Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Dems Contend for Texas; McCain Sounds off on International Issues; Two Dead after Wendy's Shooting in Florida; Iranian Leader Makes Historic Trip to Iraq; Ricin Investigation Expands into Utah

Aired March 03, 2008 - 13:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CO-HOST: Texas, Ohio, Vermont, Rhode Island; four states, four contests, one possibly decisive day in the Democratic and Republican presidential races.
BETTY NGUYEN, CO-HOST: Yes, it could be a make-or-break Tuesday, and the best political team on television is giving you a head start.

Hello, everybody. From the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Betty Nguyen, in for Kyra Phillips.

LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And as we just said, it is a very big day. We have correspondents in all four states, especially Texas and Ohio, the two biggest prizes. Plus, we're turning the numbers and watching the big picture in our Atlanta, New York and Washington newsrooms. The races, the rallies, the results, CNN is your home for politics.

NGUYEN: Up first, let's get you to Texas. It's seen by many as a must-win for Hillary Clinton, the Democratic race there just too close to call. Clinton and Obama are crisscrossing the state in these final hours.

CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is in Dallas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, rough weather in the state of Texas: tornado warnings as well as some thunderstorms, but it's not expected to stop either one of these candidates from crisscrossing this all-critical state.

And do or die, make or break for Senator Hillary Clinton. Her own campaign saying she needs to get Ohio and Texas on Tuesday to move forward. Both of these candidates will be hitting various cities. Senator Clinton in Beaumont as well as Austin for a town hall meeting before heading to Houston. Senator Barack Obama to hit Carrolton, San Antonio and Houston, as well.

Both of them emphasizing the issue of national security, a very important issue in Texas. Senator Clinton saying that she is the one who's best able to handle a crisis situation in the middle of the night to protect the American voters. Senator Barack Obama saying that it is not necessarily about this Washington experience but about judgment. Let's take a listen to how the candidates are shaping this debate.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't know what all that experience got her, because I have enough experience to know that if you have a National Intelligence Estimate and the chairman of the national -- chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee says, "You should read this. This is why I'm voting against the war," that you should probably read it. I don't know how much experience you need for that.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm here today because I want you to know that I'm a fighter, a doer and a champion, and I will go to work for you.

MALVEAUX: The issue of national security, particularly important to those in Texas, military families as well as veterans paying very close attention to what both of the candidates are saying on that score. Both of them crisscrossing the state, trying to hit as many voters as possible, flooding the airwaves, as well. It will be a very exciting and interesting race tomorrow.

Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, Dallas, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Thanks, Suzanne.

And on the Republican side, frontrunner John McCain is looking to clinch the GOP nomination, but Mike Huckabee says, not so fast. Huckabee has stacked his schedule with a string of rallies all across Texas.

Let's go straight to Houston and CNN's Mary Snow.

Hi, Mary.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Don.

And one of those rallies is scheduled to take place here in Houston, where I am right now, later today. But as you said, Mike Huckabee really canvassing the state, trying to get the message out, telling supporters to turn out for him tomorrow. He's hoping to make a stand here in Texas, despite the fact that the odds are against him.

But he says he's going to keep fighting until someone gets 1,191 delegates in the Republican race. That's the number needed to clench [SIC] the Republican nomination.

And today he started the day in Dallas, where he addressed a crowd at Southern Methodist University.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And as we all knew, the protege of Vladimir Putin was selected, the new President Medvedev. He is -- obviously an election that would not pass the smell test in any functioning democracy.

It's unfortunate that the people of Russia are now -- seem to be going back to days where they did not have the right to have right to protect -- to have the right to a free election and even a free society. These elections were clearly rigged. The opposition was repressed. And it's unfortunate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNOW: That clearly was not Mike Huckabee. That is Senator John McCain. He spoke just a short time ago in Phoenix, Arizona, where he took questions from the press. As John McCain gets back on the campaign trail. He spent the weekend in Arizona and was not on the trail. This, as Senator John McCain is hoping to clinch the Republican nomination this week.

But Senator John McCain, as you just heard, talking about the Russian elections. And he spent a number of -- a little bit of time today talking about a number of global issues, including the Middle East and trade with Colombia.

This is Senator McCain -- really is trying to showcase his foreign policy experience and, as we've seen in the past week, really making national security a big issue as he looks forward toward the general election, and particularly targeting his Democratic contenders, senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, as he hopes to move forward to that general election -- Don.

