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Landslide in La Jolla, California; Insurance Showdown; Three Fires Set Today in Senate Dirksen and Hart Office Buildings

Aired October 03, 2007 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: We were talking about a second opinion would have helped -- same lab results, right?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. I mean, you can go -- she could have gone and gotten a second opinion from another doctor before having her breast removed, but that doctor would likely have been using the exact same lab data and would have said, yes, you've got cancer.

So, what you need to do sometimes is, before you do something really drastic with your health like removing body parts, if it's based on a lab test, send those -- send the biopsy to another lab. You can always go to another lab.

LEMON: All right.

You can get more information on CNN.com/health.

COHEN: That's right.

LEMON: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.

COHEN: Thanks.

LEMON: The next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

Earth moves, the street gives way. A home on the hill begins to collapse and more are in danger.

We're live with breaking news in the La Jolla section of San Diego.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We're also examining the high cost of health care for children and the political price of drawing the line. President Bush is counting dollars in the bill that he just vetoed and his critics in Congress are counting votes.

Hello, everyone.

I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon.

You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. PHILLIPS: More now on that landslide in San Diego, California.

Straight to the news room. Fredricka Whitfield has been working more details on the developing story -- Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And Kyra, it's a sinkhole that measures somewhere between 50 and 60 yards long. Pretty significant.

And as far as we understand from those officials who had a press conference in the last hour, at least one home has been damaged. Kind of pushed, you know, on its land mass, further into its back yard, with its deck just kind of hanging there precariously. And so far no reports of injuries.

Meantime, on the line with us, Michael Spengler, who actually lives on that street. So imagine what it must have sounded like or looked like if you live on that street and suddenly a huge buckling of your street just gives away.

Mr. Spengler, I understand you're trying to get to your home which is on that street, but you can't because obviously that street is not passable and folks are not letting you through.

Describe the scene for me.

MICHAEL SPENGLER, RESIDENT: Yes, I'm actually at the north end of the road closure right now looking down at my house. Unfortunately, I can't see it because they blocked it off pretty far down.

There's police everywhere, SDG&E, which is our electric company, the gas company is here, fire trucks are here. It's pretty crazy right now.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Well, I heard from one of your neighbors earlier I spoke to on the phone. And he told me about his adventure of walking his dog, the street was fine. He did notice a little depression in the street, and the next thing you know when he turned around, that there was this significant sinkhole.

So how did you hear about this? You were obviously away from home. What, were you on your way to work? This happened about 8:30 a.m. this morning?

SPENGLER: Yes. I left actually at 8:30 and I saw a bunch of gentlemen with like, you know, more executive-type looks, not so much workers, looking at the road. And just thinking, huh, that's interesting. And then I left.

And about half an hour later I started getting phone calls from all our friends, because I actually work in town in La Jolla, and we have a lot of friends that kept calling me and calling me. And I finally answered one of them and they said, "Oh, your house. Your house." And so I drove up here immediately.

WHITFIELD: Wow. SPENGLER: But they already had it blocked off. So I can't get in. And I couldn't find my wife, which was just kind of scary.

WHITFIELD: And so you guys have since connected.

SPENGLER: We have. We just connected about two minutes ago. So for about an hour I was driving around pacing and talking to the police, trying to get them to go to our house, because she works out with headphones at home. And I was just worried that she couldn't hear them knocking on the door.

WHITFIELD: Well, that is some scary stuff. I'm glad to hear that she is OK, right?

SPENGLER: Yes, she is fine.

WHITFIELD: OK. And now, tell me about living in this neighborhood, living on a street where you know there have been some pipe repair work taking place. I understand that officials have been out there maybe even three weeks ago and there had been some warnings that there might be potential for mudslides, landslides, et cetera, in this area.

This is something that has happened before. In fact, at least three other times over the years since the 1960s.

So, with all of that, knowing all of that, what were your thoughts and feelings -- how about that of your neighbors and family members, too -- about the potential of your home being in the middle of a mudslide, a sinkhole, a landslide?

SPENGLER: Well, it's interesting, because we bought this house about a year ago and there was no -- in the disclosures or anything was nothing about mudslides or anything, that it was sitting on a precarious position. So it's actually kind of new to us.

