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Bell, California Officials Arrested

Aired September 22, 2010 - 10:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: When we first saw the Bell, California story, we knew it was a time bomb about ready to blow. Boy, did it blow. First, there were the protests in the streets, then resignations and then investigations, and now, arrests, charges and mug shots.

Eight current or former town officials booked in L.A. County jail on charges of misusing about $5.5 million of public funds. There's their faces. All money provided by the working class people paying a curiously high tax rate. One of those jailed, the former city manager, Robert Rizzo, a guy who was making nearly $800,000 managing a tiny town with a median household income of 40 grand per year.

His assistant also arrested as well as the mayor and several council members who are making about 100 grand for part-time work. L.A.'s DA calls it a case of corruption on steroids. The Bell 8 go to court today to make their pleas. CNN's been all over this story and now the story of alleged government corruption has grown well beyond Bell's 2.5 square miles.

Let's go to CNN's Ted Rowlands for the latest. Ted.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, people around the country obviously were shocked when they heard what these people were making governing this small town of 40,000 just outside Los Angeles. Well, yesterday they were in handcuffs. This morning they are in jail.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am the happiest person in Bell today!

ROWLANDS (voice-over): After months of anger and frustration, they're celebrating in Bell, California. This is what many here say they've been waiting to see, the former city manager, Robert Rizzo, in handcuffs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was waiting for today so I could go in and celebrate together with everybody.

ROWLANDS: A 53-count indictment accuses Rizzo of stealing an estimated $5.5 million from Bell taxpayers by secretly inflating his salary along with those of seven other current or former city officials.

STEVE COOLEY, L.A. COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: They used the tax dollars collected from the hard-working citizens of Bell as their own piggy bank, which they then looted at will.

ROWLANDS: Rizzo's attorney says his client will fight the charges. He said his salary was "openly transparent and approved by the city council." People were shocked when they found out what Rizzo and the others in Bell were paying themselves, but we found other public servants around the state who were also getting huge paychecks from taxpayers.

In the city of Vernon, a community of just 100 people next to Bell, a legal consultant made $1.5 million last year and the city manager made 785,000. The attorney general has launched an investigation in Vernon. Up north in the city of San Ramon, the city manager there is making 359,000, and a hospital administrator in Fremont paid 876,000 in 2008.

But getting paid a lot isn't against the law. In fact, the former police chief in Bell, Randy Adams, who made 450,000 wasn't arrested along with the others because, prosecutors say, he didn't try to hide his salary.

JENNIFER SNYDER, DEPUTY L.A. CO. DISTRICT ATTORNEY: It's not illegal in the state of California, especially in a charter city for people to get paid ridiculous sums of money, but if you contract or set it up so you receive that in secret or without following the appropriate process, that's the crime.

ROWLANDS: People in Bell say they are also partly to blame for what happened here.

JAMES BAKER, BELL RESIDENT: If I was people in other cities, I would be looking at their city councils, you know. Don't go to sleep and think that everybody's going to take care of you. No, they aren't.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROWLANDS: And Kyra, Mr. Rizzo and the others are waking up in jail here. They'll be in court later this morning in Los Angeles. The prosecutor is asking that a judge hold Rizzo on $3.2 million in bail and he says that if Rizzo does come up with the money, they want a hearing and an investigation on how he came up with the money to make sure that his bail money isn't traced back to the Bell taxpayers. So he may be in jail for a while.

PHILLIPS: Well, we have been waiting to see that mug shot for a long time. Ted Rowlands, thanks.

California attorney general Jerry Brown joins us now. He's been hot on this Bell story as well. Brown is also the Democratic candidate for governor. Jerry, it's just amazing how hard these people allegedly worked to keep their secret.

JERRY BROWN, ATTORNEY GENERAL, CALIFORNIA: Yes, well, they obviously felt guilty about it or they would have been more public with it. I would say that even if they didn't obscure or hide their salary process, that excessive salaries are not legal, and I'm suing for civil fraud based on a waste of taxpayers' funds, and based on the breach of fiduciary duty that each public official owes to the public, and, finally, the charter of this particular city and I think a lot of others, specifies that a salary must be commensurate with the worth or the duties to perform - to be performed.