LEMON: All right. Mary Snow in Houston, Texas. Mary, thank you very much for that.

The latest now on the all-important delegate count. John McCain is just 158 delegates short of clinching the GOP nomination. He's got 1,033 to Mike Huckabee's 247. Eleven-hundred and ninety-one delegates are needed to win the nomination.

In the Democratic battle, Barack Obama has 1,369 delegates; Hillary Clinton has 1,267. Two thousand twenty-five delegates are needed to clinch the Democratic nomination.

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

NGUYEN: Right now we want to sent you straight to the newsroom and CNN's T.J. Holmes, who is working on a developing story.

What do you have, T.J.?

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Well, this is quite a disturbing story out of West Palm Beach, Betty, where a person walked into a Wendy's there in West Palm Beach, Florida, and just started shooting. We know that two people are dead; at least three others are in critical condition. Police believe that one of the dead is, in fact, the shooter, who turned the gun on himself. This is a fluid situation at the scene there, because information's just coming in still. This shooting apparently happened just after noon. So we're talking just about an hour ago. So brand new story here.

Police there have shut down several streets. If anybody is familiar with that area, this is Cherry Road and Military Trail, is the area where this Wendy's is.

There's no indication right now of why this person walked into this Wendy's and started shooting. If this was an incident of some kind of a robbery or if this incident -- if somebody in there was specifically targeted, we don't -- do not know.

But apparently, a man walked into this Wendy's in West Palm Beach, Cherry Road and Military Trail, and just started shooting. We have five people shot. Again, two are dead. Again, police believe that one of the dead is the shooter, who turned the gun on himself. We have three others in critical condition.

That is all the information we have right now. Again, Betty, this happened just under an hour ago, so this information brand new. Stuff still starting to come in. The numbers had been changing on how many possibly shot. But five altogether. And again, one dead, believed to be the shooter.

So no one, according to police, believed to be on the run. No suspect out there that people need to be on the look-out for, because they believe the shooter is, in fact, dead.

We are working this story over here at the breaking news desk, Betty. We'll get you more information, which we are sure is going to be coming in about this story as time goes on.

NGUYEN: All right, T.J. Thank you so much.

HOLMES: all right.

NGUYEN: In the meantime, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has left Iraq and he says the Americans should, too. The Iranian president has wrapped up a landmark trip in which he slammed the U.S. and virtually shunned his own security.

Let's go straight to CNN's Aneesh Raman in Tehran.

And Aneesh, it was very clear that Ahmadinejad was trying to make a statement with this historic trip.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, exactly, Betty. He also said that Iraqis don't like Americans.

Look, this was a historic trip by any measure: the first time an Iranian president has visited Iraq. But it wasn't the start of something new. Instead, it was a powerful, symbolic message to the west and specifically the U.S., as to how close these two countries have come since the fall of Saddam. They were once bitter enemies. Saddam's Iraq and the Islamic Republic fought a bloody eight-year war back in the 1980s. But I can guarantee you this: a relationship began anew the minute Saddam Hussein's statue fell five years ago.

Why? A lot of the Iraqi politicians in power now spent years in exile in Iran. Some of the political parties in Iraq were born in Iran. So there was a long relationship with those that are in power now in Iraq before Saddam was even taken out of power.

So Ahmadinejad was there without any new substantive policy to deal with the Iraqis. It was all imagery, Betty. We saw him on the red carpet with the Iranian president. He announced his arrival, unlike President Bush, who goes in secret. He walked around Baghdad, went to a Shia holy shrine, and he had four press conferences. This is an historic visit. It lasted only about a day and a half, yet he found time to have four press conferences. Couldn't get enough of the TV cameras. Spoke about brotherly unity with the Iranians and the Iraqis and had a lot of pointed messages for the U.S.

So the symbolism here was this: it is Iran, not America, who will have lasting influence over Iraqi affairs. It is Iran, not America, who is a neighbor and who will be here, in terms of Iraqi influence, forever. And that was the message he was sending: the confidence in the relationship to the west, Betty.

NGUYEN: Well, you know, Aneesh, aside from that statement, though, a third round of U.N. sanctions are expected some time today. What's Iran's reaction to that?

