Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Obama, Gadhafi Address the U.N.; Georgia Deals with Aftermath of Floods; Americans Angry at Politicians; Iranian Americans Protest Ahmadinejad; Swine Flu Makes Dr. Gupta a Patient; Tracking Down Craigslist Killer

Aired September 23, 2009 - 13:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, you can't spell U.N. without "U," not an exact quote, but President Obama is preaching collective responsibility to the U.N. General Assembly. And Moammar Gadhafi, we're still not sure exactly what he was preaching. We're trying to push forward on the feedback.

And the water's going down, but the damage, the misery, from historic floods in Georgia, still on the rise. We're live right there in the thick of it.

And we're peeking inside the case file of the Craigslist murder. It wasn't your ordinary homicide, and it took more than ordinary police work to crack it.

Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

More than 120 heads of state, heads of government, heads of royal families are inside U.N. headquarters today for the opening session of the U.N. General Assembly. But we want to talk about two: President Obama and, in his first U.N. appearance, after 40 years in power, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

If you saw Gadhafi's speech live here on CNN, I hope you had a comfortable chair. He opened by attacking the world body for allowing, by his count, 65 wars since 1945. And he was just warming up.

In a marathon speech from a handwritten text and with props, including the U.N. charter that -- boom, right there -- he tossed away at the end, the Libyan strongman tackled every conflict, issue and grievance of the past half century, and I'm not exaggerating: Israel, swine flu, the Taliban, the JFK assassination. That's right, JFK assassination. All of it got the Gadhafi treatment.

At one point, even suggested the U.N. Security Council be renamed the terror council. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOAMMAR GADHAFI, LEADER OF LIBYA (through translator): This and that important to the ruins and the orders. These are the United Nations who are all, including all the members of the world, not the Security Council which has only ten member states. How can we be happy about the world body? If the other countries are controlled by the whole world. We are 120 nations, and we are like the hide bark (ph). I mean, we just speak and an opportunity implementing our decisions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Are you as confused as all of us here? Because we were trying to watch that and figure it out. I don't even know where to begin talking about Moammar Gadhafi.

We can try and wade into all this with our senior U.N. correspondent, Richard Roth.

You know, I don't think any of us expected 90-plus minutes of just rambling of various world events with not really going anywhere, Richard.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, well, I was telling people expect the unexpected when it comes to the Libyan leader. He followed President Obama, who said it's easy to come to this rostrum and point your finger and blame people or things. It really takes leadership and responsibility in the 21st century. Colonel Gadhafi had other things on his mind.

He's the longest-serving ruler, you might say, in this United Nations system. And they probably requested it anyway, but that length of service got him the spot right after President Obama. Quite a contrast between these two men. Colonel Gadhafi complained about the jet lag. At the end of the speech, the General Assembly hall was half empty.

Gadhafi did not set the record with his one hour, 36-minute series of remarks. Fidel Castro of Cuba in 1960 spoke for over four hours once. But he has massively delayed this summit program. Many of the heads of state were getting hungry, and they're due at a lunch which Colonel Gadhafi does not appear to be attending. He's walked out of the building.

Colonel Gadhafi basically says, "Security Council, bad. General Assembly, good." For some of our viewers who may not be familiar, the General Assembly is where all the nations sit, and it doesn't have, really, legally-binding powers, while the Security Council, which can order a war, in effect, does have legally-binding powers.

For Colonel Gadhafi there's too much power in the hand of the United States, Russia, China, France, and Britain. And he wants it stopped. He wants, also, the United Nations to be moved. He's tired of the security in New York City that he and other leaders have to go through, and he wondered at one point, who killed JFK?

PHILLIPS: Richard -- Richard, bottom line, are you telling me that, in some way, shape, or form, for the past 90 minutes he made sense in some way?

ROTH: well, I mean it's -- a lot of U.N. officials here and diplomats, as the Sudanese told us, he spoke from the heart. Many people around the world agree with him.

For the United States there will be little sympathy or understanding, especially his country, in effect, was accused of masterminding the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 and, you know, dozens died.

The thing is around the world they look to the U.N. They say they're tired around the world of the United States or Russia domination. And that's really at the heart of what Gadhafi said. Of course, he could have said it in one minute. But he took an hour and 36 minutes.

You know, U.S. officials had been in Tripoli, Libya, in the last few weeks going over the speech, trying to prevent a lengthy rant. They failed.

