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CNN LIVE SUNDAY

Republican Party Problems for Bush; D.C. Moms Podcasting; Duke Cunningham's Downfall; Political Oscars Statement; Victims of Child Sex Trade

Aired March 5, 2006 - 16:59   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead this hour, inside the dark world of child sex trafficking right in your own backyard.
Plus, the ongoing political storm surrounding port security. Can Dubai Ports World be trusted? We'll have an exclusive interview with the company's CEO.

And then the ultimate in reality T.V. Car chases and why we can't seem to look away. Hello and welcome to CNN LIVE SUNDAY. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. All of that and more after this check of the headlines.

Ma Bell could be making a comeback. AT&T has agreed to buy BellSouth in a merger deal worth $67 billion. Already the country's largest telecommunications company, the deal would substantially expand the reach of AT&T. BellSouth is the dominant local telephone provider in nine southeastern states.

A message to the world from al Qaeda. The group's number two terrorist sends a video statement condemning cartoons of the prophet Muhammad. Ayman al Zawahiri also praised the Islamic group Hamas for winning the Palestinian elections.

A gun battle in Baghdad. Three people died and seven were wounded after gunmen stormed a Sunni mosque. Witnesses say U.S. forces moved in to stop the fighting.

Iran threatens large-scale uranium enrichment. Tehran says it will shed remaining constraints if the U.N. nuclear watchdog refers it to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions. The watchdog agency is to meet in Vienna tomorrow to discuss Iran's push to manufacture nuclear fuel.

Baseball great Kirby Puckett has suffered a strike. The Minnesota Twins announced that Puckett was at his home in Arizona and was taken to a hospital for surgery after being found. Puckett is a member of baseball's hall of fame.

First this hour, the storm over security at U.S. ports. In this country, President Bush's own party continues to question the wisdom of putting six American ports under Arab-based management. We'll get to that in a moment, but first, CNN's Wolf Blitzer now is in Dubai and today he had an exclusive interview with the CEO of the firm in question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: We're here in Dubai where officials are making a major push to try to convince the American public that this deal to secure the operational rights to six major ports in the United States is a deal worth making. We spoke with the CEO of Dubai Ports World, the company that wants to take charge of those ports. Listen to what he said.

MOHAMMED SHARAF, CEO, DUBAI PORTS WORLD: Well, as far as we are concerned, the deal is going to go through. We operate in five continents of the world. We are recognized as the best in the industry. Obviously, the American people have an issue. We would like to know that and rectify if there are any security measures that we need to take and we have not taken it yet.

BLITZER: But one vocal critic back in the United States, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York is not convinced. He says the deal still poses significant risks to the American public.

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D) NY: So I'm very dubious of this deal and I want to see the review, but the strong burden of proof is on those who want the deal to go forward given Dubai's -- the country's Dubai's nexus with terrorists in the past, not on those of us who say the deal shouldn't.

BLITZER: We're going to spend the next couple of days taking a closer look at the United Arab Emirates, Dubai Ports World, what this deal means. We're going to have extensive coverage, live coverage from "The Situation Room." That begins Monday, 4:00 p.m. Eastern. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Dubai.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Now in Washington, Republican lawmakers are calling today for a different way of doing business when it comes to awarding contracts to manage U.S. ports. CNN's Dana Bash has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Bush came home from south Asia to a harsh reality. Leading Republicans are not backing down in opposing a Dubai company operating six U.S. port terminals, saying an administration that prides itself on protecting America never should have embraced it in the first place.

REP. DUNCAN HUNTER (R) CALIFORNIA: I think they looked at it from a very superficial level and they didn't get the intelligence briefs that go to Dubai's activities.

BASH: House Arms Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, a Bush stalwart who is vowing to stop this deal, said the president did not have basic facts about what he calls security red flags because the secretive approval process led by the Treasury Department is too weighted toward the business deal, not security. That's something Homeland Security Committee Chairman Susan Collins, another top Republican, says she's introducing legislation to change.

REP. SUSAN COLLINS (R) MAINE: We need to scrap the committee, start again, constitute it within the Department of Homeland Security, have the secretary of homeland security chair it, have a member of the intelligence community on it.

BASH: While Republicans are distancing themselves from Mr. Bush on the ports issue, one Democratic candidate is already openly trying to take advantage of it. Congressman Harold Ford is running for Senate in Tennessee, but made this commercial in Baltimore, one port DP World would operate.

REP. HAROLD FORD, TENN: President Bush wants to sell this port and five others to the United Arab Emirates, a country that had diplomatic ties with the Taliban, the home of two 9/11 hijackers whose banks wired money to the terrorists.

