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Manhunt Under Way in Philadelphia; Taking on Wal-Mart

Aired October 04, 2007 - 15:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Retired city cops, lifelong friends assassinated, in the words of Philadelphia's police commissioner.
And a one-on-one ambush on an armed car -- the manhunt goes on, and we're there live.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Was it horseplay or a hate crime? Either way, a black teen at a boarding school on the campus of Gallaudet University winds up a living billboard of racism. My interview with the university president coming up.

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: An all-out manhunt this hour in Philadelphia. Police are looking for the man who robbed an armored car and shot two guards to death outside a bank branch at a mall. Another guard is wounded. Scenes from the crime caught on tape.

CNN's Jim Acosta is at police headquarters -- Jim.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Kyra.

Philadelphia police have released some new information about that robbery this morning. And basically what they're telling us at this hour is that those two security guards who earlier today we thought were only security guards, as it turns out, they are both retired Philadelphia police officers.

They have been identified as 50-year-old Joe Aulo (ph), a sergeant in the Philadelphia Police Department, and William Widmeyer (ph), 65-year-old police officer, both retired from the Philadelphia Police Department. They were both working as it turns out as security guards for an armored car that was withdrawing money from an ATM in what is normally a fairly crime-free part of Philadelphia in an otherwise very violent city.

The city of Philadelphia has been dealing with street violence that it hasn't seen in some time. But that brazen attack occurred at about 8:00 this morning. According to the police commissioner here in Philadelphia, the gunman walked up, basically almost execution-style, assassination-style, as the police commissioners put it, and shot and killed the first security guard, grabbed the bag of cash, then shot and killed another security guard. A third security guard was injured when he was sprayed with shattered glass. The gunman then escaped, ditched the bag, jumped in a car that's described as an Acura, black Acura T.L., and then fled the scene.

And at this hour, police say they don't have much more information than that, but they are desperate for information from the public because of what they call an assassination-style killing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SYLVESTER JOHNSON, PHILADELPHIA POLICE COMMISSIONER: You know, I just came from a seminar in Chicago last week, and at that we had approximately 125 police chiefs there from all over the country, United States, England, Scotland, Canada.

And would talk about things for poverty. We would talk about education. We would talk about unemployment. We would talk about a whole lot of things, but the difference was that every other country had the same problems we had.

The one problem they didn't have is our gun problem, where you have a city with 2.6 million people that have five homicides for the entire year. Another said 3.5 million people have six homicides for the entire year.

Anytime you have in a country where there's 100,000 people shot or killed, and it's not even an issue in the presidential campaign, there's something wrong with that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And that was the police commissioner here in Philadelphia, Sylvester Johnson. That was in response to a question that I had asked about plans that he has here in Philadelphia to flood the streets with volunteers.

He has this idea coming up for the end of October called A Call to Action, where he wants to put 10,000 volunteers on the streets to patrol the streets, essentially to keep this city from continuing down this path of street violence. And he responded to that question by saying that the problem that exists in this city is that the guns and the availability of guns is just so out of control, and he is basically astonished that this is not being talked about more on the presidential campaign.

So, a national issue perhaps emerging out of a very vicious armed robbery and killing of two security guards this morning -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Jim Acosta, we will stay on the manhunt for that suspect still on the loose. Thanks.

LEMON: We also have some developing news when it comes to Senator Larry Craig. Of course, we know that he pleaded guilty to an airport bathroom sex sting. That was back in April, but today a judge denied Senator Craig's request to withdraw his guilty plea stemming from that airport sex sting.

According to the judge there -- here's a quote from the judge. He said: "The defendant, a career politician with a college education, is of at least above-average intelligence. He knew what he was saying and reading and signing."

So, again a judge in Minnesota has denied Larry Craig's request to withdraw his guilty plea, stemming from that airport bath sex sting. Senator Larry Craig expected to make a comment about this, or at least put out a statement about it shortly. And as soon as we get that from the senator, we will bring it to you right here on CNN.

Million-dollar homes on the edge. A state of emergency is in place in the La Jolla section of San Diego after yesterday's landslide. More than 100 homes were evacuated shortly after the earth moved. Two were destroyed. Now, this morning, residents of 75 homes were let back in, but it's still a precarious situation there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JERRY SANDERS, MAYOR OF SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA: If we have heavy rains tomorrow, we're obviously going to be very aware of what's going on, but right now, one of the things that's absolutely critical is that we bring in the forward-looking geology firm that will tell us what the whole situation is here in the entire neighborhood.

