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Young Soldier Receives Medal of Honor; Sen. John McCain Speaks before APEC; Wachovia CEO Ousted; Sen. Ted Kennedy Undergoes Brain Surgery
Aired June 02, 2008 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And kiss on the cheek from the President and a hug. Boy, I can only imagine the emotions of those parents, Thomas and Romaine as they receive the Medal of Honor from the President, posthumously awarded to their son, Private First Class Ross McGinnis who fell on a live grenade in Iraq in order to save four other soldiers on December 4, 2006. The nation's highest military distinction. And Ross McGinnis was just 19-years-old when he died.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Only the fourth medal of this kind to be awarded since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And a very, very emotional time for this family and certainly proud moments as well. I want to let you know what else we are following this morning.
Some breaking news, one of the most recognizable figures in fact in American politics for decades. Senator Ted Kennedy undergoing brain surgery right now. The operation is taking place at Duke University Medical Center. We want to get straight to our Rusty Dornin in Durham, North Carolina, with the very latest.
Rusty, have you been able to confirm whether or not the senator is actually in the operating room at this time?
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They will not tell us, Heidi. They are keeping very hush, hush about all this. All of the information that's coming through the family and the Kennedy family. They want their privacy. They are keeping very tight control. The hospital will not even tell us, we assume the operation did begin as scheduled at 9:00 a.m. but they will not confirm that. Of course, rumors were swirling over the last 24 hours about this surgery, about the fact that Senator Kennedy had come to North Carolina.
They put some of those rumors to rest this morning when he did issue a statement. He talked about the fact that his team and his family spent a lot of time researching nationwide to find absolutely the best place and the best treatment, the best surgeon for this particular procedure. He said "the best course of action for my brain tumor is targeted surgery followed by chemotherapy and radiation. This morning I will be undergoing surgery with Dr. Allan Friedman at Duke University Medical Center and expect to stay there to recuperate for approximately one week."
Now, the surgery is expected to take about six hours. We don't know if they are going to have a press conference afterwards or not. He is he expected to go through this chemotherapy and radiation at Massachusetts General. He did take the opportunity to say he was going to be back to work at the Senate as soon as he recuperated and that he would be working hard to try to get Senator Barack Obama elected as the next president. But for now we can only assume that Senator Kennedy is under surgery, in surgery right now -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. CNN's Rusty Dornin standing by to follow all of these for us as the surgery takes place. Again, at Duke University Medical Center.
Again, Rusty, thank you for that.
As we mentioned, surgeons today are attacking that tumor on the left side of Senator Kennedy's brain. Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is a neurosurgeon himself and is here to talk a little bit more about this surgery.
Let's begin there if we could because we're still trying to find out if he really is having the surgery as we speak. What is going to happen in that operating room?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the main goal of this operation is trying to remove as much of this tumor as possible. Brain tumor surgery is something that's commonly done around the country, many different places. This particular tumor, as we've been talking about for a few weeks now Heidi, is located in a very specific area of the brain, an important area.
Let me just show you on this model if I could for a second. This sort of light purple area, that's known as the parietal lobe. Just in front of that is the areas that control your strength, your motor strength on the other side of the body. And over here down in yellow, the temporal lobe is the area that controls speech. You get a sense of what's going on here, it's kind of like trying to find something in between two very, very important areas of the brain and remove as much as possible.
COLLINS: Risky. I mean, we're talking about Dr. Friedman who I know you know.
GUPTA: Sure.
COLLINS: Doing this surgery. And this is no laughing matter, obviously.
GUPTA: No.
COLLINS: Very, very delicate procedure.
GUPTA: They say all operations are potentially very serious. When it comes to this though, we don't know. I have not spoke to Allen this morning about exactly on what he's planning on doing. But sometimes they will actually do some mapping of the brain. They will actually say where exactly are the motor areas here? Map them out.
Put little sign posts on the brain to show where it is. But at the same thing sometimes the speech area is down here. And then they know where not to go. They can take out as much tumor as possible without causing any weakness, without causing any speech problems. That's sort of the goal, get as much of the tumor out as possible.
COLLINS: It's amazing. Now, why did he choose Duke?
GUPTA: You know, I don't know for sure why he chose Duke. But I would tell you a couple of things. You know, a lot of senators around the country do this sort of surgery. Duke also does engages in clinical trials, for example, where they take some of this tumor and actually create a vaccine. Think about that. A brain tumor vaccine where they actually they would inject it back into him in a few weeks and allow that vaccine to kill whatever remaining tumor cells there are.
This is cutting-edge stuff. This is still in clinical trial phase but this may have been something that engaged him and his family and thought maybe that was the best course of action. He will still get chemotherapy and radiation after the surgery for a few weeks but I wouldn't be surprised if I hear subsequently a few weeks later he's starting the vaccine trial.
