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Judge Allows Democrats to Caucus in Las Vegas Casinos; Tom Cruise Scientology Video Hits the Internet

Aired January 17, 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: You got to know when to hold them and know when to fold them. And you got to also know where. Can Las Vegas Democrats hold presidential caucuses in casinos? Hold your bets. We have a decision.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: You know, when it comes to long odds and big losses, Vegas has nothing on Wall Street. The whole economy is on a cold streak. Now Washington wants to heat things up. It could mean cash in your pocket.

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.

PHILLIPS: Once again, it's the economy, stupid. And with more and more of us feeling the pain, Washington is trying to show us it cares.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke makes promises on Capitol Hill. Congressional leaders are on the phone with President Bush, and the debate has shifted from whether action is need to what action is need, all in an effort to stem the steady stream of housing foreclosures and layoff announcements forcing us to the brink of recession.

LEMON: And, Kyra, it's becoming a theme of 2008, red arrows on Wall Street. Even news of a potential economic stimulus package hasn't been enough to stem the selling.

(BUSINESS REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Nobody wins when lenders foreclose on homeowners who can't pay their mortgages, and nobody's winning in Nevada like nobody's business. The foreclosure rate there is the highest in the nation.

CNN's Dan Lothian saw it for himself.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even in the state where fortunes are won and lost every day, the bad bet on real estate and risky mortgages is extreme in Nevada.

KIM CANEDA, EXTREME REALTY: This is bank owned. You see the yellow flier in the window.

LOTHIAN: We drove around North Las Vegas with real estate agent Kim Caneda who showed us house after house currently in foreclosure.

CANEDA: This, I would say, is a foreclosure. It's just the worst I have seen it since I have been dealing in real estate.

LOTHIAN: In fact, there's one foreclosure filing for every 152 households in Nevada. More than four times the national average, according to Realty Track. Surf the Las Vegas craigslist and you will find a seemingly endless list of foreclosures. The Consumer Credit Counseling office is feeling the pressure.

MICHELE JOHNSON, CONSUMER COUNSELING CREDIT SVC: The number of people that we touched in December of '07 was 70 percent higher than what we did in December of '06.

LOTHIAN: At this home in Henderson, just outside Las Vegas, there's a name behind all the statistics.

EVA MARIE BUGARIN, HOMEOWNER IN FORECLOSURE: Oh, we had so many plans.

LOTHIAN: Eva Marie Bugarin and her family, which includes her handicapped mother, are struggling to hold on to their four-bedroom home. The foreclosure process is already under way.

BUGARIN: I go to bed at night, and I cry myself to sleep. There's been several times I do that because I really don't know where I'm going to go with my family.

LOTHIAN: Caught in a loan with fine print that sent mortgage payments from $1,500 to $3500, too expensive for her part-time job and her husband's salary.

BUGARIN: I keep thinking maybe there might just be a little bit of hope somewhere. That's why I haven't packed yet.

LOTHIAN: That hope isn't being placed on any of the presidential candidates. This is a problem Bugarin doesn't think any of them can fix.

BUGARIN: No matter what kind of president we get, I think it's going to be a while for, you know, the turnaround to happen. I mean, we're so down.

LOTHIAN: Caneda, the real estate agent, feels the same way. And for her, it's just as personal. While she was busy trying to sell homes in a difficult market, she lost her own. This one.

CANEDA: I got behind in the payments due to the real estate had really slowed down. My income had really declined.

LOTHIAN: The bank is now selling her former home, as she and others like her wait to see if Washington can help fix the mortgage mess, and if motivated buyers will again return. (END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, the mortgage mess isn't limited to Nevada homeowners. Just this week, Deutsche Bank began foreclosure proceedings against a $3 billion casino project in Las Vegas.

LEMON: We have a decision on that plan to set up Democratic caucus sites inside Las Vegas casinos.

Our Jessica Yellin is at the federal courthouse in Las Vegas.

Hi, Jessica.

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Don.

So, a federal judge has just ruled that these nine inside-the- caucus -- sorry -- inside-casino caucus can go forward as planned. Now, this is a real victory for the Barack Obama campaign, because so many of the shift workers who are expected to caucus at those sites, they're part of a union that has endorsed Barack Obama.

And there is a lot of talk in this town that the lawsuit being brought to challenge these sites is actually an effort to sort of back Senator Clinton and diminish the ability of these shift workers to go in and caucus during their work hours this Saturday.

