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Time Stands Still for Much of Mississippi Coast; New Orleans: Bigger and Better?; The Alito Hearings; Bush Address In Bay St. Louis; McCloy Family Feud; Roger Keith Coleman Was Guilty

Aired January 12, 2006 - 14:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Levees, livable neighborhoods, livid residents of neighborhoods that may be livable eventually, maybe not. Paramount concerns in New Orleans, and once again front-burner issues for President Bush. In his first trip to the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast in three months, Mr. Bush sat with New Orleans business leaders and then flew in Marine One to Waveland, Mississippi.
Later this hour, he'll speak in Bay St. Louis, and you'll hear him live right here on LIVE FROM.

Now, for all the time that's passed and all the money Washington has allocated, roughly $85 billion, along much of the Mississippi Coast time has stood still and government aid is only sustaining the status quo.

CNN's Sean Callebs visited a case in point, the proud but still devastated community of Waveland.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Waveland, Mississippi, and the damage from Katrina just a week after the storm. Waveland now, nearly five full months removed from the hurricane, residents here say what's wrong with this picture? Why hasn't more debris been removed?

Tommy Longo is the mayor.

MAYOR TOMMY LONGO, WAVELAND, MISSISSIPPI: I wish it was all cleaned up, too, because everything hinges on debris removal.

CALLEBS: When he says "everything," that means restoring water and sewer lines, fully repairing power lines, getting FEMA trailers in place, and finally claiming the tens of thousands for each homeowner that Congress has approved but that's been stalled by bureaucracy. Longo says it was only this morning that he got assurance federal officials are finally committed to debris removal.

LONGO: Their big gear-up is supposedly coming in the next week or two. But my only question is, why didn't it happen five months ago? You know, it should have happened instantly.

CALLEBS: Brian Mollere is looking forward to the president's Thursday visit. He would like to tell Mr. Bush about empty promises and miles of red tape. BRIAN MOLLERE, WAVELAND RESIDENT: Well, he was here before saying how we were going to build back bigger and better. Well, we don't care about bigger, we want to just come back, you know, the way we were basically, you know. And just help us

CALLEBS: Mollere has appointed himself the king of Coleman Avenues. His kingdom, trash, debris and a handful of FEMA trailers. It's all that's left of the main drag in town leading to the beach.

The morning Katrina hit, his long-time family home washed away. Mollere swam for his life, floating for two hours while clutching his dog Rocky. Then finally...

MOLLERE: I grabbed on to a side of a roof and pulled myself around the house. And as I pulled myself around the house, I was in an eddy. In other words, there was no current.

CALLEBS: ... Mollere was safe. But his 80-year-old mother drowned that day. Now he says he stays busy, trying to keep his mind off of the loss.

Mollere is adapting to a primitive lifestyle, sharing water he stores on the concrete slab where his house stood, grilling meals.

MOLLERE: And that's my washing machine. I'm getting ready to pull clothes as we -- or dry clothes as we speak.

CALLEBS: At dusk, a dark cloud seems to well up over Mollere about the time he squeezes his hulking frame into his FEMA trailer.

MOLLERE: Every night, you know, I get depressed. That's why I try to stay busy, you know? I'm not depressed about the trailer, I'm just depressed about my mother and the way things are going. You know, it gets old looking at the debris and the lack of progress.

CALLEBS: Sentiments echoed by the mayor, who is both sad and angry over the lack of help from Washington.

LONGO: I guess the anger -- the anger grows out of frustration, personally and professionally. Wanting to do more to help, help our people.

CALLEBS: Sean Callebs, CNN, Waveland, Mississippi

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And we're just a few minutes away from President Bush's appearance in Bay St. Louis.

CNN's Kathleen Koch is there now.

You know, in the last hour, Kathleen, we talked a lot about the president's visit. The last time he was there, we actually saw him walking the streets, residents were coming up to him asking him questions. Will he be that informal this time? KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, KYRA, this is going to be a much more formal setting. And this is, though, his very first visit to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

His father had actually come to Waveland and Bay St. Louis back in October, and city leaders like Tommy Longo, who you just saw in that piece that Sean Callebs did, will be here today. They and the mayor of Bay St. Louis, Eddie Favre, were pushing Fran Townsend, the White House director of Homeland Security, saying, you know, if the president's father can come, why can't he come here? Why can't he come here and talk to us?

