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Democratic Presidential Candidates Prepare For CNN/YouTube Debate; Worst Flooding in 60 Years Strikes Western England
Aired July 23, 2007 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: There is nothing virtual about this reality. Real voters pose real questions to real candidates for president.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Grassroots go high tech in a groundbreaking debate sponsored by CNN and YouTube. It's now just four hours away.
Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon.
You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Happening right now, we want to update you on a developing story at the top of the hour. This is happening in South Carolina. It's at a textiles plant. Specifically, this is in Spartanburg County. Firefighters are on the scene here at this plant in a place called Cowpens.
The fire is at DeNiro (ph) textiles. It's located on Main Street, near Highway 29 in Cowpens, if you're in that area. What they say that they were -- this building, this plant was in the process of being renovated, and the cotton and polyester fibers inside the building are providing fuel for that fire. This fire is still going.
We're looking at pictures that were just taken a short while ago. CNN is on top of this story. We are going to bring you the latest developments on this as it continues here in the day. But four people inside the burning factory, they all got out safely.
PHILLIPS: Well, the stage is now set for a first-of-its kind CNN/YouTube debate. The Democratic contenders for president toured our set this afternoon just to check things out. And the debate begins at 7:00 Eastern. That's when video questions submitted by viewers start rolling.
We can hardly wait.
To set the scene for us in Charleston, South Carolina, CNN political correspondent, CNN's Candy Crowley.
Candy, this debate format, it's so different tonight. What do the candidates have to gain by answering the questions from the YouTube users? CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they have to gain an audience that doesn't necessarily tune in to presidential contests, much less presidential debates.
This is a forum that has brought in thousands of young people, 18 to 30, a demographic that doesn't generally vote. They are very hard to get out to the voting booth. So, not only tonight's debate, but through their use of the Internet, a lot of these candidates are reaching out to that particular demographic. And even though we have obviously videos from people throughout all the demographics, this is a medium that the candidates can use to reach into that very coveted age group.
PHILLIPS: Now, what about the political dynamic of the debate? Who has to do what? Does this forum favor anybody's political skill set?
CROWLEY: Well, everybody has to do not badly. Badly is a bad thing to do in a debate, because people talk about it for days afterwards.
Having said that, Hillary Clinton is the clear front-runner in the polls, Barack Obama the clear front-runner in the money race. But, so everyone's attention will be turned to them. If there are to be fisticuffs of some sort verbally, it will be aimed at Hillary Clinton. She's the person they have to go at.
She's trying to establish a sort of inevitability. They need to crack that open a little bit.
So, as far as who this who this favors most, I just would have to say that John Edwards, at some level, this is his forum. He used to be a personal injury trial lawyer. He is very good at empathizing with the jury and relating stories from his clients to the jury.
So, this may be a forum that suits him well.
PHILLIPS: Now, the first time we have tried a YouTube debate here at CNN with submitted questions. What types of questions are being asked the most?
CROWLEY: Boy, what type of questions are not being asked?
Lots of education questions. Lots of health care questions. There are questions about Iraq. But the other two sort of outweigh them in terms of, you know, student loans, parents worried about the price of tuition. On health care, you get very personal questions about chronic health care victims, about how to get insurance, about people that can't afford insurance, about people who are too sick to get insurance. So, they run the gamut, first of all, from health care to Darfur, but within the categories, the questions are very are pretty varied.
PHILLIPS: All right, Candy Crowley at the Citadel, we will be talking to you throughout the day before the big night.
Thanks, Candy.
CROWLEY: Thanks, Kyra.
LEMON: Test results are back on President Bush's colonoscopy. Five polyps removed from Mr. Bush's large intestine this weekend are benign. And that means non-cancerous.
Here's White House Press Secretary Tony Snow.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Microscopic evaluations of the polyps discovered and removed during the president's colonoscopy confirmed the preliminary diagnosis: tubular adenoma.
There were five such polyps. The president's next colonoscopy should be in three years. The rule of thumb is if you have more than three such polyps you do your surveillance period for three years.
As you know, most colon cancer arises from polyps. The progression generally takes very many years. Two-thirds of all polyps are adenomas, the vast majority tubular adenomas.
These were relatively small polyps, a centimeter or so. They represent the very earliest cellular changes. Left untreated, they can progress to larger, more advanced lesions. And a small percentage could become cancerous. Once a polyp is diagnosed and removed they cannot become cancerous.
