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Federal Agents Search Home & Office of Former CIA Official "Dusty" Foggo; Senate Republican Wants Hearings Into Government's Secret Deals With Telecom Giants; A Step Ahead Of Censors In Iran; California Law Could Mandate That Textbooks Reflect Roles Of Gay People; Gay-Themed Television Show In Cuba; Update On McCaughey Septuplets

Aired May 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: A federal search warrant, an outgoing spy official, another headache for the CIA. We're following developments from Washington, where a whole handful of agencies are interested in Dusty Foggo's business.
Straight to CNN's John Roberts.

John, we've been watching the live pictures. Of course we all want to know if they found anything interesting.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN SR. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you see the FBI go in, you see the FBI come out. You see the white van parked there in Kyle "Dusty" Foggo's driveway, partially into his garage in his home in Vienna, Virginia, which -- not to say there's any connection to this at all, but just pointing out that that's where a major spy who was working for the FBI lived.

That's just an interesting little connection here. Not necessarily part of this case, though.

We should say that this is all part of the broader investigation into the Duke Cunningham scandal. Dusty Foggo is under investigation by the FBI to try to establish what, if any, ties he had to that case.

He is particularly under investigation for a contract that was awarded to a fellow by the name of Brent Wilkes, who is a longtime friend of Dusty Foggo. The company is connected to Brent Wilkes. It's actually run by a relative of his. It was for providing water to CIA personnel in war zones worth somewhere between $2 and $3 million.

What the FBI wants to know is, was the awarding of that contract a product of Dusty Foggo's close relationship with Brent Wilkes? They've been friends since school, they also played poker together at hospitality suites that Wilkes was hosting at the Watergate and Westin Grand hotels in Washington.

Now, this is reaching inside the CIA here in terms of this broader investigation of Duke Cunningham. And you'll recall that last week Porter Goss, the director of Central Intelligence, said that he was resigning. And on Monday, Dusty Foggo said that he was stepping down as well. We have heard from the CIA that in addition to executing a search warrant on his home out there in the Vienna, the FBI is also searching his offices at the CIA. Here's the official CIA statement.

It says, "This is part of an ongoing joint investigation by the CIA's Office of Inspector General..." -- which, by the way, is also looking at the awarding of this contract -- "... and law enforcement agencies into allegations of misconduct by former executive director Dusty Foggo. The FBI and CIA's Office of Inspector General this morning executed search warrants at his agency workplace and residence. The agency is cooperating fully with the Department of Justice and the FBI."

So, another significant development today, Kyra, in this broader investigation into what the FBI calls "outstanding issues" in the Duke Cunningham case. Search warrants executed on the former number three at the CIA, executive director of the CIA, Kyle "Dusty" Foggo's home in Vienna, Virginia.

No official report what they're looking for, but it would be -- it would seem to be reasonable to assume that they're looking for any documents pertaining to that contract that was awarded to a company that has connections with Wilkes. And what they're going to look into is if there's any impropriety in the awarding of that contract through his attorney.

Dusty Foggo has said there is nothing wrong with it. And through his attorney, Brent Wilkes has said that he did nothing wrong in connection with the Duke Cunningham case as to an issue of providing limousines and prostitutes to Cunningham, which is an allegation that was raised by another person of interest in this case, a fellow by the name of Mitchell Wade, who also, like Brent Wilkes, is a defense contractor. But unlike Wilkes, this person is cooperating with the FBI and giving them all kinds of information.

So that's where we stand right now. We're waiting to see if the FBI will tell us as the day progresses if they found anything in Foggo's home, and if they did find anything, what they found.

PHILLIPS: Well, just to back to what you said at the very beginning, if you don't mind, and as we look at these live pictures of authorities as they search his home, John, you mentioned that a former FBI spy was one of his neighbors in the same neighborhood?

ROBERTS: No, not the same neighborhood. We're talking about Hanssen here.

PHILLIPS: Got it. Oh, sure.

ROBERTS: Hansen also lived in Vienna. It was just a point of interest.

PHILLIPS: OK.

