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Terrell Owens Speaks Out; Presidential Campaign Intensifies as Super Tuesday Nears
Aired February 01, 2008 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Big oil strikes it even richer, and weak tech its the jackpot. But layoffs plague the labor force and stimulus stalls in Congress.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And, Fred, we all see the positive territory we see there from the Big Board, but, somehow, Wall Street tries to sort it all out. A wild week is winding down and we have got all the facts and figures for you. I'm sure Susan Lisovicz is exhausted, probably Poppy, everybody there, Ali, they just want to go home for the weekend.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN Headquarters in Atlanta.
WHITFIELD: I'm Fredricka Whitfield in for Kyra Phillips. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(BUSINESS REPORT)
WHITFIELD: All right, more now on today's crash of a twin-engine plane in Mount Airy, North Carolina, near the Virginia border.
Unconfirmed reports say all six people on board were killed. The King Air C-90 went down just before noon in a neighborhood near the Mount Airy Airport. Witnesses tell CNN affiliate News 14 Carolina that the plane missed its approach and crashed while trying to circle back.
It crashed in a front yard, as you see right there, and appeared to split in half. No one on the ground was hurt. The plane departed from Polk County in Georgia and is registered to Blue Sky Airways of Dallas, Georgia.
LEMON: An army of snowplows, look at that, man, oh, man, on the highways, on the runways. From Texas all the way to the Great Lakes, a huge winter storm has dumped up to a foot of snow. Some places have gotten an inch an hour.
WHITFIELD: They make it fun on...
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: I know, look at that. Waiting in the airport, how terrible is that? Don't you hate that? Hundreds of flights have been canceled, as have classes -- I'm sure the kids love that -- giving some kids an extra day to play, of course. WHITFIELD: They're going to make those snow angels. That's always fun.
LEMON: Yes.
WHITFIELD: All right, well, they are not the only ones.
Our Reynolds Wolf is in the heart of a city that normally doesn't get a huge amount of snow, but it did get a dusting, a pretty good dusting.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm coming to you from downtown St. Louis, where the snow is now moving out and the traffic is starting to move in.
One of the reasons why the traffic is moving so well here after the three to seven inches of snowfall that Saint Louis had last night is due to the great work that you see here by these many people in this video that are driving these salt trucks, driving the snowplows, working late-night hours and into the early morning, pushing all this snow away to make things easier for people going out and about this morning.
Now, we have got hundreds of school closures around the area. And although the snow is moving out, the icy conditions are going to remain. So, they're expecting rough conditions in the afternoon.
Right now, as you can see, I'm right here in downtown Saint Louis. We have got the Basilica right behind me. On one side, we have got the Arch. And, thankfully, as I mentioned, the snow is going to be moving out. But places like Chicago, spots like New York State, they're going to be affected by not just snow, but also some ice, Syracuse dealing with a heavy ice storm that they could be experiencing through a good chunk of the weekend.
Reporting from St. Louis, Reynolds Wolf, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Reynolds sounds like he's like, you know, frozen, that frozen mouth you get when it's so cold you can barely talk.
(WEATHER UPDATE)
WHITFIELD: Republican presidential candidate John McCain has won the backing of a well-known conservative, former Solicitor General Ted Olson. Olson is a member of the Federalist Society, who had supported Rudy Giuliani, until Giuliani dropped out and endorsed McCain. Olson helped steer the 2004 Florida recount effort for President Bush.
LEMON: A first for MoveOn.org. For the first time, the liberal activist group is endorsing a candidate in the presidential primaries, and the video probably gives it away. It is Barack Obama. The group says more than two-thirds of its members favor Obama over Hillary Clinton. It says that it has almost two million members in the states that will take part in Super Tuesday next week.
Well, it's the biggest day of all in the presidential nominating process. That is Super Tuesday, or, as we have been calling it, super-duper Tuesday, and it's just four days away. Barack Obama is hoping to gain a boost in California and other Super Tuesday states, after last night's debate in Los Angeles.
Our Suzanne Malveaux is following the Obama campaign and she joins us now from Los Angeles.
