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Decision Day Arrives in Iowa; Dying Voter's Mission
Aired January 03, 2008 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it's never too late for justice. Just ask the Texas man newly freed after 26 years in prison for a rape he did not commit. We will ask him this hour, when Charles Chatman joins us in the CNN NEWSROOM.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN ANCHOR: A missing hiker, a person of interest, and two frigid nights in the north Georgia mountains. The search for Meredith Emerson is getting more urgent by the minute.
Hello. I'm Rob Marciano at the CNN Center in Atlanta.
PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Well, with the final moment of the trading day closing, light sweet crude oil settled at $99.18 a barrel. The high today was $100.5. Susan Lisovicz will be joining us from the New York Stock Exchange in just about -- well, less than 20 minutes, to talk about it.
MARCIANO: Meanwhile, decision day in Iowa. Just hours from now, caucus-goers will line up behind their favorite presidential candidates and get the ball officially rolling on this year's nominating process. Between now and then, a last-minute scramble.
And the CNN Election Express is in Des Moines to bring you up-to- the minute coverage from the best political team on television.
PHILLIPS: Thunderous applause and a standing ovation for a man convicted almost 27 ago in Texas. From day one, Charles Chatman swore that he never raped his neighbor, who twice picked him out as her attacker. His lawyers say that recent DNA testing cleared Chatman beyond any shadow of a doubt and today a judge freed him on his own recognizance after more than 26 years of extreme patience.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLES CHATMAN, EXONERATED: I didn't never doubt that this day would come. Every time I would go to parole, they wanted a description of the crime or my version of the crime.
And there is no version. I don't have a version of the crime. I never committed the crime. And I don't know how they were taking it like I was rebellious or what, but I never would -- I never will admit to doing this crime that I know I didn't.
(END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: We're actually going to speak with Charles Chatman later this hour.
A potentially ominous lead in the search for a missing hiker in the frigid hills of north Georgia. Meredith Emerson, 24, was last seen New Year's Day on Blood Mountain with her black Labrador, Ella. It now appears that she may have met up with a stranger who's being called a person of interest.
Authorities say that he's a white man about 50 to 60 years old with bad teeth or maybe no teeth at all. He's got a dog named Dandy (ph) that may have played at some point with Meredith's dog. Authorities gave us some new details just a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIMBERLY VERDONE, UNION COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: The white male, we have actually gotten more information on this white male that is of interest. He's actually -- from what we gather, he's a 60-year- old white male. He is 5'10''. He is 160 pounds. He has silver-gray hair.
And he is possibly in a 2000, 2001, that style of a minivan, white in color, actually was seen in the area yesterday morning. And the dog is actually a reddish in color large breed dog. We can't tell if it's actually an Irish setter or a Lab.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Answers to the name of Dandy.
VERDONE: And the dog answers to the name of Dandy, not Danny. It's D-A-N-D-Y or D-A-N-D-I-E.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, the mountains are being searched by professionals and volunteers right now. Meredith's parents are now there. And the Georgia Bureau of Investigation is on the case as well.
MARCIANO: Live pictures here, a cold day in Washington, D.C. There's the White House, where the president's staff is finalizing plans for next week's trip to the Middle East. Let's now bring in CNN's Kathleen Koch at the White House.
Kathleen, recent violence over there kind of complicates the peace process that the president is putting together. What's he saying today?
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the president and the White House are still ambitious about their prospects in this visit, a very broad-ranging visit. The president will be, of course, meeting with the leaders, Israel and Palestinian authorities, also the president visiting five other countries in the regions.
Critics still look at this, though, and say this is too little too late, coming in the last year of his presidency, the president, critics charge, being too distracted by Iraq, the wars in Afghanistan.
But National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, in a briefing with reporters, he did acknowledge the administration is not looking for any headline announcements from this trip, but did defend the president's record, and he said that the president just going there is going to advance the prospects for peace.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN HADLEY, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: The president has been working fairly consistently over seven years to put in place the building blocks of what now offers an opportunity for peace.
And he has seized that opportunity. That's what Annapolis was all about. And this trip is an opportunity for him to show his own personal commitment by going to the region and hearing from the parties directly and encourage them to seize the opportunity that is before them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: Now, President Bush in an interview today with Reuters News Service said that he would use the visit to keep the pressure on both sides.
