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Skydiving Crash; Children's Health Care; Baghdad Shooting; CIA Torture Claim; Missing Mayor; Anti-Gang Crackdown
Aired October 09, 2007 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Heidi Collins. Stay informed all day right here on the CNN NEWSROOM. Here's what's on the rundown now.
First the Blackwater shoot-out. Now bullets fly again today in Iraq. We're told that two more civilians gunned down by unidentified private security contractors. We'll have the latest.
Plus searchers heading to a plane crash site in Washington state this morning. Nine skydivers and their pilot appear dead.
When "I do" becomes drop dead. How a bad marriage can kill you. Fascinating findings on Tuesday, October 9. You are in the NEWSROOM.
We are following a breaking news story in Iraq now. Word that people traveling in a private security convoy opened fire on a car in Baghdad killing two women. This coming to us from two sources in Iraq's interior ministry. One of those sources says as many as 19 bullets hit the women's vehicle. Other details are not clear, however. We don't know which security firm was involved. This comes as the contractor Blackwater USA is under intense scrutiny over a deadly shooting last month. CNN's Alessio Vinci will bring us more on this story, including what may have precipitated these events. We'll bring it to you just as soon as possible.
Also, wreckage found. A search resuming this morning. Crews find seven bodies after a plane crashes in Washington's Cascade Mountains. Hopes for those still missing all but gone. Katherine Barrett (ph) is in White Pass for us now this morning.
Katherine, what's the latest on the search efforts now?
KATHERINE BARRETT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, dawn is just starting to break on the ridge tops behind me and searchers will go back out once they have light to search by. They called off their ground search just before midnight last night saying the terrain was too steep, too dark and too clogged with brush and heavy timber to really make it any kind of effective search. So they will resume searching by ground the crash area where they found the wreckage last night.
Also, the National Transportation Safety Board will begin its investigation today. Again, that wreckage found shortly after dark last night. Seven bodies out of the 10 people reportedly aboard that Cessna 208. While the Yakima County sheriff's spokesman would not rule out the possibility of a miraculous location of a survivor, he said the evidence makes that unlikely. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEPUTY DAN CYPHER, YAKIMA CO. SHERIFF'S OFFICE: The wreckage is bad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARRETT: Late last night we actually ran into the families and loved ones of those on the plane as they were leaving a Red Cross family assistance center. It was a near silent but tearful and obviously pained procession leaving that family assistance center which has been set up in the base lodge of a local ski area.
Heidi, that's the latest from here.
COLLINS: Boy, I can't imagine. All right. Katherine, thanks so much.
And new now this morning, a landmark settlement. A U.S. power company agreeing to pay $4.6 billion for polluting the air. The government saying American Electric Power deliberately ignored the Clean Air Act.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RONALD TENPAS, ACTING ASST. ATTY. GENERAL: In bringing this case, the government alleged that the company had made major modifications to many of its coal-fired power plants in the eastern United States. Changes that led it to emit more air pollution. We allege that the company should have obtained a permit and installed pollution control devices, often called best available control technology, in order to prevent these emissions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Now American Electric Power will have to reduce emission by about 70 percent over the next decade.
A possible motive now for a mass killing in Wisconsin. New detail this morning. A friend of Deputy Tyler Peterson tell as Wisconsin newspaper, Peterson went to his ex-girlfriend's house hoping to patch up their relationship but they argued and Peterson lost control after her friends started ridiculing him, calling him a "worthless pig." Police say Peterson stormed out of the house, got a rifle, went back inside and fired 30 shots. Six people were killed. The state attorney general says Peterson died later during a shoot-out with police.
Also new this morning, a fourth person in custody of the fatal shooting of a University of Memphis football player. This time it is another student. Twenty-one-year-old Taylor Bradford was shot while walking to his car last week. Police call it a botched robbery. They have now detain a classmate. Three other men, none of them students, also face charges. A plot to rob Bradford allegedly began with rumor of him winning big at a casino. Democrats pushing for expanding the children's health care program. The president and his allies pushing back. CNN's Dana Bash reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): The Democrats hopes of overriding the president's veto of children's health care could ride on a new million dollar ad campaign.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, AD CAMPAIGN: George Bush just vetoed Abby and Josh. He vetoed Latoya and Kevin. Bush vetoed health insurance for millions of America's children whose parents work but can't afford coverage.
