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Rapper T.I. Arrested on Gun Charges; Middle East Mission; Video Vigilante
Aired October 15, 2007 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: It's the U.S. versus T.I., a rap star with a rap sheet, now facing serious federal gun charges after a weekend sting. He's due in court next hour.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And let's talk about your money. Stocks are on the skids while oil is surging past $85 a barrel. In the background, three major banks team up to tackle the mortgage mess.
Our Gerri Willis and our very own Susan Lisovicz as well sort out what it all means for you and for me.
NGUYEN: Yes, very important.
LEMON: Yes, very important.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
NGUYEN: Yes, good afternoon, everybody.
I'm Betty Nguyen, in today for Kyra Phillips.
You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
LEMON: Well, we begin with a story that came into the CNN NEWSROOM just last hour. It concerns Idaho senator Larry Craig. He is still not backing down.
Today, he is appealing a Minnesota judge's refusal to let him withdraw his guilty plea to misdemeanor disorderly conduct. And he's sticking to his vow to stay in the Senate until his term is up.
Craig pleaded guilty in August, two months after his arrest in a sex sting in a men's room at the Minneapolis airport. After the case became public, Craig tried to take the plea back, but a judge said it was supported by the evidence.
NGUYEN: Los Angeles County, a chain reaction crash turns a highway tunnel into a blast furnace. Look at this video.
We saw the flames just shooting into the air. Now though police need your help to investigate.
The Friday night crash inside the Interstate 5 truck tunnel involved 30 trucks and a passenger vehicle. It killed two adults and a child. Most of the I-5 is now open, but the tunnel, where temperatures reached 1,400 degrees, is still shut.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOUG FAILING, CALTRANS DIRECTOR ENGINEER: There was very high heat, as you've heard reported. There is quite a bit of damage, particularly at the northerly portal, sufficient to where it may well have changed the chemical and strength properties of the concrete and the steel that is supporting the tunnel walls. So we need to get that analysis back to make sure we know what we have that's integral to the part of our design on how we're going to reopen the roadway.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: The California Highway Patrol says if you witnessed the crash or have any information, please call them. Here's the number -- it's also on the screen -- 661-294-5540.
A busy tunnel on an even busier highway, Interstate 5, is the road well traveled by truckers and commuters. It carries about 225,000 vehicles a day and handles a big chunk of the truck traffic along the West Coast. The tunnel where the fire broke out was built in the 1970s, is 550 feet long.
It's part of a bypass that truckers are required to use, but car drivers sometimes use it, too. Some truckers say the tunnel has a reputation for being dangerous, but California transit officials say the tunnel is safe as long as drivers are careful.
LEMON: Will Brian Nichols ever go on trial? A judge here in Atlanta says the answer may be no unless the state of Georgia comes up with more money for Nichols' lawyers.
They have already been paid millions and say they need more to put on a viable defense. Nichols' allegedly -- alleged killing spree two-and-a-half years ago terrified Atlantans. It began at the Fulton County Courthouse, where a sheriff's deputy was overpowered and beaten.
Police say Nichols then went gunning for a judge. Then allegedly he killed a court reporter, another deputy, and a federal agent before he was captured the next day. The funding issue, notwithstanding, the judge has decided to go ahead with jury selection this afternoon.
More on the case and the dispute over lawyers' fees, that's coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM.
NGUYEN: Well, rapper T.I. went from hardscrabble star to the top of the charts, but his rise is in jeopardy after a weekend bust on gun charges. He's expected in court next hour, and CNN's T.J. Holmes has more on the rapper's arrest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You see ATF jackets, you pretty much understand what's going on. T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Agents searching T.I.'s suburban Atlanta home say they found six firearms in a walk-in safe in his bedroom closet. The 27-year-old rapper is barred from owning firearms after a felony drug conviction nine years ago.
Authorities say T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris, was trying to add three machine guns and two silencers to his arsenal when they arrested him in a midtown Atlanta parking lot.
RAQUEL WHITE, WITNESS: We saw the ATF agents swarming out of their cars. Atlanta police cars were there. I was told there was a black gun that they pulled out of the Range Rover.
