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San Francisco Landslide; Thirty Ramadi Residents Wounded in Controlled Blast; Cheney: Target?

Aired February 27, 2007 - 14:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we start this hour with a developing story at the stock market. It's taking a tumble.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: An abrupt and scary wakeup call for some San Francisco residents. Earlier this morning a landslide in North Beach sent boulders and mud tumbling down a cliff and into a condo building. No one was hurt, but it did displace about 100 people whose buildings have been declared off limits now.

The city has seen some heavy rains recently which may have contributed to that slide. Still, residents say they were caught by surprise.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNE WHITE, ON-SITE RESIDENT MANAGER: Years ago, on the south side, directly facing downtown -- this slide was more to the east. Some rocks fell. So we shorn up the whole hill there, you know, with the netting and took care of it. So nothing like that's happened. So we didn't know this was going to happen.

You know? This was -- that hailstorm, I had trouble getting up the hill last night. My car slid back down Vallejo Street. It was a pretty heavy hailstorm. I guess it eroded underneath the decks that we have over here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, joining us now with more on the landslide and the damage it caused, resident Patrick McDonnald.

Mr. McDonnald, where were you when this happened?

PATRICK MCDONNALD, RESIDENT: I was at home in my apartment.

LEMON: Yes?

MCDONNALD: I was on the computer. I was awake when it happened.

LEMON: You were awake when it happened. Explain to our viewers the situation, what you felt, what you heard.

MCDONNALD: Well, there had been small slides, like for about an hour before the big one, and then all of a sudden there was just this huge, huge roar. The building was shaking. It's like -- it was like the whole mountain was coming down.

And it must have lasted like 10 seconds or something. It was -- it was just unreal. I thought -- I thought the building was going to come in on my head.

LEMON: Yes, we can imagine. And we were hearing just from another person who lives there just before we came to you live that there were hailstorms in the area. Did you experience that?

MCDONNALD: Oh, yes. Yes, it was coming down real good.

LEMON: Yes. Loud enough, obviously. And you say there were a couple of tremors of what you would call before.

Have you experienced anything similar to this? We know that there are earthquakes there, but just this sort of landslide, since you've been a resident there?

MCDONNALD: Yes.

LEMON: Yes? Anything to this magnitude?

MCDONNALD: Nothing. Not even close to this. There have been a couple of strong ones, strong enough to shake the building, but this one was just -- it was scary. It was so strong. I'm on the third floor, and it stopped about six feet below my bathroom window, where the rubble stopped.

LEMON: Oh, wow. So are you able to go back into your home now?

MCDONNALD: They red-tagged it. I don't know -- I don't know when it's going to be safe to go back in.

They let us go back in and grab a couple of -- grab some things, like a suitcase. And I got to go back in and get my cat. But I don't know. I don't know when they are -- when they are going to let us move back in.

LEMON: Yes. And I imagine a number of your neighbors are in the same predicament. So you have your suitcase there and you've got your cat right next to you, and that's -- those are your belongings?

MCDONNALD: My cat is at the shelter because I don't have anywhere to go, and I can't very well take him with me.

LEMON: Yes. Well, you know, it puts a human face on it. All you've got is your suitcase and the thing in life that you love, your cat. At least you are alive.

We're sorry for what happened to you, Patrick McDonnald. And we wish you all the best, as well as all the folks in that area.

So thanks for joining us today. Good luck.

MCDONNALD: Thank you.

LEMON: A run of bad weather may have contributed to the landslide.

And Jacqui, if you heard those people, Patrick McDonnald live, and the other person we had in the taped piece before that, they said it was hailstorms and then everything just sort of gave way.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. You know, I haven't been able to confirm the hail, actually, Don.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LEMON: All right. Jacqui Jeras, thank you. We'll check back.

PHILLIPS: Word coming to us now out of Camp Falluja, Iraq. Thirty citizens of southeast Ramadi and one Iraqi soldier being treated for wounds after an explosion which created flying glass and debris.

U.S. Marines Public Affairs Lieutenant Roger Hollenbeck on the phone with us now.

Lieutenant, what can you tell us about this explosive?

