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CNN Live Sunday
Fatal Accident in Race Car Driving; Political Change in Ukraine; Wildfires in Oklahoma; Senate Will Tackle Immigration Reform
Aired March 26, 2006 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN LIVE SUNDAY, I'm Carol Lin and these are the headlines.
Repent or die. He denounced Islam and became a Christian and he could face death for it. But tonight, this Afghan man may be one step closer to freedom, as the world weighs in.
Also, a horrific accident for a rookie race-car driver during a warm up. He was trying to make his mark on the Indy car circuit.
7 And sex-somnia, sex while you're asleep. I'm not kidding here. You don't remember it when you wake up, and it can be violent. We're going to tell you what triggers it. But, first, a look at tonight's headlines.
In Baghdad, fighting around a major Shiite mosque in Baghdad. Iraqi police say at least 20 members of the militia loyal to cleric Muqtada al-Sadr were killed. Al-Sadr's office and Iraqi police say the militia was fighting U.S. troops. But the U.S. military says Iraqi forces were leading the raid, and that 16 insurgents were killed.
Reminders of a terrible day. The city of New York will release recordings of emergency dispatchers responding to calls from the World Trade Center. Some family members of victims found out the recordings were finally going to be released after getting letters this weekend.
The case of two missing boys in Milwaukee is now a criminal investigation. Police aren't saying why they are reclassifying the case. Quadrevion Henning and Purvis Parker haven't seen for a week.
A driver dies after a high-speed crash on a Florida racetrack. A rookie driver plowed through another car and that car hit a wall during warm-ups at the Homestead Miami Speedway. A live report, straight ahead.
Gun battle in Baghdad, soldiers surround the mosque of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. And after the shooting stopped, several members of al-Sadr's militia were dead. Arab networks are airing the video and reporting U.S. forces killed Iraqis in a mosque. Our Nic Robertson has the latest now from the Iraqi capital.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: U.S. military officials say that this was an incident involving Iraqi special operations forces with U.S. special operation forces in an advisory capacity.
They say this was an intelligence directed focused precision operation, that it didn't involve any people going inside a mosque, any of the troops going inside a mosque. What they say is that they were entering the objective, that they came under gun fire, that a gun battle ensued that 16 insurgents were killed, that 15 other people taken away for questioning.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: All right, just a moment there, because we're about to get to that taped interview with "Spider" Marks. But as Nic was reporting, there are conflicting reports about exactly what happened in Sadr City. But this the second major confrontation between U.S. forces and Muqtada al-Sadr.
Now we are told as many as 20 members of al-Sadr's militia may now be dead, and Nic was going to mention that it is yet to be determined exactly who was running the raid, Iraqi or American forces.
Our military analyst, retired Brigadier General James "Spider" Marks, says the coordination plan in place allows either to take the lead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIG. GEN. JAMES MARKS, RETIRED, U.S. ARMY: You need to keep in mind that any operation likes that is going to require clearance. There is a unit, whether it is an Iraqi unit or a U.S. unit that owns that piece of terrain. So in order to bring in another unit, there's going to be clearance and there is going to be coordination. So it's probably as described, Iraqi-led, U.S. supported and then clearances provided to ensure that other forms of support as necessary during the fight could be brought in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: All right, well the violence in Iraq is telling of the situation on the ground today. There have always been reports that the interior ministry had its own militia and rule of law, and now we're hearing that U.S. forces raided a secret jail in one of the ministry's buildings and detained a number of Iraqi police officers.
That was after finding 17 Sudanese prisoners inside that facility. An Iraqi official says the Americans determine the Sudanese were being held legitimately, apparently for violating residency laws. The U.S. military hasn't commented yet.
And now to Afghanistan, a story that really has captured the imagination here in the states. A man who converted to Christianity may be set free, otherwise he would be executed for renouncing his Islamic faith.
But now we're getting conflicting reports about whether Abdul Rahman will stay in jail or be set free. It is safe to say that the Bush administration is very familiar with this case. The White House has put a full-court press on Afghanistan to reconsider that punishment. CNN's Kathleen Koch is at the White House with more. Kathleen?
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, this case has put the Bush administration in a very difficult position because Afghanistan is a country that President Bush likes to hold up as a success story, a model democracy. So it's trying to resolve this without being overly critical.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KOCH (voice-over): Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Sunday pushed for an end to the prosecution of converted Christian Abdul Rahman, yet she cautioned against judging the Afghan government too harshly.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: Mr. Rahman should not face these charges. There should be a resolution in this case. But this is also a young democracy and we have to recognize that unlike the Taliban, it actually has a constitution to which one can appeal about the universal declaration of human rights.
