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Marion Jones Admits to Steroid Use; Fit Nation; Social Networking Web Sites

Aired October 05, 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: She denied uses steroids, sued her accuser, and credited God for her dazzling speed and success, but, in a letter to friends and soon in federal court, Olympic gold medalist Marion Jones admits her denials were lies. We're live at the courthouse this hour.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Also, social networking Web sites, they are not just for teens anymore. They're also for cyber- savvy moms and dads who want to know what their teens are up to. We're going to meet a mom and daughter who hooked up in a way the daughter will not soon forget.

Hello, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen, in today for Kyra Phillips at the CNN world headquarters right here in Atlanta.

LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

NGUYEN: Got some live pictures that we want to bring you right now of a chemical incident at Georgia State, this coming from affiliate WGCL there in Atlanta. You can see the responders there on the scene. It appears that they're taking off some of the gear, so this may be at a point where it is not really harming anyone in the near vicinity.

We don't know a whole lot of information, only that this is a chemical incident that these firefighters are responding to. Many say that the building that is next to this site -- it looks like that's some kind of a hazmat facility right there just for those who may have come in contact with it.

But the building next to them is said to store some chemicals. Not confirmed if it's nitric acid or anything of that sort, but that word has been floated around a little bit, again, none of this confirmed at the point except that there is a chemical spill at Georgia State University. Some evacuations have occurred because of it.

As you can see some of the firefighters are on the scene. And as soon as we get more information on the story, of course, we will bring it straight to you.

LEMON: All right.

Let's talk about a story that has a lot of people talking. A court appearance today in New York could rewrite sports history. Olympic gold medalist Marion Jones is expected to plead guilty to lying about steroid use. Her freedom, her reputation, her Olympic medals they are all in jeopardy.

Let's go straight now to Allan Chernoff for the very latest. He joins us now from White Plains, New York, in front of the courthouse.

She arrived not very long ago, Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: That's right. The woman known for astounding speed walked very slowly up the courthouse steps here in White Plains, New York.

And in just about an hour's time, Marion Jones is scheduled to appear before a federal judge and expected to plead guilty in two separate cases, plead guilty, first of all, to lying to federal investigators about using performance-enhancing drugs, and also plead guilty in an entirely separate case involving check fraud.

Now, Marion Jones, of course, you will recall won five Olympic medals back in Sydney in 2000. Her speed, her performance was simply superhuman. It was astounding. And now we learn years later that indeed she was using performance-enhancing steroids.

Now, these allegations have hung over her for years, but she's always denied them in the past.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARION JONES, OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: I have never, ever used performance-enhancing drugs and that I have accomplished what I have accomplished because of my God-given abilities and hard work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: Jones would be the first professional athlete convicted in connection with the investigation into BALCO, the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative. There have been other individuals who actually have been convicted, but not pro athletes.

And there also are some very famous professional athletes, including ball players, baseball players, who have reportedly sell in grand jury testimony that they did take steroids acquired from BALCO, including Jason Giambi of the New York Yankees as well as the home run king, Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants.

Now, as I mentioned, Marion Jones had won five Olympic medals. And if she does go ahead and admit to that use of steroids, it is likely that those medals will be stripped from her. And keep in mind, of those five medals, two were won in relays, so her teammates likely also will lose their medals as well, a very sad ending to an incredible athletic story -- Don.

LEMON: Yes. And other people here may be paying the price as well. Allan Chernoff, appreciate your report.

Now, this substance we have been hearing about, it is called the clear. It's tied to the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative, or BALCO. It's been at the center of a scandal and a federal probe for years. That probe has brought five convictions so far.

BALCO's founder, Victor Conte, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and money laundering. That was back in 2005. He accused Jones of using performance-enhancing drugs, even said he watched her inject herself. Well, she sued him three years ago, accusing him of trying to destroy her career and also her reputation.

Olympian Carl Lewis, remember him? Well, he told CNN he was surprised to hear the news about Marion Jones. Another Olympic gold medalist now is also weighing in.

