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Marine Murder Suspect in Mexico?; Battle for South Carolina; Chaos in Kenya
Aired January 16, 2008 - 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: He left a note, he also left a dead body of a fellow Marine in his back yard. Now the FBI suspects Cesar Laurean has left the country.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Our Rusty Dornin is following the manhunt from North Carolina, where Laurean's truck turned up just yesterday.
Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips, at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
PHILLIPS: The day after his truck was found near a airport, word from the FBI that Marine murder suspect Cesar Laurean may have fled the country.
CNN's Rusty Dornin joins us now from Jacksonville, North Carolina, with the latest from there.
You know, the truck was discovered, Rusty, yesterday during our program. You were getting the latest developments, and you were thinking -- and according to your sources -- that he had fled the country possibly.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's been the talk all along, especially because he has very strong roots in Mexico. And now the FBI is confirming -- well, they're not -- excuse me, they are not confirming -- they suspect that Cesar Laurean has fled to Mexico.
They say that they do have an attache in Mexico City. The FBI will be working very closely with them and with law enforcement in Mexico to see if indeed Cesar Laurean is in Mexico at this time, and try to apprehend him while he is there.
The Onslow County Sheriff's Department, in the meantime, I just spoke to them just a few minutes ago. They said they had not been updated by the FBI and they did not want to comment on this latest report.
Meantime, of course, they are continuing to talk to Christina Laurean, the one of Cesar Laurean, the one he left the note for the day that he left claiming that Maria Lauterbach had committed suicide. So they are continuing to talk to her. She is a key witness in this case.
Meantime, they are continuing to check again manifests on all flights, planes, buses, that sort of thing, to see just how, if it's true, Laurean did get out of the country, how he did leave Jacksonville. They are not commenting on if they have confirmed any tickets that he purchased, at least not from information they have received over the last few days. They said they are still continuing to get sightings from all over the country, but they just haven't been able to confirm them -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: And do we know anything more about Laurean's wife? And you know, this is the key witness in this case, the one that actually came forward with all of this. Could she be an accomplice?
DORNIN: Well, they are -- all they will say is they are continuing to speak with her. Now, she is a former Marine, and apparently has been recalled to active duty. She's working with some victim advocate on the base.
This morning apparently, she was on her way to a meeting on the base. The Onslow County Sheriff's Department did tell us that this morning, that she is going to a meeting on the base. So, they have been meeting with her just about every day, at least having some kind of phone contact. And she's even been coming here to the sheriff's department.
PHILLIPS: All right. Rusty Dornin life from Jacksonville, North Carolina, there.
We'll keep in touch with you.
Meanwhile, police in DeKalb County, Georgia, just outside Atlanta, in mourning as they mount an intense manhunt for some cop killers. Two off-duty officers were shot overnight as they worked security at an apartment complex.
Several schools are on lockdown as police, K9 units and helicopters are combing the area. Witnesses reported at least two males running from the seen. DeKalb's police chief advised the suspects to turn themselves in, vowing they will be found by sundown.
LEMON: Some potentially troubling news for Hillary Clinton leads our political ticker. The Michigan Democratic primary was essentially meaningless. Clinton was the only major Democrat on the ballot. She won, but CNN exit polls found that almost 70 percent of the state's African-Americans voted for "uncommitted" instead.
Now, in fact, our polls found that if Barack Obama had been on the ballot, he would have picked up 73 percent of the African-American vote, and that could cause Clinton major problems in states such as South Carolina, where African-Americans usually make up a large percentage of the Democratic voters.
Mitt Romney won the Michigan primary, but it took the state party a few minutes to congratulate the right candidate. Listen to this. CNN affiliate WNEM reports that minutes after Romney was projected the winner, the state GOP issued a press release congratulating John McCain. Well, a party spokesman says that the messages were written ahead of time and they got it right about five minutes later.
