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CNN Live Today

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Aired May 12, 2004 - 10:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Daryn Kagan. Topping the news right now, the body of murdered American Nicholas Berg is due today at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, not far from his family's home in Pennsylvania. A military spokesman says that Berg's body was aboard an Air Force plane that departed Kuwait last night. His body was found in Iraq on Monday and a videotape of Berg's beheaded surfaced yesterday. The White House has vowed to track down Berg's killers.
On Capitol Hill this afternoon, senators will be allowed to view more photos and videos of Iraqi prisoner mistreatment. No copies or public disclosure will be permitted. It will be left to the Bush administration to decide whether those images will be released to the public.

Legal problems have not slowed the Lakers Kobe Bryant. He scored 42 points last night as the Lakers defeated the Spurs in the NBA playoffs. Earlier in the day, as seen here, Bryant was an Eagle, Colorado courtroom. He pleaded not guilty in Colorado to sexual assault. No trial date was set.

Scott Peterson's double murder trial will remain in Redwood City, California. The judge denied a defense request for a change of venue to Los Angeles. case was already moved from Modesto to Redwood City when another a ruled an impartial jury could not be seated in Peterson's hometown. The trial begins May 24.

Now to the death of American Nicholas Berg and reaction on the streets of Iraq. For that we go to Baghdad and Karl Penhaul -- Karl.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Daryn. A few moments ago Dan Senor, the coalition spokesman, was giving a press briefing. He faced multiple questions about Nicholas Berg, what the coalition knew of his presence here in Iraq. In fact, there were many more questions there than answers.

Dan Senor did, though, confirm that Nicholas Berg was detained by Iraqi police in northern Iraq near the city of Mosul on the 24th of March. He was held by Iraqi police until his release on April 6.

During that time, Dan Senor says, he was visited on a number of occasions by the FBI who were looking into possibilities that he may be involved in some kind of terrorist or criminal activity. Dan Senor says there was no evidence of that, eventually.

General Kimmitt, the military spokesman for the coalition, says that U.S. military police also called in on Nick Berg during his detention to make sure that he was receiving adequate conditions.

But beyond that, Dan Senor's referring all other questions to why he was released, the timing of his release and how he was released to the Mosul Police Station, somewhat curious given that Mosul Police obviously still fall well under coalition control, and that the coalition had been aware of this case ever since his detention.

But Dan Senor still saying that the coalition needs more time. But he has promised there will be an investigation into the case -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Karl Penhaul in Baghdad. Thank you for that.

Also while Karl was doing that report, we're getting more from Dan Senor and the Coalition provisional Authority and what they had to say about the beheading of Nicholas Berg. There are claims on the tape that was made and posted on the Internet that Ayman al Zarqawi (sic) was somehow responsible. Let's go ahead and listen into a sound bite on that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN SENOR, COALITION SPOKESMAN: Acts of terror, whether they are Zarqawi-type bombings or brutal mutilations and murders, like we've seen the last couple days with Mr. Berg, or the four American contractors in Fallujah a few weeks ago, that we've seen these grotesque acts of terror here for some time.

Whether or not Mr. Zarqawi is directly involved remains to be seen.

GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY: The only indication ... we have right now was the claim made on the Web site entitled "Abu Musab al Zarqawi kills an American." We don't know -- we don't have at this point any other intelligence corroborating that he either was or was not involved in the murder.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: The Bush administration has spent much of its time and effort contending with Iraq, be it the prisoner or the -- prisoner abuse scandal or the beheading of Nicholas Berg. Suzanne Malveaux just attended a administration briefing. They call it the gaggle. And Suzanne has the latest on that. Good morning.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. The White House this morning, again, is expressing its outrage, its sadness as well as its resolve over this beheading.

We just heard from White House spokesman Scott McClellan in the gaggle who said, once again, that the president expresses his deepest condolences to the Berg's family. He goes on to say that this is a man who wanted to help build a free Iraq, that he was an innocent civilian seeking to help. He also says that this brutal, barbaric action of these terrorist shows their true nature. He went on to say that there is no justification for the brutal killing of an innocent civilian.

He also said, as well, that the policy of the United States is well known, that they do not trade or swap terrorists. There was a report from those terrorists on the tape that they were offering to trade Berg for those at the Abu Ghraib Prison. U.S. officials sat that that U.S. false.