RAMAN: If this could be big -- we saw the tensions dwindle a little bit after that National Intelligence Estimate which said in December Iran essentially had stopped work on its nuclear weapons program back in 2003. Iran pretty much felt, OK, that means it's over.

As we approach what could be a third round of sanctions today, Iran has already said if it happens it will make, quote, "a crucial and categorical decision." They didn't elaborate as to what that would be.

But Iran certainly could opt out of the NPT, the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. It could freeze its cooperation with the IAEA. That would ratchet tensions up greatly.

What the U.S., what France, what Britain had been arguing is that, even though the IAEA says Iran isn't pursuing weapons now, it has a lot of unanswered questions about what it did years ago -- Betty.

NGUYEN: All right. Aneesh Raman, joining us live today. Thank you, Aneesh.

And we do want to let our viewers know that we are going to take you live to Baghdad next hour to get more on Ahmadinejad's visit to Iraq -- Don. LEMON: A ricin scare in Las Vegas, Betty, leads to a search in Utah for the deadly toxin. What did federal agents find?

NGUYEN: And millions of people don't get the shut-eye that they need. Boy, you don't have to tell me about that. But we have some tips on how you can get those needed Z's.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: We're still following news out of Florida. Let's take you to the newsroom and CNN's T.J. Holmes, joining us with the latest on the shooting at a Wendy's, I believe, T.J.

HOLMES: At a Wendy's at lunchtime in West Palm Beach, Betty. Really, this broke out, really, about an hour ago, just after noon. And we have two people confirmed dead now, according to authorities there, and three others that are in critical condition. One of the two dead, we are told, by authorities, is believed to be the shooter, who turned the gun on himself.

Now, what happened here, this place in West Palm Beach, if you do know the area, this is Cherry Road and Military Trail in the West Palm Beach area, a Wendy's restaurant, again, right around lunchtime. This is some of the video we're seeing here. People there had to be treated. You see someone, a couple, carted off right there in this video, two people being carted off. But again, believed nobody critical condition, the three victims, to the hospital now.

But, we do not know right now any motive, why this person walked into the Wendy's and started shooting. You can imagine that it was crowded around lunchtime. But again, they believe one of the people dead is, in fact, the shooter.

This is a story, again, just happening, Betty, just over an hour ago. So a lot of this information is new and just coming in to us. We can expect to learn a lot more from authorities in the coming, really, possibly literally the next couple of minutes and certainly hours about what was going on in that Wendy's store. But we're keeping an eye on it over here for you.

NGUYEN: All right. So five shot: two dead, three wounded, and one of the dead is believed to be the shooter.

HOLMES: Believed to be the shooter, Betty.

NGUYEN: All right.

HOLMES: So nobody out there on the run. Certainly, authorities want to get that out.

NGUYEN: Right.

HOLMES: Don't believe a suspect is out there or any danger to the public right now. So they do believe the shooter is, in fact, dead.

NGUYEN: OK. T.J., thank you.

HOLMES: All right.

NGUYEN: Well, it's 16 past the hour. Here are three of the other stories that we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.

The U.S. on the attack in Eastern Africa. A Pentagon spokesman tells CNN that the military struck what it calls an al Qaeda target in a town in Somalia earlier today. Now, there's no other details from the Pentagon, but a local Somali official says the strike killed women and children.

The FBI is now investigating a string of fires that gutted several multimillion-dollar model homes north of Seattle. A fire chief says a sign with the letters "E-L-F" was found at scene. Now, there's no confirmation on whether that's the calling card of the radical Earth Liberation Front, considered an eco-terrorist group by the feds.

And about a dozen students are injured after their school bus overturned north of Atlanta today. Look at this video. The sheriff's department spokesman tells the Associated Press early reports indicate driver error may be to blame.

LEMON: What did the search of a Utah home and several storage units turn up in the ricin investigation? Well, the home belongs to a cousin of Roger Van [SIC] Bergendorff, the man in a coma after exposure of the deadly toxin in his Las Vegas hotel room.

Our Kara Finnstrom is in Las Vegas with the very latest on this investigation -- Kara.

KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, the FBI and local police both remaining very quiet this morning about this ongoing investigation.

