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Rough Seas, Harsh Terrain: Searchers Seek Answers to Air France Crash; Judge Blocks U.S. Boy's Return; What They're Saying in Cairo Ahead of President Obama's Speech; GM's Bankruptcy Tosses Ongoing Injury Liability Cases Into Chaos, Uncertainty

Aired June 03, 2009 - 14:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we're pushing forward now in the Middle East. New hopes for better relations between the U.S. and the Muslim world.

President Obama is in Saudi Arabia this hour looking for ways to make that happen. Riyadh, the first stop on a trip that also takes the president to Egypt, Germany and France.

A number of problems were expected to be discussed as Mr. Obama and Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah sat down for private talks. Among them, Arab/Israeli peace efforts, Iran's nuclear program, and also rising oil prices.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As I take this trip -- and we'll be visiting Cairo tomorrow -- I thought it was very important to come to the place where Islam began and to seek His Majesty's counsel and discuss with him many of the issues that we confront (INAUDIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, the busting city of Cairo, Egypt, it's President Obama's next stop. We're going to pay a visit to the Egyptian capital to find out what people there think about the president's outreach to Muslims.

And you can watch President Obama's much-anticipated speech to the Muslim world live, tomorrow, 6:00 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING." And in case you don't catch the speech at 6:00, we're going to be airing a large portion of it at 11:00 a.m. Eastern in the NEWSROOM. We're also going devote the hour to reaction to the speech as well.

As President Obama visits the Middle East, a new audiotape believed to be Osama bin Laden is blasting his policies now. That tape aired by the Arab language TV network Al-Jazeera accuses the Obama administration of sowing new seeds of hatred and revenge against America in the Muslim world.

It specifically mentions U.S. policy in Pakistan and that country's military campaign against the Taliban. The remarks, if authentic, would be the al Qaeda leader's first assessment of President Obama's policies.

Could terrorists be responsible for the crash of Air France Flight 447? Well, investigators are now raising that possibility.

Argentinean military and police sources tell CNN that Air France received a bomb threat on May 27th for a flight from Buenos Aires to Paris. Officials say that that threat came from a man speaking Spanish. The plane was checked, but nothing was found.

Meanwhile, officials now say that the flight data recorders may never be recovered from the wreckage of Flight 447. Both the Brazil Navy and French officials expressed doubts because of the water depth in that crash area reaching several thousand feet. More debris was spotted today from the Air France jet that crashed early Monday on that flight from Rio to Paris with 228 people on board.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL-LOUIS ARSLANIAN, FRENCH ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION BUREAU: It's impossible at the beginning of an investigation to say whether we will -- what we will find and when, and to which extent the investigation will lead us. The only thing I can guarantee is that we will do what we can do to go as fast as possible and as deep as possible in the understanding of this accident, its causes, and hopefully what can be done to improve safety.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And no bodies have been recovered from that crash. A French research vessel carrying a deep-diving submersible is en route to the scene, along with several other ships.

There are vast underwater mountains and very rough seas this time of year in this part of the Mid-Atlantic, so how exactly are searchers going to try to get to the flight data recorders? Well, for that we turn to CNN's Tom Foreman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the timeline of a mystery. The plane takes off at 7:19 in the evening. Within 30 minutes, it hits bad weather, but it keeps traveling at about 500 miles an hour on toward Paris on this route, and it reports no other problems until four hours after takeoff, about here, when an automated radio signal indicates an electrical problem. And then nothing.

Rescuers begin scouring the flight path, what they describe as three times as large as Europe. But right now it's all focused right here.

This is where Brazilian Air Force officials say that debris was found. An airplane seat, oil, kerosene, a life vest, all quite close to the plane's estimated position when that radio call went out. And that's both good and bad for investigators, because this is right along what's called the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which is an underwater mountain range. That means that in the shallowest area, this may only be about a mile and a quarter deep. In the deepest area, it could be as much as two miles deep.

