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Senator Charged with Lewd Conduct; Firefighters Battle Blaze in Idaho; Car Crashes Leading Cause of Death for Teens; Arson Suspected in Greek Wildfires

Aired August 28, 2007 - 13:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The sex sting and the U.S. senator. Larry Craig of Idaho says an airport cop misconstrued his behavior in a Minneapolis men's room. Weeks later, a misdemeanor bust is front page news, and the fallout is still being felt.
Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips in the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. Don Lemon is off. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

First, you're getting a live look right now from Reno, Nevada, where President Bush is getting ready to speak shortly to thousands of veterans at the American Legion convention. The topic? Actually, we don't have a live picture. We're working that for you.

He'll be talking about Iraq and its importance to U.S. security. We're going to listen in and talk with CNN's Ed Henry a little bit later in the hour, once he steps up to the mic.

First, though, Idaho Senator Larry Craig, long-time lawmaker, staunch conservative and now accused of lewd conduct after an airport bathroom sex sting. Craig's already left a fellow Republican's presidential campaign. Will he be able to stay in office? That's the question.

Let's get straight to Capitol Hill and CNN's Jessica Yellin -- Jessica.

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, a government watchdog group has now filed a complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee, asking them to determine whether Senator Larry Craig broke Senate rules by pleading guilty to this disorderly conduct charge.

CNN had obtained a copy of his plea agreement, in which Craig agreed to the following. He said, "I am pleading guilty because I engaged in conduct which I knew or should have known tended to arouse alarm or resentment of others, which was physical in nature."

Now, here's the outline of the charge against him in a police report filed in Minnesota -- in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A police officer was investigating sexual activity at an airport bathroom. He was in the men's stall next to Senator Larry Craig, and the officer alleges that Senator Craig tapped his foot and ran his fingers along the underbelly, the bottom of the bathroom stall, which the officer says is a well-known indication that he would like to engage in lewd conduct. Well, the officer arrested Larry Craig without putting handcuffs on him. He took him into another room, told him the charges against him, and the senator allegedly gave the officer a business card and said, "What do you think of that?" It clearly stated he was a U.S. senator.

About two months later, Senator Craig pled guilty to one disorderly conduct charge. He's paid more than $500 in fines and has a ten-day sentence that's been stayed.

Now, in a statement released by his office, Larry Craig says, "At the time of this incident I complained to the police that they were misconstruing my actions. I was not involved in any inappropriate conduct. In hindsight, I should not have pled guilty."

We understand that Senator Craig is now on vacation with his wife and children in Idaho -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And Jessica, a lot of people talking about the likely political fallout from all of this. What's your take there on the Hill? What are you hearing?

YELLIN: Well, I'm hearing from some Republican leadership aides, that they're in a sort of wait and see mode. They say the scandal fallout is not as bad as some other scandals they've seen recently, but Senator Craig is up for reelection, and it's not clear if he's going to run or not. He has yet to decide.

PHILLIPS: OK. Jessica Yellin, live from the Hill. Thanks, Jessica.

So how is Alberto Gonzales spending his last weeks as attorney general? A day after he dropped the resignation bombshell, Gonzales is in New Orleans, taking a look at the city's new Family Justice Department. The Department of Justice helped pay for it. The center will help domestic violence and sex assault victims.

Gonzales announced his resignation yesterday after months at the center of a political hurricane. His last day as attorney general was September 17.

Solicitor General Paul Clement will fill Gonzales' shoes until the president picks a successor. Mr. Bush hasn't named names, not publicly anyway, but there's plenty of speculation. Some of the names being bandied about, homeland security chief Michael Chertoff, former deputy attorney general Larry Thompson, now working for PepsiCo; Ted Olson, he's the former solicitor general; and George Toll, former deputy general under the first President Bush.

From the air and on the ground, more than 1,400 firefighters are battling wildfires in Idaho, each one burning ever closer to popular tourist spots.

CNN's Rob Marciano on the fire lines in the town of Ketchum.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There is the lights that on Sunday came extremely close to burning to the ground. The flames came within 100 feet of it. But firefighters managed to battle back those flames.

The path of the fire, you can see the charred landscape on that saddle there. Now the active fire just down this ridge. Look at that smoke billowing up. Flames tossing 15, 20 feet in the air.

