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Baghdad Car Bomb Kills 5, Worshippers Clash with Soldiers Outside Mosque; Bush to Focus on North Korea Issue at APEC Summit; Deathbed Confession Reveals Murder; Teen Girls Indicted for Baking, Sharing Tainted Cake; IRS Investigates Churches for Tax Violations During Election; Woman, 77, Finally Admitted to National Honor Society
Aired November 19, 2004 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: Attacks in Iraq: as Falluja quiets down, other areas flare up. Will the country be ready for elections in just a couple of months?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's crazy. It's nuts. Never seen anything like it.
MARTHA COAKLEY, MIDDLESEX DISTRICT ATTORNEY: This is very bizarre. Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAROL LIN, CO-HOST: Cold case. A woman's deathbed confession leads to a grim discovery.
O'BRIEN: A bitter pill. New questions about America's system to make sure drugs are safe. This hour, a doctor will share some steps you can take to protect your health.
LIN: And youth in a bottle? New claims about how your DNA can reveal what you can do to stay young.
From the CNN center in Atlanta, I'm Carol Lin.
O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien. Kyra Phillips is off. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM begins right now.
On the Muslim holy day in Baghdad, new signs not much is sacred.
A Sunni mosque was ground zero today for a deadly firefight after a fiery sermon condemning the war in Falluja. Elsewhere, another police checkpoint was shattered by another suicide bombing, and later a mortar round landed in the city's most fortified area.
The latest now on these attacks and more from CNN's Nic Robertson in the capital -- Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, the most deadly of those attacks coming just a couple of hours after the main Friday prayers at lunchtime today. That where a suicide bomber drove his car, a Mercedes laden with explosives right into a police checkpoint on the eastern side of Baghdad. Five policemen killed, four wounded, six civilians caught or wounded in the blast, as well.
A scene of some devastation there. Many police out on the scene trying to do the best they could for their comrades. U.S. troops also in attendance there.
The other attack or the other -- the other security incident coming outside one of the main mosques in Baghdad, the Sunni mosque, Abu Hanifa mosque, in the Azamiyah Baghdad of neighborhood, that neighborhood a staunchly anti-American neighborhood.
When the prayers ended in that mosque, there were a group of about 200 to 300 Iraqi National Guard, backed by U.S. troops, outside the mosque.
It's not clear exactly what happened, but shots were fired. Two people who'd been attending the prayers were killed, seven wounded.
One eyewitness said that the people at the scene believed that the Iraqi National Guard and the U.S. troops had come to arrest the preacher at the mosque, the imam and two of his deputies.
Just a few days ago in the northern city of Mosul, the Iraqi government arrested some clerics there who had been preaching against the Iraqi government.
And just very late in the afternoon, just before sunset, there was a loud detonation not far from this hotel. That was an explosion going off in the Green Zone. It appeared that a mortar had landed there, sending up a big column -- sending up a big column of black smoke. Not clear at this stage in anyone was injured in that particular attack -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Nic Robertson inside the Green Zone. Thank you very much -- Carol.
LIN: Miles, on to Iran. An indignant Iran is blasting new allegations that it's secretly working overtime to process uranium.
Now some unnamed Western diplomats are claiming Tehran is making the most of the last three days before its agreed upon ban on uranium enrichment, which is a key step to building nuclear weapons.
At the same time, the U.S. secretary of state is standing by its controversial assertion that Iran seeks nuclear missiles.
The "Washington Post" reports Colin Powell's claim is based on a single, unvetted so-called walk-in source of intelligence. That account, in turn, has outraged certain U.S. officials, some of whom want the Justice Department to investigate the leak.
Proliferation, terrorism and now, of course, trade, are all hot- button issues for the 21st -- or the 21 heads of state converging on Santiago, Chile, right now. It is the yearly summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation group.
And CNN's Lucia Newman sets the stage for us -- Lucia.
LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello. Good afternoon, Carol.
Indeed, this is going to be a very hot summit. Already there have been many protests.
But first, let me tell you that President George W. Bush is expected to land here in about five more hours, his first overseas trip since his re-election and his first opportunity to meet with some of the world's most powerful leaders, including the president of Russia, China and Japan.
