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Rapper T.I. Faces Weapons Charges; Victory Over Al Qaeda?; Water Worries; Gerri's Top Tips
Aired October 15, 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: It is 7:00 a.m. in Los Angeles and thousands of commuters are waking up to see their dream did come true overnight. Just a few hours ago, crews reopened most of Interstate 5, a major north/south freeway in L.A. County. But drivers are still being urged to avoid it if they can. Live pictures now coming to you. The route between L.A. and Santa Clarita had been closed since a deadly crashed inside the truck tunnel on Friday. A pileup of at least 30 vehicles ignited an inferno. Two men and a baby were killed. The fire reached temperatures of 1,400 degrees. Steel melted, concrete exploded. Winds whipped through the tunnel and fanned the flames.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEPUTY CHIEF JOHN TRIPP, LOS ANGELES FIRE DEPARTMENT: There were 20 people that were in that tunnel with a raging fire going as we were trying to get to them and they were able to assist each other and I think that's very commendable to how all those people were able to help each other without the first responders, able to get there and assist them. And we're, again, very unfortunate that we did have the deceased that we did, but at the same time I think when we look at tunnel fires that have happened around the United States, let alone around the world, it's pretty miraculous that those people were able to get out like they were.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The tunnel does remain closed and crews are working to replace several more supports now in this structure. Here's what we know about this thoroughfare though. Interstate 5 is the major north/south route along the West Coast. State officials say that stretch of freeway around Santa Clarita carries up to 225,000 vehicles every day.
How vital is the roadway? Well, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger issued an emergency declaration and that allowed the state's office of emergency services to help clear the roadway.
Rapper T.I., real name Clifford Harris, due in court today. He was busted in a weapons sting over the weekend. Catherine Callaway is joining us now live from outside the federal courthouse in Atlanta.
Catherine, first, tell us what T.I. is actually accused of trying to buy and how it all happened.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi. Good morning to you.
First of all, we should tell you that we just got word from the federal court that Clifford Harris, or T.I. as you said, is expected to appear before the judge at 3:00 today.
And he was arrested Saturday just hours before he was set to perform at the B.E.T. hip-hop awards here in Atlanta. The 27-year- old, Heidi, was arrested in a federal sting for a charge with allegedly giving his body guard $12,000 to buy weapons. Weapons he's not allowed to own because he is a convicted felon.
He is accused of actually buying three machine guns and two silencers. Harris was the B.E.T. top nominee. He was nominated for nine awards this weekend.
But he's also an actor. He starred in the movie "ATL." And he also is set to appear in a new movie that's coming out called "American Gangster" with Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. And his attorney, Dwight Thomas, spoke to CNN this weekend after the arrest and defended his client.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DWIGHT THOMAS, ATTORNEY FOR T.I.: T.I. has done a lot of great charitable things. He's worked with a lot of young kids, and he has confidence in the legal system. He has confidence that it will work and I have confidence that it will work and that it will work in his favor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CALLAWAY: Now T.I. is also accused of having several weapons in the automobile that he drove to the shopping center parking lot to allegedly pick up those machine guns and silencers. Authorities say they found at least three guns in his -- or six guns -- three guns in his car and six guns in the bedroom of his College Park home. The body guard, Heidi, turned informant after he was arrested for allegedly buying the unregistered guns from an undercover federal officer. He's been working for T.I. since July. Once again, T.I. expected to appear before that federal magistrate at 3:00 today.
COLLINS: Catherine, any prior convictions here of T.I.? You mentioned he's a convicted felon, so obviously, but maybe a little more info on the rap sheet.
CALLAWAY: Well, yes. Yes. Right. The court documents in this case indicate that he was convicted of felony drug charges back in 1998 that stemmed from charges in Cob County, Georgia. And the court records also say that he has additional arrests and at least one probation violation.
COLLINS: All right. CNN's Catherine Callaway following that story for us on T.I.
Catherine, thanks so much. Even the young cannot escape the sting of war. Deadly attacks in Iraq today. Five people dead, two were children under the age of 10. Three were teenagers. All of them killed when mortars hit military bases in southern Iraq. Twenty-eight other Iraqis were injured, women and children among them. The violence follows attacks yesterday that killed 24 Iraqis. The deadliest, a car bombing in Samarra, north of Baghdad. And also two more U.S. soldiers have been killed, one in combat, the other in a non-combat incident. Those deaths bring the U.S. military death toll in Iraq to 3,830.
