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Virginia Tech Report; Iraq Fails the Test; Pakistan Power Play

Aired August 30, 2007 - 08:59   ET

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


TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Tony Harris.

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

Watch events come into the NEWSROOM live on Thursday, August 30th.

Here's what's on the rundown.

A panel says Virginia Tech should have done more to protect students and staff from a rampaging gunman. A live briefing this morning.

HARRIS: Congress eyeballing classified findings on Iraq today. Iraq reportedly failing to meet most benchmarks set by Congress.

COLLINS: A chase ends in a burst of bullets. A passenger lives to describe the terrifying ride -- right here in the NEWSROOM.

Unfolding this morning, warnings that took too long. A new report on the Virginia Tech massacre says more timely information might have saved more lives.

Brianna Keilar joining us now from Washington this morning.

Brianna, what does the report say specifically about that delay in notifying students before the second set of shootings?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That was a big source of criticism just in the hours after the shooting. That criticism reiterated in this report. Remember, the two shootings, one at 7:15, the second more than two hours later, but the alert of the first shooting where Cho killed just two students wasn't sent out until minutes before the second shooting, where Cho killed 30 students and professors.

Governor Tim Kaine, who commissioned this panel, said this on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TIM KAINE (D), VIRGINIA: With respect to the notification, the -- there was not a notice sent out to the campus community for nearly two hours. The report points out that that was a clear error, that the protocol for making a decision about a how a notice would be sent out was too cumbersome, that under normal circumstances it might have been fine, but under an urgent circumstance, it took too long.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: The report puts the blame for that very much on Virginia Tech police. It says they may have erred in prematurely concluding that their initial lead in the double homicide was a good one.

Remember, they believed that the suspect in that first shooting left campus. This report also says they were not prepared for the possibility that their assumption could have been inaccurate and it says they should have immediately told the university to issue a campus-wide alert -- Heidi.

COLLINS: There's also a little bit more information now, too, Brianna, about Cho's mental health history. Actually, a diagnosis that we hadn't heard, certainly in this short time after this horrible disaster.

What is that all about?

KEILAR: Well, what this report shows us is that Seung-Hui Cho is not this troubled young man who just appeared out of nowhere when he enrolled at Virginia Tech. Even as a little kid, he was painfully shy.

In elementary school, school officials recommended that his parents get him into therapy, and they did. His therapy continued all the way through high school. At one point, he was diagnosed with selective mutism.

School officials at this point were looped in. Cho was on antidepressants for a year in high school, and the report says Cho was monitored very closely until he went to college.

At Virginia Tech, the report says records of Cho's problems didn't follow him. Officials at the school were not aware of his mental health background as a younger man, but the report also points out there were enough red flags at Virginia Tech that happened while he was in college, even absent of these earlier records.

Students, professors, residence hall staff, police, Virginia Tech police, counseling staff, they had multiple encounters with Cho, but they failed to connect the dots. And the big question, of course, is why?

Well, according to this report, those people, those entities believed that federal privacy laws prohibited them from exchanging information. In reality, the panel found it would have been legal for them to communicate and share that information that they had about Cho -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Boy, there's an awful lot of information to discuss, that's for sure. We will be continuing to follow it here. And we appreciate your reporting, Brianna.

We're going to be talking with some students a little bit later on today, as well.

The Virginia Tech massacre was the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history. When it was over, 33 people, including the gunman, were dead.

It started when police found the bodies of two students in a campus dormitory. That was around 7:00 a.m. on April 16th. It was almost 9:30 before authorities sent an e-mail alert to staff and students. It warned of a shooting on campus and urged the community to be cautious and report any suspicious activity.

About 20 minutes after the e-mail alert, gunman Seung-Hui Cho opened fire at an engineering building across campus. He killed another 30 people before taking his own life.

You'll be able to see Governor Tim Kaine's news conference on Virginia Tech's new report. It's coming live at 11:00 a.m. Eastern. We'll have it for you right here in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: New report, all criticisms. Congress briefed today on progress in Iraq. Details of the classified report leaking out this morning.

Live now to CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr.

Barbara, good morning to you.

What are you hearing?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, good morning to you.

This is a report from the Government Accountability Office, the auditing arm of Congress. Right now, it is classified. It is expected to be made public, perhaps as soon as next week. The Pentagon here getting ready for more bad news about Iraq.

This report from the GAO, by all accounts, is going to say that the Iraqi government has failed to meet everything but three of 18 benchmarks or indicators of political and security progress.

