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CNN LIVE SUNDAY
More Companies Plan To Hire College Grads; Cholesterol Lowering Drugs Found To Help Prevent Cancer; 32 Jacks Pollock Paintings Found In Storage Unit
Aired May 15, 2005 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Where is Osama bin Laden? One man says he did know, but did he really? Peter Bergen talks about a man who went to Afghanistan to find bin Laden and ended up in jail.
College grads, are you worried about getting a job? Do you know what degrees are sought after? And why is it expected that company managers are hiring more college grads than in recent years? Those questions answered when we talk to an employment expert.
32 works of art from Jackson Pollack found in a storehouse. That story, and the happy people involved coming up.
Hello and welcome to CNN LIVE SUNDAY. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. All that and more of this check of the headlines.
A British newspaper reports that a seriously wounded Abu Musab al Zarqawi left an Iraqi hospital against the wishes of the Iraqi doctor treating him. U.S. officials have not been able to confirm that story.
A different scene on the streets of Uzbekistan today. Grief replaced the bloodshed as residents bury the dead from two days of violent anti-government protests. The clashes between protesters and government troops have left 450 people dead.
Pushing for a time line in Iraq. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice paid a surprise visit to Baghdad today. While praising efforts of U.S. troops and Iraq's interim government, she also stressed that President Bush wants Iraq's new constitution completed on time. The draft is expected to be done by August.
We begin with a story that set off violence across the Muslim world. Now "Newsweek" magazine is backing of its report that American interrogators at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba desecrated the Muslim holy book the Koran. "Newsweek's" article led to an anti-American protest in Muslim states and the deaths of at least 15 people in Afghanistan.
Today, Afghan Muslim clerics threatened to call for a holy war against the U.S. unless the accused interrogators at Guantanamo were handed over, but "Newsweek" magazine says it may have gotten the facts wrong and admits a source slightly backed off the Koran abuse story.
The magazine's editor, Mark Whitaker issued this statement, quote, "we regret that we got any part of our story wrong. And extend our sympathies to victims of the violence and to the U.S. soldiers caught in its midst" end quote.
The story hits new stands tomorrow. "Newsweek's" Washington bureau chief Dan Klaidman will be a guest on CNN LIVE SUNDAY at 6:00 eastern.
Condoleezza Rice paid her first surprise visit to Iraq as secretary of State today. During her visit, Rice praised U.S. troops and the government's progress towards creating a stable Iraq. She addressed those issues in an one on one interview with senior Baghdad correspondent Jane Arraf -- Jane.
JANE ARRAF, CNN SENIOR BAGHDAD CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, Condoleezza Rice said that for the past three years she has been thinking of virtually nothing but Iraq. So, she said it was a thrill and a revelation for her actually to be in this country.
Now she's been here once before as security adviser to President Bush, but this was the first visit as secretary of State, her first visit to a sovereign Iraq. This new Iraqi government formed just a few weeks ago. And one of the things that she did was talk to Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafaari about the constitution, about the fact that this process has to be more inclusive and has to, she says, include Sunni Arabs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: If there to be a united Iraq in the future, then Sunnis have to be included in the processes going forward. And just to think that included in this government, the drafting of the constitution which is the next step, will need to have a sense of inclusiveness too. And I found that a message that was already resonating here, although there are lots of discussions going on about how that might be achieved.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ARRAF: Now, Rice was the first senior foreign official to visit the Iraqi government, this new Iraqi government, but close on her heels will be the Iranian foreign minister. He is expected to arrive according to Iraqi officials in a few days. And Rice had a veiled warning for the Iranians. She said that they should maintain neighborly relations, but they had to be transparent -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And Jane, how was Rice received by the Iraqi officials?
ARRAF: Well, she's received by the Iraqi officials as essentially any senior U.S. official would be or any official from a friendly country. They're delighted to see them.
Now, not clear whether they were so delighted with what would have been a pretty insistent message in private, we're fairly sure, that this process of the constitution of building united Iraq had to be more inclusive.
