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Toxicology Report Released in Benoit Murder-Suicide Case; Democrats Plan Marathon Session to Debate Iraq War
Aired July 17, 2007 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Jessica Lunsford should be 11 years old, just another kid savoring her summer vacation with her dad and grandparents in Florida.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: But Jessie Lunsford died a monstrous death in February of 2005. And today her father tells the man who killed her why he deserves to die.
PHILLIPS: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm T.J. Holmes, sitting in today for Don Lemon.
And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
PHILLIPS: This is the man who kidnapped, raped and murdered 9- year-old Jessica Lunsford more than two years ago. Today he's about to face his victim's father. A pre-sentencing under way this hour in Florida for John Couey. For him, it's a matter of life or death. For Mark Lunsford, it's the opportunity he's been waiting for a very long time.
John Zarrella watching it all from Miami.
Hey, John.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF: Hi, Kyra.
And Mark Lunsford has had today to wait a little bit longer. Court right now in a recess. For about the first hour-and-a-half today, we heard from a psychologist, a prosecution psychologist who did many of the tests on John Couey to determine his competency, and this psychologist said that John Couey is, in fact, not mentally retarded, and they used those terms, mental retardation, that, in fact, his I.Q. is somewhere between 80 and 90.
The argument, of course, here is that Couey's defense team is hoping to argue that he is, in fact, mentally retarded and, thus, should not face the death penalty. This psychologist, however, saying that, in fact, John Couey is competent. Don't know exactly who will take the witness stand next, when court resumes, if, in fact, Mark Lunsford will be next on the stand or if other witnesses will be called before that.
When Mark Lunsford does take the stand, he will have an opportunity to address the court and, of course, to address the man who brutally raped, abducted and murdered his daughter, back in 2005 and who was convicted by a jury of first-degree murder, and the sentence was recommended, Kyra, that John Couey face death. The judge will have to, of course, go ahead and validate that sentence, based on the findings in this hearing -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, we're waiting for Mark Lunsford to speak. We will take it live when it happens.
John Zarrella, thanks so much.
And tonight on "LARRY KING LIVE" Mark Lunsford will talk about coming face to face with the man convicted of kidnapping and killing his daughter, Jessica. That's at 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
HOLMES: The long-awaited toxicology report on Chris Benoit has just been released, but perhaps more surprising than the results of the wrestler's tests were the results on his 7-year-old son, Daniel.
CNN's Rusty Dornin has been following the case, joins us now live from the headquarters of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, where you have been listening in to that press conference.
Hello there, Rusty.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: T.J., that was the most surprising thing. They did find hydrocodone and Xanax in Daniel Benoit, son, the 7-year-old son, and, of course, Nancy Benoit. But the levels in the young boy were enough, they say, that he -- could have been used as a sedative before the child was murdered.
So, really, that was the most conclusive thing that came out of this press conference. It wasn't surprising that they discovered high testosterone levels in Chris Benoit's body, about 10 times that of a normal person. But also, they said, it's not clear how that testosterone was used, that it did not necessarily indicate any kind of steroid rage or any outburst of aggression or behavior. It could have simply been used for some kind of testicular insufficiency.
So, they do not know how the levels may have affected Chris Benoit's behavior. Now, his wife, Nancy, apparently did have also levels of Xanax and hydrocodone, which could have been used simply to relieve pain. They were at therapeutic levels. They were not in such a level that it would have been some kind of sedative before she died.
She, of course, was murdered, they believe, by her husband. Her hands and feet were tied. And she was upstairs. The young boy was killed the next day, they believe, by a choke hold, but it looks now as though his father may have sedated the boy before he murdered him -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right, Rusty Dornin.
And a lot of people expecting I guess something a little different, maybe more light on what possibly might have happened and what might have caused him to snap as a lot of people say. But the results today don't really indicate anything about his behavior.
Rusty, thank you so much. Keep an eye on it for us.
PHILLIPS: An all-nighter on Iraq, roll-away beds and all. The Senate plans a marathon session aimed at pressuring opponents of a troop pullout. Those opponents call it theater.
CNN congressional correspondent Andrea Koppel there on the Hill.
You going to be spending the night, Andrea?
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm not, but, actually, one of our colleagues will be, Kyra. I guess I lucked out.