Sprinter Gail Devers issued this statement: "Upon hearing the news about Marion, I immediately said a prayer for her and her family. Whatever she is going through, all we can do is pray. We are not judge, nor jury. My concern and prayer is that her son will be shielded from any harm as a result of what they as a family must endure."

Jose Canseco's name is almost synonymous with steroids. The former Major League slugger wrote a book on the subject and said he never would have been the player he was without them.

Well, we talked with Canseco a few minutes ago about the Marion Jones case. He says the it shows that incredible athletic achievements should send up red flags.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

JOSE CANSECO, FORMER MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYER: I think what we have to look at is every athlete that has set or broken a record, especially a record that has completely been -- a previous record that's completely been demolished by either a great margin of winning. So I think you really have to look at each and every athlete that's accomplished that and ask yourself if they used some type of enhancement drugs.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, Canseco went on CBS "60 Minutes" a couple years ago to talk about his use of steroids.

NGUYEN: Straight to the NEWSROOM now and T.J. Holmes with a developing story that we have been working on, that missing medical plane.

Anything new?

T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we do know -- we can pass along for sure that there was not a patient on board this medical plane that is now missing. This plane was heading last night from Phoenix to Alamosa, Colorado, and it was just about 20 minutes outside of its destination, Alamosa, when it lost contact with air traffic controllers, lost all radio contact.

So now the search is going on for this plane. No word on what might have been going on, not sure exactly what the weather conditions were like last night either, but on board we know there were three people, a pilot, a nurse, and also a paramedic. Not sure if they were heading towards some kind of a medical situation or coming from one, not exactly sure about that part, but the plane is now missing.

The weather right now is actually hindering some of the rescue efforts right now. They aren't able to actually search from the air for this missing plane, so the ground crews are dealing with some pretty rugged terrain there outside of Alamosa, but right now the search continues, Betty, for this plane and the three people on board. Hopefully, we can get some good news out of this, but we can confirm that there was not a patient on board this plane. So, we're keeping an eye on it.

NGUYEN: All right, T.J., thank you.

HOLMES: All right.

LEMON: Those former Duke lacrosse players wrongly accused of rape are now making a federal case of their ordeal.

They're suing the disgraced and disbarred prosecutor Mike Nifong, the city of Durham, North Carolina, and police who handled that investigation. Their suit calls the case against Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, and Dave Evans -- quote -- "one of the most chilling episodes of premeditated police, prosecutorial and scientific misconduct in modern American history."

The suit seeks unspecified damages and changes in the way Durham police investigate criminal cases. You will recall the three young men were accused of raping a stripper at a team party. The charges were eventually dropped, and North Carolina attorney general declared the three innocent victims of -- quote -- "a rush, a tragic rush to accuse."

NGUYEN: New revelations now along with new pictures in a mysterious death at the Phoenix Airport. Phoenix police have released surveillance video -- you see it here -- of Carol Anne Gotbaum, who they say became enraged when she wasn't allowed to board her flight to Tucson because she was late.

Now, gate attendants and police officers are seen trying to calm the New Yorker down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SERGEANT MIKE POLOMBO, PHOENIX POLICE DEPARTMENT: The video doesn't have any audio. However, based upon witness statements, she's screaming at the top of her lungs: "I'm not a terrorist. I'm not a terrorist."

While on the ground, we made numerous attempts to get her to calm down by talking to her. Again, she is still screaming at the top of her lungs. She's screaming, not only is she not a terrorist, but also profanities and comments, words of not looking Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP) NGUYEN: Gotbaum was ultimately handcuffed and taken to a holding room, where she was left alone shackled to a bench. Minutes later, she was found unconscious. All efforts to revive her failed.

CNN security analyst Mike Brooks says it appears police did their jobs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE BROOKS, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: I see absolutely no -- all police procedures followed.

They didn't use excessive force, in my opinion. After 26 years of law enforcement, and then after I got out, I was in training of law enforcement -- from this tape, Anderson, it looks like they did everything they could to try to calm her down. And then she was still combative.

