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UNC Coed Killing: New Suspect Photos Released; Deadly Day in Iraq; Smuggling Iraqi Oil; Obama Rejects Runningmate Idea
Aired March 11, 2008 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES TEDISCO, N.Y. STATE ASSEMBLY MINORITY LEADER: This is very, very disappointing, very saddening and there's no question in my mind, he has compromised his ability to lead, to be our leader, to be the governor of the state and I have asked for his resignation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Governor Spitzer certainly is a fighter, if nothing else. And he will hold on if he possibly can. But it remains to be seen if that's possible. He has been meetings with aides, also has been conferring with his attorney who is a former lieutenant of his when he was attorney general. She is now with the firm of Paul-Weiss, a very high-level law firm here in New York. But the issue really is for the governor, one of the key questions, will he actually face prosecution. The governor allegedly did help to arrange for a prostitute to come from New York City down to Washington, D.C., a violation of federal law.
In addition, we're also here talking about financial transaction, the charge possibly could be structuring because investigators did apparently, according to law enforcement sources, did apparently find out that the governor was involved in arranging for thousands of dollars to be moved from his bank to a shell company that basically was an account for this prostitution ring that he has been linked to. But yesterday when the governor spoke he gave no indication that he would step down.
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GOV. ELIOT SPITZER (D), NEW YORK: Today, I want to briefly address a private matter. I have acted in a way that violates my obligations to my family and that violates my or any sense of right and wrong. I apologize first and most importantly to my family. I apologize to the public whom I promised better. I do not believe that politics in the long run is about individuals, it is about ideas, the public good, and doing what is best for the state of New York.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHERNOFF: But the "New York Times," the story broken in the "New York Times." The "Times" in its editorial is saying the governor is absolutely wrong in that statement, this most definitely is a public matter. "The Times" arguing that the governor is simply a victim of his own arrogance. Tony. TONY HARRIS, CNN, ANCHOR: Wow, what a story. Allan Chernoff in New York for us. Thank you.
You know, to understand Eliot Spitzer's apparent fall you have to know how tall he stood on New York's political stage. Spitzer was elected governor in 2006 with a historic margin of victory. Part of his appeal to voters, he vowed to root out corruption in New York government. As state attorney general, he challenge big business from the insurance industry to Wall Street. In fact, "Time" magazine once named him crusader of the year.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN, ANCHOR: What happens if Spitzer resigns? The spotlight turns to David Paterson, the state's lieutenant governor. Paterson would automatically become governor if Spitzer quits. If that happens, he would become New York's first African-American governor. Paterson is a 53-year-old Democrat from Harlem. He is mostly blind and he's considered well respected by both Democrats and Republicans. So can Eliot Spitzer survive this sex scandal? We'll talk to a man with his finger on the pulse of New York's politics in just a few minutes, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: A very quickly, I want to get you to the New York Stock Exchange. This is a story we're going to be following throughout the morning here in the NEWSROOM. Stock futures as we indicated at the top of the newscast last hour indicated a strong open for the Dow and it has come to pass. Look at this. 33 minutes or so into the trading day and the Dow is off to a fast start. 235 to the positive right now. The Nasdaq is up 38. Oil prices, what are you hearing, Tom? 107.57. So, that's down slightly. So, we just want to keep our pulse on the market throughout the morning. Susan Lisovicz will be helping us do that right here in the NEWSROOM.
So, the polls are open in Mississippi. It's the Democrats' last stop before the Pennsylvania primary. At stake today, 33 delegates. CNN's Sean Callebs is right outside of Jackson, a town of Terry. Sean, good to see you. You know, throughout this primary season we've heard all kinds of predictions of record turn out. And in many cases those predictions have been accurate. What are you hearing about turnout in Mississippi?
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think people are expecting a healthy turnout here, big turnout here in Mississippi for a variety of reasons. Not the least the fact historic nature of the Democratic side of the ticket. Of course, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, both have done a decent amount of campaigning here the past four or five days. Hillary Clinton was in Canton on Thursday and Hattiesburg on Friday. Her husband, her best surrogate out on the campaign trail was in Biloxi and three other states over the weekend.
