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Congress Asks Justice Department to Investigate Roger Clemens Testimony; Gas Prices Major Concern for Texas Voters; McCain in War of Words with Conservative Radio Host; Tennessee Police Search for Shooter at Elderly Facility

Aired February 27, 2008 - 13:00   ET

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

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: ... which starts right now.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Gerri Willis, thank you very much for that.

We have some news just into the CNN NEWSROOM. We're talking about Roger Clemens and the Justice Department. Here's what CNN has just learned.

Congress will ask the Justice Department to investigate whether Roger Clemens made false statements under oath to the House committee. You may remember he spoke in front of that committee, the reform -- government reform and oversight committee, just two weeks ago. Listened to a lot of his testimony and also the testimony of his former trainer, Brian McNamee.

Well, again, Congress will ask the Justice Department to investigate whether Roger Clemens made false statements during his testimony under oath, under oath to this House committee. And that's interesting. Does this mean perjury? What does this mean?

On a day when Congress is once again tackling illegal drug use by professional athletes, we have breaking developments involving baseball's Roger Clemens, the great, we call him.

Well, our Kathleen Koch is standing by for us. She is on Capitol Hill.

Does this mean perjury if they investigate this? Do they think he committed perjury? What will this result in, Kathleen?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that -- that's the question. Right now what we have is a letter that the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee sent basically to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, asking for an investigation into whether or not Clemens, Roger Clemens, lied to the committee when he testified there on February 13.

Now, according to the letter -- and I'll quote from it -- it says, quote, "We believe that his testimony in his sworn deposition on February 5 and at a hearing on February 13, that he never used anabolic steroids or HGH, human growth hormone, warrants further investigation." In this letter, which is from the committee chairman, Henry Waxman, and then also the minority member on the committee, Tom Davis, minority chairman, they say that they believe not only was Clemens' testimony and affidavit contradicted, obviously, by the testimony of his former trainer, McNamee, at that hearing, but also in testimony in an affidavit from former teammate Andrew Pettitte.

And the letter goes on to mention that Pettitte told the committee that Clemens admitted to him in 1999 and 2000 that he had taken HGH.

The committee takes this very seriously, but Don, obviously, the question is will this end up resulting in actual perjury charges being filed by the Justice Department? Right now that's unclear

LEMON: Yes. And will anything come of this? Kathleen Koch, thank you for that.

We're going to ask if anything will come of this, ask that question to Avery Friedman, a frequent here in the CNN NEWSROOM. He's a law professor. He joins us now on the phone.

Avery, we've heard talk of this before, and nothing has come of it. I think in the Tejada case. Would this -- is this going to result in anything?

AVERY FRIEDMAN, LAW PROFESSOR: Well, Don, I think a lot of people expected to see something like this coming from Chairman Waxman and from Tom Davis.

But again, the request here, and it's a correct one, is to ask the department to investigate. That doesn't necessarily mean that there's going to be enough evidence to turn over to a grand jury for an indictment for perjury.

So, you know, again we're just in the preliminary step. And it's something, frankly, I think the committee should do, because you have profound inconsistencies in Roger Clemens' testimony.

LEMON: Profound inconsistencies. I mean, he sat right next to Brian McNamee, and McNamee refuted, basically, everything that he said.

But how do we know who's telling the truth here? You're saying there's not -- there may not be enough evidence to investigate or to even prosecute in this matter. How do you find that out? We still have the issue of the paraphernalia that, apparently, McNamee kept and took pictures of and that he has and says he will use that and is going to get it tested.

But how do we know if there's going to be enough evidence in this case?

FRIEDMAN: Well, and that's exactly the reason that it's -- it's referred to the attorney general's office. We know there's enough evidence on investigation. What the Justice Department has to do here, Don, is determine whether or not Roger knowingly misstated that, under oath, No. 1 in a deposition in early February, and then secondly, before judiciary committee on the 13th of February. That's what they're looking into.

If it can be established that there is sufficient evidence to prove that Roger Clemens was intentionally misrepresenting fact, then this case goes to the grand jury on the question of whether or not he'll be indicted for perjury.

LEMON: Yes. Well, regardless of what happens, it's definitely interesting and appears to be a new twist when it comes to professional athletes, professional sports.

FRIEDMAN: It's twisting and turning, Don, isn't it?

LEMON: Yes. And performance-enhancing drugs. Avery, we always appreciate your perspective. Thank you so much for joining us.

