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Missing Marine Reportedly Dead; Bank of America to Buy Countrywide

Aired January 11, 2008 - 13:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF ED BROWN, ONSLOW COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA: Mrs. Lauterbach is dead and has been buried here in Onslow County. The suspect in the case is the Marine accused by her for assaulting her. And while you all have been getting up here, we have been getting out there and are searching the area for the grave that could be in and around the place where she was murdered.

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KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: You heard it right there. That's our breaking news story developing right now at the top of the hour.

I'm Kyra Phillips.

DON LEMON, CO-HOST: And I'm Don Lemon live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

Our breaking news this hour, a major break in the case of a pregnant Marine missing for almost a month. Let's take a listen in on some of the press conference that happened just a short time ago concerning this case.

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LEMON: All right. Apparently that was some information that happened this morning from -- from our "AMERICAN MORNING," but again this sheriff in Onslow County in North Carolina holding that press conference just a short time ago talking about this missing woman, saying that her body has not been found, but they know where it is, that it's in a grave. And that's the question surrounding this case.

So let's take a listen in to exactly what he said just a short time ago.

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BROWN: And I have for a week now been dealing with positive/negative, positive/negative. It's very stressful in an investigation when it goes that way, because you can't get set in one direction and feel comfortable there. You feel uncomfortable all the time.

But today this morning, we received this information that you've been provided, and that information is that Mrs. Lauterbach is dead and has been buried here in Onslow County. The suspect in the case is the Marine accused by her for assaulting her.

And while you all have been getting up here, we have been getting out there and are searching the area for the grave that could be in and around the place where she was murdered. Or where she is claimed to have died at. Understand, I'm not calling it murder, because the story has got some twists and turns in it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: CNN's Ed Lavandera attended that press conference and joins us now from Jacksonville, North Carolina, with the very latest on this -- Ed.

LAVANDERA: Hi, Don.

Well, kind of trying to process everything that we've just heard. I think it's safe to say that this has come as a complete stunning development in this case, given all of the indications that we've been receiving here over the last day and a half or so, that perhaps this Marine, Maria Lauterbach, had left on her own. And that was one of the things they were looking at.

I think a couple of interesting things to keep in mind, and one -- some of the things that we're processing through -- and bear with me, because we're processing a lot of this information as we're talking to you.

But what the investigators here are saying is that December 14, which was the last time that she -- her family members had had contact with her, a phone call to her mother, that it was after that time that she had renewed this -- conversations or communication with the suspect in this case, Cesar Armando Lauren, who is also the man she had accused of sexual assault.

And that process was going -- you'd heard one official from the military investigators saying that she was scheduled to be a witness in an Article 32 hearing, which is essentially a military version of a grand jury hearing. So she was expected to testify in that some time in December.

So after December 14, she had renewed communications with Corporal Lauren. So exactly why that happened, how that was brought about is one of the things we'll continue to look into. It's one of the pieces of evidence that kind of sticks out to me.

Trying to look at some of the other things, they continue to look for him. He was described as having essentially an eight-hour head start on this information coming out. He's believed to be driving a black 2004 quad cab Dodge pickup truck with the North Carolina license plates of 1522. So those are some of the things that they're looking for. And we're still working on getting a picture of Corporal Lauren and hopefully, we'll have that for you here shortly.

LEMON: Yes, and I want to ask you real quick, because this is something -- like you said, we're still processing this because that press conference happening a short time ago.

They're saying they know where her body is, but they haven't exactly found it. Can you sort of clear that up for us?

LAVANDERA: They are searching right now as we speak -- obviously, we've got crews headed in that direction -- a residential wooded area, is the way it was described to me. I'm not familiar with the area at all. So I can't describe it beyond what was said here in the press briefing, but they are doing that right now.

LEMON: Yes.

LAVANDERA: And hopefully, we'll able to get some more details on that. And as far as we know, they still haven't discovered if, in fact, she is buried there in what has been described as a shallow grave.

LEMON: CNN's Ed Lavandera, attending that press conference in Jacksonville, North Carolina, just moments ago. Ed, we're going to give you time to process some of the information we've gotten from that, and we'll come back to you. Thank you very much for that report, sir.

LAVANDERA: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: Hundreds of people, friends and family, are expected to pack into an Athens, Georgia, church this hour to honor the memory of Meredith Emerson.

She's the 24-year-old hiker kidnapped on a mountain hike and bludgeoned to death just after New Year's. That service is set to begin within the next hour at 2 Eastern.

