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Interview with Mark Lunsford; Mudslides in Colorado; Feingold Pushes for Bush Censure
Aired July 22, 2007 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MELISSA LONG, CNN ANCHOR: Next in the CNN NEWSROOM, heavy rains. Too much for the earth to handle, dangerous mudslides in Colorado.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK LUNSFORD, DAUGHTER KILLED: I hope you spend the rest of your life in fear of death. You will never hurt another child again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LONG: Plus, what do you say to the man who killed your child? Mark Lunsford had that chance. He will join us live to talk about his ordeal.
And U.S. military action in Pakistan tracked down al Qaeda operatives? There's new talk about that possibility today.
Hello I'm Melissa Long, in today for Fredricka Whitfield and you're in the NEWSROOM.
Fires and flooding plaguing parts of the west today. Near San Antonio, Texas, the worst of the flooding appears to be over, but not before a series of harrowing rescues that played out yesterday.
Major wildfires stopped California from the southern part of the state to the Oregon border. And in central Colorado, evacuees are awaiting word today on the fate of their mountain homes after heavy rains caused mud slides and flooding.
We're going to start with that story, the urgent call came during the middle of the night in a former mining town of Alpine. Today about 75 dwellers are being housed in nearby Buena Vista after a speedy evacuation. Joining us now from Buena Vista is Jim Osborne. He is a county commissioner for Chaffee County. Jim, thanks so much for your time.
JIM OSBORNE, CHAFFEE COUNTY: You bet.
LONG: Tell me, you are going to be our eyes right now since you're joining us by phone. Tell me exactly what you're seeing in your community.
OSBORNE: Well right now I'm at the shelter where people are being housed, were housed last night, and I just gave a briefing to the folks from that area and we're currently waiting for the Red Cross evaluation team to arrive in the area and to get in and make an evaluation of the damage to the home. We estimate that approximately 50 percent of the homes in the area have some type of damage.
LONG: Now I was reading about the community near Alpine. I'm not sure exactly how far you are from alpine but I understand a lot of those homes are second residences. What about in your community?
OSBORNE: Yes, the homes in Alpine, most of them are second homes. We do have a few people that live there year round but this is at an elevation of close to 10,000 feet and it's in a pine forest and the soils that are around the area are what we call in this area fractured granite. And when they get wet, they are just like a form of wet concrete.
LONG: So this fractured granite, what exactly do you do as a homeowner to prevent problems when you do have to it deal with the fractured granite?
OSBORNE: Well, one much the best things that folks can do in this area is to try to dig channels and ways around their homes so they do not get this -- when there's a drainage coming down it can be channeled away from their home. But that's hard to do. In that area currently we have streams running today where yesterday there were not streams running.
LONG: I understand.
OSBORNE: We have areas that were running, no longer running. So when Mother Nature wants to move water around or change things, it does it quite well.
LONG: Jim Osborne, the Chaffee County commissioner. Jim, thanks so much for joining us tonight on CNN. We appreciate it. Jacqui Jeras, what he was just talking about, the power of Mother Nature and how there are streams in places where there weren't streams just yesterday.
(WEATHER REPORT)
LONG: Will the battle against al Qaeda soon be covering more ground? Today President Bush's Homeland Security Adviser Fran Townsend didn't rule U.S. military action in Pakistan out. Ed Henry is in Washington with more on today's developments. Ed?
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Melissa. You know, U.S. officials are stressing that they're not talking about ground troops in Pakistan, but they're leaving the door wide open to targeted air strikes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY (voice-over): The president's top aides say U.S. military action in Pakistan's tribal areas is on the table to target al Qaeda in the Taliban.
FRAN TOWNSEND, WHITE HOUSE HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISER: No question that we will use any instrument at our disposal to deal with the problem of Osama bin Laden, al Zawahiri, and al Qaeda. HENRY: The White House is on the defensive after a new government report declared Pakistan has become a safe haven for al Qaeda.
SEN. RICHARD DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: After putting massive resources into a war in Iraq, we have lost sight of the goal of capturing Osama bin Laden and closing down al Qaeda.
