Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Iran Not as Close to Nukes as Believed; Funeral Services Held for Sean Taylor; Brad Pitt Spearheads New Orleans Rebuilding Project; Are You Driving on Recalled Tires?

Aired December 03, 2007 - 13:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: So what's the opposite of a smoking gun? Possibly a brand-new U.S. intelligence report on Iran and Iranian nukes.
DON LEMON, CO-HOST: Uranium, check. Centrifuges, check. Missiles, bombs, warheads, not so fast.

Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

LEMON: Diplomatic pressure on Iran. It's been intense for years now. And guess what? A new U.S. intelligence report says it worked, at least in terms of persuading Iran to scrap its nuclear weapons program. New developments in a long-running standoff.

Let's go straight to Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.

What do you have for us, Barbara?

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, this development just coming in, in the last 30 minutes or so, and news still breaking on it.

The U.S. intelligence community today releasing portions of a classified National Intelligence Estimate that says Iran stopped working on its nuclear weapons program back in the fall of 2003 and may not be able to develop the nuclear fuel for a weapon until 2010 or 2015, if it resumes work on that program.

That is a stunning admission, a new development that we certainly had not heard about, given all of the rhetoric around the world and especially from the Bush administration about the concerns that Iran was moving towards a nuclear weapons program.

Now, this National Intelligence Estimate is one of several classified reports being updated on Iran. It says that they believe that the Iranians, basically, succumbed to international pressure. The report is very blunt on that, saying that they believe that the regime there did succumb to pressure, and saying -- this is a quote from the report, that Iran -- that -- pardon me, that the U.S. intelligence community has determined that Iran is "less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we," the intelligence community, "had been judging since 2005."

So, a real turnaround in the assessment by the intelligence community about Iran.

One key thing that they highlighted in this report, you know, Iran has been saying that they have 3,000 centrifuges, devices that enrich uranium, 3,000 of them that were working on that weapons program.

Well, the U.S. intelligence community says Iran actually may have the centrifuges but is having a good deal of technical difficulty in making them work. So certainly, not a clean bill of health but a pretty interesting development, Don.

LEMON: Yes, definitely, Barbara. Thank you very much for that report.

PHILLIPS: White House correspondent Ed Henry joins us now.

Ed, the Bush administration can't be pleased with the news, right?

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's interesting. It's very much a mixed bag, Kyra. You're right.

I mean, if you think back a few weeks ago, remember when President Bush raised a lot of eyebrows when he bluntly said at a press conference, if you want to avoid World War III you need to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons.

White House officials clearly bracing today for the fact that this new report, as Barbara was reporting, could really undermine any potential case for war with Iran.

On one hand the report clearly stating that it appears that, in the fall of 2003, Tehran had halted its efforts to get nuclear weapons. But by the same token, this report saying that Tehran is still enriching uranium, still trying to get nuclear weapons and that they could develop nuclear weapons by 2010.

That is what Stephen Hadley will be pouncing upon at 3:15 Eastern Time when we see him on camera briefing about this report.

In fact, Mr. Hadley has put out a written statement that in part says, quote, "The intelligence also tells us that the risk of Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon remain as serious problem. The estimate offers grounds for hope that the problem can be solved diplomatically without the use of force."

And that is obviously the key question. What does this report do for any potential case the White House may make -- and I stress may make -- for war with Iran? Clearly on its face of it, on the face of this report, it would make it more difficult for the White House to mount such a case, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Ed Henry in the White House. Thanks, Ed. LEMON: We just got some new pictures in to CNN. It's from Friday's train crash in Chicago. You can see the Amtrak train coming in from the left. Take a look at it. Then smashing into a freight train that was stopped on the very same track.

Investigators now say the passenger train was going too fast, about 25 miles an hour over the speed limit. They say the Amtrak engineer told them he knew he was supposed to be going only 15 miles per hour. A signal alerted him of the train ahead. And when he saw the other train he pulled the emergency brake. Seventy-one people were hurt in the accident, none of them seriously.

PHILLIPS: Family, friends, teammates and fans, all of them mourners today. You're seeing live pictures right now from Miami and the funeral of slain NFL star Sean Taylor.

