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Feds Consider Moving Gitmo Detainees to Illinois; GM Plans Loan Repayment Early; Investigating Fort Hood Massacre

Aired November 16, 2009 - 12:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And we're just now hearing from some local representatives who are opposed to housing Guantanamo Bay detainees in Thomson, Illinois. Some of them came out just minutes ago.

Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARK KIRK (R), ILLINOIS: These terrorists have a right to visitors. Federal policy allows up to 10 followers or family members per prisoner. With 215 coming to Illinois, that would be over 2,100 al Qaeda followers and family members connected to jihad coming to Illinois, likely connecting through O'Hare International Airport. As home to America's tallest building, with her busiest airport, this is an unnecessary risk for the homeland security of the state of Illinois.

I'm worried about the criminal prosecutions that also may happen in the northern district of Illinois. There could be new threats to prosecutors, to jurors, and their families, as al Qaeda attempts to get even with Illinois citizens. This facility is also only 22 miles from the Quad Cities' nuclear power plant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DONALD MANZULLO (R), ILLINOIS: Gitmo is not being closed, it's being moved to northwest Illinois. That hatred and animosity will also transfer to northwest Illinois. And the terrors and threats to Gitmo and the people who have become terrorists because of Gitmo, that hatred and animosity will also transfer to northwest Illinois, thereby making this area of the country and the entire country a magnet for terrorists.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: And checking the wire now and the day's other big stories, the Obama administration is defending its plan to bring admitted 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four alleged conspirators to trial in New York rather than before a military tribunal. Republicans and even some Democrats disagree with that decision.

Our John King heard from both sides on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID AXELROD, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE ADVISER: We believe that these folks should be tried in New York City, as you say, near where their heinous acts were conducted, in full view in our court system, which we believe in. We've had, you know, since 2001, about 195 terrorism cases in the courts, and we've been successful 91 percent of the time.

We're very confident about these cases. We believe we're going to substantially meet the deadline. We may not hit it on the date, but we will close Guantanamo, and we're making good progress toward doing it.

RUDY GIULIANI (R), FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The reality is this is unnecessary. First of all, it's an unnecessary advantage to give to the terrorists. I don't know why you want to give terrorists advantages.

And secondly, it's an unnecessary risk to the city of New York, which already has any number of risks. If it was necessary, if this were the only option, well, of course I'd be in favor of it, and of course the city would do everything it could, as it will, to try and make it safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: OK. We want to show you exactly how military tribunals are different from federal court trials.

Military tribunals are often closed to the public, while federal trials are usually opened. The tribunal can be held in a different country, in a U.S. territory, or even on a U.S. naval ship. Unlike in federal court, a person tried by a military tribunal does not have the right to a trial by jury. The tribunal is comprised of members of the military. A tribunal's decision of guilty or not guilty does not have to be unanimous, and a death penalty can be immediately imposed.

President Obama meets with China's president on the latest leg of his Asia trip. The president flew to Beijing after holding a town hall meeting with students in Shanghai. During that meeting, he touched on the delicate issue of human rights.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We do not seek to impose any system of government on any other nation, but we also don't believe that the principles that we stand for are unique to our nation. These freedoms of expression and worship of access to information and political participation, we believe, are universal rights. They should be available to all people, including ethnic and religious minorities, whether they are in the United States, China or any nation.

Indeed, it is that respect for universal rights that guides America's openness to other countries, our respect for different cultures, our commitment to international law, and our faith in the future. These are all things that you should know about America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: The president also prodded China to stop censoring Internet access.

Sarah Palin's book, "Going Rogue," will be in bookstores tomorrow. Some who've seen advanced copies characterize it as payback for the McCain campaign.

Palin appears on today's "Oprah Winfrey Show."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OPRAH WINFREY, HOST, "THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW": Let's talk about the interview with Katie Couric.

SARAH PALIN (R), FMR. ALASKA GOVERNOR: Must we?

WINFREY: Yes.

PALIN: OK.

WINFREY: You talk about it in the book, so I assume everything in the book is fair game.

PALIN: Yes, it is.