HENRY: Mr. Bush is walking a tightrope. He's been praising Pakistan even though a deal that President Pervez Musharraf cut last year with tribal leaders has helped al Qaeda regain momentum.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRSEIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Musharraf is a strong ally in the war against these extremists.
HENRY: Now Pakistani leaders are irked by the talk of U.S. military strikes within its borders.
KHURSHID KASURI, PAKISTAN FOREIGN MINISTER: The Pakistan army can do the job much better and the result will be that there will be far less collateral damage.
TOWNSEND: I understand their anger but of course Wolf, the president has made perfectly clear that job number one is protecting the American people. There are no tools off the table and we use all our instruments of national power to be effective.
HENRY: The tensions come with Pakistan already in flames as militants retaliate for Musharraf, ordering an attack on the pro- Taliban red mosque. The chaos may force Musharraf to finally crack down in the remote tribal regions where U.S. officials believe al Qaeda has regrouped and bin Laden may be hiding.
TERESITA SCHAFFER, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTL STUDIES: At this point he's still being pushed by the militants. They still have the initiative but he may decide if this continues that he doesn't have any choice any longer.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: Now U.S. officials say they're committed to trying to work with Musharraf, and they can't push him too hard. If his government falls under all of this pressure, an extremist regime could take over, then they would get their hands on Pakistan's nuclear weapons. That's a real nightmare scenario for the United States. Melissa?
LONG: Of course today we're talking about Pakistan, but there are those are left wondering about Afghanistan. Complicating that scenario?
HENRY: Absolutely. Let's not forget, you have U.S. and NATO troops right next door in Afghanistan. In addition, obviously to the ongoing commitment in Iraq. U.S. forces already stretched thin.
And let's not forget while a lot of critics, especially Democrats but some Republicans say the war in Iraq has been going on for five years now. The war in Afghanistan is about to enter its sixth year. It started on October 7th, 2001, yet another commitment that has taken a lot longer for the United States to finish. Melissa?
LONG: White House correspondent Ed Henry - Ed, thank you.
HENRY: Thank you.
LONG: Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold is getting a lukewarm response to his latest proposal on censuring President Bush. Today Feingold said he will soon introduce two resolutions condemning the president for mismanaging the Iraq war and quote, "the repeated assaults on the rule of law." It doesn't seem to be getting much traction among fellow Democrats and Republicans are expected to vote and block a vote on resolutions. Still, Feingold does not seem discouraged.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RUSS FEINGOLD (D), WISCONSIN: Let me just say it's a sad moment in our country's history when you have to think about actually censuring the president of the United States. But giving the reaction of the November election, the complete disregard of the will of the American people, the misleading statements leading into the war, the inability to have our troops adequately protected.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), KENTUCKY: Marks the 200th day of the new Congress and the kind of stunt Senator Feingold just recommended on the heels of the all-night theater of Tuesday night gives you a sense, Wolf, of why this Congress now has a 14 percent approval rating. We think it's the lowest in the history of polling.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LONG: Feingold tendered a similar resolution against President Bush in March of last year over the warrantless wire taps issue.
Fires and other disruptions at oil refineries are reportedly costing you money. Here's how. A report in "The New York Times" that says a record number of fires and power failures, leaks and breakdowns at U.S. refineries this year have forced dozens of them to shut down temporarily or cut production and that is pushing gas prices higher.
Refining disruptions in the first quarter of last year reportedly averaged 1.35 barrels a day. That was when the industry was still reeling from an active hurricane season. Now compare that to the same period in '07 when disruptions averaged 1.5 million barrels a day. One analyst calls the interruptions invisible hurricanes.
Senator Chuck Schumer responded to the article saying, and i directly quote him, "Instead of putting profits straight into their pockets, oil companies should be investing in their refineries so our nation's gasoline supply stays high while prices at gas pumps in New York and across the country stay low," end quote.
Well, I think you knew it was going to happen sooner or later. An online presidential debate that includes you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is your opinion of America's image abroad?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What will you do to counteract --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My question is this -
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If elected, how would you use your power?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LONG: We have a preview of the Democratic YouTube debate next in the NEWSROOM.
Also an American landmark becomes a St. Louis nightmare. Dozens left high and dry in the arch. Plus this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You get the attention but it's also good for a tan.
