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Michael Vick Could Face New Charges; Parents of Jena 6 Defendant to Ask Congress for Investigation; Auto Workers Prepared for Long Strike; Doctors: Acupuncture Offers Better Back Pain Relief
Aired September 25, 2007 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Walking and talking. Union autoworkers are still on strike against General Motors. But negotiators are still hard at work. We're going to get a live report from Michigan.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Six people set out Saturday on a fishing charter for Miami Beach. Two came back last hour in the company of the FBI. What happened to the four-person crew of the "Joe Cool"? It's a mystery at sea.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
PHILLIPS: I'm Kyra Phillips. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
LEMON: Developing news just into the CNN NEWSROOM. Michael Vick, the suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback, has been indicted on more charges related to dog fighting, this time by the commonwealth of Virginia.
CNN's Brianna Keilar is in Washington with all those developments for us -- Brianna.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, prosecutors from Surry County, Virginia, where Michael Vick admitted that he was involved in a dog fighting operation. Asked the grand jury to consider three bills of indictment for Michael Vick. The grand jury handed down indictments on two of those three.
Michael Vick has been indicted for one, promoting dog fighting; and two, the second indictment, is for beating or killing dogs. And this one, I have to say, is a little unclear, because we don't yet have the physical indictment in our hand, and we're just going off of what was read in court. So whether it was for beating or killing dogs is unclear.
Also, because the grand jury rejected a bill of indictment for eight counts of killing dogs. So the grand jury did not believe there was enough evidence to indict Michael Vick for eight counts of killing dogs.
Now Vick will be arraigned on these local charges on October 3. His trial date has been tentatively set for November 27. And these local charges are in addition to the federal dog fighting charge Vick pled guilty to last month. That plea deal comes with a suggested sentence of 12 to 18 months.
But these other charges, these local charges, could mean more jail time for Vick, and it could also further squash any chance he has of ever playing in the NFL again, Don.
LEMON: Details to come. Brianna Keilar, thank you.
PHILLIPS: A shake-up today on the jury considering Warren Jeffs' guilt or innocence. There's word from the courtroom that one of the jurors has been replaced by an alternate. No reason has been given. And now deliberations have started all over again.
Jeffs is a polygamist sex leader charged with rape as an accomplice. Those charges stem from the arranged marriage of a 14- year-old girl to his (sic) older cousin.
Jurors told the judge yesterday they were close to a verdict but wanted to sleep on it for the night.
Jeffs is the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of the Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Straight to the newsroom now. T.J. Holmes has details on another developing story.
T.J., what do you have for us?
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: We've got a mess going right now up -- up in Pennsylvania right now. Amtrak lines have been shut down. Part of a highway has been shut down because of that right there.
A truck, a loaded trash truck actually crashed into this bridge as you're seeing here. This is along I-95 and in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania. And what happened, after it crashed, some of the debris, apparently, that was in this trash truck began falling down onto Amtrak lines and onto -- onto guardrails that were below.
Now this falling debris actually apparently hit some -- some high tension wires and sparked the trash, which then caused a fire that made its way up to the truck. I know. That's a lot of stuff that had to happen to make this -- to make -- to come together on this. But that's what you're seeing now.
Part of the highway, I-95 closed. Part of the Amtrak trail -- trail below closed down right now. So they've really got a mess on their hands.
We're keeping an eye on this, trying to get the conditions, possibly, of the driver and anybody else injured in this thing. But we will certainly keep an eye on it and keep you updated.
PHILLIPS: All right, T.J., thanks.
LEMON: All right. Taking Jena to Washington. The parents of Jena 6 defendant Mychal Bell, along with the Reverend Al Sharpton, have been meeting with members of the House Judiciary Committee. We are expecting comments from Sharpton and Bell's parents shortly.
They want congressional hearings on what they call a racist justice system in Jena, Louisiana. A federal intervention for Mychal Bell's release.
Bell's battery conviction was overturned almost two weeks ago when an appeals court ruled he shouldn't have been tried as an adult. The 17-year-old was denied bond and is still locked up in an adult facility, pending proceedings in juvenile court.
Last night Bell's parents talked to CNN's Larry King.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Marcus, why is he still in jail?
MARCUS JONES, MYCHAL BELL'S FATHER: Well, we really don't know ourselves, Larry. The 32nd court threw out his adult conviction and charged. And we really don't understand, you know, why he's still sitting in adult jail at this time.
KING: Melissa, do you know?
MELISSA BELL, MYCHAL BELL'S MOTHER: No, sir, I don't.
KING: What do you they tell you when you ask?
BELL: They don't tell us. They're just saying right now there's some motions have to be filed and they're waiting on the D.A. to do whatever he got to do. And that's all they tell us.