Emerson graduated from the University of Georgia in 2005 and had been living in the Atlanta area. Her parents say they will take her dog back with them to Colorado.

Now coming up in the next hour of the NEWSROOM, CNN's Rusty Dornin has the latest on the man accused of killing Emerson, Gary Hilton. Authorities outside Georgia think that he might hold clues they need to break other unsolved murders.

LEMON: Well, there's a lot of clean-up ahead for parts of the Deep South slammed by powerful storms. These scenes are from Caledonia, Mississippi, after a suspected tornado plowed into a school. The wind was so strong it tossed a school bus right onto its roof. Look at these pictures. They are just incredible.

There are no reports of any serious injuries there. And across Mississippi, the storms are blamed for two traffic- related deaths. Dozens of homes, businesses and farms were also damaged. That same system pounded parts of Louisiana and also Alabama. In the town of New Roads, Louisiana, a storm believed to be a tornado damaged a business and knocked over four-wheelers and tractors.

PHILLIPS: In Washington state, a rarity on a January day. A tornado in Vancouver left a trail of damage about four miles long. It damaged homes and businesses and blew down trees and power lines.

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ROB SPARKS, HOME DAMAGED: It is something I don't want to go through the rest of my life. Never. And -- because when you're inside that by yourself, you're scared. I was. It looked like worse than a war zone. It was bad.

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PHILLIPS: Well, the twister was only the third January tornado in Washington since 1950. In April, 1972, a tornado struck Vancouver, killing six people and injuring hundreds more.

Stormy weather in the Mid-Atlantic states, snow and ice in other parts of the country. Let's check in now with meteorologist Chad Myers. He has been one busy guy the past couple of days.

Hey, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Just thought I'd say, "I'm ready for a weekend."

PHILLIPS: You get a little Visine. I saw those bloodshot eyes. You got no sleep, my friend.

MYERS: It's almost Miller time!

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: All right, Chad, we'll keep checking in.

MYERS: All right.

LEMON: A white knight has come to the rescue of a tottering giant, maybe just in the nick of time. Bank of America has agreed to buy Countrywide. That is a huge lending company hounded by bankruptcy rumors linked to the mortgage crisis. What's in this for Bank of America?

Let's bring in CNN's senior correspondent Ali Velshi to tell us why, a senior business correspondent.

What's in it for Bank of America, but what's in it for people, really, Ali who, you know, may be in some trouble with their loans? ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, you know, it's -- Bank of America is the biggest consumer bank in the country. And Countrywide is the biggest mortgage lender in the country. Coming together now, it's an interesting story, because Bank of America had invested $2 billion in Countrywide a few months ago.

And Countrywide, as you said, was at risk of going bankrupt. Bank of America was going to lose all that money, so they spent another $4 billion in stock. They're buying the company.

And this is generally seen as good news for people holding the mortgages, because nothing will happen to you. Now you should know this: this deal is not going to go through until, you know, later on this year. The two companies won't be integrated until 2009. Anybody who's got a mortgage, the terms of that mortgage stay the same.

The new company will not offer new subprime loans, but if you are a client of Countrywide, subprime or not, nothing is going to happen to you right now. At some point you may get a letter saying that you need to change who you make your payment to, but that applies to absolutely anyone in the country with a mortgage. Your mortgage can be sold or given to someone else. The terms of your mortgage, Don, do not change. And that's important to remember.

Now, what happens down the road? If you have an adjustable mortgage, and you want to renew it with that company, that's a whole different story. But for now, no big change. Countrywide is not going to be bankrupt. It's going to be integrated into Bank of America.

Most people think this deal will go through, because it saves the government from having to think about what to do with Countrywide if it goes bankrupt.

LEMON: And Ali, speaking of that deal, I mean, big numbers associated with this deal. People are wondering, how does this affect me? Why are we doing this?

VELSHI: Yes.

LEMON: How big is Countrywide? It's huge, right?

VELSHI: Yes, I mean we're trying to get sort of big numbers. We're talking about millions and millions of mortgages. By some estimates, they -- they write about 17 percent of the mortgages. This is by -- in the country. This is, by far, the biggest mortgage company in America.

It's also the one where all of this stuff started. They were the ones saying that their mortgages were going delinquent. That's what got everybody worried about the subprime crisis.

So this is a very big deal. You know, regardless of what Wall Street thinks about it -- and right now Wall Street is not thinking much of anything. The Dow is off about 200 points. The bottom line here is for people who have mortgages, it means you've got -- you've bought some time at least. There's nothing happening.