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LONG: So what's the big deal, right? Doesn't everybody wear a bikini to cut their grass? Well, maybe not. It's a story you won't want to miss coming up a little later in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMANDA: My name is Amanda. I live in Auburn, Alabama. And this question is for all the candidates. I've been waiting since i was in high school for any politician to actually have an idea that is practical enough to fix social security. Do you have a plan to fix social security that goes beyond talking? And if so, what would that be?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LONG: Now that's just one of the many questions you, the viewer, have been submitting to the YouTube Web site for CNN's groundbreaking interactive Democratic debate tomorrow night.
Joining us live now from the debate site in Charleston, South Carolina, CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider. Bill, thanks so much. Let's talk about that question from Amanda and from so many others, I understand, up to 2,000 people have submitted questions right now. They seem to be quite personal. WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, a lot of them are personal and that's what makes this debate different. They reflect the personal concerns of viewers who are also voters and a lot of other viewers watching this debate will identify with them.
You know, these candidates are very practiced in dealing with questions from the press, from other politicians and candidates but this is going to be different because these are going to be from ordinary voters who speak a different language and the candidates are going to have to speak their language to get by.
LONG: Have you heard the candidates saying they are preparing for this debate than in a different way preparing for others because questions are coming just from the public versus the press?
SCHNEIDER: Well, I think they are, but they're probably asking their staff and their professionals and consultants what kind of things people are likely to ask.
What they really ought to be doing, and I don't know if anyone is doing this, is going out and mixing with the people and finding out what's on their minds. Some of them have done that, they've gone out to town halls and gone out to forums so they'll have some idea of what's on people's minds.
LONG: Of course Hillary Rodham Clinton will be there tomorrow night for the debate, and I understand there's a buzz in South Carolina kind of like get onboard our campaign right now. So you won't be left behind concept.
SCHNEIDER: That's right. She is running first in the national polls, first here in South Carolina, and the campaign is encouraging the idea that somehow she's the inevitable nominee. And if she's inevitable, you'd better get onboard now because the bandwagon is going to be leaving.
Well you're going to see this debate, see seven candidates challenging her, challenging that assumption that it's all over before it even gets started so, you know, a lot of attention focused on her among the other candidates.
LONG: And what about New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson? When we first started talking about the nominee -- excuse me, the presidential hopefuls, he seemed to fall into the second tier rather than the first tier and now he seems to be moving up into almost some gray area.
SCHNEIDER: Well, that's right. He's been moving up particularly in New Hampshire where he's done a lot of campaigning, not so much here in South Carolina, but he was here campaigning today in South Carolina.
We had a correspondent there with him and he had some interesting things to say. He referred to the fact that he's not a rock star like other candidates, meaning Obama and Clinton. He doesn't have a lot of money. Obama and Clinton have all the money or raised most of the money and he referred to the fact he doesn't have a pedigree. In fact he says he doesn't have a dual pedigree, referring to the Clintons.
But he says he's going to make this a real race. He intends to be competitive for votes in South Carolina, including African- American votes who are about half the Democratic primary voters. He's a Latino himself, the first major Latino candidate for president of the United States.
He says as a moderate Democrat who's a governor of New Mexico, he thinks his message can get through here to the voters of the Democrats in South Carolina.
LONG: Senior political analyst Bill Schneider from the glorious campus of the Citadel in South Carolina. Bill as always, thanks for your insight.
Now which questions will make the cut? Well, in just half an hour CNN's Tom Foreman is going to take us behind the scenes and reveal how CNN's staff has been preparing for this first of its kind debate.
And don't forget the big event itself is tomorrow. Tomorrow night Anderson Cooper puts your questions to the Democratic candidates. See what they have to say and it all starts at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time.
It was raining cats and dogs in some parts of the country over the weekend but monkeys? A little monkey, primate, playing in the floodwaters in Texas. Will the weather situation there get better?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, it will. Monkeys can swim, too, by the way, Melissa. Rick Sanchez Googled that for us last night just to make sure they're going to be OK. Those floodwaters are on their way down across parts of Texas but the rain is picking up in Florida. The latest on that and the heat wave in the Plains. Your back-to-work forecast is coming up in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LONG: Across America now we begin in Mississippi, the adopted baby taken at gunpoint during a home invasion yesterday has been rescued safe and sound. The FBI says agents and military police found 5-month-old Madison Erickson in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Police arrested Jamie Kiefer, the child's biological mother and her sister Rikki Swann. Authorities are still looking for an unidentified male and female accomplice.
