Return to Transcripts main page

News from CNN

Zion Child Murders; Fake Security IDs; The Fight for Iraq

Aired May 10, 2005 - 11:59   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.


WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: We've got lots of news unfolding this hour on CNN, including some late-breaking details from Illinois. CNN has learned police are now questioning what they are describing as a person of interest in connection with the deaths of those two young girls. We'll go live to the scene for unfolding developments.
Plus, dozens of children are injured in a school bus accident in Missouri. This hour, how safe are the kids who ride the nation's school buses?

Also, the fight for Iraq. A new U.S. military offensive big enough to get a name, Operation Matador. We'll go live to Baghdad for the latest developments.

First, some other headlines.

The Florida Highway Patrol says it may be a pipe bomb -- may, may be a pipe bomb that has closed off a usually busy highway in the Miami area. You're looking at these live pictures.

The Miami-Dade Police bomb squad investigating the object on the Palmetto Expressway. That's in Miami Lakes. We'll watch this story for you and bring developments as they occur.

So long Tbilisi. President Bush departs the former Soviet republic of Georgia, ending his five-day trip to the region. Before taking off, Mr. Bush saluted Georgia's independence in a speech before thousands of admirers.

And the so-called runaway bride, Jennifer Wilbanks, she's getting some help. A P.R. firm for her church says she's now undergoing treatment at an inpatient program that deals with "physical and mental issues." Wilbanks has been in seclusion since she returned home to Georgia after skipping four days before her wedding date.

Up first, those horrifying slayings of those two little girls not far north of Chicago. At this hour, a net apparently beginning to close around a possible suspect.

Standing by live in Zion, Illinois, CNN's Chris Lawrence.

What's going on, Chris?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, here's what we know. We know that police initially said that they had absolutely no leads. This morning, we learned that police have questioned the father of Laura Hobbs, one of the girls who was the victim in this horrible killing. They have questioned the father of Laura Hobbs as a person of possible interest in the case.

There are separate reports from the "Chicago Tribune" that a suspect will be named and charged later today. If that is the case, that cannot be better news for this community, because not only have they been dealing with the -- just the horrible nature of this crime, two little girls, second graders brutally murdered, and then left for dead in a park very near where they both lived and went to school, but also the uncertainty, not knowing if their children were safe.

Many parents kept their kids out of school today. The ones that did go to school, literally walked their children right up to you door and planned to pick them up from that same door when they get out of school later today. So they will be watching very closely to see if this indeed is the case and where this investigation goes from here in the next few hours -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Anything scheduled, Chris, in terms of formal news conferences, statements from local law enforcement?

LAWRENCE: Well, I talked to the chief investigator of the task force about 30 minutes ago. He was saying that his investigators were just coming back in from the field, that he hoped to have a debrief with them. And inside here at the police headquarters, they said between about 11:30 and noon Eastern Time, they expected to release a written statement.

We're already past that deadline, and we have not seen that written statement yet. But it seems like something is definitely in the works.

As we said, the father of Laura Hobbs has been questioned as a person of possible interest. And it seems to be that the investigation is progressing at this point.

BLITZER: Now, it's normal, it's routine in a case like this to question the family members, the parents, the siblings, all of the relatives, basically, who have been in touch. So that doesn't necessarily mean that this person of interest is going to be named a suspect or anything along those lines, because that's standard operating procedure.

But talk a little bit about these two girls. They were best friends, I understand, Chris. What kind of families do they come from? Because we really haven't heard anything from the parents, have we?

LAWRENCE: Well, we have heard. I spoke last night to the grandmother of Laura Hobbs. And she said, you know, she was just -- just a great girl. Just your typical little kid who was interested in a lot of things.

Neither of the girls was described as very shy. They both seemed to be very outgoing.

And by the reaction from a lot of the other little kids their age, these girls were very well liked. They were very popular with the other kids.

I can say it's interesting because this is a community, a small town where kids go out and play and the neighbors notice them. We talked to a lot of neighbors who said, "Yeah, I saw the girls. We saw them. They were riding their bikes." Or, "We saw them. They were swinging on a hammock Sunday afternoon."

So the neighbors notice things. And they all knew the girls. And they noticed them out playing out Sunday afternoon.

And that was one reason why they were so concerned when they turned up missing, and people started to think, well, what's going on here, something's wrong. And then, of course, Monday morning, when the bodies were found, it just really sent a shock wave through entire community.

BLITZER: Do we know after the girls went missing whether there was a formal Amber Alert that was issued in that part of Illinois?

LAWRENCE: I don't believe it was just because of the timeline. They were supposed to come home about 7:00 Sunday afternoon. When they didn't, first one of the families called in and said, hey, our daughter's missing. Shortly thereafter, about an hour later, the other family called and said, our daughter is missing.

Police initially did not suspect any foul play. They said, well, initially there didn't seem to be anything to indicate that -- that it was anything criminal in nature. That it could have been little girls who stayed out too late, little girls who decided to run away. So initially they weren't thinking necessarily along those lines.

As it got later into the night, as it got dark, and especially early the next morning, everybody started to get very worried. But by then, 6:00 Monday morning, before the girls would have even left for school, a person walking through that park, through the wooded area, found the bodies and alerted police.

BLITZER: All right. Chris Lawrence, you'll stand-by for us, bring us all of the latest developments as they become available.

Chris Lawrence covering this gruesome story for us, the slayings of these two little girls in Zion, Illinois.

Thanks very much, Chris Lawrence, for that.

I want to update you on that story we've been talking about out of Miami, that suspected pipe bomb on the Palmetto Expressway. We saw one of the officers fully clad in protective gear dealing with it. Look at what happened just a few minutes ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, they just detonated it.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: The bomb was -- the suspected -- the suspected pipe bomb -- we don't know if it was a pipe bomb, it was suspected to be a pipe bomb -- was blown up by local police investigating that object on the Palmetto Expressway in Miami Lakes in Florida. It looks like that story has now been resolved. They'll determine whether in fact it was a pipe bomb or just a pipe. We'll find out and we'll let you know.

There's another developing story we're following out of New York City, the arrest of a man on charges of having hundreds of fake IDs designed to look exactly like law enforcement badges. It's part of our CNN "Security Watch."

Let's get the story. CNN's Deborah Feyerick joining us now live -- Deborah.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, Homeland Security officials very concerned that some of those badges may have ended up in the hands of terrorists. Yesterday, they seized some 1,000, more than a thousand badges from 35 different law enforcement agencies.

They included FBI badges, badges from the U.S. Marshal Service, Drug Enforcement Agency, Secret Service, Customs, even the New York Police Department. The head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement here in New York called the counterfeits very, very good. Some of the badges even had the imprints of the company that makes the real badges.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN FICKE, FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Here you have clearly over 1,300 very good counterfeit badges representing over 35 law enforcement agencies, federal, state, and local. And for someone to have that in their possession and to be able to utilize that as a law enforcement officer could be devastating when it comes to a situation like homeland security, of course, where we are trying to control access to various things and the authority of various people to have access at those particular locations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: The badges were shipped from Taiwan to San Francisco. An alert Customs agent there alerted agents in New York.

Marshals went to the Bronx home of a Russian man, a man by the name of Sergio Coresh (ph). He was arrested. He was released on $50,000 bond.

He is a permanent resident of the United States. Officials believe -- or officials say he's been arrested more than 30 times. At least once for impersonating an officer.

Right now they're looking into who may have some of the many, many badges that he had in his possession. As a matter of fact, when agents raided the home, they found some FedEx packages ready to go to be shipped out -- Wolf. BLITZER: Was there any indication based on what we know so far, Deb, that this is -- was this a money-making operation for these suspects or some sort of terror-related or political kind of operation? Because the motives could be very, very different and potentially much more serious if it were the latter.

FEYERICK: Wolf, that is something that agents right now are definitely trying to decipher. But the badges were from sale. They ranged in price from $35 to $50, and apparently they were being sold on a Web site.

We have tried to find that Web site. Right now we have not been able to find the Web site where he was selling these badges. But at one point, according to the criminal complaint, he actually even put an advertisement on a Web site saying he was interested in getting real copies of federal law enforcement badges.

BLITZER: All right. Deborah Feyerick will watch this story for us and we'll check back with her. Thanks. Scary, very scary indeed.

To our viewers, please stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

Turning now to the fight for Iraq. There's been a high-level kidnapping in Iraq's Al Anbar province. It comes as about 1,000 U.S. military troops battling insurgents in the remote region that's not far from the Syrian border.

Our Ryan Chilcote is in Baghdad. He's joining us now live with the latest -- Ryan.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it's being called Operation Matador. It's now in its third day. It's all taking place in what's called the Anbar province. That's a western Iraqi province, a Ba'athist (ph) province, I should say.

The whole idea of this operation, according to the U.S. military, is to try and stem the flow of weapons and fighters, foreign fighters among them from outside of Iraq, across the Syrian-Iraqi border, into the larger cities here in Iraq from where they had been carrying out attacks. Some of the fighting began just the day before yesterday, the town of Ubaydi, right there on the south bank of the Euphrates.