Yesterday, the press secretary here at the Pentagon, Geoff Morrell, set the stage for lowering expectations about what the GAO is going to report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEOFF MORRELL, PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: The standard the GAO has set is far more stringent. Some might argue it's impossible to meet. And that is, I think they have to sort of say definitively whether a benchmark has been met or not. Whereas, as you saw in July, with our interim benchmarks report from the president, we're able to say whether there's been satisfactory progress towards meeting the goal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: So, here we are. The GAO report, Tony, is sort of an up or down. Did Iraq make progress or didn't it?

A separate report from President Bush on the same subject, benchmarks, progress, is coming later in September. It will have perhaps a less stringent standard, has there been progress or hasn't there been?

But as a DoD official said to me earlier today, look, of course we, the Pentagon, the U.S., has -- the Iraqis -- none of it has actually met the benchmark standard. He said if we had met all those benchmarks, the troops would be home by now -- Tony.

HARRIS: It is report season, isn't it, Barbara?

Barbara Starr of the Pentagon for us.

Thanks, Barbara.

STARR: Sure.

COLLINS: Senator Larry Craig under new pressure this morning. Fellow Republicans now turning against the Idaho conservative. GOP Senate leaders have pushed the three-term lawmaker from senior positions on committees. It comes a couple of days after headlines Craig was arrested at the Minneapolis airport in June.

An undercover officer says Craig solicited sex sitting as he sat in an adjourning men's room stall. Craig denies the claim but did plead guilty to lesser charges. Now fellow Republicans are calling for him to resign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PETER HOEKSTRA (R), MICHIGAN: The American people are demanding that members of Congress, the people that they have elected to serve in these -- what should be respectable positions, should be held to a higher standard. And I think that under these circumstances, the situation that Senator Craig finds himself in is one where I believe that he should resign from the U.S. Senate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe that he -- that he pled guilty and he had the opportunity to plead innocent. So I think he should resign.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And suppose he comes back to Washington and says, "I want to serve"? MCCAIN: Well, that -- that will be a decision that he will make and, most importantly, the people of the state of Idaho. But my opinion is that when you plead guilty to a crime, then you shouldn't serve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: An aide to the senator says Craig has no plans to resign and he plans to announce next month whether he will seek another term.

HARRIS: Boston firefighters mourning two of their own. The men were killed responding to a fire at a Chinese restaurant last night. A paramedic and 10 other firefighters were injured, including two in critical condition now. The firefighters apparently became disoriented in dense smoke.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED KELLY, PRESIDENT, LOCAL FIREFIGHTERS UNION: The Boston firefighters' family is in mourning. We lost two brothers, two brave men that went to work tonight to provide for their families. And they're not going home in the morning.

We ask that you pray for us, you pray for their families, you pray for their souls, and you pray for the injured firefighters that are struggling to recover.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: The cause of the fire hasn't been determined yet. Each of the dead firefighters leaves behind two children.

COLLINS: Want to take a moment to get a check of the weather now.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: In the meantime, time to check your refrigerators for spinach once again.

Metz Fresh of California is recalling 10 and 16 ounce bags of spinach and certain cartons. A sample tested positive for salmonella. Most of the recalled spinach never made it to store shelves. There are no reports of anyone getting sick . Good news there.

And you can get the specific tracking codes at CNN.com/health.

Stricter monitoring procedures have been put in place. An E. coli outbreak, you might recall, involving fresh spinach killed three people last year.

COLLINS: Fast drama on an Ohio highway. A crash, police gunfire. A passenger lived through it all.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought I was a goner, for sure, especially when the bullets started flying. I don't know how on this earth I missed all that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Buckle up and hold on for the incredible pictures.

HARRIS: Two years after finding her home in ruins, a New Orleans native says she still suffers from Katrina days.

Kim Bondy, what do you mean by "Katrina days"?

We will ask her.

COLLINS: Pakistan's power play. Is the prime minister prepared to relinquish his role as army chief? And why should you care?

I'll talk to a former U.S. ambassador.

HARRIS: Mom said don't play with your food. The message apparently not getting through to these vegetable warriors.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: A power-sharing deal in the works in Pakistan? Well, it depends on whom you ask.

A government spokesman today denying now President Pervez Musharraf has agreed to step down as army chief. Those claims made by former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

She's needling Musharraf to divvy up his powers. As many of you know, President Bush considers Pakistan an important ally in the war on terrorism.

