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25 Days of Record Gas Prices Ends; Kids in Texas Polygamy Case to Return Home; Ted Kennedy Undergoes Surgery; Mixed Reactions Regarding Florida & Michigan Decision
Aired June 02, 2008 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, again, everyone. You're informed with CNN. I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: 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 sigh. 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.
We learned moments ago that the kids in that polygamy case in Texas are coming home. A judge in the state signed the order this morning. It returns custody of those children taken from the ranch to their parents.
CNN's Susan Roesgen has been following the story. She's joining us now live from San Angelo, Texas with the latest.
Boy, this seemed to be quite a surprise, Susan.
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boy, it really did, Heidi.
The judge signed this order here at the courthouse behind me in San Angelo before court was in session this morning -- early this morning, signed this order that was hammered out last night between the parents of the children and the state.
Now these kids have been in state custody for nearly two months. It was back on April 3 that the Child Protective Services agency here in Texas went on to that polygamist ranch in Eldorado, and under the suspicion of child sexual abuse, rounded up all the children. About 450 children in the end sent to 16 different shelters all across the state.
Now once again, these children are going home starting today with some restrictions. And they're pretty big restrictions. First of all, a parent or guardian must pick these kids up. And you have to remember, Heidi, that many of these parents had no transportation. And several of the children have been sent to several different shelters.
You may have a mother with five or six kids and they may be separated in four or five different shelters. So that's a big hurdle for many of the parents here, just rounding up the children since the state took them. Now the state is saying the parents must be the ones who bring them back home to that ranch.
They can go back home to the ranch but they will not be allowed to leave the state of Texas. They will not be allowed, for instance, to go to another Warren Jeffs polygamist compound in another state, or across the border in Canada.
Also, the state protective child services agency will have the right between the hours of 8:00 a.m. in the morning and 8:00 p.m. at night to go on to that ranch, the secretive compound in Eldorado, and go into the homes and check on the condition of the children.
Now this is a huge concession. This is a place that has blocked us, as you've seen. You've seen the fence in front of that compound. We've had very few interviews, very little access to this ranch. Now the state of Texas is going to be allowed to go in there, in daylight hours at least, and check on the kids every day unannounced.
Those are some of the big highlights of this order that was signed today, Heidi. Again, some 450 children will start going home today.
COLLINS: Yes. It's really amazing when you look at this whole order that's in front of me. There are a lot of restrictions -- can't leave the state, as you said, the fingerprinting, the photographs. There'll be counseling. There'll be a case worker.
You know, when we look at all of that, it seems like it's really going to be tracked very closely. But, in fact, we're talking about 450 kids here. They're not going to be supervised 24 hours a day.
How will all of this be enforced?
ROESGEN: Well, certainly, Heidi, the state's not going to have the easier time of having these kids in secure shelters knowing where each of the kids are at any time. They're going to be at the ranch. But again, the state does have access to go in there.
You also have to remember that one of the big complaints about this whole investigation was a suggestion on behalf of the parents and their lawyers that these children, not all of the children, were in any immediate danger of sexual abuse.
Some 100 children under the age of 5 were taken in that initial raid. And the parents wondered why would these children be taken. Certainly they're not in any immediate danger. So most of the children were presumed to be relatively safe. Now, initially, you have to remember in this raid that started it, the Child Protective Services agency believed that there were 31 girls, 31, Heidi, who were underage who had either been pregnant or were currently pregnant.
Now that number is just five. Just five girls believed to be between the ages of 16 and 17 who are either pregnant right now or who have had children, which would imply under the laws of Texas, child sexual abuse.
So this case seems to be narrowing, though as you point out, when you have all these kids going back home, not in specific state shelters, it's becoming a broad investigation for the state of Texas.
And the attorney general's office, by the way, Heidi, continues to investigate this as a criminal case.
COLLINS: Right.
ROESGEN: But so far, no criminal charges have been filed.
COLLINS: Yes. Really seems like it's come down to sort of a case about parents' rights, and then the safety of the children.
CNN's Susan Roesgen reporting for us with the very latest on the polygamist case there in Texas out of San Angelo this morning.
Thank you, Susan.
HARRIS: We are following some other breaking news this morning.
One of the most recognizable figures in American politics for decades, Senator Ted Kennedy undergoing brain surgery right now. The operation is taking place at Duke University Medical Center.
Straight to our Rusty Dornin in Durham, North Carolina.
And Rusty, if you would, give us a bit of an update. What do you know? What do we know right now?
