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Shootout & Hostage Standoff in Miami; Gwinnett Co. Police Evict People from Foreclosed Houses; Battles in Baghdad & Basra
Aired March 29, 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)
CPL. DEREK STEVERSON, GWINNETT CO., GA., SHERIFF'S DEPT.: We've gone from trailers to -- I mean, million-dollar homes. I mean, we were out at the Country Club of the South (ph) putting people out. They've got elevators in their houses and they get evicted also.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. It does not matter how much you make. It does not matter how big your house is. Once you are in foreclosure, these folks are going to come knocking on the door and force you to move, and they are not the movers, if you know what I mean.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Also, the Democratic primary mess. Could the bitter divide cost them the White House?
And we have this...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the end of the road for me, I can't -- I don't want to live my life like this no more, feeling the way I do. Like being a prostitute, it's not what I see myself as in the future no more. I don't want to do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: A desperate plea from a teen prostitute trying to turn her life around, but what are the chances that she can? We're going to find out.
HOLMES: And from the CNN Center here in Atlanta, Georgia, you are in the CNN NEWSROOM. It is Saturday, March the 29th. Hello to you all, I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Yes, good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen. So let's get started, right? Our top story up first.
HOLMES: Yes. And it's a strange one here. Dramatic one this morning out of Miami. Police say a gunman tried to hold up a Walgreens drugstore when something certainly went the way the person didn't think it was going to go and it led to a hostage situation.
The would-be robber then took the store manager hostage, then tried to force the man into a car at gunpoint. Take a look at the video we have here from our affiliate WPLG.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(INAUDIBLE SHOUTING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: What a dramatic scene. Of course, you heard the gunshots there. Now, here's what happened. Police say the gunman got away but was shot and killed later when he refused to surrender. The investigation of this incident is still under way, and of course, we will update you on the story as soon as we get more details, but we did want to bring you that dramatic video coming to us this morning as a man was taken hostage and then the gunman taking off.
HOLMES: All right. Well, we're going to turn to another major story, and every story about the economy these days is a major one. We're talking about your banks, your retirement account, your investments. Bush administration now proposing a major overhaul in how they're all regulated.
NGUYEN: The proposals will be unveiled Monday, and here's what they do. They give the Federal Reserve a lot more power. So here to talk about that and sort it all out for us is Jennifer Westhoven in New York.
When we talk about giving the Federal Reserve all this power, that's a pretty big deal.
JENNIFER WESTHOVEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. This is really all about trust. Can you trust the institutions that are holding onto your money? So it's sweeping changes of who is policing banks and brokerages, all the firms that we entrust our money to.
Now, the mortgage meltdown is one way that we see that this system isn't necessarily working. There are some systemic problems. So how do we best change it? Well, this is the White House plan. The new plan would set up a new mortgage commission to iron out all the different rules all across the country, very confusing in that industry.
It also con consolidates the many different agencies that oversee companies and Wall Street, and it gives the Fed some new powers. In many cases, though, I think this is a surprise for a lot of people, it's actually less regulation, and this is going to be a big fight in Washington. And because it is such a dramatic plan, this might take years.
NGUYEN: And you know, a lot of people watching think this is a definite reaction to the mortgage crisis that people are experiencing right now, but in fact, wasn't this crafted back in June?
WESTHOVEN: Yes. So that's nine months ago, and it really, aside from one provision about a new mortgage agency, most of the new bill doesn't have a lot to do with what's necessarily happening right now. It's very broad. Now, both Democrats and Republicans, we know they both want to change things. They seem to agree that the regulation we have in place right now really isn't enough, but Democrats want to do a lot more. So this is the Republican plan. Maybe no surprise that we've already heard from the securities industry, the brokerage houses.
They say they think this is a very thoughtful plan. They're, of course, going to prefer a plan that has less regulation.
NGUYEN: Got you. And when it comes to the mortgage crisis, what people are feeling right now, are they going to see a difference any time soon?
WESTHOVEN: Well, I think that the answer is no, you won't see any big change, and I think that's a good thing, right? In a way, you don't want to see what's going on, what are all the bank rules, you just want to be able to trust that your bank is safe in some ways.
You don't want to see future headlines like Bear Stearns being in trouble, and in some ways, that's what this is aimed at.
HOLMES: All right. Jennifer Westhoven, I guess there's some good news in there, but still a lot of people expecting or hoping to see things more immediate. It ain't happening. Sorry.
