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Deadly Accident at Auto Show; IDs of Missing U.S. Soldiers Found in Al Qaeda Safehouse

Aired June 16, 2007 - 22:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is just a miracle. She was healthy but she was hungry. She had a lot of scratches on her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Many had given her up for dead. They thought she'd drowned like her grandfather. Instead of finding her body, they find her alive and alone in the woods.

The ID cards of two missing U.S. soldiers are found in an al Qaeda safehouse with video equipment. Are we closer to finding them?

And a middle school principal busted for drugs. Guess where it went down? It's caught on tape and in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And we understand now that there's been tragic news, breaking news that's coming into us right now. Terrible accident. There are casualties. Go ahead, Claude. I think we've got pictures coming in right now. In fact, these pictures came in literally seconds ago from Selmer, Tennessee. What you see there is a vehicle that was performing in some kind of auto show. There were people watching, admiring what they were able to do with some of these cars when suddenly the car trying to do what to do what is referred to as a spin move right there in front of the fans. But somehow he lost control of his vehicle and went right into the crowd.

We understand, and let me just check the numbers for you, four people are dead. As many as 15 other people have been injured. Some of them seriously injured. These are the first pictures that we're getting from the scene. You see now that some of the rescue officials are there. And they're also bringing in -- because it appears that a light pole was affected, some of the folks from the power grid company who apparently are going to try and put this thing back together.

But look at the mess on the ground. Look what's left after this accident. Here's what we are trying to do for you. We're trying to see if we can hook up with one of the reporters who's there on the scene in Tennessee. This is Selmer. It's far away from any big cities, by the way.

And if you're watching us and you happen to have been there, and you had your telephone, and you were able to get some pictures, let us know. You know, collect -- connect to i-news and see if you can be an i-reporter for them at CNN.com. So there you have it.

Again, some of these pictures -- I'm looking at these pictures for the very first time as you're getting them. We've been expecting them all night long, and finally, they're just now starting to come into the NEWSROOM here from Selmer, Tennessee. As we get more information on this story, we are going to bring it to you.

Meanwhile, tonight, the controversial prosecutor in the Duke lacrosse case assault is disbarred. The North Carolina bar found that Mike Nifong's handling of the case is "reprehensible." They made it clear three innocent lives of the forever changed now as a result of Nifong's actions.

This is a humiliating finding for the D.A. who made national headlines, courting reporters with explosive news conferences. Here now is CNN's Susan Candiotti.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The North Carolina ethics panel called the case a fiasco and found disgraced District Attorney Mike Nifong guilty of deceit and fraud.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we are in unanimous agreement if there's no discipline short of disbarment...

CANDIOTTI: Even before his punishment was doled out, Nifong agreed he should lose his law license for gross misconduct in the collapsed rape case against three Duke lacrosse players.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I apologize.

CANDIOTTI: Nifong's mea culpa Friday fell on deaf ears. Ethics investigators said Nifong lied to them about his actions, including failing to tell the accused students about critical DNA evidence that could clear them of rape allegations.

JOE CHESHIRE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I hope this sends a loud and clear message that if you cheat and try to put innocent people in prison, you'll either go to prison yourself or you're lose your law license.

CANDIOTTI: The ethics panel concluded Nifong called a rogue prosecutor by the state's attorney general did it to further his political career.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It seems that at the root of it is self deception arising out of self interest.

CANDIOTTI: On Saturday, the parents of two of the three players took the stand to say the accusations will haunt them the rest of their lives.

MARY ELLEN FINNERTY, MOTHER OF EXONERATED PLAYER: Nobody can give any of the three families back the 14 months that we have gone through. DAVE EVANS, FATHER OF EXONERATED PLAYER: He believes that when he dies, that it will be reported, no matter what else he did during his life that he was one of the three Duke lacrosse players who was accused of rape.

CANDIOTTI: But what rankles players and parents most is that Nifong told the panel he still has questions about what happened that night in March of 2006.

MIKE NIFONG, DISBARRED PROSECUTOR: I think something happened that in that bathroom, but I'm not sure that I can say that I now at this point believe it was a sexual assault.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No lacrosse player ever touched that woman in that house or in that bathroom. And in his words, this story was simply a hoax.

