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Arraignment Of Suspected Kidnapper Michael Devlin Dealt With One Alleged Kidnapping But Devlin's Accused Of Two; Nuri al-Maliki Quoted Criticizing President Bush and Condoleezza Rice; Hurricane- Force Winds Blast Germany; L.A. Subway Mercury Spill Perplexes; Art Buchwald Passes Away

Aired January 18, 2007 - 14:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in for Kyra Phillips.

A deadly element, a curious case. Los Angeles investigators and counterterrorism experts are baffled by a man who spilled mercury, then called police to report it.

LEMON: Plus, hanging ten in Malibu today, and you might end up with frostbite. The weather continues to make news from coast to coast. And the severe weather center has the very latest for you.

WHITFIELD: Plus, you'll remember Bambi had trouble with this ice skating kind of thing? Well, so no surprise, this poor deer froze like -- well, like a deer in the headlights, until a chopper pilot had a brilliant idea.

You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Well, not a state has been spared in a week winter storms. North Georgia ad the Carolinas getting a taste of winter today with a coating of snow and ice. It was enough to close some schools.

And on the West Coast, a surprise snowfall had folks in Malibu -- that's right, Malibu -- grabbing their cameras and throwing snowballs. It hasn't snowed there in almost 20 years.

Only now is Interstate 5, north of Los Angeles, reopening. Remember that mess yesterday?

And take a look at McAlester, Oklahoma, iced over for a week now. Most homes still without power, and another storm is on the way.

How soon will it get there and how bad will it get? Let's check in our Reynolds Wolf in the severe weather center. He's tracking all of it for us.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LEMON: And when weather becomes the news, we want to tell you, you, too, can become a CNN correspondent. If you see severe weather happening, send us an I-Report. Go to CNN.com and click on "I- Report," or type in iReport@CNN.com right into your cell phone. And please share your photos and your video with us.

WHITFIELD: And so the man in orange, right here, Michael Devlin, telling a judge in Missouri he's not guilty of kidnapping a 13-year- old boy. He faces 30 years to life if convicted.

Today's arraignment dealt with one abduction, one alleged victim, but Devlin's accused of two. And now he's being investigated in a third case.

Our coverage begins with Keith Oppenheim at the Franklin County Courthouse in Union, Missouri -- Keith.

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka.

Interesting this morning, because the suspect, Michael Devlin, was arraigned from jail. He stood in a room in the jail in front of a camera, connected by video link to the courthouse. And there, Judge David Tobin (ph) asked him a number of questions. And we're going to listen in a little bit on the exchange between Devlin and the judge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Devlin, how do you wish to plead to this matter? Mr. Devlin?

MICHAEL DEVLIN, ACCUSED OF KIDNAPPING: I'm not guilty.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OPPENHEIM: Now, Devlin was charged with one count of kidnapping, in the kidnapping case of 13-year-old Ben Ownby. Yesterday, in neighboring Washington County, prosecutors announced additional charges for the kidnapping of 15-year-old Shawn Hornbeck.

This is a multi-jurisdictional case. Different charges in different counties. So the Franklin County prosecutor was asked who would go first if it went to trial.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How are you going to work out your case with Washington County as far as the timing of the hearings and things of that nature?

ROBERT PARKS, FRANKLIN COUNTY, MISSOURI, PROSECUTOR: We got him. He's mine. So, we're going to -- we're going to take first crack at him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OPPENHEIM: Obviously custody means something to that prosecutor. So, maybe the first trial would take place here in Franklin County, if we get to that point and it doesn't get to a plea.

Interestingly, now we are hearing about other cases, Fredricka, where investigators are trying to see if there is a connection between Michael Devlin and open child abduction cases. The latest is in this area in St. Charles County. It goes back to 19 years ago when a 9- year-old boy by the name of Scott Klishulty (ph) was abducted back in 1988.

And basically, Fredricka, investigators are trying to see from what they know about Devlin now if anything about the way he operated could connect from the details they have of an old case like that one.

Back to you.

WHITFIELD: And, so, Keith, just to, you know, clarify, there's nothing to infer that this suspect is being investigated for other missing persons cases. This is simply a formality that they've got to carry out, not necessarily because they are learning anything specific about other cases possibly linked to Devlin?

