[Kyra Phillips, Cnn Anchor:] Good morning, everyone. Two characters bigger than life and looming large in this morning's headlines. We've got updates on the fates of radio host Dr. Laura and former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. First up, remember this rant from the "Dr. Laura Show"?
[Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Host, "the Dr. Laura Show":] I didn't spew out the
[Unidentified Female:] You said
[Schlessinger:] Right. I said that's what you hear
[Unidentified Female:] Everybody heard it.
[Schlessinger:] Yes, they did.
[Unidentified Female:] I hope everybody heard it. So makes it
[Schlessinger:] They did and I'll say it again.
[Unidentified Female:] OK for you to say the word?
[Hb -- Unidentified Female:] So what makes it
[Schlessinger:] Why don't you let me finish a sentence?
[Unidentified Female:] OK.
[Phillips:] Well, today the doctor is out. Schlessinger drops the bombshell on CNN.
[Schlessinger:] Well, I'm here to say that my contract is up for my radio show at the end of the year. And I've made the decision not to do radio anymore. The reason is I want to regain my First Amendment rights.
[Phillips:] Dr. Laura steps down. Rod Blagojevich lashes out. A hung jury returns only one guilty verdict in his corruption trial.
[Rod Blagojevich, Former Governor Of Illinois:] I want the people of Illinois to know I did not lie to the FBI. I have told the truth from the very beginning. This is a persecution.
[Phillips:] All right. It's 9:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 6:00 a.m. out West. I'm Kyra Phillips. And you're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. Let's begin in Chicago and the corruption trial of former Governor Rod Blagojevich. Jurors have returned a verdict on only one count. Finding him guilty of lying to the FBI. They deadlocked on the other 23 counts of his corruption trial. Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald had barely heard the verdict before he vowed to retry him. A defiant Blagojevich is railing against that threat.
[Blagojevich:] Notwithstanding the fact that the government threw everything but the kitchen sink at me that on every count except for one, and every charge except for one, they could not prove that I did anything wrong, that I did break that I did break any laws. We have police officers who are being gunned down on the streets. We have children who can't play in front of their homes in the summertime because they might get gunned down. And we have a prosecutor who is wasted and wants to spend tens of millions of dollars of taxpayer money to keep persecuting me, persecuting my family, take me away from my little girls as well as take my home away from us.
[Phillips:] Jurors say that the outcome of the trial is not really vindication of his guilt but rather the product of a stalemate. They say a single juror refused to budge and blocked his conviction on other counts.
[Erik Sarnello, Juror In Blagojevich Trial:] When you listen to a phone call, and you know people would say that supports his guilt, and she would say that supports his you know, the innocence, the not guilty side, just such different views that would just that's the way she saw it.
[Phillips:] But when it comes to the world of colorful politics and politicians, there may be few places like Chicago and even fewer characters like Rod Blagojevich. Now at the bottom of the hour, a veteran reporter and political watchdog shares his thoughts on the spectacle and substance of Blago's trial. She used the "N" word, ignited a national firestorm, and now Dr. Laura Schlessinger says she's ending her show and her broadcasting career. She made the bombshell announcement on CNN suggesting that she was unfairly targeted for her on-air use of the offensive word.
[Schlessinger:] I want to regain my First Amendment rights. I want to be able to say what's on my mind and in my heart, and what I think is helpful and useful without somebody getting angry, some special interest group deciding this is a time to silence a voice dissent and attack affiliates and attack sponsors. I'm sort of done with that. I'm not retiring. I am not quitting. I feel energized actually. Stronger and freer to say the things that I believe need to be said -for people in this country.
[John Ridley, Founding Editor, Thatminoritything.com:] The big reaction for me is when she talks about her First Amendment rights being trampled. You know, the First Amendment a lot of people say this all the time. It pertains to the government impeding freedom of religion, freedom of speech. It has nothing to do with what I feel like, if you want to protest to things like that. No one is impeding her First Amendment rights. If she wants to retire that's fine. But to say that for some reason because someone disagrees with her, that she is being maligned or in some way shoved off the airways, to me is absurd. You know, that's her idea of apology to victimize herself.