Hi, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Don.
Well, Obama is definitely on the move. He left California. As you mentioned, California really has the mother lode of delegates, some 370, but he left this morning. He said he is not conceding this state to Hillary Clinton, but there are a lot of other places to go, clearly, some other 21 other states that are going to be engaged in this Super Tuesday contest.
Now, Barack Obama is heading to New Mexico, as well as Idaho. He's hoping to capture some support, new voters as well. And he had a chance -- we had a chance to ask a couple of questions this morning about how he felt about the debate, how he is looking forward to the next four days. He says that he is satisfied that he put the issue of his experience behind him. And he also said he felt like he made some real distinctions when it comes to their plans on health care.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There was a useful debate, I thought, around the issue of health care. As I had indicated before, my attitude is that people don't have health insurance because they can't afford it, not because they don't want it.
Senator Clinton continues to believe that the government has to force individuals to buy health care in order to qualify for universal coverage. That is a legitimate, but significant difference in our health care approaches. I emphasize cost more, and she emphasizes the mandate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: And, Don, the race to the finish, everything counts now, obviously endorsements, big endorsements. You had mentioned MoveOn.org, the liberal organization, with some three million members. They say they have got about two million that are ready to mobilize for Obama in these coming days. So, that is very significant.
Also, one of the largest labor unions here in California, SEIU, actually put out a statement. They used to support Edwards, obviously, but, since he's dropped out, they're now going to Obama. And that is one of the big issues. The big questions is, what are those Edwards supporters going to do? So, a good sign for Obama when it comes to that group -- Don.
LEMON: Suzanne, you sure you're in L.A.? It looks like you're in the Windy City there with...
(LAUGHTER)
MALVEAUX: A little windy in L.A., too.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: All right. Thank you very much for that, Suzanne. We will be watching. The remaining Democrat and Republican candidates are looking ahead to Super Tuesday and a nationwide battle.
California is the biggest prize with the most delegates -- 23 other states also hold contests. CNN will have round-the-clock coverage. That's Super Tuesday, February 5th.
WHITFIELD: And now, in the words of a U.S. diplomat, ethnic cleansing.
CNN's Zain Verjee reports on the chaos sweeping Kenya.
LEMON: The Natalee Holloway investigation is hot again. Did a hidden camera capture the truth there? We will have the latest.
WHITFIELD: And beautiful and trained to kill. She guarded the rich, but couldn't escape the dark underbelly of Moscow's mean streets.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: At least nine more people have died in political violence in Kenya. Reports say the dead include two people killed by poison arrows and six who were hacked to death. At U.N.-brokered talks in Nairobi, rival political parties agreed to work together to try to halt the chaos that has so far claimed more than 800 lives. One U.S. diplomat calls what's happening ethnic cleansing.
We get the latest now from CNN's Zain Verjee.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We're on a flight through Kenya's Rift Valley to discover just how far ethnic bloodshed has spread across this country. We have heard disturbing stories.
(on-camera): We are now landing in Timboiwo. As we have come here, we have seen areas that are completely devastated, homes burnt down.
(voice-over): And we find the story of similar devastation in this small Rift Valley town. Much of it has been razed to the ground. It was just before dawn on Sunday when gangs attacked the Kikuyu people who live in Timboiwo. Homes were set ablaze, leaving only twisted metal. 10,000 residents fled. The few remaining tried to salvage their roof tops for shelter. And a few precious animals for survival. The Kenyan Red Cross helping out.
JOHN SAMBU, KENYAN RED CROSS: We are involved in setting up camp, provision of water and sanitation.
VERJEE: Most of the people burned out of their homes are desperate to get away, even though this is their sacred land. Those that can't go wait, guarded by paramilitary forces.
MICHAEL NDUNGU, FORCE FROM HOME: They tried to chase us away, telling us that this is not our place.
VERJEE (on camera): The majority of people in this area are called Kikuyus. That is a tribe. They are surrounded by another tribe called the Kalenjin. They have been neighbors for years, but, since the disputed election, there have been a lot of tensions, and it's exploded into this.
