Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Criminals Caught in Operation FALCON; More U.S. Troops Headed to Afghanistan?

Aired July 16, 2008 - 15:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Murder suspects, gang members, sex offenders and thousands more fugitives and felons wish they had never heard of Operation FALCON. You will hear all about it this hour.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Inflation is a word we have heard a lot lately. Today, we hear prices haven't shot up this far in a single year since 1991. And paychecks aren't keeping up.

WHITFIELD: The surge may be over in Iraq. In Afghanistan, it may be still to come. Our Jamie McIntyre has the latest on the Pentagon's battle plans.

WHITFIELD: Hello again, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

WHITFIELD: Gang members, homicide suspects, sex offenders, all caught in the claws of Operation FALCON. A nationwide dragnet has nearly 20,000 fugitives off the streets and now behind bars.

CNN's Rusty Dornin is here to tell us all about it and how it happened.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's pretty amazing.

In a four-week period, it's apparently historically the largest roundup that they have ever had, federal, state and local authorities, of rounding up these fugitives. One of the more interesting numbers, too, of course, sex offenders, which those that were unregistered, registered, nearly 1,500 of them were picked up.

Now, our producer Wayne Drash (ph) went along on a ride-along with the U.S. Marshals and the Atlanta Police Department to try to bust some of these guys. And apparently, they have found out that many of them had cut off their bracelets, their sex offender bracelets that are supposed to keep them at home and also let law enforcement know where they are at all times.

And at one point, even one of the U.S. Marshals apparently was going 95 miles per hour across Atlanta trying to track one of these guys down. Now, when we asked the U.S. Marshal and the attorney general about this, he said, well, they have still feel like they are effective. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN CLARK, DIRECTOR, U.S. MARSHALS SERVICE: I think it's an effective tool, but clearly some offenders do cut off bracelets. They do flee. And that's when we have to go back and find them.

As the attorney general said, they are placed on bond and or given the conditions of release. And if they cut off the bracelets, then we have to go get them. But actually it is an effective means of tracking some.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DORNIN: Now, 30 percent taken into custody had already been in custody, but then apparently had been released by the judges and were back out on the streets again.

Now, where are these sex offenders coming from? Well, apparently, the largest number in Texas with 196, Georgia at 57, Louisiana with 50. And I also think Oklahoma had 66, so the heartland, quite a few folks there. But I think it's amazing numbers. And they're very happy with the fact that they have been able to round these guys up. But the real question is, can they keep them in jail? And will they be able to stay there, or will they be back out on the streets?

WHITFIELD: Oh, interesting. And a lot of these municipalities really like this because obviously it helps them financially. And they get federal dollars.

DORNIN: Exactly. This is a million-dollar operation. And it enabled them to work overtime, put a lot more people into the field and really round these guys up.

WHITFIELD: All right, Rusty Dornin, thanks so much.

LEMON: Issue number one, the economy, of course. Are prices outpacing your paycheck at the gas station, at the grocery store? New government numbers show how badly we're all getting squeezed.

The Labor Department says the inflation rate is at a 17-year high. Consumers prices surged 5 percent over the past year, fueled mostly by record gas prices and higher food costs. Compare that to the average hourly rage, which is up only 3.4 percent over last year.

Well, Fed Chief Ben Bernanke warns, inflation could drag down the economy for the rest of the year, along with the housing slump, the credit slump, and fears that more banks could go belly up. But he's also trying to give the U.S. financial system a shot of investor confidence. He tells a House panel that mortgage lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are in no danger of failing, even though the government has offered to prop them up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN BERNANKE, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: I have no particular concern about the companies, per se. But they are very critical right now to the U.S. mortgage market. And there are people out there who want to get a mortgage, people out there who would hope the housing market would come back. That can only happen if there is new renewed interest and ability to buy homes. So, these actions are intended to make our system work for the benefit of all Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Bernanke says economic growth is slow, the labor market weak and conditions have been -- quote -- "tough on average families."

Losing money, shedding jobs. American Airlines is laying off 200 pilots as part of an ongoing plan to trim the payroll by 8 percent, or 6,800 positions. American also is cutting flights and grounding older gas-guzzling planes. Its parent company, AMR, lost more than $1.4 billion in the second quarter, compared to a profit of $317 million a year ago. AMR's performance this year is actually better than Wall Street had expected.