And later we'll talk more about drugs and professional athletes with Jon Wertheim. He's a senior investigative reporter for "Sports Illustrated" -- Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Your home, your energy costs, your dollars, the news getting worse. Home sales are plunging again, battering an already punch-drunk housing market. Oil prices are rising again. What will you pay for gas this summer?

And a dollar doesn't buy what it used to. That old saying especially true today. All of this has the Fed chief warning lawmakers and also the rest of us.

Rising gas and grocery prices were a big concern across Texas, where our Ali Velshi is on a road trip. He's actually traveling the state on the CNN Election Express. You see him waving there. And he's joining us now from Goliad, Texas.

Hi, Ali. What's going on there?

ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Oh, Brianna, what a downer! Move that cloud out from on top of you. I'm sitting here in Goliad. This is the Presidio La Bahia. It's a fort that plays -- it's very important to Texas history. You talk about the heart of Texas, this is -- this is very, very important to Texas independence. It's where the first Declaration of Independence in Texas was signed in the 1800s.

But, you know, the reality is, this is ranchland. This is oil land. People drive trucks around here. Everybody you see has a truck. They use those trucks for work, and the price of fuel is a big issue around here. You kind of get the impression outside of Texas that everybody in Texas is getting rich off of the price of oil. Well, not everybody is.

People who have to ranch, they've got to buy feed. The price of feed, like everything else, is going up. And if you're ranching and you're farming and you're paying more for your diesel, and you're paying more for the feed that you -- that you have to buy, that works its way onto kitchen tables.

We have seen that prices for commodities in food in the last year have increased dramatically. So around here, the price of gas is very important to people.

Also, people drive around a lot around here. Some have to get to work and it really hits them hard in the pocket. Here's somebody I talked to earlier today.

Here's what he has to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMILIO VARGAS, CONCERNED ABOUT ECONOMY: We got people here that have to travel daily, 30, 60 miles to go to work, and more than $3 a gallon, sometimes it's not profitable to go to work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: Now it's, you know, a double whammy here. You talk about -- you talk about oil prices and gas prices. Everybody in America is feeling the same thing. You said the dollar doesn't go as far as it used to. Well, we know it doesn't go far overseas. We saw the dollar hit its lowest level ever against the euro today, more than $1.50 to a euro, just about $2 to a British pound, $1.01 for a Canadian dollar. Even the peso is strengthening against the U.S. Dollar.

But that's overseas, or that's in other countries. What about right here in the United States? We know inflation is a major concern. Ben Bernanke talked about it with -- with Congress today. He recognizes this is a major issue.

You don't have to hear it from Congress. You don't have to hear it from me or see it in a report. You know you're paying more for your milk. You're paying more for you gas. You're paying more for your bread. You're paying more for anything that's manufactured, shipped, stored. So it's a big deal. This is the major issue we're facing right now, and people in Texas have been telling me that gas prices are a major concern, Brianna.

KEILAR: All right. Ali Velshi, thanks for bringing it home for us.

You can check out Ali's report. He's going to be continuing his ride there on the CNN Election Express. Thanks, Ali.

And for more on your finances, you can check out CNN.com/SpecialReportRightonYourMoney. Get tips on how to better manage and invest your money with video, tutorials and interactive guides. You can also read or share I-Reports with others. Of course, that and a lot more at CNN.com/RightOnYourMoney.

LEMON: And leading our political ticker, debate No. 20. Wow. No. 20, between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. The Democratic presidential candidates went at it last night in Cleveland, a week before the all-important Ohio primary. They accused each other of negative campaign tactics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have a great deal of respect for Senator Obama, but we have differences, and in the last several days, some of those differences in tactics and the choices that Senator Obama's campaign has made regarding fliers and mailers and other information that has been put out about my health care plan and my position on NAFTA, have been very disturbing to me.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Senator Clinton has, her campaign at least, has constantly sent out negative attacks on us, e-mail, global calls, fliers, television ads, radio calls. And we haven't whined about it, because I understand that's the nature of these campaigns.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, the delegate-rich Ohio and Texas primaries next Tuesday are considered make or break for Clinton. She's hoping to put an end to Obama's winning streak. Rhode Island and Vermont also hold primaries on March 4.

After quitting his own presidential race, Bill Richardson has sat on the fence while Clinton and Obama fight it out. But that could soon change. The New Mexico governor tells our Wolf Blitzer he may announce an endorsement sometime this week and also says he might not.

Mike Huckabee wants another debate with John McCain, and he wants it before Tuesday's primaries. The distance long-shot is in the Republican race -- in the Republican race, has been clamoring for weeks, and now he sent McCain an official request. Before that, McCain had state his camp never heard directly from the Huckabee camp.