LT. ROGER HOLLENBECK, U.S. MARINE CORPS.: Well, ma'am, what happened was a patrol of soldiers and Iraqis found an unknown explosive and took it from where they found it into an abandoned courtyard to safely detonate it. What happened afterwards was a result of that explosion.

What we think happened is, because of the unknown explosions, they were unable to calculate just how big it was. And that's -- that's what caused the flying glass into nearby buildings.

PHILLIPS: And I'm being told this just wasn't one small bag, but rather 15 bags of an unknown explosive. Kind of take us through the process of something like this, because I know you have special teams to detonate explosives and you take them to certain areas to try to make it a controlled detonation.

What went wrong? Was it an explosive never seen before? Was it too big to be able to be a controlled detonation?

HOLLENBECK: Well, exactly what happened (INAUDIBLE) as it comes to us, but it appears as though, like you said, 15 bags we found. It was unknown. And the explosives (INAUDIBLE).

PHILLIPS: I apologize.

Lieutenant Roger Hollenbeck is on a cell phone. We're having a hard time coordinating with him, but this is what we can tell you.

You heard about 15 bags of an unknown explosive were found. The soldiers brought those bags back to a nearby courtyard of an abandoned building to try and carry out a controlled detonation.

Something, obviously, went wrong. And we're trying to figure out what exactly that explosive material was and what exactly happened. But 30 citizens there in Ramadi, including one Iraqi soldier, are being treated now for wounds sustained by flying glass and debris which resulted from that -- or the attempted detonation. It actually turned into an explosion.

We'll follow that and bring you more information as we get it.

Now, the vice president of the United States, a Taliban target? Well, they claim they were targeting Dick Cheney today when a suicide bomber struck just outside Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.

Cheney was visiting the sprawling U.S. base at the time, but he was about a mile away from that blast site. He heard the boom but was unhurt and unfazed, downplaying the Taliban claim. The number of deaths from the attack range from 9 to 15, including a U.S. service member.

"Chicago Tribune" reporter Mike Silva was in Cheney's traveling party.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK SILVA, "CHICAGO TRIBUNE": The vice president was preparing to leave. His party was assembling. They were preparing his aircraft and people were heading toward the plane.

The plane itself was on a tarmac near the flight line, very well inside the base and quite removed from that main entrance that was attacked. The first indication we had of an attack was we heard the sirens of the base fire station. They were ringing.

We were very close to the fire station. The trucks sped out, and the public affairs spokesman for the base, Colonel David Asetta (ph), told us that there had been a direct attack at the gate and the base had gone on code red because of this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: So Cheney left the base just a couple hours after that attack to meet with Afghan president Hamid Karzai.

LEMON: And as you can imagine, the White House is now keeping an even closer eye on security surrounding Vice President Cheney.

Our Ed Henry is at the White House -- Ed.

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Good afternoon, Don.

Also, some tough questions for the White House about how it is that five years after the U.S. toppled the Taliban, that same Taliban could now be claiming responsibility for a terror attack that got close to the U.S. vice president. White House spokesman Tony Snow getting a series of questions about that today at his daily briefing.

He refused to speculate on the strength of the Taliban, basically saying he wants to wait until all the facts are in on this investigation. Obviously, we still know very little about whether or not, in fact, the Taliban, even though they're claiming responsibility, whether or not they really are responsible for this attack that killed so many. Now, the vice president himself, as you heard from Mark Silva, told reporters that he heard the blast himself. He was moved temporarily by the Secret Service to a bomb shelter to make sure he was safe and sound. He's now headed back to the United States.

Tony Snow said basically the president has not spoken to the vice president yet, he's going to do that one on one as early as tomorrow, when the vice president returns and gives the president a direct debrief. Obviously, the president now has sent more U.S. troops to Afghanistan in advance of an expected spring offensive by terrorists, and obviously a lot of people wondering now whether today was a little bit of an early start to that spring offensive -- Don.

LEMON: And Ed, meantime, there was some movement, I understand, on the diplomatic front when it comes to Iraq.