Well, the same can be said for Delta. That airline reports a net loss of $1 billion in the second quarter. But its operating income still beat Wall Street expectations. Delta seemed to weather the spike in fuel costs.

Twelve years ago tomorrow, TWA Flight 800 blew up, plunging into the ocean and killing all 230 people on board. Today, a rule aimed at preventing a similar tragedy finally takes effect. The government is ordering most passenger planes to install a system to help keep fuel tanks from exploding.

Why the delay? Well, investigators eventually identified a fuel vapor blast in the TWA tragedy. But the FBI initially suspected a bomb. Also, airlines balked at the cost of neutralizing fuel tank vapors -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Two brewing giants are joining forces and going on a beer run.

Chicago will be the home of the new Miller/Coors joint venture formed to compete against Anheuser-Busch, which has about half the U.S. market. The two companies wanted a neutral site, deciding against Miller's home base of Milwaukee and Coors' home base of Golden, Colorado. But home base is a relative term. Miller is owned by a South African company, Coors by Canada's Molson, and Anheuser- Busch agreed this week agreed to a Belgian company's takeover bid.

Well, she has been called John McCain's meal ticket.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Politically, he is in Congress arguably because her company and her well-funded his first congressional campaign and has certainly been helpful in subsidizing his presidential campaign.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: So, we will tell you more about Cindy McCain's big- time beer money that keeps the cash flowing and the McCains living large.

LEMON: Facing a bold and...

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right, let's talk now about the Taliban, militant who are well-armed and bold. The Defense Department is looking at ways to put more American troops in Afghanistan.

And CNN's Jamie McIntyre just out of a briefing not very long ago. And he joins us now with the latest on that -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, after months of saying that the U.S. has no more troops to send to Afghanistan, the Pentagon today said it is looking for a way to dispatch reinforcements to that battlefront urgently.

That comes as new details and new questions are emerging about a deadly attack on U.S. forces on Sunday in remote Kunar Province in eastern Afghanistan. In the wake of that attack, the U.S. is reconsidering its decision to hold off on sending reinforcements until next year.

Here's what Defense Secretary Robert Gates said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GATES, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We are clearly working very hard to see if there are opportunities to send additional forces sooner, rather than later. No decisions have been made. No recommendations have been made.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: Now, Gates has already ruled out two options, extending the tours of troops already in Afghanistan and returning to longer 15-month deployments. Those two options, he said, are not under consideration.

That leaves the option of sending troops that were intended for Iraq early to Afghanistan. But then you have to decide what to do if the troops are later needed in Iraq. All of this urgency is underscored by this attack on U.S. forces on Sunday, early Sunday morning in Kunar Province.

A group of U.S. soldiers were scouting a location to build a remote outpost when they were attacked in the early morning hours by a very large group of Taliban fighters, something that the Joint Chiefs chairman, Admiral Mike Mullen, said was an extremely complex and sophisticated attack.

That's raised some questions about whether the troops were sufficiently protected and whether there was a failure of intelligence to detect that a nearby town had essentially been taken over by the Taliban fighters.

That will be the result of an after-action review. Meanwhile, the Pentagon has just released the names of the nine soldiers who were killed. They include a first lieutenant, a sergeant, six corporals, and a private 1st class, all from the 173rd Airborne Combat Brigade based in Vicenza, Italy -- Don.

LEMON: Jamie McIntyre, appreciate it.

Meantime, NATO-led forces have pulled out of a remote Afghanistan Afghan post where nine U.S. soldiers were killed by Taliban militants. You heard our Jamie McIntyre mention that. As many as 230 insurgents tried to overrun the base near the Pakistan border on Sunday.

NATO says the base has been disestablished, but patrols in the area will go on. A source tells CNN a key village nearby is at least partially controlled by the Taliban.