Damaris, a Kalenjin, but has been married to a Kikuyu for 10 years.
(on camera): Why don't your neighbors, the Kalenjin, like the Kikuyu?
DAMARIS JAMUGG KIO, INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSON: Because they say that they want to pick our lands. It's ours.
VERJEE: Yes.
KIO: Yes. Because (INAUDIBLE) for our lands we have, and some of them are burning the houses.
VERJEE (voice-over): Damaris says she doesn't want revenge, only help.
(on-camera): As we lifted off, more towns and villages suffering the same fate as Timboiwo, no one here, just a ghost town. As millions of Kenyans watch these images with horror, they fear, too, that no one will visit this once calm valley and that much of their beautiful country will be divided into tribal strongholds.
Zain Verjee, CNN, in the Rift Valley.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Now to what could be a huge break in a cold case. Speculation is growing about a confession in the Natalee Holloway case. She's the American teenager who disappeared during a 2005 high school graduation trip to Aruba.
Now a Dutch TV reporter is hinting that he has a hidden camera confession from one of the longtime suspects, Joran van der Sloot. Aruban prosecutors aren't using the word confession, but they say information the reporter provided may help considerably.
WHITFIELD: She was a beautiful Russian model and an accomplished bodyguard, but her skills failed her on a dark Moscow street.
Here now is CNN's Matthew Chance.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): For many Russians, she was a feminine icon, bridging the glamorous world of modeling with the rough underbelly of Russian crime.
Behind the glossy images of her last photo shoot with "Maxim" magazine, 29-year-old Anna Loginova was an experienced bodyguard, trained in martial arts, commanding high prices to protect millionaire clients. Those who knew her say she was never deterred by the danger.
IGOR CHERSKI, MAXIM: I think she was a very kind and silent girl, I think, and not like Terminator, not like Sigourney Weaver in "Aliens." But I felt she wasn't afraid of anything. There was not any fear in her eyes.
CHANCE: That fearlessness proved fatal. Police recovered her body after she had tried to prevent her own car from being stolen, clinging onto the Porsche SUV as it sped away. The vehicle was later found abandoned.
"An intruder just threw her out of the car," this Russian investigator says. She grabbed the door handle, but, when the car picked up speed, she let go.
Luxury car theft in Moscow is common. Loginova told "Maxim" in a recent taped interview she fought off a thief just four months ago, twisting his arm and pulling a handgun. But, this time, even the skills of Russia's most famous and glamorous bodyguard couldn't save her.
Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And something new from our friends at CNN.com and truTV. They have teamed up to bring you the best crime coverage on the Web. Go behind the police tape and into the courtroom like never before at CNN.com/crime.
LEMON: OK, NFL star Terrell Owens opens up about his life and the day that changed his life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Explain to people what happened.
TERRELL OWENS, NFL PLAYER: The reaction I really can't explain, explain it to you. All I know is I had come home and I was getting some treatment, and I think I dozed off, kind of got up, had taken some more medicine.
LEMON: So, you didn't try to take your own life?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: His answer to that is just ahead in my exclusive interview with T.O.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: So, who can forget this image right there? Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett going down in the first game of the season last fall and then not getting up.
At the time, doctors said it was unlikely he would ever walk again. Well, fast forward to yesterday, and Everett walking right there onto the set of "The Oprah Winfrey Show." He says he still has a way to go. He knows he won't be playing football again, but he might coach. First, though, he's going to the Super Bowl this Sunday and cheering for the Giants, because they are the underdogs.
LEMON: No matter what team he's with, you have to cheer for him, right?
WHITFIELD: Oh, yes.
LEMON: You have to cheer for him.
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: That's an inspiration.
LEMON: We all wish him well.
Well, we're going to talk about another NFL player now. You haven't heard much from Terrell Owens since a much-publicized 911 call more than a year ago, that is, except for an unexpected crying episode at a recent news conference. T.O. says he's a different person now. So, what changed?