And let's go back. This started occurring in the 1960s when they actually had a landslide in this very area when they started building homes. It destroyed the homes and they had to regrade and rebuild, so we know that this is an area that's prone to landslides.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So far, there are no reports of anybody hurt. This neighborhood is a few miles from the Pacific Ocean.

PHILLIPS: Threats to long-ago classmates have landed a Florida man behind bars. Police say Timothy Vaughn has admitted sending four e-mails after getting numerous reminders about his 20th high school reunion.

One of the e-mails reads in part, "I can make Virginia Tech look like a birthday party." Vaughn was arrested after deputies found hundreds of homemade explosives at his home. Deputies say he claims that he never planned to use them, that he's schizophrenic, on medication, and just wants to be left alone.

Vaughn is charged with 178 counts of possessing a destructive device, and one count of aggravated cyber-stalking.

LEMON: This man still on the loose, and you can help authorities find him. Police say he lured a 15-year-old girl away from her home in Bartow. The girl thought she was running away to be with a young man she met online. Turns out it was 46-year-old William Joe Mitchell, a convicted sex offender with 14 prior arrests. Police say Mitchell dropped the girl off at a Wal-Mart store on Tuesday, and they have released this surveillance video in hopes of nabbing him. Anyone with any information is urged to call the Polk County tip line. Take a look at that number right there on your screen. It's 863-533-0344.

And police are stepping up their search for Chester Arthur Stiles, the man accused of taping himself raping a 3-year-old girl. He's been on the run since being named a suspect nearly a week ago. Stiles' His picture has been plastered on TV and also the Internet. Now, Crime Stoppers is adding his picture to 15 electronic billboards in the Las Vegas area.

PHILLIPS: Busted in Birmingham. An Alabama teen learns a big lesson the hard way after secretly signing up on a social networking site called Bebo.com. She fibbed that she was 16 instead of 13 and let a guy who said he was 17 see her private page after he shared a picture of his abs.

When the guy said he knew where she lived, where she went to school and what she did on Tuesday night, well, she panicked. Then she found the guy with the nice abs was really her mom, who had set up the whole thing. We're going to hear from both of them tomorrow right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

LEMON: A lost wallet leaves a day care worker under arrest on child porn charges -- the shocking story straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: Her words are like venom to Democrats. Now Ann Coulter is sure to stir up a new fuss with what she said about women's voting rights to CNN's Rick Sanchez. Rick will join us a little later in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Ten after the hour, creeping up on 11 after the hour. Three, two, one.

Two armored car robbers are under arrest in Philadelphia -- or at least two armored car guards are dead and another is hurt after a robbery suspect opened fire on them outside a Philadelphia bank. Police are still searching for the gunman. The police commissioner described today's shootings as assassination-like.

The military officers investigating the deaths of Iraqi civilians in Haditha back in 2005 has recommended that Sergeant Frank Wuterich not be tried for murder. A military judge will make the final decision. If the recommendation is accepted, no one in the Haditha case will be tried for murder.

And a deadly plane crash in Africa -- at least 30 people are dead after a Russian-built aircraft crashed into a crowded suburb of Kinshasa, Congo; 22 people were on board the plane, which was headed to the southern part of the country, near the Angolan border. Several others were killed on the ground. PHILLIPS: Now a criminal investigation with charges of hateful threats, implied hostility and racism. It's happening in a place with a strict honor code, the U.S. Coast Guard academy.

In two separate incidents, ropes tied in a noose clearly meant to sent a cruel message turned up on academy property. The Coast Guard commandant heads to Connecticut today.

I had a chance to speak with Admiral Thad Allen just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICE ADMIRAL THAD ALLEN, U.S. COAST GUARD: Well, the events that occurred are absolutely against our core values, as you stated, but they're very inconsistent with the mission of the Coast Guard. We're a humanitarian service. We save people's lives.

We have to watch out for each other when we're doing rescue operations and the country expects that we're going to perform to a high level. You cannot do that when you create these types of environments, and I won't tolerate it and I don't expect my people to do either.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: CNN's Dan Lothian is in the Coast Guard town of New London, Connecticut. He will be covering that speech.

Hi, Dan.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN BOSTON BUREAU CHIEF: Hello, Kyra.

Well, you know, just to give you a little bit of background here, that incident that you referred to, two incidents, the first one happening back in July aboard the Eagle. It's a tall ship, a training ship. It was off the coast of Mexico. That's where an African- American cadet said that he found a noose inside his bag.