KING: Why are you in Washington, Marcus?
JONES: Well, we're coming to meet with the National Black Caucus.
KING: And you want them to do what?
JONES: Well, basically we just want them to launch a full -- full investigation on the D.A. and the D.A.'s office in La Salle Parish for illegally trying my son, illegally -- illegally putting these adult charges on him while he was a juvenile. I mean, just -- just launch a whole -- whole out investigation on the D.A.'s office and on the D.A.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Bell is the lone member of the Jena 6 still in jail. The black students were arrested last December in the beating of a white student after weeks of racial tension at the Jena High School.
The Jena 6 case has stirred up many emotions beyond unequal justice. Among them, personal responsibility in teens at risk, favorite themes of actor and author Bill Cosby. Cosby will be speaking this hour at the Cradle to Prison Pipeline Summit in Washington. We'll listen in and try to bring you some of his comments.
PHILLIPS: On strike for a second day and gaining support. Another union vows to honor the United Auto Workers' picket lines. Negotiators, meantime, keep trying to strike a deal with General Motors.
CNN's Rusty Dornin outside the Powertrain plant there in Warren, Michigan. What are finding out, Rusty?
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, a lot of folks here still cautiously optimistic that something can happen in the next couple of days and that they'll be going back to work.
We're at the Powertrain plant. They manufacture four and six- cylinder transmissions for GM. You don't see too many folks back there picketing. But it's all along the line here. There's about a mile long area where people are picketing.
And just to talk a little bit about what's going on, some of the concerns, we've got Richard Duerksen here, who -- you were at the plant; actually helped shut down yesterday. Right?
RICHARD DUERKSEN, AUTO WORKER FOR 16 YEARS: Yes, I was.
DORNIN: Now are you -- what -- are you concerned and what is your biggest concern about this strike?
DUERKSEN: My biggest concern personally for myself and my family is job security. Then I also -- I'm concerned for the retirees. One day I myself, hopefully, will be one of the GM retirees.
DORNIN: Now, are there concerns that the company is still manufacturing cars outside of the United States? I mean, do you still want to see the union pulling for that, to see more cars manufactured here?
DUERKSEN: I'd love to see General Motors making more cars here in the United States.
DORNIN: Would you be willing to take an hourly pay cut, though, in order to make all of this work for the retirees and keep jobs here?
DUERKSEN: Speaking for myself and my family, yes, I could do that.
DORNIN: Now how are you going to do along this? I understand you're going to get $200 a week, right?
DUERKSEN: Yes.
DORNIN: How are you and your family going to last through this, if this goes on for weeks?
DUERKSEN: Well, we put some money into -- aside. So we'll be looking -- digging into that if necessary. My wife is currently working. So we can get by for quite some time. DORNIN: OK. Thanks a lot.
Richard Duerksen at the Powertrain plant here in Warren, which is just a suburb of Detroit.
Interesting, Kyra. At this plant, in 1991, there were 4,000 UAW workers. Right now there are only about 850. Now, nationwide, there were 253,000 in 1994. That's down to 73,000.
So the UAW obviously fewer workers. You can see that GM has been tightening its belt for a long time. But these workers here are saying, "Enough is enough. We need to push back now." But they are hoping, again, that this is going to go quickly -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: When you talk about the tightening of the belt, you see those drops -- the drop, rather, in numbers, Rusty. Does it come down to technology? Does it come down to these companies not making as much as they used to make? Has anybody told you why the constant decline in the first place?
DORNIN: Well, they're also using a lot of temporary non-union workers and also manufacturing outside of the United States. I mean, that is one of the things that the workers and the UAW is concerned about. That they want to see GM have a continued promise that they will manufacture cars in the U.S. and that they are not going to be sending these out to Canada and Mexico.
So there is -- it's a combination, of course, of things. And of, of course, the technology. The automation and that sort of thing that is going to account for some of that decline.
But workers here are very concerned that that trend could continue and their jobs will not be safe for long.
PHILLIPS: I can sense the Lou Dobbs program this evening and probably the rest of the week right now. Rusty Dornin, appreciate it.
LEMON: North Korea, Iran, Syria, Cuba, Myanmar, harsh words for all from President George W. Bush. In a speech this morning to the U.N. General Assembly, the president accused those nations and others of brutalizing their people, and he announced new economic sanctions on the military leaders of Myanmar, which the U.S. still calls Burma, its traditional name.
