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Family Speaks Out about Cub Scout's Rescue; Natalee Holloway's Mother Meets with Suspect's Father; U.S. Troops Fight on Afghan Border; Schwarzenegger Faces Poor Polls

Aired June 22, 2005 - 15:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, HOST: Our top stories now: "...a failure to accomodate diverse religious needs and a perception of intolerance but no outright discrimination." That's the finding of military investigators who set out to probe the religious climate at the U.S. Air Force Academy. The Air Force acted after several complaints of religious discrimination and harassment.
Senate Democrats targeting big profitable companies, which they say value profits over worker's health. They name Wal-Mart as an offender, a company which reportedly fails to provide health care to more than a half million employees. A Senate bill aims to make Wal- Mart and other companies provide minimum medical coverage.

Should flag burning be a crime? House members approved amending the Constitution today to formally ban desecration of the American flag. Now the measure goes to the Senate and needs a two-thirds vote to move forward. Some analysts say the proposed amendment actually stands a chance of passage in the Senate.

And would you turn away Oprah Winfrey if she wanted to shop in your store? Well, a fancy shop in Paris did last week. A spokesman for the Hermes chain says Oprah Winfrey and her entourage arrived at the store after closing time, and so they turned them away. No comment yet from Winfrey. The Hermes Company in a statement apologized.

And now CNN.com is offering a whole new way to get the headlines. Just log onto our web site and click on "watch" to check out the most popular stories, everything from politics and sports to entertainment, and it's free on CNN.com.

Incredible worry one minute, exhilaration the next. A four-word recap of the rescue of Brennan Hawkins as experienced by his still emotional parents. If you've been watching CNN, you saw their remarkable descriptions of the family's ordeal as 11-year-old Brennan spent four days and nights lost and alone in the mountains east of Salt Lake City, Utah.

We may hear from the scout himself later on this afternoon. In the meantime, Brennan's mother tries to get over the shock.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JODY HAWKINS, MOTHER: And so I got into the sheriff -- when I was going to get into the sheriff's car, I knew they were going to tell me that Brennan was no longer with me. And I collapsed before I could get into the truck. And they put me into the truck and then they told me that Brennan was still alive and that he was in good shape. My brain still cannot comprehend that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Rusty Dornin is in the town of Bountiful, where the happiest is just that, especially right outside their home there -- Rusty.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. While that press conference was going on, the parents said that Brennan was inside sleeping. Poor little boy was exhausted. He was found yesterday at noon. Didn't get out of the hospital till after midnight last night.

They say he's in great spirits. He's been cracking jokes, but he still hasn't given a lot of clues about exactly what he did during that four-day ordeal. His parents did say he's a little immature for his age and does have trouble expressing himself.

But he did tell his father that he did remember saying a prayer during the time that he was lost. Also that at nighttime, he would go into something called "midget mode." That's when he would crouch down like little kids do, get down and pull his T-shirt over his knees, probably to keep himself warm at night.

He told his father that he didn't drink any water out of the river, but they think he may have, because he was not quite that dehydrated when he did get to the hospital. And he also only remembers that he spent a couple of nights out in the wilderness, and he was gone for nearly four days.

Now, during that press conference, the parents did talk about their fears, their anxieties. But they said they never lost hope.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOBY HAWKINS, FATHER: We all knew the reality of 72 hours, you know? But I guess if I were to talk to somebody else that was faced with this parents and anybody else that got in it, you just can never, absolutely never lose hope.

J. HAWKINS: And you don't know...

T. HAWKINS: You can remember my first comments that I made, you know, about Brennan being unprepared and stuff? But somehow or another, he drew some courage, some determination, and he had the ability to survive.

I've told Brennan, I said, "Brennan, you know what?" I don't know how many 11-year-old boys could survive what he went through. You know? And it's remarkable that he had the ability to deal with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP) DORNIN: You're looking at the Hawkins' house, ablaze with yellow ribbons. His parents also said they thought he was the least able of their five children to survive something like this. Turns out he was the best.

And what you're seeing in front of their home applies to a lot of the homes here in Bountiful that are really decorated with yellow ribbons and now signs that say "Welcome back, Brennan."