And one issue he did bring up was the expansion of Israeli settlements, the president saying that they can be an impediment to success and that Israelis would need to follow through on their pledge to begin to dismantle the unauthorized outposts -- back to you.
MARCIANO: The president's trip to the Middle East scheduled for next week.
Kathleen Koch live for us today at the White House -- thanks, Kathleen.
KOCH: You bet.
PHILLIPS: Back to Iowa now, first stop on the road to the White House. Candidates have been glad-handing and chatting up voters for months.
CNN's Joe Johns is in Des Moines "Keeping Them Honest."
Joe, let's start with the Democrats and their stand on the issues.
JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.
This is the Savery ballroom. It is in Des Moines, Iowa, of course the place where we do expect to see John Edwards later this evening. It's still a work in progress, as you might expect. Now, John Edwards, of course, is one of the people we looked at, three Democrats in fact, and their stand on the issues that seemed to matter most to voters right now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS (voice-over): By far, Iraq is the top concern here in Iowa among Democrats. Hillary Clinton voted for it, but now she says she wouldn't.
SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, (D-NY) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have said that, as soon as I am inaugurated, I will ask the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the secretary of defense, my security advisers to give me a plan, so that I can begin to withdraw troops within 60 days.
JOHNS: Ditto John Edwards. He voted for force, now regrets it, and now wants the troops out ASAP. Barack Obama feels exactly the same, except that he spoke out against the war before it started.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D-IL) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have to end the war in Iraq. It costs us $9 billion to $10 billion a month.
(APPLAUSE)
JOHNS (on camera): "Keeping Them Honest," that gives Obama bragging rights with the anti-war crowd, but, other than that, the top three Democrats are pretty much in lockstep.
(voice-over): Health care -- Clinton wants to mandate -- a Washington word for force -- health care coverage for all Americans. And anyone who can't afford it would get taxpayer money to help out.
Obama would create a national health care program for anyone who can't get one at work. Edwards puts the burden more squarely on employers: Either provide insurance or help your workers pay for it privately, or else.
JOHN EDWARDS, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Tonight, 47 million people in America will go to bed knowing that, if their child gets up in the middle of the night sick, they're going to have to go to the emergency room and beg for health care, while the CEO of one of the biggest health care companies makes hundreds of millions of dollars.
JOHNS: Three candidates, two issues. And, while they may differ on the details, the goals are the same. Good luck choosing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS: So, as I said, the top Democrats here in Iowa are pretty closely aligned on a lot of the issues, but style is a completely different thing.
John Edwards is pushing this populist approach, trying to plug into voter anger. Barack Obama has this morning in America thing going on. And Hillary Clinton is pretty much pushing the inevitability of her campaign based on her experience -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Joe, stay with us.
On the Republican side, the two top issues are immigration and the economy. We're going to find out where GOP runners stand as our Joe Johns keeps them honest.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, the two Republican front-runners heading into tonight's caucuses offer very different views on the top two issues for Iowa Republicans.
Once again, our Joe Johns is "Keeping Them Honest."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Romney cut taxes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is it that defines a great leader?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My plan is to secure the border.
JOHNS (voice-over): Ads making you dizzy? Here's a quick guide. Feel free to apply directly to the forehead.
(on camera) The latest CNN poll says number one for Iowa Republicans, the economy.
HUCKABEE: We have a system of taxes that penalizes you for your productivity. The harder you work, the more the government wants out of you.
JOHNS (voice-over): See that building. It's the IRS. If Mike Huckabee was president, it would be gone. That's right, no income taxes, no IRS. Instead you would pay a national sales tax.
Mitt Romney wouldn't go quite that far. he would make the Bush tax cuts permanent, get rid of the estate taxes, cut down capital gains taxes and take a look at a national sales tax.
"Keeping Them Honest," the president doesn't determine tax policy, Congress does.
On immigration, Huckabee's for the Bush plan to provide a path to citizenship for some illegals. And he thinks any plans to deport them all are just unworkable, which leaves the no compromise wing wide open for Mitt Romney.
MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But I want them to come here legally. And illegal immigration is a burden, and that is something I will stop.
JOHNS: He opposes the Bush guest worker program, and he says the only way illegals should be able to apply for citizenship is to go home and do it again legally.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS: There's a feeling here that turnout could set a record here in Iowa tonight. The weather may help. It appears that it may be just a tad warmer in Iowa, certainly around Des Moines, than it has been the past couple days -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Now, Joe, I know you in environments like this. You always get to know a lot of interesting people. Any moments to note thus far?
