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Michael Vick Files Guilty Plea To Trafficking Dogs; Flooding In Midwest Continues; Burned Iraqi Child Receives Free Medical Care At California-Based Burn Center; Celestial City
Aired August 24, 2007 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN BREAKING NEWS.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Welcome to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Fredericka Whitfield.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: I'm Don Lemon. Thanks for joining us. We have breaking news this hour: Just minutes ago, a plea agreement filed in Vick's dog fighting case. Joining us right now, with details, CNN's Drew Griffin. Drew Griffin has been following this story.
Drew, what have you learned new about these indictments? Have you been going through them now, right?
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: The plea agreement runs a fine line. We have Jeffrey Toobin available, too, I believe.
But it really says that Michael Vick agrees -- plead guilty in count one of this indictment, charging the defendant with conspiracy to travel in interstate commerce, in aid of unlawful activities, basically, animal fighting, dog fighting.
He faces possibly a maximum of five years on this, but in the plea agreement is a recommendation that the judge go for obviously a lesser sentence than that. What is unsaid in all of this is what happens in terms of his NFL career, whether or not he does play again and when he'll play again. And all of that has to be worked out with the NFL.
But he got two things in this plea agreement. I think we can basically say. Number one, he does not admit to gambling on the dogs. That would be a serious violation for the NFL to have to overlook, if he ever came back.
LEMON: Right.
GRIFFIN: Number two, he doesn't fully admit to killing a dog, although in the wording in the very last page of the statement of fact, it says that dogs were killed and that the defendant, Vick, agrees and stipulates that these dogs all died as a result of the collective efforts of his co-defendants, and himself. Which seems to be a very legal fine line he's trying to wriggle through here, basically admitting that dogs were killed and he some part of the dogs being killed. LEMON: He didn't necessarily --
GRIFFIN: But he's not coming out and saying what his other defendants have said in this case, which is Michael Vick held the dog underwater until he drowned. Michael Vicki electrocuted a dog. So that, at least, in legal papers, he does not admit to physically a taking a dog and killing a dog.
LEMON: To doing it, himself. And you said there's lots of legal ramifications with this. And our Jeffrey Toobin will join us in a second. To get more of a perspective on that.
WHITFIELD: In fact, let's bring in Jeffrey Toobin in, right now, out of New York.
And so, Jeffrey, let me ask you specifically about that item in this plea agreement. When we talk about the co-conspirators, along with Vick, this item spelling out they all conspired to have certain dogs killed. Dogs who lost in these fights. While this is not a separate charge that Michael Vick is responding to, it is in this agreement so might this end up being a precursor, at all, to another charge involving the cruelty of animals?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It's certainly possible. One of the many future problems that Michael Vick faces is the possibility of being charged by the State of Virginia. He is now plead guilty to federal charges, but it sometimes happens, not often, that the state will follow a federal prosecution by charging its own crimes for exactly the same behavior.
That, the risk for Vick is if he makes admissions in his federal guilty plea, the State of Virginia could say, hey, look, you admitted violating Virginia State law as well. We'll introduce that against and you charge you in our court.
WHITFIELD: When you talk about risks, how much of the risk is this for Vick's attorneys and to agree with federal prosecutors, even on this one count? Could federal prosecutors say, wait a minute, now we're learning a little more through this admission that perhaps they too could pursue other charges, or is it a kind of closed book on the fed? And up to Virginia, the state, as you mentioned, to pursue any further charges?
TOOBIN: It's a closed book. The fed -- this is the fed's deal. Barring some fantastic, completely unexpected disclosure, this is the extent of his federal prosecution. And an interesting point which we haven't mentioned yet, is in the course of the plea agreement, he admits to cooperate -- he agrees to cooperate with the federal authorities in their investigation.
So Vick will have some very difficult questions being asked about who else was involved here? Were other football players involved? Will there be further prosecutions where Vick will have to be a witness? That is a difficult problem for him.
WHITFIELD: So once again, just for clarification, for folks just now joining us and trying to understand the plea agreement. We understand him to be pleading guilty to the sole charge of helping to traffic dogs across state lines, for the purposes of dog fighting. Was it your expectation that there were rumors going about that there was going to be a plea deal that it would involve much more than just this charge?
TOOBIN: No, it usually works that when there is a plea bargain, it's the so-called top count, the lead count of the indictment. This was the lead count of the indictment. It summarizes a lot of the conduct that was at the heart of this case. So I -- I think this is a fairly typical plea bargain for a case like this, given the fact that all of the co-defendants plead guilty, Vick has very little chance of being acquitted if he went to trial. So, I think this is a fairly predictable result, but now looking forward, particularly as for his NFL career, I don't have any idea, at this point, when or if he will ever play again.
