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Airline Safety: Is FAA Skimping on it?; Bail-Out of Wall Street with Your Tax Dollars?; NATO Adding New Members
Aired April 03, 2008 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Tony Harris. Heidi continues maternity leave.
Watch events come into the NEWSROOM live on Thursday, April 3rd. Here's what's on the rundown.
Two whistleblowers, telling Congress the FAA is skimping on your safety. Stunning testimony live this morning.
Bill Richardson's endorsement of Barack Obama. Did it prompt Bill Clinton to go on one of his famous finger-wagging tirades?
A wrong way truck driver. Did he deliberately target oncoming traffic? Crash and burn, next in the NEWSROOM.
Airline safety. It is a developing story with deepening concerns this morning. In fact, it is commanding the attention of law makers on Capitol Hill. They will have a hearing next hour.
Among the troubling matters, they will investigate a pair of whistleblowers who first talked to CNN. The two FAA inspectors are accusing Southwest Airlines of not only ignoring their safety concerns but trying to hide them.
Here's a preview of what they will likely tell lawmakers today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOBBY BOUTRIS, FAA SAFETY INSPECTOR: On March 15th, when Southwest Airlines found out that they had 47 aircraft out of compliance, when they see there's safety issue, why didn't they ground them?
It is sad that an FAA inspector has to become a whistleblower in order to do his job. And the job is that we were hired by the taxpayers to ensure that the airlines provide safe transportation for the flying public. It shouldn't have to come to this.
DOUGLAS PETERS, FAA SAFETY INSPECTOR: I think that's why we are here today. Bobby and I were not happy with the state of Southwest Airlines maintenance program. We weren't happy and we saw that the airline was at risk due to the lax oversight. And because of this, we just weren't willing to accept anything less than sweeping change.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: For the second time this week, a U.S. airline shuts down. ATA Airlines canceled all of its flights today after filing for bankruptcy. The Indianapolis-based carrier says it couldn't stay in business after losing a key contract for its military charter operation. The company flew about 50 flights a day. The airline is asking other carriers to help passengers who may be stranded by the abrupt shutdown.
We will keep an eye on the airline safety hearing throughout the morning and we will take the proceedings live as developments warrant. You can also watch the hearing live on our Web site at CNN.com.
A man with an alleged plan to build a bomb due in court today. Kevin Brown is being held without bail while authorities review his mental health records.
Brown is accused of trying to bring pipe-bomb making materials onto a plane at the Orlando, Florida airport. Brown allegedly told investigators he wanted to show his friends at home in Jamaica how to build explosives. Brown was in the army from 1999 until 2003. He was a private contractor in Iraq last year.
The incident surprising his roommate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED ROOMMATE: He was a nice guy. That was -- that's what is so bizarre about this all. He was odd, but at the same time you wouldn't expect something like that from someone who -- from what I could best can tell wasn't, you know, fairly pleasant person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: The bond hearing set for 3:30 Eastern and we will bring you the results.
And this news just in to CNN. A new jobs report in just moments ago. New filings for unemployment claims rose in the latest week to the highest level since October of 2005. Again, that report into CNN just moments ago.
The Labor Department said applications far unemployment benefits rose to 407,000 in the week that ended March 29th. That's up from a revised 369,000 claims in the previous week.
We will continue to follow developments here with our business team right here in the NEWSROOM.
And the economy stumbles and you feel the pinch at the gas pump and at the grocery store. Yet billions of dollars of your tax money could be at risk in what some say is a bailout of Wall Street. This morning, lawmakers are demanding answers.
CNN senior correspondent Allan Chernoff is on Capitol Hill.
Allan, great to see you. What can we expect from the hearing today?
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Tony, good morning. You know, it's baseball season so we've got a double-header up here on Capitol Hill. Batting first will be the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, who's back on the Hill for the second day in a row, along with the chief of the SEC, the Securities and Exchange Commission. And on deck for the second panel, the chiefs of Bear Stearns and JPMorgan Chase, the giant banking company that is buying Bear Stearns, essentially rescuing it from imminent bankruptcy.
Now this is a deal, a marriage that was hastily arranged by the Federal Reserve, using our tax dollars, up to $30 billion. Was this for a fancy catered affair? Not at all, the money up to $30 billion to buy or at least to protect us, protect losses in investments that Bear Stearns had made in risky mortgage-backed securities. So there are going to be questions about that.