CANDIOTTI: The players now say they hope to go on with their lives.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Susan Candiotti's going to be joining us now. Yes, it was amazing to watch that panel. They've just about said everything you could possibly say bad about a prosecutor right to his face. And it was amazing, Susan, when they started saying the power of a prosecutor, I mean, this panel was essentially saying, as a prosecutor, you can do more damage than anybody in the entire justice system. I mean, this is a real tongue lashing. What does Nifong do from here after getting this kind of reprimand?

CANDIOTTI: Well, that's the question. It does not appear that he is out of the clear. Lawyers representing those lacrosse players are promising civil lawsuits. And many criminal defense attorneys say that it is not out of the realm of possibility that he is not immune from possible criminal charges.

Now you could see this man's shoulders slump during this hearing. And he left without anybody getting a look at him.

SANCHEZ: That's amazing. Susan Candiotti following that story for us all day long. What a story, as it played out today. Thanks so much, Susan.

CANDIOTTI: That's for sure.

SANCHEZ: Accusations of prosecutorial abuse also emerging as a hot topic now in the Genarlow Wilson case. CNN got exclusive behind the scenes video of the moment that a Georgia judge's ruling came down, essentially making Wilson at least for that moment a free man.

A Superior Court judge called the teenager's ten-year sentence for sex with another teen "a miscarriage of justice." Now here's the reaction from Wilson's mother and his lawyer the moment it happened. .

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We win!

SANCHEZ: Yes? He's out?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Read us, read us what it says. Can you read it to us?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The writ of habeas corpus is granted. The sentence is void.

SANCHEZ: The sentence is void. That means he is clear. That means he's clear.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: An order of release.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: There you have it. But this celebration was short lived because prosecutors then announced right after this, about an hour and a half shortly afterward that they will fight this decision by appealing it. They even reportedly chose to send an investigator to a witness' house after she spoke in favor of Wilson in a local newspaper.

Now we've spoken to prosecutors. And we're going to tell you what they have to say as well as the accusations that are being leveled against them by Wilson's attorney. And word now from the Georgia Supreme Court that they will get involved this case. We're going to have this for you in just a couple of minutes. So hang on.

Tonight, there may be a break in the case of two soldiers who disappeared in Iraq last month. Private Byron Fouty on the left, also Specialist Alex Jimenez on the right. Their identification badges have been found in an al Qaeda safehouse, along with computers and video equipment. Video production equipment, we should add. The cards turned up in Samarra. That's the same place where this mosque bombing took place this week. It's been just filled with U.S. forces. This is just north of Baghdad.

Now here's Private Fouty's stepfather tonight reacting to the news.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GORDON DIBLER, PVT. FOUTY'S STEPFATHER: I got the call. And my coordinator had first announced to me that it wasn't good or bad news, but that it was data that they had found these items, and that they don't know anymore than what they were telling us at the time. Some personal items and a couple of IDs, but that was as clear as they could be at the time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: So how valuable a clue are these ID cards? And where does the search effort go from here? CNN's Karl Penhaul happens to be embedded with U.S. troops near Samarra where this was found. Here now his report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: U.S. military commanders tell us this raid took place on June the 9th, but because of the sensitivity of the information that was found in the operation, no information was released until now.

What the military has told us is that it began with an air assault by paratroopers for the 82nd Airborne Division on a house about six miles south of the city of Samarra, a house in a rural area surrounded by farmland and orchards. A fire fight broke out and four insurgents fled from the building. Paratroopers then breached the house and carried out a full search.

They found hordes of computer equipment. They found video devices. It seems the house was being used as a video production center. And they found bundles of documents.

And it wasn't until they began searching through these bundles of documents, back at base, that one of the offices turned up the two identification cards of Specialist Alex Jimenez and Private Byron Fouty, both captured during a firefight within insurgents south of Baghdad on May 12th.

MAJ. GEN. BENJAMIN MIXON, U.S. ARMY: We did an extensive search of the area to include using specially trained dogs. And we found no evidence of their presence. And all of the items that we found in the house are currently being exploited to see what can be learned about their whereabouts.

PENHAUL: As soon as the ID cards were discovered, the battalion commander ordered an entire battalion back out on the ground. And for the following 72 hours, forensic teams and search dogs carried out an intense search of that area. This is what the divisional commander General Benjamin Mixon had to say about that.

