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Detroit Mayor, Former Chief of Staff Arraigned; Cease-fire in Danger: Fighting, Demonstrations in Iraq; Accidental Shipping of Ballistic Missile Parts to Taiwan

Aired March 25, 2008 - 14:00   ET

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

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
AVERY FRIEDMAN, CNN LEGAL COMMENTATOR: It's going to create an appearance of impropriety.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: OK.

FRIEDMAN: And there may be a move here.

LEMON: OK. Would it be moved outside of the county but not necessarily moved out of Michigan?

FRIEDMAN: No, it will be moved to some other -- it could be moved to some other county in Michigan, but think of the significance of this, Don. I mean, you have a defendant who was elected by the people who at least elected him in Detroit. So there's going to be a diverse jury.

If this moving out of Wayne County, this makes it even more complicated for Mr. Kilpatrick.

LEMON: Yes.

Avery, I've got two quick things. And we were talking about these text messages, and talking about these sealed documents, and that they found there were two sets, one agreement that was secret, what have you.

So, if you have this secret agreement and you've got all these documents that, you know, they did the Freedom of Information Act to get, the FOIA, as we call it here in the business...

FRIEDMAN: Right.

LEMON: ... to get -- that seems to me some sort of admission of guilt if you have an agreement already for something that you consider to have done wrong.

FRIEDMAN: Well, one of the counts relates to the mayor's secret approval of $8.4 million without the consent of city council. And that is one of the main charges. And yes, I mean, that's going to be certainly...

LEMON: Am I reading that wrong? FRIEDMAN: No, you're reading it exactly right. Since when can the mayor, the executive branch, approve $8.4 million without involvement of the legislature? It just doesn't happen.

LEMON: OK. OK.

Let me ask you also -- what did I want to talk to you about -- oh, about Dan Webb. Dan Webb, what might he be thinking right now? Is he going to have some sort of theory in doing all this? Because as I said, the form every governor of Illinois, George Ryan, he represented him, who's now in prison for committing a wrongdoing -- you know, an act of wrongdoing.

So, what might he be thinking now, his strategy?

FRIEDMAN: Well, based on this blockbuster development, the first thing Dan Webb's got to do is keep the case in Wayne County.

LEMON: OK.

FRIEDMAN: He needs the constituents on that jury.

Secondly, he's going to be arguing generally the evidence is vague, it's insufficient for a conviction. And he's also going to argue, Don, that there was selective enforcement. Well, that argument is usually made with the person who is selected.

LEMON: I heard him say that yesterday, selected enforcement.

FRIEDMAN: Right.

LEMON: He said usually in a civil case there's -- you don't get -- I forget what he called it. In a civil case, whatever the charges were, they are usually reserved for a criminal case.

FRIEDMAN: Right. Well, in a case like this, selective enforcement, frankly, isn't going to be particularly effective. I think he's also counting on the last theory.

LEMON: OK.

FRIEDMAN: And that last theory is that these text messages should have never been released under federal law, I'm going to get in there and quash them. And if Dan Webb is successful, Don, this case is over.

LEMON: OK.

Hey, Avery. Thank you. And again, I want to talk about these text messages, which is really what got them in trouble.

The text messages, Scotty (ph), if we can get them back up.

And which by law, you have to record these if you are going to be a city or a state worker.

FRIEDMAN: Right.

LEMON: Hey, Avery, thank you. We appreciate your expertise.

"I'm madly in love with you." Not Avery.

FRIEDMAN: Oh. I'm going to take that personally, Don.

LEMON: "Did you miss me sexually?" Kilpatrick: "Hell, yeah." You couldn't tell? I want some more."

FRIEDMAN: Wow.

LEMON: And that's according to "The Detroit Free Press." So there you go. It's all out there for everyone to see.

Avery Friedman, thank you.

We also have Susan Roesgen standing outside of the courtroom. So we're going to bring her in now, I believe.

Susan, reaction from outside the courtroom? We saw people there who had "Justice." I think there was "Fairness" as well. Are those people protesting for the mayor or they are talking about fairness for the city?