Now there have been protests, as I mentioned, even days ago, even before President Bush arrives here, most of the protests aimed to criticize not just globalization but President George Bush himself. They say, they tell us, the protesters, that he seems to represent everything that's wrong with globalization.
Now, today there was a huge, peaceful march, mostly, to the center of Santiago, but it turned ugly when a small group of demonstrators started throwing rocks and breaking a McDonald's. The riot police here responded with teargas and water cannon.
Now, the agenda of the APEC summit itself, Carol, is not limited to trade issues. High on the agenda, for example, is North Korea and concerns over its nuclear program.
The United States is expected to pressure many of the Asian countries to, in turn, pressure North Korea back to the negotiating table.
And the Asians themselves are concerned over the U.S. dollar, a weak U.S. dollar, which they believe is hurting their trade, as well as the U.S. deficit.
In the meantime, security here, Carol, is intense, unprecedented by Chilean standards. So much so that Chile's president has given the people of Santiago the day off so they can get out of town and avoid the disruptions -- Carol.
LIN: Lucia, so do you know of any specific requests that are going to be made of President Bush?
NEWMAN: Well, we do know that many countries, including what most of the Asian countries and many of the Latin American countries, including its neighbor Mexico, are concerned that the U.S. dollar is simply not making their goods competitive anymore.
At the same time, the United States is concerned that the Chinese currency is hurting the U.S.
And then, of course, there are problems of corruption, demands, to many of the countries in the Asian region, as well as in Latin America, that the governments do more to fight corruption in order to allow free trade to flow better and to level the playing field -- Carol.
LIN: All right, Lucia. Thank you very much. Lucia Newman, covering the APEC conference for us.
In the meantime, congressional compromise, something perhaps unusual at times. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle gave today a little on both sides to rein in the other side.
They are trying to finalize a nearly $390 billion spending bill they hope will hit the president's desk this weekend.
Now, this comes a day after lawmakers increased the government's debt limit by $800 billion. Alan Greenspan is worried about that and urged lawmakers today to focus on the weak dollar and curb balloon -- the ballooning debt. The federal chairman told a European audience, for example, that he sees demand for the dollar eventually falling.
O'BRIEN: And now a grim discovery in Somerville, Massachusetts. Police investigating what may be a 14-year-old murder case after finding a body inside a storage facility. They say they were led to the location after a woman's deathbed confession.
Phil Lipof from our affiliate WHDH with the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL LIPOF, WHDH REPORTER (voice-over): Fifty-four-year-old Geraldine Kelly, who lived in this apartment building, confessed to her children on her deathbed that she killed their father 14 years ago and then stored his body inside this freezer.
COAKLEY: Family members took at face value that he had died in a car accident. There was some information that, in fact, he had been buried, but upon further investigation, it appears that that was not the case.
LIPOF: No, actually Kelly told her children what really happened. She says she shipped her husband's body inside the freezer to Planet Self Storage in Somerville six years ago when she moved from California.
COAKLEY: There was duct tape around this freezer, as the mother had indicated, and there was, I will add, an odor emanating from that freezer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do get heavy stuff in, not that heavy. That's out of the ordinary for us.
LIPOF: Danny Salvato (ph) has been delivering packages to Planet Self Storage for nine years now. Hearing what was found inside will change the way he does his job.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably check a couple of the boxes, you know. Over here, anyway. It's crazy. It's nuts. Never seen anything like it.
COAKLEY: This is very bizarre, yes.
LIPOF: Even the D.A. is baffled, and she'll only offer this as a possible motive.
COAKLEY: She believes she was a victim of domestic violence, and whether that's accurate, we just have no idea at this time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: That report from Phil Lipof, our affiliate WHDH. We thanked him for that. An autopsy will be performed to find out the cause and the approximate date of death.
Other news across America now.
In Alabama, one of the men convicted in the notorious bombing of a Birmingham church in 1963 is dead. Bobby Frank Cherry had cancer. The former member of the Ku Klux Klan was found guilty of four counts of murder almost 40 years after the racially motivated bombing. He died in prison. Four African-American schoolgirls died in that attack.
