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CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown
Paul Van Der Sloot Arrested; China Bids for U.S. Oil Company
Aired June 23, 2005 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening again everyone. As if the disappearance weren't enough to endure, Natalee Holloway vanished far from home. So now, in addition to everything else, her parents are watching the investigation unfold as strangers in a strange land. Different laws, different customs. The son of a local VIP, now the focus of it all. And today the focus widened to the father.
Reporting from Aruba tonight, CNN's Karl Penhaul.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Last weekend, investigators said they were questioning Judge Paul Van Der Sloot simply as a possible witness. Now, in an unexpected twist, prosecutors have had him arrested, saying he's suspected of involvement in Natalee Holloway's disappearance. His 17-year-old son was arrested two weeks ago.
Paul Van Der Sloot went to the police station with his wife, Anita, Thursday afternoon, after neighbors notified him of police cars close to his home. Police then detained him. Mrs. Van Der Sloot said police, then detained him.
She says she feels like she's trapped in a crazy nightmare, but is convinced her husband and son are innocent.
ANITA VAN DER SLOOT, SUSPECT'S WIFE: I will hold up. I will be strong. I have to. Because I believe in my husband. I believe in my son. I believe in my family. And I know it all comes right.
PENHAUL: Her husband, Paul, is 53-years-old. The family came from Holland about 15 years ago. Before becoming a judge, he was an official in Aruba's prosecution service.
Joran Van Der Sloot, 18-year-old Satish Kalpoe and his brother Deepak, 21, were seen leaving a bar with Natalee in the wee hour of May 30. She's not been seen since.
Police say, the three boys originally said they dropped Natalee off at the Holiday Inn. But under investigation, police say the boys have changed their stories.
The Kalpoe brother's mother visited Satish in prison for the first time Tuesday. And she says he admitted lying to her. She describes her sons as two, good Hindu boys. Who share a love of TV wrestling shows, Indian movies and the Internet. She said, Satish and Deepak prayed every morning with the rest of the family, in front of this Hindu shrine in a room at their home and rarely partied.
NADIRA RAMIREZ, SUSPECT'S MOTHER: We don't have party, never. We are a simple family. We just cook, eat, drink something at home with our kids or we go to dinner.
PENHAUL: Across the island, Anita Van Der Sloot knows about no change in the Kalpoe brother's story, but Anita Van Der Sloot is angry.
VAN DER SLOOT: I think it's ridiculous. But, of course, it -- it hurts. It hurts because my husband gave 15 years of his integrity to this island. And that this could happen is so bizarre.
PENHAUL; She says her husband was calm after his arrest and that Joran is holding up well.
VAN DER SLOOT: He's already doing exercises again. And he played soccer this morning. And he's -- I mean, he's not happy. He says every morning when he wakes up, he feels like if a bad dream. And he misses us.
PENHAUL: She says she's praying the crazy nightmare ends soon.
Karl Penhaul, CNN, Palm Beach, Aruba.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: As Karl reported at the top, the judge is being held on suspicion, which the law in Aruba permits for 48 hours. And another 48 hours after that, after request of a prosecutor.
For the Holloway family, it must be a horribly mixed blessing to have this happening at the center of a media storm. There's frequently no waiting to get the latest information and no escaping it, either. That part of the story tonight from CNN's Chris Lawrence.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Natalee Holloway's mother waited a week for any real development in her daughter's disappearance. We were the only ones riding with Beth Holloway Twitty when she and a friend got a call: Paul Van Der Sloot has been arrested.
BETH HOLLOWAY TWITTY, MOTHER: They're showing it on CNN right now. The arrest.
How can they show it on CNN?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's CNN?
TWITTY: CNN's showing it.
The arrest. CNN is showing it right now.
LAWRENCE: No one expected that an hour earlier, especially Beth. TWITTY: OK, honey. No new news. I just think you need to be here tomorrow. OK?
LAWRENCE: She was making plans to welcome more of her family.
TWITTY: You're going to fly in just for the weekend, because I want you to come.
LAWRENCE: And saying good-bye to a friend who had to fly home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How long have you been here?
Beth has been so frustrated for nearly four weeks now, devoting every minute to her daughter's disappearance.
TWITTY: Start early, end late. Go all day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought we ate dinner at 12:00 a.m.
LAWRENCE: Beth was surprised and smiled when she got the call about Judge Van Der Sloot's arrest. She immediately called her husband.