Renegade Republican Ron Paul managed to out-poll some bigger-name opponents last night. Paul finished the Michigan race in fourth place, with six percent of the vote. That put him ahead of Fred Thompson, with 4 percent, and Rudy Giuliani, with 3 percent. Giuliani is banking on a win in Florida later this month to jump-start his campaign.
Mike Huckabee was a surprise Republican winner in Iowa, but since then, he has been overshadowed by McCain and Romney. This weekend he is hoping for a strong showing in South Carolina, to get back on track.
Our Dana Bash is standing by for us in Tigerville, South Carolina. She joins us now with the very latest.
Hello to you, Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Don.
And we're waiting for Mike Huckabee to arrive where I am right now at North Greenville University. He's going to come and speak here.
It's a university of Baptist students, and we are told that the students were actually told about the event where he is going to speak at their mandatory chapel service this morning. That gives you the sense of the kind of constituency that Mike Huckabee is trying to reach here in South Carolina. And sort of bringing it out to the big picture, it is really amazing to watch the scrambled nature of the Republican race right now, and that is why Mike Huckabee and pretty much everybody who is competing for the top spot is here in South Carolina today.
John McCain just wrapped up an event not too far from where I am, and it was really interesting to hear the way his pitch has changed. I mentioned Mike Huckabee essentially trying to appeal to the evangelical vote, which is critical here in South Carolina. It's what helped Mike Huckabee in Iowa.
John McCain is somebody if you look at his record, Don, he is somebody who has a very strong conservative record, but he is somebody who has angered conservatives, social conservatives, for a number of reasons. First of all, because of his support of campaign finance reform, and also because they simply don't think that he talks enough about his opposition to abortion.
Well, he tried to change that at two events already here in South Carolina, talking very clearly, very firmly about his opposition to abortion. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am proud of my pro-life record. Twenty-four years, I have never changed. I have defended the rights of the unborn.
I have fought, I have fought for the rights of the unborn. And I believe the noblest words ever written are that all of us are created with certain equal and endowed with certain inalienable rights. Among these are life. I have struggled for the rights of the unborn around the world, from Burma to Uzbekistan, from China to some places in the Caribbean.
My friends, I will continue my advocacy and fight for the rights of the unborn.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: And that is kind of an addition to John McCain's pitch here, which had been primarily about the fact that he is of course a military veteran, and he had been trying to appeal to the veteran-rich population here in South Carolina. Now, of course, John McCain had a loss, suffered a loss yesterday in Michigan, so it is even more important for him to have a win here in South Carolina. The primary is on Saturday.
The person who won Michigan last night is also here, Mitt Romney. And it is interesting to watch Mitt Romney, Don.
He has had several variations and iterations of a message that he has given to voters as he has moved from Iowa to New Hampshire and through Michigan, but he found something that worked with him in Michigan, and that is his pitch and appeal to workers who are out of work...
LEMON: Right.
BASH: ... worked in Michigan because the unemployment rate is really high there. It's pretty bad here because of the textile industry. Already today, he is making the same kind of pitch that he is outside of Washington, he's a businessman who can fix it -- Don.
LEMON: Dana, it's going to be very interesting. All right. Thank you very much, Dana.
Time is winding down and the race is heating up. For the freshest polls, the latest fights, the political ticker blog and more, check out cnnpolitics.com.
PHILLIPS: A tongue lashing for O.J. Simpson today in a Las Vegas courtroom. Simpson went to jail last week, accused of violating his bail agreement by trying to contact a co-defendant. Well, today a judge doubled Simpson's bail to $250,000 and let him know exactly what she thinks of him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDGE JACKIE GLASS, CLARK COUNTY DISTRICT COURT: And I don't know if it's just arrogance. I don't know if it's ignorance. But you have been locked up at the Clark County Detention Center since Friday because of either arrogance or ignorance or both. Let me make sure that you understand that if you violate those rules and anything like this happens in the future, it won't matter what Mr. Grasso and Mr. Galanter come in here and tell me. You'll be back, locked up in the Clark County Detention Center.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: All right, Judge.