It actually all gets under way this hour on the floor of the Senate. Lawmakers are beginning to gather or should be beginning to gather there for this all-night debate-a-thon, one that is going to involve roll-away cots that they are going to be bringing in for a big photo opportunity in the next hour, where senators can sleep if they like, but they have to stay on the floor. At least one Republican will have to be there at all times.
This is something that Republicans are calling and dismissing as nothing more than political theater. Democrats, however, say it is a very important symbol.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RICHARD DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: I don't think a sleepless night is a stunt. It's certainly not a stunt for our soldiers and their families. Many of them spend sleepless nights in combat or worrying about the safety of those soldiers. For us to spend one sleepless night isn't a stunt. It is what the Senate rules require when the Republicans throw a filibuster at us and try to stop the debate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOPPEL: Now, Democratic Leader Harry Reid, Dick Durbin's colleague, said that he had hoped to have a simple majority vote, one that would only require over 50 votes to pass.
But Republicans upped the ante, and they said that they would require 60 votes, a 60-vote threshold that Democrats have been unable to meet on any Iraq amendment so far this year. That's why Democrats have thrown the cards on the table and are calling the Republicans' bluff, insisting on this very rare all-nighter, one that hasn't happened for the last couple of years, one that Republicans had called for a couple of years ago, and Democrats say, even though they recognize, Kyra, that this is not likely to pass, that they're not likely to get those 60 votes, they still hope it will call attention to what they refer to as Republican obstructionism -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Andrea Koppel on the Hill, thanks.
HOLMES: Al Qaeda, regrouping, rebuilding, and ready possibly to attack the U.S., conclusions there from the national intelligence estimate, a sweeping report that comes from the nation's 16 spy agencies, and yes, in fact, there is now a public version of that.
We are going to take a closer look at it with CNN's Brianna Keilar, who is in Washington for us.
Tell us, what jumps off the pages and stands out from this report?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh. Well, T.J., you know this national intelligence estimate, it is a look into the future and it says that an immediate threat, the main threat, to the U.S. right now is al Qaeda. No surprise there.
But there's one particular assessment that does stick out. It says, we assess that al Qaeda will probably seek to leverage the contacts and capabilities of al Qaeda in Iraq, its most visible and capable affiliate and the only one known to have expressed a desire to attack the homeland. In addition, we assess that its association with AQI helps al Qaeda to energize the broader Sunni extremist community, raise resources and to recruit and indoctrinate operatives, including for homeland attacks.
Now, experts, they have warned that this could happen, but this NIE confirms that U.S. intelligence agencies believe al Qaeda in Iraq could pose a threat not only to Americans in Iraq, but also Americans right here in the U.S. -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right, Brianna Keilar for us on that report in Washington -- Brianna, thank you so much.
PHILLIPS: Getting word now from the Associated Press a suspicious package at the Public Library in New York. This is what we know right now -- police are on the scene at New York's Public Library's midtown branch. Apparently they were notified about 1:55 Eastern time -- that was just about an hour ago -- a package had been discovered there.
This midtown library location is right on Fifth Avenue, across from the main New York Public Library. And now I'm being told that CNN has just confirmed it, along with the Associated Press report. Police have cordoned off that area. We don't have any other details, so we will let you know as soon as we get more information.
HOLMES: The TB traveler went under the knife in Denver. And our Dr. Sanjay Gupta scrubbed in. He wasn't holding the knife, though. His report, though, next in the NEWSROOM.
PHILLIPS: And her friends haven't been much help. Her cell phone records offer no solid clues. So a Wisconsin man seeks spiritual advice in the search for his missing daughter. We will have that story straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: And police investigating a suspicious package right now at the midtown location in New York, the public library there. This happened about an hour ago, we are told, the discovery of this package. That library location is right on Fifth Avenue. It's across the street from the main New York Public Library, if you're familiar with that area.
Police apparently have cordoned off the area. We don't know any other details. Just trying to find out what's involved with that package. Police working the scene right now. We will bring you details as we get it.
HOLMES: Well, we're coming up on a quarter after 3:00 in the CNN NEWSROOM. Here are some of the stories we're working on you.
