Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

Edgar Ray Killen Will be Sentenced in Mississippi Courtroom Tomorrow; 'Daily Dose'; Brennan Hawkins Resting After Ordeal in Utah Mountains

Aired June 22, 2005 - 11:32   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's take a look at what's happening now in the news. The CDC says it's probably the first human case of the West Nile Virus this year. The victim a 51-year-old man in Kansas. West Nile is transmitted during warm months by infected mosquitoes. The center says that finding this first case highlights the need for people to protect themselves against mosquito bites.
They hoped to be celebrating in San Antonio today, but sorry, Detroit spoiled that party. The Piston beat the Spurs 95-86. That was game six last night. The win stopped the Spurs from clinching the NBA Championship last night. It forces a final game seven, the first time since '94. That will come tomorrow in San Antonio.

And the man whose work led to the invention of the microchip has died. Jack Kilby invented in 1958 the integrated circuit, paved the way for everything, from that iPod you have to the Internet. Working for Texas Instruments, Kilby later co-invented the handheld electronic calculator. The guy was busy. In 2000, Kilby won the Nobel Prize for physics. Jack Kilby, a full life. He dies at age 81.

And now there's a whole new way -- speaking of inventions, check this out, a whole new way for you to get your news on the web. Free video at CNN.com. Just log on to our Web site and click on "watch" to check out the most popular stories. It's free video under your command now at CNN.com.

We like stories with happy endings. This one has one. There's a few scrapes, bumps, bruises. But a Cub Scout who was once missing has now been found. He is recovering today. Eleven-year-old Brennan Hawkins is at home after a hospital checkup. Rescuers found him Tuesday. He was cold and thirsty. He was at 9,400 feet in Utah's northeast mountains. He was also about five miles away from where he disappeared on Friday. Reports say the boy might have seen searchers, but couldn't -- might have been too scared to approach them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF DAVID EDMUNDS, SUMMIT COUNTY, UTAH: A lot of times they're so scared and so traumatized by the fact that they're lost. When they see individuals that they don't know, it is a little frightening to them. And I'm hoping this case will illustrate to all kids out there, if they do become lost or separated, that people are going to come looking for them, number one, and, number one. when they do come looking for them, remember that the searchers are there to help. (END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: And now to Aruba. The mother of Natalee Holloway, now missing more than three weeks, met with the mother of one man who is being held in the case. Beth Holloway Twitty spoke to Miss Van Der Sloot on Tuesday. Van Der Sloot's son is a Dutch teenager being held, but not charged.

Earlier on CNN, Miss Holloway talked about that meeting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BETH HOLLOWAY TWITTY, NATALEE HOLLOWAY'S MOTHER: I really don't want to disclose any of the specifics of that conversation at this time. I think what I walked away with was the confirmation that I needed. And you know, I have had strong feelings since those early morning hours of May 31st, between the hours of 1:00 and 4:00 a.m., and I just feel that there are still some other individuals that need to be pursued.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Holloway has been missing for more than three weeks now. Her mother says she is sure the four men in custody do know the truth about what happened to her daughter.

Here in the U.S., Edgar Ray Killen will be sentenced in a Mississippi courtroom tomorrow. Yesterday, a jury found the former Ku Klux Klansmen guilty on three counts of manslaughter in the deaths of three civil rights workers back in 1964. Killen faces up to 60 years in prison.

Meanwhile, that trial is causing a lot of reaction and drudging up the ghosts of Mississippi's past. It is clear much has changed, but many say a lot remains the same.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of people here have never been out of Mississippi, and do not know any other life or any other -- they live here all their lives, and they don't know any different.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not quite like Mayberry. My name is Chuck Etheridge (ph). I teach guitar listens. The people have changed a lot. People are more open-minded, accepting here than back in the last millennium.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My name is Taneeka Moore (ph). I live here in Philadelphia, Mississippi, and I'm a hairstylist. The people here are nice. The hospitality here is good. People are friendly, and pretty much everybody gets along and everybody knows everybody.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My name is Suzette Nixon (ph). Doughnuts, cookies. I am a cake designer. We're just ordinary easygoing comfortable people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have to remember that this is not then, this is now. We didn't star in "Deliverance." I didn't.