Simpson and co-defendants Clarence Stewart and Charles Ehrlich are charged with the armed robbery of two sports memorabilia dealers. The trial is set for April 7th.
Wayne Watson (ph) loves buttery popcorn. Doctors say his two- bag-a-day habit likely gave him what's known as popcorn lung. Now he is suing the Kroger grocery chain and two of its divisions for selling it to him. Watson (ph) is the only consumer believed to be sickened from the artificial butter flavoring.
In the past, the illness has been diagnosed only in factory workers who mixed large vats of that stuff. The four biggest makers of microwave popcorn are in the process of reworking their recipes.
LEMON: Kenya is a dangerous place these days, we all know that. But it's even more dangerous now for reporters.
Our Zain Verjee -- look at that -- was among those hurt today when protesters clashed with riot police. We'll show you exactly what happened.
PHILLIPS: And secrets uncovered in a frozen land. We're going to take a trip to bottom of the world, Antarctica, and see what scientists are uncovering. Pretty fascinating new information about planet Earth. You'll want to watch.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: 2:19 Eastern Time right now. Here's three of the stories we are working on right now in the CNN NEWSROOM.
The FBI now says fleeing Marine Corporal Cesar Laurean is probably in Mexico. The 21-year-old is wanted for the killing of a pregnant Marine who had accused him of rape.
Hours after two police officers were shot to death in suburban Atlanta, the manhunt for their killers has intensified. Police believe that they are looking for at least two gunmen blamed in the ambushed slaying of the off-duty officers who were working security at an apartment complex.
And it will cost O.J. Simpson twice the amount of money to get out of jail, as a Las Vegas judge doubled Simpson's bail to $250,000 today after deciding that the former NFL star did violate the terms of his previous bail arrangement. Simpson awaits an April 7th trial and a litany of charges stemming from a confrontation with sports memorabilia dealers back in September. (BUSINESS REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, violence has flared again in Kenya, where three days of opposition rallies are under way. The uproar stems from last month's disputed presidential election.
Our Zain Verjee, who is actually from Nairobi, was hurt during a riot when police fired tear gas at the protesters in Nairobi. Here's how it all went down.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPT. CORRESPONDENT: Opposition supporters and security forces appear braced for another confrontation. On this side, supporters of Raila Odinga saying that he is really the president. They want to march into Uhuru Park.
In Uhuru Park, if you take a look there, what you see is hundreds of police and paramilitary forces. They've just added another truck now in for reinforcements. They've been firing tear gas canisters at both supporters of the opposition, opposition leaders themselves, and journalists as well. They are beginning to make their move and it is very likely that from the other side, they will start to firing back.
They hit me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They hit you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anybody hit?
VERJEE: They shot me here, in the back. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It almost hit your head, yes?
VERJEE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you OK?
VERJEE: Yes, it's OK. I'm standing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Tell you what, that had us all nervous. Zain Verjee covering the violence right there in her homeland. She joins us now from Nairobi.
And Zain, we saw right there that you and the other journalists being targeted, is what it looks like. Were you hit by a tear gas canister? Is that what happened?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VERJEE: Yes, we were just standing around, we were doing a few interviews. It was completely unprovoked and I was hit by a tear gas canister that was fired directly from one of those guns, and hit me squarely on one of my shoulder blades.
But what this does, Kyra, is it really underscores the point of excessive police force and police brutality that we have been seeing all over the country. They have been firing tear gas, for example, on old women selling tomatoes. So, the demonstrators that are out on the streets really felt the brunt of the police today, and for me personally, it really does give you a sense of what that feels like and how sudden it can be.
But the demonstrators that were demonstrating, not only in the capital of Nairobi, but in the Kisumu in the Western part of the country, in Mombasa, at the coast, as well as in a town called Eldoret, really felt the fierce brutality of police here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: More than 600 people have lost their lives in Kenya since those hugely controversial elections in late December. A quarter of a million people are now displaced.