Well, for years, President Bush's stand on Iran has been firm -- no talks with Tehran on its nuclear program until it stops enriching uranium. Now that policy is changing, changing up to a point. The number-three official at the State Department will take part in a meeting between the European Union and Iran's top nuclear official this weekend in Switzerland. Officials say William Burns will listen at the meeting, but will not engage the Iranian negotiator one on one -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Wailing and tears on one side -- tears and a hero's welcome on the other. Israelis wept today when Hezbollah handed over two black coffins with the remains of Israeli soldiers. In return, Israel freed five Lebanese militants, including Samir Kantar. He was convicted of killing a 4-year-old Israeli girl, her father and a policeman in a 1979 attack.

Kantar was greeted as a conquering hero upon arrival in Lebanon. The capture of the two Israeli soldiers two years ago triggered the 2006 war with Lebanon. And officials had suspected that they were dead. And, today, their remains were officially identified.

WHITFIELD: A stunning development in the rescue of Ingrid Betancourt and three Americans held hostage by Colombian rebels. Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said today a Red Cross symbol was used during the operation two weeks ago. Until today, Colombia had denied using international humanitarian symbols in this rescue. Uribe says one member of the military rescue team was wearing the symbol on a bib. He said he takes full political responsibility for what he describes as a slip-up and he says he has apologized to Red Cross officials.

LEMON: Well, imagine being confused with a child sex offender. One man's story of mistaken identity and the heartache it has caused.

You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

WHITFIELD: And CNN's Drew Griffin on the terror watch list and wondering when his name might be removed. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Threats to national security were front and center today for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. The Illinois senator held a forum at Purdue University in Indiana. Among other things, Obama said one of his goals as president would be a world without nuclear weapons. He also said it's time for the U.S. to look forward, instead of backward, in its assessment of threats facing the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The danger, though, is that we're constantly fighting the last war, responding to the threats that have come to fruition, instead of staying one step ahead of the threats of the 21st century. This is what the 9/11 Commission called our failure of imagination. And, after 9/11, nowhere was this more apparent than in our invasion of Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: John McCain hopes to close a huge gap that separates him from Barack Obama among African-American voters. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee spoke today at the NAACP Convention in Cincinnati. And much of his focus, education.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If I'm elected president, school choice for all who want it and expansion of opportunity scholarships and alternative certification for teachers will be part of a serious agenda of education reform.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And in our new nationwide poll of polls, Barack Obama has widened his lead a bit over John McCain -- 47 percent of registered voters said they support Obama -- 41 percent backed McCain -- 12 percent just weren't sure. And at the beginning of the week, Obama led McCain by four percentage points. The poll of polls is an average of five different surveys.

LEMON: Now, a conflict of interest question for you. Could a President John McCain avoid issues relating to his wife's family business?

CNN's David Mattingly reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fair to say Cindy McCain is not only a wife to Senator John McCain, she is also his meal ticket. Her reported 2006 income of more than $6 million exceeded her husband's earnings 16 times over. That money pays for a wealthy lifestyle of high end condos, an Arizona ranch, flying in a corporate jet, and more. KEN VOGEL, POLITICO: He wouldn't be able to afford that were it not for her. Politically he is in Congress arguably because her company and her wealth funded his first congressional campaign and has certainly been helpful in subsidizing his presidential campaign.

MATTINGLY: It's a lifestyle built on beer. Cindy McCain is the chairman of one of the largest Anheuser-Busch distributors in the country. A company founded by her father with a value estimated at more than $100 million.

In Congress, Senator McCain has been able to avoid a conflict of interest by staying out of the family business and recusing himself from beer-related issues. But critics of that industry doubt that a President McCain would be able to stay so hands off.

BRUCE LIVINGSTON, MARIN INSTITUTE: It would not be possible. The Hensley Corporation which Cindy McCain is an owner of has lobbied 10 times in the last eight years on various issues that have gone to Congress and have gone to executive branch agencies.

MATTINGLY (on camera): As president, McCain would run a mammoth bureaucracy with regulatory control over alcohol sales, distribution and consumption. The next administration would probably have to deal with issues of beer taxes, labeling, maybe even the politically sensitive international merger just announced involving the giant Anheuser-Busch. These are all issues that could create a conflict because they could have an impact on the McCain family bottom line.

