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CNN Saturday Morning News

Sex Scandal and the End of a Career; Mega Millions Jackpot; Presidential Plans for Mortgage Mess; Does the iPhone Live Up to Expectations?; Shark Diving

Aired September 01, 2007 - 09:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: From the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, I'm T.J. Holmes.
Good morning to you all, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

MELISSA LONG, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, I'm Melissa Long in today for Betty. Thank you for starting your long weekend with us.

A Senator, a sex scandal and the end of a political career. A few hours from now Idaho Senator Larry Craig will announce his resignation and we go live to Boise coming up.

HOLMES: Also, Betty our latest assignment. Shark diving, she has the sharks running scarred. She is going to tell us about her adventure off the coast of South Africa coming up. Don't want to miss that.

But first yes, it looks like the end of line for Idaho Senator Larry Craig. He is expected to resign today. It is the end of a week of controversy surrounding his June arrest at a Minneapolis Airport men's room. The long time senator has under big time political pressure from his own party to call it quits.

CNN congressional correspondent Dana Bash is joining us live in Boise, Idaho.

Good morning to you, Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, T.J.

We understand from Republican sources that Senator Craig will announce that he is going to call it quits starting on September 30th. That is going to be the date his resignation is going to be effective, we're told. Now, this, as you said, comes at the end of a dramatic, rather bizarre at times, week where Senator Craig really was trying to hold on as best he could to the power that he has, to the influence that he has, and, of course, to the seat that he has in the U.S. Senate.

He said just four days ago that he still believes that he can be an effective leader for the state of Idaho, but what he faces was an onslaught of pressure from his colleagues in Washington especially to step down to resign. Republican after Republican made it abundantly clear in public and in private that he is a liability to his party, a liability to his colleagues in the senate, and they simply did not want him to return to the United States Senate. And at the end of the day, that is likely why Senator Craig is expected to announce that he will resign effective September 30th -- T.J.

HOLMES: Well, tell us what happens from this point on. Of course, Republicans kind of got things a little complicated for them for the next election cycle. John Warner over in Virginia announced he is going to be stepping down. He's not going to run for re-election, now they have this seat to deal with. Tell us what happens politically here.

BASH: Politically, in terms of this seat, Senator Craig's term isn't really up until January 2009, so the Republican governor will appoint somebody. It will be a Republican. It won't change the balance of power at all in the United States Senate. Big picture politically, just as you said, that is the reason why Republicans couldn't run far enough or fast enough from Senator Craig on a national level. They have been stung by controversy. That is a big reason that they lost the majority last November in the United States Congress.

That is why -- I talked to Republicans this week about the fact that the senate leadership immediately called for an ethics probe. Then they decided to take his top ranking, key post away from him and in key committees. Why they decided to do that so fast. This aide said, look, this is a part of our playbook. This is a no brainer. We have to make it clear to the American people that the Republican Party is not going to associate themselves with somebody who is a part of this scandal and this kind of tabloid. That is why you saw really this brutal and harsh response from Senator Craig's own colleagues, fellow Republicans, people who he served with for years and years.

HOLMES: We will hear from the man himself coming up in a little over three hours from now.

Dana Bash for us in Boise, Idaho. Dana, thank you very much.

LONG: Idaho's Republican governor will choose Craig's immediate replacement. Three contenders have been mentioned, first Idaho Representative Mike Simpson. Lieutenant Governor James Risch. And then also in the mix maybe former Idaho governor and currant Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne. More on Larry Craig at in the hour, Ken Rudin and PR's political director will give us his take on the scandal and the fallout and what it all means for the Republicans that is coming up in about 15 minutes.

HOLMES: Former Durham, North Carolina District Attorney Mike Nifong is going to jail, just for a day, but he was sentenced on Friday for lying to a judge during the Duke Lacrosse rape case. He's already been disbarred. Nifong is scheduled to report to jail next Friday. He could have been sentenced to as many as 30 days.