WHITFIELD: Right. Maximum sentence for this charge alone would be upwards of five years. His attorneys along with the federal prosecutors saying they are agreeing to the lower end of that. But the judge has to agree to that.
TOOBIN: And that would likely be something like 12 to 18 months.
WHITFIELD: Got you. OK.
So, Monday when he is to appear in court, in Richmond, quickly, Jeffery is that also when the judge would say yea or nay on this plea deal?
TOOBIN: That is when he would accept or reject the plea deal, but the sentencing will be later.
WHITFIELD: Gotcha. All right. Jeffrey Toobin. Thank you so much.
Don.
LEMON: We'll get back to this developing story, of course, a plea agreement in the Michael Vick case. We wan to take you to some other developing news.
Flooding: We have been telling you about the Midwest. They are just swamped with water there. You're looking at pictures, this is from our affiliate WGN, out of Chicago. This is Fox Lake, Illinois, and it is a northern suburb of Chicago.
You can see that, the river, the Fox Lake River, as they call it, when it goes -- Fox River, when it goes over its banks it just really spills into people's properties there. We're looking at aerials. This is new video just in to CNN.
Bonnie -- I want to bring in Bonnie Schneider, our meteorologist, here. Having lived in Chicago and knowing the Fox River always has problems with flooding, especially when you get a lot of rain all at once, and it backs right up into those people's homes. BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right. You have to remember, that yesterday, Chicago and that area faced very, very violent storm and that is where we actually saw winds as strong as 70 miles per hour. And that actually moves the water around.
In fact, take a look at the radar picture. Around the region, flood watches and warnings posted for parts of the area right now, and it does include areas north of Chicago. We're watching for more rain possibly in the forecast. This front that has been in region has been stationary, but it does look like we'll see some movement today, Don. And we should see less rain as we work our way towards the evening.
LEMON: And just real quickly, they got hammered there last night, right? Flights had to be cancelled. A lot of people without power?
SCHNEIDER: Absolutely. It was very, very rough. Storms were so strong, in this area that it actually moved the water across Lake Michigan, at times, and we saw that kind of fluctuation along the lake. Not only damaging winds, but heavy downpours of rain.
LEMON: Bonnie Schneider, thank you.
WHITFIELD: Well, Don, it's been rough in Wisconsin as well. This has been the wettest month in recorded history for that state. CNN's Keith Oppenheim joins us now from Silver Lake, Wisconsin, where that's a whole lot of standing water still.
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right. In fact, I have been wading outside the home of Dave and Joyce Fiegel. That home behind me, Fredricka. And as you can see there are sandbags in front of their garage. And look over our the other side in the background, you can see all of that water moving, that is their backyard. The Fox River is flowing and overflowing.
Walk with me this way. You can see where all of the water is going to. Well into the neighborhood. See some folks down the street, kind of taking a tour of their environment here. Pretty well flooded, and earlier Dave gave us a sense of what it is like, the struggle to keep the water out of his home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVE FIEGEL, FLOODED HOMEOWNER: Well, I had water in my garage and I have seepage in my basement. It seeps in, and I have sump pumps in the basement that pump the water out of the basement, back in, I guess it's recirculating the water. It keeps seeping in, it pumps it out and seeps back in. It's a vicious circle.
So far, it's been able to keep the floors somewhat drier so you can walk around in there, which is a good thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OPPENHEIM: I don't know if you can see it in the deep background there, I can. There is a guy way, way down the street and he's actually trying to take his belongings in a canoe. That's what people are forced to be doing. A little more action, here, the timing is pretty good.
There is a guy with a tractor, and you can see he's well high over the ground behind me. That's another way to get around. Fredricka, about 100 homes or so in this county alone have had some flood damage and a lot of the water is going to move south to northern Illinois. And the bad news there is plenty of rain in the forecast for the weekend.
Back to you.
WHITFIELD: Keith Oppenheim, thanks so much.
LEMON: Former astronaut landed on the witness stand today in Florida, as did the woman she is accused of attacking. Lisa Nowak was charged with attempted kidnapping and battery stemming from a bizarre NASA love triangle that drew worldwide attention. Today she's asking that her ankle monitor be removed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA NOWAK, FMR. ASTRONAUT: When I'm wearing the boots, and they bring it up to that high point, it's held very tightly against my leg, on those days it causes abrasions. Also, if it's worn without a bandage or something to keep it in place it causes abrasions around the ankle area, and sometimes during sleep when resting on it in one place, the same thing happens.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Nowak's romantic rival, Colleen Shipman opposes that request. CNN's John Zarrella joins us now from outside the Orlando courthouse.