The move comes amid days of huge pro-democracy protests there, led by Buddhist monks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Americans are outraged by the situation in Burma, where a military junta has imposed a 19-year rein of fear. Basic freedoms of speech, assembly and worship are severely restricted. Ethnic minorities are persecuted. Forced child labor, human trafficking and rape are common.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: President Bush also said the dictatorship in Cuba is coming to an end, a reference to ailing leader Fidel Castro. That apparently didn't sit well with the Cuban delegation, who got up and they walked out.
From the Ivy League to the United Nations, protesters are following Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Iran's president talks to the U.N. General Assembly in just a few hours are getting a stunningly sharp taste of American free speech at Columbia University.
In the blunt introduction yesterday, Columbia President Lee Bollinger referred to Ahmadinejad as a cruel and petty dictator and blasted him for denying the Holocaust.
Ahmadinejad replied that Bollinger was being insulting and incorrect. He also drew jeers and laughter when he said Iran does not have homosexuals.
Ahmadinejad sits down with CNN's Christiane Amanpour for a one- on-one interview. Be sure to tune in for that tomorrow, tomorrow night at 10 p.m. Eastern, only on "AC 360".
PHILLIPS: It started as an overnight fishing trip aboard a Miami charter boat. Now the boat has turned up abandoned and more than 100 miles off course. And two passengers have been rescued from a life raft and taken back to Florida.
Where are the four crew members? The Coast Guard and the FBI are on the case. Reporter Ileana Varela has more now from our Miami affiliate WFOR.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF BRANAM, MISSING BOATER'S UNCLE: He was doing what he loved. It's a very sad story.
ILEANA VARELA, WFOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jeff Branam is holding out hope, but his gut feeling tells him something terrible happened aboard the family's charter fishing boat.
JEFF BRANAM: I think the two chartered the boat and -- under false pretenses. They powered up the boat. They dumped the crew overboard. And after going to Bimini, they took the boat south 100 miles, and the boat broke down.
VARELA: The Coast Guard found the abandoned vessel, the 47-foot Joe Cool, Sunday evening near Cay Sal Bank, 100 miles from Bimini, its original destination. The boat was, quote, "in disarray", its life raft missing.
It was found, along with the two men who chartered the boat for $4,000 cash: 19-year-old Guillermo Zarabozo, who lives in this Hialeah apartment where no one was home, and Kirby Archer, a fugitive wanted in Arkansas since January, for allegedly stealing $92,000 from a Wal- Mart where he worked. JONATHAN BRANAM, MISSING BOATER'S COUSIN: One guy spoke. He was -- he was very nice, had kind of a southern accent. You know, just very polite. Didn't seem suspicious at all. So you know, we OK'ed the trip.
VARELA: Jonathan Branam says he decided not to go on the trip at the last minute. His cousin, Jake, captained the vessel. Jake's wife Kelly went along, because it was a short trip. The couple has a 4- month-old son and a 3-year-old daughter.
Jake's stepbrother, Scott Campbell, and first mate, Sammy Kairy, rounded out the crew. All four are missing.
JEFF BRANAM: I'm very hopeful. I'm hopeful until the Coast Guard says there's no hope.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: That was Ileana Varela from our Miami affiliate WFOR. And we just got confirmation from the FBI that Kirby Archer, the passenger being questioned, has admitted that he's the same person wanted for allegedly stealing more than $90,000 from an Arkansas Wal- Mart earlier this year.
LEMON: The controversy in Jena, Louisiana, has Washington's attention. California Representative Maxine Waters was there for the march, and we'll follow up on today's actions.
PHILLIPS: Plus, the Democrats hit New Hampshire ahead of another debate. Our man in Manchester, Bill Schneider, has the latest on polls and primaries.
LEMON: All right, listen up. If your back pain's got you down, can acupuncture get you back up? Stick around for the intriguing details.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: And this just in to CNN. Surry County prosecutors have presented their case to a grand jury. They are seeking state indictments now against suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick.
As you know, Vick pleaded guilty to charges that he crossed state lines to engage in dog fighting events, as well as killing dogs. That happened on a federal level. Those federal charges carried a sentence of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Now that could go even higher, since the grand jury -- or rather that Surry County prosecutors have taken their case to a grand jury, for seeking state indictments. We're following it. We'll bring you more.
Right now it's 1:17 Eastern Time. Here are some of the stories that we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.
An unexpected twist in the Utah trial of polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs. We're trying to find out why a juror was replaced with an alternate today after two days of deliberations.
Jurors had been close to a verdict on Jeffs, who is accused of sex charges.
The Supreme Court about to take on a case that could affect Death Row inmates across the nation. The court's agreed to consider whether lethal injections amount to cruel and unusual punishment.
Also, we're expecting to hear more from terror investigators next hour about this man, Oussama Kassir. He's accused of helping set up a terrorist training camp in the U.S. He's been extradited from overseas and is facing charges today in federal court in New York.