LEMON: From North Carolina to south of the border, a potential new focus in the manhunt for the marine murder suspect, Cesar Laurean. The FBI now says it strongly suspects Corporal Laurean has fled to Mexico. Yesterday, his truck was found at a North Carolina motel a mile from the Raleigh-Durham airport.
Laurean disappeared from Camp Lejeune on Friday. Less than 24 hours later police unearthed the remains of Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach and her unborn baby from his backyard. Lauterbach had accused Laurean of rape and apparently suggested he was the baby's father. But yesterday, the Marines said that there was more to that story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COL. R. GARY SOKOLOSKI, STAFF JUDGE ADVOCATE: She told the prosecutor that she no longer believed that the pregnancy was a result of the two incidents she reported as sexual assaults, the 26th of March and around the 11th of April.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Marine brass also took on criticism that they didn't keep an eye on Laurean or flag him to local police.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SOKOLOSKI: Between the 15th of December and the 11th of January, he had been at all of the appointed places that were required, and he was at work when he was required to be. So there was no indication that he was a flight risk. He kept coming to work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: When Laurean's truck showed up yesterday, police and the FBI swarmed the hotel. A desk clerk says they gave her a list of possible aliases to check against her records, no luck there. But she had lots information to share with "HEADLINE NEWS"'s Nancy Grace.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NANCY GRACE, CNN ANCHOR: How close are you to the airport?
VOICE OF SHERRIE JOINER, MICROTEL EMPLOYEE: We are about -- approximately a half of a mile from the airport.
GRACE: Do most of your guests have a flight to catch?
JOINER: Yes, ma'am. Most of our guests do stay here and park their car and fly out.
GRACE: Do you guys have a shuttle, like a van, that takes people back and forth to the airport?
JOINER: Yes, ma'am, we do.
GRACE: How often does it leave?
JOINER: It leaves every 30 minutes in the mornings, and we go to the airport as people call for a shuttle.
GRACE: OK, can someone who is there at the Microtel, if it is not in the morning, still get a shuttle to the airport?
JOINER: Yes, ma'am.
GRACE: What, do they just call the front desk and ask for it?
JOINER: Yes, they can come to the front desk and request the shuttle, yes, ma'am.
GRACE: Sherrie, do people just wait out front or do they -- and they get onto the shuttle, or do they have to have a reservation to get onto the shuttle?
JOINER: They do not have to have a reservation, they can just be in the lobby and request one.
GRACE: So, anybody in the morning hours, essentially -- and you say it leaves every hour?
JOINER: Yes, every 30 minutes.
GRACE: Every 30 minutes.
JOINER: In the morning, they would have to be on our shuttle list as the room number that needs to go to the airport.
GRACE: Could someone walk in from the parking lot and get into the group and get on to the bus?
JOINER: It is possible.
GRACE: OK, all right. Do you guys have cameras in your parking lot, security cameras?
JOINER: No, ma'am, we don't have cameras in the parking lot, only at at the exit doors.
GRACE: At the exit doors? Was the black vehicle parked anywhere near an exit door?
JOINER: It was actually parked on the back side of the hotel, right out of the backdoor. But it is not visible from the camera.
GRACE: What kind of I.D. is necessary to check into the Microtel?
JOINER: We do require driver's license upon checking in.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Nancy will join us live at 3:30 Eastern, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. And next hour, at 3:00 Eastern, we will hear from CNN's Randi Kaye about her exclusive interview with an ex-colleague of both Lauterbach and Laurean.
PHILLIPS: Straight to the news room now. Fredricka Whitfield working details on a developing story for us.
What do you have, Fred?
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well Kyra, who shot two off- duty police officers just outside Atlanta, that's what police officers in their jurisdiction want to know. And they are asking for the public's help. Either at or around midnight, two off-duty officers, who were uniformed, with the Dekalb County Police Department were working security at an apartment complex where you see this crime video being shot right here.