OPPENHEIM: Yes, I think that's correct. I mean, the way that investigators are describing this to us is that he is a lead.

A better example might be the 1991 case of Arlin Henderson. A lot of similarities between the way Arlin Henderson was abducted back then, 16 years ago, and the way Shawn Hornbeck was abducted four years ago, because both of them were boys on rural country roads. Both of them 11 years old, and were abducted in that situation.

So, the similarities of the cases are making investigators question, could Devlin have been involved? But beyond the question, we don't know of any specific evidence that links him to these cases.

WHITFIELD: Very good.

Keith Oppenheim, thanks so much, from Union, Missouri.

Well, the boys are home, they are safe, their alleged captor is locked up on felony charges -- you just saw -- with his arraignment. But plenty of questions still linger, even in one victim's family.

Shawn Hornbeck's mother and stepfather told Oprah Winfrey that they are still struggling to grasp the scope of the abuse their son may have endured.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OPRAH WINFREY, TALK SHOW HOST: Do you think he was sexually abused?

PAM AKERS, SHAWN HORNBECK'S MOTHER: Yes.

WINFREY: Do you think he was -- do you think he was tortured?

P. AKERS: That I don't know yet. CRAIG AKERS, SHAWN HORNBECK'S STEPFATHER: Well, you know, there's more than one kind of torture. There's mental torture, there's physical torture. I have no doubt that, you know, mentally that he's not the same boy that he was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Well, Shawn was out of the room when Winfrey and his parents discussed the possible abuse. By the way, there is no mention of sexual assault in the charges being leveled against Michael Devlin.

LEMON: No slack for President Bush from Iraqi prime minister Nuri al-Maliki. In a series of interviews, the Iraqi leader says Washington failed to provide enough equipment for Iraqi security forces. He says the failure has cost American lives. As quoted by "The Washington Post," al-Maliki says if the U.S. provides more and better weapons for his forces, then in three to six months, Iraq's needs for American troops would drop dramatically.

Also today, the Iraqi leader is quoted as slamming Mr. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for criticizing the manner of Saddam Hussein's execution. Al-Maliki says the criticism boosts the morale of the terrorists.

Well, how's al-Maliki's criticism going over at the White House? CNN's Ed Henry is there.

Hi, Ed.

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Don.

You know, it's one of those surreal days at the White House. You have spokesman Tony Snow insisting all's fine between Prime Minister Maliki and President Bush, there's really no disagreement, no fight here, that reporters are really trying to create a war of words. Even though, as you just noted, these words, these comments, the war really coming out of the rhetoric of Prime Minister Maliki himself.

It's right there in black and white, saying that the situation in Iraq would be much better on the ground if only the U.S. had done a better job, in the eyes of Maliki, of actually getting the Iraqi security forces more weapons quicker.

Also, al Maliki expressing frustration, as you noted, with comments from everyone from the President on down. Specifically about how the Iraqi government handled the hanging of Saddam Hussein.

At one point al Maliki saying, "I believe such statements give a morale boost to the terrorists." Something obviously that the White House would not like out there, but Tony Snow insisted again, no, actually, this is not a big fight. And he pointed to some other positive things that Maliki did say in this roundtable discussion with journalists, such as the fact that he's now starting to allegedly crack down on militias.

Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We'll see what happens on the ground, but the whole point is we agree that it's important to arm up and train the Iraqis. This demonstrates also for those who say, well, we're not so sure that they want to step up, this seems to be the statement of somebody who does want to assert control and wants control over security. And I've been making this point a number of times. When we've seen the prime minister, he's not acting as if he wants to sit back and have Americans do all the work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: So, what's really going on here? When you get top officials around here off camera, what they say is that basically this is mostly about Maliki's domestic political concerns, that he can't be seen basically as the president's boy. He needs to establish himself as his own man, he needs to show that he's in charge on the ground in Iraq.

So part of this is Maliki venting, trying to separate himself, at least publicly in his rhetoric, but they insist here that Maliki is the man for the job, that he's committed to getting this done right, to implementing the new strategy the president unveiled next (sic) week.

But I can tell you also privately, White House officials admit quite candidly that they are never quite sure about the real Maliki, and they are investing a lot of hope that he's going to get the job done, but they honestly don't know, especially with all these various comments, whether he can actually get it done -- Don.

