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8-Year-Old Charged in Two Killings; School Collapses in Haiti; Proposition 8 Protests in California
Aired November 08, 2008 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: All right, everyone. It is the top of the hour, and we are talking about a really disturbing story.
An Arizona town is in shock after an 8-year-old is arrested and charged with murder. One of the victims, his own father.
Also, a school collapse in Haiti. Right now the desperate search for survivors there.
We are on the scene for you.
And you remember this from election night. But do you know how Barack Obama spent just before his election?
Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: What did you think of his game? You're the pro. You're the trainer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He needs to pass the ball a little bit more.
LEMON: Was he hogging?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was hogging the ball.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: My exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the president-elect's pre-election basketball game.
The news starts now. And we want you involved. Make sure you join me at Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, iReport.com. We'll get your responses on television.
We begin with the disturbing story. It is raising lots of questions about the legal fate of an 8-year-old boy charged with double homicide in St. Johns. That's in eastern Arizona.
Police say the boy shot and killed his father and his father's friend earlier this week. They called the murders premeditated and they want the boy tried as an adult. But the St. Johns police chief admits a judge is unlikely to do that. He also says police are investigating the possibility that the boy was abused.
Right now the child is in custody, undergoing a psychological evaluation.
Many questions surround this story. Who was around at the time of the confession? Did the 8-year-old understand his rights?
On the phone with me right now is Andre M. Grant. He is a prominent criminal defense attorney. He's out of Chicago. He successfully defended the youngest murder suspect in this country, a boy accused in the murder of Ryan Owens (ph). Ryan Owens (ph), an 8-year-old boy.
OK. You have experience in this type of case. What are your initial thoughts on this when we look at the confession and that there's no physical evidence?
ANDRE M. GRANT, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Don, I think when I first heard this, and when you look at it, in any murder case the first question you have to ask is what is the evidence that suggests that this particular person committed the crime? And in this case, there is no physical evidence connecting this kid to the crime. There is only a so-called confession, and that is a major problem. And when you don't have any witnesses, when you don't have any DNA, when you don't have anything that connects a person to the crime, then you have to ask the next question, well, why do you say he did it?
I imagine this 8-year-old child, who they interviewed the first time, who denied any involvement with it, on a second interview subsequently confessed, but they won't tell us what he exactly said. I think, Don, before this thing is over, unfortunately it's going to blow up in the face of the police department.
The evidence simply is not there. And from what I have learned so far, is that there was no lawyer, no parent, nobody present at all at the time when two police officers questioned this 8-year-old child. Even if they read him his rights, no one could argue sensibly that an 8-year-old knew what his rights were, knew what rights were, knew what a lawyer was, knew how to contact one, or any of these things to protect himself. I just don't believe this child is involved.
LEMON: Judging from what you're saying here, you say slow down, because it takes time to investigate this type of case, especially when there is a minor involved, Mr. Grant.
GRANT: That is correct. And Don, the other thing is where the -- the physical evidence at the crime scene, where the two victims were found, one was found upstairs in the bedroom, the other was found at the front door. And supposedly this kid used a rifle.
Are you telling me that this 8-year-old went upstairs, shot someone in the bedroom, went back downstairs, shot someone at the front door? Something is wrong with this picture. There is no physical evidence connecting this child to the crime, similar to the case in Chicago.
LEMON: OK. Criminal defense attorney Andre M. Grant, who successfully defended one of the youngest murder -- youngest children charged with murder in this country.
We appreciate you joining us today in the CNN NEWSROOM. And CNN reached out to the St. Johns, Arizona, Police Department for a comment on this case and we were told there would be no public briefings before Monday.
Well, we turn now to Haiti, where there are few glimmers of hope in the aftermath of Friday's deadly school collapse. Earlier today rescuers pulled two uninjured children from the rubble. A rare moment of joy amid the destruction.
More than 80 people were killed and at least 100 were injured when the three-story school collapsed in the suburb of Port-au-Prince.