PHILLIPS: Well, yes, it totally failed. And, of course, he doesn't mention Lockerbie and the fact that he's backed that kind of terrorism and funding the IRA and everything else within his decades of leadership.

All right. We'll continue to talk about it, obviously, throughout the day. Richard Roth, thanks so much.

Let's go ahead and go now to President Obama. He says he's leading the U.S. into a new era of engagement, but he also says that all countries need to push forward on things that they care about: peace, justice, prosperity, the environment. And in just a few moment, he is due to lay a wreath in honor of fallen U.N. workers. And then he's going to have lunch with his fellow leaders. But he's already given them plenty to chew on. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... chastise America for acting alone in the world cannot now stand by and wait for America to solve the world's problems alone. We have sought, in word and deed, a new era of engagement with the world. And now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And the cavalcade of U.N. stars just keeps on rolling. Tonight it's Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. That ought to be interesting. A lot's happened since the last time he spoke in the U.S. Iran's election, the protests, the crackdowns, the deaths, Americans detained. Iranians here see the visit as the chance to give a message. The message? Be afraid.

Well, the sun is out, shedding light on some massive misery today. The rains have let up in flood-ravaged parts of the southeast. It's our other top story this hour. And now people are facing the scope of the damage.

In George, at least a quarter of a billion dollars in damage. That's the estimate right now. At least nine people have lost their lives in the state.

In the Atlanta area, the pictures tell the story: hundreds of homes and businesses underwater. And with water-damaged systems, clean drinking water is also a big concern in parts of the region.

President Obama has called Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue, offering condolences to flood victims and promising quick federal aid.

One particular danger in the flood zone, flooded roads and bridges. CNN's Rob Marciano is in Austell, Georgia. That's just outside Atlanta.

It doesn't seem like it's getting much better.

MARCIANO: Well, you know, it seems to be -- the river's going down, Kyra, but the -- what's revealing here is not so good.

Check out some of the damage on this bridge, which yesterday at this time would have totally swept me downstream. And now for the first time further down the bridge, the roadway is beginning to finally be open. And people are actually crossing by foot.

So, transportation should get a little bit better today. It has certainly been a nightmare for folks who are enduring going back to their homes now and digging through the mud and the -- their soggy belongings. Well, the work for those folks, certainly, has just begun. We ran into a family, spent some time with them yesterday.

Listen to what David Miller had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID MILLER, AUSTELL, GEORGIA, RESIDENT: I didn't know it was this bad. What I'll tell you, we've been living here since '57, and the water never -- it came up to the back of the house twice since '57.

MARCIANO: Never this bad?

MILLER: No, never.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARCIANO: That particular family had lost two homes within the last 12 years to fire. And now the matriarch of their family losing it to flood.

Talked to the mayor yesterday. He said he thinks when their assessment gets done they may have lost 500 to 600 homes in Austell alone or at least damaged those homes.

Let's talk transportation. We'll get to this in a second. Spent some time getting about three miles from our last spot yesterday to here. Took us three to four hours. Traffic a nightmare, not only for personal vehicles but also for -- people that make their living driving tractor-trailers. We ran into one. This is what he had to say about his situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some days it just doesn't pay to try and make a buck. I get paid by the mile. Can you imagine?

MARCIANO: You're not doing too good on the productivity today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I started out in Tallapoosa, exit 5, and that was, like, 11:30 this morning. You see where I am by now.

MARCIANO: Not a whole lot of money right there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. No, I'm losing money.

MARCIANO: Good luck.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But, hey, my heart goes out to the people that lost more than money. That must have been awful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARCIANO: That's the right attitude, my friend.

These folks who are digging out right now, it is -- it is not good.

He wasn't driving these -- these -- this tractor-trailer or these three freight containers, which have floated downstream and banged up against this bridge.

The situation with bridges is, you know, there might be some damage. So they can't just open everything because the floodwaters have receded, Kyra. They've got to go out and do safety checks to make sure that everything is structurally sound. So that's the -- the other issue.

I'll tell you what. To put things in perspective, not just here in Austell, but of course, across the greater metropolitan Atlanta area and the surrounding suburbs, it almost feels like, dare I say, a mini-Katrina with as much widespread flooding as we had and for as quickly as the water that came up and for as many rescues that had to be made and the stories that people are telling. It's eerily similar now that the sun is out and it's baking the mud, that as well.

But it's going to be a long haul for these folks, no doubt about it, just trying to get their lives back in order.

