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Seven Funeral Home Directors Plead Guilty in Stolen Body Parts Case; Condoleezza Rice Travels to Asia; McCartneys to Divorce
Aired October 18, 2006 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Don Lemon.
Condoleezza Rice travels to Asia for tough talks on North Korea. CNN's Zain Verjee is the only network correspondent with the secretary of state.
PHILLIPS: Naming names -- a disgraced ex-congressman says he will identify the priest who he says abused him 40 years ago.
You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Guilty pleas in a grisly business, a transplant scheme where body tissues and other parts were harvested from hundreds of dead people who had never agreed to be donors.
CNN's Deborah Feyerick has been following the story, joins us now live from New York -- Deb.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, for anybody who has ever had a transplant surgery or buried someone they love, this story is perhaps especially gruesome: four men charged with stealing body parts, then selling those stolen parts, some of them diseased, to tissue banks for use in transplant patients.
It triggered a nationwide recall, and has even affected patients as far away as the United Kingdom.
Now, in this latest indictment, seven funeral directors have pleaded guilty to taking part in this scam. And they are now cooperating. Three funeral homes have been charged with actually providing the corpses -- at the center of this ring, four men, including a doctor, who is being accused of harvesting the bodies.
That doctor is Dr. Michael Mastromarino. And, according to the indictment, he was alerted or tipped off by another one of the defendants, who owned a transport company and took some of the bodies to the funeral homes, that those bodies were on their way. Those funeral homes then received a kickback.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLES HYNES, KINGS COUNTY, NEW YORK, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: This investigation continues, because it is clear that many more funeral home directors were involved in this enterprise. Now, it remains to be seen whether we can prove they participated with Mastromarino's scheme or were unwitting dupes. And there were some of those as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: Now, the 122-count indictment accuses the men of forging death certificates and donor forms. And, in some cases, they stole parts from very sick people, people who had cancer or heart disease, and then passed those body parts off as healthy parts. These included bones, tendons, heart valves, things like that.
Tissue banks do test everything. And, while there's been no widespread outbreak, there's always a risk, not to mention the fact that the people who thought they received donated tissue actually received these stolen parts.
There's so much surgery now, demand is so high, a single body can bring in as much as $250,000, a quarter of a million dollars, when it is dissected.
Now, the most serious charge is enterprise corruption. That's a class-B felony. It carries a maximum 25 years in prison. And, Kyra, perhaps the most famous person of all to have their body parts stolen, former "Masterpiece Theater" announcer Alistair Cooke -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Sounds like a horror show.
Question: Do -- is there any way to link what transplants patients received these tissues or body parts? Has anyone died? Has anyone fallen ill because of this?
FEYERICK: Well, there are some people who claim that they did get infections because of these body parts.
Experts that we spoke with say that that's unlikely, because all the tissue parts are processed. And they're effectively steam- cleaned, so that there is no disease. And they're also tested to make sure that they don't have disease.
But there is a class-action lawsuit, of course, because of the trauma -- that these parts were stolen, and then the trauma that patients actually received these parts. This has -- this has affected virtually every state in the country. And, so, there's still a lot of work that has to be done. So, it's a great fear out there.
PHILLIPS: Well, we will keep tracking it.
Thanks, Deb.
LEMON: Enforcing sanctions, defending allies, rallying the region -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on an overseas mission to make sure North Korea is punished for its nuclear tests.
CNN's Zain Verjee is the only network correspondent traveling with the secretary.
She brings us the very latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in Asia.
One of her goals is to try and get the regional powers here to really take action and to implement the United Nations Security Council resolution that basically slapped sanctions against North Korea.
Japan has been feeling increasingly threatened since North Korea tested its nuclear device. Secretary Rice is here in the region, really, to reassure Japan, saying the U.S. stands by you; the alliance is strong.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: I reaffirm the president's statement of October 9, that the United States has the will and the capability to meet the full range -- and, I underscore, full range -- of its deterrent and security commitments to Japan.
VERJEE: Another major concern here is that Japan will eventually want to go nuclear -- Japan's foreign minister this day, at a press conference, saying, look, that's just not going to happen.
The other thing that Secretary Rice wants to accomplish on this trip is to get the regional powers to take some real tough action against North Korea, in terms of inspecting ships that may be carrying suspicious cargo going in and out of North Korea.
It may be easier to get Japan on board. China and South Korea, though, may be tougher for Secretary Rice to do so. China and South Korea both feel that it may be dangerous to interdict ships; they may result in military skirmishes. Both countries also are concerned that, if they push North Korea too hard, it may result in a collapse, and it may destabilize the region, and they will be the ones left to handle it.