LEMON: Got back pain? Then look east for relief. Doctors say the Chinese art of acupuncture offers more relief from lower back pain than conventional drugs and therapy.
CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Many people with back pain say they have tried everything. They've tried physical therapy; they've tried taking drugs. And that nothing quite works.
So the question is have they really tried everything? For example, have they tried acupuncture?
Well, a set of researchers set out to figure out if acupuncture might work even better than regular therapy, and the numbers that they got to, well, it's really pretty stunning. Let's take a look.
What they found was that when people took acupuncture and did acupuncture for their back pain, 48 percent of the people found that their back pain decreased. Now, when they try a fake acupuncture, where they of willy-nilly put needles in and did it kind of superficially, that worked for 44 percent of the people. So that's a real tribute to the placebo effect.
Now, conventional therapy like physical therapy and drugs, that only works 27 percent of the time. So those are pretty amazing numbers.
Now, we showed this study to some people, and they were pretty skeptical. They thought the conventional therapy really is much better than what those numbers showed.
So one very smart person said to us you know what? In some ways it doesn't really matter, because you can do all of these approaches. You can do physical therapy and take drugs and do acupuncture, and in fact, maybe the three of them would work well together. Now, there is a kind of acupuncture that's pretty cutting edge that some people say works well. And that's where you attach electricity to the needles, and you get an electric current going through the needles into your back. It sounds kind of scary and painful, but many people say that it works wonders.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Hurt on the playing field, feared paralyzed for life. Though the prognosis for Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett is looking much brighter now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. TEODORO CASTILLO, EVERETT'S ATTENDING PHYSICIAN: Considering that he's only been injured for two weeks, Kevin continues to show significant improvement in motor and sensory function. From having no ability to move his arms and legs on day one of his injury, Kevin is able to lift his legs in bed and move his upper extremities.
Currently, his legs are still stronger than his upper extremities and his arms, which is a condition called central cord syndrome.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: All right. Now, doctors are offering no guarantee that Everett will soon be walking, but they're optimistic that walking is a definite possibility.
LEMON: Democratic presidential hopefuls firing up campaign ads and getting ready to duke it out in a New Hampshire debate. Who has a glass jaw and who can take a punch? We're bobbing and weaving in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The General Motors-United Auto Workers strike is now more than 24 hours old. But it's more than those workers and that company who are getting hurt by it.
CNN's Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange to tell us about the wider effects of this strike.
Hi, Susan. We said it yesterday. It had really, really a huge ramifications and impact.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. These are not little widgets. These are big, big ticket items and it requires a lot of people, ultimately, to make them.
Members of the Teamsters union, for instance, are already feeling the ripple effect of this UAW strike. They're the ones who drive the trucks, carry completed cars and deliver parts and supplies to GM factories. The union says its members will honor the UAW picket lines and stay off the job.
Then there's up to 1,000 members of the Canadian Auto Workers who staff GM's plants just over the border who could also soon be out of work -- Don.
LEMON: Yes, and then there's all the people who make auto parts for GM, too.
LISOVICZ: And we're seeing that play out here on Wall Street pretty dramatically, Don. Thousands more workers who may have nothing to do if GM's production lines are shut down.
But of course, GM and the autoworkers have the most to lose if a strike goes on for more than a week or two. Analysts say in the short term, GM has enough cash and inventory to manage a strike for a few weeks.
Striking workers, meanwhile, will receive strike pay from the union after eight days. So that's just $200 a week, far less than the $1,100 per week average salary. And with high gas prices and the housing downturn, it could be difficult for many of these workers to manage.
Negotiation -- negotiators, I should say, are back at the bargaining table today. One analyst quoted in the "Detroit Free Press" said he'd be floored if the strike lasts more than a week. He believes this strike is partly an attempt by union leaders to show rank and file workers that they are fighting for them.
But in the meantime here on Wall Street, we're watching publicly traded part suppliers really get hit hard today. Shares of American Axle Manufacturing are down 3.5 percent. Other part suppliers, Leer Corps and Magna, are falling at least 1 percent. GM is up -- GM is down half a percent.
(STOCK REPORT)
LISOVICZ: Coming up, more signs that the troubles in the housing market may not be contained. And of course, that compounds all the problems we're seeing with the UAW and GM.
I'll tell you which retailers are sending out some big warnings in the next hour of NEWSROOM.
Don and Kyra, back to you.
LEMON: Got me interested. OK, Susan, thank you.
LISOVICZ: You're welcome.
