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Your World Today

Europe Takes Action to Stop Spread of Bird Flu; South Asia Earthquake; Arrest Made in Vitale Murder Case; San Francisco Authorities Hold Press Conference on Drowned Children

Aired October 20, 2005 - 12:00   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: As bird flu claims another life in Asia, Europe takes action to stop the spread of the deadly virus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAN EGELAND, U.N. EMERGENCY RELIEF COORDINATOR: We've never had this kind of a logistical nightmare, ever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Cries for help in the aftermath of the South Asia earthquake. Humanitarian officials warn the world is not doing enough.

HOLMES: And the Palestinian Authority president is welcomed at the White House to affirm his commitment to peace in the Middle East.

VERJEE: It's 5:00 p.m. in London, 12:00 noon in Washington. I'm Zain Verjee.

HOLMES: And I'm Michael Holmes. Welcome to our viewers throughout the world. This is CNN International and YOUR WORLD TODAY.

VERJEE: Top health ministers from across Europe are meeting in Britain to map out a strategy on combating bird flu amid rising concern over the spread of the virus.

HOLMES: Bird flu is difficult for humans to contract, but scientists are concerned that lethal strain now circulating -- it's called H5N1 -- could mutate into a form that is easily transmitted between people. Now, already this virus has killed more than 60 people in Asia in just the past two years. Thailand has just confirmed its 13th death from bird flu since 2003. And Taiwan says it has discovered the H5N1 virus in birds aboard a ship containing smuggled birds from China.

VERJEE: Over the summer, the virus was found in poultry in Siberia. Tests now confirm it's spread to poultry in western Russia. Officials quarantined a village about 200 kilometers south of Moscow. The virus has also been found in Romania and in Turkey.

HOLMES: Well, the British health department says Thursday's strategy session is going to focus on bolstering national anti-bird flu efforts and coordinating a continent-wide response.

Mallika Kapur is monitoring the meeting near London, joins us now from Rickmansworth with all the details. What has been happening, what can we expect, Mallika?

MALLIKA KAPUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Michael, we are waiting for the E.U. health ministers to come out and talk to us. They should be stepping out in just about the next 10 minutes or so.

We did talk to some of the health ministers before they went into the meeting, though. We spoke to ministers from Turkey, which has been affected. We also spoke to ministers from some other parts of Europe which have not been affected. But they emphasize that they are here because they want to discuss ways in which they can be prepared.

A, they want to control the outbreak of bird flu, which has already affected certain parts of Europe. B, they want to be prepared in case the bird flu outbreak spreads to other parts of Europe, mainly to Western Europe, where it has not been reported. And of course they want to be very prepared in case the virus mutates into a form that is easily transferred between humans.

They've already put some measures into place. For example, they have banned the import of poultry from countries that have been affected, like Turkey and Romania.

They have also been stockpiling drugs. Britain itself has stockpiled several doses of Tamiflu, which is an antiviral drug widely considered to be most efficient in tackling bird flu. They are urging governments across Europe to stockpile these drugs.

And of course the ministers are also working and talking closely with the pharmaceutical industry to develop a vaccine for bird flu, because until now there is no vaccine for bird flu, so many companies are in the game, are in the race to make one. Amongst them is GlaxoSmithKline. Now, Glaxo already makes Relenza, which is an antiviral drug. But it's also in the process of developing a vaccine for bird flu, as is Chiron in the United States, and also Sanofi- Aventis, the French pharmaceutical company. That's perhaps the furthest along in the race to develop a vaccine. It says it has developed a vaccine. It is in the process of testing it. So far, it is proving to be working within -- within humans.

But remember, these vaccines have not been approved yet. So we are quite a ways away from having these vaccines manufactured and hitting the market.

Michael.

HOLMES: Mallika Kapur, near London. Thanks for keeping us updated.

Zain.

VERJEE: Michael, now to South Asia, where there's a fear of a different kind with the harsh winter approaching and millions of earthquake survivors still homeless and injured. There's concern that many more could die from disease and hypothermia. Pakistani military personnel, there are aid workers that are really struggling to get to the injured, to get to the villages.