[Phillips:] Schlessinger has been on the radio for more than 30 years. She says she now plans to focus more on the Internet with her Web site. So if they move the Islamic center and mosque farther away from Ground Zero, maybe that would tamp down the fury. We could find out pretty soon. Governor David Paterson plans to meet with the developer to talk about an alternate site. A TV station in New York City says that Paterson might offer state land for their cultural and religious center. Land farther than two blocks from the World Trade Center site. So far the developer is sticking with the current plan and slammed politicians using the controversy to try and score points.
[Sharif El-gamal, Islamic Center Developer:] We are nowhere near the World Trade Center site. It's a really sad day for America when our politicians choose to look at a constitutional right and use that as basis for their elections.
[Phillips:] A senior Republican strategist told CNN that GOP candidates are being encouraged to bring up the mosque issue as much as possible. Well, today will be the first of what will be many court dates for a South Carolina woman accused of murder. Shaquan Duley allegedly suffocated her two little boys, 1 and 2 years old. Put the bodies in the car and pushed it into a river. Investigators say that Duley didn't have a job or a husband and couldn't take her own mom's criticism anymore. Apparently Duley's mom had gotten on her for not taking good care of those children. Can't help but think of Susan Smith when you hear that story. Just too many similarities. South Carolina mom who supposedly wants to be free, a story that didn't add up, two little boys found in a car in a body of water. Next hour we talk with the man who put Susan Smith in prison. It's the case he just can't escape. Twenty million people in Pakistan are now desperate for aid. But the U.N. says it has less than half the money it needs to help flood victims. Former Pakistani prime minister thinks that global donors don't trust the government. So he wants to set up an independent coalition to distribute aid. Something needs to be done soon, more than 1400 people have died and there are fears of a second wave of death from waterborne diseases. Pakistan is more than a humanitarian crisis. It's got the potential to become a security crisis. The floods could threaten the stability of a nation that's a key ally in the war on terror. CNN's Barbara Starr joins me from the Pentagon. So, Barbara, what's the U.S. doing to do what is the U.S. doing to help?
[Barbara Starr, Cnn Pentagon Correspondent:] Well, Kyra, there is some aid flowing in but it is a trickle. When you look at it right now, enough aid to help tens of thousands of people, perhaps 20 million need help right now as these floodwaters continue to rise. The U.S. is sending some assistance pardon me some assistance, according to the State Department. About $90 million in aid and other assistance has flown into Pakistan. They have helped evacuate with U.S. military helicopters, about 5,000 people and just over 500,000 pounds of relief supplies have been delivered. But just consider this. If there are 20 million displaced, also close to a million homes destroyed, millions of dollars each day needed in Pakistan just for food and clean water. There is a long way to go and a lot of concern that this crisis, as you say, is only going to get worse and could destabilize an already fragile government in Pakistan Kyra.
[Phillips:] Fragile indeed. And there are so much concern about the Taliban taking advantage and bonding with all these victims. And we want t see the U.S., even U.S. troops, getting involved and giving a positive boost to the U.S. image.
[Starr:] Well, you know, you you've outlined exactly what the dilemma is right now. The U.S. wants to help but Pakistan is very leery and continues to be leery of having a foreign military face on this aid effort. You know, the people there are not always that friendly to the United States. And if they see that their own government is unable to help them, the Pakistani government fears they could become even more destabilized and they don't want to see that concerns the Taliban could move in and try and fill the void. All of these things in a huge mix right now and as long as this crisis goes on, the Pakistani military diverted from the counterterrorism fight against the Taliban and the al Qaeda Kyra.
[Phillips:] Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Barbara, thanks. So we've told you how the U.S. military is going to the aid of Pakistan or Pakistani flood victims. Here is how you can help. Just go to our Web site CNN.comimpact. On the "Impact Your World'homepage. We've got a link to 20 charities that are responding to this crisis now. Pray for me. Simple message left on voice mail from a pregnant passenger after her plane plummeted from the sky and split into pieces.
[Unidentified Female:] Miss Cynthia, it's Carolina Bellino. Can you send some prayers from church? Our plane crashed at 1:45 p.m. Right now
[Phillips:] Hear from the woman who missed that call right after this.