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Mexico's Vincente Fox Kicks Off U.S. Trip in Utah; Schwarzenegger Presides Over Citizenship Ceremony; Bombing in Afghanistan Kills Civilians

Aired May 23, 2006 - 14:28   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Just moments ago, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales talking about what his department did with regard to that search of Congressman William Jefferson's office. This is what he had to say just a minute ago.
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ALBERT GONZALES, ATTORNEY GENERAL: We're in discussions privately about what can be done to alleviate the concerns we -- I obviously -- personally in the department, collectively, we have a great deal of respect for the Congress as a coequal branch of government, as a separate and independent branch of government, and, obviously, are sensitive to their concerns. As I indicated yesterday, we are working to try to address those concerns. We've had discussions with the House. Those began last night. We hope to have discussions today to continue working on this.

We respectfully, of course, disagree with the characterization by some. We believe, of course, that we've been very careful, very thorough, in our pursuit of criminal wrongdoing. And that's what's going on here. We shouldn't lose sight of the fact that the Department of Justice is doing its job in investigating criminal wrongdoing and we have an obligation to the American people to pursue the evidence, where it exists.

Obviously, of course, there are additional considerations in this particular case, and we want to continue to try to work with the Congress to alleviate the concerns.

I talked about yesterday this being a unique step in response to a unique set of circumstances. It is true it's never been done before, and the reason it's never been done before is not because there's never been corruption in the Congress, unfortunately, as there has been corruption in the judiciary branch and corruption in the executive branch, unfortunately.

But the reason it has never been done before is because we have, before, been able to reach an accommodation, to reach an agreement, to receive the evidence that we need to prosecute wrongdoing through a subpoena. And for a variety of reasons, that could not occur here.

And we worked very hard over a period of time to get the information, the evidence, that we felt was important to a criminal investigation. And at the end of the day, the decision was made that this was absolutely essential, to move forward with that investigation.

But again, we understand the sensitivity of this matter, and we are going to continue to work with the Congress to speak with the leaders in the Congress so that we can allay their concerns.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Now, it's still out there somewhere. Personal data on more than 26 million U.S. veterans' names, birth dates, Social Security numbers all in computer files stolen from the home of a Veterans Affairs analyst.

Now, a government source tells CNN the theft happened May 3rd, but the Feds waited till yesterday to tell the public. The source says that officials hoped to nab the thieves, and didn't want to tip them to what they had. There's still no indication the info has led to identity theft.

Well, he's out of his country and possibly out of his element. On the other hand, Mexican President Vicente Fox might feel very much at home in Utah today. Fox is kicking off a three-state trip to the U.S. with immigration a primary focus.

Our Ed Lavandera is at the governor's mansion in Salt Lake City -- Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra. Well, the president of Mexico is expected here in a few hours for a state dinner here in Salt Lake City with the governor of Utah. Just moments ago, he arrived here in Salt Lake City after a four-hour flight from Mexico City to Salt Lake this morning.

He just walked off the plane moments ago, and right now he's on the tarmac at the airport here in Salt Lake City, meeting with dignitaries and the like. And he will be shuttled off from the airport here momentarily on his way to a luncheon where several hundred people are expecting to hear him speak here shortly.

Many of you watching this might be wondering why in the world is the president of Mexico in Utah? Well, you know, one of the reasons is that this state has seen its Hispanic population triple since 1990, and much of that population growth is attributed to Mexicans who have moved here to the state of Utah.

So this is something that worked quite well for Vicente Fox back in 1990 when he ran for president of Mexico, campaigning outside of Mexico among Mexican nationals building up support for his ideas, and it worked very well for him six years ago, so he's continued to do it -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Ed, I was also reading that he's expected to meet with the leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I didn't realize that the Mormon Church also has a strong presence in Mexico.

LAVANDERA: Pretty strong. The LDS Church says that there are a million members in Mexico. Back in 1875, they say, is when they first sent missionaries to Mexico and since then, you know, they have tried to build the church there as strongly as they can. So they say there are about a million members here.

And it also kind of plays in well with what we've seen a lot through Mexico and Central America over the last decade or so, as the evangelical movement and other churches aside from the Catholic Church that have made great inroads in Mexico and Central America.

PHILLIPS: Ed Lavandera following the Mexican president, Vicente Fox. Thanks so much, Ed.