Well, earlier this week, I asked him those questions and more. In an exclusive interview with the Dallas Cowboys star, he tells me the critics and the media have him all wrong.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think he took too many pills. Please, now.
LEMON (voice-over): September 26th, 2006, a day that changed Terrell Owens' life. That's the day the highly paid Dallas Cowboys star was rushed to a hospital and treated for a drug overdose after police responded to a report of a suicide attempt at his apartment. A media frenzy followed.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Terrell Owens, did he attempt suicide?
LEMON: And a wave of denial. KIM ETHERIDGE, OWENS' FORMER PUBLICIST: Terrell has 25 million reasons why he should be alive.
LEMON: In an exclusive interview with CNN this week, he stood by those denials.
(on camera): You didn't try to take your own life?
TERRELL OWENS, NFL PLAYER: No.
LEMON: Not at all?
OWENS: Not at all. I mean, anybody that knows me, I love myself, so why would I want to take myself away from the world?
LEMON (voice-over): Owens says he had an allergic reaction to Vicodin and legal supplements prescribed for a hand injury.
But, even with all the hoopla, the five-time All Pro wide receiver said the episode forced him to grow up, because for years while his career thrived, it was also checkered by very public spats with teammates and coaches.
OWENS: He have no desire to talk to me. I don't need to talk to him. When we step out on this field, we strap up.
(CROSSTALK)
OWENS: Oh, I can go the whole season without saying anything.
LEMON (on camera): Go long. Go long.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON (voice-over): At his home in Florida, he told me that, over the last year, he's learned to simply shut up, even though his critics are still mouthing off.
OWENS: A lot of people that, you know, they hear commentators say this and that about me, and I get the same reaction from a lot of people. If only they knew me, they wouldn't say those things.
LEMON (on camera): It's not everybody else's fault. Some of it has to be your doing.
OWENS: They say I'm arrogant. He's too flamboyant, all these other things. And all it is for me is just passion. It's just my love for the game. I'm pretty sure I haven't done or said anything that nobody else has done. They may not just like the way that I do things. They may not like the way that I say things, but one thing that they cannot control is when I score touchdowns on Sunday and I make them eat their words.
LEMON: Cocky?
Yes. But Owens has the stats to back it up -- one of the only two NFL players to score 13 or more touchdowns in five seasons.
Yet despite his high profile, he's kept his private life out of the spotlight and resents being compared to other athletes plagued by personal problems.
OWEN: I guarantee you it can't be a character issue. It can't be anything that's so damaging as such as with the off the field problems that all of these other guys are having, that they're putting me in the same pool with.
LEMON: His colleagues and his coaches now publicly praise him.
DEMARCUS WARE, DALLAS COWBOYS TEAMMATE: A guy like T.O., he's going to show it on the field. He's going to lead by example out there and make some plays.
LEMON: Owens' most recent outburst was an emotional defense of teammate Tony Romo after the Cowboys lost the chance to go to the Super Bowl.
OWEN: It's really unfair. That's my team. That's my quarterback. That you guys do that man, it's unfair. We lost as a team.
LEMON (on camera): You're not embarrassed by that?
OWEN: That's not the first time that I've cried. I'm pretty sure it probably won't be the last time that I cry.
LEMON (voice-over): The tears may have brought him more unwanted attention, but Owens says they also made his biggest fans -- his mother and grandmother -- proud.
OWEN: As I grew up and as I started in the league, you know, I relied on what my grandmother told me -- just be honest. Be a good person. Sometimes, you know, my honesty has gotten me into a little trouble. So I've just given as much as is required and I've been able to deal with it.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
LEMON: My interview with Terrell Owens.
And T.O. tells me he will be in Arizona this weekend for the Super Bowl festivities but, of course, he'd rather be playing in the game on Sunday.
WHITFIELD: OK. So I asked you this question yesterday and you would not reveal it.
So the question now, you know, why now?
Why does he say, OK, I'll talk?
LEMON: Well...
WHITFIELD: I'll just let it all hang out. LEMON: Well, one reason is because we called. We tried to get him.