You can feel the wind, and that's what firefighters are worried about. If this wind shifts, and they think it might do that, and it gets over this ridge, then we've got a whole another round of problems, including not only ski resort structures but the town of Ketchum at risk.

Something else we saw up in the mountain, snow guns, typically used to make snow during the wintertime. Here at Sun Valley, threatened by this wild fire, they are using those snow guns to wet down the terrain and wet down structures. So far, so good on that front.

But still, over 40,000 acres have burned with this fire. Here back at base camp, now that sun is coming up, the day shift is getting their assignment, getting geared up for another day on the fire line.

Rob Marciano, CNN, Ketchum, Idaho.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: So are these firefighters going to get a break any time soon, Chad Myers?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Today is a break, actually. As good as it gets, Kyra. No real big wind, no big fronts on the way. A slight wind shift possible, but really only about four to six miles per hour will be the wind today. No dry lightning storms.

Literally, this is a great day to start battling the fire.

Now, if you're talking about help about are they going to get rain, not a drop in the next five days. Not even a chance.

From Fargo down to Minneapolis this is where the severe weather will be today, mainly along the front that stretches from Minneapolis to Sioux Falls. Let's see, can you find it? Ninety-one in Des Moines and 61 right now in Fargo, the heat index. Yes, right through here. And that front will be the focus where the storms will be again today and for tomorrow. Right through this area in the red zone.

Here's back out to Idaho for today. Absolutely not a chance of a shower whatsoever. But at least with high pressure and clear skies and sunshine. Good, one -- good flying conditions for the plains and pretty decent battling conditions for the firefighters, not dreadfully hot. Temperatures there will only be in the seventies for today.

And for tomorrow, most of the Midwest fills in with showers, from Chicago all the way down to Atlanta and St. Louis. And any rain you can get across the southeast from Tennessee all the way back even into Kentucky and down toward the south end of Florida, people there will take it. It has been a very, very dry summer. Maybe we'll do a little bit better for the fall.

Highs today, still 99 in Memphis. But what you'll notice, only the southwest will have temperatures above 100 degrees. Everybody else at 99 or below. And I know maybe that seems like a small victory, but, Kyra, when it's been 110 in your town for the past two weeks, 99 feels pretty good, I guess.

PHILLIPS: It does. I don't know. I don't know what the difference is between 99 or 105. It's all bad.

MYERS: I know.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

PHILLIPS: Well, Manuel Noriega won't be going home to Panama any time soon. A federal judge in Florida has cleared the way for the former Panamanian dictator to be extradited to France, where he's been convicted of money laundering.

But Noriega plans to keep fighting, saying he wants to be near his family, even if it means facing allegations of killing his political rivals. The U.S. captured Noriega in 1989 and convicted him on charges related to drug running. He's slated to finish his prison term in Florida September 9 after serving more than 17 years.

OK. We're going to take you live now to Reno, Nevada, where we are expecting President Bush to speak shortly to thousands of veterans at the American Legion convection. The topic, we are told, Iraq and its importance to U.S. security. We will listen in and talk to CNN's Ed Henry just a little later in the hour.

Straight ahead, a high profile crash, but Hulk Hogan's son is hardly the first or only teenager getting into trouble by the wheel. Why are young drivers at greater risk?

Dozens of people, millions of dollars, wild fires continue to take a heavy toll on Greece. We're live with the latest.

And red, white and ballooning. Americans are fatter than ever. Which state weighs in as the heaviest? We'll tell you.

You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Live pictures from Reno, Nevada. The president expected to address the American Legion national convention. As soon as that starts, we will monitor it, check in live. His speech will be the second this week aimed at boosting support for the war. Already, about 75 to 100 anti-war protesters are already demonstrating outside the Reno Sparks Convention Center where the president is scheduled to speak any moment.

Right now, it's 1:11 Eastern Time. Other stories that we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM. Long-time Senator Larry Craig denying he acted in a lewd manner in a Minneapolis airport bathroom. An undercover cop arrested the Idaho Republican in June. He later pleaded guilty, without a lawyer, to disorderly conduct. Craig says there was no inappropriate behavior, and he regrets his plea.

Wildfires raging right now in Idaho, some threatening popular tourist spots. Firefighters used snow making machines to shoot water at one major blaze. More than 1,000 homes have been evacuated.

