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Nuclear Plant Sting; Focus on Iraq; Brazil Plane Crash
Aired July 19, 2007 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. nuclear secrets allegedly stolen and almost sold, but the fix was in.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN ANCHOR: An FBI sting six months into the making leads to a court appearance this hour for a contract worker at the East Tennessee Technology Park.
PHILLIPS: Hello, everyone.
I'm Kyra Phillips, at the CNN Center in Atlanta.
MARCIANO: And I'm Rob Marciano, in today for Don Lemon.
And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
PHILLIPS: Well, the feds say they've plugged a leak at a nuclear plant in Tennessee. No, not that kind of leak, but one potentially as damaging. A security leak.
CNN justice correspondent Kelli Arena here to fill us in once again.
Hey, Kelli.
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kyra.
Well, officials familiar with this case say that a man named Roy Lynn Oakley (ph) has been indicted for allegedly trying to sell classified material to a foreign company. And that is a violation of the Atomic Energy Act.
Now, I'm told that he allegedly intended to sell equipment used in enriching uranium, but he never got very far. Still, the case does raise a lot of questions about security.
Officials say Oakley was a contractor who worked at the East Tennessee Technology Park. Authorities were on to him back in January.
This is some video that you should be seeing that is of searches that were related to this case several months ago. The FBI and Department of Energy launched a joint investigation, and the FBI developed a sting operation which resulted in the arrest.
Oakley will be appearing in federal court in Knoxville. I'm told that will happen in about a half an hour, and at that time the documents in this case will be unsealed -- Kyra. PHILLIPS: All right. We'll talk to you again when that happens.
Thanks, Kelli.
ARENA: Sure thing.
MARCIANO: Some stormy times here in the U.S.; namely, the Midwest. Some severe stuff.
(WEATHER REPORT)
PHILLIPS: It wasn't terrorism, but you could forgive New Yorkers for thinking otherwise. It's too early to know exactly why a steam pipe exploded yesterday under a Manhattan street, but the blast and the chaos brought back some very bad memories of 9/11. One person died of a heart attack and about 40 others were hurt.
One witness told AMERICAN MORNING'S John Roberts exactly what he saw.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FREDERIC, PUGLIESE, WORKS IN BUILDING NEAR EXPLOSION: It was about 6:00. The lights flickered. And we all thought it was just, you know, nothing. And then we heard this big rumbling sound.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Did you hear the boom initially?
PUGLIESE: Yes. We thought it was the A/C kicking in, or something to that effect. And the alarms have gone on numerous times before, and we weren't quite all phased by it, but then someone came out and said we really need to get out of the building, fire -- next door is on fire.
So then we all frantically ran out the building. It was down the stairs. Some people took the elevators. Not everyone was taking the stairs.
ROBERTS: But you ran down 37 flights of stairs, correct?
PUGLIESE: Yes.
ROBERTS: What did you see when you got to the bottom of the staircase?
PUGLIESE: Each time we were on the corner of the stairs there were more people's belongings around each corner, like high-heel shoes, computers, book bags. So then the seriousness of the situation started to become more ingrained -- each time you got closer and closer, that noise kept getting louder and louder.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Also this morning, a former direct of New York's Office of Emergency Management said that cities with old pipes risk a repeat of events like this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE BYRNE, FMR. DIR., NYC OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: Now, there has to be a regular maintenance that's done. You know, these pipes don't often signal when they're going to go, but when they give us a hint, you know, the utilities have to respond. But the important thing to realize is that, you know, these things have to be -- we have to be ready to respond to them because they're going to happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: And that pipe, by the way, was 83 years old. The site had been inspected by a power company hours before the blast.
And as you can imagine, the steam pipe blast sent lots of debris into the air, and since old steam pipes are often wrapped in asbestos, questions persist about health dangers. The New York Office of Emergency Management says that asbestos has been found in some of the dust and debris that settled on the ground. Air quality tests, however, have found no sign of it. The city says that long-term health problems caused by the explosion are unlikely because prolonged asbestos exposure has been shown to cause cancer and other serious illnesses.
MARCIANO: A lot of people in New York with phones, with cameras -- or just cameras, so we received a lot of I-Reports from people who experienced the blast.
I-Reporter Nick Parish works nearby. He says people were running and screaming just to get away, and he describes the geyser of steam as sounding like a waterfall. You hear some of it in there in this video.