(voice-over): Though she does not run the day-to-day operations, Cindy McCain's Hensley and Company's Web site links to a newsletter, calling for a rollback in the federal beer tax. And this 2005 letter posted on the Internet by The Los Angeles Times shows company executive, Andrew McCain, yes, that is the senator's son, lobbying against a federal beer labeling proposal.

(on camera): It wouldn't be the first time a president had to distance himself from his wife's business. Lady Bird Johnson was a top breadwinner in her family, too, owning radio and television stations. All subject to federal regulation.

(voice-over): When LBJ became president, those businesses were put into a blind trust and managed by someone else. Lady Bird couldn't touch them again until she was out of the White House.

CARL SFERRAZZA ANTHONY, HISTORIAN: There's no evidence that during the White House years there was any conflict of interest there.

MATTINGLY: We sent questions to a Hensley spokesman asking what kind of options might be on the table if the chairman of the board becomes the first lady. We didn't get a reply. A spokesman for the McCain campaign says any decisions going forward will be made after John McCain wins the election and takes office, and not before.

David Mattingly, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE) LEMON: Well, Mitt Romney is on John McCain's radar screen as a potential running mate. You will want to hear what the former Republican presidential candidate has to say on CNN's "THE SITUATION ROOM WITH WOLF BLITZER." It's coming up at 4:00 p.m., right at the top of the hour, right after this broadcast.

And we have some developing news when it comes Al Gore, the former vice president, Nobel Peace Prize winner. We are being told that he is going to hold a speech tomorrow on America's energy needs. He will do that at 12:00 noon Eastern, 12:00 noon Eastern. Al Gore holds a speech on the future of America's energy needs. We will carry that for you live right here on CNN.

WHITFIELD: Making fun of politics and all the contenders, JibJab.com. Well, they are out its take on this year's race for the White House. And you can't help but laugh when you watch it. It is kind of funny. But I wonder if the candidates or even the sitting president are chuckling.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BUSINESS REPORT)

LEMON: Meantime, we have some developing news we want to get to now and our justice correspondent Kelli Arena. It involves IndyMac and the FBI looking into the collapse of that bank.

Let's go now to Kelli with the very latest -- Kelli.

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Don, that's right.

The FBI is investigating IndyMac Bank Corp. That is the California-based bank that was taken over by federal regulators just last week in the second biggest bank failure in U.S. history. A source with knowledge of this investigation tells CNN that the feds are looking into whether the bank engaged in fraud when it made home loans to risky borrowers.

Now, that investigation is primarily focused on the company and not individuals at this time. The FBI refused to comment. But it has said that it's investigating 21 corporations for possible mortgage fraud, Don. And that's something that has become a big priority over at the bureau.

LEMON: CNN's Kelli Arena with our developing news -- Kelli is on top of it. We thank you.

ARENA: You're welcome, Don.

LEMON: Fred.

WHITFIELD: CNN's Drew Griffin on the terror watch list, and wondering when is his name going to be removed.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hello again, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

WHITFIELD: Thirty minutes after the hour. Here are some of the stories we are working on. Is Washington's hard line stand on Iran easing? A U.S. envoy will attend a meeting with Iran's top nuclear official in Switzerland this weekend. A senior administration source tells CNN the trip was previously planned and has nothing to do with Iran's recent missile tests.

Fed Chief Ben Bernanke trying to give the U.S. financial system a dose of investor confidence. He tells a House panel that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are in no danger of failing even though the government has offered the mortgage giants a lifeline.

And Operation Falcon sinking its talons into people on the run. The U.S. Marshals Service says the nationwide crackdown caught nearly 20,000 fugitives. It's the fifth such operation of its kind.

LEMON: All right. Pay close attention to this because it could happen to you. It grew out of 9/11. Today, the ACLU says that is the problem. It keeps growing. The FBI says its terror watch list has 400,000 people on it. Some of whom have multiple names. The ACLU says according to a GAO report, that comes to 1 million names on the database that airlines are required to give extra scrutiny before those people fly.