We are expecting a press conference in the next two hours with the parents and family, his brothers and sisters, and Brennan. But don't expect the little boy to say anything. The parents say he's very shy. He has trouble expressing himself already. So they say don't expect him to say anything. But I'm sure you're going to see a smiling face -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: We all can't wait to see him. Thanks so much, Rusty Dornin in Bountiful, Utah.

And of course, CNN will be covering that live for you at 5 Eastern Time. The Hawkins family, along with, hopefully, Brennan there, speaking out about what happened over the last four days while he was missing.

News across America now.

Authorities in Washington state are asking for help in identifying this little boy. The boy, believed to be about 2 years old, was found in a church in Parkland on Monday. Police believe he may have been abandoned.

That's got to hurt. Police in North Carolina are searching for a robber -- ow -- who knocked a convenience store clerk over with a fire extinguisher. Two robbers cleaned out the register and took off. The clerk suffered a broken nose and swollen face.

It wasn't a snowstorm but a hailstorm that bombarded Colorado Springs late yesterday. The slow-moving storm dumped a foot of hail in the city. Snow plows had to be brought in to clear the roads.

And now to Aruba. Natalee Holloway's mother has met with the parents of one of the suspects in her daughter's disappearance. Beth Holloway Twitty says she was handing out prayer cards in a neighborhood where Joran Van Der Sloot's parents live. She says she had no idea that she'd get a chance to actually talk to them. But in their 90-minute conversation, Twitty says she got some answers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BETH HOLLOWAY TWITTY, MOTHER OF NATALEE HOLLOWAY: What I walked away with was confirmation that -- some confirmation that I need. And you know, I've had some strong feelings since those early morning hours of May 31 between the hours of 1 and 4 a.m. And I just feel that there are still some other individuals that need to be pursued.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: CNN's Chris Lawrence is following the latest developments in the search for Natalee Holloway. He joins us now from Palm Beach, Aruba.

Chris, what's the latest?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, Natalee Holloway's mother tells us that she also feels after that meeting that there is more to be learned from the four suspects who are already in custody.

Three of those four have been moved to a prison, the only prison on the island. And we're hearing from the attorney for Joran Van Der Sloot that they're more comfortable there, that the conditions at the police holding facility were, as he described them, terrible.

Now, in here in an Aruba, there is no such thing as a lie detector test. They don't use them here. But they have brought in some people who are expert in reading body language and demeanor. And those experts have been sitting in and participating in the interrogation of the suspects already in custody -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Chris Lawrence.

In Iraq, insurgents continue to take their fight for the country to its major cities. A short time ago, five car bombings in the capital of Baghdad, including three in the Shu'la neighborhood, where most of the residents are Shiite. At 18 people are reported dead there, another 46 wounded. The bombs were detonated about the same time by remote control.

Iraq's future was the subject of a joint European Union/U.S. conference today in Belgium. Eighty nations were represented, with the U.S. urging leaders to do what they can to support the new Iraqi government.

And a warning about Iraq turning into a terrorist training ground. A CIA report indicates would be terrorists are flocking to Iraq to learn how to carry out kidnappings and bombings in their own countries.

Islamic extremists trained in remote areas of Afghanistan when it was under Taliban control. Now they're using that training to try to disrupt the new government there.

Insurgents are batting with U.S. and Afghan forces in the southern part of the country. Dozens of militants are reported killed in fighting that began yesterday. Five U.S. soldiers wounded.

Other troops are focused on the border with Pakistan, where the insurgency is said to be well hidden, well armed and well financed. Here's CNN's Barbara Starr.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just -- I'm going to quickly go over the situation.

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are about to go on patrol along the front line in the war on terror: the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The biggest threat out there would be an IED.

STARR: These troops are departing from a forward operating base where Special Forces go on patrol every day to look for insurgents. Commanders tell us there are growing indications that fighters infiltrating across the Pakistan border are backed by money and organization.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're carrying, and what they're interesting doing, they're carrying all have the same kit. They all have, you know, the same number of magazines, the same -- like the same number of hand grenades. So they're organized. You can tell by when you capture them that they're not a rag tag unit coming across.