And more time on his hands. An Ohio police officer accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend has waived his right to a speedy trial, which was due to start next month. We're still waiting for a new trial date for Bobby Cutts.

Hulk Hogan's son out of the hospital, but maybe in trouble with the law. Police in Clearwater, Florida, are still investigating the crash that injured 17-year-old Nick Bollea and his passenger.

Police say that Bollea was speeding when he crashed his Toyota Supra into a palm tree Sunday night. No charges have been filed yet. The passenger, 22-year-old John Graziano, remains in critical condition.

Teens behind the wheel, all too a dangerous, even deadly combination. Here's an inside look from CNN's Greg Hunter.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GREG HUNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Car crashes are the leading cause of death for American teens. More than 5,000 deaths a year are caused by those drivers.

Experts say that reasons are broad, from driving fast, to street racing, to texting, using cell phones and a relatively new phenomenon, called ghost driving, where drivers and passengers get out of their car and began surfing on the roof, hood, or trunk.

CAPT. GLENN REVELL, SAN DIEGO COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: To leave a vehicle completely uncontrolled and to trust it to nature, if you will, and the forces of nature and physics, has taken foolish to new heights.

HUNTER: Twenty-five-year-old Vip Patel says he started ghost riding for the adrenaline rush and posted it on MySpace.

VIP PATEL, GHOST RIDER: The thrill just doing it and, you know, taking the risk.

HUNTER: Racing is also a problem. One-third of all deaths from teenage accidents are caused by speeding.

This past weekend, a California teen was sentenced to two years in county jail for street racing. Police say she caused an accident last year that killed the prince and princess of the island nation of Tonga.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It don't matter what you win by...

HUNTER: The need for speed is not new. It's been glorified in Hollywood films like "The Fast and the Furious" and is all over the Internet with personal postings of drag racing cars, motorcycles, weaving in and out of traffic, and speeding, like the case of Hulk Hogan's son, who police say was traveling at a high rate of speed that left his passenger critically injured.

(on camera) Parents may be getting help nationwide to watch their kids better through a company called DriveCam. Now, right now, they have an experimental program that takes video inside and outside the car. And if your child drives erratically, a video clip gets sent to your computer almost immediately.

Right now, that program is only in about three states in America, and the company hopes to have it in many more states by next year.

Greg Hunter, CNN, Queens, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, an immigration probe leads to a huge bust at an Ohio poultry plant. Agents raided the food processing plant in Fairfield near Cincinnati. More than 100 workers were arrested.

The raid is part of a two-year investigation into hiring practices at Chicago-based Coke foods. According to its web site, the company supplies fresh and frozen chicken to a global market.

Cholesterol busting statins do more than help people at risk of heart attacks. Straight ahead in the NEWSROOM, more on how statins might also help fend off Alzheimer's Disease.

And is it the home of the cheesesteak or home of the cheese head? Not even close. The state with the unwanted distinction, the nation's fattest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, in case you missed it, here it is. It's a look at the earth's shadow creeping across the face of the moon. The second total lunar eclipse of the year took place just before dawn right here on the East Coast.

In fact, early risers in much of the western hemisphere were able to catch a glimpse of what happens when the earth is directly between the sun and the moon.

Looking for signs of a turnaround in the housing market? You won't find any today, unfortunately. Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange with all the details.

Susan, I know we're going to get to that but how about that lunar eclipse? Isn't that beautiful? SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Beautiful. And were we able to see it on our coast, Kyra?

PHILLIPS: I have to be honest with you. I woke up, and my first sign was Chad Myers on "AMERICAN MORNING".

LISOVICZ: Yes. I'm thinking that I was too busy trying to find two shoes that matched to look out the window and see such a beautiful sight, because I'm up early. So...

PHILLIPS: It's gorgeous.

LISOVICZ: It's gorgeous. You can howl at the moon or you can howl at the story I'm about to report, Kyra.

A new report on housing says the price declines are worsening with no signs of slowing down. One key finding: home prices fell 3.5 percent in the nation's 20 largest cities. The year over year decline the worst since Standard & Poors started taking the poll in 1987.