HOLMES: T.I.'s music is based largely on a culture of drugs and guns. He calls it trap music, the trap being that underworld where drugs are sold. His music deals with that lifestyle.
He made his big screen debut last year in "ATL," a film featuring hip-hop culture in his hometown. His next movie, "American Gangster," costarring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, releases next month.
Real-life violence entered T.I.'s life last year when a gunman riddled his van with bullets as he and his entourage drove down a Cincinnati highway. His personal assistant was killed and three people were wounded. No arrests were ever made.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, T.I.'s attorney told us over the weekend that in fact he was not aware of any conviction, a felony drug conviction on drug charges form some years back. But again, the court papers do show that in 1998, in fact, 1998, he did have a conviction for drug charges.
T.I. is expected in court here within the next -- within the next hour, so we should know more. Expecting him possibly to get bailed and get out.
And of course, Betty, if folks do not know about it T.I. -- of course everybody around Atlanta does because he is a home boy here, if you will.
NGUYEN: Yes. All know.
HOLMES: But if you have kids anywhere around the teenage years, they certainly know.
NGUYEN: They know him. Yes.
HOLMES: And folks, trust us, when we say, he is one of the biggest if not the biggest hip-hop star going right now. It's been a huge year for him.
His album debuted at number one. He's got a movie coming out. So he is on top of the world, if you will, the entertainment world right now, but kind of at the bottom of his personal life, if you will. So we'll see what happens here as he goes to court -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Yes. It's going to be interesting, because his attorney told you yesterday that, hey, there's two sides to every story. So we're going to see what this side is.
NGUYEN: He even said sometimes three, Betty. So...
NGUYEN: He did say that, didn't he?
HOLMES: He did say that. So we'll see.
NGUYEN: All right. Thank you, T.J.
HOLMES: All right.
NGUYEN: Well, one of the men charged in the O.J. Simpson robbery case has agreed to testify against the former NFL star as part of a plea deal. Today, Charles Cashmore told a judge in Las Vegas he'll plead guilty to an accessory to robbery charge. He reportedly will testify that guns were used in the theft of sports memorabilia from two collectors last month in a Vegas hotel room. Simpson says that memorabilia belonged to him and that no guns were used.
LEMON: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is reporting progress as she meets with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Rice says she's convinced both sides are making their most serious peacemaking efforts in years.
Let's go now to the CNN State Department -- to the State Department, I should say, and Zain Verjee, who is standing by with the very latest for us.
Hi, Zain.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPT. CORRESPONDENT: Hi there.
Condoleezza Rice is really racing against the clock. She's got 15 months left in office, and she's just weeks away from hosting a major international conference in the United States on the Israeli/Palestinian issue.
Secretary Rice on this trip is pushing Israelis and Palestinians to try and hammer out a document. Now, the reason that's so important for her is that she wants to use that document kind of as a launching pad for peace talks. Rice says today that she wants serious substance in this document and at this conference, and it's just not going to be a photo-op.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: This is the most serious effort to try to end this conflict in many, many years, and I know that there is hard work ahead. I know that there are compromises that will have to be made.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VERJEE: The first compromise is going to be really in this document. The Israelis say they want something fairly vague, something general, but the Palestinians are saying that they want it to be specific.
They want it to deal with the issues that are major sticking points, the status of Jerusalem, the right to return for refugees, future borders, Israeli settlements, and they also want a timetable. And the Israelis are saying no way.
Secretary Rice is really trying to look for common ground here. She told reporters on this trip though don't look for breakthrough this time around -- Don.
LEMON: All right. Well, Zain, can she really, really make this happen?
VERJEE: Well, she seems committed enough to want to make it happen. I mean, this is a really tough issue, and analysts that we've spoken to say that it's not actually impossible if she's prepared to do it. But the key issue here, they say, is the president. Will President Bush really weigh in on this and go all the way and use the huge amount of American willpower and political capital it would have to take?
LEMON: And also Zain, probably key to this is, will the Israeli and Palestinian leaders, will they be flexible enough to compromise?
Well, that's a really key point. You've got the prime minister, Ehud Olmert, who is in a fairly weak position domestically. You've got his rivals really snapping at his heels, waiting to pounce on him for any decision that he makes.
