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Detroit Mayor Facing Felony Charges; Woman, Four Children Found Dead in Iowa Home; Gas Prices Rise, Home Prices Fall; U.S. Troops Killed in Iraq Reaches 4,000

Aired March 24, 2008 - 13:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Don Lemon here, live at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Betty Nguyen.

Thank you for joining us today. Obviously, we are following this story very closely for you this afternoon.

LEMON: Yes, we are. And you saw the mayor of Detroit there just at a press conference and also his attorney, as well, Betty, talking about the charges that this mayor faces.

And the mayor saying -- and his attorney -- he is not going to step down. The mayor's going to go about the business of the city. Dan Webb is the attorney who's at the microphones now, if we can take him. Saying that the mayor will be completely exonerated. He looks forward to the mayor not being found guilty. And he also says that this case should be tried in front of a jury. He looks forward to the mayor having his day in court.

Joining us now on the phone is Jim Schaefer, who's with "The Detroit Free Press." He's an investigative reporter. He's following the story from the very beginning.

You heard from Mr. Webb there. You also heard from Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, Jim. What's your assessment of this press conference and the words they used?

VOICE OF JIM SCHAEFER, "DETROIT FREE PRESS": Well, as prosecutor Kim Worthy said at her press conference this morning, you would expect the district attorney to put on a very spirited defense with the mayor, and I think that's what we're going to get here.

Dan Webb is a very well-respected attorney from Chicago who's defended some other high-profile clients. And we would expect that he's going to fight as hard as he can for the mayor in this situation.

LEMON: Yes, Dan Webb, also a lot to do with the city hall corruption in Chicago. Very high-profile attorney who's used to dealing with these kinds of cases.

I want to talk to you about the prosecutor there, the prosecutor, very colorful character, it appears, from her press conference, sort of giving us, for lack of a better phrase, a lesson in civics before she got down to the matter at hand. What is her record as far as trying similar cases like this? You heard Mr. Webb say, "I'm not going to try this in the media." But talk to me about the prosecutor here.

SCHAEFER: Well, I think you characterized her press conference very accurately. This wasn't just a reading of the charges this morning. She spent a half hour lecturing the mayor and his chief of staff, Christine Beatty.

She obviously is passionate about this case, that she wants to try it herself, but for reasons that we don't know yet, has declined to do that. She's put together a team of some of the best attorneys she has in her office.

Perjury, one of the -- one of the categories of charges that the mayor faces in this situation is hard to prove. I mean, nobody -- nobody argues with that. But she spent 59 days, I think she said, reviewing text messages, which my newspaper, "The Detroit Free Press," first wrote about back in January, and decided that -- that the information that she put out there was enough to charge the man with.

LEMON: Yes. Talk to me about -- Dan Webb mentioned as far as he -- as far as the charges of perjury there, he's saying that he never saw perjury when it comes to a civil trial, only in a criminal case maybe once, and he's calling this selective prosecution, Jim.

SCHAEFER: Well, you know, I don't know a whole lot about the information that he has there. I will tell you that she prosecutes criminal cases. So I don't know that she would run across very many civil situations unless a case like this rolls up into her lap.

My understanding is she's done several dozen perjury cases that involve lying on the witness stand during criminal cases. This is a civil case. It is a different kind of matter. But you know, I think she would say what does that matter?

LEMON: And Jim, you have been -- you have been following this story from the very beginning before the national media got hold of it. If you can sort of encapsulate what's going on here with Beatty and with the mayor so that our viewers nationally will understand what's at stake with this story in Detroit.

SCHAEFER: Well, what happened was got a hold of some documents, some text messages, after a very important civil case last summer in the city. There were some police officers who said the mayor ruined their careers by forcing them out of their jobs after they got onto an investigation that they believed would have opened up information that the mayor was cheating on his wife.

It was a central issue to their lawsuit. A jury believed them. A jury awarded them $6.5 million. The mayor said he was going to -- going to appeal the case. He ended up abruptly settling it in October, and that sort of piqued our interest.

We decided to look into it further, and we discovered the text messages had come into the hands of these police officers that showed that the mayor and his chief of staff had lied in court about their intimate relationship had also given misleading testimony about the firing of the deputy chief who was involved in the lawsuit. Now...

LEMON: Yes. And you look at $6.5 million. Go ahead. Go ahead.

SCHAEFER: I was just going to say, since then what's become even more controversial is that we exposed that the mayor used $8.4 million to settle with these guys, after saying that he was going to appeal it. And the settlement was strictly so that they would never speak of his text messages again.