Joining me live now from Washington, former U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, Wendy Chamberlin. She's president of the Middle East Institute.

And Ambassador, nice to have you with us today.

Obviously, this new information now that we are getting, to remind everyone, we have only gotten confirmation from Benazir Bhutto that Pervez Musharraf is actually going to step down as army chief. Nothing really solid from him.

Has this odd pairing already kind of starting to break down, do you think?

WENDY CHAMBERLIN, FMR. AMBASSADOR TO PAKISTAN: No. I think this is a very positive step.

We're -- put this into context. We're -- this is a complicated dance in the pre-election period. There -- the major parties are now negotiating as they look forward to elections coming up this fall. Prime Minister Bhutto is in a very strong position. She would like to come back and stand for office. She needs his support in making sure that she can jump over some legal hurdles in this, and she has some legal problems stemming from charges of corruption. But she's very popular in the country.

President Musharraf would like to continue as president. He also faces some constitutional and legal questions, and a power-sharing arrangement with the popular PPP, Pakistan Peoples Party, would be important.

He'd also like to continue to wear his uniform, because the military is his home. It's his life. And it was a very strong power base for him in Pakistan.

The third party, Nawaz Sharif, the Pakistan Muslim League, is enjoying a popularity uptick right now because the supreme court ruled in June, July that he had the right to return as a citizen, despite the fact that he had negotiated a 10-year exile in the year 2000.

COLLINS: So, are you saying that it is likely then that Pervez Musharraf will step down as army chief?

CHAMBERLIN: I think this -- yes, I personally do. I think that in a democracy, one makes compromises.

He's already compromised by reinstating the supreme court justice that he had sacked in March, and he had to do that because the people in the country demanded it and asked it, and it was politically the right move to do. Democracies are uncertain -- it's an uncertain system, but it is the best system.

COLLINS: So, do you think, then, that the two of these -- just moving forward a bit, the two of these people could actually agree to share power? They do not have a great history together. We have been calling them an odd pair, simply because they seem to be at opposite ends of the spectrum on many different things.

He is more of a military dictator. Her father was executed by a military dictator. Has a very big fear of that type of rule.

Can they work together?

CHAMBERLIN: I they can. I think democracies demand it and ask for compromises.

Look, I think -- let's put it into the larger picture. What's at stake here -- and a great deal is at stake here -- for the United States, we need a cooperative government there. And I think a democracy would provide -- a democratic election would provide that.

COLLINS: In fact...

CHAMBERLIN: The region needs a stable Pakistan with all of its problems, 160 million people who are impoverished, illiterate, jobless. They need a government that will provide services to them. And not -- not a small point, Pakistan is nuclear-armed and faces a hostile neighbor, also nuclear armed.

COLLINS: Yes, has a powerful army, indeed. In fact, that's right along the lines of something that was written today in the "L.A. Times" by Benazir Bhutto. I want to show it to you and to our viewers and get your reaction here.

This is what she says. "There are moments in history that prove decisive and mark a turning point for the future. The Civil War was such a moment in the U.S. The fall of the Berlin Wall was such a moment for Germany and the European Union. Today is Pakistan's moment of truth."

"Decisions made now will determine whether extremism and terrorism can be contained to save Pakistan from internal collapse. The stability of not just Pakistan but the civilized world is at stake."

How does this go beyond the borders of Pakistan?

CHAMBERLIN: Pakistan, as I just said, has a very large impoverished, illiterate, jobless population, that when faced with their aspirations not being met, are very vulnerable to extremism. We need, the world needs, the region needs for stability a strong, cooperative government. And I personally believe that we won't get one unless you have an election that is inclusive of all the groups there that is supported by its people. And I think that's the direction we're going in.

Let me make a point here. We're not in a crisis. We're in a democracy. We are facing an election.

This is not a crisis. It's an election.

COLLINS: Yes, many countries depending on what happens here in Pakistan, certainly.

We appreciate your time today.

Ambassador Wendy Chamberlin, thanks so much.

CHAMBERLIN: Thank you.

HARRIS: Still to come in the NEWSROOM this morning, fast drama on an Ohio highway. Take a look at this.

A crash. Police -- ugh! Police gunfire. You hear that? A passenger lives through it all.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARYL BLACK, TAKEN ON CAR CHASE: I thought I was a goner, for sure, especially when the bullets starting flying. I don't know how on this earth I missed all that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Man. Buckle up and hold on for the incredible pictures.