LEMON: Yes, various comments, and also various resolutions. A bipartisan one in Congress.

HENRY: That's right.

LEMON: All this talk of these resolutions. White House have any response to that?

HENRY: Yes. Tony Snow is mostly dismissing this resolution, that, as you know, bipartisan, that would basically -- it wouldn't stop any funding for new troops in Iraq, but it would get the Congress on record as being against the president's latest plan, 21,000 more troops, increasing the number of troops to Iraq.

Basically, Tony Snow saying, look, they don't think that's -- that's going to do anything, so they are not on board for it, obviously. And they feel that regardless of any criticism they are getting, any other plans that Senator Clinton and others are implementing to try to freeze and cap the number of troops over in Iraq, the bottom line is the White House says the president is moving ahead with adding 21,000 more troops -- Don.

LEMON: Ed Henry, thank you so much.

HENRY: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Now, this is a shocker. A major announcement from "Consumer Reports." They are now with withdrawing those very controversial findings on infant car seats in crash tests. Will more of those safety seats, the infant car seats at issue, now make the grade?

New details straight ahead.

LEMON: And you don't like the weather here? Well, it really blows in Europe. We mean that literally. From beyond breezy in Britain -- look at that, you've got to hold on to a lamp pole -- to an actual hurricane headed for Germany.

The overseas storm report is straight ahead, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: So, remember those shocking findings that were reported by the Consumer Reports about the infant car seats and how so many of them had failed certain crash tests? Well, now apparently Consumer Reports is saying they need to go back and do some more homework. Perhaps, the simulated speeds in which these infant car seats were tested may not have been accurate.

So what does all this mean for those manufacturers of those infant car seats, perhaps even the government agency policing all of this, and for Consumer Reports themselves?

Let's talk to our Ali Velshi, who has been watching all of this.

Pretty alarming, because you don't hear Consumer Reports saying, oops, we may have made a mistake.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Consumer Reports is a very well respected organization, both because of its testing and the fact that it uses feedback from people who actually use the products that they test. So this is very rare. You're right, Fred.

Now, what this means, of all those questions you outlined, the one that I know the answer to is that this is going to mean a lot to parents who were confused by this report that was put out on January 4th by Consumer Reports to say that of the 12 car seats they tested, 10 of them failed miserably, two of them were OK.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

VELSHI: Now, what has happened Consumer Reports initially said that cars are tested for safety at -- at -- at 30 miles per hour -- 35 miles per hour. Car seats aren't tested by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Consumer Reports tested them at 38.5 miles per hour, 35 miles per hour for a frontal impact test, 38 miles per hour for a side impact test. Well, when this failure -- when this report of this failure occurred, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration tested -- you know, employed a side-impact test, and they found that the speeds that Consumer Reports actually used seemed to be more in line with a 70-mile-per-hour crash, and when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration tested them at the speeds that Consumer Reports said that it was trying to employ, they found that these car seats didn't fail.

None of them flew out of their -- you know, their lodgings. They were all fine.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

VELSHI: So, Consumer Reports has withdrawn its report. It hasn't retracted it. It is saying that it will retest all of these seats...

WHITFIELD: Great.

VELSHI: ... and come out with a new report on whether or not they actually pass or fail.

WHITFIELD: So, Ali, we're talking about a lot of money, a lot of frayed nerves, not just...

VELSHI: Yes, a lot of frayed nerves, you're right.

WHITFIELD: Yes. I mean, a lot of parents probably were starting to look at all their infant car seats and saying, wait a minute, is mine one of the ones that failed? So it also means that probably folks either threw out or invested in new ones.

VELSHI: Correct.

WHITFIELD: I'm seeing a huge ripple effect here, even by Consumer Reports saying we're not withdrawing -- or we're just retesting.

VELSHI: Right. Well, there's a couple of interesting things here.

One is, inside of less than a month -- and I'm sure the companies who make these car seats are mighty angry about it -- but inside of less than a month they have been able to turn this thing around. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, according to Consumer Reports, is considering now actually testing seats themselves.

This is something the NHTSA doesn't do. So this may -- there may be good that results out of all this...