LEMON: OK. We're going to have to leave it at that. Jim Schaefer with "The Detroit Free Press," an investigative reporter. But also very interesting to hear, Jim, yes or no, $6.5 million, $8.4 million. That's very important in a city that is in financial straits or at least has been.

SCHAEFER: Yes, and we're talking about public tax dollars, not the mayor's personal money.

LEMON: Thank you, sir.

SCHAEFER: Thank you for having me.

NGUYEN: Well, we do want to get you straight to the newsroom now and CNN's T.J. Holmes, who is working on a developing story for us.

T.J., what do you have?

T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a sad story to have to bring to you this morning, Betty, out of Iowa City, Iowa, where police have found a woman and four children dead at a home there. We don't know the ages of the children. We don't know how they were killed, but a woman and four children found dead at the home you're seeing here. Some of the first pictures we are getting in.

Now, police have been looking out for the man who lives at the house. The man is Steven Sueppel, as you see there on the bottom of the screen. They say that he lives at that home, and they don't know where he is. Also, that there's a van that's registered to Steve Sueppel that is missing from the home, as well.

To add to this story, there was a one-vehicle accident on a highway not too far away from the scene of this crime. A one-vehicle accident that turned out to be a fatality. That vehicle matched the description of the van that is missing and also, the driver of that van was killed.

However, because of the fiery nature of that crash, police haven't been able to make a positive I.D. on the vehicle and also certainly not been able to make a positive I.D. on the person who was killed in that accident.

So still following this. Possible that Steven Sueppel was the person driving that van but still don't know. But just a horrific story, Betty, A woman and her four children dead. A lot going on with this story. We'll be following this all afternoon.

NGUYEN: All right. Thank you for that, T.J. We appreciate this.

HOLMES: All right.

LEMON: Another big day for the Dow. The turnaround that started last week received renewed life today. At this hour the big board is up -- you can see -- 236 points, due in large part to a possible boon for Bear Stearns stock.

Also today, existing home sales post an unexpected gain, but the average price plunges. The price of a gallon of gas is up seven cents over just two weeks. The nationwide average now $3.26 a gallon and could be headed higher, due to rising demand there.

This election year the economy is America's issue No. 1. Here to break down what's happening now, our senior business correspondent, Mr. Ali Velshi, joins us now from New York.

You heard the gas prices. At least the Dow's up, but still it's not smooth sailing just yet.

ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. You can't -- you can't make much of these moves on the Dow these days until you've got long enough to see a pattern.

The gas prices we kind of knew that. We've seen these numbers. This is the Lundberg survey. It's the bigger survey that comes out once every two weeks. It generally always ends up matching the other numbers which we use from AAA. AAA numbers actually showed a little bit higher over the last couple of weeks. Bottom line is, the trend is upward. We know that. Lundberg says seven cents in the last couple of weeks.

We all know the national average is between $3.27, $3.28, something like that, which means in some parts of the country you're paying $4 and the trend is upward. We've seen the price of oil pull back, Don, so that might be good news.

The big surprise today was the existing home sales. Now you know, we talk about home sales. We've got existing and we have new. Existing is most of the market; 85 or 90 percent of the market is existing home sales. So that's the one to track.

Here's some interesting things. The prices of homes have come down so much that it's having the effect of selling more homes. So the sales rate of homes is actually up for the first time since July. Not by much. It was up about 2.9 percent between January and February. And if you compare February to last February, it's still a drop of -- I think it was about 20, almost 24 percent.

So, we are selling fewer homes. We're starting to pick up because the prices are going down. The median price for an existing home, Don, is now down to $195,900. It was up high as $213,500 a year ago. And of course the peak for house prices was in July of 2006.

So as home prices come down, more people are getting into the market. Mortgage rates are still low. Might be some light at the end of the tunnel, Don.

LEMON: Yes. Very interesting. I hear -- I've been reading a lot about the middle class now feeling like they may be able to actually afford a home now.

VELSHI: In some places, yes.

LEMON: In some places, especially in New York City, where homes are very expensive.

But OK. Thank you very much for that, Ali Velshi.

And we have heard it from the president, President Bush, on several occasions. When your rebate check turns up in the mail, get out there and spend it, help out the economy. The sagging economy, that's what he's saying. But it looks as though the public has other ideas for that.

A new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll shows less inclination for shopping than for putting rebates into savings and paying off bills. Only one in five respondents say they'll use their stimulus check to buy things.

The slumping economy is affecting you in more ways than you know. Check out CNNmoney.com's special report "Issue No. 1." From protecting your money to finding a job that's right for you, there's a ton of information that could save you money and misery, plus interactive tools and a lot more. All that, CNNmoney.com.

