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Immigration Bill Faces Make-or-Break Vote in Senate; Major Rulings From Supreme Court; Saving Orphans in India; Senate Defeats Advance of Immigration Reform Bill

Aired June 28, 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: And I'm Heidi Collins. Good morning to you.

Developments keep coming into the CNN NEWSROOM on June 29th.

Here's what's on the rundown.

Minutes ago, major rulings from a divided Supreme Court: 5-4 against racial quotas and school admissions, 5-4 against execution of the mentally ill.

HARRIS: Central Texas under the gun right now. Moments ago, a new flash flood warning went up for several towns in the Austin region.

COLLINS: The iPhone rings tomorrow. Today, hard-core Apple groupies answering the call.

A bad case of I-Lust in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: And right now voting is about to get under way on one of the most volatile political issues out there. An immigration bill faces a make-or-break vote in the Senate. Debate going on right now, and by all accounts it is simply too close to call.

The supporters, Democrats and the president. The opponents, many of Mr. Bush's own Republicans. If they can shelve the measure, it likely won't resurface until 2009. By then, a new president and a new Congress will be in power.

Following the vote, CNN Congressional Correspondent Andrea Koppel on Capitol Hill.

And Andrea, describe this picture. What are we seeing now with Leader Reid?

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you see the Democratic leader, Harry Reid, who's having the final word before this procedural vote takes place within the next few minutes presumably. Needed 60 votes in order to cut off debate and then move forward to final debate on remaining 20 or so amendments before there is a final vote on immigration reform. That said, if they do not reach the 60 votes -- and as you said, Tony, both sides are saying it's too close to call at this moment -- then immigration reform, for all intents and purposes, would be dead.

Now, we've heard that before. We were saying as much just a couple of weeks ago. But both sides claim that there is no way that they would not be able to bring this bill back up before this Congress ends.

So this vote is do or die for immigration reform. If it passes, the big vote would take place either Friday or Saturday -- Tony.

HARRIS: And you are watching it of course on Capitol Hill.

Our Congressional Correspondent Andrea Koppel.

Andrea, thank you.

COLLINS: Right now public support for the overhaul is weak. A CNN-Opinion Research Corporation opinion poll finds 30 percent of Americans favor the bill. Almost half oppose it. And 19 percent say they do not know enough about it to have an opinion.

HARRIS: President Bush asserts executive privilege and moves toward a constitutional showdown with Congress over those fired federal prosecutors. The White House is refusing to turn over subpoena documents for former presidential counsel Harriet Miers and former political director Sara Taylor.

Today was the deadline for handing them over. The White House also made it clear Miers and Taylor will not testify next month. The stalemate could end up with contempt citations and a court battle over separation of powers.

COLLINS: Unfolding right now in Washington, two major Supreme Court rulings on two emotional issues -- affirmative action and the death penalty. Justices handed down decisions in both case within the past hour.

CNN's Brian Todd is at the court.

Hey there, Brian. These were pretty interesting rulings. Two more 5-4 decisions.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's correct, Heidi. And the one that's getting the most attention at the moment is the one on affirmative issues.

Justices moments ago the court recessed, and justices on both sides of that ruling just finished reading their opinions out loud. That's somewhat of a rarity in court history, but it's been happening more and more lately.

Here's the gist of it: 5-4 striking down the policies of two school systems in the United States, Seattle, Washington, and Louisville, Kentucky, which used race as a determining factor in determining who got the remaining competitive spots in public schools when those spots were just about filled up. The Supreme Court ruling just a short time ago those two policies of using race as a factor to determine that unconstitutional.

They reversed lower court rulings on those -- on those issues. And the opinions were pretty passionate on both sides. I'll read you excerpts of a couple of them.

Chief Justice John Roberts read his opinion out loud. "For schools that never segregated on the basis of race, such as Seattle, or that have removed the vestiges of past segregation, such as Jefferson County" -- and that's Louisville, Kentucky -- "the way to achieve a system of determining admission to the public schools on a nonracial basis" -- quoting Brown versus Board of Education -- "is to stop assigning students on a racial basis."