But a judge said, you know whatever the outcome of the -- the caucuses are, it's not a federal judge's place to weigh in. This was a decision by the Democratic Party, and they can do this the way they want.

Now, one of the things the judge did say is, it does seem a little unusual that the folks who caucus at these casino sites, they actually get more delegates than the folks who caucus at other sites. But he said, again, that's how the party wants it, and he quoted a famous American humorist saying, well, you know, I don't belong to any organized political party; I belong to the Democratic Party.

Now, I said last hour that that was Mark Twain. My error. It was actually Will Rogers. I'm sure I will get some viewer e-mail correcting me.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: That's OK. That's OK. Hey, as I always say, human, human, human. No one is perfect.

But you were saying that, in some way, Senator Clinton and also her husband, the former president, spoke out and said that this would make the casino workers' vote count more than other people's vote.

YELLIN: That's right.

They are talking about the fact that these caucuses at the casinos get more delegates to their state convention than other sites. Now, that was designed that way because there are so many workers along the Strip. Party leaders thought that, well, the turnout will be much higher there, so they should get more delegates.

But this is a first-time caucus. It might not get a high turnout, and, in that case, it would be very disproportionate. But it's just going to be that way -- Don.

LEMON: All right, maybe you can stem the tide. It's -- say again -- Will Rogers, right?

YELLIN: Will Rogers. Thank you.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: Jessica Yellin, thank you very much.

PHILLIPS: Energy prices are through the roof from gas and oil to everything that uses gas and oil, so what would the presidential hopefuls do about it if they get the chance?

CNN senior correspondent Allan Chernoff has been taking a look. He joins us now live from New York.

What did you find, Allan?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, right now, the price of crude oil is $90 a barrel. That is $40 above where it was one just year ago. It affects all of us, some more than others, and angry voters definitely want answers from the candidates.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF (voice-over): Energy expenses are soaring at CarryHot USA, maker of thermal bags for delivering pizza and other foods.

SANDY PLOTKIN, CARRYHOT USA: It's extremely scary.

CHERNOFF: Owner Sandy Plotkin wants help from Washington. He is tired of paying more and more for power and for fuel to deliver his product.

(on camera): The cost of CarryHot's raw materials are also rising. Laminated plastics, vinyl, polypropylene binding, they are all derived from petroleum.

PLOTKIN: It's just -- it's another nail in the coffin. I'm really concerned. And it's not a new concern, and I don't see any movement toward a resolution of this.

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's time to tell the Saudis and the rest of the Middle East oil producers that, in 10 years, this country is going to be energy independent.

CHERNOFF: One thing all candidates agree on, the U.S. needs to become more energy self-sufficient.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Our priority has to be to reduce and eliminate our dependence on foreign oil. CHERNOFF: But how? Leading Republican candidates all say drill more oil wells in the U.S. Huckabee and Romney support drilling in Alaska. Republican candidates also want more nuclear power plants.

RUDOLPH GIULIANI (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We haven't licensed a nuclear power plant in 30 years.

CHERNOFF: Democrats are playing the blame game. John Edwards is most aggressive, calling for an investigation into big oil and gas companies.

JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There's absolutely no -- no justification, with the profits of oil companies today, for American taxpayers to be subsidizing oil and gas companies.

CHERNOFF: Leading Democrats all agree big oil should pay more taxes, revenue the government could use to fund alternative fuels.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We can invest in clean energy, in solar and wind and biodiesel.

CHERNOFF: But energy experts say it may be decades before such alternative fuels can even begin to replace our need for imported crude oil, leaving Sandy Plotkin to believe none of the candidates has a good answer for him on energy policy.

PLOTKIN: I don't see any creative solution on the horizon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF: The fact is, the answer to all this may be far beyond the horizon. The candidates do have plenty of ideas, but experts say absolutely none of them is likely to end our dependence on foreign oil anytime soon -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: OK, Allan Chernoff, appreciate it.

I was just getting word -- as Allan was wrapping up that piece talking about the energy crunch and what it means to the candidates, we are getting word that the president is about to make comments about his economic stimulus package, what we have been talking all morning.

Tell me again what that -- when that was, Angie (ph)? Tomorrow. All right. Do we know what time tomorrow? OK. But we just got word it's going to happen tomorrow. So, you will -- I just imagine we will have the coverage for you throughout the day.