TWITTY: OK. I love you, Jug.
LAWRENCE: When we got back to the hotel where Natalee had been staying, Beth rushed in to meet with investigators having nothing to say on Judge Van Der Sloot's arrest.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you surprised at all, like, at that coming so soon after you spent time with him? You know, just spent that hour with him?
TWITTY: I don't want to make any comment.
LAWRENCE: And with that, she walked inside, hoping she's one step closer to finding her daughter.
Chris Lawrence, CNN, Palm Beach, Aruba.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: The Natalee Holloway story tonight.
This story lives like many other aspects of it in normal, at the intersection of the public and the private. By law, the U.S. military is not allowed to gather private information, sensitive information on civilians, let alone civilian teenagers. But it has, just not directly. Which is where a company just outside Boston comes in.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN (voice-over): Working with the private company, the Pentagon has for a year, been gathering private information about the country's young people. Social Security numbers, e-mail addresses, ethnicity, even grade point averages and until today, without telling anyone, which privacy advocates claim was a clear violation of the law.
MARC ROTENBERG, PRES. ELECTRONIC PRIVACY INFORMATION CENTER: Well, this a very serious. The Privacy Act is the major federal law in the United States to protect the privacy rights of American citizens. The Department of Defense has obligations to follow that law. And one of the clearest obligations is to notify the public before it creates a new database of personal information.
BROWN: By buying the information from a private company, the data broker, Be Now, of suburban Boston, the Pentagon was able to get around another law from forbids the government from doing the actual gathering. The military can already gather information from students' driver's licenses. And the No Child Left Behind Law, allows the services to collect home addresses and telephone numbers of students at public high schools.
LAURENCE KORB, FORMER ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: It will get people upset about these aggressive techniques. Many schools are already upset, because of the fact that the No Child Left Behind Act requires the schools to give some information to recruiters. This is so much more that they're giving, that I think in the long run, it's going to make a bad situation even worse.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And most importantly, your mouth is shut.
BROWN: Today, the Pentagon formally acknowledged what it has been doing for a year. And the not surprising reason it has been doing it. The information will be provided to the services, the Pentagon says, in its official listing on the federal register, to assist them in their direct marketing recruiting efforts. Recruiting efforts, that haven't been going very well.
MAJ. GEN. MICHAEL ROCHELLE, U.S. ARMY RECRUITING COMMAND: Today's conditions represent the most-challenging conditions we have seen, certainly in recruiting, in my 33 years in this uniform.
BROWN: As for the secretary of defense, he said today his department is always concerned about privacy.
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We always worry about privacy issues. And certainly, as you know, we've put together a panel on that subject.
ROTENBERG: What is happening now is that the military seems to be saying that they can disregard the federal privacy law. They can create secret profiles on high school students in the United States, including grade paint average and ethnicity.
BROWN: Tonight, Pentagon officials acknowledge they made a mistake in filing public notice so late. But there are those in Washington who want the process stopped.
ROTENBERG: I think it's clear -- absolutely clear at this point -- that Congress simply tells the Department of Defense, that this database cannot be established.
BROWN: But with war raging in Iraq, there is no sign that that will happen.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: And in Iraq, there were four bombings today in Baghdad alone. Five yesterday. That's the way it's been going there, of late. So much so that the daily news seems to get lost in the sameness of it all.
The polls tell us the country is restless where the war is concerned. Growing less sure it was the right thing to do, not sure exactly what to do about it now. Painfully aware that casualties are mounting.
The administration is concerned about public support, as well. But not always playing the same tune. Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, General John Abizaid here with his boss Donald Rumsfeld stopped short of endorsing Vice President Cheney's claim the other say that the insurgency is in its last throes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. JOHN ABIZAID, COMMANDER, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: In terms of the overall strength of the insurgency, I'd say it's about the same as it was.
SEN. CARL LEVIN, (D) MICHIGAN: So, you wouldn't agree with the statement that it's in its last throes.
ABIZAID: I don't know that I would make any comment about that, other than to say there's a lot of work to be done against the insurgency.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: As for the secretary of defense, he got into a bit of a go around with a familiar opponent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Mr. Secretary, I'm talking about the misjudgments and the mistakes that have made -- the series which I've mentioned, the disarming of the Iraqi army. Those were judgments that were made. And there's been a series of gross errors and mistakes. Those were on your watch. Those were on your watch. Isn't it time for you to resign?
