Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
President Bush Visits Iraq; Senator Larry Craig to Step Down
Aired September 03, 2007 - 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: Felix, the Cat 4, but forecasters warn it could be a Category 5 again before the season's latest hurricane slams the eastern coast of Central America. Chad Myers watching its every move.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And President Bush flies under the radar into the heart of Iraq. U.S. soldiers and Marines in Anbar Province take part in what they hear.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
A furious hurricane named Felix churning straight for Central America. It's losing a bit of strength, but it's still blowing 145 miles an hour. Best-case scenario, the fast-moving Category 4 storm will brush the Honduran coast early tomorrow morning. Hurricane warnings are posted for Honduras and neighboring Nicaragua.
This monster storm seemed to come out of nowhere, Chad Myers.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It really did. It was a tropical storm and, then, literally 30 hours later, it was Category 5 hurricane, a big-time, significant storm for Nicaragua and Honduras, even as far as Tegucigalpa.
We're going to get this rain moving up this -- up this Honduran coast and into the mountains here, and from I would say probably from Honduras basically all the way down and north, all the way down to almost Roatan. This is where all the flooding is going to be. Yes, there is going to be wind damage as the storm slams on shore here when the two countries, Honduras and Nicaragua.
Nicaragua will be on the better side of the storm. Honduras, you will be on the bad side of the storm. And we do expect those winds to pick back up again. There is a hurricane hunter aircraft in that storm right now. It's flying back and forth across the Caribbean. And we lost the eye for a while. And that's why the storm what we call filled in. It is not as strong. It is not as deep. The pressure went up. The winds went down. This is a good thing.
We would like to have this continue, but that is probably not likely. There's a little bit of dry area getting gulped in here. You can now begin to see there's the eye again. What is going to go on with this? Well, it's going to continue to the west, going to go through and probably into southern Belize. We have a lot of towns, and then eventually on up toward Mexico City, and I'm worried about that. If the storm stalls over Mexico City, could be an awful lot of flooding. Millions and millions of people live there.
Another storm, this is Tropical Storm Henriette. Well, this is now not too far from Puerto Vallarta, going to miss Cabo, it looks like, but kind of go into the Baja, and then make some flooding possible for Phoenix and Scottsdale and all the way down even to Tucson and maybe into New Mexico.
Now, it's not going to be a hurricane when it gets to Arizona, but you get that tropical wind, Kyra, and it could certainly be ugly there with flooding rainfall through those dry water washes and those arroyos.
PHILLIPS: All right, we will keep talking with you. Thanks, Chad.
MYERS: OK.
LEMON: Still no word on the cause of this morning's explosion near Cleveland, but, whatever it was, it was certainly big. The blast in suburban Ravenna laid waste to this warehouse owned by a manufacturing firm. A number of people work there. But, this being Labor Day, thank goodness, no one was there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I came running down out of the bedroom and grabbed the phone, came outside, and just dialed 911, and stuff was still falling out of the sky, sheet metal and stuff.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was sleeping when the second one hit. And it shook my whole bed and everything and it woke me up like right now. So, I knew exactly something had happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: That explosion happened around 7:00 this morning. And as we said, the cause is under investigation.
PHILLIPS: A family outing in Arizona goes horribly wrong. A 13- year-old girl is dead, her 10-year-old sister in critical condition. They were riding in an all-terrain vehicle on Saturday and tumbled down a deep, unmarked mine shaft. Both girls were following their dad, who was on a dirt bike, leading them across the Arizona back country near the town of Chloride. Rescuers found them yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAPTAIN GREG SMITH, MOHAVE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: We rescued the 10-year-old girl, and she had significant injuries. We were able to send paramedics down to her, put her on a litter, and basically rope her out of that mine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Mine safety officials say that there are thousands of abandoned and unmarked mines across Arizona.
LEMON: It started with a school fight in a small Louisiana town. Now it seems people across the nation are taking sides. It is a story we have been following for months now, six black high schoolers arrested in Jena, Louisiana, accused of beating up a white classmate. One of them faces sentencing this month.
CNN's Gulf coast correspondent, Susan Roesgen, brings up to date.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN GULF COAST CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Marcus Jones is outraged and frightened. His son, 17-year-old Mychal Bell, has been found guilty of aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery, charges that could send him to prison for more than 20 years.