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, all we do know is we believe that the operation began at 9:00 a.m. Eastern here to remove that malignant tumor from Senator Ted Kennedy's brain. But they will not confirm. The hospital officials will not confirm how things are going, when exactly the operation went under way or anything.
They say, out of respect for the family, they are not going to be issuing any statements or giving out any information, unless the family approves that first.
Now, of course, Ted Kennedy did issue a statement this morning, talking about how he and his team of doctors and his family really researched this to figure out the best possible spot, the best possible place to have this surgery done. And this center here is pretty incredible. Established in 1937, they've been doing brain tumor surgery, one of the first in the country, for more than 70 years here. So they are one of the foremost places for brain tumor surgery. And this was the place that he decided, with his team of doctors and family, that he wanted to have the operation done.
Expected to take about six hours. Not necessarily, there's no magic time about six hours. It could take a little more, a little less. But they are saying about six hours. And we're hoping that the hospital will soon update us -- Tony?
HARRIS: And Rusty, what do we know about the doctor leading the surgical team, Allen Friedman?
DORNIN: Allan Friedman had his residency here at Duke. He has been here more than 30 years. Apparently 90 percent of the brain tumor operations here are done by Dr. Allan Friedman.
He talks about the idea that he wants to try something new with patients often. I mean he's aggressive in his treatments. They are on the cutting edge here in terms of doing research on malignant brain tumors. And that's, of course, one of the reasons why Senator Ted Kennedy chose Friedman.
HARRIS: All right. Rusty Dornin for us in Durham, North Carolina.
Rusty, thank you.
COLLINS: I want to give you a little more information about the doctors in this case. The doctors treating Senator Kennedy are from Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and Duke University Medical Center.
Leading the team, as you just saw, in the operating room today, Dr. Allan Friedman. He is the chief brain surgeon at Duke and the co- director of the Neuro-Oncology Program.
Friedman's biography says he's particularly interested in brain tumors, skull base tumors, peripheral nerve surgery and pituitary tumors. He's currently researching hemorrhaging, malignant brain tumors and epileptic seizures.
HARRIS: Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is a brain surgeon. And Sanjay joins us now.
And -- oh great, you're by the magic plasma board there, so you can give us a really good look at what's going on here.
What's involved in this surgery, Sanjay?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Let's take a look at his brain specifically, Tony. You'd a picture is worth a thousand words. When you take a look at this image, and you basically start to spin it around, you get a really interesting view of exactly where doctors are going to be focused today. It's going to be right here. That's the area known as the parietal lobe. You light that up. Over here is going to be an area known as the motor strip, a motor area. Over here, speech areas.
You can get a sense of just how close this area where the tumor's located to that motor area which is in here, and to the speech area which is around here. That's what makes this so difficult, Tony.
You know you really want to take out as much of the tumor as possible, without injuring those other areas. That would cause a problem for the senator with weakness on the other side of his body, might cause problems with speech.
HARRIS: Yes.
GUPTA: Not only the ability to speak but the ability to receive speech as well. So just really quickly, sometimes they'll actually do what's known as mapping.
HARRIS: Yes.
GUPTA: They'll map that part of the brain, they'll know exactly where it is, and they'll stay away from it. Both the motor area, again, and the speech area down here.
HARRIS: What's the next course after the surgery? And how long of a recovery time, Sanjay, are we potentially talking about here?
GUPTA: You know, I think it'll surprise people how fast you can recover from brain surgery. I mean he has talked about a week, being able to leave Duke, go back home. I think that's pretty reasonable, actually.
I think most brain tumor surgeons will say that. He will need to get chemotherapy and radiation. That's something he's talked about since the beginning of his diagnosis. He's going to get back home in Boston.
Let me say one thing, I think that's interesting, though, Tony, and that is, at Duke, the place that he is now, they actually are part of what's known as a vaccine trial where they actually, basically create a brain tumor vaccine.
It's amazing. Think about that.
They teach the body's immune system to fight that tumor off. The tumor's there -- fight the cells that are remaining after surgery. That's something that he may be getting done, which might mean that he comes back to Duke a few weeks later from now.
So, you know, it's going to be a long process, as you might imagine for him.
HARRIS: Yes.
CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Sanjay, thanks for the help. Thank you, doc.
GUPTA: Thanks, guys.
COLLINS: Weather also a story today to be talking about.
HARRIS: I got you. I got you.
COLLINS: CNN's Rob Marciano was standing by getting all the latest information, as you can probably hear.
HARRIS: Testing (INAUDIBLE)
COLLINS: Talking now -- yes -- about Arthur. Yes, we've heard of this guy before.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We're actually lighting part of the set for a segment this afternoon.
