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American Morning

Search Continues For Missing Scout; Bolton Blocked; Wireless Technology; 'Surviving the Game'

Aired June 21, 2005 - 07:30   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. It is just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Search teams are now going back into the mountains of Utah this morning. They're looking for that missing Cub Scout.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Eleven-year-old Brennan Hawkins has been missing now since Friday. We'll talk to his uncle and sister about the search so far and the criminal investigation into his disappearance as well.

S. O'BRIEN: Lots to talk about with them. First, though, let's get a look at the morning's top stories with Carol Costello.

Good morning.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good morning to all of you.

In the news, a block-long blaze in Detroit, Michigan. Spectacular pictures. Just look at the flames. The fire apparently started up last night in a four-story warehouse. The building apparently used to be a Studebaker plant. Some 150 firefighters fighting this blaze. Two of them have been injured. No word on how this fire started.

A former Lebanese official has been killed in a car bombing in Beirut. George Hawi was the former secretary general of the Lebanese communist party. He is the second anti-Syrian figure to die in an explosion this month. The attacks comes one day after Lebanon held parliamentary elections. An opposition group critical of Syria won a majority of the votes.

A Texas search-and-rescue organization is headed to Aruba today to help look for Natalee Holloway. The Alabama teenager disappeared on May 30. The group, complete with search dogs and sonar equipment, says it will spend at least five days looking for her. Four people are being held in connection with Holloway's disappearance, including a 26-year-old disk jockey. None have been formally charged.

A final resting place for Terri Schiavo. Michael Schiavo buried the ashes of his late wife in a Florida cemetery on Monday beneath a bronze grave marker that reads -- quote -- "I kept my promise." It lists February 25, 1990 as the day of death. That's when Schiavo suffered brain damage. Schiavo's parents were not in attendance. And President Bush is hosting Vietnam's prime minister today. It is the first White House visit by a top Lebanese leader since the Vietnam War ended 30 years ago. Today's agenda includes American concerns over human rights and religious freedom violations and Vietnam's bid to join the World Trade Organization. President Bush will then take part in a swearing-in ceremony for the Council of Economic Advisers and to speak to the Southern Baptist Convention.

And do remember, you can view more CNN reports online. Just visit cnn.com, click on "to watch" to check out free video from our most popular stories.

Now let's head to the forecast center to check out the weather.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Well, this morning, unfortunately, there is still no sign of that 11-year-old Cub Scout in Utah. A criminal investigation, in fact, is now under way.

Brennan Hawkins was last seen on Friday afternoon. He was at a popular scout camp in a rugged mountain area just east of Salt Like City.

Mariah Hawkins is Brennan's sister. Bob Hawkins is the boy's uncle. And they're in Kamas, Utah, this morning.

Thanks for talking with us. I know you guys are really flat out busy with the search.

Bob, let's begin with you. You didn't have success yesterday. I know there are concerns about this river, which is near the location where Brennan went missing. Can you tell me a little bit about the terrain and how hard it's been to search in that area?

BOB HAWKINS, MISSING SCOUT'S UNCLE: Yes, Soledad. This is -- it's a mountainous area. There are areas of the terrain that are flat and fairly easy, but the majority of the areas are fairly rugged, very wooded, a lot of trees, brush. Volunteers that are coming out to help really need to be physically able to take on strenuous hiking to be able to help with the search efforts.

The water is a concern, because the last few days have been very warm here in the mountains. The run-off is causing the river to be swollen, and it's a concern area. And I know the search-and-rescue teams are focusing in on the water yesterday and today as long as it takes.

S. O'BRIEN: I had read, Mariah, that for your brother to get from the climbing wall where he was last seen down to the mess camp, which is where he seemed to be heading, he didn't have to go across the river. Give me a sense of, was he into swimming? Would it be something that he would do? Was he a strong swimmer? Is he an athletic young man?

