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Kidnapping Victim Free after 18 Years; Crowds Continue to Pay Respects to Kennedy

Aired August 28, 2009 - 11:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. It is Friday, the 28th of August, and here are the faces of the stories driving the headlines in the CNN NEWSROOM this morning.

Two kidnapping suspects expected in court today. The 11-year-old girl they're accused of snatching is now 29 and back with her family today. Hurricane Katrina four years later. CNN investigates vigilante justice in the days after the storm.

He is the most powerful banker in the world. Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve chairman and identity theft victim.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris, and you're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Waking up free for the first time 18 years after being abducted. Jaycee Dugard was just a child when she was snatched. Now she is a woman with two children of her own, said to be fathered by a man who kidnapped her, raped her and held her captive.

Our Dan Simon is outside the place where this horror happened in Antioch, California. Dan, good to see you this morning.

First of all, let's talk about Phillip and Nancy Garrido. Who are these people?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Garrido is 58 years old. His wife is 55. They've been living in this home behind me for many years. They had this hidden backyard, as you probably have been hearing about, Tony, a series of tents and sheds.

We can tell you that authorities were here all day yesterday searching this home, taking out bags of evidence. We should also point out that Mr. Garrido did an interview with KCRA television. This was a phone interview. And in that interview, Garrido, he doesn't make a whole lot of sense, not terribly coherent.

He mentioned something about documents, repeatedly mentions something about these documents. Documents he claims he handed over to the FBI. And he says that if you read them, if you read these documents, they will contain information, quote, "that humans have never fully understood." I want you to listen now to part of that interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIP GARRIDO, KIDNAPPING SUSPECT: Wait until you read that document. My life has been straightened out. Wait until you hear the story of what took place at this house. And you're going to be absolutely impressed. It's a disgusting thing that took place with me in the beginning, but I turned my life completely around, and to be able to understand that, you have to start there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: Well, that was just one aspect of the interview. Garrido also talked about his relationship with the victim. He fathered two children with her. He said, strangely, that if you talked to the victim, she would tell you, basically, they had nothing but a positive relationship. Listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARRIDO: What's kept me busy the last several, several years is I completely turned my life around. And you're going to find the most powerful story coming from the witness, from the victim. You wait. You just -- if you take this a step at a time, you're going to fall over backwards, and in the end, you're going to find the most positive, heartwarming story and revealing of something that needs to be understood. That's about as far as I can go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: Well, as for the victim, we are told that Jaycee Dugard is in a motel here in Antioch. She has been reunited with her mother. She is at that hotel, motel, also, with her two children.

Tony, obviously, just an incredible story here in this quiet neighborhood. You know, a lot of people are wondering what the neighbors thought about these people. Were there suspicions ever aroused? And we can tell you, yes, we spoke to one neighbor who said that he observed a couple of children living in this back yard.

He was so concerned about what he saw that he claims he actually called the local sheriff's department a couple of years ago. He says authorities came out and had a brief conversation with Garrido, but the home was never searched. So, that is one of the many questions left unanswered, how this went on for so long -- Tony.

HARRIS: All right, Dan. You know, I'm going to ask you probably a series of questions here that we may not know answers to at this point, but we will be getting them at some point down the road here. Let's go first back to that phone interview with the local television station.

In that second clip that you played for us, you've got Garrido acknowledging that Jaycee was a victim here, was a victim. I just want to, to the extent that we know the answer to this, that would make him, Garrido, the victimizer unless he is claiming that he somehow saved her. Can you give us any clarity on that bit of the exchange from that interview with a local television California station? SIMON: Well, all we can really tell you, Tony, is that when he went into this -- we should -- first of all, let's back up a little bit.

How did he get caught? Well, he went to the campus of UCal Berkeley. He was there with a couple of children, presumably his own children that he fathered with the victim in this case.

So, he's there on campus, and he wants to distribute some literature to some students. But to do that, the university requires that you have a permit and that you undergo a background check. Well, clearly, he didn't do that.

So, a university police officer confronts him, asks him for some identification. She runs up a quick background check on him, determines that this guy is a sex offender, and here he is with a couple of children.

That eventually leads to an interview with his parole officer, and that happens the very next day. That happened on Wednesday. So, what happens during that meeting with the parole officer?

Well, it takes place in San Francisco, and in walks Garrido along with the victim in this case. He's also there with his wife, Nancy Garrido, and he's also taken his two children, the children he fathered with the victim in this case.