WHITFIELD: Well, a lot of folks have called.
LEMON: Yes, a lot of folks have tried to get him. But we tried to get him because of the crying incident. He's been in the news. I mean it was the main page on AOL. It was on the cover of every newspaper. People talked about him and never saw him be emotional before. And many football players be that -- they're emotional but you don't see them cry like that.
WHITFIELD: Oh, we've seen other NFL or professional athletes who have cried when coming really close to the big one, in this case the Super Bowl.
LEMON: Right. But when I talked to him, I said, you know, what do -- tell me about you. And he said well, I think the media mischaracterizes me. I will do certain things -- spike the ball, do certain things -- and they will say that it's bad. And when someone else does it, they'll say it's good for the game. He says I have never been in trouble with the law, anything like that. My personal life has always been very private, but yet I'm lumped in the same category as the bad boys, the people who have these personal problems who are always in the newspapers and on the news. I don't understand that. Yes, you know, he says he's honest and he'll tell the truth and he'll comment about other people. But he says he's not a bad person and he doesn't understand why he gets lumped in the category with the bad boys because deep down, he says he's a good guy.
WHITFIELD: OK. It was interesting to hear T.O. But I think far more interesting was watching you play football. That's all I've got to say.
LEMON: And he made fun of...
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: He made fun of the football that I keep in my trunk, that I go at -- he made fun of it.
WHITFIELD: Just classical.
LEMON: I wanted him to sign it. I had an erasable marker. He goes, "Man, you know, get a leather football at (INAUDIBLE)...
WHITFIELD: Right.
LEMON: ...and send it to me and I'll sign it. He wouldn't sign it. But -- and he laughed at my football. He was throwing with his left hand (INAUDIBLE).
WHITFIELD: Well, I know you can't wait to get the real football with the real signature.
LEMON: Yes. Yes. He was fascinating. WHITFIELD: It was interesting.
LEMON: Very fascinating, yes.
WHITFIELD: It was fascinating.
All right, good stuff, Don.
LEMON: Thanks.
WHITFIELD: All right, well high stakes and sometimes high confusion, too. Your health care -- now your questions about doctors' medical conditions -- all of that. The best of all answers from a leading patient advocate.
LEMON: This house is a mess -- blasted from the inside out by something you can buy at the supermarket. We warned our Fredricka Whitfield about this. Warning labels are there for a reason, you know.
WHITFIELD: Thanks.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, now more than ever, your ability to navigate the health care system could mean the difference between life and death. Since yesterday, you've been sending us your questions. And here to answer some of them from Washington, Nancy Davenport-Ennis. She's head of the National Patient Advocate Foundation and she's had firsthand experience with the system as a cancer survivor. Good to see you.
NANCY DAVENPORT-ENNIS, NATIONAL PATIENT ADVOCATE FOUNDATION: Thank you so much.
Good to be with you.
WHITFIELD: All right. We've got a lot of questions from folks and we've asked these questions because so often, you know, patients feel like they're confused when it means getting good health care or perhaps confused about the bills, etc.
So our first question coming from our viewers: "If I'm paying into Medicare, why do many doctors turn me away because they don't accept Medicare? This is very hard on senior citizens on limited incomes.
DAVENPORT-ENNIS: It's a very difficult place. We are entering the perfect storm as a nation. We have more and more seniors that are coming into the system. And as the centers for Medicare and Medicaid are trying to deal with that, the reimbursement to physicians to see a senior are being cut. And, as a result, you have fewer and fewer physicians that are willing to be approved Medicare providers.
And so our counsel to patients is if you're having a tough time finding an approved Medicare provider in your community, visit the CMS Web site. And they have a tool that you can go to that will allow you to find the approved Medicare providers in your community.
WHITFIELD: OK.
DAVENPORT-ENNIS: It is tough.
WHITFIELD: It is.