MARIAH HAWKINS, MISSING SCOUT'S SISTER: Brennan is -- he's an athletic little kid, but he has always been pretty scared of water. Not scared of swimming, but as far as rushing rivers and things like that. He's not comfortable in situations that he's not familiar with. And so, I don't think that he would venture over to any water that he didn't know what was going on, especially the run-off is so strong right now with it being the spring run-off it's just a rushing river. And I seriously doubt that he would get anywhere near it.

S. O'BRIEN: How have you found the volunteers out there? I know there have been many folks, thousands over the weekend, and now the numbers have gone down a little bit. Just their mere presence has got to be very helpful for you, including the father of that little boy who disappeared last year. How has that been?

M. HAWKINS: Right. The volunteers have been incredible. We couldn't have done it without them. The outpouring of love from them has been incredible for us. and they come from all over. We don't even know where they come from. And we want to publicly thank them, because without them we couldn't be doing this. And especially the Bardsleys, Kevin, Garrett's dad, has pulled out all of his resources and...

S. O'BRIEN: I hear what you're saying, Mariah. It's OK. It's OK. That's all right. We'll move on. I can see that you're really struggling, both of you. Is it helpful to be out there every day? Could you not be out there looking for your little brother and your nephew every single day?

M. HAWKINS: It depends on the day. Sometimes I want to be right out there, and sometimes I want to be back with the people helping out in the ways that I can here.

B. HAWKINS: I just can't see myself being anywhere except supporting my brother, his wife, his family, and looking for Brennan.

S. O'BRIEN: We wish you the best of luck. I mean, there is some good news. The weather has been good, which is great to hear.

B. HAWKINS: Very good.

S. O'BRIEN: And as you say, afraid of water. That's probably some of the best news that you could hear, you know, that maybe he didn't go that direction. So, I know they're out there again today searching. Thanks for talking with us. We know you're really busy.

B. HAWKINS: Thank you very much.

S. O'BRIEN: I know it's been very tough. We appreciate it -- Miles.

B. HAWKINS: Thanks for your help.

S. O'BRIEN: Sure. My pleasure.

M. O'BRIEN: It breaks your heart, gosh.

The nomination of John Bolton is still blocked this morning. The Senate failed to end debate last night with a cloture vote. Cloture is the procedure to end a filibuster and requires 60 of the 100 Senate votes. I think we're all familiar with this by now. Democrats are holding an up or down vote on the president's nominee for the United Nations.

David Ensor is live at the White House.

David, what's the White House saying about this second failed attempt? Will they go for the so-called recess appointment maybe?

DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Possibly, Miles. There's no surprise here at the White House at the way the vote went. But obviously, they're disappointed.

Officials are arguing that the Democrats are not doing this really because they want the names of individuals and intercepts that U.S. intelligence made and that John Bolton apparently requested when he was undersecretary of state, but for political reasons.

Spokesman Scott McClellan said the Democratic leadership is not interested in documents. They're only interested in blocking progress and preventing John Bolton from getting about the important work of advancing reform at the United Nations.

Now, at this point, the White House clearly has three choices, Miles: Provide the information to the senior Senate Democrats that they have requested, withdraw the nomination, put a new name in place, or, as you mentioned, make a recess appointment of John Bolton as U.N. ambassador. Now, this would allow him to serve in that post roughly through calendar year 2006, but he would probably be out at that point.

So that's the choice the White House is now faced with -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, David Ensor at the White House. Thank you very much -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, nowadays, all you need is a laptop and a wireless card, and you can log onto the Internet from virtually anywhere. But this newfound freedom comes with a risk that you may not realize.

Technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg joins us from Atlanta to talk about that.

Daniel, good morning to you. Talk a little bit about these wireless connections. Are they inherently less secure than any other kind of connection?

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Soledad, it really depends on what level of security somebody puts on them. So, it depends in a sense. But they're probably not as secure as you might think. In many cases, wireless networks are like an unlocked front door just waiting to be opened.

