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Pro Wrestler, Family Dead; Firefighters Battling Blaze Near Lake Tahoe; Immigration Bill Revived in Senate; Paris Hilton Completes Sentence, Released from Jail

Aired June 26, 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 at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
DON LEMON, CO-HOST: And I'm Don Lemon.

As a pro wrestler, Chris Benoit was the Rabid Wolverine, and the Canadian Crippler. Today, he and his wife and their young son are all dead.

PHILLIPS: Investigators say it's a murder-suicide, and we're just now hearing some horrifying details. We'll tell you about them, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

LEMON: The wrestling world grapples with a shocking tragedy outside the ring. New developments right now in the deaths of pro wrestler Chris Benoit, his wife, Nancy, their little boy, Daniel, all found dead at their home in Fayetteville, Georgia, just outside of Atlanta.

CNN's Rusty Dornin is there with the very latest for us.

And now we're hearing reports of how the family died, details, and they're disturbing, Rusty.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, investigators -have been inside this house at Fayetteville, behind the crime tape, all day long, combing that crime scene.

Now, according to Associated Press, we are now understanding that they believe that Chris Benoit strangled his wife, Nancy, smuggled his 6-year-old son, and then hung himself in the weight room.

Now, I understand that Fayette County sheriff's department is telling us that they have no official comment on any of that so far, although they are expecting to have something later today.

Meantime, how the story developed was over the weekend, Benoit was expected to participate in a WWE wrestling event in Houston. He called in, said he had a family emergency, didn't show up. Apparently, friends then said that they received text messages from him, disturbing messages.

WWE called the sheriff's department on Monday and said you better go by and check and see if he and the family are all right. Apparently, they did go by the house, and that's when they discovered the three bodies and did say that they believe that it is a double murder-suicide.

We spoke to some of the neighbors in the neighborhood, and they say that they did not normally see the family outside of the house.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DORNIN: Did you see them in the neighborhood very often?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Occasionally, you'd see her walking up and down the road. A lot of people walk up and down this road. You know, we have a paved road. But hardly ever saw him. Occasionally coming and going. The little boy would play out in the front occasionally. But we really hardly ever saw them.

DORNIN: Were they recluses or just...?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think so. I think -- I think he must have probably just gone out a lot, out of town, and you know, she had a little boy that she'd probably take back and forth to school and things. We just never saw them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DORNIN: So far, the only people to bring flowers, as sort of a memorial, are a couple that used to take the Benoits back and forth to the airport. They say they are stunned by what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He carried his son on a pedestal. He loved that boy. You can watch any pay per view event. Any time he won a match, he had his son in the ring with him. And I just cannot fathom the idea that this -- that he'd done anything to this family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DORNIN: We are standing by here outside the house, awaiting for the sheriff's department to come out and give some kind of press conference, an update, whether to confirm or deny what we are hearing about the manner of death -- Don.

LEMON: Was there anything, Rusty, that was suspicious? Neighbors, anyone who knew them that might sort of preclude this sort of behavior? Have you heard anything about that?

DORNIN: This neighborhood is -- it's very rural. There's even dirt roads to get here. Even though you see the house is very nice. The homes are on very large sort of large estates near a country club. People don't interact a lot on the street, and apparently, most of the people that we've talked to really didn't know them very well.

LEMON: So Rusty, again, we're awaiting -- is it a news conference, or are they just going to come out and speak to the press there?

DORNIN: They're going to talk about, hopefully, the preliminary autopsy results. That is what we have been told. They're also doing some toxicology tests, obviously, to see if there's any kind of drugs that were involved in the deaths. But that would not be coming out for probably another week or two.

LEMON: All right. CNN's Rusty Dornin. Thank you. We'll check back with you.

PHILLIPS: Charred and smoldering ruins, all that's left of many homes near Lake Tahoe after a fast-moving wildfire that broke out Sunday. It's still burning today. And hundreds of homes are still threatened near the California-Nevada border.

CNN's Kara Finnstrom is in the hard-hit community of Meyers -- Kara.

KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, firefighters today are hoping this is going to be a good day for them, Kyra. Winds have subsided. Those were really whipping up the flames. The fire is now about 40 percent contained, and most of it's burning in unpopulated areas, so they're hoping to contain it there.