BASH: A coalition of labor and advocacy groups is teaming up to sponsor this national commercial and similar ads targeting 20 GOP members of Congress. The goal is to pressure those Republicans to drop their opposition to expanding the children's health program by $35 billion.
REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D) HOUSE SPEAKER: We'll take it one step at a time. And right now we have the next 10 days to two weeks to try to peel off about 14 votes in the House.
BASH: But despite the money and manpower, Democrats and like- minded groups are pouring into overriding the president's veto. The Democrat in charge of counting the votes tells CNN he's pessimistic.
REP. JAMES CLYBURN, (D) MAJORITY WHIP: It will be very, very tough for us to get 290 votes. I think that, you know, a lot of people think that 45, 50, maybe the high water mark on the Republican side.
BASH: The president and many Republicans say the Democrats proposal to expand the children's health program unnecessarily broadens government-run health care. But privately, Republicans are concerned that argument is overpowered by Democrats talk of needy children. The administration is already looking for compromise.
MIKE LEAVITT, HHS SECRETARY: The veto will be sustained and then we'll get on to a real conversation about how we put poor children first, how we then can put insurance within the reach of every American, including every child.
BASH: Republican officials tell CNN they're poised to counter the Democrats lobbying push, feeding talking points to conservative radio and blogs that the president does support funding the children's health program but thinks it should be limited to America's neediest children.
Dana Bash, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Word now of another deadly shooting involving a private security company in Iraq. CNN's Alessio Vinci is working the story. He joins us now live from Baghdad with the very latest.
Alessio, good morning.
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Heidi.
We are getting reports indeed from two sources within the Iraqi interior ministry that a western private security firm, and we don't know yet which one, was involved in another shooting incident -- in a shooting incident this afternoon here in Baghdad. A shooting incident in which two Iraqi civilian, two women, were killed. We understand from these sources that a convoy made up of four sports utility vehicles opened fire on this car. Nineteen bullets hitting it killing instantly these two women.
We have no information at this time to which private security firm belonged this convoy. There are a number of them, of course, here in Iraq with a private security contractors numbering more than 100,000. So we do not really know to whom this convoy belongs to.
What we do know, however, from the U.S. embassy here in Baghdad and that is that no -- there was no embassy connection to this incident. Meaning that chances are that a Blackwater convoy may not be involved since the embassy is the biggest contractor here for Blackwater.
That said, Blackwater also works for other companies in this country. And as I said, there are many of them. So we still have to work a little bit the phones here to find out exactly what happened and, of course, who is involved and who's responsible for it.
COLLINS: Sure. Very understandable, Alessio.
And on a completely separate note, at least at this point because we are still working that other story, let's talk for just a moment about the Iraqi investigation into the other blackwater incident. And they do have some new findings and also some new recommendations to talk about.
VINCI: Yes. Basically a senior Iraqi official is telling us that basically the Iraqi are considering the actions by Blackwater back three weeks ago as a premeditated murder and therefore they are asking Blackwater to pay as many as $8 million to each of the 17 victims, the families of the 17 victims, who were killed during that shooting incident. And they also want the U.S. to hand over the Blackwater security guards who were involved in the shooting to Iraqi authority so that these security guards can be tried and prosecuted here in Iraq.
The big question, of course, is, can anyone here force Blackwater to pay or even force the U.S. to hand over these individuals. The answer as far as we can tell is no because Blackwater security operates here with the State Department contract and, therefore, making those guards essentially immune from prosecution.
That said, there is a U.S.-Iraqi commission investigating on just the incident three weeks ago, but also other incidents involving -- for allegedly involving Blackwater. And we're waiting some recommendations from these joint commission. Among them, of course, questions such as accountability, rules of engagement and, of course, making sure that in the future the security firm, these private security firms operating in Baghdad and throughout Iraq do not put innocent lives in danger.
Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, a lot to be learned from that investigation, certainly.
All right, Alessio Vinci coming to us live from Baghdad.
Alessio, thank you.
More than 30 Iraqis killed in violence throughout the country. Four bombings rocked Baghdad killing a dozen people. In northern Iraq, a pair of truck bombings apparently targeting Sunni tribal leaders. Twenty-two killed there and more than 30 wounded.
Also, the military say as Marine was killed in combat yesterday in Iraq's Anbar Province. This brings the total number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq to 3,817.
Another guilty plea coming. Michael Devlin back in court today, expected to get his second life sentence. We'll have the latest.