And many of the injured like these are being brought to Muzaffarabad, and then they're being airlifted from there to better equipped hospitals in Islamabad. Many of them really just shocked and traumatized, weeping over their losses and their pain.

And in Muzaffarabad, which is where they will head, itself, which is one of the worst-hit areas, there are about 2,000 people just crammed into a football stadium. They have nothing but plastic sheets and blankets that are protecting them from the cold weather.

There's one family there who's just living under blankets that are held by wooden sticks on the football stadium. Aid workers are saying they need more tents. And they are afraid that there could be a second wave of deaths if survivors continue to be exposed to the cold weather.

UNICEF, the U.N. children's agency, says that about 120,000 children are yet to get aid. They are also afraid that 10,000 children could die of hunger and disease and hypothermia over the coming weeks. And U.N. officials are really urging the world to step up their efforts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EGELAND: Tens of thousands of people's lives is at stake. And they could die in the next days if we do not get to them in time.

So what we need is something like no other emergency relief effort. We need to think differently. We need to think bigger. We need a second Berlin air lilft. And if they could do that in the 1940s -- set up in no time a lifeline to millions of our people -- we should be able to do that in 2005.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERJEE: Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has been touring the battered region. Now, he's promising to build quake-proof homes. Earlier he sat down for an interview with CNN's Becky Anderson and he talked about the conflicting casualty figures.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, PRESIDENT OF PAKISTAN: I don't feel 100 percent confident when I say that the casualty figures have risen to 48,000. I presume there will be more, because we haven't cleared the rubble. We haven't -- the people living in those mountains, from the helicopter one sees that there are many houses which have collapsed.

Now where are those people? Because we know our dead. And then there are people who are missing. I would say certainly it's more than 50,000.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERJEE: And you can see more of Becky Anderson's interview with the Pakistani president, Pervez Musharraf, next hour.

HOLMES: Now to the story of a teenager forced to act as a parent with a mother and father lost to the quake and troubling uncertainty about other siblings. Counselors confront such sad tales every day.

Our Satinder Bindra is in Balakot.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): They've lost their parents, their home and their school. Now all that Mohammed Ishfak (ph) and Sidra Habibi (ph) have is each other.

Thirteen-year-old Mohammed Ishfak carried his baby sister miles from their mountain home to the safety of this camp. Here in this tent provided by the army, he tells me what happened to his parents.

"They were crushed under the rubble," he says.

Mohammed Ishfak tries to lessen his anguish by clinging on to his sister.

"I love her more than my life," he says. "She was the apple of my mother's eye. I too love her very much."

As he tries to keep up his sister's spirits, Mohammed Ishfak is worried. His eldest brother and a disabled sister also survived the earthquake. But they are still up in the mountains, and there's been no word about them for two days.

Other children in this area are just as distraught. Childcare workers say they are exhibiting the first signs of mental stress.

DR. TAMUR MUEENUDDIN, UNICEF: Their world has collapsed around them. They are in a state of shock. They are afraid. They are -- they don't know what is going to happen next.

BINDRA: In the coming weeks, childcare agencies say they want to set up schools and play groups within these tent communities so children can at least have some sense of normalcy. But what about Mohammed Ishfak and Sidra Habibi? How will they do?

One day after I met them, I go back to check in on them. I'm met by a pleasant surprise. Mohammed Ishfak's disabled sister Impi Habibi (ph) and eldest brother Mohammed Alam (ph) have, with the help of the army, also made the long journey down from the mountains.

"When we were apart, I was feeling lonely," he says. "But now we are together, I feel very happy."

Together this family of four starts planning its future.

(on camera): Even though they have very bad memories of the earthquake and say their mountain village is completely destroyed, Mohammed Ishfak and his elder brother say they want to go back. They say that's where their roots are and that's where they want to rebuild their lives.

(voice over): There's also another reason.

"We want to go back because my mother and father's grave is there."

Eighteen-year-old Mohammed Alam says he plans to start a small business. He says he'll work hard during the day so he can enjoy what he loves the most, the company of his family every evening.

Satinder Bindra, Balakot, Pakistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: And that brings us to our e-mail "Question of the Day".

Michael.

