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No-Confidence Vote; Shuttle Atlantis Successfully Docks With International Space Station; Suicide Bomber Attacks Bridge in Iraq; Court Hears From Parents on Autism-Vaccine Issue
Aired June 11, 2007 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. You're with CNN. You're informed.
I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.
Developments keep coming into the CNN NEWSROOM on this Monday, June 11th.
Here's what we're watching.
We are waiting for word. The judge expected to rule today on a teen sex case. Will Genarlow Wilson go free?
HARRIS: No confidence vote. Senate Democrats set their sights on Alberto Gonzales, but is their real target the attorney general or the president?
COLLINS: And seeking answers to autism. Scientists and activists take their cases to court.
In the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: And at the top this hour, in prison, and maybe on the cusp of freedom. A ruling is expected at any time on the early release of 21-year-old Genarlow Wilson. The Georgia man is serving a 10-year prison sentence for having what's described as consensual sex as a teenager.
At the time he was 17, the girl was 15. Under Georgia's old law, he was convicted of aggravated child molestation. The offense has been reduced to a misdemeanor.
An announcement is expected in the noon Eastern hour. We will bring you the decision and the expected news conference right here in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: Embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales likely facing a no-confidence vote in the Senate. The vote pushed by Democrats. Gonzales under fire for last year's dismissals of some federal prosecutors.
CNN's Brianna Keilar is live now with us from Washington.
Good morning once again, Brianna.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Heidi.
And this is not the actual no-confidence vote. It's a vote to proceed with the motion to vote. It's a test vote, if you will, to see how senators are lining up on this issue. Some parliamentary procedure there to confuse you, but the Senate would have to garner 60 votes today before they have the -- before they could go ahead with the actual no-confidence vote.
New York Democrat Chuck Schumer is sponsoring this bill. He held a press conference this weekend accusing President Bush of putting his friendship with Gonzales above the rule of law. He also called the Justice department the new FEMA.
Now, some Republicans, they do want to see Gonzales go. But that still doesn't mean they're going to be lining up along with Democrats. This is expected to be a partisan vote. Several Republican senators and aides tell CNN they feel this resolution by Schumer is politically motivated and they aren't going to play ball -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Well, it always seems to sort of come down when you're looking at a position like this, to the opinion of one person. And that, of course, is the president. And he is still backing Gonzales.
KEILAR: That's right. President Bush, while in Bulgaria at a joint news conference with Bulgaria's president, called this a meaningless -- he called this a meaningless vote. He called this a political move by Democrats. So no indication, Heidi, that his support for Alberto Gonzales is wavering at all.
COLLINS: All right. CNN's Brianna Keilar watching the scene for us in Washington today.
Thanks, Brianna.
HARRIS: A grim scene in Wisconsin. Six people shot to death, twin baby boys and four adults. A 2-year-old girl surviving her wounds.
This morning, investigators are piecing together what exactly happened. It all began Saturday night, when police stormed a house in Delavan, Wisconsin, after getting a report of shots fired. Well, they were too late. Investigators are looking into the possibility it was a murder-suicide.
COLLINS: Missing for almost a year. Found last week. Now expected back at school today.
Danielle Cramer's parents say they are trying to restore a sense of normalcy for the 15-year-old. The school and the town not being disclosed.
The teen was found last week, police say, in a hidden room in a West Hartford home. Authorities have charged three people in the case now. Danielle Cramer's parents join Larry King tonight for their first live primetime interview. You can hear what they have to say tonight on "LARRY KING LIVE" at 9:00 Eastern.
HARRIS: Recovering from stormy weather this morning in parts of the nation's midsection. And more on the way.
Listen. More of that, are you kidding me?
Storm clouds dropping marble-sized hail on Ogalalla, Nebraska. This scene near Interstate 80. The area also got torrential rain.
And on Interstate 25, between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico, a frightening scene for travelers. An apparent tornado dropping from the sky. No word of any injuries or damage.
(WEATHER REPORT)
NASA still examining a potential heat protection problem on the space shuttle Atlantis, but for the astronauts it's business as usual.
CNN space correspondent Miles O'Brien takes a closer look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On my mark -- 3, 2, 1, mark.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It was a photo opportunity among the stars. The space shuttle Atlantis showing off with a back flip, and the space station crew, ready with telephoto lenses, giving the orbiter the paparazzi treatment for a minute and a half. The pictures will be used to ensure the shuttle's heat shield is intact.
