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Egyptian Students Face Charges; Michigan Serial Killings; Senator John Warner Announces He's Retiring

Aired August 31, 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: When John Warner speaks, the Pentagon and the president and his fellow lawmakers listen. Moments from now, he's going to tell us whether he wants a sixth term in the U.S. Senate.
Another senator may or may not be mulling another big announcement. Two and a half months after his arrest in an airport men's room, Larry Craig's future is more uncertain than ever.

Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN headquarters in Atlanta, and you're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Right now, a live picture from our affiliate WVTR in Charlottesville, Virginia. Democrats and Republicans waiting word today from Senator John Warner about whether he will run for re- election.

Our Candy Crowley is following this for us. We're going to talk to her about what this means for the presidential election, as well as the state.

And we're getting new details of two terrorism indictments. Two Egyptian students being held in South Carolina.

For the very layest on this, we go live to Miami and CNN's Susan Candiotti -- Susan.

Hi, Kyra.

This all started back on August the 4th, about four weeks ago, in Goose Creek, South Carolina, when these two Egyptian students were pulled over for speeding. At the time, the sheriff's department there said they found pipe-like bomb materials in their car and they've been held while an investigation went on without charges. But now we have this indictment coming out of a federal grand jury in the middle district of Florida, which is in the Tampa area. Why? Because the two students attended school at the University of South Florida.

In any case, they have been charged with two counts. One of the charges is transporting explosives across state lines without a permit, and one of the two students is also charged with teaching and demonstrating how to make and use a destructive device, an activity that the feds say can constitute a crime of violence.

Now, these two people are identified as Ahmed Abdellatif Mohamed, a civil engineering grad student at the University of South Florida. He's also a teaching assistant there. As well as Youssef Samir Megahed. He's an engineering student.

Both of them are being held, in the meantime, on bonds of $500,000 and $300,000 in the other case. And if found guilty, they could face charges, in one case, of up to 20 years in prison and another up to 10 years on a different charge.

So, we are waiting to see when they will be making their first appearance on these charges. That would likely take place in South Carolina, where they are now, before there would be an extradition presumably to Florida -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll follow it.

Susan Candiotti, thanks so much.

Now we want to take you to Lansing, Michigan, where police say they've caught a suspected serial killer who has had the city on edge for weeks.

Reporter Laura Zaelick (ph) of CNN affiliate WILX has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): Lansing police say a serial killer who has been terrorizing the city since July is behind bars. They say he murdered five Lansing women in five weeks and brutally assaulted another. Three of those attacks were this week.

Chief Mark Alley says this is a relieving day, to say the least, for the city of Lansing.

CHIEF MARK ALLEY, LANSING POLICE: I'm pleased to announce that we have arrested a serial killer in connection with the recent homicides that have occurred against women in the city of Lansing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police had refrained from calling the person a "serial killer" until Thursday, when they had enough evidence to link all the cases together.

The first, community activist Ruth Hallman's murder, then Debra Cooke was found murdered in Hunter Park and Debra Renfors killed in Old Town. This week, Sandra Eichorn was found dead in her home and Karen Delgado Yates murdered too. A sixth woman was assaulted by the serial killer but survived.

In the press conference Thursday, they spoke of how integral that victim has been in arresting this man who was, indeed, the person we released in the sketch earlier this week.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it weren't for our victim on Jones Street, we wouldn't possibly be here today.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As the city mourns the five women lost, neighbors will stand vigilant once again against crime in the city.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, the suspect's name has not been released. He could be charged later today. Police are looking into whether he's also connected to a series of assaults in 2003.

He insists he did nothing wrong and says his guilty plea was a mistake, but Idaho Senator Larry Craig's attempts to explain his arrest in an airport sex sting apparently aren't resonating with his fellow Republicans. The bottom line, Republican sources tell CNN Craig may resign his Senate post perhaps as soon as today.

Craig was arrested in a men's restroom at the Minneapolis airport back in June. In an audio recording made by police, Craig denied he solicited sex from an undercover officer.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

SGT. DAVE KARSNIA, ARRESTING OFFICER: I understand.

SEN. LARRY CRAIG (R), IDAHO: I had to spread my legs.