Just a week ago the Washington Redskins player was shot in his suburban Miami home. And now No. 21 is being laid to rest. Services are taking place in this packed arena at Florida International University.

Reporter Rad Berky of our affiliate, WPLG, is there -- Rad.

RAD BERKY, WPLG CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, this funeral service that has been going on now for well over an hour is drawing slowly to a close, and then the coffin bearing the remains of Sean Taylor will be carried out and put in the hearse that you see behind me.

We have had just a parade of family and friends get up and talk about Sean Taylor. Among them Roger Goodell from the NFL. Joe Gibbs, the coach of the Washington Redskins, spoke briefly, too.

Lamar Harrington, who used to play with the Redskins, with Sean Taylor, was perhaps among the most eloquent this morning when he talked about the fact that he was there when Sean Taylor joined the Redskins and said, "I was going to be Sean Taylor's guardian angel." Because of all of this, he said, "Sean Taylor has now turned out to be my guardian angel."

The funeral service about to be done here. At that point, the procession will move to the cemetery, Woodland Cemetery, down in the Homestead area of south Florida, which is where Sean Taylor grew up.

PHILLIPS: Rad, meanwhile, the investigation into his killer or killers. There were a couple suspects that were brought in last week. What's the latest with the investigation?

BERKY: The last we heard on the investigation before the funeral started was that the four suspects are still in the Fort Myers area over there. That, of course, is where they were arrested. That is about 100 miles from here. We expect they are going to be brought back here to Miami, perhaps as early as today. It is possible that will happen later in the week.

One of the defense attorneys for one of the four said this morning it was his understanding that there was a fifth suspect who had been arrested. That has not been confirmed yet by Miami-Dade police.

PHILLIPS: Rad Berky with our affiliate, WPLG. Thanks, Rad.

LEMON: Well, the drama started Friday at Hillary Clinton's campaign office in Rochester, New Hampshire. It continues this hour in court on a much lower key.

Leeland Eisenberg is accused of taking five people hostage while wearing what looked like explosives on his body. The standoff ended without anyone getting hurt. Eisenberg faces charges of kidnapping and fraudulent use of a bomb-like device.

His family says he wanted help for a drinking problem, but he didn't have the insurance or money to pay for it.

PHILLIPS: Powerful storms coast to coast, everything from hurricane-force winds to icy roads and snow up to your knees. It's quite a mess out there, Chad Myers.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: All right, Chad. We'll keep checking in with you. Thanks.

LEMON: No longer a death sentence. Millions of people are living with AIDS, but their average day is nothing like yours. A look into the lives of America's AIDS patients.

PHILLIPS: Move over Mitt Romney. Mike Huckabee is on his way up in the Iowa polls. We're going to tell you more about this former governor of Arkansas who wants to be president.

LEMON: And a home to call their own. Brad Pitt shines a spotlight on New Orleans' Ninth Ward. And you can help, too. Our Larry King is there with him. He's joining us next hour. He's joining us next, I should say.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: One thirteen Eastern Time. Here's three of the stories that we're working on right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

We're waiting a court appearance this hour for this man. Leeland Eisenberg's accused of taking hostages Friday at a Hillary Clinton campaign office in New Hampshire, claiming to have a bomb. He allegedly demanded to speak to Clinton about mental health care.

Thousands of people are now at a Miami arena for Sean Taylor's funeral a week after the NFL star was shot at his home. Meantime, we're waiting for the four suspects in his killing to return to Miami to face formal charges.

No nukes in Iran. A new U.S. intelligence report is out, and it says that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program under international pressure in 2003.

LEMON: Actor Brad Pitt is trying to make it right. That's what he named his campaign -- in his New Orleans campaign, that's what he's named it -- to build sustainable, affordable houses in an area flattened by Hurricane Katrina.

Pitt is in New Orleans today to kick off the next phase of that project. And CNN's Larry King is talking to him about it.

Larry joins us now live from New Orleans.

And Larry, it's a great thing he's doing. It's hard to believe that so many years after Hurricane Katrina we're still talking about rebuilding here.

LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Yes. It's almost -- it's almost incredible, Don, to go through this area and realize that in all these years nothing's happened.

LEMON: Yes.

KING: And it's to Brad Pitt's great credit. We're going to interview him in about a half hour, and that will air on Wednesday night. That he has really spear-headed this, make it right -- it's called Make it Right NOLA, New Orleans. MakeItRightNOLA.org that people can help.

And these pink artifacts -- they're really artifacts -- are symbolic of what's going to happen. Houses will be built here, hopefully, homes. The Ninth Ward will be rebuilt, hopefully, through contributions from all over the world. So to use the pink is symbolic. I think it's a great idea. They sell pink hats and pink merchandise.

And Brad Pitt kicked off a big rally here this morning with architects and city officials all getting behind it. And as I said, we're going to interview him.

It's impossible to believe that this still exists when you drive through from downtown, which is still pretty good...

LEMON: Yes.

KING: ... into this Ninth Ward and see what's happened.

LEMON: Hey, I was going to ask you about that, Larry. I was just down there about three weeks ago. And there is one problem: they can't find any schools. There are hardly any schools in the Ninth Ward where kids can go to. And there isn't sustainable, affordable housing, which is why he's there.

Give us your impressions. Because when you drive through the French Quarter everything looks fine. But then when you get down to these areas like the Ninth Ward, it's still like the hurricane was only two or three weeks ago. KING: Somebody, something, some institution, goofed. Federal, local, state, somebody that this should exist, as you said. We were in the French Quarter. We stayed in the French Quarter last night, had a beautiful dinner there last night. The streets are fine.

Didn't see one school in the Ninth Ward. Driving through here today from the French Quarter. Not one school. And that this area should remain in poverty, and that it should take an actor from Los Angeles to come here to spearhead something, is both a great credit to him and a blight to city officials, state officials, government officials. This should not be.

LEMON: Hey, you know what? We look forward to that interview. And I know you said it's taking an actor to do this. There is one musician's village that's down there that's pretty colorful, as well, and then this one.

Does he have a name for this neighborhood yet? Do you know that? Are you going to ask him when you interview him?

KING: I'll ask him when I interview him. I'm sure they'll come up with a good one.

LEMON: Yes. That's going to be very interesting. Larry, we appreciate you being down there, because folks need to know about this. Thank you so much. Have a great interview.

And you can catch Brad Pitt's sit-down with Larry on Wednesday on "LARRY KING LIVE." That's at 9 Eastern, only here on CNN.

PHILLIPS: Driving on trust and a bad tire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAROLYN THORNE, DROVE ON RECALLED TIRE: I trusted my life in the hand of so-called experts to make sure that nothing like this would happen to me, but it did. The system failed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Wait till you hear how it failed her. The trouble spotting recalled tires.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Want to take you live back to Riverside, California, right now. This is just outside of Los Angeles. Live pictures coming to us from KABC. It's a trench rescue that's going on at a construction site.

We're told that there is one worker trapped, possibly up to his neck. But you can see firefighters and rescue teams there, trying to get him out of that trench. Not sure how it happened. We're just working the details right now, but live pictures you can see via KABC out of L.A. Riverside, California.

We'll follow it. We'll bring you the details.

LEMON: Are you driving on recalled tires? Well, you might not even know it. Even more disturbing, the experts might not know it either.

CNN's Ed Lavandera reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Carolyn Thorne said she had no idea she was driving a rolling time bomb when a tire on her SUV suddenly ripped apart, triggering a rollover at 65 miles per hour.

THORNE: All I heard was a popping sound. And next I know, I'm flipping.

LAVANDERA: The accident left Thorne partially paralyzed. She won multi-million-dollar legal settlements with the tire maker and dealers that cared for the car.

Thorne's story highlights a disturbing reality: the tire that blew out on her car should not have been on the road at all. It had been recalled two years before the rollover.

Millions of recalled tires just like it have not been returned and are still on the road today.

SEAN KANE, SAFETY RESEARCH AND STRATEGIES: It's very easy to have recalled tires on a vehicle and not know it.