The FBI says it's working, it's making air travel safer. But if your name is the same as any of the names on the list, it's making your own travel an even bigger hassle. How do you get on the list? That's what one of our very own wants to find out. Here's CNN's special investigations correspondent Drew Griffin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Washington attorney Jim Robinson is a former assistant attorney general. He is a former U.S. attorney from Michigan. He holds a high level government security clearance and he's a former law school dean, a husband, a granddad, an American. And he gets delayed, if not stopped, every time he gets on a plane? Why? Because Robinson is also one of the estimated one million names now on the terror watch list.

JIM ROBINSON, ATTORNEY: So it seems for years now, despite my best efforts to get off.

GRIFFIN: This week, Robinson joined the ACLU in Washington to mark what the ACLU calls a ridiculous milestone. A million names the government believes match known terrorists. And according to the ACLU, 20,000 new names like Robinson's are added every month. What does it mean? It means because of his name, he can't check into flights electronically. He can't check bags at the curb or check in at one of the speedy airport kiosks. Every time he travels, he and one million others need to wait in line.

ROBINSON: And see somebody who then has to make a call and determine that apparently I am not the James Kenneth Robinson who is the cause of my being on the watch list.

GRIFFIN: I'm going to Chicago this morning.

Don't think it can happen to you? It's happening to me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're on the watch list.

GRIFFIN: A watch list?

(on camera): So how did I get on this list? Well, the TSA is adamant it's not even me, even though it is me getting stopped at the airports. The TSA says it's the airlines rules. The airlines say they're following the lists provided to them by the TSA. And coincidentally, this all began in May. Shortly after I began a series of reports critical of the TSA.

(voice-over): Eleven flights now since May 19 on different airlines, my name pops up, forcing me to go to the counter, show my identification. Sometimes the agent has to make a call before I get my ticket.

ROBINSON: It's a hassle.

GRIFFIN: What does the TSA say? Nothing. At least nothing on camera. Over the phone, a public affairs worker told me again I'm not on the watch list. And don't even think that someone in the TSA or anyone else is trying to get even.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If there is any thought or shadow of a thought that TSA somehow put you on a watch list because of your reporting, it is absolutely fabricated.

GRIFFIN: Jim Robinson, who served two Democratic presidents, says he's trying not to think politics is involved either.

ROBINSON: I don't feel safer because I have to go through this hassle. I can tell you that.

GRIFFIN: The ACLU's technology chief Barry Steinhart says the list is so secretive and so shoddily put together it's hard to tell how it's being used or abused.

BARRY STEINHART, ACLU: The truth is we don't how much is bureaucratic ineptness and how much is political retaliation.

GRIFFIN: Even more frustrating than being on it is trying to get off. According to the TSA, you fill out a form online which I did on May 28. You then copy personal documents, fill out another form and send them to Homeland Security, which I also did on May 28. Then apparently you wait. Robinson has been waiting now for years.

ROBINSON: On May 2nd 2005, I filled out all their forms and made a copy of my passport, my driver's license, my voter's origination card, put it in the package and sent it off to TSA and never heard back. It certainly doesn't seem to have done me any good at all.

GRIFFIN: My wait has apparently just begun. Drew Griffin, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Well, an FBI spokesman told us today it's unfortunate some people have to deal with minor inconveniences, calling it a side effect of our efforts to fight terrorism. The spokesman said the majority of the 400,000 people on the list have multiple names, they are mostly foreigners living outside the United States.

OK. So you have been e-mailing us your stories about terror watch list hassles. And here's what you had to say. The first one is Ed from Connecticut. He writes: "My wife has been on the list for the past three years. Her name is associated with someone in an Irish terror group. Most of the time she can't get an online boarding pass. However, every so often she has no trouble." Ed goes on to say, "What good is it if sometimes you let the suspect people on planes and other times don't?"

WHITFIELD: I'm sure it's very frustrating. This from Joe who says, amazingly enough: "I am a U.S. naval officer with a secret security clearance and I am on the terrorist watch list. I am confused and frustrated by this. And the additional security measures I am subjected to."

LEMON: Here's what Cheryl wrote about what happened to her son. She says, "My eight-year-old son is on the terrorist watch list. We had a very difficult time getting him on board a plane to Chicago for a family vacation. We had to physically take him to the counter with his birth certificate to show them he was just a child and belonged to us. It was a big hassle."