So, you've got all these people in with the parole officer. The parole officer is wondering what the heck's going on here. And basically, Garrido opens up and confesses, allegedly, to the whole episode. So, that's how he was caught.

HARRIS: OK. And the only point I'm trying to make here is that in his own words may be the seeds of an admission, which seems obvious at this point given what we know about the case at this point. But in his own words in this interview with the California television station, he himself is saying that Jaycee is a victim. That's the only point I'm trying to make there.

Dan, appreciate it. Thank you. Would you agree with that?

SIMON: Yes, it's interesting that he chose that word.

HARRIS: Yes.

SIMON: But he said, look, if you talk to the victim in this case, she will tell you that she really isn't a victim. I think that's the point he was trying to make.

HARRIS: Yes. OK, Dan Simon for us. Dan, appreciate it. Thank you.

You know, one of the few people who can even come close to knowing what Jaycee Dugard and her family are going through right now is Elizabeth Smart. You may remember she was abducted from her Utah home in 2002 and held captive for nine months. Elizabeth and her father, Ed Smart, talked to our Anderson Cooper about what the reunion was like.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "AC 360": There's got to be a lot of ups and downs with it. Can you talk a little bit about just what that's like?

ELIZABETH SMART, KIDNAPPING VICTIM: Well, for me it was just like overwhelming happiness because, I mean, I was out of that terrible situation, and I was with my family, and I was with my friends. And I thought life was just going to resume as back to what it had been before.

So I was just very, very happy. And then, of course, like, I wondered what was going to happen, what my captors were going to be -- where they were going to be kept, what was going to happen to them. I mean, there was certainly some questions I had.

COOPER: What do you think the reunion is like for this young woman, Jaycee, who's been away for so long?

ED SMART, ELIZABETH SMART'S FATHER: When we were transferred up at the Salt Lake Police Department, one of my biggest concerns was that law enforcement would try to immediately get the full story from Elizabeth, and I'm hopeful that Jaycee will not immediately have to go through that.

Because, I mean, that's basically reliving the whole nightmare of the time that she was gone and, you know, now is a time to rejoice, be happy, to, you know, reconnect as a family. You know, the other will come, and it has to come, but, you know, right now it's just a time to live and feel the joy and happiness that life can bring.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: And we will hear from Jaycee Dugard's stepfather in the next half hour of CNN NEWSROOM.

Thousands are turning out to pay their respects to Senator Ted Kennedy. People started lining up before the doors opened this morning at the JFK Presidential Library. More than 21,000 people filed past the senator's casket yesterday. Viewing hours were extended until 2:00 a.m. CNN's Deborah Feyerick live now from Boston. And, Deborah, what a nice touch here. Family members are greeting those who are in line paying their respects.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, Tony. They've really made this a very personal experience. Kara Kennedy, the senator's daughter, out greeting folks on that line along with her two kids, shaking hands. Tim Shriver as well.

And I want to show you something really interesting. What's going on here is, they have set out 15 condolence books. All these people have already stood in a line, basically, in order to get into the museum to see the casket. Now they are basically signing these books that will be given to the family and become part of the history of this entire event.

As you see, the line stretches all the way down here and, Tony, the buses behind, you may be able to make out, state legislators, state lawmakers, congressmen, senators, all of them coming today to pay their respects. This is going to be going on all day. You could hear the planes going on overhead.

And these two ladies here at the end of the line, I want to speak to you first. Lizzy Maina (ph) has a personal story. What happened?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I do have a personal story. Mr. Kennedy's office helped my family very much because in 1998, when the embassy was bombed in Nairobi, Kenya, my family was back in Kenya and the papers were destroyed. I did not know what to do.

But by the moment I was given the number to the office by my attorney. I went to the secretary. I did not meet her face to face. But she made sure that the papers went to Harare, Zimbabwe, and my family went there and got their papers. My (INAUDIBLE) and my husband joined me after three years because of Mr. Kennedy.

There was a deadline. And if I did not meet that deadline, they could have stayed there. And I found God (ph) for that family. I found God (ph) for Mr. Kennedy, and God bless him so much.