Zain Verjee, CNN, Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: A resignation, an allegation, and, soon, an identification from Mark Foley -- the former congressman says he will reveal the name of the priest who allegedly abused him decades ago to church higher-ups in Miami.
CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti is there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It appears the name of Mr. Foley's alleged abuser will likely be revealed by the Archdiocese of Miami.
That's because the ex-congressman's lawyer says he will not be filing a civil lawsuit against the Miami Archdiocese. Therefore, there will be no publicly filed court documents coming from him.
Now, this is not about money, says Mr. Foley, through his lawyer; it's about healing and protecting potential victims out there.
Foley says, through his lawyer, that he will reveal the name to the Miami Archdiocese about alleged abuse that supposedly occurred between the ages of 13 and 15, when Mr. Foley was growing up in Palm Beach County, Florida.
The archdiocese says, through its guidelines, it must acknowledge the name and reveal to it the public of this priest, so that others can be protected. But it won't say when the name will be revealed.
Foley remains in rehab for at least another two weeks. He is receiving treatment both for alcoholism and receiving psychological counseling. He claims the alleged abuse is not an excuse for the racy e-mails he sent to congressional pages.
Susan Candiotti, CNN, Miami.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, family ties and money are at the heart of another investigation involving another Republican congressman, three weeks from Election Day.
CNN's Joe Johns has that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the last thing the GOP needs right now, with the election three weeks away, a Northeast Republican in a razor-close race, a big news story about a federal investigation into whether he steered millions of dollars to his daughter's company.
It comes at a time when Republicans are desperate to get back on message, after scandalous revelations about Mark Foley, Bob Ney, Randy Cunningham, Tom DeLay, all Republican members of Congress.
Weldon says he hasn't done anything wrong, and his daughter hasn't either. Weldon is raising questions about the timing of this.
REP. CURT WELDON (R), PENNSYLVANIA: It is a difficult one. I would not have wished this on anyone. And, three weeks before the election, it makes the campaign that much more difficult.
JOHNS: He's not blaming the FBI or The Justice Department, but suggests that Democrats have forced the FBI's hand.
One problem: The investigation is being handled not by Democrats, but by the Republican Justice Department. And Bob Barr, a former Republican congressman who once held office as a United States attorney, said, investigators try to ignore the political calendar.
BOB BARR, FORMER U.S. CONGRESSMAN: They are to follow the evidence when it leads them, where it leads it, at the appropriate time. And they are not to hold back on an investigation or the execution of a search warrant simply because it might be near an election.
JOHNS: The difficulty for Weldon and his party is clear to all.
WELDON: It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this district could swing control of the Congress.
JOHNS: Weldon's is hardly the most serious case, given all that has happened this year. But the fear is that the drip, drip, drip of accusations against Republicans could turn into a flood that costs them in close races.
BARR: The danger is, and what ought to be troubling Republicans is, that I think many voters have already tuned them out. They have witnessed, over the last two years, a succession of scandals.
JOHNS: A big danger for Republicans, because, if their core voters stay home in tight contests like this one in Pennsylvania, it is almost as bad for them as a vote for the Democrat.
Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: But Republicans aren't the only ones with ethics issues. The Senate -- the Senate's top Democrat is juggling a couple himself.
CNN congressional correspondent Dana Bash has that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Democratic Leader Harry Reid lives in this Ritz-Carlton in Washington. At Christmastime, the Senator gave doormen and other employees $3,300 in tips over three years, a generous gesture, but the money came from Reid's campaign coffers, a possible violation of election law.
SHEILA KRUMHOLZ, CENTER FOR RESPONSIVE POLITICS: You do not use campaign donations for personal use. And tipping your doorman or, you know, the condo association just doesn't pass the smell test.
BASH: Reid said his lawyers had assured him it was OK, because of the extra work that comes with having a Senate leader in the building. But, to be safe, he says he is -- quote -- "reimbursing the campaign from my own pocket."
Damage control for the Senate's top Democrat, under fire for potential ethics violations, three weeks before an election in which Democrats are slamming Republicans for a so-called culture of corruption. The Nevada Democrat is also battling questions about a Las Vegas land deal that earned him $700,000 in 2004.
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MINORITY LEADER: I bought a piece of land, sold it six years later. Everything was reported. It was all transparent.
