Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

NBA Referee Scandal; Michael Vick Investigation; Analysis of the CNN/YouTube Presidential Debate

Aired July 24, 2007 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning again, everyone. You're with CNN. You're informed.
I'm Tony Harris.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.

Developments keep coming into the CNN NEWSROOM on this Tuesday, July 24th.

A lot on the rundown this morning.

In fact, happening this hour, what did the NBA know and when did they know it? Commissioner David Stern talks about a betting scandal.

HARRIS: Town hall with a twist. The CNN/YouTube debate moves the format forward. We will get perspective from Bill Bennett and Donna Brazile.

COLLINS: Falling star. Actress Lindsay Lohan has a new head shot. Lohan arrested again on a DUI charge in the NEWSROOM.

NBA commissioner David Stern expected to address a major mess over an ex-referee any moment now. You see the live pictures. Tim Donaghy is expected to surrender to authorities in a gambling probe within days. He's suspected of betting on basketball games that he officiated.

CNN's Jason Carroll is live now in New York this morning.

Hi there, Jason.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Heidi.

And we're waiting for that press conference to get under way. You can see that there was a packed room there waiting for David Stern to show up.

Some sports journalists are saying that this could end up being one of the worst crises in NBA history. At issue at this point, was one of their referees, Tim Donaghy, was he calling games and betting on them at the same time? That is what the FBI is going to be investigating.

We're getting word in from some of our sources, a law enforcement source, telling us that Donaghy is expected actually to turn himself in some time later this week and that he is, Heidi, cooperating with authorities. Sources also telling us that two other individuals, two bookies are also expected to be arrested this week.

So far at this point, Donaghy hasn't said anything about these allegations. As you know, he's already resigned at this point.

NBA's commissioner, Stern, who has a reputation, Heidi, as really never being at a loss for words, he released a statement last week saying, "No amount of effort, time or personnel is being spared to assist in this investigation, to bring to justice an individual who has betrayed the most sacred trust in professional sports, and to take the necessary steps to protect against this ever happening again."

Again, that comes from David Stern. That was last Friday.

So at this point, we're waiting to see what David Stern has to say when he steps up to the mic -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes. The possible implications here could just be enormous.

HARRIS: Yes.

COLLINS: Jason Carroll live from New York.

Thanks so much, Jason.

And this hour, as we have mentioned, NBA commissioner David Stern making his first public comments about these allegations. We will bring that to you live just as soon as he gets to the microphone.

HARRIS: Lindsay Lohan in trouble again. The young actress arrested for the second time since May for driving under the influence.

Tests showed her blood alcohol levels exceeding the legal limit and then some. Officers also say they also found cocaine in her possession. Police say they stopped Lohan after getting a call that she was allegedly chasing someone in another vehicle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. ALEX PADILLA, SANTA MONICA POLICE: ... following or trying to catch up to the car that's being driven by the mother of her personal assistant. The mother then tried to make it here to the Santa Monica Police Department. She didn't make it here. She ended up in the parking lot, and that's when she called the police department on her cell phone and we responded.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Lohan was released after posting $25,000 bail. She was just booked five days ago in connection with a May drunken driving charge and had just finished her latest stay in rehab just two weeks ago.

Sacked by the NFL. The league telling Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, stay away from training camp.

Today, Vick's bosses speak for the first time since Vick's involvement in a dogfighting case.

CNN's Rusty Dornin joins us live from the team's headquarters in Flowery Branch, Georgia.

And Rusty, you're standing out there at Flowery Branch, kind of the center of public opinion right now. Are people sort of blowing their horns as they drive by you, offering their view of things?

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Tony. We're getting a few people driving by, saying, "Let him play! Let him play!" and that sort of thing. But, of course, you have in "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution," the local sports columnist saying it's all over for Vick as a result of the NFL commissioner writing him this very stern letter telling him to stay away.

The team was supposed to show up on this coming Thursday. He has an arraignment in Virginia on these indictment, federal indictments. And it was expected that he would come here after that, but the NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell, is saying, we don't want you, writing a very terse letter to Vick, saying, "While it is for the criminal justice system to determine your are guilt or innocence, it is my responsibility as commissioner of the NFL to determine whether your conduct, even if not criminal, nonetheless violates league policies, including personal conduct policy."