Joining me now by phone from Haiti is Mike Istavan. He is a member of the Fairfax County, Virginia Urban Search and Rescue team. His team headed to Haiti not long after he heard about yesterday's disaster.
Tell us what you're seeing there now.
MIKE ISTAVAN, FAIRFAX COUNTY URBAN SEARCH & RESCUE: Well, what we have is a school, approximately three stories. They evidently were doing construction on the third floor. And this is just information that I've overheard.
But bottom line, there was a collapse, and it collapsed two, possibly all three floors. We're trying to make way to the bottom floor now.
LEMON: So 80 people were killed in this, at least 100 injured. And as I understand, you have been there, and I don't if it's with -- have you been with dogs who are trying to sniff through this rubble?
ISTAVAN: Well, we have some target areas that we're going after where the information tells us we have the greatest possibility of finding hopefully live children. So we're just concentrating on those sites and also trying to make the building safe for the crews that are coming in, because we're working with the local government, we're working with a team from France, and just all trying to work in conjunction and keep it safe while we're trying to accomplish our mission.
LEMON: OK. Were you on the scene when they found those two uninjured children in the rubble?
ISTAVAN: No, I wasn't.
LEMON: You weren't. OK. Thank you, sir. We appreciate you joining us in the CNN NEWSROOM today, Mr. Istavan.
(WEATHER REPORT)
LEMON: We want to turn now to politics and the angry reaction to this week's vote in California. It amended the state constitution to ban same-sex marriages.
Our Ted Rowlands reports the vote has spurred almost nightly protests in several California cities.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFED GROUP: Yes, we can!
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Up and down the state of California, same-sex couples and their supporters hit the streets in protest because voters appeared to have said yes to Proposition 8 which outlaws gay marriage.
UNIDENTIFED GROUP: Shame on 8!
ROWLANDS: In Palm Springs, they gathered at city hall. In San Francisco, thousands marched in the streets of the Castro District. In Los Angeles and Long Beach, protesters clogged intersections with thousands of people. Organizers say expect more because people are angry.
IAN THOMPSON, ANSWER COALITION: There have to be more demonstrations. There should be a national march for equal marriage rights.
ROWLANDS: Rose Green (ph) and Helena Ruffen (ph) were married after the state Supreme Court made it legal earlier this year. They say they can't believe people voted to take that right away from them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This was not a gift. This is our constitution. And what our constitution says is that we are to be treated equally, all people.
ROWLANDS: But Proposition 8 changes the state constitution to ban gay marriage.
Demonstrators have targeted Mormons with protests in Los angngeles and Salt Lake City because the church pumped millions of dollars into the "Yes on 8" campaign. The Mormon Church issued a statement saying, in part, "It's unfortunate the church is being singled out for speaking up as part of its democratic right in a free election."
While it's clear supporters of gay marriage are upset, it's unclear what they can actually do about it. Legal experts say they've likely lost the battle in California.
What is still up in the air are the marriages of thousands of couples like Rose Green (ph) and Helena Ruffen (ph), who tied the knot when it was legal.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: The hottest legal question in California right now is, are the existing gay marriages valid? Anyone who says they know for sure the answer to that question is not telling the truth because this is a very open question.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No on 8! Equal rights for everybody!
ROWLANDS: Protest organizers say they plan to keep fighting until gay marriage is legal.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: CNN's Ted Rowlands joins us now from Los Angeles.
And Ted, in your piece you said it appears the battle is pretty much lost there. We have been seeing these protests for days. There's another one this evening.
How long can we expect these to go on?
ROWLANDS: Well, organizers say they're getting bigger, not smaller. And they say that there's such a groundswell of emotion here, that they expect this to be a daily occurrence at least into next week out in California, and then they're hoping for a national movement, a national march in Washington. And they're hoping that they're actually going to gain some ground out of this, losing this battle, but hopefully galvanizing their side for the overall war.
We're expecting tonight's protest to bring in 20,000 people here in Los Angeles.
LEMON: Wow.