Former televangelist Tammy Faye Messner has died after a lengthy bout with cancer. The ex-wife of Jim Baker passed away Friday but the family held off on an announcement until late yesterday. She was cremated and her remains interred in an area near the Kansas- Oklahoma state line.
In suburban San Antonio, some of the residents of the Southwest Primate Research Center made the most of their jungle gym staying high and dry. Those aren't too dry as the floodwaters swamped the area yesterday. Despite the drama no escapes or missing monkeys. Jacqui Jeras, you told me the monkeys, they can swim?
JERAS: Yeah. Rick Sanchez says so anyway. He Googled it for us last night. He kept saying, can monkeys swim? Are those monkeys going to be OK? According to Rick, anyway, that's the only source that I have to confirm that monkeys can swim, at least some varieties of monkeys can.
(WEATHER REPORT)
LONG: Time now to go global. We're going to begin in Britain where flooded roads and neighborhoods have the royal air force conducting search and rescue missions. Officials say they've lifted more than 100 flood victims to safety making it possibly the U.K.'s biggest peacetime rescue operation.
Twenty-six Polish tourists died after the bus they were in careened off a steep mountain in the French Alps. Twenty-four more passengers were hurt, 14 of them critically. French officials say the bus did not have the required permit to drive on that notoriously dangerous road.
It's being called one of the biggest residential fires in Edmonton, Alberta's history. Dozens are homeless today after Saturday's inferno that destroyed an entire neighborhood. Firefighters believe the fire started in a condo complex which was under construction. Strong winds spread the flames destroying nine homes and damaging 38 others.
And in Colombia, passengers aboard this Aero Republica flight got an unexpected beach landing on Tuesday. You can see the plane skidded off the slick runway. Half of the plane ending up right there in the Caribbean Sea. Seven people onboard were slightly hurt.
It was an emotional moment in a Florida courtroom this past week. A father facing the man who killed his young daughter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LUNSFORD: For 29 months, my daughter has heard me cry and beg God to stop the pain in my heart.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LONG: Mark Lunsford will join us live next in the NEWSROOM.
Plus an oasis and a world of poverty, drug use, and violence. A haven opens for women and children in Los Angeles. We will take you there. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LONG: Half past the hour. Happening now in the news, heavy rains in Colorado triggered mud slides that chased dozens from their homes. The old mining town of Alpine was covered in mud six feet deep in some spots. No injuries have been reported.
People in Texas are mopping up today after another round of torrential rains. At least 50 people pulled to safety by boat and helicopter around San Antonio yesterday. Dozens of Amtrak passengers were stuck for hours on flooded tracks.
And Senator Russ Feingold says he will introduce resolutions censuring President Bush's handling of the Iraq war. The Wisconsin Democrat's plan got a lukewarm response from some Republicans and Democrats today.
What do you say to the man who killed your child? Mark Lunsford found himself in that unspeakable position last week. It came at a pre-sentencing hearing for the man convicted of killing his 9-year-old daughter, Jessica. Lunsford called the crime, and I quote now, "too heavy for mercy." It was his first chance to face his daughter's killer. Lunsford is calling for the death penalty.
John Couey is convicted of kidnapping, raping, and burying that little girl alive in 2005. Now sentencing is tentatively set for August 10th. We're going to talk to Mr. Lunsford in just a moment but first we do want you to hear his emotionally wrenching and compelling statement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LUNSFORD: My statement is about Jessie and who she was. I can remember when she was about a year old, and she would laugh at me and give me kisses and hugs and steal the raisins from my cereal bowl.
I remember when she was about four and she would run through the house telling on her older sister and brother, Elizabeth and Gerald, all the time. They were about 10 years or more older than her.