McClellan went on to say, however, that these brutal terrorists had ties to al Qaeda and they were seeking any excuse to justify the murder of this young man. And they say that that is not acceptable. They also say, as well, that the U.S. will not be deterred in its mission in Iraq and that it must be successful -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Suzanne, let's get back to the prisoner abuse story. Each of the 100 senators will have the opportunity today to go to the Pentagon to view more photos and some video of what took place at Abu Ghaith. But those pictures, those images will not be made public. That decision comes from the White House. Any word on that?

MALVEAUX: Well that decision has not yet been made. And the White House is in consultation with the Pentagon, their lawyers as well as other officials involved in those discussions. They say that no decision yet has been made on that,

There are a number of factors, however, that they're considering. First of all, whether or not the release of those additional photos and video perhaps would put U.S. soldiers in further danger inside of Iraq. Second, whether it would violate any kind of privacy arrangements and whether it will compromise the investigations of those who were involved.

Those are all of the things that they are taking into account. But they say at this time they have still not determined whether or not those photos will be released to the public -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House.

From the corridors of the White House to colleagues around the water cooler, these two incidents have stirred some very strong emotions among Americans. Our Chris Lawrence is at a coffee shop diner in Michigan with -- to sample some reaction for us. Chris, good morning.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. Even on a beautiful spring day here in Charlevoix, people have a hard time not thinking about what is going on thousands of miles away in Iraq.

We caught up with David Newick (ph) having a cup of coffee. Your thoughts on what you've seen and heard over the past few days, especially the beheading of the American civilian.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nicholas Berg and his family -- I'll talk to you -- excuse me. I feel terrible about it. But I also feel that this is a problem that's part of the war effort in general. And I'm not so sure, in my opinion, that war is the right way to solve this problem. I think diplomacy in the long run for our nation is a better way to solve problems than fighting the war and killing people, whether we're killing them or they're killing us, it's not a way to solve a problem.

If you say a family has a dispute, they don't kill one another, they don't injure one another. They try to talk this problem out. And that makes for a cohesive, wonderful family.

This world family is one wonderful family, if we can learn to work together and not destroy one another with powerful weapons.

LAWRENCE: David, thank you very much for your time. Definitely a diplomat.

We'll take you inside the coffee shop right now, plenty of diverse opinions here. This is Mary Beth Kerr (ph). She's a local prosecutor here in the area. With everything that's happened over the past few weeks and days with the prisoner abuse scandal and the beheading, what do you think about what you've seen over there?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think we need to stay the course in Iraq. And I think that the prisoner scandal, while it's atrocious and disturbing and upsetting, I think it's being dealt with appropriately. And I think it's not at all reflective of the work that hundreds of thousands of American troops are doing in Iraq.

And it's unfortunate that that's what is getting all the exposure. I think it needs to be exposed and it's a bad thing, as I said before. But there's so much good being done there that needs to be reflected, as well.

LAWRENCE: And your reaction to hearing about the American beheading?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's disgusting. It's sad, it's reflective of the mentality that we're over there, quite frankly, trying to change.

LAWRENCE: Mary Beth Kerr, thank you very much.

Obviously a lot of opinions here, Daryn. We'll continue to keep you updated throughout the day. Take a trip down the street there and try to get more opinions on what's going on in Iraq from the heart of northwestern Michigan.

KAGAN: All right, we will check back with you. Chris Lawrence in Charlevoix, Michigan, thank you for that.

Some strange lights in the night sky. The Mexican air force captures images it says are far from normal. What do you think?

Also, does this dog represent the future of animal rehab? You'll hear the story of Footsie, how he got back on both feet in the back and the people who helped him out.

This is CNN LIVE TODAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Let check on some stories from across America. In San Jose, California, police have reportedly arrested an imprisoned kidnapper in the 1989 (ph) abduction and murder of a 7-year-old girl. The arrest of Curtis Dean Anderson comes more than two years after he admitted to kidnapping Deanna Fairchild (ph). Police say they now have enough evidence to charge him.

In Texas, a twister faster than a speeding locomotive and stronger than two trains stopped in their tracks. The tornado knocked two locomotives off their tracks, along with 15 empty coal cars in the panhandle town of Hartley. No one was injured.

The father of slain child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey has announced he will run for office. John Ramsey will seek a seat in the Michigan house of representatives. Ramsey's vacationed in Michigan. The murder of JonBenet Ramsey in Colorado remains unsolved 7 1/2 years later.