And people are frustrated, they are frustrated. They haven't gotten the help that was promised. But they're taking small steps forward.

And I have someone here with me right now who is really a big part of one of the recent steps forward. And that is chef Steve D'Angelo. He's the owner one of now the six restaurants in the city of Bay St. Louis opened.

Yours opened New Year's. Tell me about that night.

CHEF STEVE D'ANGELO, BAY CITY GRILL: Well, I tell you what, it was -- it took us about, you know, three and a half months to get everything going. We got our -- got our roof on, and we opened the doors, and we had -- basically the whole town came out, just about 400 of us, you know, left in this little part of the area.

And it was just smiles from ear to here, and people were so happy to get back together and mingle and talk and sharing stories together, because, you know, you kind of got that separation happens. You don't really see all your friends like you did, you know, pre-Katrina, you know.

KOCH: Steve, how hard was it though to get the restaurant open? I mean, you had at one point 30 employees. How many do you have now?

D'ANGELO: We've got about two, two and a half, maybe. You know, I've got one guy who's trying to get what he can. But it was -- it's been an unbelievable experience. And I wouldn't be anywhere else. I mean, this is the place we need to be.

KOCH: What do people say to you when they come in, when they see you're open?

D'ANGELO: Well, besides "I'm hungry," you know, and a few hugs, people are just really happy to see that the businesses that were here are coming back and we're seeing some of the -- you know, the rebirth happening here in this little part of the world down here in Mississippi

KOCH: Thank you, Steve.

And one thing that Steve shared with me earlier is that one thing that people did say to him when they came in is, "You're open, things are getting back to normal. Now maybe I'm going to stay."

So it's those little things, those little steps back on that long road to normalcy that make a real difference -- KYRA.

PHILLIPS: Agreed.

Meanwhile, the chef, what exactly is he going to make for the president? Did we talk about that?

KOCH: Well, let's see, I think I have seen some, what, shrimp etouffee? What else are we seeing?

D'ANGELO: Well, we've got some Mississippi Creole love going on. So we've got all the good stuff.

We've got fried green tomatoes, gumbo ya-ya, we've got shrimp jambalaya, pecan-crusted pork loin. We've got all kinds of stuff in there.

KOCH: So he won't go hungry

PHILLIPS: Yes, no kidding. I hope you're going to get a little taste of that, Kathleen.

Is this a chef that you've grown up with in this area? Or is this a new guy in town?

KOCH: No, Steve is a local, but he hadn't opened his restaurant when I was here. It's been here about five years. But I think it's going to be here for decades to come.

D'ANGELO: Absolutely.

KOCH: Very popular.

PHILLIPS: All right. Kathleen Koch, thank you so much.

And of course when the president speaks, about 2:25 Eastern Time, we will take that live.

Well, the Senate Judiciary Committee has completed its questioning of Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito. Despite several days of testimony, Alito offered little information about how he would rule on cases expected to come before the high court.

CNN Congressional Correspondent Ed Henry joins us now live from Capitol Hill.

And now the week is -- well, it's almost over, one day away -- or one day away from -- to the weekend.

What are his prospects? What happens next?

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's looking pretty good. I mean, it's fascinating to see a week that started with so much drama, so much uncertainty, the White House concerned about whether he was going to be up to the task, whether he was polished enough and compared to Chief Justice John Roberts and how he fared before the committee right behind me. But if there was any doubt about how psyched the conservatives are about how the week went, you can see the pictures from this morning.

Judge Alito basically greeted like a rock star on the streets of Capitol Hill by conservative activists, greeting him for his final day of questioning here by senators. Democrats taking one last run.

And why they're thrilled is, you know, after fielding 700 questions over about 18 hours of testimony, the Democrats, by their own estimation privately, really didn't mark him up very much. And in terms to answer your direct question, prospects are real good.

Many people up here think it's almost a coronation if not a confirmation. It's smoothing along -- KYRA.

PHILLIPS: Well, it got pretty heated. Democrats thought they had a little traction when it came to the Princeton alumni group and that probe. We were definitely talking about it -- Wolf Blitzer was with our analysts.

Where does that stand?

HENRY: Well, you know, it's interesting. That was the flash point yesterday.

You mentioned a big fight between senators Edward Kennedy and Arlen Specter over documents from this controversial group, and it's also what got Mrs. Alito upset. You'll remember she grew emotional when there were questions about whether or not her husband was a bigot, whether he would be discriminating against women and minorities.