WESTHOVEN: It's going to take a long time.
HOLMES: It's going to be a while, but hey, they're putting an effort forth and this is going to reform the industry, so that will be a good thing.
NGUYEN: But the plan still has to be approved, right, Jennifer?
WESTHOVEN: There's going to be a lot of compromise here. But you know, keep in mind our financial system, basically since the Civil War, every time something goes wrong, they put on a new little piece, a new little piece here and there. So it's kind of messy. So this is a way to try to iron everything out, make all the policies clear, who's responsible for what, who polices who.
HOLMES: Did you say make it all clear?
NGUYEN: We're talking about the government here, right?
WESTHOVEN: And finance.
HOLMES: Finance, yes. Well, we appreciate you at least making it clear to us, putting it in terms we can all understand. Jennifer Westhoven, thank you so much.
WESTHOVEN: You're welcome, thanks.
NGUYEN: Have you heard the numbers? An estimated 2 million Americans are at risk of losing their homes, as we're talking about this issue. President Bush, well, he went to New Jersey yesterday to highlight private efforts to help people avoid foreclosures. HOLMES: Yes, but for a lot of folks, it's too late. Eviction has already come or it could come at any moment and CNN's Rusty Dornin was there when sheriff's deputies in an Atlanta suburb finally knocked on the door.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If deputies Allen Mathias and Derek Steverson come to your door, your house no longer belongs to you, it belongs to the bank.
For nearly 20 years, they have worked evictions in Gwinnett County, Georgia. No need for them to read the headlines to know foreclosures are skyrocketing.
ALLEN MATHIAS, GWINNETT CO., GA., SHERIFF'S DEPT.: When I first came to Gwinnett County in '85, I was lucky if I did an eviction once a week. Now I get them every day.
DORNIN: Most people move out before it happens.
MATHIAS: Somebody is home.
DORNIN: But a growing number don't.
(on camera): Deputies found the original eviction notice inside. It's nearly a month old. So the family knew it was going to happen, but they'd never know the date...
(voice-over): ... when that final knock will come.
At this house, deputies suspect someone is home, but no one will answer the door.
MATHIAS: Now we've got to try to get them to come to the door.
DORNIN: They travel with a professional eviction team who bust the locks. Animal control has been called for the dogs inside and the movers begin hauling out every single thing in the house, all dumped on the front lawn.
STEVERSON: We don't know what to encounter inside. A lot of people know that this is coming, and a lot of times, you know, when you lived in a house for 18, 20 years of your life, you know, to lose everything in one swift moment, you know, people don't want to leave.
DORNIN: And when some realize they have to leave, it can be devastating. One time, a man wouldn't unlock the door, and then the deputy saw he had a gun.
MATHIAS: Next thing we knew, about 30 minutes later we heard one gunshot, and he had committed suicide.
DORNIN: That happened twice last year. So the first thing they do when they enter is look for people.
(on camera): Nobody's home?
MATHIAS: No. That's what we had to do, we had to make sure the house was clear.
DORNIN (voice-over): Then the search begins for weapons or drugs. Behind the couch, Steverson pulls out what first appears to be a rifle.
STEVERSON: Somebody point that at somebody.
DORNIN: But it turns out to be a toy. A job where the deputies can see for themselves just how far the mortgage crisis stretches.
STEVERSON: We've gone from trailers to -- I mean, million-dollar homes. I mean, we were out at the Country Club of the South (ph) putting people out. They've got elevators in their houses and they get evicted also.
DORNIN: Sometimes people trash the house before they leave. But others can tug at the heartstrings.
MATHIAS: It gets to you, but you don't think about it really until you get home and you're sitting there having a cold glass of tea or whatever, dinner, and you say, I wonder how those people are doing today since we put them out of the house. They don't have no place to go.
DORNIN: That fact hit neighbor Don Pilling.
DON PILLING, NEIGHBOR: I guess I feel the pain a little bit, too. I know that this is devastating to our community, to my neighbors. I've never seen this before, and it's sad.
DORNIN: Sad for sure, when financial disaster comes knocking.
Rusty Dornin, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And CNN will have much more on "ISSUE #1" a little later this evening. CNN's Gerri Willis takes a closer look at how the American dream is not so much a dream, but a nightmare for a lot of folks. "CNN'S SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS" report "Busted! Mortgage Meltdown," 8:00 only right here on CNN.