Now, that's something to be reckoned with. It could be a lot deeper, but, still, that's about the range -- short by a quarter mile -- of where the Titanic was found. And look at this. This plane is only a quarter as big as the Titanic if it stayed in one piece.

So, in coming days, look for this to happen. You'll see recovery teams dropping sonar beacons into the water all around here, listening for pinging coming from a locator located on the plane.

This device is hooked to the cockpit voice recorder and to the data recorder which takes in hundreds of readings from the plane every moment while it's in flight. If they find them, among all these rocks and hills, the folks at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute say they can drop a deep sea diving vessel in and pluck those boxes from the ocean floor quite easily, but the clock is ticking because the locator beacon sending out these signals will only work for 30 days.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Once again, our CNN's Tom Foreman.

Well, he sent his wife and son on a vacation, and they never came back. Five years, a divorce and a death later, his little boy is still in Brazil and he still can't bring him home. The latest twist in the mother of all custody battles.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, yet another round in a five-year international custody fight. David Goldman flew to Brazil yesterday to reunite with his 9-year-old son and bring him home. But last night, at the very last minute, a Brazilian supreme court justice stepped in and blocked a lower court's order. So, Sean Goldman stays put.

CNN's Deborah Feyerick joins us now from New York with more.

The dad thought he was getting his child back today, and then he had to be heartbroken, Deb.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, absolutely. I spoke with him just a short time ago and his voice was strained. You could definitely hear the disappointment.

And what makes this custody case so amazing is that the boy's mom died giving birth to another child. And so Sean Goldman is being raised by his step-dad. That's because a Brazilian family court gave the step-dad custody of the American-born child even though David Goldman, who you see there, never give up any parental rights.

And you can see those pictures sort of frozen in time. But listen to what David Goldman had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID GOLDMAN, FIGHTING FOR CUSTODY OF SON: To allow a man with no blood relation to keep another parent's child is against their own laws, national laws, let alone international and American laws. My focus is to do what I can by every legal means in all matters of law to reunite with my son and bring him home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: So, Deb, why did the Brazilian supreme court judge suspend the lower court order that would have reunited Sean and his dad today?

FEYERICK: Well, what's interesting is the judge felt that taking Sean abruptly could harm him psychologically. The child is in school, he has a stepsister. He spent the ages between 4 and 9 in Brazil, and it wasn't until he saw his father for the first time last year that he even understood that his dad had been trying to contact him.

So, it's got to be confusing to this boy on so many levels. And David Goldman says, effectively, his son is being brainwashed to turn against him.

PHILLIPS: So, the case has reached the highest level both in the U.S. and Brazil, right?

FEYERICK: Absolutely. The State Department has been working on this. Hillary Clinton referred to the case saying that the office would work with the Brazilian government to make sure that Sean Goldman is brought home.

But right now, everything is on hold. So, a real disappointment there for David Goldman.

PHILLIPS: All right. Let's talk about the mother for a moment. Did she have the right to take the child in the first place?

FEYERICK: She did. She's the mother.

David Goldman says that, you know, that by all accounts, they were happy. He had no idea that when his wife was packing for the vacation that she had no intention of ever returning to America or seeing him again.

Ironically, she left Sean Goldman's clothes in his little closet, some of them brand new. And so David Goldman has a very stark reminder of just what's been taken from him.

PHILLIPS: Wow. All right. We'll continue to follow the case. Thanks, Deb.

And you can hear more from David Goldman about his agonizing custody fight, a prime-time exclusive tomorrow night on "LARRY KING LIVE."

(BUSINESS REPORT) PHILLIPS: Well, talk about TMI, how do detailed info about the country's civilian nuke sites and nuclear weapons' fuel get released? Maybe the words "highly confidential" just don't mean what they used to.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Bankruptcy protection keeping GM and Chrysler safe from creditors and safe from customers who say faulty products cost them plenty. Will the plaintiffs just have to pack up their lawsuits and go home?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: America's relations with the Muslim world in the spotlight this hour as President Obama visits the Middle East. First stop, Saudi Arabia, where Mr. Obama and King Abdullah have been holding private talks. Arab/Israeli peace efforts, Iran's nuclear program and rising oil prices were expected to dominate those conversations.