Put her on the ground, handcuffed her. And it shows, even after taking her away in handcuffs, she locked her legs up, and they had to drag her away. But we didn't see any use of any Taser, no pepper spray. In my opinion, no excessive force was used here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Carol Anne Gotbaum was a mother of three. Her family's lawyer says her husband talked to her by phone during her layover, then called emergency dispatchers, warning Gotbaum was deeply depressed and may be suicidal. Airport officers say they didn't know that or that Gotbaum was on her way to an alcohol treatment center. There's no word on why she was traveling alone.

LEMON: Due in court this afternoon, one of the two South Florida students charged with illegally transporting explosives. At issue, whether Youssef Megahed should be released on bail. He and Ahmed Mohamed were arrested in August during a traffic stop in South Carolina. Authorities found fuse, gasoline and PVC piping in the trunk of the car. Both men have pleaded not guilty. And a federal judge has ruled Megahed can go free on a $200,000 bond, provided he and his family surrender their passports. Prosecutors are fighting to keep him behind bars.

Dangerous weapons off the street, reputed gang members behind bars, part of a coordinated campaign between local and federal agents to capture the worst of the worst. The latest straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

NGUYEN: He was a strong, healthy boy who just went for a swim in a lake, and then something unimaginable.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's beyond description to watch your most precious, beautiful, wonderful loved one go -- become a vegetable, essentially, and then die.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Details on the killer in the lake, that's straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

LEMON: An Alabama mom poses as a teenage boy to see what her daughter does online. Can you say...

NGUYEN: Busted.

LEMON: Busted.

We will hear from the mom, the teen and the sister who set it all up straight ahead in the NEWSROOM. I can't wait for this one.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: It is 15 after the hour. Here are three of the stories that we are working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.

The potential fall of an Olympic heroine. Marion Jones has entered federal court in White Plains, New York. Government officials say she will plead guilty for lying about her steroid use. Now, her career and her Olympic medals, well, they could be in serious jeopardy. Her relay teammates from the 2000 Olympics in Sydney could also lose their gold medals.

Topps Meat Company, it is shutting down. This is the company that recalled almost 22 million pounds of ground beef last week over E. coli fears. The company says the financial impact of the recall is just too great.

And President Bush is defending his administration's treatment of terror suspects. Mr. Bush says the U.S. does not condone torture, this after a "New York Times" report on a secret Justice Department memo that basically endorses the harshest interrogation techniques.

A swimming hole on a hot summer day, it sounds like heaven, even if it's not 100 percent risk-free. One of the serious potential risk is too small even to see. And though rare, it's claimed several young lives this year alone.

CNN's John Zarrella updates a story he first reported last month.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): They were all healthy, and young.

RAY HERRERA, JACK'S FATHER: Played sports, played lacrosse.

ZARRELLA: Ray and Deidre Herrera lost their 12-year-old son, Jack, in August. He had been swimming in Lake LBJ in Austin, Texas.

R. HERRERA: It gets beyond description to watch your most precious, beautiful, wonderful loved one go, become a vegetable essentially, and then die. ZARRELLA: Jack died from a microscopic organism, an amoeba that entered his brain through his nose. Something the Herreras had never heard of.

DEIDRE HERRERA, JACK'S MOTHER: This is the United States of America. Cutting edge technology. Why does no one know about this? Why have they never heard about this before?

ZARRELLA: Because, health officials say it is very rare, but not this summer. Six deaths now in lakes from Florida to Arizona. The most recent, a 14-year-old swimming in Arizona's Lake Havasu. The amoeba lives in the shallows of freshwater lakes. It flourishes when water temperatures go above 80 degrees. It can kill within two weeks. Because symptoms mimic the flu, health officials say it often goes misdiagnosed.

DR. KEVIN SHERIN, ORANGE CO. HEALTH DEPT.: If they have been in the freshwater bodies in the intervening week or two prior that certainly has to be considered.