And so the Republican chairman, Arlen Specter, basically called the Democrats' bluff and said, you want to subpoena these documents for the group? I'll just go get them myself. So he sent the staff over last night, they looked through four documents, and today he revealed what they found.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R-PA), CHAIRMAN, JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Judge Alito's name never appeared in any document, his name was not mentioned in any of the letters to or from the founder, William Rusher.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: And so basically Republicans say, look, this is a done deal, another brick wall the Democrats have gotten, have run against. The democrats still say they have questions about it, but after going through hundreds of documents, there's no real sign that Judge Alito was an active member of this controversial group -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, you know, it's interesting. And, you know, I had -- I thought that maybe it might have been a little bit exploitative to have his wife's picture on the newspapers and that this be an issue, but at the same time, when I see that video, Ed, of her behind her husband, Mrs. Alito, I guess it just brings forward how emotional this becomes for the entire family and how stressful this is for the family.

I mean, we talk so much about Samuel Alito, or whoever it is that has to come before these members and be grilled on the issues. But look at how it affects the family. And look at how important it is to get things right.

If you're going to bring something up that's controversial, boy, there's a lot of people, a lot of feelings at stake.

HENRY: Oh, you're absolutely right. I mean, you know, there's so much -- I've covered so many of these kinds of hearings. So much of it is scripted and you know exactly how it's going to play out, partisan rhetoric on both sides.

This was one of those unscripted moments. And you're right, it's easy to think that this is just a political game back and forth.

PHILLIPS: Right.

HENRY: But there are real feelings involved. And, you know, I was the only reporter to catch up with Mrs. Alito after she started heading back to the room. She was in a holding room for a while. And she looked shaken up, but then she was smiling, she was holding her husband's hand.

And this is certainly something that, you know, the White House is certainly going to use to say they think the Democrats crossed the line -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Thank you so much, Ed Henry. Appreciate it very much.

We're going to talk about the sudden controversy over the huge best-selling memoir "A Million Little Pieces." It's intensifying after the gripping account of addiction and recovery that was called into question this week.

Author James Frey admitted on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE" last night that significant parts of his memoir were exaggerated. The book soared to the best-seller's list last fall after Oprah Winfrey selected it for her popular book club. And in a surprise call to Larry King's show last night, Winfrey defended Frey and said that she'll continue to recommend this book. But some people who apparently bought the book on her advice have criticized Frey's deception and messages to Winfrey's Web page, as you can see here.

As for Frey himself, well, he's not backing down.

CNN National Correspondent Kelly Wallace reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A surprise caller towards the end of Larry King's interview with controversial author James Frey.

LARRY KING, CNN HOST: Are you there, my friend?

OPRAH WINFREY, TALK SHOW HOST: Hello, Larry. How are you?

KING: Hello, dear one. How are you doing?

WALLACE: On the line, Oprah Winfrey.

WINFREY: Hi, James. Hi, Lynne.

JAMES FREY, AUTHOR, "A MILLION LITTLE PIECES": Hi, Oprah.

LYNNE FREY, MOTHER OF JAMES FREY: Hi, Oprah.

WALLACE: Her first comments since explosive charges that parts of Frey's memoir of addiction and rehab were more fiction than fact.

WINFREY: The underlying message of redemption in James Frey's memoir still resonates with me, and I know that it resonates with millions of other people who have read this book and will continue to read this book.

WALLACE: Winfrey seemed to stand solidly behind Frey and his book, "A Million Little Pieces," her October pick for her ever so powerful book club, but placed some of the blame on the publishing industry.

WINFREY: I am disappointed by this controversy surrounding "A Million Little Pieces," because I rely on the publishers to define the category that a book falls within and also the authenticity of the work.

WALLACE: Frey, clearly gratified by Winfrey's support, had one message that he repeated over and over to Larry King.

J. FREY: I still stand by the book as being the essential truth of my life. I'll stand by that idea till the day I die.

WALLACE: Regarding the allegations raised by the Smoking Gun investigative Web site that he fabricated key sections of the book, Frey says he has acknowledged embellishing some details, although there is no such disclaimer in his memoir.

KING: With the kind of incredible life you have had, why embellish anything?

J. FREY: I mean, I've acknowledged that there were embellishments in the book, that I've changed things, that in certain cases things were toned up, in certain cases things were toned down.