HENRY: That's right. The White House flagging the fact that later this afternoon, Secretary of State Rice will be on Capitol Hill, and she will tell senators that the U.S. will be officially participating in what's known as sort of a neighbors' conference in Iraq. Some of Iraq's -- the Iraqi government's neighbors, including Iran and Syria.

Now, is this a breakthrough? Not really a major breakthrough.

Some calling it potentially an ice-breaker. Obviously, the U.S. still refusing to meet one on one with either Iran or Syria until, for example, Iran stops its uranium enrichment program. But the U.S. will sit down in a group setting.

This conference coming in March. A second one expected in April. So again, diplomats saying maybe this will be an ice-breaker between the U.S. and Iran and Syria, but not a major breakthrough, really, because the U.S. still refusing to meet for direct one-on-one talks -- Don.

LEMON: All right. Ed Henry, thank you. And Ed, you can watch that hearing that you spoke about for free today on CNN Pipeline. Just go to CNN.com.

PHILLIPS: Move over MacGyver. Ahead in the NEWSROOM, how a resourceful Florida teen turned a torn jacket into a successful escape.

LEMON: A Krispy Kreme doughnut that's supposed to be better for you? We'll scrape the glaze off of these health claims straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And you know what? What happens when a couple of Academy Award nominees and a couple of comedians take over -- that's right, take over -- the CNN NEWSROOM?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN the way it should be shown.

JOHN TRAVOLTA, ACTOR: Because they are all going through midlife (EXPLETIVE DELETED) -- sorry. LEMON: What?

TRAVOLTA: I should haven't said that.

LEMON: It's OK. We're not live. You can...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: A lot of beeps. You can see things got a little chaotic. My conversation, with expletives all deleted, from John Travolta, Tim Allen Martin Lawrence, and William H. Macy. That's a little bit later on right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: His kidnapper is hiding out, but 13-year-old Clay Moore is in plain sight today. A gunman took the central Florida boy from his school bus Friday and tapped him -- or taped him, rather, to a tree in an alleged kidnap for ransom plot. Well, Moore managed to escape, using, of all things, a safety pin. He didn't speak today, but his proud family sure did.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRACI KELLE, MOTHER: I can't put into words how absolutely horrifying it was when we received the news. But I have to say, when I got his phone call, it was the best thing that ever happened in my life. I was so -- I am so proud of him.

He was very smart. He kept his head on him. He's a good kid.

An average 13-year-old boy. You know, wants to do things and whatnot. But we want to go back to having a normal life.

He is doing great. He's got good spirits about him. He's wanting to play with his friends and things like that.

TIM MOORE, FATHER: I just want to say once again how we, as a family, are proud of Clay, how he handled the situation, his bravery. Because, I mean, in all reality, when you think about it, he's the one that saved himself and got him to where he could get help and, you know, the law enforcement could bring him back to us.

And I just want to say once again how proud we are of you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, the suspected kidnapper, Vicente Ignacio Beltran- Moreno, is still on the run. Police believe he's no longer in Florida.

One man is accused of kidnapping Clay Moore, and another helped to save him. Here's Emily Masa from our Florida affiliate Bay News 9.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) EMILY MAZA, REPORTER, BAY NEWS 9 (voice over): Leonelle Mendoza finds himself in the spotlight. He's the farm worker who found kidnapped victim Clay Moore wandering on an East Manatee County road Friday afternoon. Mendoza spoke with Bay News 9 and espanol reporter Roy de Jesus (ph), telling him at the time he had no idea Moore had just freed himself from his kidnapper's bindings.

LEONELLE MENDOZA, FARM WORKER (through translator): Maybe the kidnapper would have returned, taken the boy, and he would have never returned back home with his parents.

MAZA: Over at the Manatee School for the Arts, Clay Moore was not in attendance Monday, but his ordeal was the talk of the classroom, especially his heroic escape, using a safety pin to cut the tape that bound him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was just thinking it was a good thing he had that safety pin on him, or else he would be in trouble.

MAZA: Clay took Tae Kwon Do at the school for the arts. Instructor Ken Ellis it appeared Clay applied what he had learned.