Also, an autistic boy dragged into these woods, beaten, he says, by his classmates.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I (INAUDIBLE) devastating. I'm absolutely devastated that these kids could do this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Five young kids facing charges now for a cruel crime.
He had to take off his top before he could fly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So to undress in front of 132 people to put a new shirt on, it's unbelievable embarrassment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: But what did his shirt say? Airline dress code? We'll take a look.
And an unexpected entrance joins a race in Australia. Look at this. Escaping injury, I promise. But disqualifies her. She's taking a shortcut right there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Welcome back, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Bringing troops home. President Bush making a pledge but is it everything it appears to be? We're keeping them honest.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Want to take a moment to get to some of this news that we are just getting in here out of the CNN NEWSROOM. Some action with the supreme court. Producer Bill Mears is on the phone for us now.
Hey, Bill, this is a story that has been going on for a while. It seems to be one of possibly mistaken identity and possibly national security.
BILL MEARS, CNN SUPREME COURT PRODUCER: It does, Heidi. It deals with a German citizen who claims he was mistakenly kidnapped, detained, interrogated, tortured by the CIA as part of its secret, extraordinary rendition program for suspected terrorists. Well the Supreme Court just a few minutes ago denied his appeal. So he's back to square one.
The issue is whether his lawsuit against the government could proceed and whether the Bush administration could block it under what's called the state secret privilege. Basically they won't even acknowledge that he was even detained. And so they pretty much stopped his lawsuit from even going ahead. The court, for now, basically said he can't go ahead.
COLLINS: OK. So is there any way to know why exactly they made this judgment. Obviously it seems to sort of back this possible thinking that it was a matter of state secret and there could be some security issues here. Anyway, to know what their judgment came down to.
MEARS: They gave no official reason for it, but there are a number of other lawsuits dealing with the state secrets privilege that are percolating in a lower court. In fact the justices are right now considering a separate appeal dealing with the warrantless wiretapping program that the government has been operating. Basically where they've been allegedly eavesdropping in on international calls into people here in the United States. The justices will consider that case in the next few weeks.
It also deals with the state secrets privilege because the government hasn't even acknowledged that it is doing it. And the people who are allegedly saying they are a target of this surveillance program have claimed that they can't even get their foot in the door as far as finding out whether they, in fact, were targets or not. So it's a case -- the issue is not going to go away.
COLLINS: Yes. So just as a reminder, in case people are not familiar, a 44-year-old Khaled el-Masri actually says that he was kidnapped by CIA agents in Europe and then held in an Afghanistan prison for four months in this case of possible mistaken identity. Now that case not going to be heard.
On a bigger scale here, Bill, anything that this -- anything that will happen with this in the next coming days or weeks?
MEARS: For him, his lawsuit in federal court pretty much comes to a dead end. He could conceivably take his case to an international court and try to press his claim there. The U.S. has signed a number of treaties over the years. And, in fact, there's a federal law that dates back more than 200 years that allows non-citizens to make claims where the U.S. has treaty obligations to treat other foreigners and not torture them or kidnap them. That kind of thing.
COLLINS: OK. So we will continue to watch this one. CNN Supreme Court producer Bill Mears.
Bill, thanks so much for that.
And an admitted kidnapper is back in court this morning. Michael Devlin arrives at the courthouse in Washington County, Missouri, a short time ago. He is expected to plead guilty to kidnapping and sexually abusing a teenage boy. The plea comes one day after Devlin pleaded guilty to kidnapping another teen. For that he was sentenced to life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT PARKS, FRANKLIN COUNTY PROSECUTOR: This was a predator. This is -- this guy is evil. This is evil in carinate. You'll never see anybody worse than this because this is a guy that preys on our kids.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Devlin is expected to also plead guilty in other jurisdictions. He faces more than 80 felony charges for kidnapping and abusing the two boys.
Idaho looking ahead to replacing embattled Senator Larry Craig. Lieutenant Governor Jim Risch says he'll announce plans today for a possible Senate run. You may recall Craig pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in an airport bathroom sex sting. Craig says he plans to stay in the Senate for the rest of his term. It ends in January, 2009. He says will not seek reelection.
A government crackdown. Violent street gangs from around the world hoping to obtain the American dream at gunpoint.
