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U.S. Ship Fires Warning Shots; Three New York Police Detectives Acquitted in Shooting Death of Unarmed Man; Was Polygamist Tip a Hoax?

Aired April 25, 2008 - 10:59   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good morning, everybody, on this Friday. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Betty Nguyen, in for Heidi Collins.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Tony Harris.

Stay informed all day in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Here's what's on the rundown.

Breaking news. Three New York City detectives hear the verdicts. A crowd reacts with anger and disbelief -- not guilty in the death of an unarmed man on his wedding day.

NGUYEN: Barack Obama's preacher firing back at his critics. We're going to tell you what he said about his controversial sermons in a PBS interview.

HARRIS: It sounds like a broken record but it's a new one for gas prices today, Friday, April 25th.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And at the top of the hour, let's bring in our Pentagon correspondent, Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre.

Jamie, more problems it seems in the Persian Gulf between, in this case, a U.S. contracted vessel and possibly Iranian boats.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Tony. On a day when the Pentagon is complaining about rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran, we have word of another incident that happened in the Persian Gulf.

This one yesterday between, as you said, a contract ship, a cargo ship under contract to the U.S. Military Sealift Command taking some supplies to Kuwait. They got in a little confrontation with, again, what appeared to be a couple of those Iranian patrol boats that have been out in the Persian Gulf.

Now, Iran always says they are just sending the boats out to check out on what's going on, but the ship says that they used a series of escalatory warnings to try to warn the boats away, including sounding the ship's whistles, some bridge-to-bridge communications, and eventually the cargo ship resorted to firing some warning shots before those small patrol boats turned around and went back away from the ship. This happened about 50 miles off the coast of Iran, in the international waters in the Persian Gulf.

And again, it's just an example of some of the tension that is at play there in the Persian Gulf between the U.S. military ships and commercial shipping and the Iranians who are trying to exert their control over the Persian Gulf as well -- Tony.

HARRIS: Boy, this feels increasingly dangerous. Someone's going to make a miscalculation here. And who knows where that takes us.

Jamie McIntyre for us at the Pentagon.

Jamie, thanks.

NGUYEN: Well, a hail of bullets and an outcry of disbelief. Three New York police detectives acquitted on all charges in the shooting death of an unarmed man. The news, well, it sparked anger outside the Queens courthouse. And that's where we find CNN's Deborah Feyerick.

What's the atmosphere like now? Because a little bit earlier, it was very testy. You saw people obviously angry, also people crying.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, a couple of people crying, as a matter of fact. But right now it's really quiet.

There are a couple of people here, Parents Against Police Brutality. But right after the verdict there was a sense of pandemonium out here.

Police had virtually surrounded the courthouse. People who were hearing about the verdict, who had supported Sean Bell and the others, they started screaming, "Murderers! Murderers!" They began crying -- "No justice, no peace."

A sense of relief on the part of detectives. All three acquitted of the charges.

The judge saying he simply did not believe the prosecution witnesses. He said there were too many contradictions, and that some of those who testified actually had a motive to lie. You have to keep in mind there is a wrongful death lawsuit, and that could be worth many millions of dollars depending on the outcome of that.

Now, the fiancee, Nicole Bell, she lost her groom that day, just hours before her wedding. He was at the driver's seat in the car, a car that began to pull away when police officers opened fire, thinking that they were being attacked by the men in the car. Police say that they saw somebody reach for a gun and that's when they began firing their weapons.

Now, the mayor, Michael Bloomberg, he issued a statement, and he urged calm. He said that there are other ways to handle this. He said, "There are no winners a trial like this. An innocent man lost his life. A bridge lost his groom. Two daughters lost their father. And a mother and father has lost their son. No verdict could ever end the grief that those that knew and loved Sean Bell suffer."

Now, the judge again simply said he did not believe the prosecution's case. The district attorney is scheduled to come out any minute in order to explain what happened.

Now, I did speak to somebody, somebody with 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement, and they frankly told me they were not impressed by the case that the district attorney put on. And they were a little bit disappointed, calling it very dispassionate.