PHILLIPS: I thought about the same thing when I was listening to the radio coming in, and they were interviewing people, Rob, that didn't have insurance. And so -- and this type of flooding has never happened, so they lost everything. And they don't know where to go. And they don't have anything left.

And the shelters are swamped with, well, probably shouldn't use that terminology, but basically filled with people right now, needing help.

MARCIANO: Yes. It's -- it's pretty dire straits. You know, we have talked to a few people that have pretty good attitudes. Friends and family. These communities fairly tight, so they've taken in their kin and their friends in the area to help out.

But the -- the shock has worn off. And now the -- the awe of having to tackle this huge job here going forward, knowing it's going to take months, and in some cases, maybe years to get back on their feet, that is beginning to settle in for sure.

PHILLIPS: Rob Marciano there in Austell, Georgia. Thanks, Rob.

Georgia's not alone in the death and destruction from the flooding, by the way. One death is now reported in Alabama. Another person was apparently swept to his death in Tennessee.

Straight ahead, following a suspected killer online. Police say that even the most savvy of computer predators can't cover their high- tech tracks. We're going to follow the cyber-footprints that led them to the accused Craigslist killer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: I guess all this diplomacy sure can make you hungry. President Obama is going to be sitting down for one heck of a power lunch this hour. He and other world leaders at the United Nations having lunch, hosted by Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. It's part of a full plate today at the U.N. We're going to peek into the events as we keep pushing forward.

The stakes just got higher for a white Georgia man accused of beating up a black woman in front of her daughter. Troy Dale West was indicted this morning on three felony charges. That's on top of several other charges. Three felonies? Go directly to jail, no bond.

The woman is an Army reservist. She said West almost hit her 7- year-old daughter with a restaurant door as he left a Cracker Barrel south of Atlanta. When he called him on it, he allegedly started punching, kicking and cursing her. The FBI is looking into this as a possible hate crime.

It was a cruel summer lesson for a group of black and Hispanic kids. Now the swim club that kicked them out is learning about consequences. A Pennsylvania state panel just found probable cause of racial discrimination in that June incident.

You probably remember this story. The kids' day camp had paid for them to swim at the club every week. But after the first visit, their privileges were yanked and the money refunded. Some of the kids reported racial comments from white members of the Valley Club.

The manager says, no, no racism here, just too many swimmers and not enough lifeguards. Well, the state panel doesn't agree. It's ordered a $50,000 civil penalty. The club's lawyer says they're going to appeal. Flood-ravaged southeast is started to focus on cleanup, but the danger is still far from over. The latest now from Chad Myers in the CNN weather center -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Some of the creeks and streams still going up at this hour, Kyra, because they were downstream from where the big rainfall totals happened. Look at that: 20.37 inches in Kennesaw, Georgia, up by Lake Allatoona.

Now, if you are traveling through the metro area or thinking about it, most of the major roadways are open. For a while I-20 was closed. Two-eight-five, the west side perimeter, where the trucks are supposed to go, that was closed. Five-seventy-five, up in Cobb County, Cherokee County, that was closed. All of these major roadways are open.

So, if you're delaying plans to drive through Atlanta because you think the roads are closed, no, you can actually make it now. Now, don't get off on the side roads, because you might really get in trouble from some of these small roads that are off to the west and especially to the main west areas of Marietta and also into Cobb County.

Here are some pictures from WXIA, taken just a few minutes ago. Literally all this water still here. Look at all the way up to gutters there. So, you know everything in that home is floating right up to the ceiling. Complete devastation with a lot of these homes.

Now, I will tell you that this water will come down rather rapidly, depending on where you are. But if you are downstream, down toward Phenix City, down toward Columbus, down toward West Point, the water may still come up in your areas. And you need to contact your local authorities and figure out where it's going and how high it's going to get, depending on your particular situation.

One more thing we'll talk about, Kyra, and we'll get back to this next hour. There's a lot of hot weather, dry weather in California, and we are seeing some fires right there right now. A little bit of a Santa Ana event, but a small one for now. Only 30 to 35 miles per hour. That's less than it could be.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Chad.

MYERS: Sure.

PHILLIPS: You won't believe what our Dr. Sanjay Gupta went through. He went to a war zone, but guess what? It wasn't bullets that he had to worry about. It was a virus. What did he catch? Stay tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Top stories now. More arrests could be coming soon as the feds investigate an alleged bombing plot, possibly targeting a major U.S. transportation hub. A source close to the investigation says a dozen suspects may be picked up. Three Afghan nationals have already been arrested in Denver and New York. That focus of the probe, Najibullah Zazi, has a detention hearing tomorrow.

