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Gulf Coast Residents Reflect on Two Years Since Katrina; Public Sex Crackdown
Aired August 29, 2007 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Two years to the day since the worst natural disaster in U.S. history, President Bush promises better days are ahead. He'll speak this hour in Bay St. Louis on the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
The White House is weighing in on the senator caught in the sex sting. This hour, I'll speak with an Idaho newspaper reporter who's been investigating Larry Craig for months.
Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
Don Lemon is off.
You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Well, we saw his motorcade just moments ago. The president of the United States getting ready to speak in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
Meanwhile, our Kathleen Koch is in Waveland, Mississippi, on this two-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina -- Kathleen.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, yes, the president drove right behind us here in Waveland, Mississippi, about an hour ago. And it's certainly to his credit, I must say, that in this, his second visit to the Waveland, Bay St. Louis area, he did, just as he did the first time, he went down the beach, right past really the hardest-hit areas here, the areas that aren't coming back, the waterfront areas within the first couple of blocks, where, as you can see behind me, it's just still slabs. Weeds growing whereupon homes used to be, pilings sticking up out of those weeds, and just a handful of homes being rebuilt.
The president is in this meeting right now at Our Lady of the Gulf Church Community Center. I'll tell you, Kyra, the church, the community center were gutted by Hurricane Katrina, suffering roughly $4 million in damage. And it was volunteers who came in afterwards and put both buildings back together, volunteers including myself, my family, people from my church in Maryland.
We came down and helped hang the drywall actually in the bathrooms there in the community center where the president is. But that's how this area has really put itself back together.
They appreciate the federal help; they know they've gotten a lot of it. But let's hear right now from one of the people who was in the meeting with the president, Mayor Tommy Longo of Waveland, talking about what he still needs to see from the federal government.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOMMY LONGO, WAVELAND RESIDENT: We need you to help us make our citizens' lives whole again, and we -- we're not complaining. We're fighting every day.
We get up and the first question is not, you know, what's the state giving us today or what is the federal government going to give us today? We get up and we go to work. And each day we end up a little better than we started. And we're just asking for the federal government to remember us and help our citizens make their lives whole again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: A couple of quick numbers.
Some 70,000 homes in Mississippi on the Gulf Coast were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina two years ago. Roughly 16,000 people here still in FEMA trailers here in Mississippi. But luckily, again, the volunteers have been amazing. More than 500,000 have poured down here to the Gulf Coast to help put things back together again. And that's one of the big messages, Kyra, that they still need more volunteers to keep on coming down.
PHILLIPS: And I know a lot of people wanting to know when they're going to get those federal funds, as well.
Kathleen Koch there in Waveland.
Thank you so much.
And those kinds of questions will be directed to the president of the United States as we are waiting for him to speak. He's actually in Bay St. Louis. Our Kathleen Koch is there in Waveland. She'll be monitoring what the president has to say. So we will. We'll take it live as soon as it happens.
Meanwhile, two years after Katrina, some areas of New Orleans still look like they did when the flood waters receded. A recent poll conducted for CNN by the Opinion Research Corporation shows that most Americans don't have high hopes for the city's recovery.
Fifty-five percent say they believe New Orleans will never fully recover. And just over half believe the government's to blame for not doing enough to rebuild that region. But a third say the government's done plenty.
Live pictures once again from our affiliate WABC out of New York. This is in New jersey, a construction accident that has taken place at this site in Woodbridge, New Jersey.
We're told that there is a worker that's trapped underground about five to six feet. They have been able to make contact with him.
We are seeing progress. They have cleared it out more. They've been able to put a ladder down there. They've got rescue crews on the scene.
Apparently, he is breathing, he is conscious. It looks like they might be pumping air down in there and making a bit of a dig as he's trapped. But they are talking to him, we are told. That is the good news.
We're going to monitor this rescue and bring it to you live as soon as we have an update on that construction worker.
Well, he's pleaded guilty and paid a fine, but the biggest penalties for Idaho senator Larry Craig may lie ahead. Craig, as you know, was arrested in a police sting in a Minneapolis airport men's room back in June. He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct hoping, he says, the whole thing would just go away.
