Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Barack Obama With Seismic Kennedy Endorsement; Fight for Florida; War in Iraq: Fight for the North; Pedaling for Peace; Man Captured by Secret Service Accused of Threatening President Bush; S.A.G Award Winners; Christian Brandon, son of late actor, Marlon Brando, Dies at Age 49
Aired January 28, 2008 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Call him the Camelot candidate. Barack Obama builds on his South Carolina landslide with a seismic endorsement from Ted, Patrick and Caroline Kennedy.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Remember that rebate money we were supposed to get? Well, don't spend it just yet. Just in time for President Bush's final State of the Union speech, his economic booster plan faces complications in Congress.
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.
Super Tuesday, the biggest day in the presidential nominating process, is just eight days from now. Today, the two Democratic frontrunners are on the trail.
Our Jim Acosta is with the Hillary Clinton campaign in New England. And Barack Obama receives a big endorsement from members of another political dynasty, the Kennedys.
Jim, let's start with you.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.
While Hillary Clinton was on stage here in Massachusetts, you can say that the state's most powerful political leader was down in Washington. That is Ted Kennedy. And what he was down there was not good news to the Clintons. He was down there endorsing Hillary Clinton's main rival in this race for the nomination, Barack Obama.
And when Hillary Clinton was on stage up here, there were no Kennedys at her side. She was standing alone. So what she decided to do was to take aim at the other event happening in Washington today, the State of the Union, and namely the man giving that speech, George W. Bush.
Here's Senator Clinton just from a few moments ago, earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So I'm sure that the president tonight will, as he has for the previous seven years, say that the state of our union is strong.
But with all due respect, Mr. President, come out on the road with me. Come and meet the people that I meet. Listen to the stories I listen to. Sit at tables in diners and hear what's on America's minds.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: And while the Clinton campaign is fully aware that they did not win what you might call the Kennedy primary, they did not win the endorsement of Ted Kennedy or Caroline Kennedy, they do feel like, if you want to put it this way, they picked up a few delegates. They are now touting the support that they have from former lieutenant governor in Maryland Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, and Robert Kennedy, Jr., the son of the former senator from New York, Robert Kennedy.
And so there will be more endorsements coming. I guess you could say the war of endorsements has begun.
The Clinton campaign also putting out a note today saying that they've picked up the endorsement of Senator Bill Nelson down in Florida, which may or may not be very crucial to all of this. Hillary Clinton is planning to be in Florida to watch the returns come in tomorrow night, which may sound strange to a lot of people, because, after all, there are no delegates to be won at this point in Florida. The national party punished that state for moving its primary up.
But Hillary Clinton wants to be down in the Sunshine State tomorrow night to at least bask in the glow of what will essentially be a popularity contest. If she walks out of there with a victory, she'll say the voters of Florida were on my side -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Jim Acosta , live there for us as just as the Hillary Clinton wrapped up.
Appreciate it.
LEMON: Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama picks up a huge endorsement from a dynasty. Just a short time ago in Washington it happened, as you saw here live on CNN, in the CNN NEWSROOM. Senator Edward Kennedy and his son, Congressman Patrick Kennedy, gave Obama their public approval.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: He is tough-minded, but he also has an uncommon capacity to appeal to the better angels of our nature. I'm proud to stand with him here today and offer my help, offer my voice, offer my energy, my commitment to make Barack Obama the next president of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: Well, Caroline Kennedy, the daughter of the late president and Senator Kennedy's niece, also is backing Barack Obama. She endorsed him yesterday in a column in "The New York Times."
PHILLIPS: Republican presidential candidates are slugging it out in Florida one day ahead of that state's primary. A big question, how will Rudy Giuliani fare after putting so much time and money into one state?
Here's CNN's Mary Snow.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rudy Giuliani is flying around the state of Florida making his final pitch. Here in Clearwater, he asked people to turn out for him tomorrow. He's facing Florida's primary as the underdog. He was once considered the national frontrunner, but Giuliani is remaining confident, saying he plans on winning here, and he is making his case to Republicans in Florida.