FEYERICK: And again, this woman over here. You also -- you tried to say hello to the family, as well.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I did. I tried. Yes. And what happened was, what I'm trying to make -- excuse me. What I'm trying to make a point is that the day that that he -- that my son's special needs, and he wanted an autograph from Charles Barkley, so Kennedy's organization helped us to get in touch with the organization to do for my son for Charles Barkley.

But the most important reason why I am here today is because when he won third term, and it was freezing cold, and I went down to Park (ph) Street station, and I met him, his wife, and I guess the other fellows that were there, you know what I said to him, first of all, I said, Senator Ted Kennedy, you said something to me that stuck to my heart.

I says, I know you have a lot of money, and you're a wealthy man, you know, I said, but that's not important. I said, you know what touched me is when you said the price that you all are paying on the loss of your loved ones.

FEYERICK: Oh, thank you so much. And, again, what I want to show you, just even by walking along this line, all of these folks have a personal story. Whether it's that the senator's office helped somebody get out of a country at a difficult time. Whether it's that he helped get an autograph for special-needs children.

This gentleman, very quickly, Leonard Brown (ph), you knew Rose Kennedy as well, right? LEONARD BROWN (ph), KNEW ROSE KENNEDY: Yes, I did. When I was working at Jordan Marsh when I first started in 1965, I met her. I was asked to go down to the linen department, which is historical homes and the building no longer exists...

FEYERICK: What was she like, very quickly?

BROWN: She was great. She was a wonderful person and, you know, she filled her children with passion, and that's what Ted had. He was filled with passion, and he left his mark on the world forever.

FEYERICK: And, Tony, just really, you could talk to millions of people on these lines -- well, there aren't millions, but the line does stretch about a quarter mile long. And all these folks coming out to pay their respects today. And again, one more look, all these people signing the books -- Tony.

HARRIS: Deborah Feyerick, it's a scene that you can't see from your location. But it is a wonderful moment. Let's take this full, please. This is the senator's widow, Vicki Kennedy, on the viewing line. Hugging, greeting the people who have lined up to pay their respects to the Kennedy family. That is Vicki Kennedy right there hugging, taking a moment to talk to individuals. Moments ago wiping away tears. What a moment.

And we invite you to stay with CNN for our continuing coverage of the life and the legacy of Senator Ted Kennedy. His body will lie in repose at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library until a memorial service tonight at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time. And the private funeral services will be held Saturday, tomorrow, followed by his burial at Arlington National Cemetery.

And still to come, if you took advantage of the Cash for Clunkers program, do you need to report the cash to the IRS? Personal finance editor Gerri Willis answers your e-mails.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm CNN meteorologist Bonnie Schneider tracking tropical storm Danny. The intensity stayed the same with winds at 40, but notice this track has shifted slightly, just slightly to the west. So, now it looks like the storm is going to come pretty close to Cape Cod and the islands, including Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, sometime on Saturday night.

But in the meantime, we are tracking the immediate threat of a tropical storm warning -- watch, rather. And that continues for the Carolina coastline from Cape Lookout to Duck in North Carolina.

We're also tracking fire danger across a good portion of California, and you'll find that we are looking for very strong hot temperatures across a good portion of California at this time. The temperatures are very, very warm all the way up to about 85 degrees in some areas. So, we have the red flag warnings in place for today and tonight for southern California.

That is a look at your weather. Stay tuned. We have more coming up on CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: All right, time now for some answers to your money questions. Our personal finance editor Gerri Willis joining me now from New York with her top tips. And Gerri, good to see you. Good Friday to you. You ready to dive into that old e-mail bag?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Let's do it.

HARRIS: Our first question comes from Joe from Indiana, who writes, "Do you have to claim the money in the Cash for Clunkers program you received as income" -- love this question -- "in your tax returns for next year?"

WILLIS: Isn't that a good question?

HARRIS: Yes, it is.

WILLIS: Excellent. Well, Joe, you don't have to claim the money in the federal tax return, but you may have to pay taxes on the state level. Look, the rules are different state to state. You have to ask your state tax department or check with your accountant, but you could owe some dough at the state level.

HARRIS: Wow.

WILLIS: Yes.

HARRIS: Man, oh, man.

WILLIS: Unintended consequences.

HARRIS: Exactly. Our second question comes from April, who writes, I have been teaching children in a low-income school called Head Start for about five years now. I'm trying to find out if there is a loan forgiveness program out there for me. Please help me, Gerri."