(LAUGHTER)
JOHNS: Well, actually, I do have one.
Last night, after I got through working for "A.C. 360," I decided to jump in the car, get the GPS and drive around to a couple of the events and see what was going on. We went to an Obama event and a John Edwards event, really just a study in contrasts.
And people say the craziest things. I was coming out of the Edwards event, well attended, and two women were walking with me. And I asked, so, what did you think of the event? And one of the women said, you know, that John Edwards, he's just as cute as a button. I just hope he's not the Antichrist. You know, it's like, oh my God. So...
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: Now, were these young women or seniors?
JOHNS: Young women, young women, plugged in, energized, and, you know -- but that's going on out here in Iowa.
PHILLIPS: Right.
JOHNS: People are really sort of trying to run the traps. Is this a good person? Is there something they're hiding, you know? And everybody's asking questions. That's what Iowans do.
PHILLIPS: I love it.
Joe Johns, working the characters and the stories -- thanks, Joe.
(LAUGHTER)
JOHNS: You bet.
MARCIANO: Well, a dying voter's mission in Iowa.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATHY STANGL, DYING IOWA VOTER: One person can make a difference, one that every day, every decision you make in your life is important. And you can make a difference. And you can make a change.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARCIANO: We will have more on Kathy Stangl's story and her effort to change the nation's health care system. It's coming up in the NEWSROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: Facing a terminal illness, one Iowa voter is making health care her mission. And she's not taking no for an answer.
CNN's Randi Kaye reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This 56-year-old mother of two from Des Moines, Iowa, should have been dead last April. Instead, she's on the campaign trail grilling presidential hopefuls.
STANGL: It's a big job interview. I wanted to see what they said about health care, what they said about research.
KAYE: Kathy Stangl has lung disease. It's untreatable and incurable. She knows one day it will kill her.
Before it does, she's doing all she can to change the future of U.S. health care, a key campaign issue, especially for women voters. Kathy has gone head to head with all but two presidential hopefuls. She's attended nearly 70 campaign events, including this one for Democratic Senator Chris Dodd.
SEN. CHRISTOPHER DODD, (D-CT) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: How are you?
KAYE: One year ago, Kathy was given three months to live. The gift of time has given her the chance to tell candidates about her illness and push them to direct more health care dollars toward research, early intervention and prevention.
(on camera): It's estimated at least 250,000 women may have the same disease as Kathy, but are walking around undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. The disease is called lymphangioleiomyomatosis, or LAM. It affects women in the prime of their lives, most often in their child-bearing years. Breathing becomes a daily battle.
(voice-over): Nearly 50 million people in the U.S. don't have health insurance. Presidential contenders on both sides of the aisle are promising to change that. The Democrats are offering broader and more immediate changes, including subsidies and mandated insurance. The Republicans generally oppose any mandate, but favor making insurance affordable through tax credits.
Still, health care has rarely been front and center on the campaign trail. Kathy says Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney blew her off when she approached them about it.
STANGL: Giuliani said to me that health care is good. Everybody, you know, likes good health, and health care is good, and good health is good, some variation on that, a little permutation of that that I have played over and over again in my mind over and over, without giving me any specifics. KAYE: Kathy wants a universal health plan. She's decided to vote for Democratic Senator Joe Biden, who plans to create a pool of private health plans, similar to the ones federal workers have. While she campaigns, the candidates, especially the Democrats, continue to hash it out on health care.
CLINTON: He said it was universal. He said it was sort of universal. He said it wasn't universal.
OBAMA: Senator Clinton still hasn't explained what exactly this mandate is.
KAYE: And amid the he said, she said, Kathy just wants to be heard.
STANGL: The legacy that I want to leave is a legacy for my daughters, and for people in general, but for my daughters to leave that one person can make a difference, one that every day, every decision you make in your life is important. And you can make a difference. And you can make a change, and that -- I don't know how long I have. Nobody knows how long I have.
KAYE: And if Kathy Stangl isn't here to hold candidates accountable for what they have promised, she hopes someone else will be.
Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: Well, if you want to learn more about the disease that Kathy has -- it's called LAM -- just go to www.lamfoundation.org. That's lamfoundation.org.