ROBERTS: It's not his neighborhood. Not to suggest that there was any connection between the two. PHILLIPS: Were they friends? Were they hanging out?

ROBERTS: You know, Kyra, you don't want to go there. And perhaps I was wrong for bringing it up.

PHILLIPS: No, that's all right.

ROBERTS: But it was just a point of interest to say that Hanssen also lived in Vienna, and now Foggo's home in Vienna is being searched by the FBI.

PHILLIPS: I wonder why -- well, you know, either -- well, you wonder if Vienna is jinxed or there's something going on in this area. No, but...

ROBERTS: You've got to figure that the people from Vienna see their fair share of FBI vans out there executing search warrants.

PHILLIPS: They're thinking, oh, great, here comes another investigation.

Well, we've mentioned a number of names, Foggo, Wilkes, Wade, Cunningham, and I know I asked you this last time around, but we get a number of different viewers in and out from watching this show, but, you know, Porter Goss, the head of the CIA, resigned last week. Then he received a special distinguished service award at the White House, and there was a little flap about that.

So I'm sure a lot of people, John, are wondering, could Porter Goss be tied to this in any way? You know, we're talking about a lot of serious allegations, a lot of different forms of corruption here.

ROBERTS: Right. And it has to be very, very cautious here in talking about this, because these are allegations.

Obviously, the FBI has reason to believe that there is a connection between Foggo and the Duke Cunningham case, which is why they are investigating it to the degree that they are. But it would seem to be pretty reasonable to say that there doesn't appear at this point to be any connection between Porter Goss and the Duke Cunningham case. The connection is between Goss and Foggo.

Foggo was a longtime friend or still is a longtime friend of the outgoing director of Central Intelligence. But what's interesting is he was toiling away in relative obscurity at the CIA before Porter Goss became the director, and suddenly he was elevated, plucked out of obscurity, and elevated to the number three position there as executive director.

PHILLIPS: So there's a tight friendship.

ROBERTS: There would appear to be.

PHILLIPS: There's a known tight friendship between Goss and Foggo. ROBERTS: And it would also appear that there's a tight friendship between Dusty Foggo and Brent Wilkes, because the two of them have known each other for a long time. They played poker together at these parties.

So there's some tight connections throughout this case. It is a very, very tangled web, and right now the FBI, the Inspector General's Office at the CIA, and apparently other agencies are working hard to try to untangle that.

PHILLIPS: John Roberts, thanks so much.

Now the phone records flap. Another Senate Republican wants hearings into the government's reported secret deals with telecom giants to gauge Americans' phone patterns.

More now from CNN's David Ensor.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The newspaper report that the National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of American with help from AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth hit the Senate and Bush administration like a ton of bricks.

SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D), VERMONT: Now, are you telling me that tens of millions of Americans are involved with al Qaeda? If that's the case, we've really failed in any kind of a war on terror.

ENSOR: The timing could hardly be worse for the administration given that the president's nominee for CIA director, Michael Hayden, on the Hill seeking support, was director of the NSA when the program to collect phone call data on Americans reportedly started after the 9/11 attack.

GEN. MICHAEL HAYDEN, CIA DIRECTOR NOMINEE: All I would want to say is that everything that NSA does is lawful and very carefully done.

ENSOR: That from the general after the president had already been out doing damage control.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The privacy of ordinary Americans is fiercely protected in all our activities.

ENSOR: So, what is the point of collecting all the billions of telephone numbers we all call and putting them into the massive computers out at the NSA headquarters? To look for patterns, experts say, that might catch a terrorist sleeper cell in this country.

RICHARD FALKENRATH, FMR. HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISOR: This data might help the government identify a communication link between a known or suspected al Qaeda operative abroad and one at home that had multiple cut-outs within it. Meaning there was not a direct communication between terrorist A and Terrorist B, but they work through a series of intermediaries, C, D, E and F.

ENSOR: The government can collect the numbers of C, D, E and F without needing to know their names or what they say.

FALKENRATH: Big brother is not listening to those calls, does not know what the content is.

ENSOR: The phone companies declined comment, but the idea big brother may have most Americans' complete phone call records strikes some as outrageous.