NGUYEN: The number 4,000. You are hearing that a lot today. It is the number of Americans who have died in the five-year-old fight for Iraq, and it was just reached yesterday.

Now no doubt it is a large number. But on its own, it remains just that, a number. Well, today we want to go beyond the statistics to the streets of Iraq, to the streets of America, to the realities of war overseas, and to the battles here at home.

So let's take you first to Baghdad and our Kyra Phillips.

Kyra, this is definitely a somber milestone.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, of course. And you hear that number, 4,000, I mean, what a sterile way to talk about the men and women who have lost their lives since this war began five years ago. I mean, let's put a face to the name.

I wish I could mention each one of these individuals, what they did, background and why they came to this country to fight in Operation Iraqi Freedom. I mean, they're fathers. They are mothers. They are daughters. They are friends, and they are loved ones.

And when I had a chance to talk with General David Petraeus, the head of all military action here in Iraq, I asked him about the death count, and this is what he told me on the fifth-year anniversary of this war. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: You talk about deaths being down, attacks on U.S. troops being down. Even the president mentioned that in his speech. But, still, the streets are so dangerous.

Iraqis tell me every day, "Yes, I'm trying to go to work. I'm trying to go to the grocery store. I'm trying to get to school. But I -- I'm afraid of the explosions. I'm afraid that I'm going to be killed when I'm leaving my house and going to my destination."

GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, COMMANDER, MULTINATIONAL FORCES IN IRAQ: Well, interestingly, the week through last Friday actually saw a reduction in the overall level of attacks throughout Iraq.

But clearly, there have been, also, in recent weeks some of these headline-grabbing attacks, sensational attacks, if you will, and the tragic one in particular, the suicide vest attack in Karbala. Again, al Qaeda is intent on reigniting sectarian violence. They have tried to do this all along. We're not sure exactly why.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And that continues to be a huge problem for General Petraeus and U.S. troops here.

Al Qaeda, it still infiltrates neighborhoods. It still pays people off to help with the terrorist activities. It is a tremendous problem for U.S. troops here, and it's a tremendous problem for the Iraqi people. I mean, Al Qaeda infiltrates their neighborhoods and threatens them with their lives, Betty.

Interesting point yesterday. It was Easter Sunday. We actually went to church, went home with a Christian Iraqi family. And they were talking about this was all about new beginnings and celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ and looking forward to a new spring.

Meanwhile, explosions going on right outside their window. They're some of the most faithful people that you'll ever meet. But it really puts it into perspective. Whether it's the Iraqis or U.S. troops, they are just trying to get through day by day with what continues to an extremely dangerous country to live in.

NGUYEN: No doubt. And we hear that number 4,000 -- that's one thing. But talk to us about the civilian deaths in Iraq. Do we have any idea how many have died?

PHILLIPS: Well, it's so hard to calculate. I mean, the U.S. military is so particular about knowing names and I.D. numbers and time of death, and they're able to calculate numbers extremely well. But in Iraq it's very archaic. It's nearly impossible. So the estimates have been anywhere from 80,000 to more than 200,000 Iraqis that have died.

And one more note: at a service yesterday by a U.S. chaplain at a church service on Easter, Betty, he said something that really stood out and stuck in my mind. He was talking about the death of Iraqis and U.S. troops. And he says, "Why does it seem that the good guys are always the first ones to fall?"

NGUYEN: You hear that so much, and so many times a tragedy like this. And 4,000 is definitely a number that a lot of people did not want to hear, but then again, here it is, and we're faced with it.

Kyra Phillips, joining us live from Baghdad. Thank you, Kyra.

LEMON: Some riverside communities in the nation's midsection watch and wait as the water, well, it just keeps rising. There are new flooding concerns right now in Arkansas and also in Louisiana. We've got the latest from the disaster zone.

NGUYEN: And in New York, nerves are on edge for dozens of people after they stopped off for a meal at a Long Island restaurant. We're going to have more on a typhoid fever scare.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. Live pictures now of Bakersfield, California. Thanks, KBAK, which is our affiliate there, for providing these pictures. We're standing by, watching this, because you see the man on the right -- everybody recognizes him. That is the governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger. And he's supposed to give a talk this morning about the state economy there.

And the reason that's important: California is really one of the biggest economies in the nation, and a huge economy in the nation there on the West Coast, specifically as far as crops and imports and what have you.