KEN ELLIS, TAE KWON DO INSTRUCTOR: I have just seen some amazing results with some of our students. Because not only does it help them to protect themselves in situations like this, which hopefully are pretty rare, but it helps in a lot of other ways as well.

MAZA: So, while Clay Moore recuperates, the farmer who helped him back to safety carries on with his work, while classmates get ready to welcome their 13-year-old classmate back to school.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're probably going to go over to him and say, you know, "Welcome back. Good thing you're safe."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: It's a quarter past the hour, and here's what's keeping us busy right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Doughnut lovers, including myself, for years have dreamed of a healthier doughnut. Now Krispy Kreme says it has one.

Well, the company is selling a whole wheat caramel-flavored version of its original glaze. IT sounds yummy. But before you rush to buy one, know this: It's only slightly lower in calories, fat and carbs. So the company hopes the public will sink their teeth into it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're hoping it will catch on real fast and real quick. We also have a sampling area where the customer can get a free whole wheat doughnut to try it and see how they like it. (END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, Krispy Kreme, of course, is hoping the new doughnuts will boost sales. The low-carb diet craze has trimmed the company's bottom line in recent years.

Final food for thought about this doughnut? Dieticians liken the new doughnut to a nutrient-packed energy bar, only without the nutrients.

PHILLIPS: Well, so far the biggest thing to come out of the Scooter Libby jury deliberations is a juror. Eleven jurors picked up this morning where they left off yesterday, a day when one of their number was knocked out for seeing information she wasn't supposed to see.

CNN's Brian Todd has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Showing obvious disappointment, Judge Reggie Walton declares about one juror, "... what she had exposure to obviously disqualifies her," a reference to information on the case the juror had received outside the courthouse. With that, a woman who had worked as a museum curator is thrown off the jury and not replaced, despite the concerns of prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, who worried out loud that the pool is getting dangerously low.

The judge's reason for not seating an alternate? He didn't want to start from scratch and waste more than two days of deliberations.

The fate of former vice president aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby, charged with lying to investigators about the leak of a CIA officer's covert identity, now in the hands of 11 people.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: It's certainly unusual to have a verdict from 11 jurors, but it's not unprecedented, and it's certainly treated the same way as the verdict would be from 12.

TODD: It's unclear what kind of information the juror, who is now an arts researcher, was exposed to, but she has gone her own way before in this case. On Valentine's Day, when jurors came in wearing identical red T-shirts and one read a note of thanks to the judge, she was the only one who didn't play along.

JONATHAN TURLEY, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: She was self-assured. She was different from a lot of the other jurors. And she really stood out in refusing to wear a Valentine's shirt. All of those things made her a point of considerable interest.

TODD (on camera): When the judge first heard about this juror's exposure, he feared whatever information it was might have tainted other jurors. After interviewing them and speaking to the foreperson, he concluded it had not, but he emphatically warned the panel again not to have contact with any outside information.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington. (END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Well, sharing the wealth. Can a plan to divide up oil money unify Iraq? We'll have the answer straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: And your chance to weigh in on the topic -- the 8-year-old child who weighs more than 200 pounds, did his mother neglect him? British authorities have made their call. What do you think -- obese kids, should the government get involved?

E-mail us. The address is cnnnewsroom@cnn.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon.

Will the U.S. negotiate with Iran and Syria about Iraq? News of a possible change of heart.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

More political and financial pressure here at home. When it comes to Iraq, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Peter Pace appearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee this afternoon. You are looking at live pictures right there.

At issue, the president's request for another $100 billion for the war. If you'd like to watch the Senate hearing live and commercial-free today, you can go to CNN Pipeline. Just go to CNN.com and click on Pipeline. It gets under way at 2:30 Eastern.

PHILLIPS: Two top Senate Democrats are circulating a resolution today to repeal and rewrite the 2002 authorization for the Iraq war. Under the plan, the role of the U.S. military would be limited to training and counterterrorism with a goal of withdrawing U.S. troops not involved in that mission by March of next year.

CNN congressional correspondent Andrea Koppel joins us now from Capitol Hill with the latest. Andrea, we understand Democrats have decided not to bring this resolution to the Senate floor. Is that right?