JAMES BAMFORD, AUTHOR, "BODY OF SECRETS": This doesn't give you a right to spy on everybody just because you think you're going to prevent terrorism. There's got to be real reason before you start spying on Americans.

I mean, how many people are killed everyday by people in stickups or people that rob 7-Elevens? Does that mean that we begin spying on everybody that goes into a 7-Eleven?

ENSOR (on camera): A knowledgeable former U.S. official says the program is legal because there is no law against the government accepting information voluntarily provided. While the companies may not turn over names and addresses, a long list of phone numbers only can, experts say, be legally given to the government. Of course, anyone with Internet access can then trace most telephone numbers to a person.

David Ensor, CNN Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: An act of desperation ending in disaster. As many as 200 people may be dead after a pipeline explosion today in Nigeria, just outside the main city of Lagos.

The government is discounting terrorism, noting poor people often tap into the gas and oil pipelines crossing that country, hoping to steal fuel to use or to sell. Sometimes the rupture ignites. At last report, the fire was out and dozens of charred bodies were being buried in a common grave.

Battle lines on Capitol Hill, and I don't mean congressional debate. That happens next week. Today, many of the Minuteman Project face down their opponents. The minutemen fighting for tougher border controls and stronger law enforcement.

The other side fighting new restrictions, including a bill that would make illegal immigration a felony. The Senate will debate the issue Monday. That night, President Bush plans a prime-time speech to make his case for an easier path to citizenship.

Tune into CNN for live coverage Monday night. The president speaks 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

You can't watch that on television. Didn't you know that? Or at least not in Iran. But now some people are finding shortcuts around the censors. Aneesh Raman has more when LIVE FROM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Eye on Iran. It's a republic, an Islamic republic. And saying Iran is run conservatively will earn you the understatement of the year.

Information flows from the top down. You read and watch what the government allows to be seen and hear. You want to watch CNN? Good luck. But word from the outside is accessible to those who stay a step ahead of the censors.

CNN's Aneesh Raman is in Tehran.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Iran, you can get tens of thousands of people to show up on a day off for a book fair. This one is the biggest, the Annual International Fair. They come here to read about the world, at least the world their government allows them to see. Some books are banned. And Ali Moin of Cambridge University Press tells us which ones.

ALI MOIN, CAMBRIDGE UNIV. PRESS: Titles which are against Iran or against the Islamic (INAUDIBLE). There are some guys here coming and seeing and read some of the chapters of the titles, then they're going to let us decide which titles we can sell and which titles we cannot.

RAMAN (on camera): So if the only restrictions are on books about Iran, what about books about the West. We've come here to the biggest political section in this whole book fair, we're told. We found some interesting books.

First, on Israel, a book called "Israel: The First 100 Years." "Israel and the International Arena."

In terms of the U.S., there are a couple of books that are on Iraq. We found this one, "The Iraq War and Democratic Politics."

(voice-over): But what about daily news? Where do Iranians get that? Iran newspapers, each with stated political views. And on TV, the only news is state-run. Outside channels, like CNN, get blocked at times, we're told, by the government.

But at Internet cafes such as this one, young, educated Iranians, like 18-year-old Kasra (ph), are reading whatever they want.

"There are a number of site which are political or inappropriate that are blocked," he says, "but we have proxies we can use, then they try to block those, but we can still get through." Sites like those on Iranian resistance. Type it into Google, and you hit a wall.

"Young people use the Internet," says 21-year-old Ocean (ph), "because of limits on society, so can talk more easily online, especially if you want to talk to the opposite sex. Most people go online for fun."

And when it comes to fun in this conservative country, there are ways around every boundary, even if it's just by finding cover in a crowd.

Aneesh Raman, CNN, Tehran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: First Egypt, now Djibouti, the second African nation to report a human case of bird flu infection. The World Health Organization confirms a 2-year-old girl in Djibouti tested positive for the H5N1 virus. Her family is also being tested. Djibouti is in the Horn of Africa, a region right in the grip of the widespread drought and famine.