So, the president is in good health. There is no reason for alarm. A fairly routine diagnosis and also procedure.
And, again, he will next get a colonoscopy three years hence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, the 61-year-old president is an avid fan of daily exercise. He's considered in excellent health.
To Britain now, where entire towns are swamped in some of the worst flooding in decades. Tens of thousands of people trapped by the rising waters.
CNN's Alphonso Van Marsh is following the rescue effort in the waterlogged town of Tewksbury.
ALPHONSO VAN MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. As you can see, it is raining at...
LEMON: All right. Apparently, we have a problem there with Alphonso Van Marsh. They are having some, obviously, flooding problems over there.
As soon as we get that signal back up, we will bring him back to you. But we are going to move on. PHILLIPS: All right. Well, it's finally stopped raining in most of Texas. Nearly a foot-and-a-half fell on South Texas over the weekend, sending as many as 90 people scrambling for higher ground. Emergency crews kept busy with high-water rescues of animals, as well as people. And these baboons were caught playing in the floodwaters surrounding the Southwest National Primate Research Center in San Antonio.
It's been raining constantly in that area for more than a month.
(WEATHER UPDATE)
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: ... a little longer than Alphonso, but I'm being told we have Alphonso back.
LEMON: Alphonso is back. Let's go back to Tewksbury and talk to Alphonso.
Alphonso, I understand that that was a weather-related problem that knocked you off the air there?
VAN MARSH: That's right, all sorts of gremlins to blame for a lot of this kind of unsavory weather, as you mentioned, as you mentioned, of course, the worst flooding in some 60 years in this country, this evening here, some 50,000 homes without electricity., 150,000 homes without water.
You can see why. Behind me, water, water everywhere. Some carts submerged, and none of it able to drink. As we mentioned, the prime minister, Gordon Brown, has actually come out to take a look at the situation for himself, pledging some $1.6 billion in flood aid to help the more than five million people that are living in areas that are at risk of this flooding.
And the prospect is not very good. Forecasters here predicting that the rains will continue, that, over the next three days, the rains could and the floodwaters could continue to go up.
Now, where I'm standing, you can see that the water is coming up to about my knees. But if you look behind me over there, those are actual football and soccer pitches, fields that usually would be bone- dry, if not just green, during the summer hours. But that's not to make light of this very, very serious situation -- hundreds of people being rescued in what the Royal Air Force is saying is the most serious and the largest rescue operation during peacetime, and some unsettling things taking place in this part of the country, again, in the west and southern, middle part of the country, some people at stores, buying water, like this bottle here, and reselling it at upwards of $10 a bottle -- back to you.
LEMON: Whoa. Really? That is not right.
All right, Alphonso, thank you so much.
But you know what? And let me ask you this question real quick. What are the emergency services people doing in all of this?
VAN MARSH: Well, we're seeing a lot going on, whether if it's the Royal Air Force, the navy, the army, military coming in with some 600 tanks of water and water bottles to distribute to those that need them.
Earlier on today, we saw emergency workers actually coming through in dinghies and bringing senior citizens, the elderly, those that need help, to dryer land. If there's any kind of a lighter side of looking at this, also in Stratford-upon-Avon -- of course, that is the birthplace of William Shakespeare -- the Royal Shakespeare Company had to cancel some performances today, the reason, it goes without saying, due to the flooding -- back to you.
LEMON: Absolutely. Alphonso, seriously, be careful there, because you just don't know what is under that water. All right, thank you very much.
Dry, windy and burning. At last count, 39 large wildfires are spreading across eight Western states. Firefighters in central Utah are worried about strong winds kicking up later today, fanning a fire that has already forced several small towns to evacuate. The smoke is so thick, you can smell it 90 miles away in Salt Lake City.
PHILLIPS: Well, a heartrending accident in a minor league baseball game. A foul ball hit and killed the first base coach for the Tulsa Drillers in last night's game against the Arkansas Travelers in north Little Rock.
Mike Coolbaugh was hit in the head, knocked unconscious, and died just a short time later. One of the Arkansas Travelers described exactly what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RYAN LEAHY, ARKANSAS TRAVELERS: That was the hardest foul ball. I mean, if that didn't hit him, it was going to get -- it was bound to get somebody. It was hit so hard. And, when it hit him, you just -- I turned away, because every time a foul ball goes in the stands, I turn away, because most of us do, because you don't want to see it.