Then on the other side you've got the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, who really does not represent all the Palestinian people. And then you've got Hamas out there, who is out to destroy or blow up any kind of an agreement.
Analysts, too, have commented on this, saying that the problem for Rice is that she's going to have a hard time filling the gap of the problems that exist among Israelis and Palestinians rather than between them -- Don.
LEMON: CNN's State Department correspondent, Zain Verjee.
Thank you, Zain.
NGUYEN: Let's talk now about buying some time. Yes, major banks say they will join forces to help hold off the mortgage crisis.
LEMON: Also this -- a Muslim soccer player sidelined because of her scarf? Did the ref make a fair call on this?
NGUYEN: And heck no, he won't go. Well, at least not as soon as he said he would.
LEMON: They never do.
NGUYEN: They always talk though, don't they?
Why Jay Leno is not ready to pass "The Tonight Show" torch. We're going to show you.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: It's almost 13 after the hour. Here are three of the stories that we are working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(NEWSBREAK)
LEMON: All right. You've got to watch this one. If you work for the city of New York and you break the law, well, Jimmy Justice, he just might be watching you. He's "Keeping Them Honest" with his video camera, his YouTube account, and his bottomless reserve of moral outrage.
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)
NGUYEN: "Keeping Them Honest". All right.
Well, check this out. The Dow down by triple digits. Yes. Susan Lisovicz joins us to tell us why the stock market is taking a dive.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
LEMON: Here's a story for the younger than Social Security set. If "Hannah Montana" is all the rage, tickets to her concerts may be all the outrage. Parents can't get them for their kids because, guess what? Brokers, they got them first and they are selling them at sky- high markups.
CNN's John Zarrella has more on that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Cara, Casey, Amanda, 7:00 p.m. Like clockwork, they are plopped on the sofa in front of the TV.
CARA VON MINDEN, "HANNAH MONTANA" FAN: We didn't miss, like, any episodes of her, unless something really big was happening.
ZARRELLA: The "her" is Miley Cyrus, the 14-year-old star of her own Disney show called "Hannah Montana". Every parent with girls between the ages of 6 and 16 knows about it.
It has exploded in popularity, so Cara, Casey and Amanda had to have tickets to Cyrus's concert billed as "The Best of Both Worlds".
VON MINDEN: All my friends were going to come, too, but now we can't.
ZARRELLA: Can't, because within minutes of going on sale, tickets at all 54 venues were gone.
(on camera): So where did they all go? They are right here.
Ticket brokers using sophisticated computer programs gobbled up nearly every ticket available, and now tickets that went for $25 to $65 face value are going for hundreds, even thousands on Internet sites, and all that cash going into ticket brokers' pockets.
(voice over): Cyrus's October 25th concert in Denver, on Ticket Liquidators you can buy one in section 212 for $228, or in section AAA row two for $2,550 each.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're taking advantage of me as a consumer, my children, and it's not teaching my children a good lesson either, that, oh, you can get what you want if you pay the right pace. ZARRELLA: After undercover investigators paid 10 times face value for tickets in Kansas City, Missouri's attorney general filed suit, accusing three companies of violating local anti-scalping laws.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you allow the hijacking of the market, it's literally the worst of both worlds. You get too much charge for the price and no access for the locals.
ZARRELLA: Ticket brokers would not talk with us, but Donald Vaccaro (ph), whose company ticketnetwork.com resells tickets for brokers, says the bottom line is that the marketplace defines the price.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would say a reasonable price is whatever a consumer wants to pay.
ZARRELLA: Thursday, Cyrus and her co-star dad, Billy Ray, appeared on "The Ellen Degeneres Show" saying they understand their fans' disappointment.
MILEY CYRUS, "HANNAH MONTANA": It's going to be a good show, but I don't think it's worth what it's going for.
ELLEN DEGENERES, TALK SHOW HOST: Right.
CYRUS: So, I'm like, for the people that do get to come, I'm making it like the best show ever.
ZARRELLA: Except in this case the concert promoter, AEG LIVE, auctioned off select tickets at 15 venues. They went for hundreds to thousands per tickets.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If the brokers are going to end up with the tickets, the artists should get paid for them, I guess is kind of the theory.