WHITFIELD: Yes.

VELSHI: ... in that we now have a standardized way -- we may have a standardized way to test car seats, and then everybody will know exactly what they are.

It does seem like Consumer Reports, at least in the face of this criticism, has acted responsibly by saying, all right, you know what? You should use a car seat as opposed to not using a car seat, but we're going to retest this...

WHITFIELD: Yes.

VELSHI: ... and they're going to hopefully come out very soon. We are on our way over there, by the way, to speak to them to see what the plan is.

WHITFIELD: Oh, great. And we have not yet heard from some of the companies like Graco or Baby Trend, who were part of the test, but we have heard from the NHTSA, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration...

VELSHI: Yes.

WHITFIELD: ... who's saying, "Consumer Reports was right to withdraw its infant car seat test report, and I appreciate this from the administrator. I appreciate that they have taken this corrective action. We are always eager to work with Consumer Reports and other organizations to improve child safety and ensure that consumers continue to have access to accurate and credible data."

But we know this is just the beginning, right, Ali?

VELSHI: And the thing is, Fred, there's not two sides to this issue, right? Everybody who is involved in this is trying to keep children in car seats safe.

WHITFIELD: Right.

VELSHI: But this -- I think you hit it on the head. It's frayed nerves for a lot of parents. Both the NHTSA and Consumer Reports are continuing to say one thing that we all should know, any seat is better than no seat, have your kids in a car seat.

WHITFIELD: Right, we should all remember that part.

All right. Ali Velshi, thanks so much.

VELSHI: OK, Fred.

LEMON: Oh, boy. It's hard to keep a stiff upper lip in London when you can't even stand up straight. Winds gusting to 80 miles an hour -- blowing against the wind.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh.

LEMON: That's pretty good. They are blowing everyone and everything all over the place. That's worse than Chicago winds.

Train schedules are up in the air because of debris on the tracks. Even London's underground is seeing major delays.

And if you rode your bike to work, forget about it. Look at that. Unbelievable. Hurricane-force winds and pounding rain to match. Storms like that are fairly rare in Europe. But it's making up for lost time. Already at least 10 people are dead.

Winds in Germany have been clocked at 118 miles an hour and the worst may still be yet to come.

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen joins us now by phone from Berlin.

Frederik, what is the situation there now?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you're absolutely right, the worst may very well still be to come.

The rain here has let up a little bit, but really, the wind is showing no sign of letting up. And what we're hearing from authorities is that this may still go on for another couple of hours.

Really, what you are seeing is that almost all of western Europe is really engulfed by this storm system. Now, several people have already died, and there was one very, very tragic death, really, where an 18-month-old baby, a baby girl, was killed by a door that was flying around. That door having been blown out of the anchoring.

So really, authorities are urging people to stay inside, and not move around, because that can be very, very dangerous right now.

LEMON: Yes. You know, it just sounds terrible. And I guess you would wonder hearing things like that, how well prepared are the folks in Germany for these sort of natural events?

PLEITGEN: Well, these sort of storms do tend to happen in Germany every once in a while. Of course, this kind of magnitude Germany really hasn't seen in many, many years. But people are fairly well prepared.

There were actually 40,000 rescue workers on standby before the storm even hit, but now what we are hearing is that they're really having a lot of trouble coping with this. There's a lot of damage, a lot of uprooted trees, trees that have fallen on cars, damaged the roofs. And really, in the northern part of Germany, on the coast, on the North Sea, you're probably going to see some flooding during the night.

LEMON: Now, Frederik, is that wind we're hearing there in your -- in your -- on your phone?

PLEITGEN: O, yes, that's very much wind.

LEMON: So you're out...

PLEITGEN: The wind gusts are still amazing. I mean, it's really very, very heavy winds that are hitting us right now. And what we're hearing is that these are going to continue to get stronger before they let up. So what we're hearing now is that about another maybe five, six, seven, eight hours, this is still going to go on and these winds are going to continue to blow here.

LEMON: Oh my gosh. OK. Frederik Pleitgen joining us by telephone in Berlin.

Keep us up to date on the situation. Thanks for joining us, too.

WHITFIELD: And I'm going to guess people do not have hurricane shutters in most places there.