And no matter how you slice it, Hwang Woo Suk is in a heap of trouble. South Korean prosecutors have indicted the disgraced cloning scientist on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and violation of bioethics laws. The scandal stems from stem cell research that offered potential cures for such diseases as diabetes and Parkinson's.

Late last year, Hwang admitted some of the data was faked. There have also been reports that he paid women to give up their eggs for research, a major no-no in South Korea.

But it's not all no. Asian media say that three South Korean Buddhists have offered Hwang a job running a new lab. They say they've raised more than $60 million to set up. Hwang's lawyer says that he appreciates the offer but doesn't know whether Hwang would accept the new gig.

It sort of makes us think of that old joke where the Buddhist goes up to the hot dog vendor and says, "Make me one with everything." Now it's, "Make me at least two of everything."

Well, we remember mom this weekend. She dried your tears, made you lunch. She helped you keep the peace while advancing the U.S. agenda on the international stage. OK, well, maybe your mom didn't do that, but the jobs aren't that different. My conversation with super mom Madeleine Albright coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A reminder, it's Mother's Day weekend. And if you haven't done it already, you have 48 hours to get something, flowers, bake a pie, write a song, whatever you have to do to let mom know that she's appreciated and that you love her.

Now, this week I spoke with a woman who for a time used her motherhood skills on the entire United Nations.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: You dealt with so many different types of leaders, a lot of male leaders that probably weren't quite sure what to do with this brilliant woman coming into the room and maybe telling them what you thought about certain things. Was there ever a turning point? Was there ever a moment where you thought, "Wow, I've got to toughen up, or, I've got to make something clear here? I want to be maybe looked at a little differently?"

MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, FMR. SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, I tell you, I had one very specific moment. And I think you'll understand this, and I think every woman listening to this will understand this.

You first go into a meeting, a new meeting, and you first -- you want to kind of get a sense of the room and who's who before you start talking. And then my first real kind of moment was, I had just arrived at the United Nations and gone to a Security Council meeting. And there were 14 men there of different races all sitting with their arms folded looking at me. And I thought, all right, well, I'll wait a while and see what I should say.

And then all of a sudden, I thought, wait a minute, I can't wait a while. I'm the United States. If I don't talk now, then our position will not be known.

And it was one of the first kind of moments where I had kind of a split screen of viewing myself as a woman and then understanding that I was secretary of -- well, at that stage ambassador. And so it was a very kind of moment like that.

There were times, though, later -- I actually think that I had a lot of advantages by being a woman, because I think we are good at diplomacy. I think we know how to be tough when we have to be. And I think we are good about establishing relationships with people and building consensus. And I think Dr. Rice is doing that.

So I think that there really are many advantages, and there are more and more women in high-level positions. And I don't think anybody will ever ask again -- this is what my daughters say to me -- nobody will ever ask again whether a woman can be secretary of state.

PHILLIPS: Is there one thing that you always made very clear to your daughters as they started to grow up, go to school, start working?

ALBRIGHT: Well, definitely that you can't do anything if you don't have a good education. And one of the things I tell my daughters and my women students is that women should learn to interrupt.

We can't just wait to be called on. But if you're going to interrupt, you have to have something to say, which means that you have to back up your facts.

PHILLIPS: So I can use that as an excuse when I decide to interrupt anybody on live television.

ALBRIGHT: Absolutely. Right.

PHILLIPS: It's OK? ALBRIGHT: Right. Right. It is all right.

PHILLIPS: I can say Madeleine Albright said it's OK?

ALBRIGHT: Absolutely. The only part is I've said that to some of my daughters and some of my friends, and they've now said, "You've turned my daughter into this impossible human being that never listens."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, retirement is sneaking up on a lot of baby boomers, but are they prepared? Stephanie Elam is live from the New York Stock Exchange with some of the answers.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, the CIA meets the FBI over this man, Kyle "Dusty" Foggo. This is his home in Vienna, Virginia. He resigned last week as the agency's number three official.