KARSNIA: OK.

CRAIG: When I lower my pants so they won't slide.

KARSNIA: OK.

CRAIG: Did I slide them too close to yours? Did I -- I looked down once, your foot was close to mine.

KARSNIA: Yes.

CRAIG: Did we bump? You said so, I don't recall that, but apparently we were close.

KARSNIA: Yeah, well, your foot did touch mine, on my side of the stall.

CRAIG: All right.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: All right. Let's head out now to Boise, Idaho, where we find CNN congressional correspondent Dana Bash.

Dana, what do you think? Do you think an announcement may come today that he's going to resign?

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We are still waiting to get the answer to that, Kyra. You know, all sources here in Idaho and back in Washington certainly seem to indicate that that is a possibility. But we have not heard anything from Senator Craig's office.

There is no real indication, firm indication, that that decision has been made. But I can tell you, the pressure is incredibly intense for him to step down, Kyra, especially from his colleagues on a national level in Washington who, to put it bluntly, just want to make this go away and go away fast.

You heard the Senate Republican leader tell his hometown newspaper today that what Senator Craig did is "unforgivable," a very stinging term that he used there. And also, you're hearing...

PHILLIPS: Dana Bash, sorry to cut you off.

As we follow, of course, the situation with Senator Craig, John Warner now live from Charlottesville, Virginia. Wonder if he's going to run for his next re-election.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

SEN. JOHN WARNER (R), VIRGINIA: ... papers under my arm, a graduate got out and pressed into my hand a little note and said, "Read this." And so, as I arrived on the rosterman (ph) during the course of a prolonged indication, I read it, and it said, "Blessed are ye that are brief, for ye shall be reinvited." I told (ph) many times to come back to this great university.

I got out of my car over here a few minutes ago in front of the chapel, and suddenly I had a flashback that in the fall of 1949, as a freshman law student, I was hurrying to class. And a rather large, formidable man stopped me to say, "How's everything going, young student?" And it was Colgate Darden, the president of this university. I recognized him, and I said, "Mr. President, everything I hope is going well."

I say today to my friend -- he later became a good friend -- everything has gone well, and I want to express my profound appreciation today for all that so many have done for me.

So, I thank President Casteen, the Rector and the board, Governor Baliles, Larry Sabato, Professor Sabato. The two of them suggested that when this moment came, when I made this decision, that I should come at this very spot, which is really hallowed ground for me, and make known to all Virginians, first and foremost, be you a Republican or a Democrat or an Independent, all of you have joined these many years to enable this humble soul to have had a magnificent and very rewarding career in the United States Senate.

So, I say that my work and service to Virginia as a senator -- and I repeat, my work and service to Virginia as a senator -- will conclude upon the 6th of January 2009, when I finish as the Constitution of the United States on the first Tuesday of a new Congress my career of then 30 years in the United States Senate. And I thank again all those who made it possible for this humble individual to have achieved a footnote in Virginia history, that I will then be, as I am now, the second-longest serving United States senator in the history of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

I wanted to write a short note to my Virginians, so I scribbled it down last night late in the evening because I felt some of my thoughts were so personal that I could best put them in writing. So bear with me for a few minutes while I go through this letter which will go out to Virginians all across our state.

At first I thanked them, and I thank them again at each paragraph at this message.

The community -- I want to talk about this special piece of ground. The community, sort of a triangle of Charlottesville, Amherst and Lexington, did so much in the formative years of my life.

Amherst is where my father came from and my grandparents, several generations. And from there, my father went to Washington and Lee University, graduating in 1903. It was always his dream that I would follow in his footsteps, and that I did after completion of brief naval service as a young 17, 18-year-old petty officer in the last year of World War II. And from Washington and Lee, after I graduated in '49, I came straight away to Charlottesville to enter the law class of that fall.

As I look back, I just have such a strong feeling about what this particular university did during that period of my life.

I finished the first year, but then in the summer of 1950, quite unexpectedly, war broke out again in Korea. And I, like many others all across America, stopped their schoolings, left their jobs, left their families, and rejoined the military. This time I had achieved a commission in the Marine Corps as a lieutenant.