HOLMES: It does, indeed. Is the international community doing enough to help the victims of the South Asian earthquake? Your thoughts, if you will. YWT@CNN.com. Please remember to keep your answers brief.

VERJEE: Yes. It's always good to hear from you, so tell us your name and where you're writing from. And we're going to try to read as many e-mails as possible later on in our program.

The U.S. Army's investigating possible alleged misconduct by U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. An Australian television station broadcast footage of the soldiers standing by the burning corpses of two suspected Taliban fighters.

Senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre joins us now live from the Pentagon. Jamie, what are they saying?

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Zain, one U.S. military commander in Afghanistan called the alleged actions "repugnant" as they announced that the U.S. military is investigating the claim that U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan in October burned the bodies of two Taliban fighters, and then another group of soldiers used the burning bodies in a broadcast taunt over a loud speaker to try to provoke other fighters to come out of the hills.

This would be a violation, a desecration of the bodies if they were deliberately burned for that purpose, as is alleged by the broadcast.

Stephen Dupont is the freelance journalist who shot the video for the Australian network SBS, which aired the sequence in a program last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) STEPHEN DUPONT, PHOTOJOURNALIST: I think the Airborne unit that were responsible with burning of the two Taliban soldiers weren't really thinking in that way.

I think that the psychological operations unit that did the broadcast of the incident with the Taliban, including some other broadcasts, they -- I think they are quite well aware of it. These are older guys. I mean, that's their job. They are psy- ops. You know, they use this as a weapon.

And this is -- the Americans are so frustrated, you know. They are frustrated because they can't find the enemy. You know, this is like they are chasing shadows all the time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: Dupont also said that the soldiers originally burnt the bodies, they said, for hygiene reasons, because they were beginning to smell. They needed to dispose of the bodies. But then other troops used them in a psychological ploy to try to taunt the Taliban fighters.

An investigation has been launched both by the U.S. military and the Afghan government. A statement today from Colonel Jim Yonts, a spokesman for the combined forces in Afghanistan, says it raises two issues -- "First, the command does not advocate nor does the command tolerate the wrongful desecration of anyone's remains."

And he said, "Second, the use of broadcast messages in conjunction with an act such as this does not represent the values and beliefs of this command, therefore necessitating a procedural and policy review." He says, "There are very serious allegations. If they're true, they're reprehensible." And that "If the investigation reveals misconduct, those responsible will be held accountable under the uniform code of military justice."

And of course one thing that the Pentagon is concerned about here is that these kind of images could be used to incite anti-U.S. feeling in the region, such as what happened when reports began to come out about allegations of Quran abuse at Guantanamo.

Zain.

VERJEE: Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre reporting.

The U.S. president says prospects for peace in the Middle East are improving. But both Israelis and Palestinians have more work ahead.

HOLMES: When we come back on YOUR WORLD TODAY, we're going to have details of the Palestinian Authority president's visit to the White House, his second this year.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN Center in Atlanta. More of YOUR WORLD TODAY in a moment. But first, this breaking story.

CNN has confirmed an arrest has been made in the case of 52-year- old Pamela Vitale. She was found murdered on Saturday in her home in Northern California. Her husband, who's a high profile-defense attorney, Dan Horowitz, found her body.

Let's go to Ted Rowlands, who's on the telephone now from Martinez, California. And Ted, what is the latest?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, according to a source close to the investigation, a law enforcement source, an arrest was made early this morning. And the arrest is that of a 16-year-old boy. A 16-year-old Lafayette, California, boy was taken into custody this morning in connection with the murder of Pamela Vitale.

She was found dead in her San Francisco Bay Area estate on Saturday evening. She was found by her husband, Daniel Horowitz, a prominent defense attorney in the San Francisco Bay Area.

And for the last four days, investigators have been going over physical evidence. And they say that their investigation has led them to today's development, an arrest of a 16-year-old Lafayette, California, boy for the murder of 52-year-old Pamela Vitale.

WHITFIELD: Now, Ted, I know information is very thin right now from investigators as this investigation is ongoing with this arrest now. Do we know anything more about this 16-year-old? Was it someone who lived in the area? What?

ROWLANDS: We don't know the identity at this point. But I can tell you this, that this morning, early this morning, according to our affiliate KRON, there were 15 to 20 police officers in the area where Pamela Vitale was found dead, near the estate owned by Daniel Horowitz. And the arrest took place early this morning.