Then, a few weeks later here at the academy, one of the sensitivity trainers, a female, went into her office and found a second noose. Now, we have tried to get some response, some comment from some of the cadets here on campus today. They're in classes for about the next 45 minutes or so, but we did get a chance to talk to the civil rights officer, who is a civilian.

And he's had a chance to not only talk with the victim in this case, but also with other cadets. And when I asked him about sort of the overall sentiment here on the campus, in one word, he said, disappointment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEN HUNTER, USCG ACADEMY CIVIL RIGHTS OFFICER: There's been a general shock throughout the corps, I think, in talking to some cadets. Of course, some cadets were outraged. Some cadets had the feeling that, I wish this never had happened. And you had some cadets that said, well, maybe it's something that needed to happen. Probably, the problems have been there. We have identified the problems, and maybe it's something that we need to happen to go forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LOTHIAN: Now, as for the victim in this case, I asked him about how he was doing. He told me that he's really just trying to make it through his classes, so he can eventually graduate, but he said this entire ordeal has been difficult for him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTER: He was shocked, of course, surprised and angry that this happened to him, that this happened. But, again, he took the high road, and he did notify his command and let everyone know what happened and how disappointed he was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LOTHIAN: As you mentioned, Kyra, admiral Thad Allen will be here on campus about 5:00 this evening. He will be speaking to the cadets. And, of course, what they will be driving home is that this is a serious incident that will not be tolerated -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And, Dan, you brought up an interesting point, even had the interview there with the civil rights officer. I wasn't even aware that the U.S. Coast Guard had a civil rights director, and then these officers that are based around the country.

What can you tell our viewers about this department and how it works and the purpose of having these officers in various locations?

LOTHIAN: Well, he said obviously, you know, this incident shows that there is still a lot of work to be done. And they have had these officers who have been dealing with issues of race and gender over the years.

But I asked him, so, how have things changed since these incidents? And he said, essentially, what we're doing is, we're ramping up our training. They have had these people here on campus to deal with this issue, but now that they have it sort of thrown in their faces now, this is something that they're paying very close attention to and they're ramping up their training, so that they don't have any more incidents like this in the future.

PHILLIPS: All right, Dan Lothian, appreciate it.

LEMON: All right, very quickly, we want to get our viewers some live pictures coming out of Seattle, Washington. Look at this.

This is on the tarmac at Sea-Tac Airport. There's been a bit of a scare there with an Alaskan Airlines jet. It's been moved away from the terminal at Sea-Tac Airport, as passengers and crew there have been evacuated while a security team checks out an unclaimed package. But you can imagine if you're on this plane or anywhere near the airport, and you're at these pictures, it might be a bit unnerving. You see the folks there dressed up in whatever sort of hazardous suits that they have and then buses there on the tarmac taking those passengers to somewhere, not exactly sure where.

These pictures courtesy of our affiliate KING Television near Seattle, Washington. But, again, you're looking at the tarmac there at Sea-Tac Airport, an Alaskan Airlines flight. This plane has moved away from the terminal to check out a package there, an unclaimed package.

We're on top of it right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, a Kentucky homeowner is fed up with the world's biggest retailer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID MCCARTY, TAKING ON WAL-MART: I thought it was time to start protecting my property, you know? I'm tired of being run over by big corporations like Wal-Mart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead in the NEWSROOM, we're going to tell you why David McCarty is fighting with Wal-Mart and what the company has to say about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Update you now on the situation happening in Seattle, Washington, again this courtesy of our affiliate KING-TV. This is happening at Sea-Tac Airport, an Alaska Airlines plane that is a 737, new information we're being told.

It's sitting in the center of a runway there after an unclaimed object was discovered today on that plane. Its flight number, for those of you who may have someone flying Alaska Airlines, 393. It landed at 11:41 a.m., local time there, 737-400, had 104 passengers and five crew members were on board, but they were off-loaded onto the tarmac. It happened about a couple minutes ago, just 20 minutes after landing.

Also important to point out planes continue to take off and land on the other runway, so there's another runway. Not sure if it caused a bit of a backup of this plane having to be moved over.

But, earlier in pictures we saw live here in the CNN NEWSROOM, there were passengers on board buses that were being shuttled back and forth, and you see right here this man in some sort of gear there going aboard that plane, I would imagine examining that package to see exactly what it is. Every precaution I would imagine here being taken.

But again an unclaimed object forces these passengers to be evacuated, and this plane to be moved over to a portion of a runway there of the tarmac, and passengers were unloaded as well as crew members there. No reports of any other incidents, any injuries in all of this. Not sure exactly what's going on.

