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Unarmed Teen Killed by Police; Third Day of Hearing for O.J. Simpson; Kanye West's Bond With Mother

Aired November 13, 2007 - 14:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: "You're in some trouble, dude." A belated realization from a golfing buddy of O.J. Simpson repeated on the witness stand at Simpson's pretrial hearing in Vegas.
We're live with that damaging testimony.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Is it a smoking gun or a shot in the dark? The newly-opened grave of an Illinois woman whose mysterious death was written off as an accident, well, that was before her ex- husband's next wife disappeared.

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Don Lemon.

You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

It happened Monday night in Brooklyn, and it's under intense scrutiny right now. A young man shot by police in a hail of gunfire. At least 20 bullets fired at him.

Police said they thought he was waving a gun around at them when he came running out towards them. It turns out it was a black hair brush. And now we're getting word that police will hold a press conference within the next hour or so to talk about all the circumstances surrounding this very controversial case.

Deb Feyerick joins us and she tells us that police have now called for calm.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they are definitely calling for calm out here in this community. What we can tell you is that this all started after a 911 call in which a dispatcher was heard -- heard the victim saying that he had a gun, he had a gun. So they were really operating under the assumption that this person was armed.

Now, the latest information coming out of the New York Police Department is that when they got -- when police arrived here at this apartment just behind me, the victim actually lunged at the officers with two knives. What they did at that moment is they began backing away.

They exited the apartment building, and then according to protocol, they called in a captain, supervisors and an emergency services -- emergency services unit. So apparently they did follow protocol in responding to this person who had been described as emotionally disturbed.

As they were outside, the victim began climbing out of the window. Officers repeatedly shouted to stand down, to drop any objects that he may have been carrying, but then, according to a police official, they saw him pull something from his waistband. That's when five of the police officers on the scene opened fire. They included two sergeants.

Twenty bullets fired all together. Not clear exactly how many of those hit victim, but he was handcuffed, put in a squad car, and then taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

So this is all under investigation right now. Police say that they will release that 911 tape this afternoon at about 3:00, in just about an hour. Also, we are expecting to hear from members of the family to hear their side of the story and how this played out, and all of that coming on this afternoon -- Don.

LEMON: All right. CNN's Deborah Feyerick on top of it for us. And if that news conference happens while we're on the air here in the NEWSROOM, we'll bring it to you.

Deb, thank you so much for that report.

PHILLIPS: We want to take you now back to those live pictures from a Las Vegas courtroom, the third day of a hearing to decide whether O.J. Simpson stands trial for armed robbery.

Let's get straight to CNN's Dan Simon.

It looks like his friends aren't necessarily his true friends, Dan.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, no question about it. Walter Alexander essentially betraying his friend O.J. Simpson. He took a plea deal and has decided to testify against Simpson.

Alexander seemed like a pretty good witness during direct examination. He testified that O.J. Simpson told him to carry a weapon when they confronted those dealers in a Las Vegas motel room. Then they got into cross-examination and his credibility was tarnished a little bit.

Let's first though talk about this direct examination. O.J. Simpson, according to Alexander during this testimony, basically sat him down, sat him down and another witness, Michael McClinton down, and told him, look, when we go into this motel room, this hotel room, I want you to be harmed because there's a chance that the other two guys in the room could have guns.

Let's take a look at that testimony.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did Mr. Simpson tell you that he thought that this would be pretty simple? WALTER ALEXANDER, ALLEGED ACCOMPLICE: Yes, he said that it shouldn't be any problem, you know. But just in case there's a problem, you know, I would like for you all to bring -- bring some guns. And you know, he said, you won't have to take them out, you know. He said just have them in your shirts or in the holsters, you know, so that they can be seen so that, you know, they know we mean business.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: Alexander then described in vivid detail the chaotic scene inside that hotel room. When they went inside, they pointed the guns around and then took all of the memorabilia that O.J. Simpson says belonged to him.

Then we get to cross-examination, and, of course, it's all about tarnishing credibility. There was one really bizarre exchange when Simpson's defense lawyer Yale Galanter accused Alexander of one time running a female escort service of all things.

Take a look at that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YALE GALANTER, SIMPSON ATTORNEY: You admitted the fact that you were a pimp.

ALEXANDER: I wasn't a pimp.

GALANTER: But you were a pimp last year.