STARR: As we traveled this rough terrain, a sudden stop. There is word ahead that Afghan troops traveling with us have heard al Qaeda on their radios. There have been many ambushes here. No one is taking any chances.

We stopped to check in at another remote fire base, 7,000 feet high in these mountains.

It is a cat and mouse game between the U.S. troops and the insurgents. Dozens of insurgents have been killed in recent weeks. Commanders here say 23 U.S. troops have been wounded and five killed since June 1.

(on camera) This U.S.-Afghan fire base has just been rocketed from a position that the forces here believe was near the Pakistan border, which is just about a mile and a half away. U.S. Army soldiers here have just returned mortar fire.

(voice-over) The solders here launched their mortars within minutes of the attack. They are ready to fire 24/7.

U.S. commanders here say many of the attacks are conducted by Taliban and al Qaeda fighters, who come across these mountains from Pakistan, launch their weapons and then disappear back across the border.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fire.

STARR: An Afghan soldier is wounded in the attack and medevacked to a combat surgical team. His shrapnel wounds are quickly treated.

U.S. Special Forces continue to believe Osama bin Laden is hiding somewhere in the mountains of Pakistan, which lie just beyond this ridge line. But for the Afghan and U.S. troops here, it is this dangerous border region that remains their major concern.

Barbara Starr, CNN, along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And many alleged terrorists out of Afghanistan are being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and now embattled Senator Dick Durbin has issued a formal apology one week after comparing some U.S. interrogators at Guantanamo Bay to Nazis. The Democrat offered this tearful retraction on the floor of the Senate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: In the end, I don't want anything in my public career to detract from my love for this country, my respect for those who serve it, and this great Senate. I offer my apologies to those who were offended by my words. I promise you that I will continue to speak out on the issues that I think are important to the people of Illinois and to the nation.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Durbin's comments drew a fire storm of criticism from the White House, Republicans and others. Durbin says he never intended to show disrespect for U.S. troops.

A year ago, people asked if he'd someday run for president. Now many wonder if he'll even run for reelection as governor of California. Coming up, Arnold Schwarzenegger takes a nosedive in public opinion polls. Can he come back, or is it too late?

And later, peanut butter and Jackson? Yes, that's the pop star's face on a piece of toast you're seeing. They're at it again on eBay.

ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: President Bush is now supporting Social Security reform legislation that does not include personal investment accounts. But the White House says that does not mean the president is retreating from his position on personal accounts. Democrats have fought hard against the idea. Republicans say their legislation is an effort to move the issue forward.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger seems to be facing an uphill battle with voters. He took office with an unexpected landslide of support, but might it soon be "hasta la vista"?

Here's CNN's Brian Todd.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A political honeymoon comes crashing down. GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: I guarantee you that all of us in this building can share blame, all of us, including myself.

TODD: Arnold Schwarzenegger responds to devastating poll numbers, worse than Gray Davis had a year before he was recalled.

SCHWARZENEGGER: It's very clear what the people are basically saying to us is work together, do what you did so well last year. Work together and solve the problems together.

TODD: The field poll just released gives Governor Schwarzenegger an approval rating of just 37 percent among California's registered voters. Fifty-three percent disapprove. Still well above Davis's all time low just before the recall, but how did it get to this point for the Hollywood star who swaggered into Sacramento as a nonpartisan outsider?

DAN WALTERS, "SACRAMENTO BEE": The relationship began to erode about a year ago when they got into a big squabble over the state budget, and Schwarzenegger came to believe -- came to believe that he was being jerked around by the legislature, which they deny, of course. And ever since then, it's pretty much been an escalating war.

TODD: Schwarzenegger's attempts to cut costs have also angered some important unions. He's gone against the firefighters over pension plans.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go home. Schwarzenegger has got to go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go home. Schwarzenegger has got to go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go home. Schwarzenegger has got to go.

TODD: Against nurses over staffing, and has clashed with the teachers' union over funding and tenure, leading to some brutal political ads.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The governor's always running around talking about reform.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But to me it sounds a lot more like breaking his word on education.