COLLINS: Very interesting. And that may explain, again we don't want to speculate. It would be ridiculous to do so but that may explain why we didn't hear very much about surgery in the beginning and then later all of a sudden today, we hear well yes, in fact, he is having surgery.
GUPTA: That's right. That was something we all took note. We talked about that they said chemotherapy and radiation. As we said for so long, you know surgery is an integral part of someone's overall recovery from this. Surprised we didn't hear that. But now it's maybe becoming pieced together.
COLLINS: They were saying they expect him to go back to work in the Senate. It's that something -- I know it's way too early to tell. But is that realistic with this type of procedure.
GUPTA: It is hard to speculate. But you know, patients do. I mean it's possible that he may even be awake for this operation. So, he may never be actually be asleep. And patients can make recovery fairly quickly within a week or so, see him up marching again.
COLLINS: The brain is truly an amazing and mysterious thing obviously until today.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, we'll talk later -- thanks.
GUPTA: All right. Thanks.
HARRIS: And, right now, John McCain is speaking in Washington, D.C.. He is speaking before the pro Israeli group, APEC. Again in Washington, D.C. just a short time ago he had these comments about U.S. support for Israel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The people of Israel reserve a special respect for courage. Courage that's been required of them. The record of history sheer survival in the face of Israel's many trials would have been impressive enough. But Israel has achieved much more than that these past 60 years. Israel has endured and thrived and our people have built a nation that's an inspiration to free nations every where.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: And let's go to John McCain live now.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
MCCAIN: So, years ago the moral clarity and conviction of civilized nations came together in a divestment campaign against South Africa helping to rid that nation of the evil of apartheid. In our day, we must use that same power and moral conviction against the regime in Iran and help to safeguard the people of Israel and the peace of the world.
In all of this, we will not only be defending our own safety and welfare, but also the democratic aspirations of the Iranian people. They are a great -- they are a great and civilized people with little sympathy for the terrorists their leaders finance and no wish to threaten other nations with nuclear weapons. Iran rulers would be very different if the people themselves had a choice in the matter and American policy should always reflect their hopes for a freer and more just society. The same holds true -- the same holds true for the Palestinian people, most of whom ask only for a better life in a less violent world.
They are badly served by the terrorist led group in charge of Gaza. This is a group that still refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist, refuses to denounce violence and refuses to acknowledge prior peace commitments. They deliberately target Israeli civilians in an attempt to terrorize the Jewish population. They spread violence and hatred and with every new bombing they setback the cause of their own people.
During my last visit to Israel in March, I saw for myself the work of Hamas in the town of Stero (ph), just across the border from Gaza. I saw the houses that had been hit by Hamas rockets. In the face of injuries, death and destruction, thousands of Israelis have had to flee. Many others have stayed to carry on as best they can. And this is the home of a man named Pinnahas Amar (ph), who lives with his disabled wife, Alisa and her children. One day last year, the sirens sounded again to alert the town to incoming rocket fire.
The rest of the family found cover. Alisa on the other side of the house was knocked out of her wheelchair and struck by a shrapnel. This occurred on December 17 and from that day until the day of my visit, just some three months later, more than 1,000 rockets had struck Stero. Today, siren warnings are common place. The elementary schools are surrounded by concrete shelters. The children walking the streets in costume for Purin celebrations did so in fear.
No nation in the world would allow its population to be attacked so incessantly, to be killed and intimidated so mercilessly without responding. And the nation of Israel is no exception. Prime Minister Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are engaged in talks that all of us hope will yield progress towards peace. While we encourage this process, we must also ensure that Israel's people can live in safety until there's a Palestinian leadership willing and able to deliver peace.
(APPLAUSE)
MCCAIN: A peace process that places face in terrorists can never end in peace. And we do no favors to the Palestinian people by conferring approval upon the terrorist syndicate that has seized power in Gaza. Likewise, Israel's chance for enduring peace with Lebanon depends on Lebanese government that has a monopoly on authority within its country's borders. That means no independent militias, no Hezbollah fighters, no weapons and equipment flowing to Hezbollah.
Hezbollah fighters recently took up arms against their fellow Lebanese, starting the worst internal fighting since the civil war ended in 1990. In the process, they extracted an agreement for a new political arrangement in which Hezbollah and its allies can veto any cabinet decision. As a leader of Hezbollah often reminds us, this group's mission is the defeat of Israel.
The international community needs to more fully empower our allies in Lebanon not only with military aid but also with the resources to undermine Hezbollah's appeal, better schools, hospitals, roads and power generation and the like. We simply cannot afford to seed Lebanon's future to Syria and Iran.