ROWLANDS: Another one tomorrow at Rick Warren's church in southern California as well. They've got a plan. It will be interesting to see to what degree they follow up on it.
LEMON: Wow. OK. So you're going to be here as well because that protest is going on tonight. We'll see you at 11:00 p.m. Eastern, Ted.
ROWLANDS: Yes, we'll be out there. Yes.
LEMON: All right. Thank you, sir.
All right. He is the first big-time staffer picked by President-elect Barack Obama. But how much do you know about Rahm Emanuel? There he is. I caught up with him earlier this week, and we'll take a closer look at the new chief of staff.
That is straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: That's a beautiful shot of the CNN Center here in Atlanta.
It is a quiet day for the president-elect. Barack Obama is in Chicago, out of the public eye, but still reaching out to world leaders. He spoke today with the president of Poland, but there is a discrepancy in what they actually said to one another.
An Obama adviser is denying a report on the Polish president's Web site. That report says Obama pledged to continue with a planned missile shield in Eastern Europe. Obama's senior policy adviser says the two men did discuss the important ties between the two countries.
Obama also spoke with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who has been outspoken in his criticism of the planned missile shield. Their call is said to have focused on issues the U.S. and Russia both have in common.
Well, he is known as "Rahmbo." And he is the only top staffers officially named to the Obama administration so far. He is Rahm Emanuel, soon to be White House chief of staff.
And CNN's Susan Roesgen says he didn't get his nickname for nothing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REP. RAHM EMANUEL (D), ILLINOIS: I'm very fortunate that my parents are alive to see that. Whatever choice I make.
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's not a side of Rahm Emanuel most people see. This is a guy who's at the top of his game as a Washington power player, someone who knows how to throw an elbow to get ahead.
Here he is in the Clinton White House defending his boss during the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
EMANUEL: The president of the United States is doing his job, focusing on the American people and their future. And that's where his energy and time is going.
ROESGEN: Described affectionately as an attack dog...
EMANUEL: ... that the president has failed to lead...
ROESGEN: ... Emanuel started as a political fund-raiser, first for Mayor Richard Daley here in Chicago, then for Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, running for president. That led to Emanuel's role as a senior adviser in the Clinton White House, and the legendary stories that may or may not be true, like the one about his getting so angry, he stabbed a dinner table with a steak knife. And then there's the one about his sending his enemy a dead fish, the kinds of stories Hollywood couldn't resist.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, "THE WEST WING": We've got to narrow it down to the guy we want.
ROESGEN: The deputy White House chief of staff in "The West Wing" series is said to be based on Emanuel.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, "ENTOURAGE": Stop flapping your gums and put him through.
ROESGEN: And in the HBO series "Entourage," the character of the Hollywood agent Ari Gold is said to be based on Ari Emanuel, Rahm's powerful brother.
So what is Rahm Emanuel really like? We asked his rabbi.
RABBI ASHER LOPATIN, ANSHE SHALOM SYNAGOGUE: He is committed to America, committed to his Judaism, and committed to the people around him. And very popular in the synagogue. People like him. He's really a good man. A good man. ROESGEN: In 2002, Rahm Emanuel ran for office himself and became an Illinois congressman, now so powerful that he could be in position to succeed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. But the pull of something greater will take him back to the White House. The legend continues.
Susan Roesgen, CNN, Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Sarah Palin lashing out. The former vice presidential candidate is back at work as Alaska governor, but she's still answering questions about what went wrong. She's responding to stories attributed to former aides of John McCain's, calling them cowardly and jerks.
Our Gary Tuchman caught up with her in Anchorage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Are you angry about this, that people were so disloyal, to say things, and to do it without giving their name?
GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), ALASKA: Who's "they" though? I don't know they are. So it's tough to respond to.
TUCHMAN: You can respond...
PALIN: But we know that, for instance, with the whole clothes issue, the RNC purchased clothes. Those are the RNC's clothes. They're not my clothes. I never asked anybody to buy anything.
I never asked for anything more than maybe a Diet Dr. Pepper once in a while. I never have asked for anything.