BASH: Meanwhile DP World is stepping up its campaign to save the deal. Its CEO telling CNN his company meets security standards on five continents, where it operates and they would not get business if they weren't safe.

SHARAF: Any personnel coming in to work in U.S. will have to go through U.S. immigration, will have to go through U.S. security authorities and at that point they can come in and work.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: And the CEO told CNN there's no need to bring in more U.S. partners in order to allay concerns about security, but a Republican source involved in negotiations between DP World and the administration says there is a growing realization that opposition is so fierce the company will likely have to make additional changes if they want this deal to go through. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Meantime, Dana, with all of this backlash, what will be the focus for the president this week?

BASH: Well, officially on his schedule, not this at all. The president has a number of things on his agenda. One of them is going down to New Orleans, Fredricka. He's not been there in some time, but he is going to head there on Wednesday to take a tour. That of course, was another big issue for Mr. Bush. The six-month anniversary, new information coming out about what he may or may not have been told during the time heading up to Katrina hitting landfall. That is something that the White House is going to again try to take control over something that one of the many things that is really hurting this president when it comes to his approval rating.

WHITFIELD: All right, Dana bash, thank you so much from the White House. Well, staying on the security watch. Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf tells CNN he doesn't know if his forces are get anything closer to capturing Osama bin Laden. The al Qaeda leader is believed to be hiding somewhere along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan. On "Late Edition" with Wolf Blitzer, Mr. Musharraf said his troops continue to strike suspected al Qaeda targets. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. PERVEZ MUSHARRAF, PAKISTAN: Frankly, I wouldn't be able to say whether we are closer or farther. We don't know where they are. We are launching our operations on all al Qaeda positions that we come to know, al Qaeda or Taliban. In the process, if you can get them, we'll get them, but we don't exactly know where they are. I presume they are somewhere in the bottom area on the Pakistan side or the planned (ph) site. But I wouldn't be able to comment whether we've got any closer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: President Musharraf also used the interview to accuse Afghan president Hamad Karzai of leaking intelligence information to the media. A recent report said that Karzai had given intelligence info to Pakistan which included the possible locations of al Qaeda leaders. Musharraf described the information as old and outdated.

A reminder, stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

In California, disgraced former Congressman Duke Cunningham is now serving an eight-year federal prison term for bribery. CNN's chief national correspondent John King takes a closer look at the high-flying Cunningham's spectacular fall from grace.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Randy Cunningham and high risk, have been partners a long time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His name is Randy Duke Cunningham and he is a legend of air power.

KING: The Vietnam ace whose daring exploits were an inspiration for Maverick in Hollywood's "Top Gun." And from famous war hero, Cunningham parachuted into a seemingly less risky business, politics.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Duke Cunningham will be a congressman we can be proud of.

KING: Now 16 years after that first campaign, San Diego Congressman Duke Cunningham's exploits are once again the stuff of Hollywood.

REP. RANDY CUNNINGHAM (R) CALIFORNIA: I broke the law, concealed my conduct and disgraced my office.

KING: His corruption is stunning in its scope and in its sheer audacity, $2.4 million in bribes, at least, private jets for resort getaways, a California mansion, a Rolls Royce, a lifestyle well beyond his means and a thirst for more. That appetite, long-time friends like Charles Nesby say perhaps born of one of the same traits that made Duke Cunningham a successful ace, cockiness. CAPT. CHARLES NESBY, CUNNINGHAM FRIEND: That's the nature of the beast in all of us that are fighter pilots. You're naturally aggressive.

KING: Naked avarice is what prosecutors call it. And look at this. Cunningham actually scribbled this bribe menu on his congressional notepad. Want a $16 million contract. The cost is a boat, BT for short, worth $140,000. Add in another 50,000 for each additional million dollars in contracts.

NORMAN ORNSTEIN, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE: What Cunningham did is breath taking.

KING: Norman Ornstein has been studying Congress for 30 years and says there has been nothing like this before.

ORNSTEIN: This is somebody who set out to live a lavish lifestyle by making sure he could shake down contractors, lobbyists and interest groups.

KING: Thousands of dollars in meals at the Capitol Grille and other pricey Washington restaurants. Cunningham's tab picked up by defense contractors. Private jets, again paid for by contractors to whisk the congressman around the country. The trendy Delano Hotel on Miami's South Beach was one destination two years ago, $1254 for the room, $848 for Cunningham's meals at the hotel, nearly $13,000 for the chartered jet.

Cunningham grew to expect luxury, the prosecution memo says. His co-conspirators eagerly plied him with it. He was, after all, on the House Appropriations Committee, a leading voice on its defense subcommittee, able to insert multimillion dollar favors into the Pentagon and other budgets. His Navy days gave him standing on military matters and stories worthy of the big screen.