TODD: Schwarzenegger's aides tell CNN this ad campaign is largely the reason for his slide in the polls, but the governor, so adept at managing his message, has had some public embarrassments, like last week when some in the crowd turned on him during a commencement address at Santa Monica Community College, his alma mater.

And when he made one of his boldest political moves.

SCHWARZENEGGER: Today I signed a proclamation calling for a special election. TODD: That was the same day of the Michael Jackson verdict, and Schwarzenegger got scant statewide media coverage. That special election this fall when he seeks support on budgeting, redistricting and teachers' initiatives, is seen as crucial for Schwarzenegger. Analysts say he may not run for reelection next year if he loses on those ballots.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

WHITFIELD: And responding to his sagging poll numbers on Tuesday, Governor Schwarzenegger said "I'll be back" to work with Democrats on state budget issues before the November election.

Well, is the British royal family worth a loaf of bred to you? Buckingham palace says that's the kind of dough it costs to maintain the monarchy each year. But are Britons buying it?

KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kathleen Hays at the New York Stock Exchange. A well-known pharmacy chain is under fire from consumer advocates over a security hole in its web site. I'll tell you about it next on LIVE FROM. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Michael Jackson is the toast of eBay. Well, at least a couple of slices of M.J. toast are bringing in some bids. The seller claims the Jackson bread just showed up -- just showed up on his toast just like that.

So far the "not guilty" toast high bid tops $127. The seller says he'll throw in a toaster if the bidding goes over 300 bucks. Should throw in some peanut butter and jelly and everything else, too.

And from toast to bread. A little more than the cost of a loaf of bread, that's how much the British royal family costs each taxpayer. The royals spent $9 million on transportation alone last year with a more than $68 million total budget. That translates to about $1.12 for each British taxpayer, a loaf of bread cost.

The most lavish single trip was Prince Charles' travel to Sri Lanka, Australia and Fiji on a chartered plane. The keeper of the privy purse -- purse notes, rather, total expenses for the royals have dropped 60 percent compared to the early '90s.

Well, drugstore chain CVS is being accused of leaving customer information out in the open. Kathleen Hays joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange with more on that -- Kathleen.

(STOCK REPORT)

WHITFIELD: Thanks a lot, Kathleen.

Well, the man who made your life much, much easier has died. Think I'm exaggerating, don't you? Well, if you use a cell phone, a computer, listen to satellite radio, perhaps, or hey, if you're even watching me right now one of those fancy plasma TVs, well, you owe it to this man.

Jack St. Clair Kilby invented the integrated circuit that led to the microchip. His brainchild in 1958 shrank tons of electrics into an area half the size of a paper clip. Kilby died Monday at his home in Dallas, Texas. He was 80.

And that wraps up this Wednesday's edition of LIVE FROM. And now here's Ed Henry with a preview of what's ahead on "INSIDE POLITICS."

Hello to you, Ed.

ED HENRY, HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": Hello, Fredricka. Thank you very much.

Democrats are stepping up their attacks on the Bush administration's handling of Iraq. We'll show you how the Republicans are striking back and take a look at how all this is playing out across the political landscape.

And Senator John McCain is holding hearings on the practices of a high profile lobbyist who charged Indian tribes millions for his services. Some powerful players are very nervous about this investigation. We'll tell you why.

"INSIDE POLITICS" begins in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A look at our top stories now.

Insurgent violence in Iraq. Three car bombings in Baghdad's predominantly Shiite Shu'la neighborhood and at least two others elsewhere in the city, all within the past couple of hours. In all today, at least 18 people have been killed.

United Airlines raising fares beginning today, three percent on most of its domestic and international tickets. The airline, which is already bankrupt, says it has no choice in the face of historically high fuel prices and competition from the discount carriers.

And auto makers got a thumbs-up from the government today for improving the rollover safety in sport utility vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released its annual list of the safest SUVs this week, with the most ever models receiving the highest safety ranking. The favorite, as far as rollover safety is concerned, the Ford Freestyle.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Now to "INSIDE POLITICS" with Ed Henry.

END

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