Indeed, yesterday before the Joint Economic Commission Committee there were questions for the head of the Federal Reserve. Ben Bernanke said that he did the deal. He arranged it in order not to save just one company, but to save the economy, to prevent the financial markets from unraveling. He said we did this for the interest of the American public -- Tony?
HARRIS: And Allan, if you would, what is Bernanke saying about his forecast for the overall economy?
CHERNOFF: Well, yesterday he did say that a recession is possible. He said during the first half of the year we're possibly seeing some contraction now in the economy. But he said in the second half, he thinks that we're going to begin bouncing back. But the fact that he used the "R" word was very significant. And you better believe he'll be facing more questions about that today.
HARRIS: Allan Chernoff on Capitol Hill for us. Allan, appreciate it. Thank you.
And we will keep a close eye on the hearings throughout the morning and we will dip in live as developments warrant.
On the presidential candidates, what are they up to today? Hillary Clinton raising money in California tonight and out with a new version of her 3:00 a.m. ad in Pennsylvania. This time, the middle- of-the-night crisis is the economy and her target, John McCain.
Barack Obama is narrowing lead in Pennsylvania. The latest poll was showing a nine-percentage point gap and Obama is reaching out to Al Gore. He says he wants the former vice president on his team and, if elected, possibly in his administration.
John McCain campaigning today in Jacksonville, Florida and drawing up a list of possible VPs. McCain says he is looking at about 20 names.
More now on the courting of Al Gore. Dan Lothian is with the CNN Election Express in Philadelphia. Dan, good to see you. What is Barack Obama saying exactly about a possible role for Al Gore?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, you know, as you know, he was campaigning here in Pennsylvania yesterday. And at a campaign stop he was asked whether or not he would consider Al Gore for a Cabinet level position. And he said that he would. He went on to say that, obviously, if he received the nomination, and if, of course, he became president, that he would make a commitment to bringing in Al Gore into his Cabinet, specifically to deal with the issue, the problem of climate change.
What's also interesting, Tony, he pointed out that he talked to Al Gore, the former vice president, on a regular basis, but typically those conversations have to do with environmental issues such as climate change.
HARRIS: And Dan, if you would, what do we make of this? Reports of a Bill Clinton blow-up in California.
LOTHIAN: That's right. That's right. That's the description of the San Francisco chronicle. Just a little context here.
HARRIS: Yes.
LOTHIAN: Remember going back over the Easter weekend when, you know, Governor Richardson came out, made the endorsement, and then you had James Carville who's a Clinton supporter, also CNN political analyst, who equated his endorsement to Judas, as sort of a betrayal.
Well, according to "The San Francisco Chronicle" there was this meeting that the former president was having with California Democrats. He was reaching out to the superdelegates there to try to get them to support his wife, Senator Clinton.
And according to the paper, someone brought up, you know, about this whole issue of the Judas and Governor Richardson.
HARRIS: Yes.
LOTHIAN: And according to the paper, he blew his top and part of the thing that he was upset about was that he claims that Governor Richardson had promised on several occasions that he would endorse Senator Clinton. But of course, Governor Richardson has been very public about saying that while he is very close to the Clintons...
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
LOTHIAN: ...he served in the Clinton Cabinet, that he made no such promise. And in the end it was a very difficult decision for him, but he decided to do what was right for the country.
HARRIS: There's got to be some tape of that somewhere. Just need to see...
LOTHIAN: I know. It would be good. HARRIS: Just need to see it.
Dan Lothian with the CNN Election Express in Philadelphia, Dan, good to see you. Thank you.
Let's get a check of weather now. Rob Marciano, there he is, out of his chair over to the big screen grabbing his -- all right. there you go.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, here it is.
HARRIS: Rob, I know...
MARCIANO: I have that feeling of Bob Barker with his line. When are we going to jump into the 20th century here?
HARRIS: Good to see you, Rob.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Well said. Rob Marciano, appreciate it.
