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Feds Suspect Transit Plot; Iranian President Blames Mideast Conflict on Zionists; Coach Acquitted in Player's Death; Most, Least Trusted Brands Named; Stimulus Shame? Millions for Remote Checkpoints

Aired September 18, 2009 - 13:00   ET

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

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello there.

Madrid, 2004, terrorists blow up commuter trains, killing almost 200 people. Colorado, 2009, investigators target a suspected plot for similar attacks right here in America. We are pushing forward on a probe that stretches from the suburbs of Denver to the streets of New York City.

Plus, Scobey, Montana, on the U.S./Canadian border. Well, if you can't find it, just follow the dollars from Washington. Now the feds are rethinking stimulus projects that some call borderline crazy.'

And from Baghdad, the back-story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A cup of coffee that you don't have time to drink and the "get out of bed now we're leaving" wake-up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Yes, you snooze, you lose your chance to see Iraq's famous shoe thrower walk out of jail. It's not your ordinary photo- op.

Hello, everybody, I'm Betty Nguyen, in for Kyra Phillips, at CNN world headquarters here in Atlanta. And you are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

All right. So, we are pushing forward on the trail of the real deal. The words of a CNN source who's close to a rapidly developing terror probe. It centers on an Afghan national in the Denver suburb of Aurora.

Najibullah Zazi is said to be answering questions from a third -- for a third straight day at FBI headquarter or offices there in Denver. And though he's saying nothing to reporters, his lawyer says he's innocent with absolutely nothing to hide.

Zazi's home has been searched, as have several sites in the New York neighborhood he visited about a week ago. Sources also tell CNN that investigators found something that fueled their suspicions, and that triggered the use of unprecedented resources. So, what is that?

Well, we are hearing about this suspected plot -- stress word here, suspected -- may have targeted transit areas that don't have airport-style security.

CNN homeland security correspondent, Jeanne Meserve, joins me now from Denver.

All right, Jeanne, give us the latest in this widening investigation.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Betty, Najibullah Zazi and his attorney have arrived at this building behind me which houses the FBI. They got here just about an hour ago. On previous days they walked into the building. But today, they were brought into the back in vehicles with tinted glass, so it was difficult to see them. We certainly could not ask them questions or get any answers from them.

This is the third day that he has been here for -- for questioning by the FBI.

Two sources do tell CNN that bomb-making instructions were found in the course of this investigation. One law enforcement source tells us that these instructions were on a computer that Zazi was carrying as he traveled to New York last weekend.

Zazi's attorney, Arthur Folsom, is saying not true. It just didn't happen that way. He's insisting that his client has absolutely no ties to terrorism whatsoever.

In addition, we've heard from multiple sources that backpacks were found in the course of the searches in New York. Now, a number of backpacks. We don't know the exact number. Now, you'll recall, perhaps, that in 2002 in the Madrid train bombings, the explosives were hidden in backpacks that were put on mass transit.

So, according to our sources, law enforcement has been developing theories that perhaps in this instance, the possible target of this alleged plot was mass transit. Perhaps they were looking at a subway station or a train station, somewhere where there would be a lot of people and where there would not be a careful look being given to carry-on baggage.

But at this point in time, though several law enforcement sources do say, as you mentioned, that this is the real deal, that this is a very important investigation that's unfolding, there still have not been any arrests.

Betty, back to you.

NGUYEN: The real deal, but as you mentioned, still no arrests. But there are extra security measures taking place at, say, mass transit locations?

MESERVE: Well, the Transportation Security Administration says it has no specific information about locations or timing or anything of the sort. It does periodically surge -- surge its security measures in airports and in mass transit, and some of that is going on now. They do it on a random basis all the time.

But it would not be surprising if you saw a little bit of it going on right now as this investigation is unfolding.

NGUYEN: Well, Zazi and his attorneys deny any involvement whatsoever. Have you talked to anyone who knows Zazi?

MESERVE: Well, I did yesterday speak to someone who works at the same limousine company where Zazi has worked for about the last six months. He described him as a good kid. He even described him as nerdy. He said he felt he was a good character and that he had trouble believing he was involved in any sort of terrorism plot.

But that's just one man's opinion. Obviously, the FBI remains extraordinarily interested in Najibullah Zazi.

Back to you.