KOCH: Last week, President Bush himself turned up the heat on the key U.S. ally.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We expect them to honor the universal principle of freedom.
KOCH: The case has drawn new scrutiny to just what kind of democracy Afghanistan has become. More than four years after the Taliban fundamentalist regime was toppled, religion still maintains a tight grip on society here. It has prompted some in Congress to question whether the U.S. mission to spread democracy will yield the hoped-for results.
SEN. JACK REED (D-RI), ARMED SERVICES CMTE: We cannot allow a situation where we've spent our precious resources, including our soldiers and Marines, to help a country liberate themselves from tyranny and then see this type of practice go on. It shocks the conscience of the world.
SEN. PAT ROBERTS (R-KS), CHMN, INTELLIGENCE CMTE: If this is a big test of their judicial system, let's hope they make the right decision. If they don't, I think there's going to be a great many problems.
KOCH: Still, one lawmaker was encouraged by reports Rahman, who had faced possible execution, may soon be freed.
SEN. CARL LEVIN (D-MI), ARMED SERVICES CMTE: I think it's good news, and what it shows is that Afghanistan both has laws which were -- are not acceptable to us in terms of our belief in freedom of religion, but it also has the ability to change. And it's got a president who is able to find a way to avoid a terrible result, as the prosecution of a man for religious beliefs would be.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOCH: Even so, the Bush administration acknowledges it could face similar cases in the future as the democracies it builds are not necessarily formed in its own image. Carol?
LIN: Kathleen, thank you.
Now, from a -- well, it is a really interesting missing persons case that is going on in Milwaukee. But that case, the missing persons case is now a criminal one. Milwaukee police and the FBI are changing tactics in an effort to find two missing little boys. The Feds have brought in child abduction specialists. But police say they haven't found Quadrevion Henning or Purvis Parker.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNE SCHWARTZ, SPOKESWOMAN, MILWAUKEE POLICE: The focus of the search for Quadrevion Henning and Purvis Parker is a criminal investigation. Canvassing by the task force as well as leads and tips have led to us that conclusion. As this is a criminal investigation, that will limit the amount of information that you all are going to be receiving. That is so that we do not compromise the integrity of the criminal investigation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: Now remember, the police have been saying that they know there's someone out there who has information. They've been emphasizing that all weekend long. So if you know something about either or both of the missing boys, call this toll-free tip hotline, 877-628-3804. That's 877-628-3804.
And a heartbreaking Sunday for members of Selmer's Fourth Street Church of Christ. The Tennessee congregation met for Sunday services this morning, the first since their minister, Matthew Winkler, was found shot to death last week. His wife Mary is in the county jail, charged with first-degree murder. Her first court appearance is tomorrow.
Final words spoken by victims of the 9/11 attacks and captured in calls to emergency dispatchers on that infamous day. Well family members of some two dozen victims found out that part of these recordings are finally being made public with their loved ones' voices on them, and in a rather cold way. They are not happy. Our Chris Huntington is live at Ground Zero. Chris, why did these tapes come out four and a half years later?
CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol there's been a lengthy legal battle with the city of New York started, in fact, by "The New York Times," joined by several families of firefighters who perished during 9/11.
You know, the families that are just finding out that some of their loved ones are on those 911 calls are upset. They're feeling blindsided, but even some of the folks that pushed for the release of these tapes are mad that it has taken so long for the city to finally, finally share those tragic recordings.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HUNTINGTON (voice-over): The terrifying sounds of 9/11 at Ground Zero will never be forgotten. Later this week, a more personal and potentially more painful soundtrack is expected to be released.
Partial and in some cases complete recordings of 911 calls from more than 100 people trapped inside the Twin Towers. Sally Regenhard, who lost her firefighter son Christian on 9/11 helped secure the release of the 911 recordings by joining other firefighters families and "The New York Times" in winning a lawsuit against New York City last year.
SALLY REGENHARD, MOTHER OF 9/11 VICTIM: There is no reason to secrete it and hide the really truth about the valiant effort that people made to save their lives to get out of the buildings and to help other people. However, you know, since shortly after 9/11, the Giuliani administration, the Port Authority, and the governor of New York had a vested interest in suppressing the real true facts about what happened in those buildings on 9/11.
HUNTINGTON: New York City officials tell CNN that of the more than 130 911 calls, 28 callers have been positively identified, one of whom survived.