If you are making 800,000, twice what the president does, for a little town like Bell, that to me is prima fascie evidence that you have ripped off the city, violated the charter, and therefore, the state of California and as attorney general my suit seeks to recover that money, block the pension payments that might be coming down the road and make sure that the citizens of bell pay no more than is legally permissible.

PHILLIPS: Will the people of Bell get more money back because they have been told they're going to get a couple hundred dollars back and you know, we're talking about millions of dollars that have been swindled by these people.

BROWN: Well, if they're swindled, we're getting it back if we can find the money or the assets. What has to be proven in court to our lawsuit is that through expert testimony we show there is not a rational basis for the salaries that were paid, and I think you can do that.

And then looking to other cities, when they are excessive at some point it's obvious that they have cheated what the law envisions. This is breaking some unusual ground here when it comes to the lawsuit, but it's solid. It's sound. You can't waste public funds, and the question is at what point do you go from what is permissible to what is impermissible and that's what we have to prove in court. We are also looking at other cities.

PHILLIPS: That was my next question, Vernon, San Ramon, Fremont, just a few places Ted Rowlands pointed out. We talked a lot about Vernon next week. How are you going after these other cities that are coming up with these extraordinary salaries?

BROWN: Well, nothing quite like Bell and maybe Vernon, might be a few others. I want to not just stop at going after a few cities where the excess is crystal clear. I want to go further and identify places that deviate from the norm, deviate from what, you know, is just common sense, and I want to do that because I am proposing a constitutional amendment to take the existing salary commission that is empowered to raise or lower the salaries of the governor, the attorney general and the legislators, and give that salary commission the power to do the same thing for local officials.

And if we had that, then we'd have a salary set or a maximum salary setting authority that could stop excesses that might pass through the needle of the law. It the could be stopped by a commission.

PHILLIPS: What's going to be the number, Jerry? As you start looking at other city managers, how much do they have to be making for you to investigate? BROWN: Well, I just set the number at 300,000. That's a number that we took as a starting point, and we want to look at it. We want to say, OK, you're making 325,000, how big is your city, what do you do, and what do people make in surrounding cities, and what's the basis of this? We start with the fact that the governor makes a little more than $200,000. That's what he makes.

The president makes 400,000. What are you doing that's equivalent or greater than that? I think a lot of cases, we are going to find things that are not justified. Now, they may be able to defend themselves against a civil lawsuit, but I don't think the legislators will want to prevent the creation of a salary commission with the authority to set new rules on what is reasonable and rules that will set a lower standard.

Because why do we pay a superintendent of a school district 325,000 and we're paying the governor, I think, 212,000? It doesn't make sense.

PHILLIPS: Attorney general Jerry Brown, we will continue to stay on this story, and it's great to se you doing something about this and holding people accountable. Thanks so much.

Up next, the pastor of a mega church faces blistering allegations of sexual misconduct and they come from two men who say Bishop Eddie Long betrayed their trust.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Bishop Eddie Long leads one of the largest churches in the country but today he is accused of betraying the trust of those who follow him. Two men filed lawsuits claiming that he coerced them into sexual relationships when they were teens. Long is a nationally known minister and the claims are in shocking contrast to his public image. He passionately crusades against homosexuality. Long's success as a pastor is undeniable.

Two decades after taking over a small church, his followers now number 25,000. A spokesperson for Eddie Long denies the allegations and fires off some accusations of his own. He spoke to our John Roberts last hour on CNN's AMERICAN MORNING.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOICE OF ART FRANKLIN, SPOKESMAN FOR BISHOP EDDIE LONG: This is actually, John, a case of retaliation and a case of shakedown for money by men with some serious credibility issues who will try to map their own defense. This is something that went from 48 hours in contact with the attorney claiming outrageous demands to this dog and pony show that we are seeing that began yesterday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And our Ed Lavandera is here investigating the story. He's been on it since the very beginning. FRANKLIN: This a story that will continue to develop here in the next couple of days. There is a great question about just what kind of fallout this will have for Bishop Eddie Long and his church, New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, one of the premiere mega churches in this country.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BISHOP EDDIE LONG, NEW BIRTH MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH: Angels were flying around my bed all night all day!

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bishop Eddie Long's fiery sermons have made him a revered evangelical pastor. He's the bishop of the New Birth Missionary church near Atlanta.