And that one, it was just too hard to see, because it was so close, and it knocked him straight on his back. And he didn't move. He didn't move one bit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, the 35-year-old former Major Leaguer leaves behind a pregnant wife and two little boys.
LEMON: From Palestinian dictator -- I should say 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.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D), SOUTH CAROLINA: Democrats in South Carolina, want to be with a winner. They want to really be able to say we did launch this campaign.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Could South Carolina be a king-maker in the race for the White House? Straight ahead, House Majority Whip James Clyburn on why tonight's debate in his home state is a critical step in the campaign.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Three fourteen Eastern time. Here are three of the stories that we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.
A clean bill of health. The White House says that doctors found no cancer in five small growths removed from President Bush's colon on Saturday.
And parts of western England facing the worst flooding in 60 years. Right now, soldiers are trying to keep floodwaters away from a major substation that serves 500,000 homes. Thousands of other homes are already without power or drinking water.
A manhunt under way in the South for two people who allegedly helped snatch a Mississippi baby from her adoptive parents. The baby is safe. Her biological mother was arrested. Police believe a disputed adoption sparked that kidnapping.
Well, no ties, no trust, and no love lost between the U.S. and Iran, especially when it comes to Iraq. But that's not stopping American and Iranian diplomats from sitting down in Baghdad tomorrow for a second round of talks.
Let's get a preview from our State Department correspondent Zain Verjee.
Hi, Zain.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kyra.
Well, it looks like these talks are going to be a repeat of one -- the ones last May. Now, the State Department is basically saying that these talks will be at the ambassador level. They are going to happen on Tuesday afternoon. That's local time in Iraq. The topic is going to be Iraq's security only, nothing else.
Like last time, too, Kyra, Iraqi officials are also going to be in the room. The U.S. has accused Iran of fuelling sectarian violence and giving Shia militants weapons that kill U.S. troops. The U.S. wants Iran to stop interfering in Iraq and instead try and help stabilize the situation in Iraq.
The State Department Sean McCormack explained a short while ago while the U.S. is engaging Iran directly again. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN MCCORMACK, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: We think that this kind of engagement is important, that, at the very least, we can have a direct message to the Iranians, that, if they truly do want a more stable, secure, prosperous Iraq, they're going to have to change their behavior. Now, after the first meeting, we haven't seen really any appreciable change in their behavior, certainly not for the positive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERJEE: And, Kyra, the U.S. is saying that this time it certainly hopes that there will be results from Iran.
PHILLIPS: All right, well, let's talk about round two of talks. Do you think that they can make a difference? Is everyone in the administration on board with talking to Iran?
VERJEE: Well, I mean, the first part of your question, the Bush administration certainly hopes that it will make a difference. I mean, there's just so much more pressure to show improvement in Iraq, especially because a significant progress report on Iraq is expected by mid-September.
But, you know, Kyra, suspicion and mistrust between the U.S. and Iran is really high. The atmosphere is pretty poisoned. There are tensions over the nuclear issue. Iran is also holding four Iranian- Americans. They paraded two of them on TV, basically saying the U.S. is using them to undermine the Iranian government.
The U.S. is for its part also holding Iranians in Iraq. It's was war-gaming close to Iran's shores. It's pushing for more financial sanctions on Iranian banks and companies, and pushing also for another U.N. sanctions resolutions against Iran.
Analysts, Kyra, are basically saying the expectation of these talks are pretty low, but any channel of dialogue is significant, and it could be valuable -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Zain Verjee, appreciate it.
LEMON: Six NATO troops killed in Afghanistan just today. Four died in a roadside bombing in an eastern province. The other two were killed in separate attacks. No word on their nationalities. This is the deadliest day for the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan since a roadside bomb killed six Canadian soldiers and their Afghan interpreter back on July 4.
An update now on news we told you about, we have been reporting here on CNN in the newsroom this morning. This is a cockpit video of an airplane. It looks like the dashboard cam, actually, from the police car there, this plane had to land on the runway in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.
As we have been reporting, a father was teaching his son how to fly an experimental aircraft, part of an experimental aircraft association over the weekend on Sunday, when this plane -- there you see it there. It's the dashboard cam actually from a police or officer in the area.