If you've been watching LIVE FROM, you know the FBI agents armed with search warrants right now inside his home here are visiting his office and his house. No word on what investigators have been looking for or what, if anything, that they've found. Foggo already being investigated for a possible shady contract negotiation. You're going to get more details as soon as we do.

The Capitol Hill corruption probe may be expanding. A report says that federal investigators are looking into Jerry Lewis -- no, not that Jerry Lewis, this Jerry Lewis, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

The "Los Angeles Times" reports the feds want to know about the Republican lawmaker's ties to former Congressman Bill Lowery, now a Washington lobbyist. The probe already has claimed the career of Republican Duke Cunningham for accepting massive bribes.

President Bush is still OK with his choice for the CIA. As CNN's David Ensor reported, General Michael Hayden led the National Security Agency when it reportedly started collecting Americans' phone records. Hayden insisted again today the program is not illegal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. MICHAEL HAYDEN, CIA DIRECTOR NOMINEE: I'm not going to comment on the article that appeared in "USA Today" yesterday. Let me say once again, though, that everything that the agency has done has been lawful, it's been briefed to the appropriate members of Congress, that the only purpose of the agency's activities is to preserve the security and the liberty of the American people. And I think we've done that.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: And, again, today Hayden is making the rounds on Capitol Hill ahead of confirmation hearings next week. Those hearings are likely to delve deeply into the phone records flap.

The NSA may know a lot about our phone patterns, but what do we know about the NSA? here's a fact check.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): The National Security Agency or NSA was created in 1952 by President Harry Truman. Its mission is twofold: to protect U.S. information systems; and to produce intelligence by intercepting and translating foreign communication, or more simply put, code making and code breaking.

NSA predecessors such as the Native-American code talkers of World War II proved to the American military community the value of cryptology. Today, the NSA is one of 15 federal agencies included in the U.S. intelligence community.

Because of the NSA's demand for vast data and information storage, the agency has long been associated with computer and technological development. NSA clients include the White House, executive agencies, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the U.S. military and its allies.

The NSA is headquartered in Fort George G. Meade, Maryland. It's budget and work force figures are classified, but according to the NSA, its staff is approximately half military, half civilian, employing specialists analysts, linguists, scientists and researchers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Oscar Wilde was gay, some people think Abraham Lincoln was gay. Should kids be hearing that in history class? Out of the closet and into the textbooks, a California controversy coming up on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: There's black history, there's women history, but should public schools be teaching guy history? They could if a bill in the California State Assembly becomes law. Mike TeSelle of CNN affiliate KCRA has the controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE TESELLE, KCRA REPORTER (voice-over): With school children watching, this bill, Senate Bill 1437, sparked fireworks including reaction like this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is terrible.

TESELLE: This bill, if made law, would specifically mandate that school textbooks across the state reflect the role of gay, lesbian and transgender people in the shaping of California and contemporary society. Senate Republicans like Bill Morrow express clear opposition.

BILL MORROW, CALIFORNIA STATE SENATE: There's something very dangerous, if not insidious, in this bill.

TESELLE: However, the bill's author Sheila Kuehl and a string of supporting Democrats explain such a move would offer gay and lesbian students with positive role models without forcing a lifestyle on any student.

JACKIE SPEIER, CALIFORNIA STATE SENATE: If, in fact, there is a discussion in English about Oscar Wilde, it will reference the fact that he was gay.

TESELLE: Furthermore, supporters stress that openness about gay and lesbian contributions would offer hope to students who, in some cases, are made to feel like unaccepted outsiders to their peers.

SHEILA KUEHL, CALIFORNIA STATE SENATE: Absent these basic legal protections and lacking positive role models in their curriculum, these youth often feel, and I guess rightly so, invisible and worthless.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, the textbook bill still has to clear the other house of the California Assembly and it could face a veto from Governor Schwarzenegger. Because California is one of the nation's largest buyers of school textbooks, it's guidelines can affect books sold everywhere.