PHILLIPS: A shakeup in the jury considering the fate of polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs. One juror has been replaced by an alternate. Ahead in the NEWSROOM, the latest on the trial plus what you'll hear from the star witness, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. Word just in out of Sussex, Virginia. Apparently a Virginia grand jury has indicted the disgraced Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick. We are being told he has been charged by the state level with dogfighting. We just heard from the Surry County commonwealth attorney Gerald Poindexter. This is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GERALD POINDEXTER, SURRY CO., VA. COMMONWEALTH ATTY.: We're satisfied with the proceeding. And we have a press release, and that it.
QUESTION: Why do you feel it necessary to do to a local prosecution, in addition to the federal prosecution?
POINDEXTER: Because crimes that were not prosecuted were committed in Surry County, and that's the purpose of having a representative of the Commonwealth of Virginia stationed in each one of our jurisdictions, to protect the people from criminal activity. And to prosecute criminal activity when it's applicable.
QUESTION: Why were you surprised about the other eight, that those were returned not proven?
POINDEXTER: I didn't say I wasn't surprised; I said I'm not disappointed.
QUESTION: How come?
POINDEXTER: Because I'm not, because I'm sure that whatever the grand jury took careful consideration with, and they made a decision that we can live with.
QUESTION: Are you surprised that you didn't get the other eight counts, indictments to the other eight counts.
POINDEXTER: Somewhat, but I'm satisfied.
QUESTION: How come?
POINDEXTER: Why am I satisfied.
QUESTION: Now why are you surprised that you didn't get a (INAUDIBLE) on the other eight counts?
POINDEXTER: I don't know what was actually put them before them. I know what should have been put before them, but I don't know what they actually had before them.
QUESTION: Didn't you present what should be put before them?
POINDEXTER: I didn't present anything except a piece of paper. QUESTION: Didn't you supply what should be put before them?
POINDEXTER: Yes. But you'll see the paper. You'll go over to the clerk's office and you can pick them all them up.
QUESTION: How do you not know then...
POINDEXTER: Please, let me out. Let me out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, you already know that Michael Vick pled guilty on federal charges for dogfighting. He faces up to five years in prison. Now with the state charges here for dogfighting that could be even higher. We'll follow it.
LEMON: Busy day here in the NEWSROOM. We're following some developing news. Not sure what it is. T.J., what are you working on?
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: This is out of Pennsylvania, kind of a mess they got going out there on the highway that had to be shutdown, northbound I-95, after a track -- tracks caught on fire. This is the mess you're seeing here. That's I-95, where a truck, a trash truck, actually crashed into that railing there. And what kind of just a sequence of events that took place there that caused just a huge mess there. The track -- truck crashed into the guardrail, then started spilling some trash down onto the tracks that you see that run under the overpass.
Well, the trash that was falling hit some high-tension lines and caught on fire, shot flames back up to the truck. The truck then caught on fire, and then the rest of the trash that was in that truck began falling down to the tracks on fire as well. So that caused all kinds of issues, and this is what you're seeing, is the mess. This is outside of Philadelphia. Again, the area here is Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, a little suburb there of Philadelphia. And just caused a mess.
I-95, as you see there, is shut down. We don't have word on the condition of the driver, exactly what was going on to cause this crash. But the aftermath of it stirred up quite a mess. Amtrak trains have stopped going along those tracks. Six trains had to be stopped. Also, those tracks down there used by commuter trains in the Philadelphia area. So all kind of commuter issues. You're certainly going to see those issues happen over the next several hours. Doubt if they'll this completely cleared up by rush hour. So expect some problems, but we're trying to get word on possibly the condition of the driver of that truck and exactly what happened. But this is just one of the things we'll keep an eye on.
LEMON: That's probably two of the biggest transportation routes in the northeast corridor. That line and I-95, so lots of people are going to be affected by that.
All right, T.J., we'll check back with you. Thank you.
HOLMES: All right.
LEMON: Shake-up today on the jury considering Warren Jeffs' guilt or innocence. One of the jurors has been replaced by an alternate, and now deliberations have started all over again. Jeffs is a polygamist sect leader, charged with rape as an accomplice, and those charges stem from the arranged marriage of a 14-year-old girl to her older cousin. The alleged victim was the star witness for the prosecution.
Her story now from CNN's Randi Kaye.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The first time Elissa Wall had sex with her husband, she wanted to die.
ELISSA WALL, ALLEGED VICTIM: I was sobbing and my entire body was just shaking, because I was so, so scared. And he didn't say anything; he just laid me on the bed. And had sex.
KAYE: Emotional testimony from the state's star witness against Warren Jeffs.
WALL: I was crying and I was like, "Please, I don't want you to do it. It doesn't feel right. Please stop. Please quit. I can't do this." Just begging him to stop or at least explain to me what he was doing.