And of course Barack Obama in Jackson, just nearby where we are, last night, huge turnout there. Let me show you here. Here's where folks are coming through, the Democratic side, they're registering, Virginia, there in the middle has been the precinct president now for 36 years. It's amazing to watch people come up and talk with these three ladies because they seem to know virtually everyone in this community. That when people come through and sign up they either have to have an affidavit like this if they just moved to the area or they moved precincts within the last 30 days. But most get this well-worn, laminated Democratic primary voter card. And from there, they make their way over and can vote in this area. Cora over there, helping a couple of people. There's Nick. He has been helping some folks out here this morning as well. But what we're hearing, the candidates, of course, are historic but it is the issues driving this campaign.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're looking at the same issues that everybody else throughout the country is looking at. You're looking at the economy. You're looking at the fuel prices. You're looking at foreclosures on homes right now. So we're looking at the same thing that everybody else is looking at. We're hoping that we can get a candidate in there that will take care of all these things.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're concerned about health care. We're concerned about, of course, the price of gas. And my daughter who is 18 is so excited about Obama. She said, Daddy, go out and support him, so I'm here. That's why I'm here. But I will vote anyway, but she's excited about the movement and I'm glad to see some of the young people getting involved in the election process.
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CALLEBS: We have heard that throughout the election season. Just the excitement of possibility of change, the fact that Barack Obama has energized so many voters from Iowa, really all across the country. We are definitely seeing that. You know, it's kind of interesting because Mississippi, Tony, is kind of split up. Here in the mid part of the state, of course, health care, the economy, crime. Those are the issues really driving the campaign here.
But you go down to the coast, they've got blistered by Hurricane Katrina 2 1/2 years ago. Down there, Tony, it is recovery. Still 14,000 FEMA trailers in the state being used. Tony.
HARRIS: On the extreme side, note it has been fun through this primary season to listen to the regional accents. Great accent down there in Mississippi. All right, Sean Callebs for us. Sean, appreciate it. Thank you.
And again, stay with CNN. I'm sorry. Heidi.
COLLINS: That's okay. Just want to get to Senator John McCain who is at a town hall meeting here in St. Louis, Missouri. We're going to listen in to what he had to say for just a couple of minutes.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So I want to emphasize to you, these are challenges this nation has faced. When you review our history, we have faced other challenges and some of them equally as great. But America has always risen to the challenge. And I am very confident we can rise to this one as well and again maintain our leadership of the world.
Now I'd like to just talk to you, I want to be president of the United States because I want to restore trust and confidence in the government. I want to secure our borders. I want to fix Medicare. I want to fix social security. I want to eliminate this wasteful and outrageous earmark and pork barrel spend which has eroded the confidence of our Republican base and that confidence of all Americans in our ability to be careful stewards of your tax dollars.
By the way, my favorite in the last few years was we spent $3 million to study the DNA of bears in Montana. I don't know if that was a paternity issue or a criminal issue. Ronald Reagan used to say, Congress spends money like a drunken sailor, only I never knew a sailor drunk or sober with the imagination of Congress. And that's a pretty funny line, I use it quite often. I use it so often that about six months ago I received an e-mail from a guy that said, as a former drunken sailor I resent being compared to members of Congress.
So, anyway, and I want to the do all those things. But the main reason why I want to be president of the United States is I believe we have a transcendent challenge of the 21st century which is a threat and the struggle against radical Islamic extremism. My friends, this is a transcendent evil. This is a challenge to everything we stand for, everything we value, everything we believe in. I'm sure you might have seen a couple of weeks ago, Al Qaeda took two mentally disabled young women in Baghdad, put explosive vests on them, sent them into a marketplace and, by remote control, detonated those explosive vests.
Now, you can't get more evil than that. These people, these people are bent on our destruction. And as General Petraeus has said, the central battleground in this struggle is the war in Iraq. I know that you know that that war did not go well for a long time. We were very frustrated. Americans were frustrated and saddened by the sacrifice that we've had to make. I'm happy to tell you with this new strategy and this new general, General David Petraeus, it is succeeding. Now, it's long and hard and tough.
It's long, hard and tough. If you forget everything I say to you this morning please remember this, Al Qaeda is on the run, they are not defeated. Look at the events of yesterday where five brave young Americans were killed by a suicide bomber. It's so hard. And I guarantee you the hardest part of warfare, going all the way back if you ask our veterans of World War II how hard it was to combat the kamikaze pilots, the hardest kind of enemy to combat is the suicide bomber that wants to take their own lives in order to take that of others. Ask the Israelis, how hard it has been to seal their borders.
So, I'm sorry to tell you that there will be further sacrifices but I am happy to tell you that the Iraqi military is taking over more and more of the responsibilities while the United States assumes more and more of a support role. But I also want to emphasize to you again, if we set a date for withdrawal and withdraw immediately as Senator Obama and Senator Clinton keep saying they want, then I believe that Al Qaeda will prevail and tell the world they beat the United States of America. And I believe that conflict will spread and I believe we will be back with greater sacrifice of American blood and treasure. I believe that for a long time. I think many of you know that there were times when my -- COLLINS: All right. Just a little bit of flavor there to what Senator John McCain, the Republican nominee, is saying at the town hall meeting there in St. Louis, Missouri. We will be watching the candidates as usual. Also, we want to let you know to stay with CNN for unmatched political coverage throughout the day. We will have much more on the candidates and what happens next. Join us on the CNN "Ballot Bowl" today at noon Eastern.