MIXON: I would tell them to not give up hope. We will continue to search, but our hearts and our prayers go out to them for strength during these very difficult times.

PENHAUL: Nothing that the paratroopers have found in their search of this area so far gives any indication of whether Specialist Jimenez and Private Fouty are alive or dead. And in answer to our questions, military commanders told us that there is no greater focus on the area of Samarra than on any other area in Iraq.

Karl Penhaul, CNN, Samarra, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: All right, here's what else we're going to have coming up for you. 911 calls, usually result in a trip to the hospital. Right? They're not supposed to start at the hospital, though. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CALLER: I'm in the emergency room. My wife is dying and the nurses don't want to help her out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: They didn't. I mean, they really did not help her out. They were adamant about it. A hospital's stunning lack of action leads to a woman's death in a waiting room. That's next in the NEWSROOM.

Also, the crime is murder. The worst possible punishment, the death penalty. But how often is that sentence handed down? Now that might depend on who did the crime and whether they're a man or a woman, interestingly enough.

And then, masked gunmen rule the day in the Palestinian territories. Hamas takes Gaza. Then Fatah strikes back in another area to get back at Hamas. It gets crazy. The story is 30 minutes away. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: I'm Rick Sanchez. Welcome back. This is our incoming wall, our epic wall, where we bring videos in. And we want to start with one today that's coming out of Missouri.

This is why police officers there are saying that they're getting outgunned. Look at this guy. They have just pulled him over. And he comes out of the car just shooting 30 rounds at the officer, who pulled him over.

Let's watch that again and you'll see the very first -- look at that. He just comes out shooting. The officer tries to shoot him back. The officer hides. Finally, the officer shot in the leg. The guy gets away for a little bit, but eventually they apprehend him. And police officers there in Missouri are using this video. They want all officers to travel with a partner. And they also say that they want to be given actually more ammunition so they can try and defend themselves against something like this.

And then there's the defense at airports. We want to take you to Reagan National Airport outside Washington, D.C. now. You see that woman right there? She's getting stopped by a guard. She's got one of those sippy cups that belongs to her kids. She's told she can't carry it on the plane because there's no liquids allowed on planes, as you well know, because it's one of the rules.

So she takes it and just spills it on the floor. Well, obviously, that aggravates the TSA guy who then calls for security. Security comes over. They escort the woman. They detain her. And they take her out.

But again, the rule is you're not allowed to have liquids on a plane. She tried to get on a plane with liquids. And when they tell her you got to throw it out, she literally just throws it out right there on the floor.

I think we can watch it one more time. Claude, go ahead and rerack that. You'll see it. All right. He comes up to her and he says, ma'am, I'm sorry, but you're going to have to do something. She reaches in. She grabs it.

Boom, right him there, she spills it on the ground. That's when the problems really begin for her. And that is when she is detained.

There's another big story that we're following for you today that we're going to bring you. This is out of California. A woman dies in the waiting room at an emergency ward. Everybody around her knows that she's dying. She's vomiting blood, but some of the hospital personnel say, eh, we know she's dealing with this. We dealt with her before. It's a problem. Even 911 can't respond to her. We'll bring you that story. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: All right, here's these pictures. Again, this coming into us literally seconds before we went on the air tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern. There you see what is left of a car that was in a car show with lots of people around. Hundreds, if not thousands of people in the area at the time.

The car tried to do that maneuver where they're showing off the power of the car. It's called a burnout where they essentially start spinning their wheels in one place, but somehow something happened. And the car went out of control and went right into where the people were, the fans that were watching this car show.

Killed four of them. We understand that at least 15 others are now hospitalized. Some of them in critical condition. We're hoping to get you more information on this. In fact, we're now expecting that in the next 10 minutes or so, we're going to have a live news conference coming from the area, coming from Selmer, Tennessee. And as soon as that happens, you're going to hear it live right here on CNN.

Meanwhile, tonight, we follow up on a story that outraged so many of you and left a whole lot of people wondering if this very same thing could happen to your loved ones. A woman dies in agony on the floor of a Los Angeles hospital, as medical workers pass by her. And her boyfriend is desperately trying to call 911.