And the Seminole tribe of Florida rolls the dice with -- try that again, $250 million complex in the city of Hollywood, Florida. They're hoping to gamble on the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino will generated about a billion dollars a year. It's the largest casino complex in Florida. It to took about four years to build.

(BUSINESS UPDATE)

KAGAN: Susan, thank you so much for that.

Up ahead on CNN LIVE TODAY, a story we told you about six years ago. It captured the heart of one of our viewers. You see her there in the middle. The lengths one person traveled to help this dog make history. You're going to meet Footsie, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: (AUDIO GAP)

... story on Footsie, a dog missing the lower halves of his bag paws. Today, Footsie is getting around very nicely, thank you know very much, with prosthetic legs.

Here to tell his amazing story is Footsie's owner, Helen Depinto (ph), along with orthotist Ken Woodard (ph) and prosthetist Steve Hoover (ph), who I'm sure will tell me I completely mispronounced what they do. But we'll get to that in a second.

Helen, first, let's start with you. Six years ago you seen a story of this dog right here on CNN, basically a puppy in Buffalo, New York. You're in Michigan. You drove to buffalo to get this dog.

HELEN DIPINTO (ph), FOOTSIE'S OWNER: Well, actually, I was in Ann Arbor for a year, and I actually lived in Buffalo. I went home, met the dog, at the Erie County SBCA, fell in love with him and was awarded the adoption.

KAGAN: And when you adopted Footsie, he had part of his back legs?

DIPINTO: Yes, he has part of his foot. He's missing the lower half.

KAGAN: I get this question all the time, because I have a three- legged cat. People want to know, how did he end up this way?

DIPINTO: We don't know. One theory is a cord was wrapped around his feet, and they just never developed.

KAGAN: OK, now you bring Footsie home. Footsie, at first, how would he get around?

DIPINTO: He walked on his front quarter.

And let's back up a minute. A gentleman in Erie County made him a set of feet, but that was five years ago, and that allowed him to run around and act like a dog.

KAGAN: So that was the first try.

Now let's bring Ken and Steve in. How do you guys get involved, because I don't think all of you people knew each other.

DIPINTO: No.

STEVE HOOVER (ph), PROSTHETIST: Well, I actually got a call from a physical therapist at a closed (ph) head injury facility, where Footsie is a therapy dog, and he told me about Footsie, and that he had these prosthetics, but he had outgrown them, and he wasn't getting around as well as Brad -- he thought he could. So he asked me if I would come out and take a look, and I did, and fell in love with the dog, and so I just knew we had to do something.

And I got Ken involved, as well, so we could both use our expertise because, frankly, neither one of us have ever worked with a dog before.

KAGAN: Yes, that's Footsie telling you don't stop with the rubbing over there.

OK, Ken, now explain to us what exactly you were able to do for Footsie.

KEN WOODARD (ph), ORTHOTIST: Well, what we did is with the help of a veterinarian in Dexter (ph), who put Footsie to sleep for us, we took an impression of his residual stumps, and we took that, got a real good positive model, and were able to vacuform (ph) a thermal for him, a soft liner, and then we fabricated a two-piece carbon skeleton with feet on it for him.

KAGAN: So you never worked on dogs or animals before?

WOODWARD: No.

KAGAN: You're people people.

KAGAN: And, Helen, tell us the difference that it has made in Footsie's life.

DIPINTO: Well, these are his high-tech boots, that's the difference. His first set of feet, they did the trick at that point in time. These are his high-tech ones. And he's anatomically correct now, and he's had them about three weeks, and he's loving them. He's doing his therapy work and doing what we want him to do.

KAGAN: And tell us a little bit more about that Footsie is a working dog and what he does as a therapy dog.

DIPINTO: Yes, he goes to the head trauma unit and visits the folks. He's going to be going to the veteran's hospital here in the amputee ward next Monday, and he's going to be visiting some nursing homes.

KAGAN: Ken and Steve, I have to ask the question, because I know there are people out there that aren't animal crazies like we are -- why don't you take that kind of effort and free service and put it towards people who might need that help, instead of a dog?

HOOVER: Well actually, the company that Ken and I work for, Polyphus (ph), right here in Michigan, we actually do that quite often. I actually made an arm a few years ago for a young man from Russia, who was a foreign exchange student and didn't have any insurance, and I just recently made a prosthesis for a man who lost his limb in a farming accident, who also didn't have insurance.