WINFREY: You do say that it wasn't your best interview. Did you think that was a seminal defining moment for you, that interview?

PALIN: I did not, and neither did the campaign. In fact, that is why segment two and three and four and maybe five were scheduled.

The campaign said, right on, good, you're showing your independence, this is what America needs to see. And it was a good interview. And of course I'm thinking, if you thought that was a good interview, I don't know what a bad interview was, because I knew it wasn't a good interview.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Palin reportedly doesn't mention Levi Johnston a single time in her book. Johnston is taking Palin's daughter Bristol to court over custody of their son.

So, General Motors say it's payback time. The automaker is showing its first quarterly report card since emerging from bankruptcy, and even though GM is still losing money, it says that improved results will allow it to start repaying government loans sooner than expected.

Stephanie Elam is at the New York Stock Exchange with more.

So, Stephanie, GM lost $1 billion, but that's not nearly as much as last year. So, how has the automaker kind of slowed the bleeding here?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's true, Tony. The bankruptcy process really allowed GM to streamline its assets and to shed a lot of those assets that were hindering its progress.

For one, it got rid of Pontiac, Saturn, Saab and Hummer, some of it sold off, some of it just continued. And now it's focusing on its four core brands. You've got GMC, Cadillac, Chevy and Buick.

Secondly, it has massive layoffs and plant closings over the last few years. We've seen thousands of GM workers taking buyouts. So, with fewer workers, that means GM has fewer costs.

Remember, because of its workers, the retirees, and their families, GM was a huge provider of health care. At one time, analysts say GM actually spent more on health care than it was on steel, which just sounds crazy.

GM also trimmed its dealer network, cutting 1,100 dealers. On top of that, GM reduced its debt load. The company went into bankruptcy with about $95 billion in debt, and it cut that down to less than $20 billion, including the $6.7 billion owed to the government, which, as we heard today, it's going to start repaying next month -- Tony.

HARRIS: Hey, Stephanie, when will the company go public again? It can certainly use the cash.

ELAM: Yes, that's the billion-dollar question here. And CEO Fritz Henderson hopes to start selling shares in the second half of next year.

Four shareholder groups, including the U.S. and Canadian governments, the United Auto Workers Union, and its creditors, all want GM to go public ASAP. They just want to get on there because they want to sell their shares to get a return on their investment. That's not a surprise.

GM says the timing of a public offering will depend on a lot of things. First of all, how is that stock market doing? It's been rallying since March, right, since we hit those lows then in March, but the pace has slowed back a bit. Still, overall, investors are getting back in the market and GM needs that confidence to get investors back into their stock.

Secondly, auto sales are weak, but they seem to be stabilizing. And that needs to continue since investors need to know they're buying into a company that has a marketable product. No one wants to buy a car then think, oh, there's no company when I need to go get a checkup on my car or go get a part replaced -- Tony.

HARRIS: Look at that rally for a Monday, Ms. Stephanie.

ELAM: I know. Look at that. I like it when it looks like a green mountain range. It's very nice. (STOCK MARKET REPORT)

HARRIS: All right, Stephanie. Good to see you. Thanks.

ELAM: You too.

HARRIS: Still to come on the NEWSROOM, at odds over the killings at Fort Hood, the back-and-forth in Washington over who should investigate the deadly attack.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The White House asking Congress to stay out of the Fort Hood mass shooting investigation for now.

Live to CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr.

And Barbara, good to see you.

With Congress being asked to hold off on investigating the attack, what investigations are under way?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Tony, Congress was going to have a closed-door briefing today, but at the last minute, the Army said, indeed, postpone it, and everybody has agreed.

What is under way is, number one on the list, the criminal investigation into Major Hasan. Thirteen charges of premeditated murder now pending. The next step we're going to see, most likely, is an investigating military officer appointed to oversee all of this. It will begin moving through the military criminal justice system.

Next on the list, President Obama last week ordered a military and intelligence investigation, if you will. He wants to have his team look at everything that happened, see if there were any signals, anything missed, what fell between the cracks and why, in terms of Major Hasan's activities, and is anybody accountable for all of that? Should someone be held accountable? That's what the president wants to know.