Fighting words today between John McCain and the conservative radio talk show host who introduced him yesterday in Cincinnati. At issue, Bill Cunningham's tirade against Barack Obama.

Our Dana Bash joins us now from Tyler, Texas, with the very latest on this.

It certainly has caused some controversy, Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It certainly has. And you know, John McCain is obviously campaigning in Texas today. But back in Ohio, which is a very, very important state for him, not only in the primary season but, more importantly, in the general election, if he does officially become the nominee, he's really basically created an enemy and an enemy with a big megaphone.

Bill Cunningham is already on his radio show today, Don, talking about the fact that he wants John McCain to lose in the election to Barack Obama, so he said the next Reagan can emerge in the Republican Party.

Meanwhile, here in Texas, we asked John McCain about his decision to quickly disavow the comments that Bill Cunningham made at his event yesterday in Ohio. Those comments, including calling Obama a hack politician and using his middle name, Barack Hussein Obama. What John McCain said is that he has no regrets in quickly disavowing those comments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is a free country. People are free to voice their opinion. What my concern yesterday was this was an event sponsored by my campaign. I don't intend, in any way, to tell talk-show hosts or anyone else in America what they should say or not say. This is a country that people believe in free speech. The reason why I had to repudiate that was because it was a campaign event associated with my campaign.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now the silver lining of this, the McCain campaign hopes, is that this kind of standing up to -- to a respectful campaign, that that might appeal to the independent voter, even as John McCain is certainly having some problems with conservatives, based on what happened.

Now you see there a picture of Barack Obama. That is -- this is a message that the McCain campaign wants to have today. John McCain stood in this town hall and really pretty much off the bat, went after Barack Obama for something he said in last night's debate, suggesting, as the answer to a question, that he would send -- potentially send troops back into Iraq. You know, he wants to pull them out, but send them back in if al Qaeda would become a problem.

Listen to what John McCain said about that here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCAIN: I understand Senator Obama said that, if al Qaeda established a base in Iraq, that he would send troops back in militarily. Al Qaeda already has a base in Iraq. It's called al Qaeda in Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, that is obviously an indication of what the McCain campaign is trying to do, looking forward to the general election. It is just the latest in Senator McCain's attempt to peg Barack Obama as naive and inexperienced, particularly on the issue of national security.

Well, Don, Barack Obama did not miss a beat. He responded in- kind in Columbus. He came back and said that he knew McCain went after him on this. And he said, "I read the papers. I know what's going on in Iraq." He said, "I understand that" and that he said he has news for John McCain.

He said that is that there would be no such thing as al Qaeda in Iraq if John McCain and George Bush had not invaded Iraq. So big-time preview what we are going to see over and over again in the general election, if it's going to be Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton, with regard to the debate over Iraq.

LEMON: Yes. No general election yet, and it's already starting. So Dana Bash in Tyler, Texas, we appreciate that reporting from you.

All the latest campaign news is available at your fingertips. Just go to CNNpolitics.com. Plus, analysis from the best political team on television, in the entire everything. That and more at CNNpolitics.com.

KEILAR: Most kids hate shots. Not a surprise. But a whole lot more of them may be in for flu shots every year.

Up to now, annual flu shots have been recommended only for adults over 50 and for kids between the ages of 6 months and 5 years. Well, today a government advisory panel recommended vaccinations for kids as old as 17.

CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is going to be joining us with the details later this hour.

LEMON: OK. We're getting some word from one of our affiliates near Bristol, Tennessee. This is a shooting there -- just some new information -- at a shooting in an elderly housing facility. Now, here's what we're told by -- by the affiliate.

According to the city police chief there, confirmed there are four shooting victims and at least one fatality in the shooting this morning at a facility called the Edgemont Towers.

One body was covered by a sheet that was visible. That's according to reporters there on the scene. It could be seen from across the street from the apartment building. Another, we're told, was taken by ambulance to Bristol Regional Medical Center.

They're pursuing a suspect there who fled the scene. Here's what they're looking for. This is important if you're in the area. Looking for a suspect who fled the scene in a bronze-colored Chevy S- 10 pickup truck. A bronze-colored Chevy S-10 pickup truck. According to one witness, the shooter was described as a male in his 30s, short hair, Caucasian. But that's the latest information that we have there.

Again, a shooting in Bristol, Tennessee, and we're going to update you as soon as we get more information on that. All of this information coming from our affiliate there in Bristol, Tennessee. But CNN working on it. Our affiliates, as well as our national desk, trying to get more information.