Naom Galai also works nearby and managed to tag along with a law enforcement officer who was rushing to the scene. He took these incredible photos of the steam shortly after the explosion.
PHILLIPS: Two days, two attacks, five U.S. troops killed around Baghdad. Four soldiers and their Iraqi interpreter died in a roadside bomb yesterday. A U.S. soldier attached to the task force (INAUDIBLE) was killed by small arms fire today.
Now straight talk, not all of it good on the state of Iraq, military and politically. About 200 members of Congress were invited to a Q&A session at the Pentagon today with the top U.S. general and top U.S. diplomat in Iraq.
Highlights now from CNN's Brianna Keilar. She's in Washington.
Hi, Brianna.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kyra.
And let's take a look at this hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today. This was ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, and he told the senators that he wasn't going to paint a rosy picture that Iraq's parliament is a well-oiled machine. He said that Iraq at this point is gripped by fear, but he said while high-profile attacks such as the truck bomb that killed 80 people in Kirkuk earlier this week, while those persist, he said that with the surge of U.S. troops in the last few months, that actually sectarian violence has dipped.
But you know, at times today it wasn't so much what Crocker was telling the senators. It was what members of this committee were telling Crocker to report back to the Iraqi government. Two of the senators on this committee, Richard Lugar and George Voinovich, two very respected Republicans who have broken with President Bush's Iraq strategy, and Senator Voinovich told Crocker very emphatically, "Tell the prime minister time is running out. Time is running out."
And here is what Ambassador Crocker said when Senator Lugar asked him about a plan B.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RYAN CROCKER, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: The short answer is I'm not aware of these efforts, and my whole focus is involved with the implementation of plan A.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: And chairman of the committee, Joe Biden, of course a Democrat, highlighted the fact this that it isn't just Democrats who are losing patience with the situation in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN (D-DE), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Forget what Joe Biden says. Listen to the Republicans.
We ain't staying. We're not staying. We're not staying.
Not much time. Political benchmarks better be met, or we're in real trouble because we will have traded a dictator for chaos notwithstanding all your incredible efforts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: So the general message there from Democrats and Republicans, Voinovich and Lugar, is that we are out of patience. Senator Lugar even saying we better start thinking about a plan B or when U.S. troops start to leave it's going to get even messier than it would be without one -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, now let's talk about the ambassador's recent controversial comment that electricity is more important to the average Iraqi than any of the benchmarks that the U.S. government has proposed.
KEILAR: Yes, that's right. This is a comment that Ambassador Crocker made shortly after that benchmarks report, a rather dismal report that came out last week about how the Iraqi government is doing. And he clarified that today. He said that he made those comments after he went to a store in Baghdad where he was speaking with Iraqis who don't have electricity. And, of course, as you can imagine, in Baghdad, where it's summer and the temperatures are well into the triple digits, only having an hour or two of electricity is quite a burden, and he said talking with those people, it was very clear that it's more important for them to have electricity than for the Iraqi government to come up with a law for oil revenue sharing. But he also told this committee, Kyra, that those benchmarks are very important.
PHILLIPS: So you would think after five years electricity would be something that everyone should have by now.
Brianna Keilar, thank you.
MARCIANO: Investigators are taking a close look at some chilling video. Check this out.
Remember that doomed airliner yesterday? Well, moments before it crashed just off the runway at the airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil, there's that (INAUDIBLE). Just this morning, another pilot aborted a landing there as a move gets under way to shut down the airport.
CNN's Harris Whitbeck has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Federal prosecutors in Sao Paulo have asked a judge to order the immediate suspension of operations at Congonhas Airport. They say that no landings or takeoffs can take place until it is confirmed that the airport is, in fact, safe for flight operations.
This isn't the first time a judge has been asked to close Congonhas. Back in February, a similar suspension of operations was ordered, but that order was overturned by another judge who said that closing Congonhas would be too much of a disruption for the Brazilian domestic air transport system.
Congonhas is the largest hub in Brazil. Forty-eight landings and takeoffs occur here per hour.
Meanwhile, another TAM airliner aborted a landing at Congonhas this morning. That amid heightened fears over the security of the facility here and amid reports from pilots and others that for weeks now they have been complaining about security problems and about the runways at this airport.
Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, straight ahead, you pay the premiums, so why would your insurance company deny your claims? We have got advice on getting what you paid for.
MARCIANO: Plus, he says he's known Michael Vick since he was just a little boy, and he urges his fans not to rush to judgment.