And it looks like commissioner Roger Goodell doesn't put up with much. He's even been called ruthless by some, a disciplinarian. But he is asking the Atlanta Falcons, please don't you take disciplinary action.

So we'll be hearing about it later at their news conference -- Tony.

HARRIS: OK.

Rusty Dornin for us at Falcons camp, Flowery Branch.

Rusty, thank you.

Let's get you back to New York now. We understand David Stern is ready to make some comments.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... all cell phones and BlackBerrys before we get started here. Or anything that makes any sounds.

We'll start with an opening statement from the commissioner. We will then open for question and answer.

In order to ask a question, I need you to raise your hand. I will then select you. And once a microphone is brought over to you, please identify yourself with name and affiliation, and then you can ask your question.

At this point, I'd like to turn it over to the commissioner of the NBA, David Stern.

DAVID STERN, NBA COMMISSIONER: Thanks, Tim (ph).

Good morning.

We -- thank you.

Good morning.

We're here today to discuss the ongoing investigation into certain allegations about NBA referee Tim Donaghy. What I propose to do is to tell you are what our procedures are with respect to referees and gambling, what we can or cannot tell you, and why there are certain things we can't tell you that might have made it easier not to have this press conference at this time. But we thought it was our obligation to have it -- what we -- what previous actions we have known about with respect to Mr. Donaghy, what we did about those, and what we are permitted to say about Mr. Donaghy and the investigation and when we -- and when we learned about those facts.

And then I'll open it up to questions and spend quite a bit of time here to satisfy you on all the things that I'm able to.

The first thing that I'd like to say is that our rules are crystal clear that referees may not either gamble on our games or provide information to anyone about those games. We, you know, have a rule that says you're subject to discipline, which would most likely be expulsion from the league and the job.

We educate our referees intensely. We have training camp presentations. We have brochures. We distribute work rules. We -- they're visited by security.

I want to make it clear that not only aren't they permitted to either gamble or provide information to people, they may not even provide other than to their immediate family, the details of their travel schedules or the games they're going to work.

We take these rules seriously. We have a security department that is large. It's headed by Bernie Tolbert, the senior vice president of security, former FBI head of the Buffalo office, second in command in Philadelphia, who has a background in undercover work.

We have in-house representatives that are from Secret Service, U.S. Army, New York Police Department and New York State Police investigation. We, in addition, have a security network that includes a security representative with respect to every NBA team.

Those security representatives are routinely judged and either changed as appropriate and instructed on the ground to be listening to what goes on, what they hear, what they see, what they can observe. And those security representatives are, for the most part, either FBI, retired, local police. In some cases, DA. And where permitted by work rules, some of them are actually functioning in their regular capacity for local PD and working for us at the team level.

In addition, to the constant communication of our security reps of what goes on in cities, we're in continuous conversation with DEA, the FBI section on organized crime which deals with sports betting, and with the Homeland Security Department. Our security department operates rather extensively and has actually been beefed up more recently with respect to its activities in connection with homeland security, which occupy since 9/11 a more substantial time -- a more substantial amount of its time.

We do subject our referees to extensive security checks to the limit provided by the law. That is to say, with their authorization each year for the past two years, we have conducted personal background checks that cover credit, bank accounts, litigation, civil and criminal -- you know, assets, including real property, debt, you name it. If it's legal to have it, we do it. The agency that we use for that is The Arkin Group, and under the -- under the guidance of the former head of worldwide operations for the CIA.

If appropriate, we do follow-up work with respect to anything that the investigation shows. And when we're curious, I guess, because we've been alerted to something, we hire appropriate investigators to look at the details.

With respect to our referees' performance, we have -- I guess -- well, before I get to that, let me just say we -- in addition to that, as part of our concern with gambling, we have for many years retained a consultant in Las Vegas whose job it is to inform us whether there are any movements or unusual movements in betting on the NBA about which we should be concerned. And we're also in contact with a Nevada gaming board who monitors that for their own purposes to determine whether there has been anything that we should be concerned about or particularly aware of.

On the court, we have since the beginning of 2003/2004 been implementing a system that is designed to capture every call that a referee makes and every non-call that is deemed by observers to be incorrect. And our observer system works roughly as follows.