What can you tell us, John?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Don, well, that's right, both women were in the courtroom today at the same time. And of course, when Colleen Shipman got up, she stated the reasons why she felt Lisa Nowak should continue to wear the ankle bracelet. That she, Shipman, felt more comfortable, was at ease when she knew Nowak was wearing the ankle bracelet.
Of course, we all knew the diaper issue was going to come up and that was early on Nowak was reported to have worn a diaper during the 900-mile jaunt from Houston to Orlando, where she confronted Ms. Shipman.
Nowak's attorney has been insisting the past seven months that it absolutely wasn't true, but the officer who questioned Nowak for some three to five hours on the witness stand today said, in fact, Nowak told him that she did wear the diaper.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) OFC. WILLIAM BECTON, ORLANDO POLICE DEPT.: I realized in the back seat that there was no child seat and seeing the used diapers, and unused diapers, I was in fear that we were missing a child.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, what did you do?
BECTON: I asked her where the kid was.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And what, if anything, did she say?
BECTON: She responded there was no kid.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you ask her any other follow-up questions.
BECTON: I asked her why -- where the used diapers came from?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What, if anything, did she tell you?
BECTON: She said she used them in order to pee so she didn't have to make as many stops.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZARRELLA: Now, the court is in a lunch recess right now. Should be back in session in about 20 sessions. Don Lickenback (ph), Nowak's defense attorney questioned the same detective. Because Lickenback (ph), is trying to get the statements thrown out, get the evidence that was collected against her, thrown out. And he's been hammering on this detective, saying that, in fact, you coerced my client into giving you statements. That she never really agreed to talk to you. And then you launched into all of these questions that took all of these hours. We expect more on that when we come back from this lunch recess. Again, Don, in about 20 minutes.
LEMON: You know what, you couldn't write this stuff, John. Thank you so much.
ZARRELLA: You can't.
LEMON: Thank you.
His story has touched thousands. Now, a little boy from Iraq will get the help he needs right here in the U.S. Arwa Damon has an update for us.
WHITFIELD: Also, on the stump in the Palmetto State, tag along with Senator Barack Obama as he campaigns for the Democratic nomination.
LEMON: And researchers say that little blue pill may affect men's emotion, along with whatever else. Feeling the love with Viagra, are ya? We'll talk more about that right here in the NEWSROOM. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: It's 16 past the hour. Three stories we're working on right here in CNN NEWSROOM.
Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick filed a guilty plea to one count of conspiracy in connection with illegal dog fighting. According to a court document, prosecutors agree to recommend sentencing on the low end of the range.
James Ford Seale has been sentenced to three life terms in prison for his role in the 1964 deaths of two black teenagers. The reputed Ku Klux Klan member was convicted earlier this summer.
Disgraced former astronaut, Lisa Nowak today asked a judge to let her get rid of her electronic ankle bracelet. Nowak has pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from her bizarre confrontation with a romantic rival last February.
WHITFIELD: Three British soldiers die in Afghanistan and what's worse, they may have been killed accidentally by an American bomb. It happened yesterday in southern Afghanistan, not far from Kandahar. The British military says a patrol was attacked by suspected Taliban gunmen. They called in air support. Three Brits were killed in the explosions that soon followed; 73 British troops now have been killed in Afghanistan since 2001.
LEMON: Now we have a follow up for you. It is on that story that we just refuse to let fade away, and you'll agree with us when you see this boy and hear about his life. He lives in Baghdad, he's five. His name is Youssif. He looks like this because a few months ago masked men through gasoline on him, set him on fire, and left him to die. Well, he didn't die, but is he horribly disfigured. And CNN's Arwa Damon first showed us Youssif's plight -- to the world, and everyone. Here is an update.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Help is on the way for five-year-old Youssif.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I was so happy, didn't know what to do with myself. I didn't think it would be like this. I thought maybe one organization would come forward.
DAMON: Youssif's father is a security guard. It's too dangerous for him to appear on camera.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We just want to thank everyone who has come forward to help.
DAMON: Youssif's parents say they never expected the overwhelming outpouring of support for their son.
Since we first told Youssif's story, a five-year-old boy in Baghdad, attacked by men who set him on fire, the Children's Burn Foundation has offered to bring Youssif and his family to the U.S. for medical treatment. The foundation will cover all of their expenses and Dr. Peter Grossman, of the affiliated Grossman Burn Foundation, offered his services to do the surgeries Youssif will need.
It will take at least a year to do the multiple operations he requires. And adjusting to America will not be easy for the little boy and his family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It will be hard, but I will do anything for Youssif.