But certainly it does send a strong message. She has come here -- now this is a lightning visit. She hasn't met ordinary Iraqis. It's under, obviously, intense security. She spent in her time on a helicopter in body armor and helmet. But he did send a message to Iraqi officials that the U.S. wants to stay involved in this process. And it really, really, really wants Iraq to stay on this time table -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Jane Arraf. Thanks so much for that report.
Three grizzly discoveries are underscoring the need for stability in Iraq. 34 men were found shot, beheaded or otherwise killed this weekend. Ten were Iraqi soldiers found yesterday in Ramadi. Police discovered the bodies of 11 farm workers in two trucks south of Baghdad. The truck drivers were arrested, thirteen other men wearing only underwear were found in a garbage dump in Baghdad today.
Farther north, suicide bombers tried, but failed to assassinate the governor of Diyala Province. The attack on the governor's convoy left five people dead, three were Iraqi police officers.
Private contractors are playing a significant role in the war on terrorism. But one man's hopes of catching the ultimate prize, Osama bin Laden, landed him in prison in Afghanistan. CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen spoke to Jack Idema, a former U.S. special forces soldier in prison. And Peter also wrote an article that's appearing in "Rolling Stone," May 19 edition, "The Shadow Warrior." Good to see you, Peter.
PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Thank you, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Let's talk about this Jack Idema. Your article is fascinating reading about the unbelievable journey of this man, one man, a former military, U.S. military man, a native New Yorker, seeking revenge for 9/11. A man accused of using his military prowess, so to speak, to be a poser on so many levels and end up in an Afghan jail. Is his story unique, or does it at all represent the role of many Americans taking trying to be a part of the war on terrorism in Afghanistan?
BERGEN: I think Jack Idema's story is pretty unique. He's an unusual guy.
You know, in Afghanistan now, you have got a lot of U.S. military civilian contractors just as you have in Iraq. In fact, in Iraq there are more American military civilian contractors than there are British troops. So, a lot of the royals that we would have assigned to uniformed services in Iraq and Afghanistan are being handled by civilians.
Jack Idema is a former U.S. special forces soldier who went to Afghanistan on a sort of terrorist hunting mission. In my view, in the article I wrote for "Rolling Stone" I think that he was actually finding people who were planning to either assassinate Afghan officials are perhaps mount terrorist bombings in Kabal itself.
WHITFIELD: But does he consider himself a contractor or, you know, a man with a single cause? One who was trying to, you know, perhaps catch Osama bin Laden almost single handedly, trying to get that prize of a million dollars?
BERGEN: Well, the prize is now gone up to $50 million. But, no, I mean, Jack appeared on the cover of the book of the "Hunt for bin Laden." A photograph of himself appears on that book. It was a best selling book. Jack Idema supplied a lot of photographs. Certainly, he says that he had intelligence about where bin Laden was located. I checked that intelligence and it doesn't seem to really be the case.
However, you ask well he was a civilian contractor or something else? The U.S. military says that Jack Idema doesn't have any direct contacts with them. Based on my investigation, I think that he did have contacts with people in the Pentagon who were aware of what he was doing, and he certainly had contacts with officials in the Afghan government.
So the initial statements made by Afghan and American officials when Idema and his two colleagues, Brent Bennett and Abe Carabejo (ph) were arrested in July of last year, that these guys were sort of a rogue operation, I came to be skeptical of all of that.
WHITFIELD: So is Jack Idema -- was his contention that the U.S. military was indeed backing -- he said it without saying it, the Pentagon knew that he was there, what he was up to and in a sense that kind of emboldened him to continue on his mission.
BERGEN: Yes. It is this -- Jack Idema's case and his two colleagues that they were operating with the say so of the U.S. government. They did not -- everyone agrees that they did not have a written contract from the U.S. government, they did not have a written authorization from the Afghan government, but certainly they had reason to believe that very senior Afghan officials, for instance, the Afghan Education Minister, believed that they were stopping terrorist plots against Afghan cabinet officials. They actually had Afghan Ministry of Defense people working with them. One of them was a major.
