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Tropical Storm Dolly Expected to Hit Texas; Keeping Your Money Safe; Treasury Secretary Asks Congress to Save Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac; War Crimes Suspect Radovan Karadzic Arrested in Serbia

Aired July 22, 2008 - 13:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Where will it hit? How hard will it strike? People across the Gulf Coast bracing for Dolly.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: A long plunge into a narrow shaft, a trapped man losing air by the second. Did rescuers get to him in time?

LEMON: Also, your e-mails, your bank statements, your notes to friends and loved ones. A tangled tale out of Philly will make you ask how safe are they?

PHILLIPS: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips live in New York.

LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon, live here at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: It's the top of the hour. We want to update you on a story that we've been following out of the Ft. Worth, Texas, area.

Within the last hour rescuers finally got to a man, or got this man out of a tight gas well shaft. He was about 40 feet down, and what we understand now is he was having trouble breathing because the shaft was too narrow. The shaft measures 14 inches by 18 inches. So there was not much breathing room in there.

He spent about three hours trapped before those rescuers were able to get in there and take him to the hospital. We are waiting to hear how he's doing. We're going to keep you posted.

LEMON: We're also following developing weather news. Waiting and watching for Dolly from Rio San Fernando in Mexico to Port O'Connor, Texas. People are wondering where the storm will hit and whether it'll be a hurricane when it does.

Right now Dolly is still a tropical storm. Some people are still on the beaches, and local and state officials have plans already in hand for evacuations and emergency shelters.

Jacqui Jeras is tracking Dolly from our hurricane headquarters.

How close is it to land, Jacqui Jeras?

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Just over 200 miles away now, Don. So it's closing in. And you know, there's a little uncertainty in the timing of the land fall. And that has to do with the speed of the storm.

If it stays at 12 miles per hour, where it is right now, it would make land fall somewhere around 8 p.m. or 7 p.m. Central Time tomorrow morning. But it's expected to continue to slow down as it has been doing over the last couple of hours. So we're thinking it will probably happen after breakfast but before lunch.

Maximum sustained winds right now is 70 miles per hour, gusting up to 85. You've got to be 74 to be a hurricane, and we think that could happen even before the next advisory comes in, about an hour from now.

Here's your forecast track. We have a high level of confidence it's going to be coming in somewhere near the Texas-Mexico border and likely as a Category 1 hurricane.

Now, the impact's already being felt by this storm. The wave action is starting to pick up. The warnings are in place right now. And the shower and thundershower activity is just off the shore.

We're going to check in now with our CNN's Reynolds Wolf, who is on South Padre Island. And Reynolds, as I take a look at this shot, you are certainly not alone. That's a little surprising to me.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Oh, yes. Right now for the time being we've seen things get a little bit worse here, Jacqui. The wind has begun to pick up. I know you've mentioned it before. Progress of the storm is (AUDIO GAP) to lose a little bit of its speed. But still, here in terms of velocity, definitely picking up.

One thing that has also begun to pick up, we still have plenty of people that are here. We've had some crowds make their way down to (AUDIO GAP) leaving. (AUDIO GAP) have here on the island, Jacqui...

JERAS: I think there's...

LEMON: Yes. We're having a little trouble...

JERAS: Yes.

LEMON: ... with Reynolds Wolf's mike there. We'll get back to Reynolds, Jacqui. But of course, we're watching developments on that storm. And Jacqui, tell us about what you have coming up as it concerns this storm.

JERAS: Yes, we've got a great new product that's exclusive to CNN here. And we're going to roll it out for you about in 25 minutes from now. It's called our hurricane impact zone. It's going to talk about what kind of economic impact especially that this storm will have on south Texas.

LEMON: All right. Thank you very much for that, Jacqui Jeras. Reynolds Wolf, who is on South Padre Island. We'll get back to him in just a little bit and get a live report from Reynolds -- Reynolds.

But we want to tell you, when the weather becomes the news, of course, remember to send us your iReports. Go to iReport.com or type "iReport@CNN.com" right into your cell phone. But remember, we want you to stay safe.

PHILLIPS: Well, the mortgage crisis in big banks, the numbers keep adding up, and they get more dramatic by the day.

Wachovia, the fourth largest U.S. bank, has reported a nearly $9 million loss for the second quarter. It plans to cut more than 6,300 jobs and slash payments to shareholders.