We have retained 30 observers, one at each of our team's games. They are, in effect, charting the game with respect to the calls and other observations that they make.

They then review the game on tap tape. They then are audited -- not every game, but selectively audited by the group supervisors that we have employed by the NBA. And then most recently this year, we actually -- to sort of do an audit on the auditors and satisfy ourselves that our observer system had the accuracy that we were hoping to build to, we began using two of our 30 observers to actually observe other games to see how they would have been called, and we retained four additional basketball experts not currently employed in the NBA or by us to, in effect, audit the auditors so that the system was as good as it could be.

I guess with respect to that I can say that what we -- what we did with our officials when we began this, because this was new in all of professional sports, was to assure them that the primary purpose of this system was designed for their development. To make them better officials, to increase their call accuracy and generally to improve the quality of their work. And that is not to say that if something unusual popped up, we wouldn't pursue it but we -- it was not predominantly developed as a screen for criminal activity.

Now, with respect to Mr. Donaghy, in 19 -- in January of 2005, it came to the NBA's attention that he was involved in disputes with his neighbor which resulted in the filing of litigation in or about West Chester, Pennsylvania, where he resided. He -- you know, we hired an investigator to look into that through our security office and looked at the allegations in the complaint.

It had to do strictly with a dispute. And we had occasion to call Mr. Donaghy in, where he informed us in January of 2005 that we -- you know, that -- he informed us that the allegations against him were untrue, and that he was the person that was being harassed by his neighbor, not as alleged by the neighbor that he was harassing the neighbor.

At that time, and as part of that investigation, there was an allegation made to our investigators on the ground, which by that time we had retained The Arkin Group to continue the investigation. Somebody had suggested that he had gambled at the Borgata Hotel in Atlantic City, at either the gaming tables or card games. I can't remember.

HARRIS: OK. We just -- David Stern is taking his time in all of this.

COLLINS: Yes.

HARRIS: Really taking his time.

COLLINS: Yes.

HARRIS: Just a tad bit frustrating.

But we're going to continue to monitor the situation and bring you bits and pieces once we get it distilled a bit.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the NBA, as you can see, in the middle of a possible point-shaving scandal. A former referee under investigation.

Just how much trouble is the league in here? We will talk to hall of famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

COLLINS: You've never seen anything like it, the YouTube debate. Voters in charge, asking the questions they want to know.

Today, rival strategists answer the question, did the groundbreaking format work?

HARRIS: The ties that bind terror groups. President Bush revealing newly-declassified information this morning connecting al Qaeda and it's Iraqi affiliates.

COLLINS: A flooding emergency in southern England. Check out these scenes. Neighborhoods completely under water, and hundreds of thousands of people without safe drinking water.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: The YouTube debates. Voters drove the discussions with their questions, but is the groundbreaking format headed in the right direction?

Let's talk about it.

Donna Brazile is a Democratic strategist now serving as a CNN political analyst.

Hi there, Donna.

DONNA BRAZILE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Good morning.

COLLINS: And Bill Bennett is a former member of the Reagan administration and is a CNN contributor.

They both join me -- hi there, Bill -- from Washington today.

BILL BENNETT, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Hey.

COLLINS: Hey, guys, I want to begin just with the obvious question here. Do you think the format really changed the face of debates this year?

Donna, let's start with you.

BRAZILE: I thought it was a very interesting and intriguing format to allow ordinary citizens the opportunity to question the candidates. The questions were very, very good.

I wish we had more time to hear some of the answers, especially on issues like Katrina and health care. But overall, I enjoyed the debate. I thought it was the most entertaining of all the debates. And I thought having people in the audience, those who posed questions to the candidates, gave a little extra surprise during that period of time.

COLLINS: A little extra umph, huh.

Bill, how about you?

BENNETT: Yes. I know, a little punch, a little -- a little zany, having students rather than the professors ask the questions. But I have to tell you, I think it would have been chaotic without the moderator.

I thought Cooper -- Anderson Cooper did a great job. He kept his distance. He wasn't in people's faces like Chris Matthews was. He tried to get them, you know, to give more responsive answers, and yet he was respectful at the same time. He was very good.

I think that the YouTube genre makes people feel they have to be cute when they're doing their own things.

COLLINS: Yes. Maybe perform a bit.