ZARRELLA: Health officials have no idea why it seems to affect primarily young boys. They may be more likely to roughhouse in the water, stirring up sediment and amoebas, but why so many now? During the past two decades, there have been only 23 cases in the U.S.

DR. REBECCA SUNENSHINE, ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: Because it's been such a hot summer, that it has contributed to warmer water temperatures, and lower water levels, and that makes an ideal environment for the amoeba.

ZARRELLA: And if climate change means hotter, drier summers become the norm, some health officials worry, that may translate to more cases of amoeba deaths in the future.

(on camera): The Centers for Disease Control and the Environmental Protection Agency are both looking into the amoeba deaths. The EPA late yesterday afternoon issued us a statement saying it is working with state, local and federal agencies to try and find ways to reduce the risk. Right now, the only way to reduce the risk if you're going to be going in swimming in lakes that are over degrees, wear one of these, a nose clip.

John Zarrella, CNN, Orlando, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Good advice there.

And check this out, dangerous weapons off the street, reputed gang members behind bars, part of a coordinated campaign between local and federal agents to capture the worst of the worst. We have the latest ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Don, you have a Great Dane, right? LEMON: I do.

NGUYEN: Would you give CPR to a dog, to your best friend?

LEMON: I don't know. I may. Yes. Yes, I would.

NGUYEN: And would you know how to do it?

LEMON: Of course I would.

NGUYEN: Sure you would.

LEMON: Gladly, slobber and all.

NGUYEN: Well, in Indiana, police officer Josh Halsey did just that when his canine partner Samo was choking on a tennis ball. His quick thinking and know-how saved his partner's life.

And he told our Kiran Chetry what happened on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "AMERICAN MORNING")

OFFICER JOSH HALSEY, SAVED CANINE PARTNER'S LIFE: I was in the garage working, and my daughter, she comes in and said dad, there's something wrong with Samo. And when I went out to the garage and I would seen him laying out in the yard and him not responding to me talking to him, I knew something was the matter.

KIRAN CHETRY, CO-HOST, "AMERICAN MORNING": And so then you rushed over to him and tell us when you realized he had started choking on his tennis ball.

HALSEY: When I ran up to him, he wasn't responding. When I got there and I grabbed him, his motion was just, he didn't have any, I mean, he just flopped. So I grabbed him, immediately ran to my patrol vehicle, hollering for my keys, and when I got to my car, I put him down on the ground, he still wasn't moving.

At that time, I still didn't know he had a tennis ball in his throat. When I started CPR and I grab this and when I went to grab his throat and his muzzle, that is when I felt the lump and immediately I knew it was a tennis ball. That's when I started just taking his esophagus and squeezing it, and try to extract the ball and when I ended having to pull it out of his mouth, continued CPR. And he came to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: And that's how it's done.

LEMON: Yes.

NGUYEN: Thankfully, Samo is one of only 10 members of the Ligonier, Indiana, Police Department. He goes back on duty tonight. Yes, no rest. But the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM -- we're not resting here, either -- it starts right now.

Wait. That wasn't right.

LEMON: Well, maybe not.

NGUYEN: We're already into IT.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: Of course. The next second of the CNN NEWSROOM starts...

NGUYEN: Second half-hour, how about that?

LEMON: ... right now. There we go.

(BUSINESS REPORT)

NGUYEN: Hey, you have to listen to this story. An Alabama mom poses as a teenage boy to see what her daughter does online. So, can you say busted? Yes, we are going to hear from the mom, the teen and the sister who set it all up. That's ahead in the NEWSROOM.

But, first, knowledge is power when it comes to fighting obesity, but could knowing what's in your Lucky Charms or your Cocoa Puffs by helpful or just scary, or maybe even both?

In today's "Fit Nation" segment, Dr. Sanjay Gupta checks out the new labels coming very soon to a breakfast table near you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The choices can make you dizzy. Healthy heart logos. Zero trans fat stamps. Low cholesterol. Jam-packed nutrition labels. Now, manufacturers are introducing new packaging aimed at making the information clearer and, consequently, decisions easier.