Well, it didn't. Now top Senate Republicans are calling on the Ethics Committee to investigate. And just a little while ago, a White House spokesperson said, "We are disappointed at that what's going on."
Craig said that yesterday he did nothing wrong and he called his guilty plea mistake. He also blasted "The Idaho Statesman" newspaper for digging into his personal life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LARRY CRAIG (R), IDAHO: I was not involved in any inappropriate conduct at the Minneapolis airport or anywhere else. I chose to plead guilty to a lesser charge in hopes of making it go away.
I did not seek any counsel either from an attorney, staff, friends or family. That was a mistake. And I deeply regret it.
Let me be clear: I am not gay. I never have been gay. Still, without a shred of truth or evidence to the contrary, "The Statesman" has engaged in this witch hunt.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, Craig is in his third term as senator and up for re-election next year. He hasn't said whether he will run or not.
Three weeks after his guilty plea, Craig says that he's hired an attorney to consider his next move.
Today on "AMERICAN MORNING," CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin told our Kiran Chetry Craig's legal moves are limited, at most.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: That's a sworn statement. That's under oath.
So, what Senator Craig was saying yesterday is not only, do I take -- do I want to try to take it back, I was committing perjury in the Minnesota courtroom when I confessed to this crime.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: He argued that he just, as he was saying, wanted to get this over with, didn't consult a lawyer. Can you go back and say you didn't really understand all of this?
TOOBIN: Absolutely not. You cannot do that.
The circumstances in which you can withdraw a guilty plea are extremely narrow -- you were under the influence of drugs, you don't speak English, didn't understand what you were doing. You were physically extorted. Someone said, "I'm going to kill you if you don't plea guilty."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, Craig paid a $575 fine and was given a suspended 10-day jail sentence and a year of unsupervised probation.
Back in Washington, as we mentioned, Craig faces a potential investigation by the Senate Ethics Committee.
Larry Craig insisted he didn't try to have sex with an undercover cop or anyone else in an airport bathroom, but lots of men do, in all sorts of public places every hour of the day, and police know all about it.
CNN's Dan Lothian takes a closer look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is not the primary function of public parks, restrooms and rest areas. But for men in search of anonymous same-sex partners, they are popular destinations.
RICHARD TEWKSBURY, UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE: There is also the idea that there is sort of a thrill to the hunt, to the excitement of sex in a public place, of doing something that potentially does have negative consequences for you.
LOTHIAN: Web sites like this one offer a kind of adult travel guide, including rules of the game and secret signals to make a connection in a public restroom, like waiting in a stall at the farthest end of the bathroom, and, when someone approaches next door -- quote -- "move your foot so that you know the other person can see it and slowly start tapping it."
(on camera): Professor Richard Tewksbury of the University of Louisville has published several studies on this subculture. He has documented about 9,000 locations across the country where he says this public behavior often referred to as "cruising" takes place, merely because of opportunity and convenience. TEWKSBURY: There's all kinds of places, many times that most of us walk by or walk into in our daily lives and never realize are cruising locations.
LOTHIAN (voice over): Anonymous gay sex in public areas certainly isn't new. Remember pop singer George Michael almost 10 years ago? He was busted for engaging in a lewd act in a park restroom in Beverly Hills.
GEORGE MICHAEL, POP SINGER: I can only apologize. I can try to fathom why I did it.
LOTHIAN: But law enforcement agencies across the country have been cracking down in recent months, sometimes using undercover stings to catch men in the act, like at restrooms in Atlanta's Hartsfield- Jackson International Airport, where more than 40 men were picked up recently for indecent exposure and public sex acts.
MAJ. DARRYL TOLLESON, ATLANTA POLICE: We have arrested college professors, bank presidents, other CEOs. So we -- it ranges.
LOTHIAN: And here's another surprise.
TEWKSBURY: The research tells us that for the most part, we're talking about men who were involved in some kind of long-term heterosexual relationship, frequently married, frequently with children.
LOTHIAN: Investigators say critics who argue police should be focusing on more serious crimes are missing the point, that this public behavior is illegal.
TOLLESON: We're there to enforce all crime, enforce all laws.
LOTHIAN: And they're finding suspects in the bathrooms.
Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, if you'd like to read the full arrest report on Senator Craig, just go to CNN.com. You can see all the details as they were filed.
See it now, CNN.com.
And we're waiting for the president of the United States to speak to us live in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, two years after Hurricane Katrina. He's been touring Louisiana and Mississippi. We'll take his speech live when it happens.
As you know, Katrina rocked their world, and things haven't been the same since. Now the children of the storm are letting cameras tell their stories.
Senator Larry Craig says "The Idaho Statesman" has targeted him in a witch hunt. We're going to get reaction from the investigative reporter who's been writing about Craig's sexual past for months.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: We're still monitoring that situation with the trapped worker there in Woodbridge, New Jersey. Live pictures coming to us from our affiliate WABC.
Apparently, a construction worker is trapped in this ditch. He's about five to six feet down in the ground there. We're told from rescue workers that he's conscious, that he's breathing.
It's just really tough trying to get him out. They had a ladder down there. They're brining in ropes, buckets. It looks like they're making progress.
We're following it. We'll bring you more as we get it.
Right now it's 2:14 Eastern Time. Here are some other stories we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.
The White House says it's disappointed by the controversy surrounding Idaho Senator Larry Craig. Craig pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after his arrest in an airport restroom. He denies he's gay and he says he wants to take back his guilty plea.
In Iraq, Muqtada al-Sadr says that his Mehdi army is halting operations for up to six months. The anti-American cleric blames rogue elements for yesterday's deadly battles with a rival Shiite faction.
And there's a report that General Pervez Musharraf has agreed to step down as Pakistan's military chief so he can stay on as president. That report comes from opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, who's been negotiating with Musharraf on a power-sharing agreement.
For many people living in post-Katrina New Orleans, it is a daily struggle. Thousands of people have no home, no job. They aren't without hope, though, especially the younger ones.
Special Correspondent Soledad O'Brien is back with a sneak peek at "Children of the Storm".
Hopefully that weather has subsided a bit, Soledad.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, we haven't seen a lot of lightning, so I think we're doing all right, but it's a downpour.
And actually, in all seriousness, it's going to be a real problem, because they were planning this big protest, this outcry for national support and recognition right here, and the weather is going to seriously be a problem for them. So, we're going to have to see exactly how that goes off. But they've got another hour or so, and this is not unusual for New Orleans, so they could still actually get a decent turnout.
We'll see how this day of presence actually goes off. But you can see everybody's cleared the bandstand right there. That's because they're a little bit worried when we hear the thunder over our shoulders.
But you're right, we're talking about our documentary which is going to air tonight, Kyra. And I've got to tell you, one of the things that has surprised us the most is just how hopeful these kids are in spite of some pretty dire circumstances. They are incredibly hopeful about their futures.
One of our young people is a guy named Brandon Franklin, who is -- he will charm your socks off, but he is a young man who will say that Katrina in a lot of ways made him grow up
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
Seen the name of that street? Bourbon.
See, Bourbon, it's pretty much got me and most of my (INAUDIBLE) from. You know, playing for tips, you know, playing my saxophone for tips.
O'BRIEN (voice over): Brandon Franklin is a young man with a plan.
FRANKLIN: My plans are to go to college for four years. Going to get me a music degree and become a band director. That's what I want to do for a living.
O'BRIEN: But he wasn't always this focused.
FRANKLIN: Unfortunately, I ran away from home. That was around the time that I pretty much didn't care about too many things. You know, too many things didn't care about me. You know?
O'BRIEN: Before Katrina, he lived on his own for two years and sometimes got into trouble. After the storm, he skipped school for a year, playing with his street band instead.
FRANKLIN: You all got that?
O'BRIEN: But he pulled it together.
FRANKLIN: This is O. Perry Walker. Just a band room right here. Check it out. I love this school because it really helped me..
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Brandon Franklin.
(APPLAUSE)
O'BRIEN: Brandon is now a high school graduate, headed toward college and his dream. But it won't be easy.
FRANKLIN: Now, who we have here is my -- I'm going to say my second daddy. I can't even call him band director. My second daddy, named Mr. Wilbur Ross (ph).