DAMON: It's also expected that Youssif will need psychological treatment. His mother tries to coax him to talk to us. But he's withdrawn into himself, into a place no five-year-old should ever have to go. But one his family hopes he will eventually be able to forget.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Arwa Damon joins us now.
And, Arwa, I was watching your face in the preview monitor here, during that story and you're smiling, as well you should be smiling about this.
DAMON: Don, it's impossible not to smile, really, when you look at the outcome of that story. And I have to say that the viewer response, the response for aid organizations, from medical institutions, from just about everybody has been truly overwhelming. And I was speaking with some of the Iraqi staff here that have been instrumental in terms of getting the story and putting together. And they, too, were overwhelmed. Because oftentimes Iraqis really do feel like the rest of the world has just forgotten about them. That this is a war that nobody wants to deal with.
DAMON: Some of the Iraqi staff here that have been instrumental in terms of getting the story, and putting together, and they too were overwhelmed. Because Oftentimes Iraqis really do feel like the rest of the world has just forgotten about them. That this is a war that nobody wants to deal with.
LEMON: And, Arwa, does he has any idea how much response his story has generated?
DAMON: Don, I really don't think so. I was trying to explain it to his parents and I think they were just overwhelmed. His mother said that when she first heard about people coming forward, about organizations wanting to take up Youssif's case, that she was completely speechless. She didn't know what to do -- what to do with herself. And apparently, Youssif's first reaction was, Oh, Daddy, Daddy, I am going to be in an airplane. I don't think the family realizes how closely the world is watching this.
LEMON: It's good that he's like that. He's just a little boy. A normal little boy who happens to have a little bit of disfigurement, but hopefully all of that will be taken care of, to the extent possible that it can be.
Arwa Damon, thank you for bringing this story. You can actually help this little boy and learn plenty about the plight of the poor, the displaced and needy, and the innocent. CNN is involved. Check out our special reports at cnn.com/impact.
WHITFIELD: John Couey, remember that name? He's about to learn his fate. Maybe you remember his face there. What will be the price for kidnapping and killing a nine-year-old girl in Florida? That story coming up, straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A new report on the nation's battered housing market is out today. Stephanie Elam is at the New York Stock Exchange and hopefully, Stephanie, on this lovely Friday you have some good news for us.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: How about not all bad news?
WHITFIELD: I'll take it. OK.
ELAM: Yeah.
WHITFIELD: Cum se, cum sa.
ELAM: Right. Exactly. At least the way things have been, we have to take mixed and that's better than all bad. The latest government report shows new home prices fell slightly in July. That's bad news for sellers, obviously, but it is good news if you are trying to buy a home. That drop helped give sales an unexpected lift. New home sales rose nearly 3 percent last month from June's levels, but do keep in mind they're still down more than 10 percent from July of last year.
So, a continuing slump in housing could make it larder for the Federal Reserve to stabilize the nation's credit markets and obviously that's something we've been looking at for the last few weeks, Fred.
WHITFIELD: Meantime, another big executive is saying the mess could spread. In what way?
ELAM: That's right. This is coming out of Detroit. Ford Chief Alan Mullaly says conditions in the credit market could pose a big head wind to the company's turn around plan. The executive also expressed concerns about the state of the overall economy. He says managing economic growth seems to be a higher priority and that inflation seems to be under control at this time.
And, of course, when it comes to the Fed, their chief thing that they are looking at is keeping inflation in check. Obviously, with this sort of comment coming out, some are interpreting that these comments from Mullaly mean that an interest rate cut is necessary. People are keeping their eyes on it when big wigs speak, as always.
WHITFIELD: Always.
ELAM: Always! Now, if we take our attention and put it to the markets right now, stocks are getting a nice lift from stronger-than-expected economic reports, including those new homes sales numbers I was just telling you about.
Energy shares are leading the advance, as oil prices spiked more than a dollar. So at the moment, we are off our session highs, actually we're doing pretty good though.
WHITFIELD: We always like the plus sign. That's the bottom line.
ELAM: Some solid green, happening here, Fred. Solid.
WHITFIELD: Yeah, green, we like that, too.
ELAM: Up 86, at 13322, the Nasdaq is up 19 points, so .75 of a percent of a gain there, Fred. We'll see if we can keep it up.
Coming up, it's holiday time, at least if you are Wal-Mart. I'll tell you why the world's largest retailer is making sure its toy selection for the most wonderful time of the year isn't tainted.
I wonder how many people want to smack me for talking about the holidays?
WHITFIELD: You know, I'm just thinking about "solid". I haven't heard that for a while. Solid! I kind of like that, Stephanie.
ELAM: I have to bring it back.
