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What Will Larry Craig Do? Vick Tests Positive for Marijuana
Aired September 26, 2007 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: First he said he's guilty of disorderly conduct. Then he said he's leaving the U.S. Senate effective Sunday.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Today Idaho Senator Larry Craig is revisiting both of those pronouncements. We're watching a hearing this hour in Minnesota, and we're hearing from the senator himself on Capitol Hill.
Hello everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
PHILLIPS: It appears Senator Larry Craig might stay in Washington past the end of this month. A source close to the senator tells CNN it all depends on what a Minnesota judge decides and when. This hour Craig's attorneys plan to try to set aside Craig's guilty plea on a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge. The Idaho Republican was arrested in June in an airport bathroom sex sting. Two months later he pleaded guilty. Craig says he did he nothing wrong, he just wanted to make the case go away. Craig had announced plans to leave the Senate on September 30th. He's expected to have more to say later today.
LEMON: For a developing story we go to the NEWSROOM, CNN Fredricka Whitfield working all the details for us. What do you have, Fred?
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well more problems now for suspended Falcons quarterback Michael Vick apparently after testing positive for marijuana. Now a judge has imposed some stricter pretrial rules on him where he is confined to his home at certain hours between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. on a regular, daily basis. There may be some electronic monitoring that will take place involving him as well at his home.
This took place after his probation officer petitioned the judge to impose these stricter release conditions after testing positive September 13th. All this coming just one day after learning that Virginia is imposing its own charges after a grand jury has decided to indict him on dog fighting related charges. If convicted in that case, he's looking at a maximum of 10 years in prison on the Virginia case, and then come December, December 10th, he is to be sentenced for the federal charges in which we all are familiar with him pleading guilty on those charges. So a lot of problems facing the indefinitely suspended quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons -- Don. LEMON: All right. Fredricka Whitfield, thank you for that.
PHILLIPS: It could have been a breakthrough in a heartbreaking case; instead it looks like another dead end. The photos taken last month in Morocco raised new hopes in the search for missing British girl Madeleine McCann. Now reports in Britain say the girl in the photo is not Madeleine.
CNN's Emily Chang (UNINTELLIGIBLE) from London with more -- Emily.
EMILY CHANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yesterday several journalists we've learned traveled to Morocco to try to track down the girl in that photograph taken by the Spanish tourist that everybody thought was Madeleine. And tonight a journalist with London's "Evening Standard" newspaper believes he has found that little girl and while she does bear a striking resemblance to Madeleine, it is not Madeleine.
Indeed it is a 5-year-old little girl. Her name is Bushra. She's the daughter of an olive farmer and she lives in that northern Moroccan town of Venoit (ph). Reaction from the McCanns tonight, a family spokesperson said this is disappointing, however Kate and Gerry McCann, Madeleine's parents, never got too excited about this photograph because there have been so many sightings of Madeleine since she disappeared, over 400 sightings, and all of them have come to nothing. So tonight they say they simply remain very focused on finding her and finding out where is Madeleine.
PHILLIPS: All right. Emily Chang, appreciate that update.
LEMON: Back under the microscope, Blackwater. The secretive security firm paid to protect American VIPs in Iraq. That country's prime minister accuses Blackwater employees of some very serious charges. Today we hear how the Pentagon intends to get answers. Our senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre joins us now with the very latest on that -- Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well Don, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is up on Capitol Hill at this hour, asking for another $42 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but back here at the Pentagon, a sign of his leadership style. After asking questions about oversight of private security contractors under Pentagon contracts, Blackwater you may recall is under a State Department contract, Defense Secretary Gates pronounced that he had some real concerns about that oversight and has dispatched a five- member team to Iraq to look into the matter. In addition, the deputy defense secretary has also issued new guidance to commanders in the field about making sure that they know they have the authority and responsibility to hold those contractors accountable.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEOFF MORRELL, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: The notion that there's not -- that there are not authorities in place to deal with rogue contractors or contractors who are breaking the law is nonsense. We have the means to go after them through the Department of Justice. We have the means to go after them through military courts. Just because there has not been a prosecution brought does not mean that the authority does not exist to deal with people who misbehave, who break the law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCINTYRE: Of course, it's the perception by the Iraqi government and many Iraqi people that those security contractors operate above the law and are unaccountable because they are immune from Iraqi law and subject to U.S. jurisdiction, that's created the crisis that's going on now between the U.S. and Iraqi government.