LEMON: And, today, we're talking about predicting cancer. We will tell you about a new test that can show a man's risk of prostate cancer decades down the line.

PHILLIPS: And, "Help, I'm dying," chilling words from a Texas teenager before she and her sister were found shot to death. We have got the details in a just-released 911 call from one of the girls -- her father, right there, the one who did it. LEMON: And a Tom Cruise video created for the Church of Scientology is making the rounds on the Internet, and it's raising a lot of questions about Cruise and his beliefs. We will have a look ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Developing news for you now out of London concerning that British Airways jet that was arriving from Beijing, landing at Heathrow Airport, right there on the runway, skidding across some grass until it came to a stop just at the beginning of the runway. It was quite a scare for the passengers on board.

Here's pictures that we have been showing you throughout the morning. Now we're finding out 17 people injured in this in this incident.

Richard Quest with the new developments joining us live from London -- Richard.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, yes, there are people injured. The injuries, I would say, are on the minor scale. And, certainly, they are nothing compared to what could have been happened.

And, as you look at the pictures, Kyra, it becomes clear, the magnitude of what took place, this 777 flying from Beijing, coming in over the perimeter at Heathrow Airport, 136 passengers on board, they all managed to get off. There were some cuts, bruises, abrasions, the usual sort of things that happen when passengers go down the slides.

But, Kyra, tonight, the investigation is what we are all looking at. What caused that plane to come down in such a fashion short of the runway? And it's now starting to look likely, or at least the possibility, that there were power problems on board the aircraft in the last moment or two before the plane landed.

We have heard reports and rumors of the -- of the pilot telling investigators that he didn't have power when he needed it. He apparently was about a mile -- up to a mile away from the runway, about 400, 500 feet into the air when whatever happened took place.

And then, of course, it becomes a question of how he got it down to the runway. Did it glide down? Did he have any control over the aircraft? But, Kyra, tonight, I can tell you that investigators are looking very, very seriously and carefully into the power issues that may have happened.

PHILLIPS: And we will stay on the investigation right there with you.

Our Richard Quest, live from London. Been a long day for Richard. Thank you.

LEMON: And we are following the details of another developing story.

Fredricka Whitfield in the newsroom working that for us -- Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this involving an All-Star baseball player, Miguel Tejada.

Well, apparently, now the FBI is now launching a preliminary investigation into whether Tejada may have lied to federal investigators about whether he used steroids. The investigation comes from a congressional committee, which made the request to the Justice Department. This is really kind of the beginning stages now of the hearings to take place following former Senator George Mitchell's report on steroids in baseball.

And perhaps this investigation just might be the prelude now to what is expected to be a nasty showdown, potentially, on Capitol Hill between seven-time Cy Young Award-winning pitcher Roger Clemens and his accuser, former trainer Brian McNamee.

So, once again, Miguel Tejada right now is the centerpiece of what may be a preliminary investigation being launched through the Justice Department by way of the FBI -- Don.

LEMON: Fredricka Whitfield, thank you very much.

PHILLIPS: A Tom Cruise video created for the Church of Scientology is making the rounds on the Internet, and it's raising a lot of questions about Cruise and his beliefs. We're going to have a look -- straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, don't give over-the-counter cough and cold medicine to toddlers under the age of 2. That's the word today from the Food and Drug Administration, which found the medicine doesn't work in small children and may have life-threatening side effects.

Last October, the FDA's advisers said such remedies shouldn't be taken by anyone under six. But today's official ruling focused on those under age two. The CDC says that, over a recent two-year period, 1,500 babies and toddlers wound up in emergency rooms after taking those drugs.

LEMON: A very important story coming here about men's health, so pay attention. For men who hesitate at the prospect of prostate cancer screening, a new and easy test may be on the horizon.

And our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, he joins us now.

Sanjay, how will this new test work compared to the PSA, which has been the standard test before for prostate cancer?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's very different, but very interesting at the same time.

This is a genetic test, Don. So, basically, what they say is that there are markers for prostate cancer, five different markers. If these markers come back positive, and you have a family history of prostate cancer, that means your chance of developing it yourself is nine times higher than if you didn't have these markers.

So, this is basically a test to try and determine if you are likely to develop prostate cancer at some point in your life. A PSA test, interestingly enough, sort of tells you if you have a problem with your prostate now.

LEMON: Right.

GUPTA: It could be benign. It could be malignant. It could be something completely insignificant.

