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CNN Live Event/Special
Will Embattled Idaho Senator Larry Craig Resign?; Fred Thompson to Officially Join Presidential Race; Chemical Plants; Egyptian Students Indicted; Princess Diana 10th Anniversary Memorial Service; Homemaking Bachelor Degree
Aired August 31, 2007 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: We have got breaking news.
The Craig resignation is coming in. We're going to be taking you to Idaho. Dana Bash is following it. We're expecting some developments out of Washington as well. Candy Crowley is going to have that for us. We have got you covered on that story.
Also tonight, this is an OUT IN THE OPEN investigation that involves chemical plants. We have been working on this one for months, chemical plants, kind of like the one you're seeing right there behind me right now. This is something that we are simply not prepared for as a nation. It could kill millions of us. That's why we're going to be bringing this out in the open.
And then there they are. I don't know if you got chance to see this today. There is Prince Charles. There's his two sons. There's the queen coming up there in the purple. Somebody is missing, though, right? Camilla Parker Bowles.
Richard Quest is going to be joining us live. He says that there was a fight. That's the reason that you're seeing that and not Camilla Parker Bowles in any of those pictures.
And then, see that shot back there? That is a college. The thing with a college is, they offer courses in homemaking only for women, in leadership, only for men. That has got some people furious. This is a debate that we're bringing out in the open.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ (voice-over): All right, America, do you know who this guy is?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He looks very familiar.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe you have seen him on TV?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Fred Thompson, actor, politician, politician, actor, president? It's official. He wants in. We take it to Times Square.
Reexamining the Craig-cop confrontation. Some say he was stupid for pleading guilty, but is he smarter than we think? SEN. LARRY CRAIG (R), IDAHO: But you shouldn't be out to entrap people either.
SANCHEZ: And look up in the sky. It's a bird. It's a plane. No. What the heck is it? From out of this world to OUT IN THE OPEN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: Hi, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez.
And we do have breaking news tonight. The Larry Craig political death watch is about to end. Multiple Republican sources in Idaho are now telling CNN the senator will announce his resignation tomorrow and leave office on September 30.
This is a rapid, stunning fall. It was only Tuesday that we first learned that he had been arrested in June by an undercover police officer investigating lewd conduct in the restrooms at the Minneapolis Airport. Craig pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct on August 1, but kept quiet about this until now. Now it appears it's going to cost him his job.
Let's go right to Dana Bash. She's in Boise, Idaho. She's been following this story.
Dana, is this a change of heart, because wasn't he holding a news conference just the other day indicating that he was going fight this thing? And what caused the change?
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Pressure, pressure pressure, intense pressure, Rick.
This is an incredibly dramatic week. And it is coming to an end with a fall from grace for a man who has represented this state of Idaho for a quarter-century. It really is stunning and it really is sudden. And it's going to happen right behind me in this building we're told tomorrow morning. And, as you mentioned, we're told from multiple Republican sources that what Senator Craig is going to announce tomorrow is that he is going to resign effective September 30. September 30, we're told, will be his last day in office.
Now, we have been reporting, of course, for a couple days about the intense pressure on Senator Craig, particularly from his Republican colleagues in the U.S. Senate. What they have been doing is making clear, several of them, that it is time for him to resign because of his actions.
And I want to put something on the screen for you, a word that I think really speaks 1,000 words, "unforgivable." That is the word that was used by his own Republican leader back in Washington, Senator Mitch McConnell, somebody who he has worked with, who he has been friends with for years and years, somebody who he was in the leadership with not too long ago.
That really sort of speaks volumes to how imperative it was for Republicans on a national level for Senator Craig to go. And I can tell you at this point they're breathing a sigh of relief. Why? Because they -- on a national level, Republicans are stinging from scandal and they very much saw Senator Craig and this whole situation as a distraction, an embarrassment, and something that as hindering them from getting back with the voters, getting the trust back from voters that they very much lost because of scandals like this.
SANCHEZ: All right. Thanks a lot, Dana Bash, following the situation from Idaho.
We certainly have a lot of other coverage on this.
With me now, CNN senior political correspondent Candy Crowley.
Candy, what's the significance of Craig resigning on a Saturday in particular?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm not sure there is significance here.
But, usually, if you have got bad news, you want to dump it out in a slow news period, where there aren't many people watching TV, where the papers are laid to rest, where the TV shows maybe don't have an evening news.
But the thought that this would somehow disappear on a Saturday is actually dreaming. I don't think that's going to happen. My guess is that they just needed this extra day here. I think what the Republicans wanted to do was give Larry Craig enough room and enough time to listen to all of this that's coming in that Dana referred to, and this was the day when he sat down and, you know, decided what he -- what Dana reports will be his resignation.
SANCHEZ: Or -- or did they get to him? Did someone in Washington in the Republican Party pick up the phone and have a long conversation with this guy and convince him to do this?