While the State Department and Iraq are negotiating over what the future rules will be for contractors, Secretary Gates wants to make sure that the U.S. military is reviewing the contracts of those contractors, making sure that the appropriate rules of engagement or rules for the use of force are in place, that no one is carrying weapons that's not authorized to carry them, and perhaps most importantly, that if there is misconduct by contractors, that commanders know it's their responsibility to enforce discipline -- Don.
LEMON: CNN's Jamie McIntyre -- thank you Jamie.
PHILLIPS: So has this happened to you? Stuck on the tarmac or in the terminal with nothing to do for hours? Flight delays are a growing problem across America. We all know that. The FAA says they're up 20 percent this year. Right now that problem has the attention of a congressional panel. CNN's Brianna Keilar is with us now from Washington. Can't wait to hear what the answers are, or at least the solutions.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well if you have something in common with passenger rights advocates, you might be a little disappointed. And Kyra, I don't know if you've been stuck in a plane on the tarmac for hours waiting to take off, but there are a whole lot of folks out there who have been, maybe without food or water, maybe with a disgusting bathroom situation. It's not fun to say the least.
And that's what this hearing today is all about. Representatives from the Department of Transportation, the airline industry, and the consumer group are testifying today before the House subcommittee that handles air travel, and this hearing comes on the heels of a report from the inspector general for the Department of Transportation. Among the recommendations in this report, getting airlines to agree to a time limit for delays, something they have yet to do, and also making airlines tell passengers what the on time performance of a flight is when they make a reservation. Also, pressuring airlines to comply, it says the DOT should take a more active role in making airlines follow their own rules, but much to the disappointment of passenger rights advocates, the inspector general stopped short of recommending a standard, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Brianna Keilar, we will keep following. Is it supposed to last throughout the day? KEILAR: Yes, and at this moment I think they're running a little late. I'm not sure if they've started, but two panels, I think about a dozen people, it's going to take a while...
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: OK, so you're telling me that the hearings on flight delays are delayed.
(LAUGHTER)
KEILAR: That is right. Now whether it's a protracted delay, we're not sure.
PHILLIPS: OK, got it. All right, Brianna, thank you very much.
LEMON: A couple of them may be stuck on the runway. You never know. Speaking of being stuck on the runway, weather is affecting any of that. It happened yesterday. Chad is keeping an eye on the storms and there may be some delays, Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: A couple of delays out there. Actually Seattle has a delay this morning out there, 11:00, still 11:08 your time. Just a little bit of fog around the airport, but other than that, that's going to clear up. The airports will be just fine today I think.
We're watching tropical depression number 13, expecting this to maybe be Lorenzo later today. I don't know, maybe. It's kind of getting its act together, although there is an airplane actually in it. The airplane left Keesler Air Force base here in Biloxi and has now been flying all the way down in through the Gulf of Mexico into the low itself looking for enough wind to say oh, not a depression anymore, it's actually a storm now.
But right now they are only finding wind. The only wind I find, they send us a wind measurement every 30 seconds. The biggest one I could find is about 25 miles per hour. Now that is not enough to make this a tropical depression and tropical storm, you got to be 39 or more. Here is the Bay of Campeche. Here is Cancun and Cozumel. It is to the west of there.
Remember the Mexican offshore oil fields are right through here. Always a concern when we get some kind of a tropical system blowing these oil rigs around. But for now it is not anything we have to worry about, and the official forecast track that came in a couple of hours ago does take the low and drive it into Mexico itself, although that could be a flood situation for Mexico City -- Don.
LEMON: In the lead-in someone wrote, angry storm. Is that correct? Are they angry?
MYERS: There is an angry one out there and its name is Karen, but it's so far out in the Atlantic, I can't find it. No, I'm just kidding...
LEMON: It's so mad that it vaporized. OK, all right, thank you, Chad.
MYERS: All right.
PHILLIPS: Al Sharpton's dinner with Bill O'Reilly. The civil rights activist shares a meal. I wonder what they had, Don. It sparked comments that resulted in a big hullabaloo. We're going to ask Sharpton to weigh in on what he thinks of ole Bill O'Reilly.
LEMON: I think Bill O'Reilly mentioned what they had. I think he said like salmon or something -- I forget. We'll find out. I'll tell you.
Plus, a south Florida bank counting its losses after a brazen heist that involved an employee and an alleged bomb.
PHILLIPS: And as Phil Spector jury deliberates, a strange item pops up on MySpace. Is the judge in danger?