PHILLIPS: Three eighteen Eastern time right now. Here are some oft other stories we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Open again, the gates to San Francisco Zoo, but it's a sad place today. Visitors left tribute at a memorial for both the tiger and the teen who was killed in that escape and attack Christmas day. The big cat display is closed indefinitely.
Missing in the north Georgia mountains, a 24-year-old woman who went hiking with her dog New Year's Day -- police are pushing the description of a man seen here with Meredith Emerson the last time she was seen.
And, for the second straight day, light sweet crude oil crossed that $100 line again. That's on the heels of a report showing U.S. supplies are down.
MARCIANO: And this man is free after spending 26 years in prison for a rape that DNA evidence proves he didn't commit. We will talk with the newly exonerated Charles Chatman -- live in the NEWSROOM.
PHILLIPS: And news flash, it's cold out there. Teeth are chattering way down South and way out West. Warm your hands on the TV set -- an update from the Weather Center coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, the Army's testing a new way to detect IEDs in the battlefield.
CNN's Miles O'Brien reports, it could be the next big thing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CHIEF TECHNOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The newest point man in the Army may not be a person at all. This is an armored vehicle called Black Knight, a robot designed to find trouble in a war zone.
CAPTAIN RAY ALMODOVAR, U.S. ARMY: As a prototype right now, it is the best thing that we have got going for us.
O'BRIEN: The primary goal, to find improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, that have killed and maimed so many troops in Iraq or Afghanistan.
ALMODOVAR: You have an unmanned ground robotic system that's survivable, that, if it is damaged, you get repaired. Nobody is killed.
O'BRIEN: Taking troops out of the picture has obvious advantages. The Black Knight is designed by BAE Systems to be operated by soldiers in a nearby Bradley Fighting Vehicle or even on foot with a remote control.
Think of it:
ALMODOVAR: As the wingman basically for the Bradleys, so that you send it out in harm's way, and we can stay back in a relatively safe location.
O'BRIEN: The 12-ton Black Knight is also rigged with cameras and sensors, so it can navigate on its own. It also has a .30-millimeter cannon and a machine gun. But the Pentagon says Black Knight will not be programmed to shoot on its own. A real live soldier is supposed to make that call. Even this remarkable knight in tan armor has limitations.
Miles O'Brien, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: Applause and a standing ovation for a convicted rapist freed after he's exonerated by DNA evidence -- finally, after nearly 27 years, justice.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT) MARCIANO: In other weather news, a fairly heavy blanket of snow fell in Iran yesterday -- that's right, Iran -- closing schools, grinding highway traffic to a stop and generally creating a winter wonderland a place you just don't typically expect it. One woman says it's the most snow she's seen in years. It's not all wonderland. Heavy snow means people use more natural gas. And that's causing pressure problems and shortages in Tehran.
(VIDEO FROM PAKISTAN)
PHILLIPS: Benazir Bhutto's final moments alive, captured this time from a different angle. The Pakistani opposition leader stood atop her motorcade a week ago today. Assassin or assassins struck her down. It happened right there. This photographer understandably got caught up in the mayhem and panic that followed right afterward. Pakistan's president appeared today on state-run television. He addressed charges that the investigation is being impeded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, PAKISTAN: I am not fully satisfied. Yes, I'll agree. I'll accept that. And if you think about the cleaning of the area, yes, again I am not satisfied.
Why did they do that? I mean it's unnecessary. It shouldn't have been done. But if you -- if you are meaning that they did it by design to hide evidence? No. It is just inefficiency, I would say.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Musharraf strongly denies his military or intelligence agents had anything to do with Bhutto's death. He also wonders why Bhutto insisted traveling with her head outside of the sunroof.
Well, who did it, who wanted it and why wasn't Bhutto -- the highly visible and often threatened politician -- better protected? Bhutto's husband has the same question. He spoke with CNN's John Vause.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Asif Ali Zardari says before his wife, Benazir Bhutto, returned to Pakistan from exile, attempts were made to hire a private international security firm, but permission never came from the Pakistani government.
ASIF ALI ZARDARI, BENAZIR BHUTTO'S HUSBAND: I met and interviewed many companies. There were many companies that were willing to come -- British, Americans and some other countries. But we needed government permission. We needed the government of Pakistan to clear that.
VAUSE: Which you didn't get?
ZARDARI: Which I never got.