Right now, you might be asking yourself one question: is my bank account safe? We will tell you what you can do and what you should not do in just a few minutes.

Now Henry Paulson knows what he wants lawmakers to do. The treasury secretary is pushing Congress to pass a government plan to back up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Paulson says that the mortgage- lending giants might not need the help, but he says having a plan in place might soothe nervous investors and stabilize the battered housing market.

Susan Lisovicz will have more for us, straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

Let's get live at Wall Street now. We're keeping an eye on the big board. Looks like Dow Industrials right now up 25 points, and stocks are down today after Wachovia news and disappointing earnings reports from American Express, Apple, and Texas Instruments.

Better news on the fuel market, though. Oil prices steadily dropping after word that Tropical Storm Dolly likely won't hurt production in the Gulf of Mexico. Plus, gas prices are seeing a fifth straight drop in five days. AAA says the national average for unleaded is around $4.06 a gallon.

LEMON: All right, let's talk politics now. Jordan and then Jerusalem. The latest stops on Barack Obama's overseas trip. Right now the Democratic presidential candidate is in Amman, where he's been holding talks and holding dinner with Jordan's King Abdullah.

In a news conference in the Jordanian capital that you may have seen live right here on CNN, Obama talked about his earlier stop in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The message we heard from Iraq's leaders is that they're ready to do more. And they want to take more responsibility for their country.

I believe that the best way to support Iraqi sovereignty and encourage the Iraqis to stand up is through the responsible redeployment of our combat brigades. I welcome the growing consensus in the United States and Iraq for a timeline. My view, based on the advice of military experts, is that he we can redeploy safely in 16 months so our combat brigades are out of Iraq in 2010. (END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And next hour Obama is to leave Jordan for Israel.

Republican candidate John McCain is taking more jabs today at Barack Obama over the Democratic candidate's stance on Iraq. The Arizona senator is campaigning right new in New Hampshire, the state that helped bring his troubled primary campaign back to life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And my friends, that would have been a catastrophe for the United States of America. He was wrong then, he's wrong now, and he still fails to acknowledge -- he still fails to acknowledge that the surge succeeded. A remarkable, remarkable.

And as you know he just received his first briefing ever from General Petraeus. And he declared his policy towards Iraq before he left. Before he left.

And so, the fact is, we have made progress, and we have succeeded. And we will be coming home, my friends. Our troops will be withdrawing, but they'll come home in honor and victory. They will not come home in defeat. They will come home...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So let's talk polls now. Barack Obama has a slim lead over John McCain in a new presidential poll in New Hampshire; 46 percent of the registered voters surveyed said they support Obama. Forty-three percent back McCain. Eight percent are undecided, and 3 percent prefer some other candidate.

Now, back in April, McCain led Obama by 6 percentage points in the University of New Hampshire poll -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, another bizarre attack in downtown Jerusalem today. Police say a Palestinian man was shot and killed after he rammed a back hoe into several vehicles. Five people were injured. The driver of the back hoe was shot by an Israeli civilian and a police officer.

The attack is similar to one earlier this month when another Palestinian plowed his front loader into several vehicles and pedestrians in Jerusalem, killing three people. That attacker also was shot and killed.

Today's incident happened just hours before Senator Barack Obama is to arrive in that city.

LEMON: In disguise and on the run for more than 12 years, Radovan Karadzic, one of the world's most wanted war criminals, is finally under arrest. Serbian officials say the former Bosnian Serb president was taken into custody last night near Serbia's capital, Belgrade. Karadzic was in power during the Bosnian war in the early 1990s. He's accused of masterminding the executions of up to 8,000 Muslim men and boys. The judge today ordered him transfer -- to transfer to the U.N. War crimes tribunal in the Netherlands, where he'll face charges of genocide.

We'll have more on this story later when we talk with former U.S. special envoy to the Balkans Richard Holbrooke.

Here's some facts about Radovan Karadzic you may not know. His nickname was the Butcher of Bosnia. Karadzic was born in 1945 in Montenegro. At one time he was a practicing psychiatrist. In 1992, Karadzic declared himself the president of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

PHILLIPS: Opening statements today in the first U.S. war crimes trial since World War II. The defendant is Salim Hamdan, Osama bin Laden's former driver and alleged bodyguard. If convicted of conspiracy and supporting terrorism, he could be sentenced to life in prison.

