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Home Invasion Killings; Kids Use Sledgehammer to Steal Video Game; Report: Taliban Kill One South Korean Hostage
Aired July 25, 2007 - 09:00 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, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Tony Harris.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in for Heidi Collins.
Watch events come into the NEWSROOM live this Wednesday morning. It's July 25th, and here's what's on the rundown.
Scanning strange items. The TSA puts out an alert after suspicious findings.
Were they a test for terrorists?
HARRIS: Also, real life bad girl role. Actress Lindsay Lohan busted again for DUI, but she says those drugs aren't hers.
WHITFIELD: And a Connecticut community in shock over a deadly home invasion, and wondering why the suspects were out on parole.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
A violent scuffle in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and now a former New Orleans police officer involved in the case is cleared of any wrongdoing.
Robert Evangelist had been charged in the videotaped beating of Robert Davis. It happened just over a month after the storm battered New Orleans. The beating on a street in the French Quarter.
Now a New Orleans judge has acquitted Evangelist, saying there was no evidence of excessive force. Two other police officers were charged in the case. Charges against them -- one of them were dropped. The other officer killed himself last month.
HARRIS: A sobering fact in Philadelphia. More than 230 homicides already this year. The city's homicide worst rate in a decade.
The latest killing was Tuesday morning. Many officials blaming each other and residents.
The state has sent money to the city for nearly 100 new officers. Police say the one thing they don't have are witnesses. They are pleading for people to come forward with any information.
WHITFIELD: Terror in the middle of the night. Authorities say two convicted burglars were out on parole when they launched a deadly home invasion.
CNN's Randi Kaye has the story from Cheshire, Connecticut.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): While neighbors slept, members of the Petit family were fighting for their lives; 3:00 a.m., police say two men forced their way into the Petit home. Inside, William Petit Jr., a prominent Connecticut doctor, his wife, Jennifer, a nurse, and their two daughters, Hayley and Michaela, ages 17 and 11.
Police say the men tied the family up. Then, around 9:00 a.m., broad daylight, one of them reportedly drove Mrs. Petit to this bank to withdraw cash, a critical moment.
LIEUTENANT JAY MARKELLA, CHESHIRE, CONNECTICUT, POLICE DEPARTMENT: A member of the residence was able to relay to the bank teller that they were being held captive and that the family was being held captive. The bank teller notified the police department.
KAYE: By the time, the police arrived the Petits' home was on fire. Police call it an apparent attempt by the suspects, 26-year-old Joshua Komisarjevky and 44-year-old Steven Hayes, each with a long criminal history, to cover their tracks.
JOAN ST. PIERRE, PETIT FAMILY FRIEND: It's something like you would see on "CSI" or something, the horrible hours of being subjected to -- to brutality, and to not knowing what's going to happen, just the sheer anxiety and the fear of it all.
KAYE: Help came too late. A source close to the investigation confirms Hayley's charred body was found at the top of the stairs, her younger sister tied to her bed, their mother on the first floor. It's unclear if they died in the fire or were killed first.
Incredibly, Dr. Petit, who a source confirms was tied up in the basement, survived, forcing his way through the fire, up the stairs and outside, beaten and bloodied.
MARKELLA: If you're a resident here, this type of crime doesn't happen here. It -- it doesn't happen in Cheshire. This is the type of town where you go to bed at night and you leave your door unlocked. And, when something like that happens, it affects you. It affects you deeply, and it affects your heart.
KAYE: Police would not say if they found weapons or comment on motive, only that this is an isolated incident. The suspects tried to flee in the family's SUV just as police arrived and were arrested after colliding with police cars.
(on camera): The brutality of it all has shaken this upper- middle-class community, their peace and quiet shattered by the noise of media satellite trucks. But it's not just the loss of life that has residents on edge here. It's the notion that a killer may have been living among them. Police say the youngest suspect lives less than two miles from the family's home.
(voice-over): Both suspects appeared in court on charges of assault, first-degree aggravated sexual assault, kidnapping, burglary, robbery, and arson. They did not enter a plea, and are each being held on $15 million bond.
Randi Kaye, CNN, Cheshire, Connecticut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Back in treatment. That's where actress Lindsay Lohan is waking up this morning. The 21-year-old star was arrested early yesterday on DUI charges. It is her second DUI arrest in two months, and it comes just five days after being booked on the earlier charge.