For that caller and the families of the 27 who died, the city will turn over complete and unedited recordings of their 911 calls. The public versions of the recordings will only have the dispatcher's half of the call. The caller's voices and all names, numbers, and identifying information will be deleted.
On Friday, the city sent letters to the surviving caller and the families of 24 of the victims, notifying them that the recordings would soon be available. To some, the official six-page letter was a shock.
BILL DOYLE, 9/11 VICTIMS ACTIVIST: I have one family member call me today, hysterical, she actually fainted, she opened it up in an elevator, and she couldn't believe it because she never heard from her husband that morning, but apparently he called 911.
HUNTINGTON: New York City officials tell CNN they meant to send out a preliminary e-mail, but because of a miscommunication, that notification never went out.
REGENHARD: Why wasn't this made known to the families in the last four and a half years? It's really very discouraging.
HUNTINGTON: A spokesperson for New York City's Department of Law explained the timing. "There was a decision to not release the 911 call recordings until we knew the identities of as many callers as possible. That work was only completed earlier this month. We did not want to create false hope nor expectations."
(END VIDEOTAPE) HUNTINGTON: Now, city officials tell us that they still have three families that they want to get in touch with, families of positively identified callers who did perish in the Twin Towers.
Now, the back and forth on this as to whether or not the city was -- was stone walling the release of this also went as far as the 9/11 Commission, which at one point requested, in fact, subpoenaed, these documents, these 9/11 transcripts, 911 call transcripts. They were denied as well, so it took again, a lengthy legal battle and finally, as the city has explained to us at least, an awful lot of work to find out exactly who was on the calls before they are being released.
And remember, this is very important. This is not going to be a wholesale public release of all of these calls. Only the full transcripts and recordings go to the families and only if they want, will that then be made public. Carol?
LIN: Chris, thank you very much.
Tragedy this morning on the Indy race circuit. Straight ahead, details on this deadly crash, which happened just before the season's opening race.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: They are capable of blowing up innocent life, so it ends up on your T.V. show.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: Also, the president, the media, and the war in Iraq. Reading between the lines on stories coming out of the war zone.
And this week, the Senate gets ready to tackle some controversial immigration reform. Straight ahead, a former adviser to the Mexican president weighs in. And his answers might surprise you. You're watching CNN LIVE SUNDAY. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: A race car driver dies after a shocking high-speed crash today. It was Paul Dana's rookie seasons as an Indy racer in the Indy Racing League and driving on the team co-owned by talk show host David Letterman.
So CNN sports' Larry Smith is here to talk more about what happened. We want to prepare the audience, because these are pretty dramatic pictures. And at first, you don't know which driver was the one who died. You almost assumed that both of them did.
LARRY SMITH, CNN ANCHOR: Right. But we are glad to say that at least one right now is alive and awake at the hospital. Now we can expect an investigation into this horrific tragedy.
Already race officials have said that all safety precautions in place did work, but unfortunately could not prevent this. And here is the video that Carol was talking about.
Just after 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, as warm-ups had just begun for the season opening race in the Indy Racing League, Ed Carpenter's car spinning out and hitting the wall. As his car slid to a stop, here comes Paul Dana's car, hitting it at full speed, traveling nearly 200 miles-per-hour.
Both drivers were airlifted to a Miami hospital, where Dana died just before noon. Now Carpenter, as we said before, is awake and alert at a Miami hospital. Dana was an IRL rookie, a Northwestern graduate who was a former motor sports journalist.
Fellow driver Buddy Lazier said it was apparent to him that Dana was not aware of Carpenter's wreck, saying the rookie flew past him after he had already slowed down. But the IRL President Brian Barnhart said the yellow caution lights at the track did work properly.
The team's co-owner Bobby Rahal said that its communications were also working. Paul Dana was 30-years-old. He is survived by his wife Tonya who was attending church service in their hometown of Indianapolis when she received word of her husband's death.
We should say also this race did go off several hours later. Now, his teammates Danica Patrick and Buddy Rice. Danica Patrick, we've heard so much about the 24-year-old woman who is a pioneer in racing, what she's done for females in this sport, in her second year in the IRL. They both pulled out of this race as a result of this.
LIN: And the camera was focusing on the car that was spinning and coming to a stop.
SMITH: Sure.
LIN: But it was Dana's car that flew into it.
SMITH: Right, exactly. So the other man, Carpenter in there, he right now is OK, and somehow survived this. I mean, when you go that fast, and that's the question now is, what happened that he did not know that this happened? Other drivers saw this. Was it a rookie mistake? Was it lack of communication. No one really knows for sure.