JONATHAN WALTON, HARVARD DIVINITY SCHOOL: He offers himself up as this kind of a man's man, a quintessential man. He's a successful businessman. He's a successful preacher. He has a beautiful family. He's a successful family man. He drives a fancy car. He wears custom-tailored clothes, and in some ways he would argue that he's the man all women want and that all men are supposed to aspire to be.

LAVANDERA: But in separate lawsuits, two young men, former church members, say Bishop long used his spiritual authority to coerce and manipulate them into destructive sexual relationships. 20- year-old Maurice Robinson and 21-year-old Anthony Flagg say they Eddie Long through the bishop's Longfellow Youth Academy, a ministry aimed at nurturing boys into strong young men.

B.J. BERNSTEIN, ATTORNEY FOR PLAINTIFFS: He would use biblical stories to talk about how important it was to follow your leader and your master, and let him know that the acts that he was engaged in were not necessarily meaning that he was a homosexual.

LAVANDERA: Bishop Long's spokesman tells CNN he adamantly denies the allegations, and the young men alleged Long made them his spiritual sons in a private ceremony called a covenant.

BERNSTEIN: Within that covenant, it was essentially a marriage ceremony, where there were candles, exchange of jewelry, and biblical quotes given in order for Anthony to know and for the bishop to tell him, I will always have your back and you will always have mine.

LONG: In the name of Jesus!

LAVANDERA: Bishop Eddie Long built a spiritual empire by sheer force of personality. New Birth Church have 300 members some 20 years ago and today it has more than 25,000 members. When Coretta Scott King, the wife of the Reverend Martin Luther King died, her funeral was held in his church. As Bishop Long's prestige has grown, so has his conservative voice in social politics. He once led an anti-gay marriage march through Atlanta.

LONG: We're not marching against folk. We are marching for folk, and if they don't understand it now, they'll understand it better as the old preacher says, by and by. LAVANDERA: Bishop Eddie Long often refers to himself as god's scarred leader. Those who followed his career say Bishop Long has never shied away from talking about his own personal struggles and faults. That's made him even bigger than life to his spiritual flock.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: You know, Kyra, we want to get back to those - what you heard from the spokesperson talking about these accusations, the shakedown, retaliation. One of the interesting twists to the story is that back in June, there was a break-in in Eddie Long's office at New Birth Church. $100,000 in jewelry was stolen. It turns out that one of the people arrested in that case is Maurice Robinson, one of the gentleman making these accusations today.

That's why you hear the spokesman talking about this being a shakedown, a retaliation that what this young man was going after was money. That's why the lawsuit is being filed. When you hear his attorney saying is at that this was essentially at the time that he was finding out about these other relationships going on between Eddie Long and some others and that this was his way of lashing out. Obviously, people have to make up their own minds of what they think about that but that's what we know right now.

PHILLIPS: We are hearing possibly more young men are going to come forward and file as well. So we'll follow it. All right. Ed, appreciate it.

A new twist in the foreclosure crisis could mean a break for thousands of home owners and a big headache for some of the nation's largest lenders.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, finally a big break for hundreds of home owners across the country, and it happened all because of one foreclosure processor. Cnnmoney.com's Poppy Harlow joins us now from New York. So Poppy, tell us about this legal hiccup, shall we say?

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: It's pretty stunning if these allegations are true, Kyra, but what we're learning is that some of the major mortgage services in this country have had employees who just signed off on foreclosure paper work without verifying it, without reading through all of it which they are legally required to do.

The company really in focus right now is Ally Financial. It is the fourth biggest lender in this country. In a sworn deposition, the head of their foreclosure document team said that he never checked all of the documents when he signed off on foreclosures for many, many homeowners. As a result, what we see know and Ally has suspended evictions in 23 states across the country that they say may have been affected and they're reviewing previous foreclosures but they also say this is not the fault of one person signing off on documents. They say this problem stemmed from an internal process, and they say, "look, we've corrected it." I want to read you a statement coming from Ally Bank. Here's are what they said. We'll show it to you on the screen as well. They said, "No evidence of any factual misstatements or inaccuracies concerning the details typically contained in these affidavits such as the loan balance, its delinquency and the accuracy of the note and mortgage on the underlying transactions.

