Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
British Troops Leaving Fight in Basra; Justice or Jim Crow Revival?; Two Girls Die in Arizona Accident; Felix Now Category 5 Storm; Dog Bone Politics; Maryland Lottery Winner Comes Forward
Aired September 02, 2007 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: The British are coming. The British are coming. Sorry, not this time. This time, the British are leaving, as in leaving the fight in Iraq. But what does it mean for our troops in the field?
A white tree, a noose and a school fight. It all adds up to six black teens facing decades in prison.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These are kids. They are kids.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Justice or a Jim Crow revival? That's the question twirling around the case of the Jena Six.
Two young girls disappear while riding all terrain vehicles. Twelve hours later, they're found at the bottom of a mine shaft. A tragic fall in Arizona.
How much is too much? A drunk driving arrest for Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton is a front-page news. But what about a man who has even a dozen DUIs to his name? It's enough to say you've got to be kidding.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me hear another sound from you and you'll be -
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Does this sound familiar? A whole lot of you think you've got a bad boss. But now you might be able to do something about it.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
And good evening, everyone. I'm Tony Harris in tonight for Rick Sanchez.
We'll start in Iraq where America's top ally is cutting its losses or in the minds of many in Washington, cutting and running at Iraq's moment of truth. Today the last British forces withdrew from the center of Basra. The 500 troops join the rest of the British contingent dodging fire at the city's airport. This sets the scene for a probable British pullout and it leaves the fate of Iraq's second largest city to Iraqi forces and the powerful Shiite militias.
Our coverage starts in Baghdad with CNN's Michael Ware.
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In Iraq, the overnight withdrawal of 500 British forces from the last of three British-run outposts in the southern oil-rich city of Basra marks the end of British military domain of southern Iraq.
Where British forces once dominated five provinces, this is the last act in the preparation of the handover of the fifth and final province.
Whilst the move had been announced by the British government back in February, it is certain to heighten tensions between London and Washington over differing opinions of military strategy here in Iraq.
While the ministry of defense in London and the British embassy here in Baghdad defend the move as preplanned and in alignment with British policy to ultimately hand security over to Iraqi authority, American and Iraqi critics are sure to label this as a symbol of defeat.
Indeed, British forces have struggled to maintain influence and control in southern Iraq almost since their arrival in the invasion in March of 2003.
Government and security forces have long been dominated by what U.S. military intelligence says are Iranian-backed Shia militia forces. It is militia forces who have run the south and it's the British who have been attempting to merely hold the line.
This act, though planned, is symbolic of what many will consider failure across southern Iraq. Michael Ware, CNN, Baghdad.
HARRIS: And as Michael Ware just told us, the Brits are only doing what they said they'd do. Setting the stage for a final pullout is likely to please large segments of the British public. But, militarily it may hurt.
On the phone with us right now, our military analyst, retired brigadier General David Grange. David, great to talk to you.
BRIG. GEN DAVID GRANGE (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Thank you.
HARRIS: I have to ask you, General Grange, is the handover of Basra by British troops happening because the city of Basra and Basra province is now secure?
GRANGE: Well, it's secure by those that fill the power vacuum. That's what Mike was talking about on the Shia militias. It is not a loyal city to the central government of Iraq, and it has much influence coming out of Iran.
HARRIS: When you move to the airport, aren't you really signaling the end of combat operations, neighborhood patrols? Isn't that really the signal that's being sent here?
GRANGE: That's right. I mean, the patrols are over. They did say they are leaving. That's as far as one of the phases of withdrawal.
But when you go back to a base like an airfield and you hunker down and you have no contact with the people of the area that you are trying to help transition to some kind of a stable, secure environment, you really have no influence except to wave the flag and to say that you're providing a part of the core structure for the lead organization, which is of course the United States of America.
HARRIS: OK. You talk about waving a flag. Aren't you also hanging out a sign, kind of a welcome sign to any and all unsavory elements?
GRANGE: Well, they may humiliate them, embarrass them with harassing fires.
I think they're non-players now, is the way the power brokers look at it in Basra, so they can just leave them alone or play with them if they want. But you really -- when you're in a defensive, hunkered down position like that in a base camp at an airfield, you're really not effective.
HARRIS: So what's the impact of this on U.S. forces? If Basra is in the hands of not just militias, but Iranian-backed militias, what kind of position does that leave U.S. forces in?