WALLACE: Frey, whose mom joined him at the end of the show, says there is one lesson he's learned after intense scrutiny of his book. J. FREY: I'll absolutely never write about myself again.

WALLACE (on camera): And the question now is, will this controversy hurt or help book sales?

Kelly Wallace, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: We were wondering, with all the hubbub over this memoir, will you still read it? Are you interested or put off by all the drama?

Drop us a line at LIVEFROM@CNN.com. We'll read your comments later today.

Europe and Asia on edge as Turkey confirms new cases of human bird flu. We'll have a report.

The news keeps coming. We'll keep bringing it to you.

More LIVE FROM after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: ... conditions. So of course when we give you -- when we get any more information on this north Dallas fire, we'll be able to bring it to you. We don't know anything about the residents or if any other lives are in jeopardy at this juncture -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Fred. Thanks so much.

Well, once again, an annual religious ritual has turned deadly. At least 345 Muslim pilgrims were trampled to death today in Saudi Arabia during the Hajj. Almost 300 others have been reported injured.

Like stampedes at past Hajj ceremonies, this one happened during a ritual in which pilgrims throw stones at a symbolic devil. Hoping to make the Hajj safer, Saudi authorities had replaced the pillar which represents the devil with a protective padded oval wall. But the fatal crush happened when the pilgrims bottlenecked at the eastern edge of the bridge leading to that oval wall.

Many of the pilgrims brought their luggage, which caused further crowding. The worst stampede happened at the Hajj in 1990, when nearly 1,500 hundred pilgrims were asphyxiated or were trampled to death as they scrambled to take part in those ceremonies.

Turkey's health ministry confirms three more cases of human bird flu infection. The list includes the sister of the two teens who were Turkey's first official bird flu victims. She died last week after her siblings had succumbed. And at least 100 people across Turkey are now being tested for the virus after falling ill with flu-like symptoms. To most Americans it seems like a no-brainer. If you hear there's a bird flu outbreak in your area, you steer clear of anything with feathers. But that's easier said than done.

In much of the world, where raising backyard poultry is a way of life, not only are these birds a much-needed source of food, they are often treated as pets by children who have few other diversions.

ITV's Lawrence McGinty reports now from Ankara, Turkey, where health officials are fighting tradition as well as a deadly virus.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE MCGINTY, REPORTER, ITV NEWS (voice over): Everyone from the prime minister down is trying to reassure people here everything possible is being done to fight bird flu. Cull teams were operating in Singan Town (ph), close to Ankara, where a 60-year-old man was infected with the virus.

They took pigeons from this house and fumigated the back yard pigeon loft. These are the pictures the authorities want the world to see. But it was very different only a few minutes' drive away in a poorer neighborhood.

(on camera): It didn't take us very long to find live chickens in Singan (ph) despite the cull that's supposed to be going on here. Within 15 minutes of arriving, we were led to a shed where an old lady had chickens locked up.

(voice over): I met this man who works in the poultry industry. He took us to his family's home where his mother had hidden her eight chickens in a small shed.

She told me she was expecting the culling teams yesterday but they never came. She was worried about bird flu, but her animals were healthy, so why kill them?

This man had been driving past. He stopped to tell us that two of his hens had died. He phoned the authorities three days ago, but no one came. Wearing a protective mask we gave him, he took us to a stall where he'd locked away the dead birds along with five surviving hens.

Without the mask he had been too scared to enter the shed where he kept his cull. So, for the past three days, his family, including a 5-month-old baby, had been practically living in the family car, the only place they could keep out the bitter cold of a Turkish winter.

We don't know how many more back yard chickens dead or alive have been locked away. Indeed, bird flu might now be endemic in Turkey. Safety precautions with birds and poultry have not been enough. The virus may still be spreading.

That's what the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said. DR. GUENAEL RODIER, WHO: It's a very difficult position to be able to really get down to the last farm and be able to identify whether those birds are healthy or need to be humanely culled

MCGINTY: Back in eastern Turkey, where it all started, patients are still being treated successfully with the help of the antiviral drug Tamiflu. But if the criticisms are true, there are more cases to come.

Lawrence McGinty, ITV News, in Ankara.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: While Turkey is the newest front is the battle against bird flu, the virus is still claiming casualties elsewhere. In China, health officials say that two people who died in the past few weeks have been confirmed as victims of bird flu. One was a 10-year-old girl, the other was a 35-year-old man. The deaths bring China's official bird flu total to five.

