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Bush Urges Renewal of Spy Act; Hurricane Katrina Survivors in Danger from Toxic Trailers; Romney to Endorse McCain
Aired February 14, 2008 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: In the NEWSROOM this hour, toxic trailers. New information about what Katrina survivors have been breathing in their temporary homes.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: We're also standing by for a live statement from President Bush. He's expected to make comments about the spy act that's about to expire this weekend.
LEMON: And running out of options. We're learning the Pentagon may have to shoot down that satellite that's headed for earth. Remember that? They didn't know where it was going to fall. Now they may shoot it down.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
WHITFIELD: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in for Kyra Phillips. You're live in the NEWSROOM.
LEMON: Well, as if they could take anything else, but more headaches for people still trying to recover from Hurricane Katrina. We are monitoring a news conference in New Orleans this hour. We expect to hear that people still living in Katrina -- living in government-supplied trailers for Hurricane Katrina will be told they need to move out, and move out soon.
The reason, well, the trailers have been found to contain unsafe levels of formaldehyde fumes, a substance that's known to cause a host of health problems, including cancer. So where will all the people go when they move out? Well, we're going to check in with our Sean Callebs in New Orleans a little bit later on in the CNN NEWSROOM. We're also going to talk with medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, about the health threats posed by formaldehyde.
WHITFIELD: And right now President Bush at the White House. Let's go live to hear a little bit more about the expiration of the spy act this weekend.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... our ability to find out who the terrorists are talking to, what they are saying and what they're planning will be compromised. It would be a mistake if the Congress were to allow this to happen.
Members of Congress knew all along that this deadline was approaching. They said it themselves. They've had more than six months to discuss and deliberate. And now they must act and pass legislation that will ensure our intelligence professionals have the tools they need to keep us safe.
Earlier this week the Senate did act and passed a strong bill and did so with a bipartisan majority. The Senate bill will ensure that we can effectively monitor those seeking to harm our people.
The Senate bill will provide fair and just liability protection for companies that assisted in the efforts to protect America after the attacks of September the 11th. Without this protection, without this liability shield, we may not be able to secure the private sector's cooperation with our intelligence efforts, and that of course, would put the American people at risk.
Now it's the House's turn to act. It is clear that the Senate bill would pass the House with bipartisan support. Republicans and Democrats in the Senate can put partisanship aside and pass a good bill. There's no reason why the House cannot do the same and pass the Senate bill immediately. Our government has no greater responsibility than getting this work done. And there really is no excuse for letting this critical legislation expire.
I urge congressional leaders to let the will of the House and the American people prevail and vote on the Senate bill before adjourning for their recess. Failure to act would harm our ability to monitor new terrorist activities and could re-open dangerous gaps in our intelligence. Failure to act would also make the private sector less willing to help us protect the country, and this is unacceptable. The House should not leave Washington without passing the Senate bill.
Now I am scheduled to leave tomorrow for a long-planned trip to five African nations. Moments ago my staff informed the House leadership that I am prepared to delay my departure and stay in Washington with them, if it will help them complete their work on this critical bill. The lives of countless Americans depend on our ability to monitor terrorist communications.
Our intelligence professionals are working day and night to keep us safe, and they're waiting to see whether Congress will give them the tools they need to succeed or they'll tie their hands by failing to act. The American people are watching this debate, as well. They expect Congress to meet its responsibilities before they leave town on a recess.
I'll answer a few questions. Ben, have you got a question? I'd be prepared to answer it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Mr. President. It appears, with that deadline approaching, that the House and the White House might be seen as many engaged in the game of chicken here, playing politics with an important intelligence law.
BUSH: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the law expires and something happens, wouldn't you be at least partly to blame? And on your Africa trip, if you have to delay, do you think that you would be shortening your trip at all? BUSH: As to the latter, you know, the delay depends on whether the House acts, of course. And they've got plenty of time to get this done. But if we have to delay, we'll delay. But I will go to the countries that I've said I'd go to.
And to the first case, you know, whether or not this is politics, I certainly hope not. I can assure you, al Qaeda in their planning isn't thinking about politics; they're thinking about hurting the American people again.
We -- you know, who's to blame? Look, these folks in Congress passed a good bill last -- late last summer. In other words, they analyzed the situation; they said there's a threat, and they agreed to give our professionals the tools they needed to do the job. The problem is, they let the bill expire. My attitude is, if the bill was good enough then, why not pass the bill again? I mean, the threat hasn't gone away.
Secondly, they've had plenty of time to think about how to address the issue. Thirdly, the Senate led the way. The Senate showed how to pass a good bill with a bipartisan majority. And the truth of the matter is, if there was a willingness to get this problem solved, all the leadership would have to do is submit the Senate bill for a vote.
So we'll see what happens. My attitude is, now is the time to get the job done. There's been plenty of time to think about it, plenty of time to debate it, and there's a good way forward. And hopefully, the House leadership will put this bill for a vote and let the members vote as they -- as they so desire -- Mike.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, I realize this is a sensitive matter, but I'm wondering if there's a way you can spell out for the American public what the practical impact may be if this law expires on our intelligence professionals, say, next week.