LONG: Federal authorities are looking into a fiery plane crash this morning that killed a family of six in southern California last night. That plane was attempting to land at the Kern Valley Airport, which is near Bakersfield. An FAA spokesperson says the plane burst into flames after crashing, which started a small grass fire as well. Officials say the family had flown from Santa Monica for a camping trip.

HOLMES: Federal Safety officials have indefinitely called off the search to find those six coal miners trapped for almost four weeks now. The distraught family members got that word yesterday. That decision coming after a robotic camera that was dropped into the mine did not provide any new information. That camera also got stuck in the mud. Officials had to leave it there.

LONG: Of course, it is Labor Day Weekend, and down south so many of the kids have been back in school. Up north, this is kind of the final blast of the summer this is where everybody gets together, has the final barbecue, and goes to the pool one last time before the school bell rings.

HOLMES: Well, the school bell's about to ring for them. It's ringing for you right about now, Mr. Reynolds. What you got for us? Good morning to you, sir.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning.

We've got a lot -- just a few big weather stories for you today. Let's get to the good news first. Good news that we have no major travel delays around the nation. Many of you trying to get to friends, family, going to football games, that kind of thing. No big issues in terms of severe weather. Severe heat, though, that's another story. We've already had rough conditions in parts of the desert southwest as well as California. So incredible heat there.

Today from Fresno, southward to Visalia and even into Bakersfield, we'll have a heat advisory that will remain in effect through Sunday evening. That means we'll be seeing extreme temperatures and high humidity which will make it feel like its 110 degrees for a good part of the day or good part of the weekend. By all means, take it easy in these spots. Other things heating up, not necessarily here at home, but abroad we're seeing storms crop up. One will be Felix, a storm that is now beginning to march its way into the Caribbean, expected by tomorrow morning at 2:00 a.m. To increase its maximum sustained winds at 60 miles an hour. Currently, it's around 45 gusting to 50.

As we get into Monday and Tuesday, we're going to see it strengthen a bit more and moving into Belize. By the time we get to that at 5:00, 6:00 in the morning on Wednesday with winds over 100 miles per hour. That will be a category 2 storm. We've got more happening in the tropics on the Pacific side. We'll talk about that coming up.

Plus we'll take a look at the travel weather one more time. Back to you.

HOLMES: All right. Reynolds, we'll see you here soon.

LONG: Thank you.

This morning we're talking about sharing the wealth, and there's certainly plenty to go around. That's because there were four winning tickets in last night's drawing for the $330 million, the Mega Millions Lottery Jackpot. Lottery officials say the winning tickets were sold in Texas, Virginia, and Maryland, and New Jersey.

Rob Roblin from our affiliate WBAL joins us now live from the store just outside of Baltimore where one of those winning tickets was sold.

Good morning, Rob.

ROB ROBLIN, WBAL REPORTER: Good morning.

You're talking about a paycheck of about $80 million, little bit more than $80 million. That will get you through the weekend, shall we say. The ticket was bought right here at Walter Liquors here in Baltimore County. I've got the store owners here with me. This is John and Christina. John and Christina, you all get a check for $25,000, correct?

CHRISTINA, STORE OWNER: That's right.

ROBLIN: Got to be happy, huh?

JOHN, STORE OWNER: Yes, very happy.

ROBLIN: You guys have had this store for two years. This is a lot of excitement.

JOHN: Yeah, it's been generating a lot of excitement this morning. We've had many, many phone calls already this morning.

ROBLIN: Great. Well, congratulations to you on owning the store. And Carol Evertz of the Maryland Lottery to talk with us. Carol it's exciting, is it not?

CAROL EVERTZ, MARYLAND LOTTERY: Very exciting. We're so thrilled to have winners in Maryland.

ROBLIN: Now there are four winners in which state?

EVERTZ: New Jersey, Texas, and Virginia all together.

ROBLIN: And of course here in Maryland. I just said about $80 million is the paycheck when you break it down into four, around that.