And now we're learning more about the hospital and its troubled past. Here's CNN's Ted Rowlands.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CALLER: I'm in the emergency room. My wife is dying and the nurses don't want to help her out.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As Edith Rodriguez was dying on the emergency room of Martin Luther King Jr. Harbor Hospital, 911 dispatchers received two separate calls. Both callers seemed to see what hospital staff members apparently didn't, that this woman need immediate attention.

DISPATCHER: OK, what do you mean she's dying...what's wrong with her?

CALLER: She's vomiting blood.

ROWLANDS: What happened to Edith Rodriguez is an extreme example of more than a decade of troubling incidents at a hospital that served some of L.A.'s poorest residents, many of whom are uninsured.

Just four months ago, Juan Ponce was diagnosed with a brain tumor by the King Emergency Room Staff. But then apparently, they completely forgot about him. Instead of transferring Ponce to another hospital for immediate surgery, he says he was left to sit for four days in the King emergency room.

JUAN PONCE, FMR. PATIENT: They don't give me food, nothing for three or four days. Never asked me for medicine for the pain. Nothing, nothing.

ROWLANDS: Ponce says eventually, his condition became so bad, he couldn't see or speak. Finally, a family member got the staff to move him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've seen a lot of people that have to wait 14 or 15 hours.

ROWLANDS: This man, who doesn't want to be identified, works in the hospital emergency room. He says he wasn't there when Edith Rodriguez died, but says he can see how it could happen.

If you're working there, how could that have happened?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Incompetency is the number one issue. Not all days this way. Not every day is this way. But most of the time, there are problems to treat the patients, I would say. And take care of them, yes.

ROWLANDS: In response to both cases, the director of L.A. County's health services said in a letter this week that because of what happened to Juan Ponce, the hospital's chief medical officer was put on paid leave. As for the Rodriguez case, the letter says the triage nurse in charge that night has resigned. And all employees working in the triage area that night have been counseled and written findings placed in their personnel files.

ZEV YAROSLAVSKY: I think everybody has some answering to do for what happened at this hospital that night. The chief nurse, the physicians' assistants who may or may not have known it was going on, other personnel, the people who were sitting in the waiting room who didn't lift a finger to help her and watched the whole thing happen for 45 minutes.

ROWLANDS: Ted Rowlands, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE) SANCHEZ: So what do you think? Should the emergency room personnel be prosecuted for their inaction in the case of Mrs. Rodriguez, who was essentially vomiting blood on the floor and they ignored her because they said that she had already been there three other times and she's always complained about belly aches?

Give us a call. 1-800-807-2620. We're looking forward to hearing your responses. And we're going to air some of them right here on this show a little bit later.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This morning, I got up and had the chance to read what you probably read now that the mother of the 15-year-old girl has spoken out and confirmed that the act in question, the reason that Wilson is in prison, is definitely a consensual act.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The so-called victim's mother talks to the newspapers. That's the girl that Genarlow Wilson was with. It's the very crime he was punished for, partially. Prosecutors then paid a visit to that woman who spoke to the newspapers. Why is Wilson still in prison? The latest, coming up.

And if you're convicted of murder, might be good to be a woman. Why is the death penalty so rarely carried out when the killer is a female? We explore the issue in just a couple of minutes. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We welcome you back to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rick Sanchez. Tonight, there's a new chapter in the teenage sex case of Genarlow Wilson, sent to prison for 10 years for receiving oral sex from a teenager, when he himself was a teenager.

Now this week's CNN captured the moment exclusively when his mother was there and received the news that her son would be freed by a Superior Court judge, who called his sentence an injustice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: How do you feel as his mother? How long -- how long has this been for you?

JUANESSA BENNETT, WILSON'S MOTHER: In January, it was three years.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get -- copies.

BENNETT: Three and a half years.

SANCHEZ: There must be just incredible relief for you right now. Do you feel -- explain to us in the best words that you can why you feel what this judge has done is the right thing for your son? (END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The state, though, is not going along with the judge's ruling. In fact, they are appealing it, despite the happiness shown in that moment. And now we hear the state Supreme Court will hear their arguments because they want Wilson to stay behind bars even while his appeal is being heard.

Why are prosecutors in this case seemingly so adamant about keeping Wilson behind bars? Bucking public pressure against them. That is what is emerging as a new hot issue in this case. And that is where we pick it up with this follow-up report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: He has said it all along to me, in jail. At no time did you tell that young lady that she had to give you oral sex?