The judge earlier threw out some of the statements that Hamdan made during questioning, saying they were made in highly coercive settings in Afghanistan. That trial is being held at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

LEMON: The mortgage mess is blamed for big money problems at the nation's fourth biggest bank. If your money's in Wachovia, is it safe? We'll check in with our personal finance editor, Gerri Willis.

PHILLIPS: E-mails at work. A fired news anchor is in trouble for allegedly hacking into his glamorous former co-anchor's e-mails. How safe are your messages? We'll tell you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: A lifelong Texas oil man is now pushing for an alternative. T. Boone Pickens is appearing before a Senate panel today. He is touting his plan to cut U.S. dependence on oil through alternative energy sources like wind and natural gas.

Pickens has already launched a multimedia blitz. And you might have seen some of his ads on TV. Well, today he sent a message to the presidential contenders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

T. BOONE PICKENS, FOUNDER, CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: I want to elevate this into the presidential debate, and it's not there yet. OK? Elevate it there. By the time we get the elections over, whoever wins, the American people are going to demand they know the truth about energy, they know what they're up against, and they will respond.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, Pickens says his alternative plan could cut America's dependency on foreign oil by nearly 40 percent.

PHILLIPS: Well, another big bank posts a big loss because of the mortgage crisis. We told you just a few minutes ago about Wachovia reporting nearly $9 billion in losses in the second quarter. And right now, wherever you bank, you might be asking, is my account safe?

CNN personal finance editor Gerri Willis here with the answer.

Well, let's start with, first of all, I guess, how big was this loss?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Oh, the loss was huge. And analysts did not expect this at all. And it was very disappointing.

But I think that when you really drill down into the numbers, Wachovia was writing off everything but the kitchen sink. They have a new CEO. He's getting a fresh start now. Anything that happens in the next quarter should look better by comparison.

It's interesting to dig down in those numbers, because they do have a lot of problems with bad loans. As a matter of fact, even inside of these -- this very interesting statement they talked about how they've had to assign 1,000 people to bad loans to change them and rewrite them. So...

PHILLIPS: What did Paulson said exactly?

WILLIS: Well, Henry Paulson, speaking this morning in New York City, talking about the banking crisis. He says that 99 percent of U.S. banks are solvent. He's trying to get people's confidence up here.

He made a comparison, put it in context a little bit with the S&L crisis that happened some 20 years ago. He said at the height of that crisis, some 255 banks were going out of business each and every year. We have five banks that went out this year. So you can see, it doesn't even really compare.

PHILLIPS: Put it in perspective?

WILLIS: Yes. So he's trying to tell folks, don't worry, it's going to get better. But as you see, Wachovia still really struggling here. Very bad numbers.

PHILLIPS: So how do we protect ourselves?

WILLIS: Well, this is, you know -- this is not a time to pull your money out of the bank. People are asking me all the time, "Hey, do I take my money out of the bank and put it somewhere else? What do I do?"

I say look for that FDIC logo. That's the thing that's going to save you. You want to make sure your money is in an FDIC-ensured bank. That means that if you have $100,000 in an individual account, you are good for that money. If you have $200,000 in a joint account -- say, you're married -- you're good. Two hundred fifty thousand in a retirement account, an IRA, you'll be fine.

Make sure you have that logo, though. If you don't, pull your money out. Most people will be insured.

And of course, check these banks out. You can actually get a bank rating at BankRating.com. Nice little ratings, easy to understand: a single number to know if your bank is solvent or not.

PHILLIPS: Even though it's a big-name bank, you still want to do your homework.

WILLIS: Small and regional banks probably most at risk here, even though you're seeing these horrific numbers from the nation's fourth largest bank. Really want to look into it if you're at a small institution.

PHILLIPS: Gerri Willis, thanks so much.

WILLIS: My pleasure.

PHILLIPS: And of course, you can see more of Gerri and the rest of the CNN financial team every weekday at noon eastern, "ISSUE #1." Everything you need to know about keeping your money safe and making more of it, of course. Again, that's weekdays at noon Eastern only on CNN.