That opinion from Chief Justice John Roberts.

Passions equally as high on the other side. The dissenting opinion justice, Stephen Breyer, reading his opinion out loud. Apparently very passionate. What we're told is that he kept referring to the majority opinion as wrong.

But here's another quote from another dissenter, Justice John Paul Stevens. "The history books do not tell stories of white children struggling to attend black schools. In this and other ways, the chief justice rewrites the history of one of this court's most important decision." That being Brown versus Board of Education.

Passions high, very high on both sides. And it seems to be getting a little bit personal among the justices -- Heidi.

COLLINS: All right. CNN's Brian Todd breaking it down for us.

Brian, thank you.

TODD: Thank you.

HARRIS: And we're getting information this morning about a search for two people possibly missing in the central Texas floods. That word from police in Williamson County.

Days of torrential downpours are taking a real toll on the region. Marble Falls got about a foot and a half of rain in one day. The mayor says it's the worst he's ever seen. Dozens of people across central Texas have been rescued. The Texas National Guard sending troops and vehicles to the region.

More rain fell overnight. And it is still coming down today.

COLLINS: Gaining ground. Firefighters say that massive fire near Lake Tahoe is now 55 percent contained, but terrible winds could be blowing in later today.

As many as 200 homes already in ruins. More than 3,000 people forced to evacuate. Most of them still out of their homes.

Investigators say human activity likely caused the fire. And it will be days before it is under control.

HARRIS: Boy, let's get a check on the conditions impacting both of those regions, both of those stories. Chad Myers here in the weather center for us.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: We are also watching this. As you can see, this is the voting that is taking place on the immigration bill.

We've been talking about it for a very, very long time now. Today, as you see it on your screen, is the make-or-break Senate vote. They need 60 votes to make this thing go forward.

It does not mean, of course, that it will pass. Many, many more steps. Many amendments to look at, to debate, and so on and so forth.

If they do get the 60 votes, then that process, there could be some more things that are finalized by Friday. But still, I believe if they get the 60 votes this will continue for who knows how long before they get the final bill passed.

As you may understand, this very broad immigration bill embraces what some critics call amnesty, where several people who already live here in this country came here illegally would be legalized after paying a fine. So that is one of the main issues, of course, in this very broad-ranging immigration bill.

We will continue to follow it and let you know if there's a final vote.

HARRIS: And still ahead, Paris Hilton, the CNN interview with our Larry King. First, Paris Hilton, the tease.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Think you got a raw deal? Do you?

PARIS HILTON, RECENTLY RELEASED FROM JAIL: Yes, I do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: The socialite talks about her time in jail.

COLLINS: Also, from our Don Lemon, how a young woman opened her heart to orphans and inspired a young man to part with $20,000.

HARRIS: When the cat's away the insurgents come back. Iraqi forces facing a key test after a battleground is secured.

COLLINS: And grainy images. Watch closely, though. A pickpocket picks the wrong pocket. That's for the sure. The lowdown on the deep down coming up in just a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Our CNN senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, is outside the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C.

Boy, you saw this one coming on affirmative action, didn't you, Jeffrey?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Boy, Tony, you know, 15 minutes ago the Supreme Court was at war with itself...

HARRIS: Whoa.

TOOBIN: ... in a drama that is rarely seen inside that room. You had two justices basically shouting out. Not literally, but talking about the very premises of what it means to be an American. That was what was at stake in the court today, and the drama and the anger and the passion is something that's rarely seen in that courtroom.

Chief Justice John Roberts saying that the students who didn't get -- the white students who didn't get the school of their choice in Louisville and Seattle were equivalent to the black students in Brown v. Board of Education who were denied access to integrated schools in Topeka, Kansas.

HARRIS: Oh boy.

TOOBIN: Stephen Breyer responding, "You have got to be kidding me that the efforts in good faith of these schools in Louisville and Seattle, to integrate their schools, to make sure that there's diversity, how dare you compare that to the discrimination of Jim Crow?"