That's where the U.S. military says they took some heavy fire. That fighting subsided midday yesterday, and that is when they crossed the Euphrates after building a pontoon bridge.

Operations now taking place just north of the Euphrates in a desert area there. The U.S. military says they are having some success at drawing out some of these foreign fighters that they believe to be in this area.

They say that in the first 48 hours of the operation, they already killed some 100 insurgents. Among them, they believe, foreign fighters. They're also saying that three Marines were killed in the fighting there in Anbar. And this just in, Wolf. We have confirmed from sources in the Anbar province that the governor of that province was abducted. Reportedly, the abductors are demanding that U.S. military cease its operations there -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And what about the latest on car bombings in and around Baghdad? Where does that stand today?

CHILCOTE: Oh, it's just, Wolf, another example of why the U.S. military wants to try and stem these weapons and fighters before they get to the cities today. Another violent day.

In all, three bombings. Two of them detonated by suicide bombers. The most lethal, the first one this morning, a suicide bomber driving a car into a busy intersection.

U.S. -- or Iraqi police, rather, saying that this suicide bomber was trying to target a U.S. military patrol that was passing through it. No word of U.S. casualties, although, however, how the case usually is, there are Iraqis among the casualties.

According to the Iraqi police, they're saying that at least seven Iraqis were killed in that attack. Another 14 wounded.

And Wolf, the U.S. military is saying that these car bombs are becoming an increasingly significant and serious problem for the Iraqi government and for U.S. forces here. They're saying that just in the month of April, just last month, 130 -- 135 of these car bombs went off in Iraq -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Ryan Chilcote reporting for us. Thanks, Ryan, very much.

Another disturbing story we are watching. He apparently breached security three times at London's Heathrow Airport and also managed to get on board of a U.S. aircraft carrier off of the coast of England. British prosecutors say Abdul Yasoufu (ph) was simply trying to satisfy his curiosity.

Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is joining us now live. She's got some more details.

What's going on in this story, Barbara?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, it may have been a man, an intruder trying to satisfy his curiosity. But it is a significant breach of security that now U.S. and British security officials are investigating to determine, no matter what motive was, how it all happened.

They are confirming there were some previous sketchy media reports. Now confirming that on April 18, as the USS Harry Truman aircraft carrier was anchored off Portsmouth, England, an intruder got on board and was on board of that aircraft carrier for half an hour before he was found. Now, although the man was did determined not to be a terrorist, this is a serious matter. Because he apparently was able to breach several layers of both British and U.S. military security.

He got past Royal Navy security at the Portsmouth docks. He then got onto a small boat, essentially a liberty boat that was taking members of the Truman back out to their ship which was anchored slightly offshore, and then he was able to get on board the Truman.

Once he was discovered, the security personnel from the ship conducted an immediate search to make sure he had not placed explosives on board or caused any damage. That proved not to be the case.

He proved to be essentially an intruder, a man that was well known to British security officials. But still, how did he get on board this Navy aircraft carrier?

One of the reasons, Wolf, this is significant, of course, is everyone will remember it was about five years ago that the USS Cole was bombed in port in Yemen. Several sailors being killed in that bombing attack. And ever since then, the Navy has had very stringent security standards when its warships are in port. But apparently on April 18, those stringent Navy security standards were breached -- Wolf.

BLITZER: What do we know about Abdul Yasoufu (ph)? Where is he from? What kind of background?

If British police have known that he is an intruder trying to breach security at Heathrow on several occasions, what's going on here?

STARR: We spoke to the Hampshire Police Department in southern England earlier today. What they told us is this man has become known to them, that he is banned, of course, from these secure areas, that he's attempted to breach airport security. And that he even attempted to get back on to the Portsmouth docks apparently the next day after making an appearance in the U.K. court system.

It is now up to the U.K. court system, of course, to decide what to do with him. But that, Wolf, what officials are emphasizing, is that is a separate law enforcement matter.

This is a man who apparently attempts to breach security. That will be dealt with by law enforcement officials in Britain.

What is of very serious concern, of course, is the security breach that is now being investigated, we are told, by the Royal Navy and by the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service. How did anyone, no matter what the motivation and the reason, how did anyone get past so many layers of security and make it onto a U.S. Navy warship for apparently half an hour undetected -- Wolf.

BLITZER: That's not an easy venture, as you and I know. We have been aboard those aircraft carriers. By no means easy. Final question. Do we know what citizenship Abdul Yasoufu (ph) has? Is he British citizen or is he a foreign subject?

STARR: The only thing we have been told is that he appears to be of west African descent. It is certainly not known to me at the moment, frankly, what his actual citizenship is.

BLITZER: Barbara Starr reporting for us. Thank you, Barbara, very much.

Word today of thousands of computer systems being hacked. And they belong to the U.S. government. Details coming up.

Also, heading to court. Brian Nichols, the man accused in a deadly courthouse shooting in Atlanta. We'll have a live report.

And school bus safety. Questions being raised after this crash yesterday in Missouri. Would children be safer wearing seatbelts on buses? And if they're not wearing seatbelts, why aren't they wearing seatbelts? We'll discuss that issue.

You're watching NEWS FROM CNN, and we're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

Atlanta's Brian Nichols set to return to court for the reign of terror he's accused of launching on his way to an earlier hearing that we all watched unfold here on CNN. He faces 54 counts, including multiple murders.

CNN's Tony Harris has the latest on this notorious courthouse killing's case. Tony joining us now live.

Tony, give us the latest.

TONY HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: OK. Good afternoon, Wolf.

It should be a pretty straightforward day today in the courtroom of Judge Hilton Fuller in the Fulton County Courthouse building right behind me here in downtown Atlanta. Wolf, a couple of things are going to happen today.

First, a hearing. For the first time, the state will declare on the record its intentions of moving forward with this case against Brian Nichols as a death penalty case. It will be the first time that Brian Nichols will have heard those words in court today.

Next, the judge will then get an opportunity to explore the experience of Brian Nichols' defense team in death penalty cases. Of course, his defense team is made up of members of the public defender's office here in Fulton County, and the lead attorney, as well as the co-counsel, must both have experience in death penalty cases. Next, Brian Nichols will get an opportunity, if he chooses to, to raise any objections he might have with his defense team as it is currently constituted. That might give us some indication of whether or not he and his defense team are on the same page. All indications are that they are.

Once that hearing wraps up, then we expect that there will be an arraignment. At that time, the charges will be read against Brian Nichols, and he will have an opportunity to enter a plea. We expect that that plea will be not guilty. Once he enters that plea, essentially the day in court is over for Brian Nichols and it is back to the Fulton County jail.

So let us bring you up to speed with where we are right now.

It was last Thursday, as you mentioned, Wolf, that a Fulton County grand jury returned a 54-count indictment against Brian Nichols, including four murder charges for the deaths of Judge Rowland Barnes, court reporter Julie Brandau, sheriff's deputy Hoyt Teasley, and federal agent David Wilhelm.

After the indictment, the Fulton County district attorney, Paul Howard, announced that his office, after consulting with the family members the victims, was moving forward with a death penalty prosecution. And that decision made today's hearing necessary.

It gets under way at top of the hour. At 1:00, Brian Nichols will be in court. And judging by his last court appearance on April 15, he will be in a suit. His hands will be free. His legs, however, will be shackled.

We'll be there, Wolf, to watch it all unfold.

BLITZER: Tony Harris reporting for us. Thanks, Tony, very much.

And as Tony said, we will have live coverage of the Brian Nichols' hearing, set to begin a little bit more than a half an hour or so from now, 1:00 p.m. Eastern. You'll want to stick around and see that.

The Los Angeles County sheriff says his department has some questions to answer. That car chase suspect hit by police gunfire remains in a hospital with wounds still described as non-life threatening. The question here is why did a posse of officers fire at the suspect's SUV more than 100 times? Not for the first time it's a situation that came to light because it was caught on videotape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF LEE BACA, LOS ANGELES COUNTY: The video has a segment that shows the vehicle stopped. The explanation that I'm receiving preliminarily is that the vehicle was moving backward toward the deputies and that the vehicle had been attempting earlier, prior to that stopped position shown, to get out of that containment that it was in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The sheriff says his department is looking into the incident, as is the local district attorney. We'll watch that story for you.

When we come back, buckle up. That's the national standard for getting into cars and trucks. But for the most part, school buses are the exception.

Now, after this crash in Missouri yesterday, and other recent crashes, lots of questions being raised once again. How safe are our children on board? We'll take a look at that story when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to NEWS FROM CNN. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.

How safe are your children on their way to school? Bus crashes yesterday in Missouri and Massachusetts have many parents across the nation worrying about that question. The school bus in Missouri plowed into two cars, killing the cars' drivers and injuring about two dozen students on the bus.

CNN's Dan Lothian looks in-depth at school bus safety.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A deadly school bus accident in Liberty, Missouri, yesterday...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today was a very difficult day for us.

LOTHIAN: ... and this one just south of Boston, injuring several people...