KAYE: Jeffs, charged with two counts of rape as an accomplice for his role in the marriage, has denied doing anything wrong.
Wall, just 14 at the time, was so terrified and confused she hid in the bathroom and swallowed two bottles of painkillers. Prosecutors say Jeffs forced her to marry and have sex with her then 19-year-old cousin, Allen Steed.
ALLEN STEED, WITNESS FOR DEFENSE: I was tired enough. I went to work just in my work clothes. And she woke me up and asked me if I cared about her. I loved her, and I told her I did. She rolled up close to me, asked me to scratch my back and one thing led to the next, and we had sexual intercourse.
KAYE: Here's Wall being fitted for her wedding dress, a reminder to others how young she was.
Today, she's 21, remarried and a mother of two. She's legally changed her name and is in a witness protection program.
Wall met Jeffs when she was a little girl attending Alta Academy outside Salt Lake City where Jeffs was headmaster. Over the years Wall endured many of Jeffs' sermons like this one.
WARREN JEFFS, ON TRIAL FOR RAPE: Do you give yourself to him? That means in full obedience. You are literally taken from the father's home. And given to that man, and you belong to him. KAYE (on camera): Wall and Jeffs are locked in another battle, too. She's negotiating for a significant settlement in her civil suit against him.
Among other things, Wall is proposing, as part of the settlement, the creation of $1 million education assistance fund for teens displaced from the polygamist community.
WALL: The purpose of the lawsuit is to give young girls the option and protection that I did not have.
KAYE: Instead of protection, Wall says she suffered in silence.
WALL: That obedience to the leaders of the FLDS community was to be completely willingly and sweetly, with no question, because they, as I said, were as God on earth, and they would lead us into the celestial kingdom or heaven.
KAYE: Instead, it led her and her prophet into court.
Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: New political adds are hitting the airwaves this week in New Hampshire, cite of yet another debate among the Democratic presidential wannabes. That's tomorrow night at Dartmouth College.
Our senior political analyst Bill Schneider is in Manchester.
Bill, let's talk about the national race for a second year. Who's doing well in those national polls?
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POL. ANALYST: Well, first of all, let me tell you that I'm here with our campaign bus, which is making its debut on live television. You're going to be seeing a lot of the bus between now and the November election next year. Now, the national polls. Well, among the Democrats, Hillary Clinton continues build a lead. She's now 19 points ahead of the second-place candidate, Barack Obama. That's an increase, up from 15 points in June and July, 18 in August, now 19. Slowly but surely, her lead is building, and the other candidates haven't gotten a great deal of traction in that race.
On the Republican side, its the opposite story. Republicans are no coronation. You still have Rudy Giuliani in the lead, but his lead is narrowing a bit. He's only eight points ahead of the second place contender, who just got into the race. Fred Thompson at 22 points, Giuliani at 30. And Giuliani's lead has been narrowing over the last few months. So it looks like the real race this time could be on the Republican side.
And I add, national polls really do matter. President Bush, the pundit in chief, said this week that this is really a national primary because of the calendar, and in that case, really what's happening in the national polls matters more than it usually does. LEMON: And you took the words right out of my mouth, Bill, because I was going to say, depending on which campaign you talk to, they'll say, you know what, the national polls really don't matter. We care about those caucus states like New Hampshire. So you're saying it does matter. So who's doing well in New Hampshire?
SCHNEIDER: Well, New Hampshire is a must-win state for Hillary Clinton. We'll have some polls this week coming out. The CNN/WMUR/University of New Hampshire poll will be out this afternoon. This is a must-win state for Hillary Clinton. She's always done well here. This is the state that believes it made her husband president. He was the Comeback Kid in 1992. There's a lot of affection here in New Hampshire for Bill Clinton. The Democrats are doing well here. And so she's really relying on it, because things are very close in Iowa, which is the first caucus. If she doesn't do well in Iowa, she's to come back and win New Hampshire.
Now on the Republican side, here in New Hampshire, it's a must- win state for two candidates. Romney, Mit Romney was the governor of neighboring Massachusetts, he's been doing well in New Hampshire. We'll see tomorrow as we get the results of the Republican race here in New Hampshire in that same poll. He's got to do well. He's got to win New Hampshire. But so has John McCain, because he won the New Hampshire primary over George W. Bush back in 2000. So it's a must- win state for two Republican candidates here.
LEMON: All right, Bill, let's go to the heartland here, because two of the top three Democrats are claiming Chicago as their hometown, and three of the top Democrats that are in Chicago trying to woo unions. Are they really that important for the candidates at this point?