EVERTZ: You're a couple million off. $82.5 million is the minimum.

ROBLIN: What's $2 million when you're talking $80 million? That's chicken feed, right?

EVERTZ: You're right.

ROBLIN: Congratulations to everybody and to all the winners. You guys back at CNN and I want to put this on national television, I've got a few relatives that live in the area, and I just want to talk about how great my relatives are in case they have the winning ticket. They are the best in-laws in the world. Maybe they'll adopt an old reporter. Reporting live from Baltimore, Rob Roblin.

LONG: I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who will all of a sudden be friends or distant family members with those who won the winning tickets. Now, from what we understand, the people that have the winning tickets, they're taking the time to probably get a lawyer in place, a financial planner as well.

That was Rob Roblin from our affiliate WBAL talking about, of course, the winnings.

HOLMES: I'll get him on.

LONG: He was all done. Let me talk about the winning numbers as well, 8, 18, 22, 40, 44, and the mega ball number was 11. Good luck. Wonderful way to wake up on this Saturday morning.

HOLMES: To find out you have a winning ticket worth 82.5, right.

Folks, up next, move away from the Mega Millions, talk about the president and his plans for people caught up in that mortgage mess. Gerri Willis explains right after our break.

LONG: And later in this hour, a controversial tour boat trip to see great white sharks. Our guide Betty Nguyen on special assignment in Africa.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: President Bush yesterday announced his proposals for helping out in this mortgage crises that we're seeing, and to help us understand what the president was talking about, CNN's personal finance editor Gerri Willis is here.

Gerri, please tell us what exactly is the president proposing here.

GERRI WILLIS, PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: First off, he's looking to expand FHA Insurance. Under his proposal, borrowers who are more than 90 days past due on their loans will be able to refinance with the Federal Housing Administration Mortgage Insurance Program. That's backed by the Federal Government, and it helps lower the cost of mortgages for borrowers because the loans are less risky. People get lower interest rates. This is thought to help 80,000 homeowners who might otherwise be in foreclosure.

The president also wants to temporarily reform the tax code so it doesn't punish families who are forced to sell their homes for less than their loan amount. Right now tax law counts as canceled mortgage debt on primary residences as taxable income. Bush proposes the amount of debt canceled should not be treated as income, and he also wants to create a foreclosure avoidance coalition to help people understand the mortgage financing options available to them.

Finally, he wants to create a group to examine the industry. This would be led by the Treasury and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. They're going to take a look at what went wrong in the sub prime crises and determine what policy changes are need to prevent this in the future -- T.J.

HOLMES: Whew, that's kind of a lot he's proposing there. He's not the only one that's proposing something. Right now everybody has an idea. Some more coming out of D.C. Who else has an idea?

WILLIS: Well, Hillary Clinton wants a direct bail-out of homeowners, and she's thinking that maybe we should spend as much as $1 billion in money that would go directly to states. She also wants to curb lending abuses. There's also a challenge that's been made to lenders out there to take responsibility and modify mortgages. Senator Chuck Schumer said that this week. He wants them to step in and shoulder these costs and keep people from defaulting.

And there are lots of proposals out there to improve abusive lending practices, get rid of predatory mortgages. John Edwards is on the table talking about that. Barack Obama is calling for penalties to prevent fraud and predatory lending. Everybody's had something to say about this.

HOLMES: At 9:30 on "OPEN HOUSE," please tell us what you've got for us.

WILLIS: We're continuing to cover the foreclosure crises, and we're going state to state to find out what lenders are doing to protect you. We'll talk to one Georgia state senator who's leading the way. And we'll also answer your questions and give you real solutions to your mortgage problems.

Finally, if you're just about to send your son or daughter off to college, we're going to give them a crash course in college finances. Don't worry. It won't be painful. All coming up at 9:30 a.m. -- T.J.

HOLMES: A lot of stuff people need to hear in there. Gerri Willis, always a pleasure. We'll see you soon.

