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Miami Hostage Situation; New Fed Rules; More Iraq Fighting
Aired March 29, 2008 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everybody. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. The news is unfolding live on this Saturday, the 29th day of March. I'm Betty Nguyen.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And hello there, everybody, I'm T.J. Holmes. We've got an early-morning drama to tell you in Miami. A hostage situation plays out in front of a camera. The video is incredible, but the story itself you have got to hear.
NGUYEN: And amid a financial crisis, a new proposal to overhaul the banking and securities industry. So, what does it mean to you?
HOLMES: Also, lights out. We're pulling the plug around the world to save mother earth. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
First up, let's talk about your money, because there is strong, new powers for the Federal Reserve to regulate the banking and securities industries, and that's what the Bush administration plans to propose in the wake of this mortgage meltdown.
HOLMES: Jennifer Westhoven's standing by for us in New York. Big change here for the banking industry, a lot of Americans are going to hear this and they'll think I'm caught up in this credit crisis, I'm caught up in this mortgage crisis. They're trying to do something. That means it's going to help me slow down.
JENNIFER WESTHOVEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, this is the big question. The bottom line here, of course, is about trust. What are most people going to see? The good news is they're really not going to see anything, and that's the good news. You don't want to have to worry about what's going on, where your money is. You want to know that it's in a safe place. You want to think that your bank is doing a great job of holding onto that right now. Now -- pardon me -- there you go. Can you go in a little bit more? I'm sorry.
You want to know that your money is safe. When people hear their brokerage, you know that a company as big as Bear Stearns could collapse, that really can scare people. That's the kind of thing that could be the spark that starts a classic panic. The fed can set up an early warning system is what they want to do here. They want to try and catch a problem before it snowballs into something that threatens the economy.
So this White House plan would be the biggest overhaul since the great depression. It would be a sweeping change of who polices banks and brokerages. So here's some of the points -- it would set up a new mortgage commission. It would consolidate regulatory agencies. And it would give the fed these new powers so they could swoop in when a bank or a brokerage is in trouble. So it's actually less regulation in some cases. You know, I feel like -- did you guys see that Jeanne Moos package about how hard it is sometimes when the teleprompter isn't working?
NGUYEN: We've got that first hand, don't worry, we all go through it.
HOLMES: All right, it happens. A lot of people out there have much bigger problems than the teleprompter, so that's quite all right. We'll be fine here. The last thing you did say there is about less regulation. That seems counter intuitive. It seems like there should be more handle, more scrutiny on what's been happening in the banking industry, but not necessarily.
WESTHOVEN: Yeah. You would think there would be more regulations right now. Now Republicans, the treasury secretary, Henry Paulson, he says, yes, this is less regulation, but he says this is going to be more effective regulation. Now, Democrats have had their own plan here that they've been working on, and it is much stronger medicine. It's a lot more regulation. Maybe it's no surprise that already Wall Street has a kind word for the Paulson plan. They'd prefer less regulation. But the bottom line here change is coming from Washington either way. So it just depends on what kind of change we're going to see.
HOLMES: Yes, what kind and how soon. This could take a while.
WESTHOVEN: It could.
HOLMES: Years even before they ever come to some compromise and get something passed. Jennifer Westhoven, thanks.
WESTHOVEN: Thank you. See you later.
HOLMES: See you, girl. All right.
Well, folks, we are going to be talking a lot this morning about the crisis going on and also it has to do with your home. You know that dream to purchase that home, turned into a nightmare for a lot of folks. Don't miss a special investigation report tonight. CNN teaming up with "Fortune" magazine to bring you "Busted! Mortgage Meltdown" that's all at 8:00 eastern only right here on CNN.
Also, sold to the highest bidder, American dream auctioned off on the courthouse steps. Later this hour, more on the fallout from the mortgage meltdown.
NGUYEN: All right, so now we want to bring you back to that dramatic story that we were telling you about at the top of the hour, it's from Miami. Police say a gunman tried to hold up a Walgreen's drugstore when something occurred there and that led to a hostage situation.
HOLMES: The would-be robber took the store manager hostage, tried to force the man into a car at gunpoint. Take a look at how this all played out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
Put your hands up!
Get back!
Coming to the front! Coming to the front!
Put it down!
Get it up! Give it up! Give it up!
Hey, get back! I'll shoot him!
Give it up! [ Sirens ] [ Gunshots ]
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: All right.
HOLMES: Yeah, police say the gunman got away was the initial report we heard earlier.
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: But then they say that gunman was shot and killed when he refused to surrender.