The man who triggered all of this when he fell into a coma remains hospitalized in the hospital just behind me in critical condition. Authorities suspect that he was sickened by ricin that his cousin says he found in Roger Von Bergendorff's hotel room. Roger Von Bergendorff, the man who remains hospitalized at this hour. Now, authorities say they also found guns and some anarchist literature in Bergendorff's hotel room.

And this weekend the investigation as to why any of that may have been in his hotel room jumped state lines to Utah. Police and FBI agents there in decontamination gear actually went into the home of that cousin who says he found the ricin. They searched it.

They also searched three of the storage units in that area that have been linked to Von Bergendorff.

Now, part of the reason they searched that cousin's home, neighbors tell us, is that Bergendorff himself lived in the basement for a while. Later that afternoon, FBI agents did hold a press conference. They reassured the public that they don't feel there's any public health threat. They also say they still don't suspect any links to terrorism, but they didn't yet release any of the findings from that search.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPECIAL AGENT TIMOTHY FUHRMAN, SALT LAKE CITY FBI: There are some potential charges in the federal statutes with respect to the possession and manufacture of ricin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FINNSTROM: Now, CNN has been speaking with those neighbors in Utah and also with a relative to try and learn a little bit more about who this man, Roger Von Bergendorff, is.

We have learned that he's a single man, that he spent a lot of time alone. Also that he was a struggling artist who had come here to Las Vegas to design artwork for the slot machines. But all of the pieces here still very much coming together -- Don.

LEMON: Kara Finnstrom. Kara, thank you so much for that.

NGUYEN: Well, a brutal shooting and stabbing, a mother, two sons, slaughtered, and Texas police say a forbidden romance is at the heart of it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. Turbulent weather across a big midsection of the country but also really in the southeast, as well.

Everywhere, really, Chad...

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

LEMON: ... we're going to be getting some bad weather. Looks good now outside, but that could change.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LEMON: My gosh, Chad. What a warning.

MYERS: You know, that's why I'm here.

LEMON: Yes. And so, listen, so you're telling me rain on the front side and then Snow on the back side or ice on the back side of that same storm? Yes?

MYERS: Ice to the south of where the snow is. The farther you get into the deeper cold air, that's where the snow is, so that's not as bad. So maybe Toledo, you'll be able to vote but you'll be able to drive in the snow. But from Ashtabula through Youngstown, right through Mansfield and Cleveland and Bellefontaine, an ice event like we haven't seen in a long time: trees down, power lines down. It's going to be ugly.

LEMON: Oh, my gosh. OK, Chad. Thank you very much.

MYERS: You're welcome.

NGUYEN: That's not good for folks headed to the polls tomorrow.

Let's talk about this now. Oil prices have hit a fresh record, but stocks have pared losses on a pair of economic reports.

Susan Lisovicz is on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange with the latest.

And Susan, I understand oil prices have hit a high that they haven't seen since what, the 1980s?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think -- I think what you're talking -- I mean, we're seeing all-time highs, Betty, in terms of the actual price. But I think what you're referring to is when -- when adjusted for inflation.

NGUYEN: Right.

LISOVICZ: And now you're at the level where a lot of folks for a long time say, "Well, when adjusted for inflation, that that oil shock in the late '70s and '80s was actually worse." Well, it's -- it's just as bad. And the price trend seems to be that oil is moving higher and not lower. So that's not a good thing.

In the meantime, another trend we've seen is that stocks are moving lower. And why is that? Because not exactly a revelation here: the U.S. economy is slowing down.

We've got two reports this morning. One was on construction spending, the epicenter of all of the problems. Well, guess what? Construction spending took the biggest drop in January that we haven't seen in 14 years. And it wasn't just housing, residential housing. It's hotels, motels, roads. You name it, it's across the board. That was one of the reports.

The other one is the manufacturing report. Last week we had a regional manufacturing report below a level that's considered -- well, that was last seen during a recession. And what we got on the national level today was also at a level that shows outright contraction in manufacturing. And obviously, again, pointing to the fact that the economy is slowing down.

Stocks not taking it so badly, though, Betty. I think it's just simply because we know things are bad, and we're just looking for some good news. Check out the big board right now. We're coming off a 316-point decline on Friday. I guess by that measure, 36 points lower, not so bad. The NASDAQ down 9 points.

Oil prices, by the way, up nearly two bucks. Got close to $104 a barrel earlier today -- Betty.