While we wait to see what those pictures show, NASA engineers are looking long and hard at the loose corner of this thermal blanket. It is a small triangle four by six inches near the orbiter's tail. Engineers believe it was pried loose by the supersonic air flow during launch, but they're not too concerned about it. And here's why.
JOHN YOUNG, STS-1 COMMANDER: OK. We want to show you our own spots here. We do have a few tiles missing off of both of them.
O'BRIEN: During the first shuttle flight in April of 1981, the same area was covered with heat-resistant tiles, and 16 of them fell off during launch. Columbia, of course, had a happy landing after that mission.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The space shuttle Atlantis now entering in to the International Space Station.
O'BRIEN: Certainly the crews did not portray any signs of worry. After the shuttle docked at the station and the hatch opened, they smiled, embraced and mugged for the cameras.
And earlier, the shuttle crew sent back some shots of their morning routine -- shaving, brushing teeth, bundling the trash, and doing some vacuuming.
Just make sure you're holding on when you flip the switch in space.
Miles O'Brien, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: And quickly, we want to show you a really cool live shot, because we love to do this when we can. And we are looking now at the Atlantis space shuttle.
And apparently there's going to be a live event coming our way here pretty soon, where we will see the space station's robotic arm dock a new piece. It's called the S3/S4 truss -- right, Tony?
HARRIS: Yes, that's it. That's it.
COLLINS: ... on the station's main girder. So, apparently that's going to be pretty cool, to watch the robotic arm put that piece into place. And if you are interested, you can watch that on CNN Pipeline.
Very cool.
HARRIS: The anguish of an autism diagnosis. Today, parents who say the disorder is caused by vaccines are telling their side of the story. They're asking for compensation.
That story ahead in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: President Bush wrapping up his European tour. His stop in Bulgaria coming up in the NEWSROOM.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Paula Hancocks in Baghdad.
Sectarian violence is increasing despite the Baghdad security plan.
Coming up in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: An English church now a battleground. Video game violence, ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Fact-finding mission to Iraq. Britain's next prime minister, Gordon Brown, in Baghdad this hour. He's meeting with Iraq's prime minister today. Brown says he wants to assess the situation on the ground before taking office later this month.
Britain has been reducing troop levels in Iraq. Three out of four provinces that were under British control have been handed over to Iraqi troops. HARRIS: A deadly roadside bombing targets an Iraqi police patrol. The scene this morning in Samarra, north of Baghdad. Police say two officers were killed and three others wounded.
Our Paula Hancocks is live in Baghdad for us.
So, Paula, there was also an overpass collapse killing U.S. soldiers in a suicide attack that was south of Baghdad. Blowing up overpasses and bridges, is this a new insurgent strategy?
HANCOCKS: Hello, Tony.
Well, certainly the U.S. has noted this over the past few months. U.S. officials and Iraqi officials are blaming it on al Qaeda-linked Sunni insurgents trying to bring Baghdad and bring areas of Iraq back to a pre-automotive age.
Now, what this does, of course, is it causes chaos on the streets. Now, it causes longer queues, which means that some of these checkpoints and searches may not be as intricate as usual. And obviously many people here do not want to be stuck in traffic, considering there are fake checkpoints, there are fake police that are carrying out kidnappings.
And also, the fact that there are so many parked car bombs that are detonating. And certainly, also, the U.S. military will find it more difficult to move around.
This particular car bomb on Sunday evening which killed those U.S. troops was one that was consistently used by the U.S. military. So certainly, these insurgents are trying to disrupt the way that the U.S. is working, and also cause chaos in the cities themselves.
HARRIS: And Paula, sectarian violence seems to be on the rise again after a brief lull. Does the military have an explanation for that?
HANCOCKS: Well, we did ask many U.S. officials about this, and the only answer we got was the trajectory is not going to be even. It's not going to be an even keel of lowering of these numbers of bodies that are found on the streets of Baghdad. Many of them with hands tied, many of them showing signs of torture.
But what we have seen in May, certainly, almost 750 bodies were found. In June, there's almost 250, and we're only on the 11th of June. So, certainly, we are seeing a spike in the numbers of these particular murders.
Now, an Iraqi official I spoke to who didn't want to be identified said the reason for this is there are no checkpoints and police guards inside the dangerous areas. They're all staying on the outskirts to make sure people can't get in and out. But they're too scared to go inside, as are the U.S. troops. And so until that changes, he can't see a way that these murders are going to stop -- Tony.
