tv Anderson Cooper 360 CNN September 18, 2009 10:00pm-12:00am EDT
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"dr. phil." we have the dr. phil family back after five years on monday. we'll be looking at a very similar case to this on wednesday. so i hope to see you there. and thanks for the time that you spent with us here tonight. i know larry will be back monday. it will be great. so appreciate it. we begin tonight with breaking news involving plans for a possible terror attack in america. cnn learned that a young afghan national living in this country now add noits havimits to havin al qaeda. he is undergoing thinks third straight day of questioning from authorities in connection with the terrorist plot, possibly involving an attack on transportation targets in new york city. there's a lot we don't know. right now this man appears to be with the feds answering questions. details now from gene meserve. what you have learned?
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>> reporter: anderson, we have two new pieces of evidence which would appear to substantiate law enforcement's case that this is the real deal. a genuine terrorist threat. one, officials are familiar with the matter say that zazi is it a 24-year-old afghan national. he admitted to having ties to al qaeda. number two, two sources familiar with the investigation say that zazi was carrying with him videotape of grand central station in new york when he traveled to new york last week. it was that trip, one day before 9/11 that, triggered searches in new york and here in denver. searches that sources tell us turned up maps and backpacks. backpacks were used in the transit attack in madrid in 2004. and tonight we learned that homeland security has sent out an advisory note to law enforcement and trans it authorities urging them to be
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vigilant. dhs says it nor the fbi, however, has any information about the timing, location, and targets of any attacks. back you to, anderson. >> jean, a lot to talk about. has this guy been arrested, zazi? >> reporter: we don't know that, anderson. all we've been told is we should not expect to see him emerge from that building tonight. we do know that an official said earlier today that the feds were exploring what kinds of charges they might be able to bring against him. >> jean, stay with us. i want to bring in peter bergen who is recently back from afghanistan with more to talk about the al qaeda angle. the story, of course, coming to us after an audio tape believed to be from osama bin laden. jean, on the details of this, did the authorities -- the authorities are saying he has ties to al qaeda or connection to al qaeda. do we know what form or connection that is? >> reporter: no. they are saying no more about it. they're still being very close lipped about this investigation because it is on going, anderson. >> peter, how significant do you think this is? i got to say i am, and i think
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there's a lot of people, very skeptical when they hear about these kind of raids or arrests. oftentimes on further inspection it turns out to be a couple guys sitting around talking, never have any access to any weaponry or anything. >> yeah, well, we've seen a lot of those, anderson. they're being really aspirational and not operational. people are talking about doing things and never really actually implementing anything. this case may be different. one thing is we haven't -- it doesn't seem to be informant driven. it seems to be driven more by interceptors -- telephone intercepts. that may make this case more real. another unusual thing is the allegation of a direct tie to al qaeda. manufacture the ca many of the cases we've seen in the united states don't have that tie. finally, another thing that is unusual about this case is that this is an afghan. actually, there are very few afghan members of al qaeda. i think is the first afghan national who is accused of this
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kind of tie in the united states. and, you know, it -- the afghan war, it's surprising, hasn't radicalized more afghans living in the united states. and this may well be the case in zazi's case if the allegations are correct, anderson. >> it's interesting, peter. there are media reports which his lawyer denies he visited pakistan for bomb training and that law enforcement picked up what they described as deeply troubling conversations from him there. how does -- i mean what do we know about how al qaeda operates in pakistan? a lot of people think they're operating in afghanistan. we were in afghanistan last week. they're not present or visible in afghanistan on a day to day basis. in pakistan, it's another story. >> yeah, and the last several years, i mean, the training camps at al qaeda and pakistan are not large scale. they are small houses where you can train, you know, 10, 20 people. as a result of the u.s. drone as tacks, i think the -- even those training camps are under a lot of pressure right now.
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but we have seen, you know, a fair number of europeans going for training in the last two or three years in the tribal areas or people living in europe. if the allegations are true this is an unusual case of an american actually going or somebody living in the united states going for training there. we also, anderson, you may remember there was this guy from long island called venus who traveled there in 2008. so it's not unheard of. but it is quite unusual. >> in his case, i was so bizarre. this guy from long island goes over there and is able to get access to al qaeda which makes one wonder how easy it is to get access to al qaeda. jean, are authorities confident that they found everyone involved in this alleged plot? i mean if they're talking about a madrid style bombing, that involved a number of people. >> we have absolutely no idea, anderson, to be frank. we know that they questioned a number of people in new york. we know that zazi's father was brought in for three hours of questioning by the fbi. one has to believe that there
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are a lot of threats as they have to follow here and we don't know how many people those threads will lead to. >> peter, it also bears repeating we have seen a morphing of tactics used by whether it's the taliban or al qaeda-related groups. we saw it in mum buy. mumbai and kabul and lahor. small groups of even sometimes lightly armed people doing multiple attacks at once, not just suicide attacks, not just ieds, but people kind of taking over buildings and kind of paralyzing the city. >> there has been a trend the last couple of years where it's not a conventional suicide attack, it's people armed with weapons who go into a situation probably knowing that they're going to die. but it's not at all clear what zazi's, you know if, he had a plan similar to that. but the tie to al qaeda is certainly worsened. >> all right. peter and jean, appreciate it.
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we'll continue reporting on it. as we said, he's in custody right now. apparently talking to feds. any developments in this hour, we'll let you know. let us know what you think. join the live chat under way right now at ac360.com. coming up, president obama's new push on health care. he is giving interviews to just about everyone today. each one, the subject of race is front and center. stick around to hear what he has to say about that. and later, new details in the yale grad student murder and why police say they may never learn the motive for this young woman's killing. this country definitely needs to focus on other ways to get energy. we should be looking closer to home. there are places off the continental shelf. natural gas can be a part of the solution. i think we need to work on wind resources. they ought to be carefully mapping every conceivable alternative. there is an endless opportunity right here.
