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American Morning

Tracking Online Predators; McKinney Cases Heads to Grand Jury

Aired April 06, 2006 - 08:30   ET

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

ANNOUNCER: You're watching AMERICAN MORNING, with Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. Beautiful day here in New York. The sun is out. No snow.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Picking up OK. No snow the size of manhole covers or whatever it was...

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, that was kind of crazy yesterday.

M. O'BRIEN: It's nutty.

(NEWSBREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: This week we have been talking a lot about the problem of online predators and unfortunately we've seen some sad cases in point. In Congress, they will continue discussing it today. This right on the heels of the arrest of a high-ranking Department of Homeland Security officer entrapped in a snare set up by law enforcement with a deputy sheriff who was claiming to be a 14-year-old girl and Brian Doyle attempting to seduce her online, allegedly.

Joining us from Washington is Raul Roldan, who is chief of the FBI cyber crimes section. Wasn't involved in that particular case, but gets involved in cases like that.

First of all, good to have you with us, sir.

RAUL O. ROLDAN, CHIEF, FBI CYBER CRIME SECTION: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: How many ongoing cases do you have right now? How big a section do you have and how many -- well, how many FBI agents posing are out there online now?

ROLDAN: At this time, we have approximately 250 agents throughout the nation working on this particular problem. Not exactly posing online, but working investigations that are very, very complex on organized criminal groups that are involved in this criminal enterprise.

M. O'BRIEN: You say it's complex. I mean, what we just talked about with Brian Doyle, who was arrested and supposedly confessed after trying to seduce what he thought was a 14-year-old, it seemed fairly straightforward. How do things get complex and why is this difficult for law enforcement? ROLDAN: Well, this has become a money making enterprise. So we do not only have the perpetrators that are trying to exploit the children, we also have organizations that are utilizing pornography and are utilizing children and exploiting them in order to benefit from it financially.

M. O'BRIEN: Did you -- I assume you saw the testimony of 19- year-old Justin Berry. It was very dramatic testimony. Young man, was an honor student, you know, an otherwise outstanding individual, who got trapped in this terrible, awful world of pedophiles. He says he gave a lot of information to the authorities. Basically, he had data on about 1,500 pedophiles out there. And he expressed frustration that precious few of them had been arrested. Why does it take so long, why is it so difficult?

ROLDAN: Obviously, I cannot comment on the case itself because it's ongoing case. But I can comment on how we investigate cases such as this one. And in this particular issue, as it relates to customers that are entering Web sites that are illegal Web sites, and accessing child pornography and exchanging that and downloading it, it becomes a matter of an -- a complex investigation because it's not as simple as looking at a customer going into the Web site. You also have to look at the credit that they are -- or the credit card that they may utilize, the mechanisms that they utilize to enter the site, if they download the pornography.

Many things have to be looked at. What we must understand is that there's also the rights of the individuals. They have to be protected as an investigation is conducted. But I can assure you that the investigations are very thorough, and we look at everything, not only in terms of the access, but everything that is involved in the crime itself.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, let me ask you this. We are all interested in individual rights, but in cases like this, in particular, we want to see justice be done as well. What's the biggest stumbling block that your agency has out there? Do you need some change in legislation, for example, in order to do your investigations better?

ROLDAN: Well, this is a serious crime. And it's not only serious, it's growing. So you need additional people involved. But let me tell you that Congress has been very good at supporting us. The Department of Justice has started over 50 task forces throughout the nation. The FBI has initiated an international task force. So, yes, resources are required. At this time, Congress and DOJ and the FBI have been very aggressive in addressing this program.

M. O'BRIEN: But do you need the laws changed?

ROLDAN: I can tell you this: the laws are catching up with us. Most recently, we had a case where an individual had been arrested three times, three consecutive times for the same crime, child pornography and child exploitation. That individual got a life sentence. So those -- legislation is catching up with us, too. And we're utilizing it very well.