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, actually, I think they're talking about fairness for the city. And there's only about a half a dozen of them. I don't want to give you the wrong impression, Don, that there's some massive protest here to get rid of the mayor. But they are chanting and saying, you know, he's got to go, he's got to go.

I also have something I want to show you. We got this from one of the protesters -- "Just go!"

Now, we haven't been able to figure out yet who they represent, whether this is a paid group of some sort, or whether this is just a spontaneous protest. But again, it's only about a half a dozen people. So it isn't as if the whole city of Detroit is up in arms. And...

LEMON: Hey, Susan...

ROESGEN: ... you know, Don, the city council -- yes?

LEMON: Yes. I was going ask you, there have been calls for him to resign, not only by the city council, but even major newspapers there. Hold that up for us again, that thing that you have there.

ROESGEN: OK.

LEMON: Yes, the T-shirt.

ROESGEN: This is the T-shirt.

LEMON: "Just go!" So, the papers and the city council, what are they saying about him just going?

ROESGEN: Well, they're saying that his credibility is completely ruined. Even if he should be exonerated, they say he can't continue to lead the city, because what they have is the transcripts from pore than 14,000 text messages.

I think I heard you there just as I was coming on talking to Avery about the racy text messages. There were also some text messages that talked about city business. And some of those suggest illegality that didn't have anything do with sex.

So the prosecutor's office is going to be poring through those text messages. And what basically people here think is, here's a guy who has got the proof on paper in terms of those transcripts going against him, but he says he's going to be completely exonerated.

Don, I bet that you probably were able to hear the charges and the length of prison terms if he's convicted. Were you able to hear that? Because if you weren't, I can tell you what those are.

LEMON: Yes, we were able because there were a lot. And Avery was standing by listening to them as well.

There were some, I think, 15 years, count six perjury; maximum penalty 15 years, count nine perjury; maximum penalty 15 years, count 10 perjury; 15 years. Misconduct, five years, misconduct in office five.

So, that's pretty serious stuff.

ROESGEN: Yes, it is pretty serious. I mean, each count of perjury, 15 years. So, you know, you add it up, I think you're looking at -- I know that Christine Beatty, the former chief of staff, she is facing 75 years total. And he would be facing 100 years in prison if he were convicted on all of these counts -- or 90 years in prison, rather.

You know, he was there. I thought it was kind of interesting. I always look at the defendants in cases.

He actually pled now, he pleaded not guilty. The former chief of staff, Christine Beatty, did not make a plea.

But there was the mayor in a dark suit, a bright yellow tie. He had his hands, Don, tightly clasped behind his back. Just listened intently.

He said that he didn't have any objections to waiving a 14-day rule. They're going to kind of crunch this together so that the next court appearance would be June 9th.

LEMON: Right.

ROESGEN: He's not allowed to leave the country, though he is allowed to leave the state of Michigan if he has business elsewhere, as long as he notifies the court. And he doesn't have a bond. You may have heard that as well.

There's no bond here. He could leave on his personal recognizance, but if he breaks that, if he violates that for some reason, then he would pay $75,000.

LEMON: All right. Susan Roesgen in Detroit doing a great job for us.

Susan, thank you very much for that report.

And also, the national spotlight is not just on Mayor Kilpatrick, but also on the people he represents. Will his ordeal become their ordeal? Well, one of Detroit's top radio hosts -- and Betty, you know, she has been covering this mayor for a long time...

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, she has.

LEMON: ... knows all about him. She's going to give us the inside scoop from Detroit. That's going happen live at 2:30 Eastern. I can't wait to see your interview with her.

NGUYEN: Yes. I'll be talking with her shortly.

(NEWSBREAK)

NGUYEN: Let's go to our Kyra Phillips, who's reporting these days out of Baghdad.

Kyra, why is all this taking place right now?

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it's escalating, and I'll tell you why it's happening right now. Assassinations, kidnappings and theft, Basra is immersed in it.