Still to come this morning, wrong way disaster. Did a big rig driver deliberately -- this is tough to see -- deliberately crash and burn.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TERESA, VIDEOTAPED TRUCK ACCIDENT: Oh my God. Oh my God. We have to pull over. Oh my God.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Find out in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: And welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
Question for you: why does one lifetime smoker get lung cancer and another doesn't? The answer could lie in the genes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: NATO agrees to send more troops into Afghanistan. President Bush getting some of what he wants at the meeting in Romania but certainly not everything.
Robin Oakley in Bucharest.
Robin, good to see you. NATO is adding some new members but not the ones President Bush was pushing for.
ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN EUROPEAN POLITICAL EDITOR: Absolutely so, Tony. It's been a good news-bad news kind of day for the president so far at his last NATO summit.
He's been arguing very strongly for the former Soviet Republics of Georgia and Ukraine to be started on the path toward NATO membership, something that is protested very, very strongly by Russia, while the other NATO heads haven't agreed to that, led by France and Germany. They've said that would upset the balance of power in Europe and they've said no to a start for Ukraine and Georgia.
The president has had to content himself with two smaller successes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Bucharest, we're inviting more nations to join us. Pleased that the alliances has agreed to invite Albania and Croatia to become members of NATO. Both these nations have demonstrated the ability and the willingness to provide strong enduring contributions to NATO.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OAKLEY: Even there, there was something of a mess because Macedonia, another Balkan country, should have joined those two coming into NATO. But Greece has objected saying that its northern province of Macedonia, bearing the same name, Macedonia, has to change its name before Greece will allow it into NATO.
Better news for the president, though, on Afghanistan. He's been calling for more troops on the ground there. The French president, Nicholas Sarkozy, today promised to send a battalion to Afghanistan. More troops coming also from Georgia and from Romania, the summit hosts.
That means that U.S. troops, more of them can be moved into the tough-fighting area in the south. That, in turn, means the Canadians, whose parliament had said they'd to come home next year unless more troops were put in, will now stay until 2011 -- Tony.
HARRIS: And Robin, President Bush's desire for a missile defense system in Europe is, boy, getting a lot of attention. What's being said about it?
OAKLEY: Well, that's another success, perhaps, for the president today, because there's been a lot of unease among other NATO members about the missile defense plan with radar batteries in the Czech Republic and missile batteries to be sited in Poland. And a lot of NATO members said, well, hang on, this is good for the United States, not sure it's good for us. It's really irritating Russia again.
Well, now today, the NATO heads have agreed that the U.S. mill defense plan is something that's good for NATO, helping to protect all the alliance to a degree against intercontinental ballistic missiles. What they've agreed now is that officials will get together with the U.S. and try and produce an all-NATO plan filling in the gaps between individual country's short-range protection and U.S missile defense plan -- Tony. HARRIS: It's interesting. All right. Robin Oakley for us in Bucharest, Romania. Robin, thank you.
To health news now. Sure, smoking increases your risk of lung cancer. Now new studies link lung cancer as well as nicotine addiction to a genetic blip. A blip, huh?
CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here.
Elizabeth, good to see you. This blip, does it help us explain why some folks, long-time smokers, get lung cancer and others don't?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It absolutely helps, because, you know, we both know people who pack a day, two-pack a day smokers.
HARRIS: Absolutely.
COHEN: They die at, you know, 99. They just seemed been (INAUDIBLE) to it.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes. Smoked all the light. Right.
COHEN: Exactly. But other people smoke for just a few years and get lung cancer. Well, the answer may be in these genes. What the researchers found is that if people had a genetic variance they were more likely to get lung cancer when they smoke.
So let's take a look at this number.
HARRIS: Great.
COHEN: Because they really help explain what's going on here. Your risk from -- if you smoke, just smoke, that's it -- your risk of getting lung cancer is 15 percent. If you have one of these genetic variants, your risk goes up to 19 percent. If you have two, meaning one from mom and one from dad...
HARRIS: Yes.
COHEN: ...your risk goes up to 25 percent. So you can see that it's not just the smoking, although that's huge, it's also these genetic variants.
Now what some people might be thinking is, can I go out and get this test for the genes?
HARRIS: Yes.
COHEN: And the answer is, no, you can't. It's not commercially available at all. So in a way it doesn't matter because smoking is bad. You just shouldn't do it...
HARRIS: Absolutely.
COHEN: ...no matter what DNA you have. HARRIS: Agreed, agreed. Now do these genes influence just how much you smoke?
