Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Comedian Bernie Mac Dies; Tourist Killed in Beijing, Another Injured; Edwards Sex Scandal; Four-Day Workweek; Russian and Georgian Troops Battle; China Revokes Olympian's Visa
Aired August 09, 2008 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: From the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, I've got myself...
MELISSA LONG, CNN ANCHOR: You all dressed?
HOLMES: I've come together now.
LONG: Everything together?
HOLMES: Yes.
LONG: Shoes on?
HOLMES: I've got shoes on.
LONG: Way to go.
HOLMES: Now that I'm together, I'm ready to tell you that it's the CNN NEWSROOM, and it's Saturday, August 9th.
I'm T.J. Holmes.
LONG: I'm Melissa Long. It has been a busy morning. And I'm in today for Betty.
HOLMES: And we have to start with some sad news. One of the original kings of comedy is dead. Bernie Mac died this morning at the age of 50. Details straight ahead.
LONG: Also, of course, a day we should be talking about the majestic opening of the Olympic games, the ceremonies. Two golds already going to China. Instead, tragedy. Two Americans attacked near a popular tourist spot. One of them killed.
We're going to talk about that big story this hour on CNN NEWSROOM.
HOLMES: Also, sex, lies and politics. Unfortunately, those three things often go together. John Edwards coming clean about his extramarital affair.
But like we mentioned, some sad news this morning. Bernie Mac has died. This is an Emmy-nominated actor and comedian who has gained so many fans really worldwide.
Family members telling us that Bernie Mac passed away early this morning. Cause of death still unknown at this point.
Mac had been hospitalized in Chicago since the beginning of the month for pneumonia. Doctors say that illness was not related, however, to his inflammatory lung disease that he has called sarcoidosis. That's something that had been in remission.
We spoke just a short time ago, just got off the line really minutes ago with one of his original "Kings of Comedy" -- of course with D.L. Hughley, Steve Harvey and Cedric the Entertainer, that really put these guys on the map in a major way. But talked to Steve Harvey, his close friend, who happens to be in Chicago right now.
Just got the word within the hour from Al Sharpton. They just happened to be eating in the same spot for breakfast this morning, and he got the news, just horrified this morning after getting it.
A lot of people did not know he was this sick, expecting him to make a recovery. Even got word from his publicist just within the past day or so that he was getting better and recovering in the hospital. But now this news that he has died at the age of 50. Bernie Mac currently has two movies in post-production.
We will bring you my conversation with Steve Harvey a little later in the hour.
LONG: T.J., let's get our viewers more on the attack now at the Olympic city in Beijing. Two American tourists attacked, one is dead. We have word this morning that both of them are related to a U.S. Olympic team coach, the indoor volleyball team. Certainly a tough opening day at the Olympic games.
CNN's Larry Smith joins us live from Beijing this morning.
And Larry, have you noticed a change in security because of this attack?
LARRY SMITH, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: There really has not, Melissa. And that's one thing that they're still trying to investigate, and wondering, well, if it's going to -- is there a reason to change security? They say right now there is not.
This happened at the Drum Tower. It is an ancient historic landmark about five miles away from the Olympic site where we are here in central Beijing.
As you mentioned, the two were attacked. Their Chinese tour guide was also attacked, but was not injured in this, and the assailant, a 47-year-old Chinese national, then killed himself by throwing himself off the second story of that building.
Now, the USOC has not released the identities of the victims, nor the coach, who is a family member of them. And we're waiting right now to see if the men's indoor volleyball team will still play their match around 12:30 local time Sunday afternoon after this. If they do play, certainly it will be with heavy hearts.
The USOC spokesman, Darryl Seibel, also had this to say...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DARRYL SEIBEL, USOC CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS OFC.: We have informed our men's indoor volleyball team, as well as our women's team. The teams are, as you might expect, very close, and they're shocked. They're shocked. They're deeply saddened and shocked, and I know in this very difficult hour their thoughts and prayers are with everyone who has been impacted by this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Now, you might be wondering, were they wearing any clothing that said U.S. Olympic Committee or anything about the USA? And the answer right now is no. So authorities both here locally and international authorities are looking into this to find out exactly what happened and why it happened -- Melissa.
LONG: Such tragedy on day one of the Beijing Olympics. You know, of course, there are still games under way, competitions under way.
Earlier, you told us China already has claimed two golds? I know there's a lot of pressure on the Chinese to claim a lot of gold medals.
SMITH: Yes. Look, they spent $40 billion on buildings and infrastructure. I mean, they're going all out, not only to put up, you know, the best face they can for the world, but also to win possibly their most ever medals. And so two golds already.
USA doing well also. They swept gold, silver and bronze in women's saber fencing. So a nice finish to the evening for them.