This town has really already changed a whole lot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I had did this, I probably wouldn't have made it to court. I probably would have been hung by a tree or something worse. A lot of people that live here, that have always lived here all their lives, yes, there's still a lot of people here that's scared.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know it used to be very dangerous.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People were scared. They actually were scared for their lives after what happened to the three gentlemen back then.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back then when the murders happened, it was really -- people were scared to talk, or they wouldn't talk.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The KKK is still strong, and they're pretty much alive here, around here in Neshoba County.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's also Klansmen here. They live here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, there are still Klansmen around. The Klansmen are not dead. They are very much alive.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You might not know them, I might not know them, but they're there. They're there. They're just not making their presence known.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't believe they still think like that around here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can pretty much tell who is and who's not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The racial atmosphere here is still pretty thick.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've been around prejudice all our lives, and it's going to be here to stay.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's a lot of prejudice, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of racist issues here. Still, they kind of try to still live like they did then. They want it to stay like that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love blacks. Some of my best friends are black.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just want people to know that this place is not that place anymore.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't want people to think of Philadelphia as a bad place to live. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And for the community, you know, we're going to pick up and go on and do the best we can.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just take it a day at a time and hope that it'll get better, and this may help it get better. Then, it may make it worse. It's still got a long way to go here in Philadelphia.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's going to remain the same, because Philadelphia is Philadelphia, and Philadelphia is never going to change.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What happened in the past ought to be in the past. They've to go back and clean up what they messed up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not as bad as it used to be. Things have changed for the better, you know, but there still is some racism.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want us to be known for something besides "Mississippi Burning."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Once again, the sentencing of Edgar Ray Killen on those manslaughter charges scheduled for 11:00 a.m. tomorrow. We're going to show that to you live right here on CNN.

Also ahead today, health officials have new concerns. A renewed outbreak of the bird flu in Asia suggests that disease could spread overseas. The full report is just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Let's check out news from overseas this morning. We're going to start with a bizarre crime in Romania. There have been five indictments in the recent death of a 23-year-old nun. This is after an orthodox monk allegedly performed an exorcism on her. The monk reportedly said he was, quote, trying to take the devil out of her. Police the monk bound the nun to a cross and refused to feed her for four days. He and four nuns have been indicted.

To southern China now. More than 300,000 people were forced from their homes after torrential rain triggered deadly flooding. The region has been pounded by have rain since Saturday. At least 24 people have been killed, a number of others are reported missing. State media says, in some areas, it's the worst flooding they have seen in 100 years.

And in Germany, these aren't your ordinary sand castles. The designer dunes are part of Berlin's annual Sandsations festival. Thirty-eight sand sculptors from four continents are taking part. Oh, my goodness. The sculptures will be on display until the end of July. That last one did catch the attention of some young men here in our studio.

OK, to health news now. We're trying to end the confusion over how much exercise your kids need. A panel of obesity experts says that children should get one hour of exercise over the course of each day. The committee recommends a variety of activities, from sports and games to jumping rope. As one panel member put it, children won't be physically active unless it's any fun. Kind of like the grownups.

Taking antibiotics to cure the hacking coughs caused by bronchitis is probably a waste of money. That is the conclusion of a study by researchers in England. They found that bouts of bronchitis lasted an average of nearly 12 days, whether you had the antibiotics, if it were prescribed, or not.

On to bird flu. China is raising more concerns about a global pandemic. Health officials are especially worried about the apparent misuse of an antiviral drug that meant for people, but it's being used for poultry.

CNN's Kitty Pilgrim explains in our "Daily Dose" of health news.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The latest outbreak of bird flu in China has World Health officials scared. It's stronger than ever and becoming drug-resistant. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization confirms the Chinese have given their chickens a human antiviral medicine, Amantadine, to try to suppress the H5N1 bird flu. But it backfired.

The Chinese, by repeatedly giving the medicine meant for humans to chickens, have appeared to create a stronger strain of the virus. Global scientists say that would make sense with what they are seeing.

WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY: It certainly looks as though there is fire behind the smoke, yes. I suspect that this is exactly what happened. It's something that makes sense. It puts all the pieces of the puzzle together.

PILGRIM: The World Health Organization has sent a team to China to investigation, and World Health officials say the drug could be virtually useless to help humans at this point.

HENK BEKEDAM, WHO: We have increase in the resistance. That means that the virus is not anymore responding to the drug itself.

PILGRIM: The Chinese government, through its embassy in Washington, today categorically denied using the drug on animals. But the communist Chinese government has not been open about disease. During the SARS epidemic, Chinese officials initially denied its existence. Only after pressure from the World Health Organization were Chinese officials forced to acknowledge the threat.

The World Health Organization recently warned if there are global pandemic of any kind, millions of people could be infected. Scientists say avian flu could be the next pandemic, carried by migratory birds, making it very difficult to contain.

Kitty Pilgrim, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: This was brought to you with a happy ending. The Cub Scout, Brennan Hawkins, who was found well and alive after four days in the rugged Utah wilderness. We're now hearing his family, a family spokesperson, is going to have a news conference sometime in the next hour. We want to let you know, we'll carry that for you live here on CNN.