NGUYEN: No doubt. All right. Jeanne Meserve joining us live. Thank you, Jeanne.

And we are going to learn how suspicions turn into investigations and sometimes prosecutions with a former FBI special agent on the Joint Terrorism Task Force in New York. Foria Younis joins me at quarter past the hour, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

But in the meantime, though, search crews at Phillip and Nancy Garrido's home have their work cut out for them today. All week in Antioch, California, police have been scouring the property in connection with two cold-case kidnappings. The circumstances: very similar to Jaycee Dugard and her abduction.

The couple's been jailed without bail in that case, and today crews are using ground-penetrating radar to search the spot where cadaver dogs alerted yesterday.

Meanwhile, we are getting a new and disturbing view of how the Garridos lived. Check out these pictures taken inside the home, which has just been condemned by the county.

All right, so was Raymond Clark's arrest always in the cards? There are new details in the Yale murder case that suggest it was. According to "the Hartford Courant" data from a security swipe card told cops early on that he was probably the last person to see Annie Le alive. Basically, they were able to follow the lab tech and the grad student's movements room to room through their research building.

Because of all the evidence, New Haven, Connecticut, police were tailing Clark even before Le's body was found. They started undercover surveillance on Saturday. She was found strangled in the lab on Sunday, the day that she was to be married. We are going to bring you more details on this next hour.

But, first, plenty of new developments out of Iran today. Three months after the nation's hotly contested presidential election, we're seeing renewed and defiant protests from the opposition.

Meanwhile, though, Iran's president reinforces his rail against Israel. CNN's Reza Sayah has been watching it all from neighboring Pakistan. And he joins us now, live from Islamabad with more.

All right, Reza, it's Quds Day in Iran, the nation's annual show of support for Palestinians. But there is a new political twist this year, correct?

REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, no question about it. As they've done in the past, Iran's opposition supporters took advantage of what was a government-approved rally and came out, and once again protested the disputed election on June 12 and the deadly government crackdown that followed.

Tens of thousands of opposition supporters hitting the streets in Tehran. We hadn't seen these types of numbers in nearly two months, but today they were out again, really facing off against large groups of pro-government crowds, creating a potentially explosive situation. Usually that's a recipe for violence. We didn't see widespread clashes today. We saw some, but not many.

The opposition supporters began marching early in the morning towards Tehran University. That's where President Ahmadinejad delivered another searing speech targeting Israel, the U.S., and the west. Here's a little taste of what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Today the most important issue in the world is the issue of Palestinian. If there's a conflict going on in Iraq, we believe that the conflict has been instigated by the Zionists. If there's a conflict in Afghanistan, the war has been provoked by the Zionists. If the people of Sudan are being suppressed, that is due to Zionists' temptations. In fact, we consider all these schemes as being just drawn up by the Zionists.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAYAH: Now, inside Tehran University, President Ahmadinejad getting plenty of cheers, but a whole different story outside of Tehran University. That's where opposition supporters were chanting "liar, liar" as the president was speaking. Also the chant of "death to the dictator." A new chant heard today: "no to Gaza, no to Lebanon. I'm giving my life to Iran."

Once again this turnout today an indication of the defiance of the opposition movement, Betty.

NGUYEN: Yes, they are out there by the hundreds, by the thousands. Reza Sayah joining us from neighboring Pakistan. Reza, thank you for that.

All right. Listen to this story, folks, a former high-school football coach tried in the death of one of his players. Well, the verdict is in, and it is bringing a huge sigh of relief from sidelines from all across America. We have the details. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: A jury in Louisville, Kentucky, took less than two hours to acquit a former high school football coach accused of running one of his players to death. The potentially precedent-setting trial was closely watched all around the country. Here's CNN's Alina Cho with the verdict and the reaction.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We, the jury, find the defendant, David Jason Stinson, not guilty.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With that a huge sigh of relief from David Stinson and high school coaches everywhere. A jury cleared Stinson of reckless homicide and wanton endangerment in the death of Max Gilpin. The 15-year-old died of heat stroke after collapsing during football practice last August. His mother said the trial had still sent a message.

MICHELLE CROCKETT, MAX GILPIN'S MOTHER: We're disappointed, but, you know, we said this going into it. The main objective was that Max's death not be in vain. People are standing up to those football coaches now, and people are reaching out.

