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Hazardous Materials Spill Shuts Down Interstate; Lawyers for Former Enron CEO Appeal Conviction; Tensions Rise as Zimbabwe Awaits Election Results
Aired April 02, 2008 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone, I'm Don Lemon live here at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. Did you see that? Amazing artwork from that person.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Amazing, very amazing and we're going to speak with him. I got a chance to speak with him earlier. We'll get to see that.
And I'm Brianna Keilar, in today for Kyra Phillips here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
An update on a developing story coming to us out of South Carolina. According to the "Associated Press," Interstate 26 in southeastern South Carolina shut down both directions, this, because a tanker that was carrying hazardous materials overturned. Interstate 26, of course that highway that goes right into Charleston, South Carolina.
So now at this point, according to the "Associated Press," hazmat materials teams are cleaning up the spill. They're diverting traffic into more rural areas as a precaution. According to the "Associated Press" as well, no other vehicles were involved in the crash and the driver of the tanker only had minor cuts.
Again, Interstate 26 not too far outside of Charleston, South Carolina, actually in St. George, South Carolina, shut down in both directions because of a hazmat truck that overturned. We're going to continue to follow this. Hopefully this will clear up for all those folks out there on the road.
LEMON: And Brianna, another round of flight cancellations over airplane safety checks. Today United Airlines is warning passengers to expect delays while it checks a cargo fire suppression systems on its Boeing 777s. The model makes up about 11 percent of United's fleet. The airline grounded the planes after a review of maintenance records indicated some components hadn't been inspected. At least 31 flights have been cancelled.
As of early this afternoon, 14 of the 52 airplanes, airliners had been inspected and cleared to resume service. Inspections should be completed by tomorrow.
And you'll recall Delta and American Airlines grounded planes for inspections just last week. Southwest Airlines did it three weeks ago. Well, this hour, the FAA is due to announce the results of some of those inspections live from Reagan international airport. We'll hear from them. You see the microphones at the bottom of your screen. We're going to hear from them in just a bit.
KEILAR: Federal prosecutors are trying to determine whether a man arrested yesterday in Orlando international airport is mentally ill. Kevin Brown faces one count of carrying a weapon or explosive on an aircraft. TSA officials say the 32-year-old suspect you see right there tried bringing bomb-making materials on board an Air Jamaica flight. A bond hearing was put off until tomorrow so Brown's mental health history can be reviewed.
And it's called SPOT, that's short for screening passengers by observation techniques. The TSA says Kevin Brown's arrest is a perfect example of how this system works.
CNN's Susan Candiotti has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When he completes his training, this man will be among those on the lookout for potential terrorists at Miami international airport.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An attack is coming, and we have to work under that premise.
CANDIOTTI: Miami's airport becomes the first in the United States to train its civilian employees on the war on terror. From smart cart agents to sky caps. They'll be taught to look for odd behavior. The fancy term for it, behavior pattern recognition, already employed by law enforcement in several U.S. airports.
Rafi Ron, well known for once heading security at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport, developed the technique. Now how do you encourage, for example, employees like these so that they know that they too can play a role?
RAFI RON, NEW AGE SECURITY: Well, first of all, by giving them the facts.
CANDIOTTI: What are the facts? Ron insists this is not racial profiling, focusing, for example, on Arab men. He says it means looking for abnormal behavior in anyone. To protect the program's integrity, officials won't discuss specifics.
RON: When we see something that is out of the ordinary, when we see something that could be a security risk, we need to respond to that.
CANDIOTTI: The ACLU has challenged the method in Boston. In Florida, it's wait and see. The ACLU asks for example, which nervous- looking college-age students will be stopped, only those who fit an ethnic profile?
SGT. KEVIN DOUGHERTY, MIAMI-DADE POLICE: We can stop every Lithuanian male between a certain age group if you could tell who was Lithuanian or not. But we don't do that. What we're looking for is the way they're behaving when they're inside the airport.
CANDIOTTI: So the more eyes the better.
OFFICER ANA PAZ, MIAMI-DADE POLICE: Correct.