And the next stop for President Obama, one of the biggest, most important cities in the Muslim world, Cairo, Egypt. And people there are waiting to hear what the president has to say when he delivers a major speech there tomorrow.

CNN's Ben Wedeman is in Cairo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ben Wedeman, and we're in the heart of old Islamic Cairo. Egyptians refer to Cairo as "Umm al-Dunya." That's Arabic for "The mother of the World," a phrase that underscores their sense of importance in historical, religious and cultural terms.

This country has more than 5,000 years of recorded history, has seen more than 500 rulers, and its fair share of important visitors. And the next important visitor to come here is U.S. President Barack Obama, who on Thursday is going to make an appeal to the Muslim world.

He's not the first person to do that from Cairo. More than 200 years ago, Napoleon Bonaparte made a similar appeal to the Muslims with mixed results.

But let's see what ordinary Egyptians want to hear from the U.S. president.

"He needs to listen to all different opinions," says Samir, the office worker, "so he can solve the Palestinian problem and solve the problem of Iraq."

Souvenir shop owner Gamal has a new line of Obama kitsch, with the appropriate pharaohnic twist, though his concerns are more contemporary. "The difference between the West and Islam is over Jerusalem," says Gamal. "Jerusalem should be neither Palestinian or Israeli. It should be international."

"Everyone wants peace," says government inspector Awati (ph). "People don't like destruction. They want construction."

So far, Obama seems to be a welcome change from the past.

"That Bush, he dealt in a bad way," says Muhammad the cobbler. "No one liked Bush. What he did in the Middle East was bad. But we're optimistic. Obama wants good relations and peace."

TAWFIZ, TOUR GUIDE: Egypt has the pyramids. Egypt has the museums. Egypt has Sinai. Egypt has Luxor.

IHAB, STUDENT: Americans don't care about this.

TAWFIZ: Every city.

IHAB: They have other interests in Egypt.

TAWFIZ: Well, we have a very interesting country.

WEDEMAN: No, but he's going to make a speech to the Muslim world.

IHAB: From Egypt.

WEDEMAN: Yes. What would you like to hear from him?

IHAB: I hope he can make people come near to each other more than before, because the relationship between the Muslim world and the United States in the last few years, it was not good.

WEDEMAN: So, what can he do to make it better?

IHAB: Try to make people feel less fear from Muslims now.

WEDEMAN: Egyptians are hospitable people and will no doubt warmly greet Barack Obama. But this is, after all, Umm al-Dunya, the Mother of the World, a jaded place that's seen rulers come and rulers go, visitors come and visitors go.

The question is, will Barack Obama really make any difference here at all?

I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN, in old Cairo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, you can watch President Obama's much-anticipated speech to the Muslim world live, tomorrow, 6:00 a.m. Eastern, on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING." And in case you don't catch the speech at 6:00, we'll be airing a large portion of it at 11:00 a.m. Eastern, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. We're also going devote the hour to reaction to his speech. When an American president visits Saudi Arabia, you can bet oil is going to be on the agenda, but has the discussion changed?

Let's go ahead and ask CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow. She's got our "Energy Fix" from New York.

Hey, Poppy.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Kyra.

Well, of course we're focusing under President Obama's leadership on energy independence, and that's very likely going to mean less importing of oil from Saudi Arabia, the fourth biggest oil exporter right now to the United States. And I want you to take a look at these numbers to get an idea of just how much money goes from this country to Saudi Arabia on a daily basis.

For the 944,000 barrels of oil we get from Saudi Arabia every day at about $68 a barrel, where oil closed yesterday, that's more than $64 million a day. That is more than $23 billion a year.