CROWLEY: It's possible. And we will find this out, I think, as the days go on.
But the fact of the matter is, he didn't need to have a long conversation with anybody. He needed to pick up his paper or turn on his TV. This was not the least bit subtle. This was sort of the political brand of water torture. It was just blink, blink, blink. There was absolutely no way he could have missed these signals. So, I'm not sure long conversations were needed.
SANCHEZ: Candy Crowley, thanks so much for bringing us up to date on the reaction there in Washington as well.
And now we want to give due consideration to the possibility that the senator's goose isn't really yet cooked, at least not legally. Maybe the taped argument with the police officer will actually help him in some way.
Take a listen to this part of the argument.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CRAIG: I don't -- I am not gay. I don't do these kinds of things and...
(CROSSTALK)
DAVE KARSNIA, INVESTIGATIVE SERGEANT: That doesn't matter. I don't care about sexual preference or anything like that.
Here's your stuff back, sir. I don't care about sexual preference.
CRAIG: I know you don't. You're out to enforce the law.
KARSNIA: Right.
CRAIG: But you shouldn't be out to entrap people either.
KARSNIA: This isn't entrapment.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Court TV's Lisa Bloom knows exculpatory evidence when she hears it. She is joining us now to answer the question. How could the tape possibly help him, if so?
And he does use the word entrap.
LISA BLOOM, COURT TV ANCHOR: Yes. that's a bad argument to raise, because, if you use the word entrapment, you admit to the underlying offense, but you say the cop made you do it.
But if he had contacted me or any decent attorney before he pleaded guilty, he could have been sprung from this. This is ridiculous, Rick? What's he accused of? Playing footsie in a bathroom, reaching his hand under, palm up, never touching the officer, never verbally soliciting the officer in any way, in fact, no words exchanged whatsoever? Come on.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: But hold on a minute. The fact that he argued with the police officer and held his own and said, look, you know, you may have been trying to entrap me, and I'm not doing the things that you said I was doing, can't he somehow convince somebody later on that he was actually an innocent man?
BLOOM: Yes, he could have, if he hadn't pleaded guilty. The fact that he did plead guilty...
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: So, you're saying, once he signed that piece of paper, his goose is cooked?
BLOOM: Once you plead guilty, once you sign -- and I have read it -- he signs away his right to ever claim he's innocent. He signs away his right to a jury trial. It's done. Legally, it's done for him.
If he had done the smart thing -- and maybe he's just too stupid to be a senator, if you plead guilty without contacting a lawyer. But if he had done the smart thing, gotten a lawyer, and fought it, come on. What is he accused of? Coming on to another consenting adult in a men's room? Is that illegal?
SANCHEZ: So, legally speaking, this is not going to be a big problem...
(CROSSTALK)
BLOOM: Legally speaking, I don't even think this is lewd contact. There's no sexual behavior. There's no sexual banter. There's a foot touching a foot.
SANCHEZ: But, when it comes to situations like this, there's really two courts.
BLOOM: Yes.
SANCHEZ: There's a court of public opinion and there's the real court.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: And you know darn well the real court he was concerned about is the court of public opinion.
BLOOM: Yes. But you mean to tell me, if he had done this to a woman, would Republicans be calling this unforgivable, when people say this is disgusting and despicable?
SANCHEZ: Well, they have got the case of David Vitter.
BLOOM: Well, that was a prostitute. That's illegal conduct.
I mean, this is man who thinks, apparently, if he's guilty, he's coming on to another consenting adult, yes, a male consenting adult, in a restroom. If this had been a woman walking down the street, she would be getting unwanted sexual advances all day long. People don't lose their careers over it.
In 2007, he loses his career over this because it's a man coming on to man? I think that's sad.
SANCHEZ: Lisa Bloom, thanks so much for joining us. Good stuff. We appreciate it.
Remember when Larry Craig said this the other day?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRAIG: Let me be clear: I am not gay. I never have been gay. (END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Well, some people think that the Larry Craig scandal in general and that statement in particular is a setback for gays, both in and out of politics.
Patrick Sammon is the president of Log Cabin Republicans. It's a national gay and lesbian Republican grassroots organization. He's good enough to join us now.
Patrick, Senator Craig is not the first conservative public figure who preaches family values, and ends up involved in a sex scandal. In fact, Lisa and I were talking about this just a little while ago. Are you surprised to learn about not just about this story, but what seems to be maybe a little bit of pattern here, at least somewhat of a trend?
PATRICK SAMMON, PRESIDENT, LOG CABIN REPUBLICANS: Well, certainly, Senator Craig's record on gay rights was not good. It was pretty bad.
But it's important to point out that, even if he was supportive of gay rights, his behavior was still illegal and it was still inappropriate. And I think it's appropriate that he take responsibility for his actions and resign.