But the next step is really the broader, more long-term look. The Army has promised to take a hard look at its own practices. Right now it's trying to decide exactly what that look, what that study is going to be all about, and there is a good possibility the rest of the military services will as well, everything from security on bases, who is allowed to bring weapons on military bases, to the kinds of counseling that is offered to military medical personnel -- Tony.

HARRIS: Hey, Barbara, Defense Secretary Gates is usually fairly mild-mannered. That temperament wins him a lot of fans, as you know. Boy, not so even-tempered in addressing media reports on the Hasan case.

What's going on here? STARR: Yes, exactly. You know, over the last several days, I think understandable, this has been front and center in the national news media, and there have been any number of anonymous sources out there saying, "I knew this" or "I knew that" about Major Hasan.

The secretary very concerned that all of these media reports could jeopardize any criminal prosecution, make it tough for Major Hasan to get the fair military trial that would be expected. So, Secretary Gates having some very strong words, which we want to share the exact wording with you.

He says, "... everybody out there with their own little piece of the action..." He goes on and he says, "I worry a lot that it has the potential to jeopardize a criminal investigation, so my view is everybody ought to just shut up."

Words we don't often publicly hear from the secretary of defense -- Tony.

HARRIS: Man. That's strong.

All right. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon for us.

Barbara, thank you.

STARR: Sure.

HARRIS: You know, one of the survivors of the Fort Hood shooting rampage wants alleged shooter Nidal Hasan to die. Private George Stratton was shot in the shoulder on November 5th. The 18-year-old spoke to reporters about the incident as he arrived at the Spokane airport on his way home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PVT. GEORGE STRATTON, WOUNDED AT FORT HOOD: He squeezed off one round and it came through my shoulder, and then it actually hit the bone right here. As soon as I got out the door, there was blood on the concrete and the grass, and I had seen a body out in the grass.

I'm glad he's in the hospital. I hope he doesn't live through it, my personal opinion, but I'm glad he's not going to hurt anybody else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: OK. If Hasan does recover, Stratton says he wants to see him get the death penalty.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says we are in Afghanistan to get the terrorists who attacked the United States in 2001, but that doesn't mean an indefinite stay for U.S. troops. Clinton made the comments on ABC's "This Week."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: And we're not interested in staying in Afghanistan. We have no long-term stake there. We want that to be made very clear.

We came to do a mission. Unfortunately, it was not achieved in the last eight years. In fact, the mission was changed because it could not be achieved or no longer was the primary goal that was expressed in the prior administration.

Well, our goal is very clear. We want to get the people who attacked us and we want to prevent them and their syndicate of terrorism from posing a threat to us, our allies, and our interests.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: All right. We want to you weigh in on this issue as well. Tell us what you think the U.S. should do next in Afghanistan.

And you can do that by phone or online. You can give us a call at 1-877-742-5760. Again, there's the number right there on your screen. You can also get on camera and tell us your thoughts. Go to CNN.com/ireport. We will share both your iReports, your phone calls all week, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

A woman under police protection viciously attacked and killed as police sit outside her home.

Plus, in Cleveland, Ohio, the search for more victims of a serial killer and rapist.

Top stories next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: All right. Let's get you caught up on our top stories now.

Authorities believe a body found floating in the Chicago River may be the city's missing school board president, Michael Scott (ph). They're waiting for confirmation from the medical examiner.

Police in Cleveland are using thermal imaging equipment and radar to look for bodies. The remains of 11 women have been found at the home of suspected serial killer Anthony Sowell. Cleveland's Rape Crisis Center today opened a hotline, hoping to hear from women who may have escaped from the House.

A woman under police protection in Los Angeles is stabbed to death. The unnamed victim had filed a domestic abuse report, and police were outside her apartment when a man entered through a window and stabbed her. Police shot and killed the assailant.

We will get another check of our top stories in about 20 minutes.

Now to the bizarre child sex abuse scandal that has rocked a small Missouri town. Six members of a family facing multiple charges. CNN's Martin Savage has details on the unbelievable allegations.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Speaking outside the jail in Florida where their father is now behind bars, the family of 72-year-old Darrel Mohler said he is not the child predator he is made out to be.