LAVANDERA: Sean Kane works as an auto safety consultant who has studied the tire recall process and was also an unpaid consultant on Thorne's case. He says only 20 percent of all recalled tires are actually found, and that even tire professionals have trouble determining which tires are recalled.

KANE: The reason why we don't know where they are is because there's no tracking mechanism. There's no identification system that works. The recall system is just clearly broken.

LAVANDERA (on camera): The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration is the federal agency that oversees tire recalls. A spokesman says the agency agrees that tire return rates are too low and that more needs to be done to get recalled tires off the road. But did not say what should be done.

KANE: You can see the DOT number here.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Kane says finding tracking numbers on tires is difficult and that retailers don't have a database to make sure people are driving on safe tires.

That was a shock to Carolyn Thorne, who believed tire mechanics would spot the danger. THORNE: I trusted my life in the hand of so called experts to make sure that nothing like this would happen to me. But it did. The system failed.

LAVANDERA: A failure that changed Thorne's life forever.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: The Bush administration continues to work on a plan to bring relief to those at risk of losing their homes. Stephanie Elam is on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange with the latest.

Hi, Steph.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra. That's right. This is some news coming out of the treasury secretary, Henry Paulson, speaking at a housing conference today. And they're looking at this big issue with the mortgage crisis and what's going to happen there.

The idea is to go ahead and to get these low teaser rates, to freeze them for around maybe as long as five years. Paulson says they're working aggressively and quickly, using available tools and also creating some new ones to help people facing foreclosure.

Now, nothing is agreed to just yet, but the treasury-led group, called Hope Now Alliance, they sent out letters to at-risk homeowners to say, "Hey, there are some options. Come here and get some help here."

But some analysts say it won't be a cure-all, but it's good that they're actually doing something. Other people are saying, you know what? It's not really going to do much at all.

So obviously, people will be waiting to see how well this works out, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, it sounds like some of the people who received these teaser rates, I guess, either didn't get the best deal for themselves, or they tried to buy too much.

ELAM: A lot of people were trying to buy too much. And the interesting thing that we're finding out now, as well, is that a lot of the people who did get these mortgage rates actually did have good credit. The idea in our head is that it's these people with poor credit. But not necessarily the case.

"The Wall Street Journal" coming out today and saying that this has been something that's affected people in wealthy neighborhoods and even people who really could afford more home, but they went and bought too much home.

So here's the numbers. A study says in 2005, 55 percent of subprime loans went to candidates with better credit. By 2006, that number was up above 60 percent. So obviously, this is affecting the middle class here. And it's obviously something that the government, President Bush and his administration, along with the other banks in the industry, are going to have to take a look at here on how they fix this issue. They're looking to freeze these rates as we were talking about.

(STOCK REPORT)

ELAM: Coming up we're going to look at technology, heading out to pasture. Everybody's got a cell phone, a BlackBerry, something that they're using right now. Some sort of PDA. That means the end of an era for some other technology that we all know across America. And I'll tell you about that the next time we get together -- Kyra and Don.

PHILLIPS: Not one more device. I can't -- I can't even keep up with what I have, Steph.

ELAM: Now, we're sending stuff out to pasture now.

PHILLIPS: All right, right. See you in a little bit.

ELAM: Sounds good.

LEMON: Well, what a difference two months make. Mike Huckabee's campaign catching fire in the Hawkeye State. Romney, Rudy, Fred, all apparently looking at his back right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live in the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips.

Severe weather from coast to coast. We've got your forecast, your I-Reports right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

First, though, I want to take you out to Riverside, California. Live pictures right now of a trench rescue that we're following.

We're told that this man, this construction worker, is trapped up to his neck in dirt and mud at this construction site. The good news is he's reported to be conscious and alert.