John Couey and the father of the girl he raped and murdered, both in a Florida court this afternoon. A pre-sentencing hearing is under way for Couey, convicted in March of killing 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford. We're awaiting testimony from Jessica's dad. This is his first chance to speak directly to his daughter's killer.
A high-level resignation in the Bush administration -- Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson has announced he is stepping out. The VA came under fire during tenure after shoddy conditions were found at Walter Reed military hospital in Washington.
Also, thick black smoke, the result of 660,000 pounds of burning chemicals. Hundreds of people had to be evacuated today in Valley Center, Kansas, near Wichita, after an explosion at an industrial plant ignited the chemicals. No reports of injuries and no word on the cause.
PHILLIPS: Police in Green Bay are searching for a missing university student, Mahalia Xiong, who disappeared after bowling with friends on Friday. And there's concern in the high, close-knit Hmong community where the 21-year-old's family awaits anxiously for news.
Reporter Jenn Karlman of CNN affiliate WBAY reports that Xiong's father is asking fortunetellers for help now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JENN KARLMAN, WBAY REPORTER (voice-over): You can tell by looking into Sai Vang's eyes something is wrong. A piece of his life is missing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She is the only child in the family who have high education, and respect him in the family.
KARLMAN: Through a translator, Mahalia's dad says he hasn't been able to eat or sleep since his daughter vanished.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He depend on her a lot. And if she missed, she's missing right now. And he doesn't know what to do, and he doesn't want his life -- the family life, will be difficult.
KARLMAN (on camera): Communicating with spirits is an important part in Hmong religion. Mahalia's dad went to five fortunetellers or shamans to try and reach his daughter's spirit. He says all five told him the same thing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Student from other country who know her, actually going to school with her, and, according to the fortunetellers, that these people are the people who are holding her back.
KARLMAN: Sai believes his daughter's captors may want to marry her, and while he can't prove she's been kidnapped, he says, if that is what's happened, he will do anything to get Mahalia back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He can negotiate it, and they can (INAUDIBLE) her. But he doesn't want these people to torture her, to abuse her.
KARLMAN: A father's plea, he hopes his daughter hears.
In Green Bay, Jenn Karlman, Action 2 News.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Xiong was last seen driving a rented four-door 1996 Mercury Sable, Wisconsin license plate TFD715. Her car was being repaired. Anyone with information is urged to call the Green Bay Police at 920-448-3208.
HOLMES: He's been keeping a low profile because of a D.C. sex scandal, but now Senator David Vitter is back, and he's packing an apology.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. DAVID VITTER (R), LOUISIANA: I am completely responsible, and I'm so very, very sorry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And that is Mrs. Vitter standing next to him. But is she really standing by him through all this?
Stand by me. We're back, here in the NEWSROOM, after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: A little more information on that suspicious package on the street right in front of the midtown location of the New York Public Library. The exact location is Fifth and 38th. We're told the FDNY is on the scene.
Apparently, someone called in this suspicious package right in front of the library. It's right across the street from the main New York Library. The police have cordoned off that area, trying to figure out exactly what it is. We will keep you posted. We have a crew, a CNN crew, on the way over there to get more information.
(BUSINESS REPORT)
PHILLIPS: The TB traveler went under the knife in Denver. Now our Dr. Sanjay Gupta scrubbed in -- his report next in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes, sitting in today for Don Lemon.
A high-profile case leads to a rare and delicate operation.
PHILLIPS: TB traveler Andrew Speaker goes under the knife, and Dr. Sanjay Gupta scrubs in.
You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Startled New Yorkers for a bit of a scare, but we're getting the all-clear now at the New York Public Library. We had told you about a suspicious package right there on the street in front of the library midtown location at Fifth and 38th. The FDNY came to the scene. It looks like it was just a bag of old clothes. The library is open. It is good to go in that area.
HOLMES: All right.
Well, the surgery, it was intricate, the precautions elaborate. And CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta says, everything went well for Andrew Speaker.
Our chief medical correspondent was in the operating room, observing, as doctors in Colorado removed the TB-infected part of Andrew Speaker's lung.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: We're here outside University of Colorado Hospital. We just came out of the operating room with Andrew Speaker.
The operation lasted approximately two hours and, according to the surgeon, went very well. It's one of the most remarkable things I have actually ever seen. First of all, just getting prepped for this operation was quite an experience in and of itself. You have to find these masks that are absolutely airtight, as you're seeing there.