(APPLAUSE)
MCCAIN: And we have an additional task. In the summer of 2006, Hamas and Hezbollah kidnapped, kidnapped three young Israelis, Elad Shalid (ph), Eldad Regev, Ehud Goldwasser. They've held them ever since. I met with the families of two of these men in December of 2006 and heard firsthand about their ordeal. I committed them to bring attention to their situation, to insist that the Geneva Conventions are observed and call for the swift release of these men.
These men are being unlawfully held and must be set free and returned home to Israel. Another matter of great importance to the security of both America and Israel is Iraq. You would never know from listening to those who are still caught up in angry arguments over yesterday's options, but our troops in Iraq have made a hard won progress under General Petraeus' new strategy. [applause] And Iraqi political leaders have moved ahead, slowly and insufficiently but forward nonetheless. Sectarian violence declined dramatically. Sunnis in Anbar province and throughout Iraq are cooperating in the fight against al Qaeda and Shiite extremist militias no longer control Basra.
The Maliki government and its forces are in charge. Al Qaeda terrorists are on the run and our troops are going to make sure that they never, never come back. It's worth recalling that America's progress in Iraq is a direct result of the new strategy that Senator Obama vehemently opposes. It was the strategy he predicted would fail when he voted to cut off funds for our forces in Iraq. He now says he intends to withdraw combat troops from Iraq, one or two brigades per month until they are all removed. He would do so regardless of the conditions in Iraq, regardless of the consequences for our national security. Regardless of Israel's security. And a disregard of the best advice of our commanders on the ground.
This course surely results in a catastrophe. If our troops are ordered to make a forced retreat, we risk all out civil war, genocide and a failed state in the heart of the middle east. Al Qaeda terrorists would rejoice in the defeat of the United States. Allowing a potential terrorist sanctuary would profoundly affect the security of the United States, Israel and our other friends and would invite further intervention from Iraq's neighbors, including very much emboldened Iran. We must not let this happen.
(APPLAUSE)
MCCAIN: We must not leave the region to suffer chaos, terrorist violence and a wider war. My friends, as the people of Israel know better than most, the safety of free people can never be taken for granted and in a world full of dangers, Israel and the United States must always stand together. [applause] The state of Israel stands as a singular achievement in many ways and not the least is its achievement as the great democracy in the Middle East. If there are ties between America and Israel that critics of our alliance have never understood, perhaps that's because they do not fully understand the love of liberty and the pursuit of justice.
(APPLAUSE)
MCCAIN: They should know, they should know those ties cannot be broken. We were brought together by shared ideals, by shared adversity. We have been comrades in struggle, trusted partners in the quest for peace. We are the most natural of allies. And like Israel itself, that alliance is forever.
Thank you.
HARRIS: There you have it, presumptive GOP presidential nominee, John McCain speaking before APAC this morning a pro Israeli group. Foreign policy obviously the focus of the address this morning, talking about U.S. support for Israel, obviously, Hamas and the Palestinian territories and comments about Iran as well. And criticism for Barack Obama.
It should be mentioned here that both Obama and Senator Clinton will address this group later this week. Still to come in the NEWSROOM this morning, Hillary Clinton with a Puerto Rico landslide but does it change the landscape of the race? We will talk with two reporters covering the campaign.
COLLINS: We're going to get a check on the weather for just a moment here but first we got some more news on a very busy news day. In fact, coming to us out of San Angelo, Texas, we have our producer, Tracy Sabo, on the phone now to talk a little bit more about a decision that has been made regarding those 400 children at the Yearning for Zion ranch in Texas, the polygamous ranch there. Let's go ahead and listen to what Tracy has to say about what has happened here. It's unbelievably stunning.
VOICE OF TRACY SABO, CNN PRODUCER: That's right, Heidi.
Judge Walter signed the order this morning and there was much debate as to how many children this order would pertain to. It looks like it will apply to all 450 plus children that were taken from the YFZ ranch over a month ago now. The opinion issued by the judged actually orders that the department start returning all of those children to their parents starting tomorrow morning at 10:00. And however long it takes them to pick up their children.
Obviously, remember some of these parents have children at five different facility, you know, across the state of Texas. So presumably it will take several days at minimum to get all their children back in their custody. They will not be able allowed to leave the state of Texas.
These children while they're under some type of guardianship and being watched over by the state of Texas. The CPS departments here in Texas will also have the ability to stop by the ranch or wherever they choose to live. Anytime during the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. to watch over these children and to check in with parents, perhaps interview the children as to what their life continues to be like. And they will continue to monitor these children and their progress with parents taking some parenting classes, and several other things outlined by the court here today.