And we followed one expert who showed us just how easy it can be to grab your information right out of the air.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG (voice over): It's a chance to cut the cords and surf the Web from a park or a cafe. Wireless Internet access is everywhere these days, with nearly 30,000 so-called hot spots in the U.S. alone. But with convenience comes a caveat.

RICHARD RUSHING, AIR DEFENSE: Understand that the information you're doing is very similar to standing up in the park here and shouting out all of the information. Would I normally do that?

SIEBERG: Richard Rushing makes his living by helping companies strengthen wireless networks.

RUSHING: User name, and here's the password.

SIEBERG: He says many people don't realize they can have all of their personal data stolen while checking out their checking account.

RUSHING: It's great to able to sit somewhere and work with no wires attached, no nothing attached. They don't really understand the risk of wireless.

SIEBERG: To illustrate how vulnerable wireless networks can be, Rushing sends an e-mail, then intercepts the entire contents of his message.

RUSHING: You should not be able to see this message.

SIEBERG: He could have done that to any of the dozens of people sitting nearby.

RUSHING: At any point in time, I can reach out and touch everyone's laptop that's at the hot spot. There's usually not any way of preventing that.

SIEBERG: And he says anybody with a little know-how and the right tools could break into the basic level of wireless security. There are even how-to video instructions online.

The bottom line? Rushing says imagine nothing is truly private.

RUSHING: A lot of the times that you really want to stay away from doing certain things at the hot spots that you would not normally do if you knew someone is going to be watching you.

SIEBERG: Basically, wireless offers a good chance to check out the baseball scores. But even if you're sitting all alone, it doesn't mean you are all alone. It may have no wires attached, but it still comes with strings.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

All right. So by now, you're probably a little paranoid. So what else can you do? You might want to consider additional security software like a firewall. There are plenty of programs out there. You just need to use them.

You need to be wary of fake hot spots, fake wireless access points. These are called "evil twins." They look similar to real ones. It's really a good idea to prepay for wireless access at your provider's Web site. So, say tmobile.com, for example.

And really consider what you're sending while at a wireless network. You know, it's really just not a good idea to send banking information while you're there. You can just stick to casual Web surfing, have fun with it, but be very cautious. Think about what's going out there -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: OK. Well, those are hot spots, though, that are shared outdoors by lots of people. What if you're talking about your wireless in your home or in your apartment? Aren't you sort of protected there?

SIEBERG: Well, it's very popular these days for people to set up a wireless network at home. But there are security measures that come with a lot of the software. The problem is, again, people just don't use them.

I could probably make your head spin with some of the acronyms out there like WEP and WPA. The bottom line is they're included with the software. You have to poke around a bit to activate them and get them on there. At the very least, you're going to deter the casual hacker, somebody who might be driving by your house, in a sense, to try and get onto your network. And you'll probably deter the neighbors from getting free wireless access, which a lot of people are giving away unknowingly by not securing their network at home.

S. O'BRIEN: Can I ask you one final question, Daniel?

SIEBERG: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: My BlackBerry, then, am I -- can I potentially be hacked just walking around using my BlackBerry on the street?

SIEBERG: Well, not in so much the same way. If you're using a wireless access point with any type of PDA, then you're just as vulnerable as anybody using a laptop, depending on the type of security and whether it's your company's device. Some of them come with more security than others.

But the bottom line is you have to be careful in both cases. There's security software for both. You just have to do something about it. And if you're a little paranoid right now, that's probably OK.

S. O'BRIEN: How did you know? How could you tell?

SIEBERG: Yes, that's OK, though.

S. O'BRIEN: Do I seem paranoid to you?

SIEBERG: It's good to be like that. S. O'BRIEN: Daniel Sieberg. Daniel, thanks a lot.

SIEBERG: All right.

S. O'BRIEN: I appreciate it -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: You know, the problem is, though, especially on the wireless at home, setting up all of that stuff is so hard. And adding on the password just makes it that more complicated.