Why? Well, it's an oil-rich city that everyone within this Iraq conflict wants a piece of. And now a huge battle in Basra may threaten the success of the U.S. surge.

Iraq's prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, is overseeing this massive military operation. His forces are battling Shiite militia.

And just to give you a little background on the militia, they are the Mehdi army. They're the fighters that are loyal to the powerful radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who you just mentioned. As you know, al-Sadr is powerful, he's a popular leader in Iraq, and when he speaks, people listen to him.

The U.S. and military -- the U.S. military, rather, and Iraq's prime minister says that when al-Sadr calls for a militia cease-fire, that violence in this country reduces. But it appears that al-Sadr doesn't have that power at the moment, and now al-Sadr's supporters are calling for a nationwide civil disobedience campaign like you just mentioned across Iraq to protest the raids and detentions that are happening right now against his militia -- Betty. NGUYEN: Well, Kyra, when we're watching this, some might ask themselves, you know, who is influencing this fighting? Does Iran have its hand in this in any way?

PHILLIPS: Of course Iran is involved, absolutely. Iran has splintered al-Sadr's militia, funneling weapons and training to those other sects of his militia.

U.S. and Iraqi intelligence sources say that Sadr has even lost control, a lot of control over his own Mehdi army militia, because of the influence and power of Iran. And now we're getting reports that the Mehdi army are out on the streets here in Baghdad showing support for Sadr and its own force here. Even reports of injuries and even one death to this point. So it's starting to escalate.

NGUYEN: So, is this sectarian in nature, or is this about something more when it comes to monetary gains like oil, for example?

PHILLIPS: Oil plays a huge part in this. There is a main port in Basra, and it's right there, this water channel, that is connected -- or this channel of water, rather, that is connected to all (INAUDIBLE) channels -- or let me say it right, the Shat al-Arab (ph) channel.

And we actually did a profile on an oil smuggler that is from Basra, and he showed us how Iran is one of his number one clients. And there are these militias and these gangs that have built up and built up tremendous amounts of weapons, and they want a stake in the oil that comes out of that area. They want a piece of that.

So, it's oil, it's sectarian violence, it's power, and it's the influence of Iran.

NGUYEN: All right. CNN's Kyra Phillips joining us live from Baghdad. As always, we do appreciate your reports. Thank you, Kyra.

LEMON: Taiwan was waiting for a shipment of helicopter batteries from the U.S. Instead, it got parts for a minuteman missile. We'll have a live report from the Pentagon.

NGUYEN: And it is the talk of Detroit. You have been watching, we've been watching. The mayor faces felony charges over his alleged attempt to hide an affair with his former chief of staff. We're going to talk with one of the Motor City's top radio hosts about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, if you've ever sent or received a package, you probably know shipping errors, they can happen. Less common, though, the accidental shipment of U.S. ballistic missile parts to Taiwan.

All right. So, to sort it out for us, we have CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr.

Barbara, OK, I understand that maybe my package didn't get there on time, wrong address. But these are ballistic missile parts.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: This isn't the way it's supposed to happen, Betty.

NGUYEN: No.

STARR: This really just could not be more serious and more embarrassing for the Pentagon.

They held a press conference earlier this morning to try and explain it all. But basically what happened is, back in 2006, the U.S. military apparently accidentally shipped nose cones for intercontinental ballistic missiles, essentially the front end electrical fuse for ICBMs to Taiwan.

Taiwan had ordered helicopter batteries. They don't have intercontinental ballistic missiles, and they thought they were getting helicopter batteries.

They spent months trying to explain to the Pentagon that the wrong items showed up, but apparently it was only last week that the Pentagon really started paying attention, realized that what Taiwan was telling them, which was that it was nuclear missile parts that had been shipped to Taiwan, of course all kinds of red flags went off. The military sent a team to recover those missile parts, and then held a press conference today once it could confirm that those parts had been returned to the United States.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, to be charitable about it, aides say, is furious about what has happened, has ordered a full investigation. Here's little bit of what the Pentagon had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN HENRY, PRINCIPAL DEPUTY UNDER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR POLICY: The department will determine the facts and take appropriate corrective action regarding this regrettable incident.