CANDIOTTI: Officer Ana Paz, armed with a German-made semiautomatic said she'll be happy she'll have many more eyes helping her scan about 85,000 passengers who use Miami's airport daily.
PAZ: If you were to walk into your office and find something out of place or find somebody out of place that doesn't work there, wouldn't you know?
CANDIOTTI: That's the idea. It will take time to train all 35,000 employees, some in greater depth than others. From checking out benign-looking grandfathers, to mothers with baby strollers. An added responsibility for employees, for travelers, another layer of security.
Susan Candiotti, CNN, Miami.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Jeffrey Skilling is the highest-ranking Enron executive to be convicted in the company's collapse. The next hour, his lawyers are appealing. They're set to tell a Federal court in New Orleans that Skilling's convictions in 2006 should be dismissed or he should get a new trial.
They claim prosecutors hid evidence and used a flawed legal argument. The same appeals court has overturned other Enron-related convictions based on that second claim. Skilling won't be in court. He's serving his 24-year sentence in a Federal prison in Minnesota.
A tough, take-no-prisoners boss, Jeffrey Skilling was one of the kings atop the Everest of energy companies and that was Enron. He also was the highest ranking executive jailed in the aftermath of Enron's colossal failure.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON (voice-over): Jeffrey Skilling already had a gilded resume when he started consulting for Houston-based Enron in the mid 1980s. A BA degree from Southern Methodist University, MBA from Harvard, a member of the high-powered consulting firm McKinsey and Company.
His work impressed Enron founder Kenneth Lay who hired Skilling outright in 1990. As Lay's protege, Skilling rose quickly up the ranks, becoming president and chief operating officer in the mid '90s and about four years later, CEO.
The Enron bubble burst when the company declared bankruptcy in 2001, just after Skilling quit as CEO. Four years later, a jury convicted Skilling and Lay on multi-counts of fraud, conspiracy, insider trading and lying to auditors in Enron's collapse. The debacle led to the loss of thousands of jobs. Over $2 billion in employee pension plans and billions of dollars in Enron stock value.
Skilling is serving a 24-year prison sentence. Lay died less than two months after the trial and a judge erased his convictions.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: What are the legal options ahead for Jeff Skilling? We'll speak with CNN legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.
KEILAR: Now to Zimbabwe where the opposition party claimed Robert Mugabe's days as president are numbered. Official results from Saturday's elections still haven't been released, but the MDC party says its candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai has beat Mugabe by a big enough margin that there should not be a runoff.
A government spokesman calls that claim "nonsense." The opposition can though claim victory in parliament where official results show Mugabe's party has lost its majority. We're working hard to get information directly from Zimbabwe. We're going to be talking with the U.S.-based freelance journalist in a few minutes who is inside the country covering the elections.
CNN, and many other international outlets banned from entering the country to report. And for safety reasons, we're going to be identifying our guest only as Lee. She'll be joining us by phone at the bottom of the hour.
LEMON: And when was the last time -- I don't remember the last time I was able to say this, that it's calm outside today for most of us. Jacqui Jeras, I don't remember. But there are some big changes, so tomorrow and the next day I may not be saying that.
(WEATHER REPORT)
KEILAR: Time now to check what stories you are reading on CNN.com. Number one this hour, it's a special piece by actors Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey. This is for world autism awareness day. They share details on Jenny's autistic son and also on the global battle against the disorder, something that she'll be talking tonight on "LARRY KING LIVE." That is at 9:00 Eastern, only right here on CNN
Well, sorry, Elvis. Mariah Carey just passed the king, marking her 18th number one single on the billboard charts. The singer is now second only to the Beatles, who reported 20 chart toppers.
Also, Wal-Mart changes course, dropping a claim against a disabled woman and her family. This is a story we first brought to you, I think last week here on CNN, so a resolution here. This retail giant, Wal-Mart, had sued to be reimbursed for close to $500,000 worth of medical treatment after Debbie Shank suffered brain damage in an accident. Those stories and much more on CNN.com.
LEMON: That story caused a lot of viewer feedback and a lot of outrage. KEILAR: Because you couldn't really watch it without feeling so much empathy for her and for her husband. We saw that in viewer e- mails and in response. Sure.