Demand is falling. There's a glut of homes on the market, and if you do want to buy a home, it's harder to get a mortgage. That doesn't bode well for a quick recovery, does it, Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Not at all. And home prices dropped in all top 20 cities, right?

LISOVICZ: No.

PHILLIPS: No?

LISOVICZ: No. There's some signs of life. It's all about location, location, location in real estate, even in this housing recession, Kyra. Detroit, of course, saw the biggest drop. I shouldn't say, of course, but that city has suffered so much with what we've seen in the automobile and manufacturing sectors. It dropped 11 percent.

Tampa and San Diego's prices fell more than 7 percent. There's a lot of speculation in both of those cities.

But in the world of real estate, again, it's about location. Five cities did manage price increases. Seattle in Washington topped the list, followed by Charlotte, North Carolina, and Portland, Oregon.

(STOCK REPORT)

LISOVICZ: In the next hour, what happens in Macau stays in Macau. The next big gambling destination. I'll have that story in the next hour of NEWSROOM, Kyra. I know you're going to be listening.

PHILLIPS: I'll wait. I always listen to you, Susan.

LISOVICZ: Luck, be a lady tonight.

PHILLIPS: OK. One of my favorite songs. There we go. A little Sinatra. Thanks, Susan.

LISOVICZ: You're welcome.

PHILLIPS: We're just getting word now, this coming across the political wires. Apparently, the United Transportation Union endorsing Hillary Rodham Clinton for president. We're being told this is the first national union endorsement in the 2008 race.

Michael Vick has more than three months to wonder how long he's going to spend in prison. The Atlanta Falcons franchise player made it official yesterday. You may remember, he entered a guilty plea to a federal dog fighting charge and then apologized to his fans.

Sentencing is set for December 10, and Vick could get as much as five years. Most observers expect less.

Meantime, Vick remains on indefinite suspension by the National Football League.

Authorities seized more than 50 pit bulls from Vick's property in Virginia. Animal behavior experts will decide whether the dogs are fit to adopt. But the Humane Society says the dogs are too dangerous and should be put down. They claim the lust for fighting and death is in their blood.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN GOODWIN, HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE U.S.: Dogs that are right off of these yards that have been bred for fighting, these are dogs that have been bred for aggression. They come from blood lines where every dog in previous litters that did not demonstrate enough aggression and enough willingness to continue fighting, even when suffering severe pain, were killed.

We saw that in the Michael Vick indictment, when he killed the dogs that didn't have enough aggression. And then the ones that did demonstrate the willingness to keep fighting and killing other dogs, even when they were hurt, those were the ones that were taken and then later bred.

And so you end up with dogs who really have this bred into them. And I don't think that rehabilitation is an option for dogs that have had this bred into them. It's sort of like trying to get a retriever not to retrieve.

But there are pit bulls that are several generations removed from this who are behaviorally quite different.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: The head of the Humane Society has said the dogs from Vick's operation were some of the most aggressively trained pit bulls in the country.

Straight ahead, olive groves, homes, and scores of men, women, and children, lost to Greece's vicious wildfires. Any sign firefighters are getting the upper hand? We'll have a live report, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips, live in the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

A tragedy of expanding proportions. As if the Greek people haven't seen enough loss, furious wildfires force thousands of more people to flee their homes. We'll be there live with the latest, and you're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Racing out of harm's way. Thousands of Greeks, in a panic, as flames spread across their country. At least 63 people have died in the past five days.

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen joins us now live from Rodina, Greece. How's the firefighting effort going, Frederik?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, it's still a very difficult effort. But the firefighting experts here are saying that they have made some progress, at least today. They say one thing that's been on their side, at least, was the weather.

They say that the winds have subsided just a little bit, and that does allow them to project a whole lot more of the air power that is now here, that they now have a lot of onto those fires, dump a whole lot more water onto the fires and actually get control, at least, of some of these fires. Although they still are a long way from making the situation a whole lot better.

Now, they are very concerned, though, about what the next couple of days will bring. They say that the forecast is that the winds are going to be picking up speed considerably, and that could be a big problem.

You saw that play out just yesterday when the fire catches those winds. When those winds flare up and there's basically nothing even helicopters can do. Because those fires just go out of control and just fuel those fires so much, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Has arson played a role in these fires, Fred?

PLEITGEN: Excuse me? I'm sorry, I didn't get that.