COLLINS: From hero to suspected Olympic Park bomber and back. Now Richard Jewell's family is dealing with a final heartbreak.

HARRIS: Accident or royal plot? A decade after Princess Diana's death, conspiracy theories just won't die.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: You know, he lived a life of heartbreak. Richard Jewell, the Atlanta security guard once suspected of being the Olympic Park bomber has died. He was 44.

During the '96 Olympics in Atlanta, Jewell identified a bomb that later exploded in Centennial Park, killing one and injuring scores more. Portrayed first as a hero, he was later labeled a suspect.

It was 88 days before he was vindicated. Jewell later sued the FBI and several media outlets over the coverage. He settled with some, including CNN. In 2005, Eric Rudolph pleaded guilty to the bombing.

Jewell had been suffering from diabetes and kidney failure since February.

COLLINS: A high-speed police chase, a fatal finish. All caught on camera by the police officers involved.

Details now from reporter Chris Shaw. He's with CNN's Cincinnati affiliate, WXIX.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS SHAW, REPORTER, WXIX (voice over): Four different dash cams caught four different sometimes spectacular angles. But no one saw it like this man.

BLACK: It's like being shot in a rocket. OK? On a skateboard. OK? And not trying to crash into buildings that are everywhere.

SHAW: Daryl Black was able to walk away from this car. Here he is being loaded into an ambulance just minutes after the most terrifying ride of his life.

He says his neighbor Charles Bennett (ph) was taking him to Walgreen's early Monday morning when a police officer caught them making an illegal turn. Police say Bennett (ph), who was driving a stolen car, refused to stop. And the chase was on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sycamore Heights, I just had a vehicle try to ram me.

SHAW: Black says Bennett (ph) drove as fast as 130 miles an hour, sometimes erratically, like here, when he turned around in the middle of the road. Black says the entire time, Bennett (ph) never said a word. BLACK: During this, I'm screaming at him, "Stop the f-ing car! Get me out of the car!"

SHAW: But police say nothing, not even this crash, would stop him. Even after that, police say Bennett tried to run over this officer, who had to jump on the hood of the car and open fire to protect himself.

BLACK: I thought I was a goner, for sure, especially when the bullets started flying. I don't know how on this earth I missed all that.

SHAW: A total of three officers shot at Bennett. The department says their actions were justified.

BLACK: Police probably followed procedure, but they shouldn't have shot in the car, especially with a passenger. I think that needs to be looked at.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: The police officers who fired shots on are paid leave today. Department officials say all are veteran officers.

HARRIS: He's New Orleans so-called "Master of Disaster".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You have been on board since December. What would you say you have actually accomplished since then?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, first, we have the plan. Secondly, we now have about $500 million we didn't have before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: That's a sign when you start with, well, we had the paperwork. But is he the right man to be in charge of rebuilding the Crescent City/

CNN's Randi Kaye finds out.

COLLINS: Two years after finding her home in ruins, a New Orleans native says she still suffers from Katrina days.

More on that coming up here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Good morning once again, everybody.

9:30 Eastern time.

I'm Heidi Collins.

HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris.

Welcome back to the CNN NEWSROOM.

Judging progress in Iraq -- Congressional

investigators deliver a classified briefing to lawmakers today. Details already trickling out. And the Associated Press says the report finds Iraq's government has failed to meet political and military goals.

And as for the U.S. troop build-up, the Government Accountability Office says it is falling short on at least 13 of 18 benchmarks. The White House assessment a progress in Iraq is due September 15th.

COLLINS: A new report out this morning on the Virginia Tech massacre. One conclusion -- more timely warnings might have saved lives. The report says University officials should have warned students and staff after two students were found dead in a dormitory. The gunman later killed another 30 people before taking his own life.

Virginia's governor appointed the panel that wrote the report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TIM KAINE (R), VIRGINIA: With respect to the notification, there was not a notice sent out to the campus community for nearly two hours. The report points out that that was a clear error, that the protocol for making a decision about how a notice would be sent out was too cumbersome, that under normal circumstances it might have been fine. But under an urgent circumstance it took too long.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: The report details gunman Seung-Hui Cho's long history of mental health issues, including an anxiety disorder called selective mutism. It's characterized by an inability to speak in social settings.

We'll be hearing more from Governor Kaine in a news conference about an hour-and-a-half from now.

HARRIS: Let's talk about life after Katrina now.