And we just pretty much want to hear what you've got to say about me, the great Brandon Franklin? What would you say the big change you've seen in me before Katrina, versus the attitude I have now after Katrina?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe that difference is probably just like -- and then with the addition of the girlfriend with the kid, the child...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, (INAUDIBLE).
O'BRIEN: Brandon is helping raise his girlfriend's child.
FRANKLIN: And I can't wait until my little one gets here so she can have someone to play with.
O'BRIEN: And soon another baby. All before Brandon can be called a freshman.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: So, as you see, Brandon's dealing with a lot. You know, the question is, will Katrina and the aftermath and the slow recovery, will that derail what Brandon hopes to accomplish, or will he actually, you know, pick up his life, run with the ball, and succeed?
We followed Brandon through his ups and downs, his trials, his tribulations, shooting every step of the way. Just like we told everybody, shoot, shoot, and then shoot some more, because his story matters not just to him and his community, but really to the nation, the world. They have to see what's happening here two years out.
PHILLIPS: Soledad, he's got such a great sense of humor, too. He's got quite the personality.
I will not -- I will not doubt that he will do well, whatever he sets his mind to.
He's not the only one you profiled, though. You met a lot of other interesting young men and women, didn't you?
O'BRIEN: Yes, absolutely. And it's true, to know Brandon is to love Brandon. He will charm the socks off your feet.
Amanda Hill, a young woman, 18 years old, college senior, who really in a way is the head of her household. The grandmother is 67 years old, works at McDonald's, is in poor health, is in serious financial difficulty. Amanda's mother died of cancer when Amanda was just 11. And, you know, she's had some tough, tough times.
They don't even have money to buy her mother a headstone for her grave. Amanda shares with us a lot about what's going through her mind and how she hopes to make it. Chantia (ph), young, bright -- oh, you would love -- Kyra, you would love Chantia (ph). She is so funny and she is so smart. She's been taking community college courses in high school, and yet her mother lost everything in the storm and can't afford to pay for Chantia (ph) to go.
So, the question becomes, will Chantia (ph), who lives in this tiny little FEMA trailer, will she ever get out? Because I've got to tell you, she hates that trailer. She hates that trailer like you cannot imagine. And she wants to go into the school there where she was accepted, and the only thing standing between her and her dreams is the money.
These kids are so brutally honest. It's so heartwarming.
PHILLIPS: It's humbling, isn't it? Totally humbling.
O'BRIEN: Yes, it is. You know? It is. It is.
PHILLIPS: Soledad O'Brien, we sure look forward to that special. Thank you so much.
And how ironic the rain there, two years later on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, take a look at that. That's the shot right next to where Soledad is.
And don't forget, you can catch "Children of the Storm" tonight, Soledad's special, 8:00 Eastern, right here on CNN. You can meet a lot more of those amazing young men and women.
We're also waiting for the president of the United States to speak. He's in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. He's been making his rounds throughout Mississippi and Louisiana on this second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. As soon as he steps up to the mics, we will take that live.
What's black and white and read all over Washington? "The Idaho Statesman" gets a sudden boost in circulation. We're going to talk with that investigative reporter who's been on the Senator Larry Craig story for months.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: On the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the president of the United States in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... endured the storm and have dedicated their lives to rebuilding this part of the world.
We've been down here a lot, and as a result, I've got to know the local officials and have come to admire them as people dedicated to public service the way it ought to be. I first of all want to thank the senator, Trent Lott, and his wife, Trisha, for joining us. Nobody cares more about the people of southern Mississippi than the Lotts.
The people of southern Mississippi are fortunate to have not only an active senator, but a powerful senator working on their behalf.
And so, Senator, thank you for being here.
(APPLAUSE)
Gene Taylor cares a rot. Laura and I are proud to be here with Congressman Taylor.
Gene was raised here. The Taylors' daughter was married right there recently. This is where he told me he was baptized, married, and if you're compassionate enough, will be buried.
In other words, this is his home. And when you're talking about a man's home, you hear a sense of passion in his voice. The congressman has worked hard to make sure the people down here are well represented, and he's doing a fine job for the people of southern Mississippi.
Congressman, thank you for being here.