Now, join us for the fight over the dangerous -- over a dangerous, dangerous territory.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): It's the first time you'll go inside an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operation with an Iraqi mission commander.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Our Kyra Phillips is in Iraq, and she will take you on the ride of a lifetime. You don't want to miss that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: An update now on our news coming out of the Bristol, Tennessee. There's been a shooting there, and according to police, four people have been shot, at least one fatally, in the shooting there. It's at the Edgemont Towers. The Edgemont Towers is an apartment building there, but a lot of older people live in that apartment building.

Here's what's also important about this. It's in the town of Watauga. And we're hearing from Bristol, Tennessee, police that they're telling people to stay inside of their homes in Watauga and the Ransack Hollow Road (ph) area. So they're being told to stay in their homes, because there is a suspect on the loose.

Now here's what we're learning from our affiliates there in the Bristol, Tennessee, area. They're saying that they've confirmed that there are four shooting victims, and at least one fatally, in the shooting that happened this morning at Edgemont Towers. One body could be seen by witnesses, that was covered with a sheet. Another was taken by ambulance to Bristol Regional Medical Center.

Police are pursuing a suspect who fled the scene, important here, if you're in this area, fled the scene in a bronze-colored Chevy S-10 pickup truck. That's according to one witness. They believe it's a man in his 30s, short hair, no other distinguishing -- distinguishing marks on his body that we know about that could give you better information about him. But he is a white male.

And also, we're being told that the suspect, police may know who he is. I'm not going to give you the name, but the affiliates have a name here. But he possibly wrecked his vehicle and may be on foot in the region, as well.

So again, shooting there, four victims, at least one fatally, near Bristol, Tennessee, actually in the town of Watauga. They're on lockdown, for the town. They're being told to stay in their homes. We're going to continue to update you.

KEILAR: Also just into the NEWSROOM, a school lockdown in Connecticut. This is in Waterbury, Connecticut. This is following a bank robbery near the schools in Waterbury.

According to school officials, one high school, one middle school, three elementary schools all under lockdown. And that's because, while there are two men involved in this bank robbery at Webster Bank in Waterbury, according to police there, and while one fled in a vehicle and was later caught, there is still one suspect who is at large. That according to Waterbury police.

In this bank robbery, a customer of the bank was shot, and at this point, we do not know the condition of that bank patron.

But again, five schools in Waterbury, Connecticut. These pictures coming to us from our affiliate there, WTNH. Five schools in lockdown: one high school, one middle school, three elementary schools. One suspect in a bank robbery has been caught by police, but there is still one suspect at large. And so those schools will remain under lockdown, obviously, until they can at least have some resolution here. We're going to bring you details as they come in.

LEMON: Details on both of the stories happening in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Meantime, almost two decades after the Exxon Valdez dumped 11 million gallons of crude oil along the Alaskan coast, well, the case has landed at the highest court in the land.

Exxon wants the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out more than $2 billion in punitive damages. Our justice correspondent, Kelli Arena, sat in on the arguments, and she joins us now.

Kelli, what did you hear?

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: You know, Don, it was really interesting to be both in and outside the courtroom today. Outside you heard a lot about the environment, the damage that was done. You heard about how Exxon has so much money, you know. What difference does it make if it shells out some more?

But inside, it was all about legal precedence, and this is an argument over punitive damages. That's money that's paid out to punish a company.

Exxon's already paid nearly $3.5 billion toward government fines, cleanup, compensation. But what's at sake now is another $2.5 billion to be paid to all the fishermen and cannery workers, native Alaskans. In total, there were 33,000 people who say that they lost jobs, livelihood, and they suffered as a result of this spill -- Don.

LEMON: All right. Kelli Arena, thank you very much for that report -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Looking for signs of terror. CNN's Kyra Phillips taking you on an Iraqi air force mission. She's going to be live from Baghdad, ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Twenty-six past the hour. A couple stories we're working on for you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

A scary ride for more than 40 middle-school students outside Washington. Their bus tipped over in Riverdale, Maryland, while turning, injuring at least five of them. Police plan to charge the driver, who they say was speeding.

A Canton, Ohio, jury now deliberating the fate of a former police officer for a second day. Jurors already convicted Bobby Cutts of murder in the deaths of his pregnant girlfriend and their unborn daughter. Now they're trying to decide whether to recommend the death penalty.