COLLINS: Tracy, that's what I found interesting is I'm looking at the same thing you are. They're talking about taking a photo of the child with the guardian. They're talking about taking fingerprints, parenting classes. There's other types of counseling that they're going to have to do. What if one of these parents or guardians decides they don't want to abide by this? Do they not then get their child back?
SABO: Well, all parents, when they pick up their children, or whichever guardian shows up to pick up their children at the shelter will have to sign a piece of paper saying that they will abide by all of these things as outlined by the court. Now, if the court determines these parents aren't following up with that and they are not allowed access to continue to monitor these children, then each child will be considered an individual case at that point and perhaps up for scrutiny in the future as to whether the parents are upholding their end of this agreement here.
COLLINS: Yes. And also, I have in front of me, too, Tracy, it appears to be that they're going to reunite these parents with their children, beginning today, June 2, from 10:00 until 5:00. Did they change that? Or are we still trying to get confirmation on whether or not that will indeed begin today?
SABO: Right. We are trying to work on that. Obviously this order just came down this morning by the judge. It would apply to them starting at 10:00 a.m. So, whether that's actually feasible, parents will make it to some shelters today, that's possible, yes.
COLLINS: OK and before we let you go, we want to go ahead and show on the screen a little bit more of this order. This is really fascinating. This is what a portion of it says. "This court has an obligation to ensure that all of the children and their parents are reunited with all deliberate speed while ensuring the safety and well-being of the children."
So you can see just a portion there coming from the district court order that both Tracy and I have in front of us. And Tracy, you do mentioned that we believe at least at this time that it is going to pertain to all of the children, 450 or so of these kids, will in fact over the next couple of days go back with their parents?
SABO: That's correct, Heidi.
That's obviously a development that these families have been waiting for for some time, and obviously not everyone agrees with this we're hearing. So there could possibly be some attorneys at this court today filing an order saying that this is perhaps too strict. And we'll see what happens with that.
COLLINS: All right. We know you'll be following it very closely. Our producer Tracy Sabo, thanks so much from San Angelo, Texas today.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Inside the first hour of the trading day. And take a look at what's happening at the New York Stock Exchange right now. This is pretty grim. Again, down 100-plus points. 123, 125 points. Again, inside the first hour, just trying to figure out what's driving this. I know we were waiting for a manufacturing report, manufacturing that sector in construction particularly hard hit in recent months.
But man, could this be driving that? The NASDAQ down 30 as well. We'll get a market check. We'll get one shortly with Susan Lisovicz right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: Watching mortgage rates rise. And thinking you've missed out on a refinance deal? Well, not to worry, says our Gerri Willis. She is here with today's "Top Tips."
Good morning to you, Gerri.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Good morning. Good to see you, Heidi.
COLLINS: Thank you. What is going on? People are starting to get worried that they're missing a good deal?
WILLIS: Well, I think you know people have missed the idea that rates are actually headed down. You know, today's interest rates 6.08 percent. That's according to Freddie Mac. Just last week, the rate was 5.85. percent. So, they're going up right now that has a lot of folks wondering if they've missed the ideal time to refinance. Let's take a look at what's driving that run up. Of course, inflation the number one concern. Some economists think the Federal Reserve will begin raising interest rates later this year rather than cutting them. The Fed is cutting rates seven consecutive times since last September. That would be a big turn-around in policy and could make rates go even higher.
COLLINS: Oh, yikes, we don't want to hear that. Yuck. Well, is it too late to refinance?
WILLIS: No, no, no. In fact, right now is a great time to start getting all your paperwork together. You got to gather up your bank statements, your returns. You'll beat the wave of applications that generally flood the market, you know, when the rate dips up and it dips down. You take weeks for an application to be approved. So you want to get ahead of the game. Then once the rate hits your target level, you can lock it in. You want to get ahead of this issue.
COLLINS: Absolutely. What are some of the most common problems that you're hearing about?
WILLIS: Well, you know, a lot of people out there are afraid. Now, when you do a refi, you get an appraisal, they are afraid their house will appraise for a lot less than what they thought. You know, a lot of folks out there may have to cover that gap in closing costs. Now, if that's what you're really worried about, you want to scrutinize your appraisal. First, make sure your lender sends an appraiser to your home so you get credit for the good work you've done in improving your house.
Make sure you get a full appraisal, meaning that somebody comes into your house, takes pictures, talk to you about special features like finished basement, new cabinets. If you have a good credit score your lender is more likely though to use what they call a drive-by appraiser who sees none of these good works. That's because if you have a good credit score, the lender doesn't need to take full stock of your collateral. On the other hand, if you have poor credit, the lender will want to do more diligence.
COLLINS: Well, if you finally decided after going through all of that, just go ahead and refinance, where do you go? Who do you call?