ZARRELLA: The fact is, no one anticipated that a ticket to see a 14-year-old might end up the most coveted concert docket ever.
John Zarrella, CNN, Miami.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, a bailout for the troubled mortgage industry. Gerri Willis puts this move in perspective for us when she joins us.
That's ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Hello, everybody, on this Monday. I'm Betty Nguyen, in for Kyra Phillips, live at the CNN world headquarters here in Atlanta.
LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon.
You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. NGUYEN: Well, one of the biggest rappers out there, T.I., will appear in federal court in just about 30 minutes from now here in Atlanta, this following his arrest on Saturday for gun charges. The entertainer, whose real name is Clifford Harris, was arrested in a federal sting after a bodyguard-turned-informant delivered three machine guns and two silencers to the hip hop star.
Now as soon as that court hearing takes place, of course, we have a CNN correspondent inside the courtroom, and we'll bring you the developments.
Also, the U.S. attorney's office as well as the ATF will hold a news conference following that hearing, and we'll bring that to you as well. Stay tuned for more developments in the T.I. case.
LEMON: Meanwhile, we've been talking about lots of turmoil in the housing industry, specifically the mortgage industry and taking on the mortgage crises. The nation's three largest banks takes step to stabilize the market. Our Gerri Willis, our personal finance editor, is in New York with more on what's involved in this.
What's involved, Gerri?
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well, hey there, Don. Well, you know, this effort -- I spoke to the Treasury Department today, and they told me the effort actually started it a month ago when the department called today investors and banks to find a solution to the mortgage meltdown. And after several meetings with Citibank, J.P. Morgan and Bank of America, as well as others, the group hit on a solution of setting up a fund that would serve as a backstop, if you will, to investors who found the investments related to the mortgage industry cratering.
Now, according to those we talked to the fund could contain $100 billion and would buy debt and provide liquidity to struggling investors. The Treasury Department was careful to say, though, hey this is no bailout using taxpayer money, the money is coming from banks. It could stabilize the lending market and in the long run make it easier for people to borrow money.
LEMON: But you know this is a big crises. There's got to be more than that being done. Is there something else being done to help this crisis?
WILLIS: Well, there's been a lot of promises from Congress that they're going to help, as you know. Today I talked to Representative Barney Frank's office and they said they may will introduce their bill this week to deal with the mortgage crises.
Now it's likely to include higher standards for lending to people with iffy credit and tighter regulation of mortgage brokers. Our sources in Washington say this bill has a good chance of passing. There are also a number of plans from other folks. On the Senate side, Senator Dodd, Senator Schumer, proposals from Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, you name it, everybody has a bill. But up to this point, really, we really haven't seen much in the way of tangible help from the mortgage crises from Congress.
LEMON: All right, Gerri, some news you can use. Really what -- do you have any advice? What should people do if they are in trouble with their mortgage?
WILLIS: Go out and get some help, talk to a counselor. Several states have set up a hotlines to help consumers. And there's one national hotline. As you can see right here on your screen, the Homeownership Preservation Foundation. You can call them at 888-995- HOPE. Don't be embarrassed. Call them. They're counselors can walk you through options from modifying your loan, selling your home, to handling foreclosure. They are there to help.
LEMON: Don't just sit there and let it pile up. Do something so you can get some help.
WILLIS: That's right, Don.
LEMON: Very good advice. Gerri, thank you so much. Don't forget to catch Gerri on "Open House" every Saturday at 9:30 a.m. right here on CNN.
NGUYEN: Well, get out, stay low. Words to live by if you're ever caught in a tunnel inferno, and several people experienced just that on Friday in California. CNN's Chris Lawrence has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A massive firestorm erupts inside this California tunnel; 18-wheelers are incinerated. Metal melts and dozens of people are trapped inside. Cal Tran's engineer Doug Failing took us right up to the opening where the temperature soared well past 1,000 degrees.
(On camera): Did this tunnel have any sort of escape route?
DOUG FAILING, CALTRAN'S DIRECTOR ENGINEER: Both ends. This is a relatively short tunnel so really the escape route is either end of the tunnel.