LEMON: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Severe weather affects all of us.

LEMON: Oh!

WHITFIELD: Oh, even the deer, Bambi! It has fallen and it can't get up. It is stranded on a frozen lake in Oklahoma. And you're not going to believe this.

LEMON: Oh.

WHITFIELD: It does get a helping hand, but from a very surprising source. You're going to love this story. It is my favorite of the day.

LEMON: Animal stories, you always go, "Oh."

WHITFIELD: More of it straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: So this is sobering. The chairman of the Federal Reserve says the nation could be facing a fiscal crisis. Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange with more on that.

(MARKET REPORT)

WHITFIELD: Well, he was on a bombing mission in Baghdad, but it was not by choice. And police say this man's actions may have actually saved lives. The story straight ahead, in the NEWSROOM

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Hello, everyone, I'm Don Lemon live at the CNN World headquarters in Atlanta.

WHITFIELD: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield in for Kyra Phillips.

Ken Robinson is a CIA and special ops veteran -- you know the face. He often lends his espionage expertise to Hollywood. But even he is perplexed by the L.A. subway mercury spill.

He joins us to talk about theories and why he thinks officials are right to be concerned. You're in the NEWSROOM.

So anti-terror agents in Los Angeles are looking for a man they say spilled mercury on a subway platform. It could have been an accident, but it's also raising concerns about possible terrorism. With me now to talk more about it, terrorism analyst Ken Robinson.

So, Ken, what strikes you as strange about this? Beyond the fact that it happened, but do you think it was intentional, or do you think it was an accident?

KEN ROBINSON, TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, I've looked at the tapes and I've looked at them from both angles and I've looked at them about 50 times. And it sure looks intentional. It sure looks intentional on the individual's part.

He moves with direct purpose to a specific location on the track. And when he gets to that location, he actually stops, kneels down, reaches in, pulls something out, removes it, and appears to be pouring it. It doesn't look like a spill. It looks like he's pouring it.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

ROBINSON: The question is is, was this done to gauge the response, the emergency response of officials in Los Angeles.

WHITFIELD: Does it also look like a couple other people are observing what he's doing?

ROBINSON: It looks very much like there are people that he is in communication with.

WHITFIELD: Oh.

ROBINSON: When you look at the -- when you look at the photo from both sides, it's apparent that there is someone in the far right- hand side of that picture frame who he spoke with before he approached the center of the platform. And it appears that that person is the last person to get on the train when they both exit after the train comes in.

WHITFIELD: OK. So, why, why, why? That's the burning question, of course. I know you haven't had dialogue with this person, but what do you surmise a good explanation would be? What would the person be up to?

ROBINSON: Well, let's talk about the -- the agent itself.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

ROBINSON: It's a heavy metal. It's mercury. If that mercury is mixed with certain cleaning agents, very quickly, it can become volatile. It can aerosolize. It can turn into a gas. And when it turns into that gas, it can spread and cause very hazardous actions on life and of people that are around it. People can die.

WHITFIELD: Because alone, mercury alone doesn't necessarily raise a whole lot of eyebrows or concern. We know that, say, thermometers with mercury, we're no longer seeing that in use anymore because of other health concerns, but I don't know if people necessarily think automatically that mercury, lethal, by itself. Let's be alarmed.

ROBINSON: Well, the reason that I -- I think of that immediately is because in Chechnya and in Russia, Chechen rebels were found with large dose -- large vials of mercury -- one Chechen was found with a champagne bottle full of mercury. The intent of which was to use it in a Russian subway.

Right now, this week, the Russian Federation Service has put its subways on alert and its citizens for a possible attack in its subways. There were members of Ramzi Yousef's group, which also were found with vials of mercury, so it's not a matter of whether it is or isn't.

It's a matter of if anybody brings a heavy metal into a subway, you need to find them, interview them, and find out what's going on. It needs to be treated very seriously, until you can rule it all out.

WHITFIELD: All right, well, let's talk about access. In this country, how easy can you get it? Is it legal to distribute it, sell it?

ROBINSON: Sure. It has dual uses.

WHITFIELD: You can?

ROBINSON: Just as you stated. It's used in batteries. It's used in thermometers. It's used in colleges and universities. It's not hard to obtain.