Michael Phelps also, in the pool, he broke his own Olympic record in the preliminaries of the 400 meter individual medley, and so now here, in about, oh, less than 12 hours, he will be back in the pool to go for the gold medal, the first of what he hopes to be eight gold medals in swimming.
LONG: Larry Smith joining us live from Beijing, where it's 10:00 in the evening, since it is 10:00 a.m. local time here.
Larry, thank you.
HOLMES: Speaking of that attack, the U.S. Embassy now offering assistance to the families of the victims. Also early this morning in Beijing, President Bush talking about the attack.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Laura and I were also saddened by the attack on an American family and their Chinese tour guide today in Beijing. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families, and the United States government has offered to provide any assistance the family needs. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right. We're going to talk more about this now with our Josh Levs.
This Drum Tower here, this famous landmark in Beijing, a lot of our viewers don't even know what we're talking about here.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, exactly. I mean, it's a popular tourist site. A lot of us haven't heard about it before. Just learning about it now.
And, you know, one of the things that is important to China, obviously they want to have great security throughout the games, and particularly want to use this as an opportunity to encourage tourism. So that's one of the big things they're thinking about.
Now, let's show you some of the video of the Drum Tower. You can see what it looks like today, and then we'll bring you over to some of these Web sites behind me. We'll be able to show you a little bit about the history and context.
There you go. This is the video from right now. This shows you where it is today and how it looks. And obviously, you can tell it looks pretty modern and well taken care of, but the original structure actually goes way, way back.
Let's go to some facts that we have about it now.
This was originally built in 1380, and it got its name because they used to hit a drum each day at dusk to signal what time it was. And that's how people throughout the Beijing area would learn that.
It was then rebuilt several times. And the one that you see today is a relatively modern structure given how old China is.
It was built in 1894, and it is a popular tourist site. Based on what we're seeing, they have had pretty good traffic through it throughout there.
Now, let me show you a little bit about the screens behind me.
This is obviously some of the more recent views of it, but this right here from the Chinese government Web site, if we can close way on this, it shows what it used to look like back in the day. Let's try another one here that shows you how old it is.
This gives you a sense of the fact that it's been a tourist site really for people who work their way through China back in the day called the Orient. Would often stop by and see this Drum Tower.
It is something that China takes a lot of pride in, and it is one of the key sites in Beijing, guys. It's only a few miles from the Olympic Tower -- from the Olympic Stadium, rather. So it was really important to Beijing and to authorities that this be one of the major places that people feel comfortable going to as a tourist site. We can expect to see tourists returning to that area, certainly as some of the police tape disappears, and certainly as security is increased.
We're going to keep a close eye on this in the coming days, this and other Olympic sites. And obviously, we all hope there won't be any similar stories to share with you like this as the world focuses and, in many cases, visits Beijing these days -- guys.
HOLMES: Absolutely. But we appreciate showing our viewers some of that. They may not have been familiar with it, but unfortunate we have to talk about that this morning.
Josh, we appreciate you.
LEVS: Thanks.
HOLMES: And again, the other story we were following, sad news this morning that the actor and comedian Bernie Mac has died at the age of 50. Had been hospitalized in Chicago, died overnight, according to family members. Had been hospitalized for pneumonia.
A lot of people will know his comedy. A lot of people know his movies, and certainly his television show, "The Bernie Mac Show," but his comedy really is what put him on the map.
And one of the biggest events, really, and shows he put on was called "The Original Kings of Comedy" he did with three other popular black comedians: Cedric the Entertainer, D.L. Hughley, and also Steve Harvey.
I spoke with Steve Harvey a short time ago by phone. He just got word literally within the hour that his good friend had died.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE HARVEY, FRIEND OF BERNIE MAC: I'm just completely stunned by the news, man, because, you know, the brother is young, you know. We're the same age, man.
We've been doing -- we were doing this thing together for so long. It was just -- it was a really complete shock, you know. And to hear it, you know, from Reverend Al Sharpton while having breakfast was just -- I mean, of course it makes you think of the important things.
You know, Bernie was a great family man, and I don't know if people really know that about celebrities. You know, they look at the celebrity aspect, but more importantly, Bernie was a great father, man. He was a great father, a great husband, a lot of years with the same woman.
You know, and that's who my heart goes out to the most this morning, man. And they have got to be in horrible shape, and my heart's condolences go out to them the most.
HOLMES: You knew him in a way a lot of other people did not know as far as his family aspects go. But what are people going to remember most about this man? He was able to -- and at first -- and you know, it took a while to kind of break through to that more mainstream audience. He's had a huge following, certainly in the black community, for quite some time. But he branched out, he reached over with "The Bernie Mac Show," certainly "The Kings of Comedy."
HARVEY: Right.
HOLMES: A lot of people know him from the "Ocean's 11" movies, or from 12, 13. What are people going to remember most when they think of Bernie Mac?