So, finishing that service, nearly two years in the Marines, and the last chapter a tour in Korea, I came straight away to Charlottesville. It was with some difficulty in that period of my life to make that adjustment from the responsibilities I had as a young officer and to come back as a student. And had it not been for the strong commitment of the dean of the law school, Dean Ribble (ph), and the commitment of about six of the senior professors, Arty Dillard (ph) and Spees (ph) and many others, I simply would not have been able to make that readjustment to finish that law school.

PHILLIPS: After 30 years of serving in the U.S. Senate, John Warner, one of the most influential Republicans in Congress, is retiring.

Let's get straight to CNN's senior political correspondent, Candy Crowley.

It looks like he's going back in time and reminiscing a bit, Candy, about his life and career and how he got involved in politics.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: And meanwhile, the Republican Party is looking ahead, thinking, oh, my lord. I mean, this is something that certainly was not totally unexpected, but in some ways, a lot of people did think that he would hang on for another six years.

The fact is the senator is 80 years old. He has spoken openly about whether he had the kind of energy that he could promise the people of Virginia over the next six years between 80 and 86. But this leaves Virginia very much in play. When you look down the road to 2008, as, trust me, Republicans are right now, you see the Senate seat in Virginia which would have been safe if not certain under John Warner, is now really up for grabs, particularly if Mark Warner, who is not a relation but used to be the former -- used to be the governor of Virginia, if he gets into this race, he's a very popular guy. Virginia has become more Democratic over the years. Democrats have a good shot at this seat.

A little heartburn with Republicans today on many fronts.

PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about that. Let's talk about the heartburn. Let's talk about the "oh, my lord" factor just a bit and why Virginia is such a key -- a key state.

CROWLEY: Well, first of all, it's a southern state, but it's -- I mean, coming up to this election, all the states are going to be key for Republicans. Listen, 22 Republican seats are up for grabs in 2008. Only 12 Democratic seats are.

So Republicans are, in fact, defending many more seats. It means they're going to have to spend money in Virginia, which they would rather spend in other places.

So, this is really something that they can't use right now because these retirements make these seats much more iffy for Republicans. And it's already shaping up as a party that has been demoralized on a number of counts. And certainly this doesn't help.

PHILLIPS: Candy Crowley, our political guru.

Thanks you for joining us about John Warner.

CROWLEY: Sure.

PHILLIPS: Also, Candy, you're on standby with us in case something happens with Senator Larry Craig, because, of course, there's talk he may step down today as well.

CROWLEY: Absolutely.

PHILLIPS: All right. Candy, thanks a lot.

Both the president and Fed chief, Ben Bernanke, speak out on the mortgage meltdown. How is Wall Street reacting?

And if this baby earns the nickname "Shrimp," it won't be much about his size as his birthplace.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: 2:18 Eastern Time. Here are some of the stories we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.

One of the most influential Republicans on Capitol Hill announced his retirement. Just moments ago, Senator John Warner says that he will not run for re-election in 2008.

There's increasing pressure on Senator Larry Craig to resign. The Idaho Republican was arrested in a sex sting in an airport men's room. Sources say he may have an announcement as early as today.

Democratic fund-raiser Norman Hsu has surrendered to authorities in California. Hsu pleaded no contest to grand theft charges in 1991 but never showed up for sentencing.

Professional wrestlers falling victim to steroid testing. It comes weeks after the suicide of wrestling star Chris Benoit, who hanged himself after killing his family, with steroids in his system.

Some other wrestlers names turned up in a probe into a Florida pharmacy used by Benoit. Now 10 have been suspended by World Wrestling Entertainment, though none has been charged.

In a statement, the WWE says, "It's been WWE's practice not to release the names of those who have been suspended, but notice has been sent to all WWE performers that names of anyone who is suspended under the Wellness Policy as of November 1st will be made public."