And it all stems from a high school fight. Back in September, black students sat under this tree in the school courtyard, where traditionally only white students sit. The next day, three white students hung nooses from the tree and were suspended. What the nooses meant divided the town.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think a couple boys made a mistake, you know? I think it's all being blown out of proportion.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was very offended, because that's a racial slur against us.
ROESGEN: From there, things got worse. In November, someone set fire to the school, destroying one of its main buildings, though police don't know if there's a connection to the nooses. Then in December, a school fight. A white student, Justin Barker, was knocked unconscious and kicked as he lay on the ground.
Six black teenagers were accused of beating him.
(on camera): This is a copy of the school handbook here at Jena High School. It says the punishment for a school fight is three days suspension.
(voice-over): But, in this case, the six black teenagers were charged with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder. Carwin Jones, Bryant Purvis, Robert Bailey Jr., Theodore Shaw, and a fifth teenager whose name hasn't been released because he's only 16, are charged with attempted murder.
Now the sixth teenager, Mychal Bell, has been found guilty of the lesser felony charge of aggravated battery. But all the teenagers say they're innocent. And one of them told us he didn't even see what happened. ROBERT BAILEY, ACCUSED: No, like, when a fight break out, all the kids just run to see a fight. That's just how it was. And everybody was in one part. You really couldn't see nothing. So when I'm running to see what's going on, I got down there, the fight was over. The coaches and students were breaking up the fight.
ROESGEN: The students' parents say, whatever happened, the only reason their sons were arrested is because they are black.
TINA JONES, PARENT: I had never seen nothing like this before in my life, you know. It just -- it's mind blowing. You know, it's heartbreaking, you know?
THEODORE MCCOY, PARENT: No previous record of anything and he's been taking it pretty hard at times because we visit every Sunday. Sometimes he's OK. The next minute he's taking it very hard.
ROESGEN: The parents believe their sons just can't get a fair trial when they're the minority in a town that's 85 percent white. Even some white residents agree.
KRISTY BOYETTE, RESIDENT: These are kids. They are kids. You're just going to ruin these kids' life.
ROESGEN: District Attorney Reed Walters released a statement after the incident saying he had "never charged anyone based on who they are." But he also addressed the six black students directly, saying: "You will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I will see to it you never again menace the students at any school in this parish."
Since the arrests last December, Jena has seen protests denouncing the criminal charges against the six black students as racially motivated. But there is another side to this story that's gone unreported.
KELLI BARKER, VICTIM'S MOTHER: He was getting kicked and stomped.
ROESGEN (on camera): Why?
BARKER: I don't know. You tell me.
ROESGEN: For the first time, the parents of Justin Barker, the victim, agreed to be interviewed exclusively by CNN.
BARKER: Several lacerations on both sides. Both the ears was kind of really damaged. And both the eyes. His right eye was the worst. It had blood clots in it.
ROESGEN: Kelly and David Barker say Justin has no idea why he was attacked. But his injuries have cost $12,000 in medical bills and his parents do believe it was a case of attempted murder.
BARKER: I wish to goodness it wouldn't have happened. I mean, they had parents and me and David are parents to Justin and I hate it for them parents. I mean, I can only imagine. But I also have to think about my child and my family.
The trial for Theodore Shaw will be next in a town where fear and suspicion on both sides have made Jena an uncomfortable place to call home.
Susan Roesgen, CNN, Jena, Louisiana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, it's one of the most dangerous places to be if a hurricane hits. But the problem isn't just geography. We're going to take you there straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.
LEMON: Larry Craig says he will step down. But who's going to replace him? The fallout over the senator and the sex sting straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.
PHILLIPS: Also, a battle over same-sex marriage in Ohio. It was only legal for four hours. But two men took advantage of the opportunity and took the plunge. Now the law on hold. Are they really still married? You will hear from them coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: If security across Iraq gets better, some U.S. troops could finally come home. That's the word from President Bush today. And right now the commander in chief is on his third visit to Iraq and hearing upbeat assessments from commanders ahead of a White House progress report to Congress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The main ingredients in that report for me to report to the country will be what General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker report. And I had a little glimpse of what they talked about. They believe that the security situation is changing quite dramatically.
And they recognize as well there's more political reconciliation work to be done. And so -- and they will come and report, and I will take their recommendations and put it into, you know, a speech to the country and explain the way forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Want to go straight to Baghdad now and CNN's Aneesh Raman -- Aneesh.