So, the reason I wrote the story is that a lot of what was said initially about Jack Idema, who has had a checkered past -- he was convicted of a federal case of fraud in the mid-90s -- a lot of what was said initially I don't think really measured up. I think Jack Idema and his two colleagues were tracking terrorists in Kabul. They did think that they were operating with some kind of U.S. government say so. And also, they had every reason to believe that the high levels of the Afghan government...
WHITFIELD: So then quickly explain how it is he found himself in an Afghan jail? And what is his fate now?
BERGEN: Right now, they were sentenced to ten years -- up to ten years each. Those sentences have been reduced to five, three and two years. They were accused of running a private jail. Torturing their prisoners. And, these were the charges.
They're in Policharchy (ph) Prison, which is one of the world's most unpleasant prisons. You wouldn't wish that fate on your world's worst enemy. And they are appealing their cases to the Afghan supreme court. So, the story continues.
WHITFIELD: Wow. All right. CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen, it's fascinating reading in "Rolling Stone" magazine "The Shadow Warrior." Thanks so much. And good to talk to you.
BERGEN: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Coming up, a little later...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: She says that while she doesn't miss dealing with the tragedies or the long hours, the adrenaline rush was hard to give up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you get out there and you find the key piece of evidence. It's so exciting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: In "Anatomy of Murder," CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta talks with Liz Devine, the investigator behind the hit series "CSI: Miami."
But first, we'll talk to a different doctor about breast cancer and the surprising drug that may be helping.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: There's growing excitement over a new study on statens and their role in preventing a number of cancers. The findings on the drugs, which are widely used to fight cholesterol, were released at a conference this weekend. One of the studies involved the Overton Brooks VA Medical Center Shreveport, Louisiana. Dr. Vikas Khurana helped organize the conference. And he's joining us now from Chicago.
Dr. Khurana, good to see you.
DR. VIKAS KHURANA, OVERTON BROOKS VA MED. CTR: Thank you. Same to you.
WHITFIELD: All right. Well, the study applying to -- really applies to statens, these cholesterol lowering drugs. Does that mean all statens?
KHURANA: We did not fracture the type of the staten used. It involves all the statins that were used at this time.
WHITFIELD: What is it about these cholesterol lowering drugs that helps in the prevention of cancer?
KHURANA: See, one of the things we never focused on -- we saw the end product, which was the cholesterol, but never on the pathway which these drugs blocked. Also, involves several of the by-products which are involved in cell cycle regulation. And once that's cutoff, what we are realizing is by cutting that off, several of these encore (ph) proteins or the G-proteins which if mutated can lead to cancer, cannot attach to the cell, And if they cannot attach to a cell, they cannot transform the cell into cancer. So that we are coming to know more and more from animal studies, cell culture studies. And now we have some epidemiological data about that.
WHITFIELD: So, what might this potentially mean for the ongoing research of cancer preventions? Are we saying that some of these components in the statens may have somehow be used for some other forms of treatment to prevent cancer?
KHURANA: There are several studies which actually looked at that. One of the things is it's still not approved for cancer prevention. But what we anticipate doing with the studies to take one step forward, to a randomized placebo controlled trial which will answer the question whether we can prevent cancer by using statens.
WHITFIELD: Now, what about gender? Does it make a difference whether these statens more effective in men or women?
KHURANA: So far, what we have looked at, we haven't broken down the data as for a gender is concerned, but I do not anticipate any difference.
WHITFIELD: But then why is breast cancer being singled out as perhaps an one of the conditions that is most benefiting from this cholesterol lowering drug?
KHURANA: What we are seeing is we are pretty much seeing across the board for cancers we reported so far, almost 50 percent risk reduction. Breast cancer was picked up as a press release, but we are not involved that decision. But we are pretty much about all the cancers are showing the similar results.
WHITFIELD: So, what happens next? What do you do with this study and information?
KHURANA: What we need to do is define which drug and what are the doses and for how long they need to take the statens. We did discuss some of the preliminary results at one of the presentations about prostate cancer in which we were seeing the effects on two to three years, we start seeing beneficial effect of statens.