HARVEY: The majority of his core fan base will remember that when they paid their money to see Bernie Mac, that Bernie Mac came out on their stage with a bar stool, a glass of water, a mike, and a spotlight, and he gave them their money's worth. He ripped your guts out from the time he walked on stage until he left.
That's what people will remember most. And then like you say, his show was total crossover.
He made a lot of friends on the "Ocean's 11" set. He had friends in high places and everything, but his core audience was still that -- those people who paid to see him in concert, and they're going to miss that, man.
There's a big hole in the ozone layer right now because Bernie is gone. You know, there's a major standup that's out of here. And man, our hearts are breaking.
You know, I've got to reach out to the other guys that was "Kings." I haven't even talked to them yet this morning because they're over on the West Coast. And man, it's going to be a tough conversation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And again, as you heard there from Steve, many of his close friends and colleagues and the other "Kings" that he said, "The Kings of Comedy," are out on the West Coast. Many may not -- or may just be getting the word this morning that, in fact, Bernie Mac has died.
But again, no official cause of death. He had been hospitalized for pneumonia, but dead at the age of 50. He currently had two movies in post-production, but that still is certainly not what's on people's minds at this time.
Again, Bernie Mac, dead at the age of 50.
LONG: Of course rumors had been swirling in the political circles for months, yet John Edwards' blunt admission that he cheated on his wife still comes as a shock. The woman is 42-year-old Rielle Hunter, a filmmaker who worked on the Edwards' presidential campaign.
Now, back in February she had a baby, fueling speculation the child might be Edwards'. Edwards says it is not. The former candidate came clean about the affair on ABC's "Nightline."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB WOODRUFF, ABC NEWS: If you see this though in the reports, you see this now breaks out.
JOHN EDWARDS (D), FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes.
WOODRUFF: Why did you continue to deny it and not tell the truth?
EDWARDS: Because I did not want the public to know what I had done, very simple.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LONG: Readers of "The National Enquirer" have been following the saga for a long time now, and the thing is, most of the rest of us simply didn't believe it. Edwards was adamant the story simply was not true.
CNN's Drew Griffin with our Special Investigations Unit now explains what made Edwards change his mind.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Edwards story has been fodder of "The National Enquirer" for more than a year. And the headlines show why.
A presidential candidate and former U.S. senator with a cancer- stricken wife has an affair and according to the tabloid fathers a child with this woman, a campaign consultant named Rielle Hunter. John Edwards had dismissed the "National Enquirer" allegations. This is what he said just last month in New Orleans.
EDWARDS: I have no idea what you're asking about. I have responded consistently to these tabloid allegations by saying I don't respond to these lies. And you know that, Raylene (ph). You've covered me. And I stand by that.
GRIFFIN: Now the stunning about-face. In a statement, Edwards admits -- quote -- "In 2006, I made a serious error in judgment and conducted myself in a way that was disloyal to my family and to my core beliefs. I recognized my mistake and I told my wife that I had a liaison with another woman, and I asked for her forgiveness."
The pressure had been mounting on Edwards for several weeks, since news stories appeared about a confrontation with "The National Enquirer" here at the Beverly Hilton Hotel last month. On July 21, the former senator was in Los Angeles raising awareness for the homeless.
That night, "National Enquirer" reporter Alex Hitchen was waiting for Edwards at the hotel. The paper said it had a tip Edwards, Rielle Hunter, and Hunter's baby were meeting in a room. At 2:40 in the morning, Hitchen says he surprised Edwards as Edwards was trying to leave.
ALEX HITCHEN, "THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER": I say to him, Mr. Edwards, Alexander Hitchen from "The National Enquirer." We know that you have been with Rielle Hunter tonight and your child. And then we said to him, don't you think it's about time to actually tell everyone that you are actually the father of this child?
GRIFFIN (on camera): And the reaction again was?
HITCHEN: Sheer panic.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): Hitchen says Edwards did not say a word. Instead, he ran down the stairs into this bathroom in the basement and held the door shut.
According to ABC News, Edwards now admits he did go to the hotel that night and did meet Rielle Hunter, as "The Enquirer" has reported.
Wednesday, the tabloid turned up the heat on Edwards, publishing this blurry photograph, a photo the paper claims was shot in the Beverly Hilton Hotel during the encounter. The paper says the baby in the picture is Edwards'.
But is it? Edwards told ABC News the child could not be his because of the timing of the birth. But the former senator says he wants to take a paternity test to prove he's not the father.
This man, Andrew Young, an Edwards campaign staffer, said last year he was the father, not Edwards. Still, the child's birth certificate adds to the intrigue. The name of the father's child's father is left blank.
John Edwards was a former North Carolina senator, John Kerry's 2004 running mate, and this year a populist candidate for president. The pained language of his statement reflects how far he's fallen from those heady days.