Has al Qaeda been defeated in Iraq? A report this morning says some generals want the president to declare victory over the terrorist group. CNN's Barbara Starr is live at the Pentagon for us now.
So, Barbara, is there hesitation about actually declaring victory?
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think there's a very realistic view of all of this, Heidi. There was a story in "The Washington Post" this morning that claimed that some generals do want to declare victory. But we've talked to several commanders in Iraq and what they tell us I think is pretty much what you would expect.
Al Qaeda has been dealt several serious blows. A number of top al Qaeda leaders in Iraq have either been captured or killed. Networks dismantled across Iraq. But still this is an organization, commanders say, that has plenty of capability to potentially regenerate itself and launch new attacks.
They are seeing a drop in violence though. You know, thankfully less U.S. troops being killed in the last several weeks. A decline in Iraqi civilian deaths, although that is still a very high figure. Violence down across the country in many areas.
So they think they're making progress, but by all accounts what the commanders that we talked to are telling us is, nobody's yet ready to declare victory. Nobody's yet ready for another one of those scenes on an aircraft carrier deck with the president declaring mission accomplished. They think there's still a long way to go.
Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. Understood. CNN's Barbara Starr at the Pentagon this morning.
Barbara, thank you.
Parts of Colorado under snow this morning. As much as a foot of it in the mountains. Looks beautiful. Fun for the young and young at heart, too. But for some drivers, unfortunately, not very much fun at all. Several fender benders reported on I-70 in the Rockies. Two tow trucks were called in from as far as 50 miles away. No reports, though, of any serious injuries. Rob Marciano watching that story, along with several others on the weather front.
I thought we would be hearing from you live from Colorado today. (WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Severe drought drys up lakes in north Georgia, as you just heard Rob say. New water worries, though, for millions of people. We're going to be talking about it. We'll tell you what it all means. Our expert coming up in just a moment.
Seeking American justice half a world away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, (through translator): I was always asking them, will you have the courage to give to, to expose the truth despite the fact that you may be under a lot of political pressure. And they always answered me saying, we shall, but God willing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Investigating Blackwater. A father who lost his son looks for answers.
Russian president, the target of a possible assassination attempt? Despite the warning, Vladimir Putin says he's going ahead with his travel plans.
And a one-man mission.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You ought to be ashamed of yourself! You're supposed to enforce the law, not break the law!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: He calls himself "Jimmy Justice." Keeping an eye on New York's finest to make sure they follow their own rules.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Welcome back, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Surviving an inferno. A massive tunnel fire raising safety concerns. Engineers now looking at new ways to escape.
Hold the line, it's Castro calling.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're the big devil, said Chavez. You're Lucifer himself.
We are from the axis of evil, replied Castro.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Latin leaders talk. A lot of folks listen.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Severe drought leads to concerns a major metropolitan area may run out of water. That's the situation, believe it or not, in Atlanta right now. Joining us to talk a little bit more about the crisis, water consultant Mark Crisp.
All right. So right off the top, why don't you give us a good idea of what the picture is right here of the water supply in Georgia.
MARK CRISP, WATER CONSULTANT: Well, currently we're in, obviously, a severe drought, and our water supplies are being depleted both at Lake Lanier and Lake Altoona, Lake West Point, primarily because of the severe drought we're under, but also because of the growth that we've experienced over the last 30 years in the metropolitan Atlanta area. Some of our experts have forecasted that we may be out of water at Lake Lanier within the next two to three months, which is fairly incredible.
COLLINS: That is incredible. Put it in perspective for us.
CRISP: Well, Lake Lanier is a huge reservoir. One of the largest in the country relative to . . .
COLLINS: I'm just seeing dirt when I look at this video.
CRISP: Exactly. And we have water going down at the rate of a foot to a foot and a half per week. To meet water supply demands and to meet water needs down stream in Florida for endangered species, mussels and sturgeons.
COLLINS: Yes, you know what, we hear a lot about the mussels. And I think maybe people who don't live in this area might have no idea what we're talking about. This water is being used exactly how for the mussels?
CRISP: It's to keep water deep enough in the Apalachicola River, which is the river as it goes into Florida, they're (ph) known (ph) at Apalachicola Bay on the Gulf, to keep the mussels alive. It has to be a certain depth. They have to be inundated by a certain amount of water for them to procreate.