We're working our sources and all the resources available here at CNN to try to figure out exactly what happened. We will update you.

PHILLIPS: Great news out of South Africa. All the miners have now been rescued. This is what I can tell you.

About 2,700 of those miners had made it out alive, and there were still 500 other South African gold miners that were still trapped in almost a mile and a half underground, but we are getting word now that those workers that were trapped in that mine have all been rescued.

What happened was a large compressed air pipe had fallen down a shaft that knocked out the power. And where this mine is, how it's built, it's sort of like an underground city. And it has got trains, trucks, cars, everything underneath there with a power source that was completely knocked out, and that disabled the elevators that lead to the surface of this mine.

The good news is, all 3,200 miners are out of that mine shaft. They are alive and have been rescued.

(BUSINESS REPORT)

LEMON: David vs. Goliath, a battle in a small Kentucky town. Actually, it's David McCarty taking on the world's biggest retailer.

The story from Rebecca Rector of CNN affiliate WHAS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MCCARTY, TAKING ON WAL-MART: I thought it was time to start protecting my property, you know? I'm tired of being run over by big corporations like Wal-Mart.

REBECCA RECTOR, WHAS REPORTER (voice-over): David McCarty was out picking tomatoes in his garden when he noticed construction crews drilling holes feet just away from it is fence.

MCCARTY: They didn't ask me in a nice way even the other two times.

RECTOR: He knew exactly what they were, holes that would soon house dynamite for another blast on the site, ones he said that cracked his foundation and over the past months put his home in the middle of Wal-Mart's latest construction zone.

MCCARTY: I don't have the funds to fight Wal-Mart with or anybody else. I'm just a poor old country boy here, trying to protect my property. I have been -- all my life, I have been able to pay for a place and live. And this is where I aim to live out my life, right here, but it's very apparent that it's going to be hard for me to stay here. RECTOR: And as for an offer to buy his house, David says he did get one, but it wasn't a fair deal.

MCCARTY: Didn't make me a decent offer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Responding to McCarty's concerns, Wal-Mart has this to say -- and I quote -- "We go to great lengths with homeowners. In this particular instance, the home is adjacent to the construction site. Since the beginning, Wal-Mart and the homeowner are in open dialogue. The homeowner still has concerns. Wal-Mart says the safety of the individual and his family is important. However, once the dynamite is planted, it cannot be left. Wal-Mart is working with local authorities."

PHILLIPS: Her words are like venom to Democrats. Now Ann Coulter is sure to stir up a new fuss with some of the comments she makes about women's voting rights to CNN's Rick Sanchez. Rick is going to join us a little later in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Hello everyone, I'm Kyra Phillips live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

LEMON: And I am Don Lemon, you are in the CNN NEWSROOM. Her words are like venom to Democrats. So, it won't be a surprise if Ann Coulter stirs up a hornet's nest with some comments to our Rick Sanchez about women and the right to vote. Stay with us right here in the NEWSROOM.

All right, updating you now on a developing story happening in the CNN NEWSROOM. This one from Seattle, Washington, courtesy of our affiliate KING TV. You're looking there at aerial pictures of Sea-Tac Airport.

Just a short time ago, an Alaskan Airlines jet was moved away from the tarmac at the airport and passengers and crew were evacuated from that plane while security teams checked out an unclaimed package. We saw pictures just moments ago of someone in one of those big suits there coming off the plane, apparently having gone on to check out that unclaimed object as they told us here. It's flight 393. It had 104 passengers on board, five crew members. All of them were off- loaded and taken away on buses about 20 minutes after landing.

So we're checking on this developing story to let you know exactly what happened to those passengers and what that suspicious unclaimed object might be. We're on top of it here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: Long before they can count votes, the candidates for president count dollars, then they have to report their totals every quarter. On the Republican side, Rudy Giuliani reports raising $11 million in the past three months. Mitt Romney raised $10 million, and lent his campaign another $8 million of his own money. John McCain raised $6 million and right behind him is Texas Congressman Ron Paul. He's trailing in the polls but he brought in a very respectable $5 million.

LEMON: Not many candidates can say their campaign rally was such a big deal that it caused the town's population to more than double. But that's what happened when John Edwards arrived today in Columbus, Kentucky. Population 229. Town residents won an online competition to host an Edwards rally. The Democratic hopeful showed up today for a barbecue and a town hall forum.

PHILLIPS: Two words sure to raise the blood pressure of a democrat, Ann Coulter. The conservative commentator is at it again, commenting this time to CNN's Rick Sanchez on his program "OUT IN THE OPEN." Rick is with us now from New York.