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, don, President Bush arriving about eight hours ago. He was joined by the secretaries of state and defense, choosing not to fly into the capital, Baghdad, but rather, the western Al Anbar Province. That is where U.S. military officials and the president have said for some time there has been a success story after a change in military tactics, dividing the Sunni population there against al Qaeda, and decreasing the level of attacks. It's something President Bush clearly was keen to highlight ahead of that major report next week, to be delivered by General Petraeus and the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker. President Bush met with both those men and afterwards said they told him if the kind of success we're seeing now continues, it will be possible to maintain the same level of security with fewer American forces.
Now, there are still big ifs for that to happen. We have heard similar statements before in other areas, Tal Afar, for example, which after these statements were made did devolve into sectarian violence, but still they are touting the success, hoping to gain momentum and hoping the Iraqi government builds on it.
LEMON: And, Aneesh, you have been embedded with troops in Al Anbar Province and what's going on there is becoming an example that they're using in other regions, correct?
RAMAN: They are. It's a model that is being mimicked. We saw it just a few days ago. And it's starting to change things on the ground elsewhere.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAMAN (voice-over): It's 1:00 a.m. 50 kilometers south of Baghdad, and under the cover of darkness, a ritual of the Iraq war starts anew.
This is an air assault on a suspected al Qaeda safe house. And soldiers from the 3rd I.D. are hoping to catch insurgents by surprise. The house is empty, though there's little doubt who was here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a guard schedule of everyone that looks like is working here, some guys that we have been tracking.
RAMAN: It's a constant chase, this time the insurgents a step ahead.
(on camera): The goal right now isn't to secure this area. There simply aren't enough Iraqi security forces to do that. Instead, it's to keep the insurgents on the run. It's been done many times before over the past few years, but right now, right here, the U.S. military says something is different.
(voice-over): To see why, we head to an area further north with General Rick Lynch, where American soldiers have, in just the past six weeks, slowly divided the local population against al Qaeda by changing strategy, decreasing attacks by 90 percent.
MAJOR GENERAL RICK LYNCH, U.S. MILITARY COMMAND IN BAGHDAD SENIOR SPOKESMAN, U.S. ARMY: The surge gave us this capability. See, what I found is you have got to take the fight to the enemy. He only responds to offensive operations. So, we took the fight to the enemy.
RAMAN: And, in doing so in new areas, they're trying to bridge the divide with a fearful population caught in between. CAPTAIN HENRY MOLTZ, U.S. ARMY: We had to cut the phone lines because they were tracking our movements. We had to block some of the roads. So, the first thing that we had to do to reconcile with the population was, we had to take the first risk. And we're willing to do that. We turned all the phones back on. We opened up all the roads. We invited them into our base.
RAMAN: Where they meet regularly. There are now just over 300 of what the U.S. military calls concerned citizens, Sunnis, some former insurgents, being paid about $380 a month to work with American forces against al Qaeda.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, we need the surge forces in our areas to maintain overwatch of these concerned citizens.
RAMAN: And to show up in areas they don't routinely patrol. This night, four houses were raided. It is a success story so new that as Washington considers whether to keep the same troop levels into next year, area commanders are warning, if that doesn't happen, this newfound trust could quickly fade away.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RAMAN: But, Don, there are two main caveats to this story. First, General Lynch told me for this success to really take hold, the surge in troops has to be maintained into next year, into the spring of next year. And also military commanders say, all of this is a military means to a political end, to give breathing room to Iraq's government, to finally find consensus.
They have yet to do so, so far. They have major issues still outstanding and so in the end, if they can't get their act together, all of this could be to no avail -- Don.
LEMON: Aneesh Raman in Baghdad -- thank you, Aneesh.
PHILLIPS: As the president makes remarks in Iraq, he not only sends a strong message to leaders on the ground, but to Washington lawmakers as well.
Let's get straight to the White House and CNN's Kathleen Koch.
Hi, Kathleen.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.
Let's go back to those remarks that Aneesh mentioned, the surprise remarks that President Bush made on his surprise visit here, that after meeting with both the U.S. commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, and the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, the two men who are going to Capitol Hill in one week to deliver that report to Congress.
Now, the president said, members of Congress, do not prejudge, don't jump to conclusions about this report. But then he appeared to do just that, by coming forth and saying, well, based on what they told me, it looks like, if the current success in Iraq, we could, indeed, begin to -- it would be possible to maintain security with fewer U.S. forces.