JEFF MOHLER, DARREL MOHLER'S SON: I know that my father is innocent of these charges made against him.

SAVIDGE: Mohler's arrest is part of a dark secret authorities believe they have uncovered here in the rolling hills of western Missouri that has been buried for decades, one that has shaken the nearby town of Bates City to its core.

HOLLY JOHNSON, BATES CITY BARBEQUE: Since it's such a small town, it's the talk of the town right now. Everybody is talking about it.

SAVIDGE: The accusations are awful and include sodomy and bestiality, carried out on children, girls, mostly, some as young as 5. In some cases, the girls were allegedly forced to take part in mock marriages to older men.

SHERIFF KERRICK ALUMBAUGH, LAFAYETTE COUNTY, MISSOURI: These are Class A felony forceful rape of a child less than 12 years old, and we believe that there are other victims out there.

SAVIDGE: Most of the alleged crimes taking place in and around this farm just south of town. And all, according to investigators, carried out by members of the same family against their own children.

(on camera): And it was one of those children, now 26, that came forward after she says suppressed memories of the sexual abuse reemerged. Since then, investigators say other siblings have backed up her claims.

(voice-over): On Thursday, 77-year-old Burrell Edward Mohler and his four middle-aged sons shuffled into a Lafayette County courtroom, where the charges of incestuous horrors were read against them. None of the men appeared to have an attorney and didn't enter any plea.

Friday, a sixth family member was arrested in Florida, 72-year- old Darrell Mohler, the brother of Burrell Mohler, Sr. On the surface, all of the men seemed to be anything but what they are accused of. The senior Mohler is a retired firefighter. Forty-seven- year-old Roland Mohler a paramedic.

CORBIN ALLRED, MOHLER'S EMPLOYER: He's a good medic. He had an outgoing personality.

SAVIDGE: Three of the men even served as lay ministers in a local church.

LINDA BOOTH, COMMUNITY OF CHRIST CHURCH: Immediately, I went to the rolls and had their priesthoods suspended.

SAVIDGE: For now, authorities say the case is based mostly on the words of children-turned-adults. But they also believe there may be physical evidence. Late in the week, investigators began digging on the farm.

(on camera): Reportedly, they were looking for jars like these into which the young victims said years ago, they had placed about the bad things that were happening to them, hiding them after being told that if they did, the bad feelings would go away. (voice-over): Allegedly burying their messages just as they did their memories of the horrors from long ago.

Martin Savidge, CNN, Bates City, Missouri.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Just amazing.

No money, no jobs. One city's financial struggles meant dead bodies piling up at the morgue without a proper burial. Until now. CNN viewers take action.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The economy, trade, and the environment. Those global issues were expected to be the main focus of President Obama's meeting with China's president. But at a town hall meeting with students in Shanghai, the president touched on the sensitive issue of human rights.

Details now from White House Correspondent Dan Lothian.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Working the room as he often does in town halls across the U.S., President Obama's most pointed answer came not from a question in the audience, but from the Internet, delivered by the U.S. ambassador.

JON HUNTSMAN, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO CHINA: "Should we be able to use Twitter freely?"

OBAMA: I think that the more freely information flows, the stronger the society becomes. I've always been a strong supporter of open Internet use. I'm a big supporter of non-censorship.

LOTHIAN: In a country that routinely blocks access to cyberspace, even this event wasn't completely free. As CNN's Ed Henry was talking to students in the audience before the town hall began...

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: He was just telling me about what question he wanted to ask President Obama.

LOTHIAN: ... a government official stepped in and ended the conversation. HENRY: OK. But he was just telling us about...

(CROSSTALK)

HENRY: Yes.

LOTHIAN: The town hall meeting attended by more than 400 university students was streamed on the White House Web site and carried on Shanghai's local state-run station, but not on China's national network. President Obama danced around a question about arms sales to Taiwan, was asked whether terrorism still remains America's greatest threat.