I mean, it was a fascinating illustration of just how divided this court is at this moment.

HARRIS: And the school systems in question weren't talking about a 50-50 balance, were they? They were just talking about meeting a threshold of about 15 percent of balance, diversity in the schools.

TOOBIN: Actually, and very few students were actually effected by this program.

HARRIS: So a narrow decision here.

TOOBIN: Well, in these -- in the school plans, the vast majority of the students in both Seattle and Kentucky got their first choice.

HARRIS: Sure.

TOOBIN: They got to choose. But a handful of students were not given their first choice because in Kentucky the school wanted to make sure -- the school board wanted to make sure that no school had fewer than 15 percent minorities or more than 50 percent minorities. That was the balance they were trying to achieve, and Stephen Breyer said, fine, there's nothing wrong with that, that's exactly what school boards should be allowed to do.

But the majority of the court said no. That was the use of race. That was a violation of the equal protection of the laws, and the Constitution is color blind.

That's what the majority view was. I think a lot of school boards are now going to have to re-evaluate their policies if they consider race at all.

HARRIS: Do you believe that's the way it's going to play out? Because when I say narrow, we're talking about a few slots here that were at question. Do you think that will lead to school systems around the country re-evaluating the programs?

TOOBIN: I do, absolutely, Tony, because what this court said was, even though only a few slots were determined by race, that's too many.

HARRIS: Yes.

TOOBIN: You just simply can't consider race in deciding which school which kids go to. Justice Kennedy, who was the swing vote, suggested that maybe possibly you could do it sometimes. But clearly the message of the court majority here is that race is out as a consideration in school assignments. And a lot of districts still use it and are considering using it, and they're going to have to change.

HARRIS: So, do you predict the majority view of this decision is going to be that it is a decision that is a setback for affirmative action in this country?

TOOBIN: Absolutely. Absolutely.

HARRIS: OK.

TOOBIN: That this is a decision that says school districts cannot use any racially -- racial factors to decide how to assign kids. This was a victory for conservatives.

Justice Breyer used a phrase, "Never in the history of the court have so few done so much so quickly." And he was talking about Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito making this court a far more conservative institution in just one year. And at that phrase, "Never have so few done so much so quickly," both Justice Alito and Chief Justice Roberts kind of looked over at Breyer and went, whoa, that's pretty personal by the standards of the Supreme Court.

HARRIS: Man, that is -- I think we had a sense even when we were talking about it earlier this morning that this decision could reverberate and be huge. And I certainly hear you saying that.

TOOBIN: Oh, absolutely. I mean, this is going to rank with the gray (ph) important school desegregation opinions of the court's history, starting with Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. This one, of course, is one where the school districts were told they couldn't integrate their schools.

HARRIS: Yes.

TOOBIN: So, coming from the opposite direction. In fact, Justice Breyer read a series of opinions where he said this opinion goes in the exact opposite direction.

HARRIS: Our CNN senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, on this.

Jeffrey, appreciate it. Thanks for your time. Thanks for your thoughts.

TOOBIN: OK, Tony.

COLLINS: On guard at the borders. In Washington, on edge. A crucial vote this morning on immigration overhaul. We'll tell you about it coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Call it the power of one. A young American woman trades her college dorm for the slums of India.

Our Don Lemon found her there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Just walk with Elizabeth Sholtys through one of the poorest slums in Puna, India, and you'll see why this 23-year-old is beloved here.

ELIZABETH SHOLTYS, ORPHAN OUTREACH WORKER: This is -- this is our outreach project. We do education for street girls.

LEMON: Outreach in her spare time.

SHOLTYS: One, two, three!

LEMON: Full time, she runs a home for street children that she started here while still a freshman at Emory University in Atlanta.

SHOLTYS: I would sit here at night after tucking the kids into bed, and I would do my homework. And then I would just send it by e- mail. Yes.

LEMON: Now four years later, she's the guardian of nine Indian children.

JYOTI, CHILD IN ORPHANAGE: I have three sisters and five brothers.