LAWRENCE: Failing says to even consider installing ventilation systems tunnels have to be at least a thousand feet long, so in a tunnel is half that size, like this one.
FAILING: I would prefer to be in the lane furthest to the left, so I'm the furthest away from the larger trucks.
LAWRENCE: If you're trapped in this kind of a situation Failing says get out of your car as fast as you can and stay low.
FAILING: And if you feel breeze on you walk towards the breeze because the breeze is pushing the smoke and the heat and the fire away from you.
LAWRENCE: But what about places like New York, with tunnels that run for more than a mile underground? (On camera): If there's not time to run out one end or the other, is there anywhere you can go in the middle?
FAILING: New tunnel design that's been developed since some accidents have happened in Europe actually would call for us to put in a series of escape passages along the tunnel at various spots.
LAWRENCE: Two years before this fire, state and federal transportation officials visited five European countries to study their tunnels. They found side passages built every 50 hundred feet. Some are like an insulated escape pod, with doors that shut, a place to hide from the fire until help comes.
FAILING: And the other one, actually, when you have twin tunnels will take you from tunnel to tunnel, so you can use the other tunnel, then, to evacuate.
LAWRENCE: Even the paint used in tunnels is being re-evaluated to make sure it doesn't produce toxic fumes or accelerate fire. But it's unclear if any existing tunnels in the United States have been redesigned with these new safety measures in mind. Chris Lawrence, CNN, Santa Clarita, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Again, fortunately for commuters in L.A., portions of I-5 are now reopened. And authorities have not released the names of the three victims in Friday's accident.
LEMON: A new sex scandal rocks the Vatican. A member of the Church's inner circle now says he was only pretending to be gay when he made some comments on a hidden camera. That story is straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: OK. There is a new sex scandal at the Vatican. A well- known monsignor is suspended after being caught in an undercover sting. The priest was caught on hidden camera making advances to another man. Now he says he was only pretending to be gay. CNN's Phil Black reports from London.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL BLACK, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The images are blurry and indistinct, but it is the conversation, captured on this video, that has people talking about the possibility of homosexuality in the upper ranks of the Catholic Church. It was shot on a hidden camera, by a man who made contact with Monsignor Tommaso Stenico through an Internet chat site.
The monsignor takes him to his office. The priest is heard propositioning him and saying he doesn't believe homosexuality is a sin.
DELIA GALLAGHER, VATICAN ANALYST: The priest in question has worked for over 25 years at the Vatican. He's well-known to everybody in the Vatican, including the pope. So the process now will be for a full-scale investigation.
BLACK: Monsignor Stenico, seen here with Pope John Paul II, works for a department responsible for priests conduct around the world. He would not comment to CNN. He has told an Italian newspaper he is not gay, but was pretending to be to investigate homosexuality in the church, and how priests can be ensnared.
REV. JOHN WAUCK, VATICAN ANALYST: I think in these cases it's important to remember that a person is innocent until proven guilty. Before making any judgments, it's necessary to hear both sides of the story. And so far in this very peculiar case we've really only heard one side of the story.
BLACK: The undercover sting was broadcast by Italian television network, Lasette (ph). Newspaper reports say church officials recognize Stenico's office in the pictures. The Vatican says it acted decisively suspending him while the matter is investigated.
GALLAGHER: I think the concern at the Vatican now is not just about what happened in this particular case, but what else is there that they don't know about? Is there more to come?
BLACK: Sex scandals in the Catholic Church are not new, but never has one emerged so close to the pope himself. Phil Black, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, we are also following new developments in the global search for a child predator whose face was first shown to us last week. Interpol says it has identified this man, allegedly shown on the Internet molesting young Asian boys. The man's face was disguised in a digital whirl, but police unwhirled it using secret techniques.
They now think he was an English teacher who once worked in South Korea and now lives in Thailand. Police haven't released his name, but they have put out more pictures of him. They don't know when or where these picture were taken. And in this one the suspect appears to have less hair than in the earlier pictures we have seen. Police are hoping the photos will further help them track their man.