COLLINS: Well, they -- you know, you've got to have your angles.
MARCIANO: Got to have -- exactly. Well, you know which side is my good side? This is my good side.
HARRIS: I knew he was going there.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: OK. Good. All right. Very good.
Thank you, Rob.
MARCIANO: Tune in later this afternoon for a complete hurricane preparedness segment.
COLLINS: Oh good. All right.
MARCIANO: Not with me, but I'll be right there.
COLLINS: We'll have the lighting going by then, yes.
All right, Rob. Thank you.
A survivor's story. Radio talk show host Eleanor Mondale is making her own comeback from brain tumor surgery. Her personal battle coming up in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: And hello again, everyone. I'm Tony Harris.
And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
A controversial compromise.
Wow! Our Tom Foreman was in the middle of that scrum. We'll get his take on the madness and the backroom wrangling.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Quickly want to take a check of the big board. Dow Jones Industrial Average is down considerable amount today, 136 points to the negative unfortunately, resting at 1,2501 now.
NASDAQ, we are also watching. I think we'll see it pop up on the bottom right-hand side of your screen there in a moment, there you go, down about 30 points or so.
Friday, things were down as well but certainly not by this much. So we are watching those numbers for you as it continue here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: A fallen soldier awarded the Medal of Honor.
19-year-old Army Private First Class Ross McGinnis made the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq in 2006. Insurgents threw a grenade into his Humvee. Rather than jumping out of the way, McGinnis fell on the grenade saving four other soldiers' lives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A week ago on Memorial Day, the flag of the United States flew in half staff in tribute to those who fell in service to our country.
Today we -- pay special homage to one of those heroes, Private First Class Ross Andrew McGinnis of the United States Army.
Private McGinnis died in a combat zone in Iraq on December the 4th, 2006. And for his heroism that day, he now receives the Medal of Honor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: McGinnis's parents accepted the award on his behalf.
The Medal of Honor is the highest award for wartime valor.
COLLINS: Some breaking news to tell you about 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.
Today, though, just a first step for Senator Kennedy. A critical first step, of course, in fact.
CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, also a neurosurgeon, is here to tell us a little bit more about this.
Glad to have you. GUPTA: Thanks.
You know I want to bring in Dr. Tony Asher as well. He's president of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. That's a big organizing body for neurosurgery.
And Tony joins us from North Carolina as well. He's on the phone with us.
Tony, hello, good morning.
DR. TONY ASHER, PRES., CONGRESS OF NEUROLOGICAL SURGEONS: Good morning.
GUPTA: So you've been following the story of Senator Kennedy's brain tumor diagnosis. What are some of your thoughts of the -- as president of Congress, what were you thinking about?
ASHER: Well, I -- obviously, what I know, Sanjay, is what most people know through the media. He has a malignant tumor involved in an area of his brain that's involved in a lot of very important functions.
And so, obviously, I was very much concerned for his health. It sounds like he has an aggressive tumor in a difficult location.
GUPTA: Why do you suppose they went to Duke specifically? Obviously, Senator Kennedy was being treated in Boston. They made the trip down to North Carolina. Why do you suppose that is?
ASHER: Well, I would say probably two things, Sanjay. First of all, Duke is national (INAUDIBLE) center. It's one of approximately six of that size in the country. They receive a very high volume of cases. And given the fact that volume seems to be related to outcomes, any surgeon's clinical experience is an important consideration for patients.
But perhaps more importantly, Duke conducts multiple clinical protocols for cancer. That's probably their strongest asset. They have a very rigorous research program. And as this is one of the most aggressive cancers with no known cure, innovative therapies, including experimental protocols, have become really an essential aspect of care.
GUPTA: You know, it's interesting, Tony, and I know you've been a brain tumor surgeon for a long time. Again, you're president of the organizing body. People have been hearing about the senator's brain tumor diagnosis and have been hearing abysmal numbers, frankly, prognosis wise.
Are they that abysmal? And why so? Why haven't we made more progress, do you think, in brain tumor sort of survival?
ASHER: No. You know, Sanjay, I think that there's really two factors that relate to these tumors, that people need to keep in mind. First of all, these tumors are diffuse lesions. They are not discreet balls of tissue, if you will. It can be hard to explain to patients, but a patient actually one time gave me the best analogy I've ever heard.
They act like a tree root system. The edges will mix in with brain tissues, sometimes vital tissue, and you can't extract the entire tumor without causing an unacceptable deficit. Even if you did, oftentimes, the tumor can occur -- rather recur on the other side of the brain.