ALEXANDER: That's what you say.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: Well, Alexander wouldn't concede any ground that he was part of that escort service, but he did say that his wife at one time, his former wife, ran a female escort service. Again, this is all about tarnishing credibility.

There was another moment where Alexander testified that after he made basically this plea deal with prosecutors, he then called up one of O.J. Simpson's friends and says, look, I'm not so sure if I'm going to take this plea deal after all. Is there any chance that you could help me out financially? And I might be willing to slant my testimony in O.J. Simpson's favor.

So not a great witness after all for the prosecution because his credibility has been tarnished somewhat -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Now, let me just ask you about Simpson, because a lot of people, of course, are sitting back thinking about 10 years ago and the fact that he got off for murder. A lot of people still see him as a guilty man that was set free. Now he's facing these 12 criminal charges, Dan, and if convicted, it could put him away in prison for the rest of his life. What do you think the chances are that that would happen?

SIMON: Well, that's a very good question. You know, you talk to one legal analyst, they may tell you that this case is very weak for prosecutors, then somebody might say another thing.

The fact of the matter is, is he's facing 12 felony charges. And the fact that you now have at least two witnesses apparently prepared to testify -- well, one already has testified. Another is going to testify that O.J. Simpson told them have weapons and use these weapons when you go into the room, in essence, to get the stuff that was inside, that is powerful testimony.

Whether or not this actually reaches a trial remains to be seen, but the fact that you have these two witnesses, O.J. Simpson could be looking at some trouble here. And, of course, 12 felony counts, the most serious charge being kidnapping. If he's sentenced -- if he's convicted on that, that carries a possible life sentence -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right.. Dan Simon, we'll keep following it. Appreciate it.

LEMON: A casket hoisted from a grave outside Chicago, the latest twist in the disappearance of Stacy Peterson. The body exhumed today is that of Kathleen Savio. She used to be married to Peterson's husband, Drew Peterson.

Savio was found dead three years ago in a bathtub. Her death ruled an accident. Authorities have reopened the case and ordered a second autopsy.

Meantime, volunteers are scaling back the ground search for Stacy Peterson. They are focusing instead on bodies of water before they ice over.

Stacy Peterson hasn't been seen in more than two weeks. Friends insist she would never have left her two young children.

Police are treating the case as a potential homicide. Her husband Drew, a police sergeant, is considered a subject.

PHILLIPS: It apparently hasn't happened in the U.S. in more than a decade, but four people in Chicago who received organ transplants are now infected with HIV. Hospital officials say that the patients got the virus that causes AIDS from a high-risk donor whose own infection went undetected.

The patients also came down with Hepatitis C. The hospital says that the right procedures were followed in testing the donor. They blame a rare flaw in those tests.

Our medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, has been looking into this troubling story out of Chicago. We're going to find out what she's found out straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

LEMON: Well, unless you live in Indonesia, where bird flu hasn't stopped making news since 2004, H5N1 has probably been off your radar for months. That will probably change now that an outbreak of the deadly virus is confirmed at a poultry farm in eastern England.

Sixty-five hundred birds, including ducks, turkeys and geese, are being slaughtered and quarantine zones have gone up. The affected farm is 80 miles northeast of London, near the other poultry farms.

The strain of bird flu is almost 100 percent fatal in birds, and it's also killed scores of humans around the world. No cases have ever been reported in the U.S. in birds or people.

PHILLIPS: She died suddenly and left behind a beloved son and plenty of questions. Donda West, the mother of rap star Kanye West, tomorrow the L.A. County coroner plans an autopsy amid speculation that she might have dived from complications from plastic surgery. Whatever the case, one thing is clear, Donda West was more than a mom, she was also a mentor, a manager, and a muse.

Our Anderson Cooper looks at the Wests' special bond.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KANYE WEST, MUSICIAN: This is my mother.

DONDA WEST, MOTHER OF KANYE WEST: Hello. Hi.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Kanye West and his mother, Donda, their affection for each other was immense.

K. WEST: Oh, I want to say, mom, I love you, and thank you for having me.

D. WEST: It's a blessing that I got to be his mother.

COOPER: Their pride in each other obvious.

D. WEST: But I always believed in him.

COOPER: Unlike the troubled relationships of some young superstars -- Britney Spears and her mother, Lynne, Lindsay Lohan and her mother, Dina, Kanye and his mother thrived in each other's company.