GRANGE: It leaves the U.S. forces in a very tough position, because what will happen is that right now U.S. forces being concerned with Anbar Province and Baghdad and the belts around Baghdad, which now are starting to turn, turn at least for the security aspects.
Hopefully a little bit in economics but very little on the political side. Eventually Basra will have to be dealt with unless it's written off.
The shame of the whole thing is having trained and been to school with British -- and in combat with British units, they're excellent soldiers. But they're just being -- they're doing what they've been told to do.
Losing them, losing their effect, losing Basra, which I can't imagine -- that's the water entry into Iraq, tied to a lot of oil -- that you can just forget about Basra in the future.
We don't want to mess with it now, but it's not something that will go away and someone must do something about it in the future.
HARRIS: General Grange, great to talk to you. Thanks for your time this evening. GRANGE: My pleasure.
HARRIS: Well here's what's left of the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq, notwithstanding Britain.
The biggest remaining contingent is that of South Korea, 2,300 members. It's a big drop down to Poland, some 900 troops. Australia has 850 as does the republic of Georgia. Romania and El Salvador both still there with 600 troops and 380 troops respectively. Fourteen other countries remain with the coalition, all with fewer than 200 troops. At the bottom of the list, Kazakhstan with 29 and Moldova with 12.
It started out a joyride with two little girls, free-wheeling across Arizona's open countryside on all-terrain vehicles. But there is no joy in this story tonight. A 13-year-old child is dead, her 10- year-old half-sister is seriously injured. It happened around Chloride, Arizona. Police say some brush was covering an abandoned mine shaft. There were no barriers, no signs, nothing. The girls fell about 125 feet. Rescue workers searched through the night and found them this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAPT. GREG SMITH, MOHAVE CO. SHERIFF'S OFFICE: One girl was responsive and one girl was not. We couldn't get any response from the other. We rescued the 10-year-old girl and she had significant injuries. We were able to send paramedics down to her, put her on a litter and basically rope her out of that mine.
Significant injuries, she was packed by hand to the top of the mountain and she was flown by ranger to University Medical Center in Las Vegas and she's in critical condition right now.
The other girl was found to be deceased at the scene in the mine, and her body was recovered from the mine and delivered to the medical examiner's office.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Their father was on a dirt bike just ahead of them. He looked back and they were gone. Police identified the 13-year-old as Rikki Howard, her sister Casie Hicks remains in critical condition.
This time last night, Hurricane Felix was a mere Category 1 storm but just over the last 15 hours or so it went into overdrive and it is now roaring. A Category 5 hurricane with winds of about 165 miles-an- hour and it may keep going from there? Are you kidding me? Time to bring in Jacqui Jeras in the Severe Weather Center. Jacqui wow, what a difference a day makes.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it's just incredible, rapid intensification today. This thing is moving over a warm eddy of water right now where the water is not only is warm at the surface, but a deep, warm water. So that can really provide a lot of energy for this hurricane to strengthen and we're up there to 165, a Category 5 storm, the granddaddy of all hurricanes, right?
The pressure not quite so low so we're not quite in the record books or anything like that just yet. But it's somewhat of a rare thing to see this hurricane intensify that fast in such a short period of time.
Now, this is the second Category 5 system of the season. It's pulled away from land here, it went through the ABC Islands early this morning, moved up on to the north, a place where you don't often see hurricanes either, doesn't happen that often, maybe 12 times in the past. And it's moving west-northwesterly track. And it's kind of moving fast, too, around 18 to 20 miles-per-hour. Most hurricanes go about 8 to 13 miles-per-hour.
So it is moving at a pretty good clip. And as it continues to push westward, the water out here still very, very warm. And on top of that, the winds are very light. There's just nothing to knock this thing out. That's very unfortunate for the people of Central America.
Also up towards Honduras into the Yucatan Peninsula, because we could be looking at landfalls over the next couple of days. First approach is going to come into play on Tuesday. The official forecast brings it just to the north here of Honduras, but could be scraping into the coastal areas.
Then we could be looking at another landfall around Belize or into the southern parts of the Yucatan, Category 4, probably a little weaker as it brushes and interacts with the land.
Back into the Bay of Campeche and then we could be looking at Mexico. Can't rule out Texas just yet, Tony. A little too early to say that. We'll watch that very closely by the end of this week, into next weekend. But it looks kind of familiar, doesn't it?
HARRIS: Dean all over again!
JERAS: Yeah, very close to it.
HARRIS: Oh, boy. Jacqui, appreciate it - thank you.