I think that the other issue is that the cells themselves have very creative ways of evading therapy. So these -- the cells themselves can be very, very difficult to treat with any therapy.
GUPTA: What do you think is next for the senator? He's getting his operation, we're hearing today, they say six hours. What's after that for him?
ASHER: Well, after that, he would probably have a bit of a rest. His wounds would have to heal, and then after probably about three weeks, he would start to have radiation therapy, probably in conjunction with chemotherapy.
And then there is a variety of different options. So it's possible that he will go on an experimental protocol very early given the aggressive nature of this disease.
GUPTA: All right. Tony, I know you've been watching his story, and we have been as well.
Thank you so much, Tony Asher.
Heidi, he's the president of the Congress of the Neurological Surgeons, someone who does these operations all the time. And oversees all of the neurosurgeons in the country said that his viewpoint would be interesting.
COLLINS: Absolutely, yes. Some great information. Thanks to you. And thanks also to Dr. Asher. Thank you, Sanjay.
GUPTA: Thank you.
HARRIS: And see it here first. CNN's team on a dangerous mountain trail in China, the only foreign journalist to visit the quake lake. They'll bring you a rare look at a partially buried city.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Florida and Michigan back in the game. The DNC's rule makers coming to an agreement. But that didn't sit well with everyone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAROLD ICKES, DNC CMTE. MEMBER, CLINTON ADVISER: I am stunned that we have the gall and the chutzpah to substitute our judgment for 600,000 voters.
JENNY DOGGETT, CLINTON SUPPORTER: I think they've done the very worst thing they could do, which is somehow make it up. You could have counted whatever you wanted to count. There was a real piece of data. But the idea that you make something up, this number that comes out of the DNC, is not democratic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Boy.
CNN's Tom Foreman was at the meetings over the weekend and he joins us from Washington this morning.
You were in the room. I can't wait for your take on this. It seems to me, and the Clinton folks needed the concessions here. I'm just sort of curious, your view on that. But also, what was the posture of the Obama team as it went into these meetings on Saturday, Tom?
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, you're right. The Clinton people --the simple truth is, they need every delegate they can get right now.
HARRIS: Yes, yes.
FOREMAN: And as we said on Saturday, the problem is for them to strike any compromise on how many people you brought in from Michigan or Florida, how much they were penalized by the DNC for moving up the primary.
The problem for the Clinton people was any compromise ran the risk of compromising their candidate right out of the race. And in the end, the deal they got was kind of that. And the Obama people -- look, the Obama people are for this. But they're for it because they recognize that this compromise lets her narrow the gap, but she can't catch up...
HARRIS: Wow.
FOREMAN: ... unless the superdelegates suddenly make a giant shift in her direction. There's no sign yet that that's going to happen.
HARRIS: And we should mention here that you broke the news of the Florida and Michigan compromise, got it on the air before anyone else.
I have to ask you, did the Clinton people believe -- and maybe that's why we saw some of the reactions afterward, and we'll get that in a moment as well -- but the Clinton people believed they were walking into this meeting being asked to essentially compromise their candidate out of the race entirely?
FOREMAN: No. They still believe -- first of all, they came into the meeting believing that maybe they could still hold a firm line and get a favorable deal out of this.
HARRIS: Got you. Got you.
FOREMAN: In the end, what happened, as one superdelegate who's undeclared described it to me, he said, you know what happened? He said the elevator going up for the Clintons for all the delegates they could possibly get met the elevator for Obama going down saying we've got to keep it down. And they both realized they had lit the limit there.
The Clinton people wanted and needed more out of this meeting. But ultimately they're practical politicians and they said, we have to take what we can get and still try to make the case to the superdelegates. They're not giving up. Different, though...
HARRIS: So for...
FOREMAN: Different, though, I must say, Tony...
HARRIS: No, go ahead. Yes.
FOREMAN: ... with the people who were just there. People who came to visit in support of Senator Clinton and her bid for this, those were the people who poured into the hallway just out of their minds angry. And they are so unhappy.
HARRIS: I -- I want you to -- great. Describe that and maybe -- Sarah, do we have a piece of that sound from some of the folks? Let's listen in for a second.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED CLINTON SUPPORTERS: Denver! Denver! Denver! Denver!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: OK. Tom, do -- what -- help me put this reaction -- people are crying, for goodness sakes. Put this into some kind of context for us please.
FOREMAN: Well, I'll tell you. I was right in the middle of all the context there, Tony, and it was a wild time. It's something that I'm used to seeing after city council meetings where people are dealing with some of...