There was a water main break about two months ago, and they had it fixed for a little bit and then it broke open again. And it's been breaking open ever since. And they were -- right now they're in the process of I guess rerouting the water over the street and then cutting it off, and then redoing I guess the pipe. That's what they were doing.

WHITFIELD: So now I wonder, you know, this day forward, how worried are you that this might not be the only sinkhole, you know, that could enter your neighborhood scenario. I mean, how concerned are you about what is next?

SPENGLER: There is a concern now. I mean, I'm -- because it's literally about two houses down from us.

WHITFIELD: Oh.

SPENGLER: So it's very concerning because we have two small children and then, yes, I'm a little worried.

WHITFIELD: Yes, I would be, too.

Well, Michael Spengler, thanks so much. I'm glad your family is doing fine. And hope all the best for you and your neighbors there as officials there still try to get to the bottom of the situation. Hopefully no other sinkhole to endanger any more homes and households.

Thanks so much, Mr. Spengler.

SPENGLER: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Kyra and Don, back to you.

PHILLIPS: All right, Fred. Thanks so much. We'll keep tracking it.

LEMON: Yes. We're going to keep tracking it.

As a matter of fact, right now, we'll talk to our Chad Myers. He's in the weather center now. He's taking a look for us at -- the slide plain, Chad?

Tell us, what is that?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, there is an area of very solid rock below Soledad Mountain, basically creating Soledad Mountain. And then there's this dirt on top of that rock.

Well, it just geologically slides every once in a while. And it is the reason that this water main has been breaking so often, because the earth moves a little bit, well, you got a metal pipe under there, or whatever it is, cracks. Then they fix it. Cracks. Then they fix it.

Well, eventually you get tired of that, and they were putting that water main on top of the land. On top -- actually, up by the street.

So here we go. Here is Soledad Mountain, La Jolla, California. Here is Soledad Mountain Road.

And then back here you can see actually how slopey (ph) this is. And they are calling this a cut and fill type of property.

They cut the mountain here to put in the houses, then they filled dirt up here to put the houses up on top. Well, the land up here has pushed itself down and, in fact, has come out on the road down below. That you call an alley, but whatever.

That hole -- you can kind of see how this is so very slopey (ph) all the way down to the I-5. And this is so sloped, there wasn't really any way to put houses on there at all.

So think about this. They cut, they filled, they cut, they filled. And all the way up to the top, and eventually this top slid back down. And now it's sliding down to its neighbors, that little road down below Desert View Road. So it's a bumpy area. It's very geographically intense. You can see the mountain itself right here.

This happens all the time. This was nothing to do with water, with rain or any of that. It literally just starts to move.

Dirt on earth, dirt on rock, will eventually slide back down. What goes up must come down. This was pushed up because of an earthquake fault at some point in time. Now a little bit of it just coming back down -- Don.

LEMON: Chad, that was great. Made a whole lot of sense to us. Thank you for putting that into perspective for us.

We'll keep checking back with you.

Let's talk now about Utah's Crandall Canyon coal mine. For six miners it was their livelihood. Now it is their tomb. And their families want to know why.

With pictures of their brothers, fathers and husbands before them, relatives testified today at a House hearing. They tearfully remember the miners, criticize the fruitless rescue efforts, and demanded to know why safety fears weren't addressed earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHEILA PHILLIPS, MOTHER OF DEAD MINER: It's hard to have hope and have your heart broke every day, and then watch your son -- your grandson grow up without a dad. It's just -- and I would like to talk a little bit about Mr. Murray.

I didn't go to very many of the meetings because I couldn't stand to listen to the man. So he was talking about one day when they were moving the drill holes, and he had the pad ready for one and then he decided to drill it somewhere else. And I asked him why there wasn't two going and he said the mountain couldn't support two drills going at one time.

This is a mountain. You know? There's timing. They could time it for water and fuel and stuff.

So -- and he says -- he said something else, I don't know what it was. And he said, "We could drill you a thousand holes, it wouldn't make any difference."

They would find them, wouldn't they, if they drilled at least a thousand?

I just miss him and I want him -- I don't know. I would like to know where my son is in that hole so I can leave a marker on the mountain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(NEWSBREAK) PHILLIPS: So what is really going on here? Is the president really against insurance for poor kids? Are free-spending Democrats trying to break the bank?