I can remember how she missed her brother and sister when they grew up and they moved out on their own. I got more hugs and kisses. She got two nephews and a niece. She was about seven then and that was the first and last time she ever saw her nieces and nephews.
She now has three more nephews that she will never know. Jessica could drive the Bratz through the house in their Bratz car. She could operate a D-9 dozer and a rubber tire loader from her father's knee. From bumps to bruises, from Band-Aids to bicycles, she was a tomboy with her daddy and a very nice young lady for her grandma.
We were more than father and daughter. We were best friends. As a single father, I learned a lot about raising my kids, about raising my children as only a single parent can understand. Me and Jessie would argue about who loved each other the most, and we would just laugh. She once told me that she loved me this much and nothing would come between us.
Jessie had many friends and classmates at school. These children spent every day together experiencing friendship and education, but most of all playing and enjoying life as they knew it as a child. They go home and some will spend the evening together because they are also neighbors, and then they go to bed anxiously awaiting to see their classmates, teachers, and friends another day, never knowing that tomorrow would never come for one of them.
Jessie enjoyed telling grandpa when he was wrong, helping grandma around the house, and having daddy wrapped around her little finger. She brought happiness to everyone she met. She enjoyed learning from school and church and she always looked forward to king's corner, a church program where she learned sign language to show that she loved us.
She loved her best friend, Tiffany, and others, with a true and unspoiled heart. And on February the 23rd, 2005, I kissed my baby girl good night never knowing that it was good-bye.
On March the 19th, the day Jessie's body was recovered, every child and teacher at the elementary school had their hearts broken and the community and her entire family's lives were changed forever. Her death will change things across the land, but her life was worth so much more.
For 29 months, my daughter has heard me cry and beg God to stop the pain in my heart. She has heard my prayers for her spirit to stay close to her friends, so they can see she is always with them and for her grandparents to feel her presence and her love that she only has for them.
After all I have said, only two other people in this courtroom truly know and under what a great loss we have suffered, and I say we because as a community it has taken its toll on us all.
I hope you hear her cries as you try to sleep at night. I hope you see the tears run down her face when she asked you to go home. I hope you spend the rest of your life in fear of death. You will never hurt another child again.
Judge Howard, speaking for myself, for my community and the nation, I plead with you to accept the recommendation of the jury for death as presented to you by the jury 10:2 and a vote of 12 for four guilty verdicts and to remember the words of a wise old black man. It's just too heavy, your honor, it's too heavy for mercy. That's all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LONG: A powerful statement from a man who knows the pain and only a man who knows that pain could write. Mark Lunsford joins us now from Tampa, Florida. Mr. Lunsford, thank you for your time.
LUNSFORD: Thank you, Melissa.
LONG: Hearing that entire statement, i can't imagine how difficult it was for you to write knowing that you had the opportunity to speak with the man convicted of killing your daughter. How difficult was it and do you think he heard you? LUNSFORD: Oh, he heard me. And it is difficult. I mean, you know, you want to say -- there are so many things that you want to say and you want to be able to say it all, but -- and it's hard. I stayed up until 3:00 in the morning and I spoke from my heart, I put it on paper, and I said what i had to say.
LONG: You said for 29 months my daughter has heard me cry and beg god to stop the pain in my heart. You have been working tirelessly to establish four goals, among them a grassroots effort to keep people off the streets who could endanger children. Will you continue for much longer at this pace?
LUNSFORD: I'll go as long as i can. I mean, you have to understand when I lost Jessie, I lost everything. I don't have anything anymore.
So, I mean, I only felt like it was right and to devote all of my time for as long as possible to make sure that other kids receive justice.
Jessie, she'll receive her justice. But what about the children that survive, victim after victim after victim, a lot of them receive no justice. And pedophiles are put back out on the street on probation.
LONG: Well, let me ask you about that. There is the problem with recidivism, people who continue to commit crimes and may have mental illness tied to that. What are you hoping will change with the system to get people the help they need?
LUNSFORD: Well, i mean, there are so many different things that's wrong with the system that I'm just finding out myself. I mean, it does have a high recidivism rate.
There are different things -- there will be different cases that would have to be looked at individually themselves. But when you have just downright lewd, lascivious molestation on a child under 12, those crimes should be punished and they should be punished severely because they are going to repeat their crimes and they are going to get worse and one day they may murder their victims.