BASH: Reid did report to Congress he owned the land and paid taxes on it, but he did not disclose that, three years before selling it, he transferred ownership to a limited liability corporation.
Aides say the senator wanted to develop the land, and made that transfer for legal protection. Reid now says he will amend four years of ethics reports to be more transparent about the deal.
KRUMHOLZ: I would expect that a person who has been in Congress as long as Harry Reid has been would know better to -- to provide as complete a picture as possible.
BASH: For a GOP under siege by scandal, from Mark Foley to new revelations about Congressman Curt Weldon, Reid's troubles give Republicans ammunition to return fire on the campaign trail, like on this Tennessee radio show.
DAN RONAYNE, NATIONAL REPUBLICAN SENATORIAL COMMITTEE: Harry Reid said this whole campaign is going to be about ethics. I think the voters can fairly look at that and say, there is some hypocrisy there.
BASH: (on camera): When voters are asked which party is more ethical, they say Democrats, but by a pretty slim margin. And one pollsters says new reports of scandal in either party probably won't sway voters much, because other issues are shaping the election.
ANDREW KOHUT, PRESIDENT, PEW RESEARCH CENTER: Iraq, the economy, health care and a sense that the country is not on the right course are the major reasons, and President Bush himself, a discontent with his administration, are the reason the Republicans are in big trouble.
BASH: A growing number of voters, he says, are sour on Republicans, but they are not doing handstands over Democrats either.
Dana Bash, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: And, as we head into the midterm elections, stay up to date with the CNN Political Ticker. The daily service gives you an inside view of the day's political stories. See for yourself at CNN.com/Ticker.
PHILLIPS: Married in Massachusetts, but not in the eyes of Uncle Sam.
For the first time in U.S. history, the surviving spouse of a retired congressman is denied death benefits because he's gay. Gerry Studds, who died Saturday, was the first openly gay member of Congress. His sexuality was revealed during a page sex scandal in 1983.
But Massachusetts voters kept reelecting him, until he retired in 1997. When Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriage in 2004, Studds married his partner, Dean Hara. But, under the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which Studds voted against, the federal government can't recognize Hera as his surviving spouse. Apart from same-sex partners, federal law denies pensions only to spouses convicted of espionage or treason.
LEMON: He's locked up, on trial, the face of yesterday's Iraq.
PHILLIPS: Yet, Saddam Hussein is still trying to rally the people he once dominated. What do those people think of their former president? We asked -- the answers coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Violence and tensions are now so chronically high Iraq, it is hard to tell when there's a spike. This is Balad, where almost 100 people have been killed in the past few days. U.S. troops turned over control of Balad to Iraqi police a month ago. Today, they're back.
Ten American service members died in combat yesterday alone in separate bombings and firefights across Iraq. That makes 67 U.S. troops killed in Iraq so far this month.
PHILLIPS: Fifty-four thousand Iraqi families are said to be refugees in their own country. Based on the average Iraqi family size of eight to 10 people, that means almost half-a-million Iraqis, by government estimation, have been driven out of their homes by violence.
Where are they going? Sunni families are fleeing the Sunni areas, Shiites to Shiite areas, Kurds to Kurdish areas. The displaced are also running to other countries in droves.
Saddam Hussein hasn't been president of Iraq for three years, but he hates to be out of touch. Now a war crimes defendant, Hussein has been reaching out to the people that he once ruled by caveat.
CNN's Cal Perry went to see whether anyone is listening.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAL PERRY, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): A year since his trials began last October, despite his outbursts and ongoing battles with chief judges, interest in Saddam has gradually evaporated on the streets of Iraq.
But things in the rest of the country have been changing drastically since the trial began. Violence has only increased. Coalition casualties have mounted, now topping 3,000. And there's a question if Saddam is using this to work himself back into a position of influence in Iraq.
Calling himself the -- quote -- "president and commander in chief of the armed resistance movement," Saddam wrote this week to the Iraqi people. In a letter released by his defense team, Saddam seemed to be telling Iraqis not to fight each other -- quote -- "The hour of liberation is at hand, God willing," Saddam writes. "But remember that your near-term goal is confined to freeing your country from the forces of occupation and their followers, and not to be preoccupied in settling scores outside this goal."
On the streets of Baghdad, a mixed reaction.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I welcome this letter. It is a letter issued by a president of the country, apart from what had occurred. He was a leader of our country, whether we accept it or not.
PERRY: While others say Saddam will never again be significant to Iraqis.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): What did Saddam present to us? We don't trust him anymore. Even if he releases more letters, we don't trust him.