CHO: Gilpin had been running sprints called gassers on a day when temperatures hit 94.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh!

CHO: During the trial, players said Stinson ordered the gassers as punishment for the lack of effort they showed at practice. Prosecutors described the sprints as barbaric. Stinson's attorney argued it was just football.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did not create a hostile, dangerous environment. It was a football practice.

CHO: Even without a guilty verdict, prosecutors say the trial has raised awareness.

LELAND HULBERT, PROSECUTOR: Every coach steps on a football field and now thinks about what he's doing a little bit more, maybe thinks about water a little bit more, watches his players a little bit more. We're all better off for having this case.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: All right. Well, that was CNN's Alina Cho. By the way, though, medical experts for the defense blame Gilpin's death on a combination of heat, his apparent use of a dietary supplement, creatine, and the attention deficit disorder drug Adderall.

Want to get you back now to our top story, what is being described as an unprecedented use of resources that have been marshaled for a terror investigation around Denver and New York City. Najibullah Zazi is an Afghan national who lives in a Denver suburb, and for a third consecutive day he is being questioned by the FBI. As far as we know, neither he nor anyone else has been arrested, and Zazi's lawyer says he is cooperating fully.

Well, we are working our sources to try to get the latest information for you. And for insights into how these investigations work, we are calling on Foria Younis, who is a former FBI special agent and veteran of the Joint Terrorism Task Force in New York City.

Foria, thanks so much for talking to us today.

I think the first thing I want to ask you about is the fact that Zazi was interviewed for some eight hours yesterday. He's being interviewed again today, but there has been no arrest. Is there some fear that maybe officials acted too quickly?

FORIA YOUNIS, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Obviously, since there hasn't been an arrest, there's always the concern that comes up, but you've got to keep in mind that this search warrant, these searches of the homes and other searches that have been done, this is all part of an investigation that's leading up.

And obviously, if someone's not been arrested, we always think about, did they move too fast. But when you're in the JTTF, and you're doing these type of investigations, a lot of different pieces of the puzzles are coming at you, and teams are working together to try to figure out what exactly do we have here, and what can we do to prevent an attack...

NGUYEN: Right.

YOUNIS: ... or should we let the investigation go forward. So, these are all things that are being discussed within the Joint Terrorism Task Force.

NGUYEN: No doubt. But let's look at some of the things that have been leaked, shall we say, because sources have already put on record that -- that Zazi may have trained at a Pakistani terrorism camp, that there were bomb-making diagrams on his computer. There are even reports that materials taken from Zazi tested positive for explosives. If, in fact, that is the case, why no arrest?

YOUNIS: Well, if -- if that is the case, you have to look at the -- the stuff that's -- the information that's coming to you little bit deeper. Do they just have a map? Having a map of the subway could be just anything. So, they're trying to put pieces together and see if they have enough.

Sometimes as an investigator, you have individual items that come to your attention, but as a big picture as a whole, it may not be enough. For example, you mentioned one of the things that you found out was that he may have gone to a camp overseas. That in itself may or may not be enough.

And the question is, how did we get that information? Has that been confirmed? And obviously, as you mentioned earlier in your report, he is right now just a suspect.

NGUYEN: Right.

YOUNIS: As you get more information, now, how did this information come to the FBI? Was it overseas intelligence? Was it information through a wiretap? All of these things have to come together and the ...

NGUYEN: And they all have to be verified, no doubt. But let me ask you this. If he was part of a terror probe -- and we've heard officials say today this is the real deal, not specifically as to him, but as to the plot. This is the real deal. If he was part of a terrorism probe, then is there a danger in him walking around freely and not being arrested?

YOUNIS: And that danger that you so eloquently put out there, Betty, is always the concern that we have. When do we keep investigating and when do we disrupt the plan? Before 9/11, the JTTF may have gone a little bit longer and kept investigating. Post-9/11, the clear marching orders are disruption, disruption, disruption.

So we cannot take a chance. We do not take it. The FBI doesn't take any more chances. If they suspect something, they would rather disrupt it than let it go on and obviously have some Americans or citizens in the U.S. get injured. So, this may be a disruption angle. They may be still continuing their investigation, interviewing and collecting other pieces of information and seeing where that leads them.

NGUYEN: Yes, we know they're interviewing Zazi today. So we'll see what comes of that.