You may remember Kim Bondy, a CNN executive. She left her job in New York and returned to her childhood neighborhood in New Orleans. But rebuilding is a daily battle.

Kim joins us to share the struggles and the successes and some of the joy in all of this.

Kim, great to see you.

KIM BONDY, NEW ORLEANS HOMEOWNER: Good to see you, Tony.

HARRIS: You know, I wrote you a note a couple of days because I just wanted to see how you were doing. I just wanted to reach out. And you don't know that I'm going to do this, but I'm going to share a bit of that note, because I think it says a lot about you and your spirit and, of course, the spirit of New Orleaneans.

HARRIS: You wrote me: "It's been -- "

BONDY: OK now.

HARRIS: No, no, no, no. This is -- this is all -- this is great. This is great and I want to share it with folks.

"It has been quite the emotional and physical process and has tested my patience beyond. Saying that, I am so grateful to be here. I love this city so much. Life here is very stressful, but equally rewarding."

Expand on that a little bit for everyone watching.

BONDY: Well, you know, I've always considered New Orleans to be sort of my primary home. I said I had a long commute to Atlanta and New York for work. But, you know, I love New Orleans.

When people say where are you -- you know, where do you live or, you know, where are you from?

I said, you know, I work in Atlanta or I work in New York, but I'm, you know, I live in New Orleans.

HARRIS: Yes.

And after the storm, I asked myself the question one morning. I said, "if I'm not in New Orleans, where am I?"

And it was much more of a spiritual question than anything.

You know, I love the city. I wanted to be a part of the rebuilding. I wanted to be here with the people. And there are days when it tries my, you know, my last nerve, as they say.

HARRIS: Yes. Yes.

BONDY: You know, we have a lot of problems and a long way to go. But I can't think of a place I'd rather be than right here in New Orleans.

HARRIS: So, how's the home?

We're seeing some of the pictures now in the days right after the storm.

How is the home coming along and what has been the process of restoring it?

BONDY: Well, you know, I'll tell you, I'm about -- we've got probably two to three weeks worth of work...

HARRIS: Oh, good. BONDY: ...in the home (INAUDIBLE)...

HARRIS: Pictures coming, I hope.

BONDY: OK, good.

(LAUGHTER)

BONDY: I can't see the pictures, so I don't...

HARRIS: Oh, you can't?

BONDY: So I can't see what you're seeing. But, you know, I'm -- Tony, my story is a little different. People here are very frustrated. You know, there are, you know, problems with their contractors. My brother, who did a lot of work for us on CNN -- a lot of interviews -- he's my contractor. If I didn't have my brother, I would -- I don't know if I would have had the fortitude to take on, you know, this kind of project. And, you know, we laugh because, you know, at the beginning of the day, it's -- he's my contractor, I'm his client. But, you know, we have to look at each other in the eye and be not only brother and sister, but we have to be, you know, best friends.

HARRIS: Yes. Yes.

BONDY: So we have to be very patient.

But my story is, you know, very, very different. I don't have any stories of rip-offs. My house has been broken into a lot.

HARRIS: How many times?

BONDY: At least six times.

HARRIS: At least six times?

BONDY: The most dramatic -- there are two very dramatic stories, very quickly.

Once they broke in, kicked in the door to steal a bathtub that it took three very large men to carry in.

HARRIS: A bathtub?

BONDY: A bathtub.

HARRIS: OK.

BONDY: Yes. And another time they cut through the wrought iron fence to crawl underneath my house, you know, which we know was badly flooded by Katrina...

HARRIS: Yes.

BONDY: ...to cut the copper wiring. So -- piping, rather.

So, you know, it's just -- that's the hardest part of the rebuilding.

HARRIS: It sounds like drug trade.

Is it -- a lot of crime tied to the drug trade?

BONDY: You know, I really don't know. I think some of it probably is and not all of it.

HARRIS: Yes.

BONDY: I think, you know, what's happening is people are preying on properties that are vacant. When I talked to the police about it, they say, you know, once you move into your home and they know the home is occupied, you probably will not have -- probably will not have these problems.

HARRIS: Right.

BONDY: You know, Tony, I was prepared to deal with the nine-and- a-half feet of water. I was prepared to deal with the slow, trying process and inept government that I knew I couldn't really rely on for any help. But I wasn't prepared to deal with criminals breaking into my house, you know?

HARRIS: Right.

BONDY: I just -- that is going to be the thing that's going to drive a lot of, you know, middle class, earnest, hardworking people away from New Orleans. And that's the really the unfortunate thing.