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
FOREMAN: ... the riot in their neighborhoods. But in national politics you rarely see this.
These people were very upset in a heartfelt way. The reason they're chanting Denver, Denver, Denver, is because they're saying, we must carry this fight to the credentials committee at the convention. We must not stop. We must fight right to the bitter end, which is, of course, what Democrats in both the Obama and Clinton camp to some degree have been saying, this is no good. We can't do this.
There are die-hards on the Clinton side who are saying we must. But there are others even in the Clinton camp who particularly in private will say to you, we need to either win this thing or give up on this thing.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes.
FOREMAN: Because it's just too -- dragging out too long.
HARRIS: And one final question for you, Tom. DNC chairman Howard Dean mentioned over the weekend that this setting, this event represented the beginning steps of party unity.
Looking back on it, did it feel that way to you, at the end of the day, Michigan and Florida do -- they get seated.
FOREMAN: Yes. You know the thing is -- this is interesting, Tony. It did not feel that way standing there, because all these people were so angry.
HARRIS: Yes.
FOREMAN: But Howard Dean is actually right. The important words you had to pay attention to there in many ways were the people sitting around the table, those 30 members, including people who were there to support Hillary Clinton, who were saying themselves, I didn't want this deal.
I don't want to support this deal. But I will vote for it because it's more important that we unify the party and move past it and bring Michigan and Florida back in.
The important step now is going to be whether or not the campaigns actively reach out to those angry people on either side...
HARRIS: Yes.
FOREMAN: ... and say, enough of the fighting already, now we must unite. And that's going to be hard to do, because this has been a long, very passionate struggle. And some of those people in the hallway, I'm telling you, Tony, they were genuinely very, very upset. They felt betrayed by their party.
HARRIS: Yes.
FOREMAN: You know that's a hard feeling...
HARRIS: Yes, yes.
FOREMAN: ... to get over for anybody.
HARRIS: Well, I tell you what, it was -- a lot of it was pretty riveting to watch on Saturday. Happy you were there for us, Tom Foreman.
Thanks, Tom.
FOREMAN: Good seeing you, Tony.
HARRIS: And welcome back, everyone. Bottom of the hour.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Tony Harris.
COLLINS: Hi, everybody, I'm Heidi Collins.
The CNN team takes us on a treacherous journey to the quake lake. They're the only foreign journalist to make the trek.
Our Wilf Dinnick, is your guide.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILF DINNICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It has been cut off. Some of the hardest hit areas not yet seen close up. Many of the roads too dangerous, blocked by land slides. And by officials.
(on camera): That's completely blocked.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This pass doesn't work anymore.
DINNICK: They worry about decomposing bodies and the spread of disease in the rubble beyond here. We are blocked. But also down there, the biggest quake lake. That monstrous pool of water threatening to swell it's banks, flooding millions downstream.
We had to see it. This is the only other way in. But officials refusing to take us. One last option, locals tell us, is over the mountains. But too tough, they say.
Undeterred, we begged a few local guides. Helping carry our kit to broadcast live, some food and water. The army cut a path for soldiers, the guides tell us, in case helicopters could not fly. But hardly a path. Mountainsides torn away.
Our producer Samson Desta.
SAMSON DESTA, CNN PRODUCER (on camera): Maybe it's a stupid thing that we're doing. But we're going to try to get up there. And see if we can get a quick peek at that lake. It's our understanding that no other foreign media has been up there, so hopefully we'll make it up there and then we'll show it to you.
DINNICK: And it is almost straight up. During breaks, debating whether to turn around. A six-hour hike. Finally, exhausted at the top, the view -- the quake lake.
Parts of the mountain poured down into that river, creating a dangerous dam. Those bulldozers down there, slicing through, creating a man-made river to ease out the water. But it was on the way out we see nobody has been spared. Farms throughout the mountains demolished, appearing untouched since the quake. And then we stumble on this -- Sechuan county, revealing the awesome power of this quake. What had not collapsed, barely standing. Locals believe thousands still buried here. Where mountains cloud into the city. All the roads in and out, cut off. Officials have not even begun to clean this up. A rare view of the magnitude of this disaster.
We had made it. The first foreign journalists to get this view, to see what the people here now face. Difficult to imagine how to recover from this.
Will Dinnick, CNN, Sechuan County, China.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Wow, some amazing pictures there from our Wilf Dinnick, and producer, Samson Desta.
Listen, you can help with all of this. At CNN.com, we have a special page on the devastation in China, as well as Myanmar. Plus, there are links to aid agencies that are organizing help for the region. It's a chance for you to impact your world.