LEMON: Randi Kaye is going to talk to us, do a report for us about the story just a little bit later on in the CNN NEWSROOM, can't wait to see that. She had that amazing report yesterday about doctors who drink or have addiction problems and now she's going to talk about this Wal-Mart story a little bit later on Brianna.
And, as you said on this world autism awareness day, that's what we're talking about today. We're going to take an in depth look at the disorder. We'll hear from a father whose family is at the center of a debate over what might cause autism.
KEILAR: And we'll also meet an incredible artist who has lived with autism for three decades.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Some parents of autistic children blame childhood vaccines. You may remember nine-year-old Hannah Poling. Recently, the government's so-called vaccine court conceded her family's claim that vaccines may have helped trigger Hannah's autism.
Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is back with more on that debate on this autism awareness day -- Sanjay?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Don thank you. We are here with Dr. Jon Poling. First of all, he's a neurologist. He's also the father of Hannah Poling. As you just mentioned, her case of autism diagnosis was conceded by the Federal government as having been contributed to by the vaccines. That was a pretty startling thing I think for a lot of people to hear.
We talked to a lot of experts about this. They say, look, vaccines in no way cause autism. You're a neurologist. You're also the father of Hannah. What do you say?
DR. JON POLING, HANNAH'S FATHER: Well, I think you bring up a really important point is that the government, actually the Department of Health and Human Services conceded that my daughter's medical problems, which are autism, encephalopathy seizures were brought on by vaccination.
GUPTA: That's starting I think for a lot of people to hear that, because we've been talking for so long -- you're a doctor, I'm a doctor, we go to medical school, we hear this vaccines obviously. There's so many good things about vaccines. They prevent life- threatening illnesses that we've heard about. But in your daughter's case, it turned out to be a problem.
POLING: I wouldn't have believed it until it happened to me. To be honest with you as a doctor, until it happened to me, until I saw the regression, until I saw a normal 18-month-old toddler descend into autism, I wouldn't have believed it was possible. GUPTA: The experts that I've talked to including the head of - director of the CDC, Dr. Julie Gerbin (ph) says that was a rare case. That is not likely to be the norm, that's likely to be an exception. What do you say to that?
POLING: I think a lot of the media outlets that put out a statement that says, rare, underlying genetic mitochondrial disease. Now that's five words. Four of these are not accurate in the sense that we know now, we didn't know back in 2001 that mitochondrial dysfunction is rare, actually not rare.
Two, we don't know if it was underlying or something that developed later, although certainly there's some genetic underpinnings to it. The only correct word is mitochondrial and the difference between disease and dysfunction which we talked about.
GUPTA: So what you believe is that Hannah have some sort of predisposition and then the vaccines tipped her over the edge into developing autism? What is your belief now?
POLING: I don't think that vaccines are the only way you can tip over a child like Hannah to regress and have encephalopathy and have regressive autism. There are probably multiple triggers. In my daughter, clearly it was the vaccinations. That was our experience.
As far as other families' experiences, it may be different. The other cases that were at Johns Hopkins, there were only a few like Hannah and then others regressed for other reasons. It's not really a known entity.
GUPTA: I think the thing that a lot of parents, and I have to tell you, as a doctor and now as a parent, too. As you know, I have two daughters. I have a two-and-a-half-year-old and a 13-month-old. What does that mean for me Jon? I think they're perfectly normally.
They seem to me to be and they're delightful and I plan on getting them vaccinated. I got my two-and-a-half-year-old vaccinated on time. What advice would you have now having gone through what you've gone through?
POLING: Well, first and foremost, I'm pro-vaccine. I'm in favor of safe vaccination. I'm the last person that wants to see measles or polio come back. I had one of the only cases last year of west Nile induced polio here in Georgia and it's devastating. I think what a parent needs to do now is talk with their pediatrician.
And pediatricians need to actually have a grassroots movement amongst the pediatricians and the AAP to develop safe vaccine schedules for each individual patient. You and I are physicians and we took an oath to our individual patient. We didn't take an oath for the public health or the greater good. So each pediatrician has to focus on that.