So if you connect the dots, one would believe that possibly the 16-year-old boy was a neighbor, or at least lived in the general area of the estate. We have not confirmed that. We do not have the identity yet, but we can just tell you that, that the activity was in the area of the home. And a 16-year-old boy has been taken into custody.

WHITFIELD: And Ted, give us an idea of how this investigation had been unfolding since her body was found on Saturday involving the extensive search of that home -- the home where Dan Horowitz, as well as Pamela Vitale, were living, as well as the home that they were building just a few paces away from where her body was found, and the search involving an entire area of that community in Lafayette.

ROWLANDS: Well, this is a very rural area. It is not far off the beaten path, but once you get into this general area, it is very rural.

And Horowitz owned about 12 acres. They were living, he and his wife, Pamela Vitale, in a mobile home, a double-wide mobile home, as they built what they called their dream home. And their dream home was a palatial estate, 7,000 square feet. They had been working on it for years.

She was found dead in the entrance of the mobile home area. Horowitz says he found her at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday evening. Since then, investigators have been working around the clock trying to collect potential evidence around the estate.

It's a massive rural area. They've searched that area. They've talked to many people. They say they've talked to dozens and dozens of people. They've said as early as yesterday that this was "wide open," their investigation. They had looked at a lot of different people. A couple of names had surfaced.

There was an individual, a neighbor that Horowitz had applied for a restraining order against. They talked to that individual.

They talked to a lot of people in and around that area. And obviously now we know that their investigation led them to this 16- year-old boy. And he has been taken into custody.

WHITFIELD: All right. Ted Rowlands, thank you very much for that live report out of Martinez, California, as this investigation still in its early stages. Even though one arrest now has been made of a 16- year-old, as we heard Ted report there, involving the murder of Pamela Vitale, 52 years old, the wife of a high-profile defense attorney.

Now, all eyes are continuing to be on Hurricane Wilma. The National Hurricane Center said this really is a challenge of a storm to watch.

Our Bonnie Schneider is in the Weather Center.

Challenging because it was fast-moving at one point. Now it seems to be slow-moving, and it's a very widespread area that they believe this track could take, right?

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right, Fredricka. It was wobbling quite a bit yesterday, and now we are seeing a movement to the west-northwest at seven miles per hour.

But the big question is, when will the storm hook up with this area, this trough that's dropping down from the U.S. on Saturday? Will it hook up with it? And will it start its turn to the right? And exactly when will that occur?

So there's a lot of unanswered questions with Wilma right now.

Maximum winds are at 145 miles per hour. This is still a Category 4, a powerful hurricane that's maximum winds, as I mentioned, at 145 right here in the center. But then when you start traveling further out to the extended areas, it's a powerful storm that definitely is wide and large.

Here's the latest track to show you, that we're looking at landfall sometime between Sunday and Monday. Anywhere in the Florida Peninsula needs to keep a close watch on Wilma as the storm does approach, but still a couple days away from landfall. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right. Bonnie Schneider, thank you so much.

And of course we'll continue to keep a close eye on Hurricane Wilma, as well as this developing story involving the death of Pamela Vitale. A 16-year-old has been arrested there in northern California. More on both these stories.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hello, again. I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN Center in Atlanta. More of YOUR WORLD TODAY in a moment. But first, a look at other stories making headlines.

A law enforcement source confirms to CNN that an arrest has been made in the murder of a prominent attorney's wife in California. The source says a 16-year-old boy is in custody in connection with the murder of Pamela Vitale. She was the wife of attorney Daniel Horowitz. Vitale's body was found at the couple's hill-top estate on Saturday. A funeral service is scheduled for today.

Authorities hope to begin pumping water from behind a battered wooden dam in Taunton, Massachusetts, this hour. They are trying to relieve enough pressure to prevent the dam from giving way and flooding the town. The equipment needed for the pumping operation arrived early this morning.

The mayor declared a state of emergency and order evacuations earlier in the week after the dam began to buckle. Officials are concerned about the threat of another storm and more rain on the way.