NGUYEN: In other news, a bomb explodes at a power plant, killing two workers and injuring eight others. It happened today in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province. Power plant officials say there were no power outages, but police are still investigating.
HOLMES: Well, fresh fighting this morning in Iraq. The British military says a U.S. warplane bombed a Shiite militant stronghold in the south port city of Basra. Meantime, Iraqi security forces continue to battle insurgents in Baghdad's Sadr City. Iraqi officials say dozens have been killed in four days of clashes. Our Kyra Phillips is there, she joins us now from Baghdad. Kyra, we know there was a curfew put in place. That curfew, I believe, is set to be lifted and expire. Any signs that the curfew has been effective and any signs of extending it?
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, you know, for people like us and some Iraqi civilians, depending where you live, the curfew means you can't go anywhere, and you can stay inside. And so it's sort of eerie, it's relatively quiet, but that hasn't affected the violence. We're still seeing the attacks, whether it's in Basra or here actually in Baghdad.
More attacks, Tony, on the International Zone, the fortified Green Zone. We've been talking about these mortar and rocket attacks for the past couple days. Two people have already died this morning, fresh attacks. No reports of injuries or deaths at this time, but it's just one more sign to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that militia forces, Mehdi Army forces, these are the ones led by Muqtada al-Sadr, the Shiite radical cleric.
And that's the battle, between him, his forces and the prime minister. So these attacks once again a message to him, get your Iraqi forces out of Basra and out of our Shia neighborhood so we can move forward -- T.J.
HOLMES: You mentioned Muqtada al-Sadr there and that Mehdi Army. He had actually called for a cease-fire put in place and was credited for a lot of that violence going down. Well, is that all out of the window, first of all? And also, any end to this violence once this curfew is over?
PHILLIPS: Yes, that cease-fire, it was such a defining moment here in Iraq, because when he speaks, people listen. He has thousands and thousands of followers, T.J. So when he told the Mehdi Army to lay down their arms, they did, and you saw the violence decrease, and the U.S. surge was working.
But Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said, look, there is too much crime going on in Basra, all this lawlessness. There is corruption, there is theft, there is oil smuggling. So he felt he had to step in and take charge, and that's what has created all this violence between the Mehdi Army and Iraqi forces.
Will they be able to come to a truce, to an understanding? We don't know yet. That's what we're waiting to see. But at this point, the violence hasn't stopped.
HOLMES: All right. And on another note here, earlier this week we saw that you got an exclusive look at Saddam Hussein's cell, insight into his last days. And even though the man himself is gone, still a lot of interest in what was going on surrounding his last days and what that was like. We're going to take a quick look at it and talk to you about it on the other side.
Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MAJ. GEN. DOUG STONE, U.S. MARINE CORPS: So he got up. He was informed that in fact today would be the day that he would be going to the execution. He bathed himself here in a very modest manner. It was winter, so it was cold.
He then put on his dark suit, the one that I think most people have seen that was laying out here. He put that on and he was all ready to go. It took I think about a 10-minute delay. But as he went out, he said good-bye to the guards and then got in the vehicles and of course proceeded on over for the execution.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And as we see and hear there, Kyra, a lot different from the presidential palaces that he had around Iraq.
PHILLIPS: Absolutely. I mean, this was actually a building that he built and he ended up finally being jailed in there and spending his final moments. And coming up tonight in the prime time hour, there from the "CNN NEWSROOM," T.J., you'll get an exclusive look, an only on CNN look at his cell, his final moments and even get to hear some of his writings from his journal, something that publicly we've never heard before. And believe it or not, Saddam Hussein wrote poetry.
HOLMES: Wrote poetry. All right. There was a softer side to a man that many feared. Kyra Phillips, we look forward to seeing that. We appreciate you this morning. Thank you so much.
NGUYEN: Well, in political news back here, should she stay or should she go?
HOLMES: Yes. Hillary Clinton's dream of winning the White House, well, it's her dream, a bit of a nightmare for some in the Democratic Party. We'll be talking about that. And let's say good morning to our man, Mr. Reynolds Wolf.
Good morning, sir.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLIGIST: Good morning to both of you. You know, it's going to be a great morning and a great day in Washington, D.C., for the National Cherry Blossom Festival. We're expecting temperatures to warm up to 54 degrees, skies mostly sunny and a nice, steady breeze. A beautiful, beautiful spring day. We're going to have more on your forecast around the rest of the nation coming up right here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, hello, again, everybody. And here now a look at some of the other stories that are making headlines this hour.