LONG: Well, we're talking about the laws. I would be remiss if I didn't talk about something that happened recently with your teenage son also having a run-in with the law. Can you tell us what happened and your perspective on it?
LUNSFORD: Well, I'm glad you brought that up because it fits in with what you were asking, the different things that need to be changed.
As I said before, there's sometimes cases we need to look at individually, not just my son but, even the young man up in Georgia, the young boy at 17 that was sentenced to 10 years.
Sometimes we're going to have to look at these cases individually because there is no dotted line between "Romeo and Juliet" and a predator or a sex offender. There is no dotted line, but we're clumping everybody into one pile and that's -- it's turned out that it's not to be fair.
Now I have actually experienced the failures of the system from losing my daughter to my son being punished for something that, you know -- that him and his girlfriend thought was all right.
LONG: Mr. Lunsford, we could, of course, talk for hours about this. I also want to remind people that you are working tirelessly and people can help you out through your foundation, that is your foundation and you can also get information online?
LUNSFORD: Oh, yes, ma'am. Yes, it's the jessicamarielunsfordfoundation.org. You can go to the foundation and keep up with what we're doing and what you can do to help. There's also another Web site I want to you look at.
LONG: OK.
LUNSFORD: And it's surviving parents coalition. Myself and many other surviving parents have formed a coalition to fight legislation in D.C. The Adam Walsh Act was passed last year in July and it's not properly been funded.
There's -- I'm hearing that there's been $300 million appropriated to it, but there are states that are in compliance but there's no money for these states. And we need to get this fixed. That's why we pass this had law to save our kid, to help our children. The FBI, the U.S. marshals, the National Database Center, all these things are need to stop these crimes from repeating.
LONG: Mr. Lunsford, thank you so much for coming on CNN tonight to talk about your statement this week in the courtroom, also just to talk in general. I know you do it frequently but I'm sure it brings back the pain every time you do.
LUNSFORD: Well, thank you, Melissa.
LONG: Thank you so much. Take good care.
LUNSFORD: Of course you can get more information on this story on our Web site on CNN.com and we'll continue to follow the sentencing as well of John Couey.
Well, there are some parts of Los Angeles that would remind you of a third-world country. No glamour, no sunshine, just crime, drugs, poverty.
Up next in the NEWSROOM, a home away from homeless for women and children who feel trapped in despair and, check this out.
It was once the most popular video on the CNN Web site. Still around, we're going to tell you what it is coming up after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LONG: Let's take a look at some of the more popular stories on our Web site, CNN.com this hour.
Sleepless in St. Louis, marooned on a monument. The famous St. Louis arch has reopened today after a power outage shut it down yesterday. Get this, about 200 people were trapped inside. The 630- foot-highland mark for nearly three hours last night. The good news, everybody is OK.
Tammy Faye Messner's family reportedly is discussing a public memorial service in the coming weeks. The former wife of televangelist Jim Baker passed away on Friday after a long battle with cancer. Her body was cremated and interred Saturday in Kansas. She was 65.
And tattoos at work? More and more people are getting inked on, including more than a third of people under the age of 30. Most businesses don't seem to mind. Fewer than 10 percent of guidelines -- rather have guidelines on what's acceptable in tattoos and what is not acceptable.
There is a new living facility in Los Angeles offering home and hope to women and children mired in poverty. It is miles away from L.A.'s skid row and the despair and drugs that often define their lives. Here is Kara Finnstrom.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VERONICA DURAN-RAMIREZ, HOPE GARDENS RESIDENT: This is the kids' room, right here. They have their own bedroom. Isn't this nice?
KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is no ordinary two-bedroom apartment.
DURAN-RAMIREZ: They have to share a bathroom with everybody and they cry when they see the bathroom.
FINNSTROM: For Veronica Duran-Ramirez and her children, this home in the 78-acre Hope Gardens facility with green hillsides, brooks, and a playground, is nothing short of extraordinary.
It's worlds away from L.A.'s Skid Row, where they slept in cardboard boxes when they couldn't afford bus rides to shelters.