The Senate is taking another hard look at Washington's response to Hurricane Katrina. FEMA Regional Director Marty Bahamonde was at the Superdome during the chaotic days after the storm. He says he gave then FEMA Director Michael Brown regular updates on the deteriorating conditions at the stadium. That contradicts Brown, who says he didn't know about the dire situation until days later.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTY BAHAMONDE, REGIONAL DIRECTOR, FEMA: At approximately 11:00 a.m., the worst possible news came into the EOC. I stood there and listened to the first report of the levee break at the 17th Street Canal. I do not know who made the report, but they were very specific about the location of the break and the size, and then they added, it was very bad.

I immediately called FEMA's front office to relay the news. Their reaction was shock and disbelief. As I passed on minute-by-minute information, I was always under the assumption that it would then be passed to Undersecretary Brown and others. I do not know if this ever happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: Bahamonde says most times Brown responded to his reports with silence or polite thank you's. Senator Susan Collins says the testimony shows FEMA's complete disconnect.

A former Philippine police official pleaded not guilty to spy charges in a New Jersey courtroom this morning. Michael Aquino is accused of passing classified U.S. information to current and former members of the Philippine government. Aquino is linked to a one-time White House employee under investigation for allegedly stealing classified information.

CNN has confirmed that presidential adviser Karl Rove and vice presidential aide Lewis Libby discussed their conversations with reporters about CIA operative Valerie Plame. Those discussions took place days before her identity was leaked in media reports.

Congressman Tom DeLay is expected to turn himself in at the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office in Texas today. The former House majority leader is to be booked on conspiracy and money laundering charges. DeLay is due to make his first court appearance tomorrow in Austin.

Tragedy in San Francisco. Police continue the search for two of three children believed to have been thrown off a pier in the San Francisco Bay. One body was recovered late Wednesday. The children's 23-year-old mother is being held by police. Her friends expressed disbelief at the turn of events.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was out of her mind.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was out of her mind. She wasn't in her right mind. She was not the kind of person to do anything wrong to her kids.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She loved her kids. Her kids were spoiled.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two years ago she wasn't the person she is right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did she have a fight with the father or anything like that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All the time. All the time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did something happen that precipitated this?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not sure. I wasn't around. All I know is I talked to Lashaun a few days ago, and she told me she was coming to San Francisco.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is talking now about this tragedy and this ongoing investigation.

Let's listen in right now.

MAYOR GAVIN NEWSOM, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: ... or wants advice of how you communicate what happened last night to their children or family members.

Obviously, our heart goes out to the family, immediate father, extended family. And we obviously are looking forward to rationalizing this in a way that's not any more disruptive in the context of this search as it has already been. We obviously are very eager and working collaboratively in that context, very eager to recover these two bodies and move on.

We have as well been working with our ferry providers, and our marine efforts include private sector as well that are out there that may come across these bodies.

The Coast Guard is here to answer any questions. I will ask, though, first that the fire chief, Joanne Hayes-White, and the police chief, Heather Fong, make some comments as well.

Chief.

CHIEF JOANNE HAYES-WHITE, SAN FRANCISCO FIRE DEPARTMENT: Good morning. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Obviously our hearts are all very heavy this morning. I wanted to let you know that the San Francisco Fire Department is working collaboratively with the San Francisco Police Department, our port, and the U.S. Coast Guard to do all we can in this recovery effort at this point.

It is no longer a rescue effort, unfortunately. Multiple resources have been out here at Pier Seven since approximately 5:30 last night when we received the 911 call from a witness. And as the mayor stated, we did recover one body. We have behind us our fire boat crew that has launched a skiff. Basically right now we are doing searches under the pier to recover the two remaining victims.

Additionally, we have personal water craft or jet skis. We have four in the water right now, two coming up from the San Francisco fire (ph) airport as well as two from our station here in San Francisco. And again it's a well-coordinated effort. It's a very difficult situation, a tragic situation.

And I would now like to ask Chief Heather Fong to talk about the criminal investigation.

Thank you.

CHIEF HEATHER FONG, SAN FRANCISCO POLICE: Good morning, everyone. I just wanted to update you all on this very tragic and senseless incident that occurred last night here at 5:27 in the evening. That is the time -- 5:27 -- that we received a 911 call at our emergency dispatch center from a citizen reporting that he had observed a woman putting two children into the water at the end of Pier 7.