GENARLOW WILSON: No, sir.

SANCHEZ: Then, the attorney who prosecuted him confirmed it to me.

EDDIE BARKER, ASST. DISTRICT ATTORNEY: From what we've seen on the videotape and heard from the victim herself, we do not believe there was any physical force used.

SANCHEZ: Genarlow Wilson, convicted of aggravated child molestation under an antiquated law that since been changed, is now getting support from somebody else. The mother of that other teenager.

"Girl's mother defends Wilson, says penalty too severe," was the way the headline in "The Atlanta Journal Constitution" put it. But the article goes on to say that after making the comment, the girl's mother was paid a visit by state prosecutors and investigators.

B.J. BERNSTEIN, WILSON'S ATTORNEY: It was extremely shocking to believe and read something that almost reminds us of what happens in a Communist country, that when you speak out about something to the media, you get a visit from the government.

SANCHEZ: The girl's mother is quoted in the article as saying she testified against Genarlow Wilson, because prosecutors told her she could face legal trouble for neglect as a parent if she didn't.

But prosecutors deny they threatened her. B.J. Bernstein says the prosecutors are out of control, and is questioning the Georgia attorney general's support of them.

BERNSTEIN: I know that you need to support your prosecutors, but you don't support prosecutors who are out of control. You don't support prosecutors that intimidate.

SANCHEZ: We spoke with Prosecutor David McDade by phone, who says the accusation that anyone from his office threatened or intimidated the teen's mother is, "absolutely, categorically, untrue." And he calls the newspaper article "grossly inaccurate."

Attorney General Thurberg Baker, who is appealing the Superior Court judge's decision to throw out Wilson's conviction, called a news conference late this week.

THURBERT BAKER, GEORGIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: There are over 1300 inmates in the Georgia prison system currently serving time for aggravated child molestation. And this ruling, if it stands, would have the potential to reduce or set aside the sentences of a significant number of those convicted felons.

SANCHEZ: Of the 1300 other convicted felons, we checked, and found that only seven like Wilson were teenagers when they were found guilty.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: So the question is then what is the attorney general talking about? It's important to note in this case that those seven cases may not be the same as Wilson's case, because it's not clear whether the acts in those cases were consensual. As the jury told me when I spoke to them, it was clear in the Genarlow Wilson case. We're going to stay on top of this story for you.

We begin tonight in Florida, where this undercover video shows a middle school principal buying crack cocaine at work. Undercover officers made the deal right there in the principal's office. Anthony Giancola pleaded guilty and is now heading to jail. But once he completes a drug rehab program, his sentence is going to be suspended.

21, in this case, scores a federal indictment. What the FBI calls 19 of the most sophisticated card sharks has ever seen. San Diego family and their associates charged with rigging card games and bribing dealers of 18 casinos across the United States and Canada. The FBI says it was a multimillion dollar operation.

Could the price be right for Rosie O'Donnell? Bob Barker seems to think so. He is endorsing his friend for the job that he just left after 35 years. Barker retired Friday as the show's long-time host and he says Rosie O'Donnell is ideal for his job.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I killed those men. I robbed them and I killed them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: She was put to death for her death crimes. But capital punishment is rare for female killers. Why is that? We take on the issue next in the NEWSROOM.

Also, Fatah gunmen taking their revenge on Hamas across the West Bank. What a mess in the Palestinian territories today.

Also, don't forget to call now. We want to hear from you about the death of this woman in a Los Angeles hospital floor. Should the emergency room personnel be prosecuted for their lack of action? You can give us a call at 1-800-807-2620. That's 1-800-807-2620. We will air some of your responses later this hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: And we welcome you back. I'm Rick Sanchez here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Tonight, we've prepared a special segment for you about the death penalty in this country. We're the only Westernized nation that sentences people to death and actually carries out the execution. Already this year, 21 prison inmates have died by lethal injection. Most of them, in fact, almost all of them in one state. More on that in just a minute.

We're going to begin, though, with one Texas woman, who was scheduled to die three days ago. Cathy Lynn Henderson convicted of murdering a baby under her care in 1994. All of her appeals are gone. The court stayed her execution just 48 hours before her date with the death chamber.