PHILLIPS: Radovan Karadzic, accused war criminal in the murder of thousands, now in custody. What was he really like? We'll talk with the former U.S. diplomat who negotiated with him face to face.

PHILLIPS: And your e-mails, bank statements, personal messages, just how safe are they? We've got a story that will have you looking twice at your coworkers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

We want to talk now about Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. He's pushing Congress to pass a rescue plan for two mortgage giants. But it could come with a very hefty price tag.

Susan Lisovicz joins us now from the New York Stock Exchange with all the details on that.

Hello, Susan. What is he asking?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we have an estimate, and it is a huge one: $25 billion, Don. That's how much the Congressional Budget Office estimates the rescue plan for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could cost the government if it needed to step in.

But Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is urging Congress to quickly approve the package, saying it's crucial to getting the economy back on track.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY PAULSON, TREASURY SECRETARY: Housing is not only important to our economy: it is also the largest factor currently impacting our financial markets. The sooner we work through the housing correction, the sooner home prices will stabilize and uncertainty about the values of mortgage-related assets will be more easily determined.

So now more than ever, we need Fannie and Freddie out there financing mortgages.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LISOVICZ: The plan includes giving Fannie and Freddie temporarily unlimited lines of credit and allowing the treasury to buy Fannie and Freddie shares, if needed, Don.

LEMON: But you know what, Susan? There's been a lot of criticism of that plan. Some say it's taxpayers that will ultimately foot the bill. What does Paulson say about that?

LISOVICZ: Well, Paulson says the best way to protect the taxpayer is to have flexible powers that are temporary. He says that's the best way to boost market confidence in the two companies and minimize the likelihood that the government would need to lend a hand.

He also says the plan would bolster the capital markets and the broader economy. And he says the plan, remember, is just a backup and that Fannie and Freddie may never need to draw any money.

Congress will take up the bill tomorrow.

Fannie and Freddie shares, well, they're down sharply, at least 5 percent each. A big drop in oil prices, too. Down $4 today. Helping the overall market, the Dow Industrials right now up 30 points. The NASDAQ is down 5 points.

And in -- later on in the show, we'll be talking about consumer spending from two companies that know a lot about it, Apple and American Express.

Don, back to you.

LEMON: Oh, yes. OK. Thank you, Susan, look forward to that.

LISOVICZ: You're welcome.

PHILLIPS: The tough economy seems to be chasing home -- or chasing some women home, rather. A study today from the Joint Economic Committee in Congress finds that there are fewer women in the U.S. workforce. The number declined more than 2 percentage points this decade.

But they aren't dropping out to care for kids or home. They're leaving the workforce for the same reason men do; they're losing money. The Economic Policy Institute finds the median pay for women in their prime working years in 2004 was about $15.10 an hour. But look what happened last year: that figure was down to $14.84.

LEMON: With Dolly turning ever closer, we head to the Internet to see how people are preparing for that storm.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon live here at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips in New York. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

It's 1:28 Eastern Time right now, and here's some of the stories we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Tropical Storm Dolly getting stronger by the hour. It's packing almost 70 miles an hour winds in the Gulf of Mexico, nearing hurricane strength. Hurricane warnings are now in effect along a big chunk of the Texas and Mexico Gulf Coast.

Wachovia Bank trying to recover from a big loss. The fourth biggest U.S. bank reports losing almost $9 billion in the second quarter. Wachovia's cutting more than 6,300 jobs and slashing payments to shareholders.

And three hours trapped in a narrow shaft and struggling to breathe. That's what a Texas man went through after plunging 40 feet into the gas well shaft near Ft. Worth. Rescuers finally pulled him out. He was taken to the hospital. No word yet on his condition.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LEMON: And the closer Tropical Storm Dolly gets to south Texas, the more people are watching the sky.

And our Veronica de la Cruz is watching the web to see how they are faring.

Veronica, we want to know they are faring and what are they talking about?

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, I've been watching the web like you were just saying. And here's what I found in Corpus Christi.

Let's take a look at the web site for "The Collar." It is the local newspaper there, that's the of the front page. And you can see, all the top stories, the headlines there, revolving around Dolly.