It was a tough job for prosecutors because, again, many NYPD officers make their cases on any given day. Now they have three detectives themselves on trial. And some people thought that was a conflict of interest.

But again, we're going to hear from the district attorney a little later on. Right now pretty quiet, but one man said this city is a powder keg ready to erupt. They're not going to stand for this again -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Well, you know, on that note, though, this isn't over yet. As we wait to hear from the district attorney, hasn't Sean Bell's father asked the federal authorities to get involved in this?

FEYERICK: Well, the federal authorities have been monitoring this from the very, very beginning. I spoke to them earlier in the week. They said if the verdict was not guilty, if the detectives were acquitted, then they would review the entire case from start to finish to see whether in fact they might be able to file any civil rights violations, if there were any civil rights violations. So they are going to take a close look at that.

NYPD, they're also going to have a departmental review. They've got to see about the officers' actions that night. One of those officers fired 31 times, didn't even realize he had fired that many. Thought his gun had jammed, and that's why he unloaded when he was out of bullets.

So, all of this -- this is really just the start. But for the family of Sean Bell, very, very disappointed. When they left this courthouse just behind me, they came down the steps, they were supposed to make a statement. They said nothing. And that in itself speaks volumes -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Absolutely. And in face, we're going to have much more on this.

Deborah, we do want to thank you.

But we want to let our viewers know that, as she mentioned, a news conference with District Attorney Richard Brown is expected at any minute. You're looking at the room where that's going to take place. And when it does, CNN will bring it to you live.

HARRIS: Who was Sean Bell? Here's a closer look.

He was 23 years old when he was killed. He was unarmed at the time of the shooting. A fact not disputed. That date, November 25, 2006.

The shooting took place just hours before his wedding. He leaves behind a fiancee and two daughters.

More details now on the officers and the allegations against them.

Detective Michael Oliver allegedly fired, as you just hear, 31 of 50 shots. He and the other detectives were working undercover at the time. He said he feared for his life when the shooting erupted.

Detective Gescard Isnora allegedly fired 11 shots. Both he and Detective Oliver were charged with manslaughter, assault and reckless endangerment.

Detective Marc Cooper's leg was bruised by Bell's moving car. He allegedly fired four shots and was charged with reckless endangerment.

Want to give you an opportunity here to sound off on the verdict. What are your thoughts?

We usually send you to iReport and we ask you to type in and send your pictures and photos and your thoughts, and whatever else. But at this time we created a bit of a shortcut for you.

Just go to ireport.com. There you can offer us some feedback, your thoughts on the verdict this morning. And you can see and read some of the comments of others -- ireport.com.

NGUYEN: Well, President Bush this morning confirming something we all know. And that is Americans are feeling the sting of a weak economy. Mr. Bush hoping a tax rebate stimulus and those checks will help ease the pain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This money is going to help Americans offset the high prices we are seeing at the gas pump and at the grocery store. And it will also give our economy a boost to help us pull out of this economic slowdown.

I'm pleased that the Treasury Department has worked quickly to get the money into the hands of the American people. Starting Monday, the effects of the stimulus will begin to reach millions of households across our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: All right. So, rebates, they start going out next week to some 130 million taxpayers. And they are going to range anywhere from $300 thon $1,200.

Speaking of money, let's talk about those gas prices. Yes, so while you were sleeping, they actually shot up another two cents overnight. We're paying nearly 14 cents more than we were at the beginning of the week.

AAA reporting a gallon of regular unleaded now averaging nearly $3.58. Premium goes for $3.93. And diesel, $4.23.

Keep watching CNN. Our money team has you covered. Whether it is jobs, debt, housing or savings, you can join us for a special report. It is called "ISSUE #1: THE ECONOMY." It's all this week at noon Eastern, only on CNN.

HARRIS: Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton doing battle in two critical states -- Indiana and North Carolina, which hold primaries in less than two weeks.