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tonch . tonight, president obama on race. he wants to be talking about health care. ever since south carolina congressman joe wilson called him a liar during his health care speech to congress and then former president jimmy carter charged racism and then bill cosby agreed and joe wilson denied it and then rush limbaugh weighed in, well, you get the idea. today he sat down with five major tv networks including cnn for interviews airing this weekend to talk health care and, yes, race. "raw politics" from joe johns. >> reporter: the president could no long area void talking about it. race. it came up in interview after interview. this one with cnn's john king. >> there are people out there that don't like me because of my race. that's not the average variety issue here. i think there are people who are
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anti-government, you know, i think that there are -- there's been a long standing debate in this country that is usually that much more fierce during times of transition. or when presidents are trying to bring about big changes. the things said about fdr recently, there were things said about me. he was a communist, a socialist. things that were said about ronald reagan when he was trying to reverse some of the any deal programs. you know, they were pretty vicious as well. >> reporter: on abc, mr. obama pointing out that strong views on race don't always hurt him politically. >> there are some people who don't like me because of my race. i'm sure there are. but there are some people who vote for me only because of my race and probably some of those, too. >> reporter: the message much the same on cbs and nbc, too. it's territory has press secretary has already covered. >> we all have to check our emotions despite the depth of
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our beliefs. that we can have these kind of debat debates, important political debates without doing so in a way that makes anybody feel uncomfortable. >> reporter: that was one side of the story. on the other side, one of the guys whose own conduct helped ramp up the debate was back home in south carolina holding his first news conference since he shouted out you lie at president obama. >> let's close the vote. >> reporter: was race a factor when congressman joe wilson's outburst? >> president obama indicated this is not correct. >> reporter: also talking about how awful it's been, even though he's gotten well over $1 million in political contributions, he's also become a target. >> it was speaking at the wrong place, wrong time. >> reporter: asserting if you had it to do over again, he wouldn't, sending a message to the folks back home that he's
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not a roughian. >> i grew up in the city of charleston. it is the center of a stability and a civil state. and so i truly support civility. >> joe johns and tony perkins and on the liberal side, jennifer palmieri. jennifer, you heard what the president had to say. you heard what joe wilson had to say. is this conversation over now? i mean is next week the story actually going to be about health care? >> i think that barring any other developments that, you know, any other outbursts from congressman like joe wilson, i think barring that, you'll turn back to health care and, you know, it is -- i'm sure the white house is -- >> republicans are saying that democrats want this to be the conversation. >> i promise you, i think it's pretty clear the president does not want that to be the conversation. it doesn't -- i mean it's not a
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huge problem in terms of affecting the health care debate. but it does distract from it a little. you know, does distract from it a little bit. but, you know, moreover, i don't think the president feels that most of this anger is not about racism. and to suggest, you know, for people to suggest that it is, that alien yates people. you know, it doesn't actually help the democrats politically to think this is about racism. >> tony, do you believe the democrats want to have this conversation? >> you know, i don't know. it clearly is convenient that this card of racism is often played when they get down to the bottom of the deck and their ability to debate the real issue here. i hope it's true that next week it's over and we can go back to talking about health care. and talk about the really fundamental things of health care in which we agree upon. that is that everybody in this country should have access to affordable health care. i'm hoping we can get to that debate and get this behind us. it's not constructive. >> joe, from a political perspective, certainly the
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president clearly does not want to be discussing this. >> it doesn't seem like it. on the other hand, there are some congressional democrats who think it's a little bit simpler and there is also that question of bringing in the democratic base. they've been all over the place. you get on something like this and the base is going to sort of move to support the president of the united states. he's their guy. but as far as the president is concerned, health care is the main issue he needs to push tlouchlt it's the biggest domestic agenda item. and he has a congressional calendar that is simply running out. he doesn't have a whole lot of time to fool around with this although there are a lot of democrats that say we need to have this discussion just not right now. >> jennifer, if democrats don't want this discussion, how come house speaker nancy pelosi yesterday, you know, gave that answer about political violence and, you know, it was quite emotional about it. that certainly -- >> yeah -- >> -- seems to be churning the
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waters. >> i was also surprised to see she was particularly emotional about it. i think that shows i don't think there is any sort of political motivation in what she was saying. you know, her own personal experience in san francisco with harvey millkin and the mayor was assassinated. i found it very telling that she chose to speak out about it in this way. that it must be affecting her that way. but i don't -- that was not politically motivated. i don't think that, you know, there's nothing more divisive than a discussion about race. and that doesn't -- that just doesn't help the democrats politically. i don't think the president wants this debate to be divisive. and i think that's why -- and i that also shows they don't believe it's true. they don't believe that this anger that's out there is about race. they think that there's no question in my mind that if hillary clinton were president today, she would be getting the exact same kind of protest. >> tony, do you believe -- >> i mean this is about politics. >> tony, do you believe race plays any role in the criticism
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that is directed toward the president? do you see the signs of him portrayed as a witch doctor. do you think it's any different than what we normally seen in past years? >> i mean there may have be of that out there. i'm not going to deny there might be some. but it's small. i haven't seen it in any of the town halls or events that i've been n and it's certainly not a part of the main debate. what you said about nancy pelosi, i would say i think it was politically motivated. i look at nancy pelosi. in her own state of california after proposition eight passed last summer, there was no real outrage or last fall there was no outrage from her with the violent response after that. i'm very concerned that when you see what she is saying and how she's responding to this, that i think it's really kind of setting the stage to clamp down on those who are expressing themselves against these big government policies like health care takeover. so i'm more troubled about her statements than i am the statements about racism.
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>> jennifer, is this an attempt to clamp down? >> i really don't think so. i think it was a very personal reaction from her. it is it not in her -- you know, it's not in democrats' political interest to try to tamp down -- try to tamp down the protests. you know, in some ways the joe wilson outburst is what put republicans on the defensive. i think that what you saw from her was a very emotional and personal reaction. and i don't that i there's any question in most of our minds that the debate has gotten more intense than it has in the political -- in past years. and, you know, removing civil discourse in many of these arenas, and i think that was a concern she was expressing. but it was very personal to me. and i really don't see any political gain for her in saying that. i think tony's criticism sort of proves that point, there is not a political gain for her. >> jennifer and tony and joe,
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thank you very much. appreciate it. have a good weekend. plenty more on the story at ac360.com including joe wilson's pleat news conference without edits or interruptions today. the white house began using michelle obama to fight for health care reform. you're going to seat part she is playing and what it says about what the white house thinks about their chances right now for a real reform. we'll also hear from democratic -- former first lady hillary clinton, now secretary of state, about what she says of health care battle today. also, the alleged young yale university killer. find out how early in the investigation police actually began suspecting him. also dig deep near the controversial choice authorities made to wait and tail this guy instead of picking him right up. breaking up is hard to do. so allstate will do it for you. switch to allstate, and your new agent will... help tell your old insurance company goodbye. saving you that uncomfortable breakup moment. and serious cash. drivers who switched saved an average of $396 a year. $473 if they dumped geico. breaking up is easy to do.
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there is ab acknowledgment that this is need all the help they can get these days. she was not the only first lady talking about health care reform. here is former first lady, hillary clinton. >> i'm very optimistic. i think that, you know, it won't be pretty. it's like sausage making. but we'll end up with a bill for the president to sign that will be an advance. and that's what i think is in the best interest of the country. >> as we said for the first time, michelle obama was front and center pushing health care reform. erica hill takes us up close. >> reporter: her audience and her mission are clear. >> for two years on the campaign trail, this was what i heard from women -- they were being crushed, crushed
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by the current structure of our health care. we know the pain. because we are usually the ones dealing with it. >> reporter: the first lady today appealing to women as mothers and as caregivers. in her first official pitch for president obama's plan to reform the nation's health care system. a very personal pitch including a story about first daughter sasha's meningitis scare. she was just 4 months old. >> it is that moment in our lives that flashes through my head every time we engage in this health insurance conversation. it's that moment in my life. because i think about what on earth would we have done if we had not had insurance? >> reporter: putting mrs. obama and the first family's story squarely in front of the american people may be just what the president needs. >> not only is michelle obama popular, but she has a 75% approval rating with women. women make a lot of the health care decisions in their families.
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and they're often the ones who end up taking care of their elderly parents. >> reporter: a former hospital administrator, mrs. obama understands the current health care system and the problems many women face. >> women in this country have been denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions like having a c section. or having had a baby. in some states, it is still legal to deny a woman coverage because she's been the victim of domestic violence. >> reporter: first ladies have long pushed agendas, nancy reagan championed the adjustment say no anti-trug campaign in the '80s. laura bush was a literacy advocate. but health care hasn't always served first ladies well. prime example, hillary clinton. >> there's a very fundamental difference. hillary clinton was charged with running the health care reform effort. mrs. obama is taking a much more traditional first lady venue.