BUSH: Well, I hope it doesn't. But clearly, there will be a gap. And of course, we won't be able to assess that gap until, you know, until -- until the time.
Step one is -- you know, I guess you got to come to the conclusion that there's a threat to America, or not a threat. And evidently, some people just don't feel that sense of urgency. I do. And the reason I do is I'm -- firmly believe that there are still people out there who would do us harm.
Secondly, I know that the tools that I've just described are necessary to protect us. Why? Because we need to know what people are saying, what they're planning and what they're thinking. And the tool that I have just described has been very effective.
Thirdly, people are wondering why companies need liability protection. Well, if you cooperate with the government, and then get sued for billions of dollars because of the cooperation, you're less likely to cooperate. And obviously, we're going to need people working with us to find out what the enemy is saying and thinking and plotting and planning.
And so it's -- to me, I guess -- I guess one way to look at it is, some may not feel that same sense of urgency I do. I heard somebody say, well, this is just pure politics. No, this is what is necessary to protect the American people from harm.
And I recognize there hasn't been an attack on our country. But that does not mean that there's not still an enemy that lurks, plans and plots. And one of the reasons we've been effective is because we put new tools in place that give our professionals that which is necessary to protect us.
This is a different kind of threat than we've ever faced before. It's a different kind of war that we're fighting, and it requires a different approach. Again, I repeat to you that the Congress took a look at this issue and decided that the tools were necessary to give to our professionals last -- late last summer. And if it was necessary late last summer, why is it not necessary today? What has changed? Well, the threat hasn't gone away. It's still there. It's still real. And we better be worried about it as a nation.
And the House has now got time to go out and get the deal done. Yesterday, a couple of days supposed to go in the Senate. Made it abundantly clear that Republicans and Democrats can come together and put a good piece of legislation together and get it passed. And the House leadership has an opportunity to do that now. Listen, thank you all very much.
WHITFIELD: All right, the president there, seemingly very frustrated, saying if this spy bill was good for Congress to pass it prior to yesterday's Senate passing and House of Representatives saying, "No, we are not going to give a six-year extension on this spy bill," then what is the problem?
Our Brianna Keilar is with us now on the phone.
The president very frustrated, Brianna, about the disparity between what's taking place in Congress, and all of this possibly delaying his planned trip tomorrow to Africa.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, naturally what you hear, Fred, President Bush really ratcheting up pressure on Congress, specifically House Democrats, even basically threatening to delay his departure to Africa to get this FISA legislation passed if his cooperation is needed in this.
Now this is a showdown over the legislation that governs how U.S. intelligence agencies oversee some communications between suspected terrorists. And the major sticking point, as you heard the president address, is whether to give telecommunications companies retroactive protection against lawsuits for their helping the Bush administration in eavesdropping post-9/11.
Now roughly speaking, Republicans and President Bush want that protection, as you can tell. Democrats don't. And there's a Senate bill that passed that includes this immunity, but the House bill does not.
And the legislation -- the legislation that governs this area of foreign intelligence is running out on Saturday. So the clock is ticking. Republicans are saying, "Hey, if this runs out, it is going to put homeland security at risk."
Democrats are saying, "Not so fast, it's not going to make the U.S. more vulnerable." And they don't want to rush to legislation that would give President Bush overreaching powers. So what we're looking at, Fred, is this legislation could very well expire on Saturday because -- an attempt to extend it has failed.
WHITFIELD: Brianna Keilar in Washington, thanks so much -- Don.
LEMON: And we told you at the beginning of this newscast we were monitoring a press conference going on in New Orleans right now to talk about those thousands of people who had to be placed in trailers after Hurricane Katrina. The problem with formaldehyde.
We want to listen in now to a press conference happening with FEMA and the CDC's Julie Gerberding talking right now.
JULIE GERBERDING, CDC: ... in those homes. Now, what we actually did, of course, was just take a snapshot of formaldehyde levels on a day in the life of a home in this region, and that snapshot is helping us understand and confirm what we suspected all along, that in some of these situations the --the formaldehyde levels are high enough where there could be a health hazard to the people who are living there. And certainly, emphasizes the importance of what FEMA's already been doing, which is trying to help people relocate and to safer, permanent housing.
But a snapshot is only a point in time. And we know that if we took the same snapshot in the summer when the weather's warmer, that we would probably see even higher levels in some of these trailers.
So we're making the recommendation that all of the people in these situations be relocated to safer, permanent housing as quickly as possible and, certainly, before the warm summer months arrive. Because we want people to be as safe as they can possibly be.
We also recognize that people are in their homes for more than a snapshot. They live in these homes, and they may have been living in them for the two years since the hurricanes occurred. Exposures do add up over time.