CUNNINGHAM: I met my wife by singing "You Lost That Loving Feeling" to her at (INAUDIBLE) officer's club.

KING: Perhaps they should have raised questions, some friends say, when a congressman with a $165,000 a year salary bought a penthouse condominium here just outside Washington, in addition to the pricy home he owned in southern California.

The condo came courtesy of a defense contractor's $200,000 down payment. Inside, tens of thousands of dollars worth of antiques the congressman demanded in exchange for favors, all now in a warehouse awaiting government auction.

This is the boat from the bribe menu, "The Dukester," a flashy exhibit of Cunningham's life style. Real estate records like these, the more mundane evidence that would begin his fall from grace.

November, 2003, Cunningham sold his home in Delmar to a defense contractor for nearly $1.7 million. The contractor lost $700,000 when he resold it. That caught the eye of a Copley News Service reporter and then that caught the eye of the Feds. What they found is eye popping.

NESBY: It's a power and then some people handle the power correctly. Other people, the power can be misused. Duke lost his moral compass.

KING: Nesby is one of 40 Cunningham friends and family members who wrote the judge appealing for leniency. In his letter, Nesby recalled a white naval officer who took a risk standing up for a young black pilot.

NESBY: It was not popular for him to do that, but I appreciated it. What he did, he leveled the playing field and allowed me to compete and gave me what I deserve and I'll always love him for that.

KING: In his note to the judge, Cunningham wrote, it all started very slowly and innocently, that he's sorry, worried about dying in prison but I will accept your sentence without complaints.

KING: A career that is the stuff of Hollywood, then...

CUNNINGHAM: In my life, I have had great joy and great sorrow. And now I know great shame.

KING: And now. John King, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, is it the danger? Is it the unexpected? We want to look away, but we can't. Just what is it about those car chases on TV and why do we love to watch them?

Is Podcasting the news future of information? At this hour, we'll meet two women who are new to Podcasting but already have many fans on their weekly Internet radio show about motherhood.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I'm Bill Schneider at the red carpet in Hollywood where this year you're expected to make not just a fashion statement, but a political statement. Stay tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: So CNN's senior political analyst Bill Schneider normally rules the roost on election nights, right? So what's he doing at the Academy Awards in Hollywood? Very simple. All of the films nominated for best picture have politically-charged themes which makes Bill the natural go-to guy. Bill?

SCHNEIDER: Well, I am here in Hollywood for the big night where the buzz is really about what you just said, politics, specifically, political movies.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Why are so many movies with political themes being honored this year? Like "Crash" which deals with racism. "CRASH" FROM LIONS GATE FILM: We the only two black faces surrounded by a sea of over caffeinated white people patrolled by the trigger-happy LAPD. So you tell me. Why aren't we scared?

SCHNEIDER: "Brokeback Mountain," prejudice.

"BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN" FROM FOCUS FEATURES: This thing grabs hold of us in the wrong place. And we're dead.

SCHNEIDER: "Munich," anti-terrorism.

"MUNICH" COURTESY UNIVERSAL PICTURES: Every civilization finds it necessary to negotiate compromises with its own values.

SCHNEIDER: "Good Night and Good Luck," civil liberties.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The line between investigating and persecuting is a very fine one.

SCHNEIDER: Is it the times? These movies have been in development for years. Like everything in Hollywood, it has a lot to do with money. People who have made money in real estate and the Internet are starting to dabble in movies.

GREGG KILDAY, HOLLYWOODREPORTER: They are being funded by financiers who aren't afraid of politically-themed movies.

SCHNEIDER: These political movies from the fringes of Hollywood met with some success at the box office.

KILDAY: Their profile has increased. And they kind of by default taken a seat at the table that might have gone to some of the bigger studio releases.

SCHNEIDER: Which were not very good in the academy's view.

KILDAY: Some of the bigger less-political movies just failed to impress them.

SCHNEIDER: And the smaller, more political movies?

JON STEWART, ACADEMY AWARDS HOST: People may have the impression that a lot of them are incredibly heavy, but they are really, they are also entertaining.

SCHNEIDER: But don't expect political movies to change public opinion.

MARTY KAPLAN, DIRECTOR, NORMAN LEAR CENTER: It is only a movie. It's a little bit like a sporting event. You go to support your team. And you have some fun, and you pay some money, and you go out the same person you were when you went in.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHNEIDER: If you've got money and talent, you can make successful movies that promote your values, even if they're conservative values. Mel Gibson did it But not this year. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Well, we'll be looking for next year. I have a feeling he's got something up his sleeve.