Former polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs now facing charges in Arizona. Jeffs pleaded not guilty today to sex charges in the arranged marriages of two teen girls to older men. Jeffs was convicted in Utah last year on a sex charge.

KEILAR: Looking for signs of terror. CNN's Kyra Phillips taking you on an Iraqi air force mission, putting you in the front seat. She is live from Baghdad, ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right, we're getting some new information into the NEWSROOM about this Bristol, Tennessee, shooting. At last word we heard that there were four people who were injured in all of this.

Joining us now is Stephanie Hoskins. She is a community program director for the Bristol, Tennessee, police department. What can you tell us? We're hearing that four people have been shot here. Stephanie?

All right, apparently Stephanie is not there. Until we get Stephanie back, I'll update you on the information that we do have here, and I'm getting some information off the wires. According to our affiliate in that area to Bristol Tennessee police, four people were shot in an apartment complex, an apartment facility that is believed to have mostly, or at least a lot of, older people living in that apartment complex.

They're telling us that they're asking people in the town of Watauga to stay inside of their homes, because they believe there's a man on the loose. Obviously the person who did that shooting, but the police are confirmed four shooting victims, at least one of them fatally, and witnesses have been saying that they could see at least one of the victims under a sheet, another one taken to a hospital.

The suspect, they believe, fled in a truck, but then wrecked that truck possibly and may be on foot. They are giving a suspect name in all of this, and on at least two of the news agency's Web sites I'm looking at, there is a person who they have named as a suspect with a picture of him in that. But we're going to get more information hopefully from Mrs. Stephanie Hoskins, who is a community program director for the Bristol, Tennessee Police Department to get you more information on this developing story.

Meantime, Brianna Keilar has more news.

KEILAR: Utility officials in Florida, they're trying to shed news on yesterday's colossal blackout. We now know that it all started with an equipment malfunction and a small fire at a substation near Miami, and backup systems designed to isolate the problem failed.

Let's go now to CNN's Susan Candiotti. She in our Miami bureau with more on this.

Hi, Susan.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, how are you today? Well, before we get to the main point, and that is finding out exactly why the lights went out in Florida, I want to show you something, it's all about timing. You know when an earthquake hits and sometimes you have the luck to have a camera rolling at that exact moment so you see the tremors happen?

Well, in this case, a camera was rolling in a Fort Lauderdale courtroom when suddenly everything went dark.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYCO VILLAFANA, FPL SPOKESMAN: That is what's great about the way the system is now working. It doesn't completely shutdown across the entire grid; it just shutdown enough to bounce it out again and for us to quickly be able to repair it and bring it back up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: OK, well everything was slightly out of order there, but there you have someone from -- a spokesperson from Florida Power and Light trying to explain exactly what happened, what led up to this point, what caused the blackout.

Well, we can tell you this, a switch at a small substation failed. The problem is, is that a backup switch was supposed to kick in, but it didn't. And when that didn't happen, you had the cascade of everything going wrong at once. The spokesperson is making the point that it could have been a lot worse, because even though the grids went down across the state, not every one of them did.

Only about a quarter of the four million or so customers lost power, but within four hours, power was restored to everybody, after the mayhem of all kinds of traffic lights going out, people being stuck in elevators, electric trains not working. But in fairly short order, they feel that they got everything back online.

But, again, the main point is trying to isolate this huge problem. They had a backup system in place, and that single switch didn't work, and that's what caused all the other problems to occur.

Brianna, back to you.

KEILAR: Yes, and you have a problem when the backup doesn't back up. We got video of the courthouse, and we did get to see that video of the courthouse, very interesting, where all of the lights went out, obviously shocking for people to be in intense negotiations in the courtroom, and then for the lights to go out of course.

But Susan Candiotti, thanks for your report there in Miami. (BUSINESS HEADLINES)

KEILAR: Looking for terrorists from the skies over Iraq. Our Kyra Phillips is on this story.

PHILLIPS: That's right, we'll be searching for those the terrorists from the skies. I'm live from Baghdad. We'll take you on a mission with the Iraqi Air Force, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: OK, we've been following some developing news this afternoon, the CNN NEWSROOM, it's out of Bristol, Tennessee. A shooting at an apartment building there.

Now, what we're hearing is that there are three people, three people have died and another was injured in this shooting at an apartment complex in Bristol, Tennessee. That's according to the police department and they're also telling us that they have a suspect in custody and possibly all of this stemmed from a domestic situation.

They've got a suspect in custody. We have a name and a photograph, but we want to confirm that it is this person before we actually show you and tell you who it is.