With formaldehyde, the degree of risk from chronic exposure is still somewhat uncertain, but it is classified as a carcinogen, and we do want to be sensitive to the fact that people who spend a lot of time in their trailers could be at risk for cumulative exposure effects. And for that reason, we are going to be working with FEMA to try and create a document that tracks the people who have been living in the homes, registers them, if you will. We've already started this process for the children, and we hope to extend this to include all the people living in the homes over time. There are some things that people in this situation can do right now. One of them is to improve the ventilation. Because although the formaldehyde comes usually from the building materials, when the facility is closed down, the air is not moving, formaldehyde can accumulate and not escape, so it makes the levels higher. So good ventilation and spending as much time as possible outside of the home, especially if you have little children or are in the vulnerable group.
In addition, it's really important that people not smoke inside their trailer, or anywhere for that matter, because tobacco not only contains formaldehyde, but it also increases airway irritation, and this makes people more susceptible to the effects of formaldehyde in the situation that they're in.
It's also important that people know right now they can ask questions. CDC has a hotline, 1-800-CDC-INFO, where people can call to get information about health effects. And I'm sure my colleague from FEMA will talk about the resources that FEMA has made available for people who need help and advice right now.
And of course, if anyone feels that they have symptoms or are worried about symptoms of formaldehyde exposure, they should contact their clinician and get the medical advice and treatment that they need.
There are also some things that the government is going to do based on this information. I'm going to let me colleague talk about the relocation and the help and acceleration of relocation we anticipate, but we're also going to do some things to specifically reach out to the people whose homes were tested.
Already, CDC experts are here in Louisiana. My colleague, Dr. Mike McGann (ph), is one of the world's experts in this area. He's here. Additional team members will be arriving from both CDC and FEMA over the next several days. They're coming with the tools and the educational and informational kits that they're creating. And beginning next week, they will going -- they will be going door to door to hand deliver to each individual home the information about their test results and take time to explain what it means and what it doesn't mean and what the next steps are.
So that will be happening very quickly. I don't expect that process to go on over a long period of time. We're going to do it as fast as we can. They'll also be conducting some large community groups, both here and in Mississippi and elsewhere, to inform the people who didn't necessarily participate in the testing for this assessment but also have concerns or questions and need to have a chance to speak face-to-face with people who are experts. So we will be doing that as quickly as we can.
I've already mentioned the importance of registering people who have lived in the homes so that they can have their health concerns addressed over time, but we want to be very clear that there are still a lot of questions about formaldehyde and its importance as a health hazard, so we have agreed to establish a technical advisory panel, bring in experts. Right now the experts don't have agreement on a number of the issues, but we hope that by doing some new science, which is already in progress and looking at as much information as we can quickly pull together, we'll be able to do a better job of predicting health hazards and, most importantly, doing something about them.
So let me just conclude with a thank you, first and foremost to the people, again, who are Katrina survivors and have been courageous and patient during this long period of time. Also for the advocates who have been standing up for them and the community leaders, but also the state and local health departments and the people who have been part of the overall emergency response. It takes a community of people working together to deal with something as complicated as this is, and I think folks have been working really hard. We hope we've been doing our part, as well.
I also just would like to end with kind of a personal reflection. I've had a chance to visit New Orleans several times in my life, usually for fun or for scientific meetings. But since I've been the CDC director, I seem to have come at times when there's great health issues.
Just a few days after I became the director, I was here for the West Nile outbreak in the south, and that was an impressive demonstration of how a community could really pull together to deal with a -- with a very rapidly emerging situation. And I, of course, came back with many others in the wake of the hurricanes.
I hope that the next time I'm here that we're here to celebrate permanent and safe housing for the people who have waited a long time for that, and that perhaps our next Valentine's Day can be one where home really is where the heart is.
Let me turn this now over to my colleague, Mr. Paulison.
R. DAVID PAULISON, FEMA ADMINISTRATOR: Thank you, doctor. I appreciate those comments. As you heard, FEMA had asked health experts at CDC to investigate the formaldehyde levels in the travel trailers that are used to house those that have been displaced by not only Hurricane Katrina but Hurricane Rita. We now have some of the verbal preliminary results from CDC of testing and that analysis.
As a result of these preliminary findings, FEMA's going to continue our aggressive action to provide for the safety and well- being of the residents of these travel trailers by finding them alternative housing. Since November, we have moved out over 15,000 families, have moved out of these travel trailers into some other housing. We're not going to wait for the final results, but we're going to work to continue to expand our actions with the residents who need to be relocated.
We had a peak of almost 144,000 families in these travel trailers, and 105,000 of those have already moved out. And we continue to have between 800 and 1,000 families a week move out of these travel trailers. As I stated before, and you've heard from Dr. Gerberding, that our primary concern is the health and well-being of those we're assisting. So set me outline some of the actions that we're going to be taking.
First, FEMA will coordinate with CDC to provide occupants with public health information to ensure that they have a full understanding of the health risks of living in these trailers.
As you heard, CDC experts are on the ground and are at hand and will begin the process of making personal visits as soon as next week. CDC and FEMA personnel teams will visit each of the 519 tested units and provide them specific results of their home and advise them on a course of action. And we will be ready to advise them on housing alternatives.