Foria, thanks so much for your time today and your insight. We really appreciate it.

YOUNIS: Thank you, Betty. Good luck.

NGUYEN: Thanks.

All right. So no food for you. Oh, no, a restaurant chain metes out the punishment for the man accused of a beating a black woman as her 7-year-old watched in horror.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: All right. Let's get you your top stories right now.

There are new overtures out of North Korea, because there is word that the secretive communist state may again be willing to haggle over its disputed nuclear program. The A.P. says North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il brought up the idea of resuming the stalled six-party talks to a Chinese envoy. We'll be following that for you.

Meanwhile, though, Cracker Barrel says, "Don't come back." It's put a lifetime ban on the man accused of beating and racially insulting a black female Army reservist at a Georgia restaurant. The company says Troy West is no longer welcome at any Cracker Barrel restaurant after the incident last week near Atlanta.

The 47-year-old faces a trio of state charges, and the feds are investigating the case as a possible hate crime.

Well, there is just no letup in the heavy rain across the south. Do you feel it out there? In fact, there's some flooding threats and that's getting more serious. Chad Myers is tracking it for us at the CNN weather center.

Chad, boy, I didn't know if I needed a boat for work today. It's been raining for how many days now?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'll tell you what, it just keeps going. The showers have been spinning around this low that is to our west. Not that far from Memphis right now.

Flood warnings from Memphis southward all the way down to the west of Starkville. This is where it's going to be all day again today. And we're going to pan around. And we'll see more showers pop up around Atlanta, more showers pop up in the Carolinas. All the way up the East Coast, as well.

It's going to be one of those days. It's been one of those weeks, where the rain just wouldn't move.

Now, we are having a little bit of a better time where the rain is a little bit more spread out. See all the way back up into Kansas. All the way to Ohio and then back down, where we've only had this area the past couple of days. We're going to spread it out a little bit, and that spreading it out means that not everybody is going to see as much rain as they've seen in the past.

Open this up for you. We'll show you where the warnings and watches are. Flood watches literally all the way from South Carolina, back to Dallas. Here's some pictures from yesterday. Not too far from Murphysboro, Tennessee. People were rescued, water going up and up and up. WSMV, our affiliate there, out of Nashville. Those cows made it out OK.

Water over the roads. Don't drive through that. You don't know how deep's it's going to be. Plus, you don't know whether the road is still there or whether the water took it out -- Betty.

NGUYEN: All right, Chad. We'll be watching it, as well. Thank you so much.

MYERS: You're welcome.

NGUYEN: And when it comes to famous brands, it's still the real thing. The annual list of the world's most valuable brands is out. And the upheaval in the financial markets is apparent in some companies that lost some ground.

Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange with the winners and the losers.

All right, Susan, so what brands do people trust the most? And I hope you're going to say CNN.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Aha. You know, that's a very good question. We know when it comes -- when it comes to news, there's no question who's No. 1.

NGUYEN: The most trusted name in news!

LISOVICZ: Yes. We're talking about consumer products. So, I give you one clue in your toss: still the real thing. How about "the pause that refreshes," it is based in Atlanta, home of CNN.

NGUYEN: Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola. I knew it as soon as I said it.

LISOVICZ: Exactly. Exactly. No. 1 since 2000.

According to this poll by Interbrand, which is a branding agency, so this is sort of the Academy Awards for branding. Coca-Cola, you may know it for its cola, but it's actually been very busy releasing new products to adapt to customer shifts. We drink a lot of sports energy drinks, juices, teas, water. Coca-Cola has been all over that. So that's No. 1, and it's been there for nine years.

IBM is No. 2. The brand known as Big Blue. IBM has been rolling out lots of new products. It actually received 4,000 patents over the past year, more than any other company on the top 100.

And this is the point according to the -- the company that did this survey, Interbrand, says you cannot be idle when times are tough. New products keep customers interested and spending, even in a recession. And that is a point well made, because sometimes when you're in a store, whether it's a pharmacy or a supermarket, why is it that you won't go to a generic brand? You'll pay more for -- for, you know, a certain product quite willing to. Why is that?

NGUYEN: Trust issue.

LISOVICZ: And that is the power of the brand.

NGUYEN: Yes. All right. Well, we talked about the winner. Everybody likes a winner. But the reality is some people lost our trust this year, too, right?