Lohan's father, Michael Lohan, just out of prison himself on a DUI conviction, defended his daughter on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL LOHAN, LINDSAY LOHAN'S FATHER: Lindsay is an honest -- and she is such a good person. She's such a talented kid, and just a loving, loving and forgiving person. And I've seen that side of her that other people haven't seen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Well, police say Lohan faces five charges, including DUI and cocaine possession.
WHITFIELD: All right. Let's check in with Rob Marciano...
HARRIS: Yes.
WHITFIELD: ... in the weather center, because it's always nice to know what's going on outside.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WHITFIELD: All right. This is pretty strange. A sledgehammer, well, it can be a useful tool, many will argue. Well, two young boys who really wanted a video game found that out.
Melissa McCrady of affiliate WTMJ reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA MCCRADY, REPORTER, WTMJ (voice over): Take a look at the glass doors on the right-hand side of your screen. The surveillance video shows two boys breaking into the Target store on Brown Deer Road (ph) with a sledgehammer. And police think they're as young as 11 years old. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where are they getting the sledgehammer at, an 11-year-old? Where are you getting a sledge -- where are you getting anything?
MCCRADY: They go right for the video games. Here you can see one boy try breaking the glass case where the video games are kept. He tries, tries again. Then with the help of his accomplice, breaks in.
One boy grabs a game, the other takes the hammer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm pretty shocked and disturbed a little bit.
MCCRADY (on camera): After the boys got the video game, they didn't leave the store. Surveillance cameras caught them walking around the store. But police say they didn't steal anything else.
(voice over): Here they walk by the camera. One after another. Then eventually leave.
Now customers are left shaking their heads.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not worth it. Not at all.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Honest to god, I think it's just pretty sad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And right now, we want to get to CNN's Sohn Jie-Ae, who is following the story of a number of South Korean hostages taken by the Taliban. It is a story that we've been following over the last couple of days.
And Sohn Jie-Ae, some disturbing reports coming out of Kabul this morning.
SOHN JIE-AE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Tony. It is been nearly a week since the reports that South Korea -- 23 South Koreans were taken hostage by Taliban militants.
We are hearing some unconfirmed reports at this point that one of the South Koreans, a male, was killed. There are also reports that on the more hopeful side, that eight of the 23 were released or will be soon released.
These are yet unconfirmed reports, but it is a source of much tension here in South Korea, from the South Korean government, who have been trying to secure their release, as well as the families who have been waiting anxiously for any news from Afghanistan -- Tony.
HARRIS: If you would, who is doing the reporting that the one hostage has, in fact, been killed? And how reliable is that sourcing?
SOHN: Well, the sourcing is coming from agency reports from Afghanistan...
HARRIS: I see.
SOHN: ... as well as reports from Afghan officials. So, some of that could be more substantial, but we won't know for sure until there have been official confirmation either from the Afghan government or from the South Korean government. So, at this point, it's a lot of speculation -- Tony.
HARRIS: Yes. OK.
Sohn Jie-Ae reporting for us this morning.
Sohn Jie-Ae, appreciate it. Thank you.
Sexual predators finding a new way to go after their prey. Some now targeting lonely mothers, hoping to get easy access -- that's sickening here -- to their children.
WHITFIELD: And coming to the defense of those defending the nation. Groups raise cash for troops accused of crimes in combat.
HARRIS: Fears over fish. Some Chinese imports stopped at the border. But what about seafood from other countries?
WHITFIELD: And to catch a terrorist. She poses as an operative online on the hunt for other terrorists. Now her life is in danger.
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Are terrorists testing security at some American airports?
I'm Keith Oppenheim in Milwaukee. Coming up, an inside look at a memo from the TSA.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Suspicious incidents at airports, were they dress rehearsals for a terrorist attack? The airports advised to be on the lookout. The public urged not to panic.
Keith Oppenheim is on security watch at Milwaukee's airport.
Keith, good morning to you.
What did authorities find there in Milwaukee?
OPPENHEIM: Yes, this is a good example of what they found in general.