This is new video just in to CNN. But, again, now, the two people aboard the plane, the people on the ground were saying when they saw this plane, that smoke was coming down towards the ground. The highway had to be closed off. The two people on board the plane are fine, but this is new just video in. Can you imagine that? You're driving are on an interstate and all of a sudden, the airplane is the vehicle next to you.
PHILLIPS: Well, remember the NBA ref accused of fixing the games?
LEMON: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: Apparently, we have an update on his situation right now.
Jim Acosta working it for us.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Well, if you're refereeing an NBA game and you're betting on them, that is a problem. And one ref is accused of doing that.
We have an update for you on this FBI investigation now.
CNN's Jim Acosta is in New York with the very latest for us.
What do you have, Jim?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Don.
Well, we can tell you that former NBA referee who is under investigation in a federal gambling probe has received death threats. The Manatee County Sheriff's Department confirms to CNN that Tim Donaghy received two phone calls, threatening phone calls, to his home in Bradenton, Florida, yesterday afternoon. According to investigators, the first call came at 12:20 p.m. yesterday afternoon from an unidentified person at an unknown number.
The caller said to Donaghy, according to police: "You're fired. You're a dead man." That's a quote, unquote.
The second call came at 1:57 p.m. And during that call, the unknown man said -- it's believed to be the same caller -- "You're done. You are dead."
At that point, Donaghy called 911 and police immediately sent officers to the home. The sheriff's department says it plans to keep officers in the former ref's neighborhood. Now, in terms of the investigation, the NBA plans to hold a press conference some time this week to respond to the federal investigation into allegations that Donaghy gambled on games he officiated.
Donaghy's lawyer, a former U.S. attorney in Brooklyn, has so far declined to comment on the probe, and Donaghy has reportedly resigned his position as a referee in the NBA -- Don.
LEMON: All right, details to come. Jim Acosta in New York -- thank you, Jim.
ACOSTA: You got it.
(BUSINESS REPORT)
LEMON: Coming up, some of the questions you won't see tonight's -- tonight on CNN's YouTube debate. And only Jeanne Moos, of course, has them.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Hello, everyone.
I'm Kyra Phillips live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon.
As goes the Palmetto State, well, so goes the nation. South Carolina is playing host to a debate that some say could be a make or break night for Democratic candidates.
Congressman James Clyburn joins us with a preview of the big event, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
All right, well, here is a question about the questions for tonight's CNN/YouTube debate. Who decides which questions make it to the podium and how do they decide it?
Well, CNN's Tom Foreman takes us behind the scenes.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is your opinion of America's image abroad?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And in various campaign ads...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What will you do to counteract the...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My question is this...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If elected...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How would you use your powers?
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Hundreds of questions from all over, to be seen...
DAVID BOHRMAN, CNN SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT: You know, I sort of like that.
FOREMAN: ...and sorted.
SAM FEIST, SENIOR EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: It's certainly different.
FOREMAN: ...and selected.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You like this one, right?
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.
BOHRMAN: I just think it's a little touchy feely.
FOREMAN: And Sam Feist, our political director -- both delighted at the quantity and quality of questions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, my question is what are you going to...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SINGING) Are you going to help to stop telephone...
FOREMAN: A small number of submissions involve special productions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I want to be sure that you have an escape plans or just...
FOREMAN: Most are simply people talking to a camera.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Women are not included in the United States Constitution.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How often do your religious beliefs impact...
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 really broad spectrum.
FOREMAN: They are all graded -- some for cleverness, others for earnestness...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I really liked that one.
FOREMAN: Some because they ought to be asked.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My fear is that it just lends itself to a stump speech.
FOREMAN: Some because they haven't been asked before.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It puts candidates in a bind on No Child Left Behind. BOHRMAN: There clearly are questions that we, the journalists, the 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: He's smiling.
BOHRMAN: Really, I'm not.
FOREMAN: But not kidding.
(on camera): Only about 50 videos will make it into the debate, and exactly how they are being chosen is a secret -- even around here.
BOHRMAN: He focuses with some context, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's a vein of questions in a lot of these concerning...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the questions that we're getting on health care all...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You guys...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: and then they're 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 was a really good question.
FOREMAN: Tom Foreman, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And less than four hours from now, our first of its kind CNN/YouTube debate.