With it's iron-fisted government and macho attitudes, Cuba might be the last place you'd expect to see a gay-themed television show? CNN's Morgan Neill reports you might be surprised.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC)

MORGAN NEILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The familiar theme song begins and drama is in the air. Cuba's most popular soap opera, "The Dark Side Of The Moon," is breaking audience records and shattering taboos, with Cuban television's boldest look yet at homosexuality in a country known for its macho culture, one where, in the 1960s and '70s the government rounded up gay men and sent them off to do hard labor in the countryside.

In this scene, Mario, an openly gay man, talks to his friend Jasser (ph), whose wife is threatening divorce after finding out the two are having an affair. Mario urges Jasser to come out of the closet. "What do I have to gain," he asks? "Living your life without worrying what others think," comes the answer.

The 1994 movie, "Strawberry and Chocolate," first brought gays out of the closet for the Cuban public. And now the debate has moved into the living room. Twenty-two-year-old Carlos says, "It doesn't bother me -- some people, yes, but not me." Enrique, a health worker, says, "It rubs people the wrong way because it doesn't show the whole picture in Cuba."

Some, like this couple, don't approve. "I think a real man who loves his wife wouldn't fall into that trap," says Renato (ph). His wife, Barbara, agrees. "It's a weakness that you get in your youth, but a real man doesn't fall into that trap."

While the show has been praised by some for openly portraying homosexuality, critics say it's reinforced negative stereotypes. For example, the gay man as home wrecker and carrier of AIDS.

(on camera): Although opinions on the show have been divided, there's one thing that is not up for debate. Everybody is watching.

Morgan Neill, CNN, Havana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: It was a distinguished gathering of world leaders and one protestor in a bikini. A woman wearing little besides her views on the environment upstaged a world summit in Vienna. She and her sign breezed into a photo op of leaders from the E.U., the Caribbean and Latin America. Controversial Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, among others, took note and in his words, it was one of best things that have happened at this summit.

Things are heating up for "American Idol" castoff Chris Daughtry. But the news that has fans all fired up -- we're going to check in with A.J. Hammer of "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT." That and more when LIVE FROM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: The Juice squeezes the limits of good taste, Country's favorite couple shows their commitment to the Gulf Coast, and "Idol" fans are fueled by a frontman's prospects. A.J. Hammer joins us with a little something for everyone today.

Hey, A.J.

A.J. HAMMER, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" HOST: That's what I have, Kyra, a little something for everyone as we head into the weekend. And as you probably know, much of America feels that "American Idol" went up in flames this week with the ouster of rocker Chris Daughtry. I thought he was for sure going to go all the way.

Well, the question today is, is Daughtry about to add a little fuel to the fire?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARL BELL, FUEL GUITARIST: The best reason he should join Fuel is because, if you look at any rock bands right now, it's bands. You're not seeing individuals. In the pop world you can be an individual.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: That's Carl Bell and Jeff Abercrombie from the rock act Fuel with a bit of persuasive advice -- join our band. Just hours after Daughtry got the boot from "American Idol," he got the call that the alt-rock group is actually interested in making him their new lead singer. The band Fuel has been searching for a front man ever since Brett Scallions left the band back in February.

Earlier this season, Daughtry sang Fuel's hit song "Hemorrhage" on American idol. The band took notice of the performance -- they thought it was an amazing performance and it spawned an Internet frenzy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BELL: He sang the song great. He sang "Hemorrhage" perfect.

JEFF ABERCROMBIE, FUEL: He made a believer out of me.

BELL: Right. The Web site went off the scale. "You guys should pick up Chris." "Go get Chris now." Do this, this, this. A lot of people are rooting for Chris even to come over to Fuel as well. So I don't know. We'll see what goes on. I know Chris -- his head's got to be spinning.

Everybody's whispering in his ear right now and telling him this could be great. I know there's a lot to think about for him. All we're saying is, if you want to pick up this conversation again, we'll pick it up against as well and see what rocks, see what happens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: It's funny, though, how the guy with the hat sees what's going on. We're going to have to wait ourselves to see what happens with Chris and Fuel.

From an "American Idol" to a country idol -- or idols -- Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. They're about to bring a little soul to the South. The husband and wife duo will be holding a special hurricane relief benefit concert on July 5th. It's going to take place at the New Orleans Arena with 100 percent of the night's proceeds -- not just a little, the whole thing -- going to Katrina relief efforts in Louisiana and Mississippi.