LIN: Or just that he flipped. I mean, he flipped over and he skidded upside down and he must have been...
SMITH: ... But for Paul Dana's car to come in when other drivers already slowing down, what happened that he did not get the message and was still traveling at that high rate of speed with the yellow caution lights out? And that's something we hope to find out in the coming days and weeks.
LIN: All right, thanks Larry.
SMITH: OK.
LIN: In the meantime, we're going to take a look at some stories across America. Another church fire in Alabama. The latest house of worship to go up in flames is the Faith Church of the Nazarene in Blount County, just north of Birmingham. Authorities can rule out three college students arrested this month for nine similar church fires. They've been in custody since their arrest.
An Arizona woman wanted for kidnapping her own children two years ago has been arrested in North Carolina. Shelley White (ph) has changed her appearance to a man. Her children are now ages six and eight. Police say that when she was arrested, her children asked why officers were arresting their daddy.
We want to move overseas right now to Ukraine, where it looks like a huge political change is in the cards. Ukrainians have been voting in parliamentary elections and at this stage, indications are that President Victor Yushchenko's party has suffered a major defeat. The polls closed just a few hours ago and the counting is underway right now.
For the latest, we're going to go to Anand Naidoo at the CNN international desk. Anand, this is a story that is changing by the hour.
ANAND NAIDOO, CNN ANCHOR: It is, Carol, changing by the hour. And it looks like the makeup of the Ukrainian parliament is going to change quite radically after this election.
The exit polls are showing that a pro-Russian party, that's the party of the region, could get the largest number of votes. But it will not have enough votes to rule by itself, so it will have to enter into some kind of coalition. What we're also hearing is that the former prime minister, her name is Julia Timoshenko you'll remember her from the Orange Revolution, she now could return as prime minister because her party has also done very well in this election. So things are changing, as you say, by the hour in the Ukraine.
LIN: What's going to happen to Viktor Yuschenko?
NAIDOO: Well Carol, his job was not at stake in this election. He's president, and as you mentioned, this was a parliamentary election. But it's a major turn around for him. You'll remember him, of course, from those pictures, those before and after pictures of him, before the Orange Revolution, which brought him to power, those pictures of him showing that he'd been severely poisoned. Someone had tried to kill him.
This is a turnaround for him. His party is coming in at third place. These are what the exit polls are showing us right now, with about 14 percent of the vote. And I would say that there must be -- his, of course, administration has been very pro-Western. The new incoming government could be very pro-Russian, so there must be some concern in Washington, and I dare say there might be one or two smiles in the Kremlin tonight.
LIN: All right, so when do you think you're going to get the official results? NAIDOO: Carol, as you pointed out, the counting is going on right now. It's going to go on through the night. We expect the official results to be announced tomorrow, Monday, that's what they are telling us.
LIN: All right, Anand, thank you.
Violence from the war in Iraq, and the images you see on television. Up next, why the White House feels it's draining support for the American forces in the war-torn region.
Also, imagine your mate initiating wild, passionate sex and not even knowing about it? It's happening to many people, and we're going to tell you about. We're watching CNN LIVE SUNDAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: We want to bring you the developing story out of Oklahoma. A series of wildfires out there in Oklahoma and in particularly in the town of Bristow. We're going to bring you the latest report that just came into the CNN Center from a reporter at our affiliate KTUL.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): And just when you thought that we were through with them. Last weekend, two full days of rain, followed by a day with snow on the ground, and the incident command post down in Shawnee was disbanded. They still have fire-fighting efforts, but they stopped that after 83 days of continuous firefighting.
They said, finally, rain is in the air. But, now, the fires have started again. And out here, near Bristow, there's at least a dozen separate fires. This smoke from where we are, drifting north towards the turnpike.
At one point shutting it down today. And from what we see right now, we do not see any aircraft out here which we have seen in the past, dousing the fires. We do not even see any ground crews. That's not to say that they're not there, but we simply cannot see them through the smoke and the haze and the fire here at Bristow.
So several fires continuing to rage here, the smoke impeding traffic on the turnpike. And the fires at this point, from what it appears, going unchecked as they moved towards the Creek Turnpike.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: All right, that is the latest out of Oklahoma. This is the Tulsa area, and as we bring you a Web map here, we're going to zoom in on the area that is being most affected. We're hearing of fires around the Turner Turnpike. That is the -- one of the main roads through that area. Once again, a very dry condition out there in Bristow, Oklahoma.