These are Sarah Palin's clothes. You know, we don't take anything with us. So, until that stuff is cleared up by you guys doing your job, what else can I say? What else can John McCain say about all of this except these are false allegations?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, that is not all Governor Sarah Palin had to see. You can see her entire report on CNN.com.
And if you're still struggling to get over election withdrawal, you can click on CNN.com/politics. Many people are still struggling. And we're the best political team on television, of course online, and it continues with all of that. We'll follow the fallout as this sort of winds down.
All right. An Election Day tradition for Barack Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: What did you think of his game? You're the pro. You're the trainer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, he needs to pass the ball a little bit more.
LEMON: Was he hogging?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was hogging the ball.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right. A CNN exclusive. You'll see Barack Obama playing basketball. That's it, but you have to see the video straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: OK. Just got back from Chicago last night after witnessing that historic election. And I'm looking on eBay here for some of the newspapers.
Newspapers have been the day after he won on Wednesday really going for a lot of money. I'm looking at this Chicago -- check this one out, Matt. I think this is $50.
That is "The Chicago Tribune" and "The Chicago Sun-Times." Fifty dollars for that.
This is one that I got back from Chicago. Everybody's asking me to bring them back. If you were nice to me, maybe I will.
And that is the Sun-Times. This one is "The Chicago Tribune."
"The Atlanta Journal-Constitution," I am told is going for $75 online. This is 75 cents. Is that right? Or is it $75?
Oh, there we go, 75 cents. And it's normally 75 cents -- $25 online. But they're going to go much, much more than that. I heard some papers were selling even in the hundreds of dollars.
So, again, just back, and that's the information on the newspapers. And hopefully we may be able to give some out to some lucky CNN viewer. We're going to check on that for you.
But just a few hours before Senator Barack Obama became President- elect Obama he suited up for an Election Day tradition. And I was there to witness it exclusively. Check it out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON (voice-over): Check out the steal, the behind-the-back dribble, then the pass to set up a basket. Yes, Senator Barack Obama on the hardwood with his buddies just hours before his historic election.
What's not so clear in this amateur video made available exclusively to CNN are the faces on the court. Among them, a "CSI" actor Hill Harper; Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey; close friend Marty Nesbitt; and some of his high school basketball teammates from Hawaii.
The guys invited us for an inside look at an Election Day tradition they share with Barack Obama.
MARTY NESBITT, CAMPAIGN TREASURER, FRIEND: This is a diversion, trying to keep our minds off of what's happening out there in the rest of America.
LEMON (on camera): You know he's got to be nervous, but to be able to play basketball with his buds, don't you think that meant a lot?
HILL HARPER, ACTOR: Yes, and also he's a good basketball player.
LEMON: You were worried about your game. How did you do?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a lot of fun. The most important thing is Barack didn't get hurt.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: Yes, what if you guys had hurt him? That would not have been good.
ARNE DUNCAN, CEO, CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS: It's a very special day, especially the day after his grandmother passing away. It's an emotional time for all of us.
MIKE RAMOS, HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL TEAMMATE: It's nice to just come here and just play games with your friends and just go out there and have fun. It's just really good to not even think about it. You know?
LEMON: Attack Athletics, on Chicago's west side, the last place the senator played basketball before becoming president.
Let me show you this. Teams: "That One" and "This One."
This is my jersey. A little joke, you can see, from the campaign trail.
So the locker room is in here?
TIM GROVER, ATTACK ATHLETICS OWNER: The locker room is right in here.
LEMON (voice-over): Tim Grover owns Attack Athletics.
What did you think of his game? You're the pro, you're the trainer.
GROVER: Oh, he needs to pass the ball a little bit more.
LEMON: Was he hogging?
GROVER: He was hogging the ball.
LEMON: Are you serious?
GROVER: Yes, he was hogging the ball.
LEMON (voice-over): Grover should know. In this sleek $17 million facility, he's trained top athletes like Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and Scottie Piffen (ph). In fact, his clientele reads like the cast of the NBA all-star game.