BENNETT: But I liked -- the straightforward questions seemed to me to have authenticity, which is what they were, authentic questions from real people. And I think it can be developed and become part of debates. I thought it was OK.

COLLINS: All right. And as long as we're talking about that, let's get to one of the questions if we could. We knew that Iraq was going to be in several of these questions.

BENNETT: Yes.

COLLINS: So let's go ahead and listen to some of the discussion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As a mother of an American soldier deploying to Iraq for a second time, I would like to know if the perception is true that the Democrats are putting politics before conscience?

SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Since the election of 2006, the Democrats have tried repeatedly to win Republican support for the simple proposition that we need to set a timeline to begin bringing our troops home now.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I opposed this war from the start because I anticipated that we would be creating the kind of sectarian violence that we've seen and that it would distract us from the war on terror.

REP. DENNIS KUCINICH (D-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes, it is politics. The Democrats have failed the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Well, there you heard at least in the response to that question Kucinich giving a yes or a no. But still, they are politicians. There's still quite a bit of skirting of the questions.

Donna, did anybody break ground here?

BRAZILE: Well, I thought Senator Obama did. I mean, look, he posed a question to Senator Clinton. He said essentially, when you voted to authorize the president to go to war, why didn't you request an exit plan at that point?

So I thought he had an opportunity to really shine last night. And he did.

Senator Edwards was testing his message of being a champion for the ordinary person. But look, I still come away with the feeling that Hillary Clinton scored as well. She came across as presidential and commanded the facts.

In her answer on the so-called exit strategy, or when will we get out, was to say essentially the Republicans need to come with the Democrats. And then she said we need to have an orderly, careful and safe exit plan. So, overall, I thought it was a good answer to a very tough question.

COLLINS: Bill, on the issue of Iraq, who stood out in your mined?

BENNETT: I thought she was the best last night, actually, in almost everything.

Joe Biden I thought was very, very good. He had the air of a guy who says, well, I'm not going to make it, so I might as well tell the truth, you know. And -- but he was good, particularly, I thought, on Darfur, very straightforward.

But I thought she was in command. I think she's sounding better, looking better. This is a good format for her.

She veers to the center a little bit. It's an old Clinton style, as much as they can, without trying to alienate the left. She's being attacked from her left, which is I think slightly where they want to be in the general.

So it's a tricky game. But she was in command. And I think she's looking like the nominee right now.

COLLINS: I think the Democrats last night also really trying to draw some attention to the diversity of their candidates as well.

Listen in with me, if you will. Race and gender certainly discussed last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, MODERATOR: Senator Obama, how do you address those who say you're not authentically black enough?

(LAUGHTER)

COOPER: Hey. It's not my question. Jordan's question.

OBAMA: Well, you know, when I'm catching a cab in Manhattan in the past, I think I've given my credentials.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: I'm the most qualified and experienced person to hit the ground running in January 2009.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Anybody who's considering not voting for Senator Obama because he's black or for Senator Clinton because she's a woman, I don't want their vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: So, will all of that rhetoric really matter on Election Day? I mean, how much does diversity really matter to the voters, do you think?

Donna?

BRAZILE: It matters a great are deal, especially in the Democratic primary, where African-Americans can make up to 25 to 30 percent of the vote in each population in some of the key early states, as well as Latinos. So it matters a great deal that these candidates understand these issues, can talk about them and converse with the general public.

But look, Senator Obama last night I thought hit a home run when he talked about his own experiences. An African-American. But at the same time, Senator Clinton didn't shy away from the fact that she is the only woman in the race. And, of course, Bill Richardson is a Latino.

So we're proud of this diversity in the Democratic Party. And let's go out there and try to recruit other people.

COLLINS: Bill, you think it matters?

BENNETT: Well, it matters to some people. Look, Obama gave a good answer about catching a cab. I thought Hillary gave a good answer.

I thought Edwards gave a kind of creepy answer -- oh, don't vote for me if you wouldn't vote for them.

COLLINS: Yes. I don't think he's going to give any votes back.

BENNETT: He's a little too much. Just a little too much. You know?

BRAZILE: But he made fun of his hair this time.

COLLINS: Yes, he did.

Hey, quick, guys...

BENNETT: He better. He's the last one not making them.

COLLINS: Quickly before we let you go -- Bill, I'll start with you -- winner and loser from last night?