So basically what they're saying here is it doesn't mean that people that lost their homes shouldn't have. But Kyra, I just got off the phone with a lawyer that is representing these home owners in Maine. He's working for free, pro bono for them. He says that's not the case and he found at least two situations where the underlying facts are not accurate and home owners should not have been forced out of their homes. Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Do you think that is a larger problem extending to other companies?

HARLOW: Absolutely. That's probably what we're going to see at least that's what this lawyer said look, Ally Financial is used by hundreds of other companies to service their mortgages, including major companies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. This lawyer told us the problem is widespread throughout the industry. This does not just have to do with Ally Financial and on top of this, we have seen record foreclosures and mountains and mountains of all of these payment work that the banks need toe sign off on.

We have seen 338,000 foreclosures filings in August alone and we also, this is very important to this story, saw record repossessions of homes last month. So you have got other companies that may have taken shortcuts as well, pushing people out of their homes.

What I can tell you is that right now the "Financial Times" is reporting that a JP Morgan Chase employee also admitted in a deposition to signing off on thousands of foreclosure documents, without looking through them and without verifying their accuracy. We called JP Morgan and we are waiting to hear back. Kyra, if this is true, it could mean putting homeowners back in their homes and it could also mean a major, major headache for a lot of these mortgage servicing companies. Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Yes. All right. Poppy, thanks.

Genetically altered salmon. Government health officials say it's safe to eat. Others disagree. Hear what the FDA has to say now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Lessons learned from the gulf oil disaster. Live pictures now. A committee on Homeland Security is holding a hearing this hour. One of the things that they're looking into is whether the department was prepared to handle a disaster of that magnitude. You're seeing actor Kevin Costner. He's testifying. You may remember that he proposed a 190-vessel plan to respond to future disasters in the Gulf of Mexico.

Now, the owner of an Iowa egg farm plans to apologize to the victims of a salmonella outbreak that sickened people. (INAUDIBLE) and his son, Peter, will appear at a House panel hearing on food safety at noon. The "Des Moines Register" has obtained a copy of their testimony. DeCoster says "While we always believe we were doing the right thing. It's now very clear that we got to do more." Jack DeCoster says he prays several times each day for the victims of that outbreak.

The owner of (INAUDIBLE) Farms, which also recalled eggs will testify today as well. The Food and Drug Administration is right now considering whether to allow genetically engineered salmon to be sold in grocery stores. The industry says the genetically-altered salmon which grows twice as fast as regular salmon is safe. Advocates on both sides appeared in Washington. No vote was taken but an independent FDA panel thinks the matter needs more study.

Yesterday we took a special look at modified foods right here on our show. Restaurant owner Dennis Lange actually gave us a powerful look at the difference between natural and genetically-altered salmon. He also showed us that modified foods can appear as wholesome fruits and vegetables, too. After that segment, we asked to you weigh in with your thoughts on genetically-engineered food. Here's what a lot of you had to say on my blog.

Jusu says "I came from Africa six years ago and I can tell you I noticed a big change in the flavor of the food in the U.S.. I told my friends the food tastes different and they used to laugh at me. After seeing your segment, my intuitions have been confirmed. I believe Americans should demand better food. You should taste food, not just eat it.

Donna said "I'm getting tired of our food being made into science projects? What ever happened to the natural way to do it? That's how it was intended. It's time to stop playing chemist with our food supply." Ian says "I don't mind if there's genetically altered foods for sale as long as it is labeled. Consumers should have options but labels should be truthful so we can make informed choices.

Gregg says "that even though the natural foods are more abundant in flavor, perhaps the engineered sources will be better when it comes down to food shortages in America and the world.

Remember, we always want to hear from you. Just log on to CNN.com/kyra. Show your comments. I appreciate you weighing in. Well, a Virginia woman is scheduled to be put to death tomorrow. Her supporters say she's mentally challenged and shouldn't be executed but the prosecutor calls her evil.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: More than 32,000 prisoners sit on death row nationwide, either waiting for or fighting their executions. Just 53 of them are women. And one of those women is scheduled to be executed tomorrow night. Short of some eleventh-hour stay that doesn't appear possible, Theresa Lewis will die by injection. And at the 9 p.m. Eastern time Thursday at the Greensville Correctional Center in Virginia. She was convicted in Virginia the 2002 murder-for-hire deaths of her husband and stepson, and now it seems she's less than 35 hours to live.