Let's bring in our White House correspondent, Ed Henry.

Ed, a lot of Americans seem to be in favor of health care for kids, expanding this program. I mean, take a look at "The Washington Post"-ABC poll that I was talking to you about this morning. Seventy- two percent of Americans in favor of increasing money for children's health insurance. So why is the president opposed?

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: This comes down to one thing, Kyra, and that is the fact that President Bush, the Republican Party in general, they are extremely nervous that they've lost their brand of fiscal conservatism. That when Republicans were running the Hill with a Republican president here behind me, that they let through far too many spending bills that were bloated with all kinds of pork barrel projects and everything else. And so they are finally trying to hold the line on federal spending.

The political problem, of course, is the fact that you have Democrats now saying, wait, you're going to draw a line in the sand after all this debt that's piled up? You're going to draw a line in the sand on children's health? And that's why this is so politically radioactive, that while the president on one hand is trying to restore the Republican Party brand on holding the line on federal spending, he's doing it on a program that is very, very popular.

That could backfire in his party next year. He's not on the ballot, but the House and Senate members are -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, Ed, what about also the president back in 2004 in his Republican convention speech? Didn't he declare that SCHIP was a great program and he promised to expand it? Now he is backpedaling. I mean, what's going on?

HENRY: Well, in the -- you're right. In the 2004 campaign, the president made clear that he liked SCHIP and he promised that if he was reelected he would expand it.

And the White House notes that the president is on record right now in saying he wants to expand it by only $5 billion, though, whereas the Democratic plan would be $35 billion. And so that's where the rubber meets the road.

I think you also heard in the president's remark there that he's clearly signaling he's ready to deal with the Democratic Congress. He's clearly going to have to come up from the $5 billion, but he doesn't want it to be $35 billion.

So it's very likely this ends up being somewhere in the middle, but I think much closer to $35 billion than $5 billion, because it's going to be very difficult for the president to make the case to the American people doesn't want to expand this as much as the Democrats do -- Kyra. PHILLIPS: All right.

Another point that you and I talked about, Alan Greenspan making the point in his book that Republicans have been basically out of control when it comes to spending. Now this is under Bush's watch. So there is a political risk here for Republicans that, you know, maybe they don't care about kids. I mean, that could be the perception.

HENRY: Well, sure. I mean, that's why what Alan Greenspan had to say in his book, since he's such a well-known Republican economist, has a lot more weight than some of the other sound bites we're playing from Democrats who disagree with the president on practically everything.

The fact that Alan Greenspan, with all of his credibility on economic matters, came out and lashed out both at the president and lashed out at the Republican Congress and said they deserved to lose last year, basically, that has really hurt the president. That's hurt the Republican Party. But it's put them through two difficult issues.

Do they want to finally try to restore fiscal sanity? But at the same time, do they want to do it on the backs of children?

You saw in the last few days Democrats sending little kids over here to the White House with little red wagons saying, please don't take away my health care. That's going to be very difficult politically for the president to sustain.

So my sense is he's going to have to come up from the $5 billion expansion, move closer to the Democrats, and end up holding the line on federal spending on other bills. Not on this one -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Ed Henry from the White House.

Appreciate it, Ed.

HENRY: Thank you.

LEMON: All right. We have some developing news now we're going to go to the news room for.

It's disturbing, Fredricka Whitfield, that police in Washington are calling these fires suspicious?

WHITFIELD: Right, Capitol Police talking about some fires that are taking place in bathrooms in both the Senate Dirksen and Hart Office Building. Taking place earlier today.

Our Dana Bash has been on the story and trying to get to the bottom of this, as well.

Very confusing, Dana, for the Capitol police, why this would be taking place in the first place. But clearly because of the locations, you know, we're talking about paramount security.

We're trying still to reach Dana Bash, who is on the story.

Meantime, no injuries have been reported. No evacuations are taking place as of yet. But police say -- at least Capitol police -- Sergeant Kimberly Schneider (ph) is saying that they do feel like they have some hard leads that they are now following. They call it "a work in progress."

So, again, three small fires taking place in the restrooms of the Senate Dirksen and Hart Office buildings. All this taking place during a two-hour span earlier this morning and into midday.

Still trying to figure out who would be up to this, why, and who these suspects just might be -- Don.