To the front lines in Iraq, and a gun battle in Baghdad. Soldiers surround the mosque of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in the Sadr City neighborhood. And after the shooting stopped, several members of al-Sadr's militia were dead. Arab networks are airing the video and reporting U.S. forces killed Iraqis in a mosque. Our Nic Robertson has the latest now from the Iraqi capital.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTSON: U.S. military officials say that this was an incident involving Iraqi special operations forces with U.S. special operation forces in an advisory capacity. They say this was an intelligence directed focused precision operation, that it didn't involve any people going inside a mosque, any of the troops going inside a mosque. What they say is that they were entering the objective, that they came under gun fire, that a gun battle ensued and 16 insurgents were killed, that 15 other people taken away for questioning.
Now this is at a variance with what Iraqi police were saying earlier, that this was gun battle between U.S. troops and a militia loyal to fire-brand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The Mehdi militia, police have said, that the Mehdi militia members had opened fire on U.S. troops.
A gun battle had ensued and according to Iraqi police, 17 people were killed and four wounded. Now, a member of Muqtada al-Sadr's office had claimed that U.S. troops had gone inside a mosque to shoot people.
Now the press release from U.S. military officials here indicates that nobody entered the mosque. Pictures shown on Iraqi television show dead bodies piled up inside a building. A lot of blood, unclear if any of them were militia members or not.
Certainly the clarification coming from the U.S. military that this was an Iraqi special operation forces operation changes the emphasis, changes the emphasis from how police are described it as a gun battle between U.S. forces and many militia members. But a lot of the details here still remain very unclear. Nic Robertson, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Well, the White House is not happy with the media coverage in general of the conflict. Top officials have been voicing their concern again and again. CNN's Candy Crowley has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Does the coverage of war's violence change the war?
BUSH: I'm not suggesting you shouldn't talk about it. I'm certainly not being, you know, please don't take that as criticism. But it also is a realistic assessment of the enemy's capability to effect a debate. And they know that. They're capable of blowing up innocent lives so it ends up on your TV show. CROWLEY: He sees a symbiotic relationship between violence in Iraq and the coverage of it, a cycle draining support for the war. It is a recurring theme in Bushville that negative news coverage is making the war worse. Not that direct, but close.
The defense secretary also complains of news that is flat wrong.
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Contrary, the steady stream of errors all seem to be of a nature to inflame the situation and to give heart to the terrorists and to discourage those who hope for success in Iraq.
CROWLEY: Critics dismiss the charges as the excuses of an administration in its darkest days. Still, it is not wholly incorrect. Click the remote.
ELIZABETH VARGAS, ABC NEWS ANCHOR: A major insurgent attack has dealt another blow to the struggling security forces.
CROWLEY: From one channel...
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: In Iraq, insurgents armed with rocket grenades and machine guns stormed the police station today.
CROWLEY: ... to another.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... the prison in Sunni territory, killing 18 policemen and freeing all the prisoners.
CROWLEY: What goes largely unseen, reporters agree, are large areas of the country where few of them go because travel is so risky. Most reporters are either embedded with the military or confined to areas around Baghdad, where bad news comes to find you.
ABC Reporter Jake Tapper was covering a story about Iraqi comedy when their main contact was assassinated.
JAKE TAPPER, ABC REPORTER: And so our cameras were rolling while the director and the producer and the cast and crew found out that the guy that had green lit the show and the guy that had set up our being there was killed. So no matter how hard we try to cover the positive, the violence has a way of rearing its head.
CROWLEY: Good stories are hard to cover and hard to see in the midst of what one reporter called "the daily boom."
BUSH: Others look at the violence they see each night on their television screens and they wonder how I can remain so optimistic about the prospects of success in Iraq. They wonder what I see that they don't.
CROWLEY: A picture tells a thousand words, and the president has few pictures of his own.
Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: From the streets of Los Angeles, all the way to Capitol Hill, up next, a look at the immigration debate. Set to take center stage in Washington this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not something you go to bed thinking, hey, I think I'm going to attack my wife in the middle of the night.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: And later, sex, while you sleep. It's a very real and dangerous condition. The story, straight ahead. You're watching CNN LIVE SUNDAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Now in the news at this hour. A deadly fight in a Baghdad neighborhood. There are conflicting accounts about the battle outside a Sadr City mosque, where 20 members of a radical Shiite faction have reportedly been killed. But it's still uncertain who the militiamen were actually fighting, Iraqi police or coalition forces.
Also, a court has reportedly dismissed charges against Abdul Rahman for converting to Christianity from Islam, an offense that carries the death penalty. He could be freed tomorrow, but now Rahman faces calls for his death from Islamic clerics.