In Los Angeles, Michael Jackson in more legal trouble. His former herbalist is suing him for $1.2 million, alleging Jackson hasn't paid him for his service. The herbalist says he worked exclusively for the pop star for six months preparing, and we quote it now, "electric food," whatever that means. Jackson's attorney has no comment for us.
LIN: In other news, two adolescent girls are facing some serious criminal charges and a father is apologizing for what he calls a prank that went terribly wrong.
Here's CNN's Eric Philips.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERIC PHILIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two 13-year-old girls, their wrists shackled, their futures uncertain, arrested after baking a cake for their seventh grade classmates in Marietta, Georgia, that authorities say was tainted.
More than a dozen of the youngsters who ate a piece of the cornbread cake Tuesday were rushed to the hospital.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the incident, it looks like a normal cake. But when you put it in your mouth, it's really bad.
PHILIPS: The two girls appeared at a preliminary hearing Wednesday and were charged with 12 counts of aggravated assault with intent to murder.
Alan, the father of one of the girls, says has daughter had no malicious intent. To her it was just a joke.
ALAN, FATHER OF SUSPECT: A prank. A bad prank. What more can you call it? It wasn't anybody trying to kill anybody.
PHILIPS: Tests will determine what was put in the cake. But Alan's daughter has been committed with committing a terrorist act for what she allegedly said was in the cake.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) at SAD (ph) made an announcement that there was bleach in the cake.
PHILIPS: the district attorney says he needs to verify the contents of the cake before he makes a final decision on charges.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It could be that it stays serious or it could be that the analysis of the cake says that there was nothing in there that was that harmful.
PHILIPS: Alan says his daughter denies putting bleach in the cake but admits to mixing in glue and that she's feeling a range of emotions, including remorse.
So is he.
ALAN: Fear that I may not see my daughter for several years and that my daughter's life could be ruined.
PHILIPS: The girls are being held in juvenile detention. A hearing later today will determine if they'll stay there or be released to their parents.
Eric Philips, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: In keeping with general legal and media practice, CNN is not identifying the juveniles accused of baking the poison cake or using their last names and -- or the names of the parents.
The father identified as Alan in the story occasionally works here at CNN as a freelance -- in a freelance capacity -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Pulpit politics. Did some pastors go too far in the lead-up to the election? That's just ahead.
And then there's this...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a heart attack in a bun. These thick burgers are quintessential food porn.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Food porn for you at 1,420 calories. Count them and then wear them. And not to mention 107 grams of fat. Some are calling it obscene.
And later on LIVE FROM, righting a big wrong. More than 50 years after graduating, the class valedictorian gets her long delayed moment of glory.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Politics and religion now. It's a volatile mix, of course. It was a big part of this year's election. But some clergy members now under scrutiny for praising more than God in church during the presidential race.
CNN's Tom Foreman with that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On any given Sunday in southern Ohio, Alan Temple (ph) is alive with praise. But a few weeks ago, Reverend Donald Jordan did something surprising when John Edwards came to call.
REV. DONALD JORDAN, PASTOR: John Edwards is going to be the president of the United States.
FOREMAN: The reverend backed Edwards, despite the fact that churches, as tax-free charities, are prohibited from endorsing political candidates.
JORDAN: We ask your support of him. I'm not worried about a 501c-3 document. We're asking you to support him.
FOREMAN: 501c-3 is a section in the IRS tax code that bans churches from supporting candidates. The IRS has been tipped off about Reverend Jordan, and now he is lashing out at those who suggest he broke the law.
JORDAN: What I would say to them you can't put on camera. There's another side of me that they haven't met. Tell them to call me at my office and I'll tell them what I would say.
FOREMAN: He may get the chance. The IRS is investigating 60 nonprofits for possible illegal political activity, and CNN has learned that a third are religious organizations.
Barry Lynn is the head of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. He filed 10 complaints, including one against Reverend Jordan.
BARRY LYNN, AMERICANS UNITED FOR THE SEPARATE OF CHURCH AND STATE: It's a clear violation when somebody says, "Ignore the laws of the country that I don't like, including the tax laws I don't like. And I'm going to endorse candidate A or candidate B."
And I hope some of those churches, Democrat and Republican, get in trouble for doing it. FOREMAN: The IRS tax guide for churches says religious organizations may not intervene in political campaigns, and attorneys who specialize in this area say the law is black and white.