Now we're going to get to Tony Harris. He is working a developing story for us in the news room -- Tony.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, Kyra, I want to give you a quick update on that story that we're following out of Covington, Georgia. That's in Newton County. Three children, we can tell you now -- three children, two adults run over. That is the language being used by authorities -- run over -- at a McDonald's restaurant. Witnesses say this was an intentional attack.

Covington police have arrested 36-year-old Lanny Terry Barnes (ph). A highway very near the restaurant -- this is Highway 278 -- was actually closed for awhile so police could land a helicopter to transport at least one of the victims to an area hospital. No word on how seriously injured the victims are. And if police know a motive, any kind of a motive behind this attack, they aren't saying so just yet.

Once again, Kyra, three children, two adults, run over at a McDonald's restaurant parking lot. We'll continue to follow the story and bring you more developments as we get them.

PHILLIPS: All right, Tony. Appreciate it.

HARRIS: OK, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, straight ahead, what do rock star Bono, former President Jimmy Carter and this amazing woman have in common? Well, they're all trying to end poverty. Dr. Helene Gayle just back from war-torn Afghanistan will show us how she's confronting the world's problems.

LIVE FROM back after a quick break.

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PHILLIPS: Well, he's an immigrant, a movie star, a governor. But Arnold Schwarzenegger says his favorite title is American. As you may have seen live here on CNN, the California governor presided over a citizenship ceremony today, welcoming 1,200 new Americans from 93 nations.

Our Dan Simon joins us live from San Francisco -- Dan. DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra. Well, this was an opportunity for the governor to wrap himself around a positive immigration story today. And he did just that, serving as the keynote speaker for this naturalization ceremony that really just wrapped up a few minutes ago.

Now, politically, this is a governor who has seen his fortunes rise a bit in recent days, and most analysts attribute that to him reemphasizing his centrist views on

SIMON: And most analysts attribute that to him reemphasizing his centrist views on issues like the environment and immigration. The governor has made it clear he's no fan of the president's proposal to put guard troops on the border. He says that plan lacks specifics, but that did not come up today. Today he talked about his own personal story of emigrating to this country.

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GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (D), CALIFORNIA: It meant that I could vote, I could go and travel around now with an American passport, and I could even run for office. Don't misunderstand me, that doesn't mean that I don't love my home country, Austria. Yes, I love it. Austria is always dear to my heart, but I always felt like an American through and through. I never felt prouder than when I became an American citizen that day.

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SIMON: Again, the governor did not talk about the problems of illegal immigration. After all, Kyra, this probably was not the right venue to do that. This was very much a celebration. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Dan, just listen to what he had to say. I mean, the fact he came here with a gym bag and 20 bucks in his pocket, now he's the governor of California. Kind of leads me to the question we haven't really been talking about how he's doing politically. Things looked like they went pretty well there at the ceremony, but how is he doing on a political level now in California?

SIMON: Well, in terms of being an incumbent, he's in a great position now. After all, there is this fierce Democratic primary going on between the state controller, Steve Wesley, and the treasurer, Mr. Angelitis. These two have just been beating each other up, really bloodying each other over the airwaves. Meanwhile, the governor is sitting back, waiting for the fall. So in terms of being an incumbent, he's in a good position.

PHILLIPS: Dan Simon live from San Francisco, thanks.

Well, caught in the crossfire. Afghan civilians reportedly killed in a U.S. air raid targeting the Taliban. Now the Afghan president has launched an investigation. Canadian TV's Janis Mackey Frayer (ph) has more. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANIS MACKEY FRAYER, CANADIAN TV (voice-over): The bandaged and the broken lie dazed in a Kandahar hospital, the wounded arriving here at daybreak streaked with dirt and blood, mostly men, a few women, some children. This boy is 3 years old.

I heard the noise of the jets, says this man. Then they started bombing the entire village. Others described hours of chaos in the dark, of people trying to escape, of Taliban running for shelter.

The Panjwayi district is a stubborn stronghold for the Taliban and its sympathizers. These pictures show damage from recent battles there. Military officials say fighters deliberately took over homes and schools, used them as trenches, and fired at troops from rooftops.

SCOTT LUNDY, COALITION SPOKESMAN: It was rather cowardly on their part. And if they had either chosen to leave the area and fight us somewhere else or if they had perhaps stopped short of going into those houses, we wouldn't have seen as many civilian casualties as we did today.

FRAYER: Violence has swept across Afghanistan especially in the south. Where in a week, more than 20 rebels have been killed, waging a game of armed defiance, a response, experts say, to the growing number of foreign troops.