When informed this past Friday morning, the secretary directed the immediate return of the equipment to U.S. custody and with positive control. The president was subsequently notified that day.

Secretary Gates further ordered the equipment to be expeditiously returned to a secure facility in the United States. And as Carter (ph) has let you know, that has now been accomplished.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: How embarrassing does it get? Well, the Pentagon has now had, of course, to inform China of this incident with Taiwan to reassure the Chinese that there is no change in U.S. military and security policy towards either Taiwan or China.

Defense Secretary Gates ordering not just an investigation into this, but a full inventory of all nuclear weapons and nuclear-related components in the U.S. inventory. That is unprecedented. And as aides say, the secretary wants some answers -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Barbara, it is just so mind-boggling that Taiwan had to convince, for months, mind you, according to your report, that, hey, we've got ballistic missile parts here. And it's not just those batteries that you were supposed to send us. And it wasn't until this past week that the order was given to send them back.

STARR: Yes. It's really getting a little hard to figure out how these things could happen.

Let me just quickly add, of course, this is the second incident in some six months. Back in August, you'll remember, the U.S. Air Force also briefly, shall we say, misplaced six nuclear warheads, flying them from North Dakota to Louisiana on board that B-52, not realizing they were on board.

NGUYEN: Yes.

STARR: That's part of why Secretary Gates is unhappy.

NGUYEN: Well, it's an embarrassment, to say the very least.

Barbara Starr joining us live. Thank you.

LEMON: Shots fired in the Suez Canal. The U.S. military says a security team on board a contractor ship fired warning shots when an Egyptian boat got too close. Egyptian media report one person was killed, but a Navy spokeswoman says all shots were accounted for and there's no indication of any casualties.

NGUYEN: Thousands of commercial flights zoom across the U.S. every day, but there's someone missing from most of them who is supposed to keep you safe. Do you know who it is? Find out in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

NGUYEN: They put their lives on the line for country, but when they return, our veterans are still fighting -- fighting for a job.

Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange with the latest on this -- Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Betty, well, imagine this -- you've been in Iraq or Afghanistan for a year, maybe longer. And you come home to a struggle to join the work force.

A new government report shows that young vets in particular earn less and have a more difficult time finding a job than civilians in the same age group. According to "The Wall Street Journal," a report prepared for the Veterans Affairs Department found the percentage of those vets who were not in the work force rose to 23 percent in 2005, up from 10 percent just five years earlier. And half of the veterans under the age of 25 who were steadily employed earned less than $25,000 a year -- Betty.

NGUYEN: All right, Susan. We do appreciate it. We'll be check in with you a little bit shortly -- Don.

LEMON: Yes, we're going to check back in with Susan, but first we want to get back over to the breaking news desk. I understand T.J. has some new information on this developing news in Miami.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, and we're going to get even more here from Lieutenant Ignatius Carroll, who is on the line with me from Miami Fire and Rescue to tell us about this crane accident that happened at a construction site there in Miami, where part of a crane, you're looking at here in a live picture, has busted through the roof of a building that was on this construction site.

Lieutenant Carroll, can you give us the update about injuries?

LIEUTENANT IGNATIUS CARROLL, MIAMI FIRE AND RESCUE: OK, right now we are looking at possibly six people have been injured. Two of those six are extremely critical. Right now there are reports of maybe some people that are still under the debris. And right now I'm getting reports that we may have one victim that may still be alive that we're trying to get to right now.

One thing that's working somewhat against us is that that crane is still somewhat unstable. And we are trying to make sure that is stable while we are working down there.

HOLMES: Sir, do you know about how many? You said one person in that rubble possibly still alive. But do you have a good count of how many you might be looking for in that rubble?

CARROLL: Right now, we are working with the contractors to make sure that all their people are accounted for. We are having them to gather in one area so they can account for all their people and if there is anybody else we need to further search. But we will do a search of that entire debris if that count is not accurate and to make sure everybody is indeed accounted for.