GUPTA: All right. Well, Dr. Jon Poling, you're going to be joining us a lot throughout the day today. I appreciate this. This is an issue we're going to keep on, as you know. And Don and Brianna, we're investigating this all day long obviously, toss it back to you. We'll keep talking, thanks.
LEMON: And as I'm hearing, he's going to be on Larry King tonight Sanjay?
GUPTA: That's right. You're going to be on Larry King and with a few other guests as well. So we'll look forward to that.
POLING: I should point out, Hannah's godfather is a pediatrician and I trust these folks are going to look at this issue and develop a safe protocol for us.
GUPTA: Well, a lot of parents paying attention to what you're saying right now, so thanks again for joining us.
POLING: Thank you.
LEMON: All right, thank you very much for that, Dr. Poling and also our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Larry King of course airs tonight, 9:00 p.m. Eastern here on CNN.
With all the conflicting data out there, how can you tell whether your child may be autistic? Our medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, joins us next hour with a test for parents. You can read more about autism online at CNN.com and share your personal stories with an I-report. You can learn more about this mysterious illness and we have a virtual resource center for those with autism. Just log on to CNN.com/autism.
KEILAR: Look at the detail in these cityscapes. Many of them were drawn from memory and they are accurate, folks, drawn by a renowned artist who's been living with autism now for 30-plus years. We'll meet him in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: Snap inspections for airplanes that you fly on. Today it was United, last week, Delta and American. Three weeks ago it was Southwest. And the acting administrator of the FAA Robert Sturgell with details of those inspections just moments ago.
Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT STURGELL, ACTING ADMINISTRATOR, FAA: The special audit that began on March 13th showed us that the system we have in place is effective. All tolled, we performed almost 2400 audits of our air worthiness directives and found a rate of compliance of about 99 percent.
What this means is that the fact that we are currently experiencing the safest period in aviation history is no accident or miracle. It is the result of an entire industry making safety their driving focus. Though our initial audit results are impressive, the results you'll hear later from Nic (ph), we have learned a great deal from this experience and have found ways that we think can increase accountability of all parties, the FAA included, in strength and both reporting role and the regulatory process.
Today, I'm announcing five initiatives that address issues of responsibility, accountability, communications and ethics. Continuous improvement is what makes the system safe already and it's what will make it safer still.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: That was acting administrator of the FAA Robert Sturgell saying that this investigation found that the system in place is effective, but that the FAA found ways to increase the accountability of the FAA, as well as airlines. There were some accusations, you'll recall, from members of Congress that the FAA was being lax in enforcing inspections.
Special investigations unit correspondent, Drew Griffin, actually at this news conference that is still underway. He's been following this story now for weeks. We're going to have him coming up a little later in the NEWSROOM, Don,
And -- sorry about that. I actually want to get you to the New York Stock Exchange. Susan Lisovicz is there to talk about the markets.
Hi there, Susan.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Brianna. We had nearly a 400-point gain yesterday for the Dow industrials and today, we've got nothing. It's really, really quiet.
We did have Ben Bernanke speaking and saying for the first time that it is possible that the U.S. economy could go into a recession this year. That was not in his prepared remarks, but after being questioned by lawmakers on Capitol Hill, we had a good sign on job creation in the private sector, job markets, so perhaps it's a good omen for Friday's jobs report.
And we do have a big surge in oil prices which were declining early this week, but right now crude is up nearly $4. And, well, you can see what the Dow is doing. It is not having a big price increase. Right now the blue chips are down 10 points. Nasdaq is hanging in there, it's up 3 points.
Coming up, as we've been telling you all day, autism touches many lives, including the CEO of the New York Stock Exchange. His son rang the opening bell today to mark World Autism Awareness day. Duncan Niederaur will speak to us live in the next hour of the NEWSROOM -- Brianna
KEILAR: It really is amazing how many lives this disorder touches. Susan, thanks for that. We'll be looking forward to that. Zimbabwe's top opposition party says it is the big winner in Saturday's elections. But President Robert Mugabe is not conceding. What's happening there right now? Hard to get a look inside there, but we're going to have a live report from inside Zimbabwe.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon live at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
KEILAR: And I'm Brianna Keilar, in for Kyra Phillips.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
LEMON: All right. We want to start with some developing news. This is coming out of Miami, Florida, courtesy of our affiliate, WSVN. Not sure what you're looking at. Looks like someone is in police custody there.