NGUYEN: And we're expecting a news conference, because we are also getting some conflicting information, saying that there was a body that was found, but it was not determined if that indeed was the gunman. As you can tell, this was a dramatic situation that played out very early this morning, and a lot of information still needs to be pulled together, but nonetheless, what a terrible situation, and now there is at least one person dead. We're trying to get an exact identification on who that might be.
In the meantime, though, we want to tell you about another story, and that dealing with the fight for Iraq. U.S. warplanes dropped bombs on a suspected militia site in Basra today. Now, U.S. and Iraqi forces, security forces, they do continue their operations against insurgents in the Sadr City area, and Iraqi officials say dozens have been killed in four days of clashes with hundreds wounded.
HOLMES: More rockets and mortars fell today in the capital's international zone, that's the zone that was once called the green zone. And our Kyra Phillips is in Baghdad.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Mortar and rocket attacks continue into the fortified green zone again this morning. These attacks coming right after the office of Iraq's vice president Tariq al Hashimi was struck, killing two of his guards. U.S. diplomats in Baghdad have been warned to stay under cover, the state department instructing all U.S. embassy personnel not to leave reinforced structures. Two people have now died within these daily attacks on the fortified green zone.
Meanwhile, the curfew is still in place, much of the country still on lockdown, but that hasn't stopped the fighting in certain parts of Iraq like Sadr City, where at least 75 people have died. Now we have learned that about 40 Iraqi national police officers have actually joined radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr's Mehdi army, taking their U.S. supplied weapons with them.
U.S. troops are providing air support with strike fighters and helos while most boots on the ground are still Iraqi troops. Now this violence that began in oil-rich Basra, is in its fifth day now, an Iraqi military campaign that President Bush says will be a defining moment in the history of a free Iraq. Meanwhile, Sadr protestors are calling Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki the new dictator of Iraq, calling for his resignation.
This fighting has created tremendous concern to that a seven- month cease-fire by al Sadr's Mehdi army could be at stake, a cease- fire that caused a dramatic drop in violence in this country until now.
Kyra Phillips, Baghdad.
HOLMES: Presidential politics we want to turn to now. An easy day for John McCain, a busy day for the Democrats. With the Republican nomination virtually sewed up for McCain. He's spending the day at home in Arizona. Sharp contrast to the Democratic candidates who continue to cris-cross the few remaining primary states. Hillary Clinton is beginning her day in Indiana, which holds its primary May 6th. Later she'll be in Kentucky, which has a May 20th primary.
Barack Obama is on a six-day tour through Pennsylvania. He's rolling through on a bus. You're looking at video from a sports bar last night and he's stopping by a couple other places around the state today. In Pennsylvania of course, the biggest prize remaining in the Democratic primary trail, it's three and a half weeks away. Jim Acosta has three and a half weeks left there. Our man there on the ground, he's with the CNN election express in Philadelphia. So, they are zipping across that state, and I see the bus, the CNN bus behind you, but Barack Obama's got a bus of his own these days.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Dueling buses. We ought to play chicken with them out on the campaign trail. Just for fun. No, no, no, we don't want to do that. That would be bad. That's right, T.J., a busy weekend out on the campaign, as you mentioned. Hillary Clinton is in Indiana, but she is facing calls from some Obama supporters who are saying she should drop out of this race.
One of the senior-most Democrats to come forward, Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy, who is also an Obama supporter and a superdelegate we should mention, yesterday urged Senator Clinton to drop out of the race, saying it's mathematically very difficult for the senator from New York to wrap up this nomination. Now, Hillary Clinton is responding by saying, hey, wait a minute, there's a pattern here. Every time she makes this a contest, she says Obama supporters come out of the woodwork and urge her to drop out. But Leahy says, no, this is all about making sure the Democrats win this general election in the fall.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. PATRICK LEAHY, (D) VERMONT: I said that she has every right -- many would argue without a good reason, but every right to remain a candidate as long as she wants to, but as long as there are two candidates fighting for the nomination, when it's obvious which one is going to win, all that does is to help the other party's nominee.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Now, as for Barack Obama, he is embarking on a six-day bus tour across the state. He's got a double-digit gap to make up, according to most of the polls. He is trailing Senator Clinton. But yesterday he picked up a very key endorsement, he got the support of Senator Bob Casey, who up until yesterday had been saying that he was going to stay out of this race and not endorse anybody. But he instead decided to come out and throw his support behind Barack Obama. Casey, who is a pro-life, catholic Democrat, whose father was a very popular governor in this state, gives Obama a big name behind him, while Hillary Clinton has the governor and the mayor of Philadelphia supporting her. Obama now has a key superdelegate and senator in this state supporting his campaign. And Casey is also very popular with those blue-collar Democrats. And speaking of those blue-collar Democrats, Barack Obama knows he has some work to do in that department. So yesterday he spent some time at a sports bar talking to voters there. And speaking of sports, Obama picked up another key endorsement yesterday. Speaking of buses, "The Bus," Jerome Bettis, has signed onto the Barack Obama campaign. He's put on the pads for the Illinois senator. So there you have Obama with "The Bus" on the bus, heading across Pennsylvania. T.J.?