Remembering Annie. A memorial service for murdered Yale grad student Annie Le tonight at her fiance's synagogue on Long Island. That's where the 24-year-old was to be married, the same day her body was found stuffed behind a wall in a Yale research lab. Le's accused killer, lab worker Raymond Clark, is held on $3 million bond.

Do you identify with Howard Beale from the movie "Network"? You know the guy, "I'm mad about blank, and I'm not going to take it any more." Carol Costello feels your anger, too, and all this week she's highlighted the topics that seem to be dividing us more and more, day after day.

The rant du jour? Politics -- Carol.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the picture of American disillusionment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I apologize.

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am profoundly sorry.

ROD BLAGOJEVICH, FORMER GOVERNOR OF ILLINOIS: I'm innocent of every single allegation.

COSTELLO: So many who serve the people betray them, and even those who have not, some say aren't cutting it.

(on camera) What should be done?

CHRIS WESLING, CONSERVATIVE: Well, like I said, I think we ought to fire all the politicians and get new ones.

COSTELLO (voice-over): Chris Wesling isn't expressing anything new. Distrust in politicians is in our DNA, but today some say it's different.

RICH GALEN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Now you've got -- you've got an entire population on the entire continuum from left to right, including that gigantic center, that looks across the political landscape and sees nobody that they like, nobody that they trust. And nobody, frankly, that they want to follow.

COSTELLO: But at the Latrobe gateway football game in western Pennsylvania, there were some still willing to give politicians a chance. The president, after all, has a 55 percent approval rating. The fix for some is Mr. Obama.

STANLEY ZIMMERMAN, INDEPENDENT: He's swimming against the current, you know? And he's got a lot of energy, and he's got a lot of -- a lot of battle.

COSTELLO (on camera): So, what's your secret of being in that happy mood?

WALT OLIVER, DEMOCRAT: Because it could be worse. It could be worse. That's like a lot of people say, why do you smile so much? I said to keep from crying sometimes, maybe. But like I said, as long as I'm working and everything, I'm satisfied, you know?

COSTELLO (voice-over): At the Community of Reconciliation Church in Pittsburgh, the fix (ph) is about hope, too. And about redirecting our moral compass.

PASTOR DENISE MASON, COMMUNITY OF RECONCILIATION CHURCH: There's no question in my mind the moral authority in this country is capitalism and narcissism. I mean, it's me and how much. That's the basis upon which most of us make our decisions.

DOLAN VOGLE, REPUBLICAN: It's a very me, me, me attitude.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

VOGLE: I'm at fault, because I give to my kids all the time.

COSTELLO (on camera): You know, in all the people I've talked about, I've not heard one person accept blame for what's happening in the country right now. You're the first one.

VOGLE: That's -- that's what I truly believe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're here at a football game, just like a football team. Everybody's got to pull their weight, and once you do that, you have a winning team. The same thing will go with the government and with America.

COSTELLO (voice-over): So maybe, despite the anger and the distrust in many of our leaders, it will be all right. Nearly everyone here in Pennsylvania, no matter their political persuasion, believes that.

(on camera) I asked psychiatrist Dr. Gail Saltz if America was her patient, what would her diagnosis be? She said chronic depression, anxiety and narcissism. Her prescription, her fix, empathy. A look outside of self. She agrees with the Vogles.

Carol Costello, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And you can watch the rest of Carol's "Mad as Hell" series all this week on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING." The best way to start your day begins at 6 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

So much has happened the last time he was in the U.S. So, what kind of picture do you think the president of Iran will paint of things back home? Should be interesting.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Well, you've heard Libyan leader Gadhafi speak at the U.N., and tonight it's Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. They're special guests but not especially welcome ones.

CNN's Allan Chernoff has been talking with Iranians here in the U.S.

Allan, now that Ahmadinejad is out of his comfort zone, shall we say, I see a lot of people behind you there, ready to voice their opinion about how they feel about him being here.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They certainly are voicing their opinions, very loud and clear here right across the street from the United Nations. And many of these people have come from all over the country, all over the world, indeed.

We have a lady over here. She is from -- where are you from?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: London, U.K.

CHERNOFF: She's from the U.K. This lady here is from Kentucky. And she is from New Jersey. I've met Iranian-Americans from literally across the country, L.A., San Diego, you name it. They've been coming in.