NGUYEN: I mean, you talk about how we're getting used to this down, you know, graded economic news. But it seems like Wall Street has grown accustomed to all this negative news, too.

LISOVICZ: Well, you know, the thing is we -- we all get the same figures, and then people are free to project the future. The latest to do that is the oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett saying today on CNBC that the U.S. economy right now meets the common-sense definition of a recession. Technically not there, but common sense, yes.

But he also said that he believes that the economy will pull out, everybody will be OK. And in fact, this generation will do better than the previous generation.

That's been a big topic on the campaign trail, is that people aren't making ends meet, we're going backwards, not forwards. He was optimistic about that, but he said stocks are still not cheap enough for him to get in.

And we've seen, of course, a lot of sell-offs of late and the three major averages are down pretty substantially year-to-date. But the oracle says he's still not jumping in.

One stock we want to -- two stocks we want to mention real quickly. Boeing -- it's a Dow 30 stock -- down 3 percent. Why? Because the Air Force gave a huge contract late Friday to a rival, Northrop Grumman, as well as an overseas partner. Northrop Grumman shares are up about 3 percent.

So a big loss for Boeing, and it was with the biggest contracts we've seen out of the Pentagon in decades. So a huge loss for Boeing, but Northrop Grumman shares are higher on that news.

NGUYEN: Thirty-five-billion-dollar loss, to be exact. Somebody is not having a good Monday after that.

LISOVICZ: That's for sure.

NGUYEN: All right. Susan, thank you.

LISOVICZ: You're welcome.

LEMON: A new leader in Russia, but will anything change? Will anything change? We'll see what Vladimir Putin's hand-picked successor means for the U.S.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live in the CNN world headquarters here in Atlanta.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. Hi, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen, in for Kyra Phillips on assignment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

LEMON: Of course, it's a big day today politically, lead into tomorrow's big primary. We're going to take you to Texas now. There you go, east Texas, for Obama. You see that? That's at the University of Texas in Tyler and that's where Michelle Obama, wife of Barack Obama, is planning to speak at an event in just a little bit.

We're told that, just to give you a little background on this, the event is free and open to the public. You don't need tickets or what have you. But folks are turning out in Tyler, Texas, to see Michelle Obama on the stump for her husband there.

Tyler, Texas, in the University of Texas, Tyler Herrington Patriot Center, Betty, we're told that -- where this event is happening. If she speaks, when she speaks, if it's during our watch here, we'll bring it to you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

In the meantime, we're going to move along and talk more about Texas. Along with Texas, Ohio could be crucial in deciding the Democratic presidential race. Our senior political correspondent, Miss Candy Crowley, she joins us now from Columbus. Candy, will it all come down to Nafta, you think? A lot of talk about Nafta, back and forth.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I have to tell you that Nafta has been a huge issue, that, of course, the trade deal between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico that made it easier for those three countries to trade.

It is a four-letter word here in Ohio. They believe that Nafta's responsible for a lot of jobs that have left the state. So we have had a continuing dialogue between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton about Nafta, who is the most anti-Nafta, who would do the most to correct it.

Then today, and this is the last thing you need in the final 24 hours before the voting starts, a big kind of bombshell for Barack Obama. A memo surfaces, obtained by the associated press, talking about a high-level Barack Obama adviser meeting inside the consulate of the Canadian embassy in Chicago.

And a memo of that meeting, written by a Canadian aide, says that in that memo the Barack Obama adviser said, " Well, you know, look at the Nafta language that you're seeing more as a political positioning than, in fact, really how he feels about policy."

Now, the Obama campaign says this is -- this was not said in the meeting, that it was a misinterpretation of what was said. But I can tell you that here in Ohio, where Nafta has been so big, the Clinton campaign is all over it in press releases, in phone calls and with the candidate on the stump. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It raises questions about Senator Obama coming to Ohio and giving speeches against Nafta and having his Chief Economic Adviser tell the Canadian government that it was just political rhetoric. You know, I don't think people should come to Ohio and tell the people of Ohio one thing and then have your campaign tell a foreign government something else behind closed doors.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CROWLEY: This story is a problem for the Obama campaign at two levels. First, just at the issue level about Nafta. But also because it's been out there this story for about a week, it has been denied by the Obama campaign.