HOLMES: Sir, how are you going about -- you said just trying to get people out of the way of this crane. You said it's unstable. What are the chances this thing is going to fall and break off a little more?

CARROLL: Well we are not sure because we don't know exactly how it happened and why it happened. But they're still trying to get all that information together. We have our guys making sure that it is somewhat stable and the other crews can get in there and remove the victim we have located right now.

HOLMES: And all of the victims that you are talking about and also the one that you're possibly looking for, were they all in this building? We're looking at, I'm sure you have seen some of these pictures, probably, of this building that was on the construction side. Were those victims inside that building or elsewhere? CARROLL: Well, that building you're looking at is an office and storage area for the contractors. So we don't know how many people were actually inside, how many people were outside at the time of the collapse. But right now we are trying to get more accurate information about the personnel working in that area.

HOLMES: Sir, what else can you tell us about the construction site itself? What was being built? Was there anyone in this building at all besides construction workers?

CARROLL: Just construction workers. It is towards the Bay area, which is somewhat isolated from the actual public. But right now, it is a 39-story that, so far, had been built of condo, and its total story is going to be about 50.

HOLMES: All right, sir. And we are getting a report. You said two of the people were critically injured. At least one local affiliate reporting that one of those critical patients is not expected to survive. How dire is the situation for those two that are critically injured?

CARROLL: Right now, it didn't look too good in the beginning. But, you know, other than that, we transported him critical. He wasn't responsive at all.

HOLMES: OK, Lieutenant Ignatius Carroll, and I want to be sure, you think you are just looking for just one more in the rubble. That's right?

CARROLL: That's what we're hoping for right now. But we still need to confirm that the rest of the people are out.

HOLMES: All right. Lieutenant Ignatius Carroll with Miami Fire and Rescue, sir, we know you are hustling down there trying to get a handle on the situation. We appreciate you giving us some time updating us and our viewers. Thank you so much and good luck to you there, Lieutenant Carroll.

CARROLL: Thank you.

HOLMES: All right, and I want to get back to you here, folks, and let you know what he just wrapped us for. Six injured, according to Miami Fire and Rescue there in this crane accident. You are looking at the picture there where the crane fell off and busted through the roof of a building that was on this construction site. What was being constructed here is what is called Paramount Bay, a huge condo building, about 46 stories tall, some 360 units.

These were condos that were going to be costing anywhere between $600,000 and $3.5 million. Expected to be completed sometime this year, according to the Web site, at least, for the construction company. But Paramount Bay, the construction was going on. This crane fell, crane broke off, fell through the roof of another building that was on the site.

We are looking at these incredible pictures after the crane fell off and a piece of it fell into that building. As we just heard from Lieutenant Carroll there, they are working now to get people out of the way because there's a possibility, they believe, that that crane could break off more and would endanger others that are around.

But the work continues there. Two critically injured guys. And again, just reminders of what we just saw not too long ago up in New York, that crane accident where seven people were killed. So we will stay on top of this story. And again, he said pretty bad shape for those two that are critically injured and possibly one more still trapped in that rubble. We'll continue to update you guys.

LEMON: All right. Thank you, sir.

NGUYEN: Well, he was Detroit's youngest mayor and a rising star, but now it looks like Kwame Kilpatrick is falling fast from grace. So what does that mean for a city and its voters? One of Detroit's top radio voices will join us live at the half hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, a big city mayor, a big-time scandal. Detroit Mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick pleaded not guilty just minutes ago to multiple felony charges and so did his former Chief of Staff, Christine Beatty. Now they are accused of lying in court to hide an alleged affair. And now, they and the city of Detroit are gearing up for what could be a long, grueling legal fight.

Mildred Gaddis knows what drives the motor city better than anyone else. She hosts "Inside Detroit" on the radio, and she joins us live. Thanks for being with us, Mildred.

MILDRED GADDIS, HOST, INSIDE DETROIT: Thank you for having me, Betty.