HOLMES: Forget superdelegates, super bowl champions are important there in Pennsylvania.
ACOSTA: There you go, that's right.
HOLMES: And let's tell folks what they were seeing there, we were actually showing that video from that sports bar you were talking about, Barack Obama having a beer, a local beer there. He stopped by. He wasn't really paying attention to the NCAA games, as we're seeing here. He was doing more campaigning than anything, but he had a local beer, just a few sips, and a lot of people upset that he wasted a beer. No, I'm kidding, I'm kidding -- Jim Acosta --
ACOSTA: Maybe a cheese steak while he was at it.
HOLMES: You have to have that while you're there. Jim Acosta, I know you are full of cheese steaks and local beers these days. We will see you for the next three and a half weeks, enjoy.
NGUYEN: Poor guy.
ACOSTA: Thank you, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Much more on the presidential race in less than three hours with "Ballot Bowl" at 2:00 p.m. eastern, 11:00 pacific.
NGUYEN: You know there is another presidential election to talk about today, this one in Africa. Voting has started in Zimbabwe where President Robert Mugabe is trying to extend his 28-year reign. Critics blame Mugabe's dictatorial rule for Zimbabwe's economic collapse. Long lines are reported at polling stations and opposition leaders had predicted Mugabe would try to steal the election. And today they're alleging widespread irregularities. They also say they will release their own election results tomorrow in defiance of a government order.
We're also continuing to follow that dramatic hostage situation that played out early this morning in Miami. Here's more video of it. A news conference from Miami police is expected shortly and we will bring that to you when it happens.
HOLMES: Also, we're going to talk about going green in the city. A neighborhood that's made some eco-friendly changes.
NGUYEN: And travel trouble in Texas. A woman with a nipple piercing -- in fact, two of them -- told to take off her rings in order to get on a flight. Well, the TSA responds.
HOLMES: Also, looking more and more like spring in D.C. A live look at the cherry blossoms in the nation's capital. We'll have a weather update next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right, you've got to take a look. Poor Larry King, trying to dance there with superstar Janet Jackson. You know she is a professional, Larry, and apparently, you are not. But that's ok! It's still great television.
HOLMES: He got better as he went along.
NGUYEN: Ok, sure, if that's how you like to describe it. This is why you should watch. Seriously, it's hilarious. Join Larry King tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern, 6:00 p.m. pacific right here on CNN and see how he breaks it down with Janet Jackson.
HOLMES: All right, well, we've got rain expected to drench the southeast today, while a sign of spring blossoms in D.C.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: Well environmental action and eco-friendly urban living, two things go hand in hand in Atlanta right now. Tonight, Atlanta joins 23 other major cities around the world in "lights out," a global effort to draw attention to climate change. Earth hour is what they're calling it and we'll have more on that in just a second.
But first, we wanted to show off a little bit about an Atlanta suburb or rather urban development that's being called a model for the rest of the country. CNN's Miles O'Brien shows us why.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Five years ago, Megan Schank and her family did a reverse green acres, leaving the country for the big city.
MEGAN SCHANK, RESIDENT: It was a drastic change, but we've really enjoyed it. We don't have to deal with traffic.
O'BRIEN: Megan lives in the heart of Atlanta in a place called Atlantic Station. Only 10 years ago, it looked like this. The old abandoned Atlantic Steel Mill was a big eyesore and an environmental nightmare. Developers call sites like these brown fields.
JIM JACOBY, CHAIRMAN, THE JACOBY GROUP: This is the largest brown field redevelopment in the U.S.
O'BRIEN: Developer Jim Jacoby led this urban transformation, creating a 138-acre city within the city that not only cleaned up a big mess but is designed with current and future environmental concerns in mind. He built residences in place where the soil was not contaminated. Elsewhere, they hauled the tainted dirt away and brought in clean top soil. They recycled what they could, including all the old concrete, and then they built a place where people live, work, shop and play.