All ahead on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Almost 13, there it is, 13 past the hour, three of the stories we're working on for you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
More legal trouble for Michael Vick, CNN has learned the Atlanta Falcons quarterback has tested positive for marijuana prompting a judge to slap a curfew on him. Vick is facing state dog fighting charges out of Virginia after pleading guilty to a federal charge.
It looks like Senator Larry Craig won't resign at the end of the month even though he earlier said he intended to. A source tells CNN Craig will announce today he plans to stay in office at least until a Minnesota judge rules on his case. Just moments from now, a judge starts considering Craig's petition to overturn his guilty plea in an airport sex sting.
Live pictures now from Capitol Hill where a House panel is seeking ways to cut your travel time whenever they show up; they're delayed as well. The question, how long should you have to wait on a plane on the tarmac before being allowed to get off? Well, such delays have soared 20 percent since last year.
PHILLIPS: Warren Jeffs will find out in November how long he will spend in prison for being an accomplice to rape. The polygamist sect leader was convicted yesterday in a case arising from a marriage that he arranged between an unwilling 14-year-old girl and her 19- year-old cousin. CNN's Gary Tuchman has the story now from St. George, Utah.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Aboard this helicopter the man thousands believe is a prophet of God, Warren Jeffs, being transported to jail as a convicted felon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Jeffs, would you please stand as the verdict is read.
TUCHMAN: Moments earlier, the leader of the largest polygamist sect in North America standing on the left with his lawyers listened as a jury decided he had facilitated the rape of a 14-year-old girl.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Count one (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt (UNINTELLIGIBLE) accomplice.
TUCHMAN: He was found guilty of two counts involving the same girl, who was forced to be married and have sex against her will with her adult husband. The victim is now 21 and after the verdict came forward publicly for the first time.
ELISSA WALL, VICTIM: When I was young, my mother taught me that evil flourishes when good men do nothing. This has not been easy for us. The easy thing would have been to do nothing, but I have followed my heart, and I have spoken the truth.
TUCHMAN: Warren Jeffs was on the FBI 10 most wanted list for four months because of accusations he's done this to many underage girls. But they are either too scared or not motivated to come forward. Elissa Wall was the only one who would testify against the leader of the sect that split from the Mormon Church in the late 19th Century over the issue of polygamy.
WALL: This trial has not been about religion or a vendetta. It is simply about child abuse and preventing further abuse.
TUCHMAN: Jeffs' expression did not change when he heard the verdict. Neither did that of more than a dozen of his followers in the court. Jurors had said they were split in the beginning of deliberations and that fists nearly flew, but were united at the end.
Police sharp shooters were perched on building tops and cliffs near the court in case there was violence after the conviction, but all stayed quiet. The victim had testified that her husband forced himself upon her on many occasions, including in this honeymoon picture when she said she tried to push herself away from him. She still has family and friends in the church who will not talk to her.
WALL: I hope that all FLDS girls and women will understand that no matter what anyone may say, you are created equal. You do not have to surrender your rights.
TUCHMAN (on camera): Warren Jeffs will stay in a local jail until November 20th. That is the day of his sentencing. The judge has a lot of latitude. Each conviction carries the possibility of five years to life, but that's not it for Jeffs. The state of Arizona also wants to try him on similar charges.
Gary Tuchman, CNN, St. George, Utah.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: A videotaped arrest has lots of folks buzzing about stun gun laws. Hear her story straight ahead from the CNN NEWSROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Well if you saw this video of a woman being tasered again and again by police in Ohio, I'm sure you haven't forgotten it. Neither has a woman who is now claiming excessive force. Heidi Gill is asking for state and federal investigations. She spoke today on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HEIDI GILL, TASERED BY POLICE: I was just thinking that I needed to continue to live, just to get away from him. At one point you can see me crawling on the ground. I was just grasping for grass, rocks anything that I could just crawl away from him. Just trying to get away and trying to survive. I have never been electrocuted.
I didn't know what this was, and I really didn't think this pain was ever going to stop. It was nonstop. I was terrified of this man. He was no longer a police officer to me. I was in -- thrown in the backseat of a vehicle and I just wanted away from him. I was screaming help or please to anyone. It was the only thing that could come out of my mouth at this time. I just needed to get away from him so that I could live.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: That officer in the video is on administrative leave pending an internal investigation. He says a drunken Gill refused his direct orders and was combative and destructive, at one point breaking the window of his cruiser. He also says he was having problems with the taser.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREGORY HICKS, WARREN, OHIO LAW DIRECTOR: We'll know more about the taser malfunctioning because it will be sent to the lab for analysis. It has a memory in it. It will tell us how many times it fired, whether it made actual contact when it fired, what kind of charge went out, et cetera, so the number of times, while they seem to know exactly on their side, we don't know until the taser has been analyzed.