WILLIS: Thank you.

HOLMES: The turmoil surrounding Idaho Senator Larry Craig. What happens next? National public radio's Ken Rudin joins us after the break.

LONG: And then later in the hour looking for great white sharks. Betty Nguyen is on assignment in Africa.

HOLMES: And this is not just science fiction. Bionic and injured dolphins.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LONG: The iPhones are now here, and the buyers that stood in long lines to purchase the cool devices are now weighing in.

CNN's Jacqui Jeras reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JACQUI JERAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The new iPhone has been our for a few months now and the question is has it been living up to its expectations. Damon Brown with Digitaltrends.com and also the author of "The Pocket Idiot's Guide to the iPhone" joining us now. Damon, what's the verdict?

DAMON BROWN, CONTRIBUTOR, DIGITALTRENDS.COM: I think people are starting to realize there's quirks with this machine. It's not a perfect machine. The things that people are struggling with now are the keyboard. It's a tactile thing; you actually just touch the screen. People with larger hands aren't used to this type of thing. It's going to take them a few weeks for them to get use to that type of thing.

JERAS: What about speed?

BROWN: As far as speed, it's a little bit on the slower side. It uses the AT&T edge network as well as Cingular. They have the total best coverage in America, but it's a little bit on the slower side. People are starting to learn that, if they go to a Wi-Fi spot at a coffee shop or what have you, it speeds up considerably.

JERAS: Do we expect improvements in the new future?

BROWN: Definitely. I think there's going to be a touch screen iPod at Christmas. But there will probably be a new iPhone next April when they start rolling out to Asia and other parts of the world.

JERAS: That is pretty fast. What about the cost? A lot of people would like to see that go down a bit.

BROWN: I don't think that's going to happen, particularly with Apple. They're not known for cost cutting.

JERAS: All right. Damon Brown with Digitaltrends.com. Thanks for joining us today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LARRY CRAIG: I tend to spread my legs when I lower my pants so they won't slide.

POLICE: OK?

CRAIG: Did I slide them too close to yours? Did I -- I looked down once your foot was close to mine.

POLICE: Yes.

CRAIG: Did we bump? You said so. I don't recall that, but apparently we were close.

POLICE: Yeah. Well, your foot did touch mine on my side of the stall. CRAIG: All right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LONG: That's Idaho Senator Larry Craig with his version of what happened in that airport bathroom. It's not going over well with fellow Republicans.

Ken Rudin is the political editor with National Public Radio joins us now live this morning from Washington.

Ken, thanks so much for your time.

KEN RUDIN, NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO: Good morning, Melissa.

LONG: Of course we have learned that of course we're supposed to hear from the senator this morning, actually this afternoon at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time, to announce his resignation. Is this day not coming soon enough for the Republican Party?

RUDIN: It's probably remarkable giving the fact that Larry Craig has spent a quarter century in public office and is unraveled in a couple of days. It had to end soon and end for the Republicans before Tuesday when the Senate comes back. All the attention would not have been on the Republican agenda and what to do about the war and about taxes and immigration, but on Larry Craig's future or his past. That would have been too much for the Republican Party.

LONG: You just said 25 years, more than 25 years in politics. A staple in the Idaho political scene. Yet the Republicans were seen running from him. How damaging is this to their party?

RUDIN: Well, certainly, getting rid of him now and certainly getting rid of him sooner than later helps, but remember, they remember very well what happened last year, 2006, with the Mark Foley sex scandal, and a lot of conservative voters sat home that year and said the Republican Party had lost its moral compass, and they didn't want a repeat performance in 2008. Given the fact the war was unpopular, President Bush is unpopular in many states, and the Republicans have far more senate seats to protect that happen than the Democrats do.

LONG: There was talk of an ethics probe. With the resignation, the ethics probe goes away?

RUBIN: I don't think the ethics probe made sense anyway. Whatever Larry Craig did, it had nothing to do with his duties. The Republicans brought as much pressure on him to force him to resign, and that's happening in a couple of hours.