The call came in a couple of hours ago. Riverside County Fire responded immediately. They're actually using a vacuum truck to suck up the dirt and water that's surrounding him. It could take at least a couple more hours to complete the rescue, but we're following this right now. Live pictures from KABC, our affiliate out of Los Angeles. This is Riverside, California, a trench rescue. We are following this. You can see the vacuum truck there as it's sucking up the dirt and water around him. Trapped up to his neck, trying to get him out. It should take a couple hours. Don't know how it happened. Pretty riveting pictures. DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Absolutely. In Washington, President Bush has a message for Congress. Get busy. Lawmakers returned for a short session between the holidays, this morning Mr. Bush scolded them for not getting more done. He's especially eager to sign some spending bills.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH, UNITED STATES: The end of 2007 is approaching fast. And the new congress has little to show for it. I call on members to use the time left to support our troops and to protect our citizens, prevent harmful tax increases and responsibly fund our government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Senate majority leader Harry Reid says the president, not democrats in congress, is to blame. And on the topic of Iraq, the surge is not working.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HARRY REID (D), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: It's no secret we have different priorities than the president's. We've been willing to work with him and he has for seven years been opposed to anything other than something he wants, no negotiation, no change of course, no cooperation whatsoever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: When it comes to caucuses Iowans haven't spoken but are whispering. A fresh set of poll numbers show that Barack Obama on top of the democratic heap, he's favored by 28% of likely caucus goers. Hillary Clinton and John Edwards are close behind. It's not quite as tied on the flip side. Mike Huckabee 29%, Mitt Romney second with 24% and Rudy Giuliani is back in third with 13%. Iowa caucuses are a month -- it's a month from today. It's crunch time. Dana Bash, in Des Moines where bad weather couldn't close the campaign trail. That's for sure. Hi Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi. The bad weather has now just turned into wind Kyra. The poll you were talking about on the republican side, it's really interesting because for the first time in a major poll it puts Mike Huckabee in the lead. He's been coming up on Mitt Romney's heels but now he is in the lead. Most of his support is still from social conservatives who like the former Baptist preacher on issues like abortion and gay marriage. That is why his rivals here in this state have been attacking him more and more on issues where they say he is not that conservative. They're pointing out his record.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: Standing room only, New Hampshire house party for Mike Huckabee.

MIKE HUCKABEE, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The first time I came everybody that came could sit right here.

BASH: With these crowds and surging poll numbers the Arkansas' governor record is under fresh criticism from immigration.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor Huckabee fought in favor of giving in-state tuition breaks to illegal aliens.

BASH: To taxes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Others suggested a surcharge on the income tax. That's acceptable.

BASH: This 2003 speech to the Arkansas legislature is being used in two ads against Huckabee.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me tell you some of the things you're going to hear. One of the things is Huckabee was a tax and spender in Arkansas.

BASH: Huckabee is trying to preempt those strikes, so what is his record? On taxes, he says he signed --

HUCKABEE: The first ever broad based tax cuts and signed 94 different tax cuts.

BASH: That's true but he also raised taxes 21 times including 16% more in gas taxes, and a 103% hike in cigarette taxes. He left office with an overall tax increase of $505 million. Huckabee says the money went to Arkansas schools and roads and tells CNN he has no regrets.

HUCKABEE: There are times when that's necessary. Ronald Reagan raised taxes when he was governor of California. He raised taxes when he was president.

BASH: On immigration, Huckabee backed tuition breaks for children of illegal immigrants, he fought legislation to require proof of citizenship for state services. On both no regrets.

HUCKABEE: If you want national security handled by people at entry level of state government that's what you get.

BASH: But Huckabee's biggest controversy as governor is the Wayne Dumont case, a convicted rapist sentenced to life in prison, a punishment Huckabee among others called too tough. Dumont was released on Huckabee's watch, then raped another woman and killed her.

HUCKABEE: It's horrible. There is nothing any of us can ever do, none of us could have predicted what he would have done when he got out.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: Kyra, what Huckabee says is that this process that led to Dumont's release, that started back before he was governor when some of his predecessors were in the governor's mansion, one of those is of course Bill Clinton. But Huckabee says he realizes that salacious case is likely to become a campaign issue. I can tell you some of his rival campaigns are privately talking about it as a potential weapon against him.