WHITFIELD: You're brining me back. And Don is giving me a high five over here.
LEMON: No, I was trying slap Stephanie for you. Because you know, I would love to do that. No, I'm kidding.
ELAM: What?
LEMON: I'm kidding, we're pals. We go way back. All right, Steph. See you.
LEMON: From America's aging schools to the situation in Iraq, to a spur of the moment free throw, the NEWSROOM goes one-on-one with -- guess who? Can we call him -- we should come up with a basketball name for him.
WHITFIELD: You can do that, because you were on the court with him.
LEMON: That's right.
We go one-on-one with Senator Barack Obama, next in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A formal filing of a guilty plea by Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick today in Virginia. The charge? Conspiring to traffic dogs across state lines for the purpose of illegal dogfighting. He entered his plea today on that one charge. He is expected to appear in a Richmond court on Monday when the U.S. district court judge may rule on that plea. He faces a maximum of five years in prison on that charge. But his attorneys, as well as the federal prosecutors in their plea agreement, have requested the judge rule in the low end of any kind of sentencing.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: The Midwest today, in other news, taking a beating when it comes to flood waters. Check out this new video in to CNN. It's from Fox Lake, Illinois. And you can see that folks are walking through water. You can see just how high it is in some places. This is courtesy of our affiliate WGN television in the Chicago area.
Of course, Fox Lake, Illinois, is a northern suburb of Chicago. And the area you are looking at, not usually filled with water. But the Fox River often poses a problem when the rain comes thru and you get that flash flooding and then it's going into people's homes. It's really terrible.
That entire area has been having problems. Out of nowhere, the sky just went black. That's what folks are saying there. That's how one woman describes what happened in Chicago when a sudden storm hit the city last night with heavy rain and 70 mile-per-hour wind gusts. Streets were flooded and blocked by falling trees and branches.
The storm also grounded flights at Chicago's busiest airports. Forty people were hurt when a roof collapsed at an industrial building in west Chicago. Wow, Fred, look at that. And a sanitation worker -- workers were forced to release raw sewage into Lake Michigan.
WHITFIELD: Oh, boy.
LEMON: Yes, not good when that happens. When is this storm system going to move on? I'm sure people in the Midwest are concerned about that, and especially in Chicago and the Fox Lake, Illinois, area.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, those pictures are incredible. Seventy 70 mile per hour winds ripped through that city, and that's the kind of damage it does. That's almost hurricane force strength.
Now I wanted to take a look at the rivers right now. All the black dots you see, they represent rivers that are at or near flood stage right now. And you can see, many of them are concentrated in northern Illinois in and around the Chicago area.
Now some of the rivers are getting closer to that. They're in the 90 percentile. That's highlighted in the blue color, you can see here, and that stretches all the way from Iowa, across Illinois, into Indiana and northern Ohio. All areas that have received tremendous amount of rain. And that's where we're seeing the flooding in that area right now.
Fox Lake, if we zoom into that area, you can see that the rivers around that region, some of them are at or near their flood stage. But, of course, it is along the lake and that will also cause flooding as some of the water will rise in that region. And you can see this area here north of Chicago, an area prone to flooding, with tremendous amounts of rain.
And the rain came down heavy and hard yesterday in a fast amount of time. And that's all it takes to saturate the ground. And that's why you can see we have flood watches and warnings posted all the way back out from Ohio through Iowa. And many of this actually will continue straight into the weekend hours because of all the heavy rain that's been falling.
Now in terms of rain right now, Chicago catching a break. There's not rain in this area at this point. But we did have some heavy rain work its way across Iowa into Illinois earlier on and we're likely to see more of that because we do have severe weather in the forecast.
And finally, all this nasty weather has been causing a lot of problems for travel. Chicago's actually improved. Ground delays were up to an hour earlier. Now they're at 45 minutes. But we do have delays in New York City, Newark and San Francisco.
Don.
LEMON: An hour to 45 minutes.
SCHNEIDER: Oh, yes.
LEMON: All right. At least it's getting . . .
SCHNEIDER: On a Friday.
LEMON: At least it's getting better. OK. Thank you very much, Bonnie. We'll check back.
WHITFIELD: Well, sentencing this afternoon for a notorious Florida child killer John Evander Couey. In a recorded conversation from earlier this month, Couey actually told an aunt he expects a death sentence for the kidnapping, rape, and murder of nine-year-old Jessica Lunsford. Citrus County Judge Rick Howard, as a second option, life without parole, reports "Couey is calling himself 'stupid' when the aunt visited jail on August 3rd." Later today, we will speak with Jessica Lunsford's father, Mark Lunsford. He'll join us live after the sentence is read in court.