Now, once we decide which are the agents which can be used and the duration, we anticipate initiating a placebo controlled, randomized trial to address these answers for good.
WHITFIELD: So, how encouraged do people need to be about the result of your study?
KHURANA: I think it's very exciting time. Good thing is we do find a protective effect in the last data set which compromises over half a million patients. And in addition, what we are finding is most of the factors which worsen the cancer risk are associated with increased cancer risk in our database, also, which in fact validates our database.
And the results are pretty interesting. We just need to watch for the randomized trial. At this stage, it is still not indicated to statens for cancer prevention, but patients who have lipid abnormalities and have indication for cholesterol lowering drugs should benefit from statens if they are high risk for any type of cancer. That should be an additional benefit in addition to lowering their lipids.
WHITFIELD: All right. Very encouraging. Doctor Vikas Khurana of the Overton Brooks VA Medical Center out of Shreveport, Louisiana. But joining us from Chicago. Thanks so much.
KHURANA: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: When you think about high school proms, should you be thinking about limo safety?
And is the college grad in your life likely to get a job right away? Those stories straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As December draws near, so does graduation for college seniors. So before you done that cap and gown, get ready for the real world with five must haves at CNN.com/US.
Good news for college grads looking for their first job. A recent survey by Career Builder found that more than 60 percent of managers say they plan to hire recent grads and more than 30 percent say they plan to increase entry level salaries. The survey also reveals the top five things grads can do to make the most of their search.
28 percent of hiring managers said relevant experience is the most important factor in their hiring decision. Professionalism in the interview is also key. So invest in a professional business suit and arrive well dressed and on time. If you're looking for a place to start your search, try Career Builder's job search engine on CNN.com.
After you've land that first job, don't lose it. Log on for a list of top mistakes college grads make in their three months job. Best of luck in your search. From the .com news desk, I'm Veronica De La Cruz.
WHITFIELD: So, besides looking and acting professional, how can grads increase their chances of landing a job? And if they do get an offer, what can they expect to be paid? For those answers and some other insider tips, we turn to John Challenger, an expert in workplace trends. He joins us live from Chicago.
Good to see you, John.
JOHN CHALLENGER, WORKPLACE TRENDS ANALYST: Nice to be here, Fredricka. WHITFIELD: all right. Well, there will be apparently a 13 percent increase of more hirings of grads this year. Why such a promising outlook?
CHALLENGER: Not only has the economy been very strong from a job standpoint in the last year, but many companies over the last three years in previous classes kind of put off that you are hiring, they were cutting costs, they didn't fill their pipeline, now they're making up for lost time and hiring more grads.
WHITFIELD: Does it look like the pool of college grads is better?
CHALLENGER: Well, it's not necessarily better, but you can only go so long as a company without bringing in new people who make their way up through the system. So this year's college grad class certainly wants to emphasize their grade point and their majors and the kinds of extracurricular activities they had, because they show the kinds of leadership skills they have and make them more hirable.
WHITFIELD: So let's break down some of those qualities. What kind of majors are most sought after?
CHALLENGER: Well, business majors right now are certainly the most practical. That says to an employer, for example, in finance and accounting, if that was what someone was doing, you can go right into the job. And that's a very hot area in the market right now. With Sarbanes Oxley, more and more companies are putting in financial controls and adding new grads to make those kinds of programs work.
WHITFIELD: Wow. And looking at the average starting salaries, you have to wonder if the college grads know how good they have it. These are impressive numbers, $39,000, $37,000, $30,000 as starting, entry level salaries?
CHALLENGER: Well, they're older brothers and sisters over the last five years are probably looking at them and saying why didn't I come out, you know, when they were coming out. But many of those actually went to grad school over the last few years, put off taking the job and going to the job market in hopes that the market would be better. And now they're coming out with a grad degree and in fact expect even higher salaries.
WHITFIELD: All right. So, besides their major, what makes a graduate an attractive candidate?
CHALLENGER: Well, it's really very crucial to be engaged in your school, to have taken a leadership role in whatever it might be, in athletics or in the newspaper or in some kind of theater, music. Those kinds of extracurricular activities then say often much more about the individual than their grade point. It says you could probably fit into this organization, work with people and take on a leadership role.