But look at that Dow, 193 points right now, and who knows? We're still early in the day.

LEMON: Yes. Yes. Ali, can you give me a yes, no or a maybe, because we're out of time.

VELSHI: Sure.

LEMON: But this Mozilo, severance pay, $110 million and change?

VELSHI: We're doing the math on that, doing the math on that 80 something to 110. As soon as I've got a number I'll tell you, but Anthony -- Angelo Mozilo, the CEO of Countrywide, is going to walk off with a lot of money.

LEMON: Yes. All right. Thank you very much for that, Ali.

VELSHI: OK.

PHILLIPS: Rants against gays and African-Americans. The hateful words were in newsletters sent out years ago in Ron Paul's name. The Republican presidential candidate denies any involvement and calls the issue a witch hunt. We've got the latest.

LEMON: He climbed the highest mountain before anyone else. We'll check in with our international desk for some reaction to the death of Sir Edmund Hillary.

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PHILLIPS: A sign of loyalty or a cash crunch? A top aide to Rudy Giuliani says no one joined the campaign to make money. Now they're getting a chance to prove it.

In the race for 2008, CNN equals politics. More ahead in the NEWSROOM.

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PHILLIPS: Some of Rudy Giuliani's top lieutenants are working without pay. That's one of the headlines that we're following in today's political ticker.

About a dozen top Giuliani advisors won't get paid this month, a sign that the campaign is a little concerned about cash flow. A campaign spokesperson says, quote, "We want to make sure we have enough to win," and again quoting, "none of us joined the campaign for money."

CNN has confirmed that Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano plans to support Barack Obama in his race for the White House. Her endorsement, expected today, could help Obama in a key western state that's been tilting in the Democrats' favor.

Arizona holds its primary on Super Tuesday, February 5.

LEMON: John McCain's campaign is mailing flyers in South Carolina that feature a photo of his wife Cindy and a daughter they adopted from Bangladesh back in 2000.

The 2000 presidential campaign automated calls, went out to some South Carolina homes suggesting McCain's daughter was illegitimate. Well, campaign officials say the mailing is not meant to preempt a new round of negative attacks. Instead, they say it is designed to spotlight McCain's consistent record on abortion and also adoption.

Democratic presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich is calling for a recount in New Hampshire. Kucinich says he's not doing it for himself. After all, he got less than 2 percent of the vote there. He says he's doing it to ensure that all of the ballots were counted and counted correctly.

Kucinich says he's seen claims online between disparities between ballots counted by hand and ballots tallied by machines. He also cited those pre-election polls that suggested Barack Obama was headed toward a victory.

PHILLIPS: Republicans Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney are in Michigan today, hoping to lay the groundwork for a victory in Tuesday's primary. The move marks a strategy shift for Romney, who canceled earlier plans to spend today in South Carolina.

He's also pulled down his South Carolina TV ads. And last night the Republican hopefuls met on stage in Myrtle Beach one last time before Michigan and South Carolina voters head to the polls.

Romney and John McCain sparred over the economy and the problems caused by outsourcing of jobs.

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MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I know that there's some people who think, as Senator McCain did. He said, you know, some jobs have left Michigan; they're never coming back.

I disagree. I'm going to fight for every single job, Michigan, South Carolina, every state in this country. We're going to fight for jobs and make sure that our future is bright. We're going to protect the jobs of Americans and grow this economy again.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Sometimes you have to tell people things they don't want to hear along with things that they do want to hear. There are jobs. Let's have a little straight talk. There are some jobs that aren't coming back to Michigan. They're some jobs that won't come back here to South Carolina.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: Fred Thompson is hoping to use the South Carolina contest a week from Saturday as a way to get back into the race. Last night he went after Mike Huckabee and questioned the former governor's conservative credentials.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRED THOMPSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He would be a Christian leader, but he would also bring about liberal economic policies, liberal foreign policies. He believes we have an arrogant foreign policy in the tradition of blame America first. He believes that Guantanamo should be closed down and those enemy combatants brought here to the United States to find their way into the court system, eventually.

He believes in taxpayer-funded programs for illegals, as he did in -- in Arkansas.

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The Air Force have a saying that says that if you're not catching flak, you're not over the target. I'm catching the flak; I must be over the target.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Rudy Giuliani also took part in last night's forum, but he's shifted most of his time and money to Florida. He's hoping to score a victory there later this month, just before the Super Tuesday contest on February 5.

LEMON: OK. Marion Jones now. We want to get to this developing news. She's speaking now in White Plains. Six months for her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You feel (UNINTELLIGIBLE) by the state?