Donda raised Kanye largely by herself and wrote about it in a book published last May. She described her parenting style as giving and receiving.

D. WEST: I think, because Kanye knew that I listened to him, then he really didn't have a big problem listening to me.

COOPER: Donda wasn't a typical stage mother. She had her own career as an English professor at Morris Brown College in Atlanta and, later, as chair of the English and Speech Department at Chicago State University.

KELLY ELLIS, PROFESSOR, CHICAGO STATE UNIVERSITY: Students would come back to me and talk about her class as being one of the high points of their college career. She was very passionate about African-American literature and about history.

COOPER: So, it came as a blow to her when Kanye dropped out of college.

D. WEST: Now, of course, I was disappointed, because here I am, an English professor, or an educator, and I have been for so many years. And, to me, to get at least one degree was just essential.

COOPER: Years later, after he achieved worldwide success, they could laugh about it.

D. WEST: We're all happy...

(CROSSTALK)

K. WEST: You know, I told you. I said, I had a college professor in my life my whole life, so what do I need school for? So...

(LAUGHTER)

COOPER: Donda left her academic career in 2004 to oversee her son's businesses and to run the Kanye West Foundation, dedicated to lowering high school dropout rates.

D. WEST: It feels like the most fulfilling thing I could ever do.

COOPER: Setting aside her own achievements, Donda wrote in the epilogue to her book, ""I'm as grateful for having had Kanye as I am for life itself."

Anderson Cooper, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: I know we've had a lot of back and forth on when this autopsy was going to be performed, whether it's today or tomorrow. Now we are understanding that our entertainment producers just got off the phone with a lieutenant at the L.A. County Coroner's Office and that the autopsy of Dr. Donda West will be performed today.

It's supposed to start we're told within the next half hour or so. It could take two to three hours, and we may learn the results from that autopsy today.

So we'll keep you posted. Our A.J. Hammer is on it. We're going to talk to him later in the hour.

LEMON: Absolutely.

Almost five years of pure hell, both for the boy who was kidnapped and for the family left to agonize and search. Now they hope to help other families avoid that trauma. PHILLIPS: And this time the charges are serious for '80s pop star Boy George. If he's found guilty, don't think he'll be able to give them the brushoff.

You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: 2:14 Eastern Time right now. Here are three of the stories that we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Community leaders are calling for calm after New York City police killed an 18-year-old in a hail of gunfire. They thought that he had a gun. It turned out to be a hairbrush. Police say the teen had a history of mental illness.

An autopsy planned today on Donda West, the mother of rapper Kanye West. New questions over whether her sudden death were due to complications from plastic surgery.

And praying to the heavens, asking them to open up. Georgia governor Sonny Perdue and other state leaders gathered today to pray for rain to end the region's drought. Forecasters say there's up to a 50 percent chance of rain across parts of north Georgia tomorrow.

LEMON: Four people who received organ transplants in Chicago are diagnosed with HIV. It's being blamed on a rare flaw in the tests used to detect the virus in donors.

CNN Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us to explain.

What happened?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, so tragic.

LEMON: I mean, this -- we thought that we were beyond this point when -- the testing and everything. And I spoke with people in Chicago this morning and they are just -- I mean, the news media is going crazy there, obviously, and people are frightened to death.

COHEN: Oh, sure. I mean, this hasn't happened since the early '90s. So when you're sort of getting -- you know, thinking back in time, it used to happen. It doesn't happen so much anymore.

Let me tell you what happened in this situation.

In this situation, the hospitals in Chicago knew that this donor, the person who was giving their organs, was high risk. Now, we don't exactly what was going on, maybe they had multiple sexual partners, maybe they were an IV drug user, but something was a red flag.

And they tested the organs like they always do for everybody, and the person was negative for HIV. So they went ahead and did the transplants, and now these four people are being treated for HIV, as well as Hepatitis C. And you know what? It's interesting. When they know that someone is high risk, when they know that the donor, let's say, had multiple sexual partners and was an IV drug user, they are supposed to say to the recipient, are you sure you want these organs? We don't know if this happened here, and even when they do say, are you sure you want these organs, this person's high risk, many people do say yes because they've been on the waiting list for so long.

LEMON: OK. So then how does -- don't they test the organs first?

COHEN: They do test the organs first, but the test that they often use has a flaw, which is that if someone has been infected within the past 22 days, it's not going to show up. The infection is too recent. It's going to look perfectly fine.