RUMSFELD: Senator, I've offered my resignation to the president twice. And he's decided that he would prefer that he not accept it. And that's his call.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Secretary also made it plain he doesn't believe the country's in a quagmire in Iraq. And he said his generals agree.
Straight ahead on NEWSNIGHT, one of China's largest oil companies makes a hostile bid for a U.S. oil company, setting off a major storm.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHERMAN KATZ, INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS ANALYST: Of course, when it's China, which, under certain circumstances, could pose a security threat to the United States, you bet your bottom dollar there's going to be a backlash.
BROWN (voice-over): What will it mean if the deal goes through? And what are the odds?
CARLO BOCCIA, DIR. BOSTON HOMELAND SECURITY: This is a very, very dangerous time we live in. And there are people that are looking to do us harm.
BROWN: At Boston's Logan Airport, practicing to prevent another 9/11.
SUZETTE KELO, NEW LONDON, CT HOMEOWNER: It was like I'd been here all my life. It was just -- it was just a warm and inviting feeling.
BROWN: She found her dream house. And now, the Supreme Court says the government can take it away.
KELO: They'll have to drag me.
BROWN: Growing up without a family. And thrown into the real world.
THOMAS HUDSON, FORMER FOSTER YOUTH: I didn't have any preparation for independence. No one told me you need to learn how to pay bills. You need to learn how to budget your money.
BROWN: What happens to foster kids when they outgrow the system.
From New York and around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: That's night here in the city. Still to come, what China's takeover of the oil company, the giant oil company Unocal might mean.
But first, quarter past the hour, time to check the headlines. Sofia Choi joins us from Atlanta. Good evening to you.
SOPHIA CHOI, CNN HEADLINE NEWS ANCHOR: Hi there, Aaron.
The White House has rejected requests that Karl Rove apologize or resign for his recent remarks about 9/11. Rove had described the liberals' response to the attacks as "offering therapy for the terrorists." The House of Representatives voted to restore $100 million in funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for next year. The Republican-dominated Appropriations Committee had tried to reduce the budget, which affects 1,000 TV and radio stations. If approved by the Senate later this summer, the annual funding will remain at $400 million.
It's wildfire season again. In Tonto Hills, Arizona, just outside of Phoenix, 35,000 acres burned and forced the evacuation of 250 homes. In California, in the Mojave Desert, near the Joshua Tree National Monument, 3,000 acres burned and 600 homes were destroyed. The fires were fueled by the grass that has thrived in this unusually rainy spring.
After a manufacturer of bullet-proof vests announced that nearly 100,000 of its vests may not offer full protection, several lawsuits are now in the works. Suites have been filed against both the Japanese supplier of a fabric called zylon, and the Michigan-based vest manufacturer, Second Chance Body Armor, which filed for bankruptcy last year.
And for the first time, the Food and Drug Administration has approved a medication specifically for the benefit of one racial group. Tests of the heart failure drug Bidil showed positive results among blacks, reducing both deaths and hospitalization. But the results did not hold true for the rest of the population.
And Aaron, just as a reminder about the new feature at cnn.com. Click on the video link, and you'll be able to see the day's best news clips at your leisure and at no cost, and we are featuring tonight Wolf Blitzer's exclusive chat with Vice President Dick Cheney. Some interesting comments coming from a man who doesn't give too many sit- down interviews, Aaron.
BROWN: Well, yes, there are some interesting moments in that. We'll talk to you again in about a half an hour. Very interesting moments.
In America, your home, they say, is your castle. But if it lies in the path of a riverfront shopping mall, the government can take it away and knock it down. That's, in effect, what the U.S. Supreme Court ruled today. The government has long had the right to take your home for a public project. The court today added private projects, as well. Here's CNN's Alina Cho.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Suzette Kelo moved into her charming home in New London, Connecticut, seven years ago...
SUZETTE KELO, NEW LONDON RESIDENT: It was like I had been here all my life. It was just -- it was just a warm and inviting feeling.
CHO: ... a little slice of heaven on the water, the best house she could find for her money. Seven months after moving in, though, Kelo was told she had to move out.
KELO: I was thinking I had a really big problem.
CHO: She learned the city of New London wanted to buy her home, and nearly 100 others, tear them down, and make room for a new aquarium, a hotel, upscale condos and offices, including a pharmaceutical research center. The U.S. Supreme Court sided with the city's plan.