The situation in Iran right now simply resonates tremendously with these people. They see an opportunity for change, and they are demanding it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF (voice-over): Saharnaz Samaenejad is filled with heartache checking her Facebook account and reading messages from home in Iran. Here are her friends Medi, Ali and Fatima (ph). Saharnaz hears they were all arrested last week in Tehran amid the protests against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

SAHARNAZ SAMAEINEJAD, IRANIAN STUDENT: My friends are upset in torturing, and I am thinking of them every day and night. In a sentence, I just feel very sad for them. And I think that we have to do whatever we can to help us get out of the prison.

CHERNOFF: Now Saharnaz says it is her time to speak out. Her time to stand against President Ahmadinejad, who she suspects stole this summer's presidential election from challenger Mir Hussein Mousavi.

SAMAEINEJAD: I am the voice of my friends. And I got a lot of messages, e-mails and Facebook and everywhere, and they just ask us that (INAUDIBLE). And I want to just go out and tell Ahmadinejad that be afraid, be afraid. We are all united.

CHERNOFF: Twenty-four-year-old Saharnaz wears her political allegiance on her wrist, the bright green of Iran's opposition. She has lived in the U.S. for just a year. She's a visiting student at New York University studying Middle Eastern affairs. But American history now is providing inspiration for her.

Rosie the Riveter watches over her Brooklyn apartment.

SAMAEINEJAD: We're the children of reform in Iran, and we want the reform from within, and we're asking for our civil liberty and not anything else.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF: Saharnaz and about 500 protesters are actually not here. They're at the moment in front of the mission, the Iranian mission to the United Nations. And they'll be marching here in several hours, joining the several thousand that are assembled right here across from the U.N. -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Allan Chernoff. We'll follow the protests, and we're also following the speech.

Talking about Iran's president right now. We've all been talking about that upcoming speech tonight. Why? Well, because he's said a lot of, shall we say, controversial things in the past, and that's just putting it lightly. He's threatened to cut off the hands of his aggressors, i.e., the United States. That's us, folks.

And he called the Holocaust a myth, a trick by the Jews to gain support for the creation of Israel. Remember this?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, PRESIDENT OF IRAN (through translator): Countering the Zionist regime is a humanitarian principle. In fact, the existence of the Zionist regime is an insult to human dignity. They just try to support the myth of Holocaust. They lie.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: So, why should we listen to this man? And why is he being given the world stage once again in our country? Trita Parsi, president of the National Iranian-American Council, says it's all about manipulation.

Trita, tell me what you mean by that.

TRITA PARSI, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL IRANIAN-AMERICAN COUNCIL: Well, look, he's coming here after we've seen some of the worst human rights violations in Iran this past summer. And he wants to change the topic of conversations.

He wants to make sure that there's a controversy about what he says about the Holocaust or other things, so our focus will be on that instead of being on what's actually taking place in Iran right now with torture in the jails, killings on the streets and widespread repression against people who believe that the elections were rigged.

PHILLIPS: So, I mean, already Canada, members from there are saying they're going to boycott his speech. I'm looking that Germans say they're going to walk out if he once again denies the Holocaust. Israelis are now saying that they're being urged to walk out and not listen to him.

So, so many people see him as crazy. So, I mean, how do you actually reason with someone like this, or is it just all for show?

PARSI: Look, a lot of this is for show. And the reality is, the United States have a good track record of dealing with countries, even though some of the people they put up front are behaving like this.

Reality is, though, that I think it would have been more effective in being able to help the people of Iran in case of a walkout that will take place at the General Assembly over the treatment of Ahmadinejad has had against his own people, the way that they have been tortured and the human rights violations that are taking place there. It is actually playing to his favor that we're letting the human rights violations in Iran being overshadowed by the controversy and the rhetoric that he's using.

PHILLIPS: All right. So, by giving him this platform, then, do you think in any way, shape, or form it sort of, I guess, allows the world to see him as having the upper hand? I mean, there's been talk about sitting down and talking with him, and now he's going to be given airtime here in the U.S. What do you think that says to other people around the world?

PARSI: Well, if the U.S. news outlets decide to provide him with a lot of airtime, yes, then that could actually play to his favor. He's reaching out to get this type of media attention, and the media has been all too willing to provide it to him.

But I think we, again, have to remember that if there is going to be any media focus on him, let's make sure we talk about the human rights situation in Iran. Let's make sure that we actually talk about the killings and the torture that is taking place and not gloss over that.