This morning, CNN spoke with a former professional wrestler and steroid user who said steroid use among wrestlers is not unusual.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEL WILKES, FMR. PROFESSIONAL WRESTLER: As someone that's been involved with pro wrestling now for a little over 20 years in some capacity, and based on my experiences, it's very prevalent in pro wrestling. You can look -- you can look at the guys, you can look at the bodies, you can look at the physiques and still tell that it's still a part of the business even today. And obviously, with what we've just heard about the 10 wrestlers being suspended, that it's still a big problem.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Well, there's, like, what, about 150 or more wrestlers within the WWE? Do you think it's a small problem that's just contained to about 10 or 20, or do you think in some way, shape or form everyone is doing this?

WILKES: Well, I think it's a widespread problem. I don't know that everyone's doing it.

There's obviously some guys -- again, you can tell by looking -- that aren't on steroids. So I don't know that everyone's doing it, that it's fair to paint everyone with that same broad brush, but I do think that it is a pretty -- a pretty big problem, a problem that's widespread.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: WWE says that it now tests wrestlers four times a year for steroids. The first two violations trigger suspensions. After a third, the wrestler is fired.

Straight ahead, a picture may be worth a thousand words, but this one took more than 2,000 Post-its.

A noteworthy artistic achievement coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, they're not just for reminders anymore. Post-it notes are now an art form. These I-Report photos tell the story.

David Alvarez of Leavenworth, Washington, used Post-it notes to create a portrait of the late musician Ray Charles. Yes, those semi- sticky pieces of paper do tend to fall off from time to time, so Alvarez finally resorted to glue to hold them all in place.

Several cities are pulling the plug on the concept of low-cost wireless Internet access for all.

Susan Liscovicz at the New York Stock Exchange to tell is why.

(BUSINESS REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Well, they're the most powerful women in the opinion of "Forbes" magazine. Susan Liscovicz is in there somewhere, but so is Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel. She ranks first on the "Forbes" list of top 100 for the second year in a row.

China's vice premier is second, followed by a Singapore businesswoman.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice slipped from second to fourth this year.

PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi is fifth.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth ranked 23rd.

And Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, 25th.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi just behind her at 26th.

And First Lady Laura Bush, she's number 60.

Well, there's an old saying. It's an ill wind that blows no good.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It sounds like what your system needed was a natural disaster.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The best thing that ever could have happened to our system. But for Hurricane Katrina, we'd still be doing things the wrong way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: How Hurricane Katrina is helping New Orleans reform its juvenile justice system.

That's straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Hello everyone, I'm Kyra Phillips live at CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. Ten years ago, the world lost a princess, but two young boys lost the best mother in the world. How do William and Harry wish Diana to be remembered? You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

But first, Senator Larry Craig's attempt to explain his guilty plea in the sex sting arrest that prompted it hasn't convinced his fellow Republicans and he soon may be out of a job. Republican sources tell CNN that Craig may resign his senate seat possibly as soon as today. Police meanwhile have released an audio recording made minutes after Craig's June arrest at the Minneapolis Airport. Included is a combative exchange between the Senator and the arresting officer.

Even though he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct, Craig insists he did nothing wrong. He calls his plea a mistake. So, what happens if Larry Craig resigns from the senate? The state's Republican governor would appoint a replacement to finish out the rest of Craig's term. The seat would then be up for grabs in the 2008 election but likely remain in Republican hands. In 2004, Idaho gave President Bush 68 percent of the vote. We've been getting lots of e-mails at cnn.com from you about Senator Larry Craig's arrest in the sex sting. Here's just a sample of some of you that have sounded off. Elaine writes, "As usual, we rally to condemn like a pack of animals or Salem witch-hunters. I don't believe that anything Craig did can be characterized as "lewd." In listening to the tapes, I believe he was intimidated by the policeman into confessing."

This is another email that was signed typical hypocrites, "Just another example of the Republican Party continuing to be hypocrites... He's supposed to be a smart man, at least call your lawyer. He plead guilty and should be treated as a sex offender and removed from office." Sam writes, "His career might be over but after listening to that tape, the guy did nothing wrong. His mistake was trying to keep it secret. He should have put his case in front of a jury." If you'd like your opinion to be heard, log on to cnn.com, go to Larry Craig's story and sound off from there.

As you know also in about the past 40 minutes or so we announced the retirement of Senator John Warner after 30 years in the senate. The 80-year-old Republican will be stepping down in January of 2009. We'll talk about his legacy and his career later in the hour.