WILLIS: First off, go to the lender that you have your current mortgage with. It could save you a lot of paperwork off the bat. But if you think you can get a better deal elsewhere, look for another lender like a bank or credit union. Now, you should know, this is important, a recent study prepared by the Department of Housing and Urban Development found loans are arranged by brokers, mortgage brokers, typically carried higher fees than those gotten directly from lenders. So, you'll want to think about that as you shop.
And of course, if you have any questions, send them to us at toptips@CNN.com.
We love to hear from you.
COLLINS: All right. And in fact, we're going to be hearing from you again a little bit later on.
"ISSUE #1" today, what are you going to be talking about?
WILLIS: We've got lots of great stuff. We look at best rewards cards out there. Plus what an active hurricane season could mean for gas prices. A big business headline today Heidi, gas prices didn't go up.
COLLINS: I know. I guess --
It's a crazy world where that's the big business headline, you know what I mean?
COLLINS: We have to be thankful when they don't go up.
All right. Very good, Gerri Willis, nice to see you. Thanks.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
HARRIS: We're at the half hour.
Welcome back, everybody, to the CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Tony Harris.
COLLINS: Hi there, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.
Breaking news this morning right now in North Carolina. Senator Ted Kennedy is having brain surgery at Duke University Medical Center. A team of doctors trying to remove as much of a malignant tumor as possible. The operation expected to take up to six hours. Once Kennedy recovers, he does face chemotherapy and radiation as well.
HARRIS: We know the diagnosis, but how complicated is this surgery?
CNN chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is a neurosurgeon.
Sanjay, thanks for your help on this story. Boy, over the last couple of weeks, really appreciate that.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Sure.
HARRIS: What does the surgery involve?
GUPTA: Well, you know, the real goal of this operation as you might imagine, is to try to remove as much of this tumor as possible. And there's a lot of things we don't know still. As you know, Tony, it's a malignant glioma. We don't know exactly how malignant it is.
But let me show you here. This is the area here, that people have talked about so much. The parietal lobe, here is yellow. That's an area responsible for motor strength, and yellow over here, responsible for speech. So you have this parietal lobe area -- that's where the tumor is sort of located in this area. But you really -- you've got to make sure you're not too close to this area over here, which is responsible for your motor strength, or in here for speech. It's sort of like really trying to take out a tumor in a very eloquent area of the brain. And that can be challenging, no question. They talk about something known as mapping.
HARRIS: Yes, talk to us about that.
GUPTA: It's fascinating. In the scheme of things, relatively it's new. Basically they take areas of the brain that they think are responsible for motor strength. And they sort of sign post them during the operation. They may have the patient, if he's awake, actually squeeze his hand or move his arm. Or if he's asleep, sort of stimulate that area of the brain and see is it in fact, responsible for motor strength.
If it is, and it's expected to be in this area over here, they stay away from it. That's sort of the goal. They don't want to cause any neurological deficits in the senator later on down the road. If they're doing speech mapping, which is in this area over here, that's going to be something else they need to focus on. You do need to be awake for that. And in that case, they have him say words. And they have him look at an apple, say apple. Look at something else, repeat objects. That's sort of the goal of that part of the operation. Again, we don't know that that's what he's having for sure. But it gives you a sense of how challenging this can be.
HARRIS: Yes, it sure does.
You know, there are risk factors for anyone going through brain surgery. But I'm curious, are there any additional risk factors for someone who is 76 years old?
GUPTA: Well, you know, age is an arbitrary thing, right Tony. There are 76-year-olds who act more like 50-year-olds and vice versa.
I think that there's always concerns about an operation like this. There's a concern about one's heart, there's a concern about one's lungs, especially under anesthesia. From the brain operation itself, there's a concern about bleeding. There's a concern again, about injuring those other areas of the brain that are so vital. So every operation is difficult, in that sense. And you know, a lot of planning -- meticulous planning goes into an operation like this.
HARRIS: Let me see if I can squeeze in a couple of more here with you, Sanjay.
In the senator's statement, he said he looks forward to returning to his work in the Senate. How realistic is that?
GUPTA: I think it's realistic. It's really more of a question months from now, how is he going to be doing?
I think within the next few weeks, he'll probably, hopefully do well with this operation. He's already said they's going to go back to Boston and get chemotherapy and radiation. Those are going to be time periods when he's going to be gone. He's probably going to be exhausted after those therapies. But you can go back to work. We just did a story, for example, on Senator Arlen Specter, going through chemotherapy and radiation. And still sitting on the Senate floor, So that can be done. Let me add one more thing I think is interesting.
HARRIS: Sure.