Once we receive the final results of the tests from CDC, we will hand-deliver to every household a flyer with the general results of the study, with health information, advice, and information on how to contact FEMA to expedite their relocation.
Second, FEMA will increase the pace to relocate households from trailers to apartments or other alternative housing, preferably in locations that are convenient to their work, convenient to the schools and close to their community.
Third, where apartments or alternative houses are not available, we will relocate households to hotels and motels for a period of time that may be necessary to find alternative housing when it becomes available. Fourth, in the event --
LEMON: David Paulison from the CDC finishing up a press conference there, also Julie Gerberding. David Paulison, sorry, with FEMA and Julie Gerberding with the CDC. Both talking about how immediately they're wanting thousands of people, I think about some 40,000 people now still in those FEMA trailers since hurricanes Rita and Katrina.
What they're going to do is go around door to door, hand out flyers to try to get all of those people registered to figure out exactly how many people are in there.
They also offered a number for them to call for information. It's 1-800-CDC-INFO. But they said they want to get all these people relocated as soon as possible.
And until then, they're asking them to keep those trailers ventilated well and not to smoke. It's a lot to ask not to smoke when people have been under that much duress.
But again they're trying to register everyone, get them out as soon as possible. They said at the height, they had about 144,000 people living in trailers -- 105,000 have moved out. That leaves roughly 39,000 to 40,000 people still living there.
The big question, though: where will all of those people go when they move out? We're going to check in with our Sean Callebs in New Orleans a little bit later this hour. We'll also talk with our medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, Fred, about the health threats posed by formaldehyde. It's really serious.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
LEMON: Especially, they want them to get out sooner than later because of the heat. And it gets very hot in New Orleans.
WHITFIELD: Yes. It's an extraordinary situation...
LEMON: Yes.
WHITFIELD: ... for people who have already been through so much.
LEMON: Yes.
WHITFIELD: And it doesn't look like we're anywhere close to the end of this new escapade.
LEMON: Yes, sadly.
WHITFIELD: All right.
Well, running out of options. We're learning the Pentagon may have to shoot down that satellite headed for the earth. We'll hear more from NASA and the Pentagon this afternoon.
Stay with us. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. Some developing news into the CNN NEWSROOM. We want to get you to Alabama, where there is a warehouse fire. These pictures courtesy of our affiliate WBMA. It's in Pell City, Alabama, which is very near Birmingham.
Now here's what we're told. The historic Avondale Mills in Pell City has caught fire, with smoke from the blaze visible for miles. Firefighters from Pell City and surrounding communities responded about 10 a.m., which would be Central, today.
How the fire started, they're not exactly sure, but you can see those plumes of smoke rising from that video that's just in to the CNN NEWSROOM.
The mills were added to the National Registry of Historic Places back in 2000. So if this is lost, it will be -- lost, it will be a terrible loss for the area. But we'll continue to update you on this situation.
All of this information coming from our affiliate WBMA. And also, the Associated Press reporting some details about this. We'll keep you updated. WHITFIELD: And Don, this is like something out of a sci-fi thriller. It's up there in space but not for long. A dead satellite with a dead computer and no controls is falling back to earth and is expected to hit early next month.
Senior military officials said today one option is being considered, is to shoot down the satellite with a missile from a Navy cruiser. And there are a few reasons why. One is to make sure the space junk hits the earth in a safe place. And two, it's a secret spy satellite. And whatever is on board, well, it's a secret. And they don't want anybody to know about it.
LEMON: Tell us what's on board.
WHITFIELD: The Pentagon and NASA plan a news conference at 2:30 Eastern. And we'll bring you that right here on CNN.
LEMON: That will be very interesting. Also, this is very interesting, as well, as we continue to monitor this press conference live. And if anything comes out of this more than what we told you a few moments ago, we'll bring it to you.
They will already lost their homes to Hurricane Katrina and also Hurricane Rita. Now they're being told the government-supplied trailers they're living in are hazardous to their health.
The trailers were supposed to be temporary housing, of course, but thousands of people are still using them. Now they're being told they need to get out and get out fast.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GERBERDING: Five percent of the homes or so had levels that were at the high end, and even people without vulnerability might experience some respiratory symptoms if they spent time in those homes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right. We're going to get back to that in just a moment. First we want to toss it over to Fred. She's got some breaking news for us.
WHITFIELD: All right. Some news coming out of the John McCain campaign. Our Dana Bash is on the phone from Burlington, Vermont.
Dana, what's happening?
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka.
Well, CNN has learned that Mitt Romney, who dropped out of the race just last week, is going to endorse, formally endorse, John McCain. And it's going to happen this afternoon in Boston. It's going to happen at Romney headquarters. The two men are going to -- are going to appear together. They're going to meet first, then appear together before the cameras. And what CNN is told by two sources familiar with this decision is that Governor Romney is going to make clear that he wants to -- wants his delegates, the delegates that he won over the course of the primaries, that he wants them to back John McCain.