And that's the problem with many dual-use chemicals is they can be weaponized with little effort and with little research on the internet. Any viewer today can go on the internet and if they know which key strokes they can find some pretty bad recipes.

WHITFIELD; All right, so what do you think can be learned from this tape, this observation? We know that authorities are looking for this individual, but how do they extract information, or -- from this tape, et cetera, to take it one step further, to make sure that everybody's safety is protected?

ROBINSON: Well, one of the things that I discovered, that needs to be confirmed, officially, it was confirmed to me unofficially, is that the subway system doesn't save its tape. The only reason this tape was even recovered is because someone, and we're not sure exactly who that someone is, pushed the call button.

It could have been the individual who you see earlier in the tape, who slips on the mercury, or it could have been the individual who poured it. We're not certain.

WHITFIELD: Yes. ROBINSON: What is certain, is, is that they don't save their tape, which means retrospectively, when I first looked at this tape, I asked, OK, let's go look at all the tapes of all the other subway stations and let's see where these guys exited. Let's see when they came in.

And what I got from everyone was a big (INAUDIBLE) salute, saying, oh, we don't save that tape, so it's not even around to even be looked at. Now, that's kind of shocking, because that doesn't allow you to do any forensics information -- investigation.

WHITFIELD: Hopefully lessons learned from this as the investigation still continues. Ken Robinson, thanks so much, always good to see you.

ROBINSON: You're welcome, thanks Fred.

WHITFIELD: Don.

LEMON: Some sad news to pass on today, he has been caused the patron saint of political satire. Pulitzer Prize winning author and columnist Art Buchwald liked to say if you attack the establishment long enough and hard enough, they make you a member of it. Buchwald died last night at 81 after a long battle with failing kidneys. A much longer battle than anyone expected.

Our Kyra Phillips has known Buchwald for years. She reports that even as he prepared to die, he had the time of his life.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome back.

ART BUCHWALD, HUMORIST: Thank you. Are there any messages?

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: It was one of the last times I saw him, back in October.

So, Art, I've known you for 20 years. Where do we start?

BUCHWALD: Where do you start? We start in a heck of a place. It's a hospice.

PHILLIPS: He was in a hospice and laughing about it.

BUCHWALD: I remember the first months. All my buddies showed up. All of them. It was like Radio City Music Hall. They used to say at the beginning, have you seen the Lincoln Memorial and Art Buchwald? Bowled over.

PHILLIPS: It's true. When Art decided he'd had it with dialysis, his doctors told him he had less than three weeks to live. So he checked into hospice. Everyone came to say goodbye: Mike Wallace, Ethel Kennedy, Tom Brokaw, Ben Bradley, Walter Cronkite, the queen of Swaziland and, yes, me. No, I'm not one of Art's famous friends. I mean, look at his life. Betty Bacall and Humphrey Bogart persuaded Art's wife Ann to marry him, Lucille Ball brought her kids over to visit. Hanging out with Paul Newman, Duke Ellington and Eddie Fisher was just another day in the life of Artie.

But I was one very lucky college student, given a pretty challenging assignment -- interview Art Buchwald and live to tell about it. The year? 1989. My headline? "Columnist Buchwald: The Laughs Started Here."

BUCHWALD: Very nice article, I hope you got an A on it.

PHILLIPS: I may not have received an A on that article, but I did earn something far more valuable: a friendship, a pen pal, a mentor, and a man that continues to teach me life lessons.

BUCHWALD: I want USC to win a game once in awhile. Thank you.

PHILLIPS (on camera): Give me a fight on, Artie.

BUCHWALD: Fight on for USC.

PHILLIPS (voice-over): And there he was, in a hospice, a place where people go to die.

BUCHWALD: I find it funny about all the things that have happened to me since I've been there. It's an unbelievable experience, because after two-and-a-half months, I've had a chance to say goodbye to everybody in my life. Everybody, and everyone from orphan asylum days to the Marine Corps, to USC, to Paris, to today. And I've gotten between 3,000 or 4,000 letters now from people.

PHILLIPS: At 81, Art told me he was having the time of his life, which always included giving everyone he loved a hard time, even his nurses.

(on camera): What do you love the most about him?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His sense of humor. His sense of humor.