COLLINS: OK. So they are need. And it's not just sort of this strange thing where we're trying to make sure that the mussels are still alive when we may actually be running out of water?
CRISP: Well, we're -- the science, quite frankly, in Florida is not very clear concerning the mussel needs. That's an argument that's ongoing right now. Certainly the state of Florida, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, have the Endangered Species Act behind them as far as being able to support the need to release these amounts of water. But there's got to become a balancing point here. We've got 4 to 5 million people in metro Atlanta and on down stream to LaGrange, on down to Columbus. They're all in need of the water. COLLINS: Well, talk about that a little bit more. I know the Army Corps of Engineers has a project that they've been doing, you know, for many years that actually shares water with other parts of this country, Alabama in particular.
CRISP: Correct. We've had "the water wars" ongoing for the better part of 25 years now. Since the 1990 time frame. We've been trying to determine how to equitably allocate water between the three states. There's only a finite amount of water available in Chattahoochee River basin. And how to share that equitably has be the question over all these years. It's the topic of arguments, the topic of lawsuits.
COLLINS: Well, because, and at least the basic knowledge that most people may have is that, you know, right now in this area, the Atlanta area, we are under water restrictions and yet we're, you know, sending the water to parts of Alabama where they are not under restriction. We just showed a graphic a bit ago with our meteorologist that shows how much depletion is happening there. You see that we are down by 16 feet, 23, 18, and 20 in all of these different parts of the country, but not under restriction in Alabama. So they're kind of using -- some people say anyway -- using our water as they would like.
CRISP: Well, I'm not sure that the state of Alabama is not under restrictions is exactly true. I do believe they do have certain conservation measures in place. I do also know that Georgia is leading the way. Dr. Carol Couch (ph) and her efforts have greatly increased the focus of water conservation, particularly in the northern part of the basin.
COLLINS: OK. Understood. Well, I didn't mean to cut you off. I just want to make sure that everybody understands, you know, where the restrictions are and so forth when we're going through all of this.
CRISP: One of the biggest difficulties is Atlanta is the largest metropolitan area and located so far up stream in a river system that we just don't have a lot of water to start with.
COLLINS: Understood. OK. Very good. Well, we appreciate your insight on all this.
CRISP: Thank you.
COLLINS: Mark Crisp, the water consultant. Talked with many federal and state officials about this situation. And we will stay on top of it here, of course.
Thank you.
CRISP: Thank you.
COLLINS: Missile defense now between the Russians and the U.S. Some tensions to tell you about. One Polish town, in fact, now at the center of the storm. GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Gerri Willis.
No junk mail, no spam. Sound too good to be true? I'll show you how to reclaim your financial privacy coming up next in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: All right. Let's get a check of the big board right now. We are down about 33 points. The Dow Jones Industrial averages resting at 14,059. We're going to check in with Susan Lisovicz in just a little while, talking more about the mortgage bailout and possibly oil records. Obviously, as you know, I should say, we talked with Ali Velshi a little earlier. New high there. So we'll talk about how that may affect the market and you personally at home.
No junk mail, no spam, no database of your personal info. Sounds good, right? Did you know you can reclaim your financial privacy? CNN personal finance editor Gerri Willis shows us how.
Good morning to you, Gerri.
WILLIS: Hey, Heidi.
COLLINS: This is kind of a scary thing.
WILLIS: Yes, well, you bet. You know, the first thing you've got to do is prevent the sharing. Look, your bank, your credit card company and your insurance company, they can share your personal info with marketers. Information like the kinds of stores you shop in, how much you borrow, even your account balances. That is unless you opt out. Go through the company's privacy notice where you will find directions on how to go about opting out. Keep in mind that even if you do opt out, your information can still be reported to the credit bureaus. So for more information on this go to worldprivacyforum.org.
Heidi.
COLLINS: And you know this next one is so funny because we were just talking about it at home. We're about to get our school director and everybody's everything is on there and then disseminated to basically the entire school. And there are some actual rights that people have to make sure that information doesn't really get out.
WILLIS: Well, you're saying schools have the right to give out what is called directory info without student consent. And that is your name, the school you attended, your address, phone number and any degrees you've received. That's included in the directory. But the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, what a mouthful, that stops the release of this info. If you want to opt out, you have to get what's called a FERPA form.
COLLINS: FERPA.
WILLIS: That sounds funny, FERPA form.