Before we take a quick break, here's an i-Report we just received from Melinda Anders of Borger, Texas. She is 12-years-old. Melinda phoned us to tell us she was returning home with her mother when they came upon this, a small plane nose down. A neighbor's -- yeah, that's a neighbor's carport. Melinda's mom, April, tells us two people on board were taken to area hospitals, that information confirmed by CNN affiliate KFDA. Melinda used her digital camera to take these pictures herself. You, young lady, have a future in news. Thank you.
A noose, a fight and a possible 22-year prison sentence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN GULF COAST CORRESPONDENT: What was your reaction to the conviction?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was devastated. He was only 16 and they locked him up. And to think that my 16-year-old might be in prison 20, 25 years. It's devastating. It's awful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Six black teens on trial in the deep south. Are they facing justice or racism? The case of the Jena Six coming up next.
Plus, she's campaigning for his old job. Bill and Hill hit the trail together. Can she make the former president the first first husband? OK, we'll chew on it in dog bone politics.
And we've all had some bad, bad bosses. Maybe some of us have been bad bosses. But if I told you there was something you could do about it, would you be interested? That's ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: A white tree, a noose and a school fight. It all adds up to six black teens facing decades in prison.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These are kids. They are kids.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Justice or a Jim Crow revival? That's the question twirling around the case of the Jena Six.
Two young girls disappear while riding all terrain vehicles. Twelve hours later, they're found at the bottom of a mine shaft. A tragic fall in Arizona.
How much is too much? A drunk driving arrest for Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton is a front-page news. But what about a man who has an even dozen DUIs to his name? It's enough to say you've got to be kidding.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me hear another sound from you and you'll be -
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Does this sound familiar? A whole lot of you think you've got a bad boss. But now you might be able to do something about it.
A couple of months back, we told you about a group of young boys from Jena, Louisiana, on trial for attempted murder after a school fight filled with simmering racial tensions. Well the first of the six teens, Mychal Bell was tried and convicted. His sentencing hearing is later this month but on Tuesday his attorney will ask for the case to be thrown out and for his client to be tried as a juvenile. There are so many layers to this story.
Susan Roesgen has been following this story from day one. Susan, good to see you. Let's sort of take this apart, if we could here. Susan, first of all, this is a case of a school fight at the end of the day.
ROESGEN: Right.
HARRIS: And then we can talk about how even the school district there in Jena punishes a school fight, because there is a disciplinary policy in place. But I'm wondering how do we even get here where we have these six young men facing serious charges, one convicted and five others facing attempted first degree murder charges.
ROESGEN: Well you know Tony, it started back around the start of last school year in September of '06. There was a tree in the school courtyard that traditionally only white students sat under. It wasn't a rule but the white kids, the jocks used to sit under this tree.
A couple of black students asked the vice principal at the school whether they could sit under the tree. The vice president said, sure, you can sit wherever you want to sit. The kids sat under the tree with the white students. The next day, Tony, three nooses were hanging from the branches of that tree.
Now according to school policy, those kids were suspended for that. Three white students were identified and they were suspended. Then that sort of set off a chain of events. There was a lot of racial turmoil in the school.
Then on December 4th of last year, there was this fight. Now what happened was, from what we know, a white student was literally Tony just cold-cocked from the back of the head, he didn't even see who hit him. He was punched, he was knocked unconscious and then, according to the school staff, other black students started kicking him.
Now according to the school handbook, school policy which you mentioned as you started this interview, the rules for a school fight are either a suspension or expulsion. But what happened instead, Tony, was six black students were not suspended or expelled. They were charges charged with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
And one of those young men was convicted of a lesser charge of aggravated battery. But he's been sitting in jail all this time since last September. A very, to some, harsh punishment for basically some sort of school fight.
HARRIS: I know you talked to a number of people involved in this intimately. Mychal Bell's mom -- talk to us about who you talked to and let's hear a little bit about what the folks most intimately connected to this case have to say.
ROESGEN: Absolutely, Tony. Mychal Bell's mom was shocked as were many people because it was an all-white jury that convicted her son and not a single witness testified in his defense. Here's Melissa Bell.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROESGEN: What was your reaction to the conviction?