LEMON: And I've got a question from -- I looked up one here, Fred, from a viewer. And her name is Tanya. And she says: "I currently have the health insurance -- have health insurance, but a $5,000 deductible. I have it in case of an emergency. In three years, I've never used it because of the high deductible and my premium is at the top of what I can afford. I would like to consider other options. I have controlled blood pressure and I am considered a high risk or even uninsurable by some companies. I'm only 42. Do you have any suggestions?"
DAVENPORT-ENNIS: Yes, and our case managers at Patient Advocate Foundation deal with this issue every day. So the first suggestion I would have for her is that it sounds like she's in a high deductible health savings account plan. And if that's the case, one of the things that I would caution her and all of your viewers is that you need to make certain that you have resources available to you so that if you needed to fund that full $5,000 because you had a serious condition, you could do that.
Let me say that for a lot of us, that's not possible. And so when those plans were established -- churches can help you to fund that, as can other family members.
If you're looking at a situation where you know you need to get out of that plan and move into another one, then there are three ways that you can do that. Number one, you can try to find new employment. That is one that takes all new employees and does not subject them to any pre-existing condition exclusion.
The second thing that you can do is call your state insurance commissioner and ask if your state has a high risk pool that is currently accepting applications and then actually funding health plans that you can get into. But let me say immediately that if you go into a high risk pool, that's going to be a very expensive policy. And short of that, you may be able to also locate additional insurance options by talking to your current employer and asking do you have another health plan available?
The one that I signed up for is not working.
LEMON: And real quickly, Nancy, I know there's lots of options with this, but if you can -- because we want to get as many viewer questions in as possible and we can't give them every single answer. But if we can shorten it up a little bit just to give some idea and we'll lead them to our Web site or other information to get to. But we want to get to as many as possible.
I think Fred has another question. WHITFIELD: All right: "I'm one of the 50 million people in this country without insurance. I had done some research on companies but they do not explain their programs in a way that you can understand what exactly they are offering. And if you do find one program that makes sense, how do you draw comparisons to know it is the complete program?"
DAVENPORT-ENNIS: And, again, a lot of consumers are faced with the issue of trying to compare one plan to the other. So two recommendations. Go to your employer and say this is a plan that looks really good to me. These are the benefits I think I need.
Is there another plan in the company that I should consider?
A second thing that you can do is also pull down another plan that does seem to cover the illnesses that are in your family. And then look at the specific benefits between the two plans.
What does the drug benefit look like?
What does the hospitalization benefit look like?
WHITFIELD: Yes.
All right lots of questions that folks have, you know, for good reason. It can be so confusing trying to navigate the whole medical care industry, all the perks and otherwise.
Nancy Davenport-Ennis, head of the National Patient Advocate Foundation.
Thanks so much for your time.
DAVENPORT-ENNIS: Thank you.
LEMON: She had some good answers. Hopefully, we helped a lot of folks with that.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
LEMON: We're going to talk now about a civil activist or the question mark -- is it a criminal?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAY CORTOPASSI, REPORTER, WRTV: You don't think he was defacing property?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Heavens to Betsies, no. I told him to do the other three.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: We'll tell you why a prosecutor says one man's paint job crosses the line.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: OK. This one is really a word of warning. This house in Atlanta exploded yesterday.
WHITFIELD: Oh, gosh.
LEMON: Neighbors said it sounded like a bomb went off. And Fred is going oh, God and I'll tell you why afterwards.
But they were right -- sort of. It was a bug bomb. The aerosol inspect spray you're supposed to activate and then leave the house. But only -- Fredricka and everyone out there...
WHITFIELD: Thank you.
LEMON: ...after turning off the gas furnace and all of the pilot lights. It looks like the landlord here skipped that last step after setting up several bug bombs. The house was empty, luckily, so nobody was hurt. Chalk one up...
WHITFIELD: OK. Thanks for busting me out.
LEMON: ...for the bugs.
WHITFIELD: I plead guilty. I've done that before. But, thankfully, I didn't blow the house.
LEMON: Yes, but...
WHITFIELD: But meaning putting the bug bombs in and forgetting to turn off that pilot light.
LEMON: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Whew.
LEMON: Yes.
WHITFIELD: That nothing terrible happened.