And record smasher. Getting this monster from the pumpkin patch to the pumpkin weighoff took a lot of know-how.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Believe me, California roads need some improvement. It was a bouncy, scary, tense ride up here. I lost at least a year off my life with the bouncing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Good Lord, it sounds serious. A three-quarter ton pumpkin. It's not orange and it's not pulp fiction.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: OK. Let's go ahead and take a look at the big board again. We are to the positive side of things. That's very good. Up 16 points. The Dow Jones Industrial average is resting at 14,059. But, of course, you can read that for yourself.
What does it all mean in the bigger picture when we are above 14,000? Lots to talk about today. Susan Lisovicz will be joining us shortly as well as positive numbers on the Nasdaq side of thing. Four points up there too.
And now to this. Boy, some pictures coming out of New Jersey that we want to show you. A high-rise fire in Jersey City causing traffic problems this morning. The fire broke out late last night at a condominium building that was under construction. Officials say it started in an elevator well between the 17th and 18th floors. It took hours to bring the blaze under control. Firefighters are still hosing down some hot spots, in fact. Commuters heading to work are advised to use mass transit. Still no word on what caused the fire.
Marion Jones is giving back her medals. The track and field star has also agreed to forfeit any victories dating back to September of 2000. That could cost her more than a million dollars if event organizers go after her winnings. Last week Jones admitted being on steroids when she won five medals at the 2000 Sidney Olympics. She could be facing prison time for lying to a federal agent during a steroids investigation. Sentencing scheduled for January 11th.
Busting out in Atlantic City. The mayor is missing. Now rumors are swirling. CNN's Brian Todd has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Mystery and crisis surrounding the leadership of a major east coast resort and gambling destination. Atlantic City mayor Bob Levy hasn't shown up for work in about two weeks. And some on the city council are fed up with his mysterious disappearance.
BRUCE WARD, ATLANTIC CITY COUNCILMAN: We need to know where he is. We need to know what his prognosis is for recovery and getting back to work. I want this man to do the right thing. And if that is stepping down, then so be it.
TODD: His attorney says he knows where Levy is but he won't tell anyone. The lawyer says he'll clear everything up with a press release in the next few days. But if it's anything like the last press release, it may only add to the mystery. Late September the mayor's office says only that Levy "will be out on medical leave until further notice." And city business administrator Domenic Cappella will take over in the meantime. DOMENIC CAPPELLA, ACTING MAYOR, ATLANTIC CITY: The key question really is, is there a vacant office? There's not. He's out on sick leave.
TODD: But neither the mayor's office, nor his attorney, will say what the illness is. We know the mayor may have legal trouble. A source familiar with the case tells CNN, the federal government has been investigating Levy for misrepresenting his military service. His attorney wouldn't comment on that allegation. Levy is a Vietnam veteran but he recently admitted to reporters he'd made false claims about serving in the special forces.
He was elected by a landslide in 2005 after serving long-time as head of the city's beach patrol. But in less than two years in office, this is not Levy's first medical leave. Late last year he took off for more than a week turning the government over to Cappella then as well. Cappella told CNN recently that was for back surgery.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: New this morning, another Baghdad shooting. We're told an unidentified private security contractors killed two Iraqi women. We're watching this story. We'll bring you the very latest in just a moment.
Meanwhile, skydiving plane down. All 10 people aboard feared dead. Searchers up against rugged terrain and dense timber today in Washington state.
And an autistic boy dragged into these woods beaten, he says, by his classmates.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I watch this (INAUDIBLE) devastated. I'm absolutely devastated that these kids could do this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Five young kids facing charges now for a cruel crime.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: We are following a breaking story out of Iraq this morning. Word that people traveling in a private security convoy opened fire on a car in Baghdad killing two women. This coming to us from two sources in Iraq's interior ministry. One of those sources say as many as 19 bullets hit the woman's vehicle. Other details are not clear. We do not know the events that may have precipitated this. We also do not know which security firm was involved. This does come as the contractor Blackwater USA is under intense scrutiny over a deadly shooting last month.
A sweeping crackdown on suspected gang members now. An announcement at the top of the hour. Details here on CNN from our Jeanne Meserve.
Jeanne, who was caught in all of this?
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, immigration and customers enforcement, Heidi, will tout this morning the arrest of more than 1,300 suspected gang members during a three-month nationwide crackdown. ICE worked with local authorities in 23 cities, in 19 states to round them up. This summer surge part of a larger operation called Operation Community Shield, which has netted more than 7,000 alleged gang members from more than 700 gangs since June of 2005.