So he's going to give a talk there. As soon as that happens, we'll give it to you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

NGUYEN: In the meantime, it is 18 past the hour. And here are three of the stories that we are working on right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

We heard just minutes ago from Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, who is pledging to fight new felony charges against him and stay in office. Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff, Christine Beatty, are fating perjury charges for allegedly lying in court about an affair.

Well, police in Iowa, they are trying to sort out a grim discovery after finding the bodies of a woman and four children in this Iowa City home. A man who lives there is also missing, along with the family van. Now police are trying to determine -- get this -- if a deadly crash near that house involved that same van and the same man.

Well, the number of American fatalities in the Iraq war has now reached 4,000 after a Baghdad bombing yesterday killed four U.S. soldiers. Estimates of Iraqi casualties, well, they vary widely. LEMON: And Betty, tragedy on the high seas. A commercial fishing boat sinks in the frigid waters about 120 miles west of Dutch Harbor, Alaska. Most of the 47 crew members of the Alaska Ranger -- that's the name of the ship -- managed to scramble into life rafts. Can you imagine the cold, frigid water there?

They were rescued by the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard is searching for one person who is missing, and four others, including the captain, well, they are dead in all of this. Relatives are just now getting word.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMY ROMAN, UNCLE DIED IN SHIP SINKING: My one uncle had called his family down in San Diego and told them that they had pulled my uncle from the boat, and he was dead. Ultimately he died how he wanted to. If you're a fisherman, you want to die out at sea. You live to fish. This is -- if you're a true fisherman, this is how you want to go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, when the boat sank, Coast Guard rescuers say winds were strong and the waves were up to eight feet.

NGUYEN: Talk about the winds there. Let's talk about the weather and the rains.

They stopped days ago, but Chad Myers, the flooding, it has not stopped.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It has not stopped. It just depends on where you are in the river. If you're in part of the river that you're still down wind or downhill from where all the -- all the rainfall happened, you're still going up.

But let's take you up here to the Merrimack River, because our Jacqui Jeras was up there over the weekend. Well, now if we click on that little dot, we can actually see what that Merrimack River is doing. Over the weekend, it was way up here, almost to a record flood stage. Now falling down.

Here's the live look at it here. And that's right down to about moderate to flood stage and going down below it today. So yes, rivers are going down, because we haven't had one drop of rain since all of that flooding happened.

Some light snow here in Atlanta this afternoon. People are calling in all freaked out about it. But the air temperature is 42, so it's not going to be sticking. And then all of a sudden here, across parts of the Midwest from Green Bay to Grand Rapids, that's two to four inches of snow. Nothing to get all excited about. No real big -- I don't think we're going to be canceling school with two to four inches, considering what this winter has been like across the north. It has been a brutally cold and very snowy winter. We're worried about some more flooding coming up this spring with some of the snow out east and out west finally melting. Record snows out west.

NGUYEN: Have to keep an eye on that. All right, Chad, we do thank you.

MYERS: You're welcome.

NGUYEN: Don.

LEMON: A performance review for policemen, but here's the twist, Betty. The people making the reviews are you. It's the people. We'll tell you why some cops are upset by an online ranking system and what one police department is doing about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: All right. So have you had a close encounter with law enforcement? Don't worry, you don't have to answer. But a new Web site called RateMyCop.com allows you to do just that: rate your local law enforcement.

But some police find it worrisome. They feel that such cyber rating could endanger the security of police, since the site lists officers' full names. Users rank cops based on professionalism, fairness and satisfaction.

Now, in Houston police have launched an investigation into this online forum. They say, while they welcome praise or criticism, they'd rather have it come directly to the police department.

And Don, you know, seriously, if someone does get a ticket or, you know, you get in trouble with the law, most of the time people who will go onto those sites have a little bit of a beef, wouldn't you think?

LEMON: Yes, but sometimes people, when they send it right to the police department, they don't feel like, you know, it's getting...

NGUYEN: Anyone's going to read it.

LEMON: ... objectively looked at.

NGUYEN: Exactly.

LEMON: So I think there's maybe room for both of them. Why not? Police officer --

NGUYEN: I don't know. I don't know if you want me rating the cop...

LEMON: A police officer --

NGUYEN: ... who just gave me a ticket. LEMON: They serve the people. So why shouldn't the people review them? That's all I've got to say. I'm not saying -- I'm just saying.

NGUYEN: Tax dollars at work.

LEMON: We've all heard of the stories of grown kids moving back with their parents. Too bad you can't ticket them for that. Usually, you think of 20-something college grads, not 50. What? Not 50-year- old adults. Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange with that.

Susan, tell me 50-year-olds are not moving back in with their parents. Come on. You're kidding me, right?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's true. I mean, it's bad on either side.