WILLIS: Well, good news, April. You probably qualify for loan forgiveness programs. You may be able to get your Perkins loan forgiven 100 percent, all of it forgiven after five years of teaching. And the Stafford loan forgiveness program may forgive up to 5,000 bucks depending on your state's rules.

Finally, you may even be able to get the entire amount of your federal loans forgiven by the public service loan forgiveness program, depending on your qualifications. Now, to get the public service loan forgiveness, you will have to have worked full time for ten consecutive years. For more info, go to finaid.org and, of course, the head of your Head Start program.

HARRIS: There you go. You got time for one more, Gerri?

WILLIS: Let's do it. Yes. Definitely. HARRIS: This one from James, who writes -- oh, I like this one, too -- "If I add someone to my credit card as an authorized user to help their credit score, will it affect mine just for making that change? Assuming they don't misuse it."

WILLIS: Right. Well, you know, Tony, a lot of people do this. The answer for James is no. When you add someone as an authorized user to one of your credit cards, there are no changes on your credit report, so there is no impact on your scores. Now, keep in mind that any debt incurred by that authorized user will show up on your credit reports and will impact your scores.

Finally, unless the authorized user is your spouse, child or parent, then FICO '08 -- that's the newest FICO score on the market -- will not give them the benefit of having the account on their credit report. So, if you're doing it to make your son or your daughter look better to creditors, that ain't going to work anymore.

And of course, if you have a question, send to me at gerri@CNN.com. We'd love to hear from you, and we answer those questions right here every Friday.

HARRIS: Did I hear you -- a new FICO something -- what?

WILLIS: Well, here's the reality.

HARRIS: I'm trying to keep up with the old, and now there's new, and there's a new FICO.

WILLIS: There's a lot of scores. They make scores for the insurance industry. They make scores for banks and lenders. And, you know, there's lots of development in this area. It's hard for consumers to keep up with.

You can get your credit score at myfico.com by paying about 15 bucks. At the end of the day, we always say check your credit report and make sure it's right so that you know if you're going out there to get credit, you know, what the lender is going to see.

HARRIS: And Gerri, you're going to be joining me next hour. We're going to talk about -- is this true? Is this accurate? Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke getting his ID stolen?

WILLIS: Doesn't matter who you are, Tony. I mean, how smart you are, how, you know, do you have a cushy job? It doesn't matter. These fraud artists are out there to get you. When it comes to your identity, they want to steal it. Even Ben Bernanke is not safe.

HARRIS: If it can happen to Ben Bernanke, it can happen absolutely to each and every one of us. Gerri, see you next hour.

WILLIS: My pleasure. Thank you.

HARRIS: Thanks.

First-time home buyers could be eligible for an $8,000 tax credit. You can learn all about it at CNNmoney.com.

A girl abducted when she was 11 years old reappears, and now she has two children. Hear from her stepdad in just a few minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Want to show you these live pictures now into the CNN NEWSROOM. Hundreds of people forced to flee wildfires near Los Angeles. Boy, it's a beautiful shot from our affiliate there in Los Angeles, KTLA. The largest fire northeast of the city in a national forest. Residents of Rancho Palos Verdes, south of the city, were told to get out. Our affiliates report a few homes burned there. One woman says she had just gone to walk her dog when she got the word to get out and get out fast.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was walking down the trails with my dogs and then turned around, and the fire was just right there behind me. Come back, and the police, all the fire department, and everybody was waiting for people to get off the trails. And I went home and thought we were OK, and they knock on our door and say we to evacuate, so that's what we did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Other stories we're following, authorities this morning are looking for clues into the killing of two Virginia Tech students. Their bodies were found at a campground in the Jefferson National Forest. The campground, a popular hangout for Tech students, is 15 miles from the university campus in Blacksburg.

Search teams say they have recovered the flight data recorder from a Yemeni jetliner. The plane crashed in the Indian Ocean June 30th off the Comoros Islands; 152 people died. Miraculously, a teenage girl the lone survivor.

Our "Hero of the Week," college student Jordan Thomas. A devastating boating accident took both of his legs four years ago. He has triumphed over his loss and is helping other child amputees to do the same.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JORDAN THOMAS, YOUNG WONDER: They say I'm a bilateral transtibial amputee. In laymen's terms, I lost both my legs from the mid-calf down. I'm just kind of a normal kid that was thrown into an abnormal situation.

Just a freak accident -- I was 16 years old. My parents and I were going to go scuba diving. There were tons of waves that day, and I jumped into the water.