Now, an energy analyst we spoke with said the Saudis obviously concerned about our shift to clean energy, energy independence. It's going to hurt demand on their side -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, President Obama wants alternative energy in the mix.

HARLOW: Yes.

PHILLIPS: But no doubt, we're still going to need oil. So, what's the long-term outlook?

HARLOW: No doubt we're going to still need oil. We're going to import oil. A lot of people want to drill more in this country. That's not happening right now, at least. And analysts are saying this is a long-term discussion.

The president just wrapped up his meeting with King Abdullah. We don't have the specifics, but you can bet that oil was a key topic.

And an analyst that we spoke with said this is about oil five, 10 years out, not right now. And the president wants some assurances from Saudi Arabia that they're going to continue that long-term exploration of oil, because if they cut back on that, and that cuts down our supply, that's going to mean a price spike for us, and it's not good for us. And it's actually not good for the Saudis, because there's that key point for oil, Kyra. They don't make as much money either when the demand is down, when prices are over $100 a barrel like we saw last summer -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And oil prices are already on the rise.

HARLOW: Oh, big time. This week alone we saw a seven-month spike in oil. Investors betting on a little bit of economic recovery there. Take a look at this chart, because this is oil prices from the beginning of the year. Crude futures, if we can pull it up for you here.

Take a look there. From the low in February, right now we're double that point. But today it's interesting, Kyra, right now oil's about to close on the market here in New York and it's around $65 a barrel because we got a surprising report this morning that our stockpiles are actually a lot higher than expected. So, we'll see if gas prices go down tomorrow, Kyra, that would be welcome relief, right?

PHILLIPS: There you go. We'd welcome that for sure. Thanks, Poppy.

HARLOW: Sure.

PHILLIPS: On Capitol Hill today General Motors and Chrysler executives are defending their decision to close hundreds of dealerships across the country. They're telling a Senate panel that the moves can't be avoided as they fight to overcome bankruptcy.

Well, lawmakers are concerned that thousands of people will be pub out of work on short notice. Some of those lawmakers say Chrysler may be treating its dealerships unfairly. They've been given less than a month's notice that they will be shut down.

But, wait, there's another chapter in the big bankruptcy story. We're talking about people who have been hurt in their GM or Chrysler vehicle and are suing the companies. The bankruptcies could leave these plaintiffs with nothing, no case, no compensation, no justice, not even a day in court.

People like Jeremy Warriner. He lost both of his legs after his Jeep crashed, rolled over, and caught fire. He's had nearly 40 surgeries, and his medical bills have crossed a million dollars now. He claims that a proper Jeep design could have prevented all of that. He's in D.C. with other victims and families who have asked Congress not to forget about them.

Jeremy, I appreciate you being with us.

JEREMY WARRINER, SUING CHRYSLER: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Well, can you take me up -- back and tell me what happened. Because from what I understand with regard to your story, that there was a period in time where you were going to be OK, and the car actually didn't catch fire until a little bit later after the crash. Could you tell us what happened?

WARRINER: Yeah, that's correct. My vehicle was struck by another driver on a county road, and went off the road. In the process, I hit a utility pole, and my vehicle rolled over onto the passenger's side and then the utility pole came down on the driver's side, trapping me in. But at that point I was fine. I've recovered from all of those injuries. But then -- then the vehicle caught fire. And we have had expert engineers review the wreckage. They've determined that that fire was, in fact, caused by a plastic reservoir that held the brake fluid in the engine, which is extremely flammable, and that reservoir broke, allowing the brake fluid to leak out and ignite the fire.

PHILLIPS: So, let me ask you this, then, had you at any point, before that accident, received a recall letter, or a call, or anything talking about this plastic reservoir?

WARRINER: No. None whatsoever.

PHILLIPS: OK. So, this is a complete surprise to you.

WARRINER: Yes.

PHILLIPS: And how did you find qualified experts? Did these qualified experts work in the industry, work at GM or Chrysler, or another automotive company?

