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A Look at the Suspect in Annie Le's Murder; Feds Suspect Transit Plot; Defiance and Dissent in Iran; Army Turns to Pro Sports for Training Tips; First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit Calls for Extension

Aired September 18, 2009 - 14:00   ET

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

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: There is much more to come, including this. New Haven, Connecticut, police were tailing Raymond Clark even before Annie Le's body was found. We are pushing forward on the Yale murder case this hour.

New details on the evidence that put Clark in jail yesterday. A law enforcement sources tells the "Hartford Courant" newspaper an investigator saw the lab tech trying to hide cleaning equipment, and later, that equipment was found to have blood splatter on it.

Well, as Annie Le's family and friends deal with the shock of her tragic death, people who know Raymond Clark, they're reeling, too. CNN's Tom Foreman tries to get a picture of the man accused of murder.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Arrested and brought into court facing a murder charge at just 24, Ray Clark was not asked for a plea, just that he understood his rights. His answer, two words --

RAYMOND CLARK, MURDER SUSPECT: Yes, sir.

FOREMAN: Others, however, are saying much more. The police chief won't talk about reports of messages between Clark and the murder victim, Annie Le, but he makes it clear, the lab where they both worked is where the violence was borne.

CHIEF JAMES LEWIS, NEW HAVEN POLICE CHIEF: This is not about urban crime. It's not about university crime. It's not about domestic crime, but an issue of workplace violence, which has become a growing concern around the country.

FOREMAN: Twenty minutes away in Clark's hometown, the idea of some sort of workplace eruption is puzzling for old high school classmates.

MICHELLE CRISCUOLO, CLARK'S HIGH SCHOOL CLASSMATE: He was incredibly nice. He was sweet. He came off as very caring.

FOREMAN: Michelle Criscuolo knew him as a fun-loving and athletically gifted boy with kind and giving parents. Even before a local paper reported it, she knew firsthand about a long-ago investigation into accusations that Clark forced his then girlfriend into having sex with him. No charges were filed, so Michelle never thought much of it.

CRISCUOLO: You know, he never was arrested or anything like that, but it just -- it just didn't -- it just seemed like there was a problem within the relationship, and you know, it was something between them two.

FOREMAN: Branford police will not talk about that incident now, saying only that they are sharing information with New Haven detectives.

It is all painful for Caitlin Mahon. She, too, knew Ray Clark as a standout baseball player.

(on camera): And this is him right here.

CAITLIN MAHON, CLARK'S HIGH SCHOOL CLASSMATE: Yes.

FOREMAN (voice over): And a fellow member of a high school club to promote understanding of Asian culture. She does not believe he could have killed Annie Le.

FOREMAN (on camera): What kind of guy was Ray Clark in high school?

MAHON: Friendly all the time, sweetheart, totally.

FOREMAN: So, what happened?

If police are correct, somehow, her job as a researcher and his job taking care of the animals that she worked with brought them into a collision in the basement of this building a little more than a week ago with tragic results.

(voice over): Bail for Clark was set at $3 million and his attorney is not talking. Many students of Yale are breathing easier with the arrest, but many friends of Annie Le and Ray Clark have just as many questions about how this murder came to pass.

Tom Foreman, CNN, New Haven, Connecticut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: All right. So to Colorado now, in a third day of questioning for an airport shuttle driver from Afghanistan. Najibullah Zazi according to his lawyer is cooperating with the FBI and has nothing to do with terrorism, but according to sources close to the investigation raise early Monday in a neighborhood Zazi visited in New York, and a search of the rental car that he drove there turned up possible indications of a real deal terror plot.

CNN's Jeanne Meserve has the latest now from Denver.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Najibullah Zazi and his attorney arrived here at this building housing the FBI this morning for a third round of questioning. On previous days, they've walked in the front door, but today they were brought in in vehicles with tinted windows with sally port that prevented us from asking questions and them from answering them.

Meanwhile this investigation is continuing. Two sources have told CNN that instructions for building bombs have been found in the course of the investigation. One law enforcement source says the plans were found on a computer that Zazi was carrying when he travelled to New York last week. Now Zazi's attorney Arthur Folsom says, not so. He says his client has absolutely no ties to terrorism.

In another development, sources tell CNN that multiple backpacks were found during the searches in New York City. Now you'll remember in 2004, during the Madrid train bombings, the explosives were hidden in backpacks that were then left on transit vehicles. And so sources tell us that law enforcement here has develop a theory that perhaps this plot, this alleged plot was going to target mass transit. Probably some place where a lot of people would gather, where there would be minimal screening of carry-on bags. Perhaps something like a subway or a train station.

But authorities still don't know exactly what they're dealing with. This investigation is going full steam ahead at this point. Sources do tell us that authorities believe this is the real deal, but as yet, there have been no arrests in the case.

Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Denver.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: We are witnessing more shows of defiance and dissent in Iran today as the Islamic-based government deals with the fallout of its contested presidential election from three months ago.

This as Iran's president ratchets up his personal brand of anti- Israeli rhetoric.

CNN international correspondent Reza Sayah has the latest now from neighboring Pakistan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): A dramatic and emotionally charged day in Tehran as Iran's green clad opposition movement made a come back. Tens of thousands of opposition supporters hitting the streets of Tehran. We really haven't seen them come out in mass. Nearly two months on Friday. They went face-to- face with large groups of pro-government crowds. Really, a recipe for violence, but we really didn't see widespread clashes. We saw some, but not many.

Friday was Quds Day in Iran. An annual rally to show solidarity for the Palestinian cause, but as they have done in the past, the opposition movement took advantage of what was a government approved event to come out once again and protest the June 12 election, and the brutal and sometimes deadly crackdown that followed. They started marching in the morning and went to Tehran University where President Ahmadinejad delivered another searing speech targeting Israel, America and the West.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Today the most important issue in the world is to show Palestine, if there is a conflict going on in Iraq, we believe that the conflict has been understand indicated by the Zionist. If there is a conflict in Afghanistan, the war has been provoked by the Zionist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAYAH: Inside Tehran University, President Ahmadinejad getting plenty of cheers, outside, a different story. Opposition supporters chanting "liar, liar," "death to the dictator". And another chant we had heard, "no to Gaza, no to Lebanon, I'm giving my life to Iran."

Also showing up on Friday, four important figures in the opposition movement, opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, opposition figure Mehdi Karoubi. Also showing up former presidents, Mohammad Khatami and Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani.

The opposition movement doesn't appear to have a lot of political options left on the table. But these appearances by these opposition leaders and a strong turnout, an indication that they will continue to apply pressure to the leadership of President Ahmadinejad as he begins his second term.

Reza Sayah, CNN, Islamabad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: So what exactly is Quds Day? Well, it's an annual rally to support the Palestinian people and protest Israel's presence in Jerusalem. It is held in many Arab and Muslim countries and their communities all around the world. It's considered a political event, not a religious one, even though it's held on the last Friday of Ramadan. The parade originated in Iran after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

And on the heels of yesterday's rally at the University of Maryland, President Obama is pumping up his push for health care reform. A short time from now he is sitting down for taped interviews with five TV networks, including CNN to talk about his plans. Monday night he drops in on David Letterman.

And you can catch President Obama's sit down with John King on CNN's "STATE OF UNION." John is on air Sunday morning at 9:00 eastern. Don't miss it.

All right. So a day after U.S. Army sergeant Jared Monti was awarded the medal of honor for an act of battlefield bravery that cost him his life, he is being inducted into the Pentagon's hall of heroes. Monti was killed in 2006 in Afghanistan while trying to reach a wounded comrade in the midst of a Taliban ambush. He's just the sixth Medal of Honor recipient from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. All six of those honors were posthumous.

Today is national P.O.W. and M.I.A. Recognition Day and ceremonies. They were held around the nation to commemorate American prisoners of war and those still missing in action.

Plus, the organizers of the Vietnam Wall Memorial, they want your help. They're asking for photos of the 58,261 fallen service members whose names appear on the wall. They plan to display the photos in a yet to be constructed education center on the National Mall. You're looking at an artist's rendering of that. If you have a photo, you can take it to your nearest FeDex store, where a worker scan it, gather some information from, and then send a digital copy to the photo, copy of the photo, I should say, to the war memorial. And you can also in fact just directly upload the photo yourself. For a link, all you have to do is go to our blog, CNN.com/kyra.

Did soldiers have to have good minds and strong characters? But they better have strong backs, strong arms, strong legs, strong lungs.

Yes, turning soft recruits into fighting machines. Not easy, and maybe time for some new ideas.

CNN's Jason Carroll saw for himself.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Betty, soldiers in Afghanistan have been suffering many non-combat injuries as a result of the heavy loads that they carry in Afghanistan's rough terrain. Now the army is taking a tip from how professional athletes train to make a better soldier.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Left, right. Left.

CARROLL (voice-over): It's dawn, Fort Campbell, Kentucky, marching in formation. Traditional calisthenics. For decades, physical training for Army soldiers has changed very little, but now change has come.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you feel? You feel all right? Good.

CARROLL: It looks a lot different. The results unmistakable.

LT. COL BRIAN SMALLEY, U.S. ARMY: And the end result will be a stronger, faster soldier that will be less prone to injury.

CARROLL: The new program is called the Eagle Tactical Athlete Program, ETAP. These are the first wave of soldiers sweating under ETAP, which emphasizes endurance, balance, speed and preventing injuries.