BENNETT: Hillary Clinton. Biden did well, but Hillary Clinton is in command, I think.

COLLINS: OK.

Donna?

BRAZILE: Clinton and Obama. And Biden did very well. Mike Gravel, boy, it's time to let him go at some point.

COLLINS: You think it's time to hang it up for him.

BENNETT: Well, he was for school choice and an audience of National Education Association. So he got one cheer from me.

COLLINS: I bet he did.

All right. Very good.

To the both of you, thanks so much, guys.

BRAZILE: Thank you.

BENNETT: Thank you,

COLLINS: Donna Brazile and Bill Bennett this morning.

Thank you.

And we do want to hear from you. What did you think of the debate? Send us your thoughts about the YouTube debate. You can go to cnn.com/ireport and let us know.

Then check in tonight at 11:00 Eastern to see what people are saying.

And don't forget, Republicans will get their turn to talk to the voters as well. The GOP presidential candidates will gather in St. Petersburg, Florida, for the CNN/YouTube debate coming your way September 17th.

So go ahead and start sending in your questions for that.

HARRIS: Hi.

COLLINS: Hi.

Hi. I'm Heidi, he's Tony.

HARRIS: One of the stories we're following this morning, more than a million people stranded by flooding across England this morning.

(NEWSBREAK)

HARRIS: The stories we're following this morning, more than a million people stranded by flooding across England this morning. The historic flooding also threatening to spark a public-health disaster. Nearly 350,000 people have no clean drinking water, the precious commodity under Army and police guard right now. Some distribution centers have been set up, but not everyone can get there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GAIL SUTTON, GLOUCESTERSHIRE RESIDENT: It's a hassle without running water, and obviously no drinking running water either, which on the radio they keep saying, oh, they're saying they're giving out bottled water, but we can't get to get the bottled water. I went out this morning to fill buckets and bottles up from the (INAUDIBLE) at the top, but you can't drink that. They're telling you can't drink it. And to be honest, you carrying it in buckets back through here. And there's not very nice things floating about in here at the moment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Oh, boy. I can just imagine. A massive Red Cross effort under way right now. Workers bringing supplies to thousands of stranded residents. The situation could actually get even worse. More rain is expected across southern England tonight.

COLLINS: Awful situation there.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Still ahead in the NEWSROOM, the NBA in the middle of a possible point-shaving scandal. A former referee under investigation. Is the league in some real trouble here? We will talk to Hall-of- Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Heidi, he's a friend of the program.

COLLINS: Excellent.

HARRIS: We love that about him.

COLLINS: He looks taller.

HARRIS: We love him anyway.

Kareem, next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The FBI investigating a former NBA ref. Did he bet on games he officiated? NBA commissioner David Stern saying a sacred trust has been betrayed.

Joining me from New York, Hall-of-Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Kareem, always good to see you. Thanks for being with us here in the NEWSROOM.

KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR, FMR. NBA PLAYER: It's a pleasure. Thank you.

HARRIS: Hey, Kareem what's your reaction to this? This has been unfolding for the last couple of days now. Generally speaking, give me your thoughts.

ABDUL-JABBAR: I'm very surprised that something like this has developed. I think the NBA has done a pretty good job of trying to make sure that the integrity of their officials has -- is not questioned, or has been checked out and felt to be, you know, above reproach. So I'm pretty surprised that something like this has developed.

HARRIS: So David Stern is in the middle of a news conference right now. We grabbed a bit of sound are from a short time ago talking about the rules for officials. Have a listen, then I've got a question for you.

ABDUL-JABBAR: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID STERN, NBA COMMISSIONER: What I'd like to say, is that our rules are crystal clear, that referees may not either gamble on our games or provide information to anyone about those games. We have a rule that says you're subject to discipline, which would most likely be expulsion from the league and the job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: OK, Kareem, so that from the commissioner, and yet we have Tim Donaghy. Is this an indication that the league has not quite done enough, or are we going to get the one-bad-apple defense at some point here?

ABDUL-JABBAR: I think it's kind of early to understand what exactly has gone on. I mean, Mr. Donaghy hasn't said anything, and we're still very much in the dark. I know I am.

HARRIS: Yes.