(on camera): And now Barack Obama.
GROVER: And now Barack Obama.
LEMON: It's got to be an honor to have someone like that in your gym. What do you think?
GROVER: Oh, it was, especially on today. I mean, a day like today, to have him come in and use our facility as a place to relieve stress maybe three or four hours before he's named president of the United States, it's wonderful. I mean, this is history.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: It is history. And it was great to sort of get a behind-the- scenes thing on that. And the whole entire thing, and witness history in that way, the first black president. That's saying a lot.
OK. Here's that jersey that I got.
Thank you very much, Arnie Duncan from Chicago Public Schools, the CEO of Chicago Public Schools, for giving me this jersey.
It says "That One' on this side and then "This One" on the other side. And that's how they distinguished their teams.
OK. Also, election night. Watching this from the field, it was amazing. I want you to look at some of the pictures.
This is me and my producer, if you want to look at Anika Young (ph) out on the field as Barack Obama was giving his speech. And as we were doing that, Barack Obama mentioned Mrs. Ann Nixon Cooper, who we happened to interview, the 106-year-old lady. And we couldn't believe it.
We were like, oh, my gosh, can you believe he just mentioned Ms. Cooper? And we looked at each other and the whole thing just sort of made sense.
So that's Anika Young (ph), Don Lemon watching the historic moment.
Thank you, Anika (ph), for all of your hard work. And that picture shot by Anika (ph) as well. Very nice.
All right. So, we want to know what's on your mind as the NEWSROOM applauds Anika (ph) there. We want to know what's on your mind.
Log on to Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, or ireport.com and tell me what you're thinking. We want to get your responses on it.
OK. The tough reality of a slowing economy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The auto industry is the heart. You could have a lot of veins, but if the heart stops pumping, you're just gone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The Motor City facing hard times and hard choices.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DON LEMON, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: We're going to get back to our developing story we first brought you at the top of this newscast. It is a race against time in Haiti Rescue workers are digging through the rubble of a collapsed school. They are searching for children buried under that debris.
Joining us now for Port au Prince, CNN National Correspondent David Mattingly.
David, earlier I spoke with someone who is assisting in that rescue and they are really getting the rescue people out and everyone who's going in to assist. It is a major effort there at the moment.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Don. International teams are pouring into the Haiti coming from the U.S., France and elsewhere. They're bringing specially trained dogs and special equipment hoping to help find what Haitian officials believe are up to 200 students that could still be trapped inside that rubble. So far, two are dead, over 100 injured from the collapse of a school building that officials suspect may have been from improperly used construction materials. This building may have been made, what we're hearing, without any steel reinforcement.
Recovery efforts began almost immediately yesterday after the building suddenly gave way about 10:00 in the morning. Residents there in that neighborhood outside the Haitian capital raced to the scene pulling victims out with their bare hands. In one classroom alone, they found 21 bodies, 20 students and one teacher in one classroom alone, all dying in this collapse.
Many of the survivors that they're seeing are suffering from head injuries and broken bones. At least 11 have had to undergo surgery. I spoke to a spokeswoman for the U.N. She said says the immediate problem right now with the rescue efforts is the rubble itself. They're having to look for ways to reinforce and sort of push back some of these huge concrete slabs that have fallen in so that rescuers can go in there safely and go more deeply in this rubble hopefully to find more survivors.
LEMON: David Mattingly, and the people's stories are going to be heart-wrenching because they got hit really hard by the hurricanes and bad weather and now this.
David Mattingly joining us on the phone. He's also going to join us tonight at 11: 00 p. m. To update us on that story.
David, thanks again. "Issue Number One" is the economy. The Dow closed on the upside on Friday after some big losses earlier in the week. Here's the reality of it all. In October, more than 200,000 jobs were lost. Since the first of the year, the U.S. has lost nearly 1.2 million jobs.