As part of the effort, organizers have lowered the usual ticket price -- a smart thing to do. They say that they will reserve half of the floor seating to relief volunteers in the area. The show's all part of the couple's Soul to Soul II tour which is currently underway.

Finally today we wind things down with a question. Would you buy Oranges from O.J. Simpson? What about his infamous White Bronco? This is all part of a new Simpson candid camera show called "Juice." As part of the pay-per-view special, Simpson pretends to sell his White Bronco to a used car lot while boasting to a prospective buyer that the car once helped get him away from police. Of course he's referring to the televised police chase that followed the murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and a friend, Ronald Goodman.

In other scenes, Simpson disguises himself as an Elvis impersonator and an elderly man leading a bingo game, and a vagabond selling oranges. It's not really for everybody. Of course, not everybody finds this special worthy of laughs. Look at the cover of the DVD. Family members of Brown and Goodman are less than thrilled about the hour-long program which will be made available on DVD at a later date.

Kyra, do not count me among those who will be waiting in line to buy that particular DVD.

PHILLIPS: You know what? I'll save my money for something much more important like --

HAMMER: A Mother's Day gift.

PHILLIPS: There you go.

HAMMER: Or toenail clippers, for that matter, I suppose.

Coming up tonight, Kyra, the Divine Miss O -- we're going to be telling you why so many people right now are saying Oprah Winfrey inspires them more than their own religion. Oprah Winfrey talks to ":SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" all about this at 11:00 p.m. Eastern, on television's most provocative entertainment news hour, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" on CNN Headline Prime.

Kyra, have an excellent weekend. Go get a toenail clipper if you like.

PHILLIPS: Believe me, I'll by ten instead of that DVD.

Thanks, A.J.

HAMMER: All right.

PHILLIPS: We've heard of radio spots but never Spot's radio -- until now. Dog Radio Thailand is on the air -- or on the Web -- thanks to a guy whose name we even begin to pronounce. But he thinks he's barking up the right tree with this idea. He noticed that music put the dogs in a better mood at his grooming school, even when they were being handled by rookies.

So we tried to tune into the Web site, but something must be wrong with our woofer.

They're the seven babies that set a record.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEOTAPE) PHILLIPS: Can you believe they're all taking violin lessons? The McCaughey septuplets -- and believe it or not, these seven are now eight years old. Their mom catches us up just ahead on LIVE FROM.

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VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sunday is Mother's Day in the U.S., and as we honor moms everywhere with gifts and love, CNN.com takes a closer look at motherhood.

Anna Jarvis is credited with founding Mother's Day in honor of her mother, who died in early May 1905.

But it wasn't until 1914 when President Woodrow Wilson signed a joint resolution, making the second Sunday of May the official Mother's Day holiday. You can check out more facts in this timeline. This gallery highlights some traditional Mother's Day gifts from flowers, gems to handmade gifts that include the ultimate pampering, breakfast in bed.

Also you can view a few snapshots from some of our readers and their mothers and find out how to send us your own pictures. Plus, we've compiled a list of past and present TV moms. So pick your favorites and rank them in our poll. For more you can point your browsers to CNN.com/mother.

I'm Veronica De La Cruz for the dot.com desk.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Lieutenant Dean Gail (ph) stationed with regimental combat team five in Fallujah, Iraq. I want to wish my wife, Charlotte Gail (ph) in Temecula, California, a happy Mother's Day. I love you and I miss you. And I'll be home soon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Chris Horn (ph) stationed with the regimental combat team five in camp Fallujah, Iraq. I'd like to wish my mother-in-law, Rema Camcide (ph), and my wife, Jessica Masesas (ph), in the city of Temecula, California, a happy Mother's Day. I love you and miss you. And I will be home soon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is second Lieutenant Frye (ph) with RSG7 in Iraq. I'd like to wish my mom in Thousand Oaks, California, a happy Mother's Day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, how you guys doing? This is Special Medina (ph). I would like to say happy Mother's Day to my mom, Magadelana Maria (ph), in California and also to my sister, Mariala Anas Medina (ph). Congratulations on your new baby. Happy Mother's Day.