MARION JONES, FORMER OLYMPIC ATHLETE: Thank you very much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You think the sentence was too harsh?

LEMON: Of course, that's Marion Jones there, taking questions. Well, she didn't take any questions, actually. Just getting out of court there in White Plains.

Of course, her involvement in steroids caused her to lose her medals from the Olympics and several other medals that she earned throughout her career. And then today we're learning that she is going to get six months behind bars for what she had -- what is believed to be her involvement in a steroid scandal.

Marion Jones sentenced today, six months in prison for lying about using steroids and a check fraud scam, despite her -- her and her attorneys beseeching the judge that she got no -- that she not be separated from her two young children there. So she's going to get six months behind bars.

We'll continue to follow for you. PHILLIPS: He's a GOP underdog with an army of young supporters. But do they know about newsletters with Ron Paul's name on the front and racist words inside?

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PHILLIPS: Well, it's the latest milestone in the subprime mortgage mess: Bank of America buying Countrywide Financial.

Susan Lisovicz on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange with Wall Street's reaction, a little bit on Countrywide -- Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A little bit on Countrywide, a little bit on a whole lot of other things. But let's just get the numbers out there. I know Ali and Don were talking about it a few minutes ago.

The price tag is $4 billion. That's a lot of money. Maybe not so when you think this is the nation's largest mortgage lender. One out of every six loans estimated to have originated with Countrywide. That's how far this company has fallen.

But Bank of America, the biggest consumer bank, grabbing Bank of America [SIC] for $4 billion. Think about it. Just last summer B of A took a 16-percent stake for $2 billion. So it's getting the whole company for $6 billion.

Wanted to get into the mortgage business in a big way, be a dominant player. It is. It's No. 1 now. With it comes, well, perhaps a lot more problems with late mortgage payments and maybe some legal problems, as well. But certainly, when the housing recession ends -- and it will end at some point -- B of A will be -- will continue to be No. 1. It could ride that wave, as well -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So how's Wall Street reacting?

LISOVICZ: Well, you know, we have to go back to yesterday afternoon when the news first broke that they weren't in advanced talks. Countrywide shares, which were below $5 and really on the brink of collapsing, rose more than -- I should say skyrocketed more than 50 percent.

Now they're coming down today; they're down 14 percent. This is a stock that really has lost about 85 percent of its value since the whole subprime mess developed last summer.

But we also want to talk about some other big headlines very quickly. One of them, American Express -- this is a Dow 30 company -- saying its profits are not going to be the way it originally estimated, because consumer spending is slowing and delinquencies are increasing. Amex shares are down 10 percent.

And check out the big board. We had two days of triple-digit gains. Well, we're back to triple-digit losses. The Dow is down 221 points right now. The NASDAQ is down 4 points. And the sky got very dark, Kyra, a few minutes ago, and there was this big sound of thunder, a big ominous sound of thunder. And perhaps that's a metaphor for what we're feeling today.

But while it's looking kind of dark on Wall Street, things are looking a lot better for Angelo Mozilo, the head of Countrywide Financial. The "L.A. Times" says his severance package is worth about $115 million.

Two words for that: golden parachute. The guy is going to get a very nice exit, while a lot of other company -- a lot of other people, I should say, and investors haven't done as well.

He should be smiling in that photo. Don't you think so?

PHILLIPS: So what would you do with $115 million? What would be the very first thing, Susan Lisovicz?

LISOVICZ: I would take you and the whole crew of NEWSROOM out on one fantastic trip. How's that? Outside of the NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: I'm liking that answer. Maybe we should call up Angelo and see if he'd like to take us all on a nice little trip on that golden parachute.

Susan, thanks.

LISOVICZ: We'll get back to you on that.

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

LEMON: Yes, we'll him if he wants to comment on this, as well. We'll take him right here in the NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: There you go.

LEMON: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Call on in.

LEMON: The offer's extended.

OK. Let's talk about the news that we talked about at the beginning of the show, our breaking news. Searchers have gone from looking for her to looking for her grave and also a suspect. A sad break in the case of a missing Marine. We'll speak to the sheriff leading that investigation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We're going to get some more information now on our breaking news story here in the CNN NEWSROOM. It's about a missing pregnant Marine. And they say she is dead. That according to law enforcement officials, who believe the body of Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach is buried in a shallow grave in North Carolina. Authorities say they're searching for a fellow Marine Lauterbach had accused of assault.

Joining us now is Onslow County sheriff in North Carolina, Ed Brown.