Now, the president did not elaborate clearly, didn't say how many forces might be brought home, didn't say when, but, later on, during his visit in Iraq, in a speech to U.S. forces, he talked about how any drawdown would take place.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: Those decisions will be based on a calm assessment by our military commanders on the conditions on the ground, not a nervous reaction by Washington politicians to poll results in the media.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BUSH: In other words, when we begin to draw down troops from Iraq, it will be from a position of strength and success, not from the position of fear and failure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: President Bush during his stay in Iraq, very brief stay, also met with local tribal sheiks. He met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. He said that he told him that the U.S. does not abandon its friends.
But, in the same breath, the president said that while there have been security successes now, it is time, it is important for the government to follow up. And so that is being seen as -- that remark -- really a punctuation of the signal that the White House sent to the Iraqi government. By instead of flying into the capital as it always had done in the past, flying to Anbar Province, many are reading that as a really not-so-subtle indication of the administration's displeasure with the lack of political progress in Iraq -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Kathleen Koch, live from the White House, thank you.
KOCH: You bet.
LEMON: Senator Larry Craig is on his way out. What does his hometown think about his fall from grace?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel really bad for him and his family. I feel bad for Idaho.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: A small town speaks out about the controversy. That's straight ahead right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Twenty-three past the hour, three of the stories we're working on for you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
We don't hear this often, especially from the commander in chief. Earlier today, President Bush said some U.S. troops could finally come home if progress continues in Iraq. He's on his third trip to the war zone right now.
Hurricane warnings are up along the Central American coast, as Felix approaches. The hurricane has weakened slightly to a Category 4 storm, but still remains very powerful. It could come ashore the Nicaragua/Honduras border early tomorrow.
She spent three months in prison in Iran. Now an Iranian- American scholar has been allowed to leave the country. Haleh Esfandiari was granted bail last month and has now flown to Austria. Tehran accuses her of trying to create a soft revolution.
PHILLIPS: Saying their "I dos" before the law said, you can't. A gay couple in Iowa moved quickly after a state judge struck down a law banning sex-same marriages.
Just hours later, the same judge stayed his own ruling pending appeal.
Sean Fritz and Tim McQuillan spoke with our Kiran Chetry on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE, "AMERICAN MORNING")
SEAN FRITZ, MARRIED SAME-SEX PARTNER: One of our friends had actually sent us a link to the ruling on the press coverage. And we looked at that, and we had been planning on getting married for a while. And we knew that our window of opportunity would probably be kind of short, so we just -- we took the chance and we got it done.
KIRAN CHETRY, CO-HOST, "AMERICAN MORNING": So, Tim, tell us how you were able to get through this, waive this three-day waiting period, because they usually make you wait for three days when you apply for a license. You guys were able to wave that.
TIM MCQUILLAN, MARRIED SAME-SEX PARTNER: That's right. For an extra $5 fee, and if we were able to contact a judge, which we were, to sign off on the waiver, the three-day waiting period is waived. And that's what we did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, Iowa, as you know, kicks off the presidential nominating process. The gay marriage ruling stirred up plenty of talk on the campaign trail.
LEMON: The great white, it takes a lot of adrenaline to get up close and personal with these creatures. But guess what? Someone we know did. We will go shark diving with none other than that CNN's Betty Nguyen off the South African coast when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon.
You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
For months now, we have heard about U.S. troops going to the war zone. Now the commander in chief says some may a finally get to head home. President Bush is on his third visit to Iraq. He's there right now. And moments ago, he spoke to U.S. troops in Anbar Province. He says, if progress keeps up in the war zone, some troops may get to come home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: Those decisions will be based on a calm assessment by our military commanders on the conditions on the ground, not a nervous reaction by Washington politicians to poll results in the media.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
BUSH: In other words, when we begin to draw down troops from Iraq, it will be from a position of strength and success, not from the position of fear and failure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, this month, the White House is due to deliver an Iraq progress report to Congress. Also, the top U.S. commander in Iraq and the U.S. ambassador are to testify before Congress next week.
PHILLIPS: Off the cuff in the war zone.
Just a short time ago, we saw Joint Chiefs Chairman Peter Pace like we have seldom seen him before. He's accompanying President Bush in Iraq, and just before the president spoke to troops in Anbar Province, Pace held an impromptu Q&A of his own.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GENERAL PETER PACE, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: The question' is what am I going to do when I retire. And the -- where are you?