HARRIS: Yes, let me -- yes, Kim, let me get at an issue with you. I want you to hear a bit of sound from an interview yesterday with Kawana Jasper, who survived the storm. She feels there is a conspiracy at work to push poor people, and black poor people in particular, to the edges of the city.

I want you to hear her sound bite and then I want to ask you a question.

BONDY: Sure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, COURTESY LUISA DANTES)

KAWANA JASPER, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: We're not wealthy. They're trying to make it more for tourists, trying to make it like Las Vegas, while all the rich people stay within the city limits and all the poor people, poverty stricken people, live on outskirts of New Orleans. Deep down in my heart, I know this is what they want to do. They've been wanting to do this and they're just using a natural disaster to do their dirty work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: All right, look, you worked at the highest levels of this business, for this company and others. I want you to take this on and a real answer from you, Kim, as a New Orleanean. Do you feel...

BONDY: Tony, I...

HARRIS: OK. Take it on.

Go ahead.

BONDY: Go ahead.

Well, I was going to say, I don't know that, you know, our government is smart enough to have a conspiracy of such. They can't even, you know, figure out how to protect the levees, how to fight crime, how to get the road home money to the people who not only need it, but also deserve it.

So where is this conspiracy room trying to keep blacks and poor people on the fringes of the city?

You know, I don't know that they're smart enough to be, you know, to have a conspiracy.

HARRIS: Yes. OK. All right.

One final question for you before I flat run out of time here. Back to your note. You -- I love the portion, "I love this city so much."

But let me push you on that. Kim, you love the New Orleans that you remember. This New Orleans -- that New Orleans is gone. It was washed away with Katrina.

You need to come on back to Atlanta. You need to -- we need to tell some great stories together.

That New Orleans is gone.

You're living in the past. Come on, Kim.

BONDY: You know, I'm an old-fashioned girl. I'm a simple, small town girl, Tony.

No, you know, I know that I romanticize a lot about New Orleans. And my friends accuse me of that. You know, they say, you know, you've have lived other places and so you could always have romantic notions about the City of New Orleans.

But I'll tell you, there are days I just don't have Katrina days. I have days where I have romantic days in New Orleans. And I'm not talking about romance in the traditional sense.

HARRIS: Sure.

BONDY: What I'm saying is days when I'm walking in the French Quarter, I'm having lunch that turns into dinner with my friends, I've met and developed new friendships with people that I would not have gotten to know had it not been for Katrina.

And I love this city. And I'm going to stand by it for as long as I can. But as I tell everybody, I, you know, I hold onto the fact that I can change my mind at any point.

HARRIS: (LAUGHTER).

There you go.

Kim, great to see you.

(LAUGHTER)

BONDY: Tony, thank you.

HARRIS: And I'm heading down soon.

BONDY: And, listen, can I just say this?

HARRIS: Yes.

BONDY: I just want to say, very quickly, I am so indebted to my family at CNN for keeping this story and this issue alive. So thank you to everybody at CNN. I really, really appreciate it, from the bottom of my heart.

HARRIS: We can't let it go. Can't let it go.

BONDY: And I miss you guys. I miss you guys.

HARRIS: Oh, we miss you, too.

Kim, great to see you.

Thanks for the time.

BONDY: Take care.

Thank you.

COLLINS: Rebuilding New Orleans a daunting job. Many are now wondering if Ed Blakely is really the right person to handle it.

CNN's Randi Kaye reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He's earned the nickname "Master of Disaster" after a California earthquake and wildfire. But there are those in New Orleans who say Dr. Edward Blakely is shaping up to be a disaster himself.

Among his blunders?

Calling the people of New Orleans "buffoons" after a planning meeting. MALCOLM SUBER, COMMUNITY ACTIVIST: The question should be who was the buffoon who hired him?

KAYE: Last December, Mayor Ray Nagin hired Blakely as the city's recovery czar. Keeping Them Honest, we went to Blakely himself to chart his progress.

(on camera): You've been on board since December.

What would you say you've actually accomplished since then?

EDWARD BLAKELY, OVERSEEING NEW ORLEANS RECOVERY: Well, first, we have the plan. Secondly, we now have about $500 million we didn't have before.

KAYE (voice-over): That's only half of what he says he needs. Blakely's blueprint for recovery is $1.1 billion. Despite the lack of funds, he says he's made progress. In fact, the way Blakely tells it, he's practically rebuilt the city.