So we do do that as well, but when we saw this dog and we knew he was seeing the same kind of patients that Ken and I see on a regular basis. Actually, Ken and I see patients at the facility that called us, we just knew we had to do something for him. And so we kind of worked on our own time, and the company allowed us to use some of their materials, and we were able to do something for him.

KAGAN: Well, very good. It sounds like there's lots of good work and good stuff to go around for people and for animals. Thank you to all of you.

And quickly, Helen, as someone who adopted an animal from a shelter, the love you're getting from the animal you saved.

DEPINTO: Oh, absolutely. Shelter dogs are wonderful. Go to your local shelters and look for a dog.

KAGAN: If everyone can could be as happy as Footsie is right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, exactly.

KAGAN: Doing OK. And as I said, it's a warm place in my heart as the mother of a three-legged cat, who's doing just fine with just the three legs, don't need help from Ken and Steve. We're doing OK.

Thank you so much, Helen Depinto, Ken Woodward and Steve Hoover. And of course Footsie.

Congratulations. Appreciate it. Thank you so much.

Fighting for an 'R' rating. One group says that movies that feature smoking shouldn't have anything but an over 17 audience. We'll tell you what they have to say about that in the next hour of CNN LIVE TODAY.

And it was anything but a starry night over Mexico. The Mexican Air Force says you're looking at pictures of UFOs. That story is just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Science fiction or fact? Mexico's Air Force using an infrared camera filmed 11 UFOs while on a routine mission in March. That's near the Gulf of Mexico. The videotape, just released, shows a bright object, some sharp points of light, and other like large headlights. The Mexican pilot said they got nervous when the object turned back during a chase and surrounded the plane. The plane's captain said that when the Air Force jet stopped the chase, the lights disappeared.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: Well, just when you thought they couldn't go any higher, prices at the pump keep on jumping. A consumer advocate can help you find the best deals, though.

And technology Daniel Sieberg is in...

(AUDIO GAP)

... covering the Electronic Entertainment Expo. That means video games.

And what was he doing at the Playboy mansion? Daniel, what does that have to do with covering video games? We're going to get to the bottom of this. Second hour of CNN LIVE TODAY begins right now.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired May 12, 2004 - 10:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Daryn Kagan. Topping the news right now, the body of murdered American Nicholas Berg is due today at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, not far from his family's home in Pennsylvania. A military spokesman says that Berg's body was aboard an Air Force plane that departed Kuwait last night. His body was found in Iraq on Monday and a videotape of Berg's beheaded surfaced yesterday. The White House has vowed to track down Berg's killers.
On Capitol Hill this afternoon, senators will be allowed to view more photos and videos of Iraqi prisoner mistreatment. No copies or public disclosure will be permitted. It will be left to the Bush administration to decide whether those images will be released to the public.

Legal problems have not slowed the Lakers Kobe Bryant. He scored 42 points last night as the Lakers defeated the Spurs in the NBA playoffs. Earlier in the day, as seen here, Bryant was an Eagle, Colorado courtroom. He pleaded not guilty in Colorado to sexual assault. No trial date was set.

Scott Peterson's double murder trial will remain in Redwood City, California. The judge denied a defense request for a change of venue to Los Angeles. case was already moved from Modesto to Redwood City when another a ruled an impartial jury could not be seated in Peterson's hometown. The trial begins May 24.

Now to the death of American Nicholas Berg and reaction on the streets of Iraq. For that we go to Baghdad and Karl Penhaul -- Karl.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Daryn. A few moments ago Dan Senor, the coalition spokesman, was giving a press briefing. He faced multiple questions about Nicholas Berg, what the coalition knew of his presence here in Iraq. In fact, there were many more questions there than answers.

Dan Senor did, though, confirm that Nicholas Berg was detained by Iraqi police in northern Iraq near the city of Mosul on the 24th of March. He was held by Iraqi police until his release on April 6.

During that time, Dan Senor says, he was visited on a number of occasions by the FBI who were looking into possibilities that he may be involved in some kind of terrorist or criminal activity. Dan Senor says there was no evidence of that, eventually.

General Kimmitt, the military spokesman for the coalition, says that U.S. military police also called in on Nick Berg during his detention to make sure that he was receiving adequate conditions.