HARRIS: What do say, we get another check of weather now. Rob Marciano in the severe weather center. And Rob, I'm a little concerned about the storm system. I guess it was born there in the Gulf again and it's moving through Mississippi, Alabama. It seems to be a similar path as last Friday's storm that caused some real problems, particularly in Florida.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: Yes which then caused a whole mess of problems up the east coast.
HARRIS: That's right.
MARCIANO: Similar path but just doesn't have, you know, not the same thing. You know, just doesn't have the juice with it, it doesn't have the energy. So, that's good news there. But you are right, as far as location is concerned. And the other issue, the location is that it's moving through primary state today, Mississippi. Seeing some rainfall there right now, mostly to the south and east. And it is moving out. New Orleans saw some heavy weather earlier. Got a live shot for you. Let's take a look. There it is, the big easy. Gorgeous. Clouds beginning to break up. WVUE, thanks very much, our affiliate out that way. We had some storms roll through earlier. And now, things are beginning a little bit -- look a little bit brighter. Up towards Hattiesburg, things are improving as well. Biloxi still seeing some rainfall there.
So, if it's raining outside right now, it will do so this morning and then later on this afternoon we will start to see these showers and storms begin to break out and may be get a little sunshine and drier weather in here. The other area of concern is the Pacific northwest. Talk about this storm which is really winding itself up and about to head to British Columbia, the center of it. And this has been generating a lot of waves the past couple of days. And now there's a high surf advisory warning out. That's pretty rare actually. From the mouth of the Columbia and the counties surrounding, either side north and south.
We also have some snow levels there are pretty low for this time of year. So, things are kind of transitioning that we're going to see a pretty cold stormy pattern setting up for the western half of the country for the next several days. 22 to 26 foot are expected here near Astorio, Oregon up towards Long Beach, Washington. And these are enough to just sweep you out to sea. I don't know if you guys have ever seen a Pacific storm but they're amazing to watch.
A lot of people get out there. They storm watch. They get right out there on the bluff and watch these waves come in. A lot of these sneaker waves can come up and literally take people just hanging out right out to sea. So, that is certainly a concern today. Maybe we'll get some i-report. Take your i-report picture but...
COLLINS: Good idea.
MARCIANO: But stand back far enough where you're not getting sprayed. Just be cool. I'd like to see some of those shots.
COLLINS: Absolutely. If we get them, we will let you have them and explain them to us.
MARCIANO: OK. Cool.
COLLINS: Thank you, Rob.
MARCIANO: You got it.
COLLINS: Massive and devastating, double attacks in Lahore, Pakistan today. At least 20 people killed. More than 170 wounded. Suicide bombers targeted a federal police headquarters building. Anti-terrorism unit among the offices housed there. The front of the building was blown off, walls were knocked out and windows shattered. The second attack was at a house where an advertising agency is located. Reports say two children and a woman among the victims there. No one has claimed responsibility.
HARRIS: Who killed two college students? New details and a confession in the NEWSROOM.
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HARRIS: And welcome back everyone to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris. People making a living smuggling Iraqi oil. Who's buying and what is Iraq doing about it?
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COLLINS: New York's governor linked to a call girl ring and facing calls now to resign. Can Eliot Spitzer survive this sex scandal? Steve Kornacki is a columnist with "The New York Observer." Steve, I know you've been covering the governor for a couple of years now. How do the people of New York see their governor? Give us a little bit of perspective if you could.
STEVE KORNACKI, "THE NEW YORK OBSERVER": You know, one thing I think you have to appreciate is that this guy came in as a hero in the public's view. He was elected with 70 percent of the vote less than a year and a half ago in November of 2006. He was known as sheriff of Wall Street, crusading attorney general who went to war with just about, you know, just about every corrupt swindler on Wall Street and won. And there really almost was no election in the state in 2006. It was really just a coronation of Governor Spitzer.
But since he took office in January of 2007, he's taken hit after hit after hit, a combative style that worked so well as attorney general did not go over well at the state legislature. There are savvy people there who are very resistant to change. They know how to fight it and they know how to make people who are pushing change look bad in the public's eye. So, they've kind of really cut Spitzer down to size in that way. He's also had some ethical scandals of his own. There's been this on going story about did Spitzer's political aides used the state police or try to use the state police basically to spy on the top Republican in the state and to catch him in some kind of impropriety to embarrass him.