Well, as you may have heard, President Bush announced earlier his press secretary, Tony Snow, will be leaving that post in two weeks. Snow is being treated for colon cancer but had previously said he was planning to step down any way for financial reasons. His last day at the White House will be September 14th.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BUSH: Tony Snow informed me he's leaving. And I sadly accept his desire to leave the White House, and he'll do so on September 14th. It has been a joy to watch him spar with you. He's smart, he's capable, he's witty. He's capable of -- he's able to talk about issues in a way that the American people can understand. And I don't know what he's going to do. I'm not sure he does yet either. But whatever it is, it's going to be two things -- one, he'll battle cancer and win. And secondly, he'll be a solid contributor to society.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Snow will be replaced by his deputy, Dana Perrino.

Now, another prominent White House figure is leaving today, Karl Rove. As President Bush's longtime political adviser, Rove has been controversial to say the least. He's widely credited with masterminding Mr. Bush's rise to the presidency, but Democrats accuse him of injecting politics where it doesn't belong. Rove announced his departure plans earlier this month.

Remembering Princess Diana, her personality and her humanity 10 years after her death. Her now grown-up sons organized this morning's service at the Guards Chapel near Buckingham Palace. Queen Elizabeth headed the guest list of 500 along with Prince Phillip and Prince Charles. Diana's younger son Prince Harry eulogized her as the best mother in the world.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRINCE HARRY, UNITED KINGDOM: What is far more important to us now and into the future is that we remember our mother as she would have wished to be remembered, as she was -- fun loving, generous, down to earth, and entirely genuine. We both think of her every day. We speak about her and laugh together at all the memories. But put simply, she made us and so many other people happy. May this be the way that she is remembered?

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: There were a number of other tributes, the most noticeable at Kensington Palace where Diana lived after her divorce. On the gates today, as 10 years ago, flowers, poems, and portraits.

Now a look back, 10 years ago today, the world expressed shock at the death of Princess Diana. Emotions changed in the days that followed. CNN's Paula Hancocks reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The final images of Diana, princess of Wales. Grainy pictures from security cameras show her leaving the Ritz Hotel in Paris with Dodi Fayed. Five minutes later, a car crash inside a Paris tunnel. Dodi and driver (INAUDIBLE) Paul are declared dead at the scene. Diana and bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones are taken to the hospital. A few hours later -- UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are just getting word that the French government has informed all of us that Princess Diana has died.

HANCOCKS: What followed was unprecedented. British Reserve gave way to mass hysteria and a mass public outpouring of grief for a princess few had met but many around the world adored.

TONY BLAIR, FMR. BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: She was the people's princess. And that's how she will stay, how she will remain, in our hearts and in our memories, forever.

HANCOCKS: A sea of flowers and tributes was left at the gates of Diana's home, Kensington Palace. Grief mixed with anger. The paparazzi was initially blamed for chasing the car Diana was traveling in, followed by stinging criticism for the royal family over what many considered a cold response to Diana's death. The queen then broadcast a live address to the nation.

QUEEN ELIZABETH II, UNITED KINGDOM: We've all been trying in our different ways to cope. It is not easy to express the sense of loss since the initial shock is often succeed by a mixture of other feelings -- disbelief, incomprehension, anger, and concern for those who remain.

HANCOCKS: Few can forget the bowed heads of the young princes as they walked behind their mother's coffin. One million people lined the streets of the four-mile funeral procession. Tens of millions more watched on television around the world.

CHARLES SPENCER, DIANA'S BROTHER: I stand before you today the representative of a family in grief in a country in mourning before a world in shock.

HANCOCKS: Never before had the death of a princess affected so many.

ARTHUR EDWARDS, ROYAL PHOTOGRAPHER: She was a cross between Cindy Crawford and Mother Teresa, you know, she looked like a supermodel and she had the compassion of a saint. And people saw that.