If he wanted to contest the charges, he should have done that before entering a guilty plea.
SANCHEZ: Is there anything we need to learn about this, something maybe the rest of us just don't get that someone like you can bring to our attention?
SAMMON: I'm not sure -- the bottom line is, I don't want to speculate on the senator's sexual orientation. It's clear that he had -- showed incredibly poor judgment here.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: But here's the point I'm making. And maybe you didn't get me.
Most Americans look at this situation and are just absolutely shocked by it. Why would a guy who seems to be living a life over here that's totally different from anything that he seems to be accused of do something like this, seemingly out of the blue? Can you help us get that?
SAMMON: Well, I think, unfortunately -- and, again, I'm not speculating on his sexual orientation, but it is clear we have seen, whether it's Governor McGreevey or Ted Haggard, that life in the closet is a lonely and dark place and unfortunately it can lead to reckless and sometimes illegal behavior.
And I think it really points out the importance of people living authentic, open, honest lives true to who they are. And I'm not sure if that's the situation here, but certainly he showed a lack of judgment. He needs to take responsibility for it. And it's a good thing that he's stepping down, because the people of Idaho deserve better.
SANCHEZ: It's certainly tough to argue with that.
Patrick Sammon, thanks so much for joining us. Good stuff.
SAMMON: Good to be with you.
SANCHEZ: Well, while we're speaking of resignations, here's the way it's supposed to go.
This afternoon, surrounded by his family and some admirers, U.S. Senator John Warner of Virginia announces he will not seek reelection after five terms and 45 years of public service.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN WARNER (R), VIRGINIA: I want to be fair to this wonderful state, who have been eminently fair to me all these many years, and say simply, you have given me my best shot, and I'm quietly going to step aside and clear the way for others to move on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: And, as I make an entrance for you, let me tell you about a very important political exit.
Check this out. This happened just outside the White House today. And I want you to see it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: He almost looks saddened by it, doesn't it? The cheers and the applause from the White House staff, and maybe from Democrats, who could never figure out how to beat this guy. It's Karl Rove, the president's longtime political adviser. People call him Bush's brain, waving goodbye after his last day on the job. He's going home to Texas.
While we're over here, let me tell you about a CNN exclusive. Once secret information, military video, it may help disprove allegations that U.S. Marines took part in massacre. We are going to show you more in just a little bit.
And then we're releasing the results of an important CNN "Security Watch" investigation tonight. This is something, by the way, that we have been working on for months. Why is this part of the most dangerous two miles in America?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SANCHEZ: All right, take a look at this video.
CNN got this exclusive video. It was shot by an unmanned U.S. military spy plane in Iraq. The footage is new evidence that could help U.S. Marines accused of going on a murderous rampage through an Iraqi village after a bomb attack killed a fellow Marine just two years ago. It's a story -- we're going to bring you a lot more on that, that development, in just a little.
In the meantime, as we report more information this, the big meeting at the Pentagon today President Bush and Vice President Cheney went through this afternoon to hear directly from the generals on the future course of the war in Iraq.
Let's get the latest on this now from senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre.
Given what we saw yesterday with that report that just seemed to be extremely negative for this administration, what are you hearing today that they are saying or doing about it, Jamie?
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Rick, this was supposedly a private meeting where the Joint Chiefs are going to be able to give their unvarnished opinion to the president, so we don't know what was said, right?
Well, actually, we do know a little bit, because we know the Chiefs are very concerned about the state of readiness of the U.S. military and the strain this war is putting on it. And we also know many of the chiefs were hesitant about the surge strategy when it was first announced.
But you don't have to be a tea leave reader to see where this is headed. When President Bush came out and said that -- quote -- "The stakes are too high and the consequences too grave to allow politics to interfere," that's kind of code for, I'm thinking of keeping this surge going at least until spring.
And that's what we're hearing really from all the commanders in Iraq.
SANCHEZ: Now, you know what's interesting? The Pentagon yesterday, the big report was that they were trying to put heat on the GAO to maybe change the grade somewhat, speaking metaphorically, of course.
Is that confirmed now? And what more do we know about that?
MCINTYRE: Well, you know, it is true. And the irony of that is, the day before -- the Pentagon spokesman said that one reason Secretary Gates wanted the president to get all these individual opinions was to avoid what he called bureaucrat massaging. When you have a report that everybody has got to agree on, they take all the rough edges off it.
Then, the very next day, the Pentagon admits that it is trying to bureaucratically massage this GAO report to get the findings to look not quite so bad. It just goes to show you how things work in Washington.
SANCHEZ: Jamie McIntyre, we thank you.
Now, by the way, there's another big story, if you could hang on for just a bit. And that's the one you're working on in Haditha. That's the Haditha tape.
What's the latest with that? Is there culpability, as you look at it, or not?