PHILLIPS: We'll follow that and also some other campaigns. Romney's speech planned for Thursday on faith. What is he expected to say in relation to his run for the presidency?

BASH: That's right. This is a highly anticipated speech. It was debated very intensely inside the Romney campaign among him and his advisors for months. It was finally decided, we're told, last week he feels like he has no choice but to give a major address talking about faith. We're told it's not going to be Mormonism 101, really explaining the faith, but that so many don't know much about but rather, try to explain how he will use or perhaps not use his faith when it comes to the White House if he were elected to the White House. This has been a big issue for him across the board, particularly in Iowa. You know that he had been a front-runner. He has lost support among social conservatives as I was talking about to Mike Huckabee. Some is because of his stance on social issues like abortion and gay marriage. But other is frankly, because some evangelicals are a little skeptical of him and his religion. He has gotten those questions, so his campaign finally felt like this is the right time, a month or maybe a short after month before the first votes to really go public and explain what his religion is about and how he intends to deal with that in public office.

PHILLIPS: All right. Dana Bash, thanks so much. Don.

LEMON: Some very powerful storms coast to coast. Everything from hurricane force winds, Chad, to icy roads and snow up to your knees. Come on. It's a mess. What's going on?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: A couple of different storms, one in the east, one in the northwest. In the east slowing down airports with its wind and now it's snow. But the one in the west causing hurricane force winds on the headlands. We have a reporter Chad Carter from our affiliate in Portland KPTV standing out there. I was looking at your weather there. Looks like the rain may have stopped but the wind is still blowing.

CHAD CARTER, KPTV REPORTER: Absolutely, Chad. We have had a little reprieve from that unrelenting rain that happened pretty much all day yesterday through the overnight and then well into today. The wind died down for a while but since picked up. We're probably gusting it to 25, 30 miles an hour right now. We're live for you in Lincoln City, Oregon along the coast west of Portland.

Behind me you can see the Chinook Winds Casino, and this happened last night. You may be able to see that some of the neon lighting that surrounds the top of the building has ripped away and dropped down and as we pan down a little lower, you can see some of the siding from the building has also sheered away. I talked to one person from the casino. He told me that is the back portion of their stage inside. And now that is going directly to their back stage and they are very concerned about their expenses, sound equipment and water, then getting onto the stage there. However, this is the only place in Lincoln City that currently has power so it's become somewhat of a refuge for people here, bringing their little kids and their elderly alike because this is the only place that has heat, has food and has running water.

The storm for the most part has kind of made its way through though we're seeing the remnants. We're focusing on the aftermath. We're hearing reports of flooding in major rivers to the north of us and that has been a very big concern because of the low level grounds there, some in fact below sea level. So we're having to turn our focus. Also we're hearing that the power could be out for three to four days. Chad, back to you.

MYERS: We had 45-foot waves off the coast there just to where you are, off to your west. Here is Lincoln City here in this little bay, then the coast and the Oregon coast and the waves coming on shore here. Have you seen these waves? Have you seen beach erosion? These crashing waves out there?

CARTER: Sorry, say that again please.

MYERS: Have you seen these crashing waves? We hear 45-foot seas out there in the pacific.

CARTER: Yeah, absolutely. If you bear with us we're going to turn you a bit we're going to turn you just a little bit. If you can sneak a peek through the awning you can see the Pacific Ocean. It's crashing against the sea wall on the other side of this hotel. So it's extremely unsafe to be out there right now. You know, I know it's hard to see exactly what it's doing but it's spectacular. The ocean has been churning for quite some time. Those 40-foot swells are predicted to continue which Chad, I'm sure you know.

MYERS: That's Chad Carter from KPTV reporting from a hurricane, basically, though he didn't expect to have one on the coast of Oregon. Chad, thanks. Get inside, stay safe. I didn't see anything flying around. Those winds have been gusting to over 129 miles per hour on some of these ridges. Not so much down along the surface but up on the ridges up in the headlands, over 100-mile-per-hour gusts today. Getting a little better tonight but still winds at 60. You can't put power lines back up when the winds are blowing that hard. The power companies have no choice but to let them down until you get people up there in that bucket. You wouldn't want to be in a bucket with the wind 60 to 70 miles per hour.