Thank you for joining us. You just left that press conference. I know it's a very busy time for you. Explain to us where you are in this case. I think what -- there may be some confusion about you have not yet found her body, but you know that she is in a grave. How do you know that?

BROWN: We had a key witness come forward this morning after 8 a.m. with a statement and some tangible evidence to support her statement. And we moved on that.

Prior to her coming there, we had gotten this call last night that led us to believe it was going in the better direction. This one -- witness this morning changed that direction to a negative direction. We now have officers in the area with canines searching for the body to where it is supposed to have been buried.

LEMON: OK. So you said you have a key witness in all of this. That person came to you. Was it someone that you were looking at?

BROWN: That person contacted the military authorities and the military authorities, NCIS, contacted me immediately and gave us that story.

LEMON: OK. When you say you have tangible evidence, I would imagine that is not circumstantial evidence, but that some sort of hard evidence. Can you talk to us about that?

BROWN: I cannot talk to you about it and as I've told you in the past, and the other stations, in an investigation you have tangible evidence, circumstantial evidence, you have statements. The most important and the most dependable is tangible evidence that don't change, that don't lie. That evidence, with her statement, put the wheels spinning in the direction that we are going now.

LEMON: OK. Sheriff, how did she die?

BROWN: At this time I'm not at liberty to speak, but it was from an injury to her.

LEMON: An injury to her? Are you talking like blunt force trauma or was she shot or --

BROWN: Like I said, I can't go into that, sir.

LEMON: OK. Can you talk to us about this suspect, 21-year-old Corporal Cesar Armando Lauren?

BROWN: I can tell you that we are looking at him. He's been entered in NCIC, that's the National Crime Information Center that law enforcement uses that throughout the United States, probably throughout world, as a wanted -- as a person to be on the lookout for that is wanted for questioning in relative to Mrs. Lauterbach's death. LEMON: OK. So -- and also, he has a car that you are looking for. Can you give us a description...

BROWN: He has a black pickup truck, it's a quad cab truck. It's one of the trucks with two full-size doors on each side. It has a North Carolina driver's license, I believe it is Tom Robert Robert, TRR, 1522. And he is from Nevada. And we believe he is -- all indications -- has left Onslow County.

LEMON: OK. I want to talk to you about -- you said you had a witness that came forward and that you were -- they sent you in one direction that was negative, and correct me if I'm wrong, and now they've sent you in another direction. You believe that that is going to be fruitful to -- and pay off to find out exactly where her body is. Is that correct?

BROWN: That's correct.

LEMON: OK. Do you have any idea -- can you give us a time line on when you think it might be successful and when you might find her body?

BROWN: Well, I try to stay upbeat. I have been upbeat until this morning. And now I'm down, very down. But then I've gone back up in the hopes that by 5:00, or dark tonight, we'll be able to say we've located where she is at and at that time we will contact all the media involved and make that release at that time.

LEMON: Yes. And what I'm trying -- when I asked you about, the evidence, I wasn't trying to get specific with her case because I know that you can't talk specifically about that. But what I want to know from you is, how do you know that she's dead if you have not yet found her body and you do not have this person in custody?

BROWN: The witness that gave us this information and provided the evidence, the two together is, in my opinion, strong enough to cause us to look in that direction.

LEMON: And you don't -- you can't talk about what the evidence is, right, again?

BROWN: No, sir, I can't.

LEMON: Is this witness connected to Ms. Lauterbach or to the suspect?

BROWN: This witness is, from what I understand, an ex-marine, from what I've been told, is an ex-marine. I don't -- haven't met the witness but I've been told it is an ex-marine.

LEMON: OK. She claimed that a superior had sexually assaulted her, and then there was some time -- because the last time anyone spoke to her I believe it was around the 14th of December and then the 19th was really when the missing persons report was filed. Why the lag in all of this, in looking for her and figuring out whether she was missing or not, claimed to be a missing person? BROWN: Sir, I'd really have concern of when you all call things, lags. There's not been any lags. Once the initial report came in, from then on out it's been full-speed ahead. To call it a lag is to -- I really think to be negative toward the investigators in this case.

LEMON: Yes, and I understand what you're saying. No one is trying to be negative here. But what we're concerned with -- as a civilian, almost a months time before something is found. It seems like a long time to a civilian, maybe not to someone who is in law enforcement.

BROWN: Let me be a little facetious. Do you want me to call you when I get a call at the house when someone is calling me about a missing person? Or do you want me to wait until it is investigated and determined that it has a tendency to look like it is a valid complaint? And that's what we've done here.