"In the course of several campaigns, I started to believe that I was special and became increasingly egocentric and narcissistic. If you want to beat me up, feel free. You cannot beat me up more than I have already beaten up myself."
Drew Griffin, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And as many of you know, Elizabeth Edwards, his wife, has been battling cancer for some time. It turns out that she has also known of her husband's infidelity for quite a while, but she never let on publicly.
In a statement that she posted on the "Daily Kos," Web site she says: "But he did tell me. And we began a long and painful process in 2006, a process oddly made somewhat easier with my diagnosis in March of 2007." So what, if any, effect will the Edwards affair have on the Democratic Party, also the presidential campaign, also his political future? We'll ask our deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser. He's coming up in just a few minutes.
LONG: Of course today we're also covering the Olympic games. An Olympic gold medalist is told he is not welcome in China.
Of course you remember speedskater Joey Cheek. Well, he was supposed to be in Beijing for the games, but his visa was yanked at the last minute. We're going to ask him why.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LONG: Good morning. Hope you're having a lovely Saturday so far.
Let's focus on presidential politics.
Republican John McCain is on the trail in Las Vegas today. He addresses the Disabled American Veterans Convention a little later in the day. In his weekly radio address, Senator McCain takes aim at Barack Obama's speeches. He says it's like watching a summer blockbuster and realizing all the best scenes were in the previews.
Now, Democrat Barack Obama's off the trail today but on the record. Senator Obama is vacationing with his family in Hawaii. Now, before he left, he delivered the Democratic radio address and blasted the Bush administration over deficits and the Iraq war.
Now, after he arrived in Hawaii, the senator was asked about former rival John Edwards' role in Democratic politics after his admission that he had an extramarital affair.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: John Edwards was a great champion of the working people during the course of his campaign. Many of his themes are ones that Democrats as a whole share. Those will be amplified in the convention, and I wish them all well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right. Want to talk more now about the possible fallout from the Edwards affair and whether it's going to affect the Democrats and the presidential race.
We're going to bring back in our buddy here on the weekends, CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser. He joins us now again from Washington.
We just heard that sound bite from Barack Obama. Will this really make a difference? We know that picture, that glorious picture of those two standing up there, this great event where Edwards endorsed Obama. So is it really going to play for Obama one way or another when people see that picture over and over?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, I don't think it's going to hurt Obama so much. I think what it does short term, though, is it takes John Edwards obviously right out of contention for being Obama's running mate. He was considered to be on the larger list of those possible candidates. That's obviously, T.J., not going to happen right now.
Also, if Obama wins the election in November, there was talk, some speculation maybe he would name Edwards his attorney general. Edwards, of course, a very successful trial lawyer before becoming the U.S. senator, but now that could be doubtful because of this episode.
T.J., I think politically also, listen, Edwards, when he ran for president in '04 and in '08, he ran on family, he ran on morality. And so that's what makes this so tough.
HOLMES: Does it hurt the party at all? Again, unfortunately, we've seen too often sex, lies and politics go together. But still, because of who he is and because of the face and the famous name, does it really hurt the party? I mean, we're talking about this here, but essentially, he has not been the kind of player, he is not really grilling (ph) a lot of power within the party. So does it really hurt the Democrats?
STEINHAUSER: I don't think overall it's going to hurt the Democrats too much. I would be surprised if the Republicans make a big deal out of this, if Republican groups try to attack the Democrats over this or even put ads up over this. So, no, I don't think it will.
HOLMES: So is this one of those things -- you talked about the morality issue and kind of what he ran on and the family themes. And is this just one of those things where people are just in shock and going, this is just a damn shame? And his supporters certainly hurt, and is this one of those things people just shaking their heads, not John Edwards?
STEINHAUSER: Yes, I think you just summarized it quite well. And you mentioned his supporters. David Bonior, who was a former congressman and his campaign manager, wrote scathing comments yesterday critical of Edwards because they feel let down. They feel like they were duped and let down by John Edwards.
HOLMES: What -- this Democratic platform being put together right now, is his name going to come up in these meetings when they're trying to put down on paper what this party is going to stand for and vote on during the Democratic convention?
STEINHAUSER: Yes, I don't think -- right now that platform committee you mentioned, they're meeting right now in Pittsburgh as we speak. And live pictures of that as they deliberate in Pittsburgh right now.
I don't think his name is really going to be brought up today. They've got a lot to do today. They have this huge platform which includes the war in Iraq and the 16-month withdrawal. It includes universal health care. So they need to hammer it out today, T.J., and then the final draft will be voted on at the convention in Denver in two weeks.
HOLMES: So again, like you said there, maybe not a lot of fallout for the Democratic Party. Maybe some for John Edwards going forward. But a lot of people, like you said, just shaking their heads right now about this story.