Now in some states, the state rules are different in terms of how that really works. But the point that Governor Romney is going to make, we're told, is that he wants to help John McCain secure the nomination as fast as possible and unite the party for a general election run against Democrats.
Now so this is news that we are told by two sources familiar with this decision, that Governor Romney is going to formally endorse John McCain in his hometown of Boston. That is headquarters, formerly his presidential headquarters -- presidential campaign headquarters in Boston.
This is interesting on a couple of fronts, Fredricka. First of all, the fact that Governor Romney has decided to -- to make clear to his delegates that he wants them to back John McCain to get him to that point, get him to that 1,191 point in order to mathematically secure the nomination.
Really, what Mitt Romney is doing here is trying to make -- make clear that he wants him to get to that point at a time when Mike Huckabee is still in this race, and Mike Huckabee is, you know, depending on how the next set of contests go, he could prevent John McCain from getting that actual magic number to formally be the nominee.
But also, just in terms of the perception here. Fredricka, you know that what John McCain has been trying to do, since it became much more clear that he would be the nominee, he's been trying to unite the party behind him, particularly conservatives.
And Mitt Romney was the most aggressive -- because he was his rival -- the most aggressive in telling conservatives, "John McCain is not one of you." "John McCain is too liberal," he said. He used the word "liberal" over and over again -- to be the nominee.
By coming behind John McCain and telling those same people he now thinks that John McCain is -- is the perfect -- at least the appropriate nominee at this point, that is a strong signal for John McCain in something that is, as you can imagine, very, very welcome for John McCain, as he really is trying to shore up support among conservatives and really turn to the general election, as he started to do here in Burlington.
WHITFIELD: And Dana, you have to wonder if this decision came at the urging of the Republican Party, or the McCain camp as a whole, or if this was, indeed, a decision Mitt Romney felt he need to make to, as you say, unite the party.
BASH: Well, you know, I'm told that Governor Romney formally made this decision this morning. Talking to sources familiar with Governor Romney's thinking over the past several days, really since last week, it was pretty clear that he was moving in this direction of formally endorsing John McCain. The question was what about those delegates that he had wanted to keep to hold onto going into the general election. I think -- excuse me, into the convention.
I think he has about 280 and 290 delegates that he still has from all the primaries. This is something that was on his mind. He was on his way to doing. You remember when he actually dropped out, Fredricka, at the Conservative Political Action Conference, he gave a pretty big nod to John McCain there saying that he thinks it's important for the Republicans to unite in order to fight --
WHITFIELD: Dana, making it very clear at that point that it was a suspension of his campaign. So he had this option in which to hand over these nearly 300 delegates you speak of. Dana Bash, thank you so much for joining us from Vermont. And of course here at CNN, we'll be covering that press conference at 3:30 out of Boston, Mitt Romney making it official that he is throwing his support now to the Republican contender. And thus far front-runner, John McCain -- Don.
LEMON: Thirty minutes into our newscast. It's going to be a very busy day here in the NEWSROOM. Thanks to Fred and Dana for that.
We want to get back to this story happening now in New Orleans. They've already lost pretty much everything. Thousands of people living in these trailers, now they're being told that their health is at risk.
Where are they going to go? What are the dangers of formaldehyde?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It really is incredible. These people have been living in these trailers, many of them for nearly two and a half years now, and they've been saying to the government, it just doesn't smell right. Our eyes are irritated. You can be sure that some people are going to say why did it take the government this long to do a study to figure it out.
But they did the study. The Centers for Disease Control did a study, they looked at how much formaldehyde is in the kind of trailers that you're seeing here. What they found is really pretty astounding. They found on average there is about five times as much formaldehyde in these trailers as you would find in any other kind of home. Some of the homes they tested, 40 times as much formaldehyde as you would find in a regular home. This is especially going to affect young children, older people and anyone who's got breathing problems. They're going to feel the effects first.
LEMON: What does it do then?
COHEN: Right, what does it do to the body?
LEMON: Obviously it's very harmful.
COHEN: Right, it can be very harmful. The folks who live in these know some of these effects because they feel them. It can be very irritating to the eyes, to the throat, to the skin. People with asthma or any kind of breathing problems are especially sensitive and it is classified by the government as a carcinogen. That's a longer term risk that, who knows? They're going to have to follow these people for years and years to see if they do get cancer.
LEMON: So they're asking to keep them well ventilated, and of course not to smoke. They made that very clear. Is there long-term damage from this? I would imagine there could be if it is a carcinogen.
COHEN: Sure. If it's a carcinogen or it's classified as a carcinogen, what they're going to need to do and they said they're going to do this, is study these folks because the cancer likely wouldn't show up for years and years. That's why they want these folks out as soon as possible, certainly by the summer. It is worse in the heat because that formaldehyde just leeches out. You have much higher levels when it's hot and that's why they want people out as soon as possible.
LEMON: Elizabeth Cohen, appreciate that. Thank you.
WHITFIELD: They are vulnerable and impressionable. You won't believe how low terrorists in Iraq have sunk to carry out their violent missions. We have exclusive information in the NEWSROOM.