NGUYEN: All right, we have been watching this arraignment today, it was very quick. But there was a not guilty plea by both parties there. And we heard the Mayor along with his attorney yesterday say, "Look, he is not stepping down. He is going to have his day in court." What are the people of Detroit saying about all this?

GADDIS: Well, I think we all need to remember that Richard Nixon said he wasn't stepping down either and eventually President Nixon did step down. The people of Detroit are very much disenchanted. You need to understand that this Kilpatrick crisis has literally paralyzed the city of Detroit. One of the local affiliates last night did a poll. 94 percent of Detroiters responding to the poll said that it is time for Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to step down.

NGUYEN: Ninety-four percent?

GADDIS: Ninety-four percent. WDIVTV here in the state (ph). Three percent was undecided and two percent said that he should stay. I think that's very telling in terms of where people are. You need to understand, Betty, yesterday was the climax of a litany of problems and challenges that the Mayor has had. And I must add, of his own making. This was a very young, bright, talented rising star. NGUYEN: And haven't you said he was supposed to be, you know, the next Barack Obama before Barack Obama was even on the scene?

GADDIS: He would have -- he was supposed to be Barack Obama before there was a Barack Obama, young, talented, politically connected. The camera loves them, very bright and very articulate. But you know there's a saying, Betty, sometimes our gifts can take us places where our character cannot keep us. And that has truly been the situation with Kwame Kilpatrick.

NGUYEN: Well, let me ask you this really quickly. This is the same mayor, in his state of the city address, who used the 'N' word. That -- even during that time, was there some question about his judgment?

GADDIS: You need to understand that there have been questions about his judgment for a long time. Two years ago, "Time" magazine dubbed him as one of the nation's worst mayors. The world is hearing about all of this now, but Kwame Kilpatrick's reckless behavior has been on the front burner for a lot -- a lot over his last seven years in office. And it finally caught up with him.

NGUYEN: Well, he is calling this latest one a witch hunt. But let's take a look at the messages, shall we? Because we have been showing them. I know you are familiar with them.

Here's what he said -- Kilpatrick. "I'm madly in love to you." This to Christine Beatty. She says "Did you miss me sexually?" Kilpatrick says "Hell, yes..." Kilpatrick goes on to say, "You couldn't tell? I want some more."

How is this a witch hunt if the text messages are there? Which -- according to those text messages, it really flies in the face of what the mayor said under oath about this affair.

GADDIS: In addition to that, you are absolutely right. And you forgot to mention the one where Christine Beatty says to him the next morning she should have honored his request at a nightclub the night before. You use your own thinking there.

NGUYEN: Oh, goodness.

GADDIS: And regretted that she hadn't done what he had asked her to do at a nightclub before. In addition to this -- and this is very important -- this affair that went on forever was really financed with taxpayer's dollars.

NGUYEN: Well, is that what angers the people of Detroit more? The fact that he used tax dollars to allegedly cover up this affair or the fact that he just simply lied? Allegedly.

GADDIS: Well -- people are more frustrated about the fact that he used taxpayer's dollars to cover up this affair. In the state of Michigan, people are accustomed to the mayor dancing with the truth -- and I'm being very polite when I say that.

NGUYEN: Got you.

All right. Mildred Gaddis with the inside scoop on how the people of Detroit are reacting to this latest news and today's arraignment following the charges that we learned of yesterday. Mildred Gaddis, with "Inside Detroit." We do appreciate your time today. Thank you.

GADDIS: Thank you very much.

LEMON: She did not hold back, did she?

NGUYEN: No. No. But she was very calm and matter of fact about it. So, as she said, she's been following this a very long time.

LEMON: A very long time. That's very good, interesting to hear her point of view. Would like to get her back more to talk about it ...

NGUYEN: Absolutely.

LEMON: ...as this goes on.

All right. Let's move on and talk about something our special investigations unit is working on. Federal air marshals are M.I.A. on most flights in the U.S. And by most I mean almost all. That's the finding of an exclusive report from the CNN "SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT" and correspondent Drew Griffin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): If there is one place Americans should feel safe after 9/11 it should be here, sitting on a commercial airplane about to land or take off at Washington's Ronald Reagan Airport. Certainly any attempt to take over the plane would be there thwarted by federal air marshals. But that is only if federal air marshals are on board.