I just got pushed behind the boat, and I looked down and I just saw blood. I had such great support. That's what helps me just kind of get through it. But when I saw the other kids that were in the hospital that didn't have great support, you recognize that something's got to be done.

My name is Jordan Thomas, and I started my foundation there in the hospital, and I provide kids with limbs that they deserve.

There are a lot of insurance companies that will put a cap on prosthetics, or they'll provide them with one pair of legs for their lifetime.

You never would know that you need new legs every year and a half. It's like shoes. You just outgrow them.

Noah is six. His first leg, it didn't bend. They asked for a new knee, but he was denied. So we provided him with a bendable knee that now he's so proud to show off how his knee bends. It's great.

We've committed to these kids until they're 18, so we have a lot of work ahead of us, a lot, so, but we're excited about it.

We need to really work on this then.

We provide them with prosthetics, and that creates a whole gamut of opportunity for them to achieve whatever they want. I think they deserve that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And you can find out more about Jordan's or any of our "Heroes" work on our Web site at CNN.com/heroes, and be sure to keep watching. In just a couple weeks, we will be announcing the top ten CNN heroes of 2009.

Your money, your food in the recession puts farmers in a pinch.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Finally, the end of a kidnapping nightmare that began almost two decades ago when 11-year-old Jaycee Dugard vanished. Her mother issued this heartwrenching plea for her daughter's return back in 1991.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TERRY PROBYN, MISSING GIRL'S MOTHER: She's a pretty, young, innocent child, and you may like her, but we love her, too. And it's time that she comes home to her family. Her sissy's been asking for her, and she needs to be with us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Wow. Jaycee's mom in 1991. Her little girl is now a 29-year-old woman, and she's finally been reunited with her family. Police say Dugard had been kept in a backyard compound of tents and sheds by her captors, Phillip and Nancy Garrido. The sickening twist to all of this: Police say Garrido had two daughters with his victim. They are now 11 and 15.

The girls were apparently born in the backyard. They've never been to school. They've never seen a doctor. We've got details on the day the horror began from Dugard's stepfather, who witnessed the abduction but couldn't stop it. He spoke to CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARL PROBYN, JAYCEE DUGARD'S STEPFATHER: Jaycee walked up the hill on the way to the bus stop, and a car come down and circled, then went real slow. It got my attention. That's how, you know, I recognized the car. And it went back up the hill, and it waited for her to get to the top of the hill. And once it did, she -- I guess they wanted to see if cars were coming from behind or cars from above.

Once it got next to her, it cut her off, and basically when I saw the door fly open, I jumped on my mountain bike. I realized I couldn't get to her in time. The hill was too steep. So, I rode back down, yelled at a neighbor for 911. And they had, like, a two-minute head start. I really have a lot of questions like, you know, how did they get out of there? And you think they would block the roads off, and they would have had him, but they got away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Boy. The suspects are due to appear in court in Placerville, California, today. Let's go there live now to Dan Kerman of our affiliate KRON. And, Dan, good to see you. First of all, I believe we've got some confirmation on the time of the arraignment today.

DAN KERMAN, KRON-TV CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. I just talked to the district attorney's office, and in their news release they said the arraignment of this couple will be at 1:00. The court is saying, though, it will probably be a little bit closer to 1:30 California time. So, we can expect to see them in court. We can also tell you that at this point, though, the formal charges have not been filed. The D.A.'s office just told me that they are still putting those together.

HARRIS: And Dan, you were there. My understanding is you were there for the news conference yesterday. How shocking was it, first of all, to hear the news that you heard, first of all, that they had found her and that she was alive and, apparently, in good shape?

KERMAN: Well, I think the most shocking thing after the initial shock that she was alive 18 years later. You know, somebody goes missing in 1991 and is never heard from since, you just expect the worse after a while, especially in this business.

But I think the next shocking point was is that she had been just outside Antioch in the Bay area, living in that secret back yard all this time. And I think even more shocking was is that Garrido was on federal parole. Parole agents had to come and visit the house routinely and never spotted the secret backyard. And sheriff's officials said the way it was set up, it was easy to miss.

But, apparently, Jaycee and the two young girls had been living in that secret backyard the entire time. That was what's most shocking and most surprising.

HARRIS: And Dan, I'm sure you've been doing what good reporters do, that's talking to neighbors who live near these two, this couple. What have they been telling you?