LEMON: Right.

GUPTA: But it's not so much a screening test as this test would be, which is a genetic test.

LEMON: This is the future.

So, when are we likely to see this, if at all, in doctors' offices?

GUPTA: Well, you know, it's funny. Usually, when I get asked that question, I say, you know, it's years down the road or something like that.

(LAUGHTER)

GUPTA: But, with this one, they actually say it could be a couple of months down the road. The test already exists out there. There's a Web site where you can get more information about it and basically just take a look at the Web site there. You can actually sign up for your e-mail. And when the test actually becomes mainstream, they will send you an e-mail and say, it's available.

Don, the way that it works, it's actually a saliva test. So, you would actually just produce some saliva. And, based on that alone, they could tell you if you have these markers for prostate cancer. And it's not just when you turn 50 that you should get it done. I mean, anybody at any age can find out now if they are at risk for prostate cancer.

LEMON: Wow.

GUPTA: Even a child could know that information early on. That's sort of the exciting thing about genetics vs. a PSA test that gives you a piece of information at that time.

LEMON: And 50 used to be sort of the mark where you go, OK, you should be getting a prostate exam or a test of some type.

But here's what I want to know. If the test comes back positive, God forbid, then what do you do?

GUPTA: That's a great question, because, a lot of times, you develop the test and there's no sort of recourse for the patient if the test comes back positive.

Here, it really has to do with this idea that you are going to get screened more often. You're really going to start paying attention to this. You are going to get those PSA tests and probably be more diligent about yearly checkups.

As you said in your lead, Don, no one is excited about these things.

LEMON: Right.

GUPTA: But you know, if you are at increased risk for this, you are going to be more diligent about it.

But, Don, take a look at those four things. The basics still apply here. Despite all that we know about medical technology and medical advancements, those four things there can do a lot to erase potentially a lot of these problems that we spend so much time talking about.

LEMON: Don't smoke. Watch your diet. Lose weight. And exercise. You're right. That's the basics. That's what we all should be doing.

(CROSSTALK)

GUPTA: ... the basics, yes.

LEMON: All right. Thank you very much. Important stuff here. Thank you very much, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: And we have a reminder about Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

You can watch more of Sanjay on his show. It's called "HOUSE CALL." It's this weekend. "HOUSE CALL" airs Saturday and Sunday morning 8:30 Eastern only here on CNN.

Thanks again.

PHILLIPS: Well, say you have just boarded a plane and are expecting an important e-mail. Soon, you won't have to wait until you land to get it. Wi-Fi is today's is today's next big thing.

Just listen to Miles O'Brien.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CHIEF TECHNOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Say goodbye to your last plausible excuse for being out of touch. Wi-Fi is fast becoming Wi-fly, airlines up and down the concourse now jumping on the in-flight broadband wagon.

CHARLES OGILVIE, VIRGIN AMERICA: You will notice on the handsets there's a www button. This is one way that passengers will be able to access the Internet, via the screen.

O'BRIEN: Virgin America already has an internal wireless network that allows passengers to chat with each other or order coffee, tea or a movie. Next month, they will connect their cabins to the Internet.

OGILVIE: You will be able to log into your own instant-messaging account at your seat, watching your movie. You will also be able to exchange e-mail messages, text messages.

O'BRIEN: Airlines have tried this before using satellites, but it was too expensive. This time, they're going cellular, installing antennas in the belly of their airplanes that will connect with a network of special cell towers that aim up, instead of out.

MICHAEL KLEIN, PASSENGER: It's a great way to take care of downtime and it doesn't bother me a bit, the fact that others would be clicking away.

O'BRIEN (on camera): But what happens when all that clicking becomes one of those booming cell phone calls home at 37,000 feet? You know the kind. "Hey, honey, I'm on the plane!"

The airlines say they're still trying to decide whether to allow voice traffic. But take it from me. It will just be a matter of time before you better be packing your earplugs.

Miles O'Brien, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: A Tom Cruise video created for the Church of Scientology is making the rounds. It's making it on the Internet, and it's raising a lot of questions about Cruise and his beliefs.

We will have a look -- straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Hello, everyone.

I'm Kyra Phillips live at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.

LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: Another jittery day on Wall Street. The Dow Industrials down right now 288 points, despite reassurances from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke that American will avoid a recession. Bernanke did say economic growth will be slower this year and said an economic stimulus program would help, but only if Congress acts fast.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN BERNANKE, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: To be useful, a fiscal stimulus package should be implemented quickly and structured so that its effects on aggregate spending are felt as much as possible within the next 12 months or so. Stimulus that comes too late will not help support economic activity in the near term and it could be actively destabilizing if it comes at a time when growth is already improving.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Bernanke again promised to cut interest rates as needed to keep the economy moving.

Now President Bush wants a stimulus package, too. A spokesperson said that Mr. Bush thinks that a short-term incentive is necessary to deal with what the White House cause "this softening in the economy." The president is He's conferring with Congressional leaders on the details. He is scheduled for a speech tomorrow to discuss his criteria.

LEMON: A video featuring actor Tom Cruise talking about the Church of Scientology is one of the hot items on the Internet. The video was created for a private Scientology event and it reveals a side of Tom Cruise the public rarely sees.

Our David Mattingly joins me now from Los Angeles with the latest on this -- David?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, we asked the Church of Scientology where this video -- complete with a "Mission Impossible" like soundtrack -- came from. And we were told it can be seen in any Church of Scientology. The church says it comes from a 2004 Scientology ceremony honoring Cruise for his humanitarian work. But it wasn't public until what the church calls a pirated and edited version of the tape appeared on the Web.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY (voice-over): On a Web posted version, we hear Cruise's thoughts on leaders around the world.

TOM CRUISE, ACTOR: They want help and they're depending on people who know and who can be effective and do it. And that's us.

MATTINGLY: Former Scientologist Bruce Hines says he's heard this kind of message before among believers.

BRUCE HINES, FORMER SCIENTOLOGIST: Scientologists think that only they have the answers to the problems of the world.

MATTINGLY: And the star's confidence comes through loud and clear. This is Tom Cruise on commitment.

CRUISE: Either you're on board or you're not on board, OK?

But just -- if you're on board, you're on board just like the rest of us. Period.

MATTINGLY: This is Tom Cruise on psychiatry. CRUISE: I'm telling you, when you study the history of psychiatry and its effects (INAUDIBLE) these guys are (INAUDIBLE). That's crimes against humanity.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: The appearance of that video coincides with the release of an unauthorized Cruise biography. The author claims Cruise could be the church's second highest ranking Scientologist -- An idea the church calls ludicrous -- Don.

LEMON: And, David, has Tom Cruise commented on the tape or any of the comments going public on the Web?

MATTINGLY: His spokeswoman acknowledged that this was a tape for that private ceremony. But as far as it being on the Web and going public, the star nor his publicist had any comment about that going public.

LEMON: All right, David Mattingly. And thank you very much for that. And don't forget to tune into David's full report on "A.C. 360." That's tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.

PHILLIPS: David mentioned it Tom Cruise and the Church of Scientology both the subjects of a controversial new biography by Andrew Morton. We're going to talk with Morton still ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, we've been talking about the economy all day. Why? Because Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has been urging Congress to waste no more time enacting a fiscal stimulus package to help beleaguered consumers, as recession fears grow -- fears being seen right here on Wall Street. It got as low as 307. The Dow Industrials now 276 points. We'll be talking with Susan Lisovicz in just a little bit for the closing bell.

LEMON: Just a couple of minutes away. Now, let's now talk Tom Cruise. The internationally famous actor is also one of the most well- known members of the Church of Scientology. The star of "Top Gun" and "Mission Impossible" has promoted his faith, speaking out against medications such as anti-depressants and Ritalin, based on his church's teachings.

Recently, I spoke with celebrity biographer Andrew Morton about his new, unauthorized biography of Cruise and some of the claims he makes about the star and his church.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREW MORTON, AUTHOR, "TOM CRUISE": Tom Cruise has done remarkable work for his faith over the last few years -- demonstrable -- and it's shown in the book. LEMON: All right, you also make the claim that Suri Cruise -- Tom Cruise's baby -- is not his -- possibly not his, that it's possibly the reincarnation of L. Ron Hubbard.

Where do you get that information and why do you think it's true? Why would you put that in the book?

MORTON: Well, again, to clarify the distortion, I dismiss it as an absurd rumor that's -- that was floating round at the time on TV, in newspapers, but emanating -- sourced from inside Scientology, where they believe in reincarnation. Their motto is we come back. They believe that L. Ron Hubbard, the founder, will come back from his travels around the galaxies and 20 years after he died in 1986.