Rick, be honest, did she just rip you apart?

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: No, as a matter of fact I'll tell you what's interesting about talking to Ann Coulter. If you take her words and you parse them, there is so much bite in the words that she uses that you can't help but feel that you're reading something that's insulting to any one particular group that she happens to be talking about at the time. But if you read in context her entire book and the statements that she's trying to make, then it seems like someone who is actually just trying to do that.

That was one of my first questions to her. I said, look, are you just doing this for shock value? Are you doing this because you want to sell books? There's probably some truth to that. She knows that every time she writes a specific word or phrase she's trying to make people angry, most often liberals or democrats. But when you sit down and you talk to her, you start to get a real sense of what it is she's trying to say. Look, there's no question, love her or hate her, this is a woman with something to say. First on the issue of women voters.

Here you go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: You made a comment just recently where you said if we took women's right to vote away, we would never have to worry about a Democratic president.

ANN COULTER, CONSERVATIVE COMMENTATOR: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Do you believe that?

COULTER: Think of that. Well that is a fact. Usually I just toss off the 19th amendment with a rash experiment. That's actually the explanation of that point. Since FDR, I think the only Democrat who would have won, if only men voted in America, is Lyndon Johnson.

SANCHEZ: But you're a woman.

COULTER: I'd sacrifice. I'll give it up if they will. Apparently, it's mostly single women. But I'm telling you if you can tell me that left-handed, you know, brunettes under 5'7" would only vote Republican, I would say they're the only people who should be allowed to vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: There's no question she's very firm in representing her side of the argument, and her side of the argument is way out there to the right, but she also makes some interesting comments on things.

For example, on our show "OUT IN THE OPEN" every night at 8 o'clock, we try and protect the little guy, folks who are often minorities. So I asked her a question about immigration, because she talks about it in her book. You would think that she would say something like a lot of other people in this country have said, which is, you know, get the bums out of here as soon as they possibly can.

Instead, she talks in our conversation tonight at 8 o'clock about needing more immigrants in this country and that we just need to create a better screening process for how we get them in. I also asked her an interesting question about who's really in charge at the White House? Who's really in charge, is it President Bush, wink, wink, or is it Mr. Bush or Mr. Cheney, and her silence was kind of deafening on that question.

PHILLIPS: Silence? Our silence or her silence?

SANCHEZ: No, hers. You know, you would think.

PHILLIPS: You stumped her, you stumped Ann Coulter?

SANCHEZ: Yeah, because you would think a lot of people in this country would think, well, Ann Coulter, she's right there with President Bush, 100 percent. As our own friend Borat would say, not so much.

PHILLIPS: Some critics would say she really doesn't know what she stands for, she just looks for the most crazy thing to say and she gets the response.

SANCHEZ: She's selling an awful lot of books, gang.

PHILLIPS: All right, we'll be watching, thanks Rick. You can watch the entire interview with Ann Coulter on "OUT IN THE OPEN" with Rick Sanchez, coming up 8:00 p.m. eastern, only on CNN.

LEMON: Just in today's show alone, we've had nooses at the Coast Guard Academy, swastikas and "KKK" drawn on a black student in Washington. Then there was the Jenna six, and we haven't even shown you this video yet. And in it is something most of us find offensive, and you may want to not listen to this. We want to warn you, don't listen to it if you don't want to hear the "n" word.

This amateur video posted on the web shows young people, all white, all apparently having fun on the beach with a video camera. They've smeared their faces with mud, mimicking blackface, using language they know is wrong and they're laughing about it. What is going on here?

Warren Ballentine is an attorney and host of a syndicated radio show. Warren, you have your ear to the ground every day, your listeners call in at will, it's a free roundtable to talk about these issues, and you devoted much of your show today to the swastikas and these incidents.

WARREN BALLENTINE, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Yes I did, Don, and it's such a polarizing event and it's such a saddening event that something like this would happen in this country today.

Today, I had Congressman Clyborne and Congressman Danny Davis of Illinois on my show. We talked about maybe instituting some kind of federal law to make these things actually stick as hate crimes. And a lot of the states across the nation, there are no anti-Klan laws on the book, so things like this are not considered against the law right now in this country, but we really need to look at this.

LEMON: Yeah but Warren, you know I have to challenge you on that. There is hate crime legislation on the books. Again, these are kids. It's not, you know even though they may be in college, again the same sort of discretion that you're affording the Jena six because they're kids, are they just doing stupid things, it doesn't necessarily mean that they are racist, does it?