MCINTYRE: Well, we have got this tape that has never been seen before. And, while it doesn't show any of the alleged wrongdoing, what it really does is paint a very dramatic picture of what the Marines were up against in Haditha two years ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE (voice-over): The bombings and strafings seen on this aerial video obtained exclusively by CNN shows Haditha was a hotbed of insurgent activity back on that day, November 19, 2005.
Early in the morning, a U.S. Marine died in an IED attack and shortly afterward 24 Iraqi civilians were killed by Marines hunting the attackers, leading to murder charges a year later.
A small unmanned spy plane called ScanEagle arrived about 30 minutes after the initial attack on the U.S. Marine vehicle, Focusing on a house from which the military suspected insurgents triggered the bomb, and showing the aftermath of the blast here some 1,000 yards away.
Just up the road is a white sedan and the bodies of five Iraqi men who Marines say refused to lie down and were shot while running away. Villagers said the men were students in a taxi, but the Marines say their actions were consistent with insurgents about to detonate a car bomb.
The video will soon be evidence in the case of squad leader, Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, accused of doing some of the shooting.
GARY SOLIS, FORMER MILITARY JUDGE AND PROSECUTOR: Well, if I'm a juror, I'm not going to be impressed.
MCINTYRE: Retired Marine Lieutenant Colonel Gary Solis, a former prosecutor and military judge who teaches law at Georgetown and West Point, analyzed the video for CNN.
(on camera): You have seen the tape. How significant do you think it is as a piece of evidence?
SOLIS: It tends to prove that this was a violent place, where you had enemy fighters, where it was necessary to bring in air support. MCINTYRE (voice-over): Throughout that day, Marines engaged in fierce firefights and called in airstrikes to level entire buildings, often with no definitive of idea of who was inside. That could buttress defense arguments that the Marines clearing buildings on the grounds with guns and grenades were just following the rules of engagement.
SOLIS: The defense can say, hey, look, you had to do this later in the day. What is the difference between what happened later in the day and what our guys did earlier in the day?
MCINTYRE: And that might help explain why so far prosecutors have had trouble making murder charges stick. Charges have been dropped against two Marines. Another is awaiting a decision.
(on camera): Is there a tendency to give Marine soldiers in combat the benefit of doubt when it comes to these kind of split- second decisions?
SOLIS: You have a military jury, probably most of whom, if not all of whom, will have been in Iraq.
MCINTYRE (voice-over): The video shows how the military suspects anyone on the move during combat as being a potential enemy, such as this motorcyclist who appears to be an insurgent messenger.
But while prosecutors may be having a hard time winning convictions, Gary Solis believes someone should be accountable for the 24 civilian deaths in Haditha.
SOLIS: It would be difficult to say that justice has been served if no one is convicted for Haditha.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE: Now, Rick, we asked military prosecutors for a comment on the tape. And we were told through a spokesman that the rules of the court prohibit them from discussing the evidence in the case -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: Jamie McIntyre, good work. Thanks so much for bringing us that report.
Time to show you another video clip. This is a video clip, by the way, that is making some people really angry. This is a religious art competition taking place in Australia. It's a hologram. Now, watch this image of Jesus. See that? It just morphed into the image of Osama bin Laden.
Some people call it art. Some people say it's funny. Some people say it's frustrating. People are furious. The Australian prime minister, John Howard, is calling this -- his direct quote -- "gratuitously offensive." The artist is a woman. She's already getting death threats. And we're told, as a result of this and other paintings she's done that many Christians find offensive, she's now gone into hiding. So, how is the prospect of Fred Thompson for president playing in a place like Times Square?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, he's a senator?
SANCHEZ: And he's a senator.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And he's a -- he's in the Senate, right?
SANCHEZ: He's a Republican.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Next, it's the pulse of the square. How do Americans feel about putting the actor in the White House -- again?
And then tempting targets for terrorists, millions of lives at risk. Why isn't the government doing more? And, tonight, the frightening results of an exclusive CNN investigation we're bringing out in the open.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: I want you to tell me, as you look at that man, who that is.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He looks very familiar.
SANCHEZ: Maybe you have seen him on TV?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Maybe "Law & Order"?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Fred Thompson?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sure.
SANCHEZ: So, you're a Republican.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.
SANCHEZ: And you're a Democrat.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
SANCHEZ: They're saying, oh, the next Ronald Reagan. Do you buy it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Honestly, I haven't heard enough from him yet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: All right, they may not know him now, but they soon will.
Fred Thompson, actor and former senator, has officially set the date and will get into the presidential race next Thursday. We took his picture down to Times Square and talked to an equal number of liberals and conservatives about this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: I want you to look at that picture, look into the camera, and tell me who that is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, boy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No clue.