The state of Virginia hasn't executed a woman since 1912. This case has garnered international attention. Thousands of people have petitioned the governor, claiming Lewis doesn't deserve to die because she was manipulated by someone with a much higher I.Q. But prosecutors and police say she masterminded the murders.

Brian Todd talked to the woman at the center of it all.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From Virginia's Death Row, Teresa Lewis sings for divine intervention.

TERESA LEWIS, ON DEATH ROW (singing): I need a miracle.

TODD: No miracles yet. Lewis is waiting to hear from Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell on a possible stay of execution. If the supreme court doesn't intervene, Lewis will die by lethal injection next Thursday.

I spoke with Lewis as the governor weighed his decision

(on camera) Because of the sensitivity of the case at this point the questions are limited to just a couple of predetermined questions for Teresa Lewis. We're also not allowed to bring cameras into the facility where she's being held. So we're speaking to her on the phone from her unit on Death Row in Virginia.

If you could say anything to the governor at this point, what would you tell him?

LEWIS: If would tell the governor, if I could speak to him one- on-one, how sorry I really am, for allowing this to happen to two people that I loved very much. And I -- and I just wish I could take it back. And I'm sorry for all the people that I've hurt in the process. TODD (voice-over): Lewis pleaded guilty to the 2002 murders of her husband, Julian Lewis, and her stepson, C.J., in their mobile home in Southern Virginia. But this was a crime of conspiracy, and Lewis herself didn't fire the shots. The two men who did, including lead triggerman Matthew Shallenberger, only got life sentences.

The judge called Teresa Lewis the head of the serpent, but her attorneys say her IQ is in the low 70s, near the level of retardation, and they say Lewis has dependent personality disorder, making her vulnerable to coercion by others.

(on camera) Is it your basic contention that she was manipulated into this crime?

JAMES ROCAP, TERESA LEWIS'S ATTORNEY: Yes. She -- Shallenberger has stated and the experts that have examined her agree that she -- she was being used by Shallenberger, not the other way around.

TODD: Shallenberger had had an affair with Teresa Lewis before the killings. Her attorneys cite a prison letter from Shallenberger to another woman, saying the only reason he slept with Lewis was "so she would give me the insurance money she inherited after the murders." Matthew Shallenberger later committed suicide in prison.

On the idea that Lewis was manipulated, prosecutor David Grime says this.

DAVID GRIME, PROSECUTOR: I can frankly say Teresa Lewis is as evil a person as I've ever met.

TODD: Grime says his investigation showed Lewis herself took an active role in the plot, that she connived, manipulated everyone: from her late husband, to her lover, to her children. And he says tests his side conducted contradict those which indicated she's near retardation.

GRIME: Her functioning ability is way beyond that.

TODD (on camera): You think she was faking?

GRIME: Well, she certainly wasn't, as one of the experts said in the habeas proceeding, she certainly wasn't motivated to score accurately and high on those tests.

TODD (voice-over): Lewis' attorney says the contention that she's faking a low I.Q. is silly. He says one expert specifically tested to see if she was faking that, and found she wasn't.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Brian Todd joins now live. So, Brian, she took classes past high school, right?

TODD: She did. She completed a program at a community college to become a certified nursing assistant, Kyra, and she had held several jobs before the murders, but her lawyer says all that certification qualified her to do was to change bedpans and sheets at a nursing home. Her attorney also said she was addicted to prescription drugs at the time of the murder, so he's making that case as well.

PHILLIPS: Brian Todd, thanks.

Richard Dieter is the executive director of Death Penalty Information Center. He's joining me live from D.C.

Richard, we just heard the Supreme Court is not stepping in, and also Virgina governor Bob McDonnell won't spare her life, either. In a statement, he actually says, "Lewis does not deny that she committed these heinous crimes after numerous evaluations. No medical professional has concluded that Theresa Lewis meets the level of mentally or statutory definition of mentally retarded. I find no compelling reason to set aside the sentence that was imposed by the Circuit Court and affirmed by all reviewing courts." How do you respond to that?