It turns out there's a whole dirty tricks squad potentially working on behalf of Spitzer. So, that's story has been playing out for a few months and that's been eroding his standing with the public. So, even before this story broke yesterday you were looking at a governor who was elected with 70 percent of the vote, who was already down to 40 percent to 45 percent in approval rating, which is dangerous for any incumbent and then you add this to it and it looks catastrophic.
COLLINS: Well, in fact, let me ask that even with the other stories that are sort of percolating, if you will. How does this one then change things?
KORNACKI: I think the point is this. What we're talking about should he resign, should he not resign?
COLLINS: yes.
KORNACKI: Can he survive? The point is he doesn't have much institutional support left in New York state within the Democratic party. When he was, you know, at 70 percent, won the election by 70 percent, they feared him so much they all had to stick with him. Right now, all these Democrats have nothing to gain to go to bat for him. If you can remember back when Bill Clinton went through the whole impeachment mess 10 years ago, you had Democrats in the Congress who are conscious of the fact that Bill Clinton's popularity was still very strong so they went to bat for him and they played the whole game that Bill Clinton wanted them to play about it's a private matter and out of control prosecutor and all that.
COLLINS: It's not going to happen here.
KORNACKI: Well it's not in the interest of the Democratic party in New York to have this guy stick around. He's the best thing the Republicans have going for them right now.
COLLINS: In fact, let's go ahead and listen in to something that Representative Peter King said earlier today on our air. And I'll get your comment here on the back side.
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REP. PETER KING (D), NEW YORK: He has to. To me, it's nothing to do with what he may or may not have done personally. But the fact is that as attorney general and as governor he was involved with a prostitution ring. Prostitution rings are criminal enterprises. This puts his office at risk. It left him open to blackmail. Criminal enterprises like prostitution rings involved with organized crime. So, this goes far beyond any consensual affair.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Obviously Representative King, not a friend of Eliot Spitzer's. How bad are the attacks are going to get from here?
KORNACKI: Well, that's why this is the best thing that happened to the Republican party in some time. It's an even better thing if he somehow were to try to fight on and stick around because he would be able to do what every Republican in New York would be able to do, what Peter King just did and claim the moral high ground and castigate this guy, you know, for being associated with a criminal enterprise and all that. You ask a guy like Peter King or other Republicans at the national level or the New York level, you know, where was the outrage where David Vitter, Republican senator from Louisiana who admitted to soliciting and using a prostitute. The difference though is this, it has nothing to do with the outrage but the difference is this. In Vitter's case, the statue of limitations had expired. So, there was no criminal exposure, no criminal prosecution. In Spitzer's case, he faces the possibility here of federal criminal charges.
COLLINS: Absolutely.
KORNACKI: ... for transporting a prostitute across state lines. It's sort of this obscure century old provision but it's very much in play here. And I think that's one of the things they're factoring in to this should he resign decision. If you go forward you're basically encouraging the prosecutors to play all the cards they have against you.
COLLINS: Absolutely. And they will, too. Steve, quickly before we let you go. We are actually out of time. I just have to ask you about Lieutenant Governor David Paterson. I had the opportunity to meet him briefly one time. What about him? I mean, this is an African-American guy who is mostly blind. What is his story and how will New York see him?
KORNACKI: He has an opportunity -- he has a great opportunity. When you're a politician and when you're in a position like that, you can ascend to the office. You don't have to get, you know, all dirty in a campaign. You can replace somebody who is seen as tarnished and you can be sort of the guy who kind of rides in and cleans things up. It usually works very well. You saw this when you know, when Gerald Ford took over from Richard Nixon, his approval rating went from 70 percent right away.
COLLINS: Sure.
KORNACKI: Probably would have won the election if it hadn't been for the pardon. Paterson has the opportunity here I think to build two years of good will. Don't forget the next election isn't until the end of 2010. So, he's got a very good chance here to make a lasting imprint on New York.
COLLINS: Yes. A long time to go if, in fact, that does happen. So, we of course will be watching all this. Steve Kornacki from "New York Observer." We certainly appreciate it.
KORNACKI: Sure.
HARRIS: The legal paperwork calls him client number nine. What do the feds actually have on New York's governor? A closer look at the affidavit. That's next.
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COLLINS: A big discovery. The fossil remains of a creature that lived some 10 million years ago? So, what is it? A closer look ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: Well, the governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer under fire today for his alleged involvement in a prostitution ring. Our Veronica De La Cruz has been looking through the affidavit and joins us now with some of the eye-popping details available online. Veronica, good to see you. What have you found?