LISOVICZ: No question about it. And you can really see a direct correlation to the financial crisis, Betty. Because the biggest drop in trust came with financial companies. In fact, Merrill Lynch, AIG. ING completely fell off the list altogether. American Express, HSBC, Citi, UBS all dropped in the rankings.

Another casualty, automakers. GM and Chrysler, not on the list anymore. Even Toyota fell. So, you definitely saw some casualties related to the economic woes that we talk about all the time, Betty.

NGUYEN: Absolutely. No doubt. OK, Susan, we do appreciate it.

LISOVICZ: Sure. NGUYEN: Hey, you know, not too many people head out this way. But a truckload of your tax dollars almost did. I say almost for now, because Uncle Sam won't be dumping cash on these far-out border crossings. The question is, though, why did he want to in the first place?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: The Department of Homeland Security backpedaling fast after a plan to dump millions of your tax dollars on border crossings, far-out border crossings, in fact. Secretary Janet Napolitano has called for a full review from Washington. And CNN's special investigations unit correspondent, Drew Griffin, took a road trip to see for himself.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We knew this one we had to see to believe. But after driving for hours, we thought we might never see it.

(on camera) We've blown to Billings, Montana. We've been driving for five hours through a country that has more antelope than people. And I tell you, we've done the bridges to nowhere, the roads to nowhere. This may be the topper.

(voice-over) It was supposed to be $15 million to replace what appears to be a perfectly fine border-crossing station, especially when you consider the Bureau of Transportation's statistics say this border-crossing station at Scobey, Montana, sees fewer than 20 vehicles a day.

(on camera) It's not that you could just call this border crossing slow. Here I am in the middle of the day, sitting in the middle of the road. There's nobody here.

(voice-over) It's even quieter here, the border crossing at White Tail, Montana. A Bureau of Transportation statistics say that custom agents here get an average of fewer than two vehicles a day.

Yet, this, too, was to see a $15 million upgrade thanks to the federal stimulus bill.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I think everybody was pretty well blown away that there's been $32 million in Daniel's County on new border stations. I believe they need to update it, but that just seems to be kind of a crazy number.

GRIFFIN: Why, suddenly, was so much money supposed to come to northeast Montana border crossings, especially when you consider that these border crossings are so unused they're both closed at night? Could it be politics?

Since the Democrats took over in the Senate, Montana's two Democratic senators have become very powerful. Senator Max Baucus is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. Senator Jon Tester is on the Homeland Security Committee. And both took credit for the millions allocated up here in a joint press release, saying they pushed Homeland Security for the stimulus spending.

"This is good news for all of Montana and especially communities across the northern tier," Senator Baucus said in that release. Senator Tester said the spending would "pay off for generations to come by creating new jobs and opportunity that will benefit all of Montana."

And just this week, Senator Tester reiterated his support in a statement saying, through his spokesperson, "Because our borders are only as strong as their weakest link, Jon supports sealing up all security gaps and expects to see the work done as responsibly and efficiently as possible."

The Department of Homeland Security even told us that security concerns, not politics, drove this decision to spend on the ports.

TRENT FRAZIER, HOMELAND SECURITY, DIRECTOR OF PORT MODERNIZATION: We feel that these ports, like all of the ports of entry, are a vital part of that network of security that we establish along the borders, and that the investments that we're going to do at these ports of entry are a critical step in ensuring that we can perform our mission.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My dad, Paul.

GRIFFIN: Mark's Chabot's family has been farming this border for generations. His land is adjacent to the border crossing in Scobey.

In winter, entire days go by, he says, where you won't see a single car. And an idea to build a new border station that sees fewer than 20 cars a day at a cost of $15 million tax dollars he says could only have come from Washington.

MARK CHABOT, SCOBEY, MONTANA RESIDENT: Well, when you're spending somebody else's money, cost is no big deal, right? If I'm spending your money, what do I care? As long as you've got a big pocketbook, why do I care on what I spend it?

The accountability we need to have and the sensibility and the common sense needs to apply here.

I mean, the senators did a fine job as far as getting money for northeast Montana, absolutely great. But would it be wiser spent on something more useful to the public generally?

GRIFFIN: Scobey and nearby Whitetail would have received a temporary boost to the local economy, but not anymore. Shortly after the DHS defended the project to CNN on camera, the secretary pulled the plug, ordering a full review of how her department makes spending decisions.