KEN GROSS, POLITICAL LAW ATTORNEY: The preacher, the rabbi can't stand at the podium and say, "Vote for candidate X." Cannot use the facilities of the church, cannot use a publication or organ of the church to advocate the election of one candidate over the other.
FOREMAN: But the law gets gray when church members work for a campaign.
Look at what the Bush/Cheney team was asking supporters: send your church directory to your state headquarters. Host a party for the president with church members. Spend time calling pro-Bush members of your church.
(on camera) And there is another catch. Tax law says church leaders and their congregations may campaign on a limited basis for or against ballot issues such as gay marriage.
REV. ROD PARSLEY, WORLD HARVEST CHURCH, OHIO: We are the largest single special interest group in America. There is no reason for our values to be trampled under feet.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Reverend Rod Parsley's congregation of 15,000 helped collect a half million signatures to get a gay marriage ban onto the ballot in Ohio. Then they made a quarter million phone calls and mailed nearly as many letters to win.
All legal, even though political analysts say one candidate clearly benefited from the conservative turnout.
PARSLEY: The church produced momentum. We initiated momentum. We shined the spotlight on moral issues. And when people in the heartland of America saw what was actually going on, they stood up.
FOREMAN: There is a movement to change tax law and let churches endorse candidates. But for now, the law stands, and in the fever over this past election, tax authorities are asking whether some pastors bent the law up to the breaking point and perhaps beyond.
Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: In other news, could a vitamin cocktail be the key to staying young? A high-tech approach to putting the aging genie back in the bottle, later on LIVE FROM.
RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is time to book a vacation. I'll tell you which airline is cutting fares to a holiday hot spot. That's coming right up on LIVE FROM, so stay tuned.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LIN: It's never too late to right a racial injustice or atone for a sin from the past. That is the message from seniors at a Minnesota high school.
Back in 1945, Buelah May Swan (ph) wasn't allowed to be class valedictorian because of her race. But Wednesday, students made sure she received some long overdue recognition.
KARE's Rondah Kinchlow reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RONDAH KINCHLOW, KARE REPORTER (voice-over): At the age of 77, Buelah Baines Swan is back in high school to get something she earned but never received.
BUELAH BAINES SWAN, NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY MEMBER: I didn't find out until my sister's 50th class reunion, which was in '97.
KINCHLOW: By then, Beulah Swan had been out of high school for 52 years.
SWAN: That was the first that I knew of it.
KINCHLOW: What she didn't know was that when she graduated from Washington Senior High in 1945, she was eligible to be a member of the National Honor Society, but her invitation never came.
SWAN: When the teacher came to me and told me that my grades had been altered...
KINCHLOW: Enter, Arlington Senior High School students, where Beulah's story spread quickly.
ALMA MENDEZ, NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY ADVISER: And they didn't want an African-American valedictorian at the time to -- to represent their school.
KINCHLOW (on camera): Did you look at the grades that she has on your...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was excellent student. You know, top four in her class, right?
KINCHLOW: Beulah Swan's high school transcript may have faded, her grades of 93, 95, 98, are still there.
SWAN: Leaders aren't born. They are made.
KINCHLOW: Arlington High students received in 2004 what Washington High overlooked 59 years earlier, a chance to honor the academic achievements of Buelah Swan.
MAI XIONG THAO, NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY MEMBER: I think being part of NHS is a huge thing, a huge part of high school. And so not being in it for that reason, because of my race, yes, I'd be upset over it.
KINCHLOW: Buelah Swan is not upset. Back in 1945, she would have shared the stage. Today she has it all to herself.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Good for her. Congratulations.
O'BRIEN: All right. Congratulations.
Welcome to Miami. We're not in Miami, but American Airlines is cutting fares to south Florida as it tries to reverse a long string of losses.
This after the terrible pillow loss. But, you know, the more I talk to people, no one uses those darn pillows because...
LIN: I use them.
O'BRIEN: Come on.
LIN: For the kid.
O'BRIEN: Who do you think has been drooling on that pillow? I mean, come on.
LIN: Well, they change the little covers, but not anymore. So...
O'BRIEN: It's a moot point now.
LIN: Anyway, Rhonda Schaffler...