But here is the deal that we know for sure from Miami-Dade police. They're saying this mall, which is called the Dolphin Mall, remains on lockdown. And most of the people who were on lockdown -- they have them outside of the mall now. They've gotten them out.
And they have perimeters still set up, sending in K-9 units to search. Possibly -- they said up to two suspects in custody here, and they did not know what the alleged crimes of these suspects were.
So it's not really clear as to what is going on at this mall, but this mall has been on lockdown here. We can see that they've taken some people into custody. But the people who were on lockdown inside of the mall are now out.
We're working to get more information from our affiliates there and also from the Miami-Dade Police Department on exactly were this Dolphin Mall was placed on lockdown. Details to come.
Brianna has another developing story.
KEILAR: That's right. Let's head north to South Carolina where Interstate 26 in the southeastern part of the state has been shut down in both directions. This is according to the "Associated Press," because -- apparently a tanker truck carrying hazardous materials has overturned.
I-26, the highway, of course, that leads right there into Charleston, South Carolina. But this is a little ways away from Charleston near St. George, South Carolina.
What we do know, according to the "Associated Press" is that traffic is being rerouted. Hazmat teams are trying to clean up this situation. And there were no other vehicles involved in the crash. The driver of the tanker, in fact, had only had minor cuts.
So I-26 there in southeastern South Carolina shut down, both directions. We're continuing to follow this situation here. LEMON: We're working on those two developing stories and also some other stories right here in the CNN NEWSROOM today. Lawyers for former Enron CEO, Jeffrey Skilling, begin appealing his court case next hour. They say prosecutors hid evidence and used a flawed legal argument to convict him.
Disturbing new details about this man, accused of trying to sneak bomb-making materials on a Florida to Jamaica flight. According to court papers, Kevin Brown said he planned to build a bomb after he landed. A formal hearing for Brown has been postponed until tomorrow in Orlando so government officials can determine if he is mentally ill.
United Airlines has cancelled more than 30 flights so far today after grounding its fleet of Boeing 777s. The airline found that a routine safety check on part of a fire suppression system had not been done. It could take another day or so to complete those checks.
KEILAR: Now to Zimbabwe where the opposition party claims Robert Mugabe's days as president are numbered. Official results, though, from Saturday's elections still haven't been released. But the MDC party says its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has beat Mugabe by enough of a margin that a runoff is not required.
Well a government spokesman called that "nonsense." The opposition can, though, claim victory in parliament where official results show Mugabe's party lost its majority.
Now CNN, and many other international media, are banned from Zimbabwe. But I am joined right now on the phone from Zimbabwe by a U.S.-based journalist that we're only identifying as "Lee" -- that is for security reasons.
And I'm just wondering, Lee, what is the situation like there on the ground? What are you hearing just from normal people on the street?
VOICE OF LEE, JOURNALIST: Well, Brianna, in Zimbabwe, life continues much as normal. But there is a definite feeling of hope in the air, despite the delay of results. The results are a complete vacuum of information.
These people have nothing to inform them of the election results, other than the government-controlled state TV and radio. They don't have BBC; they don't have CNN. And results are still trickling through on that government-controlled media.
Today I visited the local offices for the Movement for Democratic Change, where their spokesperson, Tabitha Khumwalo, told me that if Zimbabweans -- they just need to have patience in these tense days. They have only recently gotten news that MDC won the majority of parliament and she and the others broke into chants and singing.
However, it was tipped to a minimum because riot police have warned the MDC not to publicly display their feelings until the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has released the official presidential results.
KEILAR: Yes, and we know that there --
LEE: She also quoted what --
KEILAR: -- We know that there have been some reports of MDC folks celebrating and being actually arrested for celebrating in the streets. But, Lee, I'm wondering, is there a sense there that a seat change is either underway or that it's inevitable?