SCHNEIDER: Unions ain't what they used to be, but they're still important, and particularly in the Democratic primaries where you get lower turn-out, organization matters and that's especially true in key caucus states like Iowa and particularly for fast-growing unions, like the Service Employees. They're part of that change-to-win union coalition that all three of the top ranked Democrats are addressing today in Chicago.
Teachers, service workers, those are the expanding unions. They provide absolutely immeasurable leg power, great importance, leg work, workers behind the scenes, in a state like Iowa where organization matters, not just image and popularity.
So yes, the unions are important and the service workers say they're going to endorse either Clinton, Obama or Edwards and both -- all three candidates are speaking to them today in Chicago. So it's really a high-stakes endorsement.
LEMON: Very high stakes, and I got to say, I like your new ride there behind you, Bill. Very fancy, are you ...
SCHNEIDER: It's pretty good.
LEMON: Are you double dipping? Are you driving as well? SCHNEIDER: I can't say I'm driving. But this bus has all the comforts. Come out, sit on the bus. It's even got a bed. And here's the secret, just between us. I tried out the bed. I took a nap there. It's pretty good.
LEMON: OK, I'm glad you put that nap part in there.
So -- thank you, Bill. We can't wait to see the buses. As a matter of fact, we're going to check it out in our 3:00 hour. Are you giving the tour or is somebody else?
SCHNEIDER: Tom Foreman will be here ...
LEMON: Tom Foreman's going to give us the tour?
SCHNEIDER: ...to give you a tour of the bus. He's our bus guide.
LEMON: All right, I hope he got some video of you napping as well.
Bill Schneider ...
SCHNEIDER: OK.
LEMON: ...it's always a pleasure. Thank you, sir. Look forward to seeing that bus.
SCHNEIDER: Sure.
PHILLIPS: Well, straight ahead, will there be federal action in the Jena 6 case? House members met with Mychal Bell's parents today. Coming up, we'll hear all about it with Congresswoman Maxine Waters, live.
Causing a traffic tie-up in L.A. This guy's got you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL SHEN, BLOGGER: Here is someone going down the wrong way in one-way traffic. So, I'll be like, cheese.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Blogging against bad drivers. You'll meet him.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Taking Jena to Washington. The parents of Jena 6 defendant Mychal Bell along with the Reverend Al Sharpton have been meeting with members of the House Judiciary Committee. We're expecting comments from from Sharpton and Bell's parents shortly. They want congressional hearings on what they call a racist justice system in Jena, Louisiana, and federal intervention for Mychal Bell's release. Congresswoman Maxine Waters is there. She's going to speak -- we're going to speak to her soon. As those events wrap up, she'll join us live.
Now, the Jena 6 case has stirred up many issues beyond unequal justice. Among them, personal responsibility and teens at risk, favorite themes of actor and author Bill Cosby. Cosby will be speaking this hour right here at the Cradle of Prison Pipeline summit in Washington. We're going to monitor that and we're going to bring you some of his comments as soon as he starts chatting.
LEMON: Both Maxine Waters, Bill Cosby, no-holds-barred. I look forward to your conversation with her coming up. That's going to be very, very interesting.
Well, think of it as a citizens arrest on the Web. A blogger is capturing L.A. traffic no-nos on his cell phone. There you go.
CNN's Chris Lawrence went along for the ride.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They've been called rude, even reckless. L.A. drivers are just as liable to forget you're there, and flip you off.
SHEN: That guy, did he just curse at us?
LAWRENCE: It was enough to drive this transplanted New Yorker crazy.
SHEN: And it's not about L.A. bashing, I like L.A.
LAWRENCE: But not its roads. So Michael Shen created a Web site where he could vent. He takes pictures of people he considers bad drivers and posts his rants on a blog.
SHEN: Oh, here we go. Here is someone going down the wrong way of one-way traffic. So I be like, cheese. OK, this is a one-way road. I took his photo, and I let him pass.
LAWRENCE: Shen has seen drivers speed up to keep cars from merging into their lane.
SHEN: If they are safely signaling and there's plenty of room, you should not be accelerating and blocking them.
LAWRENCE: His personal favorite: the car trying to beat the light and ends up stuck in the middle of an intersection.
SHEN: I mean, there's just blatant, do not block!
LAWRENCE (on camera): Come on, L.A.'s an easy target. But are we really that bad?
(voice-over): Well, yes and no. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, you're almost twice as likely to be killed in a car crash in L.A. as in New York City. San Francisco, Chicago and Philly all have lower rates, too. But L.A. is safer than San Diego, Houston, Detroit and Dallas.
Somehow, that doesn't register with the frustrated folks who post on Shen's Web site.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The driver attempted to back up out of the middle of an intersection, but then she had to stop to avoid hitting cars that were navigating around her idiotic (EXPLETIVE DELETED) from behind.