We want to thank you all for writing in to us. I am imagining it is a hassle, though.

WHITFIELD: Wow, that is frustrating.

All right, well, it might be the strangest case of high-tech highjack you've ever heard of. A systems engineer threw a monkey wrench into the city of San Francisco's new computer network. And now he's sitting in jail, refusing to reveal the password that he set that keeps everybody else out of the system. Heather Ishimaru from our San Francisco affiliate KGO reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HEATHER ISHIMARU, KGO CORRESPONDENT: Forty-three-year-old Terry Child is accused of tampering with the city of San Francisco's computer network. Giving himself unlimited access, while locking out others. He's been held on $5 million bail.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My understanding is based on the charges alleged, they're deemed to be a threat to public safety and the bail was set accordingly.

ISHIMARU: Mark Jacobs is Child's public defender. He doesn't understand the bail amount. MARK JACOBS, PUBLIC DEFENDER: He doesn't kill anyplace. Murders get $1 million bail. So you do the math.

ISHIMARU: Reporters ask Jacobs if he thinks comparing it to murderers is an exaggeration.

JACOBS: Of course I'm going to say he's not a threat to society. He loves kittens. What do you want me to say?

ISHIMARU: Childs has been a network administrator for San Francisco the last five years. The network he worked on includes the city's 311 system, employee e-mail and law enforcement records. The computer server involved is now a crime scene.

GAVIN NEWSOM, MAYOR, SAN FRANCISCO: You just have a rogue employee that got a bit maniacal and full of himself.

ISHIMARU: Mayor Gavin Newsom says a team of contractors is working on undoing what Childs did.

NEWSOM: Worst case, and this is the absolute worse case, in six to eight weeks to rebuild the entire system and shut this one down.

ISHIMARU: But Department of Technology and Information Systems Ron Vincent says it does not appear any data has been lost or hurt. It's just that the appropriate people are locked out.

RON VINCENT, S.F. DEPT. OF TECHNOLOGY: It's been business as usual. We have been operating just like we would on any given day. With no down time.

ISHIMARU: Childs will be arraigned on Thursday.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Rain, rain and more rain in Mexico. Flooding out thousands of families along the Gulf Coast and near the U.S. border. Take a look at that. Rivers overflowing. Some communities are now essentially islands. Just across the border in El Paso, Texas, the mayor of Ciudad Juarez is asking the Mexican government for a disaster declaration.

And our Chad Myers joins us from the CNN Severe Weather Center to talk about all that flooding and what else we have going on. Big bad Bertha still out there, eh?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, you have warm water now. This has been a very long event for the people of Bermuda. Still feeling the effects of the wind and the waves and if you're anywhere up and down the East Coast, you're feeling the same waves. I could imagine what it looks like up in Maine now, with these waves crashing on shore with the rocky coast, not just a wave that comes onshore in the sand.

So probably some big splashes going on up there. Bertha is going to move away and on up into the Northern Atlantic and away from everyone that really matters. It may get somewhere up into Europe or may toward Greenland. But right now that doesn't look likely.

Tropical storm activity possible here. There is the Dominican Republic and there is Puerto Rico and there are the islands of Martinique and so on. There is a plane in this thing right now, an airplane, the hurricane hunter plane left near San Juan, Antigua. And it was flying around. The reason this doesn't have a name yet, they have found seven, six-mile-per-hour winds. About an hour ago they had about 15 mile per hour winds. But that's not enough to give it a depression or a name. And that's the issue here with the storm. It's not going to get anything tonight. Lost a little bit of its definition in the past couple of hours. We'll keep advised of this thing, and if it does get it, it would be -- Cristobal.

LEMON: Cristobal.

MYERS: Cristobal.

LEMON: Cristobal.

MYERS: I had to go down to CNN Espanol to get this because this is a Spanish name. From our, Guillermo, Arduino (ph) own there in CNN ...

LEMON: Get me my Blackberry, I'm going to get Rick Sanchez on the phone. He always calls me to say, you didn't say that right. Like Juarez, I'm sure he's going to say, whoa. You didn't say that ...

MYERS: That's right.

Cristobal.