I want to show you some photos now, Don. Give you a real visual. These are some pictures taken by staff photographers. And they really do give you the best glimpse in to how people are preparing for this storm. In the shot you see a couple of residents, Michael Gorsline (ph), Ronda Michael, they're getting ready by boarding up their home. And then in the next photo, Don, Joe and Lina Torres (ph), they're stopping off to refill their water bottles. They say, they're preparing because you never really do know what can happen.

The next shot, Don, shows the care that local grocery stores are taking to make sure that they have all the basic necessities on hand for people that live in the area. And the staff says they have plenty of everything there, canned goods, bottled water, as you can see by this picture.

And Don, even though it may be a beautiful day there right now, if you look closely at the sign on this stretch of highway, it reads, storm forming, fill your gas tanks. So, the good news is, I was reading the message boards on the caller, Don and a lot of the folks say that they're pretty happy with the work that the City of Corpus Christi has been doing so far.

LEMON: All right. That was Corpus Christi, Veronica.

What about the rest of Texas? Texas is a big place.

DE LA CRUZ: Yes. OK, well let's go ahead and head south then. About 140 miles. And take a look at our affiliate web site KBGT. Top of the page there , a hurricane warning with possible land fall tomorrow, as we know. Also, bunch of stories on Dolly, as we scroll up the page.

And one of those stories, Don, has to do with evacuation shelters, they're opening five shelters throughout the county. They're looking for volunteers right now.

Also KRGV, that's another one of our affiliates. Here's the web site there. Big red box, you see that, warns that Dolly's on the way, weather alert. And their top story, "Hidalgo County Setting Up Emergeny Care Centers." So let's go ahead and click on the video and take a listen to what it has to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course, you can see the sandbags are being filled right now available for residents to pick them up. We'll have the sandbag locations available for you. We're going to list them on the newscast in just a few minutes. As for construction sites...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DE LA CRUZ: So, just a tiny portion of what that video says. The reporter goes to on say, all the construction sites have been stopped in preparation of this storm. Talks a little bit more about where residents can pick up those sand bags that we were watching be filled up.

He also says that evacuations aren't expected unless Dolly becomes a Cat Three storm. We know that Jacqi Jeras has been saying so far, it's just a category one.

So, there's a quick look, Don, at how parts of Texas are preparing for the storm. I want to remind people to go ahead and send in your own i-Reports. Send us your pictures and video, but of course, please do be careful, especially as this hurricane makes land fall -- Don.

LEMON: Veronica de la Cruz.

Thank you very much for that, Veronica -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, as we reported, war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic was arrested last night in Serbia. He is to be moved to the International War Crimes Tribunal in the Netherlands, where he will face charges of genocide. Stemming from the murder of thousands of Muslims in the 1990s.

CNN's Alessio Vinci reports on how the former Bosnian Serb president managed to evade capture for nearly 13 years.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They looked for him as far as the mountains of eastern Bosnia. But after more than a decade on the run, Radovan Karadzic, one of Europe's most wanted men, was arrested in a Belgrade suburb.

Authorities say Karadzic, who is wanted on a string of war crimes charges, managed to escape arrest by changing his appearance. This photo released by Serb officials shows him thin with a long beard and sporting glasses, unrecognizable if compared with his look a decade ago.

RASIM LJAJIC, COUN. OF COOPERATION WITH HAGUE TRIBUNAL (through translator): He was very convincing in his covert operations and hiding his personality. He worked in a private medical practice as a doctor. His last place of abode was near Belgrade.

VINCI: A Serb official says even the people who rented Karadzic's flat, didn't know who he was.

VLADIMIR VUKCEVIC, SERBIA WAR CRIMES PROSECUTOR (through translator): He's moved freely throughout the city.

VINCI: Karadzic's brother, Luka, was allowed to visit the former Bos and Serb leader.

LUKA KARADZIC, RADOVAN KARADZIC'S BROTHER (through translator): He's in good health. He has lost a lot of weight. But he's normal. He's reasonable. He's also full of optimism because he knows how guilty or not guilty he is.

VINCI: A handful of Karadzic supporters singing national songs, gathered outside the court on Monday night. In the streets, reaction was mixed.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN (through translator): The question is, why haven't they arrested him earlier? This just shows we work only under pressure.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I can tell you that what they're doing now is high treason. Before people used to go to prison for that. And today's traders are doing what they want in Serbia.