You put on these masks, make sure they're airtight. And then they put this hood over you and test it, all obviously is preventative, to make sure you don't actually get infected by the tuberculosis bacteria.
Actually, getting into the operation, you actually see these series of tubes. They're called thorascopes. They provide a video camera actually within the chest wall, various instruments. The whole goal, of course, to try and remove the diseased part of his lung, in this case, the right upper lobe.
The lung is actually subsequently encapsulated and then pulled out -- this is one of the most amazing things -- to try to make sure the rest of his body isn't, in fact, infected.
The operation, again, lasted about two hours. Andrew's recovery will probably last a couple of weeks. He will probably be in Colorado for at least that long, continuing on the antibiotics. No telling whether this is a cure or not. Of course, Andrew and the surgeons are hoping so.
We will have much more coming up on "A.C. 360" tonight.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And treading some tough political terrain, Louisiana Senator David Vitter is back at work today on Capitol Hill. Vitter has apologized for his ties to an infamous D.C. madam.
The family-values Republican had been in seclusion near New Orleans as that scandal played out. But yesterday he and his wife held a news conference. And both of them say, they want to move on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
D. VITTER: I want to, again, offer my deep, sincere apologies to all those I have let down and disappointed with these actions from my past. I am completely responsible. And I am so very, very sorry.
WENDY VITTER, WIFE OF SENATOR DAVID VITTER: In most any other marriage, this would have been a private issue between a husband and a wife -- very private. Obviously, it is not here.
Like all marriages, ours is not perfect. None of us are. But we choose to work together as a family. When David and I dealt with this privately years ago, I forgave David. I made the decision to love him and to recommit to our marriage.
You know, to forgive is not always the easy choice, but it was and is the right choice for me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, Vitter denies any relationships with New Orleans prostitutes.
Now, Majority Leader Senator Harry Reid responded to this news conference just a little bit ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: I think this should have a full airing. I -- I don't really understand everything he did.
There are a lot of accusations about prostitutes here in Washington, prostitutes in Louisiana. I don't know if -- if that's breaking the law or not. It's obvious that there -- it all came about as someone who is being charged with a crime here in Washington, D.C., but...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, we turn now to the nation's top veterans advocate. He's leaving the battlefield.
Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson announced today he plans to resign later this year. Under Nicholson, the VA came under fire with the discovery of shoddy conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center which, of course, cares for wounded vets. And just yesterday, Nicholson gave no sign that he was planning to step down in an interview with CNN.
He did, however, defend his department.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM NICHOLSON, VETERANS AFFAIRS SECRETARY: We have a controversial war going on, but the warriors are not controversial. And people in this country are holding the V.A. To a very high level of expectation of care for our veterans. And I'm proud to say we're meeting that bar that they've set for us.
Our veterans are being very well taken care of.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And no word just yet from the White House on who might be tapped to replace Nicholson.
Sins of the father -- well, they could become criminal charges. The Los Angeles district attorney is not ruling out arrests and prosecutions if soon to be released documents show evidence of crimes by Catholic priests. Yesterday an L.A. judge approved a $660 million settlement with more than 500 people who said priests molested them and church leaders did nothing to stop it. Each plaintiff will get on average more than $1.3 million. Their lawyers, however, are getting up to 40 percent of the settlement.
PHILLIPS: Well, it's not the pardon that they were hoping for, but give Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor have just had their death sentences commuted to life in prison in Libya. The group has been jailed 1999, accused then and convicted of infecting more than 400 Libyan children with HIV. They supposedly confessed, but later said they were tortured.
Health experts say that the strains of virus in question were present before the medics arrived and almost certainly spread accidentally, through unsanitary conditions. A cash settlement of $1 million per victim was paid out just today, reportedly by Bulgaria and other European partners. That was thought to clear the way for the medics' outright release.
Now in Wyoming, the search area for a sniper suspect has narrowed somewhat with the discovery of this man's truck. A tip led police to David Munis' black pickup in a remote canyon outside the city of Laramie. On the seat of that truck, an empty gun case. It's believed that Munis is hiding out in the mountainous terrain. Now, his estranged wife Robin was shot in the head from long range early Saturday as she sung with her band at a restaurant.