PERRY: Headlines in one Iraqi paper this week seemed to bolster the former Iraqi president's credibility. The headline reads -- quote -- "Saddam Telling His Supporters, Be Fair and Pardon Even Those Who Killed Uday and Qusay."
But some believe Saddam's letter is just an attempt to distract from the bigger issues, with headlines reflective of his rhetoric, and not his alleged crimes.
(on camera): Saddam Hussein will never be forgotten, even in a world that's now watching the leaders of Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Afghanistan, and other international hot spots. But he seems determined to stay relevant, right where he wants to be, on center stage here in Iraq.
Cal Perry, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Sunnis and Shiites, their struggle has simmered for centuries. And now it is boiling over in Iraq.
Do policy-makers in Washington know one group from another? We will see ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Susan Lisovicz on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, where the Dow is once again flirting with 12000, but, this time, the blue chips actually did it.
I will tell you more -- when NEWSROOM continues. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Well, the Dow flirted with 12000 for two days, before finally taking the leap. It happened this morning. But can the market hold on to those gains?
Susan Lisovicz joins us live from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange with the very latest.
How you doing?
LISOVICZ: Hey, Don.
Well, it's always a question, the final hour of trading, because it can be especially volatile, yes,. But from 11000 to 12000, it took the Dow industrials seven years. Today, it just seemed so effortless. Thirty-four seconds into the new trading day, the blue chips reached that historic milestone.
Of course, there were a number of factors helping it out. The Dow Jones industrials got to 12050, before pulling back a bit. And, as you can see right now, well, we still have a rally going on, but it's just a shadow of what it was earlier in the day. Dow, a big question whether it is actually going to close above 12000 at this point.
Some of the factors that propelled the blue chips higher today, well, there's only 30 stocks. So, when you have one of them up about 5 percent, that is a big help. IBM did just that with its quarterly earnings that exceeded the Street's estimates, with a rosy forecast for the year.
We also got a better-than-expected read on September housing starts -- that was kind of a surprise -- and a tame inflation report, which a lot of the bulls are hoping will prompt the Federal Reserve to leave interest rates alone when they meet next week -- Don.
LEMON: All right.
Well, you mentioned the time lapse between 11000 and 12000. Does that make today's record even more significant?
LISOVICZ: Well, I suppose, to some investors, yes, Don, because...
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: To some investors.
LISOVICZ: When you think about what happened since then, we had the dot-com bust. We had a recession. We had 9/11. We had war. We had all-time highs with oil prices. We had a devastating -- two very bad hurricanes in the Gulf Coast last year.
So, this really is a lot different, in many ways, from the go-go '90s when you saw the Dow hit 4000 and 5000 in the same year. I mean, first of all, we should point out that the Dow industrials, again, is just 30 stocks. These are the cream of the crop. All of them have proven track records. All of them make money, unlike some of the dot- coms that we saw disappear as part of the dot-com bust -- so, a different story. Hopefully, investors are a little bit more seasoned, a little more wiser after this.
But we do have a very significant rally, and new highs. And for the three averages, you know, the -- the NASDAQ and the S&P have -- have a ways to go to hit their all-time highs. But we have very nice gains on the year for all three major averages.
And, for more information about what this means to you and your finances, go to CNNMoney.com -- back to you, Don.
LEMON: I'm always at that CNNMoney.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: And you know what? I bought some of those dot-com stocks back in the go-go '90s, early -- oh, I'm still hurting, still recovering.
LISOVICZ: Yes. Well, you're in good company, Don.
LEMON: Yes, a lot of folks. All right. Thank you very much, Susan.
LISOVICZ: You're welcome.
LEMON: If you get Social Security, well, you will get more next year, but not as much as you got last year -- or this year, rather.
The Social Security Administration today announced a cost of living adjustment for 2007, 3.3 percent, on average, $33 extra dollars a month for 49 million beneficiaries. For 2006, the raise was 4.1 percent, the biggest in 15 years.
PHILLIPS: Let's get straight to Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. She's working a story developing out of Iraq.
Barbara, what is it?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, this news actually just coming out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky: about eight soldiers in the U.S. Army, in the 101st Airborne Division, just having just returned from Iraq, eight soldiers now going to trial for their alleged abuse in Iraq while on duty.
In one of the most disturbing cases, four U.S. soldiers from the 101st Airborne will now face criminal charges at trial in the case of a -- an alleged murder and rape of an Iraqi family in the city of Mahmoudiya, outside of Baghdad.