(on camera): Here is what you see on most of today's labels. The government actually requires that packages show you the bad stuff such as total fat, cholesterol, sodium, trans fat but also the good stuff such as vitamin A, vitamin C, phosphorus, magnesium and zinc. But now, companies like Kellogg's and General Mills are taking that information and putting it on the front of the box, big, bold letters. They call it an effort to try to educate consumers.

(voice-over): But, in countries like the United Kingdom and Sweden, the government is actually mandating label changes.

SUSAN ROBERTS, DRAKE UNIV, AGRICULTURAL LAW CENTER: In Europe, they're doing things with like a green light, yellow light kind of thing. It's very simple for people to see is this a healthy food or not a healthy food.

GUPTA (on camera): These products here are from England and they're actually color-coded according to a traffic light system. So take a look -- they're actually green if they're considered healthy. They're yellow or orange if considered borderline and just plain red if they're considered unhealthy.

(voice-over): English food makers say that, since the label changes, sales of green- and yellow-light products have jumped. Back in the States, the FDA says it has no immediate plans to require new food labels. But with cereal makers out in front of the issue, other companies might follow suit.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, hello, everybody on this Friday.

I'm Betty Nguyen in for Kyra Phillips today at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon.

How do you keep your kids safe from online predators?

You become a sheep in wolf's clothing, that's how you do it.

NGUYEN: Well, that's what one mom did. She went online to help her kids when they're in that chat room. And she's trying to keep them in line. But what she did is what's pretty interesting here. You don't want to miss it. We're going to talk to her and her daughters in THE NEWSROOM.

For years, Olympic track star Marion Jones denied using steroids but it appears she can't outrun the truth. Today, she is in court, prepared to enter a guilty plead that could rewrite sports history, cost her her Olympic medals, maybe even the medal of her relay teammates.

Let's go now to Allan Chernoff for the latest now.

He joins us from White Plains, New York for more about what -- I guess Marion Jones arrived a little bit earlier today. And as we watch this case, a lot of people are interested to see where it goes from here.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right. Instead of shattering world records, Marion Jones is about to shatter of myth of her athletic prowess. In about a half hour's time, she will appear in the courthouse before a federal judge and she is expected to plead guilty to lying to federal investigators about her use of performance enhancing steroids.

She will then become the first professional athlete to be convicted in relation to the investigation into BALCO. That, of course, the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative that provided nutritional supplements, as well as steroids, to professional athletes.

And as a result of this plea agreement that is expected, Marion Jones also will likely lose her five Olympic medals from those Sydney games in 2000 -- Betty.

NGUYEN: All right, Allan Chernoff joining us live as we wait for that court appearance to take place.

Thank you, Allan.

LEMON: As we've been telling you here, we've been getting hundreds of e-mails on this story, Betty. And NEWSROOM viewers feel passionately about Marion Jones and steroids.

Here's what Bruce writes. He says: "All the medals, awards, citations and any accolades given to Jones throughout her career, whether in college or professionally, should be stripped from her and her name removed from all the record books."

NGUYEN: Well, Brad is much more sympathetic. He writes: "If you race a car, you match your best driver with the best technology and fill it with the most optimal fuel. Why should bike racing or track be any different? They all do it and the ones that don't get caught are just that -- the ones that -- or the ones that do get caught are just that, and the ones that don't get caught, well, he says leave Jones, Bonds, Armstrong and Landis alone."

LEMON: Well, here's what Shana thinks: "At the end of the day, Marion Jones will reinvent herself by becoming an author and writing a book about the entire scandal and other participants involved, get paid for speaking engagements around the issue and will no longer be broke. Well, I guess that's show business."

NGUYEN: Yes, but the whole steroid situation saddens Joel in Pennsylvania, who ponders: "Isn't it a sad reality in our society that the enticement by big business for big money endorsements has turned our sports role models into greedy, immoral specimens? The real heroes, the soldiers, the doctors and nurses, the people who have a real effect on lives, are so poorly rewarded for their efforts."