BALLENTINE: Well Don, you know, I'm going to say yes and no to that answer. We had the case earlier out of D.C., do I believe that that was a hate crime? No, I do not, especially after what you guys broke here this afternoon. And the wonderful job that you do on CNN. I have to give you guy's kudos because you actually brought out some information a lot of people wasn't aware of about the war games, so I have to say, no, in that case, that was not a hate crime.

LEMON: And what about these kids. Because there are some very disturbing pictures, the kids there on the beach of them and they're sort of making symbols, standing there with the black mud on their face and on their body. While it may be sort of, people may be offended by it, it's not necessarily illegal to do these things, it's insensitive.

BALLENTINE: Well Don, I'm going to have to agree to disagree with you here and the reason why I'm saying it like that is this. When you think about our country, I'll use the example of this. We had a polio outbreak in this world at one point, and if the people who found the cure for that disease had not took that extra step, polio would still be killing people at a high alarming rate.

It's the same thing when you see these nooses popping up everywhere. They're not scaring black Americans, but the fact that they're popping up everywhere if we don't do something, it's going to keep snowballing and snowballing and snowballing, and I'm sure a lot of Americans, because right now we have all this terrorist threat around us, this world isn't just black and white anymore, it's global and we need to come together as Americans and fix this problem.

LEMON: Just to be honest, there's a response from one of the students involved in this, he's a 19-year-old student. Here's what she said.

She said, "This is not me, and she is a nursing freshman there. She said that it wasn't that we were making fun of the Jena six incident. We were just fed up with it, is what she said. Let me finish this, this is some very interesting -- because this caused a big stir in our news room this morning, and some folks said you know we need to shed light into the shadowed corners where this sort of thing festers.

BALLENTINE: Well Don, the problem is this though, especially with my audience, when they hear something like this, the first thing they think is you know these are children, but where are they learning this stuff from? Are they learning it from their parents, their grandparents, their teachers, their siblings.

But they're saying that, look, we have to put something there, because if you don't put anything there, it's going to keep doing -- we're going to keep having what we're having, nooses popping up on naval academies and the coast guard, and in police stations, and we have to do something to at least say, look, we understand that you have freedom of speech in this country and you know, you're a citizen, but some things are not acceptable. That's what the law is for.

LEMON: This is very interesting that we also discussed here, because there's some talk in certain circles, because a black man is running for president, that it may be drawing some of these things out of people. Of course as we know, reportedly because of hate mail, that he got secret service earlier assigned to him. Are your listeners talking about anything like this?

BALLENTINE: Well, of course they are, Don, but the one thing that I tell my listeners, the one thing that I say when I'm blessed to be on CNN, is that out of all the candidates, Barack Obama is the only one talking about including everybody. And I think that's something that we need. The next president needs to be a president who includes everybody. We don't need somebody who is going to take a stance and only take that stance like we have right now.

Whoever it may be, Republican or Democrat, and I'll say it right here on your show, I'll give all three hours of my show to any candidate who wants to come on and really talk politics, and talk about including everybody the way Obama is.

LEMON: I think everyone, all of the candidates, including Hillary Clinton to Giuliani, everyone, would not condone this type of behavior.

BALLENTINE: I agree.

LEMON: I think they're all speaking out about that. Warren Ballentine, thank you so much for providing that context for us and talking about what your listeners tell you every day.

BALLENTINE: Hey Don, thank you and Kyra, I have to thank you for that piece you did on Jena, it was fantastic.

PHILLIPS: I appreciate you having me on your show too, thanks, Warren.

BALLENTINE: Thank you, guys.

PHILLIPS: You bet.

We're getting breaking news right now out of Charlotte, North Carolina. We have some pictures coming to us from the news chopper from our affiliate WSOC, one person reported dead, another has life- threatening injuries after a reported shooting at a Dilworth restaurant in Charlotte, a Moe's restaurant we're told on East Boulevard. You can actually see where that crime tape is circling the parking lot there.

Apparently, an employee next door at the city tavern heard gunshots, reports were made immediately. Emergency responders took one person out of that restaurant on a stretcher, we're told. The medic telling reporters one person was pronounced dead at the scene. That other person taken to a hospital. Here's a better scene there of paramedics as they rushed into that Moe's restaurant.

Once again, Charlotte, North Carolina, one person dead, another has life-threatening injuries after a reported shooting at a Moe's restaurant there in Charlotte. Live pictures coming to us now from WSOC, our affiliate out of Charlotte. You can see from before ambulances are already headed to the hospital. Police investigators are on the scene. Don't know the situation of that shooter, if indeed they have tracked him or her down. We'll follow up on what's happening there out of Charlotte.