COLLINS: But that's how we remember things. FERPA sounds funny. Got it.
WILLIS: So you get it from your school's record office or you can see if your school has it online. File that and you will be golden. That information will not be shared.
COLLINS: Yes. Very good idea.
What about junk mail and catalogs? Please, tell us how to stop it all.
WILLIS: It's that time of year. I don't know about you, but my inboxes -- or my mailbox is filled with catalogs. Direct Marketing Association is the biggest U.S. association of marketers. So if you opt out with the DMA, you'll get much less junk mail and catalogs. Go to dmachoice.com and click on consumer assistance. You'll be able to opt out of both mailing and telemarketing list.
COLLINS: Also want to talk to you after the show about the phone calls at the house. The solicitors, because it hasn't worked for me.
WILLIS: Yes, not good either. No.
COLLINS: Yes, don't call me ever kind of thing hasn't worked for me. But anyway, also, a lot of unwanted e-mail out there. Talk about your inbox being full.
WILLIS: Well, first thing to do is Internet portal opt out. You need to know about that. Opting out of some Internet portals may cut down on how much unwanted e-mail you get. Big Internet web portals have privacy policies on their website that spell out what your opt out options are.
With MSN, for example, go to the bottom of the page, click on the MSN privacy tab. Then click on communications preferences. He you'll be able to opt out of any mail you don't want.
There's a process forma Yahoo! as well. Click on the privacy policy and then click on marketing preferences at the left. There you will be able to select or unselect what kind of advertising e-mail you get.
As always, if you have any tips you'd like to share with us or any questions you'd like us to answer, send us an e-mail at toptips@cnn.com. We answer them right here every Friday morning.
COLLINS: This is great. Gerri, thank you so much.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
COLLINS: I'll put this over in my save pile. Appreciate it very much.
WILLIS: Thank you.
COLLINS: Gerri Willis, our personal finance editor.
Thanks, Gerri.
Who wants the Russian president dead? Vladimir Putin goes ahead with a trip to Iran today despite a report assassins are waiting for him.
Rapper busted. T.I. in court today on federal weapons charges. Tell you about that.
JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Jim Clancy in Baghdad. We'll be right back with a story of Blackwater in Iraq. One of the witnesses who talked to the FBI says what questions he has for them. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
COLLINS: The FBI investigating last month's deadly shooting in Iraq involving Blackwater USA. Among the people interviewed, the father of a young boy who was killed.
CNN's Jim Clancy spoke with him.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ollie Mohamed is missed more than ever, almost a month after he was shot and killed in a Baghdad square. His family is in pain, but as his father was questioned here by the FBI, he says he had questions of his own.
MOHAMMED ABDUL RAZZAQ, EYEWITNESS & VICTIM'S FATHER (through translator): I was always asking them, will you have the courage to get to, to expose the truth despite the fact that you may be under a lot of political pressure. And they always answered me saying shallah (ph), god willing. Even the Americans knew how we say it in Arabic.
CLANCY: As he looked over his Iraqi police report, Abdul Razzaq said that FBI agents wanted to know whether he could pick out any of the Blackwater guards he might have seen shooting that day if they showed him photographs. He says he'll try.
RAZZAQ: There are more than 200 witnesses who can have their testimonies checked. The company clearly wasn't under fire or a mortar attack or a car bomb. And let's be realistic. The company said they were attacked by mortars. Then they said it was a car bomb. Then they came back and said no, it was gunfire. They changed their story three times.
HARRIS: Blackwater's Eric Prince says his men were under attack.
ERIK PRINCE, FOUNDER, BLACKWATER USA: At least three of our armored vehicles were hit by small arms fire, incoming. And one of them was damaged, which actually delayed their departure from the traffic circle while they tried to rig a tow.
HARRIS: Sunday, Nassur (ph) Square was quiet. A single policeman, a light flow of traffic. But the shootings here that killed 17 Iraqis and wounded another 27 have sent shudders through Iraq and its relationship with the United States.
Everyone in the country has heard accounts from police, victims and witnesses. And there is an overwhelming belief the shootings were unprovoked. The crime at Nassur (ph) Square, as the local media calls it, has even political rivals abandoning their differences and coming together to demand justice. Moreover, Abdul Razzaq warns Americans must understand how most people in the country see this case. American justice is about to be put on trial.