In fact, there -- they've built houses for him. There are offices for him around the world. Every day they put out a clean suit and shirt for him, freshly laundered, in his house in California. So they believe in this stuff. And at the time, of Katie Holmes' pregnancy, these wildfire excitement going through inside Scientology that...

LEMON: If you wanted...

MORTON: ...that possibly there could be some reincarnation.

LEMON: And I want to ask you -- I wanted to say this, but the church does not -- according to the Church of Scientology -- they say the church does not and never has believed any newborn is the reincarnation or the offspring of its founder, Mr. Hubbard -- never, never, never. If you're trying to not fan the flames, but at least douse the flames, why would you even include that in the book?

MORTON: Well, because this isn't the first time it's happened. When L. Ron Hubbard's daughter, Suzette, had a baby boy he was -- again, they thought he was the reincarnation of their founder. They do believe in reincarnation. Their motto is we come back.

LEMON: You also say that miss Katie Holmes Cruise has misgivings about her marriage to Tom Cruise. How can you substantiate that?

MORTON: I don't say that she has misgivings. I said that those people who have seen her feel that she's often more depressed and more -- and sadder than someone who is just -- just married. And that could well be the pressure she's under. It could be the fact that her life has been transformed over the last few years from a middle of the road actress to someone who is now a member of Hollywood royalty.

LEMON: Just reading the book, you would -- one would get from this -- and I would get from this -- is that it seems that you think that Tom Cruise is using his platform and his level of celebrity to promote Scientology and you don't think that is right or correct to do.

MORTON: What I say is that Tom Cruise is a modern breed of what I would call celebrity advocates, who is -- who uses his celebrity to gain access to the corridors of power, to meet presidents, to meet prime ministers, to extol and expand on his -- on his proselytizing mission, to push his faith not just in America, but around the world. And it is well worth examining what his beliefs are and why he's doing it...

LEMON: And real quickly...

MORTON: ...and where -- and where it came from.

LEMON: ...I want to -- what do you think about the U.K., Australia and New Zealand not distributing your book?

They say it's because it's tabloid and they are -- they're afraid of litigation because they don't believe that your claims are true in this book and that you can back them up?

MORTON: Well, Britain has a notorious reputation for what's called libel tourism, where people who don't have a case will take it to Britain, because we've got very strict libel laws. I mean it is very disappointing that someone like Tom Cruise, who is so litigious and yet at the same time talks about the freedom of the expression for his faith in places like Germany, is very quick to try and stop the freedom of expression of other people.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: The Church of Scientology is refuting claims made by Morton in his book. The church says Morton never requested an interview with them nor gave them a chance to respond to the claims he makes in the book. Morton says he did request an interview with the church's leader, David Miscavige and was turned down.

PHILLIPS: Chilling words from a young murder victim. Police in Irving, Texas have released a 9-1-1 tape that may be the last words of a teenage girl found shot to death alongside her sister. The girl's father has been charged with their deaths, but hasn't been seen since the crime. Police are trying to determine if the case was a so-called honor killing.

An update now from CNN's Keith Oppenheim.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New Year's Day -- a frantic phone call to the Irving, Texas police.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Irving 9-1-1. What is your emergency?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. I'm dying. I'm dying. I'm dying.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's going on, ma'am?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm dying.

OPPENHEIM: Police say the caller was 17-year-old Sarah Said, pictured here on the left next to her 18-year-old sister Amina. Police believe their father, Yaser Said, a cab driver who had emigrated from Egypt, was adamantly opposed to his daughters dating anyone outside the Muslim faith.

And when he learned at least one of his daughters were doing that, authorities say he ultimately shot both daughters multiple times and left them in a cab in a hotel parking lot. On the tape, Sarah Said is crying out, calling from a cell phone. The dispatcher is unable to quickly to get a location.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ma'am are you still there? Ma'am what is your address?

OPPENHEIM: In less than an hour, another call. A hotel manager describes what he sees in the taxi.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She does not look like she is breathing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She doesn't (INAUDIBLE)...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It doesn't look like they're alive to me.

OPPENHEIM: Indeed, when police arrived, they say the girls were dead in the back of a taxi that had been leased by their father. Police say Patricia Said, the girls' mother, became fearful of her husband last month and on Christmas Day fled with her two daughters. Yaser Said filed a missing persons report and his wife called police from Oklahoma to say she and the girls had gone into hiding.