RUDY GIULIANI (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is about who will be best to be president of the United States, who can lead this country most effectively. Who can lead it, keep it safe, keep it secure, keep it prosperous. And I believe I'm the candidate who can do that.
Let's make Florida Rudy country. Let's do it, let's get it done. Let's win in Florida, and then let's take this campaign to the rest of the country. If we win in Florida, we're going to win every place else.
SNOW: Some of Rudy Giuliani's supporters here say they believe he was hurt by not competing more aggressively in states like New Hampshire and Iowa, saying even if he lost there, he still would have been in the spotlight.
Rudy Giuliani is counting on people who cast ballots early. State officials say more than 450,000 Republicans have already cast their ballots here. And it is those voters that the Giuliani camp is hoping will give Giuliani a boost in Tuesday's primary.
Mary Snow, CNN, Clearwater, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Your taxpayer dollars, your worries about the war -- President Bush wants to give you more of the former, less of the latter. He'll talk about both in a little less than seven hours from now in his final State of the Union speech.
You see that our countdown clock is to the right of your screen.
It comes a day before the House votes on a plan to stimulate the economy amid calls from the Senate for a broader package.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DANA PERINO, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think the president's going to say that the American people expect that we should be able to follow through on a bipartisan agreement that we reached last week, and that the Senate should not do anything that would slow that down or blow it up. So the president is going to call on them to push forward and get this thing done, so that we can make sure that we have an insurance policy against a possible economic downturn.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, two more signs of the painful state of America's housing market. Today the Commerce Department reported sales of new home dropped -- get this -- 26 percent last year, the biggest plunge on record.
And the median sales price barely bunched. The worst showing in 16 years. Economists worry the housing woes could drag the U.S. into recession, if it hasn't happened already.
On Wall Street, the Dow is up now over 100 points. The next big cues for traders, well, that will come at President Bush's State of the Union speech tonight and this week's Federal Reserve meeting. The Fed already has signaled another interest rate cut.
PHILLIPS: President Bush's final State of the Union Address. CNN's special live coverage starts at 8:00 Eastern tonight, followed by the president's speech at 9:00. Then we'll wrap it all up with the best political team on television.
CNN is your home for politics.
The president's address is also available online at CNN.com/live. You can watch multiple live streaming angles. Again, CNN.com/live.
LEMON: Well, danger for those of you suffering from diabetes in your coffee cup. That's where the danger is. Why you should avoid the second cup of joe, and even the first.
PHILLIPS: Plus, three years ago he shot his way out of a courthouse. Three years later, he's taking up time, money and patience.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. This just in to the CNN NEWSROOM. Let's go right to Capitol Hill, CNN's Brianna Keilar with new information about that economic stimulus plan.
Talk to us about that, Brianna.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. This has to do with what Senate Democrats are going to be doing to sort of make changes to their proposal.
You know that this plan has gone through the House, and now it's to the Senate. Well, according to an aide to Senator Max Baucus, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee -- that this legislation will have to go through this committee -- he's going to be bringing his own proposal on this economic stimulus package with some very stark differences from the House plan.
They include making seniors who are on Social Security, so on a fixed income, and who wouldn't have received a tax rebate under the House plan because they don't earn $3,000 per year or more, this is going to be -- under this proposal, it would give them a tax rebate that is equal to income taxpayers. This would cover about 20 million seniors who otherwise wouldn't be eligible under that plan. It would also -- Baucus will also be proposing to extend unemployment benefits.
So, some major questions if this draws out. Will this make this overall stimulus package -- will it make the overall price tag more? I am told by the source if it does, it will just be a small amount, not a significant amount.
But then the big question then, Don, is will it make the tax rebates for those other folks under the House plan, will it make those tax rebates smaller? And at this point we don't know the answer to that.
But if you do the math, and you're putting more people getting tax rebates, and you're keeping the overall price tag at a certain number, than logic would dictate that those tax rebates would go down. So we're just going to have to wait to see on the details and see if that's what pans out.