Now, there is another test that is better, and instead of that 22 days, it shortens it to about 12. So it's a better test, it's more likely to get the right answer...

LEMON: Right.

COHEN: ... but not everybody uses it.

LEMON: Well, that one sounds better. Why does -- why doesn't everyone use that one?

COHEN: Right. Only a small number of places use, it unfortunately.

Well, there's been an effort, sort of a campaign to get more organ procurement agencies to use this newer and better test, but it's a bit more expensive, it's tough to find a lab that will do it, it requires a lot of coordination. But you can bet now one of the hospitals involved says this has made us want to build an even safer system.

LEMON: Even safer.

COHEN: And you can bet that a lot of people are going to be saying maybe all of us ought to be using this newer test.

LEMON: Yes. And I have to ask you with this, because, I mean, obviously we're talking about organ donors and that kind of thing. You know, if you're not in that category, you shouldn't worry.

But some people are going to say, if this is happening to organ donors, if it's happening in the medical profession, how concerned should I be that, you know, maybe I won't go in and give blood, or, you know, just the questions the general public might have?

COHEN: Right. The giving is not the issue.

LEMON: Right.

COHEN: The people who are giving, that's -- that's not a problem for them.

LEMON: Right.

COHEN: It's the people who are on the receiving end. And that is why people who are receiving organs from someone who might be high risk are supposed to be told, hey, you know what? These organs are negative for HIV, but the person who is giving them to you -- let's say it was an IV drug user -- there's a chance that they have HIV. Do you still want them?

LEMON: Yes.

COHEN: So if you're receiving an organ, you want to make sure that you ask that question.

LEMON: Yes.

COHEN: Is the person giving me these organs high risk? Because there are a lot of high-risk donors out there.

LEMON: Yes. And obviously we know just giving, you know, you're not going to get HIV that way. But...

COHEN: Right. Giving is not a problem.

LEMON: ... people do have those questions, yes.

COHEN: And that's important, because we want to encourage people to give organs.

LEMON: Right.

COHEN: We want to encourage people to give blood. Giving is not the issue.

LEMON: Right.

COHEN: It's the receiving that's the issue.

LEMON: I'm just anticipating the questions you're going to get.

COHEN: I'm glad that you asked that.

LEMON: Yes.

COHEN: No, that's a good question, because you don't want to discourage giving. Giving is terrific.

LEMON: Absolutely.

Elizabeth Cohen, thank you very much.

COHEN: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: Well, a lot of reasons to smile today for the parts of Lakshmi Tatma. Today, 2-year-old Lakshmi made her first public appearance one week after doctors in India removed her extra legs and arms. Those limbs were part of a conjoined twin that never fully developed.

The lead surgeon gave this update.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SHARAN PATIL, HEAD SURGEON: I'm happy to announce that she will be out of intensive care today. We've taken her off all of the monitoring. She is coping very well, she is stable, and she's being carried around by her mother and her father.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Villagers in the child's hometown consider her sacred, but her parents once kept her in hiding after some men tried to buy Lakshmi and put her in a circus.

LEMON: Remember Shawn Hornbeck? Well, he's the boy missing for nearly five years. He was found earlier this year, and find out what he's doing to help other kids from being kidnapped and molested.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BUSINESS REPORT)

LEMON: Well, she says she's got people power behind her, but many Pakistanis are conflicted about their former prime minister.

Our Dan Rivers heard some mixed reviews on Benazir Bhutto.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: For 1,558 agonizing days -- that is almost five years -- the family of Shawn Hornbeck wondered what had happened to him. After the 11-year-old disappeared in 2002, they put up posters like this. They set up Web sites and a foundation with hope of finding Shawn. The wait seemed endless, then the call they had dreamed about for a really long time finally came.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRAIG AKERS, HORNBECK'S STEPDAD: I told everyone in this situation not to give up hope. There's always hope. Hope is what gets you through and sometimes this is what happens when you have that hope.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, police found Shawn in an apartment in the St. Louis area. His kidnapper pleaded guilty to snatching him, and another boy. Now Shawn is on a mission to prevent other kids from the horrifying possibility of kidnapping and molestation. Shawn's mom and step dad Pam and Craig Akers join us now live from St. Louis.

I tell you what, I told you guys in this break, you two look terrific.

PAM AKERS, HORNBECK'S MOTHER: Thank you.