And officials in Indonesia believe they have another victim, a 29-year-old woman who died last night in Jakarta. According to the hospital's spokesman, the woman's husband said many of their neighbors chickens had died suddenly. Blood samples have been sent to a lab in Hong Kong for confirmation of H5N1.

As if they don't have enough concerns already with insurgents and a fledgling government to get off the ground, Iraqi authorities are also worried about the outbreak of bird flu in Turkey. Not only does Iraq share a border with Turkey, it also has a long and what they call porous border with Syria. Officials say that poor controls make it difficult to effectively ban imported birds.

President Bush makes his first trip to the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast in three months. He's going to speak in Bay St. Louis this hour. We'll bring it to you live.

The news keeps coming. We keep bringing it to you.

More LIVE FROM after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Two things that we're monitoring right now, first this live picture via our affiliate in Dallas, Texas, WFAA. Firefighters have called in for more equipment and manpower this afternoon to battle a stubborn six-alarm blaze at the Richland Trace (ph) condominiums here in north Dallas.

It's the 9800 block of Walnut Street, if you are looking for an exact location, if you're living in that area. We're told that it started pretty small and then just escalated as the flames started to spread through the upper floor of the three-story building.

We're monitoring this for you right now. Fire investigators are there at the scene trying to figure out what sparked that blaze. It's a 25-year-old building, by the way.

Then on the other side of the screen, you're going to see we are waiting for the president of the United States to make a speech. It's his first trip to the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast area in three months, and he's going to speak here in Bay St. Louis this hour. We'll bring that to you live as soon as he steps up to the podium.

Meanwhile, we're going to talk about southern California and that running back, Reggie Bush. He's going to pass up his senior year and enter the NFL draft in April.

The Heisman Trophy winner made the announcement just a short time ago just days after the USC Trojans unfortunately lost college football's national championship to Texas. Bush was part of two national championship teams, and he has been forecast by some to be the number one pick in the NFL draft.

Well, you don't have to be low on the corporate ladder to be unhappy at your job, but a new survey shows that a record number of chief executives jumped ship last year.

Susan Lisovicz has the story now from the New York Stock Exchange.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Let's go straight to Fredricka Whitfield. She's continuing to monitor a pretty big blaze. It's continuing to spread in Dallas.

WHITFIELD: Yes, it's a pretty sizable blaze taking place in North Dallas, in a condominium complex there on Walnut Street, if you're familiar with North Dallas at all. And so far about 100 firefighters are on the scene trying to put out what's now considered a six-alarm fire.

It's a pretty significant fire that is being challenged by the elements, given the fact that it's very dry, it's very low humidity and they've got 30 miles per hour gusty winds.

This part of Texas has been under a red flag warning because of these kinds of conditions, meaning it's very easy for fires to be engaged and grow. Jacqui Jeras is keeping a close watch on the weather conditions there -- Jacqui.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: All right, I'll take that. Thanks so much, Jacqui, and of course, we'll keep a close watch on this North Dallas fire, and as we get a little bit more information about how they're able to battle this blaze and whether any of the residents there are in jeopardy or other nearby structures, we'll be able to pass that along to you. Meantime, Kyra, there's another story we're continuing to follow here. This one out of New Orleans involves a federal court ruling that could impact many of the 25,000 families who are currently staying in FEMA-funded hotels.

Well, apparently Federal Judge Stanwood Duval has ruled that Katrina evacuees in many of the hotels in New Orleans have now until March 1st, which is the day after Mardi Gras.

Many of those people staying in the New Orleans hotels have been facing a deadline of early February and many of them felt very pressured because many of the hoteliers were telling them they would need to be on their way, because the Mardi Gras bookings meant that their hotels were going to be filled to capacity.

Well, now this federal judge has ruled that these evacuees are not going to be forced out as a result of Mardi Gras and instead, they have now until March 1st to move out. But there are some specific instructions that a lot of these evacuees will have to take note of.

They need to telephone or be in touch with FEMA. They need to register to get an authorization code and they have to do that by the end of this month, January 30th.

If they don't do that, then it's likely they could be pushed out of their hotel rooms, but with this authorization code, it will mean they'll be able to stay in their hotels until March 1st, because this federal funding through FEMA will need that kind of authorization code to stay where they are -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Fred, we'll keep an eye on both of those stories.