LEMON: All right. Brianna Keilar with new information on an economic stimulus plan.
We thank you for that, Brianna.
President Bush's final State of the Union Address -- CNN's special live coverage, starts at 8:00 Eastern tonight, followed by the president's speech at 9:00. Then we'll wrap it all up with the best political team on television. CNN is your home for politics. And the president's address is also available online at CNN.com/live. And you can watch multiple live streaming angles there. Again, that's CNN.com/live.
PHILLIPS: For many of us, a day without coffee is like a day without oxygen. But diabetics may want to kick the caffeine habit. Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now from New York.
Elizabeth, what did you find out about one cup of coffee and what it can do?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, one cup of coffee can drive your glucose levels up. You know, if you're saying, well, who cares, what does that mean? What this means is that even just perhaps a small amount of coffee can get your blood sugar going. And I think most people don't think about this when they're drinking their cup of coffee. So let's take a look at study results to see what they found. The numbers really are quite huge. They found that people who are taking in caffeine, their daily blood sugar was up eight percent. After breakfast, up nine percent. After lunch, up 15 percent. And after dinner, up 26 percent.
Those are huge numbers. These were Type 2 diabetics who they were looking at. And they gave these folks pills that were the equivalent of four cups of copy.
So, you might think, well, four cups, well, I don't drink four cups. Well, there is some concern that these numbers that you're looking at now, they're so high that even one or two cups could do some damage -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: And let's talk about by why that matters as caffeine raises the blood sugar.
COHEN: The reason why that matters for Type 2 diabetics is because they're -- you know, what they're trying to do is they're trying to get their glucose levels down. And so they're taking medicine and, in fact, the caffeine just might be totally canceling out the medicine they're taking. But even for people who are not diabetic but who might be heading there, this could -- caffeine could still be an issue.
PHILLIPS: All right. What about people that don't have diabetes? Do we still need to worry about that?
COHEN: You know, the doctors that we talked to said, look, if you're young and fit and healthy, you probably don't have anything to worry about it. Caffeine probably isn't even affecting your sugar levels. But again, if you are headed in that direction -- if you're overweight, if maybe your blood sugar levels are a little bit questionable -- caffeine really may be doing you quite a bit of harm, according to the doctors that we spoke to.
PHILLIPS: Elizabeth Cohen, thanks for the insight, as always.
COHEN: Thanks.
(NEWSBREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Iraq is sending reinforcements to the northern city of Mosul for a major offensive. Iraqi forces are expected to take the lead in the battle against Islamic fighters loyal to al Qaeda. The campaign was ordered after last week's explosion that left a huge crater and killed some 60 people. U.S. officials consider Mosul to be al Qaeda's last urban stronghold in Iraq.
LEMON: The fighting in the north erupted several weeks back with U.S. forces chasing militants from Baghdad. Today, for the first time, we get a close-up look at the bomb-laden northern battlefield.
CNN's Michael Holmes is embedded with the troops in Operation Fulton Harvest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Operation Fulton 2 is under way.
(on camera): It feels like we're in the middle of nowhere and it's taken us all night to get here. In fact, we're in a part of northern Iraq that U.S. troops have never been in before.
(voice over): That's because, according to military commanders, this is where the fight in Iraq has moved. The surge may have quieted Baghdad, but the insurgents, foreign and local, have fled north and south of the Capitol Hill, mainly north.
MAJ. GEN. MARK HERTLING, U.S. ARMY: You've seen these extremist organizations adjust and move to the places where forces were not, and attempt to settle themselves. Now we have an opportunity to go after them.
HOLMES: Support choppers overhead spot a car hidden amid mounds of earth, not your normal parking place. It's a car bomb packed with homemade explosives, ready for its deadly task, one of 16 these soldiers have found in the past two weeks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa.
HOLMES: It's destroyed where it sits. Incredibly, some of the explosives survive. Another detonation, this time no chance anything will remain.