HARRIS: CNN's Paula Hancocks for us in Baghdad.
Paula, thank you.
COLLINS: Up in arms over a video game. A British community upset over the use of a local landmark in fantasy violence.
We get the story from ITN's Phil Reay-Smith.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL REAY-SMITH, REPORTER, ITN (voice over): The gothic neighbor of Manchester Cathedral, a place of quiet reflection, tranquillity and prayer. Not anymore.
This is how it looks in the latest chart-topping game for the Sony Playstation III called "Resistance: Fall of Man". Church officials are unhappy their cathedral has been used for the setting of the game where the object is to kill as many fighters as possible without, they add, Sony seeking permission.
REV. ROGERS GOVENDER, DEAN OF MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL: What this does is utterly trivialize people's grief and makes something which is a really important issue in Manchester look as if it's nothing other than a game. And it's completely tragic and wholly inappropriate.
REAY-SMITH (on camera): Every new computer game strives to be more realistic and often more gruesome than the last. In the case of this game, it's resulted in sales of more than a million and placed it right at the top of gaming charts.
But for some, it's a step too far.
(voice over): Particularly considering Manchester's terrible problems with gun crime. Twelve-year-old Camilla Peniston (ph), one of the latest victims in a city where 3,000 firearm incidents were reported over the last 15 months.
ANGELA LAWRENCE, MOTHERS AGAINST VIOLENCE: It's senseless. We've held memorials at that same cathedral for young people that have been killed in the past. And to go in there so insensitive...
REAY-SMITH: Sony Computer Entertainment have issued a statement pointing out their release is "... a fantasy science fiction game and not based on reality." They add, "Whilst we believe that we have sought and received all permissions necessary... we will be contacting the cathedral authorities on Monday."'
In the meantime, there's no sign they'll be taking their top- selling game off the shelves.
Phil Reay-Smith, ITV News.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Solving the autism puzzle. Is the first piece a vaccine? The question posed in court today. The story in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Questions about childhood vaccines and autism. Parents who believe that connection exists are making their case today.
Those claims being heard by a special federal court. The families are seeking payment from a $2.5 billion compensation fund.
The CDC says about one in every 150 children has autism or a related disorder. But studies have found no link between autism and the vaccines in question.
Let's talk more about this now today with the hearing that's getting under way and more, of course, about autism.
Our medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, joining us now.
A lot of people really worried about this.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: They are really worried. And there's that trial that's going on starting today in Washington, D.C.
This is really extraordinary. You don't see this happening very often.
What's going on is that nearly 5,000 families -- you can see some of them and their lawyers arriving right now -- are suing the secretary of Health and Human Services of the U.S. government. These families say, vaccines caused my child to become autistic.
Now, as Heidi mentioned, science has said over and over again, there is no link between autism and vaccines. But these parents, they are not buying that argument. They say the government is withholding documents from them. They also say that the government is in cahoots with pharmaceutical companies.
COLLINS: So it sounds like they would have to produce those documents in order to show some real link, because so many studies say that the vaccines are safe. I mean, I wonder if they don't have those documents, what are the leg that the parents have to stand on?
COHEN: What they have argued for a very long time now is something called fimerasol (ph), a preservative that used to be used in vaccines, that the fimerasol (ph) is what's causing it. Now, fimerasol (ph) was taken out of vaccines.
They also see -- you see the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine right there. So, some of the families will also argue that it's the preservative and was in this particular vaccine, combined, that that's what's causing the autism. But again, study after study after study has found no link.
COLLINS: Well, why then are the parents suing the federal government?
COHEN: Right. It's sort of confusing, because why aren't they suing the pharmaceutical companies?
It's because vaccines are a little bit different from other medicines. The way that the government set up the vaccine program is that the pharmaceutical companies are held harmless.
You don't sue the pharmaceutical companies. You sue the federal government to get a piece of this $2.5 billion vaccine compensation injury fund.
It's set up so that if a family feels the vaccine did something to their child, they can try to get a piece of this $2.5 billion. And so in order to get a piece of it, they have to go through this trial, which is going to last about a month. I mean, it's going to take a long time.
COLLINS: Yes. And I wonder, too -- you may not know the answer, but I wonder if there will be any physicians that will be taking the stand in defense of the parents.