Again, the investigation is going to tell us exactly why everything happened and how it happened hopefully. As a matter of fact, we're hoping that some of the individuals there who were witnesses of this, maybe even had their cell cameras on, would contact us at our office to help us thoroughly understand exactly what happened that evening.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Heidi Gill says she still is feeling the effects of the tasering, including dizziness and double vision.
PHILLIPS: A tentative agreement between General Motors and the UAW is being called a landmark settlement. Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange to break it all down for us. Susan, explain it, laymen terms.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Laymen terms are the terms that I understand and that we understand, Kyra. Most of the 73,000 union workers who walked off the job on Monday are back at work at General Motors plants today. If the union ratifies the new agreement this weekend, it could produce a major shift for the auto industry.
G.M. says the deal helps it close the competitive gap with Toyota and other overseas automakers who don't have the billions of dollars of health care retiree expenses tied up in the cost of their vehicles. The union hopes that will entice G.M. to invest more in its operations here in the U.S. G.M. will shift $51 billion of retiree health care responsibilities to a union-run trust.
G.M. will fund that trust with tens of billions of dollars, but not the full amount. The key is the automaker takes the liability for the 340,000 retires and spouses who are eligible for benefits off its books. As for current workers, they reportedly will not get any salary increases but will get lump sum bonuses each year, and newly hired workers will reportedly come in at a much lower rate allowing G.M. to slash its costs further -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So investors must be happy with this news.
LISOVICZ: That's right. Because G.M. and for that matter the big threes problems are not just the result of $3 a gallon gasoline. It's the fact that its business model needs to be corrected in order for it to stay competitive, and Wall Street is applauding that. G.M. stock is now up six percent and part supply companies that got hammered yesterday are also soaring.
Shares of Ford, meanwhile, are up five percent. The union will now decide if it wants to negotiate with Ford or Chrysler next. If approved by rank and file workers this weekend, today's deal is expected to serve as a blueprint for talks with Ford and Chrysler. The blue chips needless to say are getting a big lift from G.M.
That's despite the biggest drop in durable goods. Big ticket items since January are for worse than economists expected and big ticket items, by the way, include cars and trucks, our main topic of the day. Right now the Dow industrials are up 64 points or half a percent. The NASDAQ is up half a percent as well.
In the next hour of NEWSROOM, a judge dials up an unfavorable ruling for an Internet-based phone company. I'll tell what you it means for you in the next hour of NEWSROOM. In the meantime Kyra and Don, back to you -- I hope that was -- that was pretty lay language, don't you think?
PHILLIPS: I followed it all.
LISOVICZ: And I didn't mention vibo (ph) once...
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: I was waiting for the vibo (ph) word again. Then we'd have to get that whole explanation...
LISOVICZ: Been there, done that.
PHILLIPS: OK, see you in a little bit, Susan.
LISOVICZ: You got it.
LEMON: Well from best-selling novel to upcoming Hollywood movie. Real life kite runners fighting for supremacy of the skies ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.
PHILLIPS: We'll also have more on the situation in Myanmar. But first our news quiz, when did military authorities begin promoting the name of Myanmar for Burma -- the answer straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Hello everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips live at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Well, it appears Senator Larry Craig might stay in Washington past the end of this month. A source close to the senator tells CNN it all depends on what a Minnesota judge decides and when. This hour Craig's attorneys plan to try to set aside Craig's guilty plea on a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge.
The Idaho Republican was arrested in June in an airport bathroom sex sting. Two months later he pleaded guilty. Craig says he did nothing wrong, he just wanted to make the case go away. Well Craig had announced plans to leave the Senate on September 30th. He's expected to have more to say later today.
PHILLIPS: How much more for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? Defense Secretary Robert Gates expected to ask Congress for an additional $42 billion in next year's budget. That would bump up the 2008 war bill to about 190 billion. He and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Peter Pace, are testifying on Capitol Hill this hour. Most of the increase is earmarked for specific equipment and training needs in Iraq.