WARRINER: Yeah. My attorney had contacted, I believe, engineers who had worked for Chrysler in the past.

PHILLIPS: And just -- and that's interesting, so they worked for Chrysler in the past.

OK, Chrysler came forward with pretty much a generic comment here about your case, Jeremy. It said that "Chrysler's always saddened when someone is injured in a vehicle. Just because someone is injured does not mean a vehicle is defective. All of our vehicles meet or exceed federal safety standards and have excellent safety records. We stand behind them. We do not think the media is the appropriate place for us to discuss the nature and cause of a liability claim."

Do you feel that your vehicle was up to par? Was up to standards and was safe for you to be driving?

WARRINER: No. In fact, we know that several years before my vehicle was even designed, that they had used a metal reservoir for the brake fluid in the Jeep Wranglers, so presumably they made a decision to switch to plastic to cut costs.

PHILLIPS: Interesting. And how long have you been dealing with this lawsuit?

WARRINER: Well, the accident was over three and a half years ago. The lawsuit has -- was filed about two years ago. And we were actually supposed to be in mediation on May 5th, but, of course, Chrysler declared bankruptcy on April 30th.

PHILLIPS: What do you ultimately want, Jeremy?

WARRINER: Ultimately, what I want is for Chrysler, the new Chrysler, to be held accountable for people who have been injured by the vehicles that were sold before this bankruptcy. You know, that's the scary thing is that it's not just my case that has been thrown out or swept under the rug. It's anybody who was injured in any vehicle that is currently on the road today, by a defective product, will have no recourse, no opportunity, to hold Chrysler or GM, for that matter, accountable.

PHILLIPS: Jeremy Warriner, we will definitely follow this case. Really appreciate you sharing your story with me.

WARRINER: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about Jeremy's chances of getting a day in court now, or at least a day with a mediator. Like he said, he was about to have that. We'll push it forward with our Senior Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin right on the other side of the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, we just heard from a young man who lost his legs and racked up more than a million dollars in medical bills, after his Jeep crashed and, rolled offer and caught fire. He's worried that Chrysler's and GM's bankruptcies mean that he and other injured customers, suing the automakers will never get their day in court. CNN's Senior Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin is here with a look at the law.

And, Jeffrey, I'm assume you got to hear my interview with Jeremy.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: I did.

PHILLIPS: OK, great. So, let's talk abut the new Chrysler. I will be very specific with my words here, are they responsible in any way, shape or form for a safety problem or a manufacturing flaw in an existing product?

TOOBIN: Yes, they are responsible, but how much they have to pay, and when they have to pay, and what percentage of the original award they might have to pay, that's all up for grabs.

PHILLIPS: Really?

TOOBIN: That's not at all clear.

PHILLIPS: OK?

TOOBIN: Let me just back up for a second, Kyra, if I could. And let's remember what bankruptcy is about. Bankruptcy is for companies that can't pay their bills. They just don't have enough money to pay their bills. So, the law says, we're going to set up a system where you have to pay some bills and not others. And the bills that they want you to pay first are the bills that keep the business going, suppliers, employees. Lawsuits are not integral to keeping the business going, so they tend to be at the bottom of the list that get paid off. And that's Jeremy's problem.

PHILLIPS: Well, it's so hard to think that, you know, that -- that he bought that car because he believed in the product and these cars -- these companies advertise their product to be secure, to be safe, to be solid. And so that's the last thing you ever expect if, indeed, this had a bad plastic reservoir - which is what he says his former Chrysler workers had to say about the case, why it caught fire - that there would be some type of moral obligation, or does that just all go out the window when it comes to bankruptcy? They're like, sorry?

TOOBIN: Well, I mean, you hate to -- I mean, the law --

PHILLIPS: You hate to be so cold, right? But the law's the law?