And on his Nobel Peace Prize award, told a questioner it's not something he deserves, but emphasized the need to promote peace. Mr. Obama was not asked about human rights, but used his opening remarks to push that message.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These freedoms of expression and worship, of access to information and political participation, we believe are universe rights.

LOTHIAN: The Chinese students appeared to embrace this exercise in democracy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's very good.

LOTHIAN: And President Obama himself.

LOTHIAN (on camera): There were no surprises. No tough questions. But a White House official says that the president was able to deliver an important message about open government and human rights. And they believe that the town hall meeting was a meaningful way to do it.

Dan Lothian, CNN, Shanghai.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: The truth is, China appears on its way to becoming the world's second largest economy. So issues like currency values and trade can have a major impact here in the United States. President Obama talked about trade earlier today in Shanghai.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Just look how far we have come. In 1979, trade between the United States and China stood at roughly $5 billion. Today it tops over $400 billion each year. The commerce affects our people's lives in so many ways. America imports from China many of the computer parts we use, the clothes we wear. And we export to China machinery that helps power your industry. This trade could create even more jobs on both sides of the Pacific, while allowing our people to enjoy a better quality of life. And as demand becomes more balanced, it can lead to even broader prosperity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: OK. Stephanie Elam of our Money Team joining us from New York.

Stephanie, let's talk about that last bit there from the president. Many are saying that for demand to become more balanced, China needs to do something about its undervalued currency. Give us a little China currency 101, if you would, please.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: A little class, right, Tony?

HARRIS: Yes, there you go.

ELAM: We're going to have a little bit of class. And here's the idea. We are the dominating country in the scenario. The U.S. is the largest economy in the world. So China pegs its currency to our dollar. But the dollar, as we know, has been falling. That means the Chinese yuan is falling as well. But since the Chinese economy is doing much better than ours, some economists say the Chinese currency is just undervalued.

Now, think about this. Just to give you an idea of how people are seeing it. China's economy grew at an 8.9 percent pace in the third quarter. The U.S. economy grew at a 3.5 percent pace during that same period. But keep in mind, that's the first growth we've logged in more than a year, Tony. So they're doing much better in China than we are here.

HARRIS: Yes. OK, a couple of other questions here. What happens to Chinese goods in the United States when the dollar falls in value?

ELAM: Well, since the yen is pegged to the dollar, if the dollar falls, so does the yen. That makes Chinese exports cheaper and therefore more attractive to other countries like the U.S. So the result is that some are calling on China to boost the value of their currency to level the trade playing field because, obviously, if it's cheaper for them, it's better for the exporters in China and they're benefitting from that right now.

HARRIS: Well, what would be the effect of China raising the value of its currency even in say in China?

ELAM: China says raising the value of its currency would be unfair, since that would make Chinese goods more expensive to Americans. Obviously they're going to say that. That would probably lead to a drop in demand for Chinese goods, hurting Chinese exporters. Obviously they don't want to see that happening, so they are pushing for that not to happen.

Tony.

HARRIS: OK, one more quick one here. Would an exchange rate adjustment slow China's economic growth and would that threaten the global recovery? ELAM: Well, if China does boost its currency, and that does hit Chinese exports, then the entire Chinese economy would definitely take a hit. And since China is the world's third largest economy right now, its economic state does affect the entire world.

Now the flip side is that the International Monetary Fund says that boosting the yuan would also prompt the Chinese to buy more American made goods and other imports. That would boost demand in China. And because of its size and relative good economic health, countries like the U.S. need demand in China to be strong. And so that's why there's such -- there's so much discussion about this.

Tony.

HARRIS: What's going to happen?

ELAM: Right. Well, eventually, most analysts say Chinese -- the Chinese currency needs to rise. Some want it to happen soon, but it could be months away. Maybe even years. But I've got to point this out, Tony, China has been under pressure to revalue its currency for years.

HARRIS: Yes.

ELAM: And so far it hasn't yielded to the pressure. So there's no saying that they're actually going to do it this time around either.

HARRIS: Right. OK. That was good.

ELAM: Class. We had class (INAUDIBLE).