Drew Griffin, CNN, Scobey, Montana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: All right, so to be clear, CNN tried to get comments from the two U.S. senators from Montana for two weeks before the project was put on hold. The only response we received was what you heard in that report.

A Medal of Honor recipient joins his brothers in arms. In about a half hour, Army Sergeant First Class Jared Monti will be inducted into the Pentagon Hall of Heroes. President Obama presented a posthumous medal to sergeant Monti's parents yesterday. He was recognized for actions above and beyond the call of duty in Afghanistan, losing his life trying to save a wounded soldier.

And even as the nation honors such selflessness, questions have been raised about our highest award for combat valor. Namely, why are so few medals of honor awarded for the Afghanistan and Iraq conflict? And why haven't any been awarded to living troops who fought there? More from our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Obama awards the Medal of Honor to the family of Sergeant First Class Jared Monti, who died trying to save others in a brutal firefight in Afghanistan.

OBAMA: Jared said, "No, he is my soldier. I'm going to get him."

STARR: Monti is the sixth man to receive the Medal for actions above and beyond the call of duty in today's wars. All of them awarded posthumously.

It's the type of heroism these men know. Living recipients gathered this week as they do every year. But there's no one wearing the blue ribbon from Iraq or Afghanistan. In fact, there's been no living recipient for any military action since Vietnam.

The defense secretary believes there are unrecognized acts of courage among the living.

ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY OF THE UNITED STATES: This has been a source of real concern to me. and I will tell you it was one of President Bush's real regrets that he did not have the opportunity to honor a living Medal of Honor winner.

STARR: There are still 95 living recipients, aging heroes from past battles. World war II, Korea and Vietnam.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Before I was in the Army, I didn't know what the medal of honor was.

STARR: Gary Littrel was recognized for his actions against the North Vietnamese in 1970. He wonders why so few of today's warriors have been recognized.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been asked this question numerous times. 240 medals of honor in Vietnam. There have been four in Iraq and two in Afghanistan and two in Somalia.

STARR: General James Conway, the nation's top Marine, says one reason there may be fewer Medal recipients these days, counterinsurgency wars don't have the big battles of the past. We asked this combat veteran if he wants a living service member to be honored.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I do and I don't . I mean, anytime a soldier or Marine wins the Medal, his unit's (INAUDIBLE), then he's doing heroic things to make that situation better. I don't want to wish that on anybody.

STARR: Defense Secretary Gates says current files are being reviewed, and the next ceremony may be for a living Medal of Honor recipient to join these men in history.

Barbara Starr, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: One of America's most famous war memorials needs your help to keep the stories of some 58,261 heroes from being lost. In fact, organizers of Vietnam Wall are asking for your photos of loved ones whose names appear on the wall. They plan to display the photos in a yet-to-built education center on the National Mall.

You're looking at an artist's rendering of that. And if you have a photo, you can take it to your nearest FedEx store where a worker will scan it, gather some information from you, and send a digital copy to the War Memorial.

You can also directly upload the photo yourself. For a link and all the details, just go to our blog, CNN.com/kyra.

The ultimate sacrifice, never forgotten. We're remembering heroes who have given their lives in the war in Afghanistan, and today we honor three men killed in the same attack.

Army Sergeant First Class Bradley S. Bohle died this week after enemy forces attack in Helmand province. The 29-year old had a wife and three daughters.

Army Staff Sergeant Joshua M. Mills was from El Paso, Texas. Mills' older brother said the 24-year-old loved being a Green Beret. Mills leaves behind a wife and a son.

Sergeant First Class Shawn P. McCloskey was on his third tour in Afghanistan when he was killed. The 33-year-old leaves behind a wife, a daughter, and a son.

These are just three of the 834 American men and women who have given their lives in the war in Afghanistan.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Get you some top stories right now. The FBI is interviewing a Denver man for a third day as part of a terror investigation. That man, an Afghan national, and now authorities are saying the targets of the alleged plot may have been a major transportation center like a railroad or a subway station. It all came to light this week after raids in New York.

Not guilty. That is the decision from a jury in the trial of a former Kentucky high school football coach accused in the death of one of his players. David Stinson was charged with reckless homicide after the player collapsed during a practice session. The 15-year-old died three days later of heat-related causes. The jury took just two hours to acquit Stinson.