Paul Steinhauser, we appreciate you. Always good to see you here, buddy.
STEINHAUSER: Thanks, man.
LONG: Now we're going to show you some video that you just have to see in order to really understand the full story. A shopper fighting back against a robbery suspect with a gun. All clearly caught on camera.
What would you do if you found yourself in this situation?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LONG: It is 10:30 in the morning Eastern Time here in Atlanta, our CNN world headquarters, 10:30 in the evening in Beijing. That's a live picture of the Bird's Nest. It's the national stadium. That's where they have been holding the opening ceremonies.
HOLMES: Very nice.
LONG: It's lovely, isn't it?
HOLMES: That's a great picture. We didn't get to see a lot of the ceremony last night, but a lot of people are saying it might be one of the best ever.
LONG: I saw the first couple -- an hour and a half. It was pretty majestic.
HOLMES: They didn't have the countries in alphabetical orders this time. That kind of messed me up. You know, I want to see the U.S. I didn't know when they were going to come on.
LONG: Just too jumbled for you.
HOLMES: Yes. I need to know when I can see the U.S.
LONG: I was amazed by all the local dancers, 15,000 people and all the costumes.
HOLMES: And you counted them all, I understand.
LONG: No, no. I was reading a script earlier.
HOLMES: All right. (WEATHER REPORT)
LONG: Time check for you as you're planning out your Saturday morning. It is 10:29 in the morning, Eastern.
I'm Melissa Long, in today for Betty.
HOLMES: And hello to you all. I am T.J. Holmes. So glad you could be with us.
LONG: Shocking news, of course, on the first full day of the Olympic games. Two American tourists were attacked in Beijing this morning at a popular tourist spot. One of them is dead, the other injured. The U.S. Olympic Committee says the victims were family members of a U.S. men's indoor volleyball team coach.
And comedy has lost a true funny man this morning. People on the West Coast just waking up to hear this news that Emmy-nominated actor and comedian Bernie Mac has died at the age of 50. Mac's publicist says he died from complications related to pneumonia. He had been hospitalized since the beginning of the month.
Again, Bernie Mac dead at the age of 50.
HOLMES: Let's take you to a scene -- I don't know what it was like for you at your grocery store the last time you went. It can get pretty crazy in there, but maybe not quite like this.
Take a look at what happened.
Police say a grocery store customer helped apprehend an armed robbery suspect. This is some surveillance video. You can kind of make out what's happening in there with the scuffle. There you go.
Now, the suspect is the one dressed in black. You can't really tell, everybody looks dark in the clothes there. But here's a better scene of it.
In black. Watch. The customer here takes things into his own hands. He's the man in that other striped shirt.
He shows off some of his moves and tries to tackle the suspect. A chase goes on, they go out the door. Fists are thrown, shirts are flying.
All this happens. The customer, two other people pinned down the suspect until police arrived. So not quite what you would expect when you're going to the grocery store.
LONG: And he said his good Samaritan instincts just kicked in.
HOLMES: Kicked in.
LONG: Amazing. He has some minor injuries, but he's going to be just fine.
HOLMES: All right.
LONG: All right.
One of the big stories we're following for you this morning, inside the John Edwards' affair. We talked to a reporter who broke the story. You're going to hear how a surprise meeting at a Los Angeles hotel blew this story wide open.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Alexander Hitchen is the reporter with "The National Enquirer" who's largely responsible for breaking the John Edwards' affair story. Two weeks ago, it was Hitchen who received a tip that Edwards was meeting with Rielle Hunter at a Beverly Hills hotel. Hitchen showed CNN's Drew Griffin how Edwards ducked into a restroom when he confronted him in the wee hours of the morning.
And I spoke with Hitchen last hour and asked him why Edwards was at that hotel in the first place.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEXANDER HITCHEN, "THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER": I asked Mr. Edwards at 2:40 in the morning the very same question. I stopped him as he was taking a lower lobby elevator and was walking up a staircase to the side of me. And I followed him up the staircase and I said, "Mr. Edwards, Alexander Hitchen from 'The National Enquirer.' Would you like to comment on why you were at this hotel tonight with your mistress, Rielle Hunter, and your love child?"
And at that point he refused to speak with me. He got to the top of the stairs, saw that there was a colleague of mine at the top of the stairs, turned, and went straight into a restroom that was dealing with the restaurant.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Then again, John Edwards is denying that the child is his.
Well, yesterday you probably had no idea who this woman was, but now it seems like everybody wants to know exactly who is Rielle Hunter.
Well, she's 42 years old. She's from Florida. She met Edwards by chance in 2006. Soon afterwards, she began working for his campaign, making behind-the-scenes films of his campaign.
Those were then posted on the Internet as so-called "webisodes." Now, for that work, she was paid $115,000.