VAUSE: Zardari's son Bilawal, who is now also the new leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, has returned to Dubai and will shortly resume his studies at Oxford University in England. His father, though, fears for his son's safety and is worried that he may be a target for extremists. And he says the British government is considering a request for a special security detail.
ZARDARI: He's young. We will protect him. And at the request of the British government, also, to provide him security. And, basically, there was no other way.
VAUSE: So you've made that request to the British government?
ZARDARI: Yes, I have.
VAUSE: And what's been their response?
ZARDARI: Their response is quite positive.
VAUSE: And Zardari now seems to be backing away from outright blaming President Musharraf for his wife's assassination, but he's still calling for a U.N.-sponsored inquiry. If that happens, he says, he'll consider an independent autopsy carried out by another government -- possibly from the United States or Britain.
John Vause, CNN, Larkana, Pakistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: Two U.S. servicemen found dead in West Africa. How they died, we still don't know, but today we did learn their names. The Navy says the bodies of Petty Officers Patrick Mack of Warren, Michigan and Lonnie Davis of Riverdale, Georgia were found in a hotel room near the capital of Ghana. The men were assigned to the USS Fort McHenry, ported in Ghana for a training mission. A Navy official tells CNN the deaths appear to be alcohol-related.
PHILLIPS: Four people are dead, more than 60 wounded, in a big city in Southeastern Turkey. A remotely detonated car bomb went off next to a bus filled with Turkish soldiers. It's the same city where a bomber killed more than 10 people in September of 2006. Tension runs high in the area between the Turkish military and the largely Kurdish population.
MARCIANO: Drastic measures against rioting crowds on the streets of Nairobi, Kenya. We've seen rampages, fires and mobs with machetes -- even though a major opposition rally was postponed. Hundreds of people are dead and many times that number can't go home. It's just too dangerous. The protesters refuse to accept the official vote count in last week's election. They're fighting with police and with people who support the now reelected president.
A little while ago, we asked CNN's International Jim Clancy for a crash course on this chaos.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM CLANCY, ANCHOR, "YOUR WORLD TODAY": It is not a case where Kenya is about to fall off the cliff. It's a case of where two politicians desperately wanting to seize power, to hold onto power, are pushing Kenya off the edge. And we are talking the current president right now, Mwai Kibaki, and Raila Odinga, the opposition leader. Right now, these two guys are pushing their followers -- largely based on ethnic or tribal lines, right to the brink.
Why does Kenya matter? Why is the U.S. sending in a diplomat in there right now? Well, they have very good reason to be concerned about what's going on here. Just think back. Al Qaeda is trying persistently to establish some kind of a foothold in Africa. Kenya is a target. Go back to 1998 -- the embassy bombing there, the U.S. Embassy. Some 200 people were killed -- more than 200. More than 4,000 others were wounded. That not the only terror attack launched by Al Qaeda. So the U.S. has a strong interest here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARCIANO: Well, now the U.S. is getting involved. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is sending a U.S. envoy to meet with Kenya's president and his political rival -- the man he defeated in last week's disputed election.
PHILLIPS: Well, this man is free after spending 26 years in prison for a rape that DNA evidence proves he did not commit. We're going to talk with the newly exonerated Charles Chatman live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: When is the last time you saw an accused rapist get a standing ovation?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want you to turn your chair around
CHARLES CHATMAN, WRONGLY CONVICTED FOR RAPE: All right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, this man did -- Charles Chatman. He's a free man after DNA tests showed that he did not commit the rape that he was sent to prison for in 1981. Chatman, along with his lawyer, Jeff Blackburn, join us on this momentous day some 26 years in the making.
Charles, I must say, you look extremely relaxed for being in this position right now. How do you feel?
CHATMAN: I've got a lot of emotions going through. I'm just trying to settle everything down and...
PHILLIPS: I can just imagine.
So when you found out that you were cleared, that after all these years -- you said you did not commit this crime. When you finally got the word that you were going to be set free, what was going through your mind and your heart?
CHATMAN: Well, just a real heartfelt welcome, you know, to have a judge like I did, that would really go to bat and stick with it to the end. And I just feel real good.
PHILLIPS: Well, and from what I understand, this judge kind of took it personal. And you guys had lunch together. And he got you fitted for a suit.
Tell me about this relationship.
CHATMAN: Yes, Judge Caruso (ph) has been a real -- a real warrior in this situation. We spent yesterday -- part of yesterday together. We -- I ate my first T-bone steak in a while so...
