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Scandal Rocks NASCAR; Friends and Relatives Battle Over Anna Nicole Smith's Remains
Aired February 15, 2007 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Don Lemon.
CSI: Bahamas -- police investigators show up at Anna Nicole's house. Exactly what they're looking for, we're not sure.
PHILLIPS: Also this: they felt the need for speed. Now some crew chiefs will be sitting out at Daytona. The wheels come off in a nasty NASCAR scandal.
LEMON: And the wheels are on here, but they're not going anywhere on this stretch of Pennsylvania Road. The National Guard is called out to help drivers stuck in a 50-mile backup.
Fasten your seat belts. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
PHILLIPS: The battle resumes in a Florida courthouse over Anna Nicole Smith's dead body. Lawyers for Smith's mother, Virgie Arthur, her companion, Howard K. Stern, and her one-time boyfriend Larry Birkhead all fighting it out, with a probate judge in the middle.
Already a lot of new developments -- let's get straight to our Susan Candiotti. She's live in Broward County -- Susan.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.
Yes, the hearing marches on. And here is where things stand this day. The probate judge has appointed a lawyer to represent Anna Nicole Smith's 5-month-old baby to protect her interests, the baby's name, Dannielynn, and she is currently in the Bahamas, and must stay there, according to a Bahamian court order.
Now the judge also is dealing with a team of lawyers representing Howard K. Stern. He is Nicole Smith's partner and the executor of her will. He says he is listed as the father on the birth certificate.
You also have lawyers representing Anna Nicole Smith, more attorneys representing her mother, and other lawyers representing her ex-boyfriend. The ex-boyfriend maintains that he is the father. And, along those lines, the judge has ordered a fresh DNA sample. And it has been taken from Anna Nicole Smith's remains.
But the questions that as yet remain unanswered: Who is the father? We don't know that yet. And who will get Anna Nicole Smith's body? The judge has also ordered that her remains can be embalmed. It appears as though that will happen at the Broward County Medical Examiner's Office to maintain security that is already in place there.
We don't know exactly when that is going to happen. But, since you're looking at the hearing, let's listen in now and see whether we can pick up where -- where we are.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right now, there's no prejudice to them. They came here. They fought, and they got what they wanted. They have got their DNA. Now...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And do you care where Ms. Smith's...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... go to California and do with it what you will.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... place, her final resting place?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, Your Honor, but we would like to take delivery of the DNA, in conformity with the California order. The lab gentleman is here. They can take it back with them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can't take it. The order doesn't say that.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Speak with Judge Schnider.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... Judge Schnider.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exactly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wait. Wait. Hold on, Joy (ph).
You have been provided...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But we're -- that's OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I'm -- no, but what I'm saying, see, now, there is another issue. They -- they came in here and said, number one, we may want to take samples from the body...
CANDIOTTI: I will tell you what. This just gives you a little bit of the flavor of the kind of back-and-forth we have been hearing throughout the day, each side arguing with the other, some over major points, some over minor points.
Right now, yes, the DNA sample has been taken. Now there seems to be a discussion over when it can leave the state, presumably to go back to California, where the paternity suit has been filed. So, here we go, and all of this only one week to the day after Anna Nicole Smith died at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino -- Kyra and Don, back to you. PHILLIPS: All right, Susan Candiotti, thanks so much.
This just in to CNN -- we're getting reports of a hijacking in West Africa. Here is what we know so far, according to the newswires. A Boeing 737 belonging to Air Mauritania taken by force to the neighboring territory of Western Sahara, where it reportedly refueled.
CNN has learned that the plane flew on to the Spanish-controlled Canary Islands, where it is now. We don't know how many passengers are on board or the condition of those passengers, or what, if any, demands are coming from the hijackers -- hijackers.
We will keep you posted and bring you more information as we get it.
LEMON: A spring offensive in Afghanistan? More than five years after U.S. forces drove out the Taliban, President Bush says NATO is gearing up for a new fight put. But so is the Taliban.
For more on the president's remarks and a Pentagon news conference coming up next hour, let's go straight to the Pentagon and senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, more funds and more forces, that is the prescription that President Bush says will lead to a better year in 2007 than 2006 -- 2006, one of the deadliest in Afghanistan since the U.S. toppled the Taliban regime back in 2001.
The president said that he approved the dispatch of 3,200 additional troops. That was announced by the Pentagon earlier this week. They will replace troops that were extended in Afghanistan to maintain a higher troop level in Afghanistan through the summer.
At the same time, in the speech at the American Enterprise Institute, President Bush also talked about the 11 -- more than $11 billion that is going to be sent to Afghanistan to try to increase those public aid works.
And, as for the much anticipated spring offensive, that is, the resurgence of the Taliban, particularly in the south, President Bush said it will be met with a counteroffensive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This spring there is going to be a new offensive in Afghanistan, and it's going to be a NATO offensive. And that's part of our strategy -- relentless in our pressure. We will not give in to murderers and extremists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCINTYRE: Now, you know, NATO has taken over much of the mission in Afghanistan.