So yes, Bill, you're there, looking at the politics involved in the Academy Awards, but I understand you're also looking about the little partying action. You have the hot ticket which is the ticket to the "Vanity Fair" party tonight, right?

SCHNEIDER: I will be going to that party. Yes, a lot of people will be there, include something people from CNN are usually there. This is a little like a political convention, but with one difference. Everyone here is beautiful. You can't say that about a lot of things. You know what?

WHITFIELD: ... among them.

SCHNEIDER: Well, thank you and you look marvelous.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much. So I understand This really has become a tradition for you, too. This is not an anomaly that you're looking into the politics of Hollywood. You've been there before. How do things look different this year compared to some of the other awards that you've attended in the past?

SCHNEIDER: Well this year, of course, there's a lot of interest in the next election. A lot of people are talking about the candidates. There is something about Hollywood primary. The candidates come here to look for money and the celebrities and the suits and the big bosses in Hollywood are trying to figure out who to put their money on particularly in the Democratic party, but not exclusively Democrats. There's a lot of interest here in John McCain as well. So there really is a Hollywood primary.

WHITFIELD: All right, very good, well, Bill, thanks so much. You look good in that black tie, that little bow tie and tux. I like the texture of your shirt too. Nice fashion statement you're making out there.

SCHNEIDER: Thank you. Let's do lunch.

WHITFIELD: All right. My people will call your people. All right. Thanks a lot, Bill.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

WHITFIELD: A reminder that CNN's special live coverage of the Oscars from the red carpet begins in about 40 minutes. That's 6:00 p.m. Eastern, 3:00 p.m. Pacific right there on CNN.

Does it matter if it's night or day? Lots of us are glued to the TV when a car chase is on. Why don't we flip the channel? That story is straight ahead.

But first, there's nothing sweet about this business called cotton candy. We take you behind the scenes of the sex trade in the United States. It's a shocking story you don't want to miss. CNN LIVE SUNDAY will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: You wouldn't know it from a casual glance, but there's a war going in California against an enemy that goes on incredible lengths to stay hidden. Children forced into prostitution. In a best of CNN segment, our Thelma Gutierrez has an exclusive report on victims of the child sex trade.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Glendale, California, 2:00 p.m., a typical house in a middle class neighborhood, but inside a half-dozen under aged girl, some just 15 years old are pried with drugs and alcohol. They're taped having sex.

These young girls are being groomed to become prostitutes. Over several months, some are forced to work the dark, dangerous streets and every penny will go to the men who run them, their pimps.

DET. MATT IRVINE, GLENDALE POLICE: As parents, we tell our kids never get into a car with a stranger. These girls are being forced to get into cars with dozens of strangers every night in places that are specifically frequented by sexual predators, by men that want to take advantage of children.

GUTIERREZ: This business called cotton candy is lucrative. It specializes in minors and goes undetected until one day screams are heard coming from this home.

IRVINE: This case started as a very routine, police call for service. A neighbor reported that there was some kind of a domestic dispute, maybe a beating going on in a residence.

GUTIERREZ: When Glendale police arrived, a 17-year-old girl is being beaten by a man, but the officer is about to stumble on to something bigger, the underground world of child trafficking.

IRVINE: He wandered into the back room to see who else was there and discovered web cams set up, sex toys scattered around and what appeared to be an Internet pornography operation.

GUTIERREZ: In a joint investigation with the FBI, Glendale detective Matt Irvine discovers girls are being recruited by Casey Stenson (ph), a smooth-talking 19-year-old with a short fuse.

IRVINE: He bashed one girl's head against a sidewalk in Hollywood because she was talking to another pimp. He beat that same girl with the belt. He beat another girl with the belt.

GUTIERREZ: But Irvine says, it's Casey's cousin, 40-year-old Stephen Stenson (ph) who is the mastermind and Stenson served time for pimping minors in the past.

IRVINE: The girls who got pulled the furthest down into prostitution, the girls who were subjected to the most brutal beatings, who were put out on the street night after night were runaways, kids in foster care.

GUTIERREZ: Kids with broken spirits, with no one to watch over them. Like this 15-year-old girl. Police say the daughter of a prostitute who was traded between pimps in three different states.

MATT MORIN, FBI: They were advertising the services of their prostitutes via business cards as well as Web sites and they were also going from location to location in Arizona, in Las Vegas, back to Los Angeles, essentially to prostitute their child victims.

GUTIERREZ: Special agent Matt Morin heads up an FBI child exploitation task force. He says moving American children across state lines to be sold for sex is a growing, disturbing phenomenon right here in the U.S.

MORIN: We estimate that there are approximately 300,000 child victims here within the United States that are involved in child prostitution.