MELISSA BELL, MYCHAL BELL'S MOTHER: I was hurt, just devastated. He was only 16 and they locked him up. And to think that my 16-year- old -- well, he's 17 now -- might be in prison for 20, 25 years. It's devastating. It's awful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROESGEN: I think you'll find what's interested here, what Kelli Barker, Justin Barker's mother has to say about her sympathies for the parents of the black students. Here's Kelli Barker.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELLI BARKER, ALLEGED VICTIM'S MOTHER: I wish to goodness it wouldn't have happened. I mean, they have parents and, me and David are parents of Justin and I hate it for them parents. I can only imagine. But I also have to think about my child and my family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: But wait a minute, we're talking about someone had to stop the fight. We're talking about someone being involved, someone having to stop the fight. Are these six kids saying they had absolutely nothing to do with this?
ROESGEN: That's what they're saying. A couple of the kids have told us that they didn't even see the fight. There was a big gang of people crowded around. All they saw was coaches and administrators pulling some students off of Justin Barker.
So these kids have all pleaded innocent. But, you know, Tony, it's really interested about the kicking of Justin Barker. In order to get a conviction on either an aggravated battery, which is what Mychal Bell got, now he's facing 20 years in prison, or an attempted murder, the D.A. said the weapon was the kids' tennis shoes. The shoes that they were wearing to kick Justin Barker, he claims was a deadly weapon.
HARRIS: Susan, you're in court on Tuesday for the motions hearing?
ROESGEN: You bet. It's going to be very interesting.
HARRIS: Can't wait for your report. You've done such a great job on this story, Susan Roesgen for us, appreciate it. Great to see you, Susan. ROESGEN: Thanks, Tony.
HARRIS: So nationally syndicated radio host Michael Baisden is launching a massive campaign for the Jena Six. He is asking his listeners to meet him in the town for Mychal Bell's sentencing on September 20th. And from what we've been told, politicians, civil rights leaders, celebrities and folks from all over the country will be there. We'll be following that.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, none of the big names ran and it was only a straw poll, but congratulations to Duncan Hunter anyway. Sometimes you have to take your wins where you can get them. We'll chew on that in dog bone politics right here in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM.
We have a clip for you back by popular demand. Take a look at this, Greensboro, North Carolina just a couple of nights ago -- a brush-back pitch leads to push, push leads to shove. The next thing you know, you have an all-out brawl all over the field. Fights breaking out in separate parts of the diamond. We've got the fans in the stands. You'll see her in a moment just loving the action. But ultimately, the umpire says, oh, no, I can't eject everybody, I have to finish the game. So he has to bring back players to field the team. The home team lost the game 4-3.
All right, let's take you to one of the northernmost cities of Columbia right now, days and days of flooding rain. The river finally just gave way and this is what happens on the streets of this city. Just rivers of water pushing cars, as you can see here, down the roads. You're going to see in a moment rescues happening here. The great news in all of this, no one injured in all of this flooding.
Let's take you now to Bosnia. You want to set a new record, you want to get your city into the Guinness book. How about this? A big old smooch-off. Thousands of people involved -- hey, hey, hey, enough of that. Get a room. The mayor of the city said, look, the city wanted to send a message. After years and years of war, we wanted to send a message of love and there you go.
Coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM for you this evening, tired of that mean boss just pushing your buttons? We will have something for you to ponder on this Labor Day. We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: So what do you say we chew on some political news now? It's dog bone politics time. He is not often in first place in the race, so let's give him his due. California Congressman Duncan Hunter is the winner of the Texas Republican Party straw poll. He took 40 percent of the vote among activists. Fred Thompson came in second. He's going to enter the race officially this week. Texas Congressman Ron Paul came in first. None of the front runners in the national poll competed in the event. New headaches for New Jersey's multimillionaire Democratic Governor Jon Corzine. The "Newark Star-Ledger" reports Corzine recently gave $15,000 to the brother-in-law of his former girlfriend, Carla Katz. Corzine says he was only about to help out a guy who was about to lose his house but state Republicans have long criticized Corzine's financial ties to Katz, who also leads a huge state workers union. One report says Corzine has given Katz up to $6 million, but Corzine disputes the figure.
Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards, he says not only will he insure all Americans if elected president, but he will make everyone go see a doctor. Edwards told Iowans today all of us would have to get regular checkups as a way to detect and prevent serious illness. He says he can pay for it by scrapping the Bush tax cuts for people making over $200,000 a year. John Edwards is also trying to earn the embrace of Jimmy Carter. Edwards traveled to South Georgia this week to meet with the former president. There was no endorsement, but Carter praised Edwards for his stands on poverty and the environment.