COHEN: Oh, sure.
COLLINS: Who believe of course there is a link.
COHEN: Oh, absolutely. There is going to be expert testimony on both sides.
COLLINS: OK. All right. Well, I know you'll be following that one for us.
COHEN: OK.
COLLINS: Thanks so much.
Elizabeth Cohen.
COHEN: Thanks.
COLLINS: And I want to remind everybody, to get your "Daily Dose" of health news online, just log on to our Web site. You'll find the latest medical news, a health library, and information on diet and fitness.
That address, CNN.com/health.
HARRIS: Role change in Iraq. Former foes become allies in the fight against al Qaeda. Arming the Sunnis, in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: Caught on tape. A 72-year-old woman attacked. Police now have a suspect in custody.
Details coming up in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COLLINS: Good Monday morning to you, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.
HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris. Welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM.
Under attack in Iraq, crucial parts of the country's infrastructure. This morning, three U.S. soldiers are dead, crushed in the collapse of a highway overpass. The structure blown up by a suicide bomber.
Six other U.S. troops wounded in the attack south of Baghdad Sunday night. The bridge spanned one of Iraq's main highways. Bulldozers are still trying to clear the debris this morning.
COLLINS: Looking for help in Iraq from an unlikely source. U.S. troops turning to some of their former attackers. The military negotiating with some Sunni fighters. And in some cases, they are providing them with weapons to help battle al Qaeda-linked insurgents.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAJ. GEN. RICK LYNCH, U.S. ARMY: If' I've got indications there's somebody out there killing our soldiers, we ain't talking to them. We killing or capturing them.
We're not -- we haven't crossed that line. And we won't cross that line.
Having said that, there are folks out there and there's populations out there who have tendencies to do activities like plant IEDs, or they could have equal tendencies not to plant the IEDs. And we're trying to push them on our side of the fence. That's what we're trying to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Joining us now to talk more about this is Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.
Barbara, nice to see you this morning. Talk a little bit, if you would, about how risky this plan could be.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is risky, Heidi. Look, what General Lynch is saying is they don't want to do business directly with Sunni insurgents that might have been responsible for the deaths of American troops, but they do want to help Sunni insurgents that might be ready to come into the fold of a more stable and secure Iraq.
How do you define the difference between the two? How do you really know what some of these Sunni extremist groups have been up to over the last several months? So that's the risk. Could you wind up basically funding and weaponizing, yet again, another militia group in the middle of what increasingly appears to be a civil war? HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: And, so Barbara, how do you do that? Commanders in the field are having to make sure that they don't end up helping forces that are ultimately bent on harming U.S. soldiers. It seems very convoluted.
STARR: That is the problem. What they have come to realize over the last several weeks, Heidi, is that they have to start working with these people. Out in Anbar province in western Iraq, Fallujah, Ramadi, that area, where there has been years and years of violence by al Qaeda backed and supported by some of the Sunni groups, the Sunnis have actually turned away from al Qaeda. Many leaders, Sunni leaders saying they're sick of all the violence, they want to have peace in their part of Iraq. So they are turning away and they are reaching out to the coalition, reaching out to both U.S. and Iraqi security forces. That's the beginning of all of this. That's the reason they're trying to take that little sign of progress and try and spread it across other areas of Iraq. But as you say, very tough business, very tough to figure out how to translate it all into making something really happen that will be to Iraq's long-term benefit, but won't reward people who have been responsible for the death of American troops. Heidi.
COLLINS: We know, Barbara that this weekend, just a final group or the final phase of the so-called surge of troops has arrived now in Iraq. When we look at information like this and these possible new strategies that the U.S. is using, is that an indication the surge is not working or it just still needs more time.
STARR: Well, I think most commanders will tell you, they still need more time. This whole buildup of troops, five brigades, basically about a total of 30,000, the last group arriving, getting on the ground, getting ready to move out into their areas. The focus remains Baghdad and what they call the Baghdad belt, those areas around Baghdad that appear to be the homes of suicide car bomb factories and so much of the insurgent groups and insurgent cells that are still so active. They still are looking at a September time frame to try and make that initial assessment about whether this new strategy is really working. Heidi?
COLLINS: It is interesting indeed. CNN's Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr this morning. Barbara, thanks.