PHILLIPS: Art, what do you love most about your favorite nurse?

BUCHWALD: She beats me up.

PHILLIPS: You beat him up?

BUCHWALD: Yes. She doesn't give me breakfast, and she beats me up.

PHILLIPS: Is that true?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you call giving him a good bath beating him up, yes. Doesn't he look good?

PHILLIPS (voice-over) Growing up an orphan, Art used humor to cope. He never imagined it would define his career. He joined the Marines to become a man. He went to USC to become a writer. Then Art bought his one-way ticket to Paris to become famous. It worked.

In the next half century, there would be more than 8,000 newspaper columns, more than 30 books, and a Pulitzer Prize. Art checked out of hospice in June, kept writing his columns, and wrote one more book, "Art Buchwald: Too Soon To Say Goodbye." It's still too soon for me, but, now, it's time. Goodbye, Artie.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Cancer touches just about everybody. Big city or small town, no one is immune, but some people, some families, some regions, are hit harder than others.

CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta looks at a region with one of the highest cancer rates in the nation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Grace Miller and Jane Stoutenborough (ph) are foot soldiers in the war against cancer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you had a pap smear lately?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I've never had that.

GUPTA: Every week, Jane and Grace drive the dusty and desolate back roads of Baker County in southwest Georgia. Cotton, peanuts and poverty have long defined this region, which has one of the highest cancer rates in the United States.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you have health insurance?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

GUPTA: Jane and Grace's message is simple: A cancer screening could save your life. Fear, financial limitations and a growing obesity problem contribute to the cancer crisis in southwest Georgia.

Colon cancer is of particular concern. It was almost too late for Sallie Hammond (ph). She lives just up the road in Terrell County, which has the highest mortality rate for colon cancer in the country. Since she was over 60, Sallie's doctor insisted she get screened for colon cancer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was against having this colonoscopy.

GUPTA: But doctors found cancer, dangerously close to spreading.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I really thought I was going to die. GUPTA: After taking chemotherapy and radiation, Sallie is now cancer tree. The American Cancer Society says nine in 10 colon cancer patients survive, if the cancer caught early. But early diagnosis happens less than 40 percent of the time. The survival rate for most cancers increases dramatically if they are detected early.

DR. JIM HOTZ, RURAL HEALTH CARE EXPERT: If you look at the greatest populations at risk and who gets screened the least, it's poor people.

GUPTA: Dr. Jim Hotz has practiced medicine for nearly 30 years. He's considered one of the leading experts on rural healthcare in the country.

HOTZ: People shouldn't die from cancer if there's a way of screening for it and picking it up early.

GUPTA: Picking it up early, to increase the odds of surviving into old age.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Cancer prevention is a big part of Dr. Sanjay Gupta's series, "SAVING YOUR LIFE." Watch it right here this weekend, Saturday at 2:00 p.m. Eastern and Sunday at 3:00 Eastern. CNN has also developed a Web site to help you fight cancer.

Go to CNN.com/savingyourlife and click on Web extras to find a link to a cancer screening map, resources in all 50 states. If you don't have access to the Internet, visit your community center or library. Log on and get information that could save your life.

WHITFIELD: Straight ahead, entertainment news with A.J. Hammer of "Showbiz Tonight." A.J., what do you got?

A.J. HAMMER, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: Well, Fred, another child star is heading to rehab. We're going to tell you who it is.

And we're going to tell you why some people are actually criticizing "American Idol." Stay tuned to THE NEWSROOM.

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WHITFIELD: Actress Lindsay Lohan, so-called party girl, the newest big name in rehab these days. For the scoop on that and more, let's go live to entertainment correspondent A.J. Hammer in New York -- A.J.?

HAMMER: Hey, Fred.

Well, yes, it seems like some kind of warped requirement for a lot of child stars these days. I don't know. Lindsay Lohan the latest to check herself into rehab. The 20-year-old actress released a statement saying that this was a proactive move so she could take care of her personal health.

Now, being underage never really seemed to stop Lindsey from going to nightclubs and partying with the likes of Paris Hilton, but last year it seemed that she was trying to curb her party girl reputation. Back in December, she talked about her alcohol use in "People" magazine revealing that she had been going to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings for a year in order to find balance. But it looks like that just wasn't enough to help her out.