LEMON: Yes, that's very serious, though.
WHITFIELD: But that is a great lesson for everyone.
LEMON: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Read the directions. Read the labels.
(LAUGHTER)
WHITFIELD: All right, well a Muncie, Indiana man wanted to make his street a little safer so he painted a crosswalk.
What's wrong with that?
And he painted himself, however, in a corner. We get the story now from reporter Ray Cortopassi of CNN affiliate WRTV.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At some point you got to knock it off. And he just wasn't getting it, so we charged him.
WHITNEY STUMP, MUNCIE RESIDENT: I don't want to make a big deal out of this.
CORTOPASSI (voice over): All Whitney Stump wanted was a crosswalk on his Muncie corner for safety reasons. When the city didn't give him one, he painted one himself. That was in July. He was immediately charged with criminal mischief.
(on camera): Do you feel like an activist here?
Do you feel like you're doing something for the greater good?
STUMP: I feel -- I feel like it's something for the greater good. But I just think I did what's right. I think the city should do what's right.
CORTOPASSI: You don't think he was defacing property?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Heavens to Betsies, no. I told him to do the other three.
STUMP: I initially sprayed it well.
CORTOPASSI (voice over): When he touched it up a few weeks later, a Muncie officer gave him a warning. The prosecutor's office, unbeknownst to Stump, decided to charge him again. Stump was then arrested a second time Sunday because he missed his court appearance and sat in jail for 10 hours.
Muncie police wouldn't go on camera, but point out regarding the second arrest, Stump was not arrested because he was painting the street on August 1st, 2007. Stump was arrested on a warrant for failure to appear.
MARK MCKINNEY, DELAWARE COUNTY PROSECUTOR: He'd been ordered to appear in court and you don't, you're going to jail when we find you.
CORTOPASSI: Prosecutor McKinney adds there is a valid complaint against Stump.
MCKINNEY: Was there any kind of study done on foot traffic?
I mean there's all kinds of considerations that have to go into this.
What if somebody walks into that crosswalk and gets hit?
What's the result of that? I mean there is a certain danger that is presented by just throwing up a crosswalk wherever you want to put a crosswalk.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right. WRTV reports the Muncie mayor's office is looking into this controversy.
LEMON: It is a labor of love for a Beatles fan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL HECKLE, CAVERN CLUB: And so it's been a long -- a long and winding road, I suppose you'd say, but, you know, we got there in the end and now we're really excited.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: A place to sleep like a log after a "Hard Day's Night".
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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LEMON: I was saying behind-the-scenes of our...
WHITFIELD: Good thing I wasn't dancing or something, huh?
LEMON: Our state-of-the-art set.
You didn't know he was over there?
WHITFIELD: Yes, I did. But I kind of forgot that that would mean I'm in the shot, too.
LEMON: All right.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: Jerry (ph) has been doing our bump shots all week.
Thanks, Jerry.
Good having you up here.
Beatles fans who make the pilgrimage to Liverpool now have a place to get their golden slumbers.
CNN's Phil Black reports.
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PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Beatles and Liverpool -- a relationship that began with the burst of history's greatest rock band and continues with tourism -- shops, baths and tribute beds.
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BLACK: Now Beatles pilgrims have somewhere appropriate to stay. This is the Hard Day's Night Hotel.
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BLACK: Everywhere you look, you see John, Paul, George and Ringo -- their music, even their own artwork. The logo is the opening guitar cord to "Hard Day's Night" -- a suspended G-7. The restaurant, Blakes, is named for the guy who designed "Sergeant Pepper's" album cover. These are all the people that feature on it. The wedding chapel features photos of the band members and some of their wives. And members of the Fab Four watch over every bed.
Beatles memorabilia and trivia everywhere -- it's a hard-core fan's dream. But whatever you do, don't call it kitsch.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I don't think that's how I would describe as kitsch. I think it's very tastefully done and any Beatles fan would be proud of it.
BLACK: Hotel management insists it's not a shrine.