STARR: Sure.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: We have an update to report in the case of the AWOL mom. As you may remember, National Guard Specialist Lisa Hays failed to return to duty in Iraq. She said a custody battle left no one to care for her daughter. The Army charged her with desertion, yet Army lawyers helped her file for a hardship discharge. Friday night she was awarded an honorable discharge. Earlier on CNN's "American Morning" we spoke to her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA HAYES, AWOL DURING CUSTODY BATTLE: I learned of domestic violence and my ex-husband physically slapping my daughter across the face after three weeks of trying to get a hold of him to notify him that I would be coming home on R&R. I founded this out because I called the police department and they informed me what's been going on at the household. I immediately said oh, my God, what am I going to do? I'm in Iraq; I'm pretty much a world away. I asked to go home and I was going home on two weeks of R&R. So I did actually make it home. We petitioned the court for an ex parte hearing. That was denied. The other party needed to be present. So I went back to Iraq for a week and a half and then I got a Red Cross message telling me that I had court, that I needed to come home.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There are some who complain that there are a lot of parents out there who do make the necessary arrangements for child care. Have you felt any backlash of others saying, I'm in a similar boat and I don't want to be stuck in Iraq either?
HAYS: No I really haven't. I think pretty much everybody has been sympathetic and understands the circumstances. I think there again it was one National Guard commander who didn't.
LINDA THEROUX, ATTORNEY: It was mainly pointing out the areas of the court order where the court found an impermissible risk to leaving the child in the situation. And it was really pointing out that there was alcoholism in the family. There was an admission of slapping the child across the face and there was an arrest and conviction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Lisa Hayes surrendered to military authorities last week with her seven-year-old daughter by her side. Hayes has another custody hearing is scheduled for tomorrow.
COLLINS: President Bush back in the air this hour after wrapping up his eight-day trip to Europe. Last stop before boarding Air Force One, Sophia, Bulgaria. The president met with the leader of Bulgaria, a former Communist bloc nation. It's now a U.S. ally. He thanked Bulgaria for its support in Iraq and Afghanistan. Among the issues discussed during the president's visit, U.S. plans for a missile shield in Eastern Europe. Also on the president's agenda, a democracy roundtable.
HARRIS: An arrest this morning in a disturbing attack in Cincinnati. CNN affiliate WCPO now reporting that police have an 18- year-old in custody. He's accused in this attack caught on surveillance camera, a little difficult to make it out. In it, a 72- year-old woman is being beaten. The woman says she was hit twice. Her money and car stolen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELIZABETH HENDERSON, ATTACK VICTIM: When he hit me the second time, I thought if I don't give this guy the key, he's going to kill me. I went on and gave him the key. It makes me angry because they shouldn't be able to do that. These young kids, they're out of school now and they're just roaming the streets looking for trouble.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Police later found the woman's car abandoned and out of gas. They say the 18-year-old under arrest was found in a separate stolen car.
COLLINS: Paris Hilton.
HARRIS: Yes.
COLLINS: Speaking from behind bars. The jailed socialite spoke by phone to ABC News' Barbara Walters telling her quote, I used to act dumb. That act is no longer cute. Now, I would like to make a difference. God has given me this new chance un quote.
HARRIS: So it was an act. Paris Hilton in jail, then out of jail, now back in and getting visitors. Take a look at this. That's her sister Nikki showing up at the jail - you OK Heidi -- surrounded by photographers. Nikki says her sister is being strong. The Paris Hilton case out of the ordinary for more reasons than you might think. CNN's Chris Lawrence takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Paris Hilton was immediately assigned a cell at Lynwood jail. Quantrell Johnson wasn't so the lucky.
QUANTRELL JOHNSON, FORMER LYNWOOD INMATE: I mean, I was down there for five days until I got a bed. Five days before I got a bed and one shower.
LAWRENCE: While Hilton was being kept isolated from other prisoners, Johnson slept on the reception center floor, surrounded. Were there a lot of other women in the same room?
JOHNSON: In the same room. They put like maybe 35 women, one toilet and one little sink.
LAWRENCE: In that space?
JOHNSON: In that space. And all you guys be crunched up in there like sardines.
LAWRENCE: LA County is not supposed to hold more than 20 inmates at this reception center for more than a day. The sheriff is under Federal orders to reduce overcrowding. In the past year, Lee Baca says he's had 52 other inmates with a sentence similar to Hilton's.
SHERIFF LEE BACA, LOS ANGELES COUNTY: I can assure you with this policy, most likely, most of the 52 didn't serve any time at all in the county jail.