One of the musicians talked with CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING")
TY MARTIN, ROBIN MUNIS' BANDMATE: Suddenly a shot or a loud pop rang out, some sort of loud popping sound. Robin was on my right. And this is all within about a three or four or five foot radius here, I believe. And so with that pop, I thought that someone had spilled maybe some water, a waitress or someone had spilled some water on some of our equipment.
And so I thought it was an electric shock. So maybe she had -- someone had been shocked. So I looked over to my right and she was on the ground. And I thought that maybe she had bumped up against the microphone and that's what shot her back.
As I looked to my right, I saw that she was on the ground and as I got closer I realized that I saw what was evidence of a gunshot. And she was lifeless.
JOHN ROBERTS, "AMERICAN MORNING," CO-ANCHOR: So she just went gown in one shot?
I mean, literally, she was killed instantly?
MARTIN: My perception is that that's, indeed, what happened. You can leave that up to the investigation. But that's the way I saw it. And the bottom line to me is that it was in the blink of an eye. That's how it happened. I mean, just like that.
ROBERTS: How long had --
MARTIN: Just like that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: David Munis is a member of the Wyoming National Guard and a graduate of the Army's elite sniper school. Police believe that he has at least two guns with him and are using helicopters and dogs in their search.
HOLMES: Too many murders, too few cops, too few witnesses -- those witnesses not willing to testify against suspects who get caught. Law and order in New Orleans is dangerously hit and miss.
CNN's Randi Kaye takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: (voice-over): The floodwaters long gone. New Orleans is drowning in murder.
(on camera): Do you feel safe here in the city now? JEANETTE KELLY, BOYFRIEND MURDERED: Not really.
KAYE: (voice-over): Jeanette Kelly's boyfriend, Christopher Roberts, was shot and killed just last month on Father's Day. Police say someone stole his motorcycle and Roberts took a bullet to the chest. His killer, like too many here, got away.
KELLY: I think that some people have lost their humanity, have no appreciation for life. And, I don't know, it's a really sad reflection on our society.
KAYE: The couple had evacuated for Katrina and moved back last December with their new baby girl. They wanted to help rebuild, just like their neighbor, filmmaker Helen Hill, who was shot to death in January by an intruder who was never caught. After her murder, Kelly says she and her boyfriend put bars on their windows and bought a gun. They thought that would keep them safe.
The week Helen Hill died, there were 11 other murders, prompting New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin to make this promise.
MAYOR RAY NAGIN, NEW ORLEANS: We will put all of our resources to focus on murders and violent crime. Everything we have.
KAYE: Keeping him honest, we ran the numbers. In the six months since the mayor promised to make murder a priority, more than 90 people have been killed in his city. The police force is still down 300 officers. And the justice system is a mess. Witnesses are either missing or unwilling to cooperate. Last year, nearly half the murder suspects walked free because, by law, prosecutors have just 60 days to make their case before a judge. Time is simply running out
(on camera): What's actively being done, at this point, to try and repair the justice system so the killing will stop?
NAGIN: Everything. Everything is being done, from more resources, more dollars, more manpower, more police officers. We've got the federal government involved.
KAYE: Why, then, is the number of homicides going up instead of down?
Who should be held accountable?
Everyone's pointing fingers. Police blame the district attorney for not prosecuting cases quickly enough. The district attorney blames police for holding onto case files and letting witnesses slip away. And the mayor?
He accuses the district attorney of encouraging lawlessness and dropping charges against dangerous criminals.
(voice-over): Like this guy, Michael Anderson, who says he's innocent. District Attorney Eddie Jordan, just last week, dropped five counts of first degree murder against him for the deaths of five teenagers. Jordan's office claimed it couldn't find a key witness. So how did police manage to the next day?
(on camera): Certainly a lot of people are pointing fingers at your office.
Who do you think is at fault here?
EDDIE JORDAN, ORLEANS PARISH DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Well, let me say, first of all, that I am not going to take the blame for all the sins of the criminal justice system. Certainly, we have our shortcomings. But we're working on our shortcomings.
KAYE: (voice-over): Jordan, who plans to reinstate charges against Anderson, refused to play the blame game and dismissed the notion of infighting. He says he's working closely with police and has successfully prosecuting dozens of criminals.