JACOBY: So it really is a gathering place, and I think people like the, you know, the ability to have a place that we can go and gather and meet new friends.
O'BRIEN: That's what Jennifer Parrott looks about living here.
JENNIFER PARROTT, RESIDENT: It's close to everything. We can walk to the grocery store, we can walk to restaurants, movie theater. My fiance can walk to work.
O'BRIEN: Atlantic Station is proving there is a way to walk away from our car culture, and people who live here say they don't miss the alternative. Miles O'Brien, CNN.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And folks who live in Atlanta like us have been there and enjoy that. And you, if you were down under, enjoyed this last night. This is a picture of Sydney. More on the global effort to lighten our carbon footprint by turning out some lights. Stay with us, CNN NEWSROOM continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right, so let's talk about this right now, environmental concerns and environmental activism. Downtown sky lines are going to go dark for one hour in 24 major cities all around the world today.
HOLMES: It's lights out and one of the organizers joins us here in Atlanta, where it's going to go dark for a little while. Carter Roberts, president of the World Wildlife Fund. Now, how tough is it to convince a city, hey, turn your lights out? I know there are some logistics and it sounds like a good cause and all that, but how do you convince them to coordinate this and turn the lights out on the city for a while?
CARTER ROBERTS, PRES., WORLD WILDLIFE FUND: WWS started this in Sydney a year ago and got the mayor, Cate Blanchett and other celebrities involved, we ended up having 2 million people engaged in that effort. And it was so successful that actually we've now been besieged with offers to participate. We actually have 400 cities around the world participating.
NGUYEN: That's fantastic. And what, 2,000 buildings involved in this, at least? I know there's about 400 here in Atlanta. How much energy is saved when you do something like this? Have you been able to calculate that?
ROBERTS: Well, the energy saved is minimal compared to the commitment that people are making to do something the rest of the year. And so we're asking people to turn out the lights for an hour, replace all the light bulbs in their house or building with compact fluorescents, the squiggly bulbs. Then we're asking them to think about things they do the rest of the year, whether it's the way they commute, the energy they use, turning out the lights in the building after people go home from work. And the energy savings from that is substantial.
HOLMES: And I know it's hard to really gauge, like you said, but what do you -- is there any way you have been able to measure the effects? Like you said, people changing bulbs. Have you seen increases in those different bulbs or things like that over the years that people are starting to do things different?
ROBERTS: Well, in Sydney, in one hour alone, the lights went out and reduced energy consumption by 10 percent, and that's the equivalent of taking 48,000 cars off the road. We're asking people right now, when they participate, to sign on to earthhour.org. There's a list of ways that people can change their lifestyles during the course of the year and do something tangible about climate change.
NGUYEN: And tonight you're asking people to go ahead and turn off your own lights at your house. And we've got some questions earlier. They're not going to shut off the electricity in the city, are they? No, they're not going to do that. The street lights will work and all that good stuff. But when people think about, oh my goodness, I've got to shut out the lights for an hour on a Saturday night? Keep it clean, but what do you do with that time? What do you do?
ROBERTS: There are a lot of things you can do in the dark, and --
HOLMES: Like what?
ROBERTS: Like dinner by candlelight or flashlight. The Maricopa county jail is turning off its lights outside of Phoenix.
NGUYEN: Really?
ROBERTS: We've got students playing frisbee in the dark. We've got people sitting around with their families and thinking about commitments they can make. But the interesting thing is we actually -- if you go around the world, starting in Christ Church, going to Sydney, go into Copenhagen, go into Buenos Aires, Atlanta, San Francisco, you're going to see landmarks like the coliseum in Rome go dark, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Coca-Cola sign in Times Square.
NGUYEN: Do you want to see this thing grow? Next year are you hoping that more cities get on board and eventually people around the world will be participating in this?
ROBERTS: What seems to be funny about movements -- you know, the civil rights movement it was local churches getting organized around an idea. This earth hour event has been seized upon by cities. We went from one city last year, 400 cities this year. Next year we should be able to do 1,000 cities. It is symbolic in nature, and it basically is a way for people to commit to do something tangible about climate change, which at the end of the day is about businesses changing the way they operate, and it's about politicians passing laws to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
NGUYEN: It's a great program and we'll be participating in it.
HOLMES: This evening.
NGUYEN: A little bit to do our part.
ROBERTS: Turner Broadcasting is participating. The studios won't go dark, but the lights of Turner Broadcasting will go dark here in Atlanta.
HOLMES: We asked for the day off to shut all this down.