Gas prices are rising, and they are expected to go higher in the coming months. Today's release of the latest Lundberg Survey shows the price of gas has risen nearly 15 cents in the past two weeks. The average price per gallon, $2.50.
This week, the president, Congress, and people around the country will talk specifically about what to do about illegal immigration. And you're seeing the fallout already. For a second straight day, thousands filled the streets of Los Angeles, they are against a house bill that would charge illegal immigrants with a felony.
Yet, some argue illegal immigrants are taxpaying hard workers who do the jobs Americans don't want.
Now, a much smaller crowd gathered at the statehouse in Columbus, Ohio, this afternoon. Demonstrators there say this country was founded by immigrants. And those that want to come and work here should be allowed to stay. All this leads up to a week where Washington politicians get down to the nitty-gritty of immigration reform. Tomorrow, senators will begin looking at four different bills. Senator Arlen Specter is proposing a temporary worker program and legalizing some undocumented immigrants. However, senate majority leader Bill Frist is threatening to introduce legislation that would tighten borders, period.
Now, the president heads to Mexico Wednesday to meet with his Mexican and Canadian counterparts. President Bush wants to allow illegal immigrants to register as guest workers. The government gets a record of who is here in the U.S. and immigrants get to keep their jobs for six years. His weekly radio addresses emphasized America as a welcoming society as well as a lawful one.
Now, it may be hard to wrap your head around the impact of illegal immigration and the impact on the United States, so we did some research and found that the latest census figures estimate that at least 12 million illegal immigrants are now in the United States. The highest number in history. Just over 2 million live in the Golden State.
Now, it's no surprise that California hosts the single largest population of illegals in the country. Most undocumented workers come from Latin American countries. Now, topping the list here, Mexico, El Salvador, and Colombia.
As for jobs, here's what the Center for Immigration Studies says. Immigrants, legal and illegal, hold more than a third of the unskilled jobs in the U.S., jobs like construction workers, gardeners and hotel maids.
So should they be allowed to get those jobs? Well, we asked you to weigh in.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need the workers. I know that we import college students from the Eastern Europe every summer to work in the tourist industry. We need more workers. If there is a way to check on these people and have them register, because they are here to work.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are just doing the jobs that most Americans won't do. I believe in free borders with Mexico and Canada, that's the only two countries. The rest of them, stay out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that they should speed up the process and keep them here.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Well, we thought it would be good to hear from Juan Hernandez, the son of a white American mother and a Mexican dad, but he also served in the Mexican government under President Vicente Fox, but his book title really got our attention. "The New American Pioneers, Why Are We Afraid of Mexican Immigrants?"
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Earlier Steve Ikeler (ph) of the Minutemen had this to say to CNN, I want to get your reaction to what he had to say. Here it is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're just to open our doors, have no type of immigration policy, and just say, everybody is welcome, terrorists, people with bombs, disease? That's not right either. There's a responsibility that the federal government has to the citizens of the United States. And that responsibility is to keep them safe and have an orderly nation.
LIN: When it comes to the immigration debate, post-9-11, Juan, doesn't Congress have a responsibility to create legislation to control the borders?
JUAN HERNANDEZ, AUTHOR: Oh, definitely, the United States has the right to control its borders, but I would tell Steve that the United States is a nation that is trying to decide today what she would like to be after 9-11. And let me tell you that the majority of U.S. Americans, especially Hispanics, we are saying to the Steves and to the Jims of the Minutemen, you are going to find yourself on the wrong side of history, as we're proving today with marches all over this nation, that we can be the amigo giant that has awakened.
LIN: So why should Americans trust the stranger coming across the border who doesn't register, has not gone through a health check? The allegations that they are even taking American jobs? But in this fear of the unknown, how do we know who these people really are?
HERNANDEZ: Carol, I'm glad that you called them the strangers, because you are using even biblical terms and that's wonderful. We do not need to fear the strangers. We do not need to fear the sojourners, we do not need to fear the new Americans, the new American pioneers. They are just like other groups that have come before. They are enriching our country. They are young, and we need young people in this nation. We're only growing at one percent. They are people who are buying homes, they are getting married and they're getting educated and according to studies last week, they create small businesses, three to one, in comparison to the rest of U.S. America. They are good people. Let's not criminalize them. On the contrary, let's dignify them.
LIN: So what do you say to the people who would say, "Look, these illegal immigrants are coming over, they are filling our emergency rooms, they are getting public education at American taxpayer expense, they are not paying taxes into the Social Security system and they are sending all the money that they earn home, and they are taking American jobs"?