NGUYEN: One inmate was killed and nearly two dozen injured when fights broke out at a federal prison yesterday. Officials say there is no word yet on what touched off this unrest at Three Rivers Prison. Now it's located in a rural area about 70 miles southeast of San Antonio. An autopsy is being done to determine exactly how the inmate died.
HOLMES: All right. There are new piercings policies for air travelers. TSA will now allow a visual inspection of nipple rings and similar jewelry and piercings. The change comes after a passenger had to remove her nipple ring. She had to remove one with a pair of pliers, even, or she would not be allowed on her flight.
NGUYEN: And there are new concerns today about flooding in Arkansas. There is more rain in the forecast, and if it does come down in buckets, well, it could cause swollen rivers to rise. Half the state is under a federal disaster declaration, and recent heavy rains have flooded other states as well, leading to 17 deaths.
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: Hey, coming up, giving the gift of life to a stranger.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNAMARIE AUSNES, KIDNEY TRANSPLANT RECIPIENT: I had been praying for an angel. I never in a million years would have thought it would have been my barista, never.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: We're going to tell you why this Starbucks barista is a "CNN Hero."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We've got a story here about delivering more than coffee to a customer in need.
NGUYEN: Yes, a Starbucks employee proves the point that one person can make a difference, in this case, a huge difference in another person's life.
HOLMES: Yes, meet now Sandra Andersen. This morning's "CNN Hero."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AUSNES: In 1990, I was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease. It's genetic and there is no cure for this disease. You know, I have this lovely little granddaughter, and I want to be so involved in her life. I'm missing out and I just started praying for God to please send me an angel.
SANDRA ANDERSEN, "EVERYDAY SUPERHERO": I can help you down here, sir.
I work at Starbucks in Tacoma, Washington. I'm the morning person. I work from 5:00 in the morning until 1:00.
There you go. You have a good morning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
ANDERSEN: Anna Marie (ph) is one of my customers. She comes in every day, and on this particular morning, I could tell that she just wasn't feeling real well, and so I asked her what was wrong.
AUSNES: I told her that I had been placed on the National Kidney Transplant List.
ANDERSEN: I just looked at her and I said, you know, I want to test for you.
My name is Sandra Anderson and I'm a barista for Starbucks and I'm donating a kidney to a customer.
I went and had my blood tested. I sat down with my family and we got as much information as we possibly could. Then the day came when I was able to tell her.
Here's this long line to the door, and I just reached over and grabbed her hand and I said, I'm a match, and we both just stood there and balled.
AUSNES: It was a joyful moment for me. I had been praying for an angel. I never in a million years would have thought it would have been my barista, never.
ANDERSEN: I knew in my heart this was a time for me to step up, and I found out that I could. So it's pretty awesome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And that is such a wonderful story, because you know, she just met her at a Starbucks, really didn't know her, you know, all that well. And then to give that life-saving opportunity to someone means a lot.
HOLMES: I love those "Heroes" stories.
NGUYEN: Don't you? Now that's a real hero right there.
HOLMES: Well, we're talking about politics, of course, as always, here on CNN. And Senator Hillary Clinton, who is getting an early start on the campaign trail this morning. This is the rally we're seeing. You see her to the right of your screen there. She is going to take that mike, we believe shortly. This is in Indianapolis at a rally.
But she's not the only one that's on the campaign trail today. Your "Trail Nix" is coming up soon. And who else is here with us? Joshua Levs.
Good morning, kind sir.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning to you. Speaking of all this, we're taking a look at this question: Is the primary process a mess? Two prominent Democrats right now are fighting over that idea. We've got your chance to weigh in coming right up.
Plus this...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As the sergeant races to make the last takedown, I count eight men that have been arrested in under 30 minutes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: The shocking reality of teen prostitution in America. A new documentary gives us an inside look at how hard it is for girls to get off the street.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, we've got an update here on that dramatic story we brought you at the top of the hour, that hostage situation out of Miami that we saw. Police say a gunman tried to hold up a Walgreens drugstore when something went wrong, leading to a hostage situation.
NGUYEN: Yes, the masked gunman took the store manager hostage and then tried to force him into a car. We want you to take a look at this video from our affiliate WPLG.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(INAUDIBLE SHOUTING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well, despite that hail of gunfire, police say the gunman fled the scene but then crashed the car a short distance away. Then he tried to flee on foot. Here's what we know now. Police are only saying that there is a body on the scene, but they're not confirming that that body is the gunman. An investigation is still going on, and as we get more details, we'll update you on this story.