In Milwaukee, here, on June 4th, in a line like this, they found in a passenger's carry-on bag some wires that were wrapped around some -- an electrical charger, an electrical switch with batteries and, get this, two blocks of cheese. It might sound very weird, but in a memo that CNN got from the TSA, or we should say we got from a government source that was a TSA memo, it indicated that these packages may have been meant to resemble a bomb. And keep in mind, there were three other confiscations just like this at three other airports since last September in San Diego, Houston and Baltimore.
In this memo, the TSA is suggesting that this could have been terrorists doing what is called pre-attack probing. But you know, Tony, when news of this memo got out, TSA officials took somewhat of a different tone and said that as far as they know, there is no credible, specific threat to the homeland. In fact, they added that bulletins like this that are sent out to law enforcement officials are sent out quite often. In fact, about 90 of them have been sent out in the last six months which are designed to make law enforcers alert in places just like where I am at right now.
Having said all that, they have interviewed passengers who had either the carry-ons or checked bags where these strange devices were found or these strange collections of things were found. And in all cases, they have not so far been able to make any link between these questioned passengers and terrorism -- Tony.
HARRIS: Well, that's the part that's confusing. OK. So you interview the people behind these packages, and it sounds to me like they're not under arrest, or they're not being held right now. In the absence of any credible threat, are you hearing from anyone that this might be a series of pranks designed to shake up an already nervous public?
OPPENHEIM: No. And I think to get to the heart of your question, it's little hard at this point to make full sense of the information that we have right now.
HARRIS: Yes.
OPPENHEIM: You have a memo that indicates four different incidents in four airports with a strange collection of stuff that certainly doesn't look kosher, stuff that you certainly wouldn't want to be bringing on to a plane. But at the same time, no criminal charges filed, and no indication that anyone who was taking this stuff knew that they were doing anything wrong possibly.
So, it's an investigation that's still ongoing. I think we have to keep on staying on this to figure out exactly what happened.
HARRIS: Absolutely.
CNN's Keith Oppenheim for us this morning.
Keith, appreciate it. Thank you.
CNN "Security Watch" keeps you up to date on security. Stay tuned day and night for the most reliable news about your security.
WHITFIELD: U.S. troops targeted by insurgents and sometimes under attack from government prosecutors. Reinforcements are arriving. About a dozen Web sites have launched legal defense funds for U.S. troops accused of crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. The sites are mainly run by conservative Christian groups or military veterans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PATRICK BARNES, U.S. MARINE CORPS. (RET.): I know what it's like to kick a door down and sweep a house. So when I read about these kids being charged with crimes for fighting a war the way they're supposed to, it is somewhat enraging. They're from blue collar families. They don't -- they don't have a lot of money, and to have money for a defense, they just don't have it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: The civilian groups have collected hundreds of thousands of dollars for legal defense funds.
HARRIS: Tension in suburban Atlanta this morning. A dispute that has immigrant rights groups seething.
Cobb County has just passed restrictions on the number of people who can live in one house and the number of vehicles that can be parked outside. It started with a woman complaining about one of her neighbors. She said there were 15 people living under one roof, and just as many vehicles there. Opponents say it is just an attempt to make life difficult for immigrants.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELISE SHORE, MEXICAN AMERICAN LEGAL DEF. FUND: These actions may be a pretext for discrimination to target the Latino community generally. And other specific immigrant communities, as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Well, supporters of the law say overcrowded homes with yards full of cars are driving down property values.
WHITFIELD: Bickering front-runners. The Clinton and Obama campaigns at odds, attacking each other over presidential foreign policy questions?
HARRIS: A warning for single moms looking for love.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Online dating services make it very easy for sexual predators to use their sites. They're candy stores for potential victimization.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: When your online dream man shows more interest in your children than in you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: NFL star Michael Vick headed to court tomorrow. The Falcons' quarterback accused of running a dogfighting operation at a home he owns in Virginia. He is to appear for his bond hearing and arraignment the same day his team reports to training camp. The NFL has ordered Vick to stay away from the camp as the league reviews the case and considers punishment. Team officials now addressing the charges and urging the public to let the case play out in court.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARTHUR BLANK, ATLANTA FALCONS OWNER: The notion that anyone would participate in dogfighting is incomprehensible to me. However, we do need to remember that we're dealing with allegations at this point. I want to be clear that we are not here today to pass judgment on Michael's guilt or innocence on the indictment. The court will determine that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: If convicted, Vick could face six years in prison and a $350,000 fine.