SANCHEZ: Don't have a clue?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the guy from "Law & Order" who is running for presidency for the Republicans. I can't remember his name.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a Republican from -- where is he from?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Who is that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is Senator Fred Thompson.
SANCHEZ: Well done.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. Is he -- is he in the race?
SANCHEZ: All right. It's official. It looks like Fred Thompson is going to become a candidate for the Republican ticket.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're kidding? Really? You're talking to Democrats.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I -- I'm more of a Rudy man than a Fred Thompson man.
SANCHEZ: A lot of people are saying, this guy is the one who is going to energize the party, because he's Reaganesque.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's semi-Reaganesque. Basically, he answers all the issues, and that's why I will be voting for him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... high standard, in my opinion.
SANCHEZ: A good candidate is a good candidate? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think so.
SANCHEZ: You don't think he's a good candidate?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is he going to do, get up on stage?
SANCHEZ: Why would they compare him to a Republican president from the past? Why not compare to the Republican president who is in the office now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's kind of easy, right, when your approval rating is horrendous, and Ronald Reagan's was great?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Let's now bring in Cheri Jacobus, Republican strategist and founder of Capitol Strategies.
Cheri, thanks so much for being with us.
CHERI JACOBUS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Good to be here.
SANCHEZ: Is this going to be tough? Is it going to be tough? I mean, there's been a lot of hype around this guy.
JACOBUS: Well, sure.
SANCHEZ: Now he's got to do the real deal. Can you overcome that?
JACOBUS: Oh, no, I think that he's doing fine. Look, there's a lot of anticipation about him getting into this race. I think it adds some excitement.
And here's the dirty little secret about campaigns and politics. And you saw some of this in the piece in some of your interviews. Regular people, people who are not in politics and are not in the media, they really aren't paying close attention right now.
Labor Day is usually that sort of line in the sand of demarcation where, after that, people get back from their summer vacations, and they start paying attention. So, this might be just the perfect timing for Fred Thompson.
SANCHEZ: Let me ask you something about the way he is going to probably want to portray himself, probably the way a lot of politicians want to portray themselves: I'm the outsider. I'm not like those folks inside the beltway in Washington.
Yet, this guy used to be a lobbyist in Washington. You can't get more inside than that. Is that a problem?
JACOBUS: You know, lobbyists, it's sort of a dirty word. But they're not all bad. And there is a very necessary function and a need for them. And there's lots of them in Washington. You only tend to hear about the bad ones. I don't think that is a problem for him. The fact that he was a staffer in Washington, then he went out and did something else, and he's been in Hollywood, he's been an actor, then he was a senator, so, he's kind of done a number of different things, I think he -- you know, he might just strike the right tone in terms of: I have been there long enough where I understand it, but I have done other things, so it's not like it's something I need, and I'm not a complete political animal.
And, so, for Fred Thompson, this might be just the right chord for him to strike with the American people.
SANCHEZ: Before I let you go, let me ask you some of the questions I asked some of the folks out there.
First of all, is he Reaganesque? And why the comparison to Reagan? Why not compare him to the Republican who is in the White House right now? And what does that say about the Republican who is in the White House right now?
JACOBUS: Well, you know, everybody that's running for office likes to have something about them that's compared to Ronald Reagan.
Some people have tried to compare him. They have sort of backed off from that. But I think anybody running for president wants to run as their own man or their own woman and not be compared to anyone else, maybe take the better things from former presidents, whether they be Democrats or Republicans.
SANCHEZ: OK. Now, 15 seconds. Don't scrub my last question, the one about why they're comparing him to a former president and not a present president, when the guy in the office now is a Republican?
JACOBUS: Well, you know, we just might see as the campaign wears on that there are some of the candidates that want to compare themselves to George W. Bush in certain areas. Like I said, they're going to extract...
SANCHEZ: Can you name any at this point?
JACOBUS: Oh, I think that the sincerity of this president and the way he's been consistent, whether people agree with him or not is something that the history books will look at him and say, you know, good job. That is what we need in a president.
All right, Shari Jacobus, we thank you, we appreciate your time.
JACOBUS: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Proof of flying saucers? Are they real? This isn't Roswell, New Mexico, it's Davis, California. A company called MORE International, has built an actual flying car. It's great if you're stuck in traffic. They hope to produce about half dozen in the next year, want to work up to a couple hundred a year, they say, eventually. There it is. Take a look inside. Coming up, the exclusive results of a CNN investigation: Soft spots in our security. What happens if terrorists attack using this method? Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ...talking about something that rivals nuclear weapons.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: A clear and present danger and a warning. Why aren't we doing more to protect ourselves? This is a report you are going to want to see later.