Senator Clinton is speaking to voters in Jacksonville, North Carolina, this morning. Her focus, military and veteran affairs. She then heads to Indiana to attend two events dubbed "Solutions for the American Economy."

Senator Obama is in Indiana, hoping to cut into Clinton's support among white blue collar workers. He is scheduled to speak at a town hall meeting in Kokomo, Indiana. That's tonight.

And focusing only on the November race, the presumptive Republican nominee John McCain today speaking to college students in Little Rock, Arkansas. McCain is also scheduled to meet up with a former rival, one time presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee.

Breaking his silence, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Senator Barack Obama's former pastor, whose fiery sermon has been seen over and over again on the Internet and television, now for the first time he's addressing that controversy and the political firestorm it unleashed. Wright tells PBS' Bill Moyers those snippets of his sermon where he is heard condemning the United States were taken out of context.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REV. JEREMIAH WRIGHT, SEN. BARACK OBAMA'S FMR. PASTOR: When something is taken like a sound bit for a political purpose and put constantly over and over again, looped in the face of the public, that's not a failure to communicate. Those who are doing that are communicating exactly what they want to do, which is to paint me as some sort of fanatic, or as the learned journalist from "The New York Times" called me, a wackadoodle.

BILL BOYERS, HOST, "BILL MOYERS JOURNAL": What do you think they wanted to communicate?

WRIGHT: I think they wanted to communicate that I'm unpatriotic and I'm un-American, that I'm filled with hate speech. That I have a cult at Trinity United Church of Christ. And, by the way, guess who goes to his church? Hint, hint, hint. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Reverend Wright was also asked about Senator Obama's political opinions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOYERS: In the 20 years since you've been his pastor, have you ever heard him repeat any of your controversial statements.

WRIGHT: No.

MOYERS: Has his opinion...

WRIGHT: No. No, absolutely not. I don't talk to him about politics.

And so here at political event, he goes out as a politician and says what he has to say as a politician. I continue to be a pastor that speaks to the people of God about the things of God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Wright says he is used to being at odds with the establishment, but he says the outcry over his sermons preached years ago has been "unsettling."

NGUYEN: Well, was the call that sparked a raid on a polygamist ranch in Texas just a hoax?

We're going to take a closer look at the Colorado woman authorities are now investigating in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Let's take you live to New York, where a news conference is under way right now. And dealing with the verdict from the Sean Bell case. This is Queens district attorney Richard Brown.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

RICHARD BROWN, QUEENS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: ... and I accept his verdict. And I urge certainly that all fair-minded people in this city do the same.

While the criminal proceedings have now been concluded, the public debate as to what occurred has raised some very important issues with regard to current law enforcement practices and police community relations issues that require careful examination. The police department has already taken some important steps in that direction.

They have commissioned a number of studies into police practices and procedures, including a RAND Corporation study on (INAUDIBLE) best practices and an in-house review panel on undercover procedures, all in an effort to gain an insight into how to improve the quality and effectiveness of those procedures. They have accepted a number of recommendations already, including, perhaps most notably, that which requires alcohol testing for police officers involving shooting incidents, both on and off duty, as well as improving how it is that undercover officers are recruited and trained and supervised and retained.

But it is clear to me and I think our entire trial team, based upon the evidence that was presented to the court, that much more needs to be done. The trial evidence insofar as the undercover operations and around the club (INAUDIBLE) on November 25 of 2006 reveals significant deficiencies. And among other things, supervision, tactical planning, communications, management, accountability, insufficiencies that need to be addressed. Prompt and serious attention must be given to implementing more of the in-house review committee's recommendations...

NGUYEN: All right. You have been listening to Queens district attorney Richard Brown talking about, one, that he accepts the verdict today that has acquitted all three detectives on all accounts involving the shooting death of Sean Bell, but he also went on to say that this case raised a lot of issues, a lot of questions about law enforcement procedures and practices. And he says that studies into those practices and procedures are under way and changes are being made.

So that's the latest out of Queens and the district attorney there.