HARRIS: Concerns over food safety. The U.S. now stopping some fish from China, but China may not be the only problem.
Kitty Pilgrim has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): China is the largest producer of farmed fish in the world. But consumer and industry groups say some Chinese producers raise fish in horrifying conditions -- ponds overcrowded and filled with dirty water, filth and contaminates. And Chinese farmers literally use antibiotics and antimicrobial chemicals in their fish ponds, chemical banned in the United States.
GEORGE CHAMBERLIN, GLOBAL AQUACULTURE ALLIANCE: Antibiotics are used in every form of animal husbandry, whether it's chickens or pigs or fish, and of course that's not the right approach. The ideal approach is to manage the system so that antibiotics are not required.
PILGRIM: After multiple tests of Chinese fish over eight months, the FDA announced in June that five species of farmed Chinese fish -- catfish, basa, dace shrimp and eel -- will be detained at U.S. ports until the importer can prove it's safe. But consumer groups say that doesn't begin to address the problem.
The United States imports 81 percent of its seafood not just from China, but other Asian countries, like Vietnam and Thailand. U.S.- based Aquaculture Certification Council, which does on-site inspection of aquaculture facilities around the world, provided these pictures of contaminated aquaculture sites in Asia -- appalling conditions, garbage dumped where the fish are being raised. And consumer groups say even with China now under increased scrutiny, fish imports from many countries are still a problem.
WENONAH HAUTER, FOOD AND WATER WATCH: There were 860,000 shipments of imported seafood last year. There are under 2,000 inspectors for all of the different food items that the Food and Drug Administration must inspect. And they actually did -- less than one percent of those shipments were given a microbial test. So they don't really know what's coming into the country.
PILGRIM: They say the FDA is simply not doing enough testing for all species from all countries.
Kitty Pilgrim, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And now word this morning of a crash of a sightseeing plane in Alaska. The single-engine sea (ph) plane went down while on a tour of the Misty Fjords National Monument. That's south of Juneau.
The pilot was carrying four passengers of a Sun Princess cruise ship. All were killed. The cause of the crash is under investigation.
HARRIS: Airports on the lookout. Suspicious incidents seen as possible dress rehearsals for a terror attack? How concerned should you be?
WHITFIELD: And passengers on the tricks of the trade to a younger generation, like putting your hand in a gator's mouth?
HARRIS: Come on.
WHITFIELD: Keeping tradition and hopefully yourself alive.
HARRIS: More flooding fears in England. Hundreds of homes evacuated, and it is expected, if you can believe this, to get worse.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Bottom of the hour. Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Tony Harris.
WHITFIELD: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in for Heidi Collins.
Airports on the lookout. A warning about possible dry runs for a terrorist attack?
Incidents reported at four airports -- Milwaukee, San Diego, Houston and Baltimore. The Transportation Security Administration now issuing an advisory.
"A surge in recent suspicious incidents at U.S. airports may indicate terrorists are conducting pre-attack security probes and 'dry runs' similar to dress rehearsals."
Items including wires, switches, batteries and blocks of cheese were found in passengers' bags. The TSA is downplaying the significance of the memo, but a former homeland security inspector general says it does raise concerns.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLARK KENT ERVIN, FMR. DHS INSPECTOR GENERAL: There have been a number of investigations showing it's sometimes difficult for screeners to spot fully assembled bombs, but obviously it's even harder for them to spot components that in and of themselves are innocuous. The fact that there have been so many incidents -- the advisory refers to it as a surge -- and the fact that Al Qaeda has this pattern of testing -- doing dry runs, dress rehearsals before attacks, all adds up to a very troubling picture.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: The TSA says the advisory one of more than 90 issued in the past six months.
CNN Security Watch keeps you up to date on safety. Stay tuned day and night for the most reliable news about your security.
HARRIS: More than vigilant -- a former judge goes online to uncover potential terrorists.
CNN's Kelli Arena reports.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As her neighbors sleep, Shannen Rossmiller slips into a dark world.
SHANNEN ROSSMILLER, TERROR SLEUTH: Right now I have four active undercover identities that I'm using.
ARENA: By day, a Montana mother of three. By night, a stealthy hunter.