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, at least for now, Kyra. And that comes even as a new poll shows a narrow majority of Americans are now in favor of setting a deadline for U.S. troops to start leaving Iraq.

The Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made a decision along with the rest of his caucus to set basically put off bringing that resolution to the floor of this Senate, at least for a couple of weeks now. Earlier today he and the Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, decided that they would move that decision off to the future, basically saying -- knowing that Republicans have accused them of micromanaging the war and of trying to tie commanders' hands on the ground.

Instead, McConnell and Reid have decided that they will put that decision off for a couple of weeks. At least allowing, now, Republicans to offer one amendment which would say that you cannot cut funding for U.S. troops in Iraq, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Why did Democrats decide not to move forward with the Iraq debate now considering how important it was during the last election?

KOPPEL: For a couple of reasons. One, the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says that right now they are supposed to be debating putting the remaining requirements of the 9/11 commission into effect, and he said that he received letters from 9/11 families asking them not to murky things up here.

But also because if there were to be a vote anytime soon, Kyra, it looks like Democrats wouldn't have the necessary 60 votes to override Republican opposition. It doesn't even look right now as if they'd have a simple majority, the 50 votes necessary, because there are some Democrats who are balking and you even have some Republicans who were vocal critics of this White House, like Nebraska. The Nebraska senator who -- Chuck Hagel who had said most recently that he thought the Iraq war was the greatest foreign policy disaster since Vietnam, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Congressional correspondent Andrea Koppel, appreciate it.

LEMON: Another developing story we're following here in the CNN NEWSROOM. A big sell-off on Wall Street, disturbing news, Susan Lisovicz. Explain why the market is reeling today.

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

LEMON: Worth a shot? Well, U.S. health officials say the Food and Drug Administration should green light a bird flu vaccine, even though it might not protect most people who get it. The clinical trials of the vaccine made by a Paris-based drug company showed that a two-shot series protected just 45 percent of adults who got it.

Still in the event of a bird flu pandemic, FDA officials say the vaccine could be a stop gap until a better formula is developed. In the U.S., there have been no reported strains of the deadly H5N1 strain in birds or humans.

PHILLIPS: Columbo never looked so good. A group of ambassadors and U.N. envoys arrived back in the Sri Lankan capital in one piece today, no thanks to the Tamil tiger rebels who fired on their helicopters in a region the government had claimed it had retaken. The U.S., Italian and German ambassadors were slightly hurt. The tigers say the government should have told them the dignitaries were coming.

Straight ahead, a live event this hour. Testimony from a pretty powerful trio, Secretary of State Condi Rice, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Peter Pace. We're listening in, we're going to tell you what they have to say about the war in Iraq and how much money they need.

LEMON: And coming up is your chance to weigh in on this topic. An 8-year-old child weighing something 200 pounds. Is it just a hefty appetite or a mother's neglect? Well British authorities have made their call. Now we want to hear from you about this one.

Obese kids -- should the government get involved? E-mail us. The address is CNNNEWSROOM@CNN.com.

PHILLIPS: Too old for a skateboard, too young for a rascal, but still ready to ride. But are they ready for the pressures of the CNN NEWSROOM?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN TRAVOLTA, ACTOR: You certainly can't expect to plug yourself on this show. I'm not longer doing -- you've embarrassed us all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Next in the NEWSROOM, wild hogs pull in for a pit stop.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well many people struggle with their weight. And these days, that includes lots of children. So is it the parents' responsibility to keep their kids at a healthy weight and insist on healthy habits? That's been the focus of a social services case in Britain. CNN's Alfonso van Marsh reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALPHONSO VAN MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Snack time at Connor McCreedy's (ph) house, and weighing in at around 200 pounds, Connor is relishing every bite. A chicken drumstick may seem typical for a young kid, but Connor is just 8 years old. Almost four times the average weight for a kid his age.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And where's my pork chop?

VAN MARSH: Connor's mother says she's obliged to answer her son's constant demands for more food, but British authorities say they're very concerned the diet he is being fed could seriously damage his health. And now they're considering putting the child into care until he loses more weight.

The implication, neglect.