LAWRENCE: Prison expert Steve Sho (ph) has never heard of an inmate getting locked up, sent home and brought back in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're kind of playing her as a ping-pong ball.
LAWRENCE: But Baca didn't release Hilton solely due to overcrowding. He sent her home to deal with psychological problems. Inmates typically wait up to a week to see a doctor. And Johnson says they're only led out on a stretcher, for serious medical conditions.
JOHNSON: Other than that, you're in there. You're in there.
LEONARD LEVINE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I've never had a client actually get out of jail because of medical reasons. Again, it hasn't been necessary in a case like this because they already would have been out after serving a few days just because of the overcrowding.
LAWRENCE: In fact, 32 counties in California release inmates early, with Los Angeles leading the way. In less than four years, the county has released 150,000 inmates, some of them violent offenders. Chris Lawrence, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Drivers have something to get pumped up about. Gas prices fall. The dollars and cents of it all, ahead in the NEWSROOM.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange with news from Apple that doesn't concern the iPhone. Details next on NEWSROOM. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Well, we want to take you to Miami Springs, Florida right now. Oh, so --
COLLINS: On the move.
HARRIS: The truck is on the move here. So we're following the truck with the gators on the move here. All right, all right. Thanks to our local affiliate there in the Miami area, WSVN, look at the gators. Look at the size of those gators in the back of that truck. Can you see? Can you make it out?
COLLINS: Look at the helicopter shot, too.
HARRIS: Yes, yes, yes. Do we have pictures -- OK. Moments ago, here's the story here. It's very dry in Florida. You know that story. The gators are trying to cross the road in many cases to find the next watering hole. And our story is that - and we're sticking to it - is that one of the gators ended up on the road. So you call in the good people at pesky critters. They rounded up the one gator.
COLLINS: Which could be a squirrel or perhaps a 12-foot gator. There you go. Look at the size of that one megilla (ph). So that's the story right now and we're sticking with it. But we got these pictures -- we thought you would enjoy seeing that gator in the truck off to a better place than a road near you.
COLLINS: Got to love it.
Once upon a time, you had to go to a store to rent a movie, then they came in the mail. Now Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange to tell us what is next.
LISOVICZ: Heidi, you'll never leave your house. That's what it's coming down to if you have a fancy media room, you can show it off to everyone on the block. If Apple gets its way, new movies will be available for download on iTunes. ITunes already offers lots of older movies for sale from some of the movie studios but right now, only Disney allows its new movies to be sold on iTunes. Apple CEO Steve Jobs is a big Disney shareholder. That's the relationship there. He also sits on the company's board. The "Wall Street Journal" says Apple is in talks with more studios about offering rental. Apple hopes to charge $2.99, that is $2.99, that is and make the movies available for a set number of days before expiration, Heidi.
COLLINS: Don't Apple make enough money with its computers and gadgets and things?
LISOVICZ: Yes, it makes an awful lot of money there, but once upon a time, phone companies used to make money just from installing phone service, right. There's all those ring tones and other things and that's the wave of the future, all that added revenue really makes a big chunk of profits for these companies.
Media delivery, definitely a big part of Apple's strategy. Earlier this year it dropped computer from its name. It's just Apple now. Of course, big reason, the success of the iPod. Later this month, the company will move further away from computers with the launch the iPhone. But Apple is far from abandoning its computing roots. In a speech later today at a developers' conference, Apple's CEO Steve Jobs is expected to talk about the release of the new Mac operating system. Apple hopes the iPod is proving to people the market for a computer that it knows how to effectively integrate software and hardware. He understands things that we don't. Makes them stylish and that's why they're successful.
As for stocks, Apple's not doing much and neither is the market in general. Investors appear to be cautious ahead of two key inflation reports due out late they are week, wholesale prices, retail prices. Checking Wall Street prices, the Dow is on the plus side, opened weaker, up 7 points right now. The Nasdaq is up 2. It's kind of a quiet day and we'll take it after last week's roller coaster. Tony, Heidi, back to you.
COLLINS: That's for sure. All right. Susan Lisovicz, thank you.
HARRIS: How about this, some relief at the pumps. Gas prices dropped 7 cents in the last three weeks. OK, it's 7 cents, that according to a national survey, the first decline since January. The Lundberg survey says on average drivers will pay $3.11 for self-serve regular gasoline. Analysts say that's because gas from overseas refineries cost less.