LEMON: A Muslim girl isn't allowed to play soccer. Her head scarf, well, it leads to the bench.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He looked at me, and said you can't play with the head scarf.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Did the referee go too far, or was he just following the rules. A.J. HAMMER, CNN ANCHOR, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: I'm A.J. Hammer in New York. It has been quite a bitter sweet weekend for rapper T.I. He won two awards but he was also arrested. I'll have the very latest when CNN NEWSROOM continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Let's get you straight to the newsroom now and T.J. Holmes with the latest on a fiery crash in New Jersey.
What do you have, T.J.?
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: Yes, this has closed down Interstate 78 in Springfield, New Jersey. What has happened here apparently is that two tractor trailers -- look at this mess -- two tractor trailers crashed in the eastbound lanes. This happened around 1:30 there. But at one point, according to state police, they thought the drivers were trapped inside. But given the mess that you see there, state police are actually telling local affiliates that they do not believe anyone could have survived this crash. But this is the aftermath of it.
Don't exactly know what happened to cause the crash in the first place. And what exactly was going on, but two tractor trailers -- we don't know exactly what the two trailers were carrying, but there was apparently a pretty good-sized explosion. This gives you perspective of the accident.
But all those lanes are closed. These are pictures coming to us from our affiliate WABC, this live look in Springfield, New Jersey. This is Interstate 78 around Springfield. But all the eastbound lanes of that highway of Interstate 78 now closed.
No word yet on the condition possibly if either of the drivers were able to survive. But according to state police, looking at it, who are on the scene there. And as you can see just a fiery mess, but they do not believe the drivers could have survived. We'll keep an eye on this, try to get more details about what possibly could have been aboard those tractor trailers. And what exactly happened.
And also when this highway might open again, guys. Just a mess they have going on the highway there in Springfield.
NGUYEN: Yes, very busy there. Thank you, T.J., we appreciate it.
LEMON: Also monitoring some other developing news. Take a look at live pictures. We don't have control of this camera, but the overhang you see right in the middle of those people, apparently a car has gone into a hospital. This is a hospital in Brockton, Massachusetts. We're told a car has crashed into Brockton Hospital.
Five injuries have been reported on all of this --
NGUYEN: I see it there. LEMON: Yeah, as Betty pointed out, you can just see it pushing in there. These, of course, pictures courtesy of our affiliate WHDH in Boston. Lots of people there on the scene; a helicopter there is probably the helipad for the hospital and several ambulances.
But as they push in, you see that car, looks like a dark-colored Oldsmobile has gone into the hospital, injured five people. Not sure of the extent of their injuries but we're working all of our sources and resources in Massachusetts to try to get it to you.
These are live pictures, again another live shot from WHDH in Boston from the hospital there, Brockton Hospital, Brockton, Massachusetts. You see the car there. You see the law enforcement on the scene. We'll continue to bring this to you, follow up on it and bring it to you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Let's talk about rapper T.I., busted by the ATF and the ATL. He faces a judge in just minutes.
And Jay Leno is not going quietly into that good night, as they say. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT's A.J. Hammer joins me now, live from New York, with the details on all those stories. And I'm sure, much, much more in entertainment news.
Hey, A.J.
A.J. HAMMER, CNN ANCHOR, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: As always, hello, Don. Well, yeah, in just a matter of minutes rapper T.I. is scheduled to make his first court appearance after being arrested this weekend, right before he was scheduled to perform at the BET Hip Hop Awards.
And 27-year-old T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris, is going before a U.S. magistrate judge in a federal courthouse in Atlanta, the ATL.
Now on Saturday ATF agents arrested T.I., in the parking lot of a local shopping center where officials say he planned to pick up three machine guns and two silencers his bodyguard had reportedly bought for him.
Shortly after his arrest authorities say they found other firearms in his vehicle, that he was driving, and at his Atlanta home so not a good situation for T.I., at all right now. A lot of initials involved here though. I'm trying to keep track of them.
LEMON: Not a good situation for him legally, but he still won some awards, right?