In February she did have that child, which, again, Edwards says he's not the father of. So far she has not admitted to having the affair.
LONG: The days of working 9:00 to 5:00 may be coming to an end. Instead, how would you like to work a longer day but a shorter workweek?
Most Americans work five days a week, eight-hour shifts. But several cities are trying out a new schedule in order to save on fuel costs: four days a week, 10 hours a day. And just this week, state employees in Utah went to a four-day workweek, and the governor there says so far, so good.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JON HUNTSMAN (R), UTAH: I did hear some interesting things from some state employees a couple days ago, and that was, "Gee, I left earlier." You know, "My commute into work was much less than what it had been before. My return home was much faster." And so there is some unanticipated positive consequences and implications here that I think we'll find more and more of as we proceed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LONG: Now, city workers in Birmingham, Alabama, started the same schedule a month ago. Lawmakers in Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho and New Mexico also thinking about doing the very same thing as well.
So let's get another opinion on how this is working out and bring in Birmingham mayor Larry Langford, who joins us live this morning.
Thank you so much, Mayor. Nice to see you.
MAYOR LARRY LANGFORD, BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA: Well, thank you. Good to see you.
LONG: So, as we just heard from the governor of Utah, saying there have been some unanticipated pros as well.
Tell me about the pros and cons you have experienced over the last four weeks.
LANGFORD: Well, the employees are absolutely delighted. We have been getting calls from all around the world about this and a number of cities, since we implemented it here in Birmingham, around Birmingham, are now moving to it. The employees are ecstatic.
LONG: OK. Somebody might say, well, what about customer service? Does that mean I can't get in on a certain day of the week? Are you scattering this out so people can always get the same service?
LANGFORD: You are exactly right. What we've done, we have some employees off Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Some off Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
Now, of course, it doesn't work real well with the police and fire department, but City Hall is open five days a week. The public will not even notice an interruption in services, period.
LONG: So no interruption in service, but what about longer lines? Are people waiting longer to have things done? LANGFORD: Absolutely not. You know, the irony of it is that people are far more efficient. All of the jobs are covered 100 percent, and so when people come in, their waiting period is about normal for any governmental operation, but, you know, in addition to the four-hour (sic) workweek, it's also giving...
LONG: Four-hour workweek?
LANGFORD: I'm sorry. Four-day workweek. Don't let the employees know I said that.
LONG: No, I know. OK. We can't rewind the tape. We're live. But we understand what you mean.
LANGFORD: Yes. If you get a chance, go back and edit that out there, I've got to tell you.
LONG: Well, you know, so many cities calling you, local officials maybe even watching this interview, saying, hmm, I wonder if we can put this into place in our communities.
What challenges have you faced along the way?
LANGFORD: Well, you know, I did this once before. A little over a year ago, I was president of the county commission, and because the gas prices began to soar, I put it into operations at the county. It worked so well at the county when I was elected mayor of Birmingham, it was just a natural to bring it across.
But I've got to tell you something -- any time you've got 3,500 employees and 1,700 off our roadways two days a week, it is a noticeable difference here.
LONG: OK. Well, what about saving money? Your offices aren't closed, so you're not saving on energy costs, unless there may be another cost you're saving on. But for the employees, I imagine they're saving a lot since they're not driving in five days a week.
LANGFORD: Well, actually, the net to them would be approximately $750,000 over the course of a year.
But let me just tell you something else very exciting we're doing since so many cities are going to the four-day workweek. We're highly concentrating now on wood chips debris after storms and the natural cleanup in the city.
You know, from one ton of wood chips, you can make 200 gallons of our E85 gasoline. And last year, Birmingham took in over 16,000 tons.
We're working with companies now to turn those wood chips into E85 ethanol gasoline. That would be three times the amount of gas we use in this city. So we're looking for all kinds of ways to not only save money, but at the same time give our employees an opportunity to spend more time with their families.
I wasn't concerned about the city saving money, so much as helping the employees. But from a crime standpoint, if I can get mamas and daddies to spend one more day a week with their children, I don't have to hire so many cops.
LONG: So this is a plus all around for you. And so many people may be wondering, well, are you working fewer hours? Are you working four days a week?
LANGFORD: I wish. Absolutely not. You know, there's so many things to be done.
But let me just say this to you -- life in America has changed. We may as well come to grips with it. Any time a nation such as ours allows the cost of a barrel of oil to dictate the ebb and flow of our economy, we better wake up, America.
LONG: And you have woken up your community right there, going to four 10-hour days.
Larry Langford, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it. On your Saturday, as well.
LANGFORD: Listen, I'll tell you what, you all have a good day. And remember, it's not a four-hour workweek.
LONG: All right. Point taken. Thank you so much.
Maybe we can work with our bosses here. A four-hour workweek, huh?
HOLMES: Oh, you know it's not happening. He's probably just talking about his own schedule.