(on-camera): Are the numbers classified because the numbers are embarrassing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would be very embarrassed by them if they were to get out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Drew Griffin joins us now on this, sort of the preview of the exclusive investigation, the air marshal program.

How did this story come about, Drew?

GRIFFIN: This story came about, quite frankly, over a dinner with a high-ranking federal law enforcement official in D.C. who told me about four months ago, over dinner, you know what, Drew -- I fly in and out of Washington, D.C. from overseas a lot, almost every week into Ronald Reagan airport, and I don't know where the air marshals are. He was being told he was the air marshal on board because he flies armed.

That got us looking into the program. By the time we got to the air marshals themselves we were stunned with the percentages that the air marshals, now, and the pilots were telling us were on board these flights.

LEMON: OK. Well tell us about these numbers that you found.

GRIFFIN: The percentage that we're going with is less than one percent. That's what the air marshals themselves are telling us. One flight out of 100 actually covered by an air marshals.

The TSA, which has refused to go on camera -- the federal air marshal service for this report -- has responded already on its own Web site saying our numbers are off, that it's as high as five percent.

But that's not what our sources are telling us. The actual numbers, Don, no one can tell us, because that is actually classified secret.

LEMON: You said that's the TSA that's telling you that.

GRIFFIN: That's correct.

LEMON: Is that their only response to this?

GRIFFIN: They have other responses that you can read on their Web site. It's kind of been an apples and oranges question and answer thing with them. But we also have our big story on cnn.com and we have a blog telling you exactly how this story came about, how it developed on the "AC 360" blog.

LEMON: I thought you were going to say there are other responses but I can't repeat them. But ...

GRIFFIN: Well, there's a few we can't repeat. There's a few we can't repeat.

LEMON: I'm sure.

GRIFFIN: But obviously we bring -- we're bringing this story to the attention of our viewers because the air marshals want you to hear it.

LEMON: Yes, yes. OK. Drew Griffin, great stuff, great stuff. Can't wait to see it.

And you can catch Drew's full report on special investigations unit probe into federal air marshals -- that airs tonight "AC 360." The show begins at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.

NGUYEN: Want to take you now back to Miami. And maybe we can pull up some live pictures of a crane accident. Right there, you see we've got some major injuries. Six people injured, two of them critically. We're going to have the latest on this accident coming right up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: All right. So catching and examining sharks could one day help protect oceans, but first, researchers have to protect themselves.

CNN's John Zarrella has today's look at "Planet in Peril."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They are what is called apex predators, the top of the food chain.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait, we got something. Maybe not the -- may be the ground, but there's something ...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cut the engine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a shark.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh yes, it's a shark.

ZARRELLA: But sharks are not doing well these days. For 20 years, boat captain John Milchman...

JOHN MILCHMAN, FISHING GUIDE: Keep this line clear in case he runs.

ZARRELLA: ... has watched them nearly disappear.

MILCHMAN: It used to be where you couldn't hang the bait over the side of the boat without the sharks eating it right off the side of your boat even. And now sometimes you go hours without seeing one.

ZARRELLA: Milchman is working with researchers and university students from the South Florida Student Shark Program, trying to learn what's happening to the sharks and what their decline tells us about the ocean. To do that they have to catch them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let him in.

UNIDENTIFIED GROUP: Whoa.

ZARRELLA: The seven-and-a-half foot lemon shark is pulled to the back of the boat. Then it spins, turns and barely misses. The shark is not done fighting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch, he's going to try to bite the boat now.

ZARRELLA: The students work quickly securing the shark. They measure and tag it. A biopsy is taken.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got the mercury biopsy. ZARRELLA: The students have laid out ten lines.

(on-camera): One of the key goals of this project is establishing a shark baseline because researchers can't determine whether shark populations are decreasing or how fast if they don't know how many there are to begin with.