MARTIN WEINBERG, MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: Now, there are new elements like the Canadian force and British and Dutch who will be moving and taking on much more difficult roles in the southern part of the country.

FRAYER: This was not a day to win hearts and minds. Though the coalition claims some success. To villagers, the local governor paid a visit and compensation, about $500 each, and urged them to blame the Taliban for their misery.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And that was Canadian TV's Janis Mackey Frayer reporting.

Our next guest is just back from Afghanistan. It was a mission of compassion, and she intends to repeat it in other countries. Dr. Helene Gayle is less than two months on the job as the first female and first African-American president of CARE. Welcome to LIVE FROM.

Pleasure to have you.

DR. HELENE GAYLE, PRESIDENT, CARE: Pleasure to be here.

PHILLIPS: I want to get to the video. It's compelling. You're having this conversation with women in Afghanistan. Let's take a listen, and I want to talk about the impact it had on you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GAYLE: Do they think if they continue to become more empowered, that that will be a problem with their husbands or with their families? Do they think that will be -- cause some tension?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: What did you take away from this conversation? Obviously, we can't play the whole thing because of the translation, but what moved you the most about this conversation?

GAYLE: Well, I was really moved by the promise that I saw in the eyes of women in Afghanistan. They realize that they really have the power to make a difference in their society. With just a little bit of education, a little bit of new resources, to be able to start businesses, they're feeling different about themselves, about their place in society, about their place in their families.

They talked about the new respect that their families had for them when they could actually be contributors to the family. They talked about how they had banded together to make sure that more women were voted into their congress.

So women are seeing themselves not as victims, but as people who can really make a difference in their societies and as people who can really be the -- help make the future of their societies.

We talked to some of the young women who had not been able to get education during the years of the Taliban. They're walking two miles and more just to get a basic education. And all of those young girls, when you ask them what they wanted to be, they all raised their hands and said they wanted to be doctors or engineers because they wanted to be the future leaders of their country.

PHILLIPS: That's what you really want to do. You want to empower these women and let them know you can do that. You get various funds from Bill Gates to all kinds of interesting people that want to give back. How do you prioritize where your money is going to go? Because knowing you, you probably meet with these women around the world and think oh, my gosh, how many I going to help all of these people?

GAYLE: Right. We obviously can't help everyone at once. What we want to do is put our resources and the things that we know can make the biggest difference to empower women and their families around the world. So we look at providing the basic services that women and families need, basic education, water and sanitation, basic health services.

But we also look at how can we change women's status in society? Because we know that the inequity in gender is one of the biggest drivers in poverty. Of the more than a billion people who live on less than $1 a day, 70 percent of those are women. So we are really holding back societies because we're holding back women. So it's a major force. But we have to prioritize the work that we do.

We have to make sure that we're focused on the programs that we know make the biggest difference in the lives of communities, that will make the biggest difference in helping people get the tools that they need to lift themselves out of poverty.

PHILLIPS: That leads me to my next question because Jeff Koinange covers Africa for us. He did this story. It came into us today from Congo. And it's of the military men that are raping and mutilating these young women because they want to destroy this next generation of a specific ethnic group. What is CARE doing to help those women in Congo?

GAYLE: Well, CARE has been involved in Congo for about four years now. And what we do in Congo, like any other country, is try to respond to the biggest needs at the particular time.

So one of the biggest needs in Congo is to look at the consequences of this sexual violence that's going on with women, providing things like basic medical services for women who have been raped, providing psycho-social services, a huge need, as people recover from the horrors of this ugly, ugly act of violence.

So we're looking at ways we can help with other NGO and government partners who are there as we look at what's the best way to develop a response to what's going on in Congo. We want to be able to really be partners in that effort.

PHILLIPS: When I asked you about who you admire the most, you mentioned Bono, Jimmy Carter, Nelson Mandela. What is it about these men that you admire so much, and why do they inspire you?

GAYLE: There are also women that I admire as well, like the new president of Liberia, or Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American woman who ran for Congress. I think people who are willing to use their celebrity status, their fame, whatever positions of power that they may have, to really make a difference in the world.

These are people who have stood behind their convictions. These are people who have the force of their convictions, really are committed to social justice and really trying to make the world a better place. That inspires me. It's wonderful to see those examples.

PHILLIPS: We're big fans of Ellen Sirleaf Johnson, too.

GAYLE: She's wonderful.

PHILLIPS: She is. You've had incredible family. Very supportive of you through the years. Did you know that you would be working for -- I mean, you're a doctor. You've worked for the CDC. Did you think you'd be working for an organization like CARE? What is it about this issue of poverty that's drawn you into such an amazing position? I mean, you have a lot of power in this position.