GUPTA: You know, he made the decision -- or he and his family made the decision to go from Boston to Duke. And one of the things they do at Duke, is they do something known as a vaccine trial. Where after they remove some of this tumor, they actually sort of teach your body's immune system to fight the tumor. They know some tumor is going to be left behind. With the vaccine they can actually inject that into the senator later on and hope it kills whatever remaining tumor cells are left behind. That is something they do at Duke. That may have been one of the attractions for them.
HARRIS: Yes.
CNN chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, with this morning.
Thanks for your help, Sanjay.
GUPTA: Thanks, Tony.
HARRIS: Thanks.
COLLINS: This just in to the CNN NEWSROOM. we've been talking about it for at least a couple of months, what's been happening at the Yearning for Zion Ranch, down in Texas -- San Angelo, Texas, is the nearest city there.
We have learned regarding the polygamy custody case there of about 400 to 450 children that were found on that ranch, there has been a reversal, a decision that has been vacated as obviously the correct legal term here, that we have just learned about. Originally the Texas Child Welfare officials had decided that because of the conditions of this ranch, that all the events that were apparently taking place, and happening to these children on the YFZ Ranch as they've been calling it. That the children would be taken away. We're seeing older video there of that day, when those children were removed. And they would be under the supervision of the state.
Well, now, apparently the Supreme Court has ruled that the Texas Department of Child Protective Services overreached when it took those children from their parents. They are going to reunite them with their parents. Apparently beginning today, at 10:00. I imagine that's local time. So in about 20 minutes or so, apparently those children will be reunited with their parents, or at least they will begin to do that. Obviously there are so many of them. And quite a process they'll need to go through as well.
As I look down at this court order, there will be photographs taken of each child with the guardian, or the parent. There will be fingerprints taken. They will have to agree to go through a series of different counseling sessions. Bear with me, because there are many different requirements here before these children will be allowed to go back with their parents or guardians.
Obviously we have one of our correspondents, Susan Roesgen, on the scene. She's going to bring us the very latest coming up in just a few minutes as well as her producer who we heard from a little bit earlier, Tracy Sabo.
So once again, the children from the Yearning for Zion Ranch there in San Angelo, Texas, will begin to be reunited with their parents today, according to this new court order.
HARRIS: Hillary Clinton with a Puerto Rico land slide, but does it change the landscape of the race? We will talk to two reporters covering the campaign.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: You know, every state gets a say, the last to weigh in with their primaries tomorrow. But it is a non-state that got the spotlight over the weekend.
Joining me today from the D.C. bureau, "USA Today's" Washington bureau chief, Susan Page.
Susan, good to see you, good to see you.
SUSAN PAGE, "USA TODAY" WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: Nice to see you, Tony.
HARRIS: Also Politico's, Jean Cummings.
Jean, good to see you. It's about time you joined us on the big program here. All right. Let's start with Puerto Rico.
Senator Clinton with the 2 to 1 win in Puerto Rico, yesterday. How does that, Susan, change the race at all?
PAGE: You know, I don't think it changes the race. I think it's nice for her. Nice celebration, great speech last night. It does, I think underscore two problems for Barack Obama.
HARRIS: OK.
PAGE: It doesn't change the dynamics that gets him to the nomination. But it shows once again, he didn't do well among Hispanic voters who are going to be key in November. It also shows him kind of stumbling over the finish line here. We think he's going to be able to get to the new magic number of 2118 delegates. But he has really has struggled in this last month or so to get over that finish line.
HARRIS: Jean, what do you think? Does it change the race in any material sense?
JEAN CUMMINGS, CHIEF LOBBYING AND MONEY CORRESPONDENT AT POLITICO: No. I agree with Susan, that this race is set on its course. And it will just, you know, follow where it's naturally headed, and that's Obama winning the nomination.
But I think after tomorrow, that when the polls close in South Dakota and Montana, I think this will -- things will move pretty rapidly.
HARRIS: You think so?
CUMMINGS: I think so. The DNC chairman, Howard Dean, and Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid, have all said they are then going to really lean on super delegates to go ahead and make their decision. They can choose whichever candidate they want, but they just need to declare and let's wrap this up by maybe, you know, the end of the week, or soon.
HARRIS: And Susan, before I give you an opportunity to talk about what Wednesday looks like for you, let's take it back to Saturday. Full delegations from Florida and Michigan to be seated, with a half vote each. You heard some of the response, some of the back-and-forth in that decision. Senior Clinton campaign adviser, calling the decision a quote, "stunning outright hijacking."