WHITFIELD: So, there's hope. Even if they don't perhaps, have a great GPA, if it shows that they were involved in so many other capacities on campus, they really may look like more a attractive candidate than the person who has the perfect, or the very high GPA?
CHALLENGER: Well, sure, because companies want people who can come into their organization, who fit well. So that interview is very crucial. How you portray yourself, your interpersonal skills, your ability to seem flexible or be flexible is often not only shown in the kind of activities you did in school, but in the interview, as well.
WHITFIELD: Well, how do you se this trend in terms of the higher number of college grads being hired this school year continuing?
CHALLENGER: Let's hope it continues. The economy looks strong. The job market has continued to improve. Unemployment's dropped to 5.2 percent. If that continues through the year onto next year's class, it should mean better times even for next year's January grads. The economy doesn't look like it's going to tank any time soon.
WHITFIELD: All right. John Challenger in Chicago, thanks so much.
CHALLENGER: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Well, high school students are also focused on their futures. And now they have a chance to change it for the better. The nation's governors asking high schoolers to help them come up with ideas for overhauling their education.
The students can do that by filling out an online survey called "Rate Your Future." And you can find it at rateyourfuture.org. It asks students what they get out of school, whether they like what they're doing to prepare for graduation and they're also being asked what frustrates them about their educational experiences.
Well, the immediate future in terms of prom night is what many high school students are focusing on these days. And so are their parents. Prom night and safety on the roads, it's what's driving moms and dads to shell out big bucks to rent limousines. But in some cases, what they get is anything but safe. CNN's J.J. Ramberg has this shocking report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JJ. RAMBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's prom night in Arlington, Virginia.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me se your registration card and your crib sheet (ph).
RAMBERG: And while students hit the dance floor inside, their drivers are getting hit with tough questions outside.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you open the back of your vehicle to check to see if you have any alcohol back there?
RAMBERG: For the last ten years, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles has set up safety check points near high school proms. Just last year, out of 404 vehicles, inspectors found 103 violations and made several arrests.
MARCIA MEREDITH, VIRGINIA DMV: They do an overall check of the car to make sure that there aren't any obvious safety violations such as bald tires or a burnt out headlight or a tail light. They look for open alcoholic containers in the vehicle.
RAMBERG (on camera): The first limo driver inspected at this prom had an expired driver's license, no license to operate a limousine and no copy of the customer contract. Agents gave him a ticket, towed his car and then had to work with prom officials to find the teenagers another ride home.
(voice-over): DMV agents say passengers can do more to protect themselves by just asking the right questions. Phone books don't require limo companies to be licensed and so promgoers need to do their own research.
RON GRANDIS, CAPITAL AREA LIMOUSINE ASSN: Make sure that the drivers show, OK, their registration and their proper authority papers just like they would show to the state.
RAMBERG: Checks that often slip the minds of teens who have other issues that seem more important looking their ride.
JOSE RIOS, LIMO CUSTOMER: The first thing was the price. And if they had a 14 passenger limo available.
RAMBERG: So far this year, the Virginia DMV has been two proms. By the end of the season, agents will hit 18 more.
J.J. Ramberg, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Still ahead, the freeways of California -- a dozen shootings since March. As police search for suspects, a family searches for answers.
And then, "CSI: Miami," the TV series, is fictional but every episode has a real life element thanks to Elizabeth Devine. Coming up, CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta talks to the woman in charge of keeping it real.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Bottom of the hour and the top stories, "Newsweek" magazine says it may have aired in its report that U.S. interrogators decimated the Koran at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The reports set up deadly violence in Muslim world. "Newsweek" Washington bureau chief Dan Klaidman will be a guest on "CNN Live Sunday" at 6:00 p.m. Eastern.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice makes a surprise stop in Baghdad. Rice says Iraqi authorities and U.S. troops are making progress in the fight against the insurgency. She met with Iraq's Interim Prime Minister Ibrahim al Jafaari during the visit. Iraq's most wanted insurgent may be seriously wounded that according to a report in London's "Sunday Times." A doctor says Abu Musab Al Zarqawi turned up at a hospital in Ramadi and was bleeding heavily and says the man believed to be behind many of the terrorist attacks in Iraq refused to stay for additional treatment.