Now, two of the soldiers are going to face capital charges. This will be a death penalty case for two of the 101st Airborne soldiers, premeditated murder and rape. What they are charged with, all four, is essentially going to this house, breaking in, raping the girl, and then murdering her and the entire family, setting the house on fire to disguise their crime.
The 101st Airborne also has announced this afternoon, four additional soldiers also will go to trial in a separate case involving the alleged murder of some Iraqi men on a house on -- in an island in Iraq -- that case known as the Tharthar island case, another very disturbing case, where soldiers are alleged to have murdered Iraqis, innocent Iraqis -- so, now, eight soldiers going to trial.
Two of them will be capital, death-penalty cases -- the 101st Airborne confirming that all eight of these men are back in the United States in military confinement. And a trial date will now be set -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Barbara Starr, we will continue to follow the case. Thanks.
LEMON: Ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM: Who owns the Christian vote?
PHILLIPS: And what values are you voting on this election? Just two of the hot topics we're going to discuss -- actually, debate -- coming up next.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAX CLELAND, FORMER U.S. SENATOR: I don't know whether Christ was a Republican or a Democrat. It does say he was a carpenter, and every carpenter I know is a Democrat. And it does say he was a teacher, and every teacher I know is a Democrat, and this is one of them, a former teacher. And I do know that Mary didn't ride into Bethlehem on an elephant.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, that's former Georgia senator and decorated Vietnam vet Max Cleland, campaigning for Democratic Senate candidate John Tester in Montana.
The upcoming election isn't the first time matters of faith have been kicked around as a political football. But some wonder whether conservative Christians are ready to kick back. Does anyone own the evangelical vote?
Roy Herron is a state senator from Tennessee and head of a group called faithfuldemocrats.com. He is in from Nashville. He's joining us from there.
And from Washington, D.C., Richard Land. He's with the Southern Baptist Convention, where he's president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.
Let me ask you, Mr. Land, who owns the evangelical vote? Does anyone own? Because it seems like Republicans have taken ownership of that vote in the past couple of elections.
RICHARD LAND, SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION: Hopefully only God owns the evangelical vote. Our ultimate allegiance belongs to God almighty. And we encourage Christians of every denomination to be registered to vote and to be an informed voter and to vote their values, to vote their beliefs and to vote their convictions. And we don't believe that ministers and churches should be endorsing candidates, but we should be looking for candidates who endorse us, who endorse our values, who endorse our beliefs, who endorse our convictions. So hopefully no one owns the evangelical vote but the Lord himself.
LEMON: It does seem, though, that, as I said, Republicans seem to have taken ownership of that, of the evangelical vote. And evangelicals turned out in record numbers the last presidential election, and people have been counting on that vote.
Mr. Herron, do you believe that God only owns that vote or do you believe the Republican party still has a chance with the evangelicals.
ROY HERRON, CHAIR, FAITHFULDEMOCRATS.COM: I agree with exactly what Brother Land said. I think that is what the Gospel requires, I think that's what the Bible teaches, and I think that's what God asks. The church is called to be the bride of Christ, not the prostitute of any political party. On that, we agree.
Where I think I might differ is that, in too much churches, pastors preach from the pulpit and Sunday School teachers have taught in their classrooms, that if you're a Democrat, you can't be a Christian, and if you're a Christian, you can't be a Democrat. Too many are trying to say that God is spelled G-O-P.
I think what's going on in this country right now is American Christians are having a Damascus Road experience. I think with what the revelations with Congressman Foley and the Republican leadership being more concerned about protecting their power than prosecuting a pedophile or protecting pages.
I think the American people are getting their eyes opened. I think Christians are looking again. And I think you take the recent revelations from the White House, and what we're seeing is that people are seeing again exactly what Brother Land just described, that they are not to be any party's tool.
LEMON: Mr. Herron, let's talk about that. Because even before the Foley scandal, there was a portion of the white evangelicals that said that they had a favorable impression of the Republican party, but that had fallen sharply from 63 percent to 54 percent. That's according to a Pew poll. Why do you think that is?
HERRON: I think the corruption that's seen in Washington -- it may not be A to Z, but it's at least A to W, from Abramoff to right down to W's White House. I think that corruption which is endemic in Washington...
LEMON: Mr. Herron, I have to interrupt both of you right here. We're going to continue this in a second, but we have some breaking news we want to report.