LONG: This man again who spent more than a quarter century in politics. He says he's not guilty despite the guilty plea, and do to the nature of this, how does someone reconfigure his life and the life of his family?

RUBIN: That's a good question. Most people feel that you know like when Mark Foley resigned from Congress, he had been in Congress pretty influential from South Florida. The moment he resigned, he disappeared from public view. Nobody's spoken to him, seen him ever since. It's very possible that Larry Craig may disappear in the wilderness of Idaho. Again, for the Republican Party nationally, especially nationally in Washington, it couldn't happen soon enough.

LONG: Now you had the Republican governor in that state appointing an interim replacement. There are three names being floated around. It Idaho Representative Mike Simpson and you also have Dirk Kempthorn and also the Lieutenant Governor James Risch.

RUBIN: Right, if it is Jim Risch, the Lieutenant Governor, obviously he'll run for a seat and probably win. The fear that Republicans had would be that Larry Craig would seek a fourth term next year. And even though Democrats haven't won a senate seat in Idaho since 1974, they would have a fairly good shot with Craig on. And that's why there was tremendous pressure on him to get out.

LONG: Ken Rudin, political editor from National Public Radio, Ken thanks so much for your time, appreciate your insight.

RUBIN: Thanks, Melissa.

LONG: Do stay with CNN for coverage of the senator's statement expected live at 12:30 Eastern today from Boise, Idaho.

HOLMES: The little dolphin that could. That could swim, that is with a fake tail. Later this hour the tale behind the bionic dolphin.

LONG: And from dolphins to sharks. Right after this, our Betty Nguyen takes us swimming with great whites. Special assignment from South Africa.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: On the prowl for great whites. Are these fierce predators being lured closer to the South African shore and to unsuspecting surfers? Our Betty Nguyen went aboard for one of the controversial expeditions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This group of adrenaline junkies are in search of the great white.

GREG GRANT, TOUR SKIPPER: We're going to be waiting a while. Obviously, the sharks are wild animals, so we can't exactly call them on cue.

NGUYEN: But they try, and that's sparking controversy.

GRANT: A lot of people are thinking that we are attracting the sharks to shore. But actually, we're sticking around the islands where they're predominantly seen, where they're predominantly found.

NGUYEN: Boats anchor along shark alley just off South Africa's southern tip.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is home to approximately 60,000 fur seals. That brings sharks to the area, and that's why we're here.

NGUYEN: It costs about $200 each to see a great white up close. Tour operators put out slick videos showing divers just inches from these deadly creatures. The only thing between them and these jaws is a steel cage that's lowered into the ocean. Then bait consisting of tuna and various shark meat is thrown overboard. Sharks can be lured, but they should not be rewarded with food. Now that the bait is in the water, we wait. Sometimes it just takes minutes. Other times it takes hours. We've been at it for about 40 minutes now and so far no shark sightings.

Still Frederick Vonheyer is hopeful. He's an avid surfer who doesn't believe cage diving operators are conditioning sharks to attack humans.

FREDERICK VONHEYER, SURFER: They don't go to beaches and lure them to where surfers are. I don't think it's causing increased attacks on surfers.

NGUYEN: Try telling that to Craig Bovim. A great white nearly ripped off his right hand.

CRAIG BOVIM, SHARK ATTACK VICTIM: So the skin and a few tendons on the back just sprung back. So I didn't know I had it.

NGUYEN: He was attacked in 2002 while snorkeling for lobster off this beach in Capetown.

BOVIM: I find it ridiculous that people can be offering cage diving and taunting and baiting great white sharks within miles of a huge city. And it's not just any city, this is Capetown. It's one of the surfing paradises in the world.

NGUYEN: Most surfers are outraged. There have been seven shark attacks in Capetown in the past five years. Scientists say there's no proof cage diving teaches sharks to associate people with food.

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