(APPLAUSE)
The governor of Mississippi has shown his true metal and his value to the people of Mississippi. When the crisis hit, he was calm. When the crisis began to abate a little bit, he planned. And he's been good for the people down here. He's taken a problem on and he's coordinated it and managed it in a way that you'd expect your chief executive to do.
And so, Governor, I want to congratulate you on a job well done. I appreciate the first lady being here as well. Thanks for working hard for the people down here.
(APPLAUSE)
Now joining us are members -- a member of my cabinet, Alphonso Jackson, Housing and Urban Development man.
Don Powell is here. He is the coordinator of the Office of Gulf Coast Rebuilding. That really means that he is the president's eyes and ears on the ground.
And while we recognize that there are bureaucracies that we have to deal with in order to make sure that taxpayers' money is spent wisely, sometimes the bureaucracies get in the way of common sense. And one of Don's jobs is to help spot those obstacles to progress and work with the local folks to try to clear them out of the way.
There's still obstacles, and there's still work to be done, but there's been a lot of progress made. And that's what people have got to understand. And I have come to this site, what we call Ground Zero -- this is where the worst of the worst of the storm hit -- to be able to show the American people that through their generosity, this infrastructure has been rebuilt.
Before I get there, I do want to thank Phil Bryant, the state auditor, for joining us.
I appreciate you coming, Phil.
And then I want to pay tribute to the local folks that I mentioned.
First of all, Eddie Favre. He the mayor of the city of Bay St. Louis.
Eddie, for those of you who may be paying attention to this from around the country, he's the man who would be known as the man who wears short pants. Eddie is -- he's a colorful character, but he also is a smart man who has dedicated more than his life than he ever dreamed to helping rebuild the city he loves.
Tommy Longo, he's from Waveland. I've always viewed Waveland as a benchmark to determine whether or not this recovery is more than just shallow. In other words, I'll never forget seeing Waveland as we choppered over Waveland. It was like nothing. It was gone, completely destroyed.
And so, when I talk to Tommy, I really view Tommy as a barometer. And if Tommy's optimistic, I'm going to be optimistic. If Tommy says there's progress, I'm going to say thanks.
And Tommy's OK. I wouldn't call him the most optimistic guy on the face of the earth, but given what he's been through and given what he has seen, it is remarkable that he's still willing to serve with optimism.
And so, we've got a lot to of work to do.
These two mayors brought their problems to us. We've got to -- people were worried about insurance here. They're worried about bureaucracy. I'll tell you what they're really worried about. They're worried about the president and other folks in Washington other than the Mississippi officials are going to forget what took place down here.
And so, one of the reasons that Laura and I have come back is to remind people that we haven't forgotten and won't.
(APPLAUSE)
Somebody who's sometimes worried about getting forgotten is the county supervisor, Rocky Pullman.
Now, Rocky, I guess we've probably met a dozen times, haven't we Rock? And Rocky reminds me of the county commissioners from the state I come from. County commissioners are always worried that the city folks are going to get the attention but the rural folks will be ignored. Not in this case. Rocky has represented the people of Hancock County well, and we've spend a lot of time talking to Rocky about debris and trees and other issues that are still facing the people down here.
Ground Zero got hit really hard. It's a place where the storm did its most damage. And while there is better recovery down the coast, people here are still trying to crawl out from underneath the extensive damage.
That's really one of the messages I heard. And we're proud that Pascagoula is doing better and Biloxi is doing better. That's good, it's good for the state, and we're thrilled that that's happening. But the folks here had special extra problems to deal with, and I heard you loud and clear.
And I want to thank you for sharing that with me.
The American people have written a check -- written checks for $114 billion to help the people on the coast. That's the one thing I do want the American people to know is how grateful the people of this part of the country are for their generosity.
We felt we had an obligation to help and we've helped. Of that $114 billion, about 80 percent has been obligated. Mississippi has taken the obligated money and is spending it wisely.
There's still 20 percent of the authorized that hasn't been shipped out yet, so there's more money coming and there's obviously, we've got some more issues that we're trying to work through.
One area where there's been great state and federal cooperation and local cooperation is the rebuilding of this Bay St. Louis Bridge. Now, remember when we first choppered over here, Governor, there might have been a few pylons showing. You could see the planks under water of that bridge. And this is a major connector for the people in this part of the world. This is an economic lifeline.