O'BRIEN: All right. Rhonda, go ahead.
LIN: ... tackling far more important business like lower fares.
(STOCK REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired November 19, 2004 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: Attacks in Iraq: as Falluja quiets down, other areas flare up. Will the country be ready for elections in just a couple of months?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's crazy. It's nuts. Never seen anything like it.
MARTHA COAKLEY, MIDDLESEX DISTRICT ATTORNEY: This is very bizarre. Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAROL LIN, CO-HOST: Cold case. A woman's deathbed confession leads to a grim discovery.
O'BRIEN: A bitter pill. New questions about America's system to make sure drugs are safe. This hour, a doctor will share some steps you can take to protect your health.
LIN: And youth in a bottle? New claims about how your DNA can reveal what you can do to stay young.
From the CNN center in Atlanta, I'm Carol Lin.
O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien. Kyra Phillips is off. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM begins right now.
On the Muslim holy day in Baghdad, new signs not much is sacred.
A Sunni mosque was ground zero today for a deadly firefight after a fiery sermon condemning the war in Falluja. Elsewhere, another police checkpoint was shattered by another suicide bombing, and later a mortar round landed in the city's most fortified area.
The latest now on these attacks and more from CNN's Nic Robertson in the capital -- Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, the most deadly of those attacks coming just a couple of hours after the main Friday prayers at lunchtime today. That where a suicide bomber drove his car, a Mercedes laden with explosives right into a police checkpoint on the eastern side of Baghdad. Five policemen killed, four wounded, six civilians caught or wounded in the blast, as well.
A scene of some devastation there. Many police out on the scene trying to do the best they could for their comrades. U.S. troops also in attendance there.
The other attack or the other -- the other security incident coming outside one of the main mosques in Baghdad, the Sunni mosque, Abu Hanifa mosque, in the Azamiyah Baghdad of neighborhood, that neighborhood a staunchly anti-American neighborhood.
When the prayers ended in that mosque, there were a group of about 200 to 300 Iraqi National Guard, backed by U.S. troops, outside the mosque.
It's not clear exactly what happened, but shots were fired. Two people who'd been attending the prayers were killed, seven wounded.
One eyewitness said that the people at the scene believed that the Iraqi National Guard and the U.S. troops had come to arrest the preacher at the mosque, the imam and two of his deputies.
Just a few days ago in the northern city of Mosul, the Iraqi government arrested some clerics there who had been preaching against the Iraqi government.
And just very late in the afternoon, just before sunset, there was a loud detonation not far from this hotel. That was an explosion going off in the Green Zone. It appeared that a mortar had landed there, sending up a big column -- sending up a big column of black smoke. Not clear at this stage in anyone was injured in that particular attack -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Nic Robertson inside the Green Zone. Thank you very much -- Carol.
LIN: Miles, on to Iran. An indignant Iran is blasting new allegations that it's secretly working overtime to process uranium.
Now some unnamed Western diplomats are claiming Tehran is making the most of the last three days before its agreed upon ban on uranium enrichment, which is a key step to building nuclear weapons.
At the same time, the U.S. secretary of state is standing by its controversial assertion that Iran seeks nuclear missiles.
The "Washington Post" reports Colin Powell's claim is based on a single, unvetted so-called walk-in source of intelligence. That account, in turn, has outraged certain U.S. officials, some of whom want the Justice Department to investigate the leak.
Proliferation, terrorism and now, of course, trade, are all hot- button issues for the 21st -- or the 21 heads of state converging on Santiago, Chile, right now. It is the yearly summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation group.
And CNN's Lucia Newman sets the stage for us -- Lucia.
LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello. Good afternoon, Carol.
Indeed, this is going to be a very hot summit. Already there have been many protests.
But first, let me tell you that President George W. Bush is expected to land here in about five more hours, his first overseas trip since his re-election and his first opportunity to meet with some of the world's most powerful leaders, including the president of Russia, China and Japan.
Now there have been protests, as I mentioned, even days ago, even before President Bush arrives here, most of the protests aimed to criticize not just globalization but President George Bush himself. They say, they tell us, the protesters, that he seems to represent everything that's wrong with globalization.