LEMON: Oh, man.

LISOVICZ: Right? It's bad for the parents. It's bad for the kid, so to speak, for the middle-aged kid.

The economic downturn does have 40- and 50-year-old adults moving back in with their parents, Don. The "A.P." says financial planners report receiving many calls from parents seeking advice about taking in their grown children after layoffs and divorces. And that's tough for the parents, because they can jeopardize their own financial freedom by continuing to subsidize their grown children.

Meanwhile, "The Washington Post" says many folks were down on the economy even before the housing woes started. The reason: out of control health care costs, which squeezes both employers and employees alike.

The "Post" says inflation-adjusted median income is down about $1,000 a year per family since 2000. So the income going down, but certainly health care costs going in the opposite direction, Don.

LEMON: You know it's bad when you're 50, and you've got to move back home with your parents.

LISOVICZ: That's embarrassing, at the very least. I moved in with my parent for a short time when I was 30. And yes, I moved out pretty quickly.

LEMON: Yes. That's when you go in the basement and you don't come out. You just stay there. Get everything delivered to you.

LISOVICZ: Well, it was just to get my feet grounded, and they were great about it. But, you know, I think everybody was better off.

LEMON: But you're fine now.

LISOVICZ: Fine now.

LEMON: All right. Let's get back to what we were talking about. The housing numbers today came in pretty strong. Is that a good sign?

LISOVICZ: Oh, it is. And it's not something we typically see, Don. Existing home sales, the broadest part of the housing market, grew for the first time in seven months.

But why did houses sell? Well, prices fell by the steepest amount on record: an eight percent drop, year-over-year. So people are certainly pricing homes to move.

The good news for trimming down the glut of homes on the market. Of course, you know, once -- that inventory's got come down for prices to stabilize. But falling home prices mean more people could owe more on their homes than they're worth. That upside-down mortgage we spend a lot of time talking about. We're even seeing this with $1-million mansions. They, too, are being sold relatively cheap.

Check out CNNmoney.com for some mansions that are going to be put up in a Sotheby's auction this week. I'm thinking about a southern bureau, Don Lemon.

LEMON: Yes.

LISOVICZ: So we can do lots of stories down there.

Well, in any case, the news is encouraging enough to send the market sharply higher today. Also helping, a reworked deal for Bear Stearns. JPMorgan boosting its bid to $10 a share. That's up from $2 a share, that fire sale that was announced last week. Bear Stearns shares have doubled in price but are still well below where they were ten days ago when all the troubles really started to mount for Bear Stearns.

Dow component JPMorgan is up 2.5 percent. And enjoy that picture. The Dow Industrials up 243 points, close to their highs of the session. The NASDAQ composite is up 76 points, or three-and-a- half percent, a two percent gain for the blue chips. So a very nice start to the work week.

Coming up, why truck drivers are not putting their foot down. I'll explain in the next hour of NEWSROOM.

LEMON: I know what you mean by that.

LISOVICZ: I know you do.

LEMON: Easing up on the gas, because it's so expensive.

LISOVICZ: Diesel. Diesel prices, gas prices.

LEMON: Crazy.

LISOVICZ: Yes.

LEMON: OK. Hey, listen, we've got good housing numbers, and the Dow's up, so we'll take it.

LISOVICZ: Yes.

LEMON: All right. Thank you, Susan. We'll see you in a little bit.

LISOVICZ: You're welcome.

LEMON: The economy, it is issue No. 1, and we'll bring you all the latest financial news all week at noon Eastern. It's information you need on the mortgage meltdown, the credit crunch and more, "ISSUE #1," 12 p.m. Eastern only here on CNN.

NGUYEN: Just minutes away, we've got lessons of war. Students at Baghdad University know them all too well. But they might have some lessons to actually teach us. We'll take you to school.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, just days ago we marked the fifth anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq. Well, now we're marking the harsh reality of the war in human lives. A roadside bombing in Baghdad yesterday has brought the American death toll to 4,000.

Nearly 3300 are combat related, the rest involve non hostile incidents. But, the numbers represent so much more, and today we want to go beyond them into the heart of Iraq, into the heartland of America.

So let's take you now to Baghdad for a look at the future of Iraq, namely, the faces and voices who represent that future. I'm talking about Baghdad University students and they've been talking with our Kyra Phillips.

So, five years into those, what are they saying, Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Well you know what? Last year, I wanted to go to the university and visit students and see what they were talking about in the political science class, and when we got there they were discussing the comparison between the Vietnam War and the Iraq War.