ETAP's director, Dr. Scott Lephart, says 40 to 60 percent of new recruits actually get hurt during training.

DR. SCOTT LEPHART, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: If, indeed, we can mitigate the risk of injury, to reduce the injuries and enhance their capacity to perform their duty, it's a significant contribution on our part.

CARROLL: Training is based on the methods Dr. Lephart developed at the University of Pittsburgh's Department of Sports Medicine and Nutrition. Professional sports teams like the Steelers and Penguins pay top dollars for the training, but unlike ice or turf, these soldiers will be fighting in Afghanistan. No problem. The program is customized to environment.

LEPHART: They were observing a significant amount of ankle injuries due to the rough terrain in the elevation in Afghanistan. Therefore, we were able to integrate new exercises that would specifically work on the soldier's agility and balance.

CARROLL: Before training begins, the customized program uses computer technology to measure how a soldier lands, how much air they take in and strength.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Set and go to the right, close hand. Left. Great effort.

CARROLL: The tests are not easy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one, sprint as fast as you can get the pedals going.

CARROLL (on camera): Yes, it's tough.

(voice-over): Tough and easy to measure weakness, but will this new program break decades' old training methods?

SGT. BRAD OHLMAN, U.S. ARMY: I think if everybody gives it a chance, you know, and just tries it, they will come around to actually liking the program.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: The new training program is eight weeks. Fort Campbell hopes to have all 25,000 soldiers in the 101st airborne division fully trained on the new program by next summer. And, Betty, you know, those who are behind the program are also hoping that other areas of the military will see the benefits of this program, and that they too will end up adopting the training methods for their soldiers -- Betty?

NGUYEN: Benefits no doubt, but a tough program.

Wow.

All right, let's talk about this for a second. A popular tax credit for first-time home buyers, it's helping to lift the weak housing market, but it expires a couple of months from now, so can we keep it going?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: All right, so first-time home buyers are really putting some oomph into the weak economy, but now there is concerned the momentum will not last, unless Congress extends a popular tax credit beyond its expiration date in November.

Our personal finance editor Gerri Willis is with us now from New York.

All right, Gerri. Give us the details on this bill. Apparently, it's a good bill, but it's not going to last for long?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well, Betty, it's interesting. You know, Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson is calling on Congress to extend and expand that first-time home buyer credit. Here's the details.

First of all, it would raise the tax credit up to $15,000 from $8,000 right now. It would be available for any home buyer -- new home buyer, old home buyer, it wouldn't matter. And it would also remove income caps. Now the senator says that doing this will stabilize home values and improve the jobless rate and prevent a second dip in terms of the recession. Critics have said that an extension of the credit is just too expensive. And would help people who would buy anyway and probably don't have to have the credit to buy.

NGUYEN: All right. But what has the tax credit meant so far for the housing market as a whole?

WILLIS: Well, it's been a lot. Let's take a look at this.

The IRS saying that 1.4 million people claimed the tax credit, and the National Association of Realtors saying there were 350,000 sales this year that wouldn't have happened without the tax credit. Home sales would have been six percent below last year, had the tax credit not been in place.

And the National Association of Realtors, that's the industry's biggest trade group, it says that our recovery will help the economy, a recovery in housing, that is, because home buyers spent an average of, get this, $63,000 on furnishing, and finishes all kinds of things in the months after they buy that home.

Still there are formidable head winds to housing recovery. Inventories remain high. Some 8.6 million homes and condos are on the market. That is a nine-month supply. Foreclosures are still rising, pushing inventories even higher, and some of the upbeat numbers we have seen on housing is people buying distressed properties. In addition, some people make points that the tax credit is only putting people in foreclosed homes, which isn't stimulating sales for home owners who really want to move up and out -- Betty?

NGUYEN: Right. That's a very good point.

All right, Gerri, as always we do appreciate.

WILLIS: My pleasure.

NGUYEN: Very tough times in Detroit, folks, and that's keeping people at home. Several city offices are closed today, under mayor day Beings Far Low program. Now other beings order, 3000 non-union workers and appointees will have to take 26 unpaid days through the end of next June. The major is threatening to layoff hundreds of union workers if they don't accept the similar cut. The plan is aimed at balancing Detroit's $300 billion budget deficit.

And there's some troubling news for some of the hardest hit states in the recession. The jobless rate last month climbed above 12 percent in five states. Michigan tops the list with 15.2 percent. Rounding up the top five, though. Look at this. You've got Nevada, Rhode Island, California and Oregon.

Well, with unemployment rates surging, it's no surprise that more than 9 million Americans are relying on the government for help. But some of those people will soon run out of money unless Congress extends unemployment benefits.

And Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange.

Susan, we're hearing that the House is set to vote on this. This is very important for a lot of folks out there.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No question about it, you know, Betty. Gerri was just talking about the extension of the home buyer tax credit. Well, you can't buy a home if you don't have a job.