Let's talk about pregnant women for just a second. Because they have a big decision to make in the coming weeks. Should they or shouldn't they get the swine flu vaccine? The FDA has already okayed applications from four companies, that is, to begin producing the H1N1 vaccine shot, but clinical trials on pregnant women, those are still going on.

Senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, tells us now about how patients can actually empower themselves. She joins me now. I know a lot of moms-to-be are listening very closely right now.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, absolutely. They have this big decision to make. Should they get the H1N1 shot or shouldn't they? So, we want to empower pregnant women with information.

First of all, some of the concerns we've heard in our e-mails in the Empowered Patient Inbox is, while it is new, they are still testing it in pregnant women, the shot, even though it's due out really in just a couple of weeks. Do I really want something that is new? Whereas other folks feel you know what, I kind of do want this, because, this is really important.

Here's this woman who was in a clinical trial. Her name is Amy Wolf. Amy said, I want to get it, because I want my baby to get immunity to swine flu. So, probably, when Amy gets this shot, she'll be immune and the baby inside her will become immune.

What's interesting is that once this baby, the one she's sort of saying hi to right there, once this baby is born, the baby cannot get a swine flu shot until he is 6 months old. So, that was the decision that Amy wanted to do. She wanted it so much that she actually joined a study. She's one of the first 120 women to ever get a swine flu vaccine.

NGUYEN: Well, but a lot of women may be hesitant about it. I know you've received a lot of phone calls about it. In fact, we've got a phone call right now from a viewer. I want to take a listen to that.

CALLER: Hi, this is Erin. I understand testing of the H1N1 vaccine is being done on pregnant women. But I'm wondering what kind of testing is being done to see what kind of side effects might happen to the unborn baby in the future after birth? NGUYEN: That's a great question.

COHEN: It is. And the folks doing the studies, they are following up with the moms after they give birth, and they are also following up with the babies. In fact, when Amy gives birth, they will take some of the blood from the umbilical cord and test it to see if the baby is immune to swine flu like his mother. They'll also follow up with the baby to see what kind of health he's in as the months unfold.

NGUYEN: Well, we want to follow-up, too. For viewers that have questions like Erin and other viewers as well -- I know you took them to the experts. Where can people get a list of that so they can figure out what is real and what is not about the swine flu and whether pregnant women should get the shot?

COHEN: Right. Where you want to go is CNN.com/empoweredpatient. That's where you can find the column. CNN.com/empoweredpatient. And also we'll be following up with Amy to see how she's doing after that wonderful baby is born.

NGUYEN: All right. Looking forward to it. Thank you, Elizabeth.

Well, a major boost for the scare factor on these county fair rides in Washington state. A schizophrenic killer could have been riding with you on one of those rides. You'll never believe how he got loose.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: We are pushing forward to the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM. And a doctor says he is being blackballed over a diagnosis, and he blames his fellow physicians for some of the health care system's ills.

Plus, more on the acquittal of a high school football coach found not guilty in a player's collapse and death. A live interview about the landmark case. That's coming up.

And we ask, "What The ..." almost every day here in the CNN NEWSROOM, but there aren't enough question marks to cover all the head-scratching moves that preceded a manhunt out of Spokane, Washington.

Listen to this. The stomach turning story starts with a criminally insane killer on a field trip, of all things, to a county fair organized by his mental hospital, believe it or not. Phillip Paul, a schizophrenic, just walked away from his group, and he is still out there somewhere. But maybe the biggest baffler here is the sheriff's and fair director. They say no one told them 31 mental patients were coming, and no one said anything when Paul wandered away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) OZZIE KNEZOVICH, SPOKANE COUNTY SHERIFF: It is very frustrating, very surprising that we weren't put on notice immediately that somebody with this type of background and this type of history walked away without law enforcement being immediately notified.

RICH HARTZELL, SPOKANE CO. INTERSTATE FAIR DIRECTOR: They basically just came in without notifying anyone, and we weren't notified of any potential issues, whatsoever. So that's a little disconcerting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: All right. There's more. Paul has a history of escape ever since he was convicted two decades ago for killing a 78-year-old woman. He claimed that voices told him his victim was a witch. Law enforcement has issued a statewide alert to nab this guy.

Man, that is one story.