HARRIS: I could -- I could can pass that test. All right, Stephanie, thank you.

ELAM: Sure.

HARRIS: And still to come in the NEWSROOM, a woman, a mission and a continent. We will tell you where these shoes are going and why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Detroit's struggles have been well documented. Soaring unemployment, massive foreclosures, even dead bodies piling up at the morgue. Last month we told you how the county had run out of money for burying its unclaimed dead. That story prompted one CNN viewer to take action. Cnnmoney.com's Poppy Harlow has our follow-up report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Paul C.L. McGrath (ph) passed away September 16, at the age of 61.

CROWD: May he rest in peace.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM (voice-over): Six people buried in Detroit. At a local funeral home, those who never knew them mourn them.

BETSY DEAK, PERRY FUNERAL HOME: No one's alone. You know, we feel like islands, but not one of us is. A loss of someone who died three years ago is everybody's loss.

HARLOW: In a city of abandoned houses, abandoned factories, and abandoned people, a record number of unclaimed people piled up at the Wayne County Morgue.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is our freezer.

HARLOW: Their next of kin unable or unwilling or pay for their burial.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I have to believe that it is because of the economic problems that we're having.

SHANTI DAS, FOUNDER, MAY WE REST IN PEACE: They were stacked up like my shoes in the closet.

HARLOW: Shanti Das, a former motown music executive, was moved by our first story on Detroit's unclaimed dead and decided to do something about it. Her own family had struggled to find the money to bury her father.

DAS: It was just a lot of things that kind of hit home for me and I just immediately wanted to take action.

HARLOW: And she did. Das started a non-profit called May We Rest in Peace. She's raised thousands of dollars to bury these people.

DAS: I thought, oh my God, we have to try to help restore some dignity to these families.

HARLOW: For six families, there is now dignity in death. Their fathers, sisters, mothers, and brothers laid to rest because of the kindness of strangers, making a difference in a town that could not on his own. The county had run out of funds to bury the unclaimed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly. There you go.

HARLOW: For the McGrath family, there is now closure.

MICHAEL MCGRATH, FATHER BURIED THROUGH DONATIONS: My father had requested that he be buried, not cremated. So this is really something that's going to help me sleep at night, knowing that he received what he actually asked for.

DAS: Wow, that makes me a little emotional right now. It's a good feeling.

MCGRATH: It's going to be something that we can always look back and think that somebody was there to help us when we needed it or, you know, help my father when he needed it.

(END VIDEOTAPE) HARRIS: Boy, how about that.

Poppy Harlow joining us now from New York.

And, Poppy, those six families now have closure, but what about the rest of Detroit's unclaimed dead?

HARLOW: It's a great question, Tony. It's still a problem. There are 52 remaining unclaimed bodies in the morgue. That number could go higher by the day. Some good news for you though. Along with the money that Shanti has raised, the county now has funds to bury some of the unclaimed. Their 2010 budget got approved. So that's good news.

But I think the overall message here actually came from a man named Paul Betts (ph). He's a local construction worker, Tony, that we met at that memorial service. And he came up to me and he said, you know what, this is so important because we, Detroit, are a city of abandoned homes and we're certainly not going to let them know us or remember us as a city of abandoned people. And that really stuck with me, saying, you know there are problems in Detroit that we may not be able to fix, but we can fix this one. And some individuals from across the country coming in to do what they can.

Tony.

HARRIS: That's a terrific story. Again, you're doing some terrific stuff out of Detroit, out of Michigan. Cnnmoney.com's Poppy Harlow for us.

Poppy, thank you.

HARRIS: And, again, let's get your caught up on our top stories now.

Another chapter in a lengthy court fight over a bach of photos. The pictures are said to show the abuse of terror detainees. The Pentagon refuses to release them. It wants the Supreme Court to overturn the decision ordering it to do so. This fight started years ago when the ACLU sued the Pentagon to get the photos.

Authorities are searching a woods in Fayetteville, North Carolina, for the body of a missing five-year-old. Antoinette Davis is expected in court today to face charges that she was prostituting her daughter. Another suspect has been charged with kidnapping after he was spotted on this hotel surveillance tape with the little girl.