We earlier this morning had a lot of thick smoke out here. That's lifted, as well. So they're hoping that they'll be able to get up some good water droppers and get real good containment of this fire today.

Now, we're coming to you from here at Coyote Ridge Circle. And this street sign is one of the few things that's left standing on the street. Take a look around us. Everything has pretty much been burnt to the ground.

And just behind us, you can see the fire hydrant and the crank above it, where firefighters actually were trying to put out this fire. The hose here was just left, as if perhaps it just got too hot, and they had to move on. But there's just burnt fire hose all across the scene.

Now what's difficult to get a real good grasp of as we're showing you these little snapshots of the fire is how much of this area was impacted. Two hundred homes, about, were affected. You can see them all across the street. Home after home, just burnt to the ground.

The sheriff's department is now, on its web site, actually making a listing of all the homes so all those homeowners who are not able to come back at this point and see their homes can at least get a feel for the damage or if they may have lost their home altogether.

But here is one of the really strange things we're seeing. All of this devastation. If you look over there, there's a house that is wood, a wood fence, completely untouched. Actually, you can see the char line on the ground and then just green grass.

But a lot of -- a lot of sad stories out here today that we are hearing from a lot of these families who really are anxious to get back and see what has happened to their homes, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Kara, thanks. Appreciate it. We'll keep checking in with you.

Meanwhile, calmer winds have been helping in those wildfires. We're being -- but they're expected to pick up a little later this week.

Our meteorologist, Bonnie Schneider, at the CNN weather center, tracking it all for us. Hey, Bonnie.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: All right. Bonnie Schneider, thanks.

LEMON: Within the past hour, a major victory for President Bush and the backers of an immigration reform bill. The Senate voted to keep the bill alive, but now the real debate begins.

CNN congressional correspondent Dana Bash joins us now from Capitol Hill.

Hi, Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Don.

Well, this definitely is a new lease on life for this immigration bill that was effectively dead on the Senate floor just a few weeks ago. But as you mentioned, by a vote of 64-35, senators said that, you know, they were going to give it one more shot, that they were going to put it back on the Senate floor and have this week to debate it.

Now, it is very important to note that this new lease on life does not necessarily mean that the Senate ultimately will pass this immigration bill. It's a big question mark as to whether that will happen.

And if you just listen to the debate on the Senate floor from opponents and senators who at least wanted to restart the debate, you can hear the divide.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): My concern is the gulf between the promise being made to the American people and the likelihood that that promise will be carried out.

The White House said this is of no concern, because they'll just declare them ineligible and deport them. But the question Americans are asking is will they? Can they?

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: The strikes are too high for inaction. We are the Senate of the United States. People said the issue is too complex. Let's not do it. We have to take hard votes.

But Mr. President, we have an immigration system that's broken and needs to be fixed. That's what we're trying to do, is fix this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: So now what we're going to see, Don, over the next several days is sort of a delicate dance on the Senate floor. Maybe delicate dance from some perspective, I should say, maybe hand-to-hand combat from others.

Because we're going to see about two dozen amendments or attempts to change this delicately crafted compromise. Opponents, Democrats and Republicans, are going to try to make it more to their liking, and you're going to see the authors of it try to at least hold the structure of this compromise together. But maybe make some concessions that they hope will attract the vote to pass this.

Because right now, it is, as I said, a big question mark. There are -- for example, were 24 Republicans who voted yes or this procedural measure to restart debate. But many of those tell us that they're not sure ultimately whether they can support this immigration bill.

LEMON: Congressional correspondent Dana bash. Thank you, Dana.

PHILLIPS: Well, he's a quiet guy who rarely speaks in his own workplace, the U.S. Senate floor. But last night Indiana Republican Richard Lugar spoke, and it resonated far beyond the Capitol.

The ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee publicly attacked President Bush's Iraq strategy for the first time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD LUGAR (R-IN), FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: A course change should happen now, while there is still some possibility of constructing a sustainable bipartisan strategy in Iraq. If the president waits until the presidential election campaign is in full swing, the intensity of confrontation on Iraq is likely to limit the United States' options.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: As you might imagine, many Democrats are applauding, among them Majority Leader Harry Reid.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REID: When this war comes to an end -- and it will come to an end -- and the history books are written -- and they will be written -- I believe that Senator Lugar's words yesterday could be remembered as a turning point in this intractable civil war in Iraq.

But that will depend on whether more Republicans take the stand that Senator Lugar took. Courageous stand last night.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: The White House is downplaying Lugar's remarks, saying, quote, "We've known that he's had reservations about the policy for some time."

LEMON: Well, we've all heard that they like to taste the paste in preschool. But are small children sampling something else that could be dangerous?

PHILLIPS: Home again, home again. Paris Hilton is out of the stir, but what's next, other than "LARRY KING"?

LEMON: And this: Tammy Duckworth lost both legs in Iraq, but now she's afraid of losing much more to war. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: It's 1:15 Eastern Time. Here are some of the stories that we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.

New and disturbing details in the deaths of a popular pro wrestler, his wife and their young son. Police found the bodies of Chris Benoit and his family in their suburban Atlanta home.

The Associated Press cites a law enforcement source who says Benoit hanged himself after strangling his wife and smothering his boy.

A short time ago the immigration reform bill cleared a key congressional hurdle in a test vote. Senators managed to revive the stalled measure. The bill still needs to pass another key vote as early as Thursday.

California firefighters now are racing against time and weather. They've made some progress against the wildfire that's destroyed at least 270 homes and businesses near Lake Tahoe, but they're bracing for higher winds.

LEMON: Well, gone is her orange jumpsuit. Designer duds are back. Paris Hilton is a free woman today, and all is right with the world.

The hotel heiress walked out of a Los Angeles County jail shortly after midnight. Not one to shun the spotlight, Hilton sashayed past a phalanx of cameras to get to her family's SUV.

Our Sibila Vargas is standing by with all the details.

And what was the atmosphere at the jail early this morning? I can only imagine, Sibila.

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I can tell you, it's probably in one word: sensational. Of course, the media has been out here staked for the entire weekend, waiting for that moment, for Paris Hilton to walk the walk. And boy, did she ever. We got reports that right before she actually made the walk, she was in the bathroom, fixing, prepping, doing something with her hair, a little bit of makeup, changing her clothes. And when she got out it was quite the extravaganza: perfect posture, pristine form, in complete Paris Hilton style.

She even stopped and kind of waved to some of the fans that were out here, gave some high fives and then walked into the arms of her mom.

We're told now that she's spending some time in Bel-Air, one of their estates, where she is with her family, celebrating. There were some skeptics that thought, you know what? She could have expressed a little bit more humility. But then again, she served the 23 days in jail, Don, and I've got to tell you, she is a very happy woman, from those pictures there.

LEMON: So I'm wondering if she's going to become, you know, sort of a philanthropist or she's going to do charity work or work with homeless children or Mothers Against Drunk Driving. So I understand you just spoke to her publicist, right? So what did her publicist have to say was next for Paris?

VARGAS: I did. Well, what's next for her, I mean, and I think it's something that she's extremely excited about, is talking to Larry King.

This is where she's supposed to, like, spill it all out. She's going to set the record straight, talk a little bit about the media and how, you know, the media may have portrayed her and what the truth is, what -- how she felt about the L.A. County Sheriff's Department, the judge's decision to send her to jail.

I think those are all the things that they're going to be talking about. Elliott Mintz will be meeting -- he's the publicist. He'll be meeting with her a little later this afternoon.

But like you said, she said she wants to change her life, you know. She said this is a new chapter in her life. I would advise her to speak to, perhaps, Angelina Jolie, who has a lot of experience on changing her ways. She was a bad girl; now she's definitely a good girl.

But she also told Ryan Seacrest that she's thinking about getting into charitable contributions, also perhaps even opening a halfway house. This is actually a statement that she -- she said to him: "I want to build a transitional home, so that when inmates leave here, they have somewhere to go. These women just keep coming back, because they have no home to go to. It's just a really bad cycle. If we can stop now, we can make our community a better place."