TOOBIN: The law looks at this in a coldly analytical way. They basically say -- the law says, look, the only thing - our top priority is to keep the company going. Is to figure out a way to have all these people keep their jobs, to have the economy move forward with the bankrupt company as a going concern.

So, they have to look coldly at what expenses need to be paid in order to keep the business going. And so, literally, there's a ranking of creditors, you know, who is -- who gets paid first. And traditionally lawsuits like this one are towards the bottom of the list.

Now, just to be -- to be complete about this, if the business gets back on its feet and if it becomes profitable again, there is the possibility that all creditors might be paid. But it takes a long time. It's very uncertain. And, frankly, when it comes to lawsuits like this, let's say there's a million-dollar liability, they often wind up paying very small percentage of that, you know, they settle for cents on the dollar.

PHILLIPS: Such a sad reality check.

TOOBIN: Sorry - it's - I mean, look, people talk about bankruptcy as if it's like no big deal, the company continues.

PHILLIPS: Yeah.

TOOBIN: Bankruptcy has a lot of costs to a lot of people. People don't get paid. People who are owed money don't get paid, you don't get paid at all, or they get paid less than what they're entitled to and people suffer because of it.

PHILLIPS: And well, it's hard, too. You know, money versus someone who, if indeed this car had a bad plastic reservoir, he lost his legs, I mean, it's not like you can recoup that, you know?

TOOBIN: This is not -- you know, the legal system, even at its best is very -- it's very hard to compensate for something like that.

PHILLIPS: We'll follow it. Thanks, Jeffrey Toobin.

TOOBIN: OK, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, talk about the ultimate disrespect for the fallen, and I'm not sure what makes me more outraged about this story. The fact that some punk kids have absolutely no conscience or that their parents never taught them about respecting those who have passed away, in addition to respecting the American flag.

Here's what happened. Dozens of American flags were placed right here on our veterans' grave sites at the Prairie Home Cemetery in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Well, they were placed there in honor of Memorial Day and to make sure that every veteran who served our country would be remembered.

Well, they were stolen. And guess what fellow vets think the motive was? Kids taking the flags for the Fourth of July. Brilliant move. Steal flags from the graves of our brave men and women to celebrate our American patriotism. I say send those kids to boot camp.

Well, it was a heck of a cat to let out of the bag. Detailed information about the country's civilian nuke sites and nuclear weapons fuel. What part of "highly confidential" did someone not understand?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, we've heard of too much information, or TMI, but isn't this a bit ridiculous? A federal government report marked "highly confidential" went up on a government website by mistake. Inside the report, detailed information about the country's civilian nuke sites, even the exact locations of nuclear weapons fuel. Maps and other information right there for anyone to see. The 266-page report has since been taken off the site, by the way.

OK, "Push Forward" time. How much damage was done, if any? There seems to be some disagreement over that, at least one nuke expert says, in a nutshell, no big deal. So, let's ask security expert Jim Walsh he thinks.

Jim, breach, or no big deal? I mean, realistically would terrorists be able to use this information to steal the fuel to make bombs?

JIM WALSH, CNN SECURITY EXPERT: Well, Kyra, I think it's somewhere in between. Is it a mistake? Yeah, it's a mistake. You don't want to print a brochure telling the terrorists where all our nuclear material is and distribute it. So, you know, that's a bad idea.

But when you look at the relative risk, it's probably not very high. First of all, that information probably wasn't on long enough for any terrorists or non-state actor to have found it, at least maybe through dumb luck, but I doubt it. And if we rank what the real threats are when it comes to nuclear materials, you know, and I have $100 to spend to try to solve that problem. I'm going to be more focused on Pakistan, on the former Soviet Union, those sorts of places where the risks are higher than I am, in the U.S.

But of course, we want to protect all the material here, as much as we can. And we don't want to help the terrorists. So, it would be better if they didn't know where we're keeping everything.

PHILLIPS: Well, should we be more concerned about the glitch inside versus this information that got out?