S. O'BRIEN: But, you know...

M. O'BRIEN: Do you do it? Do you have the passwords?

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, we have wireless, and we have passwords. But what I discovered was that before I had wireless, I could get on the wireless of all of my neighbors in my apartment building. That was a little scary.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, you should have just stuck with that. It's cheaper.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, I think it's a little...

M. O'BRIEN: I think they know now.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, still to come, hackers may have gotten their hands on 40 million credit card numbers, maybe on a wireless network. We don't know. But experts say don't panic. Andy explains in "Minding Your Business."

S. O'BRIEN: And how do you keep your kids from getting burnt out on sports? Our special series "Surviving The Game" is coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Here's a statistic that may surprise you, especially if you have kids. Researchers say 3 out of 4 kids drop out of organized sports by the age of 12. Why? Well, we continue our special series here on AMERICAN MORNING, "Surviving The Game."

AMERICAN MORNING's" Kelly Wallace is here with more. We're putting her in, coach.

Kelly, this is a tough one. There's a big discussion at our house. How much is too much? Merr (ph) is a swimmer. Sometimes he doesn't want to go. Do we push? Do we nudge: Or do we just let him play Xbox?

KELLY WALLACE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, exactly. And it's this issue of burnout. It's a big concern for kids, a big concern for parents, because, again, you want them to continue enjoying their sport. And especially if they excel, you want them to continue playing the game.

So, it is a balancing act really for parents like the ones you're about to meet, the Welences of Ridgewood, New Jersey, who are trying very hard to make sure their kids don't do too much.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE (voice over): Consider a typical weekend for the Welences, 9-year-old Riley, 12-year-old Tyler, and their parents, Craig and Sarah.

CRAIG WELENCE, FATHER OF STUDENT ATHLETES: On Saturday, 9:00 a.m., Riley had an in-town rec baseball game. Tyler had a 10:00 a.m. lacrosse game in town.

WALLACE: Tyler then had a 2:30 baseball game with a recreation league, and both kids had games with their travel baseball teams at 6:00.

(on camera): I'm exhausted.

WELENCE: Now we're to Sunday.

WALLACE (voice over): Craig did the math for us. The family attended -- get this -- 118 games in the last year alone just for Tyler. And that doesn't include practices.

Last fall, when Tyler was playing on four different sports teams, Craig and Sarah said they saw signs of burnout, especially with soccer.

WELENCE: I think some excuses were cropping up now and then about going to practice.

WALLACE: So, Craig and Sarah asked Tyler not to play soccer this fall. How did they decide if the kids are overdoing it?

SARAH WELENCE, MOTHER OF STUDENT ATHLETES: When it completely overtakes the family, then it would be too much.

WALLACE: There are reasons for parents to be concerned. Listen to the experts.

AUGIE MENDOZA, ASSOC. SPORTS DIR., YMCA: Stats show that by 11 years of age, most kids have burned out of these sports because of the win-at-all-cost mentality in some organizations and pressure of the parents.

WALLACE: Mendoza also says kids are starting organized sports at younger ages, sometimes as young as 3, and says the leagues, especially the traveling teams, are growing more competitive and more demanding.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Strike three!

TYLER WELENCE, 12-YEAR-OLD ATHLETE: Last year, that was the worst time. Every sport was trying to get, like, everybody started to get players to want to commit more, so they started having more practices.

WALLACE: Here in Ridgewood, New Jersey, concern about burnout and driving kids too hard led community leaders to designate one Tuesday evening every March for a night of no extracurricular activity -- no games, no practice.

S. WELENCE: It was kind of nice to have, you know, a night without all of that.

WALLACE (on camera): Do you ever get tired and say, whoa, enough is enough?

RILEY WELENCE, 9-YEAR-OLD ATHLETE: Well, not really, because it's fun going to all of the practices and games, because your friends are there.

WALLACE (voice over): Craig and Sarah say as long as the kids are enjoying themselves, they are not concerned about how much they are doing. In fact, the family even misses it.