A deadly finger reaching down from the clouds. We'll explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Tonight, a CNN "Security Watch." It's a frightening story. We've been investigating this for months and tonight, we're going to bring this OUT IN THE OPEN. We're going to take you to a place that's called -- it's called the most dangerous two miles in America. That's because it's lined with chemical plants, it's surrounded, as well, by millions living in nearby towns. It's the prime target for a terror strike. And CNN's Deborah Feyerick discovered the government seems to be doing very little to protect us from a deadly attack on an unimaginable scale.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a huge explosion. 15,000 people in Wake County, North Carolina, raced away from a cloud of poisonous chlorine gas at a hazardous waste plant, last October.
Imagine that happening in this part of New Jersey near Newark International Airport. Millions of people call it home. The FBI calls it the most dangerous two miles in America. Chlorine gas facilities, one after another, that intelligence officials and others fear could be attacked by a small plane, a shoulder launched missile, even a rifle, triggering a catastrophe.
RICK HIND, GREENPEACE LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR: We're talking about something that rivals nuclear weapons.
FEYERICK: The latest National Intelligence estimate warns the threat is real. With al Qaeda still focused on hitting high impact U.S. targets, with terrorists in Iraq using now chlorine gas in car bomb attacks and with four 150 pound canisters of chorine stolen from water treatment plants in Texas and California.
HIND: You're talking about millions of people at risk in a matter of 30 to 40 minutes...
FEYERICK: Rick Hind is with the environmental group, GreenPeace. HIND: We've been able to get into chemical plants in broad daylight. We feel confident that any evil-intended individuals could do much more in terms of just a few seconds.
FEYERICK: The EPA publicly lists 100 facilities that threaten one million people or more, and yet six years after 9/11, the Department of Homeland Security admits it has no clear idea how secure any of the nation's thousands of chemical plants really are. Only now, after temporary rules went into effect in April, is DHS beginning to scrutinize security plans, says Bob Stephan, DHS head of Infrastructure Protection.
ROBERT STEPHAN, DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY: I'm reasonably certain that we're going to put the best possible risk-based framework in place to keep this target set off the table in terms of al Qaeda.
FEYERICK: Rather than regulate security, as it did with airlines, DHS has relied on the chemical industry to handle security on its own, with things like fences and cameras. The chemical industry says it has spent $5 billion in security upgrades.
(on camera): What do you think the greatest misperception is out there?
MARTY DURBIN, AMERICAN CHEMICAL COUNCIL: Well, I think the greatest misperception is that nothing's been done and that just is the furthest thing from the truth.
STEPHAN: The chemical industry is very complex, very diverse. There are many interest groups involved and to achieve consensus on a very tough issue, takes time.
FEYERICK (voice-over): But critics on Capitol Hill accuse the chemical industry, with its 200 plus lobbyists, of weakening laws aimed at restricting dangerous chemicals, like chlorine.
REP EDWARD MARKEY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Why can't we have the Department of Homeland Security step up and say it's time for the Bush administration to provide supervision...
FEYERICK: Under the new regulations, water treatment plants, among the biggest users of chlorine, are currently exempt from federal oversight.
(on camera): Right after 9/11 this wastewater treatment facility in Washington, D.C. was able to switch from chlorine to the safer alternative, a liquid bleach. It is one of the largest facilities of its kind in the nation, and yet it was able to do so in just 90 days. The question, why aren't more doing the same?
(voice-over): They don't have to. The new temporary rules don't require it. And DHS says it's not on the table.
HIND: Until a chemical plant becomes neutralized in using safer chemicals it will not be secure. You have to assume the fence line security will fail, it's just matter of when. FEYERICK: And even if Congress and the administration do act, it could be three to four years before the Department of Homeland Security figures out the full extent of the security risk.
Deborah Feyerick, CNN, South Kearny, New Jersey.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: There's something else we need to tell you about this story. While we were shooting video of chemical plants for this story, one of our video journalists was briefly detained by police. At the very least, someone was watching, right? That's a good thing.
Some of the pics that we've been following for you, now. New developments in a story that we were checking on last month. Remember we played this up during our weekend newscast. This is in Goose Creek, South Carolina. It's near a Navy base, so this alarmed a lot of people, including folks at the federal government, folks like ATF, Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, the FBI.
Two college students from Egypt, stopped for speeding. Police look in their trunk and find what they think are bombs inside. They claim it's just homemade fireworks. New development, tonight. Here we go. Both indicted on charges of carry explosive materials across state lines. One is accused of trying to teach the other how to use them for violent reasons.
There was some really big doings in England today, as you know. But the real headline is how they tried to honor Princess Diana. Richard Quest is going to be joining me to talk about a bit of an argument that may have caused the Camilla Parker Bowles person to go missing. He'll explain.
And then, going to college (INAUDIBLE). Why are these classes for women only? It's making some people furious. I'll ask a college dean.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: We welcome you back. I'm Rick Sanchez. Tender moments today, in London during a royal event on the 10th anniversary of the tragic death of Princess Diana. Her former husband, Prince Charles, kissed his sons, Princes William and Harry.