RAZZAQ: I tell the American people the same thing I told the FBI investigators. We condemn the killing of American soldiers. We consider them victims and regret the American people's loss. But we demand they condemn these acts and demand American justice be fair and unbiased in trying these terrorists in Blackwater.
CLANCY: Abdul Razzaq will be watching. Hazy cell phone videos of a 9-year-old Ollie Mohamed are about all he had left. The dreams now he says are nightmares of bullets coming at his family from everywhere.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Jim Clancy is joining us now live from Baghdad this morning. Jim, you said that the father who lost his son is certainly under political pressure. But has he been offered money of any kind?
CLANCY: He says no. He says nobody has offered him any money. He says he's not interested in money at all. What he really wants to see in this case, and where he fears the political pressure is coming on the FBI and the U.S. side, political pressure not to press charges against Blackwater. He wants to see justice, he says.
COLLINS: We've been hearing a lot from Erik Prince and the Blackwater person, obviously, who founded Blackwater. He's been on all the talk shows. Is there a suggestion now that his employees were actually not fired upon in this incident?
CLANCY: Well, you know, the case is still open. It's still under investigation, but from the U.S. side, there is one report. Now, it came from a patrol of soldiers that came into Nassur Square about 20 minutes after the shooting had stopped. What they found is all of the bullet casings that were left there on the pavement were from U.S.-made weapons, used for U.S.-made or NATO-used weapons. They said they didn't find anything that might be used in an AK-47 or a weapon you would expect to find in an insurgent.
Having said that, they didn't search the full area of the square, but they did say, look what happened. The cars -- it appeared that everybody was shot or many of the people were shot as they were trying to get out of Nassur Square.
There was a conclusion, and let me give you a quote here, and this was a U.S. military report, an incident report that said, "Every indication of an excessive shooting." Heidi?
COLLINS: All right, CNN's Jim Clancy reporting live from Baghdad this morning. Jim, thank you.
And a reported plot against Russian President Vladimir Putin not putting off his travel plans. Mr. Putin spoke at a news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel today. He confirmed he will travel on to Iran. Russian News report quoted an intelligence source as saying, terrorists had been trained to carry out an assassination attempt in Iran. Iranian officials reject those reports. Mr. Putin said, "If he paid attention to all the threats against him, he would never leave home."
A phone call between friends with the world listening in.
CNN's Morgan Neil reports on the Castro/Chavez chat.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MORGAN NEILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sounding a bit like an evening news presenter, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez teased today's main attraction.
"Stay close to your television," he said.
And soon enough, he delivered: a live phone call from Fidel Castro. The first time Cubans have heard their leader live in more than a year.
"I think everyone is electrified listening to you," said Chavez.
The Venezuelan leader broadcast his weekly show, Alo Presidente, from Santa Clara, Cuba, in honor of the 40th anniversary of the death of Ernesto Che Guevara. Guevara was executed in Bolivia while leading an armed insurgency.
Chavez' conversation with Castro lasted more than an hour and was notable as much for what it showed about their close informal friendship as for anything the two leaders said.
"You're the big devil," said Chavez. "You're Lucifer himself."
"We're from the axis of evil," replied Castro.
Earlier, this edited video was broadcast simultaneously on Venezuelan and Cuban television. It showed the two reportedly meeting Saturday in Havana.
"You are the father of the revolutionaries of this earth," beamed Chavez.
"I don't think that way about myself," said Castro."
Noticeably absent from the broadcast, Cuba's official acting president, Raul Castro. While Fidel Castro's appearance will quell rumors of his death, he himself reminded viewers of his ongoing recuperation just before signing off.
"OK," he said, "I think I've got to go take some pills or something."
(on camera) And that seems a fitting close to the day's broadcast. While Fidel Castro once again reminded the world of his presence, he also made it clear he's no longer the man he was before his illness.
Morgan Neill, CNN, Havana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Designing for the future with an eye on the sky. Solar homes on display.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: A deal in the works in the O.J. Simpson case in morning. One of Simpson's co-defendants is expected to plead guilty today. An attorney says Charles Cashmore will testify against the former football star. According to his lawyer, he's expected to say Simpson came into a Las Vegas hotel room with two armed men. Simpson's attorneys say no guns were involved in the incident. Simpson says he went to the hotel to retrieve memorabilia that belonged to him. Prosecutors call it an armed robbery.
(BUSINESS HEADLINES)
COLLINS: Teams from 20 universities are in the nation's capital showcasing designs for solar homes. Pretty cool.