We will continue to follow this case. And you can do the same. In fact, if you want to continue watching this news conference live, all you have to do is go to CNN.com.

But in the meantime, more children from that Texas polygamist ranch, well, they're expected to be bused off to group homes today.

And CNN's Susan Roesgen is in San Angelo, Texas.

Susan, I understand the polygamist group is actually fighting back in court. Tell us the latest here.

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They are, Betty. They are actually fighting in two ways.

First, the mothers who have been separated from their children. The children being sent off on buses again today, more buses rolling away from the San Angelo Coliseum to those group homes.

The mothers have filed an appeal asking to be reunited with their children. But as you see, it is already happening. They are already being separated.

The second fight is a fight over the raid that actually started this investigation. Ranch leaders claim that that raid was set in motion by a hoax phone call, and so the raid should not stand. The search and arrest warrants should not stand. But child abuse investigators say that's not true. They say it is just as if a fire department received a phony phone call of a fire. If the fire department goes out and finds a fire, they are going to put it out anyway, regardless of whether the original call was a hoax or not. Child abuse investigators say this case is like that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARRELL AZAR, TEXAS CHILD PROTECTIVE SERVICES: It doesn't matter to us really whether or not the original one was a hoax or not. We don't know. But what we do know is when we got there, we found children being abused. And therefore, we had to take action.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROESGEN: And that's why most of the children have been separated from their parents.

All of the children over the age of 5 are being sent, Betty, to group homes across the state of Texas, away from their parents. Nursing mothers -- and there are 17 of those -- are being allowed to stay with their children in whatever group home setting they are sent. They are being allowed to continue to breast-feed their babies in these group homes, while another 23 mothers who have very young children, under the age of 2, are going to be accommodate housing in the same towns as their children. At least near the group shelters.

Everybody else, it's going to be wherever they are sent, and some of those group homes are as far away as Houston, which is 500 miles from here. So there is a real question whether the mothers of those children would be able to see them or not -- Betty.

NGUYEN: All right. CNN's Susan Roesgen joining us live.

Thank you, Susan.

HARRIS: So what do you say we take a big step back and recall how we got here.

She said her name was Sarah and claimed she was raped by her much older husband. Her phone call led to the custody battle involving hundreds of children from a polygamist compound in Texas.

CNN's Gary Tuchman reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): April, 2008, the mug shot of a 33-year-old woman who may have made phony phone calls that set off the raid of a polygamist ranch in Eldorado, Texas.

June, 2005, the same woman in police custody in Colorado.

This is Rosita Swinton, who is suspected of pretending she was a 16-year-old sexual abuse victim named Sarah at the FLDS ranch. So it's notable why she's in this room three years earlier.

CPL. RANDALL SPEAECT, CASTLE ROCK, COLORADO, POLICE: You have the right to remain silent. Do you understand that?

ROSITA SWINTON, SUSPECTED OF MAKING FALSE REPORT TO POLICE: I didn't lie to you.

SPEAECT: Well, that's what I need.

SWINTON: But that's what you're telling me I did.

TUCHMAN: Swinton had been charged with making strikingly similar allegations to Castle Rock, Colorado, police.

SWINTON: I ain't lying.

ANGELA COPELAND, SPOKESWOMAN, CASTLE ROCK, COLORADO, POLICE: She told the people on the other end of the line that she was a 16-year- old named Jessica, that she had just given birth to a son that she thought was the result of an inappropriate sexual relationship with her father.

SPEAECT: Is there a baby that we need to be concerned about?

SWINTON: No.

TUCHMAN: She was being questioned by Detective Randall Speaect.

SPEAECT: It was an odd interview.

TUCHMAN: A few months later, she allegedly started calling this 911 center in Colorado Springs, telling this woman...

KELLY SEAMAN, 911 SUPERVISOR: She was a 16-year-old who was abducted by an uncle.

TUCHMAN: Police say those calls went on for more than two years.

And then days before the Texas raid, former FLDS member Flora Jessop, who helps children leave the sect, started getting mysterious phone calls from a girl saying she was 16.