But beyond that, Dan Senor's referring all other questions to why he was released, the timing of his release and how he was released to the Mosul Police Station, somewhat curious given that Mosul Police obviously still fall well under coalition control, and that the coalition had been aware of this case ever since his detention.

But Dan Senor still saying that the coalition needs more time. But he has promised there will be an investigation into the case -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Karl Penhaul in Baghdad. Thank you for that.

Also while Karl was doing that report, we're getting more from Dan Senor and the Coalition provisional Authority and what they had to say about the beheading of Nicholas Berg. There are claims on the tape that was made and posted on the Internet that Ayman al Zarqawi (sic) was somehow responsible. Let's go ahead and listen into a sound bite on that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN SENOR, COALITION SPOKESMAN: Acts of terror, whether they are Zarqawi-type bombings or brutal mutilations and murders, like we've seen the last couple days with Mr. Berg, or the four American contractors in Fallujah a few weeks ago, that we've seen these grotesque acts of terror here for some time.

Whether or not Mr. Zarqawi is directly involved remains to be seen.

GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY: The only indication ... we have right now was the claim made on the Web site entitled "Abu Musab al Zarqawi kills an American." We don't know -- we don't have at this point any other intelligence corroborating that he either was or was not involved in the murder.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: The Bush administration has spent much of its time and effort contending with Iraq, be it the prisoner or the -- prisoner abuse scandal or the beheading of Nicholas Berg. Suzanne Malveaux just attended a administration briefing. They call it the gaggle. And Suzanne has the latest on that. Good morning.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. The White House this morning, again, is expressing its outrage, its sadness as well as its resolve over this beheading.

We just heard from White House spokesman Scott McClellan in the gaggle who said, once again, that the president expresses his deepest condolences to the Berg's family. He goes on to say that this is a man who wanted to help build a free Iraq, that he was an innocent civilian seeking to help. He also says that this brutal, barbaric action of these terrorist shows their true nature. He went on to say that there is no justification for the brutal killing of an innocent civilian.

He also said, as well, that the policy of the United States is well known, that they do not trade or swap terrorists. There was a report from those terrorists on the tape that they were offering to trade Berg for those at the Abu Ghraib Prison. U.S. officials sat that that U.S. false.

McClellan went on to say, however, that these brutal terrorists had ties to al Qaeda and they were seeking any excuse to justify the murder of this young man. And they say that that is not acceptable. They also say, as well, that the U.S. will not be deterred in its mission in Iraq and that it must be successful -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Suzanne, let's get back to the prisoner abuse story. Each of the 100 senators will have the opportunity today to go to the Pentagon to view more photos and some video of what took place at Abu Ghaith. But those pictures, those images will not be made public. That decision comes from the White House. Any word on that?

MALVEAUX: Well that decision has not yet been made. And the White House is in consultation with the Pentagon, their lawyers as well as other officials involved in those discussions. They say that no decision yet has been made on that,

There are a number of factors, however, that they're considering. First of all, whether or not the release of those additional photos and video perhaps would put U.S. soldiers in further danger inside of Iraq. Second, whether it would violate any kind of privacy arrangements and whether it will compromise the investigations of those who were involved.

Those are all of the things that they are taking into account. But they say at this time they have still not determined whether or not those photos will be released to the public -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House.

From the corridors of the White House to colleagues around the water cooler, these two incidents have stirred some very strong emotions among Americans. Our Chris Lawrence is at a coffee shop diner in Michigan with -- to sample some reaction for us. Chris, good morning.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. Even on a beautiful spring day here in Charlevoix, people have a hard time not thinking about what is going on thousands of miles away in Iraq.

We caught up with David Newick (ph) having a cup of coffee. Your thoughts on what you've seen and heard over the past few days, especially the beheading of the American civilian.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nicholas Berg and his family -- I'll talk to you -- excuse me. I feel terrible about it. But I also feel that this is a problem that's part of the war effort in general. And I'm not so sure, in my opinion, that war is the right way to solve this problem. I think diplomacy in the long run for our nation is a better way to solve problems than fighting the war and killing people, whether we're killing them or they're killing us, it's not a way to solve a problem.

If you say a family has a dispute, they don't kill one another, they don't injure one another. They try to talk this problem out. And that makes for a cohesive, wonderful family.

This world family is one wonderful family, if we can learn to work together and not destroy one another with powerful weapons.

LAWRENCE: David, thank you very much for your time. Definitely a diplomat.