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one of initiating and one supporting. >> a smart political move on the part of the democrats. michelle obama is the popular obama. democrats have had a lot of success with the gender gap. driving female votes on the care giving, nourishing issues. >> reporter: but can mrs. obama reach across the divide and the picket line to win over conservative women? in the coming weeks, she'll certainly try sfwlch. we have to be what, fired up and ready to go. >> reporter: anderson, one other thing that mrs. obama talked about on a personal level today, not just her daughter sash yashgs but also she talked about her father who, of course, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in his 20s. she thought about what her familiar wl family would have done if they didn't have insurance or what they would have done without his job providing insurance. it is very near and dear to her
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heart. >> all right. i know you're also following a couple stories in the "360 news and business bulletin." >> we start off in iran. mahmoud ahmadinejad is rallying again. sfoeg a crowd at the university, the conservative lieder declaring thiscy zionist regime to human dignity. the comments coming as jewish people across the globe continue to celebrate the jewish new year. thousands of opposition leaders or protesters, rather, clashing with pro government groups, reports of violence here in a massive rally near iran's square. nnchts washington, seven former cia chiefs urging president obama to stop the probe into harsh interrogation techniques. they argue the investigation will put intelligence officers in continuous jeopardy. jobless rates topping 12% in five states now. unemployment in california, nevada, and rhode island hitting record highs in august.
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the rates there hovering between 12% and 13%. oregon scoring a top spot at 12.2%. but it is michigan again leading the nation. the jobless rate there, 15.2%. finally, let's end on a up note. the 5-year-old pulled from a burning suv in milwaukee over the summer released from the hospital. he suffered second and third degree bushes on the scalp, face, back, and arms. two off duty firefighters cut the boy from the seat belt. he does face years of rehabilitation, doctors say little d.j. is making great progress. he looks good in that fire hat, too. >> great news. good to know that. so, erica, do you know about your roots? would you know where your ancestry comes from? >> i'm a mut. >> from where? >> mainly western europe and just a tiny little bit of native-american. >> okay. for a lot of americans, particularly african-americans, the question where do you come
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from is a difficult one to answer. and coming up, we got this story i want you to see about a young man tracing his routots. you'll see what he learns abo himself. next, the yale murder. details on how police tracked down the man charged with killing annie le. we'll be right back. # ♪ (announcer) tums dual action. this tums goes to work in seconds and lasts for hours. all day or all night. tums dual action. bring it on. instead of $5 per person for fast food,
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clark in hir sights. here is randi's report. >> reporter: ray clark new he was in trouble. he knew he was being followed by more than half a dozen police investigators. he likely also knew where the investigation into annie le's death was heading. new haven police chief james lewis told me he had his narcotics unit which specialize n s in surveillance chart clark's move. they knew clark was the prime suspect. the head of the unit, lieutenant john valeka began following clark saturday night, the day before le's body was found. strangled and hidden inside a basement wall at the lab building where she worked alongside the man now accused of killing her. at first, narcotics officers didn't want clark to know they were on his trail. that first night they camped outside his parents house, about 24 miles from yale's campus. the day le's body was found,
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clark played softball. detectives were in the crowd. >> by monday, the day after le's body was discovered, investigators changed their tact tactic. they wanted clark to know they were tailing him. they parked right in front of his apartment and let their badges show while they walked around. mind games they were hoping would lead clark to talk to them and maybe even confess. it didn't happen. tuesday morning, investigators went to him, armed with search warrants. they wanted hair and finger nail dna samples. investigators focused on clark in part because of what they saw in the morning 700 hours of videotape from the lab building security camera. on that tape, ray clark stood out. a source with knowledge of the investigation told me clark was seen leaving the building after someone possibly him, pulled the fire alarm. he had his head in his hands and was distraught. after he gave a dna sample, he got a room at this super 8 motel in his family's hometown.
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he stayed there with his parents hiding from the media likely knowing it wouldn't be long before officers came knocking again. by this time, in investigators had interviewed about 150 people. and had collected 300 pieces of evidence. then came the dna match our source says clearly connected clark to the murder. indicating the victim's dna was found on ray clark. early thursday morning, clark was arrested and charged with killing yale medical student annie le. he's being held on $3 million bond. he hasn't entered a plea. his lawyers aren't talking and neither is he. >> randi is on the yale campus. what about that card that lab employees have to swipe to get in and out d that tip off investigators to clark's actions? >> reporter: i asked the chief of police about. that he wouldn't really say much about that swiped card or how long it may have indicated that ray clark was in the building
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that day, if, indeed, he was. but i did speak with a technology expert who says there is no doubt that authorities would have looked that card to find out and figure out ray clark's whereabouts in the lab building that day. that card would have told them how long he was in the building, how many different rooms he was in inside that building and whether or not he was in the room where annie le's body was found. and it's not just the card, actually. i'm told by these technology experts that authorities would also look at cell phone signals. if ray clark was in the building at that time and if he had a cell phone with him, they would be able to track that signal and know, again, how much time he spent there and where he was. also, if he happened to log on to the computer, they would know how long he was there and when he logged off. really, they say that people who commit crimes give away a lot more of themselves electronically and technologically than they environment woehr have imagined possible. >> good news for that. randi, appreciate it. can you let us know what you think about this case at the live chat happening now.
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ac360.com. ahead, we'll dig deeper on the yale murder with two prime experts, james allen fox, a law enforcement vet who said the police went about getting this guy all the wrong way. hear why ahead. later, police in california are doing everything they can do to force a junk filled backyard to give up secrets. could philip and nancy garrido be linked to other cold cases?
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we're back with the murder of annie le. raymond clark, lab technician that worked with le, charged with the killing. he did enter a plea. police have not identified a motive. in fact, here's what they said today. >> the only person really truly knows the motive in this crime is the suspect. what made him do what he did? we may not know until trial. we may never know. >> may never know. as randi kay reported, they were trailing him before they found
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his alleged victim's body. joining us is james allen fox, a retired law enforcement agent, lou palumbo. when you heard that police went about tracking raymond clark, cat and mouse strategy, were you surprised? >> the first time i ever heard of this type of technique, trying to solicit a confession from a individual. i think it was a little risky. they came out and landed on their feet. frankly, there were a couple of concerns here. first, that this individual was clearly a flight risk, number one. and number two, certainly someone they should have considered might have committed suicide. i mean this is a young man that at a very young age watched his life unravel. you know, his pedigree isn't consistent with the act. i know everybody has eluded to an incident that took place back whenways in high schoo when he was in high school. i was a little surprised that they played a pretty close to the cuff on this young man.
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>> when the police say yesterday this is a case of workplace violence, a lot of people heard that and thought, well, okay. that sounds like it is somebody angry about, you know, some employment situation. we don't really know what went on. but there clearly seems to have been some sort of exchange between these two. >> well, they were co-workers in a sense. and, sure, this may not be the classic case of workplace violence when someone is angry about not getting a promotion or a raise, but, still, there in issues that can come in a workplace. this is a scientific research building. but there are issues that likely arose between the two of them that may have been part of this case here. we may not know. whether we call it workplace violence or not is really not an important issue. i agree with lou about the way this was handled. i was concerned with the fact about this use of person of interest over and over again.