COLLINS: Massive flooding in China wth more than 500,000 people forced to leave their homes. CNN's John Vause has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The heavy rain began mid last week, bringing surging floodwaters and land slides across southern China. Rivers burst their banks, sweeping away bridges, roads collapsed and hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland are now under water. According to state-run media, more than 50,000 homes have been destroyed. Some residents were taken to safety by rescue crews and more than 500,000 people have been forced to flee the rising waters. Many are now homeless. And while the south is awash, the west and the north of the country is in the grip of severe drought. Rivers have run dry and in parts, the crisis so severe, trucks are delivering emergency water supplies.
This is just the start of the summer floods. Authorities had earlier warned they would be bad, especially along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. Last year, wild weather here claimed almost 3,000 lives. The forecast for southern China, more rain this week, more misery to come. John Vause, CNN, Beijing.
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HARRIS: Britain's Prince Harry causing a stir again. These pictures reportedly of the 22-year-old prince posing with women at a Calgary bar last week. CBC News says he stayed until after the bar closed and had a few drinks with the ladies. Prince Harry is third in line to the British throne, you know. He's reportedly in Calgary to train at a British army base in Canada.
COLLINS: Fun training.
"Your World Today" is up next on CNN.
HARRIS: Let's check in with Jim Clancy for a look at what's coming in at the top of the hour. Good to see you. Good morning, Jim.
JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you guys today, Heidi and Tony. Be sure to join Rosemary Church and me, Rosemary Church and myself. We'll be taking a look at what's going on in "Your World Today." starting in Lebanon, the fighting intensifying in that camp and tragedy hitting as a bid to end the violence between the al Qaeda- linked gunmen and the Lebanese army ends in tragedy. Two Red Cross workers killed. They may have been trying to escort in a negotiator, that Christian negotiator, religious figure was wounded in the leg. We'll have the latest in a live report.
Plus, we're going to take you to London. The Church of England is asking the maker of Playstation to pick a different venue for their on-screen shoot 'em up. Should a well-known cathedral be a sanctuary from violence in the virtual world, too?
Plus was he or wasn't he? A lot of heads still spinning over Tony Soprano's fade to black on the finale of one of U.S. television's most popular series. You guys are looking at what's happening with the royalty in London as they tour the bars in Calgary. We're taking a look at Tony Soprano in the U.S.
COLLINS: Disappointing end, Jim. I'm not going to ruin it for anybody.
CLANCY: Don't ruin it for anybody. I think a lot of people internationally are going to see it a little bit later.
COLLINS: I won't say a word. Thank you Jim.
CLANCY: Thanks.
HARRIS: News just in to CNN. A judge has ruled, a judge in Monroe County, Georgia, I'll take my time with this one that Genarlow Wilson should be released, should be released from a 10-year prison sentence for having oral sex with a 15-year-old girl when he was 17, a case that has drawn, as you know, national attention. The claim and the motion filed by Wilson's attorney was that the 10-year sentence and -- was grossly disproportionate and unconstitutional. The news into CNN just a moment ago is that a judge in Monroe County, Georgia, has ruled that Genarlow Wilson should be released from a 10-year prison sentence for having oral sex with a 15-year-old girl when he was 17. Our Rick Sanchez, who has been doing great work on this story, is going to be available in just a couple of minutes to get the reaction from his defense attorney, BJ Bernstein who you saw just there a moment ago. That is coming up in just a couple of moments right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: The death of a gifted teen athlete blamed on a common over the counter sports cream. We'll tell you the story coming up in the NEWSROOM.
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JUANESSA BENNETT: ... that they has been praying for and they have been here with us from day one. And even the ones that just came on yesterday. I don't know what to say. I think I lost my voice.
B.J. BERNSTEIN, WILSON'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It's OK. We're going to be calling the prison and trying to figure out what's happening. Hopefully I urge -- hold on. This has been a really long 28 months. It's a very long fight. And right now, we have an order of release and I beg the attorney general from the state of Georgia, please enough, do not file an appeal, please because we have an order of release right now for a young man that I think most everybody in the community believes should not be in imprison. Although we've just now won, this -- I hate -- if they file an appeal, then I got to go back to court and I can't get him out today.