HAMMER: Yeah, he won two hip hop awards at the BET Awards over the weekend. He's going to, also, have a lot of other things going on in terms of his career in the coming weeks. He's appearing in the second motion picture that he's done, this one alongside Denzel Washington. Denzel Washington, it's the upcoming "American Gangster" that is set for release on November 2nd. He's also the CEO of Grand Hustle Records. He also produced tracks for a whole bunch of A-list musicians. And he's currently working on a clothing line that has yet to be launched.
Obviously, though, Don, his clearly busy schedule has been severely disrupted by this arrest. And we'll obviously learn more as things unfold after he goes before the judge.
LEMON: It has, but in these cases, you see in certain professions, things like this actually make you more famous and more popular.
HAMMER: Yes, sadly, it is true.
LEMON: It is odd that way. Don't know why. Maybe we need to talk about that.
Let's switch gears now. We all know Jay Leno is supposed to hang it up in 2009, but you know, there's word that he might not go so nicely. We kind of knew that, right?
HAMMER: Isn't that something we were talking about from the first moment this was announced. A lot of people are wondering if something that took place on "The Tonight Show" last week was a joke, or if perhaps there was more to it, to the point that we're making.
Just hours after NBC Universal announced they would be selling its landmark Burbank studios, where Leno show has been broadcast for 15 years, Leno joked about it by opening up his show, saying, "We're coming to you from the NBC lot as now seen on eBay."
Well, shortly after that, "The Tonight Show" aired a skit where a real estate agent barged into the middle of Leno's show to show a couple the set, saying, this place has air conditioning and 87 bathrooms. Well, Leno went along with the gag. And he objected saying he was in the middle of his show at the moment. But the real estate agent responded by saying, ah, don't worry about all of that. It will all be moved out by the time you're moved in.
Now, Leno, as we said, is scheduled to leave "The Tonight Show" in 2009 to make room for another NBC host, Conan O'Brien. There had been plenty of published reports alleging that Leno has become frustrated and reluctant to retire. Now NBC smartly says that it wants to find something that would be satisfying for Leno as well as the network in the future. So, I don't think he's going to be going away any time soon.
Now coming up tonight on "Showbiz Tonight," sex on TV. New shows that are so explicit you flip to them and they actually look like soft porn movies. The question is has TV gotten too dirty? We've got a special investigation tonight on TV's most provocative entertainment news show.
We look forward to you joining us for "Showbiz Tonight" at 11 p.m. Eastern and Pacific.
Why are you laughing, Don?
LEMON: Because I'm not sure who, but somebody in my ear said what channel is that on?
NGUYEN: You said, both sex and porn in the same sentence, can we talk like that on CNN?
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: We actually can, because, you know, we're a subscribers, so we can. We just don't do it out of --
NGUYEN: But notice he didn't show any videos during that. Stay tuned for tonight, right?
LEMON: But again, what channel was that, A.J.?
HAMMER: But you know what you're talking about, when you flip around?
LEMON: Yes, absolutely.
HAMMER: HBO, has a couple of shows on right now.
LEMON: Absolutely. And even the shows that are on the broadcast networks.
HAMMER: Yes, ABC has one that we'll be talking about tonight.
LEMON: How do they get away with that?
NGUYEN: Yes, "Dirty, Sexy Money." That's in the name of it, so --
LEMON: What's wrong with that?
HAMMER: Don't you want to watch "Showbiz Tonight" to find out what we're talking about.
NGUYEN: Hey, I've already watch it. It caught me.
LEMON: I'm watching "Dirty, Sexy Showbiz Tonight," at 11 p.m. Eastern, the most provocative entertainment show on TV.
NGUYEN: Yeah, so you better deliver, A.J.
LEMON: How's that?
HAMMER: Oh, we'll deliver.
LEMON: I got it down.
All right, A.J., thank you very much.
HAMMER: See you guys later.
LEMON: I hope you saw, A.J., by the way, I hope you saw Drew Carey today. No doubt he's up on the finer points of Plinko and knows the different between Squeeze Play and Switch-a-Roo, but can Drew Carey fill the showbiz shoes of Bob Barker. Well fans of "The Price is Right" are finally able to see him try it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: And now here's the star of "The Price Is Right" Drew Carey.
(APPLAUSE, CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: We were kind of watching a little bit today.