And joining us live from South Carolina, the scene of tonight's forum, House Majority Whip James Clyburn.
His state looms potentially huge in the upcoming primary season.
Sir, it's great to see you. You're a man of firsts. You were the first African-American majority whip. Here you are in your state, the first CNN/YouTube debate.
Let's talk about this.
A lot of other firsts that could happen, correct?
REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D), SOUTH CAROLINA: Well, that's true. That's true. We might yield the first African-American to be president of the United States. We could very well yield the first Hispanic American, the first woman. There are a lot of possibilities, first time occurrences taking place after this debate.
PHILLIPS: And you know how that feels, to break barriers and to move in these type of circles and be able to bring attention to a first of its kind.
Tell me how it is for you and why South Carolina is so important.
CLYBURN: Well, I think that South Carolina offers Democrats the first opportunity to get a feel for what this country is really like from its electorate, that reflects what this country is really like. There will be anywhere from 40 to 48 percent African-Americans participating in this primary. We're in the part of South Carolina that is very, very historic, where people believe in historic preservation. They believe in traditional values. These are people that I think sort of represent the mainstream, what voters would be like come next year going into the general election.
So I think it's very, very important for all of these candidates to come down to the Citadel, to Charleston, to this part of my Congressional district and get a good feel for what a campaign would be like going forward.
PHILLIPS: Congressman, why do you think Hillary is doing so well with black voters?
CLYBURN: Well, I think because she's a woman, first of all. And there are a lot of black women who are supporting her. I think it's because she has the background that a lot of these voters sort of identify with. And, of course, they see her as being very well prepared. And they see her as being a very good opportunity to make history.
PHILLIPS: Well, let me...
CLYBURN: So a lot of that factors into it.
PHILLIPS: OK, that's interesting about the history. But also -- so, let me ask you this. You say that voters relate to her because she's a woman, and especially black women. They identify with the fact that she's a woman. But we could say, hey, Barack Obama is black. You would think OK...
CLYBURN: Yes. PHILLIPS: ...black voters identify with him.
Why aren't they identifying with him?
Why is he not getting the support like she is?
CLYBURN: But I think that they are. I think that you would be -- would make a very big mistake if you were to take the name recognition -- that's the -- some people still are trying to see whether or not Barack has an opportunity to win. He is an unknown quantity and the quality of his campaign is still being looked at. And I think that that's what he suffers from.
But I think as time goes on, if he demonstrates that he does have the stamina, that he does have the intellectual capacity, that he does have the kind of experience that these people can identify with, they'll vote for him. They just don't know yet. That's what they're waiting on.
PHILLIPS: Well, Congressman do you think that he is identifying more with the white voters, reaching out to the white more and alienating the black community because he's not getting deeper into that community?
CLYBURN: I've heard those charges. But, you know, Barack is the same age of my eldest daughter. I started my public career sitting in, waiting in, praying in, doing a lot of things so that my daughter and Barack would not have to go through that.
I think you'll make a big mistake if we view him only in terms of whether or not he was a part of that era. He is not. A lot of people made sacrifices for him to be the Harvard graduate that he is today. I made significant sacrifices for all of my daughters to have the kind of preparation that they have. And so I don't expect for them to have to go through what I went through. If I did, I would call myself a failure for what I did earlier.
PHILLIPS: So Congressman, are you telling me one of your daughters will be running for president pretty soon?
CLYBURN: I would hope so. If not president, whatever it is that she has the capacity to do. I hope that she would not be as limited as I was or as my parents were. That's what this is all about -- building on those and standing on those shoulders and building on those blocks.
PHILLIPS: Well, you've proved that, sir. You have paved the way for many African-Americans and including your family members. Congressman James Clyburn, great to talk to you.
CLYBURN: Thanks for having me.
PHILLIPS: You bet.
Anderson Cooper hosts tonight's first of its kind live and interactive on TV and online. The CNN/YouTube Democratic debate tonight at 7:00 p.m. Eastern. And you can see the Republican candidates debate on Monday, September 17th.
LEMON: Well, here's a name we haven't heard lately -- Manuel Noriega, the former Panamanian strongman, is soon to be released from a prison, where he spent the past 17 years. In Miami today, Noriega's attorneys asked a judge to order his return to Panama in an ongoing battle over where he'll go from here.