WALSH: That's a great question. Because I think most people who study this issue, in general, internationally focus more and worry more on the insider threat. That someone's going to be corrupt enough, or ideologically or religiously fanatical enough, that they would have access and be able to abuse that access to provide outside actors, either the material itself, or information about the material. And we've had concerns about that with Pakistan. We've had concerns about that with other countries. We really haven't seen that as an issue in the U.S. but it's also something that internal security's going to worry about.

PHILLIPS: All right, so what about the fact that is the highly confidential sites of weapons laboratories were also disclosed. I'm seeing here. Does that pose any type of risk?

WALSH: Well, you know, the fact of the matter is that I know where these laboratories are and if you go on a website --

PHILLIPS: It's something we all could find out, right?

WALSH: Yeah, yeah. Exactly. I mean, if you wanted to find out where Sandia or where any of these places are, you could find out where they were. Now simply knowing where they are, there's still quite a hurdle to jump to be able to launch an attack, get on site, get the material. And most difficult of all, I think, is getting away. Because you may get the material on a truck, but you're not going to get very far without all of the, you know, military and police swarming on to you.

Again, I don't want to make fun of this. I think it's important that we don't have -- help terrorists and I want to say that we should do everything we can to make sure our internal security is good. Because there may be domestic terrorists who have some crazy idea about something they want to do and might try something at a lab.

So, I think it's good to be vigilant and it is good to have strong internal security at all of our nation's facilities that secure this material. I'm just saying it's not the highest priority. And my guess is at the end of the day, no harm, no foul on this particular incident.

PHILLIPS: Well, ironically this was all put together to actually make the world safer.

WALSH: Yeah, it's a mistake done for the best of intentions. Because what this was, was we're going to report to the international atomic energy agency, the IAEA, where we keep our civilian material. And this is a good-faith effort on part of the U.S. to be cooperating. We want other states to cooperate, to report where their material is, so we can improve security around the world. But it's hard to get other folks to do it if we refuse to do it. So, we've really started to do that now. And unfortunately we were just a little too transparent in this particular case.

PHILLIPS: Jim Walsh, always good to see you.

WALSH: Good to see you. PHILLIPS: Well, they branded her a racist. Now one of Sonia Sotomayor's harshest critics as is backing off a little bit. We're going to tell you what former House speaker Newt Gingrich is saying now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, one of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's harshest critics appears to be doing a 180. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is backing off calling Sotomayor a racist. Gingrich made that claim after reading a 2001 speech where Sotomayor said that someone like her, a Latina woman, who grew up in public housing, would more often than not reach a better judicial decision than a white man without a similar background.

Well, in an op-ed Gingrich said that he shouldn't have used that word. As far as we know, Sotomayor hasn't responded to Gingrich's latest statement.

Well, let's go ahead and bring in our Rick Sanchez, who is standing by in New York right now, getting ready for the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.

Rick, I wanted to bring this to your attention. I don't know if you saw that, because you've been on the Sotomayor beat. And that is this article about the fact that she grew up in public housing. There in the Bronx. And this was such an interesting twist about her background and where she came from.

And I want to give kudos to Richard Cohen who wrote this for "The Washington Post". And he laid out all the amazing people that have come from public housing, OK? Here's just about six. Let me name six of them. Jay Z, the rapper, Wesley Snipes, the actor, and also Kareem Abdul Jabbar, you know, the great basketball player. And then look at this, Gary Ackerman, as you know, that witty congressman we love to take sound bites with. Lloyd Blankfein who runs Goldman Sachs, Howard Schultz, who conceived the current Starbucks, and also Ursula Burns, a black woman, and the head of Xerox, CEO of Xerox.

And the point that he was making is that, you know, Sotomayor coming from the projects is no miracle. He said the tragedy is that we think it is, because look at all the amazing people that do come from public housing. I thought it was a fantastic article.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Those of us who came up, or grew up in the barrios, and whose parents probably never made more than $11,000 a year, I can't imagine anybody being on TV or being like that, but his initials are Rick Sanchez - even if I don't say his name -- have known for quite some time that there are a lot of us who obviously who are very, very different. And that's the pitfall.