NICOLA MCKEOWN, MOTHER: What if I neglected Connor? He would be a skinny kid? A skinny little runt?

VAN MARSH: On a typical day, Connor he starts with chocolate cereal, followed by some toast with processed meat. Lunchtime means a burger and fries and sausages, or a pizza, a whole pizza. It's fast- food takeaway for dinner. And toss in four bags of potato chips.

And Connor's family admits that in addition to all of that, he scarfs down cookies and other snacks about every 20 minutes.

DR. MICHAEL MARKIEWICZ, PEDIATRICIAN: They love him. They actually love him to death, literally. In fact, not saying they can't care for him, what they're doing is, through the way they're treating him and feeding him, they're slowly killing him.

VAN MARSH: British social services had a hearing with Conner's mother and grandmother Tuesday and decided the child can stay at home for now. In a statement, social services says its made a formal agreement with the family to quote, "safeguard and promote the child's welfare."

Alphonso Van Marsh, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Well, earlier, we asked you to send us your thoughts about this story. And here's what some of you said about it.

PHILLIPS: Jim writes: "Obesity is just as dangerous as other types of abuse, physical and emotional. We would not sit around while a child was abused in other ways. How is this different?"

LEMON: And Buffy agrees. She writes: "This is a clear clas of child abuse. It's against the law for parents to physically harm their children and I don't know how else you could describe what these parents are doing.

PHILLIPS: R.G. feels strongly about this. She writes: "Killing one's children by overfeeding is the only legal form of parental murder. The question is not whether we should protect our children, but what is stopping us and why is it taking so long."

LEMON: Well Marian wrote this: "No, the government should not take children who are obviously having problems away from their parents. Supportive and educational counseling should be offered to help both the parent and the child."

PHILLIPS: E-mail us your thoughts at CNNNEWSROOM@CNN.com.

LEMON: Two Oscar nominees and a couple of comedians rode into the CNN NEWSROOM recently and here's what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: You might know this guy next to me. John Travolta?

TRAVOLTA: Yes. LEMON: And a bunch of his friends showed up as well.

TRAVOLTA: I brought my friends with me tonight.

LEMON: Do you want to introduce them, or do you want me to do it?

TRAVOLTA: I would rather you do it because you have that thing.

LEMON: Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence, William H. Macy. But you guys are on hogs, going through a mid-life crisis.

TRAVOLTA: I have a couple of secrets. They don't know -- the guys don't know...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do now.

TRAVOLTA: My life has fallen apart. I lost my money. I lost my wife. So I'm escaping something. But because they are all going through mid-life (BLEEP). Sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?

TRAVOLTA: Shouldn't have said that.

LEMON: It's OK. We're not live. You can say...

TRAVOLTA: (BLEEP)

WILLIAM MACY, ACTOR: When they are sober, they are spot on.

LEMON: Martin, for you, what was this experience like work with these guys?

MARTIN LAWRENCE, ACTOR: It was a lot of fun. I feel like the Sammy Davis Jr. of the bunch.

LEMON: You said that. Sha boing boing.

LAWRENCE: Sha boing, boing, boing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't want to use mockery. That never works.

TRAVOLTA: Who is talking?

LEMON: All you guys are big stars. So is it...

TIM ALLEN, ACTOR: Huge stars.

LEMON: Huge.

ALLEN: Giant.

LEMON: Is it weird sharing...

ALLEN: ... Could I get a little louder?

LEMON: You weren't a rider before, though, were you?

ALLEN: Yes.

LEMON: Yes, you are? I thought John Travolta was the only rider.

ALLEN: John is everything before everybody, trust me. John is a bigger star. He's got larger planes. Everything is big with John.

LEMON: No offense. You guys aren't 21 anymore.

ALLEN: What?

TRAVOLTA: We're not?

LEMON: You're not.

ALLEN: What is my neck showing? I've got that Ruth Buzzy (ph) thing going.

LEMON: But there's been sort of this trend in Hollywood to go back to actors who are more mature. You look at James Bond.

ALLEN: More mature? What are you saying?

LEMON: I'm saying that you're not 21 anymore. That's exactly what I said.