LEMON: Not exactly the Brady Bunch. Elizabeth said most of the children had problems when she got them, from alcoholism to abuse issues. They didn't go to school. They didn't speak English. SHOLTYS: Everybody have their notebooks snout?

LEMON: But for two years they've been a growing family. She's enrolled them in private school and also tutors them herself.

(on camera): Did you guys sing the ABC song?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: Yes.

LEMON: Can you sing it for me?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN (SINGING): A, B, C, D, E, F, G...

LEMON (voice over): But it's more than just ABCs. It's discipline and team work.

Even the meals here are a family affair. It's expensive, and she relies on personal grants and donations. She's hoping to get a bigger home so she can help six more children.

Eight thousand miles away, where Elizabeth was to graduate this May, people were taking notice of her work.

ROBBIE BROWN, ELIZABETH SHOLTYS' CLASSMATE: I felt great, yes.

LEMON: Especially Robbie Brown, who was also about to graduate and had just been awarded $20,000 from Emory for his exceptional leadership.

BROWN: I tried to think of how I could make $20,000 go the farthest, and I immediately thought of the work that she was doing there.

LEMON: Robbie gave it all to Elizabeth.

SHOLTYS: And that's incredible. That's selflessness right there.

BROWN: I'm inspired by her, like most people are.

LEMON (on camera): That simple?

BROWN: Yes.

LEMON (voice over): Elizabeth graduated in May. The expensive plane ticket from India, Robbie and his classmates convinced the school to pay for it.

SHOLTYS: I can't believe that everything's actually fallen into place.

LEMON: A little help going a long way, bridging borders and oceans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Holy cow. What a great story. Good for you.

Don Lemon joining us now to share a little bit more about...

LEMON: She's the amazing one.

COLLINS: ... her. I mean, yes, really incredible.

How did she first get the idea to do this? I mean, she does everything out of her house for these children.

LEMON: Yes. Well, she was -- it was unusual, because she was in school here in the U.S., in New York, and she decided to see her senior year abroad instead of spending it, her senior year, at home. So she did two years abroad, volunteering to help students in India, to help street children in India.

She got the idea because she said she thought it was impersonal, they weren't learning anything, they weren't learning to speak English. And so they were just sitting there.

And she said, you know, I want to do this and I want to do it better. And so she opened up her -- went through a lot of red tape and opened up her own home for street children.

COLLINS: Wow. It's amazing, because, you know, we do hear a lot about kids going and studying abroad, and then some of them go on to try to teach English and so forth. But very rarely -- I never have before, in fact, heard of someone who takes in nine children and becomes their legal guardian.

LEMON: Yes.

Well, when I spoke to them, her and Robbie Brown, the guy who gave here the $20,000, I said, "Why are you guys doing this? What is with it?" And they said, "Well, we realize that a higher education should be used for something other than enriching yourself."

So I think these kids get it. And I think it's important that a lot of people get it, especially with what's going on. We hear about Paris Hilton, all of that, has all this money and really doesn't do much. I think these kids are really getting it, and I think they should be an example that we look to.

COLLINS: No question. An example for sure. That's right.

LEMON: Yes.

COLLINS: We do have some breaking news, Don, to get to. So thank you for the great story.

LEMON: Thank you.

COLLINS: Tony, back over to you.

HARRIS: Let's get to that breaking news. Our congressional correspondent, Andrea Koppel, is standing by -- Andrea. KOPPEL: Tony, this vote hasn't been gaveled yet. There is no final vote. But according to CNN's tally thus far, it appears that the immigration reform measure does not have the votes needed to cut off debate.

That would mean that at this stage, immigration reform would be dead. That's in the words of some senators leading up to this morning's vote.

We heard from Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter, saying if they didn't get the 60 needed immigration reform, for all intents and purposes, it dies, at least for this Congress -- Tony.

HARRIS: So, Andrea, the Senate needed to get to 60 votes to get to cloture, which means that the bill would have moved forward to the debate on the amendments. And then votes on the various amendments before we had a final bill in its final form that could be voted on. But we're not even going to get to that point.