PHILLIPS: But Trita, how do you do that, though, when he doesn't even admit to that? I mean, he thinks that everything is going swimmingly in Iran and that he's the last person that was involved in any kind of corrupt election and that nobody died at the hands of what he's doing?

PARSI: The Iranian government has shown itself to be quite sensitive about criticism from the outside world when it comes to its human rights record. That's one of the differences between Iran and a country like North Korea, in which there is essentially limited or if any sensitivity about outside criticism about the human rights situation.

Iran is a country, a government, that tries to portray itself as an ideal, as a much better leader for the region. As such, its record needs to be scrutinized. And I would argue that we have not done a very good job in doing that, particularly when it comes to human rights. That's the weakest spot on the regime's record. And we're not talking sufficiently about that. PHILLIPS: So, Trita, should he even be allowed to speak?

PARSI: Look, the U.N. has its own rules. The U.S. cannot do anything when it comes to that. But the U.S. can make sure that if we're having him on our networks here in the United States, talking about various issues, it would be really, really positive if we could talk about the human rights issues and make sure that that is on the forefront of the agenda.

PHILLIPS: Well, we're going to be watching. I know you will be, too. Trita Parsi, thanks so much.

PARSI: Thank you so much.

PHILLIPS: Well, what about the three American hikers detained in Iran. Remember them? Well, they strayed across the border back in July and were accused of entering Iran illegally, and their families haven't heard from them since. Those hikers' moms wrote Ahmadinejad, asked him to bring their children to New York with him.

And he's in New York. The hikers are not. But the families are encouraged by his comments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): We're not happy that this has happened. But when the law is broken, the law itself foresees a procedure that has to be carried through. What I can ask is that the judiciary expedites the process and gives it its full attention, and to basically take a look at the case with maximum leniency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Let's move to Brazil now. And it's got a message for the U.N. Security Council: What do we do about the guy in the hat? Jose Manuel Zelaya, the ousted president of Honduras, as you know, has been holed up in the Brazilian Embassy since Monday, along with about 100 of his friends and supporters. Brazil wants the U.N. Security Council to hold an emergency meeting to talk about the situation. Soldiers removed Zelaya from power in a coup June 28th. There's still a warrant out for his arrest.

And you've seen the report on just about everything from just about everywhere. Just when we thought that we heard it all from our Dr. Sanjay Gupta, he's topped himself again, fighting for his health in a war zone. You won't believe what he caught.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Live pictures now there in New York City at the General Assembly. You can see President Obama right there side by side with Ban Ki-moon. A heck of a power lunch that they're about to begin here. The president, other world leaders hosted here by the secretary-general, getting ready to talk about all types of issues as they socialize, these leaders around the country. After this, too, the president is actually going to move on to a bilateral meeting with the Russian president, talking about missile defense, of course, and other defense issues and strategy. We're following it all for you. We'll continue to bump in live to all these events throughout the day.

A speech from President Obama, a 90-minute rant from Moammar Gadhafi. Both the president and the Libyan leader spoke today at the U.N. General Assembly. President Obama called on Israeli and Palestinian leaders to renew peace efforts. But Gadhafi unloaded on the U.N. Security Council and among other things called it a terror council.

And after an exhaustive search of Phillip Garrido's property, searchers are calling it quits. Investigators say they haven't found any clues that connect him or his wife to the disappearance of the two girls in the 1980s. They spent a week combing Garrido's land in northern -- northern California, rather, where he allegedly held Jaycee Dugard captive for 18 years.

Some are calling Dan Brown's new novel, "The Lost Symbol" a phenomenon. It's already sold over 2 million copies in the U.S., Canada and Britain during its first week on store shelves. And it knocked off the record held by former President Bill Clinton's 2004 memoir for Random House Books.

Well, everywhere we look, people are taking precautions against getting the swine flu -- washing their hands, coughing in their elbows, But as we're learning, anyone can get it, even our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He actually came down with the H1N1 virus while on assignment covering the war in Afghanistan. Here's how it all went down.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, as you know, I recently returned from spending nearly two weeks in Afghanistan. Now, you wouldn't think that the latest news about H1N1 would have been affecting me much while I was over there.