CAPT. KEITH DEAVER, LEWISVILLE, TEXAS POLICE: Apparently, Yaser did find out that her daughter was having a relationship with a young man that was not of Muslim religion.

OPPENHEIM (on-camera): Did -- did she say anything about what he was going to do once he found that out?

DEAVER: Apparently he was very upset and threatened his daughter and made it in no uncertain terms that that was not accepted.

OPPENHEIM (voice-over): For reasons that are unclear, Patricia Said returned home with her daughters on New Year's Eve. The next day, the girls were dead.

OPPENHEIM (on camera): A relative tells CNN that there's disagreement in the girls' family as to whether these murders had anything to do with culture or religion. Whatever the reason, the police have an arrest warrant out for Yaser Said on two charges of murder and say so far, they don't know where he is.

Keith Oppenheim, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: A lesson from the bottom of the earth.

BILL NEELY, ITN CORRESPONDENT: In the last 10 to 15 years, nearly 90 percent of the glaciers that have been monitored have shown significant retreat.

LEMON: We'll show you glaciers melting faster than ever.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, you can see the fears of a recession right now. If you've been watching the numbers, the Dow Industrials now down 325 points. It's the highest today. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke urging Congress to stop wasting time, enact a fiscal stimulus package to help consumers, as this recession -- the fears of a recession grows. We're going to be hearing from the president tomorrow on his ideas.

LEMON: Besides Wall Street today, one of the coldest places on earth -- well, it is warming faster than anywhere else. And that has scientists worried.

ITN reporter Bill Neely is in Antarctica.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NEELY (voice-over): Take a good look at it because it won't be there for long. It's cracking and it's breaking up and it's only one of dozens of Antarctic ice shelves collapsing faster than anyone predicted.

JOHN WOODWARD, GLACIOLOGIST, NORTHUMBRIA UNIVERSITY: I would say the vast majority of what we were looking at back there has broken up this year.

NEELY: Antarctica's coastline is like a broken jigsaw -- the joints loosened by air that's warming faster than anywhere on earth.

ANDY SMITH, GLACIOLOGIST, BRITISH ANTARCTIC SURVEY: The Antarctic peninsula is telling us that change is happens. Temperature rises of up to two-and-a-half degrees C. And in the last 10 to 15 years, nearly 90 percent of the glaciers that have been monitored have shown significant retreat.

NEELY: The glaciers that drain ice from Antarctica's center are speeding up. Sheldon Glacier is changing fast -- another 200 meters of it lost in a year. It's now retreating four times faster than normal. If they're all doing that, it's critical.

We took a boat into uncharted waters, carefully nosing through the fractured ice. This breakup is normal. But the speed and the size of the ice lost is alarming scientists. This week, they revealed that Antarctica is losing ice twice as quickly as 10 years ago.

(on camera): It's not just the warm air, but the warming water that's attacking Antarctica. This ocean is like a dagger pointed at the continent's heart. It's penetrating and undermining the whole and vast ice sheet. Three major ice shelves have disintegrated recently one of them collapsing within days.

(voice-over): Antarctica is vast. In parts, global warming is creating more moisture, more snow, more ice. But to the West, it's the thinning of the ice sheet and the threat to the rest of the world that's chilling scientists.

ANDY SMITH, GLACIOLOGIST, BRITISH ANTARCTIC SURVEY: The big scare story would be if the whole of the West Antarctic ice sheet collapsed and that would raise sea level by five meters. Now, that's not likely to happen, certainly, in our lifetimes, in the next 100 years. But changes of a few percent are certainly possible and they will have an effect on sea level, coastal storms things like that.

NEELY: Change is normal in Antarctica. Here, we're tracking icebergs over an hour. But abnormal changes in sea levels here because of melting ice is frightening the U.N. Its chief climate scientist said this week the world needs to face up to the possible collapse of ice sheets and to global flooding.

Ice is on the move here faster than we predicted. The most hostile, most extreme continent may have even more harsh lessons in store for the world above it.

Bill Neely, Antarctica.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, sometimes the best place to hide is in plain sight. That's the case with some historic pictures that the Library of Congress is unvealing -- or unveiling, I should say.

Fredricka Whitfield joins us now.

It's a pretty cool story.

WHITFIELD: Yes, it is pretty interesting. Perhaps, Kyra, you -- like everybody else -- thought they had seen and they knew everything about Abe Lincoln, this country's 16th president -- you know, this guy with the beard -- the man who kind of symbolized being a rather genteel man of change.