ABDUL-JABBAR: So until you get a lot more facts about what's going on, you know, and if the problem is just limited to one individual, I'm sure everybody will be able to understand that, that people can sneak under the radar. It happens all the time.

HARRIS: Just a proposition. I'll throw it out there for your thoughts. My sense right now Tim Donaghy hasn't turned himself in. As you mentioned, he hasn't made a statement at all about this. He is supposed to turn himself in soon, maybe in a couple of days. Do you see building here a situation where Tim Donaghy is going to walk in and talk to the FBI and begin to sing like a bird and begin to tell this story, and that what you have at the end of the day are allegations of widespread corruption throughout the NBA?

ABDUL-JABBAR: I wouldn't want to jump to any conclusion here. I'm so in the dark here as to exactly what's going on. But the fact that there is some are suspicion means that somebody needs to find out. And I'm sure that the commissioner is doing everything he can to put himself in the know as to what's going on and what the possibilities are. HARRIS: And in your playing days, did you ever -- boy, what a career, first of all. But in your playing days did you ever suspect anything like this? I mean, did you ever get a call where you wonder, hey, are you on the take? For you to make a call like that, you have to be on the take to someone. I mean, come on. Human nature is part of that.

ABDUL-JABBAR: Of course. Human nature is definitely a part of it. Basketball is a very emotional game. You play your heart out. And anytime things don't go the way you want them to, you become a conspiracy theorist. Everybody is doing something to limit your effectiveness. It's got to be the officials. It's got to be the people in the press row that are flashing bulbs in your face when you shoot. I mean, you come up with all kinds of conspiracies. But you need facts, and facts are the things that help us understand really what's going on, and the sooner we get all the facts I think the happier everyone will be, and we can sort all this out.

HARRIS: I think you're absolutely right. Do me a favor, when we get all facts, will you come back and we'll talk about it?

ABDUL-JABBAR: Absolutely.

HARRIS: Because a real concern that perhaps the allegations alone might be enough to turn fans against this great game, and a game that you were so exceptional at, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Thanks for your time.

ABDUL-JABBAR: Thank you. My pleasure.

COLLINS: So much going on all over the world obviously today, and particularly in England, all of the flooding there in the southern part of the country. Jim Clancy is with us now to tell us more about what's coming up on "YOUR WORLD TODAY," just about 20 minutes from now.

Hi there, Jim.

JIM CLANCY, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Heidi. Hello, Tony.

Exceptional guy there, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. I really enjoyed that interview. What a gentleman.

Anyway, we're going to take a look at a number of things. President Bush is going to be rallying not only the troops today, he's going to be talking to ordinary Americans just about the need to stay focussed in Iraq. In a few minutes' time, we'll have his remarks and some analysis expected. If there's new information, as we've been told there is, about Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda in Iraq.

Plus, the flight to freedom. Five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian medic are free after a complex deal to end years of a imprisonment and a potential death penalty in the deaths of Libyan children infected accidentally with HIV during treatment. What are the terms? Plus, Britain, as you noted, Heidi, still underwater, though the situation is easing in some areas. We're going to be focusing on concern for London's flood walls, and criticism of the government's ability to cope with this crisis.

A survey of global news coming up at the top of the hour, right here on CNN.

Back to you.

COLLINS: Case dismissed for lack of an interpreter. A man accused of raping a child goes free. What happens now?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

COLLINS: Tree sitter. Out on a limb for nine days, and then this -- the cat finally comes down. I'm sorry, I shouldn't be laughing. He's fine -- look, he runs away. We'll tell you more about it, right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan arrested at the capital. Sheehan and her supporters refused to leave the office of House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers. Sheehan demanding the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney. Sheehan says she'll challenge House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the next election, because Pelosi won't seek impeachment.

HARRIS: All year long CNN is shining the spotlight on some very special people. Today we'd like to introduce you to a 14-year-old girl, who is trying to save Americans billions of dollars of gas. Her name is Savannah Walters, and she is today's CNN Hero.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go ahead when you're ready.

SAVANNAH WALTERS: Yes, I'm worried about the future, because I don't want to live in a yucky world where there';s no clean water to drink and no clean air to breathe. If we drill in the Arctic Refuge, we're going to hurt lots of animals and people, and it's just not fair. I'm Savannah Walters, and I'm teaching people to pump up their tires to save the Arctic Refuge.