CNN's Gary Nurenberg has a look at the Solar Decathalon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The International Solar Decathlon on Washington's National Mall is a design competition among 20 college teams.
Those are solar panels on the roof of a house designed by students from Madrid. Inside, they built this wall from discarded almond shells. The University of Maryland team has linked its solar house to the Web.
JOHN KUCIA, UNIV. OF MARYLAND: If you forget to leave the plaza light on and you're at work, you can just log on and turn it off from there.
NURENBERG: Designers at Texas A&M used solar hot water tubes on the patio.
JOSH CANEZ, TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY: We put them vertical to create a privacy wall, to create this nice space here on the west side, and it also helps protect the large glass (ph) of sod we had.
NURENBERG (on camera): The University of Colorado at Boulder is basing its design on a converted shipping container, which contains all the key mechanical elements of the house.
CHAD CORBIN, UNIV. OF COLORADO: So that we can tip that and -- to a site and have that be the living system of the building. The user can then customize the building any way they'd like.
NURENBERG (voice-over): It's a long way from a design class in a sterile classroom.
HEND EL DAHAN, UNIV. OF DARMSTADT, GERMANY: You never get a chance like this at universities. You just plan, and pen and paper, or maybe small models. But this is actually for a change a one-to-one model of the thing you planned.
NURENBERG: The houses are judged on innovation and livability, one reason the competition was created.
RICHARD KING, DIR., SOLAR DECATHLON: The cost of solar products WERE coming down, but we didn't know how to integrate them or get them designed aesthetically into a building.
NURENBERG: The houses cost between $500,000 and $1 million and drew big crowds over the weekend. But solar is attracting more than just gawkers.
SAMUEL BODMAN, ENERGY SECRETARY: It is the first time that I have seen the venture capitalists of the United States putting big money into energy projects. They're putting big money into solar energy.
NURENBERG: Solar currently contributes less than 1 percent of America's energy supply. With rising oil prices, competitors here are convinced, that is about to change.
Gary Nurenberg, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: A one-man mission.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You ought to be ashamed of yourself! You're supposed to enforce the law, not break the law!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: He calls himself "Jimmy Justice," keeping an eye on New York's finest to make sure they follow their own rules.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: The U.S. and Russia at odds on missile defense. The concern putting one small Polish town in the spotlight.
CNN's Robin Oakley explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You never know when politics white hit you. A sudden airborne flurry in the quiet northern Polish town of Slupsk seems appropriate. The residents have mixed feelings about an old airbase at nearby Redzikowo becoming the next key front line between Russia and the West. The U.S. wants to base a battery of 10 anti-missile missiles in Poland, to counter what it perceives as the threat of nuclear attack from rogue regimes like Iran. But Vladimir Putin is castigating, what he calls, a threat to Moscow.
(on camera): As these well-camouflaged hangers indicate, the locals are well used to military activity. This was once a polish Air Force base. NATO has used it for war gaming exercises. But if it does become a U.S. missile-defense shield site, then suddenly it will become the focus, too, for Washington, Warsaw and Kremlin. A local leader reckons a go-ahead would bring clear economic benefits.
MYR. MACIEJ KOBYLINSKI, SLUPSK, POLAND (through translator): There would be hundreds of people together with their families. They'd be living here, shopping. Their children would go to school or kindergartens.
OAKLEY: He dismisses the tough talk from Putin, who is threatening to target Polish installations.
KOBYLINSKI (through translator): This is just words. I don't really believe that Russia reads this as a hostile act. This is a language of diplomacy. This is a language of negotiation.
OAKLEY: Local street opinion varies.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): It shouldn't be here, as it is a threat.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): If everyone is so keen, then set it near Warsaw.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I don't personally see any risks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): New jobs and further development. I'm not afraid of any terrorist attacks.
OAKLEY: But the man who was then Warsaw's defense minister began negotiating the defense shield with the U.S., concedes Russia might hit back at Poland rather than the U.S.
RADEK SIKORSKI, FMR. POLISH DEFENSE MINISTER: There is that danger, which is why we are pleased that the United States and Russia are talking, because we certainly don't want to be on the receiving end of Russian anger. But it also means that the U.S. needs to compensate us in the security sphere.
OAKLEY: He wants U.S. guarantees on Poland's defense, and the specific military hardware.