LEMON: No you wouldn't. I'm glad you asked him to show that shot. Why isn't the live shot there over the water?

MYERS: Because he's protected by that building. Otherwise the satellite dish would be all over the place. Chad and Chad, thank you.

PHILLIPS: The drama started at Hillary Clinton's campaign office in Rochester, New Hampshire and it continues this hour in court. Live pictures from New Hampshire now. Leeland Eisenberg is accused of taking five people hostage while wearing what looked like explosives on his body. The standoff ended without anybody getting hurt. Eisenberg faces charges of kidnapping and fraudulent use of a bomb- like device. He wanted help for a drinking problem but didn't have the insurance or the money to pay for it. We're going to talk with legal analyst Mickey Sherman coming up after we hear live from the courtroom.

LEMON: Idaho Senator Larry Craig faces new allegations about his past sexual behavior. Sunday's Idaho Statesman newspaper identifies four gay men who claim they either had sex with Craig, or were the subject of his sexual advances. The men describe their encounters to the newspaper in detail. The newspaper offers no physical evidence to back up the report describing the claims as quote "he said/he said" allegations. In a statement, Senator Craig calls the claims "completely false." In his words, "it's unfortunate that the Idaho Statesman has chosen to continue to lower itself to the standards of what can best be described as tabloid journalism." Senator Craig you may remember was arrested last June in a sex sting at Minneapolis Airport in a bathroom there. He pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct but he tried to withdraw the plea after his arrest became public. Craig also backed away from plans to resign his Senate seat, instead choosing to stay until his term expires in January of 2009.

PHILLIPS: She's almost home free. A British teacher convicted and jailed in Sudan for insulting Islam has gotten a presidential pardon and has just left Sudan. Gillian Gibbons created an uproar when she allowed her students to name a teddy bear Mohammed. Some Sudanese wanted her killed. Gibbons is now on a plan headed back to the U.K. after a stop in Dubai. She said she never would have offended anybody on purpose. Time Magazine reports a disgruntled former school employee that had turned her in.

LEMON: AIDS, no longer a death sentence for many. We'll hear from some people who are living with HIV.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Amid all of the events that marked world AIDS day confusion and controversy over the latest statistics on the disease. The Centers for Disease Control confirm yesterday it's revising its estimates of how many Americans are infected with the disease. It won't release the numbers until sometime next year. According to AIDS activists and researchers the new figure could be 35 to 55% higher than the current estimate of 40,000 new cases as year. They say they need to know now so they can set spending priorities and refocus prevention efforts. Worldwide, more than 33 million people are believed to be living with HIV/AIDS.

LEMON: Well, AIDS used to be an automatic death sentence. People are still dying from it, don't get it wrong. Now these drugs make it possible to live with the disease. Still some are not getting the message and it's still an uphill battle for many of those who are infected.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Every morning Theron Stuart counts his blessings.

THERON STUART: I go to my kitchen cabinet. I pull out my meds.

LEMON: Among those blessings, the pills he needs to keep him alive.

STUART: I look at my pills and I take the biggest one first.

LEMON: It's been the same ritual for seven years since the 50- year-old divorced Baptist minister learned he was HIV positive, at first he says he was in denial.

STUART: Ministers aren't supposed to have this. Christians aren't supposed to have this. Fathers aren't supposed to have this. I came down with it. This virus knows no discrimination.

LEMON: The turning point didn't come until months later when he saw someone die from AIDS.

STUART: I had a message to tell and people needed to hear that story. Hear that message.

LEMON: That awakening eventually led him to the AIDS alliance for Faith and Health in Atlanta, an outreach and support organization for people living with HIV.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning. It feels so good to be here today. I'm feeling the spirit today.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My t-cell is 525.

LEMON: It's the closest thing to family many here know. When 40-year-old Travelle Ambrose was diagnosed with AIDS on his 21st birthday he says his family disowned him.

TRAVELLE AMBROSE, HIV/AIDS PATIENT: My issue with my parents was how could you love me one day and then hate me the next.