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you know, going back decades, police would basically not share this kind of information with media and a public swarming all about when a person is a focus of an investigation, that name, that identity should not be in the public. once there's an arrest, well that's fine. so i think that the release of his name and being all over the media is really premature. this has happened before where some innocent people have been unfairly named, persons of interest. >> lou, what's your -- i mean when you're investigating a crime like this, do you need to know a motive? or does that -- i mean it'sbvio. can you catch somebody without a motive ever as long as there is physical evidence. >> a lot of times we don't find out what the motives are. most important thing is the apprehension. the one thing i did want to mention in reference to this whole issue about person of interest, you know, if anyone goes back a little way s s to 1
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with rich ar jewel and the olympics in atlanta, he was referred to consistently as, i believe, as a suspect. there was a tremendous amount of fallout to him personally as a result of that. you know, part of this person of interest thing is a politically correct way to label somebody that you're looking at them. and the thing i do want to say also, anderson, and in defensest police departme department, they are not aware of the pressures they've been receiving from the mayor's office or city council or any number of other entities that wanted this address. they wanted some information disseminated to the public to try to ease anxiety and fear without giving the whole ball away. but bottom line is my real con sen contention dealt with them taking him into custody and releasing him after they had probable cause. i reason i know they had probable cause is they had to go to a judge and convince this judge he's an individual we should issue a search warrant,
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not only to search his home but to search his person. so they had a lot of information. i think the icing on the cake today was the conversation with randy where the judge -- excuse me, where the chief said that this individual was not just a suspect but a prime suspect even prior to them locating -- >> that doesn't mean there is enough to make an arrest, though. i agree with you on most things. but the fact that they get a warrant for a search and some body samples does not mean they have enough for an arrest. so i think that -- >> i don't -- >> it's not clear. >> i will tell you they had sufficient amount of information to take him into custody and interrogate him and take him off the street. and, you know, this whole tactic about trying to sweat him, so to speak, by following him and making him uncomfortable, it is very risky. >> i agree with. that. >> that's a clear cut opinion i think a lot of people hold at this point. >> we have to leave it. there lou and james, thank you
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very much. on monday, we're going to take a look at the twisted obsession of philip garrido. he may have had a missing woman and the two children fathered living in his backyard. but his most closely guarded secret may have been his black box. take a listen. >> people who know him say in recent years garrido had been talking more and more about god, the apocalypse. he demonstrated the device, a black box with head phones to tim allen, a local businessman. >> he told you he was starting a new religion and that some revelation from god? >> uh-huh. yeah. and then he also had a box. when he first brought it in, he said this box, you can hear voices from the other side. you can hear people telling you how -- what's going to happen and what's going to happen. what the future says. >> we'll show that you black box and the man accused of kidnapping jaycee dugard for 18 years. you'll see it on monday.
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still ahead, new details in the philip garrido kidnapping case. where police believe human remains may be buried on the garrido property and what they're doing to find them. a brooklyn teen's journey of discovery. how a trip half way around the world revealed a long lost family secret. is so important to our customers. i want to give them a card that's going to be useful in their wallet. we have a program right now called add it up. add it up is a way for a customer to shop online and earn extra cash back. we do have a power rewards program. where you earn points for that cash back to be automatically put back into your checking account. every purchase that you make, you're going to be earning points back. so, i mean, we find ways to help customers save money. that's my bank of america card. that's the one i want to use.
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tonight, searching for who we are. it's something many of us have done looking for our family roots, where we come from. for many african-americans, it can be hard to actually trace the past. one brooklyn teen learns his past. he is one of 30 kids to take a trip to africa featured in a cnn special, "black in america."
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but that was just the beginning. last night as his service with a group ended, he got another gift, his own past. soledad o'brien has tonight's story. >> reporter: if a houston lab they're searching for a secret, they're looking for an answer to a question that haunts a 14-year-old boy in brooklyn, new york. if successful, they'll tell him who he is and where he comes from. >> all i know is i'm don donovan, 14 years old. that's it. i'm from new york. >> reporter: now tell me why -- >> though he didn't know it then, when he met this person a year ago, he was on a plane to discover his roots. he runs a program to empower kids called "journey for change." she took donovan and 29 other brooklyn teenagers to africa to show them the advantages they have at home. letting them see firsthand how kids in africa live.
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to mark one year in her program, she offered the kids dna tests, a possible key to their past. >> i cannot think of a greater gift to give these kids than their genealogy. i think any of us who don't know our ancestry, our heritage more than one or two generations feel a sense of not being complete. >> reporter: she brought many african-americans of their family history. >> my husband was fortunate enough to already do the dna. >> so he was in the service? >> her husband, comedian chris rock, says he fell into comedy as a 20-year-old. dna traced his roots. more research showed he was related to a freed slave who fought with union soldiers. it was information he wish he had as a child. >> it would have taken away the inestability thatinenvironment
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itability that i was going to be nothing. >> all i know is that my grandmother, she had a dark complexion. my father has a dark complexion. heritage is not a color. it's more of a cultural thing. like their religion and where they've been, what they've gone through. black, not who i am and it's not what i'm going to be. >> reporter: after years of wondering, donovan and the other kids had to wait four weeks until they got answered. >> it's like i have a heart in my body and my a key. >> reporter: they could be disappointed. there's a chance that dna tests won't give definitive answers. it's been a long wait. >> yeah. i'm jittery. like this. >> reporter: weeks of waiting ends on this night before an auditorium full of people who have come to support donovan and the other kids. >> all right.
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guys, ready for the truth? here it comes. >> reporter: this doctor of harvard university was there to reveal the answers. >> you are dissended on your momma's side from people in a country of sierra leon. >> i'm complete now. i know more about me. and where my ancestors come from. and now that i know this, i will take it further and just come more closer. that's who i am. >> reporter: so what's next? maybe another trip to africa. want to hop on a plane and go there? >> yeah. i will find a way. as little as i am, i'm going to make a way. >> reporter: soledad o'brien, cnn, new york. >> no doubt he will make his way. a new discovery in the case against jaycee dugard's captor.
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we ghin california. investigators are searching the property of phgarrido have foun another bone. they tried to determine whether garrido had any connection to the disappearance of two other young girls in the late 1980s. and former miss california usa says god chose her to speak out in opposition to same-sex marriage at the miss usa pageant in april. the comment, part of a speech to a group of conservatives in washington today, she said she is proud of what she said and she says god had a plan for her that day. >> parentally, erica, god did not have a blan for wolf blitzer. he went on jeopardy. take a look. >> the name of this pasta penne
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means little mustaches. doesn't taste so tasty now. >> fettuccine. good i'm informed you put an s on julia child's name. >> no. >> what is a crash? >> no. >> jerusalem? >> no. >> wolf, things have not worked out as well as we hoped for, i'm sure. >> poor wolf. did he take counseling ahead of time? >> excuse me. >> yeah, that made me laugh. no, he did not. you know, it's really all about timing and pressing the button. so i'm sure it wasn't about actual information. >> it wasn't about knowledge? that is generous of you, mr. cooper mr. jeopardy champion. i don't know if you remember, but look at this little bit of tape we found. >> oh, you have tape. excellent. >> this diva seen here was renowned for her romance with aristotle onassis. >> who is maria call is. >> what is germany. >> who is archie bunker. >> he's the one. >> that's it. >> yes, indeed.