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)
BERNSTEIN: I don't know. I don't know. They have up to 30 days to file an appeal. But I don't know what they're doing. Just please, please, enough. If you think that Genarlow Wilson has done something wrong, he's had over 28 months in jail. He is a great young man. I don't want this to happen to any more kids in Georgia. Because of Genarlow, it's not. The judge's order talks about -- we're making copies right now for you -- the judge's order specifically talks about the Marcus Cixon case. It says that in the Marcus Dixon, case they asked the legislature to fix the law and the judge in this order said unfortunately for Genarlow, it wasn't soon enough. The truth is because of Genarlow Wilson, these legislators that are behind me -- where are they? Come on over real quick, they fixed the law last year. These two gentlemen tried to do something sooner this year. It finally took someone like Judge Wilson to read the law and because of the change in the law realize that this is a cruel and unusual punishment and that Genarlow should be released. I have to make some phone calls in a few minutes here to try to get him out.
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) Why would you say it's likely? Would he not be released while that appeal is pending?
BERNSTEIN: We'll ask for bond pending appeal. But enough. I mean, this has been 2 1/2 years of a fight over consensual teenage sex. I've had plenty of cases over the years and some folks don't like some of my clients, and there's never been a fight this hard to keep in people who commit violent offenses. This is a nonviolent offense. It was consensual teenage sex. There's no way it can be anything more than a misdemeanor now.
QUESTION: BJ, take us through the process. The judge has said he should be let free. What happens now?
BERNSTEIN: I have to make some phone calls. I have to make some phone calls to find out where this order is, how long it takes to get him out.
QUESTION: Might he be released today?
BERNSTEIN: I want him out as soon as possible.
QUESTION: It is a possibility?
BERNSTEIN: We just got a miracle, I'll take another one today.
QUESTION: Have you spoken to Genarlow?
BERNSTEIN: No. I just ran out her to you.
QUESTION: Does he know?
BERNSTEIN: I have no idea. He's in the prison. I don't know. I'm going to try to call the prison
QUESTION: How are you feeling?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like I'm about to faint. I just feel like a miracle happened.
QUESTION: Are you ready to talk to him?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I spoke to him yesterday. He was in good spirits.
QUESTION: When you talked Friday, (INAUDIBLE) was he hopeful?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was leery. He was on hands and knees.
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).
BERNSTEIN: It's a very short drive. It'll be a short drive today.
QUESTION: You might keep driving.
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)
BERNSTEIN: I don't know. I'm going to call the prison right now. If you'll give me a few minutes, run out and do what you got to do, I'll come back. I need to call the prison though. You can talk to them and I'm going to take (INAUDIBLE) I'll be right back.
QUESTION: Thank you.
HARRIS: So there you see, an overjoyed mom there, the mom of Genarlow Wilson, Jaunessa Bennett and an overjoyed defense attorney, BJ Bernstein, who has been on this case for so long now. She has what she had long fought for, her client ordered freed. A judge has ruled that Genarlow Wilson should be released from a 10-year prison sentence for having oral sex with a 15-year-old girl when he was 17. In her petition to the court, BJ Bernstein acclaimed in the motion that the 10-year sentence and Wilson's name being placed on a sex offender's registry for the rest of his life was a grossly disproportionate punishment and in fact unconstitutional. That was a claim.
As you may know, the law has since changed. The same offense committed today would be punished as a misdemeanor with the maximum of one year in jail. It is a story that we have been following closely. Rick Sanchez has been following it as closely as anyone. Rick is with us now. Rick, this is the day that that young mother and this defense attorney have been fighting for for, what, 28 months or so?
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're going to try, Tony, in just a little bit to turn around some tape because we've been working closely with BJ Bernstein and Juanessa as well, we were allowed to be back there as the fax was coming into her office and we actually have the reaction. It's about a 15 or 16-page ruling that was sent down by Thomas Wilson. As we're seeing there, with the mother on edge, BJ of course nervous as all attorneys are when a major ruling is going to be heard, and we're watching as the fax machine is spitting it out page by page by page and we're trying to read through it to get as caught up as we can and when that final page comes over and I'm sitting here with it right now, I'm reading it now, page 11 says petitioner's writ of habeaus corpus has been granted.
The petitioner's previous sentence - and I'm reading again from the document by the judge - petitioner's previous sentence is declared void. The petitioner, it says, obviously, talking about Genarlow Wilson, is hereby sentenced to 12 months to serve with credit for time served. Well he's already been in for two years.
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