SIKORSKI: He would like to host Patriot-free missile batteries, or possibly the more advanced TAD (ph) system.
OAKLEY: Close to the site on the now-abandoned former polish Air Force base lie these old MiG fighters. Once sleek and menacing hunters of the skies, they're now mute and toothless relics of more confrontational days. But in Poland, the argument rages whether participating in the missile-defense plan will serve the cause of peace or put East/West relations back in the icebox.
Robin Oakley, CNN, Redzikowo, northern Poland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Former commander in Iraq, he said things were going well. Now he calls it a nightmare. Why the change?
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The surge is a direct result of having to make up for mistakes early on. As far as I'm concerned, he was part of that mistake, by being a commander who did not express then what he's saying now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Republicans criticizing Retired General Ricardo Sanchez.
And President Bush on the budget. Where does kids' health care fit in? He's talking in Arkansas today. We'll take you there live, in just a moment.
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COLLINS: Safe and sound this morning after being lost in a dark, cramped cave for 30 hours. That's what happened to three Texas -- University of Texas students. They were rescued over the weekend from a 500-foot crawlspace. Look at those pictures. Pretty tight. Twisting tunnels. Easy to get lost, too. But the students made sure they could be found. They left behind a trail of leaves. They also left a message with friends, send help if we're not back by midnight.
A fire official talked about the rescue on CNN's AMERICAN MORNING.
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D.J. WALKER, AUSTIN FIRE DEPT.: These folks were really a textbook example of what you should do when you're planning a trip -- tell somebody where you're going, take plenty of food and water. They left a bread crumb trail to find their way back out. They really did do a good job of trying to prevent this from happening. But accidents happen, and they got off their bread crumb trail and wound up in a mazy section of the cave and got lost.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The students were tired and hungry, but otherwise they were OK.
Video vigilante -- armed with his camera and an attitude, he's taking on city hall, trying to keep them honest.
CNN's Jim Acosta has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You're looking at a New York City traffic enforcement cruiser apparently parked illegally in front of a fire hydrant as fire trucks respond to an emergency. The officer who is just picking up her lunch then comes face to face...
JIMMY JUSTICE: You're a traffic enforcement agent, and you parked your official vehicle blocking a fire pump, and there's a fire outside?
ACOSTA: ... with Jimmy Justice.
JIMMY JUSTICE: You ought to be ashamed of yourself! You're supposed to enforce the law, not break the law.
ACOSTA: The man behind the camera goes by the name Jimmy Justice, he says, to avoid any retaliation from city officials. He claims he started posting his clips on YouTube to right what he considers ticket-writing wrongs.
JIMMY JUSTICE: What's unfair is that the same agents that write parking summonses to civilians go out and commit the exact same violations.
ACOSTA (on camera): Is this your way of getting back at the city?
JIMMY JUSTICE: Well, you could consider that. Yes. Why not?
ACOSTA (voice-over): But Jimmy Justice can get carried away.
JIMMY JUSTICE: Ms. Dooley (ph), you broke the law.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, sir.
JIMMY JUSTICE: You broke the law.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
JIMMY JUSTICE: What are you going to do, bite me with your gold tooth? ACOSTA: That's when you want to call him Jimmy Just Stop.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You want to call?
JIMMY JUSTICE: Let me see your badge number, please.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
JIMMY JUSTICE: You're a boob.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you want to call them?
JIMMY JUSTICE: You're a boob.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you want to call them?
JIMMY JUSTICE: I am Jimmy Justice!
ACOSTA (on camera): Now do you think that there are times when you're a little over the top with these officers.
JIMMY JUSTICE: Yes, there have been times that I've crossed the line, if I've used foul language in public or if I've yelled and screamed, but now, I'm on my best behavior.
ACOSTA (voice-over): As for their reaction, police officials did not return our calls. But a former city transportation commissioner says the shame on YouTube might actually do some good.
SAM SCHWARTZ, FORMER CITY TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION: City workers have got to get used to it. It's the public's right to challenge a government worker and challenge them even on the job.
ACOSTA (on camera): This is a little nutty what you're doing, isn't it?
JIMMY JUSTICE: Yes, but this is basically a reaction to the unfair system here in New York City. So, if you want to call it nutty, yes. We live in a nutty place, and it takes nuts like me to straighten out the bad apples in city hall.
ACOSTA (voice-over): And Jimmy Justice says he's nowhere near running out of tape.
Jimmy Acosta, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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