S. WELENCE: You get to the end of the season, and there's this incredible letdown because you're just, like -- and then you're, like, well, what do we do? And it's happened every year. And it's because you're just -- you know, you go, go, go, go, go. And then as soon as it's over, you're just -- you're kind of like at a loss for what to do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: OK. So, here is our question. What can you do to make sure your kids don't burn out early on youth sports? Number one, forget wins and losses when your kids are young. Try to focus on a different definition of winning, such as improving their performance. Also, encourage your kids to take some time off to just relax and do other things. And beware of parental peer pressure. Miles, this is key. I'm not pointing the finger at you when it comes to your kids. But some parents measure what their kids should be doing, how early they should start playing sports, what sports they should play, not on their own kids, but on their friends.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh, you think there's a little competitiveness there?

WALLACE: There's a little competitiveness out there.

M. O'BRIEN: Really?

WALLACE: I don't have kids, but that's what I hear.

M. O'BRIEN: This does happen, I've been told.

WALLACE: I've been told.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Tell us about tomorrow. What's going on?

WALLACE: Tomorrow, an important issue, the pressures to be great. OK? What about athletes who are really, really good? They're facing pressures of their own and the pressures for the parents -- we talked about this -- between giving them the skills they need and the attention they need and not going overboard.

M. O'BRIEN: And you want them to get that scholarship, gosh, darn it.

WALLACE: And you're not supposed to (INAUDIBLE) scholarship.

M. O'BRIEN: Get in that pool. Get in that pool. I want a free education. All right, Kelly, we're not supposed to do that, right?

WALLACE: You're not supposed to do that.

M. O'BRIEN: OK, thank you.

WALLACE: The experts say no.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. You can find more tips on our Web site. I'll be reading them. CNN.com/am. And you can watch Kelly's report again and find some other articles, information. And she'll be back tomorrow -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, you've just pointed out what exactly you're not supposed to do.

M. O'BRIEN: I did everything.

S. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Miles, for highlighting that.

M. O'BRIEN: Please don't do this.

S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, with some 40 million credit card numbers possibly in the hands of hackers now, some experts have some surprisingly reassuring advice. We're going to explain just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.

We've been talking about security breaches and identity theft, but Andy Serwer is here to tell you, you don't have to be too worried. He's "Minding Your Business."

Really?

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Well, you know, it's a huge problem. And like you said...

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, and every day you've got a new case.

SERWER: ... it's been in the headlines day after day. And we've been talking a lot about it. But I think that we really shouldn't panic. You know, there are a couple of things you can do to help protect yourself. And also, I want to put the whole thing in perspective a little bit.

First of all, a very important tip, and this might sound obvious, but it's really easy to do. Check your credit card statements and look for small amounts that are mysterious, because a lot of times what criminals will do is they'll test your card out by forging very small purchases to see if they can then do some big ones later on. So that's very easy.

And then secondarily, you know, this is in the "don't panic" department here. This is probably a situation that has been occurring for months and even years. But because of the new California law and because of companies being so aware of this problem and needing to get the problem out, it's probably being reported a lot more now than it had been previously. So that's something to really keep in mind.

And it's true with criminal statistics, you have to look at why they're being reported. Companies need to get this information out. And also, of course, people in Congress are very anxious to take this upon themselves and make a lot of hullabaloo about it and perhaps get themselves elected on.

S. O'BRIEN: It definitely sounds like it all of a sudden started, you know, three months ago.

SERWER: And it didn't. We know that. I mean, this has been going on for a long time. And I think what will happen over the next couple weeks and months is we'll really see how much actual criminal activity is coming out of this identity theft problem. And that remains to be seen.

S. O'BRIEN: And you'll preview the markets for us and all of that next time.

SERWER: Yes, let's do that later on.

S. O'BRIEN: OK. Thank you, Andy. Appreciate it.

SERWER: You're welcome.

S. O'BRIEN: Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Still to come, the mystery of Kryptos, made famous by "The Da Vinci Code." Now, experts are tantalizingly close to decoding the sculpture's final secret message. We'll meet the artist who created it ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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