HANCOCKS: Few at the time dared to question the intense national grief during the week between Diana's death and funeral. Ten years later, many are still surprised at the power of a princess to send a nation into uncharacteristically public mourning. Paula Hancocks, CNN, London.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLILPS: A University of Georgia professor is accused of helping his pharmacy students pass a licensing exam. Ahead in the NEWSROOM, now this is affecting would-be pharmacists across the country. We'll tell you about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Now the effort to get the six trapped miners in Utah. For more than three weeks now, scores of people have worked around the clock, three men have given their lives, nothing has worked. A seventh hole drilled into the mine found a shaft filled with debris, water and mud, so officials scrapped a plan to lower a high-tech camera. Now there is talk of dropping the camera into a hole drilled before but officials acknowledge everything at this point is a long shot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RICH KULCZEWSKI, MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMIN.: We haven't given up, but we're running out of possibilities. We were all looking forward to hopefully getting a place that we could get good pictures, we could put the robotic camera down there. We thought it was a good choice of location.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, the Crandall Canyon disaster is now the subject of a federal probe announced yesterday in Washington by labor secretary Elaine Cho.

Pharmacy grads nationwide on hold, licensing exams have been suspended indefinitely. A national licensing organization claims a University of Georgia professor has been collecting test questions and giving the answers to students. Right now, no one's commenting, but according to a federal lawsuit, this is the second time the recently retired professor has faced such allegations. Graduates are caught in the middle. They have to pass that exam before they can be hired. And right now, there's no word on when those tests may resume.

You've heard it said that hurricane Katrina was the worst natural disaster ever to hit the U.S., but for the juvenile justice system in New Orleans, it was a god send. CNN's Jim Acosta explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you think the chief judge of the New Orleans juvenile justice system spends most of his time locking up troubled teens, you don't know David Bell.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pull your pants up, sir.

ACOSTA: With reminders of the city's grizzly crimes always over his shoulder, he's conducting a radical experiment for New Orleans. In the past, nearly all juveniles accused of crimes were placed in detention before their trials. Now Bell and the other judges in the system are sending most of them home under close supervision.

CHIEF JUDGE DAVID BELL, ORLEANS PARISH JUVENILE COURT: The kids that got caught playing basketball after hours, they're not locked up anymore. The kids that were tap-dancing on Canal Street, they're not locked up anymore. You know, kids like that, that's what this means.

ACOSTA: At a time when adult crime is on the rise, justice officials say their reforms have brought about a dramatic 80 percent decrease in juvenile crimes. So you're saying you can help the problem by not incarcerating them.

BELL: I'm saying that by incarcerating them the one thing that I can guarantee you is that in the long term I will increase crime.

ACOSTA: Juvenile crime was out of control before hurricane Katrina, but after floodwaters ravaged the city's main juvenile detention center, warehousing young offenders was no longer an option. It sounds like what your system needed was a natural disaster.

BELL: Best thing that ever could have happened to our system. But for hurricane Katrina, we'd still be doing things the wrong way.

ACOSTA: The wrong way is where Katrina survivor Liz's Johnnigan's son Javon was headed when he was arrested for gun possession at age 15. She worried detention would do more harm than good.

LIZ JOHNNIGAN, JAVON'S MOTHER: They say juvenile prison is just like adult prison. They see new people come up in there, they got wars and gangs up in there.

ACOSTA: But Javon got the Judge Bell treatment.

JAVON JOHNNIGAN, APPEARED BEFORE JUDGE BELL: With Judge Bell, he was strict but he was fair at the same time.

ACOSTA: Because of his good grades and clean record, he was placed under house arrest instead of detention. Today, Javon is back in school. His record expunged.

L. JOHNNIGAN: The juvenile system is way different now since life after Katrina. I think it's for the better.

ACOSTA: But prosecutors say this new approach needs more time to prove itself.

CHIEF PROSECUTOR BRANDI DONRE, ORLEANS PARISH JUVENILE COURT: It's really is in its infancy. We've only been starting the program for the last 18 months, and it's really in the beginning phases.

ACOSTA (on camera): This system still has one big problem -- the juvenile detention center. Damaged by the storm, it's being used to house young offenders to this day. It's so run down the city's own juvenile justice officials call this place a hell hole.

BELL: I'd rather send kids to Guantanamo Bay, you know, than hold them there.