NGUYEN: We couldn't get it. Carter Roberts from the World Wildlife Fund, thanks so much for your time today, for stopping in.
HOLMES: We'll see you later.
ROBERTS: Thanks.
HOLMES: The American dream we're going to be talking about. It's sold to the highest bidder in some cases. Happening across the country, homes auctioned off on the courthouse steps. We'll have the latest details on the mortgage meltdown.
NGUYEN: And judge gets jiggy, giving defendants a choice. You either learn English or go to prison. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: It is 30 minutes past the hour on this Saturday morning. Here are some of the stories that we are working on for you. We're waiting for more details from Miami where a drugstore manager was briefly taken hostage during a robbery attempt just before dawn. These are dramatic pictures. The manager did escape, but police say the robber is in custody. We're going to try to get the latest on this story for you.
HOLMES: Also, just across the border from El Paso, Texas, 2,000 Mexican troops arriving to battle violent drug gangs. A turf war has claimed more than 200 lives in Juarez since January.
NGUYEN: And in the wake of the credit crisis, the Bush administration wants to give more oversight to the Federal Reserve. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will unveil the plan on Monday.
So, dreams auctioned off on the courthouse steps. Foreclosed homes sold to the highest bidder. Gerri Willis looks at the mortgage meltdown in one state.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR (voice-over): Atlanta, Georgia, the first Tuesday of any month sounds like this.
Electronic registration system --
Here ye, here ye.
WILLIS: Today 4,000-plus homes are about to foreclose on the courthouse steps.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are there any further bids?
WILLIS: Georgia is one of only nine states that sells off distressed properties outside the courts.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The opening bid for this property is $105,068.44.
WILLIS: Homes are sold to the highest bidder.
Going once.
WILLIS: And if no one bids --
Sold to --
WILLIS: It's the property of the lender.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me know when you buy something.
WILLIS: Victor Warren and his wife Robin have spent Tuesdays on the steps for the last 26 years. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So where I was willing to pay three --
WILLIS: He buys foreclosed homes and tries to sell them for a handsome profit.
How much are you prepared to spend?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's over two commas here.
WILLIS: So over $1 million?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's correct.
WILLIS: Victor has an ear on every crier.
765 Coleman Street --
WILLIS: The lawyers representing the lenders. What happens to you that you find your house being foreclosed on in this public fashion?
VICTOR WARREN, INVESTOR: Well, first of all, you would have had to have missed typically one or more payments, sometimes up to six payments.
WILLIS: That's right. Here in Georgia, miss a few monthly payments, and 30 days later, your home could end up here. Homeowners have always ended up here after the loss of a job, a divorce, or an unexpected illness. But in the last two years, foreclosures in metro Atlanta have more than doubled. Why? Because of subprime loans.
WARREN: Give me a little time once you find out, if you will.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will.
WILLIS: Loans designed for borrowers who Andy Shupin describes as.
ANDY SHUPIN, CRIER: People with credit scores that demonstrated an inability to pay their debts were buying houses.
WILLIS: And here we are today.
SHUPIN: Right, but the pressure I think in society was to get people into houses. This was a segment society but there are a lot of people that are just one notch above or struggling and actually making those payments.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, we're going to delve more into this situation where a dream purchase really turns into a nightmare for so many. Don't miss a CNN special investigations report. It is tonight. And CNN teams up with "Fortune" magazine to bring you "Busted! Mortgage Meltdown", that is at 8:00 p.m. eastern only on CNN. HOLMES: Well, in the race for the White House, Republican John McCain wants you to get to know him a little better. McCain taking a break from the campaign trail today, but next week he's kicking off a biographical tour. Maybe it should be an autobiographical tour. Of pivotal places in his life, he launched his first TV ad of the general election campaign yesterday. Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, Barack Obama on the campaign bus tour through Pennsylvania. Hillary Clinton holds rallies in Indiana today. So she's certainly looking ahead. Well, Obama pushing superdelegates to follow the will of the voters. That would help, of course, shore up his bid for the nomination.
NGUYEN: But one of his most prominent surrogates is suggesting some superdelegates could get out on a technicality.
HOLMES: It's outrageous.
NGUYEN: It is. CNN's Josh Levs is here with a reality check on this. I mean we've been talking so much about these superdelegates. Should they really vote the will of the people? What's this technicality all about?
JOSH LEVS: Well you see it's people try to take a stance, you know they try to say this is what superdelegates should do but then do they always follow that themselves? This is the reality of politics. Campaign surrogates push ideas to help get their candidates elected, even if they don't always follow those themselves.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS (voice-over): Barack Obama has long pushed superdelegates to follow the electorate, instead of throwing their convention votes behind whoever they want.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The superdelegates that I talked to are uncomfortable with the notion that they would override decisions made by voters.