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>> you're the leader and the winner today. that means your charity, anderson cooper, gets $50,000. >> all that and the buzzer. >> excuse me. yeah. you know, what can i say? i'm a jeopardy champion. >> i'm hoping to come back this week. they told me i may be able to come back. >> i look forward to that. meeting wolf blitzer makes you come back with a band that he can play the jeopardy theme song for you. >> that would be good. the monkey. the original monkey. one other note, erica. it is a very, very good news for the folks at "larry king live" here in los angelesment bittersweet news for us. our producer is leaving us, leaving new york and heading west. >> in his convertible. >> that's right. >> to join larry king's team here in los angeles. he's been a part of our team for several years now. incredibly hard-working, very smart, fun to be with. sure he could use a shave. but we hear the kids out west dig that sort of thing. we want to say that jason, thank you very much for all your hard work. we wish you the best out west. >> you will be missed. >> coming up --
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coming up at the top of the hour, our breaking news, a man in colorado admitting a al qaeda confessi confession. did the police break up a terror plot? we have details ahead. you've worked all your life. as the decades have past, the promise of medicare has always been there. and aarp has fought to guarantee none of the benefits you earned were ever taken away. today we're continuing that fight by protecting your freedom to choose the doctors and treatments you need. and to have your tax dollars go towards your care--
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we begin tonight with breaking news involving plans for a possible terror attack in america. cnn learned that a young afghan national living in this country now admits to having ties with al qaeda. he is undergoing thinks third straight day of questioning from authorities in connection with the terrorist plot, possibly involving an attack on transportation targets in new york city. there's a lot we don't know. right now this man appears to be with the feds answering questions. details now from jeanne meserve. what you have learned? >> reporter: anderson, we have two new pieces of evidence which
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would appear to substantiate law enforcement's case that this is the real deal. a genuine terrorist threat. one, officials are familiar with the matter say that zazi is it 24-year-old afghan national. he admitted to having ties to al qaeda. number two, two sources familiar with the investigation say that zazi was carrying with him videotape of grand central station in new york when he traveled to new york last week. it was that trip, one day before 9/11 that, triggered searches in new york and here in denver. searches that sources tell us turned up maps and backpacks. backpacks were used in the transit attack in madrid in 2004. and tonight we learned that homeland security has sent out an advisory note to law enforcement and transit authorities urging them to be vigilant. dhs says it nor the fbi, however, has any information about the timing, location, and targets of any attacks. back you to, anderson.
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>> jean, a lot to talk about. has this guy been arrested, zazi? >> reporter: we don't know that, anderson. all we've been told is we should not expect to see him emerge from that building tonight. we do know that an official said earlier today that the feds were exploring what kinds of charges they might be able to bring against him. >> jean, stay with us. i want to bring in peter bergen who is recently back from afghanistan with more to talk about the al qaeda angle. the story, of course, coming to us after an audio tape believed to be from osama bin laden. jean, on the details of this, did the authorities -- the authorities are saying he has ties to al qaeda or connection to al qaeda. do we know what form or connection that is? >> reporter: no. they are saying no more about it. they're still being very close lipped about this investigation
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because it is on going, anderson. >> peter, how significant do you think this is? i got to say i am, and i think there's a lot of people, very skeptical when they hear about these kind of raids or arrests. oftentimes on further inspection it turns out to be a couple guys sitting around talking, never have any access to any weaponry or anything. >> yeah, well, we've seen a lot of those, anderson. they're being really aspirational and not operational. people are talking about doing things and never really actually implementing anything.
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this case may be different. one thing is we haven't -- it doesn't seem to be informant driven. it seems to be driven more by interceptors -- telephone intercepts. that may make this case more real. another unusual thing is the allegation of a direct tie to al qaeda many of the cases we've seen in the united states don't have that tie. finally, another thing that is unusual about this case is that this is an afghan. actually, there are very few afghan members of al qaeda. i think is the first afghan national who is accused of this kind of tie in the united states. and, you know, it -- the afghan war, it's surprising, hasn't radicalized more afghans living in the united states. and this may well be the case in zazi's case if the allegations are correct, anderson. >> it's interesting, peter. there are media reports which his lawyer denies he visited pakistan for bomb training and that law enforcement picked up what they described as deeply troubling conversations from him there. how does -- i mean what do we know about how al qaeda operates in pakistan? a lot of people think they're operating in afghanistan. we were in afghanistan last week. they're not present or visible in afghanistan on a day to day basis. in pakistan, it's another story. >> yeah, and the last several years, i mean, the training camps at al qaeda and pakistan are not large scale. they are small houses where you can train, you know, 10, 20
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people. as a result of the u.s. drone as tacks, i think the -- even those training camps are under a lot of pressure right now. but we have seen, you know, a fair number of europeans going for training in the last two or three years in the tribal areas or people living in europe. if the allegations are true this is an unusual case of an american actually going or somebody living in the united states going for training there. we also, anderson, you may remember there was this guy from long island called venus who traveled there in 2008. so it's not unheard of. but it is quite unusual. >> in his case, i was so bizarre. this guy from long island goes over there and is able to get access to al qaeda which makes one wonder how easy it is to get access to al qaeda. jean, are authorities confident that they found everyone involved in this alleged plot? i mean if they're talking about a madrid style bombing, that involved a number of people. >> we have absolutely no idea, anderson, to be frank. we know that they questioned a number of people in new york. we know that zazi's father was brought in for three hours of questioning by the fbi. one has to believe that there are a lot of threats as they
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have to follow here and we don't know how many people those threads will lead to. >> peter, it also bears repeating we have seen a morphing of tactics used by whether it's the taliban or al qaeda-related groups. we saw it in mum buy mumbai and kabul and lahor. small groups of even sometimes lightly armed people doing multiple attacks at once, not just suicide attacks, not just ieds, but people kind of taking over buildings and kind of paralyzing the city. >> there has been a trend the last couple of years where it's not a conventional suicide attack, it's people armed with weapons who go into a situation probably knowing that they're going to die. but it's not at all clear what zazi's, you know if, he had a plan similar to that. but the tie to al qaeda is certainly worsened. >> all right. peter and jean, appreciate it. we'll continue reporting on it. as we said, he's in custody right now. apparently talking to feds.