Immediately police and fire resources responded to the scene -- the fire department to the water side to begin searching for the young children, and the police officers to Pier Seven to try to identify the person that may have been responsible.

The first responding unit, two of our officers did stop and detain a woman who was walking on the pier with a stroller. She was taken into custody, and this morning she has been booked on three counts of murder -- 187 of the penal code -- and three counts of 273- APC, assault on a child with force likely to produce great bodily injury resulting in death.

I'm confirming the name of the person who was stopped last evening and is now booked. Her name is Lashaun Harris, black female, 23 years of age. The three victims, the three child victims, of this tragic incident are Treyshun Harris, T-R-E-Y-S-H-U-N, black male, 6 years old; Taronta Greely, T-A-R-O-N-T-A, Greely, G-R-E-E-L-Y, 2 1/2 years old; and Joshoa Greely, J-O-S-H-O-A, 16 months of age.

The father, Taronta Greely (ph) has been in contact with our investigators and he has provided helpful information.

Immediately after the preliminary response by units, we secured the assistance of the United States Coast Guard as well as the California Highway Patrol so that we could conduct coordinated searches not only from the air, but also from the water side. Throughout the evening, the United States Coast Guard continued to conduct searches in the Bay region following the current patterns, and the captain of the Coast Guard will speak to that in short term.

In addition to the water side, since last evening, we have had officers walking all of the piers along the waterfront here as well as along the marina slips all throughout the bay to ensure that we are looking everywhere possible in order to identify and locate the two remaining victims that are still, we believe, to be in the water.

Last evening, shortly before 10:00 p.m., the Coast Guard through their air support identified what they believed to be the body of a child over north here -- about two miles north of here off of the water at the St. Francis Yacht Club. As a result, that body was recovered. That is the body of, we believe, approximately 2 1/2-year- old, 3-year-old child. And that victim is now in the custody of the medical examiner's office in San Francisco.

The search continues. This morning, we brought in a number of resources not only from the San Francisco Fire Department, the San Francisco Police Department, but the Alameda County Sheriff's Department will also be sending marine resources to assist us in continuing this search.

Also as the mayor mentioned, staff from the Port of San Francisco are working in tandem with our officers on the land side to, again, repeat the search during daylight of all of the piers around the area. The Coast Guard has asked the harbor master to put out information. And every 15 minutes there is an alert going out to all watercraft in the Bay to alert them to this incident, and to ask them to be on the lookout for these victims. It is important not only to recover the victims for the families as well as for our city and those who have all been impacted by this very senseless incident, but also to look at the recovery of any evidence that may be in the Bay. We will continue working with the Coast Guard, with our partners in the fire department, with the port and other resources which we may bring in, in order to find these two victims.

If people along the waterfront or on their boats do notice something floating in the water that they believe may be associated with this, we ask them to immediately notify the Coast Guard or call 911.

At this time, I'd like to ask the captain from the United States Coast Guard to share with you the coordination that we have had with their department. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, chief. Good morning. Since we initially got the call at 5:30 last night, we've had six vessels including three small vessels, a motor light boat from Station Golden Gate and a larger patrol boat and a helicopter and several Coast Guard auxiliary units searching the bay.

We stayed out there all night. We will continue to stay out there and work closely with the SFPD, the fire department, the port, and our other partners here on this recovery effort. Based on the water temperature of 55 degrees and the tides and currents, we have turned this into a recovery effort as Chief Hayes-White has noted.

We have concentrated our search area in between the Golden Gate Bridge, PacBell Park, and Alcatraz Island. We have expanded it slightly out there just on the off chance that we might find the body, but we are reasonably certain that it is in a close area to the shore here. And we will maintain our assets out there through most of the day.

We have over 60 people out there. We have brought in small boats from Vallejo and Bodega Bay to assist to give us more eyes on the water. And I'd like to echo the fact that if anyone out there does see anything that might be involved in this case, whether it's a body or any type of evidence, to call the police on 911 or to contact the Coast Guard on Channel 16.

Thank you.