Now, today there was a huge, peaceful march, mostly, to the center of Santiago, but it turned ugly when a small group of demonstrators started throwing rocks and breaking a McDonald's. The riot police here responded with teargas and water cannon.
Now, the agenda of the APEC summit itself, Carol, is not limited to trade issues. High on the agenda, for example, is North Korea and concerns over its nuclear program.
The United States is expected to pressure many of the Asian countries to, in turn, pressure North Korea back to the negotiating table.
And the Asians themselves are concerned over the U.S. dollar, a weak U.S. dollar, which they believe is hurting their trade, as well as the U.S. deficit.
In the meantime, security here, Carol, is intense, unprecedented by Chilean standards. So much so that Chile's president has given the people of Santiago the day off so they can get out of town and avoid the disruptions -- Carol.
LIN: Lucia, so do you know of any specific requests that are going to be made of President Bush?
NEWMAN: Well, we do know that many countries, including what most of the Asian countries and many of the Latin American countries, including its neighbor Mexico, are concerned that the U.S. dollar is simply not making their goods competitive anymore.
At the same time, the United States is concerned that the Chinese currency is hurting the U.S.
And then, of course, there are problems of corruption, demands, to many of the countries in the Asian region, as well as in Latin America, that the governments do more to fight corruption in order to allow free trade to flow better and to level the playing field -- Carol.
LIN: All right, Lucia. Thank you very much. Lucia Newman, covering the APEC conference for us.
In the meantime, congressional compromise, something perhaps unusual at times. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle gave today a little on both sides to rein in the other side.
They are trying to finalize a nearly $390 billion spending bill they hope will hit the president's desk this weekend.
Now, this comes a day after lawmakers increased the government's debt limit by $800 billion. Alan Greenspan is worried about that and urged lawmakers today to focus on the weak dollar and curb balloon -- the ballooning debt. The federal chairman told a European audience, for example, that he sees demand for the dollar eventually falling.
O'BRIEN: And now a grim discovery in Somerville, Massachusetts. Police investigating what may be a 14-year-old murder case after finding a body inside a storage facility. They say they were led to the location after a woman's deathbed confession.
Phil Lipof from our affiliate WHDH with the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL LIPOF, WHDH REPORTER (voice-over): Fifty-four-year-old Geraldine Kelly, who lived in this apartment building, confessed to her children on her deathbed that she killed their father 14 years ago and then stored his body inside this freezer.
COAKLEY: Family members took at face value that he had died in a car accident. There was some information that, in fact, he had been buried, but upon further investigation, it appears that that was not the case.
LIPOF: No, actually Kelly told her children what really happened. She says she shipped her husband's body inside the freezer to Planet Self Storage in Somerville six years ago when she moved from California.
COAKLEY: There was duct tape around this freezer, as the mother had indicated, and there was, I will add, an odor emanating from that freezer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do get heavy stuff in, not that heavy. That's out of the ordinary for us.
LIPOF: Danny Salvato (ph) has been delivering packages to Planet Self Storage for nine years now. Hearing what was found inside will change the way he does his job.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably check a couple of the boxes, you know. Over here, anyway. It's crazy. It's nuts. Never seen anything like it.
COAKLEY: This is very bizarre, yes.
LIPOF: Even the D.A. is baffled, and she'll only offer this as a possible motive.
COAKLEY: She believes she was a victim of domestic violence, and whether that's accurate, we just have no idea at this time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: That report from Phil Lipof, our affiliate WHDH. We thanked him for that. An autopsy will be performed to find out the cause and the approximate date of death.
Other news across America now.
In Alabama, one of the men convicted in the notorious bombing of a Birmingham church in 1963 is dead. Bobby Frank Cherry had cancer. The former member of the Ku Klux Klan was found guilty of four counts of murder almost 40 years after the racially motivated bombing. He died in prison. Four African-American schoolgirls died in that attack.
In Los Angeles, Michael Jackson in more legal trouble. His former herbalist is suing him for $1.2 million, alleging Jackson hasn't paid him for his service. The herbalist says he worked exclusively for the pop star for six months preparing, and we quote it now, "electric food," whatever that means. Jackson's attorney has no comment for us.