(on camera): Is New Orleans safe?
JORDAN: Yes, I do believe it's safe.
KAYE: More than 100 murders this year and you still say the city's safe?
JORDAN: A hundred murders is totally unacceptable, but it is not -- it is not the murder capital of the world, in my opinion.
KAYE: (voice-over): Still, the FBI says the city is on track this year to rank among the nation's most murderous.
The mayor promises he's trying every crime fighting technique used around the country.
(on camera): Does that sound like crime fighting is a top priority to you?
KELLY: You know, I wouldn't -- like I said, I wouldn't presume to know what they're doing. But it does seem out of control.
KAYE: (voice-over): People here wonder how long it will take, how many will have to die, before Mayor Nagin makes good on his promise.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HOLMES: And many New Orleans residents who rode out Katrina at the Superdome say the way they were treated was a crime.
But were other crimes -- actual crimes -- being committed there as well?
CNN sued for the autopsy results of a shooting victim killed by police at the Superdome. The results were not what we were expecting.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: According to the police report, a black man came out of no where from the convention center. He had something shiny in his right hand and was waving at police as they approached in the patrol car.
When they came up, the man actually jumped on the windshield and was trying to swing what turned out to be a pair of scissors in his right hand at the officer in this seat. That officer pulled out a shotgun and shot Danny Brumfield, killing him.
For two years now, that has been the only story we have gotten from the police.
CNN sued for the autopsy results of Danny Brumfield. And it turns out Danny Brumfield did die of a single gunshot wound -- to his back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Yes, join Anderson Cooper and Drew Griffin in New Orleans tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern, as they examine the New Orleans police shooting.
PHILLIPS: And straight ahead, we'll hear more of Anderson Cooper's reporting from New Orleans coming up in THE NEWSROOM.
How do you rebuild a broken city?
Lose the red tape and get busy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE URBESO, DISPLACED HOMEOWNER: Zack and Liz, you know, they great. They're, like, you know, they're angels or something.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: A D.C. Couple so moved by New Orleans, they moved to the Crescent City. Dozens of people thankful that they came. Their story, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, this year CNN is bringing you the stories of some remarkable people -- people dedicating their lives to improving the lives of others. We are all proud to call them CNN Heroes.
And we found one of them in Kenya, where a remarkable woman has been saving the lives of girls by giving them something many of us take for granted -- an education. And she's changing an entire cultural tradition in the process.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARGERY KABUYA: A girl here can get married as young as 10. Certainly by 13, a lot of them are already married. Girls are very, very important because they're a source of health and wealth. That is why it is very difficult for a Maasai man to let a girl do anything else but get married. Before a girl gets married here, they must go through the female genital mutilation. When you delay marriage, you delay circumcision.
My name is Margery Kabuya, and we started a school for Maasai girls.
We say OK, what we are going to do is we are going to use the same process of booking the girls. The girls used to be booked for marriage. Now they're just being booked for school.
We go through the exact same ceremony. We monitor the girl. When they are six, another blessing is done and we are given the girl to take to school. We were not saying the girls should not get married. We were just saying marry them off later.
We have managed to delay -- at least delay -- the female genital mutilation.
We will grow up into responsible girls, right?
I think the best thing is that it has given them opportunities that they would never have had. It has opened them and their parents to a different lifestyle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: If you'd like to make a contribution to Margery's work or nominate your hero for special recognition later this year, you'll find more information on our Web site at cnn.com/heroes.
HOLMES: Well, take a look at this video for us now. We've got some corn to show you. Actually, that's supposed to be on the inside of the silo. We'll tell you what sparked this farming foul-up, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: The cots have arrived. The slumber party is about to begin. No popcorn, no movies. It's serious stuff, folks. Some say it's political theater. Others say, hey, they're making a statement.
Frustrated by Republicans' efforts to block the votes on bringing troops home from Iraq, Senate Democrat leaders say they'll pull an all-nighter and debate the issue on whether the troops should come home or not.
We'll follow it through the night.
HOLMES: Well, of course, so many of us watched the despair and destruction in post-Katrina New Orleans and thought somebody really ought to do something.
Well, somebody did -- two people who had busy lives of their own a long way away. And now, many who lost everything in the storm Have their lives back. CNN's Anderson Cooper has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (voice-over): For Liz McCartney and Zack Rosenburg, February 2006 was the tipping point.