PHILLIPS: Has arson played a role in these fires? Do you know?

PLEITGEN: Well, that's what the Greek government says. That's actually a very interesting question that really all of Greece is debating about right now.

The Greek government said it believes that at least some of these fires were laid by arsonists. They say this for two reasons. For one reason they say it's just basically -- basically a criminal effort. They say that a lot of these people want to develop land in this country, but there's a ban on building in forested areas, so some people just go and torch them down and make it look like it's just a regular wildfire.

Now another reason the central government says, it says that there may be a group trying to destabilize this country, because there are elections coming up in this country is just about 2 1/2 weeks.

And they say they think some militant group might be trying to destabilize their country, though the Greek central government has not said which group that may be and who that circle of people may be. And there really hasn't been any evidence to link any specific group to an arson attack.

But the authorities say they have arrested several people on suspicion of arson, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Frederik Pleitgen from Greece, thanks so much.

Now we want to take you to Reno, Nevada. The president of the United States is talking Iraq to the American Legion.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... in the region. Extremists would control a key part of the world's energy supply, could blackmail and sabotage the global economy. They could use billions of dollars of oil revenues to buy weapons and pursue their deadly ambitions. Our allies in the regions would be under greater siege by the enemies of freedom. Early movements toward democracy in the region would be violently reversed.

The scenario would be a disaster for the people of the Middle East. A danger to our friends and allies, and a direct threat to American peace and security. This is what the extremists plan. For the sake of our own security, we'll pursue our enemies, we'll persevere, and we will prevail.

(APPLAUSE)

BUSH: In the short term, we're using all elements of American power to protect the American people by taking the fight to the enemy. Our troops are carrying out operations, day by day to bring the terrorists to justice. We're keeping the pressure on them. We're forcing them to move.

Our law enforcement and intelligence professionals are working to cut off terrorist financing and disrupt their networks. Our diplomats are rallying our friends and allies throughout the region to share intelligence and to tighten security, to rout out the extremists hiding in their midst.

Every day, we work to protect the American people. Our strategy is this. We will fight them over there, so we do not have to face them in the United States of America.

(APPLAUSE)

BUSH: In the long term, we are advancing freedom and liberty, as the alternatives to the ideologies of hatred and repression. We seek a Middle East of secure Democratic states that are at peace with one another, that are participating in the global markets, and that are partners in this fight against the extremists and radicals.

We seek to dry up the stream of recruits for al Qaeda and other extremists by helping nations offer their people a path to a more hopeful future. We seek an Iran whose government is accountable to its people. Instead of two leaders who promote terror and pursue the technology that could be used to develop nuclear weapons. We seek to advance a two-state solution for the Israelis and Palestinians so they can live side by side in peace and security.

We seek justice and dignity and human rights for all the people of the Middle East.

PHILLIPS: President Bush in the biggest little city in the world: Reno, Nevada. Talking about Iraq and how leaving too quickly could be a gamble for the U.S. He's speaking to thousands of veterans at the American Legion Convention.

CNN's Ed Henry joins us now live from Reno.

Hi, Ed.

ED HENRY, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra.

It's interesting -- what the president is really trying to do, bottomline, is shape public opinion heading into this critical mid- September progress report on Iraq that he's going to be presenting to the nation in the next couple of weeks.

Remember the speech he gave to the VFW (ph) Convention in Kansas City last week, that may have backfired a bit, that comparison to Iraq and Vietnam. So this time, he's focusing in particular on how victory in Iraq is pivotal to pushing back against both al Qaeda and Iran, making the Mideast on a broader basis, more stable.

Later in the speech, we've gotten a peek at it, he's going to really talk about the surge and as expected, say that he believes it's working and essentially, start laying the ground work for saying he needs more time for the surge to make even more progress.

But as you know, the president has a couple of big challenges ahead. First of all, even he acknowledges in this speech, political reconciliation not happening quick enough in Iraq and also, he has the added political pressure of fellow Republicans like Senator John Warner saying they want to see some troops start coming home -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, talk about political pressure. He keeps focusing on Iraq, yet he's losing some of his closest allies in just a short period of time, Karl Rove and also the attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, that news coming out yesterday.