(voice-over): The numbers they catch, the time of the year they're caught will help answer the question. One trend they're already seeing ...

NEIL HAMMERSCHLAG, CO-DIR., S. FLORIDA STUDENT SHARK PROG.: Those species, the big ones are declining. And their food, their prey, the smaller sharks are starting to increase in numbers.

ZARRELLA: Researchers say as the big sharks vanish, the ocean's food chain is thrown out of whack, and that trickles down to nearly all the undersea plants and animals. Why are the big sharks numbers decreasing? The researchers say overfishing, pollution and habitat loss are the primary culprits.

On this trip, two more sharks are caught. One of them a 7.5-foot bull shark.

HAMMERSCHLAG: Whoah, that's a big shark. OK, awesome, bull shark. That's amazing. This is a God -- this is what we were out here today to find.

ZARRELLA: All the sharks are tagged, then released and now, possibly providing clues to their own survival.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right, there she goes!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, there she goes!

ZARRELLA: John Zarrella, CNN on Florida Bay.

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LEMON: Sex, lies, cover-up. Allegedly part of a ballooning scandal facing a big city mayor. Kwame Kilpatrick gets his day in court.

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LEMON: An outreach program inspires a TV program about the capabilities and challenges of autistic children.

CNN's Kareen Wynter goes behind the scenes of "Autism: The Musical."

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KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's billed as a musical production, but delivers much more. There are no professional actors, no script. ELAINE HALL, FOUNDER, THE MIRACLE PROJECT: I have no idea if we're going to be able to pull it off.

WYNTER: And it's children instead of adults running the show, youngsters facing incredible odds.

HALL: There's obvious myths about what a child with autism can do. I plan to shatter those myths.

WYNTER: Drama teacher Elaine Hall managed to tear the walls down on the hidden world of autism, a rare disorder that afflicts one in 150 children in the United States.

HALL: I had a voice inside that said teach children with special needs how to act and sing and dance.

Two feet, all the way across.

WYNTER: Hall's Los Angeles-based musical theater program "The Miracle Project" inspired a new HBO documentary called "Autism: The Musical," a moving profile of five autistic children who star in their own stage production.

HALL: How was school today?

WYNTER: One of them, Hall's 12-year-old adopted son Neil (ph). Neil was just 23 months when she brought him home from a Russian orphanage. Years later, he began displaying unusual behavior, from tantrums to sleeplessness. But why?

HALL: I can remember just bawling, and then just praying to God, dear God, please give me the strength to get through this one night.

WYNTER: Doctors said Neil was afflicted with autism, a diagnosis that sent this mother on a life-long mission to unravel the mysteries of this puzzling condition. It included years of research and help from medical experts. Eventually, Hall created her own autism outreach program using music and theater as developmental tools.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): Sensitive, am I too sensitive?

WYNTER: Sounds like a simple song, but 13-year-old Wyatt Isaacs (ph) wrote it himself. "Sensitive," a song he's now recording with actor Jack Black.

(on camera): Do you have a few pointers for Jack?

WYATT ISAACS: For Jack, is just listen to how I sing.

WYNTER: And follow your lead.

ISAACS: And follow my lead.

WYNTER: High five.

ISAACS: Yes. WYNTER (voice-over): Wyatt's taking the lead now. But the documentary offers a raw look at what some autistic children face, like being bullied, an experience that inspired Wyatt's song.

ISAACS: They're going to call me names.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What kind of names?

ISAACS: Because, Mom, they're growing up and when bullies grow up, they get meaner.

WYNTER: Wyatt, Neil, they're the new faces of autism: courageous, candid, colorful, traits we like to attach to all children.

ISAACS: This kid can try, yes. He has his meltdowns, but he shines and that's all that matters.

Kareen Wynter, CNN, Los Angeles.

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NGUYEN: That's a great story, but to this one that is a bit more tragic. We understand that six people have been injured, two critical, although this says a fatal crane accident. We'll get the latest on those injuries in Miami. Stay with CNN. You're in the NEWSROOM.

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