LEMON: A lost wallet leaves a daycare worker under arrest on child porn charges. The shocking story straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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PHILLIPS: Learning more about that shooting at a Moe's restaurant in Charlotte, North Carolina. We're told that one person is dead, another has life-threatening injuries after a reported shooting at this Dilworth restaurant location in Charlotte. It's a Moe's restaurant, East Boulevard. This was taped from earlier where they were actually trying to get that one injured person into an ambulance and out of that area that is en route to the hospital.

Meanwhile, police are investigating who did the shooting, if it was indeed one person or more. The manhunt on right now for possibly one or more suspects. We're told that the individual that was shot there on the scene was pronounced dead at the scene, that second person taken from the restaurant immediately to the hospital. We're investigating this, we'll try and bring you more details as we get it. Thanks to our affiliate WSOC out of Charlotte, North Carolina.

LEMON: Kyra, also developing right now. An incident with an airplane in Seattle at Sea-Tac Airport. Working our sources and working our resources, our Kathleen Koch is in our Washington, D.C. bureau with an update on that.

What have you learned, Kathleen?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, there were some very frightening moments this morning for 104 passengers aboard an Alaska Airlines flight, flight 383 from San Jose, California, it landed in Seattle at 11:41 this morning. It turns out it was the pilot on board, this according to the Port of Seattle, who noticed an unclaimed -- an unidentified bag.

Now he reported it to the FAA, the pilot did. The aircraft, according to Chris White, a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration, it landed and was told to taxi to a remote area of the airport. At that point all the passengers and the five crew onboard were deplaned, put on buses, removed, and then local authorities and the local bomb squad from Seattle went on board.

Now according to the Port of Seattle, the object, though it's still unidentified, has been removed and the incident is over. According to the Port of Seattle, no one ever did call in any kind of bomb threat, but obviously this pilot was just exercising an abundance of caution, you know, where you don't want to take any chances with 104 passengers on board.

LEMON: And all those passengers have been told, I guess they're going to have to either rebook or go on another flight, right?

KOCH: Well Don, apparently this was their final destination. So they were due to land in Seattle, but obviously didn't expect the frightening incident of being sent off to a corner of the runway and then deplaned onto buses, but again everything turned out just fine in the end. Everyone is continuing on their way.

LEMON: In any event, we're glad they're OK. Kathleen Koch, thank you.

KOCH: You bet.

PHILLIPS: Police in Georgia say 18-year-old Aaron Miller left his wallet at a convenience store with a nude picture of a 3-year-old girl inside. Miller works at a day care center. Today, he's under arrest and quite a few parents are on edge. That story now from Renita Crawford of CNN affiliate WJBF.

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RENITA CRAWFORD, WJBF (voice-over): Louise Skillman is the owner and operator of Skillman Group Day Care. She has been in the home day care business for more than 20 years. But the center's reputation, license and her livelihood are in jeopardy.

LOUISE SKILLMAN, OWNER, SKILLMAN GROUP DAY CARE: He hasn't done anything except had a picture that he shouldn't have had in his wallet. That's all.

CRAWFORD: You think that's really all if it's a picture of a 4- year-old girl nude, posing?

SKILLMAN: Yeah, that's all.

CRAWFORD: Her step-grandson, 18-year-old Aaron Miller, has been charged with sexual exploitation. He was arrested at the home day care Sunday. Detectives say a nude picture of a 3-year-old little girl posed in a sexually explicit manner was found in his wallet.

SKILLMAN: He said he didn't know why he did that and why he had it.

CRAWFORD: That girl is enrolled in the center and authorities say Miller helped take care of her and other children in the home.

SKILLMAN: And how he took the picture I have no idea. I haven't talked to him. I haven't seen him since they put him in the patrol car.

CRAWFORD: We talked to a parent dropping off her daughter at the day care. Susan, who doesn't want to reveal her last name, says she's not worried because she says Skillman would not let anything happen to her child.

SUSAN, MOTHER: Well, when I heard about it, it did, it freaked me out a little bit, but I know that they didn't leave my child with him alone ever. I know they wouldn't do that.

CRAWFORD: Sergeant Richard Roundtree says the picture was discovered and deputies called after Miller left his wallet at a convenience store.

SGT. RICHARD ROUNDTREE, RICHMOND CO., GA., SHERIFF'S OFFICE: There's no doubt of the compromising position that this child was in. It's a very graphic photograph.