We'll take you inside the coffee shop right now, plenty of diverse opinions here. This is Mary Beth Kerr (ph). She's a local prosecutor here in the area. With everything that's happened over the past few weeks and days with the prisoner abuse scandal and the beheading, what do you think about what you've seen over there?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think we need to stay the course in Iraq. And I think that the prisoner scandal, while it's atrocious and disturbing and upsetting, I think it's being dealt with appropriately. And I think it's not at all reflective of the work that hundreds of thousands of American troops are doing in Iraq.

And it's unfortunate that that's what is getting all the exposure. I think it needs to be exposed and it's a bad thing, as I said before. But there's so much good being done there that needs to be reflected, as well.

LAWRENCE: And your reaction to hearing about the American beheading?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's disgusting. It's sad, it's reflective of the mentality that we're over there, quite frankly, trying to change.

LAWRENCE: Mary Beth Kerr, thank you very much.

Obviously a lot of opinions here, Daryn. We'll continue to keep you updated throughout the day. Take a trip down the street there and try to get more opinions on what's going on in Iraq from the heart of northwestern Michigan.

KAGAN: All right, we will check back with you. Chris Lawrence in Charlevoix, Michigan, thank you for that.

Some strange lights in the night sky. The Mexican air force captures images it says are far from normal. What do you think?

Also, does this dog represent the future of animal rehab? You'll hear the story of Footsie, how he got back on both feet in the back and the people who helped him out.

This is CNN LIVE TODAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Let check on some stories from across America. In San Jose, California, police have reportedly arrested an imprisoned kidnapper in the 1989 (ph) abduction and murder of a 7-year-old girl. The arrest of Curtis Dean Anderson comes more than two years after he admitted to kidnapping Deanna Fairchild (ph). Police say they now have enough evidence to charge him.

In Texas, a twister faster than a speeding locomotive and stronger than two trains stopped in their tracks. The tornado knocked two locomotives off their tracks, along with 15 empty coal cars in the panhandle town of Hartley. No one was injured.

The father of slain child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey has announced he will run for office. John Ramsey will seek a seat in the Michigan house of representatives. Ramsey's vacationed in Michigan. The murder of JonBenet Ramsey in Colorado remains unsolved 7 1/2 years later.

And the Seminole tribe of Florida rolls the dice with -- try that again, $250 million complex in the city of Hollywood, Florida. They're hoping to gamble on the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino will generated about a billion dollars a year. It's the largest casino complex in Florida. It to took about four years to build.

(BUSINESS UPDATE)

KAGAN: Susan, thank you so much for that.

Up ahead on CNN LIVE TODAY, a story we told you about six years ago. It captured the heart of one of our viewers. You see her there in the middle. The lengths one person traveled to help this dog make history. You're going to meet Footsie, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: (AUDIO GAP)

... story on Footsie, a dog missing the lower halves of his bag paws. Today, Footsie is getting around very nicely, thank you know very much, with prosthetic legs.

Here to tell his amazing story is Footsie's owner, Helen Depinto (ph), along with orthotist Ken Woodard (ph) and prosthetist Steve Hoover (ph), who I'm sure will tell me I completely mispronounced what they do. But we'll get to that in a second.

Helen, first, let's start with you. Six years ago you seen a story of this dog right here on CNN, basically a puppy in Buffalo, New York. You're in Michigan. You drove to buffalo to get this dog.

HELEN DIPINTO (ph), FOOTSIE'S OWNER: Well, actually, I was in Ann Arbor for a year, and I actually lived in Buffalo. I went home, met the dog, at the Erie County SBCA, fell in love with him and was awarded the adoption.

KAGAN: And when you adopted Footsie, he had part of his back legs?

DIPINTO: Yes, he has part of his foot. He's missing the lower half.

KAGAN: I get this question all the time, because I have a three- legged cat. People want to know, how did he end up this way?

DIPINTO: We don't know. One theory is a cord was wrapped around his feet, and they just never developed.

KAGAN: OK, now you bring Footsie home. Footsie, at first, how would he get around?

DIPINTO: He walked on his front quarter.

And let's back up a minute. A gentleman in Erie County made him a set of feet, but that was five years ago, and that allowed him to run around and act like a dog.

KAGAN: So that was the first try.

Now let's bring Ken and Steve in. How do you guys get involved, because I don't think all of you people knew each other.

DIPINTO: No.