He won a historic election. Now Barack Obama is inheriting an historic mess. The economy is still "Issue Number One."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: I want to see a stimulus package sooner rather than later. If it does not get done in the lame-duck session, it will be the first thing I get done as president of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And here's another indication of how bad things are. The auto industry is in big, big trouble and there is a serious trickle-down effect here.
Here's CNN's Brooke Baldwin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRED WEIR, FORMER GENERAL MOTORS EMPLOYEE: Fred B. Weir, 45, eight years of service.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fred Weir's career at General Motors spanned nearly five decades. His hands evidence of his hard work.
(on camera): These hands have built so many cars you can't remember.
WEIR: Yeah, I can't remember.
Reporter (voice-over): This 67-year-old took a buyout and retired last July. Through the years, Weir says G.M. burned through billions with Rick Wagoner at the helm.
WEIR: Now it's his responsibility as the head of the gm family to pull back on the reins and when his arms get tired, pull harder and do whatever he has to do to save that company.
BALDWIN: Friday, Ford and G.M. announced third-quarter losses in the billions and plans to reduce their workforce all in an effort to shore up cash and survive this crippling economy.
Employees leaving G.M. that evening appeared unfazed.
SHAUN CURTIS, G.M. WORKER: Everybody seems to be fine in there. We'll just play it by ear.
BALDWIN (on camera): Do you have faith in the American automotive industry?
CURTIS: Yes, I do.
BALDWIN (voice-over): The same afternoon, Barack Obama held his first press conference as president-elect. He addressed the hardships facing automakers today.
OBAMA: The auto industry is the backbone of American manufacturing and a critical part of our attempt to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. I would like to see the administration do everything it can to accelerate the retooling assistance that Congress has already enacted.
WEIR: But he's got a big, big job ahead of him. I don't think it could be done in one term.
BALDWIN: This G.M. retiree says the only solution to survival, a quick cash infusion from the federal government? When should that happen?
WEIR: If you're going to save it, you've got to step in now. If you're not going to save it, tell them now. Don't keep them hanging because they can't hang for long.
BALDWIN: If one of the big three does go under, Weir predicts the rest of the nation is next.
WEIR: The auto industry is the heart. You could have a lot of veins. But if the heart stops pumping, you're just gone.
BALDWIN: Brooke Baldwin, CNN, Warren, Michigan.
LEMON: Remember this? Joe the plumber, he has settled with the tax man. New court documents show that Mr. Wurzelbacher settled a $1200 tax bill in Ohio. There is a lien against him. It has been lifted. Wurzelbacher was thrust into the limelight when Senator John McCain said he represented people with concerns about the Obama tax plan. So you may have heard the end of Joe the plumber, at least for a little bit.
Also we want to know what's on your mind, maybe it's Joe the plumber, maybe it's Barack Obama. Logon to twitter, Facebook, MySpace, i- report.com and tell us what you're thinking. We'll get your responses on the air. We like to be interactive around here. Make sure you reach out to us.
Maybe you want to talk about the war. Let's talk now -- I will, about the future of the war in Iraq under president Obama. Can he stick to his 16-month time line to withdraw troops?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: After almost a month in captivity in Kabul, Afghanistan, CBC news reporter, Mellissa Fung, is now free. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation asked other media not to announce her abduction for her own safety. She is undergoing a full medical evaluation. And when she's ready, she'll be reunited with her family. No word on the identity of her kidnappers or the circumstances of her release.
During his campaign, Barack Obama promised a plan for a pullout from Iraq sooner rather than later. Will he deliver on that?
Our Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN NEWS SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The U.S. military has been sweating the failure of the Iraqi parliament to approve an agreement to allow U.S. troops to continue to operate in Iraq and feverishly working are on fall-back, an extension of the U.N. mandate that expires at year's end. But that was before this.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Barack Obama, 47 years old, will become the president-elect of the United States.
MCINTYRE: Suddenly, Iraqi politicians aren't so worried about nailing down a firm departure date for U.S. troops because president-elect Obama seems to be on the same page.