As always, you can e-mail us at cnnnewsroom@CNNcom.

LEMON: Yes, we appreciate your feedback on that one.

Let's talk about some gangs now...

12,000 gang members, as a matter of fact. More than 14,000 weapons arrested or confiscated so far in a campaign by local police and federal agents in 25 cities across the entire U.S. The latest arrests came just this week, right here in Atlanta.

And our T.J. Holmes has the very latest for us -- T.J. .

T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, actually, there was an up tick in violence here in the Atlanta area over the summer, kind of a three month period over the summer where there was just a huge surge in violence.

Well, what was the reason behind that?

Why?

What are the reasons?

Well, police say there were actually eight reasons -- eight individuals. And now those eight reasons have been caught.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

HOLMES (voice-over): Atlanta police and federal agents call them the worst of the worst -- saying eight suspects arrested in a sting operation are believed to be involved in three retaliation murders or hits in Atlanta and may be connected to three other killings.

CHIEF RICHARD PENNINGTON, ATLANTA POLICE: We looked at the types of weapons that were being used. And being the former chief in New Orleans, I know that, for a fact, many AK-47s were used in the murders in New Orleans. And we started to see a rash of AK-47s being used in Atlanta.

HOLMES: Here's what we k. Police say three of the eight men arrested were New Orleans residents who relocated to Atlanta.

LT. JOHN DALTON, ATLANTA POLICE: We know that Edward Moses, Maurice Hargrove and Ashton Mitchell were all from New Orleans.

HOLMES: Police say most of the crimes were committed over a three month span this past summer. Authorities believe the spike in Atlanta's violent summer crime wave was caused, in part, by these two groups retaliating against each other.

DALTON: So these individuals are associated together. This is the other faction down here.

HOLMES: Investigators say the men were part of an exceptionally violent crew who robbed drug dealers and criminals.

DALTON: They actually were friends with each other at one point. And now they're competing against each other.

HOLMES: Police say the suspects, all in their 20s, were particularly dangerous because they often fired at their targets with little concern for bystanders.

PENNINGTON: And one of the individuals was shot in front of a pool hall. And there were people inside the pool hall when they opened up on that individual. So we were just, I guess, lucky that no innocent people were killed.

HOLMES: Authorities say they seized bulletproof vests and 16 guns, including assault rifles and pistols, during the arrests conducted over the past two weeks. The investigates investigation continues while seven of the eight are in custody. New Orleans police say they're also checking to see if the suspects could be responsible for crimes or murders committed there.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

HOLMES: And one of these eight that was caught was actually on the Ten Most Wanted for Atlanta P.D. But, Don, amazing to think that eight individuals in as large of an area as the Atlanta metropolitan area, to think that these eight could have such an impact as to shoot up crime in the area is quite remarkable.

Now, those eight off the streets.

LEMON: Off the streets. That's the good news.

Thank you.

HOLMES: All right.

NGUYEN: Well, an Alabama mom poses as a teenage boy to see what her daughter does online. Yes, that daughter got busted. We're going to hear from the mom, the teen and the sister who set it all up.

That's ahead in THE NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Well, each week we take a look at someone who has left one career to start a second act in their lives. This week we find a New York man who has taken second act, well literally.

Ali Velshi has his story in today's Life After Work.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This production of "Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat" doesn't look different. And that's exactly how Jim Sisto likes it.

JIM SISTO, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, FAMILY RESIDENCES: The thing about this group that is most amazing to me is their drive to exceed and to do well despite any obstacle that life or God or whoever throws at them.

VELSHI: And what you might find really amazing is that everyone in this production is developmentally or physically challenged.

SISTO: The participants in our program are varied -- people with physical disabilities, people with mental health issues, people with developmental disabilities.