More on the story from CNN's Brian Todd.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Manuel Noriega, classified by a federal judge as a 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 Rubino'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 allegation of a special deal.
As for the Geneva Conventions, experts say there's 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)
LEMON: A judge in Maryland drops a sex abuse case against a man accused of raping and repeatedly molesting a 7-year-old girl. Montgomery County Circuit Judge Katherine Savage dismissed the charges against Liberian native Mahamu Kanneh. The court tried for three weeks to find a translator for the West African language, but it couldn't. The judge said the delay violated the defendant's right to a speedy trial.
Now, police say Kanneh spoke to them in English.
Prosecutors are considering appealing the dismissal because they can't re-file the charges.
PHILLIPS: Well, one man's trash is another man's treasure. But for these children in New Delhi, it could also be a ticket to a better life. That story straight ahead from the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, if you're watching this in the United States, chances are the kids in your neighborhood don't have to pick through the trash to support their families. But that's the reality for thousands of street children in India. Now they're finding hope and help in one another and in a new bank run for kids by kids.
CNN's Delia Gallagher has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It's a familiar scene here in India -- children picking through trash in the hopes of finding a bottle or a scrap of plastic that can be sold to recycling centers for a few rupees.
They're street kids -- 12, 13, 14 years old, runaways, some abandoned by their parents, others sent to the big city to send money back to their impoverished villages.
This is what they do during the day, but wait until you see where they go at night.
To the bank -- yes, a bank owned and operated by Delhi street kids.
Meet the bank manager, 13-year-old Suresh, sweating under the pressure of managing a Children's Development Bank's main branch, Suresh feels the weight of his duties. "When I grow up I want to be a farmer," he says. There's too much pressure in the bank. You might make a mistake with the money."
The bank pays depositors 3.5 percent interest on the savings. It also makes interest-free loans.
Rita Panicker is the founder of Butterflies, the group that helped the boys start the bank.
RITA PANICKER, DIRECTOR, BUTTERFLIES: It's a lifeline for these children, a lifeline because the children know that with this bank, they have multiple choices in life.
GALLAGHER: Dilip Kumar banked 21,000 rupees -- about $525. He used to pick up scraps. Last year, with the help of Butterflies, he interned as a cook at one of Delhi's most famous five star hotels.
"Before, I would never have even dared to stand in front of that hotel," he says, "much less walk through the doors."
Now he cooks and helps run a kitchen with other boys, to feed the younger ones still out on the street.
(on camera): Now critics say doesn't a program like this just encourage child labor?
Shouldn't these kids be in school?
Well, innovators in this unique program say they're being realistic. There's a lot to be done to get rid of child labor, but in the meantime by offering these kids a safe place to keep their money, they're teaching them about personal responsibility.
(voice-over): They also teach them to have fun -- hosting a cultural gathering once a month, where the kids can forget the street and the pressures of survival.
PANICKER: I decided that I would work with street kids, but it will not be an institutional program. We will base it on democratic values, where we will give the space for children to decide.
GALLAGHER: Sixty-four hundred kids have accounts at the Children's Banks in India. The program has been copied in Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal. There's even a branch opening in New York in September -- giving the same small hands that pick garbage for a living a chance to write their own future.
Delia Gallagher, CNN, Delhi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: A great story.
Coming up, some of the questions you won't see tonight on CNN's YouTube's debate. And only Jeanne Moos has them for you.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: It's so exciting. It's almost here.
How many hours?
7:00 -- four or five hours?
PHILLIPS: Where's the countdown clock?
LEMON: Yes, where is that countdown clock?
PHILLIPS: What happened to our clock?
LEMON: Can we get the countdown clock?
PHILLIPS: (LAUGHTER).
LEMON: We've been reminding you about the Democratic candidates' first ever CNN/YouTube presidential debate tonight -- you're going to get me in trouble.
PHILLIPS: That would be three hours and eight minutes, by the way.
LEMON: OK.
Well, you've been sending in your questions. So, some are interesting, to say the least, right?
PHILLIPS: That's right.
LEMON: And guess who's got it?
PHILLIPS: Jeanne Moos, of course.
LEMON: Jeanne.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As they prepare the presidential debate set, wait until you see the latest set of questions for the candidates.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you really believe that god exists?
MOOS: Do you really believe some of these questions exist?
Submitted to YouTube by a dolphin?