LEMON: Thank you, Chad Myers. Muchos gracias. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right. Speaking of names, I say "A" for effort, Chad. I like that. What is in a name? Nothing but heartache. Especially when you have the same name as a child sex offender.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: OK, so the neighbors thought they were protecting their children. Instead, they accused an innocent man of a terrible crime. Reporter Margy Lynch of CNN affiliate KATU has the story in sweet home Oregon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD BRYAN SMITH, NOT A SEX OFFENDER: Same name, same birth date, same county of birth.

MARGY LYNCH, KATU CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Richard Bryan Smith recently discovered he has more in common than he cares to with this Nevada man. This Richard Bryan Smith has two children and teaches guitar lessons. This Richard Bryan Smith, a registered sex offender. SMITH: Also, not just a sex offender but a child sex offender. You know what I mean? There is no despicable person in the world than somebody who commits a child sex crime.

LYNCH: This Smith says he's been forced to clear his name more than once. He moved his family to Sweet Home in 2006. It didn't take long for things to sour.

SMITH: Then this flyer came out. It's one thing after another and it's escalating.

LYNCH: A flyer with a picture resembling the Oregon man, suggesting this Mr. Smith was the sex offender circulated in the neighborhood.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And looked a whole lot like him.

LYNCH: Smith says the flyer came from the neighbors Tracy and Ray Kelly.

SMITH: She said, I only put it on houses that had kids and I didn't put it on every single house.

LYNCH: The Kellys closed themselves inside when we asked for an on camera interview. Off camera, Ray Kelly said they told a couple neighbors about their suspicions thinking the two Smiths were the same man.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tracy was out for the kids. But from what I gathered, the police went to Tracy and told Tracy it wasn't him. She dropped it.

LYNCH: Even though the flyers are gone, whispers, stares and subtle comments are not.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just seen a flyer of him off the Internet that said, you know, he was supposed to be a child molester.

LYNCH: Smith is suing his neighbor and will continue his efforts to distance himself from the sex offender who shares his name and birth date.

SMITH: I am going to change my name after this is resolved. After I get this resolved I'm just going to change our last name. I'm proud of my family and I -- but this has been too much of a nightmare.

LYNCH: Meantime, he fears the damage has already been done.

SMITH: As a parent, I'm afraid for my kids. Afraid that somebody that maybe just -- that has someone that really has something against sex offenders or someone is going to come by here and do something malicious. Something is going to harm us or harm my kids.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right. That was reporter Margy Lynch of CNN affiliate KATU.

And just a short while ago I want to tell you this.

Our Kelli Arena filled us in on a story we will be following this afternoon here and also coming up at the top of the hour on THE SITUATION ROOM. It could affect you. Because we've been talking about this banks. All of these banks, one of them, at least, collapsing and having to be taken over. We're talking about IndyMac. The FBI is now looking into the IndyMac Bank Corp to see if they did anything wrong federally. Kelli Arena will have new details on that coming up in just about 10 minutes in THE SITUATION ROOM.

WHITFIELD: And he ran to Canada to avoid the Iraq War. Now, a U.S. Army deserter is back home. We'll tell you the consequences he faces.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: An American soldier who fled to Canada to avoid the Iraq War is sent back home to face the consequences of his actions. CNN's Brian Todd reports now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the kind of history Robin Long probably wishes he wasn't making. He's believed to be the first American deserter during the Iraq War handed back to the U.S. military by the Canadian government. During the Vietnam War, Canada was a haven for U.S. draft dodgers and deserters. In this case, a Canadian judge ruled that Long didn't adequately prove he'd suffer irreparable harm if he was returned to the United States.

The leader of a Canadian war resister group who had supporter Long is frustrated.

BOB AGES, VANCOUVER WAR RESISTERS: I don't think there's any doubt that someone who's been up in Canada and a vocal opponent of the war will be treated harshly by the American military.

TODD: Long, who had trained as a tank commander, took off from Fort Carson, Colorado, to avoid serving in Iraq. Even though he had volunteered for the Army, his attorney told the court that Long became disillusioned over the treatment of the Iraqi detainees and by the fact that no weapons of mass destruction had been found. In nearly three years in Canada, he fathered a child, was turned down for refugee status last year, and was arrested recently for not checking in as required with border officials.