But as I learned, as you may already know, you can get H1N1 just about anywhere, even in Afghanistan. For me, it started as a cough. This was the kind of cough that hurts. You wince, kind of hope that you don't have to cough again anytime soon. Next day, I wasn't feeling any better. In fact, I was feeling kind of worse. I was light-headed and freezing cold. That's what I remember the most, freezing cold, even though it was over 100 degrees outside at that early hour of the morning.

I became nauseated. My entire body started to hurt. Like a lot of people, I tried to explain away my symptoms with lots of different excuses: lack of sleep, an ill-fitting bulletproof vest, all that dust and dirt. They call it the Kandahar crud. But I knew as a physician reporter in a war zone, I needed to get some medical care. And that prompted a visit to a battlefield hospital -- not as a reporter this time, but as a patient. Now, you know, it's worth pointing out that there is a certain irony in a medical reporter getting influenza Type A, which was then ultimately confirmed as H1N1. Incidentally, you may know this, but the term "swine flu," it's actually a misnomer. This strain is made up of several different components including swine, but also avian and human parts.

But what I heard is, it really didn't matter if I got tested. It was the only flu strain circulating, and I had it. Now, part of the reason I wrote the blog, part of the reason I wanted to be here today is because I am feeling fine. I felt better every day after that, and within a few days I was back to normal.

For most people who get H1N1, and a lot of people are going to get it, they're going to have a few miserable days. Hopefully, those miserable days will be spent in the comfort of their home and the pity of their family as opposed to being in a war zone.

Kyra, back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Take you live to the U.N. now. Being told that the president's speaking at his power lunch after being introduced by Ban Ki-moon, the secretary-general.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've talked enough this morning, so I'm going to be very, very brief. But Mr. Secretary- General, I just wanted to thank you for your unwavering commitment to the ideals upon which this body was founded. In your tenure at the United Nations, you've shown your dedication to the pursuit of peace and security, the protection of human rights, the promotion of democracy and development, and the advancement of international justice.

Over the past year, your leadership has directly helped prevent the use and spread of nuclear weapons. It's improved this institution's peace-keeping efforts, to battle hunger and increase food security, and as we saw yesterday, you are reminding all the world of the urgency and the magnitude of our climate challenge. And on this effort you've led by example and spurred all of us on towards the common goal of saving our common home, and we're very grateful to you for that.

The institution that you lead was founded decades ago, in a different world that faced different threats and different challenges. And yet the size and the scope of the challenges we currently face are immense, and the United Nations has never held more promise than it does today. Whether we realize that promise is far from certain. As I said this morning, the magnitude of our challenges has yet to be met by the scope of our action.

But days like this offer renewed hope that we will find it within ourselves the courage and the determination to meet our responsibilities to ourselves, to our citizens and to future generations. It falls to us. Progress will not come without setbacks. Cooperation does not come without debate and disagreement, and this institution will be what we make of it. So, on this September day, I would like to offer a toast to what can be in the years to come, a place where we forge common ground, recognize our common humanity, a source of moral authority, a force of peace, and above all, an indispensable institution in helping all of us build a better future for our children and our grandchildren.

To the United Nations. Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

PHILLIPS: President of the United States there, officially kicking off the luncheon at the U.N., giving the toast there after being introduced by the secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, talking about forging common ground and peace. It will be interesting to see how that all plays out when the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, speaks at 7:00 Eastern time. You'll see it right here on CNN.

Well, what if I told you I could control your computer with my mind? Wait, don't call the guys at the White House just yet, and don't cue the "Twilight Zone" music. I can do it, and so can you, and so can our Gary Tuchman, who is on the "Edge of Discovery."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This researcher is posting a message on Twitter. What's amazing here is he didn't type the word "Hello." He just thought it. The cap he's wearing is full of electrodes. As he focuses on these flashing letters, the cap picks up electronic signals from his brain. Then the computer spells what he thinks.

It's called brain/computer interface or BCI. This research being done at the Wadsworth Center, the Albany Medical Center and Washington University in St. Louis, among others, could help quadriplegics and people with cerebral palsy or Lou Gehrig's disease.

DR. GERWIN SCHALK, WADSWORTH CENTER: One could apply that skill, this brain/computer interfacing skill to move a cursor on the computer screen, to move a wheelchair potentially, or perhaps at some point to even control the movement of a robotic arm.

TUCHMAN: The patient you see here has electrodes implanted directly on the surface of the brain. He's controlling the spaceship in this video game with just his thoughts.

BCI is still in the experimental phase. But the Dr. Schalk says you'll be seeing a lot more of it in the next few years.