GUTIERREZ: Agent Morin says unfortunately, child prostitutes aren't always treated as victims. Many, like this 17-year-old who calls herself Chloe, end up in the criminal justice system. How many years were you in this business?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Since I was 5 until now, so, 12 years I guess?

GUTIERREZ: It's hard to fathom but Chloe says for the past 12 years of her life she's been sold to men and it all began at home when she was just five.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And coming up in just one minute, more of the shocking story of how Chloe lost her childhood.

Right now a look at the top stories. AT&T has agreed to buy BellSouth in a merger deal worth $67 billion. The move would greatly expand the reach of the country's largest telecommunications company. BellSouth is the dominant local telephone provider in nine southeastern states.

Opening statements in the sentencing phase of Zacarias Moussaoui's trial begins tomorrow in Virginia. It's the first time anyone in the U.S. has faced charges in the September 11th attacks. Federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. They say the admitted al Qaeda member lied about his knowledge of 9/11. Moussaoui denies having a direct role in the 2001 terror attacks.

If he wins March 28th elections, Ehud Olmert will have Israel pulled out of isolated west bank settlements and draw its own borders, that from an ally of Israel's acting prime minister.

Iraqi security forces are investigating an attack on a Sunni mosque in western Baghdad. Gunmen dressed as Iraqi police commandos killed three masked guards and wounded six others late yesterday. Police say the attackers and mosque guards exchanged fire for about an hour.

A worker in West Virginia is presumed to be dead at the bottom of a power plant smokestack. A fire broke out in the tower last night as a crew was installing a lining. Three other workers were rescued by helicopter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa! Look at that, right between those two cars.

JUDY GRAFFE, CHASE WATCHER: No one single car chase is like another. I mean, anything from what neighborhoods they go to, to the speeds they travel, to who it turns out they are.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There he goes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Are you like her, you just can't stop watching those car chases on TV? Lots of people tune in, but why? Take a look straight ahead.

But first, imagine one day we may be using our body parts as passwords and pins. Welcome to the future of personal security.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was worse than if somebody had just taken money from my purse because it made me fell that they were taking me. For me, the cost of being a victim of identity theft was more the monetary. I've always been pretty trusting and felt that everything was under control and suddenly I started to suspect all the people with whom I normally do business. I mean those people have all kinds of information about you, you know? The technological fixes that I've heard of don't completely reassure me that my privacy wouldn't be invade far more than I would be willing to have it invaded.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Barbara is not alone. In fact, American consumers lost nearly $57 billion last year to identity theft. When it comes to protecting our personal security, what hope can technology offer?

LEE GOFF (ph), DEAN OF TECHNOLOGY, DAVENPORT UNIVERSITY: This device is a smart card reader.

O'BRIEN: Meet Lee Goff, dean of technology at Davenport University in Michigan.

GOFF: Biometric security is one way to stop identity theft. Physical characteristics that identify who you are is a lot harder to steal than is a credit card number.

O'BRIEN: The technologies already in place include iris scans, palm geometry readers, facial recognition and fingerprinting tools. GOFF: The next line of defense is trying to identify those unique physical characteristics of an individual that are very hard to replicate. Vains in your hands, looking at the inner ear.

O'BRIEN: But are we ready to divulge that much personal information.

GOFF: If we think that we live in a private world, we don't. What we need to do now is just make sure that the information we do have is secure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Before the break, we met 17-year-old Chloe. She's a former child prostitute who says she was forced into turning tricks when she was barely out of preschool. Her story continues in part two of our "Best of CNN Report." Here again is CNN's Thelma Gutierrez.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUTIERREZ (voice over): Chloe is just 17. These should be among the best years of a girl's life. Full of opportunity and promise. Instead, Chloe sits alone in this juvenile detention facility as a child prostitute.

How did you get involved in all of this?

CHLOE, FORMER CHILD PROSTITUTE: My mom wanted drugs and she'd do anything to get drugs.

Well, when I was younger, around five, my mom used to let guys come in and sexually do things to me. I would scream, kick, scratch. Anything a normal little girl would do if some older man was trying to do something sexual to them. But it didn't work because they normally pined me down.

GUTIERREZ: Chloe says she endured the abuse for several years until she left home.

CHLOE: I ran away from home and I came to San Diego and I met a guy that was really older than me.

GUTIERREZ: By the time she was 13, Chloe was an experienced prostitute who had really never experienced childhood.

CHLOE: I never played with dolls or played in the sand or anything like that. I just missed out, basically, on everything.

GUTIERREZ: Chloe told me her pimps trafficked her to Nevada, Utah, Washington and Canada and she was never allowed to keep a dime to herself. Even if she wanted to stop being a prostitute, she'd have to pay her way out.