SISTER THOMASINE KNOWLTON, PRINCIPAL: It's a little frightening, a little disconcerting, naturally.

LOTHIAN: ... is renewing attention on school bus safety.

(on camera): Should parents be concerned? The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration says no. The federal agency tells CNN 24 million school children who are transported over some four-and-a-half billion miles each year are nearly eight times safer riding in a school bus than in a car. And they point out, there are less than eight fatalities inside a bus recorded each year.

(voice over): But some, who would like a federal law requiring either lap belts or a harness system on all school buses, say not enough is being done to protect America's children, despite claims that high padded seat backs create a kind of safety zone.

What happens if there is a rollover? Or the bus is hit from the side? Or runs off the road like this wild ride nine years ago in Indiana? As an on-board camera rolls, children fly. Here it is in slow motion. Amazingly, there were no serious injuries.

Only a few states require large school buses to have any kind of restraint. But federal transportation officials say a lap belt "increases the risk of injury."

That makes sense to Dr. David Mooney, trauma director at Children's Hospital in Boston.

DR. DAVID MOONEY, BOSTON CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: And the lap belts will sometimes ride up higher. And when a child is in a crash, it can injure their intestines, injure their spine. Kids can be paralyzed from just wearing a lap belt only.

LOTHIAN: And while the government says the benefits of the shoulder belt are minuscule, Dr. Mooney believe a system like most cars have today could be helpful if every child buckles up.

MOONEY: It would prevent a lot of injuries that we see.

LOTHIAN: In liberty, Missouri, school officials are now being forced to confront the hotly-debated issue of seatbelts.

DR. SCOTT TABEAU, SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT: When you're talking about safety of children, I think that all issues are on the table.

LOTHIAN: Even as they try to overcome the shock of the crash.

Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Some experts argue that if you're worried about school bus safety, you should be.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ALAN ROSS, COALITION FOR SCHOOL BUS SAFETY: Unfortunately, many parents and administrators overlook the transportation system that they trust these children to every day, and these buses behind me are woefully inadequate in protecting our children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: If more on this issue, let's turn to Charles Gauthier. He heads the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services.

Charles, thanks very much for joining us. Is it simply a matter of money, that they can't put the harness, the shoulder straps, the seat belts in there so kids are protected?

CHARLES GAUTHIER, EXEC. DIR., NASDPTS: Wolf, it probably really does boil down to that. We know from the statements that you heard from other medical professions that lap belts simply are not a technology for a school bus.

BLITZER: Just the part that you put on your waist.

GAUTHIER: Your lower waist, right?

BLITZER: We understand that. That's why we've got the shoulder, the shoulder strap, the harness, in effect, that's in most cars. Every car you have to have that, if you're driving in the United States.

GAUTHIER: Correct. And what we're faced with this dilemma, that is this motive. We have about half a dozen fatalities every year. We have several hundred serious injuries. The lap shoulder-belt system will certainly have a positive impact on reducing those, but since we have such a small safety problem relative to other kinds of motor vehicles, the question really boils down to is, does the school district, does the state, does the school board want to spend the extra $7,000 per bus to potentially reduce a couple of fatalities and a couple of injuries each year? And that's a public policy decision that we think they need to make.

BLITZER: It's eight fatalities, and we don't know how many injuries, it could be spinal injuries, lifelong injuries that occur. But we're talking about the lives of young kids. And there's probably -- there's certainly nothing more valuable than that. I don't understand why they can't just spend the money -- they spend money on all sorts of other issues -- and protect the little kids that are going to those school buses.

GAUTHIER: Wolf, I agree with you. I am a parent, too, and I have two children, that I want to do everything possible to make sure my children are safe. And I think moms and dads across the country, they need to communicate to their school boards and their legislators that, yes, we want lap shoulder belts on school buses because the only source of funding to pay for it, is the school boards.

BLITZER: Here's the other problem that develops, because I've heard this, these kids go on school buses and there's no seat belts. They just sit there. They roam around. What kind of message does that send those kids? That when they go in their family cars or other cars, they're not going to put their seat belts on either. They're going to just be sitting around and moving around and take their lives into their hands. This sends, from all these school boards out there, a horrible message to these kids.

GAUTHIER: And there is that lack of continuity. If you want people to constantly wear their lap shoulder belts in every motor vehicle they drive in, there obviously is an argument there that there's a link missing when you come to school buses, and that, again, school boards, parents can use that if they want to. That's a great justification. But again, it's got to go back to the funding at the school board and the state legislator levels.

BLITZER: Is it the position of your organization that the federal government should intervene as they did with every other victim in the United States, whether a passenger car or a truck? Every other vehicle you have to have seat belts. Is it your position that the federal government should now take a close look at this and say, you want these cars driving on federal highways on interstates, you have to have seatbelts to protect these kids?

GAUTHIER: Tragically, Wolf, there's a requirement for all federal regulations that they have to be societal beneficial. And one of the real problems here. We have a lap shoulder-belt system that can make a difference, but since we have such a small safety problem in terms of fatalities and injuries relatively, that the safety benefits of that would be very small.

And unfortunately, because of these government mandates of cost benefits, they cannot make the cost benefits work, and that's why it's going to ultimately -- it does go back at individual school district and states to make that decision, and moms and dads have to push that.

BLITZER: I agree. And what percentage of the school buses around the country you would say right now are fully protected, have the harness, the shoulder strap, the seatbelts for the kids.

GAUTHIER: Well, right now in the United States, we have one state, California, that requires lap shoulder belts in all of its new school buses. New York, Florida, New Jersey require lap belts in their new school buses.

BLITZER: Lap belts. That's worse than nothing?

GAUTHIER: Which is in the a good technology.

BLITZER: is it worse than nothing?

GAUTHIER: I believe it. Absolutely -- it's better than -- or worse know just having the compartmentalization.

BLITZER: We heard about the kind of spinal injuries you can get if you let that little lap rise up.

GAUTHIER: Absolutely. And there's a new law that Congress passed a few years ago called Anton's Law, which is -- essentially banned the installation of lap belts in all new kinds of motor vehicles. So we know that that's not a good technology, but again, California's the only state that has lap shoulder belts in its new school buses. So percentage-wise, pretty small.

BLITZER: I suspect that's going to change, though, Charles.

GAUTHIER: We shall see.

BLITZER: I'm just guessing.

Charles Gauthier, thanks very much.

GAUTHIER: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Thanks for coming in and explaining this story. It's obviously an important story, because young kid's lives and their health are at stake.

Federal agencies, their computer systems hacked, NASA, military research labs among them. Wait until you hear about the lead suspect. That's coming up.

Also, more than 30 years delayed, a final formal farewell to American soldiers killed in the Vietnam War.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

Authorities in the United States and Europe are probing attacks on literally thousands of computer systems serving the U.S. military, NASA and government research labs. The investigation has been going on for almost a year. It's now reportedly focusing in on a 16, yes, 16-year-old boy in Sweden.

Let's turn to CNN technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg. He's got details of this amazing, amazing story.

What's going on there.

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this story is still -- the details of it are still coming out in bit and bites, in a sense. But it's certainly setting off a lot of alarm bells in the cyber-security community. As Wolf pointed out, it really has been going on for about a year.

There's a lot that's not known about this case, but what we can tell you it has a lot to do with Cisco Systems. Well, what is Cisco Systems? Well, they're responsible for routers and programs that control where computers go on the Internet. And about May of last year, the Cisco Systems officials realized that someone was breaking into their computers and stealing passwords and getting access to this very valuable code. They decided they would try and track this person through a number of different means, and he started sprouting up on different government agency Web sites, military computers, NASA, among the different places that were mentioned in a "New York Times" article that did come out today.

I spoke with White Sands, the White Sands Missile Range yesterday. One of the agencies that's mentioned in this "New York Times" article. They said they did have a break-in with their computer systems about April of last year, but the data that was stolen was considered to be not classified, not all that sensitive. It was weather data, weather-forecasting date that they need to use.

This whole story, though is very serious, because it really illustrates how many of these computer systems may not be as secure or a little bit too vulnerable to some these outside attacks, because they are connect to the Internet.

byline: Kimberly Osias guest: Phyllis Greenberger spec: Vietnam; Health and Medicine This whole story, though, is very serious because it really illustrates how many of these computer systems may not be as secure or are little bit too vulnerable. So some these outside attacks -- because they are connected to the Internet. And Wolf, I've been talking to a number of different people today including Kevin Minick (ph), who's a former hacker, who did a similar attack as this a number of years ago and he's very concerned about this type of thing.

BLITZER: This 16-year-old kid in Sweden, right?

SIEBERG: That's right.

BLITZER: What was he, just doing this for the fun of it? Is that his motive was? What was going on?

SIEBERG: Oftentimes, that's the case. At this point, part of the question that they don't know is what he was doing, whether he had any accomplices, how far this information may have been shared, what type of data exactly was stolen. A lot of these questions are unanswered.

He is 16 years old. They have at least caught him. They don't know about any of the other people who may have been doing this with him. As far as reasons go, a lot of times these guys do it just to brag, just to say they were able to do it, that they were showing off. And the fact that he's 16 seems amazing to a lot of people, but at a young age, they have a lot of technical experience.