The two brothers then led their grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, into the Guard's Chapel where Prince Harry led a tribute describing Diana as "the best mother in the entire world."
Other Royal Family members and 500 guests crowded into the church to honor the "people's princess."
But there was one member of the Royal Family that stayed away from the tribute, Charles' wife Camilla. And the question, of course, why wasn't she there, why wasn't she there with the rest of the Royal Family, the rest of the guests?
Richard Quest is joining us. He is the man with the answer. He is in London, tonight.
A lot of people saw that, especially when -- you know, that moment when Charles walks in and he gives that double cheek kiss thing you guy do over there in Europe to his sons, which I thought was kind of strange, but you were almost wondering why Camilla wasn't with him. Why not?
RICHARD QUEST, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, she couldn't win, Rick, because if she had been there you'd have been the first person asking me tonight: how could the woman whom Diana said "there was three in our marriage" about, "it was a bit crowded," why was she there?
So, Camilla was caught in probably the most difficult position. And it was Camilla who eventually, having accepted the invitation to attend the service, the invitation that came from her stepchildren, Harry and William, it was Camilla who said no, my presence would divert attention from Diana and probably, you know, behind her breath say it would also be very uncomfortable for me, as well, therefore it's inappropriate for me to be there. She wasn't there. And I have to say, if I can come of the -- you haven't asked me the question, but I'm going come off the fence anyway, and say it was absolutely the right decision.
SANCHEZ: And you speak for the rest of your country, you think?
QUEST: Well, the polls immediately before Camilla said she ain't turning up, suggested that 70 percent of Britain's didn't want her there. She was the woman, rightly or wrongly, that caused, as they say, the breakdown of the marriage between Diana and Charles. She is the woman that Diana called "The Rottweiler." She's the woman that Diana basically had several out-and-out rows with. So, it wouldn't have been appropriate.
SANCHEZ: The whole thing would have been -- you say inappropriate. We would say weird, right?
QUEST: No, inappropriate.
SANCHEZ: Inappropriate. OK. We'll go with your word. Let's talk now about her sons. Because, this was almost staged to look as if her sons were the ones who had decided to do this on their own. Very well done. Very well choreographed or orchestrated. Was it that way or did this really come from their hearts? Do we know?
QUEST: Why, I don't know, you wish to pour such cynicism on what has clearly been a markable day of honesty from two sons mourning their mother 10 years on. And, but seriously, to the point you raise, it was their idea to have a service. It was their idea to transhift (ph) attention from how she died, the speculation of who was involved, and move it forward and to actually talk about her legacy. And therefore, when Prince Harry did speak to the congregation, to the world it came from the heart.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PRINCE HARRY, UNITED KINGDOM: She'll always be rembered for her amazing public work. But behind the media glare, to us, just two loving children, she was quite simply the best mother in the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: What can you say about that? I mean, there is a son, who was 12 at the time, now 22, basically saying to the world, remember the good she did.
SANCHEZ: My producer says we got to go. So, you got to answer this in a yes or no. I don't even know if you're capable of that. Was this an attempt by the palace, by the royals, to finally put this thing away and go on with their lives?
QUEST: Yes!
SANCHEZ: I thought you'd say that. Richard Quest, we thank you so much. As usual, a pleasure for having you on.
At the top of the hour, Larry King is going to have a look at the life and legacy of Princess Diana.
Larry, who you going to have with you tonight?
LARRY KING, LARRY KING LIVE: I love Richard Quest.
SANCHEZ: Isn't he great?
KING: He'll be with us, too. He's everywhere!
We're going to take you back to the death of Princess Di, of course, 10 years ago, tonight, Rick. We'll have the doctor who gave her first aid in the Paris tunnel. Didn't know who he was treating, by the way.
Plus, Diana's former bodyguard, the author of the best-seller, "The Diana Chronicles," Tina Brown, and the woman that was with Diana and her boyfriend, Doty Fyed, the last two weeks of their lives. It's all at the top of the hour on LARRY KING LIVE -- Rick.
SANCHEZ: Do you think he'll talk louder than you tonight? Richard Quest, that is.
KING: You think?
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Larry King, we'll look forward to it.
Well, does it sound like progress or turning back the clock? A theological college is offering women classes on how to be a good wife, housework for homework. I'm going to ask a college dean why men aren't allowed to take that course.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SANCHEZ: Here's the story we've been telling you about. Welcome back. The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in ft. Worth, Texas, is offering a bachelor degree with a concentration in homemaking and the courses for women only. What is called a biblical model for the home and family and focuses on the biblical role of women related to the home, family, church, ministry, and relationships.
Another homemaking practicum focuses on putting fundamental elements of homemaking into practice while placing the students in real life situations.