The House of Representative is set to vote on this legislation next Wednesday. And it sounds like deja vu. We have been here before because there have been extensions twice before this year. This one would -- by Congress would extend unemployment benefits by 13 weeks to the hardest hit states. Those with an unemployment rate of at least 8.5 percent or higher. There are 16 states that fall into that category now according to the latest government figures.

In most states, people get 26 weeks of benefits. OK. But currently people in high unemployment states get up to 79 weeks of jobless benefits. That's a year and a half. And, basically, what these extensions show, Betty, is that it's taking a lot longer than normal for laid off workers to find new jobs.

You know, the growing number of people now out of work for a year or longer. So it is a big problem, and it's going to get worse according to the folks who are backing us unless this extension gets passed again.

NGUYEN: OK. You're talking about that extension. But what about this, another big issue that Congress is taking on is overhauling the college loan business.

What are you hearing on that end?

LISOVICZ: Well, you know, it's just breathtaking what's happening in Washington in some of the overhauls because this is -- this would be the biggest overhaul since college aid programs, Betty, were created in the 1960s. But the House did vote yesterday to overhaul these programs. Basically, it would get rid of private student lenders and put the government in charge. How big a business is this?

Well, private lenders made $56 billion in government backed loans last year. Compared to $14 billion in direct loans from the government. It still has to go through the Senate, but what the legislation does would it would end subsidies for these private lenders. It would boost Pell grants for needy students, and create a grant program to improve community colleges. You know there are some --

NGUYEN: It's wide ranging, yes.

LISOVICZ: It's wide ranging, it's huge and it's not a done deal, not by any stretch. And, you know, of course, there are plenty of opponents. Among them, the private lenders who say that you're going to contribute to a high unemployment rates because some of these would go belly up, or at least result in big layoffs.

NGUYEN: All right. Well, we'll be watching on that.

Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange.

Thank you.

LISOVICZ: You're welcome.

NGUYEN: Let's get to some top stories right now.

Police, they are using cadaver dogs to search the property of Phillip and Nancy Garrido. The couple facing charges in Jaycee Dugard's kidnapping. Now investigators are looking for possible links to other unsolved kidnappings. And police say two of the dogs have shown interest in part of the property, a possible indication of human remains.

And a judge in Atlanta says that he is leery of the way that Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.'s estate is being managed. And he is warning King's three surviving children that they could lose control of it. It is the latest in a legal battle involving the siblings. The Reverend Bernice King and Martin Luther King III sued their brother, Dexter, accusing him of wrongfully taking money from the estate.

In suburban Atlanta, the man accused of beating a female army reservist has been barred for life from the restaurant chain where the attack took place. Cracker Barrel is condemning the attack, and calls the incident reprehensible. The suspect is Troy West, and he is a white man and the alleged victim is an African-American woman.

All right. So getting a job is one thing, getting to a job is a whole another battle. And if you have no wheels, you could be out of a job.

Susan Jacobs wants to change all of that, though. She's going to give you a ride of your own. Yes, she is our hero and you are going to meet her. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Hold down a job if you can't get there and nobody knows that like Susan Jacobs. Our hero of the week is putting low income workers in Florida on the road to independence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Heroes.

SUSAN JACOBS, CNN HERO: I'm a single mom. Not having a car, I have to take three buses every morning. I also depend on a friend of mine to get my kids to day care, because of the way the buses run, I'm unable to do it and get to work on time.

I know what it's like to have the fear of losing my job because I can't get to work. I was hitchhiking. That didn't last long because of the kindness, actually, of a stranger. He said "I'll let you use one of my vehicles."

He was put in my path to help me move forward and made me realize I could make it.

I'm Susan Jacobs, and I provide working wheels to keep families working.

This is Susan with wheels of success.

Our goal is to try to step in to work with employers so that before they lay someone off, hopefully we have a solution.

The Cavalier's done, too?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

JACOBS: We started taking donated cars and doing repairs. (INAUDIBLE) you pay a monthly payment for a year based on a sliding scale, and also give three volunteer hours a month back to the organization.

Jessica --

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you so much.

JACOBS: You're so welcome.

Receiving a car is more than just the car. People literally see how their life's going to change.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is awesome. I got my own car.

JACOBS: I love what I do. My life has made a difference.

(END VIDEOTAPE) NGUYEN: And you can find out more about Susan's work, all you have to do is go to our Web site, cnn.com/heroes. And get ready, because coming up in October, in fact, on October 1st, we revealed the top 10 CNN Heroes of 2009.

Hey, listen to this story, a former high school football coach found not guilty in the death of one of his players. The trial happened in Kentucky. The impact, though, ripples nationwide.

We are going to talk about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)