LEMON: All right.

No injuries, though, that's the good part.

WHITFIELD: No, that's a good thing.

LEMON: No evacuations.

WHITFIELD: Right.

LEMON: And Fredricka Whitfield will stay on top of this for us.

Fred, thank you so much for that.

What's a four-letter word for trouble? Try S-L-U-R. Cross words over a classroom puzzle in Tennessee.

PHILLIPS: Also this: John McCain hitches a ride on CNN's Election Express. Our John King gets an update on the senator's campaign for president.

LEMON: Plus, a California judge gets Britney Spears' attention. What happens next in her high-profile custody battle?

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

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(NEWSBREAK)

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LEMON: Our Dana Bash now on Capitol Hill, where several fires have been set in restrooms today. They are calling it suspicious -- Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Don. That's exactly right.

What Capitol police are telling us is that they are investigating a series of three small fires, not in the Capitol itself, but on the Capitol complex in two of the Senate office buildings, the Dirksen Building and Hart Office Building. And these fires occurred between 10:45 and 12:30 today.

Now, as you said, they each took place in separate restrooms. And they were all, as far as we know, actually put out by the Capitol police.

I can tell you that since we had that report, we do have word that there are fire trucks and fire officials here on the scene on the Capitol complex. Unclear why they are here now since the initial fires were put out.

But no injuries so far. None of the buildings are evacuated. So at this point what we're looking at is the Capitol police obviously trying to investigate, trying to figure out why, in fact, and who, in fact, could have potentially set three fires going on simultaneously, if, in fact, they were connected, which it looks like the Capitol police certainly suspect that that's the case.

LEMON: Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash.

We'll continue to follow.

Thank you, Dana.

PHILLIPS: Straight to Georgetown, Colorado. Police now holding a news conference on that fire that broke out at the hydroelectric plant.

Let's listen in.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The information we have from the survivors that got out shortly after the fire, was that the fire was closer to the lower entrance than it was to the upper access, and that the victims that were trapped in there were last seen moving away from the fire and up the (INAUDIBLE), putting them much closer to the upper access.

SCBA, self-contained breathing apparatus, and a radio was lowered down the upper access. It is unknown whether they were ever able to make use of those items.

Then the decision was made because they were closer to that end to create a positive pressure system by high-volume fans to push fresh air down the upper access hole because they would be closer to that entrance. And to push the smoke and fire away from them.

At about that same time, Henderson Mine Rescue Team entered the lower entrance. That is when they reported the 15-foot visibility. They had smoke and heat coming at them.

As they progressed in the mine, that is where -- or excuse me, (INAUDIBLE) -- that is where the air started cleaning up, getting better quality and better visibility. So we knew the positive pressure system was working. And because the visibility was getting better and air quality was getting better, Henderson Mine Rescue Team did go ahead and progress up there, and that's where they located the victims.

We are developing a chart that is a map and an accurate timeline for you to clear up some of those questions we had from earlier. It will be posted here no later than 2:00 p.m. And as soon as it's done we're going to post it for you.

And our next briefing will be at 4:00 p.m. I won't be late this time. I promise.

And I just want to make sure that everybody knows Xcel Company has been very cooperative with us in our investigation. It is our case, and the single point entrance, and we're going to handle that as such. But they are being very cooperative. And it's really helping out our operations.

Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Well, it's a grim task, no doubt, of trying to recover the bodies of five workers trapped in a tunnel at this hydroelectric plant near Georgetown. You just heard from investigators right now. They are trying to learn exactly what went wrong.

The workers were in this tunnel doing routine maintenance when a machine they were using started a chemical fire. Nine workers were able to get out of there. They survived. Four more that were working below that blaze were able to scramble out of the bottom of that 4,000-foot-long tunnel. But still, it's a tough time right now as they are trying to get to the victims and recover those five workers that did get trapped and died in that hydroelectric tunnel in Georgetown, Colorado.

Video and live news conference coming to us from our affiliate KUSA. We thank them for that.

Well, Wal-Mart couldn't get it done in the U.S., so it went south of the border, where it's opening un banco muy grande.

(BUSINESS REPORT)

LEMON: The incident drew police and plenty of other attention. Up next in the NEWSROOM, what are bystanders saying about the arrest of Carol Ann Gotbaum at a Phoenix airport.