LIZ MCCARTNEY, CO-FOUNDER, ST. BERNARD PROJECT: I cried for the first three days that I was here. I couldn't believe six months after the storm, it was the U.S.
COOPER: The young couple came to the Gulf Coast to help with rebuilding. The visit changed their lives.
ZACK ROSENBURG, CO-FOUNDER, ST. BERNARD PROJECT: We were struck by how bad things were. I mean it looked like a bomb had hit.
COOPER: Back home in Washington, D.C. they'd heard the promises the government made to fix the Gulf Coast. But half a year after Katrina, the work had barely begun.
MCCARTNEY: Back home, I had imagined it being a place where there'd be a lot of work trucks and cranes, and all sorts of signs of construction in progress. And it wasn't anything close to that.
ROSENBURG: And so we said we had to do something. When we thought about what would we want someone to do for us, if this were our family, we would want people to help. And so that's what we decided to do.
COOPER: What happened next is remarkable. The couple quit their jobs in Washington. She was a teacher. He was a lawyer. They moved to New Orleans. With the help of the United Way and others, they formed the St. Bernard Project, a nonprofit that got off of the ground last August.
MCCARTNEY: You know, we want it to look like a professional job.
COOPER: The group says that with just $10,000 in building materials and volunteer labor, they can make a gutted house livable in just eight to 10 weeks.
MCCARTNEY: It's not really difficult. Just get people in to do the work and the house will become livable again.
COOPER: Zack and Liz say 3,000 volunteers from more than 30 countries have provided free labor to help people like Joe Urbeso, a disabled single father of two.
Since the storm, Urbeso says he's been living in Houston and drowning in red tape, trying to claim federal grant money to cover his losses.
URBESO: I just felt helpless. I felt like, you know, I had to wait on the government to try to get my house fixed. Like I had -- I had no control over it.
COOPER: Urbeso might still be waiting if it weren't for the St. Bernard Project. URBESO: Zack and Liz, you know, they're great. They're like -- you know, they're like angels or something.
COOPER: So far, the St. Bernard Project has rebuilt more than 40 homes and worked on 80 others.
ROSENBURG: Let me see. The house looks absolutely incredible.
MCCARTNEY: We're excited.
COOPER: Thanks to the vision of one couple and thousands of volunteers, Les Scharfenstein now has a place to live. So does Melanie Gonzalez. So does 77-year-old Red Falls. And soon, so will Joe Urbeso.
URBESO: I just, you know, it's just you know, words can't even describe it. It's just, you know, it's just a great feeling to be able to know I'm going to be able to come back and get in a house.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, record highs and torrential rains and some very dangerous lightning.
Rob Marciano has an eye all of it for us in our Severe Weather Center -- hopefully not going toward New Orleans at all.
(WEATHER REPORT)
PHILLIPS: Well, the closing bell and a wrap of all the action on Wall Street is all straight ahead.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Live pictures via our affiliate WFTS out of Tampa, Florida. This is Hillsborough County, Florida. An Amtrak train meets a pickup truck, we're told. A 33-car train has partial derailment. It's being evacuated right now. The pickup truck apparently caught fire on impact. The status of the pickup -- the driver of that pickup truck -- not yet known.
We're working the story. You can see firefighters there on the ground, the burnt out truck; also, parts of that train. Right now, passengers on that Amtrak train getting off one by one. We'll update you on what we -- what we know as we get it.
HOLMES: And finally here, an unexpected twist in David Beckham's highly publicized arrival to U.S. soccer. He may not arrive when he was supposed to. His debut with the Los Angeles Galaxy may be delayed because of a lingering ankle injury. Beckham hurt his ankle during a championship qualifying game last month. His coach says it's pretty bad swollen and for now, he's been limited to kicking drills. So we'll have to wait and see if Becks can take the field with his new teammates against Chelsea on Saturday -- $250 million. You better tape that ankle up -- PHILLIPS: Those are some --
HOLMES: -- and get on the field.
PHILLIPS: Those are some expensive drills.
Let's see, that's about, what, about $2 million a drill?
HOLMES: Per drill, possibly.
PHILLIPS: There you go.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
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