Armstrong Stripped of Tour de France Titles
KAYE: He is a seven-time Tour de France winning cyclist, but Lance Armstrong has been slapped with a lifetime ban from competition for allegedly doping. I asked CNN legal contributor Paul Callan earlier if Armstrong could lose all his Tour de France titles as well.</s>PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: There's an International Cycling Agency, there's a U.S. Cycling Agency, and there's this U.S. Anti- Doping Agency, which is the subject of our discussion today. And Lance Armstrong has said they don't have jurisdiction over him. They don't even have the right to hear this case and that their findings will not be recognized on a worldwide level. That's essentially his position. And of course, the agency, which is a federal agency, a quasi-federal agency, differs very strongly.</s>KAYE: Armstrong, of course, has consistently denied allegations of illegal doping, we should point out, but has decided to stop battling the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency after losing his legal bid to stop the probe, saying he just didn't think it was fair setting to make his case, calling the process "one-sided." Does this imply guilt?</s>CALLAN: It does in the sense that if you -- I mean, if you thought you were going to go into court and win, why wouldn't you go into court and win? Now, he went to a Texas judge, Judge Sparks, a federal judge, with a very competent lawyer representing him, and they tried to convince the federal judge to dismiss the case, saying the U.S. Anti- Doping Agency has no jurisdiction here, and the judge was highly critical of Armstrong's complaint, saying it was nothing but a glorified press release. But in fairness, he also, the judge, was highly critical of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, saying what are they doing investigating allegations that are 14 years old in some cases? The statute of limitations only goes back eight years. But in the end, the judge said you know something, Armstrong agreed to be governed by an arbitration procedure of this organization, and he has an obligation to go through the arbitration. And Armstrong has responded to that by walking away, saying you know something, I'm not going to submit my evidence. This is a kangaroo court that made up their mind, I'm just walking away from it.</s>KAYE: Yes.</s>CALLAN: So, does it imply guilt? A lot of people would say yes, it does. Others would say he's just had enough. So, it depends on where you stand on Lance Armstrong.</s>KAYE: He has said, though, that he's taken something like 500 or 600 tests and all of them were clean. So, from a legal standpoint, I mean, doesn't that mean something?</s>CALLAN: Well, he has made that claim. However, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency says that they examined as part of their investigation a number of blood samples taken from him in recent years which they describe as -- and watch the wording here -- they say not inconsistent with doping. They don't say that they actually found chemicals that were indicative that something was in his bloodstream, but that the results were consistent with the use of doping drugs. Now, this would have to do with how many red cells are present in the blood. So, they would disagree with his conclusion that he tested negative on all of these occasions, and they also say they have testimony from fellow riders who say that he did dope himself. But Armstrong says, you know what, these are secret witnesses, they were given immunity for their testimony, and it's an unfair procedure, you can't trust it --</s>KAYE: Yes.</s>CALLAN: And that's what he and his lawyers say.</s>KAYE: What about his legacy? What happens to that?</s>CALLAN: Well, I think his legacy will be seriously damaged by this. And you know, if you look at, for instance, what happened to Barry Bonds in baseball and Mark McGwire. You know, all of these athletes who have faced serious claims of the use of illegal, banned drugs have really sustained extreme damage to their long-term reputations. So you know, unless he fights and wins in court, I think his reputation has really, really been hurt. I mean, look at Roger Clemens as an example.</s>KAYE: Yes.</s>CALLAN: As a different. You know, a lot of people said he was crazy to fight the case against him. It was a very, very strong case against him. And you know something, he fought, and in the end, he was exonerated. So, I think he saved a little bit of his legacy, but it's going to be hard for Lance Armstrong to save his, given what's going on.</s>KAYE: The World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Cycling Union will review the USADA's findings with the option to appeal. A candidate and his wife locking lips? Children try their hand at humor. We'll look back at some of the most memorable moments of past political conventions.