And the U.S. has been criticizing some of its NATO allies for dragging their feet in providing all the needed troops and materiel.
But, again, many people believe that the key to success in Afghanistan is economic progress. And that is where a lot of the emphasis is going to go -- Don.
LEMON: All right, Jamie, if I'm not mistaken, Secretary Gates and General Pace are meeting right now, right? Can you tell us -- give us a preview on that?
MCINTYRE: Well, they will be meeting with the Pentagon press corps here in the briefing room in about an hour from now.
Secretary Gates has said he wants to have regular meetings with the press, although he has changed the format slightly from when Secretary Rumsfeld was here. He is sitting around a table, trying to make things a little more low-key.
But there are a lot of tough questions that reporters want to ask, particularly about this whole connection between the Iranian government and the providing of weapons in Iraq, which has been such an issue this week. We're looking for some clarity on that.
LEMON: All right, senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre, thank you for that.
PHILLIPS: More now on that hijacking in West Africa. We just told you moments ago a Boeing 737 was taken by force to neighboring territory of Western Sahara, where it reportedly refueled.
And now CNN has learned that the plane flew on to the Spanish- controlled Canary Islands.
Our Madrid bureau chief, Al Goodman, on the phone.
Al, have you been able to find anything else out about this?
AL GOODMAN, CNN MADRID BUREAU CHIEF: Kyra, a government source has told CNN that a plane from Western Sahara has taken -- has landed at the airport on the Grand Canary Islands. That's one of Spain's seven islands that are known as the Canary Islands.
This is at the city of Las Palmas. Now, our affiliate here in Spain -- that is Cuatro TV -- has talked to the Foreign Ministry, which tells Cuatro, our affiliate, that there were two hijackers, that they have been subdued, that there were various injuries.
Now, it's unclear how they were subdued, whether that was by police or by passengers aboard the plane. There are various injuries being reported. Spanish news agencies, a third source here, are reporting there are 87 people aboard that plane, 80 passengers and seven crew -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: OK. Are you saying that there are reports that the hijackers have injuries or some of those passengers?
GOODMAN: What we're understanding is that the injuries may be passengers, but that there were two -- this according to the Foreign Ministry talking to our affiliate, Cuatro, one of their lead reporters.
She is reporting that two hijackers were involved. They have been subdued -- we do not know exactly how -- and that they're -- separately, in part of this, there have been various injuries. That is what we -- we believe that the injuries were among the passengers. A lot has to be confirmed. The senior government source talking to CNN confirming that the plane that was on the ground was not saying it was a hijacking.
Information is -- this is a very rapidly moving story -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So, it may not have been a hijacking? Were there any demands from these two individuals?
GOODMAN: We don't have any word on the demands.
We do know that Spain's Interior Ministry is trying to find out. Now, we have seen reports. Some reports say that the police have surrounded the plane. We don't have that confirmed. There have been other reports on this Air Mauritania -- Air Mauritania -- that's the flagship carrier of Mauritania. That's a country in Western Africa, not far from the Canary Islands.
Usually, the flow of people in recent times have been illegal immigrants coming from there, trying to get into the European Union, which, the Canary Islands being part of Spain, is part of the European Union. But we have not had -- if this is a hijacking, we have not had this kind of story -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Al Goodman, our Madrid bureau chief, appreciate it.
LEMON: And back to Iraq now and the war being fought on Capitol Hill -- it's a final day of debate in the House of Representatives on a nonbinding statement opposing deployment of more than 20,000 additional combat troops.
But they're paying close attention in the other wing of the capital, where a similar Democratic-led Senate resolution awaits similar debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: We demand an up-or-down vote on the resolution that the House is debating as we speak, the resolution that says we support the troops, and we oppose the escalation of their presence in Iraq.
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: They just want to avoid a vote, up or down, on the surge, the escalation, period. They're going to get all their votes on everything else. But we're voting on this first, and we're voting on it clean. That's the bottom line.
REID: Yes. (END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, the House vote is planned for tomorrow. The Senate vote, that is a good question. A weeklong holiday recess for the entire Congress begins tomorrow.
PHILLIPS: Ethnic tension, ethnic violence, crime and killings, they have sucked the life out of a major Iraqi city, the once tolerant, once family-friendly provisional capital of Baquba.
CNN's Arwa Damon is there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The center of Baquba, a provincial capital, in the middle of the day, it's a ghost town.
We have walked these streets many times before, having to jostle through crowds -- not anymore.
Militant groups, both Shia and Sunni, have grown stronger. So have criminal groups. And the fear they have instilled has forced local people into the relative safety of their homes before noon.
(on camera): The impact that the deteriorating security situation has had is really drastic on this street. This was once a thriving marketplace, in fact, just some eight months ago.
(voice over): Now the residents here are saying that, at 11:00, it's pretty much closed, because, after 11:00, the armed groups come in conducting kidnappings. And, at minimum, it costs $10,000 to get yourself free.
Baquba is the provincial capital of Diyala, an ethnic microcosm of Iraq, Sunni, Shia and Kurd all living in close quarters. Always volatile, at times, it has shown signs of progress, only for violence and terror to tip the balance towards chaos.