More of that ahead. Plus, we have a lot more to get to before the top of the hour.

Right now, a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: We expect to hear from two of the most grateful and happiest parents in America in the next hour. That would be Toby and Jody Hawkins . They are the parents of this boy, Brennan Hawkins. He was found well, and a couple scrapes and bruises from some fall. But he spent four days in the Utah wilderness and was found yesterday, basically dehydrated. Other than that, he is OK. And we expect his parents to be holding a news conference in the next hour or so, in front of their home in Bountiful, Utah. And when that happens, you're going to hear that live, right here on CNN.

Our Peter Viles has been covering the story. He joins us now from the site of the news conference in Bountfiul, Utah. Peter, I think it's probably one of the happiest you've been able to cover.

PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT; It certainly is. It's a welcome change from some of the stories we've covered, Daryn. As you said, got to be one of the happiest households in America right now, the Hawkins household. And their street has been taken over by the news media. And again, for once, it's for a good reason.

We do expect to hear from the Hawkins parents probably around at the top of the hour. We are told -- we're also told we won't see the boy, Brennan, at that time, but maybe sometime later this afternoon, after he's rested up a bit, he'll come out and wave to the crowd. It's unlikely we'll actually hear from him, but we'll see him.

The parents, as I said, are expected to come out at the top of the hour and make a short statement that we hope answers some question. What we'd all like to know is a little bit about how Brennan coped with all of this over the past couple of days. That's the one piece of the story we haven't really heard, but we know that these parents are just overwhelmed with thankfulness for the searchers, the volunteers who looked for their boy and found him. What a wonderful story.

KAGAN: The community definitely turned out and helped this family and helped this boy. And we'll be hearing more from the family in just a minute. Peter, we'll be back to you. Thank you.

Meanwhile, talking about how those volunteers turned out and helped. And ultimately, it was one of the volunteers that found Brennan Hawkins, the 11-year-old Cub Scout.

Our Keith Oppenheim takes a look at the help that helped.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OPPENHEIM (voice-over): This is Lily Lake, a picturesque spot deep in the Uinta Mountains, the very area where Brennan Hawkins was lost and found. As we arrived, it began to rain. That didn't stop Ron and Jen Cantor. two volunteers, from taking me on their all- terrain vehicles close to where Brennan was rescued. The general spot, they said, was an area burned out by forest fires.

JEN CANTOR, RESCUE VOLUNTEER: I've been up there on my four- wheeler and there is nothing up there. If you're up there on the top, there is no coverage way up there. So...

OPPENHEIM (on camera): Now, how far do you think it was from the Boy Scout camp and the climbing wall where he was last seen to that spot over there? Make a ballpark guess.

J. CANTOR: I'd probably say a couple of miles.

OPPENHEIM (voice-over): The Cantors have spent time up here and have gone camping in this wilderness with their children.

RON CANTOR, RESCUE VOLUNTEER: I've gotten lost at night myself just once for two hours in the dark and that was...

OPPENHEIM: (on camera): When you were camping out here?

R. CANTOR: Yes, and that was enough for me. I can't imagine an 11-year-old boy for four days out here.

OPPENHEIM: Not knowing what to do.

R. CANTOR: Yes.

OPPENHEIM (voice-over): Keep in mind, this terrain is well above 9,000 feet. And the temperatures can get severe, even in summer.

R. CANTOR: You can see, there is still snow there. And there is usually snow there year-round. I mean...

J. CANTOR: Yes. They said he was really lucky to have 50-degree weather at night, because, normally, I don't think it's really that warm at night. I mean, we've been up here a lot. And it gets kind of cold at night. And so I think he was really lucky to have 50-degree weather at nighttime.

OPPENHEIM: Keith Oppenheim, CNN, in the Uinta Mountains.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Once again, we're standing by. We expect the Hawkins parents to come out of their home in Utah and give a news conference, talk about how grateful they are. Coming up at the top of the hour. Meanwhile, as we do that and wait for this news conference to begin, there's been a lot of interest, not just here at CNN, but CNN.com, and a lot of resources there, as well.

Our Veronica De La Cruz is here, to talk about what people are interested in on CNN.com, what they can access...

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN.COM CORRESPONDENT: Well, obviously, that story that we were just watching, very popular story. A lot of other stories making headlines. And the interesting thing about CNN.com is it's all at your command, and it's on demand. You can browse, you can search. And there are 14 different categories. There's world, U.S., health, politics, sports. So it's all free now at CNN.com, which is absolutely amazing. And you were saying that you used it last night.

KAGAN: I did. I was able to hear the uncle, who was very grateful and also the -- some of the officials that were there. We're going to back to CNN.com in a moment.