DR. BOB CABAJ, SAN FRANCISCO DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Thank you. I'm Dr. Cabaj from the Department of Public Health. We want to emphasize the impact on families and children in the area and make sure, as the mayor pointed out, that people know resources are available to them. All of our clinics will be available.

The number that was quoted, 255-3737, is our access team that will get people service if they need. And we hope other neighboring counties will do the same thing because I'm concerned that children will see the information on the news and it will have major impact.

We extend our hearts to the family members, and we will work in conjunction with our colleagues in Alameda County also to make sure that the families are well taken care of. But we do emphasize that we have child crisis services and other mobile services for adults. And we do hope that the emotional impact of this tragedy will also be dealt with in the city.

Thank you. Sorry, Dr. Bob Cabaj -- it's C-A-B-A-J. Thank you.

NEWSOM: Any questions?

QUESTION: What are you learning about the suspect? Has she said anything?

NEWSOM: Chief?

FONG: We are in the preliminary stages of this investigation. And it is a criminal investigation, so it would not be appropriate for me to share any information on the case at this time. At this time, we are continuing our investigation. I'm sorry?

QUESTION: When was she arraigned?

FONG: I'm sorry?

QUESTION: When was she arraigned?

FONG: She was booked this evening. She'll be arraigned -- or excuse me, yesterday evening -- probably tomorrow.

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE).

FONG: We are aware of the 911 call. And we have asked other people who may have seen her in the area or anyone else who may have seen what happened at the end of the pier to please contact us at our confidential tip line, 575-4444. We know that this is an area that's very busy. It's traveled by vehicles, by pedestrians. We just ask the public's help in terms of giving us anything else that might be helpful to us.

WHITFIELD: Their hearts are heavy in the San Francisco, in the Bay Area there, where you're hearing from the police chief down to the mayor and other officials there, talking about the ongoing search for two of the three small children that witnesses say were thrown off Pier Seven into the San Francisco Bay by their mother.

And now the police chief confirms that the mother, a 23-year-old by the name of Lashaun Harris, has been charged with murder. Three counts of murder of her children -- a 6-year-old, a 2 1/2-year-old and a 16-month-old. Officials did recover the body of the 2 1/2-year-old, and now they continue their search to look for the bodies of the 6- year-old and the 16-month-old. More on this story throughout the day here on CNN.

Meantime, it's back to YOUR WORLD TODAY.

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HOLMES: Welcome back to our viewers around the world. Just earlier in this program, we were showing you that video, the controversial video, apparently showing U.S. troops burning the bodies of alleged Taliban fighters who had been killed in action. The bodies facing towards Mecca and the bodies burning.

This has obviously created a lot of concern since it has, or since it had been shown, on Australian television, on the SBS network down under.

Well, just a few minutes ago, Sean McCormack, the U.S. State Department spokesman, had this to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN MCCORMACK, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: From our point of view, these are very serious allegations and if true, very troublesome. And I believe that the authorities in Afghanistan from Central -- our U.S. Central Command, have already put out a statement that said the Army Criminal Division has already initiated an investigation. That investigation will follow the facts wherever they may lead. And if there is, in fact, wrongdoing that was found, then those who are responsible for that wrongdoing will be held to account.

I'd also like to make a few other points concerning the role of our military and the rules and regulations that govern our military. The Department of Defense has said that it is the policy of the United States to treat all remains consistent with the Geneva Convention and with the utmost respect. Our military personnel receive clear instructions to this effect.

Also, I would just like to point out that we should not let the -- I'll say alleged actions, because there is an ongoing investigation here -- but the actions of a few to in any way obscure the work of our military and the values that that military represents.

I'll just point to one example in the region, where you have members of our military who are providing evacuation helicopter flights and delivery of humanitarian aid to those affected in Pakistan by the recent earthquakes. So, again, what we see in this videotape is not at all reflective of the values of the military or of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Sean McCormack, State Department spokesman there, talking about U.S. reaction, on the diplomatic level at least, to these startling allegations of potential misuse or abuse of bodies of enemy combatants in that very controversial video shown on Australian television.

Zain.