By an alien?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My name is one among many.
MOOS: By a crab. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What will you do to stop the sexually transmitted diseases?
MOOS: A lot of the questions submitted to YouTube will go down the tubes, especially the one delivered by a tube.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, there little troopers -- trooper (ph) troopers from Hollywood.
MOOS: A few folks sang questions like who's going to be your running mate?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (SINGING): I want to know who it is and why we should say wow.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (SINGING): What is the worst you ever did that you won't tell us?
MOOS: And then there's the catchy what would you do about telephone outsourcing questions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (SINGING): I don't understand a word, a word that I have heard. Telephone outsourcing, telephone outsourcing.
MOOS: Some parents apparently outsourced questions to their kids about hunting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What will you do to stop PETA?
MOOS: About health care.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They can die by the time all the paperwork gets filled out.
MOOS: These three mounted stuffed ostriches in front of the White House to tell candidates not to bury heads in the sand.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: What's your plan to fix social security?
MOOS: They may be too young to vote, but those accusatory little pointed fingers hurt.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: How are you going to fix it?
MOOS: And then there was the guy who asked one question like this.
DAVID MCMILLAN: Hi. My name is David McMillan (ph).
MOOS: And another like this.
MCMILLAN: Is how do you all, my presidential hopeful brothers, and Sister Hillary, plan on promoting and expanding civil rights so poor brother Anderson Cooper here doesn't have to do all the work by himself?
MOOS (on camera): Don't expect YouTubers to keep their shirt on. Question for Hillary Clinton.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can I be your intern?
Joe Biden, the same question.
MOOS (voice-over): Some lost their train of thought mid-question.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I'd like to know, whoever you are, what the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) are you going to do about it?
MOOS: At this debate, the questions may be more fun than the answers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does this Web cam make my boobs look weird?
MOOS: Honestly, yes. But no candidate who wants your vote is going to tell you that.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: That is whoo.
Anyway, it is too late to ask a question for tonight's debate. But you can definitely make a statement afterwards. CNN.com can make a political pundit out of you, of course. Watch the CNN/YouTube then send your I-Report analysis or your commentary to CNN.com/YouTubedebates. Your two cents could make it on for all of the world to hear for all of the debates or whatever.
I've got a question.
PHILLIPS: The man that always asks the right questions...
LEMON: That's what I was going to say.
PHILLIPS: ...is Wolf Blitzer.
It's time to check in with him -- hey, Wolf.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Guys, thanks very much.
You're way too nice.
At the top of the hour, I'll ask a Democratic U.S. senator why he wants Congress to do something to President Bush that hasn't actually happened since Andrew Jackson was in the White House.
We also have a brand new book that's coming out about the vice president, Dick Cheney. It's generating lots of buzz. You're going to find out why he didn't want the job and what mistakes he's admitting in the war on terror.
And could a video question from YouTube stump the Democratic presidential candidates? We're counting down, as you , to tonight's unique debate in Charleston.
All that, guys, coming up, right here in "THE SITUATION ROOM".
LEMON: It's three hours and four minutes, right?
PHILLIPS: Um-hmm.
LEMON: And where's our clock?
PHILLIPS: Wolf can't wait.
LEMON: Yes.
(LAUGHTER).
PHILLIPS: The closing bell and a wrap of all the action on Wall Street, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, the closing bell is about to ring on Wall Street.
LEMON: So we should probably go there and check in with Susan Lisovicz, what do you think?
PHILLIPS: Hi, Susan.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra and Don.
Well, I wanted to do this story because both of you have taken some big business trips lately. And this is a story where your ears might perk up, coming from United Airlines, the first U.S. airline to offer lie flat beds in business class. It is 180 degrees, 6'4" lie flat beds. And when you decide to sit upright, you get 150 hours of DirecTV, movies, programs...
LEMON: Oh my gosh.
LISOVICZ: ...all that sort of stuff, to make your work trips that much more enjoyable.
LEMON: What is this, a Four Seasons airlines?
What is that?
LISOVICZ: It's United. It's
It's United Airlines, which has the longest bankruptcy in airline history. It just emerged from Chapter 11 last year. So a big investment from United Airlines. And, hopefully, yes, this lucrative segment will respond to it.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
PHILLIPS: Time for "THE SITUATION ROOM".
LEMON: And Wolf Blitzer.
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