Not to be outdone, however, is Senator Joe Biden. He endorsed Jimmy Carter way back in 1975 and this week he picked up the endorsement of Jimmy Carter's son, Jack Carter, a former Senate candidate.
And Democratic hopeful Hillary Clinton turned to his party's best campaigner to help her out a bit this Labor Day went. That would be her husband, of course. Bill Clinton took the mike in New Hampshire Sunday night. He praised his wife, no surprise, and he took aim, again, no surprise, at the political right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM J. CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT: She's proved that she can work with Republicans in the Senate and she proved she can get Independents and Republicans to vote for her where they know her rather than the cardboard cutout image that the right wing has tried so hard to embed in people's mind for the last 15 years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: The Clintons made three stops in the Granite State on Sunday. They're scheduled to spend Labor Day on the campaign trail in Iowa.
Still to come, so you can't get enough of dog bone politics, huh? Neither can we. We're coming right back with our political bloggers. We'll get into the immediate future of the most prominent non- candidate in this year's presidential election, Fred Thompson and his drift toward the campaign trail. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris in for Rick Sanchez. Senator Larry Craig is on his way out. And if the powers that be know who they want to replace him, they aren't telling. In fact, it could be a couple of weeks before a replacement is named. The Idaho Republican resigned after news surfaced of his arrest in an airport bathroom sex sting in June. Craig denied he was trying to solicit gay sex, but later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct. He says he still wants to legally clear his name.
Let's bring in the bloggers now. On the left, Morra Aarons from Blogher.com.
MORRA AARONS, BLOGHER.COM: Hey, Tony.
HARRIS: Good to see you. And on the right, townhall.com's Mary Katherine Ham.
MARY KATHERINE HAM, TOWNHALL.COM: Hey, how are you?
HARRIS: You know, it's a good Sunday. Labor Day weekend, just laboring away, just like you. Thank you for being here. All right.
Boy, Mary Katherine, I'm wondering here, did we get a resignation yesterday? I listened to Arlen Specter and I'm not sure?
HAM: I think he's definitely resigning. The Arlen Specter thing I had not heard and that's a little out there. I think he's definitely resigning. As for what happens in '08 when the seat comes up for grabs again, I think the folks of Idaho, who undoubtedly would rather their senator keep all this kind of stuff under wraps and keep it in his pants --
HARRIS: Hey, hey, hey.
HAM: Hold on, are not --
AARONS: You said it. --
HAM: Are not going to switch to the party of Bill Clinton and the Kennedys, if that's what they're looking for.
HARRIS: Wow, nice, it took a minute. You're right, we should have held up -- very nice.
HAM: I think what we're dealing with here in '08 is Risch and a possible rematch with Risch and a local congressman who I believe only garnered 40 percent of the vote in '06 or the last time they met. So I think that this will probably remain in Republican hands, which is the bottom line.
HARRIS: Morra, hang on just a second. That was so nice and I feel like I interrupted it and messed up his flow. So Mary Katherine, give us that little zinger one more time without interruption?
HAM: Are you really going to let me have that?
HARRIS: I'm going to give it to you one more time, nice and clean this time. Ready?
HAM: I think the people of Idaho, if they're interested in a man who is not interested in infidelities are not going to switch to the party of Bill Clinton and the Kennedys.
HARRIS: All right, Morra. Did we get a --
HAM: I'm sorry Morra. Morra, that was unfair.
AARONS: You know what, I think you're stuck in the family values of the '70s and '90s. Someone said if you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.
I think you see that with Craig and the past couple of days. He's been in Washington for 30 years. People ran from him as quick as they could. I just think it's really sad. I'm sorry that he had to live a lie, but he's been kind of a hypocrite all these years and his chickens came home to roost and he had no friends this weekend. They got him out of there quicker than you could say closet.
HAM: And he did shoot himself in the foot to some extent by pleading guilty. That really made a huge difference, I think.
AARONS: And by not telling his party leadership until recently. I think that he didn't behave, he didn't follow the rules. They got him out of there, in a safe seat, no less.
HARRIS: Mary Katherine, do you want to see Senator Craig back in Washington maybe just to say good-bye to the staff, maybe to make this resignation formal? Do you want the specter of all the cameras? What do you think?
HAM: I think it's a guy, who like Morra said, has been there for 30 years. He deserves a chance to come become and close the deal and say good-bye to folks. But as far as a political career, no, I think it's over.
HAM: So, Mary Katherine, what's this story? I missed this one about John Edwards and the hypocrisy here with an SUV. What is he railing against SUVs and he's traveling around the country? What's the story here?