KERMAN: Well, you know, neighbors, you know, they've seen odd goings on, and they've described Garrido as odd in general in and around the thing. I've read some reports about people calling the sheriff's department reporting odd things, but them telling them, well, they couldn't get a search warrant, and they couldn't go in. That's what I've read in some of the newspapers, as well.

So, apparently, there were several opportunities to catch it, and it never happened. What's also pretty amazing, I think, about this, is how the whole kidnapping plot was uncovered. It all happened because he brought the two young girls with him to UC Berkeley to try and pass out pamphlets. And it was very astute UC Berkeley police officer who stopped him, questioned him, got information on his background, found out he was on federal parole. And she was the one who contacted his parole officer and made him come in.

And it was when he came into that office -- he brought the wife, plus Jaycee and the two young girls -- and what really tipped off the parole agent was on all his visits to the house, he had never seen Jaycee, and he never seen the two young girls. And that's why he started asking all the questions. And suddenly, the whole plot became -- started to unravel.

HARRIS: Yes. And Dan, it's almost -- I almost feel a little nauseous asking this next question. But the idea that he would bring everyone to the parole officer's office, I'm wondering, did anyone in the neighborhood tell you that they had seen this group being essentially passed off as a family?

KERMAN: Well, no. No one had indicated that they had seen this whole group as a group together all at once, ever. And, in fact, at the news conference yesterday, sheriff's officials had indicated that both Jaycee and the two young girls very rarely left that back yard.

So, it's very questionable as to why in this instance maybe he decided that the jig was up, and he decided he was going to bring everybody. It's also curious why he brought the two young girls with him to UC Berkeley, and why he was not afraid it would tip everybody off.

HARRIS: Dan Kerman from our affiliate KRON. He's outside the superior court building in Placerville, California, where the arraignment will be held later today for the two suspects in this amazing story. Dan, appreciate it. Thank you.

Let's get to some business news now. A new government report shows now that after years of record growth, the farm industry is set to take a pretty big hit here. Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange with the latest details.

And fill us in on this, Susan. First of all, good to see you.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you, Tony. Well, the U.S. Agriculture Department says that farm profits could fall nearly 40 percent this year. In real dollars, we're talking about the vicinity of $40 billion. Why is that?

Pretty simple. Fruits and vegetables are commodities, right? They're driven by supply and demand. And there's less demand in a global recession. So, farmers are getting lower prices for their corn and wheat and many other products.

But we have to say, you mentioned it, Tony, we have to put this in perspective. Farmers have been doing OK in this recession because they're coming off years of record-breaking profits. All that demand for our exports to China, all that demand for corn-based ethanol have put them in a better position. And what's it mean for you and me? Well, lower prices at the grocery store. So, mixed news coming from the heartland -- Tony.

HARRIS: And, Susan, how important is farming really these days to our overall economy?

LISOVICZ: It's just less than 1 percent of Americans, believe it or not, directly involved in agriculture, Tony. You know, a century ago, 30 percent.

HARRIS: Absolutely.

LISOVICZ: But farming does have a much bigger impact because they spend on big-ticket items like tractors. They buy huge quanties of seed and fertilizers, use half of the nation's land. So, agriculture accounts for more than 4 percent of GDP.

And by the way, the recession in prices also affects the prices for farmland. So, there's a lot of pressure then on family farms.

One other thing. We're talking about the economy. We're seeing and watching Whirlpool shares right now up 1 percent. But bad news for Whirlpool employees. We have it confirmed now that Whirlpool is closing a plant in Evansville, Indiana. That would affect 1,100 jobs. They're going to Mexico.

So, we've been seeing a lot of signs of growth, Tony, improvement in the economy, but not every day we're going to hear good news. This is something that's going to come out very uneven. And in terms of the market, we're seeing an uneven performance. Dow under pressure, but the Nasdaq is doing just fine -- Tony.

HARRIS: Awesome. All right, Susan, appreciate it. See you next hour. Thanks.

So, a sad milestone has been reached in Afghanistan. Another U.S. servicemember has been killed there, making August the deadliest month in for American forces in the nearly eight-year war. The death brings to 45 the number of U.S. troops killed this month.