Now here's why Cathy Lynn Henderson' case is on our radar tonight. If she is executed, she will be one of a very small group of people. Women are very rarely executed when compared to men. The reason, though, is not quite as obvious as you may think.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here in Huntsville right now protesters are out.

SANCHEZ (voice-over): February 1998. Carla Fay Tucker is put in death in Texas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anticipating that Carla Fay Tucker will be put to death shortly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is here that she is scheduled to die by lethal injection.

SANCHEZ: May 2000, Christina Riggs dies in Arkansas by lethal injection.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shackles and handcuffs. The convicted serial killer...

SANCHEZ: October 2002, Eileen Wuornos is given six death sentences.

EILEEN WUORNOS: I killed those men. I robbed them and I killed them as cold as ice.

SANCHEZ: Executed in Florida. Three separate cases with one glaring common thread. They represent a rarity in the American justice system. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: March 30, 1998, at 7:13 a.m., she was put to death in Florida's electric chair.

SANCHEZ: A woman given the ultimate punishment. Don't misunderstand, executions in this country are anything but rare. But since the Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976, of the nearly 1100 people lawfully executed in this country, only 11 of them were women. Just 11. That's one woman for every 98 men put to death. Why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Inmate Carla Fay Tucker, we will now proceed with the execution.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Still not guilty.

SANCHEZ: Is it because women aren't committing the crime as often as men? Partially. At least we know they're not arrested as often. In 2005, the FBI reported that women were arrested in about one in ten homicide cases. Some criminologists explain it by generalizing, saying that on average, women are instinctively less aggressive, inherently less violent, nurturers by nature.

WES ABERROMBIE, CRIMINOLOGIST: In our culture, men are taught to use violence as a solution, as a social controlling device. We're taught to be competitive, to be aggressive, physically and socially.

STEPHEN BRIGHT, SOUTHERN CTR. FOR HUMAN RIGHTS: One answer is that women don't kill as often as men. But the second answer is that even women who do kill are less likely to get the death penalty than men.

SANCHEZ: And criminologists point out when men and women kill, they often do so differently.

ABERCROMBIE: Women are motivated to kill by different circumstances than men. They find themselves in fundamentally different circumstances in relationship to their victim.

SANCHEZ: Experts will tell you women seldom murder for money. It is more likely that they will kill their children, their husbands, their family members, people close to them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hadn't lost hope.

SANCHEZ: Betty Lou Beats shot her husband dead. Christina Riggs smothered her two children in their beds. Francis Newton killed her husband, her seven-year-old son, and 21-month-old daughter. Juries gave all these women the death sentence. But even that is not the rule. It's the exception.

BRIGHT: One of these things that sort of the legal system and people in the legal system have sort of come to live with to some degree, prosecutors are probably more willing to give plea offers in cases of women. The cases that I said earlier may be more sympathetic in terms of what provoked what finally happened. But it's still quite enormous disparity, which I haven't seen anybody explain well. (END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Well, whether you can be -- whether it can be explained, pardon me, or not and whether you support capital punishment or not, the numbers are there. And they don't lie. The death penalty is an option in 38 states. Many of them rarely or never use it.

But these are the states, three states, that use it the most, Oklahoma since 1976, 84 people executed there. Virginia, same time period, 98 people executed, but those two states combined don't even make half of the number of men and women that are put to death in the state of Texas. 393 there.

We have questions about Texas. And joining us now live, the man who can help to answer them. Craig Watkins is the district attorney for Dallas County.

So how about it? Is it fair to say Texas kills an enormous amount of people or executes, I should say?

CRAIG WATKINS, DALLAS CO. DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Well, if you look at the numbers, I think that's a fair question to have. Texas is a little different than the majority of the states in the United States. We have a system that is judicious. And it looks at the underlying issues as to why these people are committing these crimes. And based upon that, we decide if a person needs to go to death row.

SANCHEZ: But why is it that Texas has more than other states, though? I mean, are you quicker to pull the trigger on somebody?

WATKINS: Well, yes, I think so. I think we need to look at the larger issue here. I think the initial question was the initial question was that women are less likely to receive the death penalty in the United States, but I think the larger issue is if you look at it in Texas, 41 percent of the individuals that are on death row are African-American men. You know, I think that's the issue.