(LAUGHTER)
CHATMAN: I spent it with him -- I spent a few hours with him. And he's just been a -- a real champion in this situation.
PHILLIPS: You know what, this is something I really wanted to ask you -- and I don't even know if you can answer it. But you were accused of rape by your neighbor. She lived just a few houses down. She picked you -- your picture -- out of a lineup twice. Obviously, you did not commit the crime.
How do you feel about her? Do you know if she's still alive? Do you want to talk to her? What's going on in your mind with regard to her and what she did?
CHATMAN: I really -- I really hate what she did, but through the years, I've learned to direct that hatred toward forgiveness. And I kind of forgive her -- I can forgive her personally. But I hate the situation that it's put myself in and a number of other people in. And, yes, I found out just a while ago that she is still alive where -- in some nursing home, I think.
But I don't have no ill feelings toward her personally. But I do have real strong feelings between -- concerning the situation of innocent people being locked in prison for crimes they didn't commit.
PHILLIPS: I can just imagine. Do you want to talk to her? Do you want to sit down with her?
CHATMAN: I haven't thought about that yet. I don't -- I don't know.
PHILLIPS: Jeff, you know, you're his attorney and you just think about -- wow! I mean here's someone that looked at that picture twice, picked him out of that lineup a couple times and he didn't do it. And she -- she -- it's very possible she probably knew that he didn't do it.
Should she be held accountable? How do you feel about that?
JEFF BLACKBURN, CHATMAN'S ATTORNEY: Well, you know, that's a good question, because really it goes beyond what maybe this one individual victim did or identified him as doing. What we've got in Texas is a much deeper problem. We have a systemic problem of bad eyewitness identification practices by police. The real issue here is the system and not only what it did then, but also what it continues to do and how in Texas we are continuing with a crisis of innocent men and women locked up behind bars for crimes they did not commit.
PHILLIPS: The D.A. apologized for what happened to Charles. Is that enough?
BLACKBURN: It's a start. But it's -- and you have to understand, too, the Dallas County District Attorney's office is unique in this entire state, because we have a D.A. in Dallas that is genuinely committed to seeing justice done regardless of the cost. Here, you get an apology. In most other counties in Texas, you get a sneer and a kick out of the courtroom.
PHILLIPS: Here's what's interesting, too. And, Charles, I want to ask you, from what I understand, it was a big gamble for you to have this DNA test because there was only a little bit of evidence left from a vaginal swab and it truly could have exhausted the evidence. Why did you decide to take that risk and just go for it?
CHATMAN: Well, I decided to take the risk knowing that it could be my last chance. Because, first of all, my faith in God. And I really believed in not the court system, but the court I was in, the judge, the D.A., my attorney at the time, Michelle Moore. I believed in them. And I just closed my eyes, virtually, and took the chance.
PHILLIPS: Every single day for 26 years, how did you keep the hope, the faith? I mean I know -- I can just -- I mean I just feel it from you and your energy and what possibly could have been going through your mind every day. But how did you do it?
CHATMAN: I really don't know. But I do have -- I've maintained my faith that I would be cleared of this situation...
PHILLIPS: What do you...
CHATMAN: And...
PHILLIPS: I'm sorry. What do you want to do now, Charles?
CHATMAN: Well, right now I haven't really -- I haven't really thought about anything other than hopefully being a voice for some of the other guys that are still going through this situation and maybe being with The Innocence Project of Texas and whatever -- you know, whatever I can do. You know, if it's just talking, talk. Whatever. It really needs to be done to bring this to people's attention.
PHILLIPS: Well, I know you've got a family that loves you. Your Aunt Ethel was in the courtroom. I know you're best friend with your nephew, who's close to your age. You've got a number of nieces, as well. What's the next plan with regard to the family? Are you guys going to have a big celebration?
CHATMAN: We're planning on that this weekend but...
(LAUGHTER)
CHATMAN: We'll have to see how that goes.
PHILLIPS: What are you going to eat? What do you want? What do you want Aunt Ethel to cook?
CHATMAN: I like desserts.
(LAUGHTER)
CHATMAN: Give me a good dessert.
PHILLIPS: Oh, Charles. A final thought, Jeff? There's more Charles Chatmans in those jails I'll bet.