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PHILLIPS: Well, America's mom can soon expect a bouquet of flowers or maybe dinner at a special restaurant or something as simple as a crayon scribbled, I love you. Sunday is Mother's Day.

And Bobbi McCaughey, the mother of the famous septuplets, will likely get lots of homemade cards this weekend. She and her husband, Kenneth, left the kids with the sitter long enough just to update us on how they are all doing.

Bobbi, what are your plans for Mother's Day?

BOBBI MCCAUGHEY, MOTHER OF SEPTUPLETS: As of right now, we don't have any hard and fast plans, other than we will be going to a soccer game with our oldest daughter.

PHILLIPS: So what happens to all the other kids, Kenneth, when you have an event like that? Do you bring the whole clan?

KENNETH MCCAUGHEY, FATHER OF SEPTUPLETS: Oh, sure we do. They always like to watch their sister play.

PHILLIPS: Aw. Well, give me an update on -- I would love to go through every single child, but kind of give me the highlights. Maybe we should start with you, Bobbi. What do you think within the past year has maybe been -- I don't know -- one of the most exciting moments with -- for one of the kids?

B. MCCAUGHEY: Probably the biggest thing for the past year is that Nathan has begun doing independent walking. And he had surgery about 18 months ago or so and has been working really hard in therapy to achieve the goal of walking. And he's worked hard at it and practices a lot and really now only uses his walker for really long distances. So he's proud of himself, and we're really proud of him too.

PHILLIPS: And Kenneth, Lexi also has a form of cerebral palsy. How is she doing? And do they sort of help each other?

K. MCCAUGHEY: Yes, they do. Alexis has hypertonic quadriplegia. And she's doing really well. And Nathan kind of helps spur her on. And she's doing a lot better.

PHILLIPS: Well, I will tell you one of the highlights for us, as we were looking at the new video, some of the kids learning how to play the violin. I just want to take a little listen and get your reaction.

OK. Obviously, they need to practice a little bit more. Mom, which two are these?

B. MCCAUGHEY: That's Kelsey and Natalie.

PHILLIPS: Kelsey and Natalie. And did they say to you they wanted to learn how to play the violin?

B. MCCAUGHEY: Well, it actually started with the teacher coming to us and saying that she would like to give them lessons. And so we were thrilled to at least try it out. PHILLIPS: Well, Kenneth, this is what I want to know. When you're dealing with so many kids and then you have got two of the daughters working on the violin, does it getting a little crazy from a volume perspective in the house?

K. MCCAUGHEY: It's always loud in our house. Actually, all of the kids have played the violin.

PHILLIPS: All of them?

K. MCCAUGHEY: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Oh, my goodness. Do they all practice at the same time?

K. MCCAUGHEY: Yes, they have.

PHILLIPS: Well, let me ask you both this question. Kenneth, what do you think the most beautiful moment has been thus far with all the kids as they've started to grow up and become such little adults?

K. MCCAUGHEY: That's a good question. There's so many beautiful moments. I think just seeing them go to school and bringing their homework home. And I don't know, just watching them grow up.

PHILLIPS: Watching them live. How about you, Bobbi?

B. MCCAUGHEY: For me, I think, one of the best moments is when Kenny and I are sitting on the deck and all the kids are playing in the backyard and playing a soccer game or having a baseball game, and just watching them get along and play together is just so nice.

PHILLIPS: Wow. The two of you are unbelievable parents. And it's always great to see the video and see how the family is doing. A special -- very special happy Mother's Day to you. You definitely deserve it. Kenneth, you got to do something special for her, right?

K. MCCAUGHEY: Yes, we do. All of -- me and the kids have to.

PHILLIPS: Work on a big art project. That will be the easiest.

K. MCCAUGHEY: Yes.

PHILLIPS: All right. Kenneth and Bobbi, thanks so much.

K. MCCAUGHEY: Well, thank you.

B. MCCAUGHEY: Thank you.

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