Live pictures now from the JFK Library in Boston, where crowds continue to file past the casket of Senator Ted Kennedy. The public viewing is scheduled to last until 3:00 p.m. A private memorial service will be held this evening after the funeral Mass. Tomorrow, the senator will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

And stay with CNN for continuing coverage of the life and legacy of Senator Ted Kennedy. Again, the body will lie in repose at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library until a memorial service tonight at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time. Private funeral services held tomorrow, followed by his burial at Arlington National Cemetery.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: You see Representative -- the back of Representative John Lewis greeting members of the Kennedy family after just taking his turn in line paying his respects in passing the casket of Senator Edward Kennedy. We want to just show you this moment taking place right now live at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library.

And as you know, the senator's body will lie in repose there until a private memorial Mass later today. And, again, literally thousands of people have been paying their respects passing the casket. Started yesterday afternoon, as you know, into the evening, wrapped up at about 2:00 a.m. this morning. The hours had to be extended and, so, it begins again today. Representative John Lewis there from Georgia.

Well, Hurricane Katrina was sweeping into New Orleans four years ago tomorrow. Law and order was being swept out. The FBI is now investigating reports of several shootings by vigilantes. Our Gary Tuchman tracked down this particular story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Listen to these shocking comments made by Hurricane Katrina survivors days after the storm.

WAYNE JANAK, ALGIERS POINT RESIDENT: We shot them. They were looters.

TUCHMAN: Is this true? We came to New Orleans to find the people in this documentary shot by Danish filmmakers and to talk to this man, who says three nights after Katrina, he saw three armed white men, one of whom pointed his gun at him.

DONNELL HERRINGTON, SHOOTING VICTIM: He said, "(EXPLETIVE DELETED) I'm going to get you."

TUCHMAN: Donnell Herrington, who says he was merely walking to a ferry boat in the mostly white neighborhood of Algiers Point, was shot in the neck. But it wasn't over.

HERRINGTON: I managed to get up to my feet, and the guy let off another shot. And he hit me in my back. I fell and hit the ground again.

TUCHMAN: His life was saved by this surgeon, who says his hospital typically gets one or two gunshot victims over a 30-day period. But in just a few days following Katrina...

(on camera): How many gunshot wounds did you get?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Six to ten.

TUCHMAN: So that's pretty unusual?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): The doctor says about half of those gunshot victims died. Clearly, people were taking matters into their own hands.

There was no shortage of panic, paranoia and lawlessness in New Orleans. So, there were many in Algiers Point who took extreme measures, measures they say had nothing to do with race but security.

(on camera): Is it fair to say in your neighborhood, you organized basically a private militia?

VINNIE PERVEL, ALGIERS POINT RESIDENT: Private militia, neighborhood watch.

TUCHMAN: But a neighborhood watch with dozens and scores of guns.

PERVEL: Yes.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Vinnie Pervel says he doesn't know who shot Donnell Herrington but told me he and his neighbors had a huge number of weapons at the ready to keep criminals away, and that some of his neighbors had been firing shots.

PERVEL: I used the Second Amendment. I beared arms to protect myself. And I'll do it again.

TUCHMAN: Algiers Point residents were very blunt in the documentary.

JANAK: That was our sign down the street. We had a .12-gauge shotgun.

TUCHMAN: In the documentary, they appear to be drinking beer while making these comments.

This is Wayne Janak.

JANAK: It was like it was pheasant season in South Dakota. If it moved, you shot it.

TUCHMAN: Four years later, we found Wayne Janak at his home.

(on camera): You said, quote, "It was like pheasant season in South Dakota. If it moved, you shot it."

JANAK: Taken completely out of context. First of all, they said, "What was the noise like over here?"

And I said, "I grew up in South Dakota." I said, "The first day of pheasant season, everybody shoots at anything that's moving."

TUCHMAN: But the inference was that you shot at somebody here.

JANAK: Right, which is totally untrue.

TUCHMAN: Yes, but did you say that because you were drunk, or...

JANAK: I don't know. I don't remember the interview.

TUCHMAN: Were you bragging, or...

JANAK: Probably.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Nathan Roper (ph) was also interviewed in the documentary.

NATHAN ROPER, ALGIERS POINT RESIDENT: You had to do what you had to do. If you had to shoot somebody, you had to shoot somebody.

TUCHMAN: We happened to run into Nathan Roper in an Algiers Point bar.

ROPER: They never asked me if I'd shot anyone.