KOPPEL: Well, they have -- they've already begun debate on some of the amendments. There were about 27.

HARRIS: Yes.

KOPPEL: They debated and voted on seven of them. What would have happened the rest of today and tomorrow is that they would have debated the remaining amendments and gone to a final vote. But this clearly is a huge blow...

HARRIS: Yes.

KOPPEL: ... not only to the Republican and Democratic supporters of immigration reform on both the left and the right, but also for President Bush. This was his top domestic priority.

There is still an outside chance that some senators could switch their votes before the vote is gaveled. But as of this moment, CNN believes that there are more than enough votes now to prevent a cutoff of debate, which would mean that immigration reform, again, for this Congress, according to senators who have been deeply involved in this issue, that immigration reform would not pass this Congress -- Tony.

HARRIS: Our congressional correspondent, Andrea Koppel, for us this morning.

Andrea, thank you.

And still to come this morning, right now public support for the overhaul is very weak. And a CNN-Opinion Research Corporation poll finds 30 percent of Americans favor the bill. Almost half oppose it. And 19 percent say they don't know enough about it to have an opinion.

COLLINS: It's only a cell phone. Yeah, right.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the next generation. It's the future. I need it in my pocket. I'm crazy like that. I need it. I have to have it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: And he's not alone. Ringing up iPhone mania after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.

11:30 on the East Coast.

HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris.

Welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM.

Let's show everyone that shot of the Senate floor. Breaking news now.

As you can see, the Senate defeats the advancement of the immigration reform bill. The vote, 46-53. As you know, in order for this procedural vote to pass, 60 votes were needed.

Our congressional correspondent, Andrea Koppel, joins us again now.

And Andrea, I guess as I give this number, the final vote has been gaveled.

KOPPEL: It has. As CNN reported a few minutes ago before the gavel went through, it looked like this bill was going to go down in flames, and it has by seven votes.

The supporters of immigration reform failed to get the 60 votes needed to pass this procedural hurdle which would have brought it to a final vote tomorrow. That means, for all intents and purposes, immigration reform will not be passed before the end of this 110th Congress.

This is a tremendous blow to President Bush, who had two of his cabinet secretaries up here in recent weeks, morning, noon and night, working both sides of the aisle. This was a top domestic priority for him. It would have been the most sweeping immigration reform to have passed through Congress.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It still had to go to the House, but it would have been the most sweeping immigration reform in over 20 years, setting up both a temporary worker program, and earned path to legalized citizenship as well as many other steps that now, Tony, will not happen according to members on both sides of the aisle.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: What a development. Our congressional correspondent Andrea Koppel for us this morning, Andrea, thank you.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: Twenty bodies decapitated found just outside Baghdad today. Iraqi coalition forces are investigating. And meanwhile, carnage inside the capital, at least 22 people killed in a car bombing at a bus station. Plus, a car bombing at a filling station and mortar attacks at a marketplace, another six people dead.

And on that note, President Bush is speaking now at the naval war college in Newport, Rhode Island. It's the first time he's been there. He'll be addressing some of these new offensives under way in some of the most volatile regions of the country. Let's listen.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... leaked intelligence report that was pessimistic about our prospects there. One columnist summed it up this way, the war is over in Anbar province and the United States lost. About the same time some folks were writing off Anbar, our troops were methodically clearing Anbar's capital city of Ramadi of terrorists and winning the trust of the local population.

In parallel with these efforts, a group of tribal sheiks launched a movement called the awakening and began cooperating with American and Iraqi forces. These sheiks, these leaders were tired of murder and tired of mayhem that al Qaeda had brought to their towns and communities. They knew exactly who these folks were. To capitalize on the opportunity, I sent more Marines into Anbar and gradually they've been helping the locals take back their province from al Qaeda. These operations are showing good results. Our forces are going into parts of Anbar where they couldn't operate before.

With the help of Iraqi and coalition forces, local Sunni tribes have driven al Qaeda from most of Ramadi. The attacks there are now down to a two-year low. Recruitment (ph) of Iraqi police forces now draws thousands of candidates compared to a few hundred just a few months ago. This month Anbar opens its first police academy. And as the slide shows, overall attacks in Anbar are sharply down from this time last year.