HERNANDEZ: Well, according to most studies are they are paying taxes, they are paying Social Security. There are about $4 billion, I understand, right now in the basket of Social Security, $4 billion with false numbers, because the individuals want to pay Social Security. And, by the way, want to pay taxes, but they are not given legal status in this country. We have been speaking out of our mouth from two different ways, we're saying, don't come, don't come. But on the other hand, we are saying, come, come, there is a job if you can make it here. Reagan in 1986, '87 created the amnesty, which is a good thing. Today we're not asking for amnesty. We're asking for a new program, something that is fair to the United States. And fair for these people that are doing wonderful things for this nation.
LIN: So you favor the guest worker program, register, work in the United States, at a job for six years?
HERNANDEZ: I favor that, first of all, we invite, yes, all the people who are undocumented here to document themselves. Most Americans in the United States according to polls only want five things for this group to become documented. That they not have a criminal record. That they pay taxes and Social Security. That they not take away jobs from U.S. citizens that they work on their English, and they pay a fine for having coming in as undocumented. I might agree or disagree, but up to 76 percent want this criteria to be met, and they say if they do meet the criteria, let's go ahead and legalize them.
LIN: All right, Juan Hernandez, thank you.
HERNANDEZ: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Hernandez, former adviser to Mexican President Vicente Fox.
For more on immigration reform including a preview of this week's debate in Washington, log on to your our Web site at CNN.com.
And we've heard all sorts of stories about sleep. Sleep walking, but never heard of wild and dangerous sex while people are sleeping. We're going to tell you about it. Sex-somnia. Sex-somnia, say it three times fast, up next.
You're watching CNN LIVE SUNDAY.
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LIN: Well, we've all known people who talk in their sleep, and then there are those who want sex. It's true. And if it sounds amusing, well, it's not. Here's our medical correspondent CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): By day, this couple, who we'll call Dave and Julie, have a relationship that many of us would envy. Slow walks together in the garden, cooking dinner, eating by candlelight. But when night falls, a different story unfolds.
DAVE, SEXSOMNIA SUFFERER: I remember the first time she told me, I was like, oh, God, sorry.
GUPTA: Dave would initiate sex with Julie while still asleep.
JULIE, DAVE'S WIFE: More often than that, he'll put one arm underneath me and then pull me, swiftly and aggressively toward him, normally. And then he'll start rubbing things and -- and sometimes he wakes up.
DAVE: I think my first assessment is, you know, I was like a sex fiend or something. I was -- I didn't know what was going on.
GUPTA: What was going on? Something called sleep sex or sexsomnia. Experts say that for most people with sexsomnia, the act happens in their own bed, with their partner or alone. It can range from mild entreaties for sex to violent aggression. In rare cases sexsomnia can be paired with sleep walking and the sex happens outside the bedroom, even with strangers.
As hard as it is to believe, sexsomniacs, who are mostly men, say they remember nothing the next morning. And that may be the worst part of it for people like Dave, later being told about the behavior and becoming flush with shame and remorse.
DAVE: It's not something you go to bed saying, hey, I think I'm going to attack my wife in the middle of the night.
GUPTA: Sexsomnia is one of a host of disorders called parasomnia, waking behaviors like eating, acting out violence or even driving that all happen while still in deep slumber.
DR. COLIN SHAPIRO, TORONTO WESTERN HOSPITAL SLEEP LAB: We think of wake and sleeping as being, it's an either/or phenomena and we don't have a concept in our minds of an overlap between waking and sleeping.
GUPTA: But they are not always distinct. Doctors believe that with sexsomnia, something as simple as a car horn outside can jar a person out of deep sleep and inspire a minor state of wakefulness. For many, it's a harmless state, for other not being in control of their actions can be dangerous. And it's that potential to lose control is what scares Dave.
DAVE: When my daughter was still young enough to get scared in the middle of the night and want to get in bed with me, the thought was always present that that would be terrible if I kicked into that mode while my daughter was in bet with me, that would not be good.
GUPTA: Therein lies the dark underbelly of sleep sex, when the sexual advance is unwanted. Like the case of Richard Anderson who was given probation after using sexsomnia as an excuse for molesting two young girls.
And Jan Ludica (ph) in Toronto who fell asleep at a party and allegedly had sex with a woman, and she says it was rape, and he says he didn't remember. After testimony revealed that Ludica had a history of sleepwalking and parasomnia and no prior history of sexual abuse, a judge acquitted him.
Dr. Colin Shapiro testified in Ludica's defense.