STEVE HOOVER (ph), PROSTHETIST: Well, I actually got a call from a physical therapist at a closed (ph) head injury facility, where Footsie is a therapy dog, and he told me about Footsie, and that he had these prosthetics, but he had outgrown them, and he wasn't getting around as well as Brad -- he thought he could. So he asked me if I would come out and take a look, and I did, and fell in love with the dog, and so I just knew we had to do something.

And I got Ken involved, as well, so we could both use our expertise because, frankly, neither one of us have ever worked with a dog before.

KAGAN: Yes, that's Footsie telling you don't stop with the rubbing over there.

OK, Ken, now explain to us what exactly you were able to do for Footsie.

KEN WOODARD (ph), ORTHOTIST: Well, what we did is with the help of a veterinarian in Dexter (ph), who put Footsie to sleep for us, we took an impression of his residual stumps, and we took that, got a real good positive model, and were able to vacuform (ph) a thermal for him, a soft liner, and then we fabricated a two-piece carbon skeleton with feet on it for him.

KAGAN: So you never worked on dogs or animals before?

WOODWARD: No.

KAGAN: You're people people.

KAGAN: And, Helen, tell us the difference that it has made in Footsie's life.

DIPINTO: Well, these are his high-tech boots, that's the difference. His first set of feet, they did the trick at that point in time. These are his high-tech ones. And he's anatomically correct now, and he's had them about three weeks, and he's loving them. He's doing his therapy work and doing what we want him to do.

KAGAN: And tell us a little bit more about that Footsie is a working dog and what he does as a therapy dog.

DIPINTO: Yes, he goes to the head trauma unit and visits the folks. He's going to be going to the veteran's hospital here in the amputee ward next Monday, and he's going to be visiting some nursing homes.

KAGAN: Ken and Steve, I have to ask the question, because I know there are people out there that aren't animal crazies like we are -- why don't you take that kind of effort and free service and put it towards people who might need that help, instead of a dog?

HOOVER: Well actually, the company that Ken and I work for, Polyphus (ph), right here in Michigan, we actually do that quite often. I actually made an arm a few years ago for a young man from Russia, who was a foreign exchange student and didn't have any insurance, and I just recently made a prosthesis for a man who lost his limb in a farming accident, who also didn't have insurance.

So we do do that as well, but when we saw this dog and we knew he was seeing the same kind of patients that Ken and I see on a regular basis. Actually, Ken and I see patients at the facility that called us, we just knew we had to do something for him. And so we kind of worked on our own time, and the company allowed us to use some of their materials, and we were able to do something for him.

KAGAN: Well, very good. It sounds like there's lots of good work and good stuff to go around for people and for animals. Thank you to all of you.

And quickly, Helen, as someone who adopted an animal from a shelter, the love you're getting from the animal you saved.

DEPINTO: Oh, absolutely. Shelter dogs are wonderful. Go to your local shelters and look for a dog.

KAGAN: If everyone can could be as happy as Footsie is right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, exactly.

KAGAN: Doing OK. And as I said, it's a warm place in my heart as the mother of a three-legged cat, who's doing just fine with just the three legs, don't need help from Ken and Steve. We're doing OK.

Thank you so much, Helen Depinto, Ken Woodward and Steve Hoover. And of course Footsie.

Congratulations. Appreciate it. Thank you so much.

Fighting for an 'R' rating. One group says that movies that feature smoking shouldn't have anything but an over 17 audience. We'll tell you what they have to say about that in the next hour of CNN LIVE TODAY.

And it was anything but a starry night over Mexico. The Mexican Air Force says you're looking at pictures of UFOs. That story is just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Science fiction or fact? Mexico's Air Force using an infrared camera filmed 11 UFOs while on a routine mission in March. That's near the Gulf of Mexico. The videotape, just released, shows a bright object, some sharp points of light, and other like large headlights. The Mexican pilot said they got nervous when the object turned back during a chase and surrounded the plane. The plane's captain said that when the Air Force jet stopped the chase, the lights disappeared.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: Well, just when you thought they couldn't go any higher, prices at the pump keep on jumping. A consumer advocate can help you find the best deals, though.

And technology Daniel Sieberg is in...

(AUDIO GAP)

... covering the Electronic Entertainment Expo. That means video games.

And what was he doing at the Playboy mansion? Daniel, what does that have to do with covering video games? We're going to get to the bottom of this. Second hour of CNN LIVE TODAY begins right now.

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