Meantime, though, this is happening right now. Senator Hillary Clinton taking her fight for the presidency to a rally in Indianapolis where she is talking about the economy and jobs.
Let's listen in.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: ... and let them describe for you what's going on in their lives, because I think you could probably do the same with everybody here, if not about yourself, then certainly about a neighbor or a family member.
I want to call up Steve Bruce (ph). And Steve has worked for Ford for 10 years. And I know that he has been concerned about all of the issues that are on the minds of the people of Indiana and -- yes, you want to sit down? Come on up, Steve.
And Kathy Harrell (ph) is the second person we're going to call up. And Steve is concerned about his children's future. He's concerned, Senator Breaux (ph), about affordable health care. He's concerned about what I like to call...
NGUYEN: All right. We have been listening to Senator Clinton in Indianapolis today as she is talking about the economy, she's talking about health care. She's going to be talking about specific stories and questions dealing with real people and who are simply just going through the situations out there, whether it be with the economy or health care. So we'll listen in and bring you news as it happens today on that front -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. And, Betty, she's not the only one on the campaign trail today. Barack Obama, her rival, is on a bus tour across Pennsylvania. That's the next big contest, of course. We'll get the latest now on the race from our Jim Acosta, who we've been talking about this with for a while.
We said when we first saw you a few weeks ago, Jim, that you were going to be stationed in Pennsylvania. Might as well set up shop, and there you are again with the Election Express, always...
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You warned me.
HOLMES: I warned you, man, and you've been there ever since.
ACOSTA: That's right. Yes, you did.
HOLMES: Good to see you again. What's happening there?
ACOSTA: Well, what's happening is Barack Obama is trying to get on a roll in this state. Hillary Clinton has been heavily favored to win Pennsylvania for some time, but perhaps, maybe too early to say this, but he's getting some momentum behind him.
Not only does he have the six-day bus tour ahead of him, which will take him across the state, he's starting out near Pittsburgh and then heading east, he picked up a very important endorsement yesterday, T.J., in Senator Bob Casey, who was supposed to be staying out of this.
He had said earlier that he was not going to endorse anybody before this primary, and he changed his mind and came out and endorsed Obama, saying that nobody has inspired him in terms of politics, besides his father, and that Barack Obama fits that bill.
And so that is a very important endorsement for Barack Obama in that Casey is very popular with those blue-collar Democrats in the state. Also very important in that he is very popular with Catholics in this state.
Casey, like his father, who was a very popular governor in this state, is both Catholic and pro-life and a Democrat. So that definitely helps Barack Obama in that department -- T.J.
HOLMES: Yes, and as we're looking at this video here, we are talking about how important endorsements are, he might have had the most important endorsement with him there, "The Bus" on his bus tour, with him, a lot of people recognize in that video Jerome Bettis, the former Pittsburgh Steeler who helped them win a Super Bowl. Certainly very popular around that state.
All right, also, you know, John McCain has got it good and he has got it bad in a lot of ways. He has got it good because he is the presumptive nominee and it is early and all attention is on him in the Republican Party, but all the attention right now is still on Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. It's hard for McCain to get a word in edgewise, almost in the media sometimes.
ACOSTA: That's right, T.J. While the Democrats are duking it out, John McCain has almost been pushed off of the stage, and he's sort of waiting in the wings, waiting for his turn to be in the limelight.
And so what the McCain campaign did is they came out with their first general election ad yesterday, and that ad is very important for the McCain campaign, because it sort of says, hey, while the Democrats are tearing themselves apart over here, don't forget about me. I'm also in this race, and by the way, I was a POW in Vietnam.
And many Americans consider him to be a war hero, and the ad ends with the phrase "he is the American president Americans have been waiting for." So you know, he is putting forth the message that while the Democrats are tearing themselves apart, oh, by the way, there is a war hero will also in this race -- T.J.
HOLMES: Yes, you're right, Jim, it's amazing that as long as he has been on the stage that people -- he still feels the need to introduce himself, almost, to many of the Americans. Jim Acosta in Pennsylvania, where he will be for quite some time. Sir, we appreciate you, as always.
ACOSTA: Yes, you bet.