Now, they say inside the Obama campaign, that they still deny the fact that they went in and this aide went in and talked about how Barack Obama really wasn't against Nafta. They said that is the fact, that they never said that the meeting didn't take place, that kind of thing.

But I tell you, when you have run a campaign, Don, that is based on a different kind of politics, regardless of what happens, this is a huge choir here that they need to put out in the Obama campaign that comes, as I said, at a really bad time, Don.

LEMON: All right. CNN's Candy crowley. Candy, we appreciate that.

And be the first to know the results in tomorrow's primaries and caucuses. Sign up for CNN breaking news e-mail alerts and you'll know when we know. Sign up at CNN.com.

NGUYEN: Well, a fellow soldier once said it was the safest place in battle, the imposing shadow of Sergeant Woodrow Keeble. The hulking North-Dakotan fought hand to hand at Guadal Canal during world war II and then he went on to serve in Korea, where he picked up several more combat scars and kept fighting.

A quarter century after his death, Keeble is being honored at the White House today. A member of the Sioux Indian Nation, he will be the first of his people to receive the medal of honor, the nation's highest military award. We're going to bring you that ceremony live about one hour from now.

Well today is the day new federal guidelines take effect for crack cocaine sentences. So what? Well, so the feds are up in arms claiming thousands of potentially violent repeat offenders are poised to hit the street. But that's not necessarily the case. Here's CNN's justice correspondent, Kelli Arena.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the day the justice department has been warning about. When the jails start opening their doors, releasing up to 20,000 hardened drug criminals into society; a nightmare scenario.

DEBORAH RHODES, JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: The concern that so many people would be released all at once, people who have shown that they are repeat offenders and without the possibility, in many cases, of any kind of transition or re-entry program to bring them from prison back to the streets.

ARENA: Okay, that's the nightmare. But the reality is far less terrifying. According to the U.S. sentencing commission, of those 20,000, only 1600 are immediately eligible to apply for early release. And most of them are not career criminals.

Take Burton Hagwood, for example. He's already served more than seven years. A 60-year-old amputee, his wife says he hardly poses a threat to society. She asked us not show her face for fear of community backlash.

V. HAGWOOD, PRISONER'S WIFE: He wants to come back to the community and he also wants to help the community. He plans on doing some paralegal work when he gets out. So he would be an asset.

ARENA: Public defender, Michael Nachmanoff, has filed motions for more than a dozen inmates who qualify for possible early release. He says judges have a great deal of discretion to decide what the term "released" really means.

MICHAEL NACHMANOFF, FEDERAL PUBLIC DEFENDER: Well, they can also impose intermediate protections as well, or refer someone to a halfway house or in a home confinement for some period of time.

ARENA (on-screen): And there's an added protection for the public. The Bureau of Prisons has asked judges to give it at least ten days to notify victims, witnesses and law enforcement so that they can prepare for the wave, even if turns out to be a trickle. Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: A family brutally attacked, their home in Emery, Texas, burned down and police believe a forbidden romance sparked it all. Four young people are jailed on capital murder charges, including a 16-year-old girl. The Rains County sheriff says the girl helped to shoot and stab her mother, father and two younger brothers before dawn on Saturday, with the help of her 19-year-old boyfriend and two other people.

The mom and boys died. The dad dragged himself through the woods for help. No word on his condition, as of now. The parents were apparently trying to break up the girl's relationship with her boyfriend.

NGUYEN: Goodness. Well, a new leader in Russia, but will anything really change? We'll see what Vladimir Putin's hand-picked successor means for the U.S.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Take a look, you might as well get used to the name Dmitry Medvedev. He is Russia's new president, elected by a landslide. But, that doesn't mean his predecessor and mentor, Vladimir Putin, is going away. CNN's Jill Dougherty, who spent quite a few years in Moscow for us, brings her insight to the NEWSROOM.

And the first thing I want to talk to you about, Jill, is this; there's been a lot of criticism coming from the West about this election not being Democratic. Some have even called it a farce. So what does this mean for U.S./Russia relations?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Betty, you know it has been interesting to watch this as the reaction has come in. You know, the candidates, the U.S. candidates for president, have been pretty harsh in what they've been saying.