BLITZER: Daniel Sieberg, shocking story. 16-year-old kid operating in his, you know, study or whatever, his bedroom, wearing his pajamas, hacking into these kinds of computer systems.

SIEBERG: It's an ongoing battle.

BLITZER: It's pretty shocking. Thanks very much.

SIEBERG: After a wait of 38 years, the families of four Americans killed in action in Vietnam are finally getting some closure.

Our Kimberly Osias joining us now with more on today's ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery here in Washington -- Kimberly?

KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the families of war dead say grief is a long process. You never really can achieve closure, but you can learn to move on.

Against a clear spring sky, the marine honor guard carried the flag-draped coffins, lifting them high, paying tribute to four fallen comrades, men who gave the ultimate sacrifice. They came from Florida, California, New York, and Wisconsin, sharing a common love for country.

Marine Lance Corporal Samuel Sharp, Jr., Marine Sergeant James Neil Tyez, Marine Second Lieutenant Heinz Ahlmeyer, Jr. and Navy Petty Officer Malcolm Miller. They were all part of Team Breaker, a reconnaissance patrol in North Vietnam.

The men came under enemy fire in a remote jungle area here in the border with Laos, all four shot and killed on Hill 665. Although family members knew their loved ones were dead, they had no bodies to bury for decades. For them, today is a welcome relief.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ILENE HEALEA, BROTHER KILLED IN VIETNAM: I really didn't think -- you know, after all of these years, that they would find my brother, but I'm very, very grateful that -- that he's coming home. And that we're going to have this day to honor him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OSIAS: This is all part of a joint effort by U.S. and Vietnamese teams to recover servicemen missing for so long, a tedious task played out in remote areas for those who would bring these soldiers home. One of the four, Lance Corporal Samuel Sharp, was honored in today's ceremony, but was buried last month in his hometown of San Jose, California -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, very sad, indeed. Thanks, Kimberly Osias, for that report.

It's National Women's Health week here in the United States. When NEWS FROM CNN continues, what should be your top medical concerns? We'll have a special guest when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. This is National Women's Health Week. A national advocacy group says evidence is growing on the health differences between women and men. But the federal government, it says, isn't necessarily paying enough attention. The Society for Women's Health Research today released a report on how well, for example, the National Institutes of Health support work in this area.

Phyllis Greenberger is the society's president and CEO. Phyllis, thanks very much for joining us. What's the answer? What's the conclusion of this report?

PHYLLIS GREENBERGER, PRES/CEO, SWHR: The conclusion is that there's no question that the National Institutes of Health are making some progress, but it's a lot slower than we'd like it to be. And also, some institutes are doing much better than other institutes. And what's surprising is, some of the institutes that we know for a fact that there are sex differences, and where their budgets are the largest, are really doing on the least amount.

BLITZER: Well, what's the basic problem here, as far as research is concerned? Your group has basically concluded over the years that there's a bias against women. A lot of the clinical studies, the research, deals with men's health issues and don't necessarily factor in that there is a biological difference between men and women. GREENBERGER: Well, I wouldn't say there's bias. And I wouldn't even say that it's been focused entirely on men's health. What's happened is up until the '90s, when society came into existence, most clinical trials were made up of mostly males. And that had to do, a lot of it, with historical precedence, the fact that most clinical trials were done in penal institutions, in the military, in the medical schools. And in those days, that was predominantly males. And scientists got used to doing experiments or trials on males.

Plus, there was a sense of a protective feeling towards women, the fact that women have childbearing potential naturally, could be pregnant. There was issues about liability.

And I think the most interesting issue, which we've come to debunk at this point in time, is that men and women were essentially different. Essentially the same rather, except for their reproductive issues. So obviously, there's certain biological differences in terms of reproduction, but it was felt that your hearts, your lungs, your gut, your brain, otherwise was the same. So that if the trials were done on men, the belief was that they could extrapolate the research, and that would pertain to women, as well.

BLITZER: And that, you discovered, isn't necessarily true?

GREENBERGER: That is not necessarily...

BLITZER: That what works for men doesn't necessarily work for women, that people have to take a closer look at that. Let's take a look at -- at least according to the Mayo Clinic and their report out February 2005, the greatest threats, the top health threats facing women in this country today. We'll put it up on our screen. Heart disease, cancer, stroke, COPT -- what is that?

GREENBERGER: COPD. It's chronic obstructive disorder. That has to do with emphysema and bronchitis. It's all of the lung conditions that generally relate to smoking.

BLITZER: Alzheimer's, diabetes, accidents, pneumonia and influenza. Heart disease, though, is still the biggest threat facing women today. Now, as far the threat of heart disease affecting women as opposed to men, is there a difference?

GREENBERGER: There is a difference. And what's interesting -- and actually, this is a perfect example -- because heart disease was always considered to be a man's disease. I'm sure that -- and I've written about this, if a man is 60 -- or actually, 40, 50, or 60 and starts having pains in his chest, you can be sure his wife's going to rush him immediately to the emergency room and immediately think of a heart attack. Yet a woman in her 50s is just as susceptible, if not more susceptible, to a heart attack, and sometimes the symptoms are different, which is something we've recently learned. And so it could be indigestion, it could be nausea, it could be a pain in her neck or her jaw, and that's not the first thing that people think of.

And it's a problem with physicians. Now, more recently, that's changing slightly, but for a long time we heard anecdotal evidence that doctor, cardiologists were turning away women, just saying, well, it must be indigestion or something, and not recognizing that in fact they were having a heart attack.

So I think we now know -- and we have known this for a while -- that actually more women die of heart disease than men do, but they get the heart attacks later in life, about 10 years later.

BLITZER: And what's still pretty surprising is a lot of these emergency-room physicians and nurses don't necessarily appreciate that fact.

GREENBERGER: Right. I think it certainly is a lot better than it was when we first started talking about this, but we still hear evidence in the fact that it's sometimes overlooked.

BLITZER: What about cancer, which is number two on this list?

GREENBERGER: Well, the interesting thing about cancer is that actually the number-one cancer killer of women is lung cancer.

BLITZER: Not breast cancer?

GREENBERGER: No. And actually breast cancer, ovarian cancer and cervical cancer kill fewer women than lung cancer does.

BLITZER: Why is lung killer such a killer? Because of smoking?

GREENBERGER: Well, primarily because of smoking. Smoking and secondhand smoke. There is a feeling -- and this is another area of research -- that women are more susceptible to the carcinogens in smoking, and that they -- with actually smoking under a shorter period of time and fewer cigarettes have still a greater danger of getting lung cancer than men do.

Now there is some controversy about the kinds of cancer. There's been some research showing that women get a different kind of lung cancer which is more difficult to detect, and when they do detect it, it's more often fatal. There's some controversy about that. But only points we need more research to understand this better.

BLITZER: And presumably women would be at greater risk for secondhand smoke as well than men?

GREENBERGER: Yes.

BLITZER: All this fascinating material. Phyllis Greenberger is president and CEO of the Society for Women's Health Research, a good group here in Washington. Thanks very much for joining us.

GREENBERGER: Thank you, my pleasure.

BLITZER: Especially during this National Women's Health Week, something close to all of our hearts.

GREENBERGER: Absolutely.

BLITZER: CNN's "LIVE FROM" comes your way at the top of the hour. Let's get a preview. Miles O'Brien standing by -- Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Wolf, we've got a lot coming up on "LIVE FROM." We hope you'll join us for it. Wayne Williams -- we've been hearing this remarkable story about a police chief in Dekalb County, right around Atlanta, who is saying now that Wayne Williams after all of these years, he believes he's innocent. Well, we're going to hear from Wayne Williams himself, a jailhouse interview conducted by a local radio personality here in Atlanta. He's going to share some of that interview with us. You won't want to miss it.

Dez, hit it!

All right. Start me up, baby! We've got some big news coming, 1:00 p.m. Eastern. The Rolling Stones, we're calling it the iron lung tour. And you know what they say, Wolf, a spoonful of brown sugar helps the Geritol go down. Apparently going to be a world wide tour. And I know you're going to be in the front row -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Who was that -- I was at two Rolling Stones' concerts in recent years here in Washington. I'll be going to the next one as well. I suppose, Miles, you and Kyra will be going together, is that right?

O'BRIEN: I was going to hit you up for a couple of ducketts. Are you going to get me in?

BLITZER: Let's talk about the Stones off line.

O'BRIEN: We'll talk off line, as they say.

BLITZER: Miles, thanks very much.

We'll take a quick break. More news from CNN, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: I'll be back later today, every weekday, 5:00 p.m. Eastern for "WOLF BLITZER REPORTS." Among other things, we'll have more on the last goodbye to U.S. soldiers killed in Vietnam, buried today at Arlington National Cemetery on the 38th anniversary of their deaths. We'll hear from their families. Our Brian Todd will have a report.

Until then, thanks very much for watching NEWS FROM CNN. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.