Put your hand up.
Thank you.
The truth is that I am going to run -- have I a day job and I'm going to run through the finish line on 1 October because you all deserve to have me stay focused on my responsibility.
On 2 October, I'll start thinking about what I'm going to do next. And I don't mean that I don't have any ideas about what I might like to do, but I do know that any time I spend right now thinking about what happens next is time I'm taking away from you, and I'm not going to do that. I'm going to run to the finish line and then I'm going to worry about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, was watching it all live.
He hit on a lot of issues that sometimes military commanders think are pretty taboo.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, he did. You know, he stepped in as sort of the warm-up act for President Bush while the troops were waiting to hear from the commander-in-chief and he took some questions. You heard one of the first ones there was about Pace himself, who retires at the end of this month after six years as either the chairman or the vice chairman.
But he's always been somebody who likes interacting with the troops. And when he asked them what was on their mind, one of the questions that came upright away was this question of traumatic brain injuries and the Post-Traumatic Stress that can sometimes result from those concussions.
And General Pace, in his last couple of weeks now as the top military officer, basically told them, look, don't think you're bulletproof. Don't think you're immune to these kinds of injuries, even though they may not be as obvious as shrapnel wounds.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PACE: It is OK -- it is OK to seek help for those kinds of war wounds. And I'd ask you all to help your buddies understand what you see in them. And I also want to make sure that, as part of our welcome home for you, that we've given information to your families so that collectively we can pay attention to this.
I do not know the answer. But I do know that we are much smarter about this now than we were just a little while ago, and if collectively we can watch out for our battle buddies on our left and our right, we're going to take care of the people who need to be taken care of.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCINTYRE: And, Kyra, another question that came up was what what's going on with the MRAPs -- those mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles that are the best protection so far against unexploded -- against improvised explosive devices?
General Pace said that the production of those has been ramped up and he's hoping to see a significant number in Iraq by the end of the year. But we're still finding cases, Kyra, where front line troops, like some of those in Anbar Province, still don't have that top of the line protection -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, Jamie, I know he didn't want to talk about it, but do we have any idea what General Pace is going to do once he retires in, what, a month or so?
MCINTYRE: I don't think he'll fade away. But as he said, he's entirely focused on the period between now and the time that he's replaced by Admiral Mike Mullen, in the beginning of October. And he -- you know, he had the option to sort of step aside earlier. And he said, no. I want to serve until the end of my term. He said none of the people in Iraq are leaving before their time is up. I'm not leaving a day early, either.
PHILLIPS: Jamie McIntyre live from the Pentagon.
Thanks, Jamie.
LEMON: We told you last week about three U.S. Senators and a Congressman whose military plane was fired on while they were leaving Baghdad. No one was hurt and the plane landed safely in Jordan.
Now the lawmakers are home and Senator Richard Shelby talked about their brush with danger on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING")
SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R-AL), VICE CHAIRMAN, SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: And after a long day, we were going back to Amman, Jordan. And we were a few minutes out of -- on a military plane out of Baghdad. And I looked out the window and I saw a rocket going by the window, and I knew we were being fired upon, but I didn't know by what.
And then I saw another one. I didn't actually see the third one. Then I -- the pilots, the crew did such an outstanding job, I thought. They started rolling the plane. They flared -- fired off flares to try to use that to fool heat-seeking missiles, if there were any. And it took us a while to get back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And Shelby says despite that attack, he think the U.S. has made progress in Iraq and warned against any sudden pullout.
PHILLIPS: One of Larry Craig's sons says the senator answered a lot of tough questions from his family about his airport bathroom arrest Saturday in Boise. The Idaho Republican announced that he will quit his Senate seat September 30th.
Craig denies trolling for sex in a men's room.
The senator's son, Michael, spoke with the "Idaho Press-Tribune". He said he's satisfied his father's arrest and guilty plea to disorderly conduct were part of a misunderstanding.
Larry Craig's downfall rocked Washington, but it devastated his tiny hometown in West Central Idaho.
CNN's Jim Acosta paid a visit.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Larry Craig's hometown of Midvale -- population 176, give or take a few -- is so remote, locals in true Idaho fashion call it "small potatoes." And in a stark and isolated section of America's heartland, hearts are breaking over the downfall of a local boy done good.
SHIRLEY JOHNSTON, WIDOW OF CRAIG'S TEACHER: He's worked all these years to attain what he did and to see it come crashing down is really sad.