During the campaign, Obama promised to pull all U.S. combat forces out of Iraq by 16 months by withdrawing the remaining 14 brigades, roughly 100,000 by the summer of 2010.
The Iraqis want a commitment for the U.S. troops to withdraw from their cities by mid 2009 and be gone entirely by the end of 2012. But Obama gave himself some wiggle room. He wants to leave an unspecified number of U.S. troops, perhaps as many as 50,000, to fight al Qaeda and back up the Iraqi forces.
OBAMA: We've got to be as careful getting out as we were careless getting in.
MCINTYRE: To that end, Obama's pledged that he'll consult U.S. commanders and adjust as necessary. If he doesn't know it already, Obama will soon discover the new American commanding general in Iraq, Ray Odierno, is every bit as cautious as his predecessor, David Petraeus. Both advocate a go-slow approach to troop cuts.
Contacted by CNN, the General Odierno, through a spokesman, provided this statement about speeding up the drawdown: "What we've learned from our conditions-based approach is that we have the possibility of actually moving faster than we initially expected." But he also stressed: "We want to ensure we deploy our forces in a careful manner."
MCINTYRE (on camera): Already, one Army brigade is coming home two months early because the Iraqis insist they are ready to step up. Whether that turns out to be true will determine how easy it will be for president Obama to fulfill his campaign pledge.
Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEOMON: This developing story for you, three men convicted in the bail nightclub bombing were put to death a short time ago. The 2002 attack in Indonesia killed more than 200 people and left dozens of others wounded. Many were tourists from the U.S. and Australia. U.S. intelligence links the attack to an Indonesian terror group with ties to al Qaeda. The men had asked to be beheaded, saying it was the Islamic way, but they were executed by firing squad.
We want to know what's on your mind here. We like to call ourselves the most interactive news show on television. Make sure you logon to twitter, MySpace, i-report.com, Facebook. Let me know what you're thinking. We'll get it on the air for you. We always appreciate your feedback. It helps us in our mission here.
"Making a Difference in the lives of girls in Senegal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VIOLA VAUGHN, CNN HERO: When a girl reaches the age where she can help in the house, the mother starts keeping these girls at home. That girl begins missing school, missing homework and she starts to fail. It's a downward cycle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: A "CNN Hero" is breaking that cycle. And you're going to meet her straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: She is helping girls in Senegal take control of their futures. Viola Vaughn is one of CNN's top ten heroes of 2008.
(CNN HERO)
LEMON: Viola, congratulations, first of all. But did you have any idea when you started to do this, the response you would get from all of these children?
VAUGHN: I had no idea, none whatsoever.
LEMON: None? Why not? I mean, you didn't know the need was there?
VAUGHN: No, I just did this for -- I thought I was only doing this for one little girl. But the day that she came, she came with three other girls. And then in two weeks, I had 20. Then in a month, I had 50. I had no idea.
LEMON: It's amazing because you thought you were going to retire. But is there a lesson in this for everyone that whatever your mission in life is, will show up at any time. It could be early. It could be late.
VAUGHN: What you're supposed to do, you have to do it. And I think, in all the education and the schools I went to and all the jobs I had, it's culminated in this activity. This is what I think that I was born to do.
LEMON: Really? And you found it in retirement? VAUGHN: Yes. As old as I am, this is what I think, in all the activities and all the services I've done, this is the true one I should be doing.
LEMON: You said as old as you are that you would find this, who old are you? I know I shouldn't ask a lady her age, but I'm going to ask it.
VAUGHN: No, you shouldn't. I'm old enough though. I'm probably older than old enough to be your mother.
LMEON: OK, well, you've chastised me, so I will move on. And the reason I was asking you that was because you have all of these young girls and you see what they're going through, and at your age, which is young, but at retirement, I should say, you're able to help these girls and have them have a better life. And you can offer them advice as well because you've been where they've been.
VAUGHN: Exactly. I think I'm having as much fun doing this than I've ever had. It's just that youth have learned a lot of life lessons already. We, myself, so what I do is I try to remind them of these life lessons. And using this, they begin to make a lot of individual choices, individual positive choices that will have a positive effect on what they want to do in the future.