Well, get this. Now, apparently, the Library of Congress has uncovered three glass negatives of images of his second inauguration there in March of 1865 -- right there at the steps of the U.S. Capitol. And you see it's very rainy and kind of grainy and there are a lot of people. It shows the excitement.

Well, the funny thing about these images -- three new images -- there's a third right there -- is that while the Library of Congress had these glass negatives intact -- it's not like they were buried away somewhere -- they were actually mislabeled perhaps. They were labeled either being the grand review of the armies or the inauguration of Ulysses S. Grant.

But then comes along a rather savvy curator of photography, who took a second look at these negatives and said wait a minute, let's compare them with the two that we know that we have of the inauguration of Abe Lincoln. And there was some consistency there. And then, behold, now they've got five negatives of this very special day of Abe Lincoln. And so, of course, if you are really intrigued by all of this and you want see it up close for yourself, you can view the full set of these photos by visiting the prints and photographs online catalog at www.loc.gov -- it's a long -- one -- /rr/print/catalog.html. I know you've got it all down.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: OK.

WHITFIELD: But perhaps you missed it.

PHILLIPS: We're taking notes.

WHITFIELD: I know I was going a fast. You can go to cnn.com and get the same kind of results right there, shorthand.

PHILLIPS: You know what?

Fred, I've got to tell you, the Library of Congress -- you know, their -- the photos -- the archive there, it's pretty awesome. I've actually gone...

WHITFIELD: Oh, it's incredible.

PHILLIPS: Yes. I've gone in there before and I've looked for certain photos...

WHITFIELD: Yes.

PHILLIPS: And you can order copies of these photos, like great quality photos. It's very inexpensive. And it's a piece of really cool history.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

PHILLIPS: I mean you can type in the most random events or people or artists and it's unbelievable, the archives.

WHITFIELD: It's an incredible resource. And, you know, anyone who gets a chance to go to Washington or perhaps you're thinking about a great trip to take...

PHILLIPS: Tour it.

PHILLIPS: ...you know, a trip down history, you know, you need to go to the Library of Congress and check it out and see what an incredible archive system we've got.

PHILLIPS: Fredricka Whitfield, I completely agree.

I bet Wolf will agree, too.

LEMON: Oh, absolutely.

PHILLIPS: I bet you Wolf has been there. LEMON: He has checked it out.

WHITFIELD: He's been there many a times, you know.

LEMON: He is an expert -- an expert on the Washington and the archives, aren't you -- Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I agree with everything Fredricka says. You know, she's -- she's a Washingtonian, really.

LEMON: Oh, yes. She is.

PHILLIPS: Yes.

BLITZER: I hear -- that's her roots, right here. So she knows what she's talking about.

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: All right, guys, coming in a few moments, right at the top of the hour, the BET founder, Bob Johnson, apologizing to Barack Obama. Coming up, my one-on-one interview with Bob Johnson about his comments, why he made them and the uproar has him now saying he's sorry.

The Federal Reserve chairman talks about the economy and now the White House and the Congress are promising -- promising to work together. How they're planning to help. Well, we're going to update you on this story.

And Bill Clinton -- he's lashing out. He's ripping into a reporter. Is he becoming the bulldog on his wife's campaign trail and does that help or hurt Hillary Clinton?

All that and a lot more coming up right here in THE SITUATION ROOM.

PHILLIPS: I think he misses being in the spotlight there a little bit Wolf Blitzer.

BLITZER: A little. A little.

PHILLIPS: All right, we'll see you at 4:00.

LEMON: All right.

The market is down today -- way down. The closing bell and a wrap of all the action on Wall Street straight ahead.

Take a look. There's the bad news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: The closing bell is about to ring on Wall Street.

LEMON: Yes. Susan Lisovicz is standing by with a final look at the trading day -- Susan, a big question.

When we see these kind of drops, should we be scared investors about this?

LISOVICZ: Well, I think that these things happen. And as traders, veteran traders remind me, Don and Kyra, the market tends to go down faster than it goes up.

But remember, just last year, we were looking at all time highs for the Dow and the S&P 500. And for several years, we were looking at all time highs for the housing market. Excess tends to be shaken out viciously on Wall Street. And what -- according to some economists say what we are seeing now is the fear of the recession. The stock market is acting very bearishly.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

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