CHLOE: Your leaving fee was $1,000. And if you didn't pay it, the repercussion is you'd get beat and you'd go out there until you make it.

GUTIERREZ: Through the years, she says she was beaten, raped and nearly killed. Ironically, Chloe only left the streets after she was arrested for drugs.

CHLOE: I overdosed and I slit my wrist and I was hoping I'd die and that I wouldn't, you know, be alive because I didn't think I was worth anything because all people ever did to me was use me.

GUTIERREZ: If people think that young children are not being trafficked in the United States, that it only happens in poor countries, what would you tell those people?

CHLOE: I would tell them they're wrong because it happens here. All the time, every day, around the clock, 24/7, it's happening here. Young girls more because older men, they want the younger ones.

GUTIERREZ: For those who do, Detective Matt Irvine sends out a stern warning.

DETECTIVE MATT IRVINE, GLENDALE POLICE: We're watching. We care. You know, when we're talking about child sexual exploitation, we're not just talking about seven-year-olds in pigtails anymore. We realize that some of these girls may be physically mature, but they're still children and they're still deserving of our protection and the law is going to come down just as hard.

GUTIERREZ: And it did. Remember Casey Stenson (ph), the smooth- talking 19-year-old with the violent temper who ran Cotton Candy, this child prostitution ring? He was sentenced to 16 years for child exploitation. His cousin, Stephen Stenson (ph), was sentenced to 22 years for the same crime, plus child prostitution and pornography. But Chloe says, for girls like her, the scars of sexual exploitation are a life sentence.

CHLOE: When I see a five-year-old and, like, I don't know, I just see them doing things, I see myself wishing that I could have been that little girl, you know, going to the beach and building a sand castle. But the realistic thing is that I can't go back in time.

GUTIERREZ: Chloe says she's determined not to be a lost cause.

CHLOE: It took me a while to get to this point and I got to it and I want to finish high school and go to UC Davis College and be a sign language interpreter.

GUTIERREZ: Why sign language?

CHLOE: Because I've always found an interest in kids with the disability of not being able to talk.

GUTIERREZ: Like the kid she once was whose cries were never heard when she was only five.

Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, they are dangerous and they can be deadly. So why are many of us fascinated by car chases on television? Straight ahead, we explore what some call the ultimate in reality TV.

And later, pod casting is all the rage and now mommies are plugged in as well. We'll speak with two tech-savvy moms who share their experience with the world. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: In about 15 minutes from now, more of CNN LIVE SUNDAY. This time with Carol Lin.

Hello.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. Coming up in the next couple of hours, a couple of interesting stories I want to highlight. At 7:00 there is going to be an interview segment about a DUI court in the state of Arizona that is specifically for Hispanics and Native Americans only. So the new district attorney is saying, forget it. He's filing a federal lawsuit to get rid of it. He said it is race- based -- a legal system that is race based. So we'll find out about that.

WHITFIELD: OK.

LIN: And then at 10:00 tonight, Jeanne Meserve is going to have a portion of her exclusive interview with Zacarias Moussaoui's mother who is talking to her tonight ahead of her son's sentencing this week and I think it's going to be an emotional one. She wants to have a fair verdict. She doesn't want her son to be seen as a martyr for the cause of the U.S. war on terror. So we'll see what happens.

WHITFIELD: All right. It's going to be an intense week in this sentencing phase.

LIN: You bet.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks a lot, Carol.

Well, it has become part of the landscape, in southern California, at least. A crime suspect being chased down, winding highways by police cars and news helicopters. But why do so many L.A. suspects make a run for it anyway? And why do we watch? CNN's Ted Rowlands has the story in this "Best Of" report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unbelievable. Look at that. He's out of control, head-on into a pickup truck.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): They play out on a daily basis in California, and many times end up on TV.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Several vehicles here. OK, there's four vehicles that he just ran into.

ROWLANDS: Police chases, which some consider the ultimate in reality television.

GRAFFE: I have to tune in.

ROWLANDS: Judy Graffe, along with thousand of other viewers, love to watch people on the freeways and streets of California trying to get away from the police. Judy is such a fanatic that she actually subscribes to a service that alerts her with a phone call when a chase is underway.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa! Look at that, right between those two cars.

GRAFFE: No one single car chase is like another. I mean, anything from what neighborhoods they go to, to the speeds they travel, to who it turns out they are.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There he goes. He's out and he's into lanes of traffic.

ROWLANDS: Over the years there have been some memorable California chases. There was the stolen tank in San Diego, was there the hijacked bus in Los Angeles, the driver careening through the streets like a real live version of the movie speed without the Hollywood ending.

GRAFFE: That one was absolutely fascinating to image somebody hijacking a bus and thinking they could get away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's over 120 miles an hour here.