THOMAS LONDREGAN, CITY ATTORNEY: This case was never about the taking of property from one person and giving it to another. This case was not some type of a land grab. This case was about the city of New London, its six square miles and its economic survival.
CHO: That is not how Matt Derry sees it.
MATT DERRY, NEW LONDON RESIDENT: The property went to my father. And now it's come full circle to me.
CHO: Derry's family has owned property here for more than a century. It is where he grew up, where he now shares a home with his wife. The Derrys call this an eight-year nightmare that has even affected decisions like painting their house.
DERRY: We went like two years, and we said, you know, "The heck with this." We had the house painted, but we only put one coat on it, because we don't know if we're going to be here or not.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've been living a life of not knowing.
DERRY: Yes.
CHO: Ninety other homeowners took the city's offer to sell at market value, but the Derrys and Kelos say no amount of money can compensate for losing their homes.
KELO: I don't think walk will be the word. They'll have to drag me.
CHO: The Supreme Court decision means the city can now evict the remaining homeowners and begin demolishing their homes this fall.
Alina Cho, CNN, New London, Connecticut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: Whatever each new individual chapter brings, China is one of those stories that's going to touch all of us for generations to come. Right now, China is swimming in dollars, dollars we spend each day, on Chinese-manufactured goods at Wal-Mart and the rest. And like anyone burning -- anyone with money burning a hole in his pocket, the country, China, is shopping. Shopping for technology. Now, for oil.
Twenty years ago, Japan went on a buying spree. Mostly Americans got richer and Japan got a movie studio and a lot of overpriced real estate out of the deal. So, other than national pride, is it any different this time? Here's CNN's Mary Snow.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With its economy booming, China is looking west to fuel its growth. The state owned oil giant CYNOC is bidding $2 billion more than Chevron/Texaco for California-based Unocal. But politics, not price, could be the deciding factor.
SHERMAN KATZ, INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS ANALYST: Of course, when it's China, which, under certain circumstances could pose a security threat to the United States, you bet your bottom dollar there's going to be a backlash.
SNOW: On Capitol Hill...
SEN. RON WYDEN, (D) OREGON: Do you intend to review the Chinese bid to buy Unocal?
SNOW: Questions about the deal are just starting. The treasury secretary and the chairman of the federal reserve heard them today. The Chinese have been busy buying American. A Chinese company bought the PC division of IBM, another Chinese company wants Maytag.
MICHAEL WESSEL, US CHINA ECON & SEC REVIEW COMMITTEE: They have hundreds of billions of dollars in their banks that they're going to now use to buy assets from the U.S. and from other nations. In part, they want to buy U.S. brand names as they did earlier this year with IBM, because it gives them instant access to consumers here.
SNOW: But washing machines are one thing, oil another.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To have a U.S. oil company be bought out by the Chinese national oil company, puts them in control of one of our greatest assets that drives our economy. The cost of energy is one of the biggest factors in our economy. And it's also a big national security issue.
SNOW: But now, with loads of dollars in Chinese banks, they seem to have an insatiable appetite.
ALAN GREENSPAN, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: You're getting a former Communist system, which is still, politically, a Communist system recognizing that market capitalism is where they want to be.
SNOW: And when the neophyte takes on the master, there is a crossroads.
KATZ: But here we are, confronted with a case where there's a finite amount of resources in the world. We need them. China needs them. Are we going to look at China as our friend or as our foe?
SNOW: A capitalist China has been an American goal for decades. But their oil imparts have doubled in the last five years. China now ranks only behind the United States as the world's biggest oil consumer. The question is how to strike a balance between healthy economic competition and national security.
Mary Snow, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: Coming up on the program tonight, trying to put the care back in foster care.
And how one airport is working to avoid a repeat of what happened there on 9/11. We'll take a break first. Around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: For many, if not most young people, turning 21 is a rite of passage that is celebrated, a birthday that marks the first chapter of life in the real world, a time to spread your wings, knowing full well that the nest isn't far away if your flight plan goes off-course.
But for children that grow up in foster care, turning 21, in some states 18, is something altogether different.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN (voice-over): Most certainly Thomas Hudson did not grow up like you. Most certainly, he grew up like no child should.
THOMAS HUDSON, FORMER FOSTER YOUTH: I would see my uncle beating up his girlfriend. I would see my mother and her friends doing drugs in front of me. I learned at an early age how to cook crack-cocaine.