This former judge uses the internet to stalk real and potential terrorists by posing as one of them.
ROSSMILLER: Whether they want to go look for jihad in training, whether they want to, you know, providing funding, whether they want to form a cell -- I mean there's all kinds of different opportunities. Those are the things you pay attention to.
ARENA: She also does it on her own time, and her own dime.
When she finds someone she believes is dangerous, she alerts the FBI. Earlier this month, one of those people, Michael Reynolds, was convicted for trying to help blow up U.S. oil installations.
ROSSMILLER: One of my objectives was to find out, OK, he says he has a plan.
What are the targets?
ARENA: She helped send National Guardsmen Ryan Nelson to prison for attempted espionage. When she testified in his trial, her cover was blown.
ROSSMILLER: The pressure is immense. The stress is almost unbearable at times.
ARENA: The FBI won't talk about the relationship, saying only that it appreciates the information. Rossmiller says that she's helped in more than 200 terrorism cases around the world. It started because she was curious.
ROSSMILLER: It was just the result of, you know, having gone through 9/11 like everyone else and wanting to have an understanding of why what happened happened.
ARENA: She's been threatened and packs a gun, but says she's not ready to give it up. It can make for anxious days, but the night hunt, she says, is worth it.
ROSSMILLER: I don't think, in fairness, I could ever say, you know, oh, I wished I'd never done this, because I know I have done good.
ARENA: Kelli Arena, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
WHITFIELD: Hundreds more forced from their homes. Flood waters still on the rise in Britain and more flooding is expected along the famed Thames River near Oxford. River levels could rise another foot tonight, sending even more water cascading down the city streets.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's been a shocking morning. Water levels have been rising dramatically over the last eight hours. It's really been terrible here. What we -- our priorities are our personal safety, getting people to safety if they need it, especially the most vulnerable, and also trying to save as much property as we can.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Along the River Thames people are also dealing with drinking water problems. Around 350,000 relying on the military and volunteers to deliver safe drinking water.
HARRIS: And don't we know what those folks have been going through?
when you think back over the last couple of months...
WHITFIELD: Yes.
HARRIS: ...through the Plains and the flooding.
WHITFIELD: We've had lots of flooding in this country.
HARRIS: Insane. Rob Marciano... WHITFIELD: But that is still a real unusual, strange picture for us to get used to.
HARRIS: It is.
Yes, it is.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WHITFIELD: Sexual predators prowling the internet. Some using adult dating Web sites to get even closer to kids now.
CNN's Allen Chernoff investigates.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Aloneandlooking396" is looking for love on Match.com. He writes in his profile: "Life is so wonderful. I know I am not meant to spend it alone," adding, "he would like to meet a woman who has children."
What he doesn't reveal is that he's a convicted child molester. His real name is Michael Bradley and five years ago he pled guilty to sodomizing a 15-year-old boy in Suffolk County, New York and was sentenced to 10 years of probation, including a prohibition against socializing on the internet.
When CNN went to the gas station Bradley owns to ask him what he was doing on Match.com, his daughter Kim (ph) told us to leave.
KIM: He does not want to speak to anybody right now. His lawyer has advised him to ask you to leave the premises.
Please leave the premises, OK?
CHERNOFF: Is he here?
KIM: No. He is not. You can leave now.
CHERNOFF (voice-over): Nor was Mr. Bradley at home.
After getting anonymous complaints about Bradley's profile on Match.com, the child abuse prevention group, Parents for Megan's Law, set up a fictional Match.com profile: "compassionate mom, a single parent of seven and 12-year-old boys." The group says it got a quick response after contacting Bradley through the site.
LAURA AHEARN, PARENTS FOR MEGAN'S LAW: Within hours he e-mailed back, wanting to set up a meet to have coffee or ice cream. Online dating services make it very easy for sexual predators to use their sites. They're candy stores for potential victimizations.
CHERNOFF: Suffolk County's probation office ordered Bradley off the dating site and confiscated his computer. Now forensic investigators are analyzing the hard drive to deliver evidence in court that Bradley violated his probation. DONNA VIGILANTE, FORENSIC INVESTIGATOR: And we're finding more and more of our probationers online using the internet as a tool to say, groom, victims.