TUCHMAN (on camera): Yes, I don't think you said you shot somebody. You said if you had to, you'd do it.

ROPER: If I had to. If they were polka dot, green, yellow, white, black, if they were on my property causing harm to my property. Food, I gave plenty of food away to people that walked...

TUCHMAN: But you would have shot somebody who came on your property?

ROPER: If they was coming to harm me, absolutely.

TUCHMAN: But you -- that didn't happen?

ROPER: No, that didn't happen.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Vinnie Pervel, who wasn't in the Danish documentary, says he almost fired at somebody.

PERVEL: There was one, when I actually forewarned them. I told them, "Look, I know you're there. I'm going to count to three, and I'm going to shoot." I said, "One, two" -- and I hear, "Don't -- don't shoot." And you hear footsteps. He's running off.

TUCHMAN: Police and the military were nowhere to be seen in those chaotic days. But four years have gone by. So, what you're about to hear from the man who was shot is simply stunning.

(on camera): How many times has the New Orleans police talked to you about this case?

HERRINGTON: Zero. None.

TUCHMAN: Never?

HERRINGTON: Never.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): A.C. Thompson is a journalist for a nonprofit news organization called ProPublica. He's been investigating the case for about two years and wrote about it in "The Nation" magazine.

A.C. THOMPSON, REPORTER, PROPUBLICA: Across the city, people died of gunshot wounds and other violence. And it seems that there was no real effort by law enforcement to figure out what happened to these people.

TUCHMAN: After Thompson's article this past December, police said they would look into the allegations. But when CNN contacted them, they declined to make any comment.

But now the FBI is on the case, interviewing Donnell Herrington and people who stayed behind in Algiers Point.

PERVEL: At the time, or after the storm, I thought I guess we would be considered, like, a neighborhood hero. When the FBI contacted me, I felt like a vigilante, a thug.

TUCHMAN (on camera): What are you?

PERVEL: I'm somebody who's going to protect my home. I don't care what it takes. I'm going to protect my home.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Donnell Herrington doesn't know who attacked him.

HERRINGTON: I believe that they were -- those guys were hunting black people.

TUCHMAN: And he believes there are people in this tightknit community who do know.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Anderson Cooper is live in New Orleans. A couple of questions: Are the levees any stronger now than they were four years ago? "360" looks back at New Orleans three years after Katrina, 10:00 Eastern, only on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: A Kansas congresswoman says she is sorry if she offended anybody. Republican Lynn Jenkins says a racist phrase she used wasn't directed at President Obama. She says she was not aware of the connotation. Listen for yourself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. LYNN JENKINS (R), KANSAS: The main focus today has been (INAUDIBLE) discussion, you know, the Republicans are struggling now to find the great white hope, and I suggest to any of you that are concerned about that that are Republicans, there are some great, young Republican minds in Washington.

Of course, the ones I'm most familiar with are in the House side, and we've got a bright, young start in Eric Cantor, our whip and his deputy whip, Kevin McCarthy from California is a bright young man. Spent some time in Kansas with Senator Brownback. He represents a history in Wisconsin. These really sharp folks that I believe for, you know, the next election cycle put their head together and come up with message that at least conservatives across the nation can call us behind. So, don't lose faith if you're a conservative.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: OK. So, she used the phraseology "great white hope." Now, the phrase "great white hope" entered the lexicon in the early part of the 20th century. That is when Boxer Jack Jackson, who was black, won the heavyweight title. Many whites acted to Jackson's victories by trying to find white boxers, quote, "a great white hope" who could beat him.

Here's what we're working on for the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM. The nation's money man, the Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, joins the ranks of those victimized by identity theft. Our personal finance editor Gerri Willis will detail how to handle identity theft when it happens to you. Ben, are you listening?

And he is Detroit's own hometown bad boy. Kid Rock, doing his part to rev up the Motor City's stalled economy, pushing scholarships, jobs and new businesses. That and more coming up in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Live pictures now of a steady stream of mourners filing past the casket of Senator Ted Kennedy. The public viewing will be followed by a private memorial service this evening.

An HBO documentary on Kennedy examines the period of 1972 when then-president Nixon viewed Kennedy as a potential rival. Nixon talked with aides about wiretapping Kennedy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD NIXON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: (INAUDIBLE) (END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: And you can watch it all tonight. CNN will air HBO's acclaimed documentary film, "Teddy: In His Own Words" tonight at 11:00.