RICHARD DEITER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DEATH PENALTY INFORMATION CENTER: The death penalty is supposed to be for the worst of the worst offenders. And I would say Theresa Lewis is probably one of the least of the worst. She's guilty, but she's very close to being mentally retarded. She was not the shooter; she was not the organizer of this crime. And so, she should spend the rest of her life in prison, not be executed.

PHILLIPS: Now, even -- it's interesting to see all of the people who are weighing in on this. Even novelist John Grisham wrote an op- ed piece in "The Washington Post" earlier this month. He's on your side, arguing against executing Lewis. He actually paints her as a woman who manipulated by Matthew Shallenberger, her lover, and says that he was nothing more than a common thug, but his dream was to become a hit man, Mafia-style, who saw this as an opportunity to build his resume. Do you agree with that?

DEITER: Yes, I think this execution shocks the conscience of us as a country. Why are we doing this? One of the principal criteria for giving the death penalty in Virginia is whether you are a future danger to society. I think Theresa Lewis in prison is not a danger to anyone. As a matter of fact, I think she's been nothing but helpful to fellow prisoners. So, she needs to be punished. She needs to be kept in prison.

But the death penalty is for the extreme cases. This is not - in her participation, her level of culpability and understanding. She just doesn't fit that. This demonization of her as a serpent and as evil, I think, is a gross mischaracterization.

PHILLIPS: So, would we be even having this debate if she were a man? There have been a number of articles, a number of people that have come out and said this is all about -- not all about, but very much about gender.

DEITER: Well, I don't think this case would be attracting as much attention. I think if she had gone before a jury and if her lawyers had recommended that instead of pleading guilty and going before a judge for sentencing, whether she was a man or a woman, she wouldn't have been given the death penalty even in Virginia and would not be facing execution tomorrow.

PHILLIPS: Richard Deiter, appreciate your time.

DIETER: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: We mentioned that Theresa Lewis is scheduled to be the first woman to be executed in Virginia in nearly a century. It got us curious who came before her. Turns out it was was this woman, a 17- year-old maid named Virginia Christian. She was electrocuted for suffocating her employer, a 72-year-old woman who apparently accused her of stealing a locket.

It's one thing to evict a tenant and toss all of his or her stuff to the curb, but what if that tenant's a hoarder with mountains of stuff, like stereo equipment straight out of the '70s? Well, it's a problem for an entire neighborhood, as you can see by these live pictures.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, you might be a fan of one of those hoarder shows on cable where people get help for their compulsion to keep everything, but we actually found one who needs help now. Hardly any time for an intervention. Her landlord kicked her out, and all of her stuff, as you see here. Years and years worth of stuff that have actually buried a street in D.C.

Courtney Robinson is with our affiliate WJLA to tell us more about this story. What's the deal, Courtney?

COURTNEY ROBINSON, WJLA-TV CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, it's a massive amount of stuff. It stretches down 11th Street. It goes for about four blocks. You can see here just all of the different things she has. Strollers, TVs, stereo equipment. It really goes on and on.

And the city, of course, came in last night, a couple of agencies, to help her out, not knowing what they were going to do today. This morning, we now have a moving company out here, a storage company. They are helping her load all of this stuff up, and are actually almost full with this truck.

But this woman, she lived here for about two years is what we understand. According to a roommate, he says that this stuff has accumulated. She already has a storage compartment that is completely full.

Talking with her, she says she saves this stuff and collects all of this stuff in order to send it back to her home country, Venezuela. In fact, the roommate says just last year, she did just that. But speaking with other neighbors, they really rallied around her last night, but at this point, say it's time for this stuff to go and for the streets to be cleaned up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFED FEMALE: My response to the whole thing is, c'mon, where's the trash man? This is a person that is a hoarder, and someone needs to help her get rid of it.

ELIOSA DIAZ, EVICTED FROM APARTMENT: It doesn't matter what people think. (INAUDIBLE) It's my heart and nobody. If you are working an honest wage and they pay to ship it, I am happier than if I have a million dollars.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBINSON: She says that every single piece out here has some sentimental value to her, that selling it does not make sense to her. She wants to send all of this stuff back to Venezuela, back to Latin America. This truck is almost full. We have more trucks coming in. In fact, one person is actually going to hire her to take care of their grandmother, but we can tell you that we understand is not her first eviction.