CHERNOFF: Match.com, which declined to speak on camera, says it quickly pulled Bradley's profile after receiving a complaint: "Member safety is and always will be our highest priority at Match.com," a spokesperson told CNN.
It's not only dating sites that present opportunities for sex offenders. Thirty-three-year-old Michael Karis pled guilty to raping a 6-year-old girl in Ohio after meeting her mother through the social networking site MySpace.com. He's been sentenced to 10-and-one-half years in prison.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It makes me feel so guilty because I feel like I allowed it to happen.
CHERNOFF: Online dating site TRUE.com, which screens applicants, unlike most dating sites, including Match.com, says it has blocked 30,000 convicted felons and sex offenders so far this year.
HERB VEST, CEO, TRUE.COM: They'll go on and look for women with children and particularly women with children that have photos of those children, so that the fantasy begins to build at that point.
CHERNOFF: Good reason for women looking for love online to be very cautious and, experts say, provide few details and no pictures of the kids when first meeting an online suitor.
Allen Chernoff, CNN, Suffolk County, New York.
HARRIS: And how about this bit of debate fallout?
The Obama and Clinton campaigns squaring off over one debate moment in particular.
We get more from CNN's senior political correspondent, Candy Crowley, part of the best political team on television.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: And I admire and like very much Barack.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That was so last night. Now, in interviews with Iowa's "Quad-City Times," she is calling Barack Obama "irresponsible and naive." He is accusing her of fabricating a controversy.
It began with a debate question -- would Obama meet with the leaders of hostile nations like Iran and Cuba in the first year of his presidency?
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), ILLINOIS: I would. And the reason is this, that the notion that somehow not talking to countries is punishment to them -- which has been the guiding diplomatic principle of this administration -- is ridiculous.
CROWLEY: It was just the sort of opening Camp Clinton was looking for, and she fired.
CLINTON: And I think it is not that you promise a meeting at that high a level before you know what the intentions are. I don't want to be used for propaganda purposes. I don't want to make a situation even worse.
CROWLEY: Team Clinton was so excited about the moment, they made former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright available to tell reporters that Clinton's answer was "perfect -- a sophisticated, nuanced view."
In a memo titled "Strength and Experience," they said Obama "committed to presidential-level meetings with some of the world's worst dictators without precondition."
Pushing back, in a memo titled "Obama Wins Debate and Commander- In-Chief Test," the Obama folks said Clinton's debate's comments were at odds with a previous statement, when she said it was a mistake for President Bush to say he won't talk with bad people. "The American people choose straight talk over Washington double-speak," the memo read, "and they know that change must be more than a slogan."
With that, the Clinton people put out the rest of the quote, in which Clinton talked of diplomatic discussions, not necessarily presidential meetings.
The Obama people pointed out that in a CNN dial test of debate watchers, Obama's answers scored high on the charts. But Camp Clinton thinks Obama stepped in it and is trying to spin his way out.
(on camera): Whew!
What's all this about? It is a super struggle for control of the post-debate spin in a campaign season that has heated up far earlier than any before it. It's getting testy out there.
Candy Crowley, CNN, Charleston, South Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Testy indeed.
Sequel for an actress?
Well, Lindsay Lohan busted again for dui. But she's not copping to drug possession.
HARRIS: Come on, let's get you to New York City, the big board, the New York Stock Exchange. As we get the business day started, what is going on with the Dow?
OK.
It's been a -- we've experienced this huge run up lately with the markets. But you remember the adage, what goes up must come down?
And then, wow!
It goes up again, after dropping over 200 points yesterday. The Dow, out of the gate, up 81 points. We are following the roller coaster ride with Susan Lisovicz right here throughout the morning in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Fred, are you sticking around?
Are you going to pod cast with us today?
WHITFIELD: Yes. I'm playing.
HARRIS: OK, Michael, show everyone the room where the team is putting together the pod cast for later today. It is just a lot of information -- OK, of course, the NEWSROOM newscast chock full of information that you need to know. But we get an opportunity in the pod cast to do some different things, to intersperse some different stories that don't necessarily make the run down for the NEWSROOM.
WHITFIELD: Right.
HARRIS: We are working on right now...
WHITFIELD: They make the rundown for the pod cast.
HARRIS: And they make the rundown for the pod cast.
OK, so you go to cnn.com, download the CNN daily pod cast. It is available to you 24-7. Download it right to your iPod. Be there today. Aloha.