NGUYEN: Well, Republicans have had a clear presidential nominee for a while now, having settled on John McCain. But for Democrats, the bitter battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama is exposing what many people believe is a messy primary process.
HOLMES: Messy. That's a kind word we're using to describe, Josh, what we've seeing in this primary process. Some people are thinking, there has got to be a better way to do this, and I happen to agree with them.
LEVS: Yes, well, a lot of people do. And we've got a popular vote that we'll never know entirely because some states don't report it. We have got a pledged delegate system that doesn't directly follow the popular vote, whatever it is. Then you've got superdelegates who do whatever they want.
So one thing we're looking at today is this question about a mess. We're going to start off here with what Senator Bill Nelson said yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BILL NELSON (D), FLORIDA: If ever we've had an example of a mess, it's this one, and I don't think there's anybody in America that is satisfied with this presidential nominating process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: All right. But just later that same morning, this was yesterday morning, Howard Dean, head of the Democratic Party, fired back on "AMERICAN MORNING."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD DEAN, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: No, it's not a mess. It has actually done much better than we have in the past. Look, people are so excited in places like Texas and Ohio and Pennsylvania and North Carolina, where they've never had a chance in 30 years to say who they want for president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: Well, there certainly is a lot of excitement, but does that really contradict this whole mess concept? We're letting you weigh in this one. Our question to you, and you have the ability to e-mail us the answers, is the nominating process a mess? I'm going to emphasize, obviously, we're talking more about the Dem side.
If the Republican side -- as Betty was just saying, if they had had a tight race, we probably would see a lot more cracks in their system too. But feel free to weigh in on either side. Do you believe that the system this country uses to nominate who our presidential candidates will be is a mess? Is it a mess? Write us, weekends@cnn.com. Keep your responses brief and thoughtful and respectful. It's not an opportunity to say something really mean. We're not going to air that.
But, guys, we will share some of these responses tomorrow morning on this show because we know a lot of people have a lot to say about this whole idea.
NGUYEN: Well, I think just as important is -- you know, whether you decide if it is a mess or not, is if you do think it's a mess, what should be done?
LEVS: Absolutely. And if they want to weigh in on that, too, what solutions do you prefer? Feel free to use that.
HOLMES: I'm responding now.
NGUYEN: He really is.
HOLMES: I have an opinion. All right. Josh, we appreciate it.
So how does the presidential race look in the battleground states? "BALLOT BOWL" let's you make that call. Your chance to hear from the candidates themselves. That's our "BALLOT BOWL" today, 2:00 p.m. Eastern with those folks you see, the best political team on television. Right here, this is your home for politics.
NGUYEN: Well, a life on the streets and a plea for help.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the end of the road for me, I can't -- I don't want to live my life like this no more, feeling the way I do. Like being a prostitute, it's not what I see myself as in the future no more. I don't want to do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Underage prostitutes, are they victims or criminals? We'll have an inside look into the lives of American girls involved in the sex trade.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SGT. BYRON FASSETT, DALLAS POLICE DEPT.: This is bad. I mean, this is nothing short of slavery, pure and simple. And when these pimps get a hold of these girls, the amount of destruction that's done to them, despite all the care, despite all the good intentions, we just don't have enough glue to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: We are talking about American girls working the streets, selling sex to men. And despite the best efforts by law enforcement and social services, these kids -- because that's what they are, kids, keep falling back into a life of prostitution. So why is that? Well, Lisa Ling is here to provide us some answers for us this morning. She is the special correspondent for "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and "National Geographic Explorer." Her new documentary is called "Sex Workers or Victims?". She joins us live from Los Angeles.
Thanks for getting up early with us today to talk about this important subject.
LISA LING, "SEX WORKERS OR VICTIMS?": Well, you'll just have to get through the bags under my eyes, but thank you so much for having me, Betty.
NGUYEN: Well, and you stayed out late trying to follow these women of the night. But here's the deal, they're not women, they're just girls. And what's so surprising to me is that these aren't girls from a foreign country who were part of child trafficking or anything like that, these are American girls on the street. How big of a problem is that nationwide?
LING: It is a huge problem, and you're right, when you think of child trafficking, you normally associate it with international girls, but I was truly, truly surprised to learn that tens of thousands of American girls are working in cities all across the United States, and the thing to remember about these girls is, you know, you see prostitutes out there soliciting men.
And so in your mind, you think that it's voluntary. And when they're arrested, they're often sort of talking back to the cops, and so we have a certain perception of these girls, as though they want to be out there, but the reality is that the overwhelming majority of them have escaped and run away from severely broken homes.