When they were looking for a person of interest, something happened. Shots were fired and these two officers right here, Eric Barker, Ricky Bryant, young men, both fathers, and both working with the police force less than five years. Not long ago, the police chief, Terrell Bolton, explained exactly why they are looking for so hard the suspects?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TERRELL BOLTON, DEKALB COUNTY, G.A. POLICE: Children are fatherless, hearing the scream of the widows that are without husbands now, a sound you never want to hear. Today, I submit to you, the citizens of Dekalb County, the men and women of the Dekalb County Police Department, this is a must-solve crime.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And as incentive, the Dekalb County Police Department is offering a $20,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest of the suspects, because of eyewitness accounts, police feel they are fairly confident about their search for two suspects in the killing of these two police officers, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Fred. We will of course follow the manhunt for those individuals. Appreciate it.
LEMON: What is under all of that ice? Well, scientists drilled through a frozen plane on the earth's coldest continent and make a stunning discovery.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Secrets in the ice. British scientists are digging deep in Antarctica to uncover clues to climate change. What they find is a hidden world.
ITN reporter Bill Neely is with them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL NEELY, ITN REPORTER (voice-over): It's after midnight, it's minus 48 in the wind, and the ice men are at work. They're drilling down to unlock the secrets of our changing world, and nowhere is changing faster than Antarctica. Their prize: ice cores.
(on camera): Is that a good one?
ANDY SMITH, GLACIOLOGIST: It's not bad for this test.
NEELY (voice-over): Like tree rings, the cores can be read for clues to the climate.
SMITH: To measure the amount of snow accumulation that's fallen here each year over the last 50 years.
NEELY: And the evidence is the ice is melting and moving faster than ever. But their biggest breakthrough here is much deeper than that.
(on camera): We know as much about the moon as we do about Antarctica, so any discovery here is a big one. And just in the last few weeks, these British scientists have made a big breakthrough about what's down there, and they've done it in rather dramatic fashion.
(voice-over): In the most peaceful place on earth, high explosives have revealed the depth of a hidden lake.
JOHN WOODWARD, GLACIOLOGIST: The sound waves would be bounced back up to that lake surface and back to the surface.
NEELY (on camera): So, three kilometers down, three kilometers back up very quickly.
WOODWARD: Yes, in about two seconds.
NEELY (voice-over): The sound waves have now revealed a flowing lake 100 meters deep.
(on camera): So, this is the first lake in the Antarctic to be, as it were, fully mapped?
WOODWARD: Yes, it is.
NEELY: And you've done it.
WOODWARD: We've done it.
NEELY (voice-over): It seems astonishing that two miles under this ice, water flows freely. They're pulling a radar on a rope to measure how much ice is melting into the lake, crucial clues to global warming.
(on camera): What they'll do next here is to probe down into this hidden world and try to reveal some of its secrets. New life forms perhaps two miles beneath me that have been cut off for a million years. And yet have somehow survived in the cold, dark lake water way down there.
(voice-over): The British Antarctic surveyors are just a few of the many probing the 160 lakes discovered so far.
WOODWARD: What we're doing here is piecing together one small picture of the jigsaw puzzle that is this continent.
NEELY: We left to see from the air how this icy wilderness, bigger than America, is changing through global warming, the coldest continent on earth that's warming faster in places than anywhere else. The cracks and crevices clear, the melting ice and the rising sea less obvious. Scientists admit it's changing faster than they predicted. The real worry: it's a pace faster than mankind can do anything about.
Bill Neely, News at 10, Ellsworth, Antarctica.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, take a good look at this. This is a view never seen before of the sun's closest neighbor. This image of Planet Mercury was captured by the space probe Messenger when it was about 17,000 miles away. It's moving in to within 124 miles of the surface. Messenger is NASA's first excursion to Mercury since the 1970's. Scientists are hoping to learn more about that planet's origin, its magnetic field and atmosphere and what it could mean for our planet.
LEMON: OK, he started cutting hair when Calvin Coolidge was president, and he's still clipping.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We used to use hand clippers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Saints (ph), we'll tell you more about the man behind the hair-cutting record straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kareen Wynter.