COHEN: They do. What they found is that -- this was one researcher called a double-whammy gene. He said if people -- when people have these genetic variants that they're much more likely to smoke more. And if you have two of them, you're more likely to smoke even more and become more dependent on them. So not only do they help predict whether or not you're going to get lung cancer, they predict how addicted you're going to get to nicotine.
HARRIS: Why is so difficult just to stop? Just to quit smoking?
COHEN: Well, you know, these genes actually shed some light on that. And what they show is when you smoke and that nicotine gets into your brain, the pleasure sensors of your brain light up and it makes you feel good. And if you have these two variants, it might make you feel really, really good. When you stop smoking you don't feel good and that's why actually using an antidepressant sometimes is helpful...
HARRIS: Sounds good.
COHEN: ...when you're trying to quit smoking.
HARRIS: Helpful. If it just -- if it were easy, I guess everyone would do it.
COHEN: Right. Exactly.
HARRIS: Elizabeth, appreciate it. Thank you.
Some sad news report now. Four dead and a lot of questions after a fire at what's being described as a group home in upstate New York. State arson investigators looking into Tuesday night's blaze. The home reportedly housed about a dozen troubled, disabled and homeless people. Authorities want to know if it was regulated properly, and if it had enough smoke detectors. One person was hurt in the fire.
Back to school. First grade at age 70.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to, you know, going to work. But I couldn't move my eye.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Keeping a promise to mom, in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Another round of voting ahead. That's the word out of Zimbabwe. President Robert Mugabe's ruling party says a runoff is inevitable. Still, diplomatic sources say that runoff may not take place within the next three weeks as required by law, and that could open the door for vote intimidation and fraud by the ruling party.
Voting took place last week but so far, the government has not released any results. President Mugabe has been in power since Zimbabwe's independence 28 years ago.
Fighting in both Iraq and Afghanistan taking its toll on the U.S. military.
CNN's Jamie McIntyre reports on the Pentagon's dilemma.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The U.S. military simply has too many troops tied down in Iraq to send much-needed reinforcements to Afghanistan this year, even though the chairman of the Joint Chiefs says Afghanistan is a priority.
ADM. MIKE MULLEN, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: There are force requirements there that we can't currently meet. So having forces in Iraq don't, at the level they're at, don't allow us to fill the need that we have in Afghanistan.
MCINTYRE: The American general in command of NATO forces in Afghanistan says he desperately needs 3,000 trainers for the Afghan military, plus another couple of combat brigades. The U.S. has already used the reduction of Marines in Iraq to temporarily reinforce NATO troops in the south of Afghanistan. But the 3,500 additional troops leave in the fall.
It's why President Bush is pushing so hard for more NATO troops at the summit now under way in Romania.
BUSH: We expect our NATO allies to shoulder the burden necessary to succeed.
MCINTYRE: But implicit in the comments by the Joint Chiefs chairman is the pessimism over the prospect that additional troop cuts in Iraq will free up forces for Afghanistan any time soon.
Admiral Mullen doesn't see it.
MULLEN: I have no expectations that we would generate additional -- generate additional forces this year.
MCINTYRE: Mullen says the pause after the Iraq surge ends could last weeks or months. He's not prepared to say and the mechanics of bringing troops home could take another month or two. Add it up and it makes significant troop cuts in Iraq appear increasingly unlikely, especially in light in the recent uptick in violence and the failure of Iraqi security forces to mount a successful operation in Basra.
(on camera): Admiral Mullen's cautious assessment reflects the current feeling here at the Pentagon that the recent success in Iraq is fragile. Any talk of getting U.S. troop levels down to 100,000 by the time the next president takes office may just be wishful thinking.
Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: A fiery big rig accident as it happens. Watch it with me here. We're taking you to Canada, Edmonton, Alberta. And you hear the baby in the back seat of the car. You see the -- oh the woman who's driving the passenger seat is videotaping this and there you go.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TERESA: Oh, my god, oh, my god. We have to pull over. Oh, my god.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Whoa. OK. So the truck went over the cement barrier on an overpass, plunging the train tracks below causing a huge explosion. The driver was killed. The woman who videotaped the incident talked about just how scary all this was.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TERESA: We were a family driving on the highway and I was just thinking some other family is going to come up and, you know, what's going to happen. Had no idea.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Can you believe this? No reports of any other people injured. The truck driver's family says he may have suffered a diabetic reaction which led to his erratic driving.