LEMON: South Florida cops are trying to sort out a bizarre bank heist today that involved a bank worker, an alleged bomb, and a large amount of cash. CNN's Susan Candiotti has the latest on what could be described as a very puzzling case -- Susan.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's for sure, Don.
Well, we now know that that thing, that scary device that looked like a bomb, wasn't. It was a fake. It was a hoax according to a law enforcement source, made up of a couple of cylinders and some wires thrown together. Of course, no one knew that at the time. Even the possible victim in this case, the bank teller. Why are we calling him a possible victim? Because that's how police are labeling him. Not ready to close the books on this case because they say there are a lot of questions that they still have about the circumstances surrounding all of this.
We can tell you that the 22-year-old bank teller was questioned at great length by investigators into the wee hours of the morning, and he told them a few facts we didn't know before, that three masked gunmen had shown up at his house to kidnap him. And that they grilled him for a couple of hours about bank procedures, before forcing him and his girlfriend into a car to drive over to the bank.
Eventually he went inside the bank and took out more than $25,000, clearing it out of the vault. Here is more from the police spokesman about why they're not ready to close this case out yet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAPT. TONY RODE, HOLLYWOOD, FL. POLICE SPOKESMAN: Not only the bank employee, but his girlfriend, are cooperating fully with our investigators. They were here last night until 2:30, 3 o'clock in the morning, providing statements.
Unfortunately, there are some inconsistencies in those statements. And as such, you have to afford our investigators an opportunity to corroborate, one way or the other, these inconsistencies before we can truly classify the bank employee and his girlfriend as true victims, possibly participants in this bank robbery.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: Again, what are those question marks? Well, investigators aren't yet telling us, nor are they releasing the name of this bank teller, or his girlfriend. We do know one thing that was for real, however, that's the bank robbery. No one knows where the money went. No one knows where those bank robbers went either.
Back to you, Don.
LEMON: All right. Susan Candiotti, thank you.
PHILLIPS: Joe Cool is back in a Miami marina, but there is still no sign of the four crew members who took the boat out for a charter sail to Bimini last weekend. The two passengers who were rescued from a life raft meanwhile are in police custody.
Kirby Archer faces federal charges in an alleged theft from an Arkansas Wal-Mart. His companion, Guillermo Zarabozo, is charged with lying to a federal agent. Authorities believe that both men know what happened to these missing crew members. They're facing a federal judge to answer more questions today as the search continues off the coast of Florida.
And more than three weeks after adventurer Steve Fossett disappeared, searchers have a new lead. It comes from an air force analysis of images picked up by radar and satellite. Authorities say the images may indicate Fossett's flight track on September 3rd. This weekend the civil air patrol will fly over a rugged area near Death Valley on the Nevada/California border, that's just southeast of the ranch where Fossett took off on what was meant to be a short scouting flight.
LEMON: A photograph snapped last month in Morocco raised new hopes today in the search for missing British girl Madeleine McCann. Now those hopes -- well, they may be dashed. Right now investigators are analyzing this photograph taken by a Spanish tourist. It appears to show a Moroccan woman carrying a blond child on her back.
But British media reports say the girl, in the photograph, is not Madeleine McCann. One journalist with the "Evening Standard" says he traveled to Morocco and tracked down the girl in the photograph. He says she's the daughter of an olive farmer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RASHID RAZAQ, "EVENING STAR": If you look at the photos that we've got, I think it becomes quite clear that that's not Madeleine McCann. I think the surprising thing here to say is there has been an Interpol search for three weeks, since these pictures were taken. But the locals, and this girls' parents, say the police haven't been to see them. If the police had been to them they would have been able to discount this lead, and not raise these false hopes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, Madeleine disappeared about five months ago in Portugal, while her family was on vacation. Portuguese police have named her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, suspects in the case. The couple deny any involvement in their daughter's disappearance.
PHILLIPS: A mom goes up -- well, upside on the head. Sorry about that.
LEMON: Upside the head.
PHILLIPS: Upside the head. Here we go. Now she's in trouble for a school bus smack. It's actually really not that funny.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Crack the doors a little bit, and she said I'm so-and-so's mom. She kinda pushed the doors open.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Slapped in the face. Straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM, we'll tell you what happened.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Confrontation on a school bus, not students, it's a mom who loses control. David Balute (ph) of Florida affiliate WTSP explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): St. Petersburg police arrested 34-year-old Karen Barber, and her 15-year-old daughter, each on one count of simple battery. Police say Barber stopped a school bus headed for Riviera Middle School Friday morning at 16th Avenue South and Sixth Street.