MIKE DEWEY, GENERAL MANAGER: We've tried at every opportunity to get the point across that this isn't a cheap, tacky, cheesy-themed hotel. It is a four-star hotel with a twist.
BLACK: Around the hotel, there are also pictures that reflect on their individual careers. In the Lennon Suite, you'll find a replica of his iconic white piano -- the one made famous in the song "Imagine."
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BLACK: The suit of armor is a tribute to Sir Paul's knighthood. A night in the Lennon or McCartney suites costs $1,300. Regular rooms start at $340. The hotel idea came to the man who runs the nearby Cavern Club -- a replica of the venue where the Beatles first played. He's been working like a dog for 15 years to make it happen.
HECKLE: And so it's been a long -- a long and winding road, I'd suppose you'd say, but, you know, we got there in the end and now we're really excited.
BLACK: The surviving Beatles haven't officially blessed or blocked hotel. They have decided to let it be.
Phil Black, CNN, Liverpool, England.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Time now to check in...
WHITFIELD: That was a fun trip, huh?
LEMON: Yes. WHITFIELD: A trip to Liverpool.
LEMON: Yes.
WHITFIELD: (INAUDIBLE) music.
LEMON: Time now to go where -- where is Wolf?
Wolf, are you still in L.A. ?
Where are you?
WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": No, I'm in New York City. It's New York, New York. It's a great place.
LEMON: Oh, welcome back, Wolf.
WHITFIELD: You did not waste any time.
BLITZER: I took the...
LEMON: Nice job last night.
BLITZER: Thank you very much.
I took the glamorous red eye back from L.A. to New York.
WHITFIELD: Oh, yes.
BLITZER: That's always a lot of fun on it.
LEMON: Well, you're looking no worse for wear.
WHITFIELD: It's only lovely if there is nobody sitting next to you so you can stretch out.
BLITZER: That's -- I stretched out. I slept. I feel fine.
WHITFIELD: Excellent.
BLITZER: Let me tell you what's coming up right at the top of the hour. It's four days to go before Super Tuesday, when much of the country will get the chance to vote for a presidential nominee. Candidates are spending millions of dollars to get their message out to the people at these last moments. As the field narrows, the talk turns to running mates and thoughts of what some are calling a Democratic dream team.
Clinton and Obama on the same ticket?
The candidates won't rule it out, but could it really happen?
And she's been a force on the campaign trail herself. Now Michelle Obama talks to our own Soledad O'Brien in an exclusive one- on-one interview. You're going to see it first right here in "THE SITUATION ROOM". All that, guys, coming up at the top of the hour -- back to you.
LEMON: Wolf, they were so nice to each other last night.
BLITZER: I know. They were really -- they came out not swinging. They came out in a very cordial, polite manner.
LEMON: Yes.
And that was a concerted effort, right?
BLITZER: Yes. I think they -- they realized, their advisers realized that neither one of them would benefit in they came out, you know, duking it out. They -- it would diminish both of them. And so that's what they decided to do. And I think it probably worked for both of them.
WHITFIELD: Yes. It sounds like viewers, you know, voters, really appreciated that. They were able to kind of hear some clarification on issues. And it worked.
BLITZER: And you know what was really encouraging?
It was -- there was a record viewership -- 8.3 million people in the United States alone tuned in.
LEMON: Yes.
BLITZER: More than any other presidential primary on cable news ever. And it was...
WHITFIELD: Dynamite.
BLITZER: ...and the most young people tuned in ever before, too, and that was really encouraging, too, that a lot of young people are watching.
LEMON: Yes.
WHITFIELD: That is encouraging, because we're not having to talk about the whole voter apathy when it comes to the young people this go-around. So this really is a historic year in so many proportions.
LEMON: Yes.
BLITZER: Yes. It was really excellent.
LEMON: Wolf Blitzer, yes. A great job. And we'll be watching you in "THE SITUATION ROOM" at the top of the hour.
Thank you, sir.
BLITZER: Thank you.
LEMON: The closing bell and a wrap of the action on Wall Street straight ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, Susan.
Hope you can talk really fast.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
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