All right. Here's a rude awakening and a breakfast on the run for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAL PERRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A cup of coffee that you don't have time to drink, and the get out of bed now, we're leaving, wake up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: You're not dreaming, that's CNN Cal Perry among a gaggle of reporters and, yes, a flock of sheep. What the heck is going on here, Cal? Well, we get the backstory from Baghdad.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: All right, so every Friday we like to turn the cameras around and give you a behind-the-scenes look at how big news stories make it to air. Sometimes they go smoothly, other times not so much. Michael Holmes hosts BACKSTORY right here on CNN International, and he joins me today.

You got a real whopper for us.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. This is good. And as you know, on BACKSTORY, we do a whole variety of things, but a lot of times the story is great. The story of how the story came about...

NGUYEN: ... is even better.

HOLMES: It can be, and we have found a lot of people like to see what goes into making some stories. And we do other stuff, too. We give witnesses to the news longer periods of time to tell their story and that sort of stuff as well.

But this one is interesting. This -- you remember the shoe thrower? A lot of people say he had a great arm. Should have been in Major League baseball. But the guy who threw the shoes at President Bush in Baghdad went to jail. And he was recently released. Now...

NGUYEN: Some people hail him as a hero.

HOLMES: They do. And a lot of people are against him, and part of the reason was they saw that as disrespectful. Whether they hated Bush or not, but there's an Arab thing in the culture that you don't do that to a visitor.

Anyway, he was released from jail. Said that he'd been tortured and stuff like that. Cal Perry in Baghdad went out there to do the story. But at the end of the day, you see a one minute, two minute story.

NGUYEN: Right.

HOLMES: It was a long day. And -- let's roll it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PERRY: This is the shoe-thrower, day two. And Jermana (ph), who is a top passionate producer of the network, did one of her famous wakeups, which was the cup of coffee that you don't have to time to drink and the get out of bed now, we're leaving. Wake up.

So we're headed to his house, we're expecting his imminent release. So, we're going to go to his family's house, basically stake it out and see if we can see him there and see if we can get an idea of seeing the family hopefully celebrating. That's where we're headed now and we'll see how we get along.

We're here in downtown Baghdad, outside the shoe tosser's house. This is your Baghdad media (INAUDIBLE). I'm going to get out of the way, let Chris show you what's going on. You have got me here lined up along the street, to Chris's right and just below him, we have a group of sheep which are obviously here as a welcoming gift when the shoe tosser actually arrives. And once that happens, you can expect some of these to be slaughtered in honor of his arrival. Across the street from us is where the nieces and the nephews are standing along with indeed more media.

Chris, how's it going?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. I just got my bagel.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's good pictures. I'm having fun.

PERRY: That's our star shooter, Chris (INAUDIBLE). You can see how difficult it is in such an enclosed -- enclosed space. And it's really hot in here. And it's Ramadan so no water, no food, nothing.

(SINGING AND CHANTING PEOPLE) PERRY: We want to give you an idea of the family home. We have been here for more than five hours. This is where the family's been obviously watching on Baghdad TV where they saw the first images of him, and the family's been very emotional.

I have to tell you, they have been so hospitable. It's Ramadan. It's hot, and as Westerners, they came and started serving us drinks, and actually it was a very touching moment.

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKING IN NATIVE LANGUAGE)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: It's really fascinating to see behind the story. We know Cal, you know -- we've met him, he's a colleague of ours. I know him not to be as -- was he tired? What was wrong with him?

HOLMES: Well spotted. Now, Scotty the director -- let's put out that initial shot of Cal. There you go. You know, he was a bit down in the beginning of that. And I actually got a conversation with him. He had a temperature of 101. He had been, well, let's say, unwell all night. He had a flu, a virus, but he went out and shot this story anyway.

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: And went out in 100-degree heat.

NGUYEN: Right.

HOLMES: Really nice there that you saw that he made a very good point about Arab hospitality, when they were offering him water during Ramadan, when they don't...

NGUYEN: When they don't drink any water, eat anything.

HOLMES: Much of that stuff never got in the original story. That's what we're about.

NGUYEN: And that's what I love about it, it's the story behind the story. It's called the BACKSTORY. And Michael Holmes, thanks for sharing that with us.

HOLMES: Good to see you.

NGUYEN: Good to see you, too.