FLORA JESSOP, FORMER FLDS MEMBER: She told me her name was Sarah. She told me that she was beaten all the time, she was on medication, she was locked away in a basement.

TUCHMAN: Then the raid. Police say their probable cause, phone calls from a girl named Sarah. Even afterward, Flora still getting calls. One when we were with her, the caller now saying she was Sarah's twin sister and also being abused.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Am I going to get in trouble?

F. JESSOP: No, you're not going to get in trouble.

SWINTON: I called you guys because I wanted you to help me. TUCHMAN: As a result of the phone calls in Castle Rock, Colorado, Swinton was mentally evaluated and placed on probation as part of a plea deal.

Meanwhile, police in Colorado Springs arrested her last week on a charge of false reporting for the calls to the 911 center there.

And now, Texas officials say her phone number matches a phone number traced in connection with the FLDS case. But as of now, no arrest has been made.

We looked for Rosita Swinton, who is free on bond and lived two hours south of Denver. But it appears she's staying elsewhere.

(on camera): Why she does what she does is a mystery. But if Rosita Swinton was the caller to Texas officials, there would be no more mystery about Sarah's whereabouts. This would be Sarah.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Colorado Springs, Colorado.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: And coming up, for most patients, the results, well, they are great. But what happens when lasik surgeries lead to serious side-effects? The FDA is asking today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

HARRIS: Let's talk about the numbers game here. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama each claiming to be the top overall vote-getter. How can that be?

Here is CNN's Candy Crowley.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Obama supporters call this new math.

SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm very proud that as of today, I have received more votes by the people who have voted than anybody else.

CROWLEY: It is only true if you count the Michigan primary, which was not sanctioned by the party, and where Barack Obama was not on the ballot. But it is the newest argument in Hillary Clinton's superdelegate repertoire. She hopes it will boost her case that she is the most electable.

CLINTON: We need a commander in chief who is ready on day one to keep our country safe.

CROWLEY: Absent Michigan, Obama leads in the popular vote, has more pledged delegates, and has won more states. That's his superdelegate strategy.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The way we're going to close the deal is by winning. And right now we are winning.

And, you know, what we will do is keep on campaigning in Indiana and North Carolina and Oregon and these other states. And at the conclusion of all these contest, people will go back and take a look and say, who has won?

CROWLEY: It is almost certain that Obama will still have the most pledged delegates and most states won when the primary season is over. But superdelegates can use any yardstick.

Her broad case is that he's unelectable, unknown, and untested, and will get eaten alive by Republicans she has faced down for more than a decade. The electability case is made directly to superdelegates behind closed doors, but only gently alluded to in public. "He can be elected. I will be elected," she told "The Philadelphia Inquirer."

Fresh off Pennsylvania, the Clinton campaign is also stirring concern that Obama's struggle to win working class white votes means he will lose big states Democrats need in the fall. A new twist to her argument the state she has won have more electoral votes than his.

Today, the Obama campaign pushed back with a memo to superdelegates containing a lengthy list of state polls where he is winning against McCain by wider margins than she is. It also notes that, "... Senator Clinton... would enter the fall campaign with the highest unfavorable ratings of any nominee in half a century."

In the end, the math may be the most persuasive. The question is what map? Pledged delegates, popular vote, electoral votes?

"That," said one unpledged delegate, "is why I stay awake at night praying we don't have to make this decision."

Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And you can find more on the candidates at CNNPolitics.com. CNNPolitics.com is your source for everything political.

NGUYEN: A small-town teenager held for plotting a school bombing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, he looked like a nice, well kid. You know, well behaved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Heartbreak on Main Street. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Not guilty. Just a short time ago a judge acquitted three New York detectives in the shooting death of a groom on his wedding day. The announcement sparked anger and tears among some outside the courthouse in Queens. Groom Sean Bell was killed and two of his friends were wounded in the November 2006 shooting. And officers, well, they fired a total of 50 shots.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK LYNCH, PATROLMEN'S BENEVOLENT ASSN.: Every time a police officer goes on the street, there is never a script. We have to deal with circumstances as they come. This was a tragedy with the death. It's a tragedy for all police officers that have to live with the difficult job we do. But nonetheless, we are grateful for this outcome.