HENRY: That's right. Well, part of that -- it almost ties in to today's speech in a way and the preparations for the September progress report in that even the president acknowledged yesterday that the Gonzales controversy had become a distraction. His time in office is running out, he had to get that distraction past him, try to focus on Iraq and other issues in these final 17 months -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Ed Henry, live from Reno, Nevada. Ed, thanks so much.

An airport bathroom sex sting, a conservative U.S. senator stung. Idaho Republican Larry Craig denies allegations of lewd conduct in a Minneapolis airport restroom in June. An undercover cop arrested Craig, who later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor disorderly conduct.

The officer says that Craig repeatedly looked through the crack in the stall where the officer was sitting and also made gestures common to people who want to engage in public bathroom sex. Craig now says he regrets his guilty plea which he entered without a lawyer. He's left Mitt Romney's GOP presidential campaign where he was serving as a Senate liaison.

So, how is Alberto Gonzales spending his last weeks as attorney general? A day after he dropped the resignation bombshell, Gonzales is in New Orleans taking a look at the city's new family justice center. The Department of Justice helped pay for it, and that center will help domestic violence and sex assault victims.

Gonzales announced his resignation yesterday after months at the center of a political hurricane. His last day as attorney general is September 17th.

From day one, Gonzales has been a lightning rod for the Bush administration.

CNN's Kelli Arena reports on his troubled tenure.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It all started with his nomination in late 2004, with charges that Alberto Gonzales was just too chummy with the president.

SEN. PATRICK LEAHY, (D-VT) JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: I have no objection to the president's appointing close friends, but will he keep the kind of independence that attorney general has to keep from the president.

ARENA: Then, at his confirmation hearings in 2005, Gonzales faced sharp criticism for a memo he approved as White House council, which some say legitimized torture and may have set the foundation for the abuses at Abu Ghraib.

SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY, (D-MA) JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: You were warned that ignoring or lowering standing traditions and rules would lead to abuse and undermine military culture and that is what has happened.

ARENA: The Republican Congress let Gonzales coast for a bit. But when Democrats took over, they seized on a new controversy, over the firings of eight U.S. attorneys late last year. (on camera): Gonzales just couldn't keep his story straight, contradicting other justice officials and sometimes, even himself.

(voice-over): Top-level resignations followed, but the attorney general stuck it out.

ALBERTO GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I don't recall being involved in deliberations involving the question of whether or not a U.S. attorney should or should not be asked to resign.

ARENA: It got testy, then it got ugly. Former deputy attorney general James Comey testified in May that Gonzales, as White House counsel, tried to bully his predecessor, John Ashcroft, into approving a controversial domestic wiretap program while Ashcroft lay sick in a hospital bed.

JAMES COMEY, FORMER DEPUTY ATTORNEY GEN.: I was very upset, I was angry. I thought I'd just witnessed an effort to take advantage of a very sick man.

ARENA: Comey testified that both he and the FBI Director had threatened to quit over the program, contradicting the attorney general.

GONZALES: There has not been any serious disagreement about the program that the president has confirmed.

ARENA: It came down to who to believe, and in the end, almost one no one believed the attorney general. Democrats even pushed for a perjury investigation.

SEN. ARLEN SPECTER, (R-PA) JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: It is just decimating, Mr. Attorney General, as to both your judgment and your credibility.

ARENA: Although controversies over the war on terror dominated his tenure, Gonzales also presided over a bad spike in violent crime, and ...

JOE RICH, FORMER JUSTICE SECTION CHIEF: To put it bluntly, I think he was the worst attorney general I served under.

ARENA: He leaves behind a department that many say is disorganized and demoralized, a legacy that poses especially big challenges for whoever succeeds him.

Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Antibacterial soaps and gels -- moms love them, especially during cold and flu time, but do they really work? We'll have the latest, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Well, coming clean about antibacterial soaps. University (ph) Michigan researchers who looked at dozens of studies say antibacterial soaps and gels may give consumers an added sense of security, but don't seem to be more affective than ordinary soap. In fact, the researchers say that overuse of products containing the germ-fighting compound Triclosan could boost bacteria resistance to common antibiotics.

Well, they help rid the body of artery-clogging cholesterol, but can drugs called statins -- or statins, rather, also help against Alzheimer's?

CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes a look at the latest research.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: We know a lot about stat medications and their potential ability to ward off heart disease, and more specifically, lower the bad kind of cholesterol in your body, something known as LDL.