We've done a lot of investigating before we called you all on Tuesday and got you involved in this case. And I thank you for being involved, because I think your involvement has really helped generate some information. Matter of fact, it helped give us some more leads to look into. But this person today changed the whole scope of where we're going.

LEMON: Yes, and I understand what you're saying, so I'll stick to what I said before. For a civilian, especially for (INAUDIBLE) someone who is missing, a months time seems like a long time. But I'm not going to argue with you on that. Because we're hoping to...

BROWN: There's no reason to argue.

LEMON: But I want to know, do you know what the relationship between these two people were, between the suspect and between Ms. Lauterbach? Do you know if they had a prior relationship?

BROWN: Well, strange as things go, I don't know Ms Lauterbach and I don't know the suspect in this case. But strange as it may sound, it sounds like the two had a -- were -- had gotten together since she had talked to her mother on the 14th. So, I don't know that there is -- what this relationship is, but seems to me that from what we're hearing they did get back together -- when I say get back together, did have contact with each other, even after the 14th.

LEMON: Have you been in touch with Ms. Lauterbach's family?

BROWN: I called Ms. Mary, that's the mother of Ms. Lauterbach, prior to making this release today at 12:00 so she would not be surprised. And let her know how down I am about having to be the bearer of bad news instead of the bearer of good news, and that -- offered my cell phone number, any time day or night or the office here any time, day or night. What we can do now is keep on keeping on to bring this case to its final conclusion and that is the truth and the conviction if there is one.

LEMON: Have you been in touch with anyone from Mr. Lauren's family?

BROWN: No, sir. I did not know Mr. Lauren's family and I don't -- we probably will be contacting his family -- I will be, to let them know that we are looking for him. And if they see him, might as well come on down, because if not, we'll get him one way or the other somewhere.

LEMON: Do you know if this key witness, can you tell us, is it an eyewitness of some sort? Was this personal possibly involved or did they see anything?

BROWN: I do not know. I don't know. I haven't talk to the witness. I wouldn't know that witness if I saw it. I do not know the essence of it except the tangible evidence and what I've been told. So I don't know the witness.

LEMON: OK. Sheriff, we thank you for joining us. Will you extend our condolences to the family? And thank you for joining us again, today.

BROWN: I will do. And thank you all for being a part that I think brought this this far. Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Maverick Republican Ron Paul has won a lot of fans and raised a lot of money by saying what he thinks. But the Texas Congressman and presidential hopeful is denying that he wrote some caustic and racist news letters from the 1990s.

CNN's Brian Todd reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you for serving our country.

REP. RON PAUL (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Good. Thank you. Thank you.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He's not considered a presidential front-runner, but Ron Paul has raised tens of millions of dollars from a devoted base, many of them young people who love his libertarian straight talk.

HILL: The role, of course, is to return this country to sanity.

TODD: But how is this for straight talk, June 1992, right after the L.A. riots, in a copy obtained by CNN of "The Ron Paul Political Report," one of several newsletters published in his name during the 1980s and '90s -- quote -- "Order was only restored in L.A. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks."

Another excerpt: "The criminals who terrorize our cities in riots and on every non-riot day are not exclusively young black males, but they largely are. As children, they are trained to hate whites, to believe that white oppression is responsible for all black ills, to fight the power, to steal and loot as much money from the white enemy as possible." None of the articles we found say who wrote them.

In an interview on CNN's program "THE SITUATION ROOM," Paul said:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE SITUATION ROOM")

PAUL: But everybody knows in my district that I didn't write them and I don't speak like that. And nobody has heard me ever say anything like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: Not good enough for one political veteran.

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: These stories may be very old in Ron Paul's life, but they're very new to the American public. And they deserve to be totally ventilated. And I must say, I don't think it's an excuse in politics to have somebody go out under your name and say, oh by the way, I didn't write that.

TODD: In some excerpts, the reader may be led to believe the words are Ron Paul's. In "The Ron Paul Political Report" in October 1992, the writer describes car-jacking as "the hip-hop thing to do among the urban youth, who play unsuspecting whites like pianos," writes about advice from others on how to avoid carjacking, then: "I frankly don't know what to make of such advice, but, even in my little town of Lake Jackson, Texas, I have urged everyone in my family to know how to use a gun in self-defense," for the animals are coming."

Paul's spokesman says Paul has lived in Lake Jackson for years, but says Paul never wrote that, and is saddened that someone took advantage of him.