LEROY GADSEN, NEW YORK STATE NAACP: If the law was in effect here, if the judge followed the law, truly these officers would have been found guilty. If you look into the New York state penal laws, it lays out the justification, must be a threat to one's self or someone else. That threat was never proven in this court.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Now the detectives say they did believe that their lives were in danger, but no gun was found near Bell or his friends.

Take a live look. This is in Queens, New York at the grave site of Sean Bell. People have come to gather today. A lot of them, as we had mentioned, outraged by the verdict. To give you a little idea of how difficult this has to be for Nicole Bell, Sean Bell's fiancee, she says she brings her two children, fathered by Sean Bell, to this grave every week. Again, Sean Bell was just 23 years old, and he was killed just hours before his wedding.

HARRIS: Well, he sold one of the guns used in the Virginia Tech shootings. Last night Eric Thompson visited the campus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC THOMPSON, ONLINE GUN DEALER: To read somebody that says that I hope that your children die in the same fashion or I hope somebody breaks into your house and shoots every one of your kids in the head, that's something that I had to read.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Extra campus police were present, but there was no trouble. Thompson is in favor of letting students carry weapons on campuses. About 60 students attended the event.

NGUYEN: A small South Carolina town trying to understand why a teenager would want to kill his classmates.

Here's CNN's Rusty Dornin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He was an honors student, well liked, just weeks from graduation. But authorities say unbeknownst to family and friends 18-year-old Ryan Schallenberger was planning a murderous bombing spree at his high school. His parents called police when they opened a package and found 20 pounds of ammonium nitrate, the same material used in the Oklahoma City bombing. Police say Schallenberger bought it on eBay.

SHERIFF SAM PARKER, CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, S.C.: They began their own investigation, and I think went into their son's room and found documentation that was brought to us, which was research of the Columbine shooting.

DORNIN: The Columbine killers, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, dressed in trench coats, and isolated themselves with their odd behavior. That wasn't Schallenberger's m.o., according to fellow students.

DECLAN ROLLINS, STUDENT: I would expect somebody else to do it, like some crazy psycho that wore black every day. But he wasn't like that. He dressed like me, and had his hair nice and fixed and stuff like that. I mean, he looked like a nice, well kid, you know, well behaved.

DORNIN: Chesterfield, South Carolina, population, 1,300 or so, established in 1785. If there was ever a model for small-town America this is it, complete with Main Street as its heart. For people here, high school sports are the major source of entertainment and pride.

(on camera): The nearest shopping mall, the nearest theater to Chesterfield is 40 miles away. So what do high school kids do after school? Well, a lot of them hang out across the street from the feed store.

(voice-over): That's where we found Baron Adams, a classmate, but he says Schallenberger never came here.

(on camera): When you say he had his own group, were they -- did they isolate themselves from the rest of the kids?

BARON ADAMS, STUDENT: They sat outside. But I mean, they weren't weird or anything. I went out there and talked to them a good bit.

DORNIN (voice-over): Friends who knew Schallenberger say he crossed the sensitive lines of high school cliques to chat with ease.

(on camera): Did you ever hear anything that people were picking on him that would make him angry?

ADAMS: People say now that people did. But I didn't see anything. DORNIN (voice-over): Two days before his arrest, Schallenberger banged his head against the wall at his home and his mother called police. Prosecutors say the parents sought mental help for their son, but it's unclear what help, if any, they got. Schallenberger left behind an audiotape. Prosecutors will only say it was more a call for help than a murderous rant. Sheriff Sam Parker says the town is downright bewildered.

SHERIFF SAM PARKER, CHESTERFIELD, S.C.: It's a family-oriented industrial town where -- you know, we have a lot of hard working people. We're devastated. We're all heartbroken and we're trying to deal with it.