LAWRENCE: Bloggers say these roads are home to an infinite number of idiots.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just valet parked my car when I looked up and saw the minivan in the photo accelerate and rear-end the SUV in front of him. Get this: both were stopped at a red light.
Chris Lawrence, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Welcome to America, Mr. Ahmadinejad. Iran's president gets a less than glowing introduction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Heavy and cruel dictator. Quite simply, ridiculous. You are either brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, while that was going on inside Columbia's halls, our Jeanne Moos was checking your reaction outside.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The so-called Jena 6 down in Louisiana stirred up a lot of emotions and talk about race in the United States. And talking about that a little bit later on at Howard University -- as a matter of fact, there's a live picture there -- is going to be actor and author Bill Cosby. He's talking about personal responsibility and teens at risk. He'll be speaking at the Cradle to Prison Pipeline summit in Washington, D.C.
That Cradle to Prison Pipeline is an initiative for poor and minority children who face risks and disadvantages that pull them into the so-called cradle-to-prison pipeline. Pipeline leads children, they say, to marginalized lives and premature deaths.
So, Bill Cosby is going to be talking about that and we're going to take it to you live just as soon as that happens -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: A half century after they made history, nine civil rights pioneers are back in the national spotlight. The Little Rock 9 are the focus of celebrations today in Arkansas's capital city. The group of African-American students integrated Little Rock's all-white Central High School right here 50 years ago today.
Former president Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Clinton were among the dignitaries at today's ceremony. Mr. Clinton, a former Arkansas governor, says the nine dared to believe the American dream belonged to them, too.
Minnijean Brown Trickey is featured in a new HBO documentary on the Little Rock 9, we love that name. And earlier in the NEWSROOM, she talked to CNN's Heidi Collins.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: As you went back and you looked at the school, you said this. "This is not supposed to be like this. It can't be 50 years. It just doesn't make sense." What did you mean by that?
MINNIJEAN BROWN TRICKEY, "LITTLE ROCK 9": Well, there are a couple of feelings I was having. I was feeling I shouldn't feel so emotional after so long. And the other thing is I thought over that 50 years, we would reach a level of perfection regarding children and education and integration. So, it's a whole combination of regret and feeling and sorrows.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, the HBO documentary chronicles that era 50 years ago, and looks at Little Rock's Central High School today.
LEMON: O'Reilly's Harlem night. Dishing about his soul food dinner puts the Fox host in a pickle. Check, please. Straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right, looking at live pictures. Oh, you probably can't really make out what it is. But somewhere in that black screen and those pictures you see up there is a podium. And we're going to be talking about the Jena 6 case -- has stirred up many issues beyond unequal justice. Well, among them, personal responsibility and teens at risk, favorite themes among actor Bill Cosby. Well, he's going to be talking about those themes on the heels of the Jena 6. Not exactly talking about that, but about those themes. We're going to bring it to you live just as soon as it happens.
PHILLIPS: Well, his host seemed less than hospitable, but that was nothing compared to the reaction of Iran's president just outside Columbia University's halls.
Our Jeanne Moos perused the protest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He was the big man on campus, if by big you mean big target. "Go to hell," "The evil has landed," "monster," "dog tyrant." Critics turned him into a Swastika, they made fun of his size.
DOV HIKIND, NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY: This madman, this little Hitler.
MOOS: One columnist even insulted his haircut. The shortest message of all was on these shorts.
(on camera): Excuse me, what's with your shorts?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My outfit today says no war on Iran.
MOOS: Oh, I hadn't seen the front.
(voice-over): Her message was one of the few exceptions to the anti-Iran signs.
You know how the person who introduces a speaker usually says nice things? Not in this introduction.
LEE BOLLINGER, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT: ...heavy and cruel dictator. Quite simply, ridiculous. You are either brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated.
MOOS: To which President Ahmadinejad responded ...
PRES. MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, IRAN (through translator): Why should I have condemned (ph) myself to face insults?
MOOS: Hey, at least no one in New York held a voodoo ceremony to jinx his trip. Critics in Indonesia did when President Bush traveled there. They depicted the great Satan horned like a devil.
Back in New York, defenders and critics argue. This woman said Ahmadinejad should be feared like Hitler.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My God, there are still good men in the world. You are not your father's generation.
MOOS: The guy she was yelling at said, who is the U.S. to talk about Iran getting nukes?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who has used them against civilian population? One country on the planet, name it, please. USA. Ahmadinejad is bad. Bush is worse.
MOOS: The spittle was flying, even during the president's speech.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why is your government providing aid to terrorists?
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