VINCI: In Sarajevo, which Karadzic's forced shelled heavily during the 1992 and 1995 Bosnia War, killing thousands, had different reactions. Munira Sabic, lost two sons in Srebrenitsa, where Karadzic is accused of overseeing a massacre that resulted in the death of nearly 8,000 Muslim men and boys.

MUNIRA SABIC, MOTHER OF SREBRENICA VICTIMS (through translator): This news is not just important to me, but to all honest Bosnians.

VINCI (on camera): Karadzic is expected to be extradited to the U.N. War Crimes Tribunal in Hague, in a matter of days. A decision his lawyer says, he will appeal.

Alessio Vinci, CNN, Belgrade.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, joining us now, is someone who actually sat face to face with Radovan Karadzic. Richard Holbrooke is a former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. and former U.S. Special Envoy to the Balkans. He was the chief architect of the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement that ended the war in Bosnia.

Ambassador Holbrooke joining us now, live from Washington.

Good to see you, sir.

RICHARD HOLBROOKE, FMR. U.S. ENVOY TO BALKANS: Thank you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Let's put into perspective just how huge this capture is. I mean, he was worse than Slovedan Milosevic, right?

HOLBROOKE: I thought so. Of all the big three -- the evil big three, Milosevic, General Mladic and Karadzic. I thought Karadzic was the worst because he was the intellectual architect of ethnic cleansing.

He was a poet, he was a psychiatrist, he was American educated. He really had intellectualized that this is a historic day, Kyra. And as he goes to the Hague in a few days, it will show the world that war crimes can be prosecuted. I hope President Bashir in Sudan, who's just been indicted by the International Criminal Court, will get the message loud and clear.

You can run and Karadzic ran for 12 years before he was caught. But in the end, you're going to get caught up with.

PHILLIPS: And you're the one that had to go face to face with him and negotiate with him. I know that you didn't even shake his hand.

HOLBROOKE: That's right.

PHILLIPS: What was that like? Take me to that moment. And when you looked him in the eyes, did you just see pure evil but you knew you had to do what you did?

HOLBROOKE: We negotiated with Milosevic, who was also an evil man. But, he was the head of the government and he hadn't been indicted yet. At a certain point in September of 1995, Milosevic said Karadzic and Mladic are waiting at a hunting villa outside Belgrade, do you want to meet with them?

We had anticipated this and we consulted with each other. My Military deputy was General Wes Clark, my Civilian Deputy, Chris Hill, now the North Korean negotiator, we decided we would meet with Karadzic and Mladic. I decided I personally wouldn't shake their hands. And we spent about 12 hours arguing with them. He was screaming and yelling at times, but our goal was to get him to lift the siege of Serejevo.

We were bombing him at the time, Kyra. And I want to stress that. It helps when you're bombing somebody. We had his attention. And we told him the bombing would continue and intensify unless he stopped the siege. Within 24 hours, he did stop the siege and that opened the road to the Dayton Agreements.

Now, Milosevic wanted to bring Karadzvic and Mladvic to Dayton. And I said to Milosevic, be my guest. We'll arrest them as soon as they arrive. So, they didn't come to Dayton and we negotiated without them and I never saw them again.

But, yes, he was the most evil man I've ever met in my life.

PHILLIPS: I can't imagine just being in the same room and having to do what you had to do.

HOLBROOKE: Well, some of your colleagues, Kyra, like Christiane Amanpour, she covered him. And Christiana's vivid memories. And many other people negotiated with him. We didn't want to negotiate with them. We took a very tough line, this was the one exception.

PHILLIPS: Well, it ended the war.

Let me ask you, does it surprise you or -- I guess, how did he slip through the cracks? I mean, what amazes me is that he lived in monasteries and other hidden places, even practiced medicine for a number of years.

How did he do that?

HOLBROOKE: He grew a beard, he was protected by people who knew who he was. And NATO did not make an all out effort to capture him at the beginning, which in 1996, which was a terrible mistake. They knew exactly where he was. And then, he slipped away and he was sheltered by people.

He is a doctor, but the really -- I want to stress this. The capturing him is not just about the past. He was actively undermining stability in the region. He was the most dangerous kind of man, an evil, but charismatic man. Some people would say that also described Adolf Hitler. That he was an evil but charismatic man. And this is a huge historic day for anyone who cares about justice, not only in Bosnia, but international war crime justice, as well.