Wow.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM this morning, the King assassination. How did a simple laundry tag lead to James Earl Ray?
Our Soledad O'Brien is threading together the story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: OK. Welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM. Coming up on the half hour, I'm Tony Harris.
Let's get you to the New York Stock Exchange right now. Boy, the opening bell, there we go. As we get the business day started, our friends over at CNNMoney.com preparing us for what's going to be a bumpy ride today in their estimation, maybe made a bit bumpier by the news, the jobs report out just moments ago. New filings for unemployment claims rose in the latest week to the highest level since October of 2005.
The Dow starts the day at 12,605 after dropping 48 points yesterday. But when you think about it, that might actually qualify as a good day given how cautious the fed chief was in giving his economic outlook to Congress. Ben Bernanke back on Capitol Hill today.
Allan Chernoff is watching that for us. Susan Lisovicz following the markets all morning long in CNN NEWSROOM.
You board an airliner and you ask yourself, am I safe? Today, lawmakers are demanding answers in light of troubling new developments. Among them, two whistleblowers who made shocking allegations to CNN.
Drew Griffin of our "SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT" has their story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT: These are the two FAA inspectors who really ignited this entire wave of inspections and forced the FAA to review its inspection procedures. What is most troubling they say is they had been warning the FAA and Southwest about what was happening at Southwest for years?
And when one of them actually tried to force the issue, he says the airline and FAA supervisor tried to get him removed. The strongest charge here is that an FAA supervisor was allowing the airline to postpone inspections and allow the airline to fly planes that should have been grounded.
BOUTRIS: On March 15th, when Southwest Airlines found out that they had 47 aircraft out of compliance, when they see the safety issue, why didn't they ground them? It is sad that an FAA inspector has to become a whistleblower in order to do his job.
And the job is that we were hired by the taxpayers to ensure that the airlines provide safe transportation from the flying public. They shouldn't have to come to this.
PETERS: I think that's why we are here today. Bobby and I were not happy with the state of Southwest Airlines maintenance program. We weren't happy and we saw that the airline was at risk due to the lax oversight. And because of this, we just weren't willing to accept anything less than sweeping change.
GRIFFIN: We called Southwest Airlines for reaction last night. The company told us it's going to hold off any response until its chairman and CEO testify at that Congressional hearing this morning. And as you already know, the FAA has announced sweeping changes yesterday in how it monitors airlines.
Drew Griffin, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: And of course, we will keep a close eye on the airlines safety hearing throughout the morning. And we will take the proceedings live as developments warrant. You can also watch the hearing live on our Web site at cnn.com.
Another check of weather now. Rob Marciano in the severe weather center.
Rob, what are you watching?
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: You know, it was a sensational murder that rocked the nation. Martin Luther King Jr., civil rights leader. The rifle James Earl Ray brought to Memphis dropped at the crime scene now on display at the National Civil Rights Museum.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEVERLY ROBERTSON, NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM: This is the rifle that had the fingerprints of James Earl Ray on it when it was found outside the boarding house.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Not only did that rifle have Ray's fingerprint on it -- and no one else's -- this empty shell casing was in the gun. One shot had been fired.
ROBERTSON: This was a radio that he had when he was in the penitentiary.
O'BRIEN: This, too, was left in the doorway beneath the boarding house.
ROBERTSON: And his prison number, I believe, is scratched on here.
O'BRIEN: And then there was this in the bundle. So, this laundry tag from his shorts was traced back to him?
ROBERTSON: Yes.
O'BRIEN: It's amazing how all the different little threads, each individually may not make a very strong case.
ROBERTSON: Right.
O'BRIEN: All led back to one guy.
ROBERTSON: To James Earl Ray.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Boy, special correspondent Soledad O'Brien in New York.
Soledad, great to see you. Good morning.
O'BRIEN: Tony, good morning to you. Great to see you as always.
HARRIS: Got a question for you, actually a couple. Good go over the next hour as a matter of fact.