LEMON: Well, Viola Vaughn, thank you so much. You are a "CNN Hero." And thanks for letting me know again that I should never ask a lady her age.
VAUGHN: No, it's OK. But thank you for calling.
LEMON: Congratulations to you.
VAUGN: Thank you.
LEMON: Wonderful woman there. You can go online right now and choose a hero who inspires you the most. We look forward to honoring all of these amazing people during "CNN Heroes" hosted by Anderson Cooper right here on an and it's on thanksgiving night.
We have some information just in to the "CNN newsroom." We want to get you out now live to -- get you some pictures, KHOU Houston. We're told this is a storage tank fire. And it is really raging there. We want to get the information on exactly where that plant is. And I'm getting some information now. It's in metropolitan Houston. If you'll pardon me, I'm getting information from my producer and getting information from the wires. I'm being told it's east of metro Houston. The road has been closed down at the 2000 block of Sheldon if you're in that area, in east Houston, due to this large storage tank fire.
Let me grab this right here. And it's also said that black smoke is drifting from this burning tanker, which we can see. They don't know much, the local news there, KHOU, and also other news organizations reporting. But we're being told that they discovered TexTrud (ph), who owns the storage tank, that's who owns it, and it manufacturers polyethylene and PVC products.
So we'll keep our eye on that. We know many times there can be toxic chemicals from these types of fires and explosions. And will cause some evacuations in the area. This is east of Houston, a storage tank fire. CNN is watching it. If it developing into something bigger, we'll bring it to you right here in the "CNN NEWSROOM."
He has proven that he can draw a crowd. But if, if you thought it was hard to get a ticket to Barack Obama's victory rally, well be just think what it will be like to get a ticket on inauguration day.
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(FIT NATION)
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LEMON: All right, well, you can imagine what it is like for the Obama family while they await for the election results, what it was like for them. Here's a glimpse of that. Barack Obama, vice president-elect Joe Biden and a very expectant family -- look at that. They're all waiting for a moment. This is what they've all been waiting for since Barack Obama announced his White House run.
Inauguration tickets, that's what's next, inauguration. They're hard to come by. They're selling for thousands of dollars online. So what's crazy about that? A, they're not available yet and, B, they're free.
Here's CNN's Brianna Keilar to explain.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN NEWS CORRESOPNDENT (voice-over): It's the hottest ticket in town. It's the inauguration and it's free, at least it's supposed to be.
(on camera): $1,195 is the cheapest ticket, standing room.
(voice-over): Huge demand has turned what's traditionally a giveaway into a thriving online marketplace. Our quick search of the Internet found site after site, many of them legitimate ticket brokers, promising a view of Barack Obama being sworn in as the next president for a precious price.
(on camera): Two VIP tickets are $40,000.
(voice-over): Howard Gatman is the Senate staffer tasked with pulling off Washington's biggest event.
(on camera): Is it against the spirit of the event for these tickets to be sold?
HOWARD GATMAN, SENATE STAFFER: We think it's absolutely insane to be selling those tickets. We understand some people want to try to make a buck. But for those people thinking of buying tickets, it's buyer beware.
KEILAR (voice-over): Ticket brokers are middle men, selling tickets they say are from staffers or from people who get them free of charge such as members of Congress.
But because those tickets are only given out at the last minute, Gatman says brokers can't be sure they will get as many as they've sold.
(on camera): You could end up in a hotel room with nothing more than a refund?
GATMAN: Quite possibly. There are no tickets available now. The tickets will be distributed less than a week before the event.
KEILAR (voice-over): Congressional staffers caught selling theirs could be fired.
HOWARD: We are going to be alerting all members of Congress that it is against the code of ethics for staff, or for members, to sell these tickets to the public.
KEILAR: but ultimately, Gatman says, it's inevitable some will be sold and some people will pay cut-throat prices to witness history.
Brianna Keilar, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