LEMON: More on the breaking political news we have for you, Mitt Romney is expected to endorse John McCain at an event in Boston at a news conference just in. We just told you about it here on CNN. We'll speak to Bill Schneider, part of the best political team on television, about what this means for the campaign.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: This story just broke less than 15 minutes ago. Republican front-runner John McCain gets a huge boost from a former competitor, Mitt Romney who now says he is throwing his support to McCain. Our political analyst Bill Schneider is in Washington.
Is that where you are?
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes I am.
WHITFIELD: OK, well this is very interesting. I suppose at least I was thinking this certainly came rather soon.
SCHNEIDER: Well, it's part of the process, it always happens once the nominee is apparent, namely the party begins to close ranks and even the people who were competing with him for the nomination decide, throw in the towel, support the nominee, rally around the front-runner. That's what's happening right now. It puts great pressure on Mike Huckabee to decide the inevitable and get out of the race. He says he's not going to do that right away. And he doesn't have to, but it puts great pressure on him.
WHITFIELD: Certainly. Because now if Mitt Romney had nearly 300 delegates thus far, John McCain had a little over 700. That inches him much closer to that 2,000 mark that he needs. At the same time, as we analyze this, Mitt Romney was kind of the antiestablishment. John McCain is a lot closer to the establishment than anyone else.
SCHNEIDER: Well, the conservative establishment doesn't entirely wrap its arms around McCain. Remember when he spoke to CPAC he got a mixture of cheers and boos. What McCain does is he is the candidate who is favored by the mainstream of the conservative movement in this country. Movement that is the base of the Republican Party. He was McCain's principal rival. And when he got out of the race, that meant the conservative movement didn't have its own favorite candidate, they had to reconcile themselves to John McCain.
What Mitt Romney is doing is saying, it's time to reconcile ourselves to John McCain. Now, what McCain has begun to do, we saw this happen in Maryland this week, is he's picking up more of the Romney vote than Huckabee is. Huckabee would like to become the national leader, the spokesperson for the conservative movement, but Huckabee's getting mostly southern conservative votes. He's a southern Baptist preacher. He's unable to get many of the Romney votes outside the south. In Maryland, McCain finally made a break- through on Tuesday. He carried conservative voters. But not in Virginia. They still voted for Mike Huckabee.
WHITFIELD: Interesting. We saw a much more visceral Romney toward Huckabee right before Romney bowed out. So is this really more a statement of he's far from endorsing a Huckabee than he would be to endorse McCain even though he was his competitor as well?
SCHNEIDER: Well you can be against both. But Romney --
WHITFIELD: But it never seemed to get really ugly between Romney and McCain like it did between Romney and Huckabee.
SCHNEIDER: Well, things got very tough between all those three candidates and I think there was a lot of resentment among all of them because Romney was spending a lot of money on negative ads. I know feelings between McCain and Romney were not very good, nor were they between Huckabee and Romney. But Romney understands the way the process is supposed to work. You close ranks when the winner is apparent.
Huckabee, who is one of the nice guys in American politics, he just wants to play the game out and wait until McCcain gets the number of delegates he needs to have a majority. He is entitled to do that, but a lot of people are wondering, it's mathematically virtually impossible, even if he wins all the remaining primaries, so why is he stretching this process out. This increases the pressure on Huckabee to get out.
WHITFIELD: I remember Huckabee saying there is a lot of fight left in this dog. Maybe that's why.
SCHNEIDER: Well, I don't know why.
WHITFIELD: We'll have to ask him. Or maybe he'll reveal it soon. Well, for one thing we're going to be hearing from Mitt Romney about two hours from now, Bill. At 3:30 Eastern out of Boston. We'll hear from the horse's mouth, so to speak. Sorry about all the animal analogies here. We'll be hearing from Mitt Romney at 3:30 Eastern.
Meantime, you'll also want to tune in to "LARRY KING LIVE" tonight for an exclusive interview with Republican presidential front- runner John McCain at 9:00 Eastern. It's something you'll only see on CNN.
LEMON: Did you say a lot of fight left in this horse?
WHITFIELD: Fight left in the dog. And then I said hear it from the horse's mouth, Mitt Romney. You know I'm an animal lover.
LEMON: All right, obviously!
Forty-one past the hour. Couple of stories we're working on for you here in the CNN NEWSROOM, move out for health's sake. FEMA is telling Katrina survivors still living in emergency trailers that there is a chemical danger in those trailers.
A satellite that's falling to earth. The pentagon has a plan to shoot it down. We expect to hear more in a news conference in less than one hour from now.
And Condoleezza Rice is packing her bags for Kenya. President Bush says he's sending his secretary of state to help negotiate an end to violence there that has left more than 1,000 people dead.
Two suicide bombings in Baghdad February 1st killed nearly 100 people. Shocking early reports reveal the terrorists didn't kill themselves, instead they sent a pair of mentally disabled women into a crowd and detonated them remotely. It was too horrific even by Iraq's violent standard.