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN, INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: Well, eye- popping is right. Good to see you too, Tony. You know, a lot of these details showing up on the web. The guys who do the yeas and nays blog on the examiner.com, Tony, claim to have snapped these pictures we're looking at. They say this is room 871 at the Mayflower Hotel where Governor Spitzer allegedly met with the prostitute in D.C.. The bloggers wrote in their site that they "got inside the room, Tony, w here yet another politician foolishly stained his career."
HARRIS: Veronica, what about the website for the alleged prostitution operation, is that still up?
DE LA CRUZ: No, you know, that website, it's for the Emperor's Club VIP, that's been taken down. But I did try calling one of the numbers on the site. That number seems to be working. A few different numbers. A message instructed me to leave my name and number for a call back. And I wanted to say, Tony, you know, the website has been taken down but there are a lot of screen grabs all over the web and these girls were all rated on the diamond system, one through seven diamonds. Some of these ladies, seven-diamond ladies, receiving as much as $31,000 a day.
HARRIS: $31,000 a day. Anything else interesting popping up there on the web, Veronica?
DE LA CRUZ: Well, there's a lot on cnn.com. You can get the entire criminal complaint. It's 47 pages long. This document detailing Spitzer also known as client number nine, his conversations with his escort agency. According to this complaint, Tony, "client number nine told Lewis, the booking agent for the club, that he made a reservation at the hotel and paid for it in his name, client nine, so that there would be a key waiting for her."
At one point Lewis, who is the booking agent, asked client nine whether he could give "Kristen," that is the woman or the prostitute here, extra funds that this appointment in order to avoid payment issues in the future. Lewis said she did not want a model accepting funds for a future appointment but that she's going to make an exception, in that way, deposit could be made so that he would have a credit. Now, according to the criminal complaint, after the alleged meeting with Spitzer, the prostitute, "Kristen," called the agency to report back on her appointment and she told the agency she had collected $4,300 and asked for client nine, she had this to say. "I don't think he's difficult. I mean, it's just kind of like, whatever. I'm here for a purpose." So again, that's online at cnn.com. You can read all 47 pages of it. You can also read excerpts from the wiretapped phone call. Again, that's all at cnn.com, Tony.
HARRIS: I'm here for a purpose. I'm here to do a job. OK, Veronica. Appreciate it.
DE LA CRUZ: You can read it itself.
HARRIS: Yes, no, I'll skip it. Thank you, Veronica.
DE LA CRUZ: OK.
HARRIS: Coming up on the half hour. Welcome back everyone to the CNN NEWSROOM. You know, I will read it.
COLLINS: I was going to say. Are you sure you don't want to editorialize just for a second?
HARRIS: Good morning, everybody.
COLLINS: Hi, there everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. This morning police say a man has confessed to killing that Auburn University freshman Lauren Burk, 23-year-old Courtney Lockhart is charged with capital murder. According to a confession read in court yesterday, Lockhart told police he abducted Burk from the school campus, robbed her, forced her to take off her clothes and then shot her. Burk died at the hospital. Police arrested Lockhart a couple of days later in Phoenix City, Alabama and they think he may be connected to a string of other crimes. Like this one in Georgia. This video is from Friday. Police tell affiliate WSB, the man here is Lockhart trying to kidnap an elderly woman in a strip mall parking lot. The woman got away. Police tracked Lockhart down and arrested him. Police say inside his car was a pistol linked to Burke's murder.
In North Carolina, police has released new photos of a man suspected of killing Eve Carson. She's the UNC student body president. These shots are from a surveillance camera inside a Chapel Hill convenience store. Police say that man tried to use Carson's ATM card. Police think that's the same person seen in these ATM surveillance photos. Investigators are also looking into whether a second person may be involved in Carson's murder. They say they now believe another man is sitting in the backseat of this car.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: People making a living smuggling Iraqi oil. Who is buying and what is the Iraqi government doing about it? Our special report from Kyra Phillips is next.
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HARRIS: One person's dream could be another's nightmare. Barack Obama takes a swing at the running mate pitch. That story in just about six minutes.
COLLINS: In Iraq, the deadliest day for American troops in six months. Eight deaths in one day.
Yesterday we told you about this attack. Five soldiers killed in a suicide bombing while on foot patrol in Baghdad.
Later in the day, the military said three more soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in Diyala Province north of the capital.
The attacks bring the total number of American military deaths in Iraq to 3,983 since the war began.
Oil, a lucrative commodity in Iraq but smugglers are swiping a share and the government seems powerless to stop them.
CNN's Kyra Phillips is in Baghdad.
So Kyra, how much money does oil actually bring into Iraq?
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, $5 billion a month. That's how much oil brings into Iraq. You see the conditions here and you wonder where is that money going. Then you think of the billions and billions of dollars coming from the U.S. into this country as well.