DURAN-RAMIREZ: Do you feed them or do you stay the night in the street? And it's a hard decision and I'm like, well, i have to buy the 99-cent burgers.
FINNSTROM: Veronica says her family fled to the streets to escape a boyfriend who broke both her legs. For two months, her children were frightened and hungry.
DURAN-RAMIREZ: I've seen them like with the smile but all dirty and their little feet all stinky, but they're still smiling saying, hey, mom, I love you. It just made me cry. I thought I'm the worst mom there could be. And then right when I was giving up hope, they said that I got into Hope Gardens. ANDY BALES, UNION RESCUE MISSION: Downtown Skid Row, we're surrounded by violence. We have 400 registered sex offenders around the mission within a few block area. For years, Union Rescue Mission was looking for places.
FINNSTROM: Places safe for women and their children. Now more than 20 miles away in the remote hills of Sylmar, the rescue mission has opened this facility offering childcare, job training, and counseling. It's saying, help families transition to running their own places within three years.
BALES: There is a high incidence of alcohol and drug abuse among single men on the streets, but that is not what we find among women and children. Most likely it's caused by abuse or they just don't have the skills to keep up with the housing.
MARIA DURAN-RAMIREZ, HOPE GARDENS RESIDENT: My mom wants to keep the shoe until I grow up to remember.
FINNSTROM: Maria's tiny shoe completely worn down by the fearful need to keep moving on the street, a reminder of how close Veronica was to losing her children until they all got a new beginning.
V. DURAN-RAMIREZ: I was going to ask the church like, is there a family that could take my kids? I was actually thinking I can't have my kids here. I'm not doing anything. I've been in the situation too long. And then I got into Hope Gardens and I just cried and cried. Go ahead.
FINNSTROM: Kara Finnstrom for CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LONG: The countdown is on to one of the most unique presidential debates ever.
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TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hundreds of questions from all over to be seen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I sort of like that.
FOREMAN: And sorted.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's certainly different.
FOREMAN: And selected.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You like this one?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like this one a lot. Absolutely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LONG: So here is a question, who is picking your questions for the CNN/YouTube debate? I'd like to know, too. We're going to take you behind the scenes next in the NWESROOM. Plus this.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They honk and yell. They do everything you can imagine.
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LONG: I guess so, young lady. You are cutting grass in a bikini, right? New adventures in lawn care still ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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DAVID LUM: Hi, this is David Lum from Rochester, New York. In the evening we here in the Rochester area have very few clear stations. We count on the Internet to be able to hear the programs of our choice. What can you do to help us out? Thank you.
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LONG: And now we focus on presidential politics, your questions and their answers. Tomorrow night the Democratic candidates will tackle questions submitted by the public in a groundbreaking CNN/YouTube debate. CNN's Tom Foreman takes you behind the scenes for a look at how the questions are submitted and more importantly chosen.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is your opinion of America's image abroad?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After attending various...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What will you do to counteract...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My question is this...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If elected...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How would you use your power...
FOREMAN (voice-over): Hundreds of questions from all over to be seen...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I sort of like that.
FOREMAN: And sorted.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's certainly different.
FOREMAN: And selected.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You like this one.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like this one a lot, absolutely.
FOREMAN: High inside our New York offices, locked away in this private room, this small group is taking on that task. Led by senior vice president David Bohrman.
DAVID BOHRMAN, SR VICE PRESIDENT, CNN: I just think it's a little touchy-feeley.
FOREMAN: And Sam Fice (ph), our political director, both delighted at the quantity and quality of questions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, my question is what are you going...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (singing): Are you going to help to stop...
FOREMAN: A small number of submissions involve special production.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to be sure that your healthcare plans are...
FOREMAN: Most are simply people talking to a camera.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Women are not included in the United States constitution...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How often are your religious beliefs...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's bring this question out in the open...
BOHRMAN: We're finding these questions to camera from senior citizens and middle-aged people and young people from all around the country so the -- because it's so simple and easy to do we're getting a real broad spectrum.
FOREMAN: They are all graded, some for cleverness and some for earnestness.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, I really like that?
FOREMAN: Some because they ought to be asked.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My fear is it leads to a stump speech.