LIN: In other news, two adolescent girls are facing some serious criminal charges and a father is apologizing for what he calls a prank that went terribly wrong.
Here's CNN's Eric Philips.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERIC PHILIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two 13-year-old girls, their wrists shackled, their futures uncertain, arrested after baking a cake for their seventh grade classmates in Marietta, Georgia, that authorities say was tainted.
More than a dozen of the youngsters who ate a piece of the cornbread cake Tuesday were rushed to the hospital.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the incident, it looks like a normal cake. But when you put it in your mouth, it's really bad.
PHILIPS: The two girls appeared at a preliminary hearing Wednesday and were charged with 12 counts of aggravated assault with intent to murder.
Alan, the father of one of the girls, says has daughter had no malicious intent. To her it was just a joke.
ALAN, FATHER OF SUSPECT: A prank. A bad prank. What more can you call it? It wasn't anybody trying to kill anybody.
PHILIPS: Tests will determine what was put in the cake. But Alan's daughter has been committed with committing a terrorist act for what she allegedly said was in the cake.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) at SAD (ph) made an announcement that there was bleach in the cake.
PHILIPS: the district attorney says he needs to verify the contents of the cake before he makes a final decision on charges.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It could be that it stays serious or it could be that the analysis of the cake says that there was nothing in there that was that harmful.
PHILIPS: Alan says his daughter denies putting bleach in the cake but admits to mixing in glue and that she's feeling a range of emotions, including remorse.
So is he.
ALAN: Fear that I may not see my daughter for several years and that my daughter's life could be ruined.
PHILIPS: The girls are being held in juvenile detention. A hearing later today will determine if they'll stay there or be released to their parents.
Eric Philips, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: In keeping with general legal and media practice, CNN is not identifying the juveniles accused of baking the poison cake or using their last names and -- or the names of the parents.
The father identified as Alan in the story occasionally works here at CNN as a freelance -- in a freelance capacity -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Pulpit politics. Did some pastors go too far in the lead-up to the election? That's just ahead.
And then there's this...
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a heart attack in a bun. These thick burgers are quintessential food porn.
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O'BRIEN: Food porn for you at 1,420 calories. Count them and then wear them. And not to mention 107 grams of fat. Some are calling it obscene.
And later on LIVE FROM, righting a big wrong. More than 50 years after graduating, the class valedictorian gets her long delayed moment of glory.
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O'BRIEN: Politics and religion now. It's a volatile mix, of course. It was a big part of this year's election. But some clergy members now under scrutiny for praising more than God in church during the presidential race.
CNN's Tom Foreman with that.
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TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On any given Sunday in southern Ohio, Alan Temple (ph) is alive with praise. But a few weeks ago, Reverend Donald Jordan did something surprising when John Edwards came to call.
REV. DONALD JORDAN, PASTOR: John Edwards is going to be the president of the United States.
FOREMAN: The reverend backed Edwards, despite the fact that churches, as tax-free charities, are prohibited from endorsing political candidates.
JORDAN: We ask your support of him. I'm not worried about a 501c-3 document. We're asking you to support him.
FOREMAN: 501c-3 is a section in the IRS tax code that bans churches from supporting candidates. The IRS has been tipped off about Reverend Jordan, and now he is lashing out at those who suggest he broke the law.
JORDAN: What I would say to them you can't put on camera. There's another side of me that they haven't met. Tell them to call me at my office and I'll tell them what I would say.
FOREMAN: He may get the chance. The IRS is investigating 60 nonprofits for possible illegal political activity, and CNN has learned that a third are religious organizations.
Barry Lynn is the head of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. He filed 10 complaints, including one against Reverend Jordan.
BARRY LYNN, AMERICANS UNITED FOR THE SEPARATE OF CHURCH AND STATE: It's a clear violation when somebody says, "Ignore the laws of the country that I don't like, including the tax laws I don't like. And I'm going to endorse candidate A or candidate B."
And I hope some of those churches, Democrat and Republican, get in trouble for doing it. FOREMAN: The IRS tax guide for churches says religious organizations may not intervene in political campaigns, and attorneys who specialize in this area say the law is black and white.
KEN GROSS, POLITICAL LAW ATTORNEY: The preacher, the rabbi can't stand at the podium and say, "Vote for candidate X." Cannot use the facilities of the church, cannot use a publication or organ of the church to advocate the election of one candidate over the other.