ROWLANDS: Police have chased practically everything on wheels, from motorcycles.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, look at this, a wheelly right through traffic.

ROWLANDS: To RVs. This chase lasted more than four hours. Part of it offroad. Everyone seemed relieved when this ended.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nature called.

ROWLANDS: 7-up received some free advertising while police pursued this stolen truck.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, look out. He's spinning out.

ROWLANDS: There's even been a case of ambulance chasing, literally. Sometimes the suspect runs, many time times they give up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So it's a foot chase and we'll see if the officers -- he runs out of steam.

ROWLANDS: This person decided to turn things around, putting the car into reverse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very bizarre behavior.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It went through the interchange, continuing northbound on the 405.

ROWLANDS: And, of course, was there the ultimate celebrity pursuit, O.J., the slow-speed chase seen live around the world.

GRAFFE: Who knew where that was going to go? It was anybody's guess. And so I think that sort of hooked me into car chases.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we will take you back to regular programming now.

ROWLANDS: Interrupting television programming to show chases started before O.J. It has been a part of southern California life since the early '90s.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've been live with you now just about an hour here on Channel 9 following this.

OFFICER JOE ZIZI, CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL: These people do not want to go to jail.

ROWLANDS: Joe Zizi is an officer with the California Highway Patrol, who's been in a number of chases. He says people may enjoy watching them on TV, but for officers involved, it is very dangerous.

ZIZI: Who knows? You could be -- you could be chasing after America's most wanted suspect.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, look at the smoke coming off his tires as he brakes. Oh, oh, he hit that car. Hits that car. But he's still -- no, he jumps out the window.

ZIZI: About 60 to 70 percent of people that flee are either driving a stolen vehicle, are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or are wanted by the police.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who knows what is going through his mind.

ROWLANDS: Some of these chases go on for hours. Some become standoffs, leaving television anchors to speculate about anything so they can fill time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's probably so blato, you know, he's just belligerent as all get out.

GRAFFE: I'm fascinated at how the anchors call the car chase. I mean it's a little bit like a play-by-play in a sports event.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's going off the road. He's spinning out. Spinning out. Whoa, he's going down the hill, spinning out. It's roiling over. One, two, three . . .

ROWLANDS: Sometimes drivers know they are on TV and play to the audience. This guy made the time to show everyone his softer side.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He just mooned them.

ROWLANDS: This woman being pursued even stopped to talk to bystanders who had come outside after watching the pursuit on TV.

ZIZI: We've had several citizens watching on television, see that it's approaching their house and get outside to either try and cheer the suspect on or try and get involved to stop the suspect's vehicle.

ROWLANDS: In this case, police got some help from a couple of truckers who saw the chase coming.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it looks like these big rigs are doing it on purpose. Yes, this is great.

ROWLANDS: And sandwiched the suspect between them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's stuck.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure did.

ROWLANDS: Police don't encourage the general public to intervene. They have their own tactics to try to put brakes on chases.

GRAFFE: You've got the spike strip, you've got the pit maneuver.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, they're putting down another spike strip to blow out the rear tires.

ROWLANDS: The spike strip flattens tires but doesn't stop cars cold, like this driver who continued for miles until the SUV actually started to fall to pieces. This is what's called a pit maneuver, which is used to disable a vehicle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going get up alongside that vehicle, bump it, push it to a side, make it spin out and hopefully incapacitate, stall out the engine.

ROWLANDS: But it's not always an immediate success. The newest weapon for police is a satellite tracking device they can actually shoot on to a vehicle, which allows them to back off a bit and keep officers out of danger.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's starting to run.

ROWLANDS: As for the question of why so many chases here. Many people think California is unique because there are more freeways and more cars. But Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton points to the people.

CHIEF WILLIAM BRATTON, LOS ANGELES POLICE: There are a lot of nuts here, that's what makes it so unique, to be quite frank with you.

ROWLANDS: Ted Rowlands, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Pod casting, it's not just for college kids and music junks. Everyone apparently is getting into the action. Straight ahead, we'll meet the moms behind Mommy-cast. CNN LIVE SUNDAY will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, home fries, welcome to Axen Hash (ph) number 123. Yeah, the buzz of the pod cast hotels have worn off a little bit, but I am still high on life, enjoying everything. Been getting some really cool e-mails, some cool comments.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: What? Well, hosting a radio program used to be open to only a select group of people. Now just about anyone can do it. It's called pod casting and all you need is a computer and a microphone. That's it. Paige Heninger and Gretchen Vogelzang recently launched their own successful program called Mommycast and they join us now from Washington D.C.

Good to see you, moms.