In Hollywood, we may soon see picketers at the Grammys and Oscars. I'll explain when CNN NEWSROOM continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Tragic death of a rising star in Hollywood, well, it has people talking of course, and entertainment correspondent Kareen Wynter joins me now with more on this. It's very sad story, a young, young guy.
WYNTER: So tragic, and you know what, Don, the L.A. County Coroner's Office, they still don't know how 25-year-old actor Brad Renfro died. He was found yesterday in his home and now, an autopsy is planned. Now, you may recall Renfro shot to fame after appearing in the 1993 John Grisham best-seller screen adaptation of "The Client," but afterwards, the actor was dogged by drug and alcohol problems.
Back in 2006, he served 10 days in jail after pleading no contest to driving while intoxicated. He also pleaded guilty to attempted possession of heroin. Renfro recently completed a role in "The Transformers" co-stars with Winona Ryder and Billy Bob Thornton.
OK, will it be a go or not? Of course, there's been no official decision, but from a WGA standpoint, things don't look good for this year's Grammys and the Oscars. So far, both shows have requested a waiver to allow writers from the Writers' Guild of America to work on the shows, but yesterday, the WGA said it probably doesn't think it'll grant the Academy Awards a waiver this unless the striking writers and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television producers reach a deal.
Now, as for the Grammys, the Guild said it probably will not sign off here either, but the Recording Academy insists the show will go on and the Academy for the Oscars is hoping they can also come to some sort of interim agreement with the WGA. So, this -- this of course, continues. They'll probably be working right up to the very end.
LEMON: Yes, and of course, you know, I was working last night so I was watching the debate, but you know, I flipped back and forth and I had TiVo, and so, we're all -- you know what I'm talking about, right?
WYNTER: I do, I do. I read your mind.
LEMON: The good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to singing and you know what, Simon doe have a heart. Did you notice that last night?
WYNTER: I did, but you know what, I like him when he's mean. I don't like him being nice and all the compliments.
And, of course, folks, what else, we're all talking about the "Idol" here. It's back and you know what that means, some knockout singers and some, well, you decide.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): Rock the boat down (ph), go down Moses, down ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): As she swings along cause sex is weak and love is strong ...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (singing): Won't you want somebody to love, you better find somebody to love ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): And tried on her underwear ...
RANDY JACKSON, JUDGE: What?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): ...I'm always thinking of her ...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WYNTER: Goodness gracious, Don, I feel so bad laughing because these people think that they actually have talent and you know, maybe there's a William Hung or Sanjaya in this year's crop, but I guess we'll have to wait and see.
Judges Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell were back to their usual antics, as well, rejecting the awful. And you know what, the numbers are in. While "Idol" scored well last night, the show, Don, reportedly has the lowest ratings debut in four years. It's in its seventh season and the new season continues tonight in Dallas.
LEMON: I told you, I was watching the debates. I want to know what's going on.
WYNTER: I know, the debates are absolutely important and we're happy that people were doing that, but this is our guilty pleasure, come on, love it.
LEMON: Did you see the guy that was like this creepy flasher, he comes in with a big robe on and then he's got like this chain and its just chest hair and ...
WYNTER: I did, and then he went through all that pain of removing all that chest hair, which was absolutely disgusting ...
LEMON: Oh, gosh.
WYNTER: ...and came back and I don't even think he had a chance to sing. So, anyway.
LEMON: Yes, well, you never know what's going to happen. So, that's why people sort of watch this.
WYNTER: That's why we love it.
LEMON: Yes, all right.
WYNTER: We also love "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT." LEMON: Yes, we do.
WYNTER: Coming up tonight, the startling new insights into Tom Cruise's role in the Church of Scientology. Cruise caught on tape in a recruiting role for the church. But, what does it all mean? Find out on TV's most provocative entertainment news show, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific.
And Don, you get a chance to catch up, because you know, "Idol" will be back.