PHILLIPS: That man definitely does not deserve freedom.

Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, great talking to you today.

HOLBROOKE: Thank you, Kyra.

LEMON: All right. Here's the story that just about everyone can relate to. Even at home, at work. Imagine this -- if your personal internet accounts were broken into and leaked by someone you work with every day.

Those are the allegations in a very high profile case involving some high-profile TV news anchors. And when you hear about it, you'll wonder just how safe and secure your e-mails are.

Now, this is full transparency here. I have to let you know that I worked with Larry Minty who is the focus of this piece when I was an anchor and reporter in Philadelphia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON (voice-over): Prosecutors in Philadelphia call it a tangled web of sabotage by a co-worker who used the internet to do his dirty work.

LAURIE MAGID, U.S. ATTORNEY: The defendant here is charged with a systematic pattern of intrusion that included not a dozen incidents, not a hundred incidents but hundreds of incidents.

LEMON: More than 500 times, according to court documents, Larry Minty, the 51-year-old high profile local CBS main anchor man, somehow hacked into his co-anchor, Alicia Lane's personal e-mail account, from home and even from work. Sometimes during commercial breaks.

MAGID: Many of the intrusions took place just minutes apart. Sometimes as many as a dozen times a day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: CBS 3 announced today that Alicia Lane has been released from her contract.

LEMON: The FBI got involved after an employee at the station saw Lane's open e-mail account on a computer, months after Lane had been fired from the station, after a series of embarrassing incidents, including being arrested for assaulting a New York City police officer. The charges were later dropped or downgraded and Lane pleaded not guilty. But prosecutors alleged Minty printed some of the e-mails and also fed private information about Lane, to local newspapers.

Lane's law suit alleges Minty was jealous of her higher salary, reportedly $800,000 a year, and her growing popularity. The FBI says the case goes beyond jealousy.

JANICE FEDARCYK, FBI: If we were talking about Mr. Minty tapping into another person's telephone and listening to those protected and privileged conversations, the violation would be obvious.

LEMON: Minty's lawyers say he is cooperating and plans to plead guilty. But prosecutors warn about keeping your passwords private.

MAGID: Those passwords are there for a reason. People need to take them seriously. Keep those passwords private because that's what's protecting your private information.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right. So we want to hear from you.

Do you feel safe looking at personal information at work. Your e-mails, your bank statements, or other private information?

We want you to e-mail us at CNNnewsroom@CNN.com and we'll share some of your responses right here, on the air -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: We're following a small plane crash out of Florida for you right now. Live pictures from our affiliate there, WPEC, out of Ocean Ridge, Florida.

Apparently this small plane had crashed right there on Highway A1A, in Ocean Ridge. That's just north of Boynton Beach Boulevard. It happened about 1:00 p.m. And it actually, it might have hit that nearby house or building and looks like it sort of wrapped around that steel pole there. That plane, we're told, is a Cessna. It may belong to an owner in south Florida.

Right now A1A Highway is closed off in that area. But we're continuing to follow the investigation and we'll try and let you know what happened.

LEMON: Well, they're usually the hottest things on the nachos, now they're the hottest lead in the salmonella case. Uncle Sam says, hold the jalapenos, at least for now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: So, they are the hottest lead in the salmonella mystery. Jalapeno peppers, we're talking about. A strain of the bacteria turned up on a pepper grown in Mexico and warehoused in Texas. Now, the Federal government has some advice. That advice is hold the jalapenos, at least for now.

Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen here now, on how the did the salmonella get into the jalapenos, or on to the jalapenos? I still have some in my fridge, by the way.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. And I think the FDA would tell you, you should probably get rid of them.

LEMON: OK.

COHEN: It's probably time. There are so many different ways that salmonella could get on a jalapeno pepper or really on any produce. Let's go through all of the ways. Because I think people don't realize how many places their produce goes.

It could have come from the soil that the jalapenos were grown in. It could have come from the water that was used to wash and to process them. It could have been the salmonella could have been on the work surfaces of the processing plant or could have actually been in the packing boxes.

So, lots of different ways that salmonella can get on a jalapeno pepper. All we know is, boy was it effective, whatever happened. 43 states have now reported illnesses with this strain of salmonella called, Salmonella Saint Paul.