Smuggling is a huge industry. Here's one personal story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Bassam Ali (ph) has been a smuggler all his life. We're protecting his true identity for his safety. And he has it down to a science. He is showing where he hides oil and fuel and how he siphons it out to buyers. It's all stolen from Iraq's pipelines.
I have 12 people to feed in my family. I can make up to $300 a day. I'll work from 4:00 a.m. to midnight. It's worth every bit of money.
It's quite an orchestrated operation and Bassam (ph) says his most lucrative client is Iran.
The Iranian coast guard intercepts us. We pay them $100 to $200 and they let us go. Our boss calls the buyer, usually UAE and Iranian barge owners, then we let them know that we're one kilometer away. We call the captain of the ship, pull over by him, and unload the products.
Iraqi police are trying to take down these smugglers but as you can see, it's hard to keep up with them. What looks like homes on the outside are really warehouses to store barrels of smuggled oil, gasoline, and other oil products. And underneath the barrels, buried tanks of petroleum products, deep underground. And Iraqi coast guard commanders say they just don't have the means to fight them.
GEN. ABDUL QADER, IRAQI COAST GUARD POLICE (through translator): The smugglers are just more powerful. They have heavier firepower and their ships are incredibly armored, 30 millimeters thick. We shoot at them but we can't catch them.
PHILLIPS: I sat down with Iraq's minister of oil.
So you know there's a problem that the Iraqi coast guard needs help.
HUSSEIN AL-SHAHRISTANI, IRAQI OIL MINISTER: Absolutely.
PHILLIPS: They need weapons. They need manpower.
AL-SHAHRISTANI: No, we know that because our pipelines get attacked all the time.
PHILLIPS: What are you doing to support the Iraqi coast guard now?
AL-SHAHRISTANI: There's still work needed to be done, particularly with area surveillance and with aerial equipment not only to detect but to be able to attack and stop the smugglers. I've always been in the missile defense ministry. If you can sink a couple of those boats, this would be the best message to those smugglers that they cannot do it anymore.
PHILLIPS: But these smugglers have a message, too, show me the money.
He said, look, we're poor. I need this money. I make runs from 4:00 a.m. to midnight, I make hundreds of dollars a day. This is all I know. This is how I am going to make money.
AL-SHAHRISTANI: This is an option. He's a poor father and he needs money. I do understand that. As a matter of fact, as the minister of oil, we have tried to recruit young men into our forces to protect the pipeline, come and defend the pipeline and we'll pay you.
PHILLIPS: An incentive, smugglers like Bassam Ali (ph) say is still just not enough.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And bottom line, Heidi, it's all about money. A lot of these smugglers and terrorists, they don't even believe in the cause. If they're going to make more money doing it, they're going to do it. Bassam Ali (ph) comes from a family of fishermen but he makes more money smuggling.
COLLINS: It sounds like it's something that's going to be difficult to break up. Who is joining in on these oil protection forces?
PHILLIPS: This is something the minister of oil really wanted to talk about. It's working and it's not working. Basically they're trying to get men from these tribes that live along the pipelines that in the past helped the smugglers get this oil out and, of course, they got a cut. Well, minister of oil is saying, look, we'll pay you more. Come join and it's working. But they still have a long way to go.
COLLINS: All right. CNN's Kyra Phillips coming to us live from Baghdad today. Kyra, thanks.
HARRIS: They can do it, he can help. Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus wants to give wounded U.S. troops the tools they need to survive on the home front. Marcus and an Atlanta rehabilitation hospital will provide free care to wounded vets who need brain or spinal cord services not covered by the government. The Shepherd Center in Atlanta will admit the vets but Marcus says he hopes other medical centers and philanthropists will join the effort.
How about this? A big day in the Deep South, the region's first presidential primary in more than a month. Voters are heading to the polls right now in Mississippi. 33 democratic delegates are at stake there. Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have both campaigned in Mississippi in recent days. It's their final face-off before the Pennsylvania primary in six weeks. CNN Election Center's special coverage of the Mississippi primary beginning at 8:00 eastern tonight.
COLLINS: Barack Obama leading in the Democratic delegate count and saying he won't take a backseat on the party's ticket.
Here's CNN's Candy Crowley.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Dream team? A big ixnay (ph) from the candidate with the most state wins around and the most pledged delegates.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't know how somebody who is in second place is offering the vice presidency to the person who is in first place.
CROWLEY: It is strong pushback after a weekend full of chatter about putting both Clinton and Obama on the Democratic ticket, talk kicked off anew by the Clintons.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've had people say I wish I could vote for both of you. Well, that might be possible some day.