Here's his senior picture here.
ACOSTA: Shirley Johnston's late husband taught Craig public speaking in high school. The graduating class of 1963 consisted of just 10 students -- nine boys and one girl. Johnston says the senator never forget his Idaho roots.
(on camera): When your late husband passed away, Larry Craig...
JOHNSTON: Larry called and -- last year -- and sent his condolences to me and my family.
ACOSTA: It's not too difficult to conduct an informal poll of the citizens of Midvale. The town phone book fits on a single piece of paper.
The general consensus?
Not surprisingly, Senator Craig got railroaded.
(voice-over): And at Midvale's lone restaurant, the Country Coffee Cabin, lifelong friends of the senator are sticking by him.
REX TOWELL, MIDVALE RESIDENT: This isn't our business, his private life. Their business should be how he's serving in the Senate.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I feel really bad for him and his family. I feel bad for Idaho.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And for them to take him out of there and treat him like that, that's a shame.
ACOSTA: It took a while, but we did find one person who thinks justice has been served.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, he pled guilty to a lesser deal to get it over with and he knows what the law is and how the law operates.
ACOSTA: But he was just passing through.
Jim Acosta, CNN, Midvale, Idaho.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
LEMON: Well, daddy's got a problem. Police in Storey County, Nevada reportedly found single father Lucian Hoffman in the Mustang Ranch brothel. No problem there. It is a legal place. But according to the sheriff, while dad was in the brothel for about two hours, his toddler was inside a stifling car in the parking lot. Hoffman was arrested for child neglect and how is being held on $40,000 bond. The child was treated for dehydration and authorities notified her mother, who is in Oregon.
PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, it's one of the most dangerous places to be if a hurricane hits. But the problem isn't just geography. We're going to take you there, straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM".
And a question for you now.
What was the first hurricane of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: So we asked you just before the break, what was the first hurricane of the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season?
The answer -- Hurricane Dean.
This week's monster storm seemed to come out of nowhere -- Chad Myers.
(WEATHER REPORT)
LEMON: Let's talk now about the Florida Keys, a vacation haven except during stormy times. It's definitely not the place to be if a hurricane strikes.
So what's being done to protect folks just in case?
Here's CNN's John Zarrella.
He's in Key West.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When the Labor Day storm of 1935 was over, 400 people were dead. Roads and bridges and buildings were gone. The worst, but not the last.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP, COURTESY FLORIDA HISTORICAL SOCIETY) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hurricane Esther is continuing to move northward and is now heading to the Florida Keys.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZARRELLA: Then there was Betsy.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP, COURTESY FLORIDA HISTORICAL SOCIETY)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It suffered heavily.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZARRELLA: And George, Rita, Wilma.
Despite all that, Floridians can be stubborn.
SHERIFF RICK ROTH, MONROE COUNTY, FLORIDA: The worst issue is the fact that the people don't want to leave. We issue a mandatory evacuation order. They -- the ones that have left last year. They should generally leave again this year. But most of them don't leave.
ZARRELLA: Next to New Orleans, the Keys are considered one of the last places you want to see a hurricane. The pearl necklace of islands are connected by two lane bridges -- 100 miles of road, in places only a few feet above sea level.
BILLY WAGNER, FORMER EMERGENCY MANAGER: I can assure you that if Andrew would have passed into the Lower Keys and we would have gotten the main impact of that storm and a number of people that chose not to leave, we'd have lost thousands of people.
ZARRELLA: Officials have elaborate evacuation plans for tourists and residents, as well as a road map for getting relief supplies in once the storm passes.
DAVID PAULISON, FEMA DIRECTOR: We have a tremendous amount of prescripted mission assignments that we did not have during Katrina, with a lot of federal agencies. We have the Department of Defense, with heavy lift helicopters.
ZARRELLA: For those reasons emergency planners here say they are better prepared for a major hurricane than perhaps anywhere else.
(on camera): These are the kinds of plans that no one here ever wants to see taken off the shelf. But if they are, the only way they're going to work is if the local residents listen and leave.
John Zarrella, CNN, Key West, Florida.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, so much for sunny Savannah. For the most part, Labor Day weekend was a washout. More than a foot of rain fell in some places, stranding drivers and turning lawns pretty much into lakes. The good news, though, no major damage.