Despite successes, Anbar province remains a dangerous place. Why? Because al Qaeda wants their base of operations back. It's working to assassinate sheiks and intimidate the local population. We've got to prepare ourselves for more violence and more setbacks. But a province that had been written off as hopeless, now enjoys a level of peace and stability that was unimaginable only a few months ago.

We're hoping to replicate the success we've had in Anbar in other parts of Iraq, especially in areas in and around Baghdad. In the month since I announced (INAUDIBLE) strategy, we have been moving reinforcements into key Baghdad neighborhoods and the areas around the capital to help secure the population. I told you what the mission was, and that's what we're doing.

Now we have launched a wider offensive, called operation phantom thunder, which is taking the fight to the enemy in the capital as well as its surrounding regions. This operation focuses on defeating al Qaeda terrorists, the insurgents and militias, denying the extremists safe havens and breaking up their logistics and supply and communications. The map shows - this map shows Baghdad and its surrounding areas.

In January, I explained that 80 percent of Iraq's sectarian violence occurs within 30 miles of the capital. Although some of the violence that plagues Baghdad is home grown, a big part of it originates from terrorists operating in the surrounding areas. If we could clear these strongholds of al Qaeda and death squads, we could improve life for the citizens of the areas and inhibit the enemy's ability to strike within the capital. And this is what phantom thunder is designed to do. I'm going to describe some of the operations that are unfolding in different areas around the capital.

To the north of Baghdad, our forces have surged into Diyala province. The primary focus is the provincial capital of Baquba which is just an hour's car ride from Baghdad. There masked gunmen enforce their brutal rule with prisons and torture chambers and punish crimes like smoking. In one building our forces discovered a medical facility for the terrorists. That tells us the enemy was preparing itself for a sustained and deadly fight. They had burrowed in. There was no resistance. They were trying to export their violence to the capital.

Iraqi and American troops are now fighting block by block. The colonel leading the assault says we have denied al Qaeda a major bastion. The city is clear. The challenge of course is going to be for coalition and Iraqi force to keep it that way, but we're making progress in operation phantom thunder. Southeast of Baghdad we're going after al Qaeda and safe havens they established along the Tigris River. These safe havens include areas like Solomon Pack (ph) and (INAUDIBLE), areas well-known for sending car bombs and truck bombs into Baghdad. Extremists in many of theories areas are --

COLLINS: We have been listening into President Bush at the naval war college in Newport, Rhode Island, his first visit there talking mainly about the latest situation in Iraq and in particular you heard him mention operation phantom thunder. This is some of the new offensives that are happening in places like Anbar and Diyala and more about this surge, the so-called surge saying that all the troops are now in place. Remember, there were several deployments there. Apparently all the troops are now in place. The very latest coming from President Bush on the situation in Iraq. HARRIS: So you have just heard the president's remarks on early results of the troop buildup in Iraq. Now another look reclaiming ground from insurgents is only part of the fight. Got to hold it. CNN's Frederik Pletkin (ph) reports

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLETKIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): U.S. troops fire mortar rounds at a suspected insurgent position. Their mission, clear and secure this area south of Baghdad so Iraqi forces can take control of a checkpoint. After almost three days of fighting, they hand over the outpost. Now, it's up to the Iraqi national police to hold the position.

COL. SHAKR, IRAQI NATL POLICE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): This is a big sector and we need a lot of troops and coalition forces will hopefully help us stand here, the Iraqi colonel says.

PLETKIN: The insurgents came sooner than expected. A mosque right next to the checkpoint and this is that same mosque only about two hours after U.S. troops left the area. As this video shot from an aerial drone shows, the insurgents at the mosque launched an attack on the outpost, destroying a guard tower and killing several Iraqi officers. With the Iraqis struggling, a British aircraft is called in to aide them. The fighter drops a massive 2,000 pound bomb on the house used by the attackers, a rare opportunity for coalition forces to effectively use air power against insurgents.