CAPT. JONWAYNE LINDSAY, U.S. ARMY: These IEDs pose the biggest threat to our checkpoints, the (INAUDIBLE) checkpoints. I think we're saving their lives, I think we're securing the population even out here.
HOLMES: A few miles away, Iraqi soldiers in the lead approaching, then searching an isolated farmhouse. The Americans follow.
LINDSAY: He's in custody right now. And we're continuing to explore the house and the area.
HOLMES: Timers and a CD are found -- suspicious, but not enough to detain the man of the house.
There's a sense of urgency to Fulton 2 and other missions under way outside Baghdad. Thirty thousand of those surge troops are due to head home in the months ahead. The race is on to chase down as many al Qaeda and other insurgents as possible before that happens. And more and more, even in these remote areas, locals are turning on insurgents, giving Iraqi and American soldiers crucial information.
COL. SCOTT MCBRIDE, U.S. ARMY: And every single successful find that we've had in the last three weeks has been the result of an Iraqi man who has come forward and took us to a place on the ground. There is no substitute for that.
HOLMES: Over a vast area of barren terrain the units spread out. Bulldozers look for varied weapons. None found here. But another car bomb in the making is, being prepared for the final stage of the loading explosives. It's parked next to a mud brick house. The car is destroyed. The house vanishes.
There's little doubt the area is popular with car bomb makers driven from urban areas. Here they've been able to hide as they work. No patrols out here. Not until now. A third car is found, again in the final stages of preparation.
From several hundred meters away the shock wave rolls over us. Debris rains down. What's left of the car burns fiercely. And then word of a significant find.
CAPT. JIM HOUSTON, U.S. ARMY: We found video evidence, attacks against Americans, planned future attacks against Americans. There's a lot of document evidence that's going to have to get translated.
HOLMES: Officers say it's an insurgent command center -- weapons, ammunition, bomb-making materials, and tapes showing the final statements of suicide bombers about to embark on their mission. Even Army-issued clothing is here. And in the fields, an informant points soldiers to a buried cache of mortar tubes.
No sign of the insurgents, but commanders say no matter. They've been forced to move again.
HERTLING: Our mission is to pursue them -- to continue to pursue them, not allow them to get any kind of base, not allow them to get entrenched in a community, and keep them on the run.
HOLMES: Michael Holmes, CNN, near Samarra, northern Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: The Web site craigslist, many people are familiar with it. Well, is it good for many things? Yes, it is. But hiring a hit man? That's not one of them.
The tangled web straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: He was in jail for rape. He escaped to be called a murderer. Now the judge presiding over the Atlanta trial of Brian Nichols describes the case as different from any other that's been tried anywhere in the world. Nichols' case is the subject of an article written by our senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, in "The New Yorker" magazine.
We're going to talk with him about that in just a moment. But first, a look back at the violent chain of events in March of 2005 that are still upsetting Georgia's justice system.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: It should have been a day like any other at the Fulton County Courthouse. Business as usual. It would be anything but.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police are everywhere. Sheriff deputies flying around. What we know is, two people have been shot. One is a deputy, the other, we believe, may be a judge. This is a chaotic scene with emergency vehicles flying everywhere.
PHILLIPS: March 11, 2005, 33-year-old Brian Nichols is transported from the jail to the basement of the county courthouse. Nichols is on trial for a second time, and as many weeks on charges of rape, burglary, false imprisonment.
ASH JOSHI, FORMER PROSECUTOR: I was confident he knew the trial was not going well. It was the fourth quarter, and we were up by a few touchdowns and I think he was concerned.
PHILLIPS: Faced with the very real prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison. Police say Nichols takes matters into his own hands. At 8:49 a.m. he's escorted up to the holding cells on the eighth floor of the new courthouse. There he assaults and overpowers Deputy Cynthia Hall.
RICHARD MECCUM, U.S. MARSHAL: He knocked her out. She had a key on her that unlocked the gun box. So he unlocked the gun box which is in the holding cell and took her gun out. Also got her radio.