LEVS: Representative John Lewis had supported Clinton, but Obama won his district. Lewis switched camps. Both Senators Ted Kennedy and John Kerry, both superdelegates, remain among Obama's prominent supporters, despite Clinton's 15-point victory in Massachusetts. Now a new twist. From Obama's most prominent, new surrogate.
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON, (D) NEW MEXICO: To endorse your candidacy for president.
LEVS: New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson had told "The New York Times" superdelegates should reflect their state or constituency. Guess who won New Mexico? CNN's John Roberts grilled Richardson about his endorsement.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Are you going back on what you said just a month ago?
RICHARDSON: No, I'm not, John. The reality is that it took two weeks. The vote was so close, so close. It ended up by less than one percent.
ROBERTS: But she still won.
RICHARDSON: I'm also a western governor --
ROBERTS: She still won, though.
RICHARDSON: Well yeah, but John, you know you can't get that technical about it.
LEVS: Richardson added --
RICHARDSON: If it had been decisive, I think you're making a point.
LEVS: If a close finish means superdelegates can go either way without being unfair to voters, how could that play out nationally? Obama has about 170 more pledged delegates than Clinton, four percent of the total. The popular vote is within three percentage points. Pennsylvania could start to narrow the gap. In the end, Obama may finish ahead just slightly, or perhaps, to borrow Richardson's term, technically.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS: So if that happens, can superdelegates really go either way and still be fair to voters? Just what determines a technical victory in this close race? As the pressure mounts in the superdelegates to follow the voters, they can really find people on either side who are superdelegates who haven't necessarily followed these things themselves.
HOLMES: What is the technicality? Lets just ask Governor Richardson. He's the one that will let us know. John Roberts chuckled through that whole answer.
NGUYEN: Through the whole thing, it seemed to change, didn't it? Started out one way, ended another.
LEVS: And thanks to John for that, it was great, his roughest interview here.
NGUYEN: All right, thank you, Josh.
HOLMES: We do appreciate it.
NGUYEN: So, is party infighting hurting the Democrats? You want to tune in to "Ballot Bowl" today at 2:00 p.m. eastern only on CNN, where we give you a chance to learn about the candidates' plans in their own words. CNN is, of course, your home for politics.
HOLMES: Well, these are your options, learn English or go to prison. A judge known for creative sentences that's exactly what he told that suspects linked to a robbery. Espanol only won't cut it anymore. Reporter Mike Trim from affiliate WBRE explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE TRIM, WBRE (voice-over): It's English 101 for Kelvin Reyes- Rosario and three other convicted criminals from Hazleton. After pleading guilty in Lucerne County Court, Judge Peter Olszewski sentenced them to, among other things, learn the English language.
FERRIS WEBBY, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It's an unusual condition. I've been doing this for well over 25 years and I've never had that type of condition.
TRIM: Defense attorney Ferris Webby represents one of the sentenced men Rafael Guzman-Mateo. The other two sentenced were Luis Reyes and Ricardo Dominguez. Webby didn't object to the sentence and said his client hasn't asked for an appeal. He says he'll research an appeal any way.
WEBBY: Whether it's legal or not is another issue. Just because it's a good thing doesn't mean it's legal.
TRIM: Legal or not, one prominent member of Hazleton's Latino community supports the sentence.
AMILCAR ARROYO, EL MENSAJERO NEWSPAPER: I agree absolutely they have to learn English to have more opportunities in this life, in this country.
TRIM: Amilcar Arroyo is the chief editor of El Mensajero newspaper, the largest Latino newspaper in northeastern Pennsylvania.
ARROYO: Maybe they can have a second chance to succeed in this country, but they have to learn the language and they have to obey the law.
TRIM: Judge Olszewski told WBRE News the following, he says, "Due to a possible appeal, it would be unethical for me to comment on this case." Reyes-Rosario remains locked up in the Luzerne county prison and the other three are free on parole and if they follow their sentence are studying up on the English language.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And so, a judge is ordering suspects to learn English. Is that going to stick, though? Coming up next hour, legal experts weigh in on this unusual ruling.
NGUYEN: All right, I'm going to say it because it's there. Take off the nipple rings in order to get on a plane, that is. It's a story, a legitimate one, trust me. One woman's travel troubles has caused TSA to change their rules.