WHITFIELD: Aloha.
Right. (LAUGHTER) Aloha.
All right, well, back in treatment -- actress Lindsay Lohan seeking medical care again following another late night arrest on dui and drug charges.
CNN entertainment correspondent Brooke Anderson traces Lohan's troubles.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lindsay Lohan was apparently arrested for drunk driving again.
BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When news broke early Tuesday morning that Lindsay Lohan had been busted for DUI once again, it almost seemed like we were all suffering a flashback.
Wasn't she just booked for DUI a few days ago?
JULIA ALLISON, EDITOR-AT-LARGE "STAR" MAGAZINE: I think Lindsay is starting to really like driving under the influence. You really can't make this kind of thing up.
ANDERSON: Yes, the famous recovering alcoholic has now served herself a double shot of trouble. She is facing another DUI and a brand new cocaine possession charge. On "The View," Barbara Walters couldn't believe what she was seeing.
BARBARA WALTERS, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": What is it? I mean is it that you are so addicted? I mean, you know, I just don't understand.
ANDERSON: Trust us, the story behind this latest arrest is even more ridiculous than her first DUI, when she crashed her Benz into a tree over the Memorial Day weekend. "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" brings you the freaky story of how the "Freaky Friday" star ended up with twin DUI cases.
What is her dad, an ex-con himself, saying about his troubled daughter's predicament?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA BLOOM, COURT TV ANCHOR: Do you hold yourself at all responsible for what Lindsay is going through?
MICHAEL LOHAN, LINDSAY LOHAN'S FATHER: Of course I do. How -- if I didn't, I would be a liar.
ANDERSON: What do her new troubles mean for her new movie?
And the biggest question of all -- what about that alcohol monitoring ankle bracelet that she's made a big deal of wearing lately?
ALLISON: Lindsay, did you turn on the ankle bracelet? No? Oh, no batteries in your ankle bracelet?
ANDERSON: Police say Lindsay's latest incident began with a car chase through the streets of Santa Monica. "Star" Magazine's Julia Allison tells the story to "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT."
ALLISON: Lindsay is out partying hard. She gets in her car at 1:30 a.m. and then starts chasing a car. They don't know it's her.
ANDERSON: The car Lohan was allegedly following was driven by the mother of Lindsay's personal assistant, who had had enough and quit hours before. Police say that woman called 911 and pulled into this Santa Monica parking lot, where the cops met them.
LT. ALEX PADILLA, SANTA MONICA POLICE SPOKESMAN: They detained the parties involved in the argument. One of those parties turned out to be Lindsay Lohan. After officers conducted an initial investigation, they determined that she was driving her vehicle under the influence. ANDERSON: Police say Lindsay had a blood alcohol level between .12 and .13, well above the legal limit of .08. And you won't believe what police say happened when they searched Lindsay in jail.
ALLISON: Lindsay gets to the police station and the police do a search and, lo and behold, in her pockets is cocaine. Brilliant.
ANDERSON: So for those of you keeping score at home, Lindsay has now been booked on two DUI counts, plus the DUI from that May car crash, possession of cocaine, bringing a controlled substance into a jail and driving on a suspended license. Take note of that last one, it could be a doozy.
ALLISON: Driving on a suspended license seems like the least of those charges and yet that is what sent Paris Hilton to jail. So, Lindsay, I would be worried right now.
ANDERSON: This latest arrest comes less than two weeks after Lohan ended a 45-day stint in rehab. Since then, she raised eyebrows by still going to parties while voluntarily wearing an alcohol monitoring bracelet on her ankle. Her rep said she was doing it to dispel any questions about her sobriety. A lot of good that did.
Police tell "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" she was wearing it when she was arrested.
ALLISON: She clearly thought that she was changing the public's perception of her by wearing an ankle bracelet. And yet by going out and partying, that shows that she had no idea of the true depth of her problem. She clearly didn`t solve it.
ANDERSON: And now she's hearing from one person who may know what she's going through -- her father.
LOHAN: I made some really stupid choices in my life. I made some mistakes.
ANDERSON: On "LARRY KING LIVE," Michael Lohan, who was recently released from prison after serving time for drunk driving, told Court TV's Lisa Bloom he's trying to reach out to his troubled daughter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA BLOOM, COURT TV: How do you get Lindsay on that path, on the path to sobriety?