So, the federal government said we have an obligation to repair infrastructure. I think the congressman told me we've written a little more than $260 million worth of checks to get this bridge built, but more importantly, this bridge was built in record time because of the close cooperation -- because of the close cooperation between the state and the federal government and the local folks. And it's a beautiful-looking bridge. And it's working.
There's another bridge in the foreground here, and that's a private sector bridge. That's the railroad bridge. That's up and running. The private sector is responding here in southern Mississippi.
The state of Mississippi -it is interesting. I want to tell our fellow citizens about what they have done here in two years' period. One, they've helped move 31,000 families out of temporary housing into permanent homes. I don't think we would have been that optimistic two years ago when we were recovering from the storms that it would be possible to make those kind of moves that quickly. This is a state that opened virtually every public school that was damaged in the storm. A state that understands that education is part of -- an important part of the recovery effort.
There's a billion dollars that have gone out to help home owners with repairs and rebuilding. The state is active in trying to help the citizens regain their footing.
Tax revenues are up. Now, that's positive. But that doesn't mean there's not more work to be done. And more efforts made to help ground zero recover.
The interesting thing about the folks who live in this part of the world, they may have lost their building but they never lost their soul or their spirit. I think the senator called them resilient, is what he'd like to define them. I call them optimistic, about life. And one such person is Kay Goff, who's with us today. Kay is somewhere. There she is, right there.
Here's an interesting story. First of all, she's -- she loves Bay St. Louis. She recognizes the uniqueness of the community. She's a lifelong reader. She was concerned about what happened to her community. So, what did she do? She opened a bookstore on Main Street, bay St. Louis. The first business up, right? One of the first.
And it's an interesting example of the entrepreneurial spirit and a -- combined with a civic duty. She said there's still -- there's still a lot of work that needs to be done to get people back in these communities so they can be buying her books. She said we want people to know that we want to be a part of the recovery and we want to be a part of the community.
It's that community spirit that has been very impressive to me and Laura. It's that can-do altitude. It's the attitude that says, OK, a storm came, we understand it. We don't like it, but we're going to deal with it. That's the Mississippi spirit.
And so, we're glad to be back. We're glad to be back in a part of our country that is going to be better than it was before. There's still work. We understand that. There's work in Louisiana to be done. There's work in Mississippi to be done. But the progress that has been made really speaks to the coordination of government effort that really speaks to the great spirit of people who live down here.
May God bless them, and may God continue to bless our country. Thank you.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: President of the United States in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, after two years since Hurricane Katrina, the governor there by his side, also the first lady and a number of dignitaries and media. Actually, where he was standing, where he gave that speech right behind him was a bridge that was completely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. But as you can see, and I don't know if we were able to bring that back up or not, it has been worked on within the past two years and actually it looks like we're able to get -- no, maybe not. All right. I apologize for that. We lost the live shot.
But one thing to point out of the various projects that are going on there in Bay St. Louis trying to rebuild that area. The president not only seeking speaking in Louisiana but also Mississippi and touring both of those states on the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
What's black and white and read all over Washington? Well, "The Idaho Statesman" gets a sudden boost in circulation. We'll talk with the reporter who's been on the Senator Larry Craig story for months.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: The White House said it's disappointed by Senator Larry Craig's arrest in an airport sex sting. Craig, however, insists he did nothing wrong. Even though he pleaded guilty, he says he shouldn't have. Either way, the rumors that surround Craig's personal life are not new.
In fact, "The Idaho Statesman" was investigating allegations about Craig at the time of his arrest. The senator accuses the paper of conducting a witch-hunt. Dan Popkey is a reporter for "The Statesman." He joins me from Boise. And just to set it up Dan, it is your article and your months of investigating that has triggered a lot of the controversy, a lot of the talk right now. The senator even mentioning your newspaper yesterday in the news conference. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LARRY CRAIG (R), IDAHO: I am not gay. I never have been gay. Still, without a shred of truth orb evidence to the contrary, "The Statesman" has engaged in this witch-hunt. In pleading guilty, I overreacted in Minneapolis because of the stress "The Idaho Statesman" investigation and the rumors it has fueled all around Idaho.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: So, Dan, let me ask you. Are you or anyone there at the newspaper on a witch-hunt?