PHILLIPS: As Nichols makes his break, Judge Roland Barnes is presiding over a civil matter on the eighth floor of the old courthouse. Court reporter Julie Brandau is next to him. By now, Brian Nichols armed with Cynthia Halls' handgun is calmly walking away from the holding cells. But, instead of easily escaping he is making his way across this sky bridge to the old courthouse.
MECCUM: The judge was already on the bench with the court reporter. When Brian Nichols came through that door, he then shot the judge and the court reporter.
Judge Barnes and Julie Brandau are killed instantly. Nichols then turns his attention to the prosecution table, but there were no prosecutors. Instead, he locks his eyes and his gun on Attorney Richard Robins.
RICHARD ROBINS, ATTORNEY: A lot of thoughts went through my mind. He just killed the judge. Now he's going to kill the prosecutor, then he's going to kill everybody else, and I'm sitting at the prosecutor's table. So I decided at that point that I needed to get out of that courtroom, and I wasn't going to let him shoot me straight in the chest.
PHILLIPS: Judge Barnes' wife, Claudia, also works at the courthouse and remembers all too vividly the chaos that followed the shootings.
CLAUDIA BARNES, WIDOW OF JUDGE WHO WAS KILLED: One of my good friends came and got me. And at that point, I knew something was wrong with Roland. So we went over to his courtroom and they had already taped it off.
PHILLIPS: They wouldn't even let you in the courtroom?
BARNES: Oh, no.
PHILLIPS: In a matter of 12 short minutes, so many lives are changed forever at the Fulton County Courthouse. And it's about to get worse. Brian Nichols is on the loose.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And Brian Nichols is also charged in the death of a federal agent David Wilhelm, who was killed later that same day. Nichols was caught 26 hours after his escape from the courthouse. CNN legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, joins me now from New York.
Can't believe it's been three years, Jeffrey.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hard to imagine. Gosh, it's such a vivid memory. Everybody at CNN center, you guys are not too far from there. It's just amazing to relive those times.
PHILLIPS: We got the word that there was an alleged killer on the lose. And then he was just in our parking lot. I mean, that video you remember it was from the Turner cameras. I mean, he was walking up and down where we park everyday. It was pretty chilling.
But in your article, Judge Hilton Fuller, as we mentioned in the introduction to that piece, the one who's overseeing this case, is quoted saying this case has become so different from any other case that anyone has tried anywhere in the world. That's a strong statement.
TOOBIN: It is. And, it both is and isn't different from other cases. That's why I thought it was so interesting to look back. Frankly, I just wanted to know what happened. This case got so much attention where everybody remembers Ashley Smith, who talked Nichols into surrendering, read him from "The Purpose Driven Life."
And, but then the case sort of disappeared from the national radar. And what is extraordinary is what is going on now in Georgia, where the government entity that is supposed to pay for defense attorneys, is now totally out of money. The defense attorneys don't want to continue without getting paid.
The prosecutor has tried to get both the judge and defense attorney thrown off the case, and the whole Georgia legal system is close to chaos all because of this one case.
PHILLIPS: So, let me get this straight. I was reading in your article, $1.2 million already spent on this guy. This is a guy that killed a court reporter, a judge, a sheriff's deputy, a federal agent. I mean, you talk about breaking all of the rules when you're put into the jail there, and then thinking about how you're treated by their own.
He's caught on tape. He admits to all of the murders. You would think this would be sort of a done deal.
TOOBIN: You would. What my story in the New Yorker is really about is about how death penalty cases are different. Because, what the Supreme Court has said is, when you have a death penalty case you, the defense attorney, have to go back and do what's called a social history, essentially a biography of your client, psychological study.
Was he abused? Did he use drugs? Is he likely to commit murder again? All these very difficult things that require experts, and detailed examinations of events that happened many years ago. And this is why defense -- death penalty cases cost so much more.
Now, whether it should cost this much more, $1.2 million is still a lot of money. But there is no doubt that this case, even though it's open and shut that he did it is going to be an expensive case to defend.