As for what it means for her career, Fred, well, that all depends on how she bounces back. Some actresses who go through this -- Drew Barrymore comes to minds, seems to do OK. So, of course, we wish Lindsey the best.

WHITFIELD: Yes. She'll be fine. Plus, she's young.

All right. What about that "American Idol?" Everyone glued to their television sets like never before.

HAMMER: What a night they had for their opening night. Unbelievable, in fact. They kicked off their sixth season with more than 37 million viewers tuning in. Unbelievable ratings. And it's up five percent from last year, so this is the best ever.

Not everybody, however, loved the first episodes. In fact, a lot of critics, if you read in the newspapers or checking out what people are writing on the web, were less than thrilled with the tone of the opening night.

The very first episodes always feature some singers who are basically terrible.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Who are not singers. Put it that way.

HAMMER: Exactly. And they seemed to have a lot more of those this year. But, of course, the reaction by the judges to these hopefuls is exactly one of the things that brings audiences to the show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON COWELL, AMERICAN IDOL: You look a little odd. Your dancing is terrible, and the singing was horrendous, and you look like one of the creatures that live in the jungle with those massive eyes. What are they called? Bush baby.

RANDY JACKSON, AMERICAN IDOL: Simon, you're crazy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: Nice. It's exactly these kinds of critiques that made Simon Cowell so famous to begin with. But you know some folks are feeling that maybe this year they've crossed the line.

However, don't expect any of those nay-sayers, the people writing bad things, to have any impact on the ratings for this particular show. It's probably just going to have more people tuning in, but that's Simon being Simon.

LEMON: That's terrible. You can't change your physical appearance.

WHITFIELD: What do you mean more people will be tuning in but, oh, rude.

HAMMER: Bush baby.

WHITFIELD: Ha-ha. All right. Well, let's talk about the Sundance Film Festival, uplifting, maybe?

HAMMER: Yes. I think it's time to move on to something positive here. Park City, Utah, is going to be packed as always for the 11-day festival. It gets under way tonight with a screening on the documentary about the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention.

Now last near, "Little Miss Sunshine" is the big movie that came out of the mountains, did well at the box office and with the critics, who knows if any of the 120 movies appearing at this year's festival will do as well. But Robert Redford's little festival, which is not so little anymore, is really known for producing some true indie gems.

And we will be getting updates from the festival from our very own Brooke Anderson throughout the day here on CNN and on Showbiz Tonight, of course, giving you like an inside line on exactly which films you can expect to be coming to a theater near you.

That's coming up tonight on Showbiz Tonight. Here's what's going on. We've got the inside story on exactly what Lindsay Lohan will be going through in rehab. We're going to take a hard look at her chances for success and whether her career is really in serious trouble. We'll give it to you all on TV's most provocative entertainment news show which, of course, is Showbiz Tonight. We'll see you at 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on Headline Prime.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks a lot. I'm hanging on Sundance, because who doesn't love being in Park City?

HAMMER: Yes. It's a great venue for this festival. They just have a little bit of weather to compete with.

WHITFIELD: Ah, weather, schmeather.

All right. Thanks a lot, A.J.

HAMMER: You got it, Fred.

LEMON: Well, Bambi was a star in Hollywood. The star now, stuck on a frozen lake, unable to stand, out of reach of would-be rescuers. What's a deer to do? Even bystanders were wondering what they could do without falling through the ice. A chopper pilot Mason Dunn of KWTV in Oklahoma City, he had a brainstorm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MASON DUNN, KWTV: So I thought, well, you know, if I can get close enough, maybe I can just blow the deer over to the shore.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got it, Mason.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that he did.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got it, bubba.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Bubba. Oh, oh!

LEMON: That was a smart idea. As you can see, after only a minute or so, the deer was back on his feet. Very smart chopper pilot.

WHITFIELD: I know.

LEMON: And scampering right back into the woods.

WHITFIELD: But you know, it's smart deer, too, for remaining calm while being pushed along.

LEMON: Absolutely.

All right. The weather causing a lot of problems, and Reynolds Wolf has another look at the forecast from Oklahoma and beyond. Coming up in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM. Don't go anywhere.

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