HAM: The man who owns two SUVs, at least two, is telling folks that they should not drive SUVs. And, you know, as we say in North Carolina, which is where I'm from, that boy ain't right. He was born without a shame bone and he really is just yucking it up on the trail out there. I don't think that plays well with people. It's liberal overreaching, especially when you can see the two SUVs in his driveway.
AARONS: Mary Katherine, with all due respect, I don't think you can call it liberal overreaching. He buys carbon offsites -- he was the first candidate actually to declare a carbon neutral campaign. The fact that when he said - and the first candidate to do so, we may have to stop driving SUVs to stop driving our planets, special interest said oh, there goes Michigan. HAM: Then he could stop driving his SUVs then, that would be the first step. He's not buying carbon offsets if he's telling the rest of us to stop driving, right?
HARRIS: Let me jump in here and do one more quick one before we run all out of time here. Morra, what do you think about Fred Thompson? He has announced, he's going to announce again and then announce again.
AARONS: He's such a flirt.
HARRIS: He's such a flirt. Hey, tell me this, though. I'm wondering, he's going to have maybe one, maybe two, maybe three big days. But how does he change the game?
AARONS: Well, you know, I think that Fred Thompson, let's talk about hypocrisy. He pretends like he's a Washington outsider and he's been a lobbyist for the better part of his life. He's going to come in, he's going to have a big splash, he's going to announce online. But he really could be the Wesley Clark of this cycle. You know, great presence but another southern saying, that dog don't hunt. I just don't think there's much behind it.
HARRIS: Mary Katherine, what do you think of this? Has he made a bit of a joke of this process here?
HAM: I think he had a point in saying, OK, the campaign is starting earlier than it has in the past and there's no reason I have to get in until later.
But I think he kind of missed the enthusiasm boat a little bit. I was feeling for it for him earlier. I'm not so sure now. I think he needs to jump in and work really, really, really hard just to show that he's -- to upstand all the lazy rumors and to show that he's really serious about this, because people are wondering.
AARONS: I think we need another "Law & Order" spinoff first.
HARRIS: You know what? Just - Morra Aarons, good to see you. Mary Katherine Ham, great to see you. Thanks for your time. Good Labor Day weekend to you.
AARONS: You, too.
HARRIS: Let's do it together here. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12. That's how many DUIs this man has. You angry yet? It's enough to make you say, you got to be kidding.
Plus, take this job and shove it. A lot of you have wanted to say that to an abusive boss. But now you may have a better option. I'll tell you who's the boss coming up in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Are you sick of that overbearing, irritating blow-hard you call a -- thought I'd give you a minute to fill in the blank there -- that you call a boss. Now you can tell them to take their job and shove it in court. Kara Finnstrom has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MERYL STREEP, ACTRESS: You have no style or sense of fashion.
ANNE HATHAWAY, ACTRESS: I think that depends on what your -
STREEP: Oh, no, that it wasn't a question.
KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hollywood's nightmare boss in "The Devil Wears Prada."
STREEP: Details of your incompetence do not interest me.
FINNSTROM: The stuff of fiction or disturbingly familiar?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was an alcoholic abusive type of guy that threw things.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had a guy that was a coach that happened to communicate via verbal yelling.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was a waiter. And I quit because my boss was yelling at me daily.
FINNSTROM: Hundreds of Americans just told similar horror stories to the AFL/CIO's worst boss contest. And 13 states are considering laws that would make it easier to sue an abusive boss. Whether we're acknowledging more or today's workplace breeds more bosses.
DR. GARY NAMIE, EMPLOYEE RIGHTS ADVOCATE: Our society is very aggressive, very individualistic.
FINNSTROM: Reform advocates like Dr. Gary Namie believe new laws are needed.
NAMIE: Most same sex, same gender harassment is invisible in the eyes of the law. So when people think harassment is a big, broad protection and we're going to have civil, kind, non-abusive workplaces, it's not true.
FINNSTROM: Supporters of this legislation like the idea of holding those nightmare bosses accountable. Opponents of it worry about the small businesses and the big corporations behind those bosses.
ED MARTINEZ, L.A. CO. ECON DEVELOPMENT CORP: What do they mean boss? Who gets to decide that definition? If these laws were to pass, an entire Pandora's Box or endless litigation would open up.