One of the gang's targeted in these arrest: MS-13. The FBI estimates there are about 10,000 members of MS-13 in the U.S., making it, authorities believe, one of the fastest growing gangs in the U.S., as well as one of the most violent. Local law enforcement has attributed recent increases in violent crime in their communities to gang activity. So many of them cooperating with this crackdown -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, all right. Very interesting. All right, thanks so much for that. We'll continue to follow that one as well.
MESERVE: You bet.
COLLINS: And this morning in Washington State, search crews are fanning out in the Cascade Mountains. They're searching for three people missing in the crash of a skydiving plane. Seven bodies were found last night, and there appears to be little hope that those missing are still alive. The plane disappeared on Sunday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEP. DAN CYPHER, YAKIMA CO. SHERIFF'S OFFICE: Pierce (ph) County search-and-rescue teams located the wreckage of the plane that we have been looking for approximately 200 yards from the last radar ping site. At this time we have not been able to do a good, full search due to the fact that heavy brush, heavy timber, the terrain is very, very steep, and the darkness. We have been able to confirm that we have located the downed aircraft.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The tail section of the plane was separated from the rest of the wreckage, and at last report has not yet been found. Federal investigators will of course be looking into the cause of the crash.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Airline or fashion police? For the second time Southwest Airlines tells a passenger to change clothes or be grounded.
CNN's Susan Candiotti reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): OK, whether you think Joe's Winiecki's favorite T-shirt is funny or not, or offensive or not, he says he didn't think twice when he wore it to fly home to Tampa from Columbus.
But Southwest Airlines told Winiecki he'd have to change his tee because the sexual double entendre saying was a bit much.
JOE WINEICKI: She was like, "Sir, either you turn your shirt inside out or change it, or I'm going to have to ask you it come off the plane."
CANDIOTTI: In July, this young woman also got an ultimatum from Southwest -- cover up that sexy look or grab another airline. She covered up. Winiecki complied, too. He had to get home.
WINEICKI: So to undress in front of 132 people to put a new shirt on, it's unbelievable embarrassment.
CANDIOTTI: This from the same airline that used to run commercials that reeked of sex appeal.
In both cases, after massive publicity, the young woman and Joe Winiecki up getting apologies from Southwest.
No hard feelings, he says. He'll keep flying them. And he's definitely keeping that shirt.
(on camera): Southwest tells CNN it does not have a dress code, and does not want to be the fashion police, and the airline plans on working with its employees to overlook some situations, or cool down customers who might be offended by what their fellow passengers are wearing.
Susan Candiotti, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: More than 30 Iraqis killed in violence throughout the country. Four bombings rocked Baghdad, killing a dozen people. In northern Iraq, a pair of truck bombings apparently targeted Sunni tribal leaders; 22 killed there and more than 30 wounded.
Also, the U.S. military says a marine was killed in combat yesterday in Iraq's Anbar province. This brings it total number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq to 3,817.
A promise from the president. Thousands of U.S. troops coming home from Iraq, but is the drawdown real?
CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre is keeping them honest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Remember this? Just over three weeks ago, President Bush delivered welcome news to a war-weary nation.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Because of this success, General Petraeus believes we have now reached the point where we can maintain our security gains with fewer American forces. It will soon be possible to bring home an Army combat brigade, for a total force reduction of 5,700 troops by Christmas.
MCINTYRE: Listen to that again.
BUSH: Because of this success, it will soon be possible to bring home an Army combat brigade by Christmas.
MCINTYRE: So, "Keeping them Honest," we have been asking the Pentagon a straightforward question.
(on camera): Which brigade is that precisely that would be coming home by the holidays because of the success of the surge?
MAJ. GEN. RICHARD SHERLOCK, JOINT STAFF OPERATIONAL PLANNING DIRECTOR: That decision has to get made by General Odierno and General Petraeus.
MCINTYRE (voice-over): But Pentagon and U.S. military sources tell CNN the decision has already been made to accomplish the president's troop reduction with a little slight of hand, requiring no adjustment to the original troop rotation plan from August.
(on camera): CNN has obtained that deployment plan, which predates General Petraeus' September recommendations. Take a look. Is shows that in December four brigades are already coming home from Iraq, and only three are replacing them, because this one, from the 1st Armored Division in Germany, is not going in November as originally scheduled.