But there's been a growing body research action looking at the possible link between these same cholesterol-lowering medications and also lowering your risk of dementia due to Alzheimer's Disease. Now, according to the study, the statin medications may actually reduce your risk of dementia by trying to ward off these plaques and tangles that form in the brain.

Let me show you here. This is an animation of what's happening in your brain as you sort of zoom through the brain there. You look at all these neurons. These neurons form the communication back and forth, they send the signals to and through your brain. Sometimes, these plagues and tangles sort of develop and coat these neurons, making it much more difficult for memories to get stored and for thoughts to develop. And that's a part of the reason why they think statins may actually reduce your risk of developing dementia.

A couple of caveats, a very small study this was, and a very early study as well. It also wasn't randomized, meaning that they didn't actually put certain people on statins and other people not on statins and try to figure out what happens to their brain. So, way too early for any doctors to recommend statins right now as an actual mechanism to try and decrease your risk of dementia.

Why might it work? Well, statins as I said, lower your cholesterol, but they also seem to lower the amount of inflammation in your body. Inflammation has long been thought to be a culprit in the development of Alzheimer's, at least later in life. It is unclear for sure, though, why Alzheimer's develops in the first place.

It does teach us, though, that the same things that lower your cholesterol and lower your inflammation, such as good diet and good exercise, may also decrease your risk of dementia later in life. Something to be mindful of.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Getting some developing news in now regarding former astronaut Lisa Nowak. We're getting word that she is going to claim that she was temporarily insane when she attacked Air Force Captain Colleen Shipman (ph) back on February 5th at the Orlando International Airport. You may remember the former astronaut said that she had gone to the airport to track down Air Force Captain Colleen Shipman who had begun dating Nowak's former love interest, Navy Commander Bill Ofelin (ph), who was also an astronaut.

The video you're seeing right now is actually from court last week, where Nowak had apologized to this romantic rival that she was accused of assaulting at the Orlando International Airport. Apart -- in addition to some of the reasons listed in the notice of this temporary insanity order, she is including major depressive disorder, insomnia and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

We will be following, of course, the trial that is supposed to begin next month. If convicted, Nowak could face a sentence of up to life in prison.

Rain in Utah has washed out part of the road leading to the Crandall Canyon coal mine, delaying plans to lower a robotic camera down a bore hole in search of six missing miners. The muddy, rocky conditions also are holding up plans to drill a seventh hole. More wet weather is forecast tonight.

Well, an arraignment goes wrong in a Vermont courtroom. Two families square off after a murder suspect is ordered held without bail. Michael Christmas (ph) is excused of shooting his former brother-in-law in front of the victim's three children. The courtroom melee started when the victim's girlfriend began screaming at Christmas and it became pushing and shoving match. Sheriff's deputies had to break it up. No further charges were filed.

Straight ahead, crime is up, graduation rates are down. New Orleans students and the new facts of life after Hurricane Katrina.

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PHILLIPS: The President of the United States talking about the war in Iraq right now to a group of veterans from the American Legion, Reno, Nevada. This is what he had to say just a few minutes ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Those reinforcements have been fully operational for just over two months. Yet, there are unmistakable signs that our strategy is achieving the objectives we set out. Our new strategy is showing results in terms of security. Our forces are in the fight all over Iraq.

Since January, each month, we have captured or killed an average of more than 1,500 al Qaeda terrorists and other enemies of Iraq's elected government.

(APPLAUSE)

BUSH: al Qaeda is being displaced from former strongholds, in Baghdad, and Anbar and Diyala provinces. We've conducted operations against Iranian agents, supplying lethal munitions to extremist groups. We've targeted Shia death squads and their supply networks. The prime minister of Iraq, Prime Minister Maliki, has courageously committed to pursue the forces of evil and destruction. Sectarian violence has sharply decreased in Baghdad. The momentum is now on our side. The surge is seizing the initiative from the enemy and handing it to the Iraqi people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, in a democracy, military power is supposed to be deprived from elected civilian authority. In Iraq, it's pretty much the other way around.

CNN's Arwa Damon reports, that threatens any hopes of peace and national unity at this point.

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ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There's no more sugar coating reality in Iraq, as frustration in and out of country reaches near breaking point.