SHAPIRO: The issue becomes is one responsible for one's behavior when one is asleep and there's a wide experience in law that if you don't know what you are doing you're not responsible for that action. And, so, there are a number situations where people have been found not guilty of an offense because they -- it occurred while they were asleep.
GUPTA: Still, cases of abuse during sleep sex are rare. Most people are like Julie, and Dave. Experts say the key to avoiding sleep sex is dodging certain triggers.
MIKE MANGAN, AUTHOR, "SLEEP SEX": Such as alcohol, stress, fatigue, drug use. Avoid bodily contact with a bed partner and that sort of thing.
GUPTA: And pharmaceuticals, particularly a drug called Klonopin may help. Dave believes stress and alcohol trigger his sexsomnia, so he's cut down on both. He and Julie accept sleep sex as part of their lives, even sometimes joking about it.
JULIE: It's just a somewhat annoying, because I lose sleep, but I'm not worried or concerned.
GUPTA: But if there ever is cause for concern, Dave says he'll get help.
(on camera): Now, just saying sexsomnia sounds sort of non- medical and maybe a little bit out there for some people, but some very esteemed sleep experts we spoken with can knowledge these parasomnias, including sleep sex, are real sleep disorders. As the studies are done in the field, we may get a better handle on how many people are affected and exactly how to treat these disorders.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Just a quick reminder, you can watch Dr. Sanjay Gupta's special "Sleep" right here on CNN tonight at 10:00 Eastern, 8:00 Central.
All right. Protesters are rallying in support of illegal immigrants all around the country. Up next, one California city that says, we'll leave the light on for you, in open defiance of federal law.
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LIN: As we've been telling you, hundreds of thousands of people are out in the streets this weekend, outraged over proposed legislation to crack down on illegal immigrants. Now, that anger echoes in a small California town, which has become a major refuge for undocumented workers. CNN's Kareen Wynter takes us there.
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KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the face of Maywood, California. Ninety-six percent Hispanic and recently declared a sanctuary city for illegal immigrants. The city council defied federal authorities by turning the community into a safe haven for the undocumented. The action was a reaction to a federal proposal that would make 11 million undocumented immigrants guilty of a felony.
FELIPE AGUIRRE, MAYWOOD CITY COUNCILMAN: It would also force the cities, like the City of Maywood, to have to utilize its police force as immigration agents. WYNTER: The city wasn't always so immigrant friendly. Just last year, police were looking for immigrants without drivers licenses and impounding their cars. Council members dismantled the police department's traffic division, after an overwhelming number of alleged discrimination complaints.
(on camera): Local leaders went one step further. By making it more difficult for police to tow the vehicles of anyone caught without a driver's license. Since the majority of the offenders were undocumented residents.
AGUIRRE: Many people call the driving while brown. You know, people were being pulled over because they had a soccer team bumper sticker on the back of their car.
WYNTER (voice-over): Art Alvarez was one of the people caught in the dragnet.
ART ALVAREZ, MAYWOOD RESIDENT: It cost me $1400.
WYNTER: It's still illegal to drive without a license in Maywood. But those stopped won't have their cars seized. They can get a permit for overnight parking. Like many residents in Maywood, Alvarez is a U.S. citizen, but his wife is from Mexico and doesn't have legal documents to reside here.
ALVAREZ: America was built by immigrants. Since the Mayflower and I think the United States of America was built by immigrants.
WYNTER: Some argue the city's new immigrant policy goes too far.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, my question is this -- we pushing the law and the limit.
WYNTER: This resident, who didn't want us to identify him, fears what will happen to his neighborhood. Maywood's population is less than 30,000.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The City of Maywood, we are very small. And, with the sanctuary, we are attracting a lot of immigrants who come to live in the area. That's a problem.
WYNTER: The city says attracting new residents isn't the focus, but, rather, creating a fair existence for those who are already there. Kareen Wynter, CNN, Maywood, California.
There is much more ahead on CNN this evening. Coming up at 7:00 Eastern, what if you could turn on your computer, open your e-mail, send a reply, by just thinking about it? We're going to explore this on our CNN special "Welcome to the Future."
And then at 8:00, "CNN PRESENTS: 26 Hours of Terror," an in-depth look at the Atlanta courthouse shootings."
At 9:00 Eastern, "LARRY KING WEEKEND." Larry's guest tonight, Mike Wallace on his retirement and amazing career. And at 10:00 p.m., CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta explores how we sleep, how a lack of sleep affects our health. And how to get a good night's sleep.
Here with headlines when I come back.
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