BROWN: Born to a drug-addicted mother, a father he's never known, by 13 he'd had it.
HUDSON: I was just so full of hate and hurt, knowing the fact that she'll never be the mother that I wanted her to be, because you can't love something that I don't think you never really wanted. You just can't.
BROWN: Thomas was placed in faster care. Over the next eight years, he lived in five foster homes and two group shelters -- about average for foster children in the country. His longest stay in one home, just 2 1/2 years. And then, as if my magic, he turned 21. And aged out of the system. Thomas Hudson was on his own.
HUDSON: I'm like, OK, I'm free from this stuff. All the restrictions of the system and of the law don't apply to me anymore. Because now, I'm older. Oh, yes. I'm going to hit the clubs. I'm going to party and all of that. And it was just a big, rude awakening. Because it wasn't anything like that.
BROWN: No, it wasn't. It was something else. Homeless, he slept in cars and churches, apartments crawling with mice and bugs. No job. No money. Little food. There were gangs. There was drugs and alcohol. He sold his body for rent.
HUDSON: That was the most demeaning thing I think I've ever done. I was in a situation where I didn't have anybody to turn to.
BROWN: Roughly 20,000 Thomas Hudsons age out of foster care in the country each year. Some states it's at 18, others 21, many know little of what it means to be on their own.
HUDSON: I didn't have any preparation for independence. No one told me you need to learn how to pay bills. You need to know how to budget your money.
MARK COURTNEY, CHAPIN HALL CENTER FOR CHILDREN: Young people are not out on their own at the age of 18. In fact, people go to and from home well into their late 20s, early 30s. So, why do we treat society's youth, who actually have more challenges to transition, different than that?
BROWN: Here is the cost -- the Child Welfare League of America says of those who age out, one-quarter become homeless, 56 percent unemployed, 27 percent of the males end up in jail. Others studies show up to 60 percent of the women are pregnant within two years. Transition programs are available, sometimes. But they vary widely by state, sometimes even by county.
COURTNEY: The Child Welfare Agency knows as soon as that dependency order, that legal order that makes them care for this child is dismissed, they can provide services if they'd like to. But if they do not, nobody is going to hold them accountable for that.
HUDSON: Carlio, connect 4.
BROWN: Today, Thomas is 23 and has a job, part-time, at the Boys and Girls Club of Chicago -- 10 bucks an hour. A start. He also has a sense of purpose.
HUDSON: When you're working with one of -- a kid with a bad attitude and you constantly telling that kid, you're going to be somebody. You are somebody special. And you slowly watch all that negative wall break down, that's rewarding right there.
BROWN: But what Thomas Hudson needs most is not a job, though a job matters. Thomas Hudson needs a family. Virtually no one adopts 23-year-olds. Of the 52,000 adoptions in the year 2002, just 42 were 19 years old or older.
COURTNEY: What we need to do is craft policies and practices and really an attitude toward these young people on the part of the child welfare system, and I think the community and the society as a whole that we're going to create and maintain other places for them to go, other people that will be there for them. In some cases, ideally, another permanent family. I mean, a lot of these young people would like to be adopted.
BROWN: Thomas certainly would.
HUDSON: Yeah. I would. But I would let them know all my flaws up front. That way -- and I give them a chance -- do you still want to adopt me? And go from there. BROWN: Does he expect that to happen? No. Not really. 23 tough years have taught him to be a realist. Thomas Hudson got a bad break at birth. And all those foster homes and group shelters later, that basic fact of his life hasn't and will never change.
HUDSON: There are days when I don't want to wake up. When I think about having a family that, you know them by name but you don't know them emotionally because you don't have that connection with them. When I think about all of that stuff and how it just makes me feel like, well, what am I here for?
BROWN: But don't give up on Thomas Hudson just yet. He hasn't, not completely. He thinks about college someday. About becoming a child psychologist, maybe. He thinks about getting a break. Finally.
HUDSON: I'm going to move forward. I think it's going to start with one person in a high place, recognizes that I -- that I deserve a chance. That I'm worthy of a chance. All I need is that one chance to just shine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: In the world of foster care, Thomas Hudson did not catch any breaks. Many children in the system do not. The system, fair to say, has earned a checkered reputation. And New Jersey has had its share of problems. That part of the story, from CNN's Jason Carroll.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CINDY BRENNAN, NJ FOSTER PARENT: Move your ball so she can throw it.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is where Cindy Brennan spends most of her time these days, at home with her children.