LOHAN: By speaking to me, by speaking to her father, by letting me share my experience and how god turned my life around.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Now Lindsay's attorney is calling this latest incident a relapse, saying: "Addiction is a terrible and vicious disease. The bracelet has now been removed. She is safe, out of custody and presently receiving medical care." So now Lindsay Lohan, who used to scoff at her need for rehab, is now reportedly back in it once again, with the very real prospect of jail hanging over her.
And with Lindsay apparently unable to promote her new movie, "I Know Who Killed Me," that film appears to be in danger of failing. And so is her career.
ALLISON: She is the consummate professional at screwing that up. She's managed to do it yet again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And still ahead this morning, border tensions running high. The main crossing from Iran to Iraq getting a closer look from U.S. forces.
WHITFIELD: And not guilty -- a former police officer in New Orleans walks away a free man. It's happening nearly two years after he was charged in a beating that was caught on tape -- this beating caught on tape. The story in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Heightened security, tighter inspections -- U.S. forces looking for possible weapons smuggling on the Iraqi-Iranian border.
CNN's Frederik Pleitgen is there.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is Zubaida, the largest and most frequented border crossing between Iran and Iraq. Hundreds of trucks go through here every day packed with everything from air conditioners to fertilizer. The U.S. accuses Iran of smuggling weapons and bomb making parts across the border. That's why all the trucks are X-rayed and Sergeant Russell Francis says he looks into the bed of every single one.
SGT. 1ST CLASS RUSSELL FRANCIS, U.S. ARMY: Like I say, this is produce. They cover it up to keep it from spoiling, as hot as it is out here. We try to look down in the loads, like between the first stack and the second stack of tomatoes here you can kind of down into the loads. And you're looking for boxes going all the way down or a box that's a different color or shape. And you can see pretty deep into the loads.
PLEITGEN: Here, U.S. and Iranian posts are only a few hundred yards apart. This is where Iranian and American forces meet face to face every day. It's tit for tat at the border. While the guards on the Iranian side are clearly disturbed by our recording video of them, tensions run high after the Iranians send a man over the border illegally to film the U.S. soldiers in return.
MAJ. ERIC SUROWIEC, U.S. ARMY: Hey, guy, what are you doing?
What are you doing, guy?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, don't tape it. Don't tape it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You stay over there. You stay over, you got it?
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ...about when he says at your camera, he says that it's...
SUROWIEC: No, no, no, no. He went over there and grabbed the camera from the guards over there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
PLEITGEN (on camera): All of these people here behind me are trying to get from Iraq into Iran. There still is a lot of border traffic between these two countries. Now, at the same time, 1,200 Iranians allowed to enter Iraq every day. But because U.S. forces and the Iraqi government fear that some of these people might be smuggling explosives into Iraq, everybody who crosses the border gets checked.
(voice-over): And that means body searches before people allowed to leave the checkpoint area. The soldiers here say they believe almost all of those passing through Zubaida are innocent pilgrims going to the many holy Shiite holy sites in Iraq. But they also say they believe the Iranian government is using the border crossings like this one to try to smuggle weapons into Iraq.
Frederik Pleitgen, CNN, on the Iran-Iraq border.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
WHITFIELD: And sorry, wrong number -- mom's advice gives a little girl a big shock.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I convinced my daughter this phone call was going to help her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Call the sex assault center and you get a hotline for phone sex. We're calling the outrage police.
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Are terrorists testing security at some American airports?
I'm Keith Oppenheim live in Milwaukee.
And coming up, we'll have an inside look at a memo from the TSA.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Good morning, everyone.
I'm Fredricka Whitfield in for Heidi Collins.
HARRIS: And good morning.
I'm Tony Harris.
Stay informed all day in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Here's what's on the rundown. New developments this hour in an Afghan hostage drama. Word that a sixth South Korean man has been killed by the Taliban.
WHITFIELD: Alert from the TSA. Police told of suspicious screenings that may be trials by terrorists.
Should air travelers be concerned?
HARRIS: And a story you can really sink your teeth into -- help wanted, gator wrestlers -- snap judgment, a plus.
Hello.
It is Wednesday, July 25th and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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