CRAIG AKERS, HORNBECK'S STEPDAD: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: I know how stressed out and tired you guys were. You couldn't believe you got that call. And dad, I tell you what, you touched us all with your really heartwarming speech that day. Tell me what it's like to have your son home now.

C. AKERS: Oh, my gosh, it's just such a joy. Life is just so much different now. We see things so much differently. It's as if we had started life all over again. It's just wonderful.

PHILLIPS: Mom, how about you?

P. AKERS: Oh, it's been a dream come true. Our house is no longer quiet and silent. It's with laughter and talking and interact with each other and it's absolutely wonderful.

PHILLIPS: And with everything that Shawn went through -- and we're looking at a pictures now of his 16th birthday party -- I'm dying to know that moment where you guys were really able to connect to him. Because I know the first day there wasn't a lot of talking, it was sort of uncomfortable, it was strange. You didn't know how to approach what exactly had happened for so many years, when did the moment come where you sort of -- that watershed moment, I guess, either one can answer. Both chime in.

C. AKERS: Well, I think really it was a couple days later when we were in Chicago and Shawn went in to take a shower and it seemed like he was in there forever and he came out after 45 minutes, maybe an hour. And said that he wanted to talk to us about what had happened and he sat down. And, you know, recounted a lot of his experiences to us. And, you know, that seems like the moment that was really the turning point in our re-establishing our relationship.

PHILLIPS: Pam, was that hard for you to hear as his mother? And how have you been dealing with it day by day? Because obviously things like that don't disappear in a matter of weeks.

P. AKERS: It was devastating for me. It was hard for me to actually sit there and just listen to what he had to say, but I knew how important it was for him -- and for us to understand what has been going on.

But, you know, I've just told him no matter how much it hurts me, if it's something that he wants to share with me, I want him to come to me. I've told him that the tears he sees now are no longer sad tears, they are tears of joy. And that's how we both have to cope with what happened to him. That's the best thing to do and also, too, we got into some great therapy and that has extremely helped us.

PHILLIPS: No doubt.

Craig, now he is actually talking to other students. How in-depth does he go? Does he actually talk to kids about molestation, about pedophilia, about kidnapping? I mean, does he just lay it out there?

C. AKERS: No, not yet. It's still a little early for those types of interactions I think, although, you know, down the road a little ways that's probably something that's going to happen.

Right now it's, you know, little baby steps, helping with our child I.D. programs, that's a big part of what he's doing with the foundation. And then, you know, there's small baby steps, you know, talking about things, starting off with things that children can do to stay safe and keep themselves out of situations where something like that could happen.

PHILLIPS: And talk to me about the Hornbeck Foundation. I'm looking through my notes here, because it had a lot of links to a number of Web sites. Pam, tell me about this, Alostchild.com. That is one that caught my attention.

P. AKERS: That is a Web site that we provide for other family members who have missing children, or anybody that actually is missing, and for them to have a place to go to get their child out there on the Worldwide Web, because you know that's a wonderful place to put information out there because there's so many people that actually look at it. So it's just a place we have made for other families to come out and we provide all that information for them.

PHILLIPS: Craig, how does Shawn give his input? Does he kind of pull you guys aside and say, you know what, I think that would be a good idea or that would be a good idea. We should add this to the foundation, or maybe I should talk with this certain subject? How in- depth does he get on what he wants to do and how much he wants to participate?

C. AKERS: That's a conversation that we had again this morning on the way to school. We talked about the things that he's doing and the things that he would like to do. And, you know, he has some ideas. You know, at this point he's really uncertain exactly what he wants to do, you know. He's 16 years old. Still has a lot of years ahead of him. He knows that he wants to stay involved with the foundation. He knows that he wants to keep things like this from happening to other children. And, you know, he knows that he has to do something. He does, you know, provide input from time to time, but once again it's a real slow process.

I think it is kind of therapeutic for him being able to do this. I think it helps him deal with and cope with what he's been through. But once again we're taking it real slow, one step at a time. We don't want any setbacks.

PHILLIPS: Pam, final thought. What do you think his biggest strength is right now after everything he's been through and now getting involved in talking about this, what do you think?

P. AKERS: I think it's wonderful. It just shows you how strong Shawn actually is. It kind of gives you an insight of how he actually made through the four and a half years that he did, by being so strong, and staying focused and staying hopeful. And it just shows you how great of a person he is.