FMR. PRES. BILL CLINTON, UNITED STATES: You have an almost unstoppable force.
CROWLEY: Popular among many Democrats, the Clinton-generated dream team discussion is a political tactic. His strategists believe it is aimed at diminishing Obama. It is also an attempt to woo voters attracted to him but hesitant about his resume.
The dual campaign strategy of attacking Obama as too green while suggesting he would be a good number two flies against Clinton's early January rhetoric.
CLINTON: The most important thing about picking a vice president is picking someone who could be president immediately.
CROWLEY: Obama called it the old okey doke, an attempt to hood wink voters.
OBAMA: But I don't understand, if I'm not ready, how is it that you think I should be such a great vice president.
CROWLEY: Asked about the implicit contradiction, Clinton communications director Howard Wilson told reporters, "Senator Clinton will not choose any candidate who is not at the time of choosing past the national security threshold, period." By mid afternoon today, Clinton was ready to give it a rest.
CLINTON: It's premature to talk about whoever might be on whose ticket.
CROWLEY: The dream team ticket meant reality as both candidates campaigned in territory they count on in this delegate by delegate race. He netted a couple over the weekend winning the Wyoming caucuses. Neither is likely to get enough delegates to win the nomination which is why the mess in Florida and Michigan has become a critical mess. Having held primaries that ran afoul of the party calendar, both states need a redo to seek voting.
(INAUDIBLE)
CROWLEY: They need a solution that satisfies both candidates, each state, the National Democratic Party, the State Democratic Parties and the voter. And by the way, they need to find a way to pay for the re-dos and a time to hold them. Maybe after that, they can discuss their vice presidential picks.
Candy Crowley, CNN, Jackson, Mississippi.
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COLLINS: What is pumping up oil prices? Crude surges to yet another new record high.
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HARRIS: OK. Stocks on Wall Street roared out of the gate after the Fed made a major move to ease the credit crunch. Is it a bailout, OK, maybe it's just a loan.
Susan Lisovicz, I could use some of that bailout. I'm sorry.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: $200 billion has a nice ring to it.
HARRIS: It really does. Good to see you. Susan, good morning.
LISOVICZ: Good to see you, Tony. Word out of the gate is correct description. The stocks that have been the hardest hit over the last few months are leading a broad-based rally on Wall Street this morning. The Dow Industrials quickly jumped more than 200 points in the first couple of minutes of the reason, another major move by the fed. Not an interest rate cut but another effort to deal with the credit crunch. It's the kind of high finance not so easy to explain but basically the fed is offering $200 billion in loans to certain banks so that they will be more willing to make loans to businesses and consumers. And those banks can use some of the mortgage-backed debt that has been at the root of the woes here on Wall Street as collateral. That mortgage-backed debt has been seen as nothing short of toxic.
This step is being coordinated with the central banks in Canada and Europe as well, this is a well-targeted move. It couldn't come at a better time.
The Dow has seven losing sessions out of the last eight. But right now things look a lot brighter. We're not going to say 15,000. No, we're not going to say that but we're going to say getting close to 12,000. The Dow up 240 points, or 2 percent. The NASDAQ is up 2 percent. The broader based S&P 500 up 2 percent.
HARRIS: All right. I've got a couple of questions here, Susan.
LISOVICZ: Hit me.
HARRIS: Are you ready? You're talking about mortgage-backed debt as collateral for some of these loans. Isn't this more good money after bad?
LISOVICZ: Well, I think that, you know, look, we have a paralysis, Tony. There's no question about it. The fed has been cutting interest rates very aggressively, to stimulate the U.S. economy. What good does it do if the financial institutions don't loan to consumers and companies that have good credit?
It's, you know, there's two prongs to this issue. The Federal Reserve certainly has enough cash, enough capital to take care of some of it. And that's what it's doing.
HARRIS: All right. Well, I've got a follow-up. But let me just ask you this. Can we, in some way, shape, or form breathe a bit of a sigh of relief, particularly if we get an interest rate cut next week?
LISOVICZ: Well, I think it's too soon to say that we, you know, that everything is fine again. But I think that there's hope that there is a turning point on, you know, let's put this in perspective.
The blue chips are still trading around the 12,000 point level, more than 2,000 points below the record high set last October. There's a long way to go.
Plus, have we mentioned oil prices yet? Oil prices, they soared above $109 a barrel overnight. They have now eased somewhat to only $107 a barrel.
The kind of price level that makes things tricky for the fed is an interest rate cut and it's meeting just a week from today. There's still a lot of issues. There is the credit crunch that's trying to fight that, spending, consumers have pulled back. But how do you -- even if you want to spend a little more, you've got oil prices and gas prices, by the way, are at record high. So it's a tough time right now and getting around it.