This one's good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was on a photo assignment in the arctic national wildlife refuge. Ever since then, I've been involved in environmental activism. One evening the phone rang and this little girl says I'm Savannah Rose Walters, and I'm 9 years old, and my mom said I could call you. WALTERS: He is the one who told that Americans waste millions of gas a day by driving on uninflated drivers. And I said, well, why don't they just pump them up?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I said, well, why don't you ask them to, and so she did.

WALTERS: I got permission to put tire gauges, flyers and balloons on everybody's local cars in the train station, explaining to people how they can pump up and check their tires.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My first reaction why, didn't I think of that? I think that was only the beginning of her education to me.

Do you know how to check your tires? What you do is you want to look for the PSI, and that is pound per square inch, and if you pump up your tires your tires are going to last a lot longer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, good to know.

WALTERS: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thirty-three?

WALTERS: That's about right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, hot doggies.

WALTERS: OK, you can keep the tire gauge.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do I need to check this once a week?

WALTERS: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Thank you very much.

WALTERS: Thank you very much.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Savannah rose is doing what she is doing because she wants to do it, and she understands that she needs to do it for things to get better.

WALTERS: It's just about protecting the planet and wanting to live in a clean world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: So if you'd like to learn more about Savannah Walters' organization, you can find all the information you need at CNN.com/heroes.

We also want to update you on a previous CNN Hero. Remember Matt and Jessica Flannery, the couple that connects lenders and borrowers from all over the world to kiva.org? Well, since CNN aired their story, the amount that new lenders has given is doubled, averaging more than $50,000 per day. Just goes to show you a little can go a long way.

COLLINS: Let's take a moment to get to President Bush now. He is addressing military and their families at Charleston Air Force Base. Let's go ahead and listen in for just a moment.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRES. OF THE UNITED STATES: ... men and women in uniform are doing across the world.

Key theater in this global war is Iraq. Our troops are serving bravely in that country. They're opposing ruthless enemies, and no enemy is more ruthless in Iraq than al Qaeda. They send suicide bombers into crowded markets. They behead innocent captives and they murder American troops. They want to bring down Iraq's democracy so they can use that nation as a terrorist safe haven for attacks against our country.

So our are troops are standing strong, with nearly 12 million Iraqis who voted for a future of peace. And they do so for the security of Iraq and the safety of American citizens. There's a debate in Washington about Iraq, and nothing wrong with a healthy debate. There's also a debate about al Qaeda's role in Iraq. Some say that Iraq is not part of the broader war on terror.

They complain when I say that the al Qaeda terrorists we face in Iraq are part of the same enemy that attacked us on September 11, 2001. They claim that the organization called al Qaeda in Iraq is an Iraqi phenomenon, that it's independent of Osama bin Laden, and that it's not interested in attacking America. That would be news to Osama bin Laden. He's proclaimed that the third world war is raging in Iraq. Osama bin Laden says the war is for you or for us to win. If we win it, it means your defeat and disgrace forever. I say that there will be a big defeat in Iraq, and it will be the defeat of al Qaeda.

Today I will consider the arguments of those who say that al Qaeda and al Qaeda in Iraq are separate entities. I will explain why they are both part of the same terrorist network and why they are dangerous to our country.

I'd like to start with some basic facts. Al Qaeda in Iraq was founded by a Jordanian terrorist are, not an Iraqi. His name was Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Before 9/11 He ran a terrorist camp in Afghanistan. He was not yet a member of al Qaeda. But our intelligence community reports that he had long-standing relations with senior al Qeada leaders, that had he met with Osama bin Laden and his chief deputy, Zawahiri.

In 2001, coalition forces destroyed Zarqawi's Afghan training camp, and he fled the country and he went to Iraq, where we set up operations with terrorist associates, long before the arrival of coalition forces. In the violence and instability following Saddam's fall, Zarqawi was able to expand dramatically the size, scope and lethality of his operation.

In 2004, Zarqawi and his terrorist group formally joined al Qaeda, pledged allegiance to Osama bin Laden, and he promised to follow his orders in jihad. Soon after, bin Laden publicly declared that Zarqawi was the prince of al Qaeda in Iraq, and he instructed terrorists in Iraq to listen to him and obey him.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com