We're also keeping an eye on Bay St. Louis. There along the Mississippi coast, the president of the United States expected to step up to the mic. And, you know, Jerry Jeff Walker in Mississippi -- we couldn't think of any better music to take us to break, right?

(MUSIC)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Continuing to wait for the president of the United States to step up to the podium there in Bay St. Louis. At this hour, we hope to hear his speech to residents and reporters, a lot of people want to hear what he has to say. There's been a lot of controversy over whether improvements have been made quick enough there in Mississippi.

And at the same time, we're following what's happening in New Orleans, as well. You know, this is his first trip to the hurricane- ravaged Gulf Coast in three months for the president. So we'll take it live.

Randal McCloy likely faces a long road to recovery. He of course is the sole survivor of the Sago Mine explosion that killed 12 of his fellow miners. The 26-year-old father of two is still in Morgantown, West Virginia hospital, in critical condition.

Doctors say he has reached a stage where progress is slow. His family is with him and off-and-on, other visitors come through, too. Yesterday, it was country music superstar Hank Williams Jr. McCloy's wife mentioned earlier that he's one of her husband's favorite singers.

And for those of you wanting to help the McCloys, well a word of warning from the FBI. Beware of an e-mail that asks for money to help with McCloy's medical bills. The author of the e-mail claims to be a physician at the hospital where McCloy is being treated. FBI agents say it's all a scam and they're working to track down whoever is behind it.

I can't believe someone would do that in the first place. Anyway, Randal McCloy is the lone survivor of the Sago Mine disaster, remains in critical condition, as you know. And he's in a coma, but outside his hospital room, a feud has broken out between his brother Matt and rest of the family. CNN's Chris Huntington reports from Morgantown, West Virginia, a story first seen on "PAULA ZAHN NOW."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Randy McCloy's survival has brought this tightly-knit mining community its only bright light. Nothing but kind words, prayers for a swift recovery, hope, not blame.

TAMBRA FLINT, MINE SURVIVOR'S MOTHER: When you talk about things that he really loves to do or if his children are around, he's moving a lot more. You can just tell that he's aware.

HUNTINGTON: But in the pages of a supermarket tabloid, McCloy's brother, Matthew, has broken ranks with the rest of the family, lashing out and selling the paper this photo of Randy in intensive care.

MATTHEW MCCLOY, MINE SURVIVOR'S BROTHER: The world needs to be shocked because we need to have better laws to keep this from ever happening again to other miner's families.

HUNTINGTON: The rest of Randy's family members attacked "The National Enquirer" for preying on their misfortune. The family spokeswoman tells CNN that Randy's wife and mother are outraged at Matthew's public outburst and issued the following statement.

"The family will not talk about a story from a tabloid newspaper nor are they interested in a discussion about these kinds of stories in those kinds of papers. The information was paid for by the tabloid paper in the amount of $800 and was done so without permission of Randy's wife, Anna."

M. MCCLOY: I took this picture of my brother because I love my brother, his family and Anna, and I believe they need to pass better laws and the government is being left in the dark about what's going on. And I believe that - I know it's a shocking picture. HUNTINGTON: "The National Enquirer" confirms it paid Matthew McCloy $800 and says it will pay him an additional $1200.

PAUL FIELD, "NATIONAL ENQUIRER": Matthew felt very strongly about this sort of story we were planning and sort of investigation, the inquiries that we were making.

HUNTINGTON: Matthew tells the "Enquirer" that Randy complained of safety issues just days before the Sago Mine disaster when he found a pocket of potentially explosive methane gas trapped in a tunnel roof. The rest of McCloy's family would neither confirm nor deny those allegations. The mine company CEO had this to say.

BEN HATFIELD, PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL COAL GROUP: I'm not aware of any such communication or complaint from Randal McCloy, but I can tell you from personally visiting his family that they've been very supportive of the company. Those are great people. They're praying hard for him to pull through.

HUNTINGTON (on-camera): Anna McCloy has made it clear all along her only real concern is her husband Randy's recovery and not media attention. We tried, unsuccessfully, to get in touch with Matthew McCloy. "The National Enquirer" tells CNN it has him locked up in an exclusive deal. Chris Huntington, CNN, Morgantown, West Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Straight to live pictures. Now in Mississippi, the governor you see, Haley Barbour made a short speech to introduce the president of the United States, as he now steps up to the mic to address residents and reporters.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Haley said it's protocol not to introduce the president. Well, shows what he knows about protocol. He just introduced me. Thanks for having me back.