PHILLIPS: Well, you two ...

P. AKERS: And I'm very proud of him for it.

PHILLIPS: And I bet he feels that way about you. You're pretty amazing parents, you never gave up hope. And now look what you're doing as a family. Bless you both, Craig and Pam Akers, the Hornbeck Foundation. Click on, check it out. Really appreciate your time today.

P. AKERS: Thanks you.

C. AKERS: Thank you for having us.

LEMON: Well, she's had enough. Barricaded in her home with riot police looming. Benazir Bhutto says Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf should go; 11 days into a state of emergency the opposition leader and former prime minister is blocked from holding a protest march and put under house arrest. She had been in power-sharing talks with the Musharraf government, but now says all that is off.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENAZIR BHUTTO, FMR. PAKISTANI PRIME MINISTER: I really think he's gone too far and it's time for him to leave both posts. He's out of his depth. He doesn't understand the priorities. Under his rule he's focused so much attention on containing the democrats that he's neglected the real threat from Al Qaeda and Taliban.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: When asked about reports that the government is planning to deport her, Bhutto said she is in the dark about her fate. The Pakistani government suggests Bhutto may also be in the dark about the extent of her support. CNN's Dan Rivers hit the street and the sports fields to find out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): These days Pakistan is full of jarring imagery; ordinary life continuing amid extraordinary times. And it seems like Benazir Bhutto's poster is everywhere; even this cricket pitch targeted by her campaign.

Musharraf's side is here, too, watching for signs of dissent. Like the rest of the country, the cricket team seems divided over Bhutto. Her appeal seems distinctly hit and miss.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bhutto is a great leaders and I like her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But I like Mr. Musharraf.

RIVERS: So, just how popular is Benazir Bhutto? If you listen to her you would think she was unstoppable. BENAZIR BHUTTO, FMR. PAKISTAN PRIME MINISTER: You should have seen the people who came out at Karachi airport. There were 3 million people over there, and everywhere I go the people turn towards me because I have served them.

RIVERS: But the police put the numbers at more like 200,000, journalists who were there thought fewer than that. Despite these themes, General Musharraf has suggested Benazir's popularity is not that widespread.

PRES. PREVEZ MUSHARRAF, PAKISTAN: Go into the rural areas of Punjab, go into the cities of Punjab and see whether she is gaining popularity or gone down in popularity because of certain actions and certain comments that she's been making.

RIVERS: She was prime minister twice but was forced into exile in 1996 amid allegations of corruption. Her party won almost a third of the vote in 2002, but failed to get an outright majority. A year later Benazir was convicted of money laundering in Switzerland. So how will she do this time around?

TALAT MASOOD, POLITICAL ANALYST: She has a major problem of trust, both with the political parties, as well as with many people of Pakistan. So I think she has to revive that first.

RIVERS (on camera): Despite all the posters and political theater that Benazir has staged over recent days, it's difficult to get an independent assessment of just how popular she really is. The problem is in Pakistan there's simply no such thing as a reliable opinion poll.

RAHUL ROY-CHAUDHARY, INTL. INST. OF STRATEGIC STUDIES: It is very difficult to find out how popular she is. I mean, one basis, of course, is the last elections where the PPP came out as the single largest political party, but since then several years have passed and Benazir Bhutto has been in exile.

RIVERS: Part of Benazir's appeal is her family name. Her father, Zulfikar, was president and prime minister in the '70s. The question is, can she come back for a third time?

Well, to use a cricketing analogy her critics say her last two innings weren't great and if she gets in again she has to raise her game.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He had a very good vision regarding how to win a game and change the vision, so may be a very good advice captain, but not a captain.

RIVERS: The problem is in Pakistani politics the rules of the game keep changing and General Musharraf seems determined to win at all costs. Dan Rivers, CNN, Islamabad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, a big boost for Fred Thompson. The GOP presidential candidate gets a major endorsement.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: In today's "Political Ticker", Rudy Giuliani may have Pat Robertson on his side, but a major anti-abortion group is putting its money on Fred Thompson. Today the National Right to Life Committee said it's endorsing the former Tennessee senator because of his consistent anti-abortion stance as a lawmaker, and because they believe he's in the best position to beat Giuliani for the Republican presidential nomination.