COL. WAYNE GRIGSBY, U.S. ARMY: When the enemy does mass this way, we focus right then on the secure line of operation and we take everything that we have to kill or capture the enemy.

PLETKIN: But while military officials call the air strike a success, they acknowledge it highlights a major problem for U.S. forces in Iraq. American troops fight and die to win terrain from insurgents, but Iraqi security forces are often unable to hold the ground on their own.

MAJ. GEN. RICK LYNCH, U.S. ARMY: The key is someone has to stay. There has to be a persistent security presence and that has to be Iraqi security forces. So we continue to work with the government of Iraq and the leaders of Iraq's (INAUDIBLE) to get that persistent presence.

PLETKIN: A crucial point military leaders say even with the major increase of U.S. soldiers in Iraq, they will not be able to hold all the ground they are now fighting for. That is something the Iraqis must do on their own. Frederik Pletkin, CNN, (INAUDIBLE) Iraq.

COLLINS: Pregnant and depressed. Should expectant mothers continue to take antidepressants? Two new studies are out. We want to tell you about them. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta has details.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Pregnant women on antidepressants. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta dropped by in the NEWSROOM this morning to tell us about new research.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: New studies are actually pretty optimistic. And I think some good news for women who worry about this, which is a lot of women as it turns out. You may remember, a couple years ago there was a study coming out that if you take antidepressants when you're pregnant, it increases the chance of heart defects in your baby, obviously a huge concern. This was posted on several web sites including the (INAUDIBLE) website in Canada. People got concerned about that. So there were some new studies now actually looking at specific SSRIs, which are a type of antidepressant and trying to find out just how likely a birth defect is. With regards to Paxal and Zoloft, two specific antidepressants, the risks appear very small of three kinds of birth defects, skull defects, brain defects and gastrointestinal effects. They happen but a very, very small percentage. In general, SSRIs, this class of antidepressants appear to be pretty safe. One thing they did agree on is that not taking them, not taking the medications if you are depressed could be a greater risk than taking them in the first place.

COLLINS: Yeah. When you hear those drug names though you think, wow, that seems like a really serious drug to be on while you are pregnant. But as you mentioned, what happens when a pregnant woman just leaves the depression unchecked or possibly unmedicated?

GUPTA: I was most interested in that as well. I have two young children. As you know, you have a young child. One of the things that sort of comes up is one of the hallmarks of depression in a pregnant person, there are lots of different hallmarks. You stop taking care of yourself as well. But also this idea of neglect. You neglect yourself. You may not go to your prenatal visits. You may not take your prenatal vitamins. But also possibly neglecting the baby after the baby is born, postpartum depression, a real phenomenon. If you stop taking the antidepressants, it could be exacerbated during that period as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Dr. Gupta says anyone taking antidepressants should not stop abruptly. Make sure that you check with your doctor first. So to get your daily dose of health news online, you can log onto our website and find the latest medical news our health library information on diet and fitness. That address is cnn.com/health.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Stephanie Elam at the New York Stock Exchange. Car makers say they have a deal for you. I'll tell you how a price war is revving up just in time for Independence Day. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

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COLLINS: Uplifting news for a change. The bald eagle has come off the threatened species list. The Interior Department making that announcement just moments ago. Once decimated by the pesticide DDT and nearly extinct, there are now 10,000 mating pairs of bald eagles in the lower 48.

HARRIS: Many Americans will be traveling over the July 4th holiday, but others will be looking for a new ride and the auto makers are duking it out for customers. Stephanie Elam - there she is -- is in New York Stock Exchange with the details on the sale. Hi Stephanie.

ELAM: Hi, Tony. If you happen to be looking for a new vehicle, now might be a pretty good time to buy. The auto makers are looking to clear out their 2007 inventory and they are offering big incentives to make that happen. Ford says it will offering 0 percent financing for three years. We've seen these zero percent APR deals over the recent years and they're back again. But to sweeten the pot, Ford is also offering cash back bonuses. They range from $500 up to $2500, depending on the model. Trucks and sports utility vehicles come with a $2007 -- you get that.