CNN's Arwa Damon looked into it and gathered some exclusive and disturbing -- we want to warn you, some disturbing details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They were the deadliest attacks to hit the capital in months. As many as 98 killed. Double bombings that ripped through two pet markets. The Americans and the Iraqis claimed al Qaeda, saying the attacks were carried out by two women, one wearing a backpack, the other wearing a so-called suicide vest. Even more disturbing, the authorities say both were mentally ill and may not have been willing bombers.
CNN has confirmed that one of the women responsible for the market attack was treated here at this psychiatric hospital. The doctor told us her name but asked that we respect doctor-patient confidentiality by not reporting it. The U.S. military verified the name we were given. In her file it says that she was 35, married, and diagnosed with schizophrenia and depression. They're saying, "Go commit suicide."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're saying go commit suicide, blow up yourselves.
DAMON: The doctor tells us she was first treated last December, then later admitted to the hospital.
(on camera): This is the women's ward at the hospital, and there are about six patients here now according to the doctors. The market bomber also spent time here, according to the doctor from January 3rd until the 7th, living in this room. A female family member stayed with her in the hospital and when she left she was released into her family's care.
She returned twice as an outpatient and received electric shock treatments, the latest on January 28th. Just four days before she became a human bomb. The Iraqi government said that both women bombers had Down's syndrome, but the doctor says although the woman his hospital treated had the facial characteristics of someone with Down Syndrome, that wasn't her diagnosis.
DR. SHAALAN JODA, IBN RUSHD PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL: The act that happened is in line with this disease, with this background of auditory hallucinations. She may have been taken advantage of in one way or another, but we don't know how, whether she was on that path or if she was used unwittingly.
DAMON: The U.S. military says al Qaeda's efforts may be bigger than these two cases, that al Qaeda is deliberately seeking and recruiting mentally ill women. A senior U.S. military official says, U.S. investigators believe al Qaeda has operatives within Baghdad's mental hospital, passing on patient files and contact information. And on Sunday, the acting administrator at another psychiatric hospital was detained.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The administrator remains in coalition force detention and is being questioned to determine what role, if any, he may have played in supplying al Qaeda with information regarding patients at that hospital or some other medical facilities in Baghdad.
DAMON: The U.S. military clearly worried. Even as it said the use of mentally ill women is a sign of al Qaeda's desperation.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Arwa Damon joins us now from Baghdad. Arwa, from a security perspective, how can the U.S. and Iraqis battle this threat?
DAMON: Well, that's really the big challenge here, because this is not something that's going to be overcome through military or fire power. What really needs to happen here is Iraq's institutions need to be built up. Iraq needs solid institutions like a solid police force, hospital administrators that are not going to be lured by al Qaeda for any sort of financial gain.
Additionally, the Iraqi security forces need to start recruiting more women. This is a clear-cut example of al Qaeda exploiting weaknesses within the security structure here. Women are not always searched. There are not female searchers for women coming in and out of marketplaces, at checkpoints. They aren't as closely scrutinized as their male counterparts are and it's much easier for a woman to conceal explosives. They do tend to very often wear the black Islamic dress, the Abaya(ph) here.
So this really is a problem that needs to be dealt with on multiple levels. Militarily they can only do so much. The rest of it is going to be up to politics and Iraq's institutions really being set up. This is a problem that exists across the country, even if we look at it beyond the issue of Qaeda recruiting mentally ill female suicide bombers. A lot of the problems here as we do move forward in the war are going to be more about politic and institutions being set up in this country -- Don?
LEMON: Al right Arwa. Arwa Damon in Baghdad, thank you very much for that.
WHITFIELD: All right, we want to take you straight to Washington right now because this might be a scene that you see on a regular basis to look at the House floor here. But what's different is the single filing of these representatives. Why? Because Republicans in the house are walking out. You heard the president in the last hour talk about his frustration over the House of Representatives not endorsing a six-year plan of the spy act.
Well, the Republicans are saying, wait a minute, we need to get to the bottom of this after the senate did approve this six-year plan. Even the president is now saying he's possibly going to postpone his plans tomorrow to take off for Africa. Our Brianna Keilar is in Washington.
A whole lot of moving parts here, Brianna. Let's begin with why the Republicans there in the House feel like this walkout is the right signal to be sending.
KEILAR: What they're doing here is they're trying to bring awareness to what's going on. They're ratcheting up pressure on House Democrats on the FISA act, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. As you mentioned, we heard from President Bush just a short time ago as well, so this is a full-court press that Republicans and President Bush are staging against House Democrats.
This is a showdown over the legislation that governs how U.S. intelligence agencies oversee some communication between suspected terrorists. The major sticking point on this is what's called retroactive immunity. Basically giving telecommunications companies retroactive protection against lawsuits for their helping the Bush administration after the September 11th attacks in eavesdropping. Roughly speaking, as you can tell, Republicans and also President Bush, they want this provision, Democrats don't.