PHILLIPS: And, nobody wants to defend him, right? Because of the people -- most of all because of the type of people that he killed.
TOOBIN: Well, it was also very hard to get Atlanta lawyers to get involved in this case, because Judge Barnes was a beloved figure in Atlanta, and these court officers were known to a lot of people. And Judge Fuller tried to get some Atlanta lawyers involved. And they all said, no, no, no I'm not getting involved in this thing.
So he went to North Carolina and hired a very distinguished attorney there, but it's expensive to hire someone from North Carolina to try a case in Atlanta. And that's where the expenses started growing. And now, the case is at a complete stale mate. Because there are essentially -- there's a dispute now over who represents these -- Brian Nichols, and there's a dispute about who the judge should be in the case.
PHILLIPS: So how do you think this is going to impact death penalty cases across the nation -- could it? And what do you think is going to happen to the situation here? Is something going to have to change, a law, some -- I mean, it can't just sit here and soak up more money.
TOOBIN: Well, I think the state of Georgia is going to have to make a decision -- do they want to have a death penalty? If so, they're going to have to put more money into the defense. Because the Supreme Court has said that you need to give the defense these resources. There's no dispute about that. Nationally, this is one of the problems with the death penalty. That -- and one reason why the death penalty has been going down in recent years.
Prosecutors offices are saying, look, we can't afford to try these cases. We can't have these separate trials, called penalty phase, in death penalties. That's why we're going to charge people with live in prison without parole. You know, there are a variety of reasons, but the number of executions in the United States has been going down since 1999. And the expense of these cases is really one reason why that's happening.
PHILLIPS: And just one final note. If he doesn't get the death penalty, if all of this starts to change and this kind of adds to a domino effect of the situation here -- this is a guy who escaped from the prison system, went on that rampage and then, just about a month ago, word was he tried to escape again. He is -- it's unbelievable how he's able to manipulate the system while behind bars.
TOOBIN: And a very dangerous guy. And, the argument that the prosecutors are going to make is, if you're going to have a death penalty, if not for him, who? If this isn't bad enough to get the death penalty...
PHILLIPS: Yes, what is?
TOOBIN: ... what crime is? And that's a powerful argument here. But --
PHILLIPS: Jeffrey Toobin.
TOOBIN: That's why we have trials.
PHILLIPS: Glad you're with us. And it is always great to read your stuff in "The New Yorker." Thanks, Jeffrey.
TOOBIN: Thanks, Kyra. See you.
LEMON: Pedaling for peace and some good PR. Two cyclists used their spokes to try to take Iran off the axis of evil.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. This just in to the CNN NEWSROOM. You're looking at a live picture there of the White House, and for good reason. And I'm just getting this. It says that the Secret Service says a man was taken into custody in Lafayette Park, which is across the street from the White House, for making an alleged threat against the president.
Now according to our sources there in Washington, an item he had with him is being checked out. Reporters are currently being kept off the North Lawn. This was outside of the fence, just across the street. We're told it doesn't appear to be a major issue, but we wanted to pass that information along just to let you know what's going on across the street from the White House.
And you never know exactly how these things can develop. But we wanted to keep you abreast of that. Right now, CNN getting word from our sources there in Washington, our folks on the ground, Secret Service says they've taken a man into custody in Lafayette Park, across the street from the White House, for making an alleged threat against the president.
PHILLIPS: The Bush administration has long accused Iran of sponsoring terrorism, trying to build nuclear weapons and causing trouble in Iraq. Now an Iranian couple has set off on a world journey to promote peace and understanding and change their country's image.
CNN's Asieh Namdar reports on their mission, and their message.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ASIEH NAMDAR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Virginia Beach is a long way from home for Iranian cyclists, Nasim Yusefi and her husband, Jafar Edrisi. They've made it all of the way to the United States after leaving Teheran on a round-the-world cycling journey last spring. Their goal is to promote a message of peace, environmental conservation and to improve their country's image.
(on-camera): What is it that you want the people of the world to know about your ancient homeland, Iran, which is in the news almost every day?