O'BRIEN: Bring them on. (INAUDIBLE). HARRIS: Yes. You know, we know, Dexter King met with James Earl Ray in 1997, I believe. Did members of the King family come to believe in Ray's innocence?
O'BRIEN: Yes, they did. Absolutely did. I think part of the reason for that was there are so many hanging strings still. You know, I also think when you know the degree to which the FBI and the police really -- but most of the FBI, despised Martin Luther King.
I mean, when you look back at the documents in which we do in this documentary, and you see how they were not only trying to discredit him, but also trying to urge him toward suicide.
HARRIS: Yes.
O'BRIEN: It's easy to see how you could draw the conclusion and where it would make perfect sense that the government was also involved in the conspiracy. And then as you well know, James Earl Ray, after he confessed and then recanted, he always talked about this guy, Raul. Who was Raul?
No one was ever really able to trace and pinpoint Raul. So, I think with so many strings, you know, we show that shell casing, and yet when they did ballistic tests, Tony, they did 18 times ballistic test. Never actually able to match the bullet to the gun.
And so again, all these pieces that don't quite connect, I think, it makes sense to me how the King family and certainly more emotionally involved probably than even the associates, the close associates of Dr. King himself would feel that they want a fuller answer.
HARRIS: And would have liked to have had a trial.
O'BRIEN: Yes, absolutely.
HARRIS: Absolutely. So let me ask you. Any surprises? You start down this road -- this investigative road, and any surprises for you?
O'BRIEN: You know, one of the things that I thought was really interesting was now that we have access to all the testimony and all the stories and all the books and all the legal documents, one of the things we are able to do is kind of trace someone's story and connect it to where somebody else's story begins.
And so we found the cop -- you know, the story goes that James Earl Ray sees a police officer coming. And in a panic, it ditches the bundle. Because he ditches that bundle has, you know, a lot of things that we showed you in that clip were from that bundle. That's what connects him to the crime. That's what sends him to life in prison for, you know, for the rest of his life. He is in prison because of that moment.
We find that cop who was the one who scared James Earl Ray. He's an officer. A young guy at the time, stuck in the car, listening to the radio while everybody else is taking a break at the fire station. And he hears Martin Luther King has been shot. And he gets out. He runs down the street. And all of a sudden, the radio comes on again and he has got to go back to the car to answer it.
So he probably gets within 12 to 15 feet of right where James Earl Ray would be standing. Or James Earl Ray has ditched the bundle. And so he doesn't run into him. But his presence is enough to send James Earl Ray to ditch the bundle and thus change history.
HARRIS: It is absolutely fascinating stuff. Can't wait. Soledad, great to see you. Thanks for your time this morning.
O'BRIEN: And likewise. Thanks.
HARRIS: Well, it is a primetime event to be sure. "Eyewitness to Murder: The King Assassination." The whole story, tonight, 9:00 Eastern, only on CNN.
Now, proof it's never too late to fulfill a promise or a dream, for that matter. For a Missouri man that means making sense of the lines and circles that had befuddled him for 70 years.
Here is Amy Hawley of CNN affiliate KSHB.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Really smart and he really helps me a lot.
AMY HAWLEY, KSHB REPORTER (voice-over): There is a first grader in St. Joe his fellow students can't stop talking about, nor can their teacher.
ALESIA HAMILTON, TEACHER: I love him.
HAWLEY: And so do parents and grandparents.
ALFERD WILLIAMS, FIRST-GRADE STUDENT: You've got to get in line and study hard.
HAWLEY: Alferd Williams heard those words inside his head two years ago standing outside of Mrs. Hamilton's first grade class.
WILLIAMS: We have to go here and go to work.
HAWLEY: Today, this 70-year-old who never learned to read has gone back to class.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are so smart, Alferd.
WILLIAMS: Thank you. You got some (INAUDIBLE).
HAWLEY: The sharecropper's son born in the 1930s earned a living for his family working in the fields. He never got the chance to go to school. So he put a promise in his mother's head, I'll one day learn how to read. The sacrifices then and the sacrifices today have paid off. He's learning how to read. WILLIAMS: But I couldn't move my eye.
HAWLEY: His worn finger helps him follow the words and follow the exciting new journey into a whole world opening around him.