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any developments in this hour, we'll let you know. let us know what you think. join the live chat under way right now at ac360.com. coming up, president obama's new push on health care. he is giving interviews to just about everyone today. each one, the subject of race is front and center. stick around to hear what he has to say about that. and later, new details in the yale grad student murder and why police say they may never learn the motive for this young woman's killing . i'm ed whitacre, the new chairman of general motors. before i started this job, i admit, i had some doubts. probably a lot like you. but i like what i found. i think you will too. car for car, when compared to the competition, we win. simple as that. i just know if you get into one of our cars, you're gonna like what you see. so we're putting our money where our mouth is. buy a new chevy, buick, gmc or cadillac and if you are not 100% happy,
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tonight, president obama on race. he wants to be talking about health care. ever since south carolina congressman joe wilson called you might as well be. him a liar during his health care speech to congress and then former president jimmy carter charged racism and then bill cosby agreed and joe wilson denied it and then rush limbaugh weighed in, well, you get the idea. today he sat down with five
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major tv networks including cnn for interviews airing this weekend to talk health care and, yes, race. "raw politics" from joe johns. >> reporter: the president could no long area void talking about it. race. it came up in interview after interview. this one with cnn's john king. >> there are people out there that don't like me because of my race. that's not the average variety issue here. i think there are people who are anti-government, you know, i think that there are -- there's been a long standing debate in this country that is usually that much more fierce during times of transition. or when presidents are trying to bring about big changes. the things said about fdr
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recently, there were things said about me. he was a communist, a socialist. things that were said about ronald reagan when he was trying to reverse some of the any deal programs. you know, they were pretty vicious as well. >> reporter: on abc, mr. obama pointing out that strong views on race don't always hurt him politically. >> there are some people who don't like me because of my race. i'm sure there are. but there are some people who vote for me only because of my race and probably some of those, too. >> reporter: the message much the same on cbs and nbc, too. it's territory has press secretary has already covered. >> we all have to check our emotions despite the depth of our beliefs. that we can have these kind of debates, important political debates without doing so in a way that makes anybody feel uncomfortable. >> reporter: that was one side of the story. on the other side, one of the guys whose own conduct helped ramp up the debate was back home in south carolina holding his
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first news conference since he shouted out you lie at president obama. >> let's close the vote. >> reporter: was race a factor when congressman joe wilson's outburst? >> president obama indicated this is not correct. >> reporter: also talking about how awful it's been, even though he's gotten well over $1 million in political contributions, he's also become a target. >> it was speaking at the wrong place, wrong time. >> reporter: asserting if you had it to do over again, he wouldn't, sending a message to the folks back home that he's not a roughian. >> i grew up in the city of charleston. it is the center of a stability and a civil state. and so i truly support civility. >> joe johns and tony perkins and on the liberal side, jennifer palmieri. jennifer, you heard what the
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president had to say. you heard what joe wilson had to say. is this conversation over now? i mean is next week the story actually going to be about health care? >> i think that barring any other developments that, you know, any other outbursts from congressman like joe wilson, i think barring that, you'll turn back to health care and, you know, it is -- i'm sure the white house is -- >> republicans are saying that democrats want this to be the conversation. >> i promise you, i think it's pretty clear the president does not want that to be the conversation. it doesn't -- i mean it's not a huge problem in terms of affecting the health care debate. but it does distract from it a little. you know, does distract from it
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a little bit. but, you know, moreover, i don't think the president feels that most of this anger is not about racism. and to suggest, you know, for people to suggest that it is, that alien yates people. you know, it doesn't actually help the democrats politically to think this is about racism. >> tony, do you believe the democrats want to have this conversation? >> you know, i don't know. it clearly is convenient that this card of racism is often played when they get down to the bottom of the deck and their ability to debate the real issue here. i hope it's true that next week it's over and we can go back to talking about health care. and talk about the really fundamental things of health care in which we agree upon. that is that everybody in this country should have access to
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affordable health care. i'm hoping we can get to that debate and get this behind us. it's not constructive. >> joe, from a political perspective, certainly the president clearly does not want to be discussing this. >> it doesn't seem like it. on the other hand, there are some congressional democrats who think it's a little bit simpler and there is also that question of bringing in the democratic base. they've been all over the place. you get on something like this and the base is going to sort of move to support the president of the united states. he's their guy. but as far as the president is concerned, health care is the main issue he needs to push tlouchlt it's the biggest domestic agenda item. and he has a congressional calendar that is simply running out. he doesn't have a whole lot of time to fool around with this although there are a lot of democrats that say we need to have this discussion just not right now. >> jennifer, if democrats don't want this discussion, how come house speaker nancy pelosi yesterday, you know, gave that answer about political violence and, you know, it was quite emotional about it. that certainly -- >> yeah -- >> -- seems to be churning the waters. >> i was also surprised to see she was particularly emotional about it. i think that shows i don't think there is any sort of political motivation in what she was saying. you know, her own personal experience in san francisco with harvey millkin and the mayor was assassinated. i found it very telling that she chose to speak out about it in this way.
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that it must be affecting her that way. but i don't -- that was not politically motivated. i don't think that, you know, there's nothing more divisive than a discussion about race. and that doesn't -- that just doesn't help the democrats politically. i don't think the president wants this debate to be divisive. and i think that's why -- and i that also shows they don't believe it's true. they don't believe that this anger that's out there is about race. they think that there's no question in my mind that if hillary clinton were president today, she would be getting the exact same kind of protest. >> tony, do you believe -- >> i mean this is about politics. >> tony, do you believe race plays any role in the criticism that is directed toward the president? do you see the signs of him portrayed as a witch doctor. do you think it's any different than what we normally seen in past years? >> i mean there may have be of that out there. i'm not going to deny there might be some. but it's small. i haven't seen it in any of the town halls or events that i've been n and it's certainly not a part of the main debate. what you said about nancy
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pelosi, i would say i think it was politically motivated. i look at nancy pelosi. in her own state of california after proposition eight passed last summer, there was no real outrage or last fall there was no outrage from her with the violent response after that. i'm very concerned that when you see what she is saying and how she's responding to this, that i think it's really kind of setting the stage to clamp down on those who are expressing themselves against these big government policies like health care takeover. so i'm more troubled about her statements than i am the statements about racism. >> jennifer, is this an attempt to clamp down? >> i really don't think so. i think it was a very personal reaction from her. it is it not in her -- you know, it's not in democrats' political interest to try to tamp down -- try to tamp down the protests. you know, in some ways the joe wilson outburst is what put republicans on the defensive. i think that what you saw from her was a very emotional and personal reaction. and i don't that i there's any
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question in most of our minds that the debate has gotten more intense than it has in the political -- in past years. and, you know, removing civil discourse in many of these arenas, and i think that was a concern she was expressing. but it was very personal to me. and i really don't see any political gain for her in saying that. i think tony's criticism sort of proves that point, there is not a political gain for her. >> jennifer and tony and joe, thank you very much. appreciate it. have a good weekend. plenty more on the story at ac360.com including joe wilson's pleat news conference without edits or interruptions today. the white house began using michelle obama to fight for health care reform. you're going to seat part she is playing and what it says about what the white house thinks about their chances right now for a real reform. we'll also hear from democratic -- former first lady hillary clinton, now secretary
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of state, about what she says of health care battle today. also, the alleged young yale university killer. find out how early in the investigation police actually began suspecting him. also dig deep near the controversial choice authorities made to wait and tail this guy instead of picking him right up. sits on top of skin, r almost as if you're wearing it. only new dove deep moisture has nutriummoisture, a breakthrough formula with natural moisturizers... that can nourish deep down. it's the most effective natural nourishment ever. new dove deep moisture with nutriummoisture. superior natural nourishment for your skin.
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there is ab acknowledgment that this is need all the help they can get these days. she was not the only first lady talking about health care reform. here is former first lady, hillary clinton. >> i'm very optimistic. i think that, you know, it won't be pretty. it's like sausage making. but we'll end up with a bill for the president to sign that will be an advance. and that's what i think is in the best interest of the country. >> as we said for the first time, michelle obama was front and center pushing health care reform. erica hill takes us up close. >> reporter: her audience and her mission are clear. >> for two years on the campaign trail, this was what i heard
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from women -- they were being crushed, crushed by the current structure of our health care. we know the pain. because we are usually the ones dealing with it. >> reporter: the first lady today appealing to women as mothers and as caregivers. in her first official pitch for president obama's plan to reform the nation's health care system. a very personal pitch including a story about first daughter sasha's meningitis scare. she was just 4 months old. >> it is that moment in our lives that flashes through my head every time we engage in this health insurance conversation. it's that moment in my life. because i think about what on earth would we have done if we had not had insurance? >> reporter: putting mrs. obama and the first family's story squarely in front of the american people may be just what the president needs. >> not only is michelle obama popular, but she has a 75% approval rating with women.