VELSHI: Sisto is the artistic director for Family Residences and Essential Enterprises. It's an organization that houses and teaches more than 3,000 mentally challenged adults in Long Island. Sisto took what he thought was a short detour from graphic design in 1989 when he took a job at the center and tested out a theater program. The results surprised everyone.

SISTO: My biggest surprise with this program was the apparent change that came over so many people so quickly. People who could be aggressive stopped being aggressive because they knew if they, you know, they did cross over that line, that they were no longer able to do this thing that they loved so much. People were able to manage their symptoms for the first time in their life.

Ali Velshi, CNN.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

NGUYEN: Well, they met in Iraq in 2005 and have just reunited in Wisconsin -- a grizzled infantryman and a shy little girl he just had to help. Hear their stories ahead in THE NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Some of the Larry Craig's fellow Republicans say he should keep his promise and resign. But the long time Idaho Senator says he has changed his mind. Craig announced last month he would step down after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor in connection with a Minneapolis airport sex sting. But yesterday a judge refused to throw out his guilty plea and colleagues renewed their calls for Craig to go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN ENSIGN (R), NEVADA: I think it's best for the U.S. Senate, it's best for, certainly, his party, that if he just keeps his word. He gave us his word he would do something. He's bagging out and I don't think it's the right thing to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Craig insists he didn't commit any crimes and says he'll study his remaining legal options. He also says that he won't run for reelection next year.

LEMON: The governor of New Mexico and Democratic candidate for president -- earlier this afternoon, Governor Bill Richardson was in THE NEWSROOM.

I asked him about the announcement by Republican Senator Domenici that he will not seek another term and how that might affect Richardson's plans.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

LEMON: Would you consider taking that seat, Pete Domenici's seat, because he's not going to run again?

RICHARDSON: No. I'm running for president.

LEMON: OK.

RICHARDSON: And being governor is better than being a senator.

LEMON: OK.

Would you consider the vice presidency if it doesn't turn out the way you want?

RICHARDSON: I mean, we haven't even had a vote and you want me to do something else. I'm going to win this nomination.

LEMON: You said immediate pull-out of troops in Iraq. Members of your own party disagree with that.

Why is this?

Why are you calling for it and how do you feel about the others disagreeing with you?

RICHARDSON: Well, the big difference is that I say, take them out as quickly as we can, as safely as we can. Let the military decide that -- whether it's six or eight months. But I say leave no troops behind.

LEMON: But the leaders there on the ground, and many critics, say that's going to lead to a civil war. And some people say there's already a civil war going on.

RICHARDSON: There's a civil war. There's sectarian conflict already. Our kids, our troops have become targets. Not until they all leave can we start political compromise and reconciliation. And Senators Clinton, Obama and Edwards are saying they're going to leave troops until 2013. That's not ending the war.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

LEMON: Well, Governor Richardson tells me he would personally participate in diplomacy in Iraq if he were elected president.

NGUYEN: And now that he's finally in the race, Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson is trying to turn star power into political momentum and he's betting the farm on South Carolina.

CNN's chief national correspondent, John King, is in the Palmetto State.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Temporary headquarters is through this door. Five staffers crowded around a small table, beginning to organize a state where second or third just won't do.

WALTER WHETSELL, THOMPSON SOUTH CAROLINA ADVISER: They have committed to, you know, doing what it takes to win South Carolina.

KING: The early reviews from Iowa and New Hampshire are less than encouraging. The early fund-raising respectable, but hardly overwhelming. It means more pressure in a state with a history of deciding the GOP race, where Governor Mark Sanford says Thompson has a giant opportunity, but also a lot to prove.

GOV. MARK SANFORD (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: A lot of the void that was out there, and, to a degree, the Thompson candidacy has fueled by this search for the next Ronald Reagan. Whether or not he materializes as that is obviously what the next 100 days are all about.