And most of them have grown up and never with anyone who has ever said that they loved them or any male figure in their lives.
NGUYEN: You know, I was really struck by a girl in your documentary. Her name is Samantha, and she really gives a good and horrific description of what it's like to be a child on the street. I want you to take a listen to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is every day, every night hustling, sleeping with all these different men that you don't even know, and you literally get tired of having sex with all these men.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: She said you literally get tired of having sex with all these men. This is a girl who doesn't even have her braces off yet. I mean, how do young girls like that get roped into this kind of business?
LING: Well, as I said, most of the girls are runaways, and they are just out there living on the streets, and they are so vulnerable. And there is a culture of pimps, these men who literally prey on these girls. They can sense these vulnerable girls from miles away.
And so what they do is they approach the girls and they offer to provide shelter and meals and fancy clothes, like the girls you see on television, like what, you know, what Lindsay Lohan is wearing. And so they say, well, OK, we'll provide all this. Now you have to do something in exchange for me, and that's how the cycle starts.
It's total manipulation. And think about little girls and how much love and attention they need, and think about these girls who are on the streets and the impact that these pimps have on them.
NGUYEN: Well, you're right, because it is a cycle, because when the girls get caught, they get thrown in jail. They'll say whatever it takes to protect their pimp, because if not, they could be physically harmed by that.
But the big question is, how do you stop this cycle? Say these were from a foreign country -- these were girls from a foreign country. They would have resources. But because they're Americans, they don't?
LING: Well, that's the thing. It's true, when a girl who has been trafficked in from somewhere else in the world is arrested, she is put in some kind of facility or organization that seeks to help this girl.
In the United States, the girls who are arrested -- the American girls, they are at the bottom of the barrel, and cops, they are routinely arresting these girls and not arresting the johns, or most importantly, the pimps.
And I think that we need to start really, really examining the issue of the pimps, because they are just the ultimate predators. And I believe that they are modern day slave keepers, because these girls, contrary to popular belief, don't take home a single dollar of what they make every night. They are obligated and forced to hand every penny over to the pimp.
NGUYEN: The pimps, you know, really shoulder a huge responsibility here, but I have to ask you this, in your documentary, you showed a mother who was at court with her daughter, who was really pleading to be sent to a particular kind of resource group that could get her some help and get her off the street, but what about these parents? Why aren't these parents stepping up and taking responsibility for their children?
LING: I wish it was that easy to make parents assume responsibility, but again, these kids are running away from somewhere. So to think that the parents -- the best place for them is with their parents is just something that we'd be fooling ourselves if we believed that parents could solve the problem.
When I sat through a day of juvenile court, this judge in Vegas would see girl after girl after girl who had been arrested for prostitution, and he'd ask all of them, how many of you are accompanied by someone? And only two girls had a parent with them, and that was one of the girls we featured whose...
NGUYEN: Yes, we're showing right now the parent of one of the girls.
LING: Right. That's right. He saw 13 girls that day and only one other girl showed up with a father, and that father said he didn't want her home. And these girls, they're children, and they are out there on their own.
NGUYEN: It is such a sad and tragic story, and like you say in the piece, there needs to be more resources. Lisa, thanks for really investigating this, something that matters right here on the streets of America. We do appreciate it.
LING: Thanks, Betty.
NGUYEN: And Lisa's new documentary, "Sex Workers or Victims?", it premiers tomorrow night on the Oxygen Network.
HOLMES: And want to get you an update here, folks, on a situation we're keeping an eye on out of Miami, a hostage situation that took place. These are the dramatic pictures we got just a short time ago of the scene of last night in Miami where someone tried to hold up a Walgreens. It turned into this hostage situation that we saw here.
Shots were exchanged between the alleged robber here and police. We got word that the suspect was actually able to get away from this scene, as you're watching here, and later crashed his vehicle and then tried to flee on foot. Earlier, we had gotten word, reports there that the suspect had been shot and killed.
Now police are telling us that in fact there was a body found at the scene, but they are not confirming that that body is that of the suspect. As you see these pictures, you see the gunman, he has a gun in his hand, he has the mask on his face. He's trying to get that employee into the car and he fought back a little bit here.