NGUYEN: We were.
LEMON: He did OK, I think. Carey's first episode of "The Price Is Right" airing today across the country. Bob Barker, who hosted the game show for -- get this -- for 35 years, says he hopes Carey gets a huge rating. That's nice and classy.
NGUYEN: We're going to go from that to this.
What would happen if a dirty bomb goes off on U.S. soil? We're about to find out, well, at least in theory. It is the biggest terror drill ever staged, nationally, in terms of the number of people involved. And it kicked off this week. We have those details ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Want you to take a look at these pictures out of Springfield, New Jersey. Two tankers have collided. A fire is still burning very brightly at this hour. And the search is on for the drivers of those tankers. And, of course, we'll take to you CNN's T.J. Holmes very shortly with an update on this story in just a few minutes.
In the meantime, President Bush is digging in for a partisan battle over the budget. During a meeting today with business leaders in Arkansas, he chided congressional leaders for failing to send him any of the 12 spending bills that keep the federal government running. The new fiscal year started two weeks ago, and for now federal agencies are operating on a stop-gap bill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't think it makes sense, though, for a new Congress to come in and make promises about how they are going to be wise about what they are going to do with your money, and get bills to my desk and not be able to perform.
So I'm looking forward to getting back to Washington and remind people, and the United States Congress that they said they were going to do a better job with getting these bills to my desk and I'm going to remind them they haven't got a one yet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: In the budget stalemate Democrats want to spend $22 billion more on domestic program than Mr. Bush wants.
LEMON: From Florida, the story of a soccer player sent to the side lines over a head scarf. Details from reporter Summer Smith, of CNN affiliate Bay News 9 in Palm Harbor.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUMMER SMITH, BAY 9 NEWS: Fifteen-year-old Iman Khalil, of Spring Hill, is showing off her skills as she plays an afternoon of soccer with her Hernando Heat teammates, skills she didn't get to use Saturday on this same field on Palm Harbor.
IMAN KHALIL, FORCED TO MISS GAME: He looked at me and says, you can't play with the head scarf.
SMITH: Khalil, who is Muslim and wears a head scarf everywhere she goes, and even on the soccer field. But Saturday a referee said her head covering was a violation of the rules, and ordered to remove it, or sit out. The decision shocked Khalil and her mother, Lisa Allan-Khalil.
LISA ALLEN-KHALIL, IMAN KHALIL'S MOTHER: We have never experienced anything like this before. Iman has been playing soccer for many years and what she wears is pretty consistent from one game to another.
SMITH: To add more fuel to the fire, after the referee made his decision league officials told him the girl wasn't breaking any rules, and he should let her play, but he refused. According to U.S. soccer, players can only wear a standard uniform like their jersey, shorts and shoes, and anything extra is not allowed.
However, this memo was sent out in 2002 stating that certain religions that require members to wear head coverings have permission to do so. A memo the referee might not have read.
MICHAEL GANN, UNITED SOCCER ASSOCIATION: Unfortunately, it was not available to the referee and he was not aware of it.
SMITH: We were not able to reach the referee for a comment this weekend. In the meantime, Michael Gann, vice president of the United Soccer Association, who oversees the league, says the referee normally has the final say on the field. But in this case he believes the referee was wrong and overreacted.
GANN: The referees are expected to make discretionary calls. Unfortunately, sometimes they stick to too far to the letter of the rule.
SMITH: Khalil says she just wants to put this behind her.
KHALIL: I felt really bad, because I felt like I sort of let the team down, because I didn't get to play. SMITH: She says while on the field she just wants to focus on her love of soccer instead of her religion. In Pinellas County, Summer Smith, Bay News 9.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: The next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
T.I., he's a hip-hop phenom, who calls himself King of the South, today the King's court is a federal court here in Atlanta, where prosecutors are standing by with gun charges.
NGUYEN: It is the final hour of trading on Wall Street, and for most traders, the closing bell can't come soon enough. Look at this, record-high oil helps grease the slide for stocks. And our Susan Lisovicz is watching.
Hello, everybody, I'm Betty Nguyen, in today for Kyra Phillips at the CNN Center here in Atlanta.
LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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