BRENNAN: Get out of the crate now.
CARROLL: Brennan and her husband took Eliana (ph) and Jason (ph) in as foster children, when they were just toddlers and have adopted both. Finally getting them out of a foster care system Brennan says is badly in need of repair.
BRENNAN: You can get caught up in being frustrated, calling caseworkers, having them not call back. Wanting something to happen and it doesn't happen. And you have to keep your eye on what's important and not let it frustrate you.
CARROLL: Brenna's children are lucky. New Jersey's Division of Youth and Family Services, DYFS, came under fire in 2003, after the death of a child in their care. Seven year-old Fahim Williams (ph). His body found in a plastic bin. An investigation found that Fahim had been neglected and starved. Caseworkers had been to the house but never reported seeing anything wrong. Shortly after Fahim's death, Kevin Ryan was named New Jersey's first child advocate. KEVIN RYAN, NJ CHILD ADVOCATE: The system was so bad is. And it got that way over such a long period of time that making it better was not something that could possibly happen overnight. There was no magic wand here.
RYAN: DYFS promised to overhaul its system. So did the governor at the time.
JAMES MCGREEVEY, FORMER NJ GOVERNOR: We will demand personal accountability at every level.
CARROLL: This month, Ryan's watchdog group reported DYFS still has serious problems despite a $350 million overhaul underway. Including a lapse in routine medical care for children. And inadequate supervision. It also found DYFS is still housing foster children in juvenile detention centers, a practice they had vowed to stop.
RYAN: It's frustrating for me. But it's not nearly as frustrating for me as it is for the kids, who are sitting in those juvenile jails, waiting for care and services that they need. How can they not be slowly, painfully, coming apart?
CARROLL: DYFS' current director says the problems will be fixed -- soon.
EDWARD COTTON, NJ DIVISION OF YOUTH AND FAMILY SERVICES: We're changing it. Not piece by piece. But all pieces at the same time, at various levels of quickness.
CARROLL: The Brennan's are confident things will change. In fact, they took in another foster child. 20-month-old Victoria.
BRENNAN: I think it can be fixed because I think that it has to be fixed. You have all these kids out there that have nowhere to go.
CARROLL: She says it's up to DYFS to make sure they all end up in the right home. Jason Carroll, CNN, New Milford, New Jersey.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: Up next on the program, you'll meet another young man who aged out of the system when he turned 19. That was after 30 different foster care homes. His life, now.
Also -- the final word in the Mississippi trial that rewrote history this week. The judge did not go easy on Edgar Ray Killen.
We'll take a break first. This is NEWSNIGHT on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Few know better than Chris Brooks what it's like to have a sense of home. From the age of five, he lived in more than 30 foster homes. He aged out of the system when he turned 19. And it hasn't always been easy since then. He was homeless for a while but eventually he got his GED. He's attending college now and also works at the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth. And he joins us tonight from Las Vegas.
Good to see you.
Everybody somewhere has family. Aunts. Uncles. Cousins. Do you have any sense that you have family anywhere?
CHRIS BROOKS, NV PARTNERSHIP FOR HOMELESS YOUTH: My family is now my best friends. The people I've grown up with over the years. And the people that helped me get by when things were tough. Those are my family now.
BROWN: But you have no cousins that you know of? No uncles? No aunts, anywhere?
BROOKS: Just like everybody else, I have family. The only thing is, I don't know most of them. I met my dad and his side of the family about two years ago. And we stay in contact every now and then. But it's -- after not living with someone 18 years, I don't know what it's -- it's kind of disturbing to have family. I'm so used to not having family.
BROWN: Actually, you said to us earlier today, that when you grow up the way you grew up, that you tend to shut down. That you become very inward. I think you said I don't let anyone in, or I don't let anyone in. What did you mean?
BROOKS: Well, what happens is, in my situation, I was shuffled through over 30 different foster homes, group homes and institutions. And so, I would start to get attached to people and then, I would lose them. I would get attached, lose them. I would get close to someone that I would think was a father, and then I would lose them. So what happened was, I got tired of being hurt. So I stopped letting people in.
BROWN: Are you able to let people in now?
BROOKS: It's getting easier. It's still a long road. But it's getting a lot easier.
BROWN: Do you see yourself at some point, falling in love? Getting married? Having kids?