LEMON: Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney says, when it comes to health care for the uninsured, he can do for the country what he did for Massachusetts. Romney told the Florida Medical Association today, the federal government can help states lower insurance premiums through deregulation. He also said that tax codes should be changed to make it easier for people to buy private insurance. Romney often cites a 2006 law he signed as Massachusetts governor as an example of how the uninsured can get coverage.
WHITFIELD: And given the war in Iraq, the views of veterans could be critical in next year's election. A new Gallop survey finds Republican Rudy Giuliani is viewed most favorable by veterans, followed by John McCain, the only veteran currently in the top tier among candidates of either party. Among Democrats, Barack Obama makes the best showing with veterans. He's followed by John Edwards. Probable GOP hopeful Fred Thompson is next, followed by Democrat Hillary Clinton. But Senator Clinton's unfavorable rating is 22 points higher than her favorable rating. Did I read that right?
LEMON: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Unfavorable is 22 points higher than her favorable.
LEMON: Yes, you read it right.
WHITFIELD: OK. Sorry. Republican Mitt Romney is next, but many vets expressed no opinion of him.
LEMON: And speaking of presidential contenders, South Carolina's early date on the primary calendar has made it a must-stop for White House hopefuls. Democrat Barack Obama used an old and run-down school in dire need of repairs as the backdrop of a campaign appearance yesterday. After he toured the place, I asked him about education and the future of Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is representative of a failure to look after our children all across the country. I mean you've got a school building that was built in 1896. You've got a gymnasium that was built in 1926 that's about 100 degrees in there. You've got units, mobile units, where kids are trying to learn that have no windows and they're next to a railroad track. And that sends a signal to our kids that, you know, we're not that interested in education. So I want to use this as a way to spark the conscious of the country. And it's going to have to be combined with some significant, federal action when it comes to school construction.
LEMON: Would you allow Natasha and Malia to go to this school if you lived here?
OBAMA: Well, if I lived here, I would be fighting to improve this school. But I would not want Natasha and Malia to be in a classroom that has no windows. And I wouldn't want them to be in a gymnasium that has no air conditioning. I don't think any parent would. And the parents who live here don't either. The problem they've got is, is that the property tax base is so low here, that the most they can raise under state law is $3 million. And it would take $16 million to rebuild this school.
LEMON: Right.
OBAMA: And that's where it's going to be necessary for the federal government, under an Obama administration, to come up with a capital program to rebuild schools all across the country. And states are going to have to step up because right now too many states, I think, are neglecting rural areas, like this one, because they don't have as much political clout.
LEMON: I realize I'm pushing the envelope. This is my last question. But the NIE report out today, Iraq, Nuri al-Maliki. The surge supposedly is working in some areas, not working in other areas. What do you think of Nuri al-Maliki? Should he go? Do you agree with that? And why pull the troops out if it appears to be working?
OBAMA: You know, I think this is a distraction. This whole notion of is Maliki the right guy? We can replace Maliki with four or five other guys. If the underlying political dynamic is not changing, then we're not going to see progress in Iraq.
We know that our troops are performing well under the surge and that there's been a temporary reduction in violence. What we also know is, is that none of the Iraqi factions have taken seriously the need to come to a political accommodation. And we can't create a stable Iraq until that happens. Which is why I believe that we need to more than ever initiate the kind of responsible, orderly withdrawal that will trigger a change in behavior on the part of the factions.
And this is a fundamental disagreement that I have with George Bush. This disagreement is not going to go away. And, you know, as president of the United States, I'm going to set us in a new direction.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: He seemed very relaxed in this setting. Not that we've never seen him not appear to be relaxed. But these were issues that really -- I guess he felt a real personal connection to.
LEMON: Well, he felt a personal connection because of his daughters, Natasha and Malia, and them going to school.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
LEMON: And I asked him that because, obviously, I've met his family being in Chicago when he was running for senator there. And I said, would you want your family to go -- your daughters to go to this school? And he said, well, obviously not. But if he lived there, he would be fighting for it.
So, yes, these issues are personal to him. And also Iraq as well. One of the only people in the race who in the beginning of the war spoke out against the war and did not vote to send the troops.
WHITFIELD: So I wonder if he's expressed at all what the real challenges are about speaking about his personal beliefs and, you know, versus those that are kind of the more popular beliefs. You know, how does he strike a balance?
LEMON: Well, it's very difficult because, you know, we had that whole question, is he black, but are black people going to vote for him? That whole thing about, is he black enough? I mean, that's off the radar. No one really cares about that.