BLAKELY: The LSU complex is another accomplishment. Practically every street in the city is being repaired. That didn't happen before I got here. All the signs are up. The city is running.

KAYE (on camera): Do you think that he deserves credit for a lot of work that has been done?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well...

JEFF CROUERE, NEW ORLEANS TALK RADIO HOST: That's not Dr. Blakely. I mean, those are initiatives that were really done by the Louisiana legislature and other bodies. I mean, I think what he, unfortunately, has a tendency to do is take credit for things which really aren't his doing.

KAYE (voice-over): Blakely says he has spent a couple of hundred thousand dollars on a library and a supermarket -- not exactly the major rebuilding he promised residents.

(on camera): You had promised cranes in the sky by September.

BLAKELY: They're there. They're there.

KAYE: We came here to the very spot Dr. Blakely directed us to, just off Interstate 10, so we could see the cranes that he says are already in the sky for ourselves.

No cranes here.

(voice-over): And no plan, critics charge, to help the poor rebuild areas like the Lower Ninth Ward -- just middle-class neighborhoods.

SUBER: It's like seeing people who've already got something to eat.

BLAKELY: I'm out in the Ninth Ward at least once a week working with poor people, making sure they are included.

KAYE: He organizes bike tours, where he says he teaches urban planning to residents. But critics say all the peddling is a joke. Blakely is simply not around enough, they say, traveling to a teaching job in Australia and to speaking engagements around the U.S.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Being paid $150,000 to do a full-time job and getting half-time commitment was really disappointing to a lot of people.

KAYE: Blakely says he rarely travels anymore, though he was rushing to the airport right after our interview.

BLAKELY: People can say whatever they want, you know. I just have to do my job.

KAYE: When, many asked during our visit, will he start getting results?

Randi Kaye, CNN, New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: We're going to get another check of weather now.

Rob Marciano in the Severe Weather Center -- hey, Rob, any severe weather behind you on that map?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: No. Right now, we're good. We're good right now. But later on today we could see some rough weather, as things get a little more active.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: Heads up now. Holiday fliers -- it could be another weekend of frustrating delays.

We'll go live to La Guardia with the cure for congestion.

Hmm.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

HARRIS: We are checking all of the business headlines with Susan Lisovicz throughout the morning right here in THE NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Finding the truth about Princess Diana's death -- a full British inquest begins this fall.

CNN's Paula Hancocks reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Was this simply a tragic car accident or a premeditated royal murder?

Ten years on, conspiracy theories still haunt the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. Mohammed Al-Fayed, the father of Dodi Al-Fayed, who died in the car alongside Diana, has single-handedly kept the murder allegation alive.

MOHAMMED AL-FAYED, FATHER OF DODI AL-FAYED: I am certain, 100 percent, that a leading member of the royal family have planned that.

HANCOCKS: Al-Fayed has accused Diana's ex-husband, Prince Charles, and the Queens' husband, Prince Phillip, of playing a hand in the deaths -- a claim denied by the royals. And no official reports have substantiated the allegations.

Still, Fayed remains convinced, saying Dodi and Diana were about to announce their engagement.

MICHAEL COLE, AL-FAYED SPOKESMAN: They would not have wanted Dodi, as a Muslim, to be marrying Diana, Princess of Wales. Dodi was their -- all their nightmares rolled into one.

HANCOCKS: Fuelling the allegations of foul play, Diana's former butler, Paul Burrell, claims Diana wrote him a letter less than a year before she died voicing fears she would be the target of a deliberate car crash.

However, a French inquiry eight years ago ruled the driver, Henri Paul, was to blame. He was drunk, on anti-depressants and driving too fast.

A British police inquiry last year had similar findings, ruling out murder or the possibility Diana was pregnant or engaged to Dodi.

But Al-Fayed refuses to accept his employee, Henri Paul, may have been responsible.

KEN WHARFE, DIANA'S FORMER BODYGUARD: This was a failure of the security that night that brought about the deaths of Diana and Dodi Fayed, simply based on the grounds of -- or lack of experience.

HANCOCKS: The immediate public anger was leveled at the paparazzi chasing Diana's car when it crashed. Some were arrested at the scene, but subsequently released without charge.

KEN LENNOX, FORMER PHOTOGRAPHER: I think we all have a bit of guilt about Diana's death. The night she died, watching the paparazzi being arrested live on television and the subject of trials and so on. And it was a feeling of responsibility.