BROOKS: Of course. Of course.
BROWN: Have you fallen in love?
BROOKS: Many times.
BROWN: Okay. That's pretty normal to fall in love many times, I think. You reached -- there was a point you actually had to make a remarkable choice. You were approaching high school graduation, which meant more to you than -- or at least different things to you than it did to most. Kind of walk through that scenario. BROOKS: In the state of Nevada at the time, when I aged out of the foster care system, which was about five years ago, the law stated that the state was to cut all financial ties to me when I turned 19 or graduated, whichever came first. So as I was approaching, 18 1/2, this news was brought to me that I was either to go out on my own and pay my own rent and graduate or not graduate and still be able to live in the foster care system. I had to put off my dreams of graduating that I worked so hard -- going through 30 different foster homes means you go through 30 different schools. You go through 30 different doctors. You go through 30 different neighbors. Thirty different friends. So after all that, I accomplished, I was about to graduate. I got back on track. And I had to decide whether I wanted to be homeless or graduate.
BROWN: And you chose?
BROOKS: I chose to not to be homeless.
BROWN: Yeah. Was there a moment do you think in your life when, if you would have made one decision, you would have gone one way and we wouldn't be talking about someone who is on a positive track? Was this a decision moment? Or is it something that just happened?
BROOKS: There was a -- there was a couple decisions. There was a couple points in my life that were very effective. One I actually -- my best friend got murdered in front of me. My few friends I had at that time, we decided if we were going to continue to live the lifestyle we were living, that we were all going to end up dead, in prison or jail. And I didn't want that lifestyle.
And then, after I experienced homelessness, there were a few mentors that came into my life and dramatically changed it. Basically, if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be sitting in this chair right now talking to you.
BROWN: You're still in touch with them?
BROOKS: Of course. Those are my family. Those are my parents.
BROWN: 20 years from now, what do you think you'll be doing?
BROOKS: Probably president of the United States.
BROWN: Not a bad gig. I hear it's full-time work, though.
BROOKS: I'm up for it.
BROWN: Thank you. I suspect you are. Good to meet you. Good luck.
BROOKS: You too. Thanks.
BROWN: Thank you. Ahead on the program, simulating -- That's a good kid, huh? Simulating terrorist attacks to prevent the next terrorist attack. And at the age of 23, he's now the most academically accomplished member of the entire British royal family. Well, yeah., but someone had to be, didn't they? Around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT.
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BROWN: Simulating a terrorist attack at an airport in hopes of preventing a real one. That's coming up. But first, at nearly quarter of the hour. Time to check some of the other news of the day. Sophia Choi in Atlanta with that. Good evening, again.
CHOI: Hi there, Aaron. Well, it's 60 years in prison for 80- year-old Edgar Killen. That was the judge's sentence for the Ku Klux Klan member, convicted of manslaughter in the 1964 deaths of three civil rights workers. Killen was given 20 years for each crime.
The nation's most popular Internet site, Yahoo! has shut down all of its user-created chat rooms, in the concerns that adults were using them to seduce minors. The chat rooms had names like "girls 13 and under for older guys." The shut down occurred shortly after advertisers withdrew their ads from that part of the Web site.
And finally, Prince William is now the most-academically accomplished member of the British royal family. The 23-year-old prince was awarded an upper second class honors degree from St. Andrews in Scotland. He will split his first working summer between London's financial sector and a mountain rescue team.
And Aaron, for our viewers with a Web connection, don't forget the new video link at cnn.com. Click on video to see today's best clips whenever you want, over and over if you like. And all for free. And as you see there, one of the main stories we're featuring is the exclusive interview Wolf had with Vice President Dick Cheney.
BROWN: He did. He aired that today. Thank you. I hope the prince gets a job.
CHOI: Yeah, well ...
BROWN: Hope he's able to get a job.
CHOI: With the media circus around him now, now that the deal's off. Because remember, they had that deal if he was in school, they kind of had to stay away. That's all -- all bets are off now.
BROWN: Boy. What a life. Just one stress after another. Thank you. Just a regular guy.
In the new normal, terror drills have become almost as common as long lines at the airports. The challenge, of course, is making the drills realistic, turning a commercial airliner into a practice field seems pretty real. What happened in the air over Boston, the focus of tonight's "Security Watch." Here's CNN's Dan Lothian.
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DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On a mission to confront the threat of terrorism in the sky.