PHILLIPS: First we're getting word of some possible threats to NFL stadiums. Homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve has been working this for us. Jeanne, what do you know? JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, first let me tell you that Department of Homeland Security officials are not taking these threats seriously. Let me emphasize that they are treating these threats with strong skepticism because of their spectacular nature.
But let me go through what has happened. Within the past hour or so, the Department of Homeland Security has sent out a notice to the private sector. That would include the National Football League and also state and local authorities, telling them that they have come across some open source claims on a Web site, saying that dirty bombs have been smuggled into the United States and would be detonated in the coming days outside of NFL Stadium. There are specific stadiums named. I do not have that list as yet. We have not been able to access the site.
However, Department of Homeland Security is saying in this note that there is no credible intelligence to support these claims, and there is no credible information to indicate such attacks are going to occur. But out of an abundance of caution, they are sharing this information with the relevant stakeholders so they can make decisions about what sort of measures they feel are best to secure their facilities and to secure their communities.
They are, of course, monitoring other intelligence threat screens to see if they pick up anything corroborating. But at this point in time, they do not have anything along those lines. The department is emphasizing that the American public should go about their plans to attend large gatherings, including sporting events, including these particular football games, and not adjust their way of life. They also, however, are also urging that the American public remain vigilant and report anything that they might see that is suspicious -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So Jeanne, even though you can't access exactly what NFL stadiums we're talking about, obviously this is going to alert people, they are not going to want to go to those specific stadiums. Will we eventually be able to report what stadiums have been named so then individuals can make that decision on their own whether to go or not?
MESERVE: Well, we certainly hope to be able to report that information very soon. However, let me emphasize that the department is saying this should not scare people away. This is open source information. This is something that was posted on a Web site. And you and I and everyone else knows that there's a lot of things put up on Web sites that have very little to do with reality.
Of course, there's always the possibility that something could have something to do with reality. That is why they've sent us this advisory. But at this point, the department itself is not recommending any protective actions, and it is recommending that people go ahead with their plans, including attending these games.
PHILLIPS: All right, Jeanne Meserve, our Homeland Security correspondent, once again talking about some possible threats on NFL stadiums via her sources there. We'll continue to work that story. At this point saying no -- asking -- the Department of Homeland Security is asking individuals not to fear this at this moment. It's just they are taking the proper precautions because they have to any time this type of threat comes forward. We'll stay on the story.
Quick break. More from the CNN NEWSROOM, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Just want to update you on a developing story that we told you just a few minutes ago. Our Jeanne Meserve, homeland security correspondent, through her sources finding out that some threats have been made towards NFL stadiums -- some specific stadiums.
We've not been able to access that Web site to find out exactly which stadiums are named in this threat, but they are concerned about possible dirty bombs planted outside these stadiums.
Jeanne Meserve saying that homeland security officials are saying to go on as business -- or go on with your daily life as normal. They are just taking precautions. They are not taking this very seriously at this point. So we'll continue to follow up with Jeanne and bring you as much information as we can as soon as we get it.
LEMON: Let's get back to our debate now. Who owns the evangelical vote? Richard Land is with the Southern Baptist Convention and then Roy Herron is a state senator from Tennessee. They've both joined us now.
Mr. Herron, you were speaking. Do you remember what you were talking about? I asked you about the Pew poll that shows that confidence, at least in the Republican Party, is down from evangelicals.
HERRON: And you pointed out that it had been falling even before the Foley scandal broke. And I think that's exactly right. What has taken place, though, is you've had a series of scandals. If it's not A to Z, it's at least A to W, from Abramoff right through to W's White House.
And you've had scandal after scandal, and I think Christian people are saying enough. One party government, a monarchy is not what we want. We're ready for change.
LEMON: In fact, on that, a book has been written about that, David Kuo's book, saying that Republicans, at least inside the administration, were mocking evangelicals and basically using their vote. He was on "AMERICAN MORNING" -- our "AMERICAN MORNING" show. I think it was yesterday. Let's take a listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID KUO, AUTHOR, "TEMPTING FAITH": I think that it's important for Christians to understand, they've been given this image of George W. Bush as sort of the pastor in chief. But I think what Christians need to do is to look at President Bush and to be able to say and look at him through the same political eyes that the White House looks at them, and to be able to say, you know what? I'm going to make certain objective criticism. I'm going to make certain objective statements.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Mr. Land, what do you have to say about that? Do you think that maybe the Republicans, in some way, are taking the evangelical vote because they've had it, taking it for granted?