PHILLIPS: And a lot of fans hated the way it ended, but "The Sopranos" are still golden as far as the Emmys are concerned.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
MARCIANO: Want to get back to the news room. Fredricka Whitfield with a new story developing there.
Fred, what do you have?
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Rob, remember last hour I told you about a body found in the wheel well of a United Airlines flight in San Francisco? Well, now a little bit more detail.
Indeed, that body was that of a person who was a stowaway who got into the wheel well of this United Airlines Flight 858 from Shanghai, made its way without incident to San Francisco airport, and upon routine inspection the workers there at the airport found the body of this unidentified person. And United Airlines is releasing a statement saying, "This is an unfortunate and unusual occurrence and we are fully cooperating with the authorities."
So a tragic outcome to one person's crusade and journey to try to get to the U.S., but it didn't work out with the kind of happy ending that that person obviously was looking for -- Rob.
MARCIANO: I'm sure a lot of people actually thought about that. We have a great country and a lot of folks want to get into it.
All right, Fredricka. Thank you very much.
Well, a health insurance nightmare -- you fill out the forms, pay the premiums, and then, well, guess what? Your claim is denied. Well, what can you do?
Our medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is back to empower us all.
I think we've all gone through this, and it's so frustrating.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, many people have this complaint. You used the word "empower". We've actually started a column on CNN.com. The first one is today, CNN.com/health. We talk all about how to be an empowered patient, and our first project is how to handle insurance companies when you think your claim has been denied and it shouldn't have been.
And on television we're going to talk to you about a woman named Karen Perry (ph). Karen has a son named Andrew. He's 13-year-old and he was born with a birth defect.
You see him here at birth. He's had 21 surgeries on his face, especially on his jaw.
The bottom line is that now he will never have adult teeth in his lower jaw, and the health insurance company told Karen (ph) when she called them that they would not pay for him to have teeth. And she's now wondering how is her son going to eat when he loses the teeth in his lower jaw, which he's going to do in the next couple of years?
Now, you can -- we'll tell you later what happens with Andrew, but it is a big problem. A lot of people say that they try to fight insurance companies, and they have a really hard time.
MARCIANO: Well, I'm sure just mentally you think, well, I'm just a little bitty person. There's a big corporation.
COHEN: Right.
MARCIANO: I mean, is that the -- can you go after them?
COHEN: You know, patient advocates I talked to said absolutely, you can go after them. You really can beat an insurance company who you feel is doing something unfair. They said that is the key to fighting this situation.
They said the key is to keep going, to appeal and to appeal and to appeal. And they have many examples of people who felt like they were in that David-Goliath situation and actually managed to win.
MARCIANO: There's probably a litany list of things you can do, and on CNN.com I'm sure we have that stuff, but give us one or two.
COHEN: Right. I was surprised when I talked to these advocates that there are certain things you want to do when you're appealing a denial and certain things you really don't want to do, certain words you should use, certain words you shouldn't use. It's all on CNN.com/health.
And one thing I can tell you right now is they say get help, that that is so very important. Go to your employer. If you get your insurance through your employer, ask your employer for help.
Find out where you can get an advocate to help you. Ask the hospital to help if you're in the hospital. There are people out there to help you.
MARCIANO: Does saying please help?
COHEN: Saying please helps. Another thing you can do to help is -- sometimes that helps. This weekend on the "WEEKEND HOUSE CALL" show we're actually going to be taking e-mails...
MARCIANO: Oh, great.
COHEN: .. to help people with their problems. And even if we can't get to them on air, we're going to give them to an advocate to be answered. And they're going to keep their phones opened during the show so you can call in during the show and get help. MARCIANO: The ever-helpful CNN medical team.
COHEN: Medical team of CNN. That's right.
MARCIANO: That's this weekend.
And if you want to find out more about what happened to Andrew Perry (ph), tune into "HOUSE CALL" and you will get all that this coming weekend as well -- Kyra.
Thanks, Elizabeth.
COHEN: Thanks.
PHILLIPS: All right. And you can also check out -- or actually, we're going to move straight ahead and talk about the shot of a lifetime, playing with the pros, right?
A Virginia Tech junior takes on the British Open and sets his sight on the Masters. Can't wait to tell you about this story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BUSINESS REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Hello everyone, I'm Kyra Phillips live at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
MARCIANO: And I'm Rob Marciano in for Don Lemon.