The U.N. nuclear agency believes Iran plans to begin enriching uranium next year. Possibly enough to start arming one nuclear bomb per year. The U.S. and the U.N. have been trying to get Iran to have the enrichment done outside the country to insure the nuclear material is used only for peaceful purposes.

Changing the world two feet at a time. That's the moto of a U.S. foundation that just shipped 10,000 pairs of shoes and tons of medical supplies to Ghana. Our Don Lemon reports on the woman behind the movement.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She's a mother, a visionary and a fighter. Battling extreme poverty on the continent of Africa. Her weapon, shoes. A million pairs, she hopes.

DION FEARON, FOUNDER, THE ASHE FOUNDATION: A million pairs of shoes. But I believe that it's going to be way more than a million pairs.

LEMON: Dion Fearon founded a non-profit called the ASHE Foundation. ASHE is Uriba (ph) for "the power to make things happen," and that's exactly what she did after seeing this image.

FEARON: That image of the feet wearing pop bottles for sandals kind of struck a cord in me and I said, you know what, I could do something about that.

LEMON: Shoes for Africa was off to a running start with a little star power from R&B recording artist Kenny Lattimore, celebrity stylist Okera Banks, and then Antina Campbell, a complete stranger, who had become Fearon's closest ally. The two met in church after one of Fearon's appeals for shoes.

ANTINA CAMPBELL, DIR. OF OPERATIONS, THE ASHE FOUNDATION: She starts talking about the ASHE Foundation and collecting shoes and taking them over to Africa. And all of that was like, wow, to me. You know, like, I got to help her.

OKERA BANKS, CELEBRITY STYLIST, COSTUME DESIGNER: I had just wrapped up a Nickelodeon show, so I had an abundance of shoes for kids. And I said, I'm going to go home and I'm going to go through that garage and give her some shoes.

KENNY LATTIMORE, SINGER: I didn't want it to just be, oh, somebody used my name and, you know, I came by, I dropped a little donation in the bucket and kept going. I wanted to really be a part of something that was going to be life-changing.

LEMON: The organization's mission is to change the lives of millions of children in African nations who have been orphaned by the devastating effects caused by HIV and AIDS.

Thanks to actor Will Smith, the ASHE Foundation took its first shipment of shoes to Africa in January.

FEARON: Will Smith was in church one Sunday and he heard me begging for shoes and he said, "OK, I'll pay for 15 people -- 15 members of the congregation to go to Africa to deliver these shoes."

LEMON: The experience made Fearon even more determined to, as she calls it, beg for shoes for barefoot children. These two showed up for the shoe distribution sharing one shoe each.

FEARON: My heart is in Africa. It beats in Africa. And I -- and for a very, very, very long time, I ran from the responsibility of knowing that I was going to make a difference there.

LEMON: And now she's at it again. This time it's more than two tons of medical supplies and 10,000 pairs of shoes in route to Ghana.

LATTIMORE: This looks like its hardly ever been worn. It's never been worn.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Never been warn.

LEMON: Volunteers showed up to pack the shoes. A box like this one holds 70 pairs, if packed right and packed tight.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So what's the count?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Seventy pairs in this box.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dion's good.

LEMON: On shipping day, a handful of volunteers loaded this 20 foot crate with box after box after box. It's hard work, but it's fueled by purpose and passion. The crate is finally packed to capacity and ready to head to the shipping dock.

FEARON: This is a good day.

LEMON: She says a prayer . . .

FEARON: That this container makes it to its final destination.

LEMON: In hope that its contents will change lives two feet at a time.

Don Lemon, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Well, many of you have been asking how to get involved with the ASHE Foundation. The foundation has a website, and here's the address, theashefoundation.org. And for more pictures of this foundation and the work they're doing, you can check out our blog, cnn.com/newsroom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We do have our John Zarrella now. He's up on our satellite. And he is from the Kennedy Space Center.