She told us that she's been evicted many times before this one. Of course, this one the most extensive with the streets concerned here. And we can also tell you that D.C. did bring out social workers last night. They came out again today and will continue to follow up with her, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Yes. I think that's who she needs most right now. Courtney Robinson from our affiliate WJLA, thanks so much.

Checking top stories. Using taxpayer dollars as their own piggy bank. That's how the district attorney describes a salary scandal in Bell, California that's led to eight arrests. The mayor, the city manager, and six other former - current officials head to court today.

The owner of an Iowa egg farm reportedly plans to apologize today to victims for a salmonella outbreak that made scene some 1,600 people sick. Jack DeCoster (ph) and his son, Peter will appear at a House panel hearing on food safety at noon.

Homeowners who want to challenge foreclosure proceedings may have new ammunition. "The Washington Post" reports a document processor at Allied Financial has admitted that he signed off on foreclosures without even reading the required paper work. That's led Allied to stop evictions of homeowners in 23 states. Hundreds of other lender who are allied - or who use Allied, rather - may be impacted.

OK. Let's face it. It's tough being a Catholic these days, and as the faith-shaking hits just keep coming, you have to wonder, what is the Vatican thinking? As if the sex scandals aren't enough, like the recent ones in Milwaukee, where the archdiocese fired nine priests accused of sexually abusing children. And the now-dead Milwaukee priest who admitted to sexual contact with student at a school for the deaf, but was never charged.

And then there's Belgium. A report came out jut a couple of weeks ago that detailed sex abuse allegations in nearly every single diocese there. Thirteen alleged victims killed themselves.

And now another alleged sin that has nothing to do with sex. Money laundering. The kind of crime that you might expect from someone like Tony Soprano, not the Vatican. Prosecutors in Italy have seized $30 million from the Vatican bank. Apparently, it didn't provide enough information about a couple of big wire transfers, and the red flags went up. And those who know money laundering the best came out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFFERY ROBINSON, MONEY LAUNDERING EXPERT/AUTHOR: When you get to big corporations or institutions, what they tend to did is they take money and put it into slush funds that they hide so that the source of that money that they then spend on, say, corruption or political influence, is not directly related back to them. (END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Robinson says the Vatican Bank is the most secret bank in the world, and there's no way to know just how much money it actually controls. The Vatican claims to be perplexed and baffled by the probe and says it aims for full transparency.

One of the aims of the Pope's trip to the UK last week was to combat what he calls "aggressive secularism." And in a recent poll in Benedict's home country, it says one out of every four German Catholics is actually thinking about leaving the church. Clearly, in Europe especially, the Vatican has a lot of work to do to win people's trust back. The seemingly endless stream of sex and now money stories isn't going to help that cause.

The midterm elections are less than six weeks away, and we're bringing you all the latest headlines from our Political Ticker. Just ahead, tempers flare, sparks fly, and one candidate just says no.

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PHILLIPS: All right. Let's check in with some stories from our Best Political Team on Television. On Capitol Hill, senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash. Dana, what's crossing?

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Lisa Murkowski, the Alaskan Republican senator, has really angered her colleagues here, Kyra, because she announced she has a write-in campaign after she lost the Republican primary.

They are going to try to hit her where it hurts and take revenge on her essentially today. The Republican caucus is going to meet this afternoon to vote likely to strip her of her post as the top Republican on the Energy Committee. I say hit her where it hurts because that is one of her big arguments back home in Alaska, that she can help the oil-rich state with this committee post.

And, second on the list, Kyra -- sorry to break this to you, Christine O'Donnell, don't expect her to be on this show anytime soon. Don't expect her to do an interview with me or practically any national media. She said on Fox News last night that she is keeping it local. She is going to stick to Delaware politics. She is going to stick to talking to Delaware voters because she said that's the most important thing she needs to do to break conventional wisdom and actually, potentially, she says win against the Democrat in November.

And lastly, our political junkies out there - they may remember a pretty famous moment back in 1988 when Bob Dole accused George Bush of lying about his record. Well, we had a modern-day moment of that last night. There was a Massachusetts governor's debate was hosted by CNN's own John King. And the independent, Tim Cahill, really went after the Republican candidate Charlie Baker, saying he has been lying about his record in television ads. Cahill is the state's treasurer, and the Republican Governors' Association has been airing ads saying he has been reckless with taxpayer money. Now, the two of them are trying to unseat the incumbent Democratic governor, Duval Patrick. Looks like it was pretty interesting up there in Boston last night, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: It always is. Thanks, Dana.