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women make a lot of the health care decisions in their families. and they're often the ones who end up taking care of their elderly parents. >> reporter: a former hospital administrator, mrs. obama understands the current health care system and the problems many women face. >> women in this country have been denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions like having a c section. or having had a baby. in some states, it is still legal to deny a woman coverage because she's been the victim of domestic violence. >> reporter: first ladies have long pushed agendas, nancy reagan championed the adjustment say no anti-trug campaign in the '80s. laura bush was a literacy advocate. but health care hasn't always served first ladies well. prime example, hillary clinton. >> there's a very fundamental difference. hillary clinton was charged with running the health care reform effort. mrs. obama is taking a much more traditional first lady venue. one of initiating and one supporting. >> a smart political move on the
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part of the democrats. michelle obama is the popular obama. democrats have had a lot of success with the gender gap. driving female votes on the care giving, nourishing issues. >> reporter: but can mrs. obama reach across the divide and the picket line to win over conservative women? in the coming weeks, she'll certainly try. we have to be what, fired up and ready to go. >> reporter: anderson, one other thing that mrs. obama talked about on a personal level today, not just her daughter sash yashgs but also she talked about her father who, of course, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in his 20s. she thought about what her family would have done if they didn't have insurance or what they would have done without his job providing insurance. it is very near and dear to her heart. >> all right.
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i know you're also following a couple stories in the "360 news and business bulletin." >> we start off in iran. mahmoud ahmadinejad is rallying again. as iran celebrates pro palestinian day. speaking to a crowd at iran university, the conservative leader declaring this a zionist regime to human dignity. the comments coming as jewish people across the globe continue to celebrate the jewish new year. thousands of opposition leaders or protesters, rather, clashing with pro government groups, reports of violence here in a massive rally near iran's square. nnchts washington, seven former cia chiefs urging president obama to stop the probe into harsh interrogation techniques. they argue the investigation will put intelligence officers in continuous jeopardy. jobless rates topping 12% in five states now. unemployment in california, nevada, and rhode island hitting record highs in august. the rates there hovering between 12% and 13%. oregon scoring a top spot at 12.2%.
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but it is michigan again leading the nation. the jobless rate there, 15.2%. finally, let's end on a up note. the 5-year-old pulled from a burning suv in milwaukee over the summer released from the hospital. he suffered second and third degree bushes on the scalp, face, back, and arms. two off duty firefighters cut the boy from the seat belt. he does face years of rehabilitation, doctors say little d.j. is making great progress. he looks good in that fire hat, too. >> great news. good to know that. so, erica, do you know about your roots? would you know where your ancestry comes from? >> i'm a mut.
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>> from where? >> mainly western europe and just a tiny little bit of native-american. >> okay. for a lot of americans, particularly african-americans, the question where do you come from is a difficult one to answer. and coming up, we got this story i want you to see about a young man tracing his roots. you'll see what he learns himself. next, the yale murder. details on how police tracked down the man charged with killing annie le. we'll be right back. 90s slacke. ♪ that can strain your relationships and hurt yourody 'cause ru'pride ♪ng a ride ♪ ♪ it's the credit roller coaster ♪ ♪ and as you can see it kinda bites! ♪ ♪ so sing the lyrics with me: ♪ when your debt goes up your score goes down ♪ ♪ when you pay a little off it goes the other way 'round ♪
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by protecting your freedom to choose the doctors and treatments you need. and to have your tax dollars go towards your care-- not insurance company subsidies. you've done your work. and we'll keep doing ours. learn more at aarp.org. # now to yale university and the murder of annie le. her body was found sunday stuffed in a wall of a research build wrg she worked. randy kay has new details about how they tracked down le's killer, raymond clark. was arrested yesterday. turns out even as police were still searching for le, they had clark in hir sights. here is randi's report. >> reporter: ray clark new he was in trouble. he knew he was being followed by more than half a dozen police investigators. he likely also knew where the investigation into annie le's death was heading. new haven police chief james lewis told me he had his narcotics unit which specialize s in surveillance chart clark's move. they knew clark was the prime suspect. the head of the unit, lieutenant john valeka began following clark saturday night, the day
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before le's body was found. strangled and hidden inside a basement wall at the lab building where she worked alongside the man now accused of killing her. at first, narcotics officers didn't want clark to know they were on his trail. that first night they camped outside his parents house, about 24 miles from yale's campus. the day le's body was found, clark played softball. detectives were in the crowd. >> by monday, the day after le's body was discovered, investigators changed their tactic. they wanted clark to know they were tailing him. they parked right in front of his apartment and let their badges show while they walked around. mind games they were hoping
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would lead clark to talk to them and maybe even confess. it didn't happen. tuesday morning, investigators went to him, armed with search warrants. they wanted hair and finger nail dna samples. investigators focused on clark in part because of what they saw in the morning 700 hours of videotape from the lab building security camera. on that tape, ray clark stood out. a source with knowledge of the investigation told me clark was seen leaving the building after someone possibly him, pulled the fire alarm. he had his head in his hands and was distraught. after he gave a dna sample, he got a room at this super 8 motel in his family's hometown. he stayed there with his parents hiding from the media likely knowing it wouldn't be long before officers came knocking again. by this time, in investigators
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had interviewed about 150 people. and had collected 300 pieces of evidence. then came the dna match our source says clearly connected clark to the murder. indicating the victim's dna was found on ray clark. early thursday morning, clark was arrested and charged with killing yale medical student annie le. he's being held on $3 million bond. he hasn't entered a plea. his lawyers aren't talking and neither is he. >> randi is on the yale campus. what about that card that lab employees have to swipe to get in and out d that tip off investigators to clark's actions? >> reporter: i asked the chief of police about.
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that he wouldn't really say much about that swiped card or how long it may have indicated that ray clark was in the building that day, if, indeed, he was. but i did speak with a technology expert who says there is no doubt that authorities would have looked that card to find out and figure out ray clark's whereabouts in the lab building that day. that card would have told them how long he was in the building, how many different rooms he was in inside that building and whether or not he was in the room where annie le's body was found. and it's not just the card, actually. i'm told by these technology experts that authorities would also look at cell phone signals. if ray clark was in the building at that time and if he had a cell phone with him, they would be able to track that signal and know, again, how much time he spent there and where he was. also, if he happened to log on to the computer, they would know how long he was there and when he logged off. really, they say that people who commit crimes give away a lot more of themselves electronically and technologically than they environment woehr have imagined possible. >> good news for that. randi, appreciate it. can you let us know what you think about this case at the live chat happening now. ac360.com. ahead, we'll dig deeper on the yale murder with two prime experts, james allen fox, a law enforcement vet who said the police went about getting this guy all the wrong way. hear why ahead. later, police in california are doing everything they can do to force a junk filled backyard to give up secrets. could philip and nancy garrido
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we're back with the murder of annie le. raymond clark, lab technician that worked with le, charged with the killing. he did enter a plea. police have not identified a motive. in fact, here's what they said today. >> the only person really truly knows the motive in this crime is the suspect. what made him do what he did? we may not know until trial. we may never know. >> may never know. as randi kay reported, they were trailing him before they found
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his alleged victim's body. joining us is james allen fox, a retired law enforcement agent, lou palumbo. when you heard that police went about tracking raymond clark, cat and mouse strategy, were you surprised? >> the first time i ever heard of this type of technique, trying to solicit a confession from a individual. i think it was a little risky. they came out and landed on their feet. frankly, there were a couple of concerns here. first, that this individual was clearly a flight risk, number one. and number two, certainly someone they should have considered might have committed suicide. i mean this is a young man that at a very young age watched his life unravel. you know, his pedigree isn't consistent with the act. i know everybody has eluded to an incident that took place bac when he was in high school.