LAND: I think some Republicans are, but that same Pew poll that you quoted showed that 54 percent of evangelicals have a favorable opinion of the Republican Party, and 27 percent think the Democratic Party is friendly to religion. So the Democrats have more wood to chop than Republicans do.
And, you know, I know David Kuo and I'm a little confused, because when David was in the White House, when he left the White House, he wrote the president a glowing letter which was quoted by Tony Snow in which he said that he was inspired by the president's leadership and they'd done great things in the faith-based office.
LEMON: Let me ask you this ...
LAND: And now when he's trying to sell a book, he's saying something different. But I can tell you this: I've dealt with this White House and you know, Chief Justice Roberts, Associate Justice Alito, those are important issues. And I want to say this: God is not a Democrat and God is not a Republican, but God is pro-life.
LEMON: But do you think that this will keep people home, or at least make Republicans who may have voted Republican, do you think that will make them vote for Democrats?
LAND: I think it depends entirely on which race you're talking about. You're going to see an enormous fluctuation in turnout among evangelicals depending on the candidate in the race. The only person who can deliver evangelical votes to a candidate, Democrat or Republican, is the candidate himself or herself.
And it will depend on whether or not the candidate can convince evangelicals, whether they're Democrats or Republicans, that they support their values, their beliefs and their convictions. They're going to vote their values, their beliefs and their convictions.
LEMON: I've got to cut you off right here because we're running out of time. But I want to ask both of you this. Especially people who are my age group and maybe a little bit younger are asking why this Democrat, why the Republican, why the labels?
Do you think that the world, especially the U.S. -- people are more complex than we might think -- why do we have to have labels? Have we evolved beyond a Democrat or a two-party system and people just vote on their issues and on their values and on their convictions?
LAND: I don't think we've moved beyond parties. I think the parties are in flux and changing. They'll continue to do so. We have a system of government that is very biased towards a two-party system.
And so we'll continue to see the two parties -- the parties are different than they were. When I was your age, the parties were very different than they are today. And the parties will continue to evolve as Americans have a vigorous and forthright debate about which direction they want the country to go, and both parties will seek to make the case that will convince the most Americans, and that's healthy for the country.
LEMON: Mr. Herron, I'll give you the last word on this.
HERRON: I think you're going to see more Democrats -- more Christians voting Democratic this fall because they realize that when Jesus came in Luke IV and proclaimed it good news to the poor, he didn't proclaim multimillion dollar tax cuts to the billionaires. He didn't proclaim piling billions and trillions of debt on our children. He came to proclaim good news to the poor.
In my Senate district in the last six years during this administration, we've had 29 plants either close or have mass layoffs. Thousands of people have lost their jobs, thousands of people have lost their health insurance.
And there are thousands of people working in my district and across this state and across this country who are making $5.15 an hour and barely more than that, and the minimum wage is worth about 60 percent of what it was the last time it was suggested. I think people are going to make a difference this year.
LEMON: State Senator Roy Herron from Tennessee, thank you very much for that. Even though I gave you the last word, I can see Richard Land's face and that spoke volumes as well. So thank you both for joining us today on the CNN NEWSROOM.
HERRON: Thank you, sir.
PHILLIPS: Tracking the credit. Police say a credit card used to buy gas in Smithboro, Illinois, has been traced to a Kentucky couple who are believed to be on the run with a 9-month-old boy. There is also surveillance camera footage of a man thought to be the child's mother's boyfriend.
Renee Terrell and Christopher Luttrell are wanted in connection with the beating death of a social worker Boni Frederick. Her body was found in Terrell's home Monday. Terrell's son, who was in foster care because of neglect, is believed to have been abducted by his mother. If you have any information, you're asked to call 877-AMBER- 17. Once again, 877-AMBER-17.
Will a laptop journal clinch a second plea deal for a confessed killer? Well, two days ago in state court in Idaho, Joseph Edward Duncan admitted killing three people in order to kidnap 8-year-old Shasta Groene and her 9-year-old brother Dylan for sex. Duncan claims to have written about, quote -- or to have written, quote, "I was really who I really was and what I really did" on a laptop computer whose contents he encrypted.
I hope that made sense. And even after a year of trying, FBI experts haven't been able to crack it. In exchange for three consecutive life terms in Idaho instead if the death penalty, Duncan has to give his own attorney the key. It could become a bargaining chip in Duncan's federal case where prosecutors want to seek death if he's convicted.