Is that because of the success of the surge? No. It's because Defense Secretary Robert Gates laid down the law that every soldier gets 12 months off the battlefield. And this brigade didn't get its 12 months.
ROBERT GATES, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: The truth of the matter is, it has been difficult for the -- particularly for the Army to meet my policy decision with respect to 12 months at home for the active force.
MCINTYRE: The Pentagon counters, there are other brigades available, for instance, from the 4th Infantry Division based in Fort Hood Texas. But sources say they were never in the plan.
(on camera): Bottom line, despite the impression the president gave, it appears that no U.S. troops are leaving Iraq early, and the ones that aren't being sent in to replace them, it turns out, weren't going anyway.
(voice-over): And here's the kicker. Thousands of support troops sent in with the surge brigades are still needed. So, when the surge ends in July, there will actually be more U.S. troops on the ground than there were when the surge started.
Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Meanwhile, I want to tell you this story. An autistic boy attacked walking home from the school bus stop. The suspect, he says, were his schoolmates.
Lynn Jolicoeur of affiliate WCVB reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I watched the tape I was devastated. I'm absolutely devastated that these kids can do this.
LYNN JOLICOEUR, WCVB REPORTER (voice-over): An 11-year-old autistic boy comes under attack while walking home from the school bus in Templeton, and a camera catches all the evidence.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) mailbox. He cut his hands. They have a picture of that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It happened September 28 as the fifth- grader with Asperger Syndrome got off the bus behind other kids from his street, some of whom had teased him previously.
JOLICOEUR (on camera): The kids didn't make it very far up the road before they ended up in the woods. One of them, a girl, allegedly handed a camera to a boy and asked him to record her as she started pushing and shoving the autistic child.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have video of them pushing him in the woods and him being in there and them saying, kick him while he's down, and do it again.
JOLICOEUR (voice-over): The boy's aunt, his legal guardian, doesn't know if any of the two girls and three boys kicked him. He came home 15 minutes late and struggled to tell him what happened. She filed a police report and says bruises appeared on her child's legs and arm the next day.
STEPHEN HEMMAN, SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT: We were very upset with what we saw.
JOLICOEUR: School leaders suspended the five middle school students suspected in the attack all last week, and held an assembly on bullying.
HEMMAN: We worked very well with the police, and he was right on top of that. And these parents of those children were brought in and talked with, and then appropriate actions were taken against those students.
JOLICOEUR: The mother of the boy who videotaped the assault tells us he had no idea what was going to happen, but also didn't stop it. She adds, "He's very remorseful. He wishes he's helped the kid, and has since apologized to him."
Now the victim's loved ones worry about him regressing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's impacted him greatly. He's lost a lot of his independence. He's -- the trust that he's had is not there.
JOLICOEUR: And though he'll ride the bus, he won't walk home alone again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Police do plan to file charges against the suspects in juvenile court.
And scandal now at a major religious university. Were school resources used for personal luxuries? The allegations and the school president's response. We're keeping them honest.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Controversy at Oral Roberts University. Fired professors now talking to CNN about allegations against the school's president.
CNN's David Mattingly is keeping them honest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Prayer is a staple of life at Tulsa, Oklahoma's Oral Roberts University, maybe even more now than usual.
JOHN SWAILS, FMR. ORAL ROBERTS UNIV. PROFESSOR: We thought, oh, no. We thought, maybe this isn't true.
TIM BROOKER, FMR. ORAL ROBERTS UNIV. PROFESSOR: We hope this isn't true.
SWAILS: So we began to pray.
MATTINGLY: Tim Brooker and John Swails are among three former ORU professors who tell CNN they were fired after reporting information that, if true, could cost the University untold millions.
BROOKER: It could easily lose its tax-exempt status.
MATTINGLY: Brooker says University President Richard Roberts ordered him to use students and the political expertise of his government studies program to support a family friend running for mayor. The candidate lost and Brooker says he was ordered to take responsibility when the IRS investigated complaints.
But that was nothing compared to what the professors say happened next. They claim it started with a computer belonging to Roberts' sister-in-law. BROOKER: She loaned her computer to one of the students to use during the campaign, and it was while he was in possession of the loaned computer that he discovered these files which were stored on the hard drive.
MATTINGLY (on camera): The contents of those files are described in a lawsuit that portrays Richard Roberts and his wife Lindsay as big spenders, relying on University resources for personal luxury.