NASIM YUSEFI, CYCLIST: What we want to say to people of other countries is that we are really peace-loving people and we wish peace for everybody in the world.
NAMDAR (voice-over): They've cycled cross Europe and Canada, planting trees of peace, spreading a message of hope and educating everyone about Iran.
YUSEFI: Do you know where is our country?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right over there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right up there.
YUSEFI: Oh, yes. It is Iran. We are from Iran. And seven months ago, we started a tour for peace.
NAMDAR: Jafar and Nasim say they are touched and amazed by the Americans' kindness and curiosity.
YUSEFI: It was unbelievable. The first question is, where are you from. And it's surprising for them.
NAMDAR: And what about issues with leaving Iran or getting a U.S. visa?
JAFAR EDRISI, CYCLIST: We don't have any problem. And only -- just we have some problem in some places, only to take the Visa -- only took Visa because it took a long time.
NAMDAR: If all goes well, the journey will cover 13,000 miles, and last two years. They hope to stop in Japan, China, India and Pakistan and then it's back home to Iran.
YUSEFI: I think the hardest part will be missing our friends that we have met in this trip. I think this is the hardest part.
(END VIDEOTAPE) PHILLIPS: How do people react to them here, though, in the U.S. Because a lot of people stereotype Iranians?
NAMDAR: They do, but they say for the most part, Americans have been so generous and so kind. And Nasim, the lady, told me that she and her husband got a flat tire on their bike. And they were struggling, you know, their English is a little limited. And these people just stopped, helped them along the way and they wanted to pay them for all of the hard work. And the Americans would not take any money from them. So they're very, very, appreciative and very surprised by people's kindness.
PHILLIPS: What about the politics of Iran, though? You can't ignore ...
NAMDAR: You're absolutely right.
PHILLIPS: ... President Ahmadinejad and the threat --
NAMDAR: The rhetoric --
PHILLIPS: the tough rhetoric between the two countries.
NAMDAR: I asked her about that today on the phone, right before I got here. And she goes, you know, you can't judge an entire nation by the leadership. Just like, do you judge the entire country of the United States by its leadership? No. There are good and bad people everywhere in the world.
And just because he is the way he is, doesn't mean the Iranian people are that way. So very, very nice. They're going to write a book and tell about their journey. So we will be keeping a close eye on them.
PHILLIPS: Good. We'll watch them with you. Thanks, Asieh.
NAMDAR: Sure.
LEMON: Well that Web site, craigslist, well it's good for many things. What about hiring a hitman? That's not supposed to be one of them. The tangled web, straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: I'm Brooke Anderson. From Brad and Angelina, to the mobsters of the Sopranos, the S.A.G Awards were the first major bright spot in an otherwise glum Hollywood award season. I'll have the glitz and glamour and the night's big winners when the NEWSROOM continues. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Well, Hollywood has been slowed by the writers' strike, but its sagging spirits got a boost last night with an actual, honest to goodness -- honest to goodness awards show. It was like a real awards show. There were stars there. There were people there.
Brooke Anderson, I'm not sure if you were there. But you know who was there and I was really happy to see her win, not that I'm partial, but she's such an elegant lady, is Ruby Dee. Wasn't she classy?
ANDERSON: I love Ruby Dee. For "American Gangster," what a performance. She's a class act.
LEMON: Especially with her husband, Ossie Davis dying, it was just sort of a magical moment for her.
ANDERSON: Great night for her. And I was there, Don. And you could call it the first big hurrah of the Hollywood award season. Which, as we know, is currently suffering due to the ongoing writers' strike. Because of an agreement between the Screen Actors Guild and the Writers Guild, the S.A.G. awards weren't picketed, so the stars did show up.
Eva Longoria dazzled the crowd. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt also graced the red carpet, though neither did interviews on their way inside. Now there weren't too many surprises in the winners' circle. As expected, Daniel Day-Lewis took home the trophy for "Outstanding Male Actor in a Leading Role" for "There Will Be Blood." He actually dedicated his win to Heath Ledger, made a very moving, emotional speech about him.