As that class discussion started, Betty, three explosions happened just outside the windows and none of those students flinched. It was remarkable to me. So, of course that launched us into a discussion about security. So here we are a year later. I wanted to see what they were talking about now with our favorite Professor Dr. Abdul Jabar, and guess what? It was U.S. elections.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS (voice-over): They literally risk their lives to get here. Young Iraqis who braved car bombs and bullets to study at the University of Baghdad.

PROF. ABDUL AL JABAR, UNIVERSITY OF BAGHDAD: The real concern from any president either Hillary Clinton or Obama or McCain -- how to provide security and democracy to the simple man.

PHILLIPS: Dr. Abdul Jabar is teaching a generation that has known nothing but war.

"I was born in 1986, and since I came into this life until this moment, I only see war. Now I don't want to grow old in this war."

(on-camera): I hope not.

(voice-over): Dounya Ali and her classmates talk about who will be the next U.S. president. And, while every day Iraqis discuss politics on the streets, it's a much deeper discussion for these students, political science is their major.

(on-camera): So, Shamel tell me why you're following the elections.

"Because of the U.S. troop presence in my country."

Are you looking more at a Democrat or a Republican?

"I can tell from history, that the Republicans have been in power enough. There is bitterness because of wars, so I believe the other choice of a Democrat is far better for us."

So do you think Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama is more interesting?

"For the first time we see a strange phenomenon, a woman and a black man, competing as candidates. It's excellent, and I'm with Hillary."

Why Hillary?

"A woman should have her chance at American politics and I think her policy is against war, and we've had enough wars and tragedies."

I find that interesting, an Arab man supporting a female for president.

You said you were supporting McCain, why?

"I found out, through McCain's political speeches and through his campaign, he's a strong man and has enough experience regarding our interests, a strong leader with a firm policy in Iraq will help take Iraq out of crisis including the deterioration of security."

(voice-over): Almost every student here tells me, they're frustrated.

"We haven't seen anything from the U.S. administration but blood, killing and a lack of security. I witnessed the period of Bush's father, and now his son. What have they done for the Iraqi people? I don't think the elections will change anything for Iraq. It will be the same policy."

(voice-over): Bottom line, these students want change.

(on-camera): Do you think your government and your culture can handle a democracy, can create a democracy here?

"I hope this will happen. But I don't think so. Not unless there is unity among all parties."

Why do you think there's this so much disagreement? Is it religious?

"When we talk about our nation, we never feel there is a difference among us. We don't discriminate due to sect or religion. So, now we wonder, where is this discrimination coming from? Someone is benefiting from keeping Iraqis separated."

So you think discrimination is hurting the democracy process?

"Democracy should not be what we are experiencing today in Iraq. Democracy is union. Our government should be agreeing on what benefits our country."

(voice-over): And therein lies the heart of the problem, even five years after Saddam Hussein was toppled, Iraq's government is far from unified and there's no escaping the fact whatever happens to the U.S. in November will shape what happens to these students and their future for decades.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And, Betty, just as the war began 100 professors have had to flee Baghdad University because they've been under threat, dozens have been killed. And now, more than 200 students have been killed trying to get to classes at Baghdad University. As for our Professor, Abdul Jabar, well he now lives at university because of threats against him, and he had to send his son out of country.

NGUYEN: Just the harsh realities on the ground. And as you talked to those students they mention a number of different things with discrimination and how they want their government to be unified. What is their biggest concern? What are they most concerned about?

PHILLIPS: Number one concern is security. But something else that they talked about a lot in class was corruption. You know at the beginning of this war, and even last year when I talked to students, they were worried about security, terrorism, that's still on their minds, but even bigger discussion was about the corruption, not only within the police force, the military but also the government.

And it's something that even General David Petreaus, the head of military actions here, has talked to me about. It is a grim reality. Something else they're having to take on as we go into six years of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

NGUYEN: All right. CNN's Kyra Phillips joining us live from Baghdad. We do thank you.

LEMON: All right. We want you to pay attention to this, because these are the men and women who have lost their lives in Iraq -- 4,000 servicemen and women have given their lives in the war in Iraq, that's 4,000 funerals and thousands more broken hearts of family and friends left behind. We now salute our fallen heroes and those they left behind.

Army Sargent Princess Samuels was 22-years-old when she was killed by indirect enemy fire in Iraq. That was last August. In this picture, taken at Arlington National Cemetery, her grieving husband, Victor Jones, was presented with an American flag.