GAYLE: Well, I went into medicine and health because I wanted to have a concrete way that I could address some of the glaring social inequities in our society. Health is clearly one of those. Health is both a cause and a consequence of poverty. The more I worked on global health, the more I realized how intertwined it was with issues of global poverty. And so for me this is a way of addressing one of the issues that is near and dear to my heart -- health -- but from the broader perspective of the root causes, the underlying causes that lead to glaring inequities of health, but more broadly of poverty.

PHILLIPS: Dr. Helene Gayle. What a pleasure to have you with us.

GAYLE: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: We're going to be following you in your new role. Keep us updated on the progress that you're making.

GAYLE: Great. Pleasure.

PHILLIPS: Thanks for your time.

GAYLE: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: Well, straight ahead, the chicks are back. Sibila Vargas of "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" has all the political scoop. Hey, Sibila.

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kyra. The Dixie Chicks were once synonymous with controversy, and now, with the new album, it seems like they're headed for more. I'll have more when LIVE FROM continues.

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PHILLIPS: Bold, defiant and controversial, the Dixie Chicks are back. It's been three years since those anti-Bush comments that got the Chicks blackballed on country radio. But they're not apologizing for anything. Sibila Vargas joins us live from L.A. with more of the scoop.

Hey, Sibila.

VARGAS: Hey, Kyra, that's right. The Dixie Chicks have become as famous for making people angry as they have for their music. And now the trio's back with a new album, and guess what? They're still not ready to make nice.

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(MUSIC)

VARGAS (voice-over): Those may be fighting words, but any political message in the new Dixie Chicks's album is between the lines.

CHRIS WILLMAN, AUTHOR, "REDNECKS & BLUENECKS": It's not a political album, but it's political by inference, in that they're directly and indirectly addressing their own situation, and through being defensive and defiant about it. And through that, I think you can read into the fact that they still feel the same way or worse about Bush and the war and all the things that got them into the trouble they are talking about on the album.

VARGAS: "Taking the Long Way" is the Texas trio's first CD since 2003, since before the U.S. invasion of Iraq when lead singer Natalie Maines told London concert-goers she was, "embarrassed to be from the same state as George Bush."

NATALIE MAINES, LEAD SINGER, DIXIE CHICKS: My apology was for the words that I used, but not for the motivation the words and for my beliefs.

VARGAS: Despite that semi-apology, fallout in the conservative country community was immediate. Some called the Chicks unpatriotic, treasonous even. People picketed their shows.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of course she was wrong for what she said.

VARGAS: And radio stations refused to play their music.

But with the president's approval rating at an all-time low, some are rethinking Nashville's harsh treatment of the Dixie Chicks.

VINCE GILL, RECORDING ARTIST: I have a big problem with what they did to The Dixie Chicks. You know, I don't think that their political stance should in any way have their career taken away from them. You know, that was just wrong.

VARGAS: Sony Music isn't taking any chances with the new release. Wal-Mart, Amazon.com and iTunes are all selling the disc at a discount. Throw in high profile TV appearances, and the Chicks could end up with a number one album, despite a whole new batch of strong opinions from Maines in a "Time" Magazine cover story.

WILLMAN: She said, I don't respect Bush. It's part of her so- called apology was that you have to respect the office, no matter who's in it. Now she's saying that doesn't matter, I don't respect him at all.

VARGAS: Dixie Chicks's opinions might have lost them a lot of their old fans, but just may gain them a lot of new ones.

Sibila Vargas, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VARGAS: Now already one radio station is reacting. A Miami radio station reportedly pulled the single "Not Ready to Make Nice, due to listener complaints.

And another singer is ruffling feathers. Tonight on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," Catholic outrage. No, not over "The Da Vinci Code," but over Madonna. Did her stunt on the cross go way too far? The anger and controversy on TV's most provocative entertainment news program. That's "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" at 11:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN Headline Prime.

And I thought she was ready to make nice, Madonna. I thought she had changed her ways, Kyra!

PHILLIPS: Are you kidding? She's always trying to reinvent herself. Come on, Sibila, you know that.

VARGAS: Loves controversy.

PHILLIPS: All kinds of surprises. Sibila, thanks.

Well, is there a right way to get out of the path of a hurricane? There's certainly a wrong way, but the worst may not be, well, leaving at all. When LIVE FROM continues, New Orleans practices what the experts preach.

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