DAN POPKEY, REPORTER, IDAHO STATESMAN: No. We have been careful, cautious, thorough, courteous from the start. We did not in October when the blogger first published this claim about the senator having sex with men, we didn't report that. We took a pass on that because we didn't want to rely on somebody else's anonymous sources. Instead, we invested about five months now of reporting time on this story. It concluded -- go ahead. I'm sorry.
PHILLIPS: No. Go ahead, Dan. Go ahead. POPKEY: We finished the job essentially, we suspended the inquiry, if you will, after we interviewed the senator on May 14th, and we had decided that based on his very firm denial of any homosexual conduct ever in his life that a man of his credibility, of his -- a man who had served Idaho for a very long time with distinction, that we weren't going to use three anonymous sources to hang a story on. But we were going to wait and see if there were further developments in the story, if there was new evidence. That new evidence came on Monday when "Roll Call" broke the story of the senator's guilty plea.
PHILLIPS: OK.
POPKEY: And that's when we decided to publish because the weight of evidence seemed to suggest that his accusers may have been right.
PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about that. You mentioned the blogger, Mike Rogers. He had talked to anonymous sources and that sort of got this story fueled up again. You say that you didn't pursue your story on, that but it was a bit of an awakening. And it seems, as I've read your article, though, you are talking about all these various accounts according to sources.
So, I want to ask you, as the reporter and representing the newspaper, do you have any clear-cut evidence, pictures, video, anything that you have been able to get your hands on, that shows that the senator committed homosexual acts in any public place?
POPKEY: No. No, we don't have any evidence of him committing homosexual acts anywhere of that nature, no hard evidence, no photographs, no audio recordings, no, you know, e-mails. What we have are the accounts of three men who we described their stories in Monday's paper -- rather, Tuesday's paper. And the first of those says that he had sex in the Union Station restroom in Washington, D.C., with the senator probably in 2004. He's a very credible guy.
PHILLIPS: Tell me why you believe him. Tell me why you believe that source because he didn't want you to use his name and didn't want you --
POPKEY: That's right.
PHILLIPS: OK. So, why do you believe him?
POPKEY: Well, "believe" may be a little bit too strong of a word. I mean I find him to be credible. I just want to go back to May 14th in the interview with the senator. We weren't willing at that point to use this anonymous source who didn't -- you know, obviously, his anonymity erodes his credibility as a source.
We weren't ready to pit this anonymous source against the senator's denial. It just didn't work as a story for us. But again, when the senator pleads guilty, that changes. And I'll go back to why I find the anonymous source to be credible.
He may have been mistaken. I do not want to rule that out. I don't think we can rule that out. I think he clearly believes he had sex with the senator. I talked to him, I met with him face to face in his home. I checked out his background. He is well traveled in republican circles. He says he recognized the senator, and I believe that he was a person, because of his associations, who would have recognized the senator. He says he went home and verified with a photograph on the Web site that it was the senator that he'd had sex with. But we don't have any pictures. It's his word against the senator's.
PHILLIPS: So, it's his word.
POPKEY: I don't want to exaggerate the quality of -- absolutely. It's his word. The senator ...
PHILLIPS: With regard to ...
POPKEY: Well, I was going to say ...
PHILLIPS: With regard to your investigation, Dan, how many interviews did you do for this investigation and exactly where did you go, where did you travel to in order to investigate this story? You've been working on it for months.
POPKEY: Yes. I made two trips to Washington. I went to -- you know, traveled around the state of Idaho and was on the phone a lot. I talked to about 300 people. I talked to people, you know, who went to college with Senator Craig. I talked to people who knew him in the state senate.
And as our story said, most of the allegations of homosexual conduct were either inconclusive or debunked or, you know, they regarded people who were dead. So, the three accounts that we published, and the other two were about hits on, you know, sexual advances and not actual sex like the Washington -- the Union Station source. Those were the three that we felt comfortable publishing after the guilty plea.