LEMON: And sweating it out in Southern California again today. Temperatures are headed above 100 degrees. The Hollywood Hills could see 108. It's already taxing the power supply. Tens of thousands of people woke up today to no electricity. Utility companies are urging everyone to conserve.
PHILLIPS: So you think your boss is a jerk?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was an alcoholic, abusive type of guy that threw things, basically.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: He just laid it out there, didn't he?
American society -- is it breeding bad bosses?
LEMON: And the great white -- it takes a lot of adrenaline to get up and close and personal with these creatures. We go shark diving with our Betty Nguyen off the South African coast. You don't want to miss that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Cookouts, family fun and maybe most importantly - a day off from work for some people. That's what Labor Day probably means to most of you. But there is more to it.
The Labor Day holiday was first celebrated on September 5th, 1882. That was a Tuesday. It was later changed to the first Monday in September.
Oregon, New York, Colorado, New Jersey and Massachusetts were the first states to observe the holiday. The Labor Department says Labor Day honors the contributions workers make to the strength and prosperity and well-being of our country.
ELAINE CHAO, LABOR SECRETARY: Well, the international labor organization just released a report today, which shows that America's workforce is the most competitive, most productive and most creative in the world. Overall fundamentals of our economy are quite strong. Unemployment is low, at 4.6 percent, which is lower than the average unemployment rate of the decade of the 1990s, which was 5.7 percent. Overall compensation is also increasing. Overall compensation has increased about 11.2 percent since 2001.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right. That was your Labor Day 101. There is still, though, some doubt as to who first proposed the Labor Day holiday.
PHILLIPS: Bullied by the boss?
Well, you're not the only one. Just in time for Labor Day, a poll shows that almost 40 percent of American workers have labored under bosses who made their lives miserable.
Here's our own Kara Finnstrom.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP, COURTESY FLORIDA HISTORICAL SOCIETY)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you have no style or sense of fashion.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that depends on what your... UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no. That wasn't a question.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Hollywood's nightmare boss in "The Devil Wears Prada."
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP, COURTESY FLORIDA HISTORICAL SOCIETY)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tales of your incompetence do not interest me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FINNSTROM: The stuff of fiction, or disturbingly familiar?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was an alcoholic, abusive type of guy that threw things, basically.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had a boss, at one time that was a coach that happened to communicate via verbal yelling.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was a waiter and I quit my job because my boss was yelling at me daily.
FINNSTROM: Hundreds of Americans just told similar horror stories to the AFL-CIO's Worst Boss Contest. And 13 states are considering laws that would make it easier to sue an abusive boss. Whether we're acknowledging it more or today's work place breeds more bad bosses...
DR. GARY NAMIE, EMPLOYEE RIGHTS ADVOCATE: Our society is very aggressive, very individualistic.
FINNSTROM: ...reform advocates like Doctor Gary Namie believe new laws are needed.
NAMIE: Most same sex, same gender harassment is invisible in the eyes of the law. So when people think that harassment is a big broad protection and we're going to have civil, kind, non-abusive work places, it's not true.
FINNSTROM (on camera): Supporters of this legislation like the idea of holding the nightmare bosses accountable. Opponents of it worry about the small businesses and the big corporations behind those bosses.
ED MARTINEZ, BUSINESS ADVOCATE: What's a mean boss? Who gets to decide that definition?
If these laws were to pass, an entire Pandora's Box or endless litigation would open up.
FINNSTROM (voice-over): Business advocate Ed Martinez contends the problem should resolve itself because smarter, modern-day workers won't stomach abuse and bad bosses cause costly high turn-over rates.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's absurd.
FINNSTROM: Some employees think legislation is overkill.
(on camera): Any thoughts on whether you should be able to sue a bad boss?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It makes sense to me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, not really. I mean the laws -- we already have too many lawsuits in this country.
FINNSTROM: Professor Robert Sutton wrote the book on jerk bosses. He says calling out bad bosses may be new...
PROF. ROBERT SUTTON, STANFORD UNIVERSITY: When you put people in a position of power, they turn into an insensitive jerk.
FINNSTROM: ...but he says what the country is grappling with is an age-old imperfection. Kara Finnstrom for CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: You know who I think would make a really good boss?
Who do you think?
PHILLIPS: I'll tell you right now, Wolf Blitzer is the boss of me.
LEMON: He is an amazing boss. You're the boss of Kyra?
WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Not happening.
(LAUGHTER)
BLITZER: But I would not necessarily be a good boss.