VERJEE: Michael, a new U.S. spending bill includes an amendment approved overwhelmingly by the Senate that sets set standards for treating detainees suspected of terrorism. This comes after allegations of abuse at U.S. military prisons. The first Egyptian national to be released from the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, now finds himself in a wheelchair and plans to sue the American government.

Cairo bureau chief Ben Wedeman brings us the details.

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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CAIRO BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): Kandahar, Afghanistan, early 2002. U.S. troops lead detainees, terror suspects, to an airplane that will take them to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

On a night like this, Egyptian national Sami Al-Laithi began what he calls his journey into hell.

SAMI AL-LAITHI, FORMER U.S. GUANTANAMO BAY DETAINEE: When we landed in Guantanamo, they removed all my clothes in Guantanamo. They kicked me everywhere, on my head, on my neck, on my legs, in my stomach, in my back, everywhere.

WEDEMAN: They, he says, were U.S. military police. In June of this year, a military review board decided Laithi no longer represented a threat to the United States. And this month, he became the first Egyptian to be released from Guantanamo. Before his capture on the Afghan/Pakistan border in late 2001, Laithi says he taught English at Kabul University. He denies any terrorist organization.

AL-LAITHI: I never joined any group of any kind. I never stepped in any military camp. I never received any military training at all.

WEDEMAN: While declining to appear on camera for this report, Pentagon officials insist in a statement that Laithi was previously determined to be an enemy combatant through multiple levels of review. They provided no further details.

Laithi is now in a wheelchair; the result, he and his lawyers say, of abuse by military police at Guantanamo.

(on camera): I visited Guantanamo earlier this summer. At the time, military officials told me Al-Laithi's condition was the result of a degenerative genetic illness. But this recent statement from the Pentagon says it was caused by a car accident prior his detention. Despite repeated requests by his lawyers, the Pentagon refuses to release Al-Laithi's full medical records.

(voice-over): He plans to sue the U.S. government for unlawful detention and abuse.

AL-LAITHI: I just ask the American authorities to practice what they preach, to put what they preach into practice. Before detention, I believed in American democracy and American freedom, human rights. But all these things now are falling.

WEDEMAN: Zachary Katznelson, one of Laithi's lawyers, says America's global image at stake.

ZACHARY KATZNELSON, AL-LAITHI'S LAWYER: These are people that should be treated with decency, not least because the United States is supposed to stand for something. It's supposed to stand for justice. It's supposed to stand for human rights. And we appear to have completely abdicated that role.

WEDEMAN: The United States is reportedly considering releasing or transferring to other countries around 400 of the approximately 500 detainees in Guantanamo. Human rights lawyers say more lawsuits are certain to follow.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Cairo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERJEE: Now to a storm of record-breaking intensity swirling around Mexico.

HOLMES: We've been talking the last couple of days about Hurricane Wilma. Well, she has weakened to a Category 4 storm early on Thursday. However, it is expected to regain strength when she passes back over water, and is also expected to pound the coast and taking a turn to the right and heading for Florida.

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HOLMES: All right, we are going to be checking the in-box now. All day, we've been asking viewers, is the international community doing enough to help the victims of the South Asian earthquake? Here's just a selection of your responses.

Andres (ph) in Richmond, Virginia, in the United States, says: "Of course the international community is not doing enough. With only a tiny fraction of what's being spent on weapons on a daily basis, the suffering men, women and children could be in much better shape, instead of facing imminent death for lack of resources. Simply put, they are not a priority."

VERJEE: From Baghdad, Owen writes: "I believe not enough aid is being sent to the people of Pakistan, especially from Arab countries. Muslims should step up to the front, because Pakistanis are Muslims from the same culture, and they understand each other."

HOLMES: And one from Dr. Mushtak (ph) in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia -- thanks for writing, Doctor: "The world can do a better job, especially India, which can open up roads to Kashmir. However, the U.S., Germany and Japan are doing all they can to help."

Thanks to all of you for taking part, and keep writing in to us.

VERJEE: We like it.

HOLMES: We do. We do. It keeps her entertained in the afternoon.

VERJEE: And he feels happy someone's writing to him.

HOLMES: I'm Michael Holmes.

VERJEE: And I'm Zain Verjee.

HOLMES: Bye for now. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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