But first, one man's mission to save bald eagles in New York. CNN's Miles O'Brien has this week's solution to help the environment.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETE NYE: We don't know where this nest is but it's somewhere right around this ridge here, not very far.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's another day out of the office for Pete Nye.

NYE: Should be an adult eagle or two. O'BRIEN: The eagle guy. I tagged along as the New York State wildlife officer made his rounds on the Hudson River 60 miles north of New York City. The main mission here raccoon proofing a tree.

NYE: They go after eggs or young. They have been known to kill eaglets in the nest.

O'BRIEN: Forty years ago, DDT was the problem. The insecticide made eagle eggs too thin and fragile and the population collapsed. Banning DDT was a big part of the fix along with putting the eagle on the endangered species list. But Pete believed the eagles needed a jump start, so he spearheaded a drive to import eaglets from Alaska back in the 70's and 80's. The goal to get 40 nesting pairs in New York.

We're in 2007 and you have how many?

NYE: About 125 pairs this year.

O'BRIEN: The national symbol is now off the endangered list.

NYE: It's a beautiful sight to see them, isn't it?

O'BRIEN: Oh yeah. Do you ever get blase about it?

NYE: Not yet I haven't.

O'BRIEN: Miles O'Brien, CNN, Austral (ph) County, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: New into the CNN NEWSROOM, first three small fires reported now we're being told four small fires in restrooms on Capitol Hill. That's new video you're looking at. Firefighters on the scene of one of those fires. Capitol police are investigating the fires in the senate Dirksen Building and Hart office buildings, that we're told occurred late sometime today between 10:30 and 12:30 Eastern time.

All four of the fires took place in separate restrooms and were extinguished by police. The fire department was not called to the scene at first, but now you can see that they are on the scene now. Police are searching for the suspect but have no hard leads. It is a work in progress they say. No evacuations. No one hurt. But they are calling these fires suspicious. We're going to continue to follow this developing story in the CNN NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: Live to San Diego, California. This is actually the La Jolla area. Our affiliate, XETV, bringing us, actually these are taped pictures, I apologize. But this is exactly what the scene looks like now. It's on Soledad Mountain road in La Jolla. Basically the street started cracking and then it just buckled in. One home actually sinking here in this area.

No surprise to residents who apparently had been talking about these problems for a number of years, at least three significant hill slides in this area have taken place between 1960 and 1994. Engineers were even out in this area concerned that this might happen. There was some engineers that had been out there recently looking at the way the earth was moving. They knew that Mount Soledad had been slipping potentially threatening at least eight homes in this area.

Well, it happened. And now the city attorney has come forward. He's held a news conference. We may hear from him later in the hour. Rescuers had to evacuate everybody from the area here. Also San Diego Gas and Electric had to turn off service in this area. Their concern it might become a little dangerous. We are following it. We'll bring you more as we get it.

LEMON: What killed Carol Ann Gotbaum after her arrest at a Phoenix airport? It will take weeks before anyone gets close to an answer. Preliminary autopsy results are inconclusive pending the outcome of toxicology tests.

CNN's Anderson Cooper reconstructs what happened so far.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Was it an accident, suicide, or something else that killed Carol Gotbaum? Here's what we know.

Last Friday, the 45-year-old mother of three was at the Phoenix Airport on a short layover to Tucson. She was headed to an alcohol treatment center. Authorities say Gotbaum was late for her plane. Witnesses say she became disruptive. Phoenix police stationed at the airport were called and arrested Gotbaum for disorderly conduct.

She was handcuffed behind her back and taken to a holding cell without a surveillance camera. Police say after she continued to be vocally and physically disruptive in the holding room. Her handcuffs were connected to a 16 inch metal chain that was attached to a bench.

About 15 minutes later, police report her screams fell silent and when they checked on her they found Gotbaum unconscious. Her hands and the shackle pressed against her neck. She died a short time later. An attorney hired by the Gotbaum family questions the arrest.

MICHAEL MANNING, GOTBAUM FAMILY ATTORNEY: We have been told that Phoenix PD took her to the ground and had weight on her back as they handcuffed her. If that's true, the woman that was 45-years-old, weighed less than 110 pounds. That would very seriously complicate her ability to breathe.