After a chance encounter with a suspected terrorist, a Panama immigrant is now on the government's terror watch list. As our Drew Griffin reports, sometimes just a suspicion of having links to terrorists is enough to throw someone's life in limbo.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): One Juan Carlos Merida bleak situation didn't really hit home until last week when he realized he couldn't get home. When you heard your dad had another heart attack, Juan, I'm sure the instinct was to go to Panama.
JUAN CARLOS MERIDA, NAME ON WATCH LIST: Immediately.
GRIFFIN: His father lay in a hospital bed in his native Panama. His son, stranded here in Oklahoma. Afraid that if he left the United States, even to see his father, he might never be able to return.
MERIDA: What are you doing in afternoon?
GRIFFIN: Juan Carlos Merida is one of thousands of people who after attacks of 9/11 were judged to be potential security risks and found themselves on the federal government's watch list.
MERIDA: I was skinny.
GRIFFIN: But how this former Panama air force pilot says he loves his adopted country got on that list is one of the more baffling stories of post-9/11 America. Do they think that you are a terrorist that you had something to do with this guy?
MERIDA: I will say, no, but my name is on the list.
GRIFFIN: Merida's nightmare began in February of 2001. He was working as a recruiter and instructor at this flight school in Norman, Oklahoma when his boss Brenda Keen, asked him to pick up a new student flying in from overseas.
BRENDA KEEN: No, I mean. I asked him to pick him up at the airport. He did what he was told.
GRIFFIN: But following the boss' orders and driving to the Oklahoma City Airport that day to pick up a foreign student turned out to be one of two mistakes Juan Carlos would make. The second was after September 11. When he realized just who that student was.
MERIDA: When I saw his face on TV, after the events of September 11, as he was arrested, before September 11, I recognized him immediately. GRIFFIN: The man Juan Carlos Merida recognized, the foreign flight student he picked up at this airport was Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called 20th hijacker. Sensing the importance of his information, Merida went straight to the FBI.
MERIDA: I came to them, to try to tell them that I was the person that went to pick him up and took him to this place and told them about the apartment.
GRIFFIN: Merida believes that one brief encounter with a terrorist is the reason he was placed on the watch list. Since then, the FAA has denied his applications to train on large jets. His work visa has not been renewed and according to him, one person at the Department of Homeland Security told him to give up the dream of ever becoming a commercial pilot.
MERIDA: She actually told me that I wasn't allowed to fly anymore in the U.S. and she actually told me you ask your boss if you can do something else but you're not going to fly anymore in the U.S. Why? Because I did that decision.
GRIFFIN: Because you picked up a guy at the airport.
MERIDA: She didn't mention that.
GRIFFIN: But if Moussaoui got in a cab, would we be having this discussion today?
MERIDA: No, no. I haven't done anything wrong in my life. I'm very proud of -- of being in this country. I love your country and that's why I tried to help.
GRIFFIN: Critics say there are thousands like Merida, law- abiding people who say they have no idea why they are on the watch list and are frustrated because no one in the government seems willing to explain why. We went through that same frustration trying to find out why Juan Carlos Merida got on the government's list.
GRIFFIN (on camera): We called the Transportation Safety Administration here in Arlington, Virginia, which maintains the lists. The TSA sent us to the Department of Justice. The Department of Justice sent us to the Department of Homeland Security. And the Department of Homeland Security sent us right back here to the TSA. No one would give us an answer.
GRIFFIN (voice over): Despite all this bureaucracy, he says he never regrets trying to help this adopted country of his when it needed him most. How can you still like a country that does that?
MERIDAS: Well, let's put it this way. I say all the time, you know, if I have to go back in time and do it again, will you help the FBI with information? Of course I will. You know? It was really painful for me to be in this country when these events, you know, when those towers I saw them falling, you know, and if I have to go back in time and try to help your country again, I will.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And that was Drew Griffin of CNN's investigative unit. CNN is committed to providing the most reliable coverage of news that affects your security. Stay tuned day and night.