HAMILTON: And he said, do you know, Mrs. Hamilton. That you can look up at the grocery store and there are signs that tell you what's in that row? So you don't have to walk and walk? And I was like, that was the moment I knew he's going to go and I am dedicated to this guy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you are special to us.
WILLIAMS: Thank you. You are going to make me cry.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Well, Williams' story obviously has attracted national attention. Look, this is CNN. The school has even set up a fund to help with his expenses.
White working class men, why Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are working so hard to win their votes in Pennsylvania.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: What do you say we take you to Jacksonville, Florida, now? And Republican presumptive presidential nominee John McCain continuing his cross country "get to know me" tour this morning.
Let's listen in.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's the purposes of our alliances. The reach in scope of our Democracy and diplomacy and the capabilities of all branches of government to defend us against the peril that we now face.
We need to marshal all elements of American power -- our military, economy investment, trade, and technology. We need to strengthen our alliances and build support in other nations in which must, whether they believe it or not, confront the same threat to their way of life that we do.
We must also prepare across all levels of government far better than we have done to respond quickly and effectively to another terrorist attack or natural calamity. I am not an advocate of big government and the private sector has an important role to play in homeland security. But when Americans confront catastrophes, either natural or man-made, their government across jurisdictions should be organized and ready to deliver bottled drinking water to dehydrated babies and rescue the aged and infirmed trapped in a hospital with no electricity.
We can leave these difficult problems to our unlucky successors after they've grown worse and harder to fix. Or we can bring all parties to the table and hammer out principle solutions to the challenges of our time. To strengthen our military intelligence, diplomacy, and law enforcement and use the power of American ideals in commerce to win the war against violent extremists, and help the majority of Muslims who believe in progress and peace to win the struggle for the soul of Islam.
To balance the federal budget, not with smoke and mirrors, but by encouraging economic growth and preventing government from spending your money on things it shouldn't. To hold it accountable.
(APPLAUSE)
To hold it accountable for the money it does spend on services that only government can provide in ways that don't fail and embarrass you. To save social security and Medicare on our watch, without the tricks, band-aid solutions, lies and posturing that have failed us for too long, while the problem becomes harder and harder to solve. To make our tax codes simpler, fairer, flatter, more pro-growth and pro- jobs.
(APPLAUSE)
To reduce and eliminate our dangerous dependent on foreign sources of oil with an energy policy -- with an energy policy that encourages American industry and technology to make our country safer, cleaner and more prosperous by leading the world in the use, development, and discovery of alternative sources of energy.
HARRIS: John McCain at a campaign stop in Jacksonville, Florida. If you would like to watch more of the McCain event, you can do it live. Just go to cnn.com.
What do you say we stay with politics for a moment longer here? White working class men, the key to the Pennsylvania primary? Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama aggressively chasing their votes.
CNN's Candy Crowley now, part of the best political team on television.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The itinerary tells you all you need to know about the power voters in the Pennsylvania primary.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We visited steel mills and apparel factories. And I played basketball with Bob Casey, and I fed a cat milk. I visited a chocolate store/museum. I -- and I bowled. That didn't go so well.
CROWLEY: The political power in Pennsylvania this year is the working-class vote.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This campaign is about you. CROWLEY: And with Hillary Clinton expected to get most of the female vote and Barack Obama most of the African-Americans, Pennsylvania is more specifically about the white male working-class vote.
BILL ROSENBERG, DREXEL UNIVERSITY: The white males are a group that are sort of still watching, still waiting, trying to decide who they're going to vote for.
CROWLEY: And that explains all those visits to sheet metal plants and steel plants, at diners, and, yes, bowling allies. And that's why the talk of the AFL-CIO convention in Philadelphia is about trade deals.
OBAMA: What I oppose and will always oppose are trade deals to put the interests of Wall Street ahead of the interests of American workers. That's why I opposed NAFTA. That's why I voted against CAFTA. That's why it didn't make sense to normalize trade relations with China.
CROWLEY: And union power.
CLINTON: So, if anyone asks you if labor will have a seat at the table in my White House, I hope you know the answer. Of course you will. Labor built the table.
CROWLEY: The white male working-class vote is roughly 27 percent of the Pennsylvania electorate. Enough to make a difference in a race that now shows a shrinking gap between Clinton and Obama. Down from her double-digit lead, Clinton still holds a nine-point edge, in large part because she is beating Obama among whites, male and female, by 25 points.