Again, these are great words, you know. And obviously, she's probably learned something. She's got some perspective. I'm not sure how many inmates she actually got to talk to, but perhaps she did speak to a few. And she, again, got this perspective, and hopefully, she is on the right path. Certainly hope so. LEMON: Yes, hopefully. Wouldn't it be amazing if she followed through with that? Don't you think?

VARGAS: I think it would be.

LEMON: Yes. She could do a lot of -- a lot of good for the world.

VARGAS: I'm crossing my fingers.

LEMON: All eyes on Paris Hilton for the last couple weeks.

VARGAS: Absolutely.

LEMON: Thank you very much, Sibila Vargas. And all eyes on Paris Hilton tonight -- or tomorrow night, rather. She talks one-on- one with our Larry King. Hear about the hotel heiress' plans tomorrow night, beginning at 9 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

And it seems everyone has an opinion when it comes to Paris Hilton. So we want to know what you think. The hotel heiress speaks to our Larry King tonight, 9 p.m. Eastern -- or tomorrow night. I keep saying tonight. Wednesday night, Wednesday night, 9 p.m. Eastern.

So what do you want to hear from her? E-mail us. The address is CNNnewsroom@CNN.com. And we'll read your responses throughout the afternoon here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: She lost her legs in combat; now she fears losing something even more precious.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAMMY DUCKWORTH, DISABLED IRAQ WAR VETERAN: I am worried. I am worried, and, you know, we're planning for him not making it home.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You planned for that?

DUCKWORTH: We're planning for him being killed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: She's a disabled vet. Now her husband is going to war.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Let's get straight to the Newsroom. T.J. Holmes working details on a developing story out of the Los Angeles area -- T.J.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, this is Santa Clarita. We need to show you here. Trying to figure out exactly what's going on here, where a woman has apparently -- drove off a road down a cliff, ended up in some brush, where an effort has been going on for the past three hours now to find her.

You can just see through there somebody in that white shirt, possibly, and we presume -- well, you can't really make that out. You presume that might be one of the rescuers. I can't exactly tell what that is.

But apparently, this woman went off the road, and folks have been trying to find her. First of all, there was word that possibly she has been located. But there's still an effort being made to get to her.

They used her cell phone to try to exactly pinpoint where she went down in this awfully -- certainly, a lot of brush and whatnot in this area. We are using these pictures from KTLA, our affiliate there, and can't make out much from this picture.

But I just want to update you about what we're seeing and what is happening there. But an effort to find this lady. No idea what kind of condition she may be in right now, if she's hurt, if she's hurt seriously or she's been the one actually communicating with authorities on her cell phone, or they've just been using a signal that sometimes those things send out.

So we're on top of it and trying to figure it all out ourselves. And when we get a better idea and, certainly, an idea of the condition of this lady, we'll bring that to you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, keep tracking it. Thanks, T.J.

LEMON: "Road trip!" It's a famous line from the movie "Animal House", and it's apparently also the mantra for millions of Americans next week. Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange with the latest on the expected crush of holiday travelers.

Hi, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Don.

And maybe we should take John Belushi's movie with us for some entertainment watch while we're waiting, because you're going to see some crowded highways starting this weekend.

More than 41 million Americans are planning Independence Day trips, according to AAA. And that is a record, although it's not as many travelers as there might have been if July 4 didn't fall on a Wednesday.

About 84 percent of folks surveyed plan to hit the road for the holiday, while 11 percent will take to the skies. And because July 4 falls on a Wednesday, we're likely to see more weeklong trips rather than long weekends.

This is also a big time for family trips, because school's out. AAA says two-thirds of those planning trips will travel with at least one child or maybe some adults who act like children, because they're in a lot of traffic, Don. They don't count them. LEMON: That -- that would be me.

LISOVICZ: Yes. You're in good -- you're in good company, Don.

LEMON: Oh, yes. OK. So, you know, this is a serious subject, though. And speaking of travel, there's an important tire recall that we want people to know about. Do you remember a couple of years ago, there was a huge tire recall?

LISOVICZ: Absolutely. Almost put the company out of business.

LEMON: Yes.