HARRIS: Car bomb attack blasts sheers off the front of an embassy, casualties extensive.
The numbers in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Brain surgery this morning for Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy. Doctors are trying to remove a malignant tumor diagnosed last month. He's chosen to have the surgery at Duke University Medical Center, home of some of the most progressive brain surgeries.
CNN chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is also a neurosurgeon. He joins us now to talk a little bit more about what this surgery involves. And of course, the risks.
GUPTA: Yes, you know, and any operation's going to have its risks, as you might imagine. One of the big considerations here, and I can show you on this model, Heidi.
The tumor is located in this light purple area known as the parietal lobe. The reason that is so significant is because if you go just a little bit in front of that, you have an area responsible for motor strength. And motor strength is going to be the right side of his body, the opposite side of his body. Down here in yellow, you get areas that are responsible for speech.
Just how close is the tumor in this area, located in proximity to the motor areas, to the speech areas. That is part of what makes this operation so challenging today. Again, there's concerns about bleeding, there's always concerns about damaging those structures, his heart and his lungs. But this is sort of where the rubber hits the road, with this kind of operation.
COLLINS: Do we know yet, or will we find out at some point, whether or not he's awake during all of this? GUPTA: We don't know. We'll probably be told, I imagine, after the operation is over.
There is a reason to keep someone awake. In part you can do motor mapping where you basically find the specific motor areas of the brain. I mean, you literally are touching these areas of the brain and saying, senator, squeeze your right hand, move your right arm. And you can map out exactly where that motor area is.
COLLINS: And you've dog surgeries like that before?
GUPTA: I've done operations like this. Although motor mapping is something that is done at centers like Duke, and at Boston even, where he was treated initially, they also do this sort of operation.
It is as you might imagine, much more involved. And again, even with the speech area. And they'd hold up a picture of an apple, say, what is this? And you say apple. You know, it shows that you're looking at it, being able to process it, and then saying it back. Tests very important things there.
COLLINS: Yes, very important.
And also, earlier we talked about some of these clinical trials that they do at Duke. And I know a very good friend of yours who is no longer with us, Dr. Samuel Hassenbusch, is someone who experimented with, and then they also used on him this vaccine that we were talking about last time around.
GUPTA: Yes, Samuel Hassenbusch, he was someone I wrote about in my book, "Chasing Life." He was a neurosurgeon who got diagnosed with a glioblastoma, which is the most aggressive form of brain cancer.
COLLINS: And, what we're talking about here.
GUPTA: That's right. Well, we know Senator Kennedy has a malignant glioma. We don't know exactly what type. But it very well could be that type.
But Dr. Hassenbusch, he pioneered this sort of, vaccine therapy. He was one of the first people to think about it and he actually had it used on himself. And it worked for a period of time. Ultimately the cancer, you know, did claim his life.
But it was one of those amazing stories where he taught basically the body's immune system to fight tumor cells. So, your body's always fighting cells, you know, you have inflammatory cells and they go after things in your body. What if you could teach them that a tumor should be fought, should be attacked? And that's what that vaccine therapy does, and that's what they do at Duke. So the Senator Kennedy may have that done as well.
COLLINS: Well, we'll find out shortly here.
GUPTA: That's right.
COLLINS: At least I hope so, anyway.
GUPTA: Absolutely.
COLLINS: All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you.
GUPTA: All right, thanks, Heidi.
HARRIS: A massive explosion near the Danish Embassy in Pakistan. Some confusion this morning, over the extent of casualties and type of attack. Police on the scene say it was a suicide bomber in a car. But a senior police official tells CNN the authorities aren't sure it was a suicide attack. We're also hearing six to eight people were killed. Danish embassies became targets in Muslim countries two years ago after newspapers in Denmark published controversial cartoons of the prophet Muhammad.
COLLINS: Hollywood on fire. A place where pretend becomes a real life disaster scene.
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HARRIS: Primary season twilight, just two more contests to go. Montana and South Dakota vote tomorrow. Hillary Clinton with momentum from another big win, this weekend's Puerto Rico primary. She took 68 percent of the vote, Barack Obama, 32 percent.
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SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's not over until the votes are cast. It's not over until there's actually a tally that gives somebody the nomination.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I know that there are a lot of Democrats who have been concerned about whether or not the party's going to be able to come together after this long contest. And whether Clinton supporters will support Obama, and, whether Obama supporters will support Clinton.