"LIVE FROM" with Betty Nguyen and Miles O'Brien, that's coming up after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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 10, 2005 - 11:59   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: We've got lots of news unfolding this hour on CNN, including some late-breaking details from Illinois. CNN has learned police are now questioning what they are describing as a person of interest in connection with the deaths of those two young girls. We'll go live to the scene for unfolding developments.
Plus, dozens of children are injured in a school bus accident in Missouri. This hour, how safe are the kids who ride the nation's school buses?

Also, the fight for Iraq. A new U.S. military offensive big enough to get a name, Operation Matador. We'll go live to Baghdad for the latest developments.

First, some other headlines.

The Florida Highway Patrol says it may be a pipe bomb -- may, may be a pipe bomb that has closed off a usually busy highway in the Miami area. You're looking at these live pictures.

The Miami-Dade Police bomb squad investigating the object on the Palmetto Expressway. That's in Miami Lakes. We'll watch this story for you and bring developments as they occur.

So long Tbilisi. President Bush departs the former Soviet republic of Georgia, ending his five-day trip to the region. Before taking off, Mr. Bush saluted Georgia's independence in a speech before thousands of admirers.

And the so-called runaway bride, Jennifer Wilbanks, she's getting some help. A P.R. firm for her church says she's now undergoing treatment at an inpatient program that deals with "physical and mental issues." Wilbanks has been in seclusion since she returned home to Georgia after skipping four days before her wedding date.

Up first, those horrifying slayings of those two little girls not far north of Chicago. At this hour, a net apparently beginning to close around a possible suspect.

Standing by live in Zion, Illinois, CNN's Chris Lawrence.

What's going on, Chris?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, here's what we know. We know that police initially said that they had absolutely no leads. This morning, we learned that police have questioned the father of Laura Hobbs, one of the girls who was the victim in this horrible killing. They have questioned the father of Laura Hobbs as a person of possible interest in the case.

There are separate reports from the "Chicago Tribune" that a suspect will be named and charged later today. If that is the case, that cannot be better news for this community, because not only have they been dealing with the -- just the horrible nature of this crime, two little girls, second graders brutally murdered, and then left for dead in a park very near where they both lived and went to school, but also the uncertainty, not knowing if their children were safe.

Many parents kept their kids out of school today. The ones that did go to school, literally walked their children right up to you door and planned to pick them up from that same door when they get out of school later today. So they will be watching very closely to see if this indeed is the case and where this investigation goes from here in the next few hours -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Anything scheduled, Chris, in terms of formal news conferences, statements from local law enforcement?

LAWRENCE: Well, I talked to the chief investigator of the task force about 30 minutes ago. He was saying that his investigators were just coming back in from the field, that he hoped to have a debrief with them. And inside here at the police headquarters, they said between about 11:30 and noon Eastern Time, they expected to release a written statement.

We're already past that deadline, and we have not seen that written statement yet. But it seems like something is definitely in the works.

As we said, the father of Laura Hobbs has been questioned as a person of possible interest. And it seems to be that the investigation is progressing at this point.

BLITZER: Now, it's normal, it's routine in a case like this to question the family members, the parents, the siblings, all of the relatives, basically, who have been in touch. So that doesn't necessarily mean that this person of interest is going to be named a suspect or anything along those lines, because that's standard operating procedure.

But talk a little bit about these two girls. They were best friends, I understand, Chris. What kind of families do they come from? Because we really haven't heard anything from the parents, have we?

LAWRENCE: Well, we have heard. I spoke last night to the grandmother of Laura Hobbs. And she said, you know, she was just -- just a great girl. Just your typical little kid who was interested in a lot of things.

Neither of the girls was described as very shy. They both seemed to be very outgoing.

And by the reaction from a lot of the other little kids their age, these girls were very well liked. They were very popular with the other kids.

I can say it's interesting because this is a community, a small town where kids go out and play and the neighbors notice them. We talked to a lot of neighbors who said, "Yeah, I saw the girls. We saw them. They were riding their bikes." Or, "We saw them. They were swinging on a hammock Sunday afternoon."

So the neighbors notice things. And they all knew the girls. And they noticed them out playing out Sunday afternoon.

And that was one reason why they were so concerned when they turned up missing, and people started to think, well, what's going on here, something's wrong. And then, of course, Monday morning, when the bodies were found, it just really sent a shock wave through entire community.

BLITZER: Do we know after the girls went missing whether there was a formal Amber Alert that was issued in that part of Illinois?

LAWRENCE: I don't believe it was just because of the timeline. They were supposed to come home about 7:00 Sunday afternoon. When they didn't, first one of the families called in and said, hey, our daughter's missing. Shortly thereafter, about an hour later, the other family called and said, our daughter is missing.

Police initially did not suspect any foul play. They said, well, initially there didn't seem to be anything to indicate that -- that it was anything criminal in nature. That it could have been little girls who stayed out too late, little girls who decided to run away. So initially they weren't thinking necessarily along those lines.

As it got later into the night, as it got dark, and especially early the next morning, everybody started to get very worried. But by then, 6:00 Monday morning, before the girls would have even left for school, a person walking through that park, through the wooded area, found the bodies and alerted police.

BLITZER: All right. Chris Lawrence, you'll stand-by for us, bring us all of the latest developments as they become available.

Chris Lawrence covering this gruesome story for us, the slayings of these two little girls in Zion, Illinois.

Thanks very much, Chris Lawrence, for that.

I want to update you on that story we've been talking about out of Miami, that suspected pipe bomb on the Palmetto Expressway. We saw one of the officers fully clad in protective gear dealing with it. Look at what happened just a few minutes ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, they just detonated it.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: The bomb was -- the suspected -- the suspected pipe bomb -- we don't know if it was a pipe bomb, it was suspected to be a pipe bomb -- was blown up by local police investigating that object on the Palmetto Expressway in Miami Lakes in Florida. It looks like that story has now been resolved. They'll determine whether in fact it was a pipe bomb or just a pipe. We'll find out and we'll let you know.

There's another developing story we're following out of New York City, the arrest of a man on charges of having hundreds of fake IDs designed to look exactly like law enforcement badges. It's part of our CNN "Security Watch."

Let's get the story. CNN's Deborah Feyerick joining us now live -- Deborah.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, Homeland Security officials very concerned that some of those badges may have ended up in the hands of terrorists. Yesterday, they seized some 1,000, more than a thousand badges from 35 different law enforcement agencies.

They included FBI badges, badges from the U.S. Marshal Service, Drug Enforcement Agency, Secret Service, Customs, even the New York Police Department. The head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement here in New York called the counterfeits very, very good. Some of the badges even had the imprints of the company that makes the real badges.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN FICKE, FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Here you have clearly over 1,300 very good counterfeit badges representing over 35 law enforcement agencies, federal, state, and local. And for someone to have that in their possession and to be able to utilize that as a law enforcement officer could be devastating when it comes to a situation like homeland security, of course, where we are trying to control access to various things and the authority of various people to have access at those particular locations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: The badges were shipped from Taiwan to San Francisco. An alert Customs agent there alerted agents in New York.

Marshals went to the Bronx home of a Russian man, a man by the name of Sergio Coresh (ph). He was arrested. He was released on $50,000 bond.

He is a permanent resident of the United States. Officials believe -- or officials say he's been arrested more than 30 times. At least once for impersonating an officer.

Right now they're looking into who may have some of the many, many badges that he had in his possession. As a matter of fact, when agents raided the home, they found some FedEx packages ready to go to be shipped out -- Wolf. BLITZER: Was there any indication based on what we know so far, Deb, that this is -- was this a money-making operation for these suspects or some sort of terror-related or political kind of operation? Because the motives could be very, very different and potentially much more serious if it were the latter.

FEYERICK: Wolf, that is something that agents right now are definitely trying to decipher. But the badges were from sale. They ranged in price from $35 to $50, and apparently they were being sold on a Web site.

We have tried to find that Web site. Right now we have not been able to find the Web site where he was selling these badges. But at one point, according to the criminal complaint, he actually even put an advertisement on a Web site saying he was interested in getting real copies of federal law enforcement badges.

BLITZER: All right. Deborah Feyerick will watch this story for us and we'll check back with her. Thanks. Scary, very scary indeed.

To our viewers, please stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

Turning now to the fight for Iraq. There's been a high-level kidnapping in Iraq's Al Anbar province. It comes as about 1,000 U.S. military troops battling insurgents in the remote region that's not far from the Syrian border.

Our Ryan Chilcote is in Baghdad. He's joining us now live with the latest -- Ryan.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it's being called Operation Matador. It's now in its third day. It's all taking place in what's called the Anbar province. That's a western Iraqi province, a Ba'athist (ph) province, I should say.

The whole idea of this operation, according to the U.S. military, is to try and stem the flow of weapons and fighters, foreign fighters among them from outside of Iraq, across the Syrian-Iraqi border, into the larger cities here in Iraq from where they had been carrying out attacks. Some of the fighting began just the day before yesterday, the town of Ubaydi, right there on the south bank of the Euphrates.