BILL PROFFITT, ST. PETERSBURG, FLA., POLICE: The bus driver kinda cracked the doors a little bit. And she said I'm so-and-so's mom. She kinda pushed the doors open.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Surveillance video shows what happened when Barber, in the red shirt, got on the bus. She confronted a 13-year-old boy who had allegedly punched her 12-year-old son on the bus the day before.
PROFFITT: And she's talking to the 13-year-old victim, pointing her finger at him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police spokesman Bill Proffitt says it appeared Barber was about to leave the school bus, but then she turned back to the boy.
PROFFITT: Then she goes back, she begins poking the victim in the forehead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The tape shows Barber also slapped the boy on the left side of his face.
PROFFITT: The moment she slaps him one time, followed by the daughter who slaps him twice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Proffitt says the bus driver asked Barber and her daughter to leave. You can hear students on the bus cheering as they go.
ANDREA ZAHN, PINELLAS CO., FLA. SCHOOLS: Having folks get on the bus would not be appropriate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pinellas County school spokesperson Andrea Zahn, says the bus driver has been reassigned pending an internal review. Zahn says if a student is being bullied, parents should not confront students directly.
ZAHN: We would certainly hope that parents would report any kinds of those incidents to their school administration office.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An irate mother and her daughter could now face up to six months in jail for losing control on the school bus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Attorneys for embattled Senator Larry Craig go to court to try to strike a guilty plea from his record. And word from the senator, well, he may keep his job, at least for a while. The latest straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.
BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: I'm Brooke Anderson in New York. An apparent death threat against the judge in the Phil Spector case. We'll have that and more when CNN's NEWSROOM returns. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELIZABETH LUU, I-REPORTER: OK, so here we are today at the rally. This is for people who both support freedom of speech and those who are protesting, particularly, Ahmadinejad's presence here at Columbia, today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: That's video by I-Reporter and Columbia University graduate student Elizabeth Luu. She says the crowd was huge outside the building where the Iranian president was speaking.
Jessica Lewis took these pictures while watching the crowds from her dorm room window. She says there were protests on campus and some classes were canceled.
A gathering of a different kind in Flint, Michigan. Jill Maxwell snapped these pictures of the United Autoworkers strike against General Motors early this week. Maxwell is a former autoworker. She says her grandfather took part in the original sit-down strikes here in Flint in the mid-1930s.
You can also be an I-Reporter and share your videos and pictures with us. Find out how, by going to our website at cnn.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Still no verdict yet in the trial of music mogul Phil Spector, but there's some news from the courthouse and CNN Entertainment Correspondent Brooke Anderson joins us now.
Brooke, what can you tell us?
ANDERSON: Well, Don, the jury is still debating whether Phil Spector killed actress Lana Clarkson, but it was the judge who became the story yesterday. An apparent online threat against the judge is being investigated by the Los Angeles County sheriff's department.
The posting was made on a MySpace page for TeamSpector, and said, "I love Phil Spector and the evil judge should die." The post was signed by "Achelle", and Spector's wife is name Rochelle. A defense attorney in the case said that Ms. Spector denied being involved. Meantime the jury does continue its deliberations today.
All right, Clarkson was found in Spector's home with a gunshot wound to the head back in 2003. Now, defense attorneys have argued that Clarkson was depressed and that she committed suicide, Don.
LEMON: Man, OK. I understand there was a tragedy on a movie set yesterday?
ANDERSON: A horrible tragedy, Don. In fact, a stunt technician was killed while preparing a stunt for the upcoming "Batman" sequel, "The Dark Night Returns". The follow-up to 2005's "Batman Begins" is shooting some final scenes in England. It was there that the accident occurred.
Now, the tech was in a camera truck that was trying to follow a stunt vehicle on a racetrack. He was killed when the truck ran into a tree. The studio has released a statement expressing their sadness and saying that, quote, "Their hearts and prayers go out to the family and loved ones of the deceased."
There was no filming going on at the time of the accident and none of the cast members were at the location, but, Don, you heard in the statement a devastating loss and deep sadness by everyone.
LEMON: Elton John was in New York last night. What's going on there?
ANDERSON: He certainly was. Elton John announced a $300,000 grant, Don, to support AIDS education in New York City schools. That was the benefit last night for his foundation. But the singer is going to have to deal with the controversy, over the pond, back in England.