LEMON: Ambrose and Reverend Stuart it's typical for African- American families to shut out loved ones who are gay or HIV positive. Even though as of 2005, blacks accounted for 49% of all HIV/AIDS cases according to the CDC. African-American women are at highest risk of becoming infected. And 61% of young people under the age of 25 diagnosed with HIV/AIDS were black.

Would you say it's a crisis point in the African-American community?

STUART: Definitely. And the church and the African-American community has to step up to the plate or it's going to get worse.

LEMON: More than 90% of people receiving services at AIDS alliance are African-American, the organization receives monthly help from 32 area churches, but only one of those is black.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not just taking a pill.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not taking a pill, no. It's a far more involved process.

LEMON: For young people in general, not just blacks, the number of HIV/AIDS cases is growing. 24-year-old James Lopez stays alive with two painful injections each day.

JAMES LOPEZ, HIV/AIDS PATIENT: I'm injecting the water.

LEMON: This is a drug.

LOPEZ: Into the fusion which is the powder.

LEMON: Lopez says his generation didn't witness the more widespread deaths in the 1980s and 1990s before a treatment was available and now think they are invincible. A deadly misunderstanding that Reverend Stewart made his mission to correct.

STUART: People do die of AIDS today. They don't have to die of HIV today.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: It's amazing Kyra. It's 26 years into this disease and people, it still has that stigma where people are like gosh, like a dirty word.

PHILLIPS: It's not a gay disease. That was how it was thought to be.

LEMON: People often equated that that it's a gay disease. Now more than it was a heterosexual disease for a while. Now it's a black and brown disease as you saw from the stats in there in my story here, 49% of all of the people who are the new cases are -- or who are infected are African-American. With those new numbers that you reported before these stories with that new testing, it could go up even higher. So, it's even more important now for people to get the message and to start talking about it.

PHILLIPS: You think we have become a lazy generation? We don't think about it so much anymore or we rely on all the drugs and the testing.

LEMON: I think it's a number ever things. Yes, apathy is one. The other is that young people didn't see the droves and droves of people dying. I mean we grew up in the 70s and 80s and 90s and we saw all the people dying. They didn't see that. They think you can live on a pill. Not everybody can -- will get well from drug cocktails. You can see that kid, 26, he has to take two powerful shots, painful shots every day. And in the African-American community, it's just something you don't talk about. You saw 32 churches partner with this AIDS organization. They serve 99% of the people they serve are African-American, only one church is black. That says a lot.

PHILLIPS: Sure does. It's quite a statement.

Product Red is in the pink, the brand co-created by singer activist Bono has generated $50 million for the U.N.'s global fund to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa. That milestone comes nearly two years after Product Red was launched. It's a consumer driven concept with retailers such as the Gap, Apple and Motorola offering special red branded items, they donate a percentage of sales to the global fund.

LEMON: Acting for good, Brad Pitt trying to raise homes and hopes down in New Orleans. The news keeps coming. We keep brining it to you. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: OK. New information we're getting, six charges, one kidnapping, one threatening, and one explosives -- what did you say, threatening explosives. This is Leeland Eisenberg, 46 years old, in court now, the man who -- he's in the small monitor if we can get that little monitor back up. He's in that small monitor there you see in the courtroom. He's in front of a judge being arraigned on charges for going into Hillary Clinton's campaign office on Friday in Rochester, New York.

And here's a little bit of background about that. According to his family, his family said that he had a drinking problem and they wanted desperately to get help for him. But they lacked the insurance and the money to pay for it. But again, obviously some very serious problems.

We saw him over the weekend surrender to police and the S.W.A.T. team and what have you. But again, 46-year-old Leeland Eisenberg in Rochester, New Hampshire, today being arraigned there on that video. You see he's on video and the rest of the folks are in court for going into the campaign office, taking several people hostage there.

The drama all played out in the CNN NEWSROOM on Friday. It was a pretty scary situation for the people walking out as we got videotape of some of the people who were being released, as we were on the air. You could just see the desperation and sadness or the worry I should say on their faces.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com