Listen, first of all, Senator Clinton is an outstanding public servant. She has worked tirelessly in this campaign. She has been a great senator for the state of New York. And she is going to be a great asset when we go into November, to make sure that we defeat the Republicans. That I can promise you.
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HARRIS: Also, over the weekend, the Democratic National Committee's rules makers decided to let Florida and Michigan back in the race. But their delegates will have only a half vote at the convention. The Clinton campaign is not happy with the Michigan math, and may appeal the ruling.
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ICKES: They took the 55 from the uncommitted slots and gave them to Barack Obama. Even more outrageous and egregious, they reached out and hijacked four delegates won by Hillary Clinton and gave them to Barack Obama, a man who withdrew -- voluntarily withdrew his name from the ballot.
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COLLINS: Here's a closer look now at what's on the lining in tomorrow's final primaries. Montana has 16 pledged delegates up for grabs. It's an open primary which means any registered voter can cast a ballot. South Dakota, also an open primary. That state offers 15 pledged delegates.
HARRIS: A Hollywood studio burns, some of your favorite movie sets gone in a flash. Investigators wondering if some of the damage could have been avoided.
Eric Spillman, of affiliate KTLA, joins us from Universal City, California, this morning.
Eric, good to see you. Hey, do we know yet what caused this fire, and has arson been ruled out?
ERIC SPILLMAN, KTLA REPORTER: We don't know what caused the fire, but the investigators are leaning towards ruling out anything suspicious. Exactly what it was that caused the fire, we don't know. But the real question is, why was it so difficult for firefighters to do battle with this fire?
When they showed up here, they hooked up their hoses to these hydrants on the Universal Studios lot. And their 100-foot-tall flames, you know, these movie sets are engulfed in fires. But the firefighters suffered from low water pressure. The stream of water that was coming out of their hoses at one time ,was like ten feet. And it was impossible for them to do battle with this huge fire that's burning essentially these very flammable wooden sets.
Another problem was, Universal is supposed to have an upgraded sprinkler system that should have been improved after they had another fire here back in 1990. Well that sprinkler system just didn't do the job, just didn't perform according to the county fire chief here.
HARRIS: And Eric, how many firefighters were actually injured battling this blaze?
SPILLMAN: There's about eight or nine firefighters who were hurt. And one sheriff's deputy as well.
And you know, this fire continued to be dangerous many, many hours after it started. It continued to burn. And there's this video vault, where they store sort of videotaped copies of Universal's movies and TV shows, there was an explosion there 10 hours after the fire started, two people hurt in that explosion.
HARRIS: And Eric, how close is this to the actual theme park? Maybe some of the sets are actually involved as attractions to the park. I'm wondering if the park is today? SPILLMAN: The park was closed yesterday. People waited for hours, hoping to get in. Finally at the end of the day, they told them, look we're not going to open today. There is too much work that the firefighters have to do.
But they plan to open the theme park about an hour from now. And yes, there was damage to some of things that you see on the Universal Studio's tour. The King Kong attraction was burned in this fire as well as several important movie sets that have been used for many films and TV shows.
HARRIS: OK. Thanks for the update.
Eric Spillman, with our Los Angeles affiliate KTLA, in Universal City.
Eric, thanks.
COLLINS: She wrote about her struggles with addiction. Today, Tatum O'Neal, appears before a judge on drug charges. New York police say O'Neal was arrested last night for buying crack cocaine. The actress has been charged with a misdemeanor. O'Neal won an Oscar for 1973's "Paper Moon." She discussed her long road to sobriety in a 2004 memoir.
HARRIS: Targeting an aggressive brain tumor. Doctors operating on Senator Ted Kennedy, right now.
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COLLINS: Quickly want to get some information to you that we're getting from our affiliate there in Dallas, Texas, WFAA.
A live shot, as you can see. Quite a few of law enforcement authorities there, nearby a Costco store where they believe that at least one, possibly two robbers, as a hold up in this Costco, apparently in the bathroom on the upper floor there.
They have a history, too. Scarecrow Bandits is what the police have been calling them, because apparently they have committed several robberies in the area. And they used to wear -- they got the name because they used to wear loose shirts and floppy hats while they were robbing these banks. Well now, at least today anyway, with the attempt that they made, they are wearing full body armor and carrying automatic weapons.
So obviously a very tense situation there. And I can also tell you this, at least our affiliates are reporting, that these robberies apparently take apparently less than two minutes. One bandit leaps over the counter, the other guards the door. Other people watch the people inside the bank. Apparently a reward of about $90,000 being offered for any information leading to the Scarecrow Bandits arrest.
We'll watch this for you.