HOLMES: And are you a proud papa? New over-the-counter tests could help you figure out who's the daddy. And that was our Sanjay Gupta. He is not being --
NGUYEN: No, by any means. That made it seem like it he was being tested. He does have two children, but there is no question about that.
HOLMES: They are his, yes.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: I'm sure you've heard this story, but we have an update, because the TSA is changing its policy on piercings after some airport screeners in Texas told a woman that her nipple rings won't fly. Here's what they look like. There they are. Mandi Hamlin says male TSA agents refused her request to show the piercings to a female officer, insisting the jewelry had to come off if she wanted to board the plane. Hamlin says removing them wasn't easy. She's going to show you how right now. She needed a pair of pliers to get them off. Hamlin asked the TSA to apologize and launched a civil rights investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GLORIA ALLRED, HAMLIN'S ATTORNEY: Mandi Hamlin was publicly humiliated. She was made to suffer the physical pain of removing a nipple ring with pliers, a ring that could not be reinserted by her once it was removed. While TSA officers stood around snickering at her. Clearly, this is not how passengers should be treated.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well, the TSA says its officers followed proper procedures, but it said those procedures, well, they're being modified. The agency said passengers can now request a visual inspection or remove their piercings altogether. The TSA didn't offer Hamlin a formal apology.
HOLMES: Well, dads, next time your kid is acting up and you don't want to claim him, you can just maybe go in the next room and take a test just to make sure he's yours.
NGUYEN: That's wrong.
HOLMES: Just kidding. There is a new over-the-counter paternity test that could tell the tale and chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta checks this out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Here we are in 2008 and you can go over the counter and buy a genetic test. That's pretty remarkable in itself.
Yeah, it is.
GUTPA: As far as accuracy, the FDA doesn't regulate these tests, so we did some digging ourselves to try and figure out how effective they are. Independent experts will say look, if you get the DNA from the alleged father and from the child, you have a 90 percent-plus accuracy range. If you also add the mother's DNA, 99.9 percent accurate. That's according to some independent experts we talked to. Now just really quick, Tony, basically all you do is you take some cotton swabs out of this kit here and basically rub them on the inside of your mouth and it takes just a couple of minutes to do. And three to five days for it to come back. It costs about $20 for the kit $120 for the lab processing fee. So not cheap, necessarily, but that's what happens here. And there are other sorts of tests out there that we've talked about that are not paternity tests, but genetic tests. I actually did some of these myself for a story that I'm doing, trying to figure out the accuracy of these tests. Basically the same thing. Point out I'm not taking a paternity test, my wife and I are very comfortable with that, but actually checking for other genetic tests and I'm going to see how accurate these things are and report back to you on that.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: That's great. You take the swab and just on the inside of your mouth. I'm curious about, the numbers sound good with this test, but I wonder if they might be admissible, good enough to be tested under court scrutiny what do you think?
GUPTA: We asked the same question. A lot of forensic agencies do use tests like this as standard. The difference seems to be -- and I'm not a lawyer -- but the difference seems to be that it's a chain of evidence sort of thing. You've got to witness someone doing it, you have to make sure the sample in fact came from the right person. I think the bigger caveat here now that I'm thinking about this, is what do you do with this information as far as these genetic tests go? So I put together a few tips to sort of keep in mind if you're going to do one of these genetic tests looking for diseases, for example. One of the tips, for example, is that positive results don't necessarily mean you're going to get the disease. That's an important thing. Don't think you do the test and definitely means I'm going to get x, y or z disease. Genes are only part of the puzzle and also it doesn't tell you the severity of something. You could have a very mild form of something that never affects you, but important to keep in mind, so it could be more information sometimes than you really know what to do with.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Ok. But again, Sanjay Gupta there doing some of the genetic testing there, as you saw with the swab in his mouth. He's not doing the paternity testing. Didn't want that to go the wrong way with his kids there. The company's research actually shows people who are buying these kits, mostly women in their 20s. And just kidding, Sanjay. CNN has taken on the task also to help unravel the mystery of autism, CNN worldwide investigation to expose the myths, also show the facts and to find the hope in the search to understand this disorder. Join us Wednesday all day for our special coverage of autism.
NGUYEN: I think Sanjay's wife is on line one for you. You might want to take that call.
In the meantime, ooh, la, la. HOLMES: Yes, from supermodel to first lady. The French president's new wife. Let me emphasize, new wife. Makes headlines in the UK for some revealing fashions.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, the NEWSROOM does continue at the top of the hour with Fredricka Whitfield.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, good to see you guys. Do you guys text message?