He is closing the gap in part because he has picked up support among men. Obama was once 10 points behind with the male vote. He now polls about even. The battle continues, with white male workers in the catbird seat.
OBAMA: And they don't just lose their job. They lose their pension. They lose their health care. They are trying to figure out how to make ends meet. Working at a $7 to $8-an-hour job at the local fast-food joint or at Wal-Mart.
CLINTON: So, when people ask me, "What are the issues in this campaign?" I say, jobs, jobs, jobs, and jobs.
CROWLEY: Twenty days until the Pennsylvania primary, so little time, so many work sites to visit.
Candy Crowley, CNN, Philadelphia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: More than coincidence. Mothers find something in common between their sons.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were both very focused. And they were both kind of shy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was walking on his toes. He was flapping his hands.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She told me that she saw characteristics of autism.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Two moms, same donor dad and two boys with autism.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: This week we have been bringing you the stories of families' struggles and triumphs in "Autism: Unraveling the Mystery." One mother solved the mystery of her son's autism.
Here's CNN's Randi Kaye.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DYLAN JACKAWAY, BOY WITH AUTISM: It's behind this wall.
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At just five-and-a- half, Dylan Jackaway, appears wise beyond his years. He reads and writes music and has practically memorized New York City's entire subway grid.
D. JACKAWAY: (INAUDIBLE) over to 7. And then take the uptown line.
KAYE: Perfect. That should be pretty quick, huh?
Remember, he's just five-and-a-half. Dylan's mother, Gwenyth Jackaway, had always wanted a child. Single and tired of waiting, she picked an anonymous sperm donor, donor X. On paper, donor X looked perfect, a high IQ, and a love for travel and music. Gwenyth Jackaway wanted those traits in her child. But Donor X may have passed along a lot more than that.
GWENYTH JACKAWAY, MOTHER OF A CHILD WITH AUTISM: The role of the genetic dice.
KAYE: At age two, Gwenyth's son, Dylan was diagnosed with autism.
G. JACKAWAY: It's terrifying when you first hear the word.
KAYE: Gwenyth used donorsiblingregistry.com to find other moms who used the same donor, like Theresa Pergola who had triplets from Donor X. Minutes after meeting, the women noticed similarities between their boys.
THERESA PERGOLA, MOTHER OF A CHILD WITH AUTISM: They were both very focused and they were both kind of shy.
G. JACKAWAY: He was walking on his toes. He was flapping his hands.
PERGOLA: She told me that she saw characteristics of autism.
KAYE: At Gwenyth's urging, Theresa had Joseph tested. He, too, is autistic.
(on camera): Imagine, two different mothers, the same donor father, two boys who are autistic. How could this have happened? The fact is donors can't be screened for autism because there is no test for it. Experts still aren't even sure which gene or combination of genes may cause it. California Cryobank which supplied Donor X's samples told us, it has one of the most thorough and rigorous donor screening processes in the industry.
PERGOLA: I was a little angry at the bank because I felt like I needed someone to blame about his condition. And the more I thought about it, I was less angry because there is no way to screen for this.
KAYE: Gwyneth could not have predicted what happened next. The autism web was about to widen. Of the six families Gwenyth had contacted and the 12 children among them, she says she learned three of them are autistic and one shows signs of autism. Cryobank confirmed the donor was notified and his samples were removed from the general catalog.
Do you wish that there were some type of way to screen for this so you didn't have a child with autism?
G. JACKAWAY: To say yes to that would mean to say that I wish that Dylan isn't Dylan. I love my son and everything about him. And that means loving his autism also.
KAYE: A woman who wanted the gift of a child, now a mother with a son she loves no matter what.
Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Lots of stories. All this week and if you would like to know more about the families who are dealing with autism, check out our Web site. We have got a special page there at cnn.com/autism. There are stories, blogs, i-Reports and links to resources and remember, you can send your videos, pictures about how autism is impacting you.
Those diaries have been so emotional. We have learned so much this week. There is a link to upload right on the autism page.
And still to come in the NEWSROOM this morning, an airline inspector blows the whistle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BOUTRIS: It is sad that an FAA inspector has to become a whistleblower in order to do his job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: The FAA knows Southwest skirted inspections. Live testimony in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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