Neither Thompson nor Giuliani can hold a candle to Mitt Romney when it comes to campaign spending. In fact, Romney has set a record for this point in the presidential campaign, $10.2 million on TV ads so far. That's more than $85,000 a day. Arizona Senator John McCain ranks second in spending among Republicans, but he's way back at $300,000 in campaign ads.

Illinois Senator Barack Obama, well he takes the title for the Democrats with nearly $4 million so far.

Questions about questions? A college student claims she was picked out to ask a pre-arranged question after a recent Hillary Clinton speech in Iowa. Muriel Gallo-Chasanoff says a Clinton staffer approached her before the November 6 speech and asked if she would like to ask a question. The Gallo-Chasanoff says she suggested a question, but the staffer gave her another one from a notebook.

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MURIEL GALLO-CHASANOFF, STUDENT: When I asked how it worked he said raise your hand -- when she asks for questions raise your hand -- and she will call on you. So, I mean, I don't know for sure that she knew in advance, but there were like 200 people there and everyone was raising their hand. I was one out of four, that doesn't seem random exactly.

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LEMON: OK, a spokesman says Clinton had no idea who she was calling on during the Q&A session. A campaign statement says a staff member had discussed a possible question, but said it's not standard policy and will not be repeated.

The most up-to-the-minute political news available anywhere, CNNpolitics.com is your one-stop shop. Get behind-the-scene details from the best political team on television, and see why it's the Internet's premier destination for political news, CNN.politics.com

PHILLIPS: Perfect game, perfect attitude. A high school bowler overcomes some serious physical challenges with a heck of a lot of style.

A.J. HAMMER, CNN ANCHOR, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: I'm A.J. Hammer in New York. Now, we've heard from the stars on the picket lines, but what do the studio heads think about the writers strike? I'll tell you next in the NEWSROOM.

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PHILLIPS: Time to see what's clicking with all of you CNN.comers today. Some of our top stories this hour: They are exhuming the body of Kathleen Savio and doing another autopsy. She's the third wife of police Officer Drew Peterson, now a suspect in his fourth wife's disappearance. Savio's case has been reopened due to the mysterious circumstances surrounding her death.

A Iowa college student says she's a bit more pessimistic about politics after a Hillary Clinton staffer gave her a specific question to ask at a campaign event. The Clinton camp says this wasn't OK and it won't happen again.

An autopsy is being performed today on Donda West, the mother of hip hop star Kanye West, she is believed to have died as a result of cosmetic surgery this weekend.

LEMON: We have been following the story about the sudden death of music star Kanye West's mother, Donda. Well, "Showbiz Tonight's" A.J. Hammer is here and he has a quick update for us. What have you been hearing, O.J. -- sorry about that, A.J.

HAMMER: That's OK. Kyra just stole my thunder, though, Don. The L.A. County coroner's office has now confirmed to CNN they are conducting an autopsy of Donda West; it will take place over the next few hours. Our own Brooke Anderson has been following the story very closely. She will have more details on this story at the stop of the next hour here in the NEWSROOM.

LEMON: All right, we'll check back with you. Thanks for that, A.J. Hammer.

HAMMER: But there's more.

LEMON: OK. Are we moving on? We said no more questions.

PHILLIPS: How you doing?

LEMON: OK. Let's just move on. We have a lot of breaking news happening.

PHILLIPS: Much more serious.

LEMON: We need to run on. We'll get back to you so much for that.

PHILLIPS: A lot of questions around this 18-year-old young man who was shot dead by New York police. Police were called to the scene, it was a domestic dispute. Apparently this young man had mental problems. The mother had called 911, he was shouting that he had a gun, had a gun. It ended up being a hairbrush. But now there's a question as to exactly what he had after that, possibly some knives that he brought out and told his mother he was prepared to die.

A lot of back and forth. We're waiting to see what exactly happened on that 911 call and we're expecting to hear from Ray Kelly, the police commissioner, soon so we can get more details. We'll take it live when it happens.

We'll going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

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LEMON: All right, we had some breaking news. We had to move away from A.J. just for a quick bit. We want to go back to him now to talk about the writers strike.

A.J., what are you hearing about that?

HAMMER: Well, Don, the picket line is still going strong on both the East and West Coast. No official talks are going on right now, between the Writers Guild and the studio heads. As we have heard the writers have been very outspoken about what they feel has gone wrong with the negotiations, but last night we finally heard from a couple of people on the other side of the strike. Jeff Zucker, who is the president and CEO of NBC Universal and Dick Ebersol, who is the chairman of NBC Universal Sports were being honored by the Paley Center last night in Los Angeles. And we asked them about the strike.