(BUSINESS HEADLINES) COLLINS: Kitchen break-in. A snake looking for food knows just where to go. But what happens when the hungry homeowner comes in?
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HARRIS: How about this? A close encounter of the creepy kind.
OK. San Diego area man was headed to the kitchen for a snack, but a rattlesnake actually beat him there. Seems the homeowner had left the back door open for his dog. How's the dog today? But it slithered in instead. The homeowner's says he's been -- he's seen snakes go on his property before, but never inside his home. Rattlers are more active in the warm weather months, and last year's wildfires reduced their habitat, making for riskier food runs. That's pretty risky.
COLLINS: Yes. CNN NEWSROOM continues one hour from now.
HARRIS: "ISSUE #1" is next with Gerri Willis and Ali Velshi. But first, a quick check of the headlines.
The children in that polygamy case are going home. A judge in Texas signed the order this morning. It returns more than 440 children, taken from a polygamist sect, to their parents. The move came after the Texas Supreme Court let stand a lower court's ruling. The state had no authority to remove the kids during a raid in April. We are expecting a briefing soon from Texas Child Protective Services.
We, of course, will bring you any news that comes out of it. In fact, it is under way right now. Let's go ahead and listen in.
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MARLEIGH MEISNER, TEXAS CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES: We're looking forward to working in full cooperation with the parents. We have respect for these parents. And we know that they're very pleased to have their children returned to their care today. This process will continue throughout rest of the week. It may be through Friday, in fact, before all of the children are able to be returned. But we will begin the process this morning.
Our investigation will continue and we will continue to also be providing services for the family, many of the things that were in the original court order will continue, such as parenting classes with the families. Our goal at Child Protective Services is always to try to reunite families, to reunite children, when they can be safe in their own parents' care. And we hope they can be safe there. And we hope that we are going to be able to provide services to make them better parents for these children.
I can take a very few, brief questions.
QUESTION: What about those five girls that (INAUDIBLE) are underage. Are they pregnant or are there special (INAUDIBLE) done for them? MEISNER: Well right now, as you know, the court order reads that every single child will be returned to their parents' care. I don't know that there will be specific situations for those children or for any of the children. It's a pretty broad court order. But we certainly will be looking at each case individually.
QUESTION: Marleigh, can you confirm if all of the -- how many disputed minors have now been -- not included?
MEISNER: I'm sorry, Ben, I don't have that number today.
Anything else?
QUESTION: Someone could argue that the families will follow the court's rules and give you access when you need it to kids and keep them (ph) in the state of Texas?
MEISNER: Well I certainly hope that they will be cooperative. Certainly we have concerns regarding these children and that's why our investigation continues and it will continue until the investigation is complete.
QUESTION: Have the DNA reports started coming back yet and what (INAUDIBLE)
MEISNER: Not yet. We anticipate that they should be back any day.
QUESTION: If some of the families go to the ranch and you're not allowed access because of locked gates, what will you do?
MEISNER: Well the court order explicitly implies that we will be allowed access to whatever home or dwelling that these children are in, and so we certainly anticipate that they'll be cooperative with our department.
QUESTION: But if they're not?
MEISNER: If they're not then we'll have to obtain some type of a court order from the judge obtaining that.
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)
MEISNER: I still feel very strongly about our case and I feel very strongly about the safety and concerns that we have regarding these children, and that's where our investigation will continue.
QUESTION: You know about the emotional toll this has had on the families. How about the CPS side? What has this been, this up and down roller coaster, been like the last few weeks?
MEISNER: Well it's certainly been, I think, one of the most difficult things that we've ever been involved with as an agency. It's been hard on every single person involved since April 3. Emotionally, it's been difficult. But our staff remains committed and I feel so strongly in the staff who have fought this battle, and they do it on behalf of every child in the state of Texas that is a victim of abuse and neglect.
It seems different because it's grander and it's larger in scale, but our case workers do this every single day across the state of Texas. And when they receive a referral of abuse and neglect, they're charged as an agency and as an individual to investigate. And I'm very, very proud of the job that they've done.
Thank you very much.
COLLINS: All right. There we have our first briefing after that court order that came down today to reunite more than 440 children with their parents in that polygamist sect, Yearning for Zion Ranch, in Texas. The children will have to remain in the state of Texas, that's part of this court order. They will also be subject to unannounced visits from, I believe, 8:00 in the morning through 8:00 p.m. every day. So quite a few regulations that come with this court order.
That is the news for now. I'm Heidi Collins.
Gerri Willis is coming up right here. "ISSUE #1" begins now.
Hi there, Gerri.
