Without DeLay; Killer Tornadoes; Eligible for Execution; Emotional Thanks
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien</s>MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Miles O'Brien. Good morning to you. An overnight surprise from the embattled Congressman Tom DeLay, he is walking away from Capitol Hill for good.</s>REP. TOM DELAY (R), TEXAS: I have no regrets today and no doubts. I am proud of the past, I am at peace with the present and I'm excited about the future.</s>S. O'BRIEN: The death toll rises in the wake of killer tornadoes in Tennessee. The search for more victims picks up at daybreak today.</s>REP. CYNTHIA MCKINNEY (D), GEORGIA: I don't understand what it is about my face that certain members of the Capitol Hill Police Department can't remember.</s>S. O'BRIEN: Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and claims of racial profiling, but prosecutors are trying to decide whether to press criminal charges against her.</s>M. O'BRIEN: And slugger Barry Bonds gets booed on opening day, but that's not all the fans gave him. We'll tell you. A bombshell in politics this morning, "The Hammer," Congressman Tom DeLay, one of Washington's big powerbrokers, is resigning. DeLay will bow out of his reelection race in Texas, walk away from his seat in the House.</s>M. O'BRIEN (voice-over): Tom DeLay knows how to count votes, and as he surveyed his own prospects, he saw some numbers he didn't like. Despite a convincing primary win last month, a recent poll gave him a 50/50 chance of winning a 12th term to Congress in Sugar Land, Texas, which should be sweet and certain turf for the GOP. So the man known as "The Hammer" made the kind of hard-nosed political call that marked his tenure as majority leader, he bowed out to clear the field for another conservative. DeLay stepped down as majority leader in September as he faced indictment on charges he misdirected campaign contributions through a political action committee. But there was more, he ran afoul of the House Ethics Committee three times and faced questions about his ties to former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, just sentenced to nearly six years in prison for bribing members of Congress. DeLay has never wavered, always insisting he did nothing illegal or unethical.</s>DELAY: In the 21 years that I have been in Congress, I have always acted in an ethical manner, within the rules of the House and the laws of our land. And time, once again, will bear out that truth.</s>O'BRIEN: A successful pest control entrepreneur, Tom DeLay was first elected to Congress in 1984. He steadily rose through the ranks and became majority whip in 1994, majority leader in 2002. DeLay has always reveled in his role as a fierce partisan, a darling of conservatives. He was despised by liberals for his brass knuckles style. DeLay remained a political realist, even as he assessed his own lot. And with scandals swirling around him, it is clear he worried the numbers were not adding up.</s>S. O'BRIEN: Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen plans to get an up- close look today at the damage done to his state by a series of tornadoes. The strong storms are being blamed for 23 deaths. That number could rise again today. CNN's Ed Lavandera more for us this morning from Dyersburg in Tennessee.</s>ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The search for more victims of Sunday's tornadoes will continue today, as will the clean- up process, and it begins in earnest here in Dyersburg, Tennessee, where we have seen hundreds of homes that now look like this, essentially blown off their foundations. Debris of the home really nowhere to be seen, just blown into the woods back there. The tornado also caused a lot of damage to this heavily wooded area. Look at these massive trees, 100-foot trees, 200-foot trees that I've seen in many places, essentially snapped in half and thrown around like toothpicks. This was one of the beginning parts of where the storm touched down. And the sheriff who drove me through this area on Monday afternoon says that when he saw the tornado, it was anywhere between a quarter-of-a-mile wide to a half-mile wide. Essentially starting here and cutting back through the forest here about 10 miles. He said the most difficult part of his day on Sunday was discovering the body of an 11-month-old baby boy in the rubble. Ed Lavandera, CNN, Dyer County, Tennessee.