Delaware State Shooting Over Turf?; Maliki to Tell U.N. Baghdad Improving
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd like to go down there and put a bullet in each one of those little black kids who they've acquitted or they've let off on these convictions for beating this white child.</s>TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: OK. Up next in CNN NEWSROOM, the FBI investigates a possible racist backlash against supporters of the Jena 6. Also, tears and hope, the pain of surgery, the cost of eventually leading a normal life, an update on a young Iraqi boy you helped bring in the United States. Plus, our top story. Was it a turf battle that sparked a campus shooting on Delaware State University? The latest on what authorities are saying. And good afternoon, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. Investigators say they are seeking a third student in connection with the shooting at Delaware State. Two students initially labeled persons of interest have both been questioned and released. Late this afternoon, the school's president seemed to reference a possible turf battle and word of campus pointing to ongoing student rivalries. CNN's Kathleen Koch joins us. We'll go over</s>KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, first of all, the most important information is that there has not been an arrest in the case, that the gunman is still at large. Now the Delaware State University Police Chief James Overton did give what details they still believe to be true of the gunman, that he is a Delaware State University student, he is a male. They believe he is no longer on campus. Now the police chief wouldn't say whether or not they know his name, only that they wouldn't release any further information. The university president, Allen Sessoms, says that they are "pretty sure" the individual is not a danger to the community, that this was an isolated incident. And while the police chief said there had been some inconsistencies in the stories that they're getting from eyewitnesses, that by and large, all the students have been cooperating.</s>CHIEF JAMES OVERTON, DELAWARE STATE UNIV. POLICE: We had two persons of interest, those persons were interviewed and released. They did provide information to us that is very useful. It has led us to more witnesses that we are seeking now and one other person of interest who we hope will shed some light on this investigation.</s>KOCH: Now though there are rumors, as you mentioned, that there may have been this turf battle under way between students from two different regions of the campus, the police chief says that their investigation does not lead them to believe that that's the case. In fact, they can't even determine whether or not the two 17-year-old victims from the Washington, D.C., area, Shalita Middleton and Nathaniel Pugh, even knew each other or whether or not they knew the gunman. Now Middleton, just to update, is still hospitalized in serious condition with two gunshot wounds to the abdomen. Pugh, who was shot in the foot, is in stable condition. Tony, the very good news is that hey are opening the campus tomorrow and they say classes will resume as normal on Monday morning.</s>HARRIS: That is good news. Kathleen Koch for us. Kathleen, good to see you, thank you.</s>JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Tony. Good afternoon. That's right, yes. The Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki is here to make the pitch that the security situation in Baghdad is improving, and the goal of all of that is to say to the international community, to say to the United Nations that we want to see a greater presence in Iraq. And so far that has been very difficult, that has been a tough road because of the very volatile security situation, the ongoing violence that we saw just days ago in that big shootout that happened in Baghdad involving Blackwater security guards. But the prime minister has met with Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, along with chief diplomats from 20 other nations and the U.N. secretary general, Ban Ki-moon. They're holding a closed door meeting at this hour. This is a photo opportunity from that meeting earlier this afternoon. And the prime minister making the pitch all day today that the security situation in his capital is improving.</s>NOURI AL-MALIKI, IRAQI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): The security situation, as you know, started to improve, and Baghdad today is not Baghdad yesterday.</s>ACOSTA: And that comment there that Baghdad today is not Baghdad yesterday is in part a statement designed at that piece of video that you saw just before that piece of sound, showing the U.N. secretary general, Ban Ki-moon in Baghdad earlier this year back in March. He was in the Green Zone when mortar rounds were being fired into those areas where these officials were meeting. And the secretary general was basically hitting the deck there almost when he heard that sound. So the prime minister has a tall order here. He has got to convince people that the security situation in his capital is improving enough to get a greater international presence there, and this is a tough sell -- Tony.</s>HARRIS: And I was just about to ask you that question, Jim. How tough an audience is he likely to face this week?</s>ACOSTA: It's going to be a tough audience. On top of having to compete with those images of violence in Baghdad, he also has to compete with the fact that he's kind of sharing the stage this week with a man by the name of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president is coming to town, as we've all been hearing these last several days, and that has stirred up such a firestorm of controversy that in many ways, Ahmadinejad will be sucking up all the oxygen here at the United Nations and making it even more difficult for al-Maliki to bend people's ears here. He needs to hear from the chief diplomats as to what their concerns are, and he's making this pitch which is going to be difficult with Ahmadinejad in the same room.</s>HARRIS: What a week ahead. Jim Acosta for us at the United Nations. Jim, appreciate it, thank you.</s>ACOSTA: You bet.</s>HARRIS: President Bush is reportedly planning to ask Congress to approve an Iraq War spending measure that is much, much bigger than expected. The Los Angeles Times quoting Pentagon officials saying the request will total nearly $200 billion, that is $47 billion more than the administration had projected earlier this year. The money would fund the war through 2008. The paper says troop increases and new battlefield gear are the reason for the beefed up budget. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is scheduled to unveil the spending request at a Senate hearing on Wednesday. The Gulf Coast breathing a sigh of relief today after a storm that appeared to be a real threat sort of petered out. Residents prepared for the worst yesterday and the governors of Louisiana and Mississippi declared states of emergency as the tropical depression churned out in the Gulf, but forecasters downgraded the threat when the storm came ashore on the Florida Panhandle last night. The system weakened as it moved west and now dumping rain on Alabama.</s>HARRIS: Coming up in CNN NEWSROOM, something hungry out there. We'll tell you what ravenous creature took a bite out of someone's surfboard. A brave Iraqi boy heads into the operating room. A big week for the boy our viewers know very well. His name is Youssif. And a possible racist backlash to the civil rights march in Jena, Louisiana. Now on the case, the FBI. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.