LONG: No, no.
HOLMES: We've got you figured out, man.
LONG: He's working on a Saturday. Come on.
HOLMES: Yes, what was that? Five minutes at most.
LONG: No, he had to be there early, maybe a little makeup.
HOLMES: We're on to the mayor. No, just teasing him.
Well, stay here. We have been talking about this story all morning, major implications for the U.S. relations with Russia. Also, major implications with the U.S. in Iraq as well. Fierce fighting overseas, it's been called an all-out invasion by Russian troops. We'll take you there live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LONG: We are following the developments in the violence in the Republic of Georgia this morning. I'm joining you live from the international desk. Our CNN NEWSROOM is divided into expertise, and of course you can check out with any of the journalists here at CNN to find out more about what is happening this morning in the Republic of Georgia.
We have seen two fierce days of fighting in that region. Georgian forces facing off with Russian troops in the breakaway territory of South Ossetia. Russia's ambassador says at least 2,000 people have been killed. And now just this morning, we have heard several pleas for a cease-fire, including one from President Bush, who is in Beijing for the Olympics.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: Georgia is a sovereign nation, and its territorial integrity must be respected. We have urged an immediate halt to the violence and a stand-down by all troops. We call for an end to the Russian bombings and a return by the parties to the status quo of August the 6th.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LONG: Correspondent Matthew Chance has just arrived in the capital, Tbilisi.
And Matthew, help us understand how long it took you to get there and why you weren't able to simply fly into Tbilisi. You had to actually travel for many miles and many hours.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, because of the volatile situation in Georgia, a lot of airlines have canceled their flights into the main city, Tbilisi. So we took the safer option in terms of our ability to arrive here and went over by land from Turkey.
And it is, indeed, an extremely difficult situation here on the ground in Georgia. We're in the capital, Tbilisi, right now, but we've been driving across the country throughout the course of the day. And we've been speaking to people about how frightened they are, about what's happening with them in Russia, looking at areas which have been bombed by Russian forces, including the town of Gori, about 45 miles or so outside of Tbilisi, where Georgian authorities say Russian jets have bombed a number of apartment buildings in the city, killing at least 60 people.
It's a kind of -- it's something that's been repeated across the country in five or six locations outside the main areas of the conflict zone, with Russian aircraft hitting various targets in and around Georgia proper. The main fighting though, Melissa, has very much been in that breakaway region of South Ossetia.
The main town there, Tskhinvali, said to be erupting in fierce fighting still. Very high casualty figures.
You mentioned there the Russian ambassador to Georgia saying as many as 2,000 people could have been killed in the fighting over the course of the past 36 hours. That's hard to verify, but certainly according to eyewitnesses, the sense we get is that the casualty figures are extremely high, indeed -- Melissa. LONG: Matthew, Americans just turning on the television this morning learning about this development. And, of course, Georgia is such an important U.S. ally in the war on terror. So help Americans understand why this is such an important international news story.
CHANCE: Well, I mean, it's important because -- and Georgia makes this point very clearly -- that this isn't just about one tiny little country, one tiny little former Soviet state. This is a country, Georgia, which has tried desperately over the past 10 years to break away from Russia's kind of old Soviet style sphere of influence and move clearly towards the West, move towards the European Union, move to become a member of the NATO military alliance. And Russia doesn't like it.
It wants to keep it part of its own sphere of influence. And that's why many Georgians feel that this is an international issue, that Russia should be confronted on this issue by the international community.
Now, Russia, for its part, totally denies that this is what it's playing at. It says that it's merely intervening in order to support peacekeeping operations and to protect Russian citizens who are being killed in this military conflict -- Melissa.
LONG: Matthew Chance joining us live from Tbilisi, the capital there, after arriving just moments ago.
Matthew, thank you so much.
And of course, to follow the very latest on the violence and the deaths today in the Republic of Georgia, go to CNN.com -- T.J.
HOLMES: Well, Melissa, China now telling a former U.S. gold medalist to stay away. Speedskater Joey Cheek barred from Beijing. We're talking to him live, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Here is a story for all the golf aficionados out there looking for a twist. The notoriously tough Oakland Hills course is proving to be just that. Ooh, nice.
This morning, Jamie Holmes -- no relation to you, right?
HOLMES: Well, actually, yes. We're brothers from another mother.
LONG: Really?
HOLMES: No, I'm kidding.
LONG: He's the only player under pare at the PGA Championship, and sits atop the leaderboard.
HOLMES: I do not know J.B., but good luck to him. Well, China wants to keep protests and politics out of the Olympics, even telling a former gold medalist to stay home. Olympic speedskater Joey Cheek is who we're talking about here. He won a gold medal at the 2006 winter games in Italy.