That's where the U.S. military says they took some heavy fire. That fighting subsided midday yesterday, and that is when they crossed the Euphrates after building a pontoon bridge.

Operations now taking place just north of the Euphrates in a desert area there. The U.S. military says they are having some success at drawing out some of these foreign fighters that they believe to be in this area.

They say that in the first 48 hours of the operation, they already killed some 100 insurgents. Among them, they believe, foreign fighters. They're also saying that three Marines were killed in the fighting there in Anbar. And this just in, Wolf. We have confirmed from sources in the Anbar province that the governor of that province was abducted. Reportedly, the abductors are demanding that U.S. military cease its operations there -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And what about the latest on car bombings in and around Baghdad? Where does that stand today?

CHILCOTE: Oh, it's just, Wolf, another example of why the U.S. military wants to try and stem these weapons and fighters before they get to the cities today. Another violent day.

In all, three bombings. Two of them detonated by suicide bombers. The most lethal, the first one this morning, a suicide bomber driving a car into a busy intersection.

U.S. -- or Iraqi police, rather, saying that this suicide bomber was trying to target a U.S. military patrol that was passing through it. No word of U.S. casualties, although, however, how the case usually is, there are Iraqis among the casualties.

According to the Iraqi police, they're saying that at least seven Iraqis were killed in that attack. Another 14 wounded.

And Wolf, the U.S. military is saying that these car bombs are becoming an increasingly significant and serious problem for the Iraqi government and for U.S. forces here. They're saying that just in the month of April, just last month, 130 -- 135 of these car bombs went off in Iraq -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Ryan Chilcote reporting for us. Thanks, Ryan, very much.

Another disturbing story we are watching. He apparently breached security three times at London's Heathrow Airport and also managed to get on board of a U.S. aircraft carrier off of the coast of England. British prosecutors say Abdul Yasoufu (ph) was simply trying to satisfy his curiosity.

Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is joining us now live. She's got some more details.

What's going on in this story, Barbara?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, it may have been a man, an intruder trying to satisfy his curiosity. But it is a significant breach of security that now U.S. and British security officials are investigating to determine, no matter what motive was, how it all happened.

They are confirming there were some previous sketchy media reports. Now confirming that on April 18, as the USS Harry Truman aircraft carrier was anchored off Portsmouth, England, an intruder got on board and was on board of that aircraft carrier for half an hour before he was found. Now, although the man was did determined not to be a terrorist, this is a serious matter. Because he apparently was able to breach several layers of both British and U.S. military security.

He got past Royal Navy security at the Portsmouth docks. He then got onto a small boat, essentially a liberty boat that was taking members of the Truman back out to their ship which was anchored slightly offshore, and then he was able to get on board the Truman.

Once he was discovered, the security personnel from the ship conducted an immediate search to make sure he had not placed explosives on board or caused any damage. That proved not to be the case.

He proved to be essentially an intruder, a man that was well known to British security officials. But still, how did he get on board this Navy aircraft carrier?

One of the reasons, Wolf, this is significant, of course, is everyone will remember it was about five years ago that the USS Cole was bombed in port in Yemen. Several sailors being killed in that bombing attack. And ever since then, the Navy has had very stringent security standards when its warships are in port. But apparently on April 18, those stringent Navy security standards were breached -- Wolf.

BLITZER: What do we know about Abdul Yasoufu (ph)? Where is he from? What kind of background?

If British police have known that he is an intruder trying to breach security at Heathrow on several occasions, what's going on here?

STARR: We spoke to the Hampshire Police Department in southern England earlier today. What they told us is this man has become known to them, that he is banned, of course, from these secure areas, that he's attempted to breach airport security. And that he even attempted to get back on to the Portsmouth docks apparently the next day after making an appearance in the U.K. court system.

It is now up to the U.K. court system, of course, to decide what to do with him. But that, Wolf, what officials are emphasizing, is that is a separate law enforcement matter.

This is a man who apparently attempts to breach security. That will be dealt with by law enforcement officials in Britain.

What is of very serious concern, of course, is the security breach that is now being investigated, we are told, by the Royal Navy and by the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service. How did anyone, no matter what the motivation and the reason, how did anyone get past so many layers of security and make it onto a U.S. Navy warship for apparently half an hour undetected -- Wolf.

BLITZER: That's not an easy venture, as you and I know. We have been aboard those aircraft carriers. By no means easy. Final question. Do we know what citizenship Abdul Yasoufu (ph) has? Is he British citizen or is he a foreign subject?

STARR: The only thing we have been told is that he appears to be of west African descent. It is certainly not known to me at the moment, frankly, what his actual citizenship is.

BLITZER: Barbara Starr reporting for us. Thank you, Barbara, very much.

Word today of thousands of computer systems being hacked. And they belong to the U.S. government. Details coming up.

Also, heading to court. Brian Nichols, the man accused in a deadly courthouse shooting in Atlanta. We'll have a live report.

And school bus safety. Questions being raised after this crash yesterday in Missouri. Would children be safer wearing seatbelts on buses? And if they're not wearing seatbelts, why aren't they wearing seatbelts? We'll discuss that issue.

You're watching NEWS FROM CNN, and we're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

Atlanta's Brian Nichols set to return to court for the reign of terror he's accused of launching on his way to an earlier hearing that we all watched unfold here on CNN. He faces 54 counts, including multiple murders.

CNN's Tony Harris has the latest on this notorious courthouse killing's case. Tony joining us now live.

Tony, give us the latest.

TONY HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: OK. Good afternoon, Wolf.

It should be a pretty straightforward day today in the courtroom of Judge Hilton Fuller in the Fulton County Courthouse building right behind me here in downtown Atlanta. Wolf, a couple of things are going to happen today.

First, a hearing. For the first time, the state will declare on the record its intentions of moving forward with this case against Brian Nichols as a death penalty case. It will be the first time that Brian Nichols will have heard those words in court today.

Next, the judge will then get an opportunity to explore the experience of Brian Nichols' defense team in death penalty cases. Of course, his defense team is made up of members of the public defender's office here in Fulton County, and the lead attorney, as well as the co-counsel, must both have experience in death penalty cases. Next, Brian Nichols will get an opportunity, if he chooses to, to raise any objections he might have with his defense team as it is currently constituted. That might give us some indication of whether or not he and his defense team are on the same page. All indications are that they are.

Once that hearing wraps up, then we expect that there will be an arraignment. At that time, the charges will be read against Brian Nichols, and he will have an opportunity to enter a plea. We expect that that plea will be not guilty. Once he enters that plea, essentially the day in court is over for Brian Nichols and it is back to the Fulton County jail.

So let us bring you up to speed with where we are right now.

It was last Thursday, as you mentioned, Wolf, that a Fulton County grand jury returned a 54-count indictment against Brian Nichols, including four murder charges for the deaths of Judge Rowland Barnes, court reporter Julie Brandau, sheriff's deputy Hoyt Teasley, and federal agent David Wilhelm.

After the indictment, the Fulton County district attorney, Paul Howard, announced that his office, after consulting with the family members the victims, was moving forward with a death penalty prosecution. And that decision made today's hearing necessary.

It gets under way at top of the hour. At 1:00, Brian Nichols will be in court. And judging by his last court appearance on April 15, he will be in a suit. His hands will be free. His legs, however, will be shackled.

We'll be there, Wolf, to watch it all unfold.

BLITZER: Tony Harris reporting for us. Thanks, Tony, very much.

And as Tony said, we will have live coverage of the Brian Nichols' hearing, set to begin a little bit more than a half an hour or so from now, 1:00 p.m. Eastern. You'll want to stick around and see that.

The Los Angeles County sheriff says his department has some questions to answer. That car chase suspect hit by police gunfire remains in a hospital with wounds still described as non-life threatening. The question here is why did a posse of officers fire at the suspect's SUV more than 100 times? Not for the first time it's a situation that came to light because it was caught on videotape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF LEE BACA, LOS ANGELES COUNTY: The video has a segment that shows the vehicle stopped. The explanation that I'm receiving preliminarily is that the vehicle was moving backward toward the deputies and that the vehicle had been attempting earlier, prior to that stopped position shown, to get out of that containment that it was in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The sheriff says his department is looking into the incident, as is the local district attorney. We'll watch that story for you.

When we come back, buckle up. That's the national standard for getting into cars and trucks. But for the most part, school buses are the exception.

Now, after this crash in Missouri yesterday, and other recent crashes, lots of questions being raised once again. How safe are our children on board? We'll take a look at that story when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to NEWS FROM CNN. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.

How safe are your children on their way to school? Bus crashes yesterday in Missouri and Massachusetts have many parents across the nation worrying about that question. The school bus in Missouri plowed into two cars, killing the cars' drivers and injuring about two dozen students on the bus.

CNN's Dan Lothian looks in-depth at school bus safety.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A deadly school bus accident in Liberty, Missouri, yesterday...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today was a very difficult day for us.

LOTHIAN: ... and this one just south of Boston, injuring several people...

SISTER THOMASINE KNOWLTON, PRINCIPAL: It's a little frightening, a little disconcerting, naturally.