We're going to have your next political update is in just about an hour. And a reminder: for all of the latest political news, just go to our Web site, CNNpolitics.com.

Omg, a 13-year-old Brooklyn girl is the nation's fastest texter. Brianna Henderson out-texted her competitors to win the National Texting Championship in New York. Contestants' accuracy, speed, dexterity, all tested. Brianna's fast-moving thumbs earned her 50 grand, and another 50 grand for charity. She says she about 7,000 texts a month. But no worries, she has unlimited texting.

A play straight out of left field. A fan acts out, a player steps in, and Jeanne Moos weighs in. Next stop, the sports hall of shame.

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PHILLIPS: -- every day. It's our daily tribute called "Home and Away," and we're going to tell you how you can become a part of it in just a minute.

But first, we want to lift up Corporal Jonathan Daniel Porto. He died in combat in Afghanistan in March. Jonathan's mom told us he loved being a Marine. He even thought boot camp should have been harder. He planned on making the Marines his career by becoming a drill instructor or weapons instructor. Jonathan also loved his family and was so excited about being a dad. Jonathan's daughter was born two months before he died. He never got to meet her, but Jonathan's mom says she'll get to know him through all of the stories the family will tell her.

If you have a loved one you would like us to honor, this is all you have to do. Just go to CNN.com/homeandaway, type in your service member's name in the upper right-hand search field, pull up the profile. Send us your thoughts, pictures, and we promise to keep the memory of your hero alive.

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PHILLIPS: Now a story about an overexcited fan who thought he was born to run. Instead, he was destined to fail. That's because a sure-footed outfielder may have made the best play of the game. You're about to see that and other nominees for the Hall of Shame. CNN's Jeanne Moos has the play by play. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When a guy in red Spandex took to the field, it took a left fielder to take him out. Watch this move.

Atlanta's Matt Diaz cut to the chase with fancy footwork that earned him a standing ovation. Even from rival Philly fans.

(on camera): It could have been worse. Earlier in the season at the very same stadium, a fan got tased for running out on the field -

(voice-over): -- and managed to elude his would-be captors until finally, a police officer brought down the 17-year-old with a Taser. About 30 seconds after he was tased, he was up and walking under his own power.

None of them lasted as longs as Drew Barrymore in "Fever Pitch." The outfielder didn't lift a finger to stop Drew on her way across the field to get to her boyfriend.

(on camera): And then there's the scourge of mascot-on-mascot violence.

(voice-over): At the Ohio State-Ohio University game the other day, Rufus the Bobcat ran straight at rival mascot Brutus Buckeye and tackled him, losing his head in the process.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was an adrenaline rush, that's for sure.

MOOS: That's the aggressor who then assaulted Brutus again in the end zone. Turns out 19-year-old Brandon Hanning had been planning this for years.

BRANDON HANNING, OHIO UNIVERSITY MASCOT: Honest to god, that was the whole reason I tried out to be the mascot.

MOOS: He was fired as mascot and banned from Ohio University athletics. Normally, mascots do silly things like dance to Lady Gaga. And flirt with the ump. But it was more than a love tap seven years ago when an Italian sausage got whacked with a bat by a Pittsburgh player. Mandy Block was the sausage.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It wasn't that big of a blow. It just - I think it's because I'm so small --

MOOS: The batter, Randall simon, was fined, suspended three games and gave Mandy the autographed bat.

The latest trend is mascots eating people at football games and basketball games. That's Mackerel Jordan, gulping down a guy. There's even a Facebook page of mascots eating people, where you can watch them spit out the shoes.

These days, the basketball court has become a food court for mascots, but who knew a pretty cheerleader could cause acid reflux. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

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PHILLIPS: Tony Harris, why are you moaning over there?

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Wow, there have to be several states in the union where that's against the law. Come on, now!

PHILLIPS: Makes for great television.

HARRIS: Have a great day, Kyra!

PHILLIPS: Wonder how the shoes taste?

(LAUGHTER)

HARRIS: Fillet of sole.

PHILLIPS: Ohhh!