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i was a little surprised that they played a pretty close to the cuff on this young man. >> when the police say yesterday this is a case of workplace violence, a lot of people heard that and thought, well, okay. that sounds like it is somebody angry about, you know, some employment situation. we don't really know what went on. but there clearly seems to have been some sort of exchange between these two. >> well, they were co-workers in a sense. and, sure, this may not be the classic case of workplace violence when someone is angry about not getting a promotion or a raise, but, still, there in issues that can come in a workplace. this is a scientific research building. but there are issues that likely arose between the two of them that may have been part of this case here. we may not know. whether we call it workplace violence or not is really not an important issue. i agree with lou about the way this was handled. i was concerned with the fact about this use of person of
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interest over and over again. you know, going back decades, police would basically not share this kind of information with media and a public swarming all about when a person is a focus of an investigation, that name, that identity should not be in the public. once there's an arrest, well that's fine. so i think that the release of his name and being all over the media is really premature. this has happened before where some innocent people have been unfairly named, persons of interest. >> lou, what's your -- i mean when you're investigating a crime like this, do you need to know a motive? or does that -- i mean it'sbviously a bonus. can you catch somebody without a motive ever as long as there is physical evidence. >> a lot of times we don't find out what the motives are. most important thing is the apprehension. the one thing i did want to mention in reference to this whole issue about person of interest, you know, if anyone goes back a little ways to 1996 with rich ar jewel and the olympics in atlanta, he was referred to consistently as, i
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believe, as a suspect. there was a tremendous amount of fallout to him personally as a result of that. you know, part of this person of interest thing is a politically correct way to label somebody that you're looking at them. and the thing i do want to say also, anderson, and in defenses department, they are not aware of the pressures they've been receiving from the mayor's office or city council or any number of other entities that wanted this address. they wanted some information disseminated to the public to try to ease anxiety and fear without giving the whole ball away. but bottom line is my real con contention dealt with them taking him into custody and releasing him after they had probable cause. i reason i know they had probable cause is they had to go to a judge and convince this judge he's an individual we should issue a search warrant, not only to search his home but to search his person. so they had a lot of information. i think the icing on the cake today was the conversation with randy where the judge -- excuse
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me, where the chief said that this individual was not just a suspect but a prime suspect even prior to them locating -- >> that doesn't mean there is enough to make an arrest, though. i agree with you on most things. but the fact that they get a warrant for a search and some body samples does not mean they have enough for an arrest. so i think that -- >> i don't -- >> it's not clear. >> i will tell you they had sufficient amount of information to take him into custody and interrogate him and take him off the street. and, you know, this whole tactic about trying to sweat him, so to speak, by following him and making him uncomfortable, it is very risky. >> i agree with. that. >> that's a clear cut opinion i think a lot of people hold at this point. >> we have to leave it.
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tonight, searching for who we are. it's something many of us have done looking for our family roots, where we come from. for many african-americans, it can be hard to actually trace the past. one brooklyn teen learns his past. he is one of 30 kids to take a trip to africa featured in a cnn special, "black in america." but that was just the beginning. last night as his service with a group ended, he got another gift, his own past. soledad o'brien has tonight's story. >> reporter: if a houston lab they're searching for a secret, they're looking for an answer to a question that haunts a 14-year-old boy in brooklyn, new york.
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if successful, they'll tell him who he is and where he comes from. >> all i know is i'm don donovan, 14 years old. that's it. when he met this woman web was on his way to discovering his roots. she runs journey for change. she took donovan and 29 other brooklyn teenagers to africa to show them the advantages they have at home. letting them see, firsthand, how kids in shanty towns live. to mark one year had her program, maloch offered the kids dna tests, a possible key to their past. >> i cannot think of a greater gift to give these kids. than their genealogy. >> i think that any of us who don't know our ancestry, our
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heritage more than one, two generations feel a sense of not being complete. >> reporter: slavery has robbed many african-americans of their family history. her husband, comedian chris rock, says he fell into comedy as a 20-year-old. dna tests traced his roots to cameroon. more research showed he was related to a freed slave who foot with union soldiers. it was information he wished he had as a child. >> it would have taken away the inevitability that i was going to be nothing. >> reporter: the kids began dna testing a month ago. >> i need you to -- >> all i know is my grandmother has a dark complexion. my father has a dark complexion. heritage is not a color. it's more of a cultural thing, like their religion, where they've been, what they've gone
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through, black. not who i am and it's not what i'm going to be. >> reporter: after years of wondering, donovan and the other kids had to wait four weeks until they got some answers. >> it's like i have a heart in my body. but it's changed up. >> reporter: they could be disappointed. there's a chance the dna tests won't give definitive answers. >> it's been a long wait, it's taken a while. >> yeah. i'm jittery like this. >> reporter: weeks of waiting ends on this night before an auditorium full of people who have come to support donovan and the other kids. >> all right, guys, ready for the truth? here it comes. >> reporter: dr. henry louis gates of harvard university was there to reveal the answers. >> you are descended on your mama's side from the temnei people from the country of
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sierra leone. >> i'm complete now. i know more about me and where my ancestors come from. now that i know this, i'll become more of that culture. that's who i am. >> reporter: what's next? maybe another trip to africa. going to hop on a plane and go there? >> yes, i'm going to make a way. as little as i am, i'm going to make a way. >> reporter: soledad o'brien, cnn, new york. >> no doubt he will make his way. up next, a new discovery in the case against jaycee dugard's alleged captor. and former miss california, carrie prejean, speaking today about how god put her in that pageant. we'll be right back. there was a time i wouldn't step out of the house without my makeup. now, it's no problem. (announcer) neutroténa tone correcting night serum with high performance soy to even skin tone and active retinol to speed cell turn over.
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erica has a "3 0 bulletin." investigators searching the property of phillip garrido have found another bone. they will tune to run tests. they try to determine whether garrido had any connection to the disappearance of two other young girls in the late 1980s. former miss california usa carrie prejean says god chose her to speak out in opposition to same-sex marriage at the miss usa pageant in april. the comment, part of a speech to a group of conservatives in washington today. prejean says she's proud of what she says and she says god had had a plan for her that day, anderson. >> that does it for "360." thanks for watching. "larry king live" starts now. see you monday night.
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tonight, inside the mind of the man charged with the murder of yale student annie le. who is raymond clark? what led the law to him? and why does d his neighbor get bad vibes? plus the dna evidence that may seal his fate. you won't believe where police found it. then, she witnessed the abduction of a playmate more than 20 years ago. could the criminal who grabbed her screaming friend and stuffed her in a car be phillip garrido in the hunt for evidence continues as investigators and police dogs sort through piles of filth. in a condemned home of jaycee dugard's accused kidnaper, next on "larry king live." good evening, i'm mr. phil mcgraw sitting in for larry tonight. we begin with the murder at yale
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and developments in the case against raymond clark, the man charged with murdering grad student annie le. let's get the latest from cnn's randi kaye in new haven, connecticut. randi. >> reporter: we have a lot of new information to share with you tonight. first off, investigators focused on ray clark after they viewed, i'm told, more than 700 hours of videotape from the lab building security cameras. and according to our source with good knowledge of this investigation, they saw ray clark on that video and he really stood out to them. here's why. they say he left that building after someone possibly ray clark himself, pulled the fire alarm on the day of the murder. he left that building with his head in his hands looking distraught. that caught their attention. that same source tells me that clark's dna clearly connects him to the murder scene, indicating that the victim's dna was found on the body of raymond clark. also, i can tell you that authorities
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