FOREMAN: Some because it hasn't been asked before.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It put candidates in a bind on no child best behind.
BOHRMAN: There clearly are questions that we, the journalists of mainstream media, would never think to ask in a presidential debate.
FOREMAN (on camera): Like what?
BOHRMAN: I'm not going to tell you.
FOREMAN (voice-over): He's smiling. BOHRMAN: Really, I'm not.
FOREMAN: But not kidding.
(on camera): Only 50 videos will make it into the debate and exactly how they are being chosen is a secret. Even around here.
BOHRMAN: The focus is with some context, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's a vein of questions in a lot of these.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the questions we're getting on healthcare.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He asks it and then they are going to...
FOREMAN (voice-over): And when the selection is done, only these folks, host Anderson Cooper and a handful of others will know which of your questions will be heard by someone who might become president.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is a really good question.
FOREMAN: Tom Foreman, CNN, New York.
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LONG: And be sure to watch as Anderson Cooper will host tomorrow's unique debate. All the fun starts at 7:00 in the evening Eastern time. It is live, interactive. It's on television. It's online, the CNN/YouTube Democratic debate. CNN, don't forget, it's your political headquarters. And also don't forget about the Republicans, the GOP presidential candidates will answer your questions in the second CNN/YouTube debate. That is set for -- mark your calendar -- September 17th.
Up next, call it genius marketing or maybe half naked ambition. A lawn service advertising bikini-clad mowers. More on her story coming up in the NEWRSOOM.
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LONG: Of course every day armies of lawn care professionals trim yards all around the country. That's not news. But a Memphis company has now decided to give their customers a little show with their mow. Their workers are showing off more than green thumbs. We get more from Andrew Douglas from our affiliate WMC.
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ANDREW DOUGLAS, WMC CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You might say they're loosening the bible belt in this mid-south neighborhood. Ladies cutting lawns, wearing bikinis, showing their bodies offering more attention to your lawn than it's ever seen.
BLAIR BECKMAN, TIGER TIME EMPLOYEE: They honk and yell. They do everything you can imagine. DOUGLAS: 21-year-old Blair Beckman says cutting grass in her bikini beats her former jobs as a waitress and a clerk at Family Dollar.
BECKMAN: You get the attention, but it's also good for a tan which I need.
DOUGLAS: They call themselves Tiger Time Lawn Care, and they'll send these shapely tigers in bikinis for a slightly higher fee than a normal grass cutter.
LEE CATHEY, OWNER: We had a couple customers out there sitting in lawn chairs drinking a beer and just enjoying the bikini cut.
DOUGLAS: Lee Cathey is retired air force, a native Memphian and the boss behind the bodies.
CATHEY: The yards are definitely getting more attention when there's bikinis on the lawn.
DOUGLAS: When I agreed to cover the story, I knew it was going to be a tough assignment and challenge me so I knew I had to ask the tough questions. What's the best way to attack a lawn that's been overgrown, say 10 to 14 days?
BECKMAN: Oh, lord. We get on the riding mower and push mower behind it and go at it.
DOUGLAS: What's the most difficult aspect of this job?
BECKMAN: The hills.
DOUGLAS: What's the best cut for a lawn?
BECKMAN: Whatever he tells me to do.
DOUGLAS: The concept seems to be successful. They're looking at more business opportunities post summer.
CATHEY: In the fall we'll go out and pick up leaves in the bikinis if need be.
DOUGLAS: A service specializing in lawn care, using its sex appeal to market to the mid south. Andrew Douglas, Action News 5.
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LONG: Creative, lucrative concept, and I'm sure that really was not a tough assignment for that gentlemen. Still much more ahead on CNN. "LOU DOBBS THIS WEEK" is up next. He will have the latest on the Senate hearing to investigate the case of an imprisoned former border patrol agents. At 8 Eastern, "CNN SIU: Ambush at the River of Secrets" as the White House weighs how much more time is needed to fix Iraq. This weekend's "SIU" looks back at a tragic milestone in the war. And at 9 Eastern, Larry King's final interview with the late Tammy Faye Messner. I'm Melissa Long in today for Fredricka Whitfield. Lou Dobbs starts right now.
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