LISOVICZ: This recall does sound eerily familiar, Don, because the defective tires we're talking about now are missing a safety feature that prevents tread separation. That's the problem that led to the recall of millions of Firestone tires in 2000. It's a defect that can have deadly consequences.

The tires were made in China, and that's also eerily familiar, echoing problems we've been talking about this year, with pet food and toothpaste.

The recall involves nearly half a million tires with the brand names West Lake, Telluride, Compass, and YKS. If you have tires with any of those brands, you'll want to get them checked out right away. And before any road trip, you should always check your tires.

(STOCK REPORT)

LISOVCIZ: Coming up in the next hour, so you've budgeted $600 for the iPhone. Why that is not enough. I'll have the 411 on the minutes plan next.

Don and Kyra, in the meantime, back to you.

LEMON: You're breaking my heart, Susan Lisovicz. All right.

LISOVICZ: I know. I know you want it bad.

LEMON: Well -- all right. I'll see you in a bit. Thanks.

PHILLIPS: Well, a colorful career ends in three shocking deaths. Police call it a murder-suicide. Now investigators and fans are left to figure out what went wrong for pro wrestler Chris Benoit. Details, straight ahead, in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Hi, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon. She lost both legs in Iraq. Now she's worried about losing so much more as her husband ships out. Tammy Duckworth battles her own fear here in the CNN NEWSROOM. A larger than life pro wrestler and his family found dead. Police think it's a murder-suicide and we now have new, disturbing details. We're waiting for autopsy results on WWE wrestler Chris Benoit, his wife and their seven-year-old son. Their bodies were found yesterday in their suburban Atlanta home. Citing law enforcement sources, the Associates Press says Benoit strangled his wife and smothered his son and then hanged himself in his weight room. USA Network and Worldwide Wrestling Entertainment aired a three-hour tribute to Benoit last night after WWE founder Vince McMahon made this tragic announcement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VINCE MCMAHON, WWE CHAIRMAN: In reality, WWE superstar Chris Benoit, his wife Nancy and their son Daniel are dead. Their bodies were discovered this afternoon in their new suburban Atlanta home. The authorities are doing an investigation. We here in the WWE can only offer our condolences to the extended family of Chris Benoit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Friends say they received strange text messages from Benoit over the weekend during which he missed a wrestling event in Houston.

PHILLIPS: British prime minister one day, Mideast peace envoy the next. On his last full day at the helm of the British government, Tony Blair hosted California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to discuss the environment. The two formed a partnership last year to explore ways to fight global warming. But Mr. Blair soon will focus on another matter. State Department officials say he'll become an envoy for the Mideast quartet. Mr. Blair didn't acknowledge the appointment today, but spoke about his desire to see peace in the region.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Anybody who cares about greater peace and stability in the world, knows that the last thing an enduring resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian issue is essential and as I've said on many occasions, I would do whatever I could to help such a resolution come about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: The announcement and Mr. Blair's appointment is expected tomorrow.

You may remember Tammy Duckworth, the Iraq war veteran that lost both her legs in combat. Then she lost a close race for Congress last fall. Now she fears losing something even more important, her husband. Duckworth's story is part of a CNN documentary investigating veterans healthcare. Here is our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The farewell parade playing out in small towns across America, young men and women marching off to war. In Delavan, Illinois, Iraq war veteran Tammy Duckworth watches the troops go by. She lost both legs in Iraq and now worries she may lose something even more precious, her husband Bryan Bowlsbey. Today, ease the one headed to the danger zone.

In September 2004, Tammy's tour of Iraq came to a tragic end.

TAMMY DUCKWORTH, DISABLED IRAQI WAR VETERAN: I just heard the tap, tap, tap, then I remember a big orange fireball in my face.

GUPTA: Her helicopter had been hit by a rocket propelled grenade.

DUCKWORTH: I don't remember my physical feelings, other than absolute frustration that the pedals of the aircraft were not responding to my pushing on them.

GUPTA: The pedals weren't responding why? You know now.

DUCKWORTH: Yeah, I didn't have any legs.

GUPTA: But tragedy brought a new sense of purpose.

DUCKWORTH: My name is Tammy Duckworth, and I'm here today to fight for my country.

GUPTA: She ran for Congress.