FRED THOMPSON, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I want to tell you how good it is to be back in South Carolina again.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

KING: That Thompson has not returned to South Carolina since his quick announcement tour a month ago has even has some backers privately questioning whether he understands the organizational challenge.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani polls surprisingly strong here. And former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is methodically targeting conservatives. Ten direct-mail pieces over several months emphasized his opposition to same-sex marriage and to amnesty for illegal immigrants.

Joe Mack of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, which represents more than 2,000 churches statewide, also credits Romney with patiently answering questions about his Mormon faith many Southern Baptists liken to a cult.

JOE MACK, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC POLICY, SOUTH CAROLINA BAPTIST CONVENTION: Theologically, they're probably not on the -- well, they are not on the same page as Baptists. But in the value issues, I think very much that he may be right there where we are on those issues that are important to us.

KING: Mack has yet to hear from Thompson.

MACK: Well, I would say they're not too late. And I think they are off to a fairly good start.

KING: The first brochure is ready, but still no firm budget for mail and TV advertising.

Still, adviser Walter Whetsell shrugs off the naysayers and says stressing the candidate's Tennessee roots is central to Thompson's southern strategy.

WHETSELL: Lawrenceburg, Tennessee is, in fact, a whole lot closer to Lexington, South Carolina and Greenville, South Carolina and Charleston, South Carolina than are Boston or New York, for instance. He's the real deal. He's the real conservative in this race.

KING (on camera): This vacant storefront behind me will soon be the permanent Thompson campaign headquarters. And key backers here say the candidate needs to get it up and running and spend more time here or risk losing the big wave of early support. But more important, they say, is a strong Thompson performance in his first GOP presidential debate next week in Michigan.

John King, CNN, Columbia, South Carolina.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

LEMON: You know where they talk politics all the time?

NGUYEN: "THE SITUATION ROOM".

LEMON: In "The Sich (ph)," we like to call it.

Wolf Blitzer joining us now to tell us what's coming up at the top of the hour -- hi, Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Hi, guys.

Thanks very much.

Coming up, President Bush says the U.S. government "does not torture people." Today, he refutes claims the U.S. engages in torture. But he's also talking about what the U.S. does do to get suspected terrorists to talk.

Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev is touring post-Katrina devastation and rebuilding efforts in New Orleans. We're going to tell you why he's there and why he's talking about a possible revolution and why he has ties to the actor, Brad Pitt. Mikhail Gorbachev, he'll be joining us.

And "You Can Lead A Politician To Water, But You Can't Make Him Think." That's the title of a brand new book by Kinky Freidman, who lost the Texas governor's race. He says even God couldn't have won as an Independent in Texas. Kinky coming into "THE SITUATION ROOM" to speak his mind about the current crop of presidential candidates.

All that and a lot more coming up right here -- back to you guys.

NGUYEN: We've got Kinky in "THE SIT ROOM" today.

All right, Wolf.

We'll be watching.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: For the first time, Zahraa is seeing her favorite soldier clearly. When Sergeant John Kempen went Iraq two years ago, had no idea his mission would go beyond keeping the peace. While handing out candy to the kids, he came across this little girl, now eight years old, who wouldn't take the candy. It turned out she could barely see it, her corneas were so swollen and blistered. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM WAOW)

SGT. JOHN KEMPEN, U.S. ARMY: The little boy said her eyes, her eyes. And he was like this. He had taken his hand and covered her eyes. I was like oh, OK. I have a medic in my vehicle. So I told my medic, Sergeant Worthington (ph), I says hey, Sarge, take her over to the clinic over there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, Kempen also enlisted the help of the Lions Club to bring Zahraa to The Eye Clinic of Wisconsin. She's already undergone one successful corneal transplant and is awaiting surgery on the other eye.

NGUYEN: Oh, that is such a great story.

LEMON: That was.

And what a good way to end the week for us here.

NGUYEN: Yes.

LEMON: A very nice, uplifting story.

NGUYEN: The closing bell.

LEMON: Yes.

NGUYEN: It's about to ring.

LEMON: Susan Lisovicz, hopefully there's uplifting news for investors.

NGUYEN: Yes. It was on fire earlier.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

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