LEE: I think a lot of people don't want to get their hopes up, Brianna. They got their hopes up a couple elections ago, and they're almost scared to believe that this could actually be happening.
These are people that have lived under the same person for 28 years. They are completely subjugated; they are fearful of the riot police; they are fearful of being beaten in the streets. And there have been accusations of people being beaten in the streets for celebrating during this election as well. They fear the army, who critics say that Mugabe could take on his side if the election doesn't swing his way.
And they fear their arrest for their political affiliations. So I think they're worried about displaying their happiness or sadness and they are basically just waiting and praying and hoping that change does come, and soon.
KEILAR: And, Lee, this is your home country. I'm wondering what it is like for you to be covering this story in your home country after being away for so long. And also, tell us about the precautions that you need to take, if you can, obviously for your own safety don't tell us anything that would -- that, you know, that would endanger your safety. But just tell us about that.
LEE: You have to be very, very careful, Brianna. They do not appreciate journalists here. They do not appreciate CNN; they do not appreciate BBC or Sky News. They say that they are Western journalists and therefore I have to be careful and take a lot of precautions.
Always watch where you're going, watch who you're talking to. Make sure you're not in the wrong place at the wrong time. And life in Zimbabwe from when I left, it's like -- a different planet. People that used to have jobs just sit in the streets because there's 80 percent unemployment.
The other day, my photographer and I captured a scene that could have been from a famine area. It was a little girl -- little street girl sleeping in the back alley behind a bakery. She was knee-deep -- she was elbow deep, sorry, in trash and had flies hovering above her.
This isn't something that you should be seeing in Zimbabwe. This is not something that this country that used to be the bread basket of Africa should be going through. We have a lot of natural resources and we could be a lot wealthier than we are. So I think it's -- like a different planet. KEILAR: And, Lee, thank you so much for talking with us.
A rare inside look, of course, because CNN is banned from entering Zimbabwe to cover the situation there.
Thanks for that, Lee.
LEMON: The Iraqi city of Basra is mostly calm, though Iraqi forces are still on the hunt for militants loyal to Shiite cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr. Last week's crackdown set off fierce fighting in Basra, Baghdad and several other cities, ending only with al-Sadr agreed -- when al-Sadr agreed to a truce.
Today the Pentagon is praising Iraqi troops for taking the initiative, even if some weren't up to the challenge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAJ. GEN. KEVIN BERGNER, MULTINATIONAL FORCES IRAQ: Overall, the majority of the Iraqi security forces performed their mission, though some were not up to the task and the government of Iraq is taking the necessary actions in those cases.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The top U.S. commander in Iraq will be in Washington next week, along with the U.S. ambassador. They'll testify before a Senate committee next Tuesday.
KEILAR: Take a look now at the detail in this cityscape and another cityscape that we're going to show you. Now, many were actually drawn from memory. And if can you believe it, they are accurate. They were drawn by a renowned artist who's been leaving with autism for 30-plus years. We'll be meeting him, in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. Well, hit by some terrible publicity, Wal- Mart is dropping its demand for hundreds of thousands of dollars from a disabled former employee. It's a story our Randi Kaye has been reporting and it's one that's drawn a lot -- a lot -- of viewer reaction and comments on CNN.com.
Here's a look back at the Shank family's ordeal.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In May of 2000, a semi truck plowed into her minivan on this Missouri highway. Debbie's brain took the brunt of it.
Today, she lives in a nursing home. Jim Shank works two jobs to help pay the bills and his bank account may soon take another hit.
(on-camera): Eight years ago when she started stocking shelves at this Wal-Mart near her home, Debbie signed up for the company's health and benefits plan. So she was covered, and her family says the bills were paid promptly. What Debbie didn't notice, her husband says, is a tiny clause in the plan's paperwork that says Wal-Mart has the right to recoup medical expenses if the employee also collects damages in a lawsuit.
(voice-over): In 2002, the Shanks settled with the trucking company. After legal fees, $417,000 was put in a trust for Mrs. Shank's care. The family's lawyer says he told Wal-Mart about the settlement.