Well, the feds don't exactly go nuclear but a man named Roy Oakley (ph) is in deep trouble after a six-month sting operation.
PHILLIPS: How did a low-level employee allegedly get hold of classified material from the nuke plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee?
You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
And on that top story, he is actually being arraigned this hour, that is Mr. Oakley that we're talking about. Let's talk about the security implications of what could have gone wrong.
Clark Kent Ervin on the phone with us, former Inspector General for the Homeland -- Homeland Security.
Clark, tell us what could have happened here? Our Kelli Arena has been working the story, working her sources. She said no information got to any rogue countries like Iran or North Korea. What could have happened, if indeed, that information could have gotten in the hands of one of those countries?
VOICE OF CLARK KENT ERVIN, FMR. INSPECTOR GENERAL: Well, it could have been a nightmare scenario, Kyra, and of course, if this material had gotten into the hands of al Qaeda, that underscores the threat we've been talking about all week.
Just a couple of days ago, our intelligence agencies concluded that al Qaeda is back in business, that they're as strong as they've been since 9/11, that they have already talked about getting operatives into the United States to carry out attacks, and they want to acquire chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons.
PHILLIPS: Now ...
ERVIN: So, if this Mr. Oakley had sold this material, this information, to an al Qaeda agent, it could have resulted in the deaths of thousands of Americans ...
PHILLIPS: But he's being described ...
ERVIN: ...and (ph) ...
PHILLIPS: ...he's being described, Clark, as a low-level employee. So is it possible that low-level employees can get their hands on potential -- on intelligence like this that could create such a threat?
ERVIN: I think you put your finger on something that's really important, Kyra, and that is low-level employees, in fact initial reports were that he was a contractor. Contractors shouldn't get their hands on information like this because of the potential, in the post-9/11 world in particular. We are much too lackadaisical with regard to nuclear information.
You know, there was an investigation a couple years ago at a number of universities around the country that have nuclear reactors, some of which handle highly-enriched uranium, which is what we're talking about here. There -- in some of these facilities, there weren't armed guards. In fact, there were armed guards at only two of them. One of the guards was asleep. There were no metal detectors. In fact, in one instance, the head of the facility took these undercover students, it turns out, on a guided tour even though they weren't cleared and had not been investigated beforehand.
And so, we're much too lax with regard to this in the post-9/11 world, and if, in fact, an investigation shows that Mr. Oakley did, in fact, do what he was accused of, then I think the most serious sanction should be applied here. This is potentially treasonous, it seems to me.
PHILLIPS: Well, if indeed he is a contractor like you say you are hearing that he is, what does this say about the screening process for contractors at nuclear plants? I mean, obviously Oak Ridge -- this Oak Ridge plant failed with regard to that, if this is true.
ERVIN: Well, that's right. Its says that we're much too lax with regard to contractors. Contractors, I would argue, are playing too big of a role with regard to the government in the security context generally. There's been lots of reports about that. I think it's true at the Department of Homeland Security. It's true at the Energy Department. It's true in the intelligence community. We need to have much more rigorous background checks with regard even to government employees, but especially with regard to contractors at a time when the United States government is more dependent on contractors than ever before.
PHILLIPS: Clark Kent Ervin, thanks for your insight.
ERVIN: Thank you.
MARCIANO: For now, the NFL doesn't seem ready to sideline Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick. He's due in federal court next week when the rest of his team reports to training camp.
Vick and three other associates are accused of running a grisly dogfighting operation out of his home in Surrey County, Virginia. And prosecutors say Vick will likely face local charges as well. The quarterback hasn't responded publicly to the indictment, but claimed he'd done nothing wrong when the investigation started back in April.
A man who's known Vick since Vick was seven said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POO JOHNSON, FRIEND OF MICHAEL VICK: He's feeling bad. I mean, you know, even though some folk might say he don't, you know, don't show any remorse, Michael is full of remorse, and when you talk to him on the phone, you can tell it in his voice that this thing has happened to him is a shocker. Hoping that when everything is cleared, people will gain confidence in him again and that -- let people know that that's not Michael Vick. Michael Vick would not knowingly hurt anybody and especially an animal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARCIANO: If convicted, Vick could face up to six years in prison and a $350,000 fine. The Humane Society and PETA want the NFL and the Falcons' owner, Arthur Blank, to suspend Vick now.
Well, we want to get to the news room again. Fredricka Whitfield has details now on a school fire, Fred?