LOTHIAN: ... is renewing attention on school bus safety.

(on camera): Should parents be concerned? The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration says no. The federal agency tells CNN 24 million school children who are transported over some four-and-a-half billion miles each year are nearly eight times safer riding in a school bus than in a car. And they point out, there are less than eight fatalities inside a bus recorded each year.

(voice over): But some, who would like a federal law requiring either lap belts or a harness system on all school buses, say not enough is being done to protect America's children, despite claims that high padded seat backs create a kind of safety zone.

What happens if there is a rollover? Or the bus is hit from the side? Or runs off the road like this wild ride nine years ago in Indiana? As an on-board camera rolls, children fly. Here it is in slow motion. Amazingly, there were no serious injuries.

Only a few states require large school buses to have any kind of restraint. But federal transportation officials say a lap belt "increases the risk of injury."

That makes sense to Dr. David Mooney, trauma director at Children's Hospital in Boston.

DR. DAVID MOONEY, BOSTON CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: And the lap belts will sometimes ride up higher. And when a child is in a crash, it can injure their intestines, injure their spine. Kids can be paralyzed from just wearing a lap belt only.

LOTHIAN: And while the government says the benefits of the shoulder belt are minuscule, Dr. Mooney believe a system like most cars have today could be helpful if every child buckles up.

MOONEY: It would prevent a lot of injuries that we see.

LOTHIAN: In liberty, Missouri, school officials are now being forced to confront the hotly-debated issue of seatbelts.

DR. SCOTT TABEAU, SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT: When you're talking about safety of children, I think that all issues are on the table.

LOTHIAN: Even as they try to overcome the shock of the crash.

Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Some experts argue that if you're worried about school bus safety, you should be.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ALAN ROSS, COALITION FOR SCHOOL BUS SAFETY: Unfortunately, many parents and administrators overlook the transportation system that they trust these children to every day, and these buses behind me are woefully inadequate in protecting our children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: If more on this issue, let's turn to Charles Gauthier. He heads the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services.

Charles, thanks very much for joining us. Is it simply a matter of money, that they can't put the harness, the shoulder straps, the seat belts in there so kids are protected?

CHARLES GAUTHIER, EXEC. DIR., NASDPTS: Wolf, it probably really does boil down to that. We know from the statements that you heard from other medical professions that lap belts simply are not a technology for a school bus.

BLITZER: Just the part that you put on your waist.

GAUTHIER: Your lower waist, right?

BLITZER: We understand that. That's why we've got the shoulder, the shoulder strap, the harness, in effect, that's in most cars. Every car you have to have that, if you're driving in the United States.

GAUTHIER: Correct. And what we're faced with this dilemma, that is this motive. We have about half a dozen fatalities every year. We have several hundred serious injuries. The lap shoulder-belt system will certainly have a positive impact on reducing those, but since we have such a small safety problem relative to other kinds of motor vehicles, the question really boils down to is, does the school district, does the state, does the school board want to spend the extra $7,000 per bus to potentially reduce a couple of fatalities and a couple of injuries each year? And that's a public policy decision that we think they need to make.

BLITZER: It's eight fatalities, and we don't know how many injuries, it could be spinal injuries, lifelong injuries that occur. But we're talking about the lives of young kids. And there's probably -- there's certainly nothing more valuable than that. I don't understand why they can't just spend the money -- they spend money on all sorts of other issues -- and protect the little kids that are going to those school buses.

GAUTHIER: Wolf, I agree with you. I am a parent, too, and I have two children, that I want to do everything possible to make sure my children are safe. And I think moms and dads across the country, they need to communicate to their school boards and their legislators that, yes, we want lap shoulder belts on school buses because the only source of funding to pay for it, is the school boards.

BLITZER: Here's the other problem that develops, because I've heard this, these kids go on school buses and there's no seat belts. They just sit there. They roam around. What kind of message does that send those kids? That when they go in their family cars or other cars, they're not going to put their seat belts on either. They're going to just be sitting around and moving around and take their lives into their hands. This sends, from all these school boards out there, a horrible message to these kids.

GAUTHIER: And there is that lack of continuity. If you want people to constantly wear their lap shoulder belts in every motor vehicle they drive in, there obviously is an argument there that there's a link missing when you come to school buses, and that, again, school boards, parents can use that if they want to. That's a great justification. But again, it's got to go back to the funding at the school board and the state legislator levels.

BLITZER: Is it the position of your organization that the federal government should intervene as they did with every other victim in the United States, whether a passenger car or a truck? Every other vehicle you have to have seat belts. Is it your position that the federal government should now take a close look at this and say, you want these cars driving on federal highways on interstates, you have to have seatbelts to protect these kids?

GAUTHIER: Tragically, Wolf, there's a requirement for all federal regulations that they have to be societal beneficial. And one of the real problems here. We have a lap shoulder-belt system that can make a difference, but since we have such a small safety problem in terms of fatalities and injuries relatively, that the safety benefits of that would be very small.

And unfortunately, because of these government mandates of cost benefits, they cannot make the cost benefits work, and that's why it's going to ultimately -- it does go back at individual school district and states to make that decision, and moms and dads have to push that.

BLITZER: I agree. And what percentage of the school buses around the country you would say right now are fully protected, have the harness, the shoulder strap, the seatbelts for the kids.

GAUTHIER: Well, right now in the United States, we have one state, California, that requires lap shoulder belts in all of its new school buses. New York, Florida, New Jersey require lap belts in their new school buses.

BLITZER: Lap belts. That's worse than nothing?

GAUTHIER: Which is in the a good technology.

BLITZER: is it worse than nothing?

GAUTHIER: I believe it. Absolutely -- it's better than -- or worse know just having the compartmentalization.

BLITZER: We heard about the kind of spinal injuries you can get if you let that little lap rise up.

GAUTHIER: Absolutely. And there's a new law that Congress passed a few years ago called Anton's Law, which is -- essentially banned the installation of lap belts in all new kinds of motor vehicles. So we know that that's not a good technology, but again, California's the only state that has lap shoulder belts in its new school buses. So percentage-wise, pretty small.

BLITZER: I suspect that's going to change, though, Charles.

GAUTHIER: We shall see.

BLITZER: I'm just guessing.

Charles Gauthier, thanks very much.

GAUTHIER: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Thanks for coming in and explaining this story. It's obviously an important story, because young kid's lives and their health are at stake.

Federal agencies, their computer systems hacked, NASA, military research labs among them. Wait until you hear about the lead suspect. That's coming up.

Also, more than 30 years delayed, a final formal farewell to American soldiers killed in the Vietnam War.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back.

Authorities in the United States and Europe are probing attacks on literally thousands of computer systems serving the U.S. military, NASA and government research labs. The investigation has been going on for almost a year. It's now reportedly focusing in on a 16, yes, 16-year-old boy in Sweden.

Let's turn to CNN technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg. He's got details of this amazing, amazing story.

What's going on there.

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this story is still -- the details of it are still coming out in bit and bites, in a sense. But it's certainly setting off a lot of alarm bells in the cyber-security community. As Wolf pointed out, it really has been going on for about a year.

There's a lot that's not known about this case, but what we can tell you it has a lot to do with Cisco Systems. Well, what is Cisco Systems? Well, they're responsible for routers and programs that control where computers go on the Internet. And about May of last year, the Cisco Systems officials realized that someone was breaking into their computers and stealing passwords and getting access to this very valuable code. They decided they would try and track this person through a number of different means, and he started sprouting up on different government agency Web sites, military computers, NASA, among the different places that were mentioned in a "New York Times" article that did come out today.

I spoke with White Sands, the White Sands Missile Range yesterday. One of the agencies that's mentioned in this "New York Times" article. They said they did have a break-in with their computer systems about April of last year, but the data that was stolen was considered to be not classified, not all that sensitive. It was weather data, weather-forecasting date that they need to use.

This whole story, though is very serious, because it really illustrates how many of these computer systems may not be as secure or a little bit too vulnerable to some these outside attacks, because they are connect to the Internet.

byline: Kimberly Osias guest: Phyllis Greenberger spec: Vietnam; Health and Medicine This whole story, though, is very serious because it really illustrates how many of these computer systems may not be as secure or are little bit too vulnerable. So some these outside attacks -- because they are connected to the Internet. And Wolf, I've been talking to a number of different people today including Kevin Minick (ph), who's a former hacker, who did a similar attack as this a number of years ago and he's very concerned about this type of thing.

BLITZER: This 16-year-old kid in Sweden, right?

SIEBERG: That's right.

BLITZER: What was he, just doing this for the fun of it? Is that his motive was? What was going on?

SIEBERG: Oftentimes, that's the case. At this point, part of the question that they don't know is what he was doing, whether he had any accomplices, how far this information may have been shared, what type of data exactly was stolen. A lot of these questions are unanswered.

He is 16 years old. They have at least caught him. They don't know about any of the other people who may have been doing this with him. As far as reasons go, a lot of times these guys do it just to brag, just to say they were able to do it, that they were showing off. And the fact that he's 16 seems amazing to a lot of people, but at a young age, they have a lot of technical experience.