ALI AL-DABBAGH, IRAQI GOVT. SPOKESMAN: This is known as a lack of political progress. I think the militia issues is one of the weakest issues in the government, which didn't take any step in order to disarm the militias.

DAMON: And government spokesman Ali Al-Dabbagh says, as long as militias control the streets, those that are loyal to control Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

AL-DABBAGH: They don't (INAUDIBLE) power, unless the power's being given by the party.

Bottom line, the various political blocks, each vying for their own agendas, maintain true power, through their militias and religious leaders, and continue to put their own people into power, regardless of their qualifications.

AL-DABBAGH: We have Deficiency, we don't deny that. This is -- there is a problem we have, and we don't have qualified people, even ministers, from the ministers up to the lower level in some of the ministries, we don't have that efficiency. We don't have capability.

DAMON: He says changing al-Malaki is not going to change Iraq.

AL-DABBAGH: Unless there is a review for the whole basic issues which is forming this government, we are just giving morphine for a patient. He will be survived for a few more months. We think that the national unity government basis should be reviewed. The participation, the decision-making, it should be reviewed, because it's leads to a conflict, and then this is a blockage.

DAMON: Walkouts by members the Iraqi government have left it crippled. And if luring them back doesn't work, Al-Dabbagh says they could form another government, that could include all of Iraqi's components, but doesn't have to be one of, quote, "national unity."

(on camera): Is this currently being reviewed, the alternatives for shaping of a different type of government?

AL-DABBAGH: Well, this is the last choice. This is the last alternative. Iraq cannot be kept in this crisis and this chaos. There is no government that's working in half capacity.

DAMON: At the same time that democracy in Iraq is being questioned, Iraqi leaders are questioning national unity. Reality on the ground may not allow for either.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.

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PHILLIPS: Crime is up, graduation rates are down. New Orleans students and the new fact of life after Hurricane Katrina.

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PHILLIPS: To say the last two years have been unkind in New Orleans would be a gross understatement. You'll hear many stories on the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and how far the city has or hasn't come.

CNN's Sean Callebs reports on how students, the city's future, are still feeling the effects of its past.

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SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Thirteen-year-old Delexis Rhodes knows first hand the enormous struggle facing New Orleans' education system. Alexis spent two long years bouncing from city to city, school to school. Now the eighth grader is back where she wants to be, at MLK Elementary in the lower ninth ward.

DELEXIS RHODES, STUDENT: The school is just so much fun. And it teaches you a lot. You learn so much. And at the same time, you have fun and you get to express yourself.

CALLEBS: But almost 50 New Orleans schools remain closed. About a third of all students in New Orleans are living without their parents. Delexis is staying with her aunt. To make masters worse, school age children are routinely the victims of violent crime.

RHODES: I stay around (ph) the street where a lot of like the drug dealers and stuff like that hang out. And she don't like me to walk down that way to my friends' houses by myself.

DR. PAUL VALLAS, SUPERINTENDENT: So we're going to be about college (ph). We're going to be about high expectations.

CALLEBS: New district superintendent Paul Vallas is considered a turnaround hot shot, credited with improving educational programs in Chicago and Philadelphia.

Why did you want this job?

VALLAS: Me? Oh, I love public service and I think this is the ultimate public service challenge.

CALLEBS: He's facing enormous obstacles here. Such as the dismal graduation rate.

VALLAS: I would suspect that it may be as low as the high 20s or the low 30s.

CALLEBS: Only one in three at best actually finish high school. But Vallas says the hurricane has created a unique opportunity.

VALLAS: And that is to literally build a school district from scratch because the hurricane literally wiped out the school district.

CALLEBS: Vallas has been able to hire hundreds of new teachers. And in a city where so many kids have suffered unimaginable hardship and loss, Vallas is providing something else -- hope.

RHODES: I see myself in school focused, at the same time having a fun life.

CALLEBS: This elementary school in the Lower Ninth Ward is one bright spot amid a world of decay. Despite the wealth of problems with this school district, the administration hopes to make an immediate impact on the dismal graduation rate, and that could have a positive effect on another of the city's glaring problems, crime. The new superintendent says history shows that a majority of people who commit murders are high school dropouts.

Sean Callebs, CNN, New Orleans.

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