Since then, he's worked to raise awareness about the humanitarian crisis in Darfur. China was supposed to be -- or rather Cheek was supposed to be in China, supposed to be in Beijing right now, but on Wednesday, the Chinese government changed its mind.
And that's why Joey Cheek is joining me from Washington and not Beijing. They actually snatched his visa, revoked it, took it away.
Why, Joey, did they take your visa?
JOEY CHEEK, 2006 OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: Well, I'm president and founder of an organization called Team Darfur. And we recruit athletes from around the world to continue to advocate for the people who are suffering in that region, and we've got more than 380 athletes worldwide, but we have 72 competing in Beijing at these games. And I was going to support those athletes, and, you know, in the past I have made statements that could certainly be construed as critical of China's role in this particular issue in Darfur.
HOLMES: Yes. We kind of connect those dots, if you will. But what reason did they give you? Did they give you an official reason?
CHEEK: Yes. The funny thing was, you know, I got the visa on July 1st. I got the call less than 24 hours before my flight was to leave.
So I had the visa for a month. And when I asked why they were taking it away, they said, "We're not required to give any reason."
HOLMES: Wow. And still, you have not gotten one, correct?
CHEEK: Never got a visa, no.
HOLMES: What did you plan on doing in Beijing?
CHEEK: Well, I've been adamant -- I was a two-time Olympian and Olympic medalist. Most of our members are Olympians. And I have been adamant from the beginning, first saying no boycott at any point. I have always advocated for that, but telling the athletes over there that, you have to follow the letters of the rule, the IOC rules, which are quite strict, and the law of China.
And I never intended to break either of those myself. But I feel like Olympians have a great platform to be able to talk about the issue of human rights and the issue of protecting innocent civilians in crises all over the world. And we see that they're still continuing all over the world.
HOLMES: So you talk about not breaking any of those rules and whatnot, but still, how would you go about -- you want to support them, but I guess how do you go about -- what role could you have played to make sure you didn't break any of those rules and they didn't as well? Just your presence there, or how did you plan on speaking out?
CHEEK: Well, as a former Olympian, you k now, we obviously have a great number of opportunities with media. There are also a number of forums at the Olympics that most people don't see for -- where groups of people get together, U.N. ambassadors, IOC ambassadors, and we talk about Olympics and how sport can play a role in development and conflict resolution.
So I was asked to partake in several of those.
HOLMES: OK.
CHEEK: And again, to support athletes in whatever way. And I'm not sure what that might have been even, because we don't know what's going to happen. But I wanted to be there to support them.
HOLMES: And tell me as well, is this the proper venue? You know, a lot of people say all the conflicts we have and disagreements we have, this is the one time the world gets together. It should be about the athletes and the games, and we'll talk about our differences after the closing ceremony.
CHEEK: Right. Well, I understand and appreciate that argument. People are surprised to hear that I think there's a lot of validity to it.
But the Olympics are the only event created, the only sporting even created in the world, with the idea that it's more than just a sporting event. It was created as a forum to promote peace, to promote conflict resolution, and to promote humanity. And athletes who joined Team Darfur, they did so not because they wanted to be in any sort of political hot water, believe me.
HOLMES: Yes.
CHEEK: They did so because they saw a conflict, and they felt that conflict was not in agreement with what they view as the Olympic spirit. And watching the opening ceremonies last night, and watching the nations march in together, and knowing that we've got athletes from so many countries, it makes it all the more relevant to me.
HOLMES: And last thing here to wrap up, I know you said you don't have a lot of confidence that they will give you that visa back and you will make it to the Olympics. But do you think in a way, because they took the visa away, it's drawing more attention to Team Darfur, the group you're heading? You're here talking to us now, and maybe this draws a little more attention, this might pay off in some way.
CHEEK: It certainly has increased the media exposure. I mean, I've been all over the place and people are probably sick of it. But I think what's important here though is that I think it also sends a warning to athletes who are competing that, if you step out of line, even if it's not something I agree with, not something I would talk about, if you step out of line at all, they're going to try and squash you. And I think that is a powerful form of threat that shouldn't be a statement made at the Olympics.
HOLMES: Well, you know, hopefully people are not getting tired of you. A lot more attention, and many would agree, should be paid to what's happening there in the Sudan, in Darfur.
So, Joey, good to see you. Hope you get to get over there, but I know we'll see you in the future continuing with your cause.
Thank you so much. Good to see you this morning.
CHEEK: T.J., thank you.
HOLMES: All right.
LONG: We're going to talk Olympics, coming up. Talk about the golds already going to China and how the U.S. has been medaling.
HOLMES: Yes. We've got a couple. What was it...
LONG: Gold, silver, bronze in fencing.
HOLMES: Fencing -- fencing was it? All right. We'll be talking about that.
Also, our Jamie McIntyre shows us what it was like to cover the first war crimes trial at Guantanamo Bay.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