COOPER: Officials deny any wrongdoing. A police spokesman said they're entitled to express whatever they want. They're grieving, we understand that. However the investigation will reveal what happened.

Anderson Cooper, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE) LEMON: Well to hear the police tell it, they couldn't calm Gotbaum down after she caused that scene at the Phoenix Airport. They also say it was very difficult to put her in handcuffs, but, what did onlookers see? Anderson spoke with two people who witnessed Gotbaum's arrest.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

VOICE OF PAIGE HARMON, WITNESSED GOTBAUM ARREST: One of the officers ran towards her and grabbed her and then the two other officers came up and they -- one threw her to the ground. It was as if they were tackling her. One of them pulled her arm behind her with extreme force. I thought that they were going to or they had separated her shoulder. It looked very forceful.

VOICE OF MEL PITTEL, WITNESSED GOTBAUM ARREST: They rushed in and grabbed her and threw her down. Nobody ever said anything to her, lady, hey, calm down. Take a breath. Can I help you? What's wrong? Anything like that.

(END OF AUDIO CLIP)

LEMON: The Gotbaum's lawyer says he's still interviewing witnesses and the family hasn't decided whether to sue Phoenix Police.

PHILLIPS: A number of fires on Capitol Hill in the restrooms in some of the buildings there. Dana Bash has been looking into it for us, what did you find out, Dana?

BASH: Well, these fires, very small fires, did occur in several of the restrooms as you said. Not in the capitol building but in two of the senate office buildings. The senate Dirksen building and the Hart building on the campus of the capitol. We are told by the capitol police that three of the fires were actually small, that they were just put out by the capitol police. They did call the fire department in to look at and to get rid of one fire in the senate Dirksen building, primarily because that was generating a lot of smoke.

Now obviously, this is something that the police are looking at saying four fires, almost within just a couple of hours of each other. This is not an accident but the police chief Moore spoke with our congressional producer Ted Barrett and said that he does not think that this is something that was intended to actually hurt people here. It was designed as more of a nuisance than anything else.

And I should also mention that there have been no injuries and in fact none of these buildings were actually evacuated because of these fires. Small fires, four of them, all of them put out and the police investigating to see whether or not this was done intentionally and the suspicion is it is. And if so, who exactly was behind this -- Kyra?

PHILLIPS: All right, Dana Bash on the hill. Thanks, Dana.

Straight ahead, bloodshed in Myanmar. We have new pictures now smuggled out of that repressive country. An exclusive look at what's really happening there, straight ahead from the CNN NEWSROOM.

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LEMON: OK, we should get a countdown clock. Day, not sure, 458, Britney Spears. She takes a baby step in the battle over her kids. She has finally gotten her California driver's license which is one of the conditions the judge laid out in Spears' custody dispute with ex- husband Kevin Federline, better known as K-Fed. What other legal hoops will she have to jump through to get her sons back?

Kareen Wynter is court side in Los Angeles with more. So far, is it a circus yet? Because if she shows up, you know, or him, either one.

KAREEN WYNTER, ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Don, we are talking about Britney Spears here. So, of course there's going to be a circus. It's still a little early. The court proceeding won't take place for another two hours or so. We have quite a few members of the media out here. The paparazzi will be here, so we'll have all of that a little bit later.

But for right now, the focus is on that custody hearing that will take place, again a short time from now. This, Don, is a direct result of Monday's order. You touched on it a little bit. But poor Britney, her troubles just continue here.

On Monday, Don, a judge ruled that she would have to lose physical custody of her two children, not legal custody. She still shares legal custody with her ex-husband Kevin Federline. This is a direct result of the fact that poor Britney could not produce a valid California driver's license on Monday and was given a deadline. Her attorney said she failed to do that and so the judge perhaps moved in that direction. The good news is that she was able to obtain one yesterday.

Another big hurdle for Spears has to do with those weekly random drug and alcohol screenings that she has to undergo as a result of a previous hearing, another order from the judge. So Kevin Federline's camp is saying that she failed to follow up on that. And so all of this went into the judge's consideration here to yank that physical custody from Spears -- Don?