Paul says he's taken moral responsibility for the newsletters, says he's not racist, but he couldn't answer a key question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE SITUATION ROOM")

BLITZER: How did this stuff get in these Ron Paul newsletters? Who wrote it?

RON PAUL (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I have no idea. Have you ever heard of a publisher of a magazine not knowing every single thing? The editor is responsible for the daily activities. And people come and they go, and there were some people that were hired. I don't know any of their names.

TODD: We spoke to the editor of "Reason," a libertarian magazine which shares some of Paul's beliefs on big government. He says he's never heard Paul speak like that but...

MATT WELCH, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "REASON" MAGAZINE: What he has not done and what -- what I think some people are looking for him to do is to say OK, who wrote what? I mean, there's 20 years, give or take, worth of newsletters there. TODD: Newsletters that rant against Martin Luther King, the Israeli lobby, gays and AIDS victims. Many of them were reported this week by the "New Republic" magazine. There's one newsletter addressing American militias, ranting against the federal government, saying, "If they mean to have a war, let it begin here." That's from January 1995, just as Ron Paul was getting set to take office in his second stint in Congress.

(on camera) When we asked if Mr. Paul would try to find out who wrote this material, his spokesman said, "No, what's the point? It's time to move on." Paul himself says this is all rehash, and he's the victim of a political witch hunt.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: And these writings of course are stirring strong reactions among CNN viewers, and here's what some of you wrote to CNNpolitics.com. Greg writes, "It looks like a group of people used Ron Paul's name behind his back to try an promote their own racially charged agenda. Ron Paul was the victim of identity theft."

PHILLIPS: Another writer named Rico says that, "As a black man, I am glad that Ron Paul has repudiated this and it is obviously unacceptable. It is hard not to see this as an attack not on Ron."

LEMON: "Obviously he still has to have a dialogue with the American people why he voted against the Civil Rights Act. I must say that all in all, I like Ron Paul's positions."

PHILLIPS: And Lydia says, "If he stops working on the news letter in 1988, why was his name on it and why didn't he distance himself from it then or at least read it?"

LEMON: And finally, a writer identified as "Wheat Farmer" says, "Well if he didn't write it he's pretty irresponsible and/or inept at organizing, not somebody I want in charge of the country."

PHILLIPS: Fore more on all the presidential candidates, just go to CNNpolitics.com. You can sound off right there. It's your one- stop shop for all things political.

LEMON: President Bush retracing a biblical path today. His last day in the Holy Land. This Church of Biattitudes (ph) is the place where the Bible says Jesus proclaimed, blessed are the peacemakers. Peacemaking dominated Mr. Bush's discussion with Israeli and Palestinian leaders this past two days. He's predicting a peace deal before he leaves office.

A much more solemn moment earlier. Mr. Bush laid a wreath at the memorial to the millions of Jews kill in the Holocaust. He says he'll return to the Mideast in May. He's now in Kuwait.

PHILLIPS: His triumphs, his legacy -- tributes are pouring in, in memory of Sir Edmund Hillary. We'll highlight just a few in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: This video comes to us now from Bakersfield, California. It's a multi-car pileup. Fog, it looks like, is partly to blame. The CHP says that several vehicles crashed because of that heavy fog. It's Interstate 5 and Highway 66. There's an off-ramp there. It happened in the morning. You can see firefighters, rescue workers working on the injured there. This video coming in to us comes from our affiliate KVAK.

Apparently the initial crash involved a big rig and an SUV. And with the thick fog several other vehicles just got involved shortly right after that.

Chad Myers, we were seeing this affect other parts of the country as well this week, now in Bakersfield. And it's horrendous when you see something like that. It's like a domino effect.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The air's stuck in the valley there. Snow in the mountains and then the marine layer rolls in. All of that humidity just settles right down when you don't have any wind, and this happens quite often in the San Joaquin Valley and all the other valleys as well.

I want to show you this satellite map, because looks like it's completely covered in fog, or clouds. But in fact this is all snow in the Sierra. This little fuzzy area right through here, look the fog was all the way -- here's San Francisco, all the way well north into the Napa and into the Sonoma Valleys and all the way down right down to the grapevine here. That was the entire fog, just fogged in all the way up and down the valley as far as you could see this morning, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, we'll keep tracking it. Thanks, Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

PHILLIPS: Well, chances are you know someone who takes statins to manage cholesterol. Now there's word that statins could help with another major medical problem. Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Millions of Americans take drugs to lower their cholesterol. And new research suggests these statins could also be a lifesaver for diabetics.

Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta looks at the pros and also the cons.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know there's a relationship between heart attacks, strokes and diabetes. That's a pretty well-defined relationship. The question is, could statin medications be beneficial for diabetics in terms of warding off some those problems. The answer seems to be coming back yes. Give you a couple of caveats here. Also a little bit of background. When it comes to diabetes, even if your cholesterol levels aren't particularly high, taking a statin drug could potentially give you some benefit in the long run. Take a look at some of these numbers here. Over five years, there was a 10 percent reduction in mortality for diabetics taking statin drugs and more specifically to the point within the first year, there's a 21 percent reduction in heart attacks and strokes. All people seem to benefit whether young or old, men or women.

But there are a few caveats again, as I mentioned. First of all, statins, like any other medication, have side effects, and you have to be cognizant of those. Sometimes you can get muscle pains, sometimes you can get problems with your liver, certainly something you want to talk to your doctor about. The American Diabetic Association, the American Heart Association says it's probably a good idea to take these statin medications. But if you're a young person, if you have diabetes and you have you no other cardiovascular risk factors, this is something you may not want to do, but certainly talk to your doctor about that as well.

There are lots of different options out there to try and reduce cholesterol -- stat and medications are one of them. But also supplements like Niacin for example, which can reduce your bad cholesterol to a certain amount, but also raise your good cholesterol. It can have some side effects as well such as bad flushing. But if you're a diabetic out there, getting those cholesterol numbers down may be more important than ever.

Back to you for now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: His triumphs, his legacy. Tributes pouring in in memory of Sir Edmund Hillary. We're going to highlight just a few in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: OK, Web surfers, let's show you what's hottest on CNN.com. Here's some of our most viewed videos, right now, right this minute, 150 miles to the gallon of gas. Can you believe it? That is the fuel mileage for a new prototype vehicle, the Extreme Hybrid, that's what they're calling it. The developers are pitching the technology to automakers next week at the Detroit Auto Show.

A four-week old polar bear cub is stealing hearts in Germany. Just look at those pictures. Very cute. The Nuremberg Zoo showing off the cuddly cub today. The baby bear was removed from its mother because zoo keepers were concerned that she might eat it.

In a St. Louis suburb, you may soon have to mind your manners if you go bar hopping. Officials in St. Charles are pushing a measure that bans cursing and table dancing.

We can't go there, Kyra.

Those stories and lots more. Plus, weather, all free. It's only on CNN.com.

PHILLIPS: From modest bee keeper to pioneer explorer, Sir Edmund Hillary lived quite a life. He was 88 when he died of a heart attack yesterday in his native New Zealand.

CNN's Isha Sesay is looking at the tributes that are still coming in. What's everybody saying?

ISHA SESAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, Kyra, as you'd expect, the world is pausing to remember one of the greatest adventurers of the 20th century. I mean, you have to remember that what Sir Edmund achieved in scaling Everest was huge indeed. He did that back in 1953, he scaled it along with his sherpa.

And when he did that, I mean, the thing that I want to put in context for our viewers is that they didn't have all the fancy gadgetry that we have today. They didn't know the terrain in the way that we do now. Yes, they scaled it with axes, inch by inch, they climbed right to the very top.

One of the things we're hearing as we speak to people who came into contact with Sir Edmund was that he was a humble man, he was a very likable man. And one of the other things that also has struck me in reading all the tributes that have poured in to him -- poured in for him, I should say, is how he kept it secret the fact he was actually the first man to get up on the summit of Everest. He kept that secret to himself. There was some debate, was it him or was it his sherpa, his Nepalese sherpa who was a great friend and really shared in the glory of what happened on that day in 1953.

You're looking at pictures now from Nepal. They've had a memorial service for Sir Edmund Hillary. They've also opened up a book of condolences. You know, the things to also bring out for our viewers is that Sir Edmund Hillary didn't just scale that mountain, that Everest, he also became a very big part of the Nepalese community and did a great amount of charity work.

He built schools, he opened up clinics. And really, up until his death, he died at 88 as we said on Friday in Auckland. He really did continue to believe in the spirit of adventure and encouraged the young to go out and cover new ground, should we say.

Back to you.

PHILLIPS: Isha, thank you so much.

You can also go to CNN.com/ireport. And if you have any pictures from Mount Everest -- I'm even getting e-mails from people that say they have met Sir Edmund Hillary. Send us your pictures, tell us your story. We'll put it on CNN. LEMON: Searchers have gone from looking for her to looking for her grave and her alleged killer. A sad break in the case of a missing marine. The latest from North Carolina.

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