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, a pretty aggressive fire. Let's take you to Arkansas right now. And we're talking about the Palestine-Wheatley Fire Department which is now trying to battle a blaze at a middle school.
These are new pictures that we're just now receiving from our affiliate WMC. It's difficult to tell what kind of structure this is that is on fire, and it really does look like it's burned to the ground. But you see the bleachers in the upper left-hand corner which makes you believe that maybe this is their field or an athletic field or something like that. But we're don't know for sure. We're trying to work our sources to find out how significant this building is, which apparently looks like it is burned to the ground.
Now, live pictures right now of an aerial view, but I can't really tell you off the bat what we're looking at. There you go. There's the remnants of that fire right there as the Palestine- Wheatley Fire Department tries to get some handle of this blaze and carry on their investigation about how it all started in the first place -- Rob.
MARCIANO: I know school is out, but no word of anybody in that building at the time?
WHITFIELD: Right, no details on that as of yet.
MARCIANO: OK, all right, we'll get back to you. Thank you very much, Fred.
PHILLIPS: The sound of brakes screeching on the runway, an airliner speeding to its doom. Images from Tuesday night's disaster at Brazil's busiest airport. Just this morning, another pilot aborted a landing there. Was the pilot of the doomed plane trying to do the same?
A move is under way to shut down the airport in Sao Paulo now until the crash investigation is finished. Meantime, the flight data and cockpit voice recorders are being sent to the United States for analysis.
The Sao Paulo disaster shocked the nation, but didn't completely surprise experienced flyers. They've long warned that older airports in urban centers are disasters in the making.
CNN's Jason Carroll reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was Southwest Airlines' first fatal crash in the company's 35-year history. Chicago's Midway Airport, December 2005. The 737 slides off a snowy runway, plows through a fence, and clips a car. A passenger in that car, a 6-year-old boy, is killed.
June 1999, an American Airlines jetliner careens past the end of a runway in Little Rock, Arkansas. Eleven passengers are killed, 86 hurt.
August 2005, an Air France jet skids down the runway at Pearson International Airport in Toronto. This time, all 309 passengers and crew survive, including Roel Bramer.
ROEL BRAMER, PLANE CRASH SURVIVOR: You know, it all goes so fast that you really haven't got much time to think. You just want to get off that plane and run away from the disaster as quickly as you can.
CARROLL: Bramer survived the type of crash that is a persistent problem in aviation: runway overruns. It frequently happens at older airports with runways too short to easily accommodate larger planes.
PETER GOELZ, FORMER NTSB OFFICIAL: It's absolutely not an overreaction. You know, air travel now is at the highest levels it's ever been. We're flying more, we're flying to different airports. These are the kinds of safety issues that ought to be addressed now, not after a tragedy has occurred.
CARROLL: Older urban airports like New York's LaGuardia, Boston's Logan, and Burbank, California, have all had serious problems with overruns.
ROSS AIMER, AVIATION EXPERT: What they have to do is to set aside certain areas around the airport, the parameter, and make sure that buildings, especially tall buildings, do not encroach upon that space.
CARROLL: So what's the solution? We asked the Federal Aviation Administration what they've done about the problem. A spokeswoman says the FAA has upgraded its safety standards. Airports built within the past 20 years are required to have 1,000 feet of buffer at the end of runways.
But meeting that requirement may be nearly impossible at older airports where buildings or like at LaGuardia, water, gets in the way. In many cases, the FAA requires airports to install crushable concrete blocks at the end of runways.
KENT THOMPSON, ENGINEER: When an airplane runs off the end of the runway, the wheels crush the material and as they do that, they sink in. That produces a dragload that gradually brings the airplane to a safe stop.
CARROLL: Nineteen U.S. airports, including Midway and Burbank now have those blocks in place.
Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: Getting word now of rough weather in Connecticut.
Reynolds Wolf in the CNN severe weather center -- Reynolds.
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PHILLIPS: Well, the shot of a lifetime, playing with the pros. A Virginia Tech junior takes on the British Open and sets his sights high on the Master's. He was the star at this tournament this year.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well teeing off at the British Open. A Virginia Tech student playing out his dreams. In a year stained with tragedy, more now from CNN's Don Riddell, in Carnoustie, Scotland.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DON RIDDELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, for most of the golfers here at Carnoustie, success will be measured by the manner in which they finish on Sunday afternoon. But, for one young American player, the fact that he's even starting, is already a considerable achievement.