But again, the shooting that we've been reporting to you since the beginning of this newscast at 1:00 p.m. Eastern here on Bristol, Tennessee, one person in custody, three people fatally injured, and another person in serious condition in a hospital now because of the shooting in Bristol, Tennessee.

We'll continue to update you as soon as we get more information here into the CNN NEWSROOM.

KEILAR: Protecting pipelines and powerlines from terrorists, it's a mission now shared by the newly-reconstituted Iraqi Air Force. And our Kyra Phillips rode along on a reconnaissance flight. She's joining us now from Baghdad.

And Kyra, didn't you also go along an a similar mission with the U.S. military, I think it was at the beginning of the war, right?

PHILLIPS: That's right, exactly. At the very beginning of the war, we had exclusive access with the Marines and the Navy. We flew on a P-3 flight, basically the eyes in the sky, we were flying over Iraq.

And I could actually see the marines talking with troops on the ground saying hey, there's an al Qaeda threat over this way. All right, we see some insurgent activity over here, and it was real time information, Brianna that actually saved lives and helped prevent dangerous situation for troops there on the ground.

Well during that flight, I remember one of the officers saying to me, well, we're hoping the Iraqis one day will be able to do this with their Iraqi Air Force. Well, it seemed like such a longshot at that point.

So, here we are, five years into the war, and now I've been able to get exclusive access with the Iraqi Air Force, actually doing the same type of mission, but with an Iraqi mission commander, a definite sign of progress.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS (voice-over): A lot has changed for Iraqi Air Force Captain Thair Hussein. Once a MiG pilot under Saddam Hussein, Thair says he'd give up the thrill of the jet any day to take on this new mission.

THAIR HUSSEIN, FORMER SADDAM MIG PILOT: Before we flew for Saddam just an order, a mission that it's not really useful for our people. But now, it's a reconnaissance mission, it just saving our precious tanks, towers, pipelines, or sometimes even lives.

PHILLIPS: It's the first time you'll go inside an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operation with an Iraqi mission commander.

HUSSEIN: And N43 (ph) Flight 2, requesting (INAUDIBLE) 5, 10, 6 and 8.

PHILLIPS: This Cessna 208 is equipped with the most advanced surveillance technology. This is the MX-15, a camera so clear, you can see license plates.

Captain Habob (ph) is the mission systems operator, he's the eyes in the sky.

(on camera): So, tell me what we're going to be looking for today and what we're going to be monitoring today.

HUSSEIN: We're going to just look for anything suspicious on the pipeline from Baji goes back to Kirkuk.

PHILLIPS (voice-over): Or as Thair calls it, black gold. The terrorists love to destroy it. Protecting Iraq's oil and its pipelines is crucial for economic stability. So is the power.

(on camera): This powerline station goes how far across Iraq?

HUSSEIN: It goes from here to Baghdad.

PHILLIPS: This is how we get our power in Baghdad?

HUSSEIN: Exactly.

PHILLIPS: And what do you look for specifically around the powerlines?

HUSSEIN: If there is any terror activity, and there is any attack on it. Bottomline, it's very important to protect Baghdad in the night because where the dark is, all the rats is. PHILLIPS: Where the dark is, all the rats are?

HUSSEIN: Oh, yes.

PHILLIPS (voice-over): You can see the destruction of history as well. Remember this holy shrine in Samarra? This is what it looks like now after al Qaeda bombed it.

HUSSEIN: You can see all of the damage over it.

PHILLIPS (on camera): Does it make you sad when you see these ancient places get blown up?

HUSSEIN: Oh, yes, my tribe is from Samarra. I'm Samarai (ph).

PHILLIPS: So, when you see that mosque blown up ...

HUSSEIN: Oh, yes.

PHILLIPS: ...it breaks your heart?

HUSSEIN: Uh-huh.

PHILLIPS (voice-over): Within minutes, Thair and Habob notice something suspicious.

(on camera): So, you're following that car and that tower. What's wrong?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This tower shouldn't be on the ground. It should be, you know, standing. That is not right.

PHILLIPS: Look like it's been blown up?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. There's no mark or ash around it. (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

PHILLIPS (voice-over): Thair tells Habob to take a closer look.

(on camera): So, we're about an hour and a half into the flight, and Habob did find something. He noticed that a guard tower had been knocked down, so he zoomed in on it, and Thair noted that it was right next to the oil pipeline. He didn't see any evidence of smoke, so it could have happened early on, but they're going to report it as a possible terror activity.