Then in 2005, Wal-Mart's health plan asked for its money back and sued the Shanks for about $470,000 -- money it had paid to cover Debbie's medical bills. The court ruled in Wal-Mart's favor.
(on-camera): The fact is is Wal-Mart isn't doing anything wrong here. It is their legal right to recoup this money.
JIM SHANK, DEBBIE'S HUSBAND: They are quite within their rights. But I just wonder if they need it that bad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: And next hour, we'll get a live update from Randi Kaye, who's spoken with the family about Wal-Mart's change of heart.
KEILAR: A man pleads guilty to drunken driving. Wait until you hear his daughter's frantic phone call for help.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: Like many children with autism, Stephen Wiltshire lived in a world of his own -- that is until he discovered art. At 33 he's an accomplished artist whose works have been displayed all over the world. They have brought him countless honors and a permanent gallery at the Royal Opera Arcade in London. That is where he was when I talked with him earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHEN WILTSHIRE, ARTIST WITH AUTISM: Sometimes I remember things very well and -- and so many -- I just was accounting of some blocks of buildings and the skylines and towers.
KEILAR: And, Stephen --
WILTSHIRE: And -- I see everything.
KEILAR: Stephen, do you remember how old you were when you started drawing?
WILTSHIRE: I was -- started drawing about -- when I was -- at five-years-old. And when I was at Queenswell School in London.
KEILAR: What is your favorite city to draw? You've been so many places, but what is the best place? WILTSHIRE: New York is my favorite city. I've -- the -- I see the Empire State Building, Chrysler Building and the street scenes of New York, and New York yellow taxis.
KEILAR: There's actually one painting that you did of the Manhattan skyline, actually the lower Manhattan skyline. There's a subway car in the foreground, but that actually means that that cityscape hasn't existed for seven years. Did you do that from memory or did you do this from a photo?
WILTSHIRE: I did it from the photograph.
KEILAR: Looking at your artwork, so much of it is black and white.
WILTSHIRE: Yes.
KEILAR: But some things are in color -- yellow taxi cabs in New York, red double-decker buses in London. And I notice that you really seem to like taxis and buses. Why do you use color only in certain areas?
WILTSHIRE: It's a good idea to get the texture and to look nice and to do some colors. I like buildings a lot and American cars a lot and -- I've been doing some people. It makes me feel very comfortable doing my work.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: While CNN is officially banned from reporting inside Zimbabwe, we do have a CNN reporter there now. And for security reasons, we're not identifying the reporter but she joins us now buy phone with the very latest.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello, Don.
I can tell you that right now here in Zimbabwe, in the areas of the country that we've seen, things are eerily quiet. A lot more quiet than they would usually be. Everyone is on edge waiting to see exactly what will happen.
Just to bring you up to speed, so far the electoral commission, the people that should be giving some of the election results have given preliminary results for parliamentary results, but not for the presidential race. And that is key.
This afternoon, the opposition declared that they had won. That was, Don, a very provocative move. Some here in the city are feeling -- and everyone is waiting to see if the electoral commission, that is supposed to be independent, will come out and verify their results and declare the opposition the winner in this contest or declare that there has to be a run-off, or even perhaps that Robert Mugabe has won.
Everyone is just waiting to see what those electoral results will be. As I said, Don, the situation here on the ground is very, very quiet and very, very tense. There are not a lot of cars on the road, and certainly not a lot of people on the road.
Everyone is absolutely thirsty for information. If they believe that you think you have information, they will stop you on the street and ask you for that information. A lot of their information, in fact, for anyone that can get their hands on -- is CNN (ph). They feel that they're in a real information backing at this point and no one really knows what's going on.
LEMON: And we understand also there have been calls for Mugabe to concede?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There have. And Don we can't say that those talks aren't progressing. I can tell you that behind the scenes, diplomatically, the U.S. government and others are working very hard in, quite frankly, channels of communication that they've been establishing now for years to try and talk to some dissident factions in the ruling party, those in Mugabe's inner circle, to try and convince him to step down and retire.
The problem is no one knows if those -- if anyone in that group is actually even going to concede or if Robert Mugabe himself will decide that it is time for him to go. Everything hinges here, Don, on -- if there can be a resolution to this peacefully. Everyone knows the risks if this entire things unravels.