(voice over): When Virginia Tech junior, Drew Weaver sunk this putt on the 17th hole at the British amateur last month, he became the first American champion in some 28 years.
DREW WEAVER, VIRGINIA TECH JUNIOR: Still have to pinch myself quite often. I was so emotionally and physically spent, I was just exhausted. It was just more of a relief. I kind of dropped by putter and kind of crouched down and that was it.
RIDDELL: His victory gained him entrance into the British Open as well as next year's Masters.
WEAVER: For an American golfer, the Masters is, you know, everything. That's the biggest tournament of the year and it's just been a dream of mine for my whole life.
RIDDELL: Weaver dedicated his amateur championship to those who died or who were injured during the Virginia Tech massacre last April.
WEAVER: I felt it was the right thing to do. Virginia Tech is such a big part of my life and the events of April 16th are something that will always be with me. It was a terrible day, and I've thought about it in the perspective that this is something that I'll never forget. And just the amount of people that were affected is so large, that it really is tough to get an overall grasp on how big it is.
RIDDELL: It was while he was leaving class in an adjacent building on that fateful day, that Weaver saw the police and heard gunfire.
WEAVER: The sounds are something that haunted me for a long time and once the shots went off, everybody freaked, and we just ran as fast and far away as we could get. That ended up being the library, so we were there for awhile.
RIDDELL: Weaver says he never thought about transferring from the school, and hopes that all its students will return.
WEAVER: Honestly, I don't know how many people are going to. I just know that there's a lot more positive talk about staying on campus and uniting than I thought. But I think the university as a whole, has rebounded just in an incredible way, and we're going to come out stronger than we were before from this.
RIDDELL: Don Riddell, CNN, Carnoustie, Scotland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: It pays to know the score but Americans are getting bled for billions of dollars because they don't know their own important numbers. Gerri Willis explains next, in the NEWSROOM.
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: I'm Sibila Vargas in Hollywood. The nominations for the 59th annual primetime Emmy awards were announced very early this morning in north Hollywood. I was there, and I'll have the details when the NEWSROOM continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: Well, the Emmy nominations were announced in Los Angeles today. These awards honor the best in television. And our Entertainment Correspondent Sibila Vargas was up -- what time were you up to get this announcement, Sibila?
VARGAS: Oh, 2:30 in the morning.
MARCIANO: You are still smiling, that's impressive. Look at you. All right. Who got honored, what's going on?
VARGAS: Well the names were called out bright and early this morning. I was there, of course, and you can bet there are a lot of people celebrating, and smiling, like me. Especially some garden city mobsters who are leaving the playing field with a bang.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "Sopranos."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Sopranos."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "Sopranos."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VARGAS: As many predicted, the 59th annual prime time Emmy menu had a lot of Italian on it. The Sopranos raked in 15 nominations.
HBO's made for TV movie, "Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee," got the most nominations, 17, helping the pay cable network lead all networks with a total of 86 nominations.
Both James Gandolfini and Edie Falco snagged lead acting nods for their work on the show's much hyped final season. The "Sopranos" will compete with "Gray's Anatomy," "Boston Legal," "House" and "Heroes" for best drama.
Noticeably absent from the drama line-up was last year's winner, "24." ABC's hit comedy "Ugly Betty," may deliver quite a punch come TV's golden night, with 11 nominations, the freshman comedy is sitting pretty as the most nominated laugher of the year. And the good news doesn't stop there for "Ugly Betty." It's star, 23-year-old America Ferrara made history this morning becoming the first Latina ever nominated as lead comedic actress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Excellent news. Excellent news.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VARGAS: Going head to head with "Betty" for best comedy honors are "Entourage," "3D Rock," "Two and a Half Men" and last year's winner, "The Office."
Well, Neil Patrick Harris from the CBS comedy, "How I Met Your Mother," got a wake-up call from a friend to tell him he was nominated. Despite being only 33, he's a TV veteran. The grown up Doogie Houser, received a first this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: What's that like?
NEIL PATRICK HARRIS, "HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER": I don't know, it's very exciting. People are coming up saying congratulations. You know, it hasn't really happened yet. Doesn't happen until mid- September. So, we're about to just start in on season three and I think it gives us good confidence this the show is starting to catch on and that we can get people to watch it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VARGAS: Now, the "Sopranos" drew their last breath, just a few weeks ago and today, Michael Imperioli, who plays Christopher Moltisanti (ph) is toasting with his own Emmy nomination.