DORNIN: Schallenberger is in jail on suicide watch, facing state and federal charges, including attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. If convicted, he could get life in prison. Prosecutors said they have no idea why Schallenberger wanted to do this. He did tell authorities he also planted pipe bombs, but won't say where and none have been found. Everyone in this quiet little town hopes they simply don't exist.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, Chesterfield, South Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Rob Marciano is watching severe thunderstorm warnings and some flood warnings that are popping up in the Midwest. He will break it all down for us after a quick break.

You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: The new "Fortune" 500 list is out this week and you might already know who's No. 1 but we're looking at some of the names behind the numbers. And before we tell you who they are, we're going to give you time to take a guess.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He got his start in women's clothing, and he's still into the lotion and lingerie. He's also the longest- serving CEO on this year's list. Who's the billionaire with an interest in all things beautiful? Find that out after the break.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Which "Fortune" 500 CEO has the most years under his belt? Leslie Wexner opened the first Limited store in 1963 with a loan from his aunt. Almost 45 years later, Wexner is still the man at the top. Limited brands now include other stores, such as Victoria's Secret and Bath and Body Works. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Rob Marciano standing by in the severe weather center. And we want to get Rob, our friends in the Midwest an update on all of the -- boy, what, thunderstorm warnings that you're seeing, yes.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, couple of those. And then this flooding is a problem, Tony and Betty.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MARCIANO: Here's San Francisco, check it out. Who gets tired of this shot? Oh, isn't that nice? That is good stuff round low (ph).

HARRIS: Yes, that's good stuff, Rob.

MARCIANO: Golden Gate there all intact and looking special and lots of sunshine today.

HARRIS (singing): On a clear day.

MARCIANO: Thanks, KGO (ph) .

NGUYEN: Is that all you're going to sing?

HARRIS: That's all I'm ...

NGUYEN: I thought we'd -- continue, you know.

MARCIANO: Have a nice weekend, you guys.

NGUYEN: Yes. you, too, Rob.

HARRIS: Yes, you too, Rob. Thanks for saving me.

NGUYEN: OK, so let's talk about this. Maximum penalty for Wesley Snipes. The actor slapped with a three-year prison sentence for failing to file tax returns. He emerged from a Florida court yesterday appearing in good spirits to a crowd there. Prior to sentencing, Snipes asked the court for mercy and wrote the government $5 million in checks as a gesture of goodwill. But a judge said the action star showed a history of contempt for tax laws and his attorneys say they will appeal the sentence.

HARRIS: He's not the shy type. A billboard that shouts out the big question: hey, Steph, want to go to the prom?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Senator Hillary Clinton's win in Pennsylvania apparently not having a whole lot of impact in Indiana. A new poll of likely Democratic voters taken after the Pennsylvania vote and just released shows Clinton still running neck and neck with Senator Barack Obama.

Forty-eight percent of the Indiana voters say they support Senator Obama. Forty-seven percent support Senator Clinton. Five percent are still unsure and the poll has a five point sampling error. Now, a poll taken in March also shows the two candidates in a dead heat with Clinton slightly ahead of Obama. Indiana holds its primary May 6th and CNN is there to cover it for you.

HARRIS: Whether the U.S. is in a recession or not is not up for debate in some states. They're already there. Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange with details for us.

Susan, and I suppose this has a lot to do with the housing crisis in these states.

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

NGUYEN: And talking about gloom on a Friday, take a look at this new video in to CNN. It's from Denver, Iowa. And man, that is some flooding coming up into the neighborhoods there.

Here's what we know. Emergency crews evacuated about 40 people from the west side in Denver, Iowa, that is, this morning. It's set up an emergency shelter down at city hall. Heavy rains had pushed a creek out of its banks and even threatened homes. And you're looking at some of that right now.

Couple hours later, crews did allow folks to return to their homes and a lot of them decided forget about it, I'm going to go stay elsewhere. And people have started to sandbag, to protect the west side of town that -- there is a look at some of the flooding that is occurring in Denver, Iowa today.