Commanders at Fort Carson will now decide his fate, they can court-martial him, give him a less than honorable discharge or even reassign him. A former military lawyer who has defended and prosecuted deserters says the first option is the most likely.

BRENT HARVEY, MILITARY LAW ATTORNEY: I do believe he's most likely going to be court-martialed in this instance. The fact that he's been vocal, not to say they would infringe on his First Amendment right to state his case or objections, but rather his stated reason for leaving to avoid service in Iraq is going to be sort of the threshold issue for the legal authorities.

TODD (on camera): But experts say U.S. military officials may also be thinking about deterrence, sending a signal to others thinking about deserting that Canada may not be so receptive to harboring them in the future and that prison could await them.

If he's court-martialed and convicted, Robin Long could get up to five years in prison. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right. Time now to talk politics. Our political ticker, John McCain's bid to close a huge gap with Barack Obama among African-Americans, McCain spoke today at the NAACP's annual convention in Cincinnati, among other things, the Arizona senator vowed to work to improve educational opportunities for minorities.

In Indiana today, Senator Evan Bayh and former Senator Sam Nunn of Georgia both joined Obama to talk about national security issues at Purdue University. Nunn and Bayh are widely believed to be on Obama's vice presidential short list.

And you may remember JibJab's spoof on the presidential race four years ago? Well, the Web site's at it again. Check out JibJab's view of the outgoing president and the candidates who hope to replace him.

(MUSIC)

LEMON: It's kind of a catchy tune, right. I guess because they're using another tune as a time saver.

Anyway, check out our political ticker for all the latest campaign news. Log onto cnnpolitics.com. Your source for all things political.

And speaking of politics, what do you think we check in with Mr. Wolf Blitzer?

WHITFIELD: I think that's a good idea. Wolf Blitzer in Washington, what's coming up?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Thanks very much, guys. We have lots coming up, including much more on John McCain. He spoke to the NAACP convention. Even though his opponent right now according to the polls has about 90 percent if not more of the African American vote. You're going to hear what got McCain the biggest applause.

Plus a major American city locked out of its own high-tech computer network, police say it's because of one rogue employee and they can't make him talk.

And more U.S. troops may be heading to Afghanistan right now. As new details emerge about an attack that left nine American soldiers dead. All that and a lot more at the top of hour on LATE EDITION. Back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right. We'll be watching. Thanks so much, Wolf.

Well, what's standing in the way of your dream. Age? A disability? Forget all that. This Oregon woman, that's who we're talking about, she is freefalling and showing us all that life is to be lived, and the hardship to overcome. Oh, go. How fun.

LEMON: Did he say LATE EDITION?

WHITFIELD: Did I? Oh.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Great song. Some people follow their dreams. Others freefall into them. This is Kazuko Rene (ph), 71-years-old taking life head-on despite her age and being totally blind. I know, she's making her first-ever skydive. Rene said being 71 and sightless doesn't necessarily mean handicapped. You go, girl. Right. Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: That's excellent.

LEMON: Love it.

WHITFIELD: All right. Closing bell is about to close on Wall Street.

LEMON: And Stephanie Elam standing by with a final look at the trading day. It is a good thing Wall Street is not freefalling today.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the first day in a while I feel like I don't have to use the word freefall all year. I'd rather that story. It's a happy one. We had a nice rally on Wall Street today. Oil a big catalyst behind the market's rise. Oil dropped more than $4.000 to below $135 a barrel. That means oil is down close to over $11.00 over the past two days. A little bit of relief there. Airline stocks benefited from the slide in oil today. But they're still feeling the pain.

We had a report from Fitch saying bankruptcy is not out of the question for some of the U.S. airlines as we move into next year.

There you go, there's the bell. The Dow up 280 points, 11,242. A gain of 2.5 percent. NASDAQ up three percent at 2,284. Don and Fred, have a good one.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks. You, too.

SITUATION ROOM is coming up.

LEMON: With Mr. Wolf Blitzer. Take it away, Wolf.

BLITZER: Thanks very much, guys.