinely to every four year old or anything like that.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll follow up with you and of course the treatment for Andrew Speaker at this hospital Denver. Thanks, Elizabeth.

COHEN: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: All right.

And the hospital treating Andrew Speaker has scheduled a news conference for 3:30 p.m. Eastern. We're going to take that live right here. That's when we are going to hear more about what's next for Andrew Speaker and what kind of treatment he's receiving.

HOLMES: Meanwhile, eHarmony not so harmonious these days. The popular dating Web site targeted for allegedly discriminating against gays and lesbians. Those details ahead in THE NEWSROOM.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Tonight on 360, one man with TB. One big wakeup call about the growing number of TB cases here and whether the government is failing to protect the borders and your health. We're Keeping them honest, 360, tonight, 10:00 p.m. Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Millions of people log on to the Internet looking for love, sometimes in all of the wrong places. But one place that people seem to be fond of is eHarmony. And a California women now who clicked on that couple's (ph) matchmaking site says she was not allowed to sign up for the service. Why? She's a lesbian. Well, now, she's suing. Reporter Amber Lee with CNN affiliate KTVU has the story from San Francisco.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dating sites give you a picture and paragraph. At eHarmony, we do the matching for you based on 29 proven dimensions of compatibility.

AMBER LEE, KTVU CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Plaintiff Linda Carlson of Burlingame said she wanted to sign up the service but was unable to do so because the site only offers matches between heterosexual people.

TODD SCHNEIDER, ATTORNEY FOR PLAINTIFF: Her first reaction was this has got to be a mistake. I bring the attention to the Web site, then of course they would want me on their Web site and they would add another box. Her reaction when she found out that this wasn't a mistake was one of anger and shock.

LEE: We contacted Pasadena based eHarmony and the officials issued a statement about the lawsuit, saying, "It's false to state that e harmony discriminates against gays and lesbians and making such allegations is reckless." The Web site has a diversity link which says eHarmony's 15 million registered users and 200 plus employees represent a diverse array of ethnicities, ages and religions. But there is no mention of sexual orientation.

SCHNEIDER: You can't have a Web site with a sign on the door that says no gay people.

LEE: Everyone we spoke with said they have heard of eHarmony but didn't know it had refused the services to gays and lesbians.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was upsetting. I feel like they should make it open to everyone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's the modern way to meet people, is through on line services. So if you can't do it there, then I think that is discrimination.

LEE: However, the on-line dating service defends its practice, saying, "The research that eHarmony has developed through years of research to match couples has been based on traits and personality patterns of successful, heterosexual marriages."

SCHNEIDER: The premise being that gay relationships are somehow fundamentally different than are heterosexual relationships, and we simply don't buy that premise.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Well, Carlson's lawsuit names eHarmony founder Neil Clark Warren and his wife as defendant. It does not, however, specify any specific damages.

PHILLIPS: Leaping lizards. Could the Loch Ness monster be for real? I know that's old school. We're tracking down the latest alleged evidence and the legendary beast straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Maybe I ought to read ahead.

Well, just in time for Scotland's summer tourism season, there's been another alleged sighting of the Loch Neck Monster ...

HOLMES: Loch what now?

PHILLIPS: Loch Ness.

HOLMES: Yes, yes.

PHILLIPS: An English lab technician says that he took this video on Saturday. It's T.J. out there swimming with the whales.

HOLMES: You can tell.

PHILLIPS: Loch Ness is the largest inland body of water in Britain and stories about this mysterious creature, well, they have been lurking in the depths for, I guess it goes back to the sixth century.

Over time Nessie has become a tourist attraction. Scientists are usually skeptical about these pictures that surface from time to time but at least one marine biologist says this video is work a second look.

Next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com