PHILLIPS: So, basically, you and the editors -- and did you seek advisement from anybody else on how to handle this story? I should ask you that, as well. How did you finally ethically come to the conclusion, OK, we know this could bring down this man's career? This is probably going to completely devastate his personal life. Did it simply come down to that guilty plea, that police report that was -- that became public?
POPKEY: Well, there was a lot of discussion before that to prepare us to make that decision when it happened, when the news broke. We had lots of discussions about the ethical and legal and, you know, journalistic values that govern this decision. We thought about it a lot, and we were, as I said, very careful, unlike many other media outlets including some in this state. We didn't repeat this story. We didn't publish this story until the guilty plea. That's the pivotal moment for us.
PHILLIPS: Just one more question. In addition to that, there is a quote in your article, Dan, that we found interesting, a quote from the senator, and this is back in an interview that you did a while back, with regard to another alleged incident I believe at the REI store, someone coming forward saying that the senator was gay cruising.
The senator said, "I've been in this business 27 years in the public eye here. I don't go around anywhere hitting on men and by God, if I did, I wouldn't do it in Boise, Idaho." I think what caught our attention and by God if I did, I wouldn't do it in Boise, Idaho. It seems like a lot of allegations happened outside of the state of Idaho.
POPKEY: Well, I -- yes.
PHILLIPS: What did you make of that quote?
POPKEY: Well, I think in light of the guilty plea in Minnesota, that quote does take on a certain resonance. I mean, I think leaders will make of it what they will. We just tried as best we could in an ethical way to get the truth out there, and that quote we thought was important to include in the story.
PHILLIPS: Dan Popkey, reporter there for "The Idaho Statesman." Are you working on a follow-up?
POPKEY: Oh, yes. Me and my colleagues, we're all trying to follow the story, just like you all are.
PHILLIPS: Dan, appreciate your time today.
POPKEY: OK. Take care.
PHILLIPS: And if you'd like to read the full arrest report, go to CNN.com. You can see all the details as they were filed now on CNN.com.
Well straight ahead, a slow response to devastating firefighters, anger swells in Greece. We've got all the details for you straight ahead.
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PHILLIPS: Twin brothers stabbed, one of the 11-year-olds is expected to make it. The other didn't. The suspect, the twin's 18- year-old half brother who remains at large. People are looking for this man, Troy Lavelle Hill. The children's grandfather went to check on them in their home in Pittsburgh and walked in and saw blood everywhere. He heard one of the boys crying out and found the twins left for dead in the attic.
There's a popular story around the water cooler but NASA says it's not true. The space agency says its found no evidence that any astronauts were blasted when they blasted off.
Earlier this summer, an independent panel suggested some astronauts may have gone into space drunk, citing anecdotal evidence. Today, NASA released an internal study by a NASA Safety Chief, Brian O'Connor, himself a former astronaut. O'Connor says, "I was unable to verify any case in which an astronaut's space flight crew member was impaired on launch day."
An unusual scene as "Star Wars" characters arrived with Luke Skywalker's light saber from the original film, part of the celebration of the movie's 30th anniversary. It will be on display at Johnson Space Center in Houston through Labor Day and then go to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a live space flight. NASA says it will be sewed aboard "Discovery" during an October mission.
Where from there's a will, there's a way. A way to get even if you're Leona Helmsley. Straight ahead in the NEWSROOM, even in dog years, her pooch is set for life.
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PHILLIPS: We're getting word that Richard Jewell has been found dead in his north Georgia home. His attorney, Lynn Wood, confirming this information. You'll remember Richard Jewell. He was a centennial Olympic park security guard that was once suspected but then later cleared in the bombing of that park during the 1996 summer games.
Apparently, he was found dead this morning in his suburb of Atlanta home. According to the coroner, his wife discovered him dead about 10:30 this morning. The coroner also saying that an autopsy will be performed to determine how he died. No suspicion of foul play at this point. Apparently, he had been having some pretty serious medical problems. He was diagnosed with diabetes back in February. He had a couple toes amputated.
You'll remember that Jewell was lauded as a hero after the bomb went off back in 1996. Not long after that, the FBI called him a chief suspect, then the FBI later cleared him of wrongdoing. He's been suffering from medical problems ever since then. Once again, Richard Jewell found dead in his north Georgia home. We'll have more after the break.
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