LEMON: Yes, "Idol" will be back, and speaking of Tom Cruise, we had a chance to interview the author of that controversial new book. That'll be on the CNN NEWSROOM tomorrow.
WYNTER: That'll be interesting, fantastic.
LEMON: Yes, all right. Thank you, Kareen, always a pleasure.
WYNTER: I'll be tuning in. You too.
PHILLIPS: This just into CNN, a Congressman charged with being involved with terror. This is what we're getting in from Washington right now. Former Congressman and also a delegate to the United Nations, he was indicted today, apparently as part of a terrorist fundraising ring that allegedly sent more than $130,000 to an al Qaeda and Taliban supporter who has actually threatened U.S. and international troops in Afghanistan.
That former Republican Congressman is from Michigan, his name Mark Deli Siljander and he was charged with money laundering, we're told, conspiracy, and obstructing justice for allegedly lying about lobbying senators on behalf of an Islamic charity that authorities said was actually a plot that he was secretly sending funds to terrorists. It's a 42-count indictment. We're going to follow it -- this investigation.
Once again, a former Congressman, also delegate to the United Nations indicted today, tied to a terrorist fundraising ring supporting al Qaeda and the Taliban.
LEMON: All right, 96-years-old and he hasn't lost a snip. We'll meet a barber who's a cut above.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. You need a little relief from all of the bad or the serious news that we have been telling you about all day, take a seat, look at this. Lot of short cuts add up to a very long career for one New York barber. His story from Kelley Jelinski of our affiliate News 12 Westchester.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLEY JELINSKI, NEWS 12 WESTCHESTER REPORTER (voice-over): He's been snipping and clipping, perfecting his craft for the past 84 years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, he's the best.
JELINSKI: At 96-years-old, barber Anthony Mancinelli is still cutting away. Clients still come to his chair when they need a little off the top.
JERRY DESOUZA, CLIENT: Everybody knows Anthony. Some people actually wait in line for him.
JELINSKI: Now, the records keepers at Guinness are giving Anthony's super-long career special recognition. They've certified him as being a practicing barber since 1924. His secret to longevity?
ANTHONY MANCINELLI, 96-YEAR-OLD BARBER: You have to like it. There's something you have to like, otherwise you're not going to make it.
JELINSKI: And Anthony certainly found something he likes in barbering. He started cutting hair at age 12, sticking with it all these years. He says he enjoys the hands-on work and the conversation around the barbershop.
(on camera): And in 84 years, Anthony has seen a lot of changes to the industry. For instance, electric clippers. Now, when he started as a 12-year-old boy, these were's around.
MANCINELLI: We used to use hand clippers.
JELINSKI (voice-over): And just like he still holds on to the old school tools of the trade, Anthony also hangs on to good, old fashioned work ethic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, he would work seven days a week if you asked him to.
MANCINELLI: You're all set.
JELINSKI: Does he ever think about retiring -- hardly.
MANCINELLI: You've got to -- you just can't retire, quit, and stay still (ph) because you get old fast and I'm far from that. So, I got to keep going.
JELINSKI: If he could, he'd keep going for another 84 years.
Kelley Jelinski, News 12.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, Mitt Romney returns to Michigan and leaves town a winner. How did he do it? We're going to dig into the CNN Exit Polls and find out who voted for him and why.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: Well, look -- is that a face only a mother could love? It's kind of cute though, huh? Well, London is a long way from Sub- Saharan Africa, but the London Zoo has found a neat way to keep its hippopotamus population warm through the winter: daily visits to a hot tub. Creatures even get a scrub with a giant toothbrush. Beats a cold shower any day of the year, wouldn't you say?
The next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
PHILLIPS: A nationwide manhunt goes international. The FBI believes this fugitive marine and murder suspect is now in his native Mexico.
LEMON: But we're still digging in North Carolina. This hour, Nancy Grace and Randi Kaye with interviews and details you won't hear anywhere else.
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.
We're learning more right now from the Department of Justice about an Islamic charity charged with terrorist financing and a former U.S. Congressman indicted for money laundering.
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