Across America this weekend, a man accused of killing a 13-year- old Florida girl faces more charges now. Hillsborough County deputies say David Lee Onstott tried escape from jail in Tampa he allegedly used a metal rod to dig a hole through the concrete of his cell. Detectives say Onstott confessed to strangling Sarah Lunde during an argument. Lunde's body turned up in a pond near her home in Ruskin, Florida last month.
Also in Tampa jury selection begins tomorrow in the case of a former professor and three others charged with funding deadly terrorist strikes. Prosecutors point to a 1995 car bomb attack on a bus in Gaza as one example. Seven Israelis and an American student were killed.
And police in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, say a teenage athlete has confessed to killing his parents with a shotgun. The 16-year-old track and cross-country runner faces two counts of first-degree murder. Police found his parents' bodies on the floor in their home early yesterday.
Police are investigating more than a dozen freeway shootings that have left four people dead in southern California this year. CNN's Kareen Wynter looks at what one highway homicide did to one young man's family.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It was the afternoon of March 29th, on the crowded 110 Freeway in southern California. A 20-year-old college student was behind the wheel of a shiny sports car. When he had for only a few months, a gift from dad. Michael Livingston wrapped up classes that day and headed to a friend's house in Los Angeles. But, he never made it.
Michael was minutes away from his exit when someone fired several shots into his car, killing him. Christina and Dennis Livingston was nowhere near the scene. In fact they were 70 miles away, here inside their San Bernardino County home. But it wasn't long before they had to start grappling with the horror of their son's death and it wasn't police who broke the news.
CHRISTINA LIVINGSTON, MOTHER: I just happen to walk past the television, which was on, and I saw the breaking news alert.
WYNTER: Michael's cherished '98 Chevy Camera, the one he polished with such care, was now a twisted piece of metal on the side of the freeway. Police say he was shot several times and lost control of his car, which smashed into the center divider.
C. LIVINGSTON: We recognized the rims on the car.
WYNTER: Did you know that it was Michael's car?
C. LIVINGSTON: I absolutely did.
WYNTER: But at the time, the Livingston's didn't know this was just the beginning of a rash of random freeway shootings.
DENNIS LIVINGSTON, FATHER: Mike was ripped from our lives I mean he was just taken. And, it's not going to bring him back but at the same time --
C. LIVINGSTON: Wait a minute.
D. LIVINGSTON: OK.
C. LIVINGSTON: He was ripped from our lives. That's what makes it so difficult and the reality of that moment is earth shattering.
WYNTER: These parents hadn't buried their son when they turned their anger to action hitting the streets ignoring warnings from Los Angeles police the Livingston's searched for Michael's killer. The family handed out information to the public; police have no solid leads in any of the shootings. Officials say statistically they have about the same number of shootings this year as last year and that these cases are not unusual.
D. LIVINGSTON: That statistic doesn't matter much.
C. LIVINGSTON: Our son was killed. And, those statistics don't offer us any comfort.
WYNTER: The Livingston's say what does ease the pain are pictures, precious memories of their son's short life. His infectious smile.
C. LIVINGSTON: Birthday parties. First trip to the beach.
WYNTER: Which blossomed into a love for the water. This is one of Michael's favorite places you said to be just out here in the back yard by the pool?
D. LIVINGSTON: Correct. It would be back here swimming in the pool with his friends. And his sister would be on the patio watching. And, I'll be barbecuing. There were a lot of good times back here.
WYNTER: Echoes of laughter replaced by this. A mother, sister and father grieve in silence.
D. LIVINGSTON: It is times like these I think Michael's with me. Going to knock on the door and walk in there.
C. LIVINGSTON: Running out the back door to go to the pool.
WYNTER: The Livingston's say it's hard to imagine life without Michael but what makes it worse is his case remains unsolved.