(voice-over): So, whether it's high-valued targets susceptible to sabotage or providing vital intelligence about threats to troops on the ground, Thair says this admirable duty comes at a very high price. As an Iraqi pilot, you're a living target 24-7.

HUSSEIN: It's kind of, you know, wearing a mask all the time. We don't tell anyone that we are pilots. My son is six-years-old. He's been saying that, why do we have to lie? I told him it's not lying. It's just keeping us safe. It's kind of the price you pay for, you know, the democracy or our freedom. PHILLIPS (on camera): What's the price you pay?

HUSSEIN: Staying in the shadow. That's my price.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Now, it's been almost a year since the Iraqi Air Force has been flying. It started out with 30 sorties a week. Now, Brianna, they're flying 300 sorties a week and doing these ISR missions. Next step, they're going to attach hell-fire missiles to these planes, so commanders like Captain Thair can just drop a missile on a threat down below and blow it up.

KEILAR: And Kyra, that was such an interesting piece, really behind the scenes which is what you do, obviously, when you're in Iraq, bringing us stories. So, I'm just wondering what's going on for tomorrow?

PHILLIPS: Brianna, you'll have to forgive me. I lost contact with you. I hope that we're still live.

I'm going to tease what I've got coming up tomorrow. It's actually a completely different type of story than what we were just telling you about right now. I actually dug into the culture here in Iraq, and went to visit the Iraqi National Theater. This was once a place where Chemical Ali, you remember him, the weapons of mass destruction guru for Saddam Hussein, he used to hold a conference and do his anti-American speeches.

Well now, it's coming back to the arts, and you're seeing plays and the orchestra and modern dance, and I had a chance to sit down not only with a performer, but also the director of this theater and I asked him what's been the best part about this theater becoming up and operating again?

And this is what he told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: What's different from the theater during Saddam's era and the theater now?

"It's like putting your finger in fire and your finger in water, that's the difference," theater director Shafik al-Mari (ph) tells me. "We were forced to do things under Saddam. When I was told to direct for him, I pretended to be sick and went to the hospital. Now, look at me. I'm a healthy man. I can see the light.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Brianna, can you tell that he's actually a professor in theater as well, he's very animated and he has a lot to say about the theater. And you'll meet this modern dancer tomorrow and see what's happening in an absolutely beautiful -- I don't know if you've ever been to the Fox Theater in Atlanta, but that's exactly what it looks like, it's gorgeous. KEILAR: All right, Kyra Phillips for us in Baghdad. Great story today, looking forward to tomorrow's.

LEMON: We have several developing stories to tell you about, this one involves Bobby Cutts, remember the former Canton, Ohio, police officer accused of killing his girlfriend, Jessie Davis who was pregnant and their unborn child.

Well, we're hearing the jury has decided how they're going to sentence him. They're trying to decide if they were going to recommend the death penalty. We should get that 2:15 Eastern. We'll get the information on Bobby Cutts, whether or not a jury recommends the death penalty on him.

Meantime, some breaking news coming out of the Atlanta, Georgia, area. We've been telling you that a lot of this, who's going to run in the general election, who's going to be the nominee in the Democratic party. It's going to be decided by superdelegates.

Well, John Lewis is a Congressman here in Georgia and we are hearing from our affiliate WSB that John Lewis has now switched his support from Senator Hillary Clinton to Senator Barack Obama. We're working to get our affiliate on the phone. Specifically, he told the anchor of WSB, Monica Pearson who is in Washington doing interviews with him, that he is going to switch his support from Clinton to Obama.

We'll get details, trying to get Monica on the phone. If you're watching, Monica, give us a call. We want some information on this. We'll bring you the latest right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

KEILAR: Many older folks are diligent about getting their flu shots every year. Well, we're going to tell you why they may start bringing their grandkids with them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right, we've been reporting breaking news here in the CNN NEWSROOM. It's in Bristol, Tennessee. It involved a suspect who shot, we believe four people. And we told you just a few minutes ago that three people had died, that's according to the Associated Press and to affiliates there, another was injured in that shooting in an apartment complex. We're also being told now that the suspect has also died.

We have a deputy from the police department on the phone now. Deputy Hoskins, right?

VOICE OF STEPHANIE HOSKINS, BRISTOL, TENNESSEE POLICE: Stephanie Hoskins, yes.

LEMON: Stephanie Hoskins, how are you, Stephanie Hoskins? Thank you for joining us. Now, we're hearing that the 26-year-old suspect that we're showing now, his name is Rusty Rumley Jr., that he has also died in this?

