Congress Debates A Variety Of Immigration Reform Bills, As Protests For And Against Spring Up Around The Nation
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tens of thousands take over the streets of downtown Los Angeles to fuel a passionate fight on illegal immigration. I'll have the very latest on this fight, coming up next in a live report.</s>CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Also, police say she admits gunning down her husband. At this hour, the minister's wife is on the road back to Tennessee. Do police have any idea of a motive? We'll bring it to you, all the details, the latest.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He stepped up and did something for the people. That's it.</s>LIN: And now this Mississippi sheriff finds himself in legal limbo for the actions he took in the days following Hurricane Katrina. Hello and welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY. I'm Carol Lin. And here's what's making news right now. The immigration debate hit the streets of Los Angeles today with a massive demonstration. What do protesters hope to gain and what is the White House saying about it? We'll have a live report in just a minute. Urging potential witnesses to come Fastow, Milwaukee police are asking for the public's help to find two missing teens. They've received hundreds of tips so far. Eleven-year-old Purvis Parker and 12-year-old Quadrevion Henning have been missing for nearly a week. And police in Washington State are investigating multiple homicides. Six bodies were found in a Seattle house today. Two people are being treated at a local trauma center. The suspected gunman shot himself when confronted by police. More violent protests in the Belarus capital Minsk today. Demonstrators are disputing results of last week's election. The incumbent won a third term. The European Union and the U.S. say his victory has turned Belarus into the last dictatorship in Europe. Protesters say the vote was rigged. And one of television's original rhinestone cowboys has died. Country music singer Buck Owens passed away at his Bakersfield, California home today. The former "Hee Haw" icon was 76. First today, the immigration debate. There as many as 20 million people in the country illegally and more arrive each day. And many Americans feel the nation has lost control of its boarders. On that, there is broad agreement. But how to make it right has sparked a loud political struggle. Today, tens of thousands of immigrants are having their say. They've taken to the streets in Los Angeles ahead of a huge debate in Washington on Monday. This hour, we will hear their voices. We will hear the ideas of the nation's political leaders. And we are going to host our own debate. Right now we're going to start in Los Angeles with CNN's Kareen Wynter, on the streets of</s>L.A. WYNTER: Hi, there, Carol. Well, I can tell you that I think that many of the opponents who are out here, to this bill that's already passed in the House, really didn't think that they would be able to accomplish as much as they did today. A few people walking by me. One person said the numbers out here are crazy. You can hear it from the noise around me. We also want to take you to the sky to give you an aerial view, another perspective of just how many people showed up for today's protests -- tens of thousands. We hope to have an official number the end of the day. And this march is still going on. Now, a short time ago the mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, addressed the crowd here, weighing in on this hotly debated issue, basically shooting down this bill that was heavily backed by Republican Representative James Sensenbrenner. That bill, again, passed in December. And next week is very important. Everyone really has their eyes on the measure that Congress will also be weighing, that when senators perhaps adopt a similar version. So what you're seeing all around me is pressure. They're sending a message to Washington. They're also using it through their city leaders, that they want some kind of leniency here, especially when it comes to amnesty. But, again, the mayor sounding off today, shooting down that bill, saying that there definitely needs to be some movement in the other direction. And, also, saying, Carol, more importantly, when people use the word immigrants, he says there are no specific immigrants here, that we're, in fact, all immigrants here in this country -- Carol.</s>LIN: All right, Kareen, thank you very much. Now President Bush said today what many Americans have long come to accept. He said immigrant workers are doing the jobs most Americans don't want. Well, even so, his guest worker program is rousing opposition from within his own party. And with that part of the story from the White House, CNN's Kathleen Koch.</s>KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, from the outset, about two years ago, when President Bush first introduced his temporary worker plan, members of his own party had very deep and abiding reservations about it. They felt that it could potentially jeopardize U.S. security and allow non-citizens into the U.S. who might never leave. But President Bush said in his radio address today that comprehensive immigration reform involves more than just adding guards and fences to the border.</s>GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Comprehensive immigration reform requires a temporary worker program that will relieve pressure on our borders. This program would create a legal way to match willing foreign workers with willing American employers to fill jobs that Americans will not do. By reducing the number of people trying to sneak across the border, we would free up our law enforcement officers to focus on criminals and drug dealers and terrorists and others who mean us harm.</s>KOCH: The president insisted his plan is not tantamount to a blanket amnesty, a permanent amnesty, and would not put guest workers on a fast track to citizenship. Mr. Bush plans to make immigration reform his focus next week, as the U.S. Senate begins debate on the controversial topic. And as the president Monday his plans include attending the naturalization ceremony here in Washington, D.C. before, later on in the week, Wednesday, flying to Cancun, Mexico for two days of meetings with Mexican President Vicente Fox -- Carol.</s>LIN: All right, thanks very much, Kathleen. We are far from through with this topic. At the bottom of the hour, I'm going to host a debate between an advocate for immigrants from Mexico and a proponent of stronger curbs on immigration. And in the 6:00 hour, I'm going to talk about the issue live from Los Angeles with L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Now, in the meantime, a bewildered congregation. A dead minister, and his wife facing murder charges. Police say Mary Winkler confessed to planning her husband's death. But so far, they're not giving any motive. Robert Shackelford is on the telephone from Selmer, Tennessee. He is a deacon with the Fourth Street Church of Christ, where Winkler was preaching. Mr. Shackelford, good evening. And our condolences to your congregation. I'm wondering whether you're going to have a chance to talk with Mary Winkler? Are you going to visit her in jail?