But the State Department has been actually very careful. They really haven't characterized this vote, per se. And in fact, just listen to some of the comments by Tom Casey, the spokesman for the U.S. State Department.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM CASEY, STATE DEPT. SPOKESMAN: We acknowledge the -- that Mr. Medvedev has been declared the winner and is going to be president of Russia. We intend to work with him. I don't think anyone should be in any doubt about the concerns that we have continued to express, beginning with the president, directly to President Putin, as well as Secretary Rice and her public remarks, as well as comments with other Russian officials about our concerns about some of the issues involving Russia's democracy and Democratic process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOUGHERTY: So, obviously he didn't really want to play on that and be very critical. This is the beginning of a new relationship. In a sense, Betty, it's kind of an old relationship and a new relationship because, after all, the former president, Vladimir Putin, will be very much part of the power structure. In fact, some people would argue he will still be the power, but he will be, presumably, the prime minister.

So, what the U.S. is saying right now is it can work on things like nonproliferation, dealing with international crime and other issues like that, terrorism, obviously. But they're not really getting into a fight with a new Russian president, at least yet.

NGUYEN: Well, Jill, at the same time, there's been a lot of tough talk from Mr. Putin. But with the U.S. about to elect its own president, a new one, what do you think is going to happen here? Is it going to be just more of the same?

DOUGHERTY: Well, in a sense of the policy from the Russians, certainly you can expect that it will be very much more of the same. But maybe with a slightly different tone, because, if you look at what Vladimir Putin was saying over the past year, it got pretty hot and heavy. But you have to remember that what he was doing, in a sense, is what candidates in the U.S. do when they run for president; he was playing to the base.

He was trying to say, hey, Russians, we should stick together, we need a strong leader. The world is out there, they don't like us. We have to stick together. So, now that the election is over and his own man is the president, perhaps some of that rhetoric can be toned down a bit. And that's what both sides are hoping, at least it seems that way.

NGUYEN: Yes, in the onset. Jill Dougherty, joining us live from Washington. Thank you, Jill.

LEMON: We have some new information -- new information in to the CNN NEWSROOM, Betty, it regards China. And the report -- it's now reporting -- our Barbara Starr is on top of it, but we're talking about how much China is spending on defense spending, $45 billion and then $139 billion in some cases.

Barbara, tell us about this report. Just getting the numbers in. It's just coming in. And apparently there's going to be a briefing at 3:30?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Don.

Here at the Pentagon. This is an annual report that is sent to Congress about the Chinese military, their spending and their activities. Make no mistake, China is something the U.S. remains very concerned about here at Pentagon. It's always a very sensitive relationship.

There is friendliness with the Chinese military, but a lot of concern because the Chinese are spending billions of dollars on defense and not very clear about what they're spending it on. This latest report just being revealed now shows that China is basically spending about $45 billion a year on its defense programs. That in itself is an 18 percent increase over last year.

This is a 2007 report, obviously. But here's really -- the hidden cost of the Chinese military, $45 billion on the surface, but the Pentagon estimates when they calculate what the Chinese are not admitting they're spending, it comes up to $139 billion on Chinese military.

One of the biggest concerns about the Chinese military is their very good capability in cyberwarfare, the Chinese ability to try and crack into U.S. military computer systems and U.S. industrial computers is rather significant and something that is of growing concern. This report going to Congress today, being briefed here at the Pentagon within the next hour or so -- Don.

LEMON: All right. We look forward to that. Barbara, if you get any more information, let us know. Thank you very much.

Far from home, but keenly aware of what's go on in the presidential election. We'll hear what some American troops in Iraq are saying about the race for the White House.

NGUYEN: Plus -- sleep, we all need it, don't we? But most of us do not get enough. So, what can you do? Well we have some tips on how to get more Zs, right here in the NEWSROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: If you're like many people, a lot of people in the NEWSROOM here, too, you probably didn't get enough sleep last night. Lack of sleep can do more than make you cranky. It can affect your health, and so can snoring. Our medical correspondent, Ms. Elizabeth Cohen, is here to tell us all about the details on that.

Nothing worse than a snorer.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's horrible.

LEMON: Even in the next room, both my sisters, my mom, snore, snore, snore. Always woke me up.

COHEN: So you went and stayed at hotels a lot.

LEMON: I just like put the covers up.

COHEN: Well, snoring is bad and lack of sleep in general is bad. And there's this interesting new study from the Centers for Disease Control that says that more and more Americans are getting fewer than six hours of sleep. That is not nearly enough sleep. And just not getting enough sleep can have serious health repercussions.