DUCKWORTH: The policymakers have failed us. We should focus on military resources on pursuing the terrorists who attacked our country and on capturing Osama bin Laden. Instead, President Bush and his top advisers decided to invade Iraq.

GUPTA: She fell less than 5,000 votes short of a win. Her husband Brian at her side as she conceded the tight election.

DUCKWORTH: It's OK, we put up a tough fight, folks.

GUPTA: On this day, the loss is more personal.

DUCKWORTH: I'm going to miss you.

GUPTA: You just had this happen, this awful thing happen to you over there and you must worry that something like this might happen to him.

DUCKWORTH: I am worried and we're planning for him not making it home.

GUPTA: You planned it?

DUCKWORTH: We're planning for him being killed. He's going to doing one of the most dangerous things you can do, which is running convoys.

GUPTA: You are planning for your husband to be killed.

DUCKWORTH: And then that's the worst case and then we'll pray that he doesn't get hurt and gets to come home.

GUPTA: Brian is torn between caring for his disabled wife at home and serving his country overseas. The weight of his emotion cleared when we asked him if he ever considered staying back with Tammy.

MAJ. BRYAN BOWLSBEY, TAMMY'S HUSBAND: I won't say it never crossed my mind, but I just -- I can't. It's not -- I mean there -- no, that's just not -- not what we do. So -- when I look left and right at everybody else in the battalion formation with me, they are all needed here to.

GUPTA: Bryan fought 19 years in the army National Guard, but has never deployed until now.

BOWLSBEY: It was unexpected that it would happen this year, is the only wild card in the whole thing. It kind of makes you -- OK, I thought I had an extra year to get the house ready.

GUPTA: He spent the last few months preparing their home so Tammy can be more self-sufficient. But on this day, Bryan must leave his wife behind.

DUCKWORTH: I'm just going to miss him. I'm going to miss my best friend. But he's under orders to come home. I'm the household commander at this point and he's under orders to come home, so -- he would be disobeying a direct order and I do outrank him by a few months, so --

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Want to break away to the NEWSROOM, T.J. Holmes, details now on that woman that has driven off the road. Pretty good rescue pictures.

HOLMES: Yeah, they got her. Finally found her this is a live picture of the rescue that just happened. You can see her still dangling there with one of the rescuers, there from that helicopter, but this is in Santa Clarita, this picture coming to us live pictures from KTLA, one chopper shooting another chopper here with this video. But the trick here was that she was in an area with a lot of brush. You can see that area. This is the picture, the new video we just saw. It happened moments ago. A lot of brush, area there, and they couldn't pinpoint where she was.

She had a cell phone that they were using to try to get a better idea or get near her and they were actually even for a while could hear her. The rescuers there on the ground could hear her, but still couldn't get to her. This took some -- several hours to pinpoint exactly where she was. We don't know about her injuries. We assume she is injured in some way, form, or fashion since she wasn't just able to get up and walk out and wave here I am. But took her car off a cliff earlier this morning and has been going through an ordeal the past several hours, not being able to get up and jump up and down and wave and say here I am and waiting for somebody to pluck her out. A needle in a haystack, a person in a haystack is essentially what it's been for the past several hours. She's finally been found and again don't know how badly injured she is. And sure we'll get an update on that. But the rescue has happened. They have found her, so so far, a happy ending and hopefully not injured too bad there Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, T.J. appreciate it.

LEMON: He's being held on $5 million bond, accused of murdering girl friend Jessie Davis and her unborn baby. But Bobby Cutts still has his defenders. The Canton, Ohio cop's stepmother is stepping up. It's very hard to accept, said Barbara Cutts. A lot of people are looking at him like a bad person, but he's not, he really isn't unquote. Cutts and his friend Myisha Ferrell will next be in court on Monday for preliminary hearings. Ferrell is charged with obstruction of justice. Meantime, Davis' two-year old son Blake who may have witnessed the crime, is in the care of his grandmother. Patricia Porter won temporary custody of the boy yesterday.

An update on the massacre on Virginia Tech now. The investigation is taking detectives back to a pond on the Blacksburg campus. The school and authorities plan to drain it. They think some clues might be at the bottom, the gunman reported to have been near that pond the day of the shootings. Authorities aren't saying just what they are looking for, although the hard drive from the gunman's computer has not been found.