ACOSTA: Just one more incentive for Judge Bell to change the system. You're not trying to get a lighter work load out of this.

BELL: No, no. Let me tell you, people laugh at me all the time because they say you keep this up, you're going to unemploy yourself.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Those are high hopes, but the city that's all about second chances just may have found a way to put itself most troubled kids on the road to redeposition. Jim Acosta, CNN, New Orleans.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Forget the hospital, the obstetrician, this baby arrived on a shrimp boat courtesy of its captain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About 11:00 I hear this --

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: It took a first aid handbook and lots of gumption to end this happily. We'll have details straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A frightening week in Greece is finally over. Wildfires raging across the country are mostly under control now. The fear today a new heat wave that could rekindle some of those fires. The cost is staggering, 63 people died, thousands of people are homeless and nearly 500,000 acres are destroyed.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: You can run but you can't chase. New school rules -- tag, out. Can red rover be far behind?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: High drama on the high seas, at least for one shrimp boat captain who had to do double duty when his cook went into labor. Laura Whitley of Houston affiliate KTRK has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAURA WHITLEY, KTRK (voice-over): On board "The Reindeer", Captain Ed Keisel takes responsibility for everything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, time to go.

WHITLEY: So, when one of his crew members went into labor 55 miles offshore --

ED KEISEL, BOAT CAPTAIN: It was about 11:00, I hear this -- hmm.

WHITLEY: The shrimp boat captain couldn't panic.

KEISEL: You can't be frantic when you're doing stuff. You're not frantic, you're doing stuff.

WHITLEY: Captain Ed turned towards port, but at top speed, the boat only goes nine miles per hour. He grabbed his first aid guide and read up on delivering babies.

KEISEL: We're ready. We got child emergency.

WHITLEY (on camera): Captain Ed is used to improvising on his boat, so he used a piece of twine to tie up the umbilical cord and found a soy sauce bottle and the tip of a rubber glove to make a baby bottle. By the time everything was sterilized, the baby was ready to come into the world. What was showing, his feet?

KEISEL: I thought it was his head.

WHITLEY: Soon Captain Ed discovered he was wrong. The baby was coming breech.

KEISEL: I thought, this isn't going to be easy.

WHITLEY: By tugging on his legs and arms, Keisel got all of the baby's limbs out. His head was stuck.

KEISEL: And I just went in through the side and hooked around the back of the head and popped down. It was a little bit more room going down. Popped down, popped it out.

WHITLEY: Out of his mother's womb, trouble for the baby was just beginning. He wasn't breathing.

KEISEL: And started in on CPR, but you've got to give just a little puff every three seconds.

WHITLEY: After about 25 minutes, the little boy began breathing on his own. What do you think about all this?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm amazed.

WHITLEY: Cindy Mawhorr named her son Brian Edward Mawhorr, after his father and the captain.

CINDY MAWHORR, MOTHER: I named him Brian Edward because the captain's name is Eddie, and Eddie delivered the baby so that's why he's Brian Edward instead of Brian Keith.

WHITLEY: A fortunate little boy that will always hold a soft spot in one shrimp boat captain's heart.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well the baby wasn't due until mid September and again, that was Laura Whitley of Houston affiliate KTRK.

Well you're it, it's out of the (INAUDIBLE) elementary school. Discovery Canyon Campus School in Colorado Springs has banned tag on its playground. Some kids who apparently didn't want to play were chased away and complained to teachers. Running is still ok but no chasing allowed. Two other Colorado elementary schools banned tag two years ago. Those schools said the bans helped cut down on playground squabbles.

Well he's rich, he's talented, he's pretty, but he won't be playing football for a while. David Beckham, the man trumpeted as America's soccer savior is hurt and bad enough to possibly keep in on the bench for the rest of the major league soccer season. Beckham went down hard on his right knee Wednesday. An MRI showed a sprain. Beckham has played a total of 310 minutes since joining the L.A. Galaxy. Terrible news for the team already holding down last place in the western conference.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

Six days ago Larry Craig had a secret and a U.S. senate seat he could count on probably as long as he wanted to. Now the secret's out and the senate career may be slipping away.

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