CARLO BOCCIA, DIR. BOSTON HOMELAND SECURITY: This is a very, very dangerous time we live in. And there are people that are looking to do us harm.
LOTHIAN: As the head of homeland security in Boston, Carlo Boccia is on high alert. Two of the planes hijacked on 9/11 took off from Boston Logan International Airport. And the Transatlantic flight carrying shoe bomber Richard Reed was diverted to here.
BOCCIA: The threat and the vulnerability, still there.
LOTHIAN (on camera): That's why Boccia, along with dozens of state and federal agencies, and a major airline, are now closely analyzing a simulated hijacking exercise conducted here earlier this month. Trying to identify what worked and what different. Officials realize that even minor mistakes in a real attack could have deadly consequences.
(voice-over): The elaborate drill, dubbed Operation Atlas, was the first of its kind. It began thousands of feet in the air, on an imaginary United Airlines flight from Paris to Chicago. Five armed terrorists tried to hijack this plane. And air marshals fought back. The pilots sent out a coded alert. And two if-15 fighter jets scrambled to intercept the commercial 757 and escort it down.
GEORGE NACCARA, FEDERAL SECURITY DIRECTOR: We raised the alert level from yellow to orange. And then it went to red.
LOTHIAN: Even though this is all staged, homeland security officials try to keep it as realistic as possible. From the equipment to the distractions. There's a careful assessment of the threats, before armed FBI agents and state police on the ground move in. A dummy is dumped from the plane's rear door, simulating a young passenger shot by the hijackers. With a situation this unstable, even the pilots are under suspicion.
BOCCIA: This drill tested all our capabilities.
LOTHIAN: Every step is carefully observed as teams eventually neutralize a terrorist. And release the 160 people acting as passengers. If this is the test, Boccia has the score.
BOCCIA: There were some glitches which is what -- and a lot of people got upset about the glitches because they didn't believe what we said beforehand. Listen, we intend to make some mistakes so we can improve.
LOTHIAN: For example, officials say that because of confusion, some emergency vehicles weren't brought in fast enough. There were other glitches. But no one is giving this exercise a failing grade.
NACCARA: The only failure in an exercise is the failure to learn. And that's why we have this opportunity.
LOTHIAN: Boccia says this kind of realistic training is the best way to protect passengers and people on the ground.
BOCCIA: Exercises certainly don't minimize the risk. The potential for an incident is still there. What it does is increases our ability to respond more timely, save more lives, be more effective in our recovery.
LOTHIAN: In the event that another group of terrorists slips through the security net. Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: Dumb statements make the front page. Morning papers next.
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BROWN: Okay. Quick review of morning papers from around the country and around the world. Iraq on many of them.
"Rebels in Iraq not weaker, U.S. general says" -- that's the lead story in the "International Herald Tribune," or a front page story in the "International Herald Tribune."
U.S. image abroad, even China's better. Doesn't sound like much good news. But there is. Hostilities not as bad as it was a year ago. And zombies on the rise. People clicking hoping to get nudes of Jennifer Lopez got a surprise instead. Their computer was taken over.
The last crusade -- a last crusade in a career that reshaped American religion. "Christian Science Monitor" story on Billy Graham who opens a crusade in New York. Probably the last time he'll come to the city. "The Washington Times," "Rove's mockery of 9/11 liberals riles Democrats." Karl Rove making, I thought, some silly comments.
And in a week of silly comments, the dumb Dick Durbin comments for which he apologized. Mr. Rove will not apologize, I guarantee you.
"Draw the line." Governor Pataki allowing museum that exhibits anti-American art to display its work at ground zero. "Daily News" not happy about that. The weather in Chicago tomorrow -- Sweatshop. We'll wrap it up.
"A Day in History" in a moment.
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ANNOUNCER: On June 21st, 1964, three civil rights activists were murdered in Mississippi by a group of Klansmen. On the same day 41 years later, a breakthrough in the case as one of the accused, Edgar Ray Killen, was convicted of manslaughter for all three killings.
In 1982, John Hinckley, Jr. was found innocent by reason of insanity in the shooting of President Reagan.
And nearly 40,000 people were killed as an earthquake and a series of aftershocks rocked northern Iran on June 21st, 1990 and that is "This Week In History."
BROWN: Good to have you with us. We will see you tomorrow, 10 Eastern Time. Until them, good night from all of us.
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