HOSKINS: That is incorrect. The information that I have is that he's in custody.

LEMON: OK, he is in custody, OK. So we have him, Rusty Rumley Jr. in custody, and tell us how many people do we have injured or hurt or maybe fatal in all of this?

HOSKINS: We have three fatalities, and one grave injury.

LEMON: Three fatalities, one grave injury. Tell me what precipitated this. Tell us what happened.

HOSKINS: Well, we don't know the specifics. It's our understanding that this may have been a domestic situation between Mr. Rumley and at least one of the victims.

LEMON: OK, and it started at this apartment complex, correct?

HOSKINS: Yes, sir.

LEMON: OK, and what time did all of this start?

HOSKINS: We got the first call in to our dispatch center at 10:41 a.m. We had an officer on the scene at 10:43.

LEMON: What are they telling you, if you're getting a call or 911 calls or witnesses, what are they telling you happened? So, they're calling you saying hey, someone has been shot, we're hearing -- what happened?

HOSKINS: Sir, I don't have that information.

LEMON: OK, all right, thank you very much, Stephanie Hoskins. We're going to let you get back. But what you can confirm to us, three fatalities in all of this, one grave injury and that one suspect, 26-year-old Rusty Rumley in custody by police, correct?

HOSKINS: Yes, sir.

LEMON: All right, thank you very much for joining us in the CNN NEWSROOM.

We're going to work on that to find out exactly about this suspect, because we're getting some conflicting reports here, one from a sheriff's department saying that the suspect may be dead, but we're not sure about that. But according to the police department there, you heard Stephanie Hoskins, she's saying that the suspect isn't dead. But there are three fatalities and one person who's gravely injured in all of this. So, we'll continue to follow this developing story.

Let's move on now and talk about medical news. Our Elizabeth Cohen is here to talk about a government panel recommending annual flu shots, Elizabeth, for kids of all ages up to 18-years-old?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Up to 18, right.

LEMON: Wow.

COHEN: So, in addition to the measles and the mumps and chicken pox, your child is now supposed to get a shot for the flu.

So, let's take a look specifically at the ages that we're talking about. This newest recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control Committee says that kids ages six to 18-years-old ought to be getting annual flu shots. So, add them to the list.

The entire list of everyone at this point who's supposed to be getting a flu shot starts with kids ages six months to now 18 years. So, that's pretty much everybody, and adults who are 50 and older. Pregnant women are supposed to get flu shots which surprises a lot of people. People with any long-term health problems, asthma, diabetes, they're supposed to get flu shots also and nursing home residents are supposed to get flu shots.

It'll be interesting to see next fall whether people comply and get flu shots.

LEMON: OK, well, adults, I don't really like to get flu shots, so.

COHEN: Nobody likes it.

LEMON: I know, I know, I know.

COHEN: This is not a fun activity, right.

LEMON: Supposed to like health, but you know, anyway. Why did they add children, that's what I wanted to ask.

COHEN: They added children for two major reasons. One is is that a lot of children this age, ages six to 18, get the flu and secondly, a lot of them spread the flu. Any parent will tell you that children are a big-time disease vectors. They get other people sick, so even though kids usually get through the flu just fine, they might get grandma sick who is not going to get through the flu just fine.

LEMON: Yes, I'm sure everyone is not happy about this. There has to be some people who are opposed, yes?

COHEN: That's right, there is because there is thymerisal in some flu vaccines. And there are groups of people who believe that there is a link between thymerisal and autism. They believe thymerisal causes autism.

Now, doctors have studied this on and on, they don't think there's a link but if you were one of those parents who's concerned about the link between thymerisal and autism, you can ask your pediatrician, please give me a vaccine that doesn't have thymerisal. They do exist.

LEMON: OK, great, good information.

COHEN: Thanks.

LEMON: Because we have big concern for it, especially for parents, thank you very much. COHEN: Thank you.

KEILAR: A slowing economy plus soaring prices. Part stagnation, part inflation, it all adds up to stagflation. Are we heading down that road?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: OK, breaking news into the CNN NEWSROOM. It involves a superdelegate, we've been telling you that who is going to be the Democratic nominee could ultimately hinge on the superdelegates, how the superdelegates vote, regardless of how everyone else votes in the primaries here and also the caucuses.

And here's why this is important. John Lewis, who's a Congressman here in Georgia, he has switched his support from Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama, and he told this to WSB, which is a CNN affiliate, specifically the anchor there, Monica Pearson or Monica Kaufman. If you're in this area, you know her.

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