BLITZER: Daniel Sieberg, shocking story. 16-year-old kid operating in his, you know, study or whatever, his bedroom, wearing his pajamas, hacking into these kinds of computer systems.

SIEBERG: It's an ongoing battle.

BLITZER: It's pretty shocking. Thanks very much.

SIEBERG: After a wait of 38 years, the families of four Americans killed in action in Vietnam are finally getting some closure.

Our Kimberly Osias joining us now with more on today's ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery here in Washington -- Kimberly?

KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the families of war dead say grief is a long process. You never really can achieve closure, but you can learn to move on.

Against a clear spring sky, the marine honor guard carried the flag-draped coffins, lifting them high, paying tribute to four fallen comrades, men who gave the ultimate sacrifice. They came from Florida, California, New York, and Wisconsin, sharing a common love for country.

Marine Lance Corporal Samuel Sharp, Jr., Marine Sergeant James Neil Tyez, Marine Second Lieutenant Heinz Ahlmeyer, Jr. and Navy Petty Officer Malcolm Miller. They were all part of Team Breaker, a reconnaissance patrol in North Vietnam.

The men came under enemy fire in a remote jungle area here in the border with Laos, all four shot and killed on Hill 665. Although family members knew their loved ones were dead, they had no bodies to bury for decades. For them, today is a welcome relief.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ILENE HEALEA, BROTHER KILLED IN VIETNAM: I really didn't think -- you know, after all of these years, that they would find my brother, but I'm very, very grateful that -- that he's coming home. And that we're going to have this day to honor him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OSIAS: This is all part of a joint effort by U.S. and Vietnamese teams to recover servicemen missing for so long, a tedious task played out in remote areas for those who would bring these soldiers home. One of the four, Lance Corporal Samuel Sharp, was honored in today's ceremony, but was buried last month in his hometown of San Jose, California -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, very sad, indeed. Thanks, Kimberly Osias, for that report.

It's National Women's Health week here in the United States. When NEWS FROM CNN continues, what should be your top medical concerns? We'll have a special guest when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. This is National Women's Health Week. A national advocacy group says evidence is growing on the health differences between women and men. But the federal government, it says, isn't necessarily paying enough attention. The Society for Women's Health Research today released a report on how well, for example, the National Institutes of Health support work in this area.

Phyllis Greenberger is the society's president and CEO. Phyllis, thanks very much for joining us. What's the answer? What's the conclusion of this report?

PHYLLIS GREENBERGER, PRES/CEO, SWHR: The conclusion is that there's no question that the National Institutes of Health are making some progress, but it's a lot slower than we'd like it to be. And also, some institutes are doing much better than other institutes. And what's surprising is, some of the institutes that we know for a fact that there are sex differences, and where their budgets are the largest, are really doing on the least amount.

BLITZER: Well, what's the basic problem here, as far as research is concerned? Your group has basically concluded over the years that there's a bias against women. A lot of the clinical studies, the research, deals with men's health issues and don't necessarily factor in that there is a biological difference between men and women. GREENBERGER: Well, I wouldn't say there's bias. And I wouldn't even say that it's been focused entirely on men's health. What's happened is up until the '90s, when society came into existence, most clinical trials were made up of mostly males. And that had to do, a lot of it, with historical precedence, the fact that most clinical trials were done in penal institutions, in the military, in the medical schools. And in those days, that was predominantly males. And scientists got used to doing experiments or trials on males.

Plus, there was a sense of a protective feeling towards women, the fact that women have childbearing potential naturally, could be pregnant. There was issues about liability.

And I think the most interesting issue, which we've come to debunk at this point in time, is that men and women were essentially different. Essentially the same rather, except for their reproductive issues. So obviously, there's certain biological differences in terms of reproduction, but it was felt that your hearts, your lungs, your gut, your brain, otherwise was the same. So that if the trials were done on men, the belief was that they could extrapolate the research, and that would pertain to women, as well.

BLITZER: And that, you discovered, isn't necessarily true?

GREENBERGER: That is not necessarily...

BLITZER: That what works for men doesn't necessarily work for women, that people have to take a closer look at that. Let's take a look at -- at least according to the Mayo Clinic and their report out February 2005, the greatest threats, the top health threats facing women in this country today. We'll put it up on our screen. Heart disease, cancer, stroke, COPT -- what is that?

GREENBERGER: COPD. It's chronic obstructive disorder. That has to do with emphysema and bronchitis. It's all of the lung conditions that generally relate to smoking.

BLITZER: Alzheimer's, diabetes, accidents, pneumonia and influenza. Heart disease, though, is still the biggest threat facing women today. Now, as far the threat of heart disease affecting women as opposed to men, is there a difference?

GREENBERGER: There is a difference. And what's interesting -- and actually, this is a perfect example -- because heart disease was always considered to be a man's disease. I'm sure that -- and I've written about this, if a man is 60 -- or actually, 40, 50, or 60 and starts having pains in his chest, you can be sure his wife's going to rush him immediately to the emergency room and immediately think of a heart attack. Yet a woman in her 50s is just as susceptible, if not more susceptible, to a heart attack, and sometimes the symptoms are different, which is something we've recently learned. And so it could be indigestion, it could be nausea, it could be a pain in her neck or her jaw, and that's not the first thing that people think of.

And it's a problem with physicians. Now, more recently, that's changing slightly, but for a long time we heard anecdotal evidence that doctor, cardiologists were turning away women, just saying, well, it must be indigestion or something, and not recognizing that in fact they were having a heart attack.

So I think we now know -- and we have known this for a while -- that actually more women die of heart disease than men do, but they get the heart attacks later in life, about 10 years later.

BLITZER: And what's still pretty surprising is a lot of these emergency-room physicians and nurses don't necessarily appreciate that fact.

GREENBERGER: Right. I think it certainly is a lot better than it was when we first started talking about this, but we still hear evidence in the fact that it's sometimes overlooked.

BLITZER: What about cancer, which is number two on this list?

GREENBERGER: Well, the interesting thing about cancer is that actually the number-one cancer killer of women is lung cancer.

BLITZER: Not breast cancer?

GREENBERGER: No. And actually breast cancer, ovarian cancer and cervical cancer kill fewer women than lung cancer does.

BLITZER: Why is lung killer such a killer? Because of smoking?

GREENBERGER: Well, primarily because of smoking. Smoking and secondhand smoke. There is a feeling -- and this is another area of research -- that women are more susceptible to the carcinogens in smoking, and that they -- with actually smoking under a shorter period of time and fewer cigarettes have still a greater danger of getting lung cancer than men do.

Now there is some controversy about the kinds of cancer. There's been some research showing that women get a different kind of lung cancer which is more difficult to detect, and when they do detect it, it's more often fatal. There's some controversy about that. But only points we need more research to understand this better.

BLITZER: And presumably women would be at greater risk for secondhand smoke as well than men?

GREENBERGER: Yes.

BLITZER: All this fascinating material. Phyllis Greenberger is president and CEO of the Society for Women's Health Research, a good group here in Washington. Thanks very much for joining us.

GREENBERGER: Thank you, my pleasure.

BLITZER: Especially during this National Women's Health Week, something close to all of our hearts.

GREENBERGER: Absolutely.

BLITZER: CNN's "LIVE FROM" comes your way at the top of the hour. Let's get a preview. Miles O'Brien standing by -- Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Wolf, we've got a lot coming up on "LIVE FROM." We hope you'll join us for it. Wayne Williams -- we've been hearing this remarkable story about a police chief in Dekalb County, right around Atlanta, who is saying now that Wayne Williams after all of these years, he believes he's innocent. Well, we're going to hear from Wayne Williams himself, a jailhouse interview conducted by a local radio personality here in Atlanta. He's going to share some of that interview with us. You won't want to miss it.

Dez, hit it!

All right. Start me up, baby! We've got some big news coming, 1:00 p.m. Eastern. The Rolling Stones, we're calling it the iron lung tour. And you know what they say, Wolf, a spoonful of brown sugar helps the Geritol go down. Apparently going to be a world wide tour. And I know you're going to be in the front row -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Who was that -- I was at two Rolling Stones' concerts in recent years here in Washington. I'll be going to the next one as well. I suppose, Miles, you and Kyra will be going together, is that right?

O'BRIEN: I was going to hit you up for a couple of ducketts. Are you going to get me in?

BLITZER: Let's talk about the Stones off line.

O'BRIEN: We'll talk off line, as they say.

BLITZER: Miles, thanks very much.

We'll take a quick break. More news from CNN, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: I'll be back later today, every weekday, 5:00 p.m. Eastern for "WOLF BLITZER REPORTS." Among other things, we'll have more on the last goodbye to U.S. soldiers killed in Vietnam, buried today at Arlington National Cemetery on the 38th anniversary of their deaths. We'll hear from their families. Our Brian Todd will have a report.

Until then, thanks very much for watching NEWS FROM CNN. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.

"LIVE FROM" with Betty Nguyen and Miles O'Brien, that's coming up after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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