Look, I'm talking from my heart here, I'm being real honest with you, that's the pitfall that some politicians find themselves in, while they criticize someone like this; and especially if they're -- if it's a gut check, especially if they're criticizing without really looking at the facts. I think what Newt Gingrich is doing, alluding back to the story that you raised with viewers just moments ago, is trying to detach himself, separate himself from the Tancredos and the Delays and Rush Limbaughs. Because it doesn't seem to me - and I wouldn't be surprised if someone in the Republican got to him and said, maybe they can do that, because we can stand here on the Sunday morning talk shows, Kyra, and say that's not the Republican Party speaking. That's Rush Limbaugh, he's an entertainer, as they've called him in the past.

But when Newt Gingrich stands up and says this woman is a racist, that has the kind of overtones that cannot only cause a rift, but if there's already a rift -- as some have argued between the GOP right now, in the Republican Party, it could actually increase the distance in it. And I wouldn't be surprised if that may be what's going on with -- with Newt Gingrich and part of the reason that he came forward today and said, look, I'm going to back off of this thing.

Because when you really look at -- when you look at Sonia Sotomayor, if her name was not Sotomayor, if her name was Harry Jones III and he was from Connecticut and he was -- and he went to Yale, if he graduated number one at Princeton, was at the heart -- was a great D.A., wrote the "Harvard Law Review" and had continued on to become a successful judge for something like 14 years, and was named by a Republican president and then affirmed by a Democratic president, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, there probably wouldn't be a whole lot of people saying this woman is not qualified to have that position. So, it's just something to take into consideration when people have this argument.

PHILLIPS: Hey, and I wonder if those, you know, white males from Yale actually read Nancy Drew novels like she did and watched Perry Mason, because that's what inspired her to become a lawyer.

Thanks, Rick.

SANCHEZ: Thanks. We'll get in to this today. And it's a fun conversation.

PHILLIPS: I'm sure it is.

SANCHEZ: I'm glad you brought it up.

PHILLIPS: It's pretty amazing the background.

Coming up in October, we've probably told you about this, we'll tell you again, CNN will take a comprehensive look at how Latinos are changing the country. "Latino In America", is showcases lives in some Hispanic neighborhoods. We'll show you how one of America's fastest- growing minority groups is reshaping politics and doing business. That's all right here on CNN this October.

Well, it was a defining moment for CNN; a deadly time for hundreds of people, perhaps thousands of Chinese protesters. We're going to take a look back 20 years after Tiananmen.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Well, it was an event that shook the world, and one -- and one when a young CNN actually came of age, 20 years ago today -- or tomorrow, rather, China launched a vicious crackdown on tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters led by university students. And CNN was there. Here's former CNN Anchor Bernard Shaw as Chinese officials forced us off the air.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERNARD SHAW, FMR. CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm being told that the government officials are coming in to the CNN control room now. This man, with a piece of paper in his hand; I'm certain that is not a party invitation. And let's just watch what happens.

OK, let me quickly tell you what this official is saying. If you do not obey, you will not be allowed to come again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I tried to contact him, he's at home. (INAUDIBLE) He should call up (INAUDIBLE) Right here, 500-4100

SHAW: This official on the right side of your screen, saying to CNN, if you do not obey the order -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 500-4100.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: It definitely put us on the map. And then there was this one symbol of the protest. It was this man, incredibly challenging this tank at ground zero of the protests, Beijing's Tiananmen Square. His fate still remains unknown. Analysts say anywhere from a couple hundred to more than a thousand protesters were killed.

And today protests of any kind are extremely rare. Many students say that they ignore human rights violations, and instead just focus on graduating and finding a job.

PHILLIPS: That does it for us. We'll see you back here tomorrow. Rick Sanchez takes it from here.