BLACKBURN: There are hundreds -- maybe thousands more -- Charles Chatmans throughout the whole state of Texas. And we at The Innocence Project of Texas are very dedicated to getting them out. We've got plenty of work to do.
PHILLIPS: Yes. Well, I know he's going to be compensated financially and also with counseling.
Charles, I hope you remain strong and become a voice for all those other individuals. You seem like you've got a good heart. And you're going to go forward now totally different from -- you were 20- years-old, right?
CHATMAN: Yes.. I don't think judge -- I didn't think you knew the story about the cell phone. I didn't know how to use that either. So the judge showed me a little bit about that yesterday, too.
PHILLIPS: Learning the cell phone, learning computers and learning the power of DNA testing.
CHATMAN: Yes.
PHILLIPS: Charles Chatman, appreciate your time. Congratulations.
CHATMAN: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Jeff.
BLACKBURN: Thank you very much.
MARCIANO: He still looks young. Lots of life ahead of him.
All right, a quick update on a story we've covered throughout the show yesterday. Right after we signed off, police in suburban Washington confirmed that escaped Maryland prisoner Kelvin Poke had been shot and killed by police in a cemetery shootout. It all started yesterday morning when Poke overpowered several guards at Laurel Regional Hospital, took a weapon and went on a carjacking and shooting spree that lasted several hours. Poke is the second prison inmate to escape the hospital in recent weeks. Administrators say they're reviewing their security policies and protocols.
Well, here's a study in contrast. On the left side of your screen, Kumari Fulbright, law student, beauty queen and calendar pinup. Oh, my goodness. I just saw that. There on the right, the same person, different pose.
PHILLIPS: Frightening.
MARCIANO: Uh-huh. It's Kumari Fulbright, alleged armed robber and kidnapper. The 24-year-old Tucson woman is accused with three men of holding and torturing her ex-boyfriend. Fulbright allegedly held a knife to the victim's head and threatened to kill him in a purported dispute over jewelry. The University of Arizona law student is out on bond.
And something new for you and our friends at CNN.com and TrueTV. They have teamed up. Now they've got to bring you the best crime and justice coverage anywhere available. Click on it and check it out -- CNN.com/crime.
PHILLIPS: A 12-year-old fisherman lands a 550-pound shark.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: For about maybe 20 minutes, it was complete agonizing and fighting. Then after that, you just completely lose feeling in your body.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Most people give up. He didn't give up. He just stuck with it. He's a great young -- a great little boy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: So is it a record?
We'll tell you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: Time now to check in with Wolf Blitzer.
PHILLIPS: He's standing by in "THE SITUATION ROOM" to tell us what's coming up at the top of the hour.
Hey, Wolf.
BLITZER: Hi, guys. Thanks very much.
In just a few hours, both parties' presidential candidates will begin finding out whether their dreams of the nomination have any chance of coming true. We'll be hearing from Republican Fred Thompson, as well as Democrat Bill Richardson. That's coming up.
We're also going to introduce you to some of the most sought after Democrats in Iowa -- people who have never been to a caucus before. Tonight, they could make a huge, huge difference. And Iowa could drastically shake up the strategies for next Tuesday's New Hampshire primary. Our chief national correspondent, John King, is just back from New Hampshire. He'll be joining us live, as well.
All that, guys, and a lot more coming up right here in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Wolf.
MARCIANO: We'll see you then.
All right, let's see what you guys are clicking on -- all you dot-comers out there -- some of our most viewed stories today. A man in Austin, Texas apparently accidentally amputates his own arm in a conveyor belt accident at a concrete company. It took the guy, well, an hour to pry himself out of the machinery and eventually call for help.
Well, this big one didn't get away. A 12-year-old Connecticut boy lands a record shark off the Florida coast.
And an Australian veterinarian performs surgery on a python who apparently mistook a few golf balls for eggs.
(LAUGHTER)
MARCIANO: Those Top Flights are tough to go down. You're better off with the Titleists there, big guy.
PHILLIPS: How about the Pro Vs?
(LAUGHTER)
MARCIANO: Those are pricey.
Those stories and a whole lot more on CNN.com.
PHILLIPS: The closing bell and a wrap of the action on Wall Street straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, the closing bell is about to ring on Wall Street.
MARCIANO: Yes. Susan Lisovicz is standing by with a final look at the trading day.
Hi, Susan.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Rob.
Hi, Kyra.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
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