FOREMAN: But the law gets gray when church members work for a campaign.
Look at what the Bush/Cheney team was asking supporters: send your church directory to your state headquarters. Host a party for the president with church members. Spend time calling pro-Bush members of your church.
(on camera) And there is another catch. Tax law says church leaders and their congregations may campaign on a limited basis for or against ballot issues such as gay marriage.
REV. ROD PARSLEY, WORLD HARVEST CHURCH, OHIO: We are the largest single special interest group in America. There is no reason for our values to be trampled under feet.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Reverend Rod Parsley's congregation of 15,000 helped collect a half million signatures to get a gay marriage ban onto the ballot in Ohio. Then they made a quarter million phone calls and mailed nearly as many letters to win.
All legal, even though political analysts say one candidate clearly benefited from the conservative turnout.
PARSLEY: The church produced momentum. We initiated momentum. We shined the spotlight on moral issues. And when people in the heartland of America saw what was actually going on, they stood up.
FOREMAN: There is a movement to change tax law and let churches endorse candidates. But for now, the law stands, and in the fever over this past election, tax authorities are asking whether some pastors bent the law up to the breaking point and perhaps beyond.
Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
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LIN: In other news, could a vitamin cocktail be the key to staying young? A high-tech approach to putting the aging genie back in the bottle, later on LIVE FROM.
RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is time to book a vacation. I'll tell you which airline is cutting fares to a holiday hot spot. That's coming right up on LIVE FROM, so stay tuned.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LIN: It's never too late to right a racial injustice or atone for a sin from the past. That is the message from seniors at a Minnesota high school.
Back in 1945, Buelah May Swan (ph) wasn't allowed to be class valedictorian because of her race. But Wednesday, students made sure she received some long overdue recognition.
KARE's Rondah Kinchlow reports.
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RONDAH KINCHLOW, KARE REPORTER (voice-over): At the age of 77, Buelah Baines Swan is back in high school to get something she earned but never received.
BUELAH BAINES SWAN, NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY MEMBER: I didn't find out until my sister's 50th class reunion, which was in '97.
KINCHLOW: By then, Beulah Swan had been out of high school for 52 years.
SWAN: That was the first that I knew of it.
KINCHLOW: What she didn't know was that when she graduated from Washington Senior High in 1945, she was eligible to be a member of the National Honor Society, but her invitation never came.
SWAN: When the teacher came to me and told me that my grades had been altered...
KINCHLOW: Enter, Arlington Senior High School students, where Beulah's story spread quickly.
ALMA MENDEZ, NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY ADVISER: And they didn't want an African-American valedictorian at the time to -- to represent their school.
KINCHLOW (on camera): Did you look at the grades that she has on your...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was excellent student. You know, top four in her class, right?
KINCHLOW: Beulah Swan's high school transcript may have faded, her grades of 93, 95, 98, are still there.
SWAN: Leaders aren't born. They are made.
KINCHLOW: Arlington High students received in 2004 what Washington High overlooked 59 years earlier, a chance to honor the academic achievements of Buelah Swan.
MAI XIONG THAO, NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY MEMBER: I think being part of NHS is a huge thing, a huge part of high school. And so not being in it for that reason, because of my race, yes, I'd be upset over it.
KINCHLOW: Buelah Swan is not upset. Back in 1945, she would have shared the stage. Today she has it all to herself.
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LIN: Good for her. Congratulations.
O'BRIEN: All right. Congratulations.
Welcome to Miami. We're not in Miami, but American Airlines is cutting fares to south Florida as it tries to reverse a long string of losses.
This after the terrible pillow loss. But, you know, the more I talk to people, no one uses those darn pillows because...
LIN: I use them.
O'BRIEN: Come on.
LIN: For the kid.
O'BRIEN: Who do you think has been drooling on that pillow? I mean, come on.
LIN: Well, they change the little covers, but not anymore. So...
O'BRIEN: It's a moot point now.
LIN: Anyway, Rhonda Schaffler...
O'BRIEN: All right. Rhonda, go ahead.
LIN: ... tackling far more important business like lower fares.
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