There is a Senate bill that includes immunity but this got stuck in the House because the House bill does not. The legislation that governs all of this is set to expire on Saturday. Now this whole showdown is happening against the backdrop of something else going on in the House, and that's that House Democrats have brought a contempt vote against former White House Counsel, Harriet Miers and current White House Chief of Staff, Josh Bolten for what they say was their failure to cooperate in the investigation of the scandal involving the firings of U.S. attorneys. Now Republicans walked out saying, hey, this is a waste of time that we're doing this, when we should be dealing with this foreign intelligence surveillance act. And now allowing this legislation to expire is going to put homeland security at risk. Democrats for their part say this is not going to make the U.S. more vulnerable and this contempt vote that they were staging is really them fulfilling a constitutional duty to check executive power -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: Brianna, while you are talking we are seeing the stream of congressmen and women who are leaving the House floor, now all composed there on the steps getting poised to take to the microphones there to perhaps expound on exactly what it is that they're feeling. Meantime, the threat that the president is making to postpone his trip to Africa. By staying in Washington, he would be hoping to accomplish what that he couldn't accomplish while still on travel?
KEILAR: Well you know that's really a good question. Is this really -- does he need to be here? Does he need to be in the states to cooperate with this, that's the big question? Or is it just a move where he's ratcheting up the pressure, bringing a lot of awareness to this? As you can see here, this is obviously a photo opportunity to bring awareness to this.
When the president says, hey, I'll postpone my trip to Africa so that we can get this done, it is really an attempt by the president, by the Bush administration, and also Republicans, as you see here, to bring awareness as they are being successful in doing -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: OK. Well Brianna, moments before exiting the building, this is what Ohio congressman John Boehner had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER, (R) MINORITY LEADER: And ladies and gentlemen, we will not stand here and watch this floor be abused for pure political grandstanding at the expense of our national security. We will -- we will not stand for this, and we will not stay for this. And I would ask my House Republican colleagues, and those who believe that we should be here protecting the American people not vote on this bill, let's just get up and leave.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And that they did, as you see on the right-hand side of the screen. What happened once they left, they've all converged there on the steps of the house billing. So, Brianna back with us now from Washington on the phone here, what now?
BASH: Well, at this point we don't exactly know. It does appear at this point that the legislation could very well expire, because an attempt in the house to give a 21-day extension to this failed -- it failed yesterday. So Democrats saying, you know, we're not going to go with that because we don't want to rush to legislation that would give the Bush administration overreaching and permanent power. But at this point that's the big question, Fred, is how much does this matter? Does this really create vulnerability as Republicans say that it does? Or is it true that it doesn't, as Democrats are alleging.
WHITFIELD: All right. Well we will certainly find out. Course we're going to monitor the developments there from Capitol Hill, as well from the White House. The response from this Republican House walkout there out of the frustration of the expiration of this spy law this weekend, unless Republicans and Democrats come to terms, make an agreement. Of course, we'll be trying to get the Democrats' side too. As soon as that happens we'll be able to bring that to you..
LEMON: But for now it looks like a good old-fashioned standoff.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
LEMON: Happening in Washington. Let's talk now Fred about choosing the right doctor. It can make all the difference but how do you know which doctor is right for you? Our Elizabeth Cohen will tell us straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.
LEMON: Elizabeth Cohen is going to talk to us about an empowered patient. That is the first step to becoming an empowered patient is having a good relationship with your doctor.
But how do you know which doctor is right for you? Right? Let's talk details about that.
COHEN: OK, we picked Valentine's Day because everyone's always looking for Mr. Right or Miss Right. Well how about looking for Dr. Right? You want to find Dr. Right this person is going to help you get through some difficult times. We've got some hints on CNN.com/health. I'm going to share two of them with you right now.
When you're looking for Dr. Right, ask your friends to fix you up. But choose your friends wisely. If you're an aggressive kind of person, ask your aggressive friends. Don't ask the meek friends because they might have doctors that you wouldn't really pair up with well.
Secondly, date before you get married. This is very important. Interview some doctors or go to them for like a hangnail or something and see how they deal with it. Try a couple out. You wouldn't marry the first person you met, right? You wouldn't want to marry the first doctor you'd meet.
LEMON: I'm trying to hold off on that as long as I can. How do you know if the doctor is Mr. Right or Dr. Right?
COHEN: It's that feeling you get deep in your gut, it really is. I'm not trying to be silly. It really is something very similar to romance. If you feel that this doctor gets you and isn't going to be annoyed when you ask lots of questions, if that's the kind of person you are, if you just feel like its right, it probably is right. They should actually be an M.D., you know they shouldn't be a nobody. They should be a real doctor. But the feeling that you get is very important.
LEMON: Yes. And know before because it is hard to break up with a doctor.
COHEN: Divorce is never pretty. Right. Get it right the first time, try to..
LEMON: Thank you very much.
WHITFIELD: All right. Three developing stories in the NEWSROOM we're working on. Republicans in the House have walked out of the Capitol. We'll bring you the very latest.
Stocks are down in triple digits this hour.
Mitt Romney, he's expected to announce formally that he is endorsing John McCain this afternoon. Breaking news right here in the NEWSROOM. Stay with us.
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