But we're keeping an eye on this story. We're expecting a news conference, expecting some kind of an update from police a short time from now. We're keeping an eye on things there in Miami. We'll bring you the update as soon as we get it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JANET JACKSON, SINGER: Ten down, at the same time, come across your body with the other arm -- with the other hand. Come across, put this hand...
(LAUGHTER)
JACKSON: Come across your body.
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": "The Struggling Jew."
(LAUGHTER)
JACKSON: Wait, you're not hugging yourself, Larry.
KING: I don't know what I'm doing.
NGUYEN: Poor Larry. He really doesn't have any rhythm, does he?
HOLMES: That's just a matter of not following instructions, don't you think?
NGUYEN: Oh it gets even better. You have to see this. And admit it, those who have seen it, you love it, we do. And we want you to watch it again. That's why we are bringing you an encore presentation of Janet Jackson's dance lesson with our own Larry King. You can see Larry's entire interview with Ms. Jackson tonight at 9:00 Eastern only on CNN.
HOLMES: He's great with the Electric Slide, though.
NGUYEN: Is that what it is?
HOLMES: Don't mess with him on the electric slide.
NGUYEN: Well, famous city skylines will be a bit darker tonight.
HOLMES: Yes, 8:00 local time, Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix, San Francisco, and many other cities around the globe will turn off their lights for one hour. It's called Earth Hour. This is how it looked in Sydney, Australia. That was earlier today, lights went out on the Harbor Bridge and the Opera House. You can't make them out there because it's dark.
The event began in Sydney last year to raise awareness of climate change, and this year the World Wildlife Fund is making it a global event, 370 cities worldwide expected to participate. You can find out about it more on the Web. Look at this. Google is always good about this stuff, doesn't matter if it's St. Patrick's Day, Easter...
NGUYEN: It has even gone black, look at that.
HOLMES: Yes. They've gone black for the day-long event.
NGUYEN: In fact, we're going to be talking with a person with the World Wildlife Fund the next hour to talk about how this is affecting cities and what you can do at home to participate. So want to stick around for that.
Meantime, though, it will be easy for this show team, you know, to participate in that Earth Hour because that's about our bedtime, you know, between what is it, 8:00 and 9:00, when you need to shut the lights out? Mine are out anyways.
HOLMES: Oh, please, you're up. OK, yes.
NGUYEN: All right.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: You try to be.
NGUYEN: Try.
HOLMES: Yes, that's bedtime for a lot of us around here. So whether you're in Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix, San Francisco, wherever you may be, turn off your lights, 8:00, for an hour at least, wherever you are. Do your part for the planet.
NGUYEN: But what, oh what would you do for an hour without any electricity?
HOLMES: And we want to make that clear too. You pointed it out, somebody actually here asked you, said, hey, does that mean they're shutting off the power in the city? No. All right? They're just doing the skylines, making a point there. But you're encouraged to do it.
NGUYEN: Exactly. But at your home it's voluntary and they do advise you to go ahead and save that electricity and turn off your lights.
(CROSSTALK)
NGUYEN: Yes, your refrigerator will still be running, stuff will stay frozen. It's all good.
HOLMES: All right. Well, folks, home pregnancy tests, you've heard of them, yes, but what about home paternity tests?
NGUYEN: Uh-oh.
HOLMES: Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta will tell us all about those.
NGUYEN: And at noon, junk bikes from Japan are being used to help others around the world. This story will inspire you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Images of a water-logged New Orleans, hard to forget there.
NGUYEN: But nearly three years after Hurricane Katrina flooded the city, the Big Easy is bouncing back.
HOLMES: And our Veronica De La Cruz takes a look at why tourists might be on the go again.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hurricane Katrina nearly leveled the New Orleans tourism industry. Now the Big Easy is working hard to get the tourists back again.
NILOU MOTAMED, TRAVEL + LEISURE: They are trying to elicit NBA All-Star Games, looking at Mardi Gras as an opportunity to get more people in, everything that they can do that will make people realize that New Orleans is back.
DE LA CRUZ: And the city wants to keep the people coming, with a little musical soundtrack this spring. It will be all that jazz and more beginning April 25th when JazzFest comes to town, running a full seven days, the first time since Katrina. The city is expecting a big turnout.
MOTAMED: The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, or JazzFest, as people who are in the know call it, is going to be a really great time for people to see the fantastic shops, the amazing restaurants, and really see that New Orleans has put its mind and spirit into making it a fantastic destination that it once was.
DE LA CRUZ: And hopefully, visitors will fall in love with New Orleans once again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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