PHILLIPS: He could run, but luckily he couldn't hide. We're learning more about the deadly escape of white supremacist and convicted felon Curtis Allgier. After allegedly killing a corrections officer while out of a prison on a hospital visit yesterday, Allgier ended up at a Salt Lake City Arby's. While there, patrons say he fired at least one shot that didn't hit anyone. He also reportedly tried to taken an employee hostage, but was disarmed by a former Army paratrooper Eric Fullerton. Police say the whole thing was a crime of opportunity and that the easily recognizable Allgier hadn't really planned out his escape.

LEMON: This sure comes as quite a surprise and parents, listen up. You buy them because you figure they will help keep your family safe from germs, but there may be a hidden danger in those hand sanitizers. They can put your kids at risk. Details ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: And our e-mail question of the day, what do you want to hear from Paris Hilton? The address is cnnnewsroom@cnn.com. We'll read your answers throughout the newscast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Kids use it to keep their hands germ free, but can a common hand sanitizer make them sick? Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen here with a few answers. Scientists have been looking into this right. ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They have been looking into this because there have been reports of like a prisoner intentionally got drunk off this stuff.

PHILLIPS: No?

COHEN: Yes.

PHILLIPS: That's like an urban myth.

COHEN: No, "New England Journal of Medicine" (INAUDIBLE) because did you know in this little four-ounce bottle of hand sanitizer is as much alcohol as is in four shots of vodka? I am holding four shots of vodka, if you can believe it.

PHILLIPS: And that sells for what 99 cents. Hey!

COHEN: It's a lot cheaper and you don't need the shot glass. What we are trying to say here is that parents need to be very wary of this. They need to make sure that their kids don't get a hold of this stuff and start guzzling it. You could have a very drunk and sick toddler on your hands. So you need to be careful. Treat this stuff like you would say household bleach. Keep it out of reach of children. Purele, the people who make a lot of this stuff, they say it's safe when you use effectively, safe when you use it the way you're supposed to use it as directed. (INAUDIBLE) Don't be stupid.

PHILLIPS: Kids will put it on their hands, whatever and sometimes they might put their fingers in their mouth. Is that dangerous?

COHEN: That's not so much a problem. Even though there is a ton of alcohol in this stuff, there's not that much alcohol. So for example, let me show you an example. If you take this and squirt it, that one squirt that you see right there I just did. I'll do another one. That squirt, that is about a sip of a mixed drink. So you can think of it that way. If your kid would have put this on their hands and then by accident licked their hands, it's not going to do them harm.

PHILLIPS: You got a little too much there. I'll help you out. Don, we'll share it with you too. So then what if parents don't want to worry about this? They want something -- should they not use this at all and use the, what are they, the handy wipes, or the wet ones.

COHEN: Whatever happened to good old fashioned soap and water?

PHILLIPS: You're the mom of four kids. Hello, how do you do that in the car? You're driving, the kid spills something. You want to hand them something, right. You don't have time to do soap and water.

COHEN: You could hand them this. Lets face it, I would never hand it, for example to my nine-month-old because she would probably try to drink it. But if I handed this to my 10-year-old she would probably be smart enough to just use it on her hands and that's it. So you have to think about the age of the child. And I think sometimes we just forget, you know what? Kids get dirty, it's OK. Soap and water will take care of it. We were all raised on soap and water. If the alcohol in this bothers you and you're worried that your child is going to get a hold of it and guzzle it, keep it out of house and just use soap and water.

PHILLIPS: Do we know if these actually do work 100 percent?

COHEN: These are good. They use them in hospitals. These will get rid of the germs, there's no question. But there is a ton of alcohol. It's like 65 percent alcohol. That's way more than beer or wine or a mixed drink. That's a lot of alcohol.

PHILLIPS: We have now just told everybody how to get free and easy booze. A lot different from a little gray goose. Thanks Elizabeth.

LEMON: From alcohol to herbs.