HARRIS: Yeah, yeah.

ELAM: These big incentives have hurt the auto makers. Bottom line in the past (ph) but clearing the old inventory is important enough to warrant this latest round of deals, so they may take a hit on the front end but at least they can clear out those cars.

HARRIS: You mentioned General Motors. Is GM offering at least a similar incentive plan? They usually follow one after the other.

ELAM: Yeah and actually, in this case, GM is the one that got the ball rolling earlier this week. It boosted incentives on some models by $1,000. That means you can get $4,000 for some of GM's model along with 0 percent APR. Earlier this month Toyota began offering a $3500 cash deal on its Tundra pickup trucks.

Now as for stocks, they are stuck in neutral right now. Investors are eying a report that shows slightly stronger economic growth in the first quarter of the year, but also more inflation pressures. All of this comes before the Fed is to announce an interest rate decision this afternoon. Taking a look at the big board, the Dow industrials are on the downside by 7 points right now. The Nasdaq is up 5. I should also mention that GM, which is a Dow component is up nearly 3 percent, not because of those sales incentives, but on more than $5.5 billion sale of its (INAUDIBLE) transmission unit to two private equity firms. Nasdaq up 5 as I was saying, so again, we're stuck in neutral because we want to hear what the Fed says just after 2:15 Eastern time.

HARRIS: Can you get through a business report these days without mentioning those two words, private equity? I don't think you can.

ELAM: I don't think you can. I'll see if I can do it later on.

HARRIS: All right, Stephanie, take care.

ELAM: Thanks.

COLLINS: Here comes the rain again. New flash flood warnings pop up for central Texas. Boy, they don't need it, do they? We're watching the developments right after this.

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COLLINS: All this year we're sharing stories we hope will encourage you to become actively involved in the lives of others. We call them CNN heroes. Today we take you to Washington, D.C., where a woman forced into prostitution at the age of 14 has dedicated her life to saving other victims. Meet Tina Front, today's CNN hero.

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TINA FRONT: Men, women and children are being sold each day for somebody else's profit. I think when we hear about trafficking we automatically think about what goes on overseas. However, our children in the U.S. are being forced out every day at nine, 10, 11, 12 years old.

"KITTY," AGE 17: They beat you. They make you go out there, make you stay out all night. They really don't care. You can be nine years old and you can work for them.

"ANGELA," AGE 21: People are raped and beaten into submission to do it. You can be killed. It wouldn't make a difference to other people because other people would think of you as just a prostitute.

FRONT: My name is Tina Front. I'm a survivor of child trafficking within the United States at the age of 14. In my situation, I was a child and a grown adult who was in his 20s starting taking interest in me, telling me how beautiful I was, taking me out from middle school. I found out he was actually a pump by going with him to another state. Some of the things (INAUDIBLE) manipulation, violence and abuse. I went through it, so that's why I think I'm so dedicated to helping others.

I'm the director of outreach for Polaris project and I fight to end human trafficking. I don't want what happened to me happen to somebody else. What we do is offer services to women and children who want to get out. Basically, our outreach program started two and a half years ago. We go out to the streets and hand out information. We actually go into the (INAUDIBLE) and do outreach. We take clients of all ages. Our youngest client has been nine. The oldest so far has been 40. Give the number a call, anytime he hits you, call. (INAUDIBLE) 24 hours a day. I think in this job you have to love what you do and have a passion for it because it's not a job. It's my life. I couldn't imagine doing anything else.

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COLLINS: There's a lot more about Tina Front and her work on our website where you can also nominate your hero for special recognition later this year. All the details are at cnn.com/heroes.

HARRIS: Car-bombing carnage. A bus station in Baghdad reduced to rubble, the story coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COLLINS: CNN NEWSROOM continues one hour from now.

HARRIS: And "Your World Today" is next with news happening across the globe and here at home. I'm Tony Harris.

COLLINS: And I'm Heidi Collins. Bye, everybody.

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