CRAWFORD: Roundtree says parents who have children in the day care have been contacted and will be interviewed.

SKILLMAN: It is bad, it's very bad and he's not here any longer.

CRAWFORD: The children in the center will be interviewed by a child advocate to find out if Miller had any inappropriate contact with them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, the story definitely had us wondering who has access to kids in day care. We looked up the rules in Georgia and we found that workers have to be at least 18 years old and have no criminal records. There are no rules regarding who has contact with kids while they're there.

LEMON: Closing bell and a wrap of all the action on Wall Street is straight ahead.

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LEMON: Kyra, do you want to check in with Wolf Blitzer? PHILLIPS: I love checking in with Wolf Blitzer. He's my man.

LEMON: Uh oh, you heard it, Wolf. She said you're her man!

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I know Kyra, she's a friend of mine. Thanks guys very much.

Coming up at the top of the hour, the man not doing so well in the polls, but he's flush with cash. Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, his fundraising prowess is surprising and upsetting some of his Republican opponents. He's the only Republican candidate, by the way, firmly against the war in Iraq. I'll ask if he thinks that's helping him raise money.

It's a critical difference John Edwards says you should know. If elected he suggests Hillary Clinton would extend the war, but he would end it. And Edwards says Clinton is wrong about another issue as well. He's going to be here. John Edwards in "THE SITUATION ROOM" to explain.

And it could involve the place where you live. Should cities provide safe havens to illegal immigrants? Or should they help federal officials find them? This is a debate unfolding in several places, including the presidential campaign and congress, all that coming up, a lot more right here in "THE SITUATION ROOM." Back to you.

LEMON: All right Wolf, thank you.

PHILLIPS: Thanks Wolf.

When we come back, Susan Lisovicz has the hottest ticket in town.

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PHILLIPS: All right, closing bell is about to ring on Wall Street.

LEMON: Susan Lisovicz standing by with a final look at the trading day and also, what did that thing say, Susan Lisovicz is the hottest ticket in town?

PHILLIPS: I think it said she has the hottest ticket in town, but we switched it to really make it a little more --

LEMON: Is the hottest ticket in town.

PHILLIPS: Exactly.

LISOVICZ: Well you know what the hottest ticket in my world is the Bruce Springsteen tour which launches tomorrow in Philly, P.A. I looked to see if the boss is coming to Atlanta, but even the boss can't measure up to the hottest act in America right now, and that is 14-year-old Mylie Cyrus. The daughter of country superstar Billy Ray Cyrus.

And as so many of our younger viewers know, she is the star of the Disney Channel's "Hannah Montana." You can turn on that channel any hour of the day or night. And you will find Hannah Montana. You guys know what the plot line is?

PHILLIPS: No, tell me about it.

LEMON: No.

LISOVICZ: Well she's a high school student who has this secret double life. She's actually a superstar in the music world, a pop star, but she has this double life, hence the title of one of her hit songs "Best of Both Worlds."

And there's actually a business angle to this because her tour, her 54-city tour sold out in some venues in as quick as four minutes, and the resale value of her tickets, there's so many scalpers now it's exceeding the resale, the scalping prices of "The Police," Justin Timberlake, Beyonce. Parents are furious. In fact in Arkansas the AP says the attorney general there is looking into it. One frustrated parent says it's like The Beatles.

LEMON: You know what? In that video, isn't her dad, Billy Ray Cyrus, he's is in there, but he doesn't have the mullet anymore. He has highlights.

LISOVICZ: He's changed too.

PHILLIPS: He's always been a good-looking guy. Even with his achy breaky heart hit. And what ever happened to his music career?

LISOVICZ: He did "Dancing with the Stars" earlier this year. That's where everybody ...

PHILLIPS: Making a comeback.

LISOVICZ: Making a comeback.

Hey, the bulls aren't making a comeback folks. I mean we never even had a warm-up today. Nothing happened. Oil prices jumped up $1.50, but the three major averages didn't move because the big news of the week is tomorrow, the jobs report.

Everybody wants to know is the economy actually creating jobs. Last month showed a net loss. So you see the Dow still below 14,000, making a tiny, tiny move to the up side, but very small. The real suspense is about tomorrow, an hour before the opening bell, as to whether jobs were created in the month of September.

So, I'll see you guys tomorrow Kyra and Don.

PHILLIPS: All right, Susan, thank you.

LEMON: Now it's time to turn it over to "THE SITUATION ROOM" and ...

PHILLIPS: Wolf Blitzer.

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