But, you know, the polls are showing, even in South Carolina where he was, when they asked people, who -- among black -- who would you like to be the nominee? This is, you know, as recently as July. And 47 percent said Clinton -- this is among blacks. And 31 percent said Obama. And then nationally, 44 percent Clinton, these are Democratic voters, and 24 percent Obama.
So there's a fine line that he has to draw or go between there because he doesn't want to turn off one set of people and then he doesn't -- he wants to keep his base as well.
WHITFIELD: Right. At the same time, maybe those polls demonstrated that, I mean, no one group ever votes as a monolith anyway in terms of when you break it down to race.
LEMON: And I think we're learning that. And I think that's going to be the good thing from this campaign is that people are going to learn a lot about voting, especially the way African-Americans vote. Not a monolithic group as all as people perceive it.
WHITFIELD: OK. And we're going to hear a lot more about your conversation and -- maybe your journey with him yesterday in South Carolina.
LEMON: Yes. And we played a little basketball with him too.
WHITFIELD: Yes. He's quite the hoopster. Almost a three- pointer. Impressive! All right. Thanks a lot, Don.
All right. And a life devoted to a faith she actually questioned. The letters of the late Mother Teresa offer surprising insight into a woman widely regarded as a saint.
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WHITFIELD: All right. Want to take you straight to Greenbelt, Maryland, where you are seeing the 295 bridge there, which is closed in both directions. Why? Because reportedly some concrete has actually fallen from the bridge there in Greenbelt, Maryland. Greenbelt not far from like the University of Maryland campus there. Right outside the -- the 495 beltway there.
So you're looking at the live shot there of traffic on that bridge of the 295. And actually these are taped pictures that we're just now getting in that are actually closed because of this falling concrete. A huge concern for motorists everywhere these days, particularly after what we all learned of what happened in Minnesota. So now this situation in Maryland. Greenbelt, Maryland.
LEMON: We'll continue to follow that one.
Now there may be two reasons to take Viagra. Researchers say it does more than help men have sex. It also may boost levels of hormone associated with love. Scientists say Viagra and other impotence drugs boosted the release of oxytocin. Is that right? Oxytocin. The so- called love hormone in rats and may do the same in humans. If so, researchers say, the drugs could be used for other purposes, such as social bonding.
If you're feeling sleepy during the day, well, you may want to power down at night. Researchers say people who spend more time watching TV and surfing the Internet before bed are more likely to say they don't get enough sleep -- that would be me -- even though they sleep almost as much as their non-sleepy counterparts. Researchers say it suggests that prolonged media use before bedtime can lead people to think they're not getting enough sleep.
WHITFIELD: So he once tossed pizzas, now he's using his Domino's dough to build a town nearer to God.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM MONAGHAN, AVE MARIA FOUNDER: You know the old saying, life is short and eternity is forever. Domino's was just a -- I always saw Domino's as a way to help the church.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right. Well, welcome to Ave Maria. The catholic community that pizza built. We'll deliver the details, 30 minutes or it's free.
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LEMON: Mother Teresa's secret and some deeply personal letters. Nobel Peace Prize winner, who died in 1997, wrote extensively about her struggle to feel God's presence. It was an inner battle she fought for decades. John Allen, our senior Vatican analyst, and a senior correspond for the "National Catholic Reporter" offered this perspective on "AC 360."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN ALLEN, CNN SR. VATICAN ANALYST: If you know a little bit about catholic saints, this may be not quite so shocking. There was a 16th century catholic saint by the name of John of the Cross who wrote something called "The Dark Night of the Soul." And it's this experience that is common to many great, what you might call, spiritual over achievers. That often, in the course of their life, they go through a period in which they're simply not feeling it anymore. That is at a head level, when their minds, they're convinced of the truth of the faith, but they can't feel it at their hearts and their souls.
With what's different with Mother Teresa, I think, is the intensity of that feeling, of that absence of God that comes through these letters. And perhaps more to the point, how long it lasted. I mean, we're really talking about an experience that began in 1948. And with the exception of a very brief window of a few weeks in the '50s, lasted throughout the rest of her life.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: It was Mother Teresa's dying wish her letters be destroyed. Instead, they're being used in the petition to make her a saint. Many of the letters will also be published in a book due out next month.
WHITFIELD: Tom Monaghan made his reputation and a vast fortune selling pizzas. Now he's serving a higher calling. CNN's Randi Kaye reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Deep in the heart of south Florida, along the hazy swamps of the Everglades, a brand new town is rising up from nothing. This is Ave Maria, a catholic utopia founded and funded by billionaire businessman Tom Monaghan. His ticket, he hopes, to eternal salvation.
TOM MONAGHAN, AVE MARIA FOUNDER: My goal is to get to heaven and drag as many people along with me as I can.
CROWD: Holy Mary, mother of God.