LEMON: OK, so, I saw the shot of her. This was the night after, Kareen, after she lost her kids. She shows up at a hotel. She's hardly wearing anything. You would think like someone would say, OK, look, cover up, be cool, get your stuff together, but none of that is happening. So with all this going on.

WYNTER: You really have to think.

LEMON: You really would have to, because this is not final. She could get those kids back, right?

WYNTER: Absolutely. But just picture yourself, and I know this is hard for you in Britney Spears' shoes. Everyone follows her, she can't go anywhere without the paparazzi. All of this is probably really weighing heavily on her because the judge is seeing this. There are reports out there and some are saying, you know, what will happen? What will it take for her to regain custody of 2-year-old Sean Preston and 1-year-old Jayden James?

The driver's license may have been a step in the right direction but the judge didn't just base his decision on Monday, Don, you can bet on the driver's license. It's really a culmination of things.

So, she really has to clean up her act here. We know about her partying ways, the head shaving incident. She was in rehab for what, just about a month. Her ex-bodyguard came forward and testified against her, so she really has it stacked up against her.

LEMON: Kareen, you are absolutely right. I cannot imagine, I don't think anyone can, cameras following you around when you're having trouble and you're trying to get your you-know-what together and you have all these people going over your every move. But you'd have to wonder, again, I ask, who is in her corner? Where is her family?

WYNTER: Who is in her corner? You know her divorce attorney just dropped her. Her management company left her. Her mom, who has really shaped her career from the infancy stage, is no longer in the picture. They have had such a public -- a very strained relationship.

Don, we're hearing some reports and we're still trying to confirm this that maybe that's on the mend. So, you know, bring mom back in the picture, maybe things will start falling into place.

LEMON: All right, yes, mom. If you're listening, go take care of your daughter regardless of whatever fall-out you've had. She needs you.

WYNTER: Absolutely.

LEMON: It's obvious. What do you have tonight?

WYNTER: Hey Don, can I tease "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT?"

LEMON: Yeah, that's why I was going to say, what's coming up tonight?

WYNTER: Because I know people want to know what's coming up. Coming up tonight on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," can Britney Spears convince a judge that she deserves to get her two children back? We'll have all the late breaking developments and you can bet there will be tons of them coming up on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," TV's most provocative entertainment news show. "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," that's 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on Headline Prime.

And Don, I know you'll be watching, right?

LEMON: Headline Prime, oh, I'll be there with you in spirit. Thank you Kareen, always good to see you.

WYNTER: You too.

PHILLIPS: A fifth grade assignment. A crossword puzzle but one clue spells out a racial slur.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not something you want to teach, you know. I wouldn't put it out there to be taught that way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead in the NEWSROOM. Outraged parents demanding answers in Tennessee.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Myanmar's secretive regime has never taken kindly to descent and this isn't the first time it's responded with crushing force.

CNN's Dan Rivers has exclusive images that were taken and shared at great personal risk.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the ugly face of military repression the generals who control Myanmar have tried so hard to cover up. The images just smuggled out by men and women who risked their lives are at least two days old. The pictures taken just before Myanmar's foreign minister claims security personnel had exercised what he called the utmost restraint.

The soldiers corralled those they caught in the middle of the road, some prisoners already clearly injured, watched over by an officer in the now silent streets. Earlier, the smuggled video showed a very different scene. The deafening chant of a confident crowd marching peacefully through the city.

But the moment was short-lived. The demonstrators flee. Soldiers bark orders as an injured protester is tended to by an anxious friend trying to stay out of sight. And in the streets, the remains of the stampede. Those who weren't fast enough are searched and loaded onto trucks by men who are not wearing uniforms, backing up protesters' claims that plain clothes intelligence officers were operating in their midst. Smuggled evidence sneaking out of this isolated country that the pro-democracy movement is being ruthlessly crushed, pictures that are likely to define Myanmar's government to the world.

Dan Rivers, CNN, Bangkok.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: An outraged veteran pulls out a knife and takes action when he see a U.S. flag flying below a Mexican flag. Was there actually a rule being broken here? We'll tell you what we found out straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Beautiful homes, breathtaking scenery, ever changing landscape. Some changes bigger than others.

LEMON: Yeah, but how's this for big. The La Jolla section of San Diego but a hillside is slipping, a street is collapsing, houses could follow, and you'll see it live. Right here on CNN.

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.

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