LEMON: Those poor tomatoes. I mean, seriously, not just the tomatoes, the industry took a beating you know, when they first announced this. And the FDA said, oh it's coming from these tomatoes, this is safe, this is not. Jalapenos, that industry, is this going to do the same thing?

COHEN: It may take a beating, too.

Now, most jalapenos that are consumed in this country are actually grown in Mexico. But, they are processed in the U.S. So yes, the jalapeno processors in the United States are preparing for possibly taking a beating as well, like tomatoes did.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: OK. Thank you, Elizabeth Cohen. Appreciate it.

PHILLIPS: Well, you know his work, you know his name. But do you know his passion? We're going to hear from director Spike Lee on what it's like to be black in America.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, CNN is bringing you an open and unflinching look at what it is like to be black in America. The two-night documentary beings tomorrow.

But out Soledad O'Brien gives us a preview today, examining negative stereotypes and the Hollywood director who's fighting to change them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN (voice-over): Spike Lee is an award-winning director and producer of more than 35 films.

SPIKE LEE, DIRECTOR, PRODUCER: I get tired of watching the news, local news, and seeing this negative images of young African-American men. O'BRIEN (on camera): There are people who say but, look at numbers of African-American men in prison. Look at the black-on-black crime.

LEE: But let's show some balance. And there people out here, who are doing the right thing. Who aren't having babies out of wedlock, who are taking care of their children.

O'BRIEN" Why is there reluctance to put them on TV.

LEE: Why? That's not what they want to see.

O'BRIEN (voice-over): Spike developed his sense of what Americans want to see the hard way, by making many movies that never became blockbuster hits. Artistic successes like "Malcolm X," do the right thing pushed way beyond the stereotypes.

LEE: You have success stories and have you tragic stories. And I think that you have to tell them all.

O'BRIEN: He's one of the best-known directors around. But Spike still struggles to get financial backing from Hollywood studios for the kind of movies he wants to make.

LEE: I'm not saying it's impossible to get a black film made. I'm talking about specific types of black films. And I want to do a comedy. Have black folks shucking and jiving with croonery and buffoonery. I'd get $100 million for that, in a second.

O'BRIEN: He finally had a box office hit in 2006, with "Inside Man." A bank heist thriller which made nearly twice the U.S. take of "Malcom X."

(on camera): $300 million worldwide.

LEE: Include DVD sales.

O'BRIEN: That's a ton of money.

LEE: Ton of money.

O'BRIEN: That's success clearly, that you're still going hat-in- hand.

LEE: It was an eye opener. Because I've always been told well, Spike, you never had a film that made over $100 million. But you know, what we care about is box office.

O'BRIEN: Is it because you are black?

LEE: I think a lot has to do with it.

JOSEPH PHILLIPS, ACTOR, COLUMNIST: There's another truth that Spike doesn't talk about.

O'BRIEN: Columnist Joseph Phillips has been an actor in Hollywood for more than 20 years. Since starring in "The Cosby Show."

PHILLIPS: He's forgetting that this is a business. And unless he can justify why he should get that much money, he's not going to get it. And that has nothing to do with race.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And again, you can join CNN's Soledad O'Brien for a two-part special, "Black in America, Part One: The Black Woman and the Family," airs at 9:00 p.m. Eastern tomorrow. And the second part, "The Black Man," airs at 9:00 p.m. Eastern on Thursday. Only right here on CNN.

LEMON: And Kyra, we have some sad news to report here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

She played Sophia Petrillo on "The Golden Girls," back in the '80s and early '90s. We're talking about award-winning actress Estelle Getty. According to the Associate Press, Estelle Getty has died at the age of 84.

The Associated Press is reporting her son says the co-star of TV's "Golden Girls" died Tuesday, at her home in Los Angeles. She suffered from advanced dementia in later life. Remember her as Sophia Petrillo. Remember her with all those zainy women on "The Golden Girls." According to the Associated Press, Estelle Getty, dead at the age of 84.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: 70-mile-an-hour winds and getting stronger. Dolly eyes the Gulf Coast, the Gulf Coast eyes dolly.

PHILLIPS: In the Middle East, Barack Obama says it is time to act, and act now.

LEMON: And not fit to print. "The New York Times" says no to John McCain's op-ed. The McCain camp fires back.

Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live here at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.