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JEFF ZUKER, CEO, NBC UNIVERSAL: Well, I'm hopeful that -- I'm hopeful that both sides will be able to come back to the table at the appropriate time. I'm hoping that the WGA will find itself in a position. We're disappointed they went on strike and hopeful that they will come back, and begin the negotiations again, and hopefully cooler heads will prevail.

DICK EBERSOL, NBC SPORTS: Certainly there are a lot of people in this town, whether it's Ron Meyer (ph) who runs our Universal Studios, or Jim Wyatt (ph), who is here tonight, who runs William-Morris, I rode on a plane with him the other day from New York to Los Angeles and all they were thinking about were ways to talk, back channel to begin to open things up. Because that's really all they need. They were within 10 or 12 hours of a settlement 10 days ago. I can't believe if you get them all back in the same room they can't pick up again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: And, Don, that's exactly what a lot of people are thinking, that backroom negotiations would really be the fastest way, at this point, to bring these two groups back together.

LEMON: And, A.J., it looks like Ebersol sounds pretty hopeful, but is that really, really the mood out there?

HAMMER: Not as for as we can tell. And Dick Ebersol is really not someone who is directly involved in these negotiations. Certainly, he's one of the higher ups in the business and has many great ideas. He did give us a little insight though, into how some of the studio heads and agents may in fact take things into their own hands.

The writers are still out walking these picket lines. And they are saying they not going to be budging from their demands. If you happen to be in L.A. today, you want to see some of your favorite TV stars? Well, the picket line is apparently the place to go. Stars from more than 30 television shows, past and present, are out on the picket lines today supporting the Writers Guild. I'm talking about stars like Ben Stiller, Ray Romano, Minnie Driver, all walking the line today. So, while Dick Ebersol's assessment may be optimistic -- which I think is the right frame of mind to have in any event, Don -- it's really a wait and see situation at this point.

LEMON: Let's turn a bit away from the strike now, and talk about Boy George. He's in a bit of trouble, isn't he?

HAMMER: Yes, once again, Boy George, his real name George O'Dowd, facing criminal charges again, this time in London. He's been charged with false imprisonment and has been released on bail and he now faces a court date on the 22nd of this month.

These charges stem from a complaint by a 28-year-old man, who told police last April that he showed up at singer's apartment for a photo shoot, but instead he was chained and threatened. The '80s pop star has had his run-ins with the law before in London and here in New York.

We were just showing you video where he was forced to do some community service after being caught with cocaine.

Coming up tonight on "Showbiz Tonight," we'll have all the late- breaking details on the investigation into the shocking death of music super star Kanye West's mother. Are high-priced Hollywood celebrity plastic surgeons being investigated? All of the late-breaking developments tonight on TV's most provocative entertainment news show. We'll see you at 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific for "Showbiz Tonight" -- Don.

LEMON: Yeah, really, not even 60 years old. It really came as a shock to everyone.

HAMMER: Really sad.

LEMON: All right. We'll be watching for that. Thank you very much, A.J.

HAMMER: You got it.

PHILLIPS: The biggest challenge most bowlers face is that dreaded 7/10 split. That's nothing for Ryan Lingholm. Despite a genetic condition that left him with stiff, shortened arms, the high school bowler has become a kingpin. His delivery is not perfect but his game is. Ryan is now a proud member of the 300 Club.

RYAN LINGHOLM, BOWLED A PERFECT GAME: I couldn't feel my fingers in the ball and my knees were shaking. It is just -- knowing that I had a chance to actually shoot a 300. It was just amazing.

When I was first born, they said I'd never have use of my arms. And to go out and bowl, and to be one of the top averages in the county for high school is -- means something to me.

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PHILLIPS: It is means something to us, too. But we're even bigger fans of his perfect attitude.

LEMON: Congratulations to him.

Georgia Governor Sonny Purdue is going straight to the top. He teamed up with lawmakers, ministers and supporters at the state's capital in Atlanta, less than 90 minutes ago, to pray for rain. Georgia is dealing with a severe drought.

Not everyone is happy with the appeal to a higher power. Protesters argued the governor's prayer vigil violates the separation of church and state.

Drought? What drought?

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