C. LIVINGSTON: I'm almost begging if for that one person out there that knows something would come forward.
WYNTER: Kareen Wynter, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Now meet the woman who bridges the real world of crime scene investigation with TV fiction. The supervising producer and technical adviser for "CSI: Miami" went from being a medical examiner to one of the most influential women in Hollywood. CNN senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Quick rehearsal. Mark. And action!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa, man. What the hell are you doing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Been lying to me for months. Don't be stupid. Put the gun down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cut.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Here's what a day on the job looks like for Elizabeth Devine. In the middle of the Florida Everglades followed by a CNN news crew. For this show, the "CSI" crew set fires to the Everglades. A controlled burn with real firefighters standing by. They go to great heights to get the shot. And airboats race by below. Check out the finished product. The chase scene. The story is fictional drama. The serial killer on the loose, but parts of it inspired by real life. And Devine's days as a top notch criminalist.
ELIZABETH DEVINE: OK good.
GUPTA: She works closely with the director and the actors giving them advice from the field.
DEVINE: I want to seem like that guy's going to be the problem.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cut.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And cutting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Next.
GUPTA: The labs on "CSI" and "CSI Miami" are modeled on this. The LA county sheriffs crime lab.
DEVINE: So this is my old stomping ground.
GUPTA: For 15 years, Elizabeth worked on some high profile and often grizzly cases.
DEVINE: This was a bloodstain on his shirt. And I was able to prove that it was the victim's handprint and the victim grabbed his shirt while she was still alive. Grabbed it and grabbed it like that. GUPTA: Blood splatter in the case?
DEVINE: Yes, yes.
GUPTA: She says that while she doesn't miss dealing with the tragedies or the long hours, the adrenaline rush was hard to give up.
DEVINE: You get out there and you find the key piece of evidence. So exciting because you know this is it. This is -- this is the piece of evidence going to tell me who did it.
GUPTA: A lot of "CSI" the originals "CSI" are based on some of the stuff you worked on here and you saw here in the crime lab here.
DEVINE: My whole life is on that show. Everything that happened to me, you know, I just would talk to the writers and we would somehow incorporate little bits, sometimes the whole case into episodes.
GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Wow fascinating stuff and that's just some of -
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Still much more ahead on CNN LIVE SUNDAY a story that could make you think twice about putting off that spring cleaning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One point I picked up a package, I said in or out? On the package the word Pollack with some dates and so he said, hold on. Oh my god.
WHITFIELD: An amazing find of a lifetime when CNN LIVE SUNDAY returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Some spring-cleaning uncovers a treasure trove of art. A family friend of Jackson Pollack finds undiscovered works of the abstract art icon. CNN's Holly Gorani has the story of Pollack's found.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLLY GORANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Spring cleaning, garage sale, inventory. Call it what you will. Just make sure that in your cleaning frenzy you take a long, final look at the departing items.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At one point I picked up a package and said, in or out. On the package, the word Pollock with some dates and he said, hold on. Oh my god and we opened up the package and found many paintings early paintings of his work.
GORANI: The result of his father's sharp eye, 32 previously unknown works by famed painter Jackson Pollock which had been sitting in the Matter family storage unit for decades. The artist was a close friend of Alex Matter's father, photographer Herbert Matter. The find consisted mostly of works done in Pollack's signature drip painting style and all date from between 1946 and 1949. Pollock paintings from the same period have sold for as much as $11.5 million a piece. But Matter says he is in no hurry to part with the work.
ALEX MATTER, OWNER OF POLLACK PAINTINGS: It is impossible to say what the value is. Everybody would like to know what the value is. In any way they can find out but there really is no way to know until you start to put them on the market place, which is far from anything we're interested in doing right now.
GORANI: The paintings immediate future includes a plan for an international exhibition perhaps as early as next year to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the artist's death and once and for all prove that one man's junk is indeed another man's treasure.
Holly Gorani, CNN Center.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And best advice for them, get some new locks on the door. That is going to do it for us. Straight ahead "CNN 25" looks at the top 25 most fascinating people and "Anatomy of Murder" crime scene investigation premieres at 10:00 Eastern here on CNN. And the headlines are coming up right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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