And then, we have 19-year-old Marine Private First Class Miguel Marcial. Died in Al Anbar Province Iraq, in April of last year. His family described him as outgoing and friendly. The face of his little brother Michael, look at that, is a portrait in stunned loss. Private Marcial was buried at Long Island National Cemetery.

Marine Second Lieutenant Michael Licalzi died in a vehicle accident in Iraq in April of 2006. Three other service members were also killed in that same incident in this very touching photo, his mother, Carol and his twin brother Gregory walked past flags held by patriot guard members at his funeral. These are three grieving families who have lost service members among the 4,000 who have been killed in Iraq.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right, here's something you don't hear about very often. There is a typhoid fever scare in New York. Health officials say a food handler at a Long Island restaurant has tested positive for the disease, and more than 100 customers could have been exposed to it. Our Medical Correspondent Ms. Elizabeth Cohen, she joins us now.

Elizabeth, typhoid fever in this day and age? I say, here's something unusual you don't here about. You don't here about that.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You don't hear about it much in this country certainly, in other countries with 21 million people a year have typhoid fever. But, in this country we associate it with Typhoid Mary from the early 1900s. But it does happen in this country.

In the United States there are about 400 cases of typhoid fever a year, 75 percent of those people get it from traveling abroad. Now, unlike in earlier years, typhoid fever is very treatable with antibiotics. It is also preventable with a vaccine.

LEMON: OK. So, this person works in a restaurant. So what are the chances of this person passing it along to a customer, someone who is eating in the restaurant?

COHEN: It all depends on how good a hand washer this person was. You really hope that they were good about washing their hands, because if this person didn't wash their hands, it's very easy to have this bacteria travel through the food that he or she touched.

So let's talk about some of the symptoms of typhoid fever for people at this restaurant Mama Sbarro's Restaurant in Hicksville, New York -- 103 to 140 degree fever is what you're looking for, also weakness and stomach pains are signs of typhoid fever. And you might look at this list and say, well gee that could be the flu, that could be a whole bunch of things. It is true.

What you would do if you were eating that the restaurant the weekend of March 14 and have these symptoms, go see your doctor. They can do lab tests to see if indeed what you have is typhoid fever.

LEMON: Wow.

COHEN: Just not fun.

LEMON: It doesn't sound fun at all. And, when you think about -- depending on the type of restaurant, especially in New York, lots of pizza, lots of handling with the hands.

COHEN: It all depends on the hand washing, just cross your fingers that this person washed their hands a lot.

LEMON: Let's hope. OK. Thank you, Elizabeth.

NGUYEN: Well, she is a billionaire success story, but J.K. Rowling says her tale could have ended very differently. The Harry Potter author is revealing, for the first time, that she once contemplated suicide.

Rowling has been open about her struggles with depression after a divorce in her mid-20s, and now she describes how she, "really plummeted" as a broke single mom. And she credits her doctor for recognizing how low she was and getting her into the therapy that she needed.

LEMON: Should have asked Elizabeth about that, because lots of creative people it seems -- seem to have problems with depression.

NGUYEN: True.

LEMON: And I wonder if it's part of their creative process.

NGUYEN: Those juices keep flowing, and sometimes I guess they feel all alone because others don't understand where all of this creativity is going and where it comes from.

LEMON: And also a secret, if you're treated with depression they'll tell you to take a lower dose so that you don't lose your creativity.

NGUYEN: Really?

LEMON: That dark side. Yes.

NGUYEN: Elizabeth better watch out.

LEMON: Learn something everyday. All right, buying a new car? Which model should you get? Rising gas prices are making the decision for some.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM MCQUADE, CAR SHOPPER: If it hits like $4.50, $5.00 I'll definitely get rid of the truck no matter what, and I'll just take whatever I can afford at the time that gets the best gas mileage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Instead of going big, going small in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Heading up our political ticker, look at these live pictures coming to you right now. Hillary Clinton puts the economy front and center in Pennsylvania. She's speaking at a rally in Blue Bell.

Now, earlier, though, during an event in Philadelphia, Clinton's comments included a new call for action on the country's mortgage crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm calling on President Bush to appoint an emergency working group on foreclosures. That's the second part of my plan. We simply cannot wait until Congress passes legislation to find the best way to help millions of families.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Pennsylvania is considered a must-win for Clinton as we take another live look where she's speaking now. The state's primary is April 22.

Democrat frontrunner, Barack Obama, is taking a breather from the campaign trail. He in fact is on vacation in the Virgin Islands. But his Chicago church is still making headlines.