FINNSTROM: Business advocate Ed Martinez contends the problem should resolve itself because smarter, modern day workers won't stomach abuse and bad bosses cause costly, high turnover rates. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's absurd.
FINNSTROM: Some employees think legislation is overkill. Any thoughts on whether you should be able to sue a bad boss?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Makes sense to me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, not really. We already have too many lawsuits in this country.
FINNSTROM: Professor Robert Sutton wrote the book on jerk bosses. He says calling out bad bosses may be new.
PROF. ROBERT SUTTON, STANFORD UNIVERSITY: When you put people in a position of power, they turn into an insensitive jerk.
FINNSTROM: But he says what the country is grappling with is an age-old imperfection. Kara Finnstrom for CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: So hopefully you've gotten to your vacation destination on this Labor Day holiday weekend. Here's what you can look forward to getting back. Jacqui Jeras has your holiday flight tracker. Good to see you, Jacqui.
JERAS: Hey, good to see you. I knew you weren't going to comment on that boss thing.
HARRIS: No, no, no. I don't need to find any more trouble than I have already.
JERAS: I hear you. Beautiful weekend, wasn't it, Tony?
HARRIS: It was.
JERAS: Just gorgeous. I would say like 85 percent to 90 percent of Americans today were saying fabulous, couldn't be better. Upper Midwest, Great Lakes, Northeast, the Plains states, really nobody had anything to complain about with the exception of the southwest with a few thunderstorms and the heat which has been so incredible, and the southeast, a lot of beach plans ruined because of showers and thunderstorms.
That's going to be the rule again for your Monday. If you're going to be traveling trying to get back home and traveling by the airways, no problems across the northeast or the Midwest. You'll run into some trouble here into the southeast, say across Florida and also into Houston where some heavy showers and thunderstorms are going to be holding things up a little bit and could cause some flooding problems.
In the west we're looking at very good conditions here for travel. Some pop-up showers and thunderstorms here across the four corners and then Vancouver could have some delays because of the low clouds. We have a new system coming in here that will is going to be bringing in the cloudiness. That's eventually going to hit Seattle and into the Portland area as well. But overall, not too much to complain about other than the heat -- 106 tomorrow in Vegas, 106 in Phoenix.
But feeling a little warmer than that. It's not that dry heat.
And more on Felix, hopefully coming up once we get that 11:00 advisory coming in, Tony. Just incredible what happened there today. You know, I didn't have a chance to mention it earlier but I wanted to tell you, the hurricane hunters fly into this storm regularly, about four times a day -- they actually had to abort their mission this evening because the turbulence was so incredible in Felix, 165 mile- per-hour winds.
HARRIS: What's beyond a Category 5?
JERAS: That's it.
HARRIS: That's it, isn't it?
JERAS: Nothing, doesn't get bigger than that.
HARRIS: Jacqui, appreciate it, thank you.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, there is a manhunt going on in Missouri. Search parties are combing the area for this guy. We'll tell you why a turtle has got everyone so worked up. It will make you say "you got to be kidding here."
Plus, what he collects is sometimes garbage in the United States. But tonight's CNN Hero uses it to save lives around the world. His story coming up next for you in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: A positive HIV test is not necessarily a death sentence in the U.S. anymore. But in less developed parts of the world, the disease is still a killer that can annihilate whole generations. Tonight's CNN hero takes drugs that were destined for the trash can in this country and uses them to save lives all over the world. Meet Jesus Aguais.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're rolling.
JESUS AGUAIS, MEDICAL MIRACLE: The simplest idea could make the biggest impact. Recycling HIV medicine. How many people out there are looking for medicine? And how many people with HIV in the United States have no idea that they could save lives with something that is just a leftover for them?
My name is Jesus Aguais, I'm the founder of Aid for AIDS International. I'm dedicated for improving the quality of life for people with HIV in developing countries. Early in 1993 I got a job as a counselor in one of the Latino AIDS organizations here in New York, in terms of helping people abroad. There was very little that you could do. There was no medicine at all. Only people with lots of money could come to the United States. The rest, the common people, have to die.
In 1996, the first two protease inhibitors got approved, but some people couldn't tolerate it. A treatment that cost $1,200 was being thrown away. I just knew it was wrong, purely wrong.
I was telling people, why don't you bring it to me? We started using the concept of recycling the medicine. All the medicine comes from people with HIV around the U.S. and goes abroad. People can send it directly to us, or if they live in the New York City area, we can pick it up, And we send it on a monthly basis straight to the patient.