SCHALK: The research that we're doing right now, I think we're getting a tiny glimpse into what may actually be possible in the future.

TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN. (END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Pushing forward to our next hour of NEWSROOM with a focus on your security. Imagine if your check-in meant a pat-down. If guards and machine guns kept the concierge company. Hotels just one of the soft targets that keep security experts up at night.

Plus as Sarah Palin says hi, people in Hong Kong say, who? The ex-governor's reputation apparently not preceding her overseas. More details on that next hour.

Putting the cuffs on the prime suspect in the Craigslist killing -- how did police do it? Through a marriage of old-fashioned police work and high-tech computer tracking. We'll put you on the case.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Online anonymity, it's a popular misconception, even among the most savvy of computer users. Police investigating Boston's so-called Craigslist killer simply followed an Internet trail, a cyberfootprint of sorts, and got their suspect.

CNN's Randi Kaye walks us through those painstaking steps.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The first e-male from Andy was sent at 4:37 p.m. April 13.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I myself am visiting Boston and looking for a 10 p.m. or later appointment tonight or tomorrow.

KAYE: Police say "Andy" wasn't his real name. In fact, he would later be dubbed by police the Craigslist killer. Police say he was setting a trap for women like Julissa Brisman, offering massages through Craigslist.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can still make it tonight, but tomorrow at 10:00 would be better for me. Thanks -- Andy.

KAYE: Andy, police say, is a predator who went to great lengths to hide his tracks. But as careful as he was, police say, even before his first attack, he was leaving a trail that would lead right back to him. Brisman's employer wrote Andy back on her behalf, using the name "Morgan" to hide Brisman'sidentity.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I could do tomorrow night, or we could also do 10:30 or 11:00 tonight. Kisses -- Morgan.

KAYE: Then Andy again at 7:03 p.m.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, Morgan, 10:00 p.m. tomorrow is best for me. Thank you -- Andy. KAYE (on camera): The next night, Julissa Brisman was found bleeding to death in her hotel room here at the Boston Marriott. She had been shot three times at close range in the chest and the abdomen. On her wrist, police found a plastic tie they would later match to a similar tie used in another attack. That attack took place just days before Brisman was killed, at the Westin down the street.

(voice-over): Maureen Orth investigated the Craigslist murder for "Vanity Fair" magazine.

(on camera): What fascinated you about the Craigslist killer story?

MAUREEN ORTH, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT, "VANITY FAIR" MAGAZINE: The way the figures involved communicated with each other was by text and e-mail, and they only met at the very last minute. And then the way the police were able to solve the crime was going back using the clicks and the Internet addresses.

KAYE (voice-over): Mark Rasch once headed the computer crimes unit at the U.S. Department of Justice. Now an Internet forensics expert, he helped police track the killer.

MARK RASCH, INTERNET FORENSICS EXPERT: The first thing you start with is the e-mail address. In this case, it's an e-mail address from live.com, which is Microsoft.

KAYE: Rasch showed me the tracer program he used to help follow the alleged killer's e-mails.

RASCH: That tracer route does exactly what it says, traces the route that the e-mail took on its way from its origin to its destination.

KAYE: Rasch says police got the Internet protocol address for the e-mailer's computer. From there, investigators tracked down the company providing Internet service to the suspect. Which told them the subscriber lives in this Quincy, Massachusetts apartment building outside Boston. Even though police had what they believed was the killer's name and home address, that still was not enough.

RASCH: They have to validate and actually get this guy's fingers on the keyboard.

ORTH: So in the end, they reverted to the old gumshoe thing of a stakeout.

KAYE: Police zeroed in on Phillip Markoff. They'd seen a tall blonde male they believed was the killer on the hotel's surveillance cameras. And they did what most of us do on a daily basis. They Googled him.

Police learned their prime suspect was a medical student at Boston University, engaged to be married. They got a better look at him through pictures with his fiancee online. It's a piece of a digital trail criminals rarely think about. ORTH: As one of the law enforcement people told me, if you can see it, they can see it.

KAYE: In fact, the alleged killer's cyber footprint was growing more clear to authorities every day.

(on camera): So finally, on April 20, six days after the murder, detectives arrested Philip Markoff. They say he was carrying on him a New York driver's license with a photo of someone named Andrew or Andy Miller. Police say Markoff used that driver's license to purchase the gun that killed Julissa Brisman, and his fingerprints were on the paperwork.

Randi Kaye, CNN, Boston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)