(voice-over): Allegations listed include: using the University jet to send a daughter and friends to the Bahamas, remodeling the Roberts' home at University expense 11 times in 14 years, spending $51,000 on clothes, then renovating a spacious home office into a massive walk-in closet.
But it doesn't stop there. A house, cars and thousands of dollars in cell phone bills, all allegedly paid for by the University and the Evangelical ministry. And the professors claim some things in the files even they don't want public.
BROOKER: We're interested in truth and we're interested in justice, and the things that were in those files, if untrue, would be so damaging that they could never recover. I just am not comfortable going any further. That's why we didn't put them in.
MATTINGLY: The suit also accuses Lindsay Roberts of cell phone bills exceeding $800 a month with more than 800 text messages, many "from Mrs. Roberts were sent to underage males, often between 1:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. who had been provided phones at University expense."
We contacted ORU officials for comment, but there was no reply. In a statement last week, the University said the allegations were based on "unsubstantiated rumors and innuendos," and that it will deal with them through the legal process.
RICHARD ROBERTS, PRESIDENT, ORAL ROBERTS UNIV.: We live in a litigious society. Anyone can get mad and file a lawsuit against another person, whether they have a legitimate case or not.
MATTINGLY: At chapel services last week, Roberts also responded saying, God had given him these words.
ROBERTS: It is about intimidation, blackmail, and extortion. Make no mistake about it, this suit is about money. I am confident that when the real truth is known, there will be no more questions.
MATTINGLY: Roberts' accusers are seeking unspecified damages for breach of contract and defamation. They say the lawsuit is not about money.
(on camera): And what is God telling you?
SWAILS: He's telling us that he put us in this position and he's directing us to make a stand.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): David Mattingly, CNN, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: And want to let you know, coming up in the 11:00 Eastern hour of the CNN NEWSROOM, we'll talk with Bishop Carlton Pearson about the University spending scandal. He is an author, spiritual leader and former protege of Oral Roberts.
Did name calling make a sheriff's deputy angry enough to kill over and over again? Wisconsin shooting update.
And changing the way we vote. Some senators pushing a new plan to stop states from jockeying for early primary positions.
Also, it's the great pumpkin, gargantuan gourd. Take the prize after a rough ride. We'll tell you all about it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: A troubling lesson caught on tape. A woman teaches a child to steal. Lost donations, lost innocence.
Rough ride for a prize-winning pumpkin. Christine Conley now of affiliate KRON has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE CONLEY, KRON REPORTER: You're looking at the winning pumpkin weighing in at 1,524 pounds. It weighs as much as a bull moose and 54 of these little pumpkins, well they could fit inside this big one.
(voice-over): That's the grower and record breaker, Thad Starr from Pleasant Hill, Oregon. That's right, he drove this big pumpkin all the way to Half Moon Bay, praying the whole time it wouldn't turn into pumpkin pie.
THAD STARR, WINNER: Believe me, California roads need some improvement. It was a bouncy, scary, tense ride up here. I lost at least a year off my life with -- with the bouncing.
CONLEY: Any crack in the pumpkin and they can't compete. This competition is serious, bringing in more than 80 growers from around the nation. The winner takes home $6 per pound. It's Thad's first official competition, and as he watched the other pumpkins hit the scale, he got worried.
STARR: It was terrifying. I'm a rookie. They're telling me how this works and they're almost 100 percent sure the last pumpkin that weighs is the biggest pumpkin, and I'm second out.
CONLEY (on camera): Are you surprised?
STARR: Yes, very.
CONLEY (voice-over): Still, Thad walked away with a winning prize over $9,000, but he says this baby wasn't cheap to grow. It took 94 days and yards of chicken manure, mitt (ph) compost and several hundred pounds of coffee. Yep, you heard right.
(on camera): I'm wondering, does the caffeine sort of ...
STARR: You know now, there's no caffeine. That's just kind of -- maybe. Maybe that's why she got so big. She's all souped up on Starbucks.
CONLEY: So, what happens next? Well, it turns out giant pumpkins don't taste very good. I guess Thad will just have the best jack-o'-lantern in his neighborhood.
In Half Moon Bay, I'm Christine Conley, KRON 4 News.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: You're with CNN, I'm Heidi Collins.
Developments keep coming in to the CNN NEWSROOM on Tuesday, the ninth of October. Here's what's on the rundown.
He says he was kidnapped and tortured by the CIA. New this morning, the Supreme Court blocks his lawsuit.
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