Echinacea may help fight sniffles after all. A review of a number of recent studies has scientists rethinking what they believed about the herb. Researchers say it may (INAUDIBLE) not only lessens the symptoms of a cold, for some folks it helps to prevent them. The herb is believed to boost the body's immune system. This disputes earlier studies which downplayed Echinacea's influence.

An unexpected side effect from devastating hurricanes. Teens affected by Katrina or Rita are more likely to smoke according to a study by the University of Texas health science center. Researchers studied more than 5,100 students in southeast Texas, Thirty eight percent who had a family member hurt of the -- or killed by the 2005 hurricanes began smoking. That is compared to 13 percent of teen smokers who didn't suffer ill effect from the storms. The study's author believes teens turned to tobacco to deal with the added stress.

PHILLIPS: Was it just a schoolyard fight or a case of attempted murder?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was getting kicked and stomped.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know. You tell me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Parents of a beating victim speak exclusively to CNN. We've got both sides of (INAUDIBLE) story.

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LEMON: Anyway, John, Paul, George and Ringo, the Beatles. They changed the course of music history and tonight, Larry King is live in Las Vegas with a one of a kind gathering to honor the fab four.

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LARRY KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a very unusual "Larry King Live" tonight. It's the one year celebration of love, the Cirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas. And Paul and Ringo and Yoko and Olivia are all going to be here and so will I to celebrate it. It's going to be a show like you have never seen before. Live tonight 9:00 Eastern right here on CNN. Don't miss it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: That is one of my all-time favorite songs. Before U2 and Live Aid, the Beatles made television history 40 years ago this week in front of 400 million people. Beatles historian and political writer Martin Lewis joins us later on in the CNN NEWSROOM to tell us just how they did it. Can't wait for that.

PHILLIPS: Also the simple life to the flashing lights of the paparazzi. Paris Hilton walks out of jail. Actually, she bolted out of jail. She was released just past midnight after serving more than three weeks of her 45-day sentence. Hilton still on probation until March of 2009 for driving on a suspended license. She can trim a year off with community service though so what does her future hold? Paris Hilton talked exclusively to our Larry King tomorrow night at 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 Pacific right here on CNN. And it seems everyone has an opinion when it comes to Paris Hilton. So we want to know what you think. The hotel heiress speaks to our Larry King tomorrow night 9:00 p.m. Eastern. What do you want to hear from her? Do you care? E-mail us. The address is cnnnewsroom@cnn.com. We'll read your responses throughout the afternoon.

LEMON: Singing politicians move over. Ted Kennedy is in the house. The senator's Spanish serenade ahead in CNN NEWSROOM. What is going on?

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PHILLIPS: He has been a vocal critic of the Bush administration and now he's been critiqued for his own vocals. CNN's Jeanne Moos is on Senator Kennedy's serenade.

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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You've heard him speak in that cultivated Kennedy way. Wait until you hear his Spanish serenade.

SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D) MASSACHUSETTS: I sing my song to you now. Shall I sing my song?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, why not.

MOOS: His amnesty lullaby. Ted Kennedy sings en espanol. That can't possibly be real, someone posted. Want to bet?

VOICE OF EDUARDO SOTELO, KSCA RADIO: He was feeling so good on the show that he decided to sing. MOOS: Eduardo Sotelo is the star of America's top rated morning radio show geared toward the huge Latino audience. After a glowing intro, the senator broke into a song celebrating the Mexican state that's home to the city of Guadalajara. And with that performance, Senator Kennedy joined the ranks of singing politicos like former Attorney General John Ashcroft.

MOOS: OK, so not every singing politician soars, some bomb, literally.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R) ARIZONA: That old Beach Boy song, bomb Iran.

MOOS: Senator Kennedy's performance didn't quite reach the seared into your memory forever status of Karl Rove's or even Colin Powell doing the YMCA spoof for fellow diplomats with backup singers dressed up like the Village People. No, Senator Kennedy didn't go that far. Hey, at least he knew the words in Spanish. Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert was unsure of these words in English.

No good song goes unpunished if it's a politician singing it. Of course, if the singing is done in the name of comedy, even politicians get a pass.

MCCAIN: For over 20 years, I've had Barbra Streisand trying to do my job, so I decided to try my hand at her job.

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