GRETCHEN VOGELZANG, MOMMYCAST.COM: Thanks.

PAIGE HENINGER, MOMMYCAST.COM: : Thanks for having us.

VOGELZANG: Thanks for having us.

WHITFIELD: All right, so let me get this straight. You guys have like a conversation, almost like a telephone conversation, amongst yourselves, right?

VOGELZANG: Right.

WHITFIELD: But in this case the world gets to hear what you have to say.

VOGELZANG: Right.

HENINGER: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Why have you opened yourself up like this?

VOGELZANG: Well, I think . . .

HENINGER: We . . .

WHITFIELD: Go ahead Gretchen.

VOGELZANG: Paige. When we started -- when we started, we decided that it would be a really cool thing to do this for moms because moms typically are very isolated. They don't have a lot of support group, a lot of people to talk to and they really, you know, need that support group to know that they're not alone in dealing with the things that they deal with on a day-to-day basis.

WHITFIELD: So, Gretchen, you knew off the bat that you all would have an audience. That there would be a lot of people who could relate to what you and Paige would have to say.

VOGELZANG: No, actually we didn't know that.

WHITFIELD: Really?

VOGELZANG: It was very surprising to us. We kind of thought we'd, you know, do this for the fun of it and, you know, five shows, we'd call it a day and move on and all of a sudden it really took of and now we know that there are a lot of people around the world who really need to be a part of a community like Mommycast.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. So, Gretchen, you're a mother of two, Paige, a mother of five.

HENINGER: Yes.

WHITFIELD: So clearly you guys are able to offer a lot of advice as well, and maybe even get some e-mails or listen in on other people who have some interesting words of wisdom that you pass along?

HENINGER: We do. It's great. It's a lot of fun to hear other people's feedback and what they think about what we're doing.

WHITFIELD: And I guess what's surprising, too, just like Gretchen was saying, come to find out you had a huge audience out there and then come to find out you can get some pretty good guests. Like Morgan Freeman is somebody that you happen to get to be a guest interview, right?

VOGELZANG: Right.

HENINGER: Right.

WHITFIELD: How did that work, Paige?

HENINGER: Well, we went to see "March of the Penguins" as a double date and we wanted to do a review of the movie and Gretchen's husband Paul contacted Warner and said -- they said, well, we'll send you t-shirts and penguins to give away to your listeners. Is there anything else you'd like? And he said, yes, we'd like an interview with Morgan Freeman.

WHITFIELD: Wow, and ask and yee shall receive.

HENINGER: That's right.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, let's take a listen. Just a quick little sampling of what takes place on your Mommycast.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HENINGER: Hi, everybody, this is Paige and Gretchen.

VOGELZANG: From Mommycast.com. It's 9:30 Tuesday night.

HENINGER: Oh, man, I'm tired.

VOGELZANG: So Paige was very brave today.

HENINGER: Why?

VOGELZANG: She entered the quarantine area.

HENINGER: Oh.

VOGELZANG: My house is quarantined. I have sick kids. Both of them.

HENINGER: Yes, I do, too.

VOGELZANG: Well, mine are sicker than yours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So I guess what makes you guys so popular too is you're just so real. You know, you're not really talking above anyone, Gretchen, you're talking just like you are talking to a group of girlfriends and it's something everyone can relate to.

VOGELZANG: Yes. I mean, this is nothing more than what Paige and I did on a regular basis anyway by calling each other. So it is very reals and it is, I think, one of the things that moms need in life.

WHITFIELD: OK. Well, Gretchen, sorry to cut you off, but we got to run. But people can find your Mommycast at mommycast.com. Gretchen Vogelzang and Paige Heninger, thanks so much for joining us from Washington D.C.

VOGELZANG: Thank you.

HENINGER: Thanks for having us.

WHITFIELD: Hopefully sometime we can talk a little bit more.

VOGELZANG: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: All right, still ahead, much more on CNN. Up next, CNN's Oscar special, taking you to the red carpet. "Hollywood's Gold Rush" beginning right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Good evening. I'm Carol Lin. And here's what's making news right now.

A baby bell comes back home. AT&T and BellSouth will become one if today's plan goes through as announced. The price tag, $67 billion for AT&T in stock. The merger also consolidates the two company's control over the cell provided Cingular.

A nuclear warning. Iran's top nuclear negotiator says if the U.N. watchdog group refers his country to the security council, Iran will resume its large scale nuclear enrichment program.

And former Minnesota Twins outfielder Kirby Puckett has suffered a stroke and is in surgery. The Twins' management says Kirby suffered a stroke at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona, this morning.

I'll be back in one hour with CNN LIVE SUNDAY. In the meantime, "Hollywood's Gold Rush" begins right now.

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