</s>S. O'BRIEN: Tennessee emergency management officials say about 1,800 homes and businesses have been destroyed. Later this morning, we're going to talk to a woman who came a little bit too close to one tornado as it tore right down her street. That's ahead. Take a look at these pictures. They're coming to us from Marmaduke in Arkansas. People there say half the town is utterly destroyed. All that's left has some kind of damage. A ruptured gas line is now slowing the search for survivors or even victims. And take a look at this, not much left of this clothing superstore. This is in Illinois. A 54-year-old man was killed there when a tornado struck. We told you about that yesterday. The roof collapsed. Throughout the state, some 17,000 customers remain without power. That was overnight. In Fargo, North Dakota, the Red River is rising and fast. It's threatening dozens of homes. Flooding out roads, too. On Monday, hundreds of high school students were happy to skip school helping to sandbag. The river is expected to crest on Wednesday about 20 feet above flood stage. That would be a near record level. All this brings us to severe weather expert Chad Myers. He's at the CNN Center this morning. Chad, you know that's kind of a long list. Where do you want to begin?</s>CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: With the locusts, you know?</s>S. O'BRIEN: Kind of, yes.</s>MYERS: Boy, this has been really a tough week for a lot of folks. And now there is even some snow in upstate New York.</s>S. O'BRIEN: All right, Chad, thanks.</s>M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Chad. Zacarias Moussaoui is one step closer to death row. The jury was unanimous yesterday. They said he's eligible for execution. Now it's up to the same jurors to decide if that sentence should be carried out. CNN justice correspondent Kelli Arena has the latest in a CNN "Security Watch."</s>KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The two sides have some time to regroup before the trial starts up again for phase two on Thursday. The government cleared the first hurdle, the jury unanimously deciding Zacarias Moussaoui is eligible for the death penalty. It determined that his actions were responsible for at least one death on September 11. While in court, Moussaoui seemed disinterested in what was going on. But as he left the courtroom, he yelled, you'll never get my blood. God curse you all. The next step, the same jury will hear new evidence as it considers Moussaoui's sentence, including testimony from September 11 victim family members. Now that's expected to be extremely emotional. Moussaoui's defense team is expected to talk about his troubled past and argue that he's mentally unstable. Now the jury only has two choices, death or life in prison. Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.</s>M. O'BRIEN: Coming up in our next hour, we'll talk with CNN senior legal analyst Jeff Toobin. We'll ask him about the government's roller-coaster case against Moussaoui. Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security -- Soledad.</s>S. O'BRIEN: An assault complaint against Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney is now in the hands of federal prosecutors. The Georgia lawmaker is accused of hitting a Capitol Hill guard who tried to stop her from entering a House office building. On CNN's "THE SITUATION ROOM," McKinney likened the incident to racial profiling.</s>MCKINNEY: There are only 14 African-American women members of Congress. So I don't understand what it is about my face that certain members of the Capitol Hill Police Department can't remember. The bottom line on this is that it doesn't matter if you're in the United States Capitol or the Georgia Capitol, the issue is racial profiling, and that's something that we're going to have to deal with as a country.</s>S. O'BRIEN: Federal prosecutors are considering whether to bring McKinney up on criminal charges. Of course Wolf Blitzer did that interview. You can watch Wolf in "THE SITUATION ROOM" weekdays at 4:00 and 7:00 p.m. -- Miles.</s>M. O'BRIEN: The Bruins became Gator bait last night. The Florida Gators dominated last night's NCAA championship game. They beat UCLA 73 to 57, not even close, for the first-ever college basketball championship. Joakim Noah, the son of former tennis star Yannick Noah, was named the most outstanding player. For winning, Florida Governor Jeb Bush wins a feast of California fruit and wine from California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.</s>S. O'BRIEN: Ahead this morning -- yes, that was a fun game to watch. A rough day for beleaguered baseball star Barry Bonds. Wait until you hear, amid the booing, what one fan then threw at him. We'll have that story ahead.</s>M. O'BRIEN: Going to be a long season for Mr. Bonds.</s>S. O'BRIEN: Yes, it will.</s>M. O'BRIEN: Also, should Senator Hillary Clinton run for president in 2008? Some of Hollywood's most famous women weigh in with some surprising answers.</s>S. O'BRIEN: And then some pretty emotional scenes. Take a look at this. This is at "The Christian Science Monitor." We're going to take you right inside Jill Carroll's first visit back and hear what she said about the paper's efforts to free her. That's right ahead. Stay with us.