Let's hear from Harold Ickes, here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAROLD ICKES, SR. ADVISER, CLINTON CAMPAIGN: They hijacked you know -- they just plain reached in and grabbed four delegates from Hillary. It's unheard of and unprecedented in this party to take delegates from a candidate and give them to another candidate, is quite incredible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Susan, Harold is fighting for his candidate to the very end. But I have to ask you, are these outcomes in Florida and Michigan a fair reflection of a flawed process?
PAGE: Well, this is the same Harold Ickes, who voted for the rules that would have denied these...
HARRIS: Absolutely. And also said that delegate count is what really matters here.
PAGE: That's right. So we should keep in mind that, as he expresses this principled outrage.
You know, it seems to me it's a reasonable deal on both sides. I think both sides gave a little something. It's possible, the Obama folks could have chosen to give those last four delegates, that was going to keep him from getting the nomination, that would have removed one of those talking points from the Clinton folks.
But I think it's something that seemed broadly acceptable to the committee itself. One was unanimous basically, and the other passed by a pretty good margin. And you can even see from key Clinton people this morning, like Tom, Vilsack, the former Iowa governor, who is the national co-chairman for Clinton. Basically expressing the view that things they've been treated fairly. It's time to move on. Senator Obama is going to be the nominee.
HARRIS: Hey Jean, what do you think? How much of a wound is this, the decision on Saturday to the Clinton campaign?
CUMMINGS: Well, I think it was a very big one. They were hoping to pull a rabbit out of the hat on Saturday. And to have people who were pledged -- who had pledged themselves to her candidacy, vote against the math in her -- that would have worked for her candidacy, is amazing.
I mean, I think it was a really big blow. It was their last chance to pull off a miracle.
HARRIS: All right. And this is a question I've asked a few times. And I want to ask it of -- And Susan, I may have asked this of you before. It's a long shot for Senator Clinton to get the nomination at this point. I think we all agree on that.
But I am curious, the bigger picture here, what is it that she wants at this point, and what is it, Susan, you think she has earned?
PAGE: Well, she has run a remarkable campaign. I mean, this is extraordinarily close as we get to the end of this process. You know, never before since the Democrats moved to this kind of process, have we had a process that has gone on this long and been this close. And she's been in many ways, a remarkable candidate.
She's become better and better on the stump as this fight has gone on. She clearly is now -- her position as a national leader of the Democratic party has certainly been enhanced. Exactly where that goes isn't clear, though.. People talk about her becoming the Senate Democratic leader. Well there happens to be one in place right now. And there happens to be some others who think they've earned succession rights there. You know, it's possible we were looking at, just moments ago, at talking about Senator Kennedy in his battle down at Duke this morning.
You know, one thing that Senator Kennedy, after his failing presidential campaign in 1980, was to come back and become a real lion of the Senate. It seems to me that is a path that clearly is open to Senator Clinton, whatever else is around.
HARRIS: Jean, what are your thoughts? What has she earned? What does she want?
CUMMINGS: Well, I think that they've clearly positioned themselves to try to grab the vice president spot on the ticket. I think she'd take it if it was offered. I have no idea if Barack Obama will go that way. There are clear benefits that would unify the party pretty quickly. There are clear deficits to doing it as well. So I'm not sure what he would do. But she is in a strong position to be on that short list certainly. And so we'll see what he really wants to do now.
HARRIS: All right, let's leave it there.
Jean Cummings, Susan Page, thank you both.
Ladies, good to see you.
CUMMINGS: Thank you, Tony.
HARRIS: Thank you.
PAGE: Thank you, Tony.
COLLINS: We said it every day for almost a month. Gas prices hit a new record high. Now, something a little different -- in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: On Wall Street, another chief executive gets axed. This time -- the head of Wachovia. Susan Lisovicz is on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange now with details on the latest causality of the credit crisis.
Hi there, Susan
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Heidi.
Ken Thompson has spent 32 years at Wachovia, the last eight years running the company. But he is out, ousted by Wachovia's board of directors. Just a month ago, Thompson was stripped of his chairman title. The "Wall Street Journal" said Thompson will leave with nearly $1.5 million in severance pay, also $7 million in stocks.
Thompson joins a growing list of CEOs pushed out of large financial companies, including Citigroup's Chuck Prince, Merrill Lynch's Stan O'Neal, Bear Stearns' Jimmy Cane. Also today, Washington Mutual stripped its CEO of the chairman title. I think we call it accountability -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, we do.
Is Wachovia out of the woods, though, with bad credit and mortgage losses because of this latest move?
LISOVICZ: Well, it's taking action clearly. But some of its most recent reports have been distressing. No question one led to the other.
Wachovia's board of directors says that the bank is well positioned, even in the face of unprecedented conditions in the financial industry, and a new leadership will revitalize the company. Having said that, the company reported a first-quarter loss of $700 million. It slashed its dividends. And it has something called bad timing. Wachovia bought a big mortgage company just before the housing market turned south.