SANCHEZ: And let me follow up then with what you just said. Given what we know, statistically about the difference between men and women, the difference between African-Americans and non African- Americans, the difference between Hispanics and non-Hispanics, is the death penalty in your state fair?

WATKINS: Well, you know, I can tell you from the perspective of Dallas County, now I would look at the stats dealing with Houston and the other counties that we have in this state. And I think that we may be a little liberal in applying the death penalty. I think that we need to slow it down a little bit and look at the reason that we are going forward with so many death sentences and...

SANCHEZ: That's interesting. You are saying in your own state, and you're a D.A. there in Dallas, you're saying your own state's a little too liberal, a little too quick to want to implement the death penalty.

WATKINS: Yes, I believe so. You know...

SANCHEZ: I'm surprised hearing that from you, by the way.

WATKINS: Well, if you look at the history of who I am, I'm the district attorney in Dallas County. And I was just elected six months ago. And I'm the first African-American D.A. in the state. So my point of view may be a little different than what you're normally used to hearing from district attorneys from Texas.

SANCHEZ: Right, because here's the point. I mean, look, if you're a white guy and you got a lot of money, statistics say you're not going to get the death penalty. If you're a black guy or a Hispanic guy and don't have a lot of money, statistics say you are likely to get the death penalty. Right?

WATKINS: Well, I think it goes further than the amount of money you have. I think it's the mentally and the approach that we use in Texas. And I don't think it's fair when you have 41 percent of the individuals on death row in Texas are of color.

SANCHEZ: Right.

WATKINS: And we only make up a small percentage of the state. I think that it goes to...

SANCHEZ: Yes, that's an inordinate number. There shouldn't be 41 percent of the people waiting to be killed in Texas who happen to be African-American when the population of African-Americans in Texas is relatively small.

WATKINS: You're right, yes.

SANCHEZ: It just doesn't add up.

WATKINS: We have had this -- no. We have had this tough on crime mentality in Texas for several years.

SANCHEZ: Right.

WATKINS: But if you look at the statistics and the numbers, violent crimes in this state and all states across the country have really not changed for the last 50 years.

SANCHEZ: You know, that's interesting. I know I got to cut you off because my producers are saying we got another segment we've got to get to, but it's interesting. We can talk for a long time on this. And certainly we can talk as well about the history of some of the governors in the state of Texas. We won't go there now, but we thank you for the conversation, though. Good stuff.

SANCHEZ: Thank you for having me.

Coming up, Hamas took control of Gaza this week. And today, Fatah struck back in the West Bank. Palestinians, guns, turning on each other across the territories. That's next in the NEWSROOM. And then later, he usually spends his time with celebrities and supermodels, but today, CNN hero is also dedicated to improving life in his native country of Afghanistan. His story is straight ahead in the NEWSROOM. You are watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. This is a breaking story that we have been following for you. We've got these pictures in just before we went on the air. It's in Selmer, Tennessee. A car goes out of control after trying to do a burnout.

We now know learn there were 20 to 40,000 expected at this car show this weekend there in Selmer, Tennessee. And at least four of them are dead as a result of this. The car just went out of control, knocked down a pole. 15 others were seriously injured. They've been taken to the hospital. We're expecting a news conference any moment. And when we get it, you'll see it live right here on CNN.

Now that they've got control over Gaza, Hamas exercised their new power by ransacking the presidential compound in Gaza. The rival Fatah headquarters were raided. Photos of late president Yasser Arafat and current President Mahmoud Abbas were thrown to the ground and then trampled on.

We'll hopefully be able to show you some of those pictures because, man, it's made some folks in the Iranian territory -- pardon me -- the Palestinian territory there irate. There they are now.

Hamas fighters even snapped photos of each other posing with their rifles pointed in the air. See the pictures there? There's the picture of him stepping right on the face of Arafat. Abbas has dissolved what used to be the Hamas-Fatah coalition government. He plans to swear in an emergency government as a result.

And now, this has happened. Take a look at some of these pictures. Throngs of Fatah forces, angry and armed, have stormed the Hamas-controlled government buildings in the West Bank, trying to get back at them for what they did with those pictures we just showed you. They've been destroying everything in sight. This came as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas prepared to swear in a new prime minister and cabinet over Hamas' objection. So it's really a -- still a tinge of a civil war there.