HARRIS: If you're the fed you don't want banks to fail. You definitely don't want that to happen. What do you do? Maybe this is the move at least for now.
LISOVICZ: It's moving with, you know, four other central banks. So I mean it's not only the U.S. I think the fact that there are others on board just speaks to the magnitude of the problem.
HARRIS: Susan, see you next hour.
LISOVICZ: You got it.
HARRIS: OK.
COLLINS: So what's in your water? A follow-up to now an Associated Press investigation we told you about yesterday. Capitol Hill hearings are coming up in response to the report about trace amounts of pharmaceuticals found in drinking water. The EPA has put out a list of how to properly dispose of prescription drugs. Check out their website at www.epa.gov.
Want to know which areas are affected? Go to CNN.com/health. You'll find an interactive map and then scroll over the map to see if your area is affected and what your water may be contaminated with. That's CNN.com/health.
HARRIS: Pet peeve, deer hunter befriends deer. Now wildlife officials want to break them up.
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HARRIS: Reading his fortune and then winning a fortune. Idaho, boy, there's a guy there who gets a huge lottery takeout after Chinese food. That story coming up.
A big discovery in Mexico, a creature that lives 10 million years ago. Geologists say they found a fossilized jaw, bone fragments and other remains last month at a national wildlife refuge. Picture this. They say it has a big head, small trunk, short legs and a long body. It resembles a cross between a pig and a camel. It is called -- what is this, Heidi?
COLLINS: Oriodon.
HARRIS: OK.
COLLINS: Deodorant, no, I don't know. It's a cross between a pig and a camel is what it is.
I want to tell you about this story. It's a sweet story. It's a rare romance in fact between a deer hunter and a deer. They are now sharing the same address. But wildlife officials say their relationship is elicit. Reporter Sara Pusateri of affiliate WCJB has the story.
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LEE POWELL, DEER HUNTER: I love that rascal.
SARA PUSATERI, WCJB REPORTER: Deer hunter Lee Powell never expected to fall in love with of all things, a deer. But that's exactly what happened.
POWELL: His mama was lying on the side of the road dead and I seen something move. This little fellow was lying right beside her.
PUSATERI: Even though the community treated Bucky like a star, at least one neighbor wasn't a fan. They reported Bucky to Fish and Wildlife who informed the Powell's they were breaking state law.
JOY HILL, FLORIDA FISH & WILDLIFE: You can't make them pets. You can't get them too familiar with people.
PUSATERI: Bucky is very familiar with people. The Powells say in two years these are the only deer they've ever associated with. Even though Bucky gets along with these friendly dogs, they believe he was attacked by other dogs in the neighborhood.
POWELL: I don't want him being killed and crippled up. He's limping now and scarred up on both sides.
PUSATERI: State law says that citizens can't buy a permit to have deer as pets and can't transport wild animals. These gates must be kept open for Bucky to roam free. That's what he's been doing for five weeks but he always comes home.
Fish and Wildlife says that often during the spring people bring home fawns mistaking them for orphans. But if you do find an orphaned wild animal, you should immediately report it so it can be raised by a wildlife rehabilitator.
HILL: They have to raise them in such a way that they can be released later.
PUSATERI: But for Bucky who has clearly grown use to being a pet, it may be too late to put her back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can't harm them and a state park is just not fair.
PUSATERI: Hopefully they'll find a solution before it's too late.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Oh, Bucky.
Called by a fortune cookie. John Garcia got this fortune with his Chinese food. It said, you will inherit a large sum of money. Just a few days later, a fortune of currency indeed. Garcia and his friend Eddy bought a winning Powerball ticket. The Idaho men will share the $600,000 prize. They're planning to pay off their debts and start a trust fund, maybe a Chinese restaurant.
HARRIS: There's a thought.
New York's governor, a rising Democrat linked to a high-priced prostitute.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ELIOT SPITZER (D), NEW YORK: I have acted in a way that violates my obligations to my family and that violates my or any sense of right and wrong.
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HARRIS: Will Eliot Spitzer lose his job?
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HARRIS: Good morning again. You're with CNN, you're informed. I'm Tony Harris.
COLLINS: I'm Heidi Collins. Developments keep coming in on Tuesday, March 11th. Here's what's on the rundown. New York's governor linked to a pricey call girl operation. Will sexual indiscretion cause Mr. Clean his professional career? Our guest, a Harvard Law professor.
HARRIS: Stocks surging almost 300 points in early trading. Gloomy, investors finally seeing a ray of sunshine.
COLLINS: Mississippi voters having their say at the polls right now.
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