ALLEN: This is the third time you've said it, actually.

LEMON: So I want to know, what was it like in this movie, all of you naked in the water? You're the ringleader. What is that, doing a nude scene?

ALLEN: It was nice.

LAWRENCE: Just for the record, I really had my drawers on.

LEMON: Is there something in any of your lives that this movie possibly made you realize you didn't accomplish?

TRAVOLTA: Well, having children. I love my life and all that it has offered me. But I think having children, you want to live forever for them. And I think that as you get older, you do consider how many years or how many summers. And you see them going through graduation. You see them going through this. You see them going through this. So I think that's the only area of moving on that has my attention at all, is the children.

LEMON: What's next for you, real quick?

TRAVOLTA: What's next? Well I guess "Hairspray" comes out in July after this one and then I'm scheduled for another comedy. LEMON: Well "Hairspray" you actually play a woman. And Martin, you know of course "Big Momma." What's this fascination with you two dressing up like women?

ALLEN: Don't go there. Don't go there, man.

LAWRENCE: It sells, man. The ladies love it. Did I say that?

TRAVOLTA: Well, the women have power. That's for sure. I dressed up for my gig and all the crew were flirting with me. Don't they know I'm under here?

MACY: I think that's why they are flirting, John.

LEMON: You'll have to come back dressed like a woman and check it out right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Well we're not sure if John Travolta will indeed show up in the NEWSROOM in drag, but we do know his movie "Wild Hogs" will roll into theaters nationwide this Friday.

PHILLIPS: Watch this tape. A man hit by a car. The driver allegedly so boozed up he didn't realize what he had done.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why are they in the road?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: A hit so hard the pedestrians shoes go flying. We'll have more from the NEWSROOM.

LEMON: And we're following a live event this hour. Testimony from a powerful trio, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Peter Pace. We're listening in and we'll tell you what they have to say about the war in Iraq.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Amazing story out of Michigan with pictures to back it up. A speeding car slams into a pedestrian, and it's all captured on video. Kimberly Craig of CNN affiliate WXYZ has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KIMBERLY CRAIG, WXYZ CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As Rafael Hatter casually crosses eight mile here, he has no idea he's about to cross paths with a dangerous driver.

Then just as he's about to clear the roadway, a black Cadillac hits Hatter with so much force that he's knocked out his shoes. His body is tossed around like a toy and the black Cadillac never stops. NORMAN RAYMOND, FERNDALE POLICE: When I first saw that video, I was shocked by that accident because that man went up in the air and over the car and then skidded along the pavement.

CRAIG: And amazingly, Rafael Hatter survives with a broken leg and head injuries. And the hit and run was caught on an in-car camera by Ferndale police.

(on camera): It was 4:30 one morning when officers in two different scout cars from Ferndale were parked along eight mile here. That's when they witnessed the hit and run and officers in one scout car rushed to help the victim while the others took off after this suspect.

(voice-over): Soon after Ferndale police catch up to the black Cadillac, they find 43-year-old Glenn Schaefer behind the wheel and he asks officers what they did and they tell him he hit someone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You ran someone over.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why are they in the road?

CRAIG: Schaefer was arrested and Ferndale police say his blood alcohol level was .17, more than twice the legal limit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How much did you have to drink tonight?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A couple of beers.

CRAIG: The hit sent Rafael Hatter to the hospital. His family said his road to recovery will be a long one. As for Glenn Schaefer, he's now facing charges of operating while intoxicated, causing a serious accident and leaving the scene.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: An attorney representing Glen Schaefer had this to say about his client. "Mr. Schaefer has made an initial appearance in court and has pleaded not guilty. The case is still pending."

LEMON: Well it may ward off vampires, but what about bad cholesterol? New research on garlic, straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Well all that bad breath possibly for naught, for nothing, despite widespread claims to the contrary. A new study says eating garlic does not lower bad cholesterol. Researchers at Stanford University say only a complete healthy diet can fight cholesterol.

PHILLIPS: Shocked from slumber, ahead in the NEWSROOM, the latest from San Francisco where residents were routed by a sudden overnight landslide. The next hour starts right now.

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