Now, there are critics on both sides of this issue. So, joining me now to defend both sides of the issue are Terri Stovall, she's the dean of Women's Program and associate professor of Women's Ministry at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Leslie Goldman, she the author of "Locker Room Diaries: The Naked Truth about Women, Body Image, and Re-Imaging the Perfect Body."
My thanks to both of you for being with us.
LESLIE GOLDMAN, AUTHOR, "LOCKER ROOM DIARIES": Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Dean Stovall, let me begin with you. Some would suggest that it might be demeaning to suggest that these courses on homemaking should be offered only to women and not to men. And to that, how would you respond?
TERRI STOVALL, SOUTHWESTERN BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEM: Well, our courses in homemaking, requested by woman, they're tailored to women and they speak to model biblical womanhood, so we've just chosen to limit to women for those -- that small block of courses.
SANCHEZ: Do the students complain? Have you heard of anybody coming into your office and say, you know what, you know, I'm a guy and I want to learn some of those things as well and I want women to be able to take leadership courses like the ones I'm taking?
STOVALL: Not a one. Not a one have I had a gentleman come in and ask me that.
SANCHEZ: So Leslie, there you go. Nobody's complaining about it. That's the way they want the curriculum to be. They chose to go to that school. It is the seminary. What's your beef?
GOLDMAN: Well, first of all, as far as I understand, it's just starting out right now and there's a very small number of women who've enrolled in the program. But, I want to make it clear that the issue is not whether or not being a stay-at-home parent or homemaker is a viable, challenging, admirable career or job, because it is. The issue here is gender pigeonholing. And by offering this concentration, what the institution is saying is that cooking and cleaning and keeping care of the home and keeping care of the child is a woman's role and a woman's role only. It's tantamount to a university offering a certificate in math or in sciences and only allowing men in. There would be an uproar and yet, this is saying, here, earn your degree in cookie baking, and people seem to think it's OK.
SANCHEZ: Dean, is that how you see it?
STOVALL: No. I don't see it like that at all. It is one choice. And if women want to choose this because the home is their priority, then we need to encourage them to do it. We have 800 women on campus doing so many different programs, this is just woun choice.
SANCHEZ: How do you describe your relationship at home with your husband, Dean?
STOVALL: Oh, my relationship at home is wonderful. I love my husband. He's great.
SANCHEZ: Is he the leader in your house or are you? Who's the boss?
SANCHEZ: He is the boss. When I go home at night after working at the seminary, I am there to help him and we serve each other.
SANCHEZ: But, he's the boss?
STOVALL: He is the spiritual leader of my home.
SANCHEZ: Leslie, does that bother you?
GOLDMAN: Whatever someone does in their own home does not bother me. I respect other women's decisions. What bothers me is that women maybe -- we talk about women having choices. Do women really have a choice when they're being brought up in a community where they're told, from the get-go, that your role is to get married, in the words of the president of the university, "graciously submit to your husband," that's a direct quote, and start diapering immediately. Is there really a choice there?
SANCHEZ: Well, you know, we had this conversation -- this is a great story -- we had this conversation in our newsroom today, and all of us started talking about it. And they asked me, well, how does it work in your home?
I have kind of a traditional family. And in fact, we've got graphic that we made, which kind of shows the way things go in my own home with my wife, Susanne. They asked me what do you do, Rick? I do some cooking. I obviously change a lot of diapers. I have four children. Don't do dishes. Don't clean the house, for the most part. I don't do laundry. I do mow the lawn. And I don't do shopping. Is that typical of an American male and is there anything wrong with that -- Leslie.
GOLDMAN: I think it's fantastic that you change diapers. I think it's great that there is a division of certain duties. In my house my husband does most of the cooking. He enjoys it. I could cook if I wanted to, I just happen to not enjoy cooking. I...
SANCHEZ: So, you say -- and maybe we'll take this back to the Dean and you get the closing word here, Dean. The idea is that by teaching this as a curriculum, you're telling people this is the suggested way of behaving in your life, when it really should be more of a choice for them as to who's the leader right?
STOVALL: It is a choice. This is not the only choice we have for women in our school. This is one choice and if women decide to do it, I say, it's a noble cause, it's a high calling and we want to equip them to do it right.
SANCHEZ: Leslie Goldman, Terri Stovall, thank you both for being with us. Interesting conversation, fair arguments presented on both sides. We'll be back right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: One more piece of video before we let you go. Do tornados look a little different when they're in Italy, as opposed to the ones we see in the United States? No, not really. And the effect it has on people is not very different, as well.
Somebody just happened to have a camera out, this is near Tuscany in Italy, and you almost -- you can hear the reaction of some of the families there. One of the children, all of a sudden, you hear him suddenly speaking English and he says "Wow!
We'll stay on that story for you as well. That's it for us. Thanks so much for being with us, I'm Rick Sanchez. The King is next.
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