On Easter Sunday, Obama's new minister talked about the firestorm over former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, and his racially charged sermons. And he compared Wright's troubles to those faced by Jesus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REV. OTIS MOSS III, TRINITY UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST: He had more visibility on the cross than he did throughout his entire ministry. He had more visibility on the cross than he had through his whole three years of ministry. He had more visibility being crucified than when he was not. Be careful who you lynch.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Well, Obama has condemned the controversial comments from Wright. The Illinois senator did not attend the church's Easter services. And just back from a week long trip to the Middle East in Europe, Senator John McCain back on the campaign trail. The presumptive Republican nominee is in California today where he is holding a town hall meeting in Chula Vista.

You can get all the latest campaign news available right at your fingertips. Here's what you do -- you go to CNNPolitics.com. We also have analysis from the best political team on television. That and so much more at CNNPolitics.com.

LEMON: What about the best economic team on television?

NGUYEN: We've got that, too.

LEMON: We've got CNNMoney.com. And, check this out. Dow up 248 points. That's good news today when it has been down for so many days. We're going to check in with our Susan Lisovicz on Wall Street in just a bit for a full report.

Speaking of downsizing in your driveway -- we mentioned that just a short time ago. Many car owners are looking to go small in an effort to combat rising gas prices.

CNN's Allan Chernoff has more from the New York Auto Show.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)'

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Jim McQuade is looking to economize his ride; he's checking out hybrid SUVs that are more fuel efficient than his thirsty Toyota Sequoia.

It's a growing concern with gas prices well above $3 a gallon and rising.

MCQUADE: If it hits like $4.50, $5 I'll definitely get rid of the truck, no matter what. And I'll just take whatever is -- whatever I can afford at the time that gets the best gas mileage.

CHERNOFF: The comforts of a virtual living room on wheels are still appealing. But for many Americans, it's time to get real. Soaring gas prices and an unstable economy are a toxic mix for the wallet.

KEVIN SMITH, EDMUNDS.COM: It's become real easy for consumers to say, well, I really need a smaller car; I need something more efficient; I can get along in something not quite as big as I used to have.

CHERNOFF: At the New York Auto Show, fuel efficiency is making cars nearly as sexy as the eight-seaters that ruled the road in the days of $2 gas.

(on-camera): Auto-makers are well aware that Americans are moving away from gas guzzlers towards plain old vehicles. But Detroit has a bit of a problem with that. You see, there's not a lot of profit in a $20,000 car. (voice-over): So auto-makers still offer plenty of big vehicles and lots of luxury for which they can charge premium prices. The fact is, America remains a truck-loving nation.

Light trucks and SUVs still outsell cars, according to edmunds.com. But it's the smaller trucks and SUVs that increasingly are in demand.

DAVID CHAMPION, CONSUMER REPORTS: In used vehicles, there's going to be a glut of these large, very thirsty SUVs on the marketplace that's just going to be worth nothing.

CHERNOFF: In two-vehicle families it's often the SUV that collects dust in the garage.

MILDRED JIMENEZ, CAR SHOPPER: It takes almost $50 to fill up the tank. So -- that's becoming heavy on my pockets.

CHERNOFF: Which means the old, reliable car is often becoming the work horse for families trying to save in this tough economy.

Allan Chernoff, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Well, if you haven't seen some our money saving tips, you need to take a look at them. Well -- you probably need to. Among the features running today at CNN.com, some ways to lower the pain of the higher gas prices. It's all there -- CNN.com/living.

NGUYEN: I took a look at that earlier and took down some notes, in fact, trying to reduce my bills.

In the meantime, though, it may be decades old, but a school kid's science project is the talk of the town for one Alaskan fishing village. We're going to show you who found the long overdue message in a bottle, right here in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Here's a look what the is hot at CNN.com. Women weigh in on Sarah Jessica Parker named unsexiest woman alive a men's magazine. The "Sex and the City" star doesn't think much of the title, nor do women we spoke with. You can hear what they're saying at CNN.com.

Also, a horrible story out of New Hampshire. An overnight fire in a carriage house claims the lives of a woman and her two daughters. The girls were sleeping in the house for fun, and the mother died trying to save them.

Also drawing interest at the Web site -- one of the men running for mayor in Wilmer, Texas. Let's just say he has a checkered past. Go to CNN.com and learn why his run for office has some residents shaking their heads.

In the meantime, though, the next hour of the NEWSROOM starts right now.

Straight ahead, right here in the NEWSROOM, 4,000 U.S. troop deaths in Iraq. It is a tough number to take, but what does it mean for the war?

LEMON: Also, a sex scandal could send a big city mayor to prison, Betty.

NGUYEN: And a protest of Olympic proportions. China, Tibet and the torch.

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