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MICHAEL IMPERIOLI, THE "SOPRANOS": It feels different that it's the last season and that there's something a little bit special about that. And I was happy that we got nominated for so many awards for the last year. I thought the season was great, and I'm happy that we all get to go out for one more party.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VARGAS: The 59th annual primetime Emmys will be handed out September 16th at L.A.'s Shrine Auditorium. And by the way, this years telecast is going green, so it will be very eco-friendly. The host has yet to be announced, but I am just putting it out there, I am available.
For more Emmy news, tune into "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT." And tonight, when stars attack, another major star is caught on camera attacking a photographer in public. Should stars be left alone? That's the question. It's a SPECIAL REPORT on TV's most provocative entertainment news show, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific.
Maybe they're looking for a co-host. You'd be great, Rob.
MARCIANO: Oh, now you're talking. I was just going to put your name in the ring, but I'd be honored, as a matter of fact. The way you say Christopher, I mean that's beautiful.
VARGAS: Christopher Moltisanti.
MARCIANO: I couldn't do it any better. Nice work. Thanks.
VARGAS: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: She speaks Spanish too, by the way.
VARGAS: Si, si.
PHILLIPS: She's smart, she's beautiful, she's got the whole package.
MARCIANO: Muchos gracias, chow.
PHILLIPS: Well, straight ahead, from Panamanian dictator to prisoner, to a free man? Maybe not. A closer look at what's next for Manuel Noriega. Straight ahead, in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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PHILLIPS: Breaking news out of Washington. Fredricka Whitfield working the details.
Hey, Fred.
WHITFIELD: Hey, Kyra.
Well, remember the case of the former CIA operative, Valerie Plame, and her husband, former ambassador Joe Wilson, filing suit against Vice President Dick Cheney as well as the White House adviser Karl Rove and Lewis Scooter Libby for outing her.
Her claim was that there was a conspiracy to intentionally reveal her classified job back in 2003. Well, now a federal court is dismissing this lawsuit. We have not read the court's opinion as to why exactly, but Valerie Plame and her husband Joe Wilson were looking forward to pursuing this civil suit against these White House folks. The vice president included, but now a personal defeat perhaps for Plame and Wilson that the federal court has said that it is dismissing this lawsuit again.
We don't know the exact reason, but at the beginning, when these two had filed the suit, they had said they were doing so with heavy hearts and they were looking forward to a renewed sense of purpose after filing this suit. So this personal defeat, and of course when we get any more information on why the court has dismissed it, we'll be able to bring that to you.
PHILLIPS: All right. Thanks, Fred.
MARCIANO: Former Panamanian, the guy from Panama, you remember him. Dictator Manuel Noriega is set to get out of a U.S. prison in couple months, but that doesn't mean he'll be a free man. CNN's Brian Todd explains.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Manuel Noriega, classified by a federal judge as POW. Under part of the Geneva Conventions he's supposed to be repatriated to Panama when he is released in September. But the Justice Department has asked another judge to send Noriega to France, to serve time on a money laundering conviction. Noriega's attorney says, this is a back room deal violating the conventions.
FRANK RUBINO, MANUEL NORIEGA'S ATTORNEY: Panama has asked France to make this request, because Panama does not want General Noriega back in Panama.
TODD: Frank Rubino says Panamanian authorities are fearful that Noriega still has popular support in his homeland. Panama's ambassador to the U.S. says all Rabino's allegations are false.
FEDERICO HUMBERT, PANAMANIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: We have the documents, so does your Department of Justice, of request of extradition. And we insisted on it.
TODD: The ambassador says his government will immediately try to extradite Noriega from France if he is sent there. Panama convicted Noriega in absentia on murder charges, human rights violations and extortion. A U.S. Justice Department official would only say that the Department consulted with Panamanian and French authorities before asking the federal judge to extradite Noriega. But U.S. and French officials won't comment on his lawyer's allegations of a special deal. As for the Geneva Conventions, experts say there is wiggle room.
BARRY CARTER, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY LAW CENTER: We can transfer him to France and he can have to stay in France to serve out his punishment there for acts committed before he was a prisoner of war.
TODD: Still, Frank Rubino says he'll fight this to the end in U.S. Federal Court.
(on camera): As for Noriega's legal chances if he's sent back to Panama? His attorney says he believes he has the right to reopen his case there. Panamanian officials tell me they've consulted their own legal experts and they don't believe he has that right.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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