Straight ahead, also from the cat walks to Kabul, today's CNN hero uses his keen fashion sense to help war widows in his native Afghanistan. His story, 10 minutes from now. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: All right, we've got new video coming in. This is the first time we're seeing the scene from the ground. These pictures coming in just moments ago from Selmer, Tennessee.

As many as four people dead. 15 people are injured. Most of them sent to the hospital. I've been listening to some of these witnesses describe this horrific scene and what now appears to be more of a drag race with thousands of people attending this event there in Selmer, Tennessee.

When suddenly, one of the cars just went out of control and into the stands. Really just creating havoc. They say they saw bodies all over the place. Officials finally arriving at the scene. There you see them. We've been watching some of the power and utility poles, as well; that apparently were knocked down. We don't know what affect that had, but some of the utility companies have been there as well, trying to get it.

We were seeing a bunch of pictures just a little while ago. It looks like we've got a freeze there now. That's just the one picture of the general area. All right. There you go. We've got some more pictures rolling in now. Some of this is unedited video that was just getting into us now. We're expecting there might be a news conference as well. And if we get that, we'll turn it around for you.

Coming up, by the way, the changing world and what the CNN heroes can do to change our world. Who would have pegged a makeup artist as a world changer? We'll have that story. Stay with us. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We welcome you back. Here's one of our favorite segment here at CNN. So often we bring you stories so filled with tragedy and pain like the one we're following tonight out of Tennessee. But all this year, we also are trying to show you the brighter side of things. So we're sharing some good news in the form of, well, good people. We call them CNN heroes. And tonight, we take you to Afghanistan, where a makeup artist has returned home to help the women of his country build a future. Here's his story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Explain to me everything you want to explain.

MATIN MAULAWIZADA, COMMUNITY CRUSADER: Afghanistan offered me a lot. And I wanted to bring a little something back.

It's a tiny project, but I wanted to really make sure to bring something.

Afghan women, they survived years of war, years of suppression. Still, they do. And they prevail. So to me, the strength of Afghan women are just remarkable. And I wanted to work with them.

Widows in particular rely on the mercy of their families. So they kind of become servants. And I wanted to kind of change that one person at a time if I could.

My entire point was to make sure that widows and women be able to proudly work, and be proud of their work, and work outside their house, and provide well for their families. I mean, it's just amazing. It sells itself, really. They read and write equivalent to a fourth grader now. Mentally, they're prepared to go to work. They know how to take measurements. They know how to do -- to write measurements. Once they learn enough, they will basically be business women.

And look at the embroidery on this. I'm hoping that I would send them to courses that they could actually manage a business, grow a business. My whole dream is for them to basically have the confidence to see beautiful objects that they're making and know that people are enjoying and appreciating them. They're doing the work. And all I'm offering is basically an opportunity for them to show what they have.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: There you go. If you want to learn more, by the way, about Matin Maulawizada's organization, you can find that information, everything you need as a matter of fact at CNN.com/heroes.

Once again, before we let you go, we want to let you know that we're following the story through the night on Selmer, Tennessee. This unbelievable accident. It just seems to have taken out as many 20 people. Four to five of them are dead. 15 are injured. And as we get more information, we'll be bringing it to you through the evening.

Before we go tonight, though, we want to get some of your responses in our last call. Question, the death of Edith Rodriguez is a tragedy, but is it also a crime? Well, here's what some of you said about the inaction of some of the folks there in the emergency room.

CALLER: I do believe that they should all be prosecuted. And -- because they are allowed to get away with it this time, what else is going to happen?

CALLER: It was a crime. Crime, crime, crime, crime, crime. Everybody should be prosecuted. Even 911 operator.

CALLER: It's a crime. They took an oath when they became in the medical field to take care of people. And they need a prosecutor for it.

CALLER: My name is Dr. Jeffrey Nacroline (ph). I'm an ER physician and board certified general surgeon. I think this was more a tragedy than a crime, although I think some aggressive prosecutors will try to point it in the criminal direction. But I truly fault the hospital administration for having credentialed what sound like substandard physicians and ER nurses.

CALLER: I think it was a crime, and I think they should be prosecuted. I'm a nurse, and you never leave a patient like that.

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