Let's take a look at what can happen when you don't get enough sleep. It puts you at a higher risk for getting heart disease, diabetes, higher risk for becoming overweight or obese. And it could possibly contribute to depression. And you know, some of this makes sense, right? Because we all know that if you don't sleep enough it affects how you feel about everything.

LEMON: And that's part of torture. We hear that in warfare, as well -- sleep deprivation. So you know it's going to cause problems. But I'm more interested, obviously, in the snoring thing. What about the snoring study?

COHEN: This is a separate study, that was done in Hungary, on people who snore.

LEMON: OK.

COHEN: These were loud snorers. Like your sisters, I guess.

LEMON: Yes.

COHEN: These weren't just people who were sort of occasional, soft snorers. And what they found is that these folks had quantifiable risks. In other words, they were quantifiably more likely to get all sorts of diseases.

Let's take a look at what the they are. They were 40 percent more likely to have high blood pressure, 34 percent more likely to have a heart attack and 67 percent more likely to have a stroke. Now, what's the link between snoring and these diseases? It's not entirely clear. It may be that you don't sleep well when you snore. But also, when you're snoring you're not taking in enough oxygen. Oxygen is important for your heart, needless to say.

LEMON: That's quite obvious.

COHEN: Exactly. You can actually hear it.

LEMON: Yes.

COHEN: You can actually hear it.

LEMON: OK. So then, obviously you just said heart attack, high blood pressure, stroke. That's really important. So what are you -- what are some tips to stop snoring? What can you do?

COHEN: Right. There are a couple of specific things you can do. And probably the most important one is if you're overweight you need to lose weight. Being overweight can make you a snorer. So that's the most important one.

Also, try sleeping on your side instead of your back. I think a lot of people don't know this. That can help, too. And you can ask your doctor about airway devices, if numbers one and number two don't work. Those are actual devices that you wear. They're not pretty. But they could help you stop snoring.

LEMON: That's good advice. And I'm --

COHEN: Tell your sisters.

LEMON: Yes, she's not going to like that.

COHEN: Well I don't know if they're overweight. I don't want to insult your sisters.

LEMON: No, no, no. It's not insulting. No, but -- she needs some snoring advice. OK. See your doctor.

COHEN: That's right.

LEMON: Yes, OK. Thank you.

COHEN: OK. Thanks.

NGUYEN: Well I'm sure you tell your kids all the time, eat your breakfast. Now there's new evidence that that morning meal may be key to staying thin. A new study finds teenagers who east breakfast tend to weigh less than teens who skip it. They also and tend to exercise more and have more healthful diets.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health followed the more than 2,200 teens in the Twin Cities are for five years. They also found a quarter of U.S. children don't eat until lunchtime.

LEMON: Ground zero of the mortgage meltdown, and a plan to turn things around. CNN's Gerri Willis joins us from one of the nation's most troubled cities.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, it is time to check what is hot on CNN.com.

No. 1, with a bullet, the avoided (ph) landing in Hamburg, Germany. Look at this. These pictures speak for themselves. You will see it momentarily, a sideways approach by an airliner rocked by triple digit winds. Look at this. Can you imagine?

LEMON: The wing actually touches. Did you see that?

NGUYEN: Yes, it touches there on the tarmac. See it for yourself at CNN.com.

No. 2, chilling on the stump. Check her out. Aboard her campaign jet, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton indulges herself with a beer. Well, this is not the right video. But, if you were seeing the video, you could look a little closer --

LEMON: Go to dotcom, right?

NGUYEN: -- And you can recognize some of her famous friends who were along for the ride. And they were campaigning with a little cheer there.

OK, another big hit. A preview of the upcoming "Indiana Jones." Remember that movie? Well Harrison Ford returns May 22 for the fourth installment of the longtime box office favorite. Mr. Jones, Mr. Jones, no more parachutes. You remember that, Don?

LEMON: Yes.

NGUYEN: Well you can link to all of our --

LEMON: I remember.

NGUYEN: -- Top ten lists from the frontpage of CNN.com. The next hour of NEWSROOM starts right now.

Well it may be the scariest landing anybody has walked away from. Look at that. We just saw this video, but looking at it full screen, it's just amazing.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxantshop.com