</s>ROBERT SHACKELFORD, CHURCH DEACON: Well, I'm certain that some in our congregation will make contact with Mary when she arrives here in Selmer. We're certainly praying for her and for her three children that whatever is in their best interests will take place.</s>LIN: What in the world do you think happened in this family?</s>SHACKELFORD: From my observation, I do not have a clue. Even looking back, when things like this happen, many times we look back and see things that help us realize why certain events have transpired. But even now, knowing what apparently has taken place, we look back and we don't see anything...</s>LIN: Nothing?</s>SHACKELFORD: ... that was a clue or...</s>LIN: Nothing?</s>SHACKELFORD: Nothing...</s>LIN: Nothing in the relationship...</s>SHACKELFORD: Nothing at all.</s>LIN: ... I don't know, a controlling personality, some form of abuse, any sort of conflict?</s>SHACKELFORD: No, nothing at all that was apparent to me or to any other church members that I'm aware of. They just appeared to be a very normal, happy, loving couple. They're wonderful parents to their three children. The children are very vivacious and outgoing. They're very bright and intelligent children. They're very active in school and in extracurricular activities in the community and at church. They were just a wonderful family.</s>LIN: Mr. Shackelford, so how are you and the congregation going to deal with this Sunday morning, tomorrow?</s>SHACKELFORD: Well, we will have a special service tomorrow. It will not be business as usual, certainly, by any means. And we'll have a guest speaker who will come in to help us begin the healing process. And it will be a time of sharing and support for one another. Our sister congregations in the county and around the state and even the nation have been so supportive, sending e-mails and phone calls and it's just great to know that so many people are concerned and are thinking about us and that we're in their thoughts and prayers.</s>LIN: It is going to be a challenge. And you and your congregation, I'm sure, are going to be reaching deep into your faith. Are there questions here that can be answered in terms of your faith? How can something like this happen?</s>SHACKELFORD: Well, many times we do find situations in life that test our faith. But rather than speculate, we're going to wait and see what develops. We will see what comes out in the days and weeks to come. And we will deal with those issues one by one as they develop. And we will progress and move forward as a congregation. We will have a spirit of forgiveness and we have a spirit of love for Mary, if, indeed, she did do this. We certainly do not condone what was done, but we still love Mary and we pray for her best interests. And we will forgive her and move forward.</s>LIN: Robert Shackelford, thank you very much.</s>SHACKELFORD: Thank you.</s>LIN: Mary Winkler on her way back to Selmer. In Iraq, a bomb rips through a minibus in Baghdad, just one of several attacks today in Iraq that killed nine people. The carnage did not stop there. Seven bodies were found in Baghdad over the last 24 hours, all showing signs of torture. And near Kirkuk, a crackdown on insurgents. U.S. military officials say they caught 52 suspects in a mission dubbed Operation Scorpion. Held hostage in Iraq for nearly four months, Briton Norman Kember returned home today to be reunited with his wife. U.S. and British forces rescued Kember and two fellow peace activists from a house near Baghdad Thursday. Speaking to reporters in London, Kember paid tribute to both the Iraqi people and the soldiers who freed him.</s>NORMAN KEMBER, FREED HOSTAGE: It's the ordinary people of Iraq that you should be talking to. Those are the people who have suffered so much over so many years and still await the stable and just society that they deserve. Another group that I hope you do not forget are the relatives of British soldiers killed or wounded in Iraq. I do not believe that lasting peace is achieved through armed force, but I pay tribute to their courage and thank those who played a part in my release early on. When was it?</s>KEMBER: Yes, yes, Thursday morning. I'm not ready at this time to talk about my months of captivity, except to say, of course, that I'm delighted to be free and reunited with my family. In reality, it was my wife who was kidnapped last November. She suffered more than I because while I knew that I was alive and well, she did not. And I thank all of those...</s>LIN: Well, the fourth member of the Christian Peacemakers Team held hostage, American Tom Fox. He was found shot dead on a Baghdad street earlier this month. Now, Russia insists it did not pass sensitive information to Saddam Hussein in the opening days of the Iraq War. That explosive allegation is made in a newly released Pentagon report that's based on captured Iraqi documents. The report says Russia's ambassador to Iraq may have given the former Iraqi dictator information about U.S. troop movements and strategy at the start of the 2003 invasion. A Russian spokesman calls the accusation completely unfounded. But it's the current situation in Iraq that's troubling U.S. lawmakers, among others. For the second time in less than a week, a high level congressional delegation met with Iraqi politicians in Baghdad. And their message was clear -- stop the political bickering and form a unity government or risk losing the support of the American people.</s>SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: We need very badly to form this unity government as soon as possible. We read the polls and we know that the American people have grown frustrated. And yet we also know the stakes are very high and success is vital.</s>SEN. RUSS FEINGOLD (D), WISCONSIN: It is a critical time for this government of national unity to be created. Whatever people thought in the first place about this invasion of Iraq or whatever they may think about the way it's been conducted, all Americans want this effort to create this government to succeed.</s>LIN: Well, the delegation also met with U.S. military leaders, including the U.S. commander in Iraq, General George Casey. So is the media's coverage of the Iraq war partly to blame for the cycle of violence? What the Bush administration wants you to think, next. And putting religious freedom to the test in Afghanistan. Will this man's Christian conversion cost him his life? And can pregnant women undergo chemotherapy and still deliver a healthy baby? A new study may surprise you.