LEMON: And just to clarify for us, official results shows Mugabe's party has lost control of parliament, but there are no official results on the actual presidential race, yet?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No -- there's been an independent commission here that has announced that, in fact, the opposition did win the majority of -- not a majority of the vote, but did in fact take more of the votes. But they say that perhaps -- which could be necessary -- a run-off would be risky and still highly contentious. That again is based on an official, random sampling of what happened at the polls.
LEMON: And since you're there and you're saying that everything is quiet, I would imagine getting into Zimbabwe was not an easy task. And even though it's quiet, I'm sure tensions are high there and people are sort of looking over their shoulder, especially the journalists.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Most definitely. And it is something that you try -- you approach with great caution, but it is only a fraction of what people in this country are feeling right now. All of them have been looking over their shoulders for years. They do not know exactly at any point in time how they might step out of line and run afoul of the government.
Beyond that, for many of them, it's just a question of survival at this point. There -- I can tell you I've gone through the stores up and down from what I could see coming in, there is not a lot of food to buy, even if they had any money to buy it with.
Don, people here want change. They know they need change, even the Mugabe's inner circle are starting to suffer the consequences of the economic collapse. The problem is, as you said, everyone is looking over their shoulders, unsure of who they can trust and what is going to happen next.
LEMON: And real quickly, the official results expected on Friday?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Expected on Friday, but it is very, very difficult. And you know, some people here want to give the independent Electoral Commission the benefit of the doubt. They say it's the first time they've held presidential and parliamentary elections together. It's a difficult ballot to try and assess and they want to be very careful.
I also know that they have been dealing with the diplomatic missions here to try to get advice on what to do. But the silence, it is the utter silence right now from the government, from the electoral commission, that is really making -- it's really unnerving people here.
LEMON: Thank you so much for that and be safe there. We appreciate you calling.
Again, we cannot say who the CNN correspondent is. We are officially banned, as are other news organizations, banned from reporting inside Zimbabwe. But we do have a CNN reporter there and for security reasons we cannot identify her. She is joining us now by telephone.
Don't understand how -- if you understand the importance of what's going on here, Brianna. The government, which was in place there, did not want any of this getting out, did not want any foreign journalists coming into Zimbabwe and reporting on this and CNN did get someone in.
So -- information here is at a premium, and finally we may be able to get some official information and some good old gumshoe reporting from Zimbabwe. Thank you very much.
KEILAR: Why did this judge order white people out of his courtroom? And if he had good intentions, why is he admitting now that he made a mistake?
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KEILAR: If E.T. phones home, guess who's paying for the call? You are. That's right. Your tax dollars are helping scientists scan the sky for extra signs of extraterrestrial. And that is just one of dozens of items on a consumer watch dog group's latest list of pork- barrel spending.
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MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CHIEF TECHNOLOGY & ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT: Nothing cuter than tiny goslings. But when they grow up, a gaggle can sure make you gag. What with all those green, slimy calling cards they leave behind.
Biologist Carla Wagner has a solution -- birth control for geese. She finds a nest and when the mother goose is not taking a gander, drops the eggs in a container of water. Those that float are further along and get spared. Those that sink are less developed, so Carla coats them with corn oil.
CARLA WAGNER, BIOLOGIST: It coats the surface of the shell and prevents any gas from being exchanged. So no oxygen in, no other gases out and it completely stops all development.
O'BRIEN: After the eggs are oiled, Carla puts them back in the nest.
WAGNER: She'll come back up and sit right back on them, like nothing happened.
O'BRIEN: If Carla removed the eggs, the geese would just lay another clutch.
But, kids, don't try this at home. There's nothing silly about an angry goose.
WAGNER: Even if they attack you, you're not allowed to do any harm to them. The male is coming already.
O'BRIEN: The paddle is just to push them gently out of the way. The geese themselves are not so gentle.
WAGNER: That didn't do any damage, did it?
O'BRIEN: No damage this time. For Carla Wagner, it's just another day, another wild goose chase.
Miles O'Brien, CNN.
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