HARRIS: Still to come, a story to tug at your heart on this Friday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because the last time I touched her, she was just that little baby. I just can't believe this is happening after all these years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Abandoned baby, guardian angel, together again.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: In Lake Township, Ohio, a teenage boy asked his girlfriend to the high school prom with a billboard. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone's like dude, you're the man. My teacher's like how are you going to trump that next year?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you say yes?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Of course I said yes. It was so shocking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She cried.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you proud of that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Oh, there's how it looked on the billboard. Steph Wilson prom?

NGUYEN: That's cute.

HARRIS: It is kind of cute, isn't it? Can I say that?

The sign advertises a family business owned by Tyler King's (ph) parents. Tyler's dad suggested the billboard invite. Dad it seems is accustomed to doing things big. He asked his wife to marry him before 10,000 fans during halftime at a football game.

NGUYEN: Man, they do go all the distance ...

HARRIS: Yes.

NGUYEN: ...don't they?

Well, if you think that's sweet, listen to this. An Oklahoma man reunites with a young woman. He found her 18 years ago when she was an abandoned baby.

Doug Warner of affiliate KWTV has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got everything, Beth (ph)?

DOUG WARNER, KWTV REPORTER (voice-over): Eighteen years to the day, Bill Kotch loading up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, Chub (ph).

WARNER: Dogs and all for a return trip in time.

BILL KOTCH, FOUND ABANDONED BABY: Because I want to see the end of the story, dad.

WARNER (on camera): We all want to see the end.

KOTCH: I want to see the end of this story.

WARNER (voice-over): It's a story of an abandoned baby found by Bill in a Denny's parking lot in Gainesville, Texas. It's now writing itself an all new ending. KOTCH: It has been almost 18 years since we last met. I would like to thank you for helping to save my life.

WARNER: A couple of months ago, Bill received this letter from Gunter, Texas.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You see, I was that tiny baby girl you found in the back of your truck that morning of April 5th, 1990.

WARNER: From the very newborn he found and saved April 5th, 1990.

KOTCH: I'm kind of anxious to get down there.

WARNER: Bill and his wife are headed back to Texas for that baby's 18th birthday party.

BETHANY LAROCHE, ABANDONED AT BIRTH: Oh, I couldn't stand it just waiting and waiting.

WARNER: And the reunion of a lifetime.

However, we had hardly crossed the state line when Bill decided to pull off the road in Gainesville. We sort of thought he would.

KOTCH: Yes, and I pulled up right in here and just went to sleep.

WARNER: This is the first time in 18 years Bill has driven past this Denny's with actual answers to the haunting question of whatever happened to baby girl Doe.

KOTCH: I still remember that night just like it was yesterday.

B. LAROCHE: I know he's coming, but when is he going to be here?

WARNER: Bill's detour may have him a few minutes late, but what's a couple of minutes?

KOTCH: You didn't look like that when I'd seen you last.

WARNER: When you've waited 18 years for this.

Bethany's adoptive parents weren't sure what to expect after Bethany's letter to Bill first hit the mailbox.

PATTI LAROCHE, BETHANY'S MOTHER: I have such a grateful heart for you.

KOTCH: Oh.

P. LAROCHE: You just never will know.

WARNER: What they got was an instant Uncle Billy.

B. LAROCHE: I told my mom I believe he's my guardian angel. CROWD (singing): Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday ...

WARNER: For Bethany, she says she couldn't ask for a better birthday present.

CROWD: Oh yes!

B. LAROCHE: Now, I have my connection with that part of my life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Got a little bit of everything, huh?

NGUYEN: Great story.

HARRIS: Isn't that terrific?

NGUYEN: Yes.

HARRIS: Time to go. CNN NEWSROOM continues one hour from right now.

I'm Tony Harris.

NGUYEN: And I'm Betty Nguyen.

"ISSUE #1" with news on the economy, that begins right after a check of the headlines.