In any case, guys, there are people who know their limitations and I know my limitations. I don't want to be your boss.
(LAUGHTER)
BLITZER: Let's see what's coming up at the top of the hour in "THE SITUATION ROOM".
President Bush, as all of our viewers know by now, has made a surprise stop in Iraq. He's also dropping hints on the status of U.S. forces, when they might be leaving the country. We'll hear directly from the president.
Also, the stop on the president's itinerary that could become a battleground if U.S. troops were to leave Iraq. CNN's Michael Ware is in Baghdad with a Reality Check.
Plus, one presidential candidate scores big on Labor Day with two key endorsements, and it's not the frontrunner. All that, guys, coming up right here in "THE SITUATION ROOM".
LEMON: Thanks, Wolf.
We'll be watching.
PHILLIPS: Well, a Florida family just got a whole lot bigger. Imagine changing not one, but six diapers at a time.
LEMON: Oh.
You know Oh, yes. You'll hear about it, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, a Florida family just got a whole lot bigger. Ben and Karoline Byler now have six new babies -- five boys and a girl.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN BYLER, FATHER OF SEXTUPLETS: There was a lot of relief after just, you know, this is all over now and everything's looking pretty good, with the exception of this one which, you know, you've just got to pray and just hope everything comes out good with that one. And my wife, Karoline, is doing great and her spirits are high.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, Karoline Byler did take fertility drugs and the sextuplets were born more than two months early. Five are doing well. And as you heard dad say, one is having some breathing problems but is expected to survive.
LEMON: The best of luck to them.
The world is made up of people who try to avoid great white sharks -- that would be most of us, I would say -- and a relative few, well who don't.
CNN's Betty Nguyen met up with the latter group off the coast of South Africa.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This group of adrenaline junkies is in search of the great white.
CREG GRANT, TOUR SKIPPER: We're going to be waiting a while. Obviously, wild animals -- the sharks are wild animals, so we can't exactly call them on cue.
NGUYEN: But they try, and that's sparking controversy.
GRANT: A lot of people are thinking that we are attracting the species surface (ph) -- that we are attracting the sharks closer to the shore. But, actually, we're sticking around the islands where they predominantly feed, where they're predominantly found.
NGUYEN: Boats anchor along Shark Alley, just off South Africa's southern tip.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Geyser Rock is home to up to 65,000 Cape fur seals, OK?
So that's what brings the sharks to the area and that's why we're here.
NGUYEN: It costs about $200 each to see a great white up close. Tour operators put out slick videos showing divers just inches from these deadly creatures. The only thing between them and these jaws is a steel cage that's lowered into the ocean. Then bait, consisting of tuna and various shark meat, is thrown overboard.
Sharks can be lured, but they should not be rewarded with food.
(on camera): Now that the bait is in the water, we wait. Sometimes it just takes minutes. Other times, it takes hours. We've been at it for about 40 minutes now and so far, no shark sightings.
Still, Frederick Vonheyer is hopeful. He's an avid surfer who doesn't believe cage diving operators are conditioning sharks to attack humans.
FREDERICK VONHEYER, SURFER: They don't go to beaches and lure them to where surfers are. So I don't -- in that spirit, I don't think it's causing increased attacks on surfers.
NGUYEN: Try telling that to Craig Bovim. A great white nearly ripped off his right hand.
CRAIG BOVIM, SHARK ATTACK VICTIM: So the skin and a few tendons on the back just sprang it back. So I didn't even know that I had it.
NGUYEN: He was attacked in 2002, while snorkeling for lobster off this beach in Capetown.
BOVIM: Well, I find it ridiculous that people can be offering cage diving and taunting and baiting great white sharks within miles of a huge city. And it's not just any city. This is Capetown. It's one of the surfing paradises in the world.
NGUYEN: Most surfers are outraged. There have been seven shark attacks in Capetown in the past five years. Scientists say there's no proof cage diving teaches sharks to associate people with food, yet they also admit there's very little we understand about these endangered species.
Back at the boat, Frederick slips into a wet suit, ready for his close encounter. And the crew tries its best to make that happen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, Sharky.
NGUYEN: But no luck. We waited over two hours and now a storm was rolling in. The cage was quickly pulled out of the water. These disappointed divers won't get a refund, only a rain check. And they hope to cash it in on a day when the sharks are biting.
Betty Nguyen, CNN, Capetown, South Africa.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com