Police in northeastern England have removed a photograph owned by the singer from an art exhibit after concerns were raised that the photo was child pornography. The picture called, "Clara and Etta Belly Dancing" by photographer Nan Golden, shows two naked young girls. It's part of a collection of Golden's work owned by John that is being shown in Gateshead, England.
The local police there have not yet determined if an offense was been committed. And neither the gallery nor Golden has made any statement in response to the removal of the photo. I do want to say, though, that John bought the photo in 1999 and it has appeared in other exhibits around the world, including the U.S., without attracting this kind of attention.
OK, moving now to "Showbiz Tonight." Coming up tonight, Kiefer Sutherland's DUI arrest. Not on "24" but in real life. Why Sutherland may be in even more trouble from his DUI arrest than he could have ever imagined. The inside story, TV's most provocative entertainment news show, that is "Showbiz Tonight" 11:00 Eastern and Pacific on "Headline Prime."
LEMON: OK, Brooke. I think I'm going to pass out. I can't believe --
ANDERSON: What's wrong?
LEMON: There's no Britney Spears news in your report? What?
(LAUGHTER)
ANDERSON: We will have some Britney Spears news, never fear, Don. Watch at 11:00 Eastern and Pacific.
LEMON: Sorry, Brooke.
(LAUGHTER)
ANDERSON: We won't disappoint.
PHILLIPS: Air NIKE goes Air Native American. The athletic shoe company promoting physical fitness in a population with high obesity rates. Details from Stephanie Strickland of affiliate KGW in Portland, Oregon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's part of the NIKE campus few get to see, the top secret NIKE sports research lab opening its doors for select media and others. NIKE's showcasing a new product developed right here in the same room where you might find a Lebron or Federer testing things out, but this product isn't for a multimillion dollar mega athlete. Instead it's for an entire community of people, underserved in many respects, Native Americans.
This is the new NIKE Air Native N7 shoe. Starting with the aesthetics, it comes complete with subtle cultural cues, colors to represent sunrise to sunset, a circle with spiritual connotations. Even the number 7 sacred to some. The driving force behind this, NIKE's Sam McCracken.
SAM MCCRACKEN, NIKE NATIVE AMER. BUSINESS PROGRAM: My mom was stricken by Type II diabetes and went into a diabetic coma in 2001, and passed away 12 days later. So it's a very personal to me. The complications of diabetes with Native people all across the U.S.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And while a shoe is not a cure-all for anything, the program is a step in a novel new direction. While NIKE has long made a push to work with Native American tribes, this is a first, even for it. After traveling to tribes across the U.S. making more than 200 highly accurate foot scans like this, NIKE specially tailored the shoe to fit the unique foot of Native Americans.
DR. RODNEY STAPP, CONSULTING PODIATRIST: The Native American forefoot is a little bit wider than average. Their rear food is about average, is it kind of makes it triangular.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Meaning it's typically hard to get a good fit until now. More than 140 tribes will get these special shoes at steep discounts, offering to members footwear that they otherwise can't just go out and buy. The shoes should fit better, feel better, and perform better. All in the hopes of encouraging an active and healthy lifestyle.
MCCRACKEN: I am hoping this product will really be a point of inspiration for the community to become more physically active. (END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: NIKE says that all profits from the sale of the shoe will be reinvested for health programs for American Indians.
LEMON: We're going to got to Florida now. CNN's Susan Candiotti working the details of a developing story about that mystery boat.
What do you have, Susan/
CANDIOTTI: Well, Don, these are really disturbing claims that are contained in an FBI affidavit, claims made by the two survivors of that mystery at sea. Remember four crew members remain missing.
Well, here is what those two survivors claim happened while they were at sea. Remember, they chartered this boat on Saturday. Were supposed to head to Bimini, then suddenly it changed course, it went south.
Here is the new information: One of the two survivors, this is the 19-year-old from Miami by the name of Guillermo Zarabozo. He told the FBI that two unknown people hijacked the vessel and that when they got onboard, these hijackers -- we don't know how many, we don't know who -- killed the captain of the vessel. Then according to this young man, the hijackers then shot the captain's wife after she became hysterical.
Then the hijackers told another crew member, this would be the third crew member, told that person to throw the bodies overboard. The teenager said that once this happened, he said that -- let's see. The hijackers told another crew member to throw the bodies overboard. He said that they shot and killed the crew member when he refused to throw the bodies overboard. And then the young man said he was told to throw the bodies overboard, and he complied.