LEMON: Money, drugs and truck parts all part of a complex international drug scheme that Feds say is now out of business. Agents seized more than $10 million in cash from a ring that allegedly smuggled drugs in from Colombia and laundered the proceeds by exchanging them for pesos or buying or selling used truck parts. Twenty-six people are under arrest in New York, Florida and Colombia. Authorities also seized more than $6.5 million worth of cocaine, heroin and marijuana.
PHILLIPS: Well, not so long ago, he wanted to hold her hand.
LEMON: But a few "Hard Days Nights" later, they can't work it out, and both sides of the McCartney-Mills divorce are yelling "Help." Pardon the plays on words, but Beatles songs just seem to illustrate this breakup gone bad. And today new details out of London. We'll have the latest coming in the NEWSROOM.
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PHILLIPS: So official sounding. London's Fleet Street is falling all over itself as new loads of dirty laundry tumble out in the impending divorce of Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills. It's ugly. And the tabloid headlines include reports of a court document allegedly filed by Mills' lawyers that says the ex-Beatle physically attacked her, and that's just for starters.
CNN has gotten a statement from McCartney's attorneys in response, quote, "Our client would very much like to respond in public and in detail to the allegations made recently against him by his wife and published in the press, but he recognizes on advice that the only correct forum for his response to the allegations made against him is in the current divorce proceedings." McCartney and Mills announced their separation in May. They have a thee year-old daughter.
LEMON: The first song made you kind of... (SALUTES).
PHILLIPS: Salute.
LEMON: Salute. Kind of sad. Very, very sad.
Anyway, let's check in with Wolf Blitzer. What do you say?
LEMON: Hey, Wolf. He's standing by to tell us what's coming up on "THE SITUATION ROOM".
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks very much, guys.
We're following that developing story you've been telling our viewers about. Word of a potential dirty bomb threat to NFL Pro Football stadiums. Our homeland security team is working their sources right now. We're going to have the very latest for you.
Also, the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on a high stakes mission to Asia right now while the world waits to see if North Korea will conduct a second nuclear test. Our own Zain Verjee is the only American television correspondent traveling with the Secretary of State. Zain will be joining us. That's coming up as well.
And less than three weeks until election day. Americans weigh in on Congress, the economy, and more. We have some brand new CNN poll numbers we're going to share with you.
Plus cutting commercials mark the final weeks of the campaign. We'll show you the battle for control of the Congress on the ground and in the air.
All that coming up, right at the top of the hour, right here in "THE SITUATION ROOM".
LEMON: Yes, those commercials are always interesting.
Thank you very much, Wolf. Look forward to that. See you in a little bit.
Very few 93 year-olds spend much time on the ski slopes. And thus we hear former President Ford is thinking of selling his longtime vacation home in Vail, Colorado. Now Ford has been in and out of hospitals a lot lately. Most recently, just days ago in his adopted home state of California. An aide says it's uncertain he'll ever make it back to Colorado. Ford is the oldest of America's living former presidents.
PHILLIPS: Well, if you grew up in the know, you may have "In The News" and Christopher Glenn to thank. In the 1970s and '80s, Glenn's distinctive voice graced news reports for kids in between Saturday morning cartoon shows on CBS. Well, today we're sad to report that Christopher Glenn's death is in the news. He was 68. He had suffered from liver cancer. In his long career, Glenn also anchored CBS Radio's top newscasts, "The World News Roundup" and "The World Tonight". He retired in February and died less than three weeks before his scheduled induction into the Radio Hall of Fame.
Time for the closing bell and a wrap of Wall Street. That's straight ahead.
LEMON: Plus, when Neil Diamond sang about Los Angeles, he called it a place where palm trees grow and rents are low?
PHILLIPS: Well, cheap rents are long a thing of the past in L.A. Palm trees could be the next to go. We're going to get to the root of this one. Coming up in the NEWSROOM.
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LEMON: Old age and fungus are taking out an icon of southern California. Los Angeles is losing its palm trees. The city doesn't know how many of its Canary Island Date Palms are gone, but tree surgeons don't know how to stop the fungus from spreading. L.A. is replacing the dying palms with oaks, sycamores and other native species. Palm trees, like so many other Angelinos, are not native species, but transplants. The city's Mexican Palms are still thriving.
PHILLIPS: Well, no shoes, no shirt, no Six Flags. Six Flags, Inc., which operates dozens of theme parks across the country, has a new dress and behavior code designed to make the parks more family friendly. Besides being required to wear shirts and shoes, patrons will be barred from line jumping or holding places. It's still OK to scream on the roller coasters.
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