This is a matter of saving lives. People need this medicine. We need to get it to them. It's our responsibility. I see it as what I'm here to do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: well, there is a lot more about Jesus and his organization on our Web site, CNN.com/Heroes. You can also nominate a hero of your own. And you've got until September 30th to get your nominations in. Winners will be honored on a live global broadcast on December 6th hosted by our Anderson Cooper.
You can usually tell when a woman is eight months pregnant, right? At least one police officer in Florida apparently can't. Why else would he hit her with a taser? It will make you say "you've got to be kidding." That is next in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMECIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: So can we start with the tortoise story? Can we start with that one? We can't? All right, well let's do this one, then.
Hi, repeat offender: after 12 DUI related charges, it seems like another name might apply. Well, at the very least, it would make you say, "you got to be kidding." This guy makes Lindsay Lohan look like sobriety Barbie. Alton Ray Holston Jr. in front of a judge. Been there, done that, how about a dozen times? He says cops pulled him over for no reason. They say Holston was swerving, driving in a bike lane, even had his car on a sidewalk. Then, there was the empty vodka bottle, an open 40-ounce bottle of beer inside.
Yeah, so let's move on to Florida now. This one near Gainesville, a woman eight months pregnant is trying to pull her son away from a huge brawl. That's when a police officer supposedly tasered her not once, but twice. Did I mention she was eight months pregnant? The cop says he thought she was going to hit him and she didn't look pregnant.
And who wouldn't want one of these? It's got to top every Macbeth wish list, a diamond encrusted real human skull. At least he kept his original teeth. Yaw! I would hate to be the poor shmoe who gets turned into that $100 million table topper. That's what it sold for at a London auction. Artist Damien Hirst designed it using 8,601 diamond with a 52 karat pink one in the center. Now that's a grill.
He's on the run, well so to speak. Charlie -- here's my favorite story. A 70-pound tortoise is known to prowl, but this week he left the sanctuary at a Chesterfield pet store by using a little bit of turtle muscle to pry open the front door and make tracks. Charlie's owner says the little guy can cover about five miles a day. We're still talking about a tortoise, aren't we? All right, search crews are out in full force and reports of Charlie's sightings are just rolling in. So far no one has caught this -- let's say it all together, now -- tortoise.
We didn't do that together, did we? And a Maryland man has come forward saying he is one of four winners of last Friday's $330 million Mega Millions jackpot. More from reporter Melinda Roeder of our Baltimore affiliate WBFF.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELINDA ROEDER, WBFF CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's been a busy day at Walther's Liquor.
JOHN EBMEIER, LIQUOR STORE OWNER: They've been coming in all day.
ROEDER: Lotto players keep coming in to check their numbers, since it was announced this is where one winning ticket for the Mega Millions jackpot was sold.
J. EBMEIER: I'm sure that the lottery would love for them to come forward.
ROEDER: John and Christina Ebmeier checked the surveillance camera at the store right away this morning, hoping to get a peek at the winner.
J. EBMEIER: We know what time it was sold. It was sold last night at 5:10.
ROEDER: They narrowed it down to three possible customers, including Tony Basiya (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd be speechless.
ROEDER: But a quick check shows it wasn't him after all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe next time.
ROEDER: So the buzz around the store was just starting to slow, when suddenly Bunky Bartlett stopped by.
ELWOOD BUNKY BARTLETT, MEGA MILLIONS WINNER: Hello.
ROEDER: The real winner. BARTLETT: With my wife, yes, we're the winner.
ROEDER: The surprised of his life when he found that.
BARTLETT: So I'm standing there and she starts calling off the numbers. And I'm like, yes? Yes? Yeah. Yeah. Oh, my god.
ROEDER: There were tears and screams of joy.
BARTLETT: I did cry a little, some tears, because it was good.
ROEDER: He immediately went out, bought a new car, started telling friends, and then came here to visit the employees at the store where his big fortune began.
CHRISTINA EBMEIER, LIQUOR STORE OWNER: And we're happy for them. We hope we're their new best friends.
ROEDER: Of course, Bunky will have plenty of friends now, about 83 million of them. That's how much he and his wife will claim after the $330 million jackpot is split.
BARTLETT: I don't mind sharing it with three other people, not at all.
ROEDER: Now other people are playing here too, hoping they might also get lucky at the local liquor store.
J. EBMEIER: Thank you. You have a nice night.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Got to go. I'm Tony Harris. "CNN SIU" starts right now.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com