DE LA CRUZ: OK.

KAGAN: First of all, I want to go back to Peter Viles, because we're hearing in just a couple minutes, two minutes, the Hawkins parents will be coming out of their home and giving this news conference -- Peter.

VILES; That's exactly right, Daryn. We've heard that the parents will come out in about two minutes time to thank their neighbors for this wonderful volunteer search and maybe speak a little bit about what they've been through and what their son has been through. But about a minute and half from now, we do expect to see two of the happiest parents in America -- Daryn.

KAGAN: I think we're hearing some crosstalk here. But Peter, let me ask you, we have heard a little bit from the family. I know we heard from the uncle last night. The parents talking briefly. But basically, they were probably really focused on just getting their boy and getting him home.

VILES: True, but we did hear throughout this ordeal that they had faith, that at one point, one of the parents told their bishop in the Mormon church here that they were at peace. They believed that something good was going to happen to their boy. So they kept their faith throughout. And that's what we've heard from a lot of people. A lot of the people who volunteered to search were in the local church here with this family.

So there's a very strong religious component to this story of this church, not just the community, but the church coming together and mounting this search. And I think we're seeing them -- I'm sorry I'm told now, they'll be out in one minute time -- Daryn.

KAGAN: It's like a presidential news conference, getting all these time warnings. I want to let our viewers at home who are watching -- they might be used to the idea that at the top of the hour, at noon Eastern, we go to CNN International. We're going to put that off a bit so that we can bring you this news conference. So if you're interested in hearing from these parents, please do stay with us.

Peter, a lot of questions about how this boy ended up so far away, like five miles away from where he went missing.

VILES: Well, though, he was missing for the better part of four days. So five miles to wander in four days is not a terribly long distance. One of the interesting things we've learned today is that it's unlikely he had anything to eat during that time period, but he did find some water in a stream to drink. Water, of course, is the most important thing when you're trying to survive in the wilderness. You need to drink. Three or four days without water is a long time to go.

But he did have water. It's food, that we understand -- he didn't have food during that period of time. So the important thing now for the family is to get him some rest and get him some food. So as I said, we may not see the boy when the parents come out, but we're told we may see him later in the day -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Another thing that worked in this search's interest was Mother Nature. The weather was really a big help. No rain over the time that he was missing.

VILES: It wasn't particularly rainy and it also wasn't particularly cold. He was way up at altitude, well over a mile into the mountains at altitude. It gets cold up there, it gets wet up there. If it had been cold and wet, this could have been a much different ending. The doctors would have been worried at that point about hypothermia. But the good news is none of that happened. It was relatively dry. And this boy came out of this with just a few scrapes and bruises.

KAGAN: And it's just one boy, and yet, so much interest. As you said, the media has taken over the town -- I mean, taken over the block where this family lives in Bountiful, Utah. We can hear reporters standing very close to you. I would imagine there's a lot of media interest, not just locally, but nationally.

VILES: Oh, yes. I am sure that this little street has never seen this much activity and this many cameras and this many satellite vans. But then again, think of the effort they mustered over the weekend. 3,000 volunteers went up into those hills to look for the boy. So it's been an outpouring, not just of us in the media, but of people from all over this community and all over this state, Daryn.

KAGAN: And the family -- actually, very thankful to the media in this case. The uncle thanked the media not just for helping to get out the word for volunteers, but he said last night in his news conference that's how he heard his nephew was saved, by listening into news reports.

VILES: It's a nice change, occasionally, for the media to be thanked. But we know that we didn't play the most important role here. It was played by the volunteers who actually went out and found this boy and kept looking for him long after people were whispering and saying, geez, I don't think they're going to find that boy, the volunteers didn't give up. And I think that's the most important story here, that they went out and found this boy.

And as you point out, the media did play a role. And maybe in some way, some volunteers went out there because we were covering the story. But the real credit here goes to the volunteers in this community.

KAGAN: Volunteers and the sheriff's department as well, that organized this search. This is a big win for them. This is one that they like to have, one with a happy ending. Let's listen into some sound from the sheriff's department.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When they found him, he said he had seen the horses and he was scared to approach them. And he was in the -- very disoriented, obviously, and he didn't know what to do. He hadn't had anything to drink. We specifically asked him about that. Hadn't had much to drink at all. As soon as they got there, he ate all the food that they had on them, all the granola bars and everything. Obviously, extremely hungry. Downed a bunch of water. Just -- great to see that happen. And the searchers were beside themselves with joy by the time I got up there. He immediately wanted to -- after he got a couple of drinks in him, some water and some food, he immediately wanted to play a video game on one of the searcher's cell phones.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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