M. O'BRIEN: It's hard to keep up with technology, isn't it?

ROLDAN: Now, the technology is a different story. You're totally correct. We are constantly working. We utilize our research and development, researches that the FBI has, and we try to employ those resources in our investigations, very successfully.

M. O'BRIEN: Raul Rodan is the chief of the FBI's cyber crime section. Thanks for being with us.

ROLDAN: Thank you for having me.

M. O'BRIEN: Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, a grand jury is expected to hear witnesses today in the assault complaint against Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. The Georgia lawmaker is accused of hitting a Capitol Hill guard who tried to stop her from entering a House office building. Senior congressional sources tell CNN that two House staff members have been subpoenaed to testify.

J.C. Watts is a former Republican congressman. He's a CNN political contributor. He's in Washington, D.C. Hey, J.C. Nice to see, as always.

J.C. WATTS, FMR. REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN: Soledad, good morning/

S. O'BRIEN: And good morning to you.

What do you think of Cynthia McKinney's claims of racial profiling?

WATTS: Well, Soledad, I think the circumstances, as I understand them and as I have read about them and talked to people -- that's going to be a pretty tough sell. I think it's -- I think what this should say to all of us who enter the Capitol, members of Congress and former members of Congress, you can't assume or presume that these officers are going to know you.

I have a chance to go back to the Capitol from time to time, and I don't have a congressional pin and I don't have congressional I.D. anymore. Some members of the police force know me. Some don't. So I can't assume that those that don't know me, that they will know me, so I have to go through the proper channels, protocol, to make sure that I enter the Capitol properly. So, you know, Congresswoman McKinney, it sounds like it's going to be a very tough sell.

S. O'BRIEN: To some degree, the Capitol Hill chief was telling us that, you know, if she could resolve it, that she could have sort of said hey, you know, I made a mistake and it would all be resolved and now it's kind of escalated. And I'm curious if you think it merits criminal charges. Regardless of the details -- and we don't know exactly everything that's happened, we haven't seen the videotape -- do you think -- you know, she faces felony charges.

WATTS: Well, and, Soledad, that's really the unfortunate thing about this entire circumstance. It's escalated to a point that we're not talking about Social Security reform or immigration reform or lobbying reform. We are not talking about any of those things. We're talking about an unfortunate incident that could have been avoided had there been a congressional pin or congressional I.D.

And I can tell you -- I promise you members of Congress on both sides of the aisle would prefer that this thing not be escalated any further, and both parties are going to be -- are very disappointed that it's been escalated to the point of a grand jury investigation.

S. O'BRIEN: She has said, you know, there's only 14 black female Congress people, and there's only 43 black Congress people. You know, the numbers are so low, to some degree, shouldn't she be recognized? is there an element of, maybe you can understand her frustration; there's sort of an assumption, well, she couldn't be the Congress person coming through. Do you identify with that? Did you experience that when you were in Congress?

WATTS: Well, you know, Soledad, I would not assume, or I don't think the Capitol Police should assume that anybody is a member of Congress, unless it's Nancy Pelosi or Dennis Hastert. I mean, those are the two people that it's pretty obvious who they are, with the security and the -- and as much as they are around the Capitol complex.

Again, I think that we are taking for granted that these police officers, that they will know who we are without our I.D. or without our congressional pins. And that's just the way, when you have that congressional pin, when you have your congressional I.D., if you show that, you know case closed. You can go through the security, you don't have to go through the lines. Case closed.

So it's going to be a tough sell. And again, it's very unfortunate that this has been elevated to a grand jury investigation.

And I -- my advice would be to Congresswoman McKinney, just let it go. You know, let's move on, because it's going to be a very tough case for her to win this.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, might be a little bit too late, as they are now considering, as you know -- gone to a grand jury, considering felony charges against her.

WATTS: CNN political contributor J.C. Watts, always nice to see you. Thanks.

S. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: Questions, questions? Do you got any questions out there? We've got answers. Bring them on. Bring them on. Come on. Give me your best shot. The high hard ones, I'll take curveballs, hit 'em out of the park for you. It is baseball season, might as well get in that boat. Pipeline is the place to get some answers. 10:30 Eastern Time, a half hour after the show ends, live from my office on the Miles cam. And in the meantime, what you should do now is send us e-mails to AM@CNN.com, and we'll filter through -- actually, I don't pick the questions. The Pipeline folks do.

S. O'BRIEN What kinds of questions do people ask you? Because you've done this now a couple of other times.

M. O'BRIEN: You know, it's all kinds of things.

S. O'BRIEN: Are you married?

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, that comes up frequently. And you know, What's your favorite thing in your office. What kind of tree would you be? That kind of stuff. Yes, anyway...

S. O'BRIEN: All right, I'll log in then.

M. O'BRIEN: Please do.

(MARKET REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN; Did you hear about there's this nasty fungus, a rare infection? It's actually on the rise for people who wear contact lenses, and some people, if you don't treat it, could be less blind. We're going to talk about the symptoms and tell you how to prevent it, too.

And then later this morning, we have a health guide for people in their 30s and 40s and 50s. More and more Americans are undergoing plastic surgery these days. The big question is when to have it -- it's key. You ask a plastic surgeon, they'll say early and often. We'll have some advice ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Extreme makeovers, all the rage these days. This morning, in our continuing health series for all of us in our 30s and 40s and 50s, Elizabeth Cohen takes a look at what people should do sooner to have to avoid a cosmetic renovation later.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I look in the mirror now, I see a different person.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you go by television -- "Extreme Makeover," "The Swan," "Dr. 90210" -- you'd think everyone was getting a makeover.

According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, it may not be everyone, but the number of cosmetic procedures has gone up over 400 percent in less than ten years. Nine out of ten were women, and nearly half of people having these procedures were between 35 and 50. The most popular procedures for women are liposuction, breast implants and eyelid surgery.

At every age, the battle to beat the clock is most often fought in the face. You can't fight your genes, the number one factor that dictates aging, but there are things you can do even at age 30 to slow down the aging process. Avoid the sun and use sunscreen, don't smoke, eat a healthy diet, drink a lot of water and use face creams with antioxidants.

But some people want more than that, and a new trend is to start getting anti-aging treatments young. Some plastic surgeons are actually suggesting Botox at 30.

Dr. Marc Yune says Botox can get you from getting wrinkles in the first place.

DR. MARC YUNE, FACIAL PLASTIC SURGEON: With Botox, we're actually relaxing the muscles of facial expression to prevent wrinkling.

COHEN: Some other procedures plastic surgeons recommend in your 30s...

YUNE: Some skin treatment, such as microdermabrasion and light chemical peels.

COHEN: And once some women start, they have a hard time stopping. In their 40s, many women start getting much more invasive treatments.

YUNE: The first sought after procedure in facial work is eyelid surgery. That's because it's the first part that ages on the face noticeably.

COHEN: And as women approach their 50s and menopause, the aging process accelerates, so some people decide it's time for more surgery.

YUNE: We call it one of the most common aging face procedures, upper and lower blepharoplasty, facelift, lips and smile lines. That's just how the face ages.

COHEN: But even plastic surgeons admit there are risks and side effects for all of these procedures, and you don't need any of them.

YUNE: Nobody needs me. If they come in to see me, it's because they want to address something.

COHEN: You could just decide to age naturally.

Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: Age naturally?

S. O'BRIEN: Age naturally? Like you've chosen to do.

M. O'BRIEN: It's quite evident.

S. O'BRIEN: Me, all done.

M. O'BRIEN: You look great. S. O'BRIEN: Coming up in just a moment, the top stories, including details -- really an awful story to tell you about. A Duke University lacrosse player allegedly sent a threatening e-mail. We'll talk about that just ahead this morning.

And the final phase of the Zacarias Moussaoui sentencing trial is getting under way in the next hour.

A top al Qaeda leader in Iraq is captured this morning. We'll you about that.

Senate Republicans float a new immigration plan.

And we're keeping an eye on severe weather in the Midwest. We'll check in with Chad for the very latest, coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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