Now, that is the new information we have. We can tell you that in court, once this affidavit was revealed, it was revealed because prosecutors tried to argue, before the court, that they did not think that these two young men, the teenager and Kirby Archer, the older man who was with him, did not think that they deserved to get bond because prosecutors argue that these two men were in serious risk of fleeing the area. And, in fact, the court agreed that they should not receive bond.
So back to jail they go. They are being held not on charges relating directly to what happened aboard that boat. One of them is charged with making a false statement to the authorities. And we don't know exactly what Archer said about what happened, only that he said that he didn't fly to Bimini, which is why he took the boat, said because he knew there was an outstanding fugitive warrant for him, on outstanding charges from Arkansas. That he stole some money from a Wal-Mart there -- Don.
LEMON: All right, CNN's Susan Candiotti with the late-breaking details on that story. Susan will be back at the top of the hour with more information on that. CNN NEWSROOM continues after a quick break. Back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: A fight for supremacy in the skies over Afghanistan. One man stands as the top kite fighter. We get more on this unique sport from our Senior International Correspondent Nic Robertson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Kite flying is not just a calm afternoon fashion here, but a centuries old competitive sport, a passion. The Taliban repressed it. Now it's beginning to flourish anew. A best selling American book, "The Kite Runner", and a Hollywood movie based on it and coming out soon, are showing how central it is to life here.
It's ferocity, mirroring Afghanistan's harsh ways. Working in his mud-built house in Kabul, Mohammed is a fourth generation kite maker, and competitor. Perhaps Kabul's most famous. Last year he won a national award for kite making but says he's better at kite fighting.
His children are learning, too. The family is well-known here. Now a measure of fame is headed its way. Mohammed has been asked to train actors for the big budget Paramount Pictures movie.
MOHAMMED ESSAM, KITE MAKER (through translator): When they came here, they asked and they found out that I am the best in this kite flying market. Therefore, they send us two boys to be trained by me.
ROBERTSON: Easy for this 50-year-old father of 12, who has been teaching his children for decades. The key to the sport is not just to fly the kite, but use the glass covered string to cut the threads of an opponent's. When he can, he likes to work outside. He lives in the graveyard he says because it's close to his market, the old traditional part of town.
As he whittles his kites rise and tumble from neighboring roofs. His boast, he's the best in the business almost cost him his role in helping the moviemakers.
ESSAM (through translator): The shopkeepers do not want me to be more famous, and they do not give my address to them. Therefore, they say -- they send them to someone else. But finally people can find me.
ROBERTSON: He learned from his father, who learned from his, who learned from his. More than 100 years of wisdom outlasting invading armies and kings. Six-year-old Sabra (ph) and five-year-old Sabur (ph), instinctively know their part in this ancient craft. Sabra sells her own kites for a couple of cents.
Thirteen-year-old Hassan works alone. He earns $20 a kite. He's the only one who has been told the secret to the family's success.
(on camera): The secret? What's inside? What's the secret?
ESSAM: (SPEAKING A FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
ROBERTSON (voice over): His answer, simple, he's not telling. If he did, he says, I'd steal his business. He gets $200 for the best kites. That's a lot of money here. Three times the average monthly government salary. So competitive is the market, he marks his kite was a scorpion to prevent imitations. And brags he gets orders of 500 kites at a time.
(On camera): And this is where people come to do battle with their kites, on a hill overlooking Kabul. And there's plenty of evidence of those battles, string litters the ground everywhere.
(Voice over): On the war-scared hillside, the pages of "Kite Runner" are played out. Young boys chase the losers' fallen kites and keep them as trophies. But for Mohammed there is always one nagging worry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sometimes I asked my mother, that, am I famous or what? Only my dad was famous. But my mom answered that, no, you are one step ahead of your father.
ROBERTSON: If the movie is half as popular as the book, he can stop worrying about who is the best until his children grow up. Nic Robertson, CNN, Kabul, Afghanistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Next, hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
PHILLIPS: A judge in Minnesota will decide whether Larry Craig can take back his guilty plea, but what about his plans to quit the Senate?
LEMON: The Idaho Republican is also having second thoughts -- for at least the second time -- about going back to Idaho. We'll get the latest on the legal case and the case for not resigning this hour.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
LEMON: What happened to four crew members of a boat missing off of Florida? New developments in that case right now and for the latest we go to CNN's Susan Candiotti.
What can you tell us, Susan.
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