PHIL HALL, "NEWS OF THE WORLD EDITOR," 1997: There was a huge feeling of guilt among the media. But it was also a situation where we didn't know what we could do.

When there was a massive appetite for those stories, how could you stop running them?

HANCOCKS: Diana's brother was bitterly direct in his allocation of blame.

CHARLES SPENCER, DIANA'S BROTHER: But I always believed the press would kill her in the end. But not even I could imagine that they would take such a direct hand in her death, as seems to be the case.

HANCOCKS (on camera): The full British inquest into the deaths of Diana and Dodi starts in October, more than 10 years after they died. And it could be months after that before the coroner records a verdict. And even then, there are no guarantees that those specializing in these conspiracy theories will be convinced.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, London.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

HARRIS: So, here we go again -- spinach being pulled from stores. We will tell you what you need -- you know, but pull it out of your fridge. That's coming up for you this morning in THE NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: So you already know to catch us weekday mornings, 9:00 -- I don't know what's going on with me today. I'm just -- 9:00 to 12:00 right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

But now you can take us with you anywhere, any time. All you need to do is go to CNN.com. Download the CNN NEWSROOM daily pod cast. It is available to you 24-7 right on your iPod. Do it today. Different stories, a lot of fun. Do it today, no excuse.

COLLINS: Talk about painting the town red -- tens of thousands converge on a coastal town in Spain.

Their aim?

To throw tomatoes at each other. Yucky, red mush covering the streets and the people. The free-for-all held every year. I'm sure you've seen this before. I don't remember ever seeing that many like naked people, though -- or nearly naked people with tomatoes all over them.

HARRIS: Wait a minute.

We're not -- we're not pixelating that?

COLLINS: Nearly naked.

HARRIS: What are we doing here on CNN?

COLLINS: No, I don't know if they were fully -- I don't want to start any rumors.

HARRIS: I'm sorry. You just said there were naked people on television.

Wait a minute. What's going on here?

COLLINS: I don't know.

(LAUGHTER)

I'll just continue.

It's billed as the world's largest food fight. We want to -- see, we went off the video.

HARRIS: All right, everybody.

COLLINS: One of the tomato warriors called it a good way to let off steam. It looks like a blast.

HARRIS: Standards and practices on the phone.

Hello?

Hello?

Heidi just mentioned nude people on television.

Holy smokes!

Batman, the caped crusader, linked to candy. Wow! That's good. A candy factory blast. You can't blame "The Riddler".

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Sciatic nerve pain -- Dr. Sanjay Gupta has a look at how it develops and what treatments work best during your 30s, 40s and 50s.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

SUSAN FLANAGAN, SUFFERS BACK PAIN: Come on, Tiger.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nine months ago, this would have been impossible.

FLANAGAN: Let's go, buddy.

GUPTA: All her life, 39-year-old Susan Flanagan lived with back pain. And as she got older, the pain grew worse. Until one day...

FLANAGAN: I had like leaned over and I guess I put a pair of pants on or something and I was like uh-oh.

GUPTA: She was in agony, barely able to walk. A disc had herniated in her back. It progressed to a condition called sciatic.

DR. ANDREW CASDEN, BETH ISRAEL MEDICAL CENTER, SPINE INSTITUTE: It's certainly very common in the 30, 40, 50 year age group. The disc is like a cushion. It's like a wet sponge between the vertebra, the bones of the spine. As we get older, this sponge dries out and it becomes less cushioning.

GUPTA: The disc slips, pinching a nerve in the back.

CASDEN: All of a sudden, that a disc presses on the nerve and their back pain disappears completely and now they get that intense, horrible sciatic pain.

GUPTA: Pain that travels from the low back down the leg.

For Susan, sciatica was spawned by an injury. But for most people, usually in their 30s and 40s, the disc slips slowly, brushing against the nerve only intermittently. At that point, it can be treated non-surgically with over the counter pain relievers, light stretching exercises, sometimes acupuncture.

CASDEN: As people get older, in their late 50s and then in the 60s and 70s, they tend to develop more arthritis of the spine. They may still get sciatica from the nerves being compressed by arthritic tissue.

GUPTA: Once that happens, an operation is often the only recourse. After exhausting all other treatment options, that's what Susan Flanagan did. Six weeks after the operation, she can walk, sometimes run.

FLANAGAN: Oh my God. It's so much better. I mean, I can do -- I can do anything.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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