Julie Christie also picked up her first S.A.G award for "Lead Actress" for "Away From Her." Now the supporting role statues went to Javier Bardem for "No Country for Old Men" and, as we said, Ruby Dee for "American Gangster." Moments after the winners accepted their awards, I sat down and spoke with some of them.
Edie Falco won for "Best Female Actor in a Drama Series." This is her third individual S.A.G. award. "The Sopranos" also picked up "Best Ensemble in a Drama" and Edie talked to me about the wins and about how the writers' strike is impacting her. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EDIE FALCO, WINNER, SAG AWARD: It's unsettling, but you get used to -- as an actor -- you get used to long periods of time without working. And I have a little boy at home, whose name is Anderson by the way, who I'm getting to spend a lot of time with and that's nothing but good.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: "The Sopranos" won a "Best Ensemble" S.A.G award for their very first season. And now, this is for their last. Don, some of the cast members, including Steven Van Zandt, told me that it was an honor to bookend their work in such a rewarding way. And by the way, Edie Falco told me she was kind of getting a workout with those S.A.G awards. They weigh 12 pounds each.
LEMON: Yes. They looked really, really heavy. And last night -- this was just my assessment -- it appeared like a lot of the sort of mainstays in Hollywood, the older, more established actors ended up winning rather than the young little turks that are coming out. But as you mention --
ANDERSON: Right.
LEMON: Another big winner was Christie. And I understand you also caught up with her in CNN's one-on-one, right? In the room -- right?
ANDERSON: I did. I did. And she was one of those veteran actresses, Don, who picked up a win, as you said. British actress, Julie Christie, was ecstatic, happy to be recognized, but she did admit to me that these types of events aren't really her thing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JULIE CHRISTIE, WINNER, SAG AWARD: I don't terribly like being in the public eye. But -- I'm not very happy in the sort of media, consumer -- I think that's what it is -- situation. And that's what this is, it's television. It's what do you call it, product placement. It's all those things. So I'm not terribly happy in that kind of situation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: And, Don, listen to what else she told me. She said she isn't going to worry herself about the Oscar buzz surrounding her performance and her possibly winning another Academy Award because she said, hey, there may not be an Academy Awards and it's still a month away. So, no need to get anxious now. She was a breath of fresh air.
LEMON: She was. And you know, Daniel Day-Lewis, as you said, mentioned Heath Ledger. And I think Julie Christie talked about -- she mentioned the strike, saying it was -- the importance of being in a union is what people were realizing in Hollywood these days.
ANDERSON: Absolutely. And there were fleeting references. Some, Don, are reticent to publicly talk about it because they're kind of in a tricky situation. And while they do support the writers, they also are paid by the production companies and studios. But, you also had Josh Brolin and Jenna Fischer from "The Office" to talk about the writers' strike and how it impacted them. Everyone I've spoken to wants a quick resolution. So hopefully we'll see that, especially before the Oscars.
LEMON: Coming up tonight. Yes
ANDERSON Coming up tonight, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT." Lets get to that.
The Heath Ledger/Mary-Kate Olsen connection. We've got new information about the phone calls made to Mary-Kate when Ledger's body was found. And the controversy over why police aren't planning to question her. The late breaking developments on TV's most provocative entertainment news show, 11 p.m. Eastern and Pacific. We hope to see you then.
LEMON: Come on, of course you're going to see us then. Brooke Anderson in Hollywood. Thank you.
ANDERSON: Thanks.
PHILLIPS: Christian Brando, eldest son of the late Marlon Brando, has died. He was just 49 and had been fighting pneumonia at a Los Angeles hospital. Besides his famous father, Christian Brando was best known for his legal troubles. He served almost six years in prison for the killing of the boyfriend of his half sister, Cheyenne, in 1990.
LEMON: Screams from a man who fell into an icy pond.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going down. I can't breathe. It gets your heart rate going.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Water temperature hovering around freezing. How rescuers made the save.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxantshop.com