My first observation is it's good to see -- be able to look in people's eyes and not see them all bloodshot. I can remember coming here the times I came and looked hard in people's eyes and saw a sense of desperation and worry and deep, deep concern about the future.

I'm sure there's still concern about the future, but the eyes have cleared up. There's a sense of optimism, there's a hope, there's a little bounce in people's step. I'm not surprised that people down here have shown incredible courage and I want to thank you for showing the rest of our country what it means to survive an incredible hardship with high spirits.

Your governor has done a magnificent job. He went up to Washington -- you know it's nice of him to give me the credit to sign the bill, it's nice of him to compliment Congressman Taylor, who deserves to be complimented and -- Congressman Chip Pickering, both of whom are here. And I thank them for coming.

It's wise of him to compliment Senators Lott and Senators Cochran and he's right to compliment them. But the truth of the matter is the person who deserves the biggest compliment in my judgment is the man who brought the will of the Mississippi people, the needs of the Mississippi people up to Washington, D.C. and fashioned one heck of a piece of legislation for the people of this important state. Thank you, Governor, for your hard work.

And I want to thank Marsha for being here as well. I don't know how you put up with him for all these years. You must be a patient soul, but he married well just like me.

And speaking about that, Laura sends her best wishes to all of you all. She's looking forward to coming back down here. She's not going to believe the difference between the last time she was here and today. It's hard sometimes unless you've got a perspective. I have the perspective of having spent some time here, but not all my time.

And I can remember what was and now what is and I can see what's going to be, too. And it's going to be a better Gulf Coast of Mississippi.

(APPLAUSE)

I want to thank Roy Bernardi. He's the deputy secretary of HUD. He's going to have some stuff to do to make sure this part of the world rebounds. I ...

PHILLIPS: We're going to go back to the president in just a moment, but I wanted to bring you some developing news on a story that we've been following here at CNN. We've been telling you about Governor Mark Warner out of Virginia.

He has ordered DNA evidence to be retested to determine if this man, convicted of rape and murder, was innocent when he was executed back in 1992. We're talking about Roger Keith Coleman. Randi Kaye has been following this story for us. She joins on the phone from Richmond, Virginia. Do you have the results, Randi?

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We do, Kyra. Here in Richmond, we just got the word from Jim McCluskey. He has been fighting for Roger Coleman, has always believed in his innocent, was actually with him up until the moment that he was executed in 1992, and he just told us -- the word coming directly from him -- that the DNA did match, which means that Roger Coleman is considered guilty of raping and murdering his 19-year-old sister-in-law Wanda McCoy.

So once again, Kyra, the DNA did match. It was being tested at a forensics lab in Toronto. The governor had ordered it a couple of months ago. He just wanted to put this for rest once and for all. His last day in office is tomorrow actually, and he just wanted the community to know.

So this word comes from Roger Coleman's long-time friend and advocate, Jim McCluskey with the Centurion Ministries. And Roger Coleman's final words, Kyra, just before he was executed, he said "an innocent man is going to be murdered tonight. When my innocence is proven, I hope Americans will realize the injustices of the death penalty as all other civilized countries have." So those words certainly have a different meaning today. McCluskey just a few minutes ago confirming for us the DNA did match -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Randi, just a real quick question, a little background. Why did the governor -- were there people, for example, McCluskey and these other individuals that supported Roger Keith Coleman? Did they put -- were they just continuing to pressure the governor to have the evidence retested or was it something else that was pushing the governor to do this?

KAYE: Well, part of it -- it was Jim McCluskey from Centurion Ministries, completely, really. He had taken it to the Supreme Court and been denied. And he has been at the governor asking him and asking him and pushing him, and the governor was hesitant to do it, but finally, just a couple of months ago, did order the DNA to be tested at this Toronto lab.

So it's really about him. It's also because DNA has -- the technology has changed so much and improved so much, that he thought we might get a new answer this time and he wanted to just put it to bed once and for all.

PHILLIPS: All right, Randi Kaye with us on the phone there from Richmond, Virginia. Randi, thank you so much. Now we want to take you back to the president of the United States, and continue to listen in as he addresses residents and reporters and various leaders there in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

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