KAYE: Here streets are named after saints and popes. The town square built around a massive cathedral designed by Monaghan himself.
MONAGHAN: I think this will be one of the 10 best known catholic churches in the country.
KAYE: The 10 year plan, 11,000 homes, 25,000 residents and 5,000 students at Ave Maria University.
Does it feel like Disney world for Catholics to you?
MONAGHAN: Well, I think a would be a place where I think a certain amount of Catholics, particularly serious Catholics, would want to live around a serious, really high-quality catholic university.
KAYE: Monaghan has pumped nearly half a billion dollars of his personal fortunate into Ave Maria. Money he earned from the Domino's Pizza chain he founded and then sold nearly a decade ago. These are his glory years. His reward after a childhood of poverty and struggle. Raised by nuns in a catholic orphanage, yearning to give back his whole life, building his business around that goal.
MONAGHAN: You know, there's an old saying, life is short and eternity is forever. Domino's was just a -- I always saw Domino's as a way to help the church.
KAYE: But wealth brought temptation. Fancy cars, a baseball team, a fleet of private jets. Then one day, while reading a book by the Christian writer C.S. Lewis, Monaghan began to feel like a fraud.
MONAGHAN: I read this chapter in there called "The Great Sin," and it's a sin of pride. The worst of all sins. When you want to have more than other people have, and accomplish more than other people have, that's -- it's that comparison to other people, to be better than other people and that . . .
KAYE: So you sold everything off?
MONAGHAN: Everything that was ostentatious, yes.
KAYE: The money is now going into Ave Maria, who Monaghan insists is open to everyone, not just catholics.
What if somebody wanted to build a synagogue or a mosque on the grounds here?
MONAGHAN: Fine. Fine.
KAYE: Fine?
MONAGHAN: Sure.
KAYE: What if an atheist wanted to move to town?
MONAGHAN: That's fine too.
KAYE: Maybe so. But Monaghan prefers Ave Maria take its cues from the Vatican.
In the past, Monaghan has said cable TV here in Ave Maria would not be allowed to air adult programming, like pornography. He's also said pharmacists wouldn't be distributing birth control. Critics blasted him. Since then he's backed off.
He realized he can ban condoms and porn at his private university, but the law stops him from doing that in town.
MONAGHAN: I said some things that I didn't know what I was talking about early on. You know, we're not going to break the law. You know, I prefer not to have that sort of thing that's something that my faith teaches is immoral.
KAYE: So if a pharmacist decided that he wanted to open up shop here and he wanted to sell contraception, would he be allowed to?
MONAGHAN: I don't think I would be able to do anything about it.
KAYE: Even though you would want to?
MONAGHAN: I would, yes, I would probably want to.
KAYE: That might sound scary to some people, but to David and Marta (ph) Eysaman it sounds like a wholesome family environment.
DAVID EYSAMAN, AVE MARIA HOMEOWNER: A little bit of shelter. A little bit of shelter from the crazy world. Not saying that influence might not get in here somehow, but I think it's going to be a lot more difficult for that to happen.
KAYE: Proud, new residents of Tom Monaghan's kingdom of heaven.
Randi Kaye, CNN, Ave Maria, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: John Couey is about to learn his fate. What will be the price for kidnapping and killing a nine-year-old girl. You're looking at live pictures now from that courtroom. And there he is entering the courtroom right now. Mark Lunsford, the father of nine-year-old Jessica Lunsford, who was killed by John Couey, we're going to talk to him a little bit later on in the NEWSROOM.
But, there you go. You saw live pictures of him entering the courtroom. We're going to bring this to you in a little bit in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Get you live now to a Florida courtroom. You're looking at the courtroom where John Couey will find out what his sentencing is just in a short while. Just so you'll know, he's the man convicted of killing and raping nine-year-old Jessica Lunsford and then burying her alive. The jury has also recommended the death penalty in this case. And we're wondering if that is going to happen here. But we're going to learn the fate of John Couey.
Also, Mark Lunsford, Jessica Lunsford's father, will join us in the NEWSROOM after he hears that sentencing as well.
WHITFIELD: Meantime to Utah. The families of those six missing miners are waiting for a miracle. A spokesman admits the families have lost some hope, but says they are still looking to the weekend when a sixth and final bore hold should reach the area where the miners were working.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SONNY OLSEN, FAMILIES' SPOKESMAN: We hope that our loved ones survived the accident and are waiting rescue. We know that the odds are stacked against them. But miracles happen. We will not give up hope until the very end. If our loved ones cannot be rescued, we will accept no less than have our loved ones come home to us. If it's humanly possible, they deserve to be here with us and not in that mountain.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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