HOLMES: Oh, yes, we do.
NGUYEN: All the time.
WHITFIELD: Be careful, right?
NGUYEN: Why?
WHITFIELD: It could always come back to haunt you. Case in point, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, deep trouble. Our legal guys are going to delve into all of that and find out to what extent can your text messages come back to haunt you, or is it private material?
HOLMES: We'll be listening.
WHITFIELD: Yeah you'll be listening, taking copious notes.
HOLMES: Yes, I will.
WHITFIELD: Then down to the wire and for how long should it go on, Clinton versus Obama? Should the Democratic party make a decision, meaning asking one of them to bow out? Another tough question being asked now in politics in the race for the White House. All that straight ahead, noon hour.
HOLMES: All right. We will see you then. See you shortly.
NGUYEN: We'll text you in the meantime.
WHITFIELD: Right.
HOLMES: Thank you, Fredricka.
Well, folks, a lot of you all will not recognize the name, but you have seen her work countless times. Bev Brodman helped invent CNN and delivered the news that informed an entire generation of Americans.
NGUYEN: Yes, she did. Our colleague died Thursday night, and it's a loss that extends well beyond just these walls. She was truly a CNN original. Chuck Roberts has her story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHUCK ROBERTS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There's some sad news to report from the CNN family. Our dear friend and long-time colleague, Beverly Brodman, has died after a battle with cancer. Bev, as she was known in the newsroom, was a CNN original, joining the network in 1980 one month before CNN actually went on the air. She had many important jobs here, she began her career at CNN sports, later she became a news manager on our domestic assignment desk and for the past several years, as an editor on our news planning desk. She was always here for the big stories. The 1986 "Challenger" explosion and the day America came under attack, September 11, 2001, right in the thick of things. Bev was always taking care of her field crews and always on the phone. That's how most of us saw her doing her job, a job she loved. And to our benefit, she also loved sharing her passion with young journalists.
BEV BRODMAN: It's teamwork. It's not being a prima donna. Being ready to pick up and do anything from coffee to interviews to editing.
ROBERTS: CNN wasn't her first job in national journalism. Bev first began at CBS News in 1970 and worked her way up fairly quickly to join the staff of the CBS morning news. She joined CNN after a 10- year career at CBS News. Bev was far too young. Only 60 when she died.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, you can call it a French twist, France's first lady is the toast of the town in the UK.
HOLMES: And why wouldn't she be? Quite the 180 from a few days ago when nude photos of her surfaced online. As Jeanne Moos reports, Brits are more focused on what she's wearing rather than what she isn't.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She came, she saw, she curtsied and rarely has a curtsy looked quite so chic. Dressed in Dior, at least she was dressed. A 15 year old nude art photo of former model Carla Bruni circulated just as the French president and his new wife began their state visit to Britain. What a state it left the media in. Ah shante, ooh-la-la. One paper described her as Jackie O. dressed as a nun. She's been romantically linked in the past to men ranging from Nick Jagger to Donald Trump. She does have Jackie O's breathy voice.
CARLA BRUNI-SARKOZY, FRENCH FIRST LADY: In the face of all these, you're the hope. Thank you.
MOOS: As her husband addressed parliament, she perched elegantly. She did everything elegantly. From eating, eating off a speck of something, she even wiped her nose elegantly. The media obsessed on her accessories, for instance her purse. Classier than the one displayed by a guest attending a charity luncheon for Madam Sarkozy. Her Dior flats merited a close up, one paper pointed out her heels were lower than her husband's. Perhaps to minimize the fact that she's taller than he is, by the final gala any nun looked had pretty much disappeared. Earlier at a press conference a French reporter asked President Sarkozy about his wife.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't you think she's kind of stolen your show? Isn't it a bit too much?
MOOS: The president bitingly replied that by asking such a question the reporter showed he must have had an unfortunate experience with marriage. Of his wife, he said --
PRES. NICOLAS SARKOZY, FRANCE: I am proud that people have seen her for what she really is.
MOOS: A humanitarian. The public has seen a lot of her, albeit partially obscured by stars, a black bar, a pink bar, notation "NS4W" "not suitable for work." And best of all, the flag of France.
(On camera): Remember back when some Americans were mad at France over the Iraq war and there was all that talk about naming French fries freedom fries?
That prompted this post commenting on Carla's nude photo -- here in America we call those freedom thighs. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Only Jeanne.
HOLMES: She does look awfully first lady like. Looks good.
NGUYEN: Beautiful. Well, CNN NEWSROOM does continue with Fredricka Whitfield.
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