Wachovia shares are down 35 percent year-to-date, down nearly 4 percent today. And stocks overall for this first trading day of June, down as well.
Check out the big board right now. Blue chips are down 137 points. NASDAQ's down 27. Oil is holding steady at 127 points -- excuse me, $127 a barrel.
And we got two economic reports, both showing weakness in the economy. Construction spending declined for the -- let's see -- the 26th straight month. A separate report on manufacturing -- failed to grow for the fourth consecutive month. And what was of concern in that report is that inflation grew to the highest level in about three -- four years, four years, actually. And inflation very much a concern on the street these days with rising food and energy prices.
Heidi, I'll be with you in the next hour.
COLLINS: Yes. Let's get some good stuff?
LISOVICZ: That's what I'm working on for the next hour. And I'll need a full hour to do it.
COLLINS: Good. We'll take it.
Thank you, Susan.
LISOVICZ: You're welcome.
HARRIS: More than a music festival, it was a counter-culture state of mind.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN SEBASTIAN, WOODSTOCK FESTIVAL MUSICIAN: Woodstock is a hard thing to grasp, especially for those who weren't there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Now for those who weren't there, or can't remember being there, a museum opens.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Woodstock memories. Do you have some?
If you don't, or you just can't remember them, now there is a museum you can check out. Our Richard Roth is at today's opening. And, wow, all dressed up for the occasion.
Is that -- that's classic tie-dye. Where on earth do you find that these days, Richard?
Good morning.
RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I got it at the gift shop here at the Woodstock Museum.
They came to this festival in buses such as this one, a mass pilgrimage. Hold on.
Hey sir, the festival is over. That stuff's a felony.
All kinds of acts were here from The Who, which certainly rose to fame with a magic bus. Creedence Clearwater Revival was the first group to sign up for the festival. And this museum is going to be opening up in one hour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROTH (voice-over): In August of 1969, half a million people swarmed Bethel, New York for a music festival that became known as simply Woodstock. Jimi Hendricks and dozens of other musicians played to the masses during one of America's most discordant periods.
Woodstock has always lured people searching for the spirit of the '60s.
DUKE DEVLIN, WOODSTOCK FESTIVAL, "SITE INTERPRETER": Year after Woodstock, people found this site. People came here. It was like a mecca.
ROTH: Now a museum is letting the public get on the magic bus and take a trip back in time.
DENNIS ELSAS, RADIO PERSONALITY: This is about the '60s. This is about the best parts of the '60s. And yes, there are some of the not so nice parts of the '60s.
ROTH: Not so nice?
Deep divisions between left and right, between pro and anti-war factions. Sound familiar?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of what happened then can be traced to a lot of what's going on now.
ROTH: The establishment didn't dig Woodstock then, and current leaders have used the festival to take political pot shots.
MCCAIN: Now my friends, I know that was a cultural as well as a pharmaceutical experience, but --
ROTH: Senator John McCain, a Vietnam P.O.W., likes to say he was tied up during Woodstock. Last fall, McCain and fellow Republicans blocked New York's Democratic senators, Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer from earmarking $1 million in federal government funds for the museum.
Though after securing private funding, the show goes on.
ALAN GERRY, DEVELOPER, "MUSEUM AT BETHEL WOODS": This is a squabble between the folks down there in Washington. They said that they were supporting the hippies. Well, you know, what's a hippie?
ROTH: One weekend back in 1969, this field was filled with half a million of them. And while the museum does its best to capture the spirit of that day, and of those times --
SEBASTIAN: Woodstock is a hard thing to grasp, especially for those who weren't there.
ROTH: As the saying goes, if you remember Woodstock --
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROTH: This museum gives you a chance to really feel a little bit of what Woodstock was like. Joe Cocker, one of the performers at the festival, will be playing at the performing arts center that has been here for a couple of years in Bethel -- Tony.
HARRIS: All right. Richard Roth for us this morning.
Love the shirt. Richard, thank you.
COLLINS: Hollywood on fire. A place where pretend becomes a real-life disaster scene.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: And good morning again, everyone. You're informed with CNN.
I'm Tony Harris.
COLLINS: Hi there, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.
Developments keep coming into the CNN NEWSROOM on Monday, June 2.
Here's what's on the rundown.
Senator Ted Kennedy in surgery right now at Duke University Medical Center. Doctors working to remove a cancerous brain tumor.
HARRIS: The finish line in sight. The final primaries a day away. Plus, the deal with Florida and Michigan delegates.
COLLINS: Twenty-five straight days of gas price records ends. The president talking about the economy this morning -- issue No.1, in the NEWSROOM.