John, I'm seeing some clouds out there. I don't know that there are enough clouds to prohibit the lunch but, you know, they don't like those low, cumulus clouds down there. What do you see?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, they really don't. You're absolutely right. There are some low-ceiling clouds right now covering, you know, all of this area here. But at this point, they're still green for a launch.

Now the problem is, for those of us sitting down here at the Kennedy Space Center, you're not going to get a very good look at Atlantis once it clears through those clouds. But, yes, the whole area doesn't appear that there are any significant breaks anywhere in the clouds. So if they do fly today, they're going to have to fly through that low ceiling.

And, of course, as we know, Atlantis going on an 11-day mission to the International Space Station. Major resupply mission. Six shuttle flights left in the space shuttle program. One this year, five next year. All of them pretty much dedicated to bringing up a lot of spare parts. Things that they can stock up there. Because once the shuttle program ends next November or so, there won't be a vehicle big enough out there to bring up some of the larger pieces that they've got to keep up there as spares.

So, only six astronauts actually going up today. And one will be -- an additional one, Nicole Stat (ph), will be coming back to earth on the space station. She's been up there for about two-and-a-half months. She was on the space station, now coming back on this shuttle. So seven coming down, six going up. If they can get Atlantis off the ground, 11-day mission, three space walks to get all this hardware up there and then they're going to sit it out on a couple of pallets literally outside of the space station. So it's not like they're going to have to haul all this stuff into the space station.

So, pretty ambitious mission. Again, last one for the year and just six remaining. Seems hard to believe. Before this shuttle program ends.

Chad.

MYERS: Hey, John, I don't like the sound of that wind on your microphone and I could see some of those flags straight out there.

ZARRELLA: Yes, the wind sock is blowing. And, you know, Steve Lindsay (ph), who is actually going to be flying the very last shuttle mission, he's the -- was chief astronaut, he's been flying in the shuttle, is STA, training aircraft, measuring the winds and all. But so far, even the winds not a problem right now. So everybody here keeping their fingers crossed.

MYERS: All right. One hour and 30 minutes until we try to get that thing in the sky. Back with more news in two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The Taliban is claiming responsibility for a series of bombings in Pakistan and vowing more violence. Today, at least six people were killed in a blast outside a police station in Peshawar. It is the sixth attack in the area in eight days. CNN's Reza Sayah has the story of another blast that killed a father during his daughter's wedding.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There wasn't supposed to be any sadness and grief in the Ahmed (ph) household this month. This was supposed to be the happiest time of their lives. The celebration of Heena Ahmed's (ph) wedding. The oldest daughter of Mohammad Ahmed (ph).

This is home video of the engagement party. But on the morning of November 2nd, just a day after his daughter's week-long wedding ceremony began, Mohammad Ahmed was killed in a suicide attack in Rawalpindi.

"I thought I would be leaving my father,' says Heena. "I had no idea my father would leave me first."

Police says this suicide attacker was targeting soldiers withdrawing salaries at a bank. Ahmed, a spray painter by profession, happened to be walking by. The wedding was postponed. Jubilation replaced by grief. Gone was the family's loan bread winner.

"Without him, we stopped celebrating," says Heena. "We all cried and started to mourn."

"Who's ever going to love us the way he did," cries Ahmed's sister, Shakil Abebe (ph).

SAYAH (on camera): This is one of the ways Mr. Ahmed's loved ones are mourning his loss. It's a Sunday tradition that lasts for 40 days, sitting in a circle, counting cherry and date pits and calling on God's name with every count. By the time the 40 days is over, the goal is to have called on God's name 400,000 times. Their way of paying homage to Mr. Ahmed.

SAYAH (voice-over): Ahmed is among more than 150 civilians killed in a month-long wave of attacks by militants, avenging the Pakistani army's military offensive against the Taliban in south Waziristan.

"Ordinary people are dying," says Heena. "What do they get out of this? My father is dead."

The Pakistani army says success against the Taliban in south Waziristan will not mean an immediate end to suicide attacks elsewhere. For Pakistan, it means more grief and broken dreams for innocent civilians caught in a cycle of violence.

Reza Sayah, CNN, Rawalpindi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And we are pushing forward now with the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM with Kyra Phillips.