On previous visits, we found a provincial government that sort of functioned, with plenty of America help. Iraqi army units and the police seemed to be getting better. But now many local officials are too frightened to show their face on camera.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Armed groups bring an innocent person, torture him, or behead him in public, or commit a massacre by killing civilians. This terrifies the citizens, breaks their will, and makes them obey the armed groups.
DAMON: On one street corner, we find a group of men who are willing to talk. Ismael Rashid (ph) says he owns 10 shops here, all closed for the last six months, he says, because of the climate of fear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Kidnappings -- they just stuff a guy in the back of a truck. DAMON: His friend Abdullah al-Ahmed (ph) says all that simmered below the surface in Baquba has now exploded.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): When a flame first burns, it's small. Then, with time, it becomes larger. If someone is blowing on it and throws wood on it, it flares.
DAMON: For U.S. forces, fighting perceptions is part of the battle.
COLONEL DAVID SUTHERLAND, U.S. ARMY: Those terrorist groups have begun to take advantage of a perception of unwarranted fear that is now becoming actual fear. And, as we try to drive a wedge between the insurgents and the terrorists, the terrorists are trying to drive a wedge between the people and the government.
DAMON: The local government hasn't met in more than three months because of the violence -- Baquba now a mirror of Baghdad in many ways. And the reflection isn't pretty: sectarian bloodshed, little faith in the government or security forces, and U.S. troops stretched thin. For the people of Baquba, there's little to be optimistic about.
Arwa Damon, CNN, Baquba, Iraq.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Coming up: Stranded in your car in a snowstorm? Running low on gas? Well, hear what happened on a busy interstate when everything came to a standstill. Look at that.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
PHILLIPS: And it's a sticky situation for peanut butter lovers -- up next from the NEWSROOM, the 411 on bad batches that could make you sick. Grab a pencil. We got the names and numbers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: And we're just getting word through the Associated Press. You heard from Al Goodman, our Madrid bureau chief, about this hijacked plane that was flown to Spain's Canary Islands.
It was raided by security forces. And we have been told now that a suspect has been arrested. That's according to the Foreign Ministry, just now coming across the wires -- no immediate word on any casualties. Al Goodman said he was getting word that possibly there were some injuries to the passengers, 80 passengers, he believes, seven crew.
Not quite sure why this Boeing 737 was hijacked, but it landed at a military airport there in the Canary Islands, was immediately surrounded by the paramilitary civil guard police. A suspect is in custody.
We will keep you updated. LEMON: Ice on the interstate, one accident after another, and this is the result: cars, vans, and trucks -- well, look at that. You can see they're going nowhere fast. And on a 50-mile stretch of Interstate 78 in Pennsylvania.
Reporter Joel Smith of CNN affiliate WFMZ shows us who is riding to the rescue.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOEL SMITH, WFMZ REPORTER (voice-over): Emergency vehicles of the camouflaged kind are the ones state police needed the most this morning.
National Guard members from Hamburg, Kutztown and others went out with state troopers to assist stranded motorists and wake up drivers trying to survive the night.
Bill Simpson says truck drivers themselves also helped get the word out over their C.B.s.
BILL SIMPSON, TRUCK DRIVER: Everybody was hollering on the radio, said, if you're awake, go knock on the truck in front of you, and go knock on a truck in back of you. And we got moving pretty quick once guys started doing that, you know, but you had to work together.
SMITH: Firefighters were also pitching in, bringing gas to empty cars and pulling others out of danger. Around midday, the snowmobiles also arrive. These two good Samaritans have been out on their own snowmobiles, delivering aid for hours.
BILL SHIRLEY, SNOWMOBILE VOLUNTEER: Snowmobile, that is the only way you can get up and down the highway in and out of traffic. I mean, every -- most of the people I talk to, or 90 percent, are from New York. And they're -- they don't have anything. They weren't prepared for this.
BRIAN BRENSINGER, SNOWMOBILE VOLUNTEER: No, I never seen it here like this before myself. But it's kind of hard. I mean, you only got like five miles in between the exits. And to see the people stranded, and nobody really coming out to help them, it feels like they are left by themselves.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Well, so many of you are stuck at home. Why not get out the camera and send us your I-Report?
PHILLIPS: This one is from Kim Tancredi of Somers, New York. The snow forced schools to close yesterday, so, here is her 9-year-old son, Luke (ph), out in the yard.
Now, take a look at Moscow, Pennsylvania. Carol Desmarteau took this picture right in the middle of the storm. She says the storm came down so fast, it caught a lot of drivers off guard. LEMON: Oh, and let's not forget the pets, or pals, during the winter. James Christie of Kokomo, Indiana, opened his window and left some pecans for his squirrel.
Look at that.
PHILLIPS: Reynolds Wolf -- Reynolds Wolf...
(LAUGHTER)
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good eating.
PHILLIPS: Can I say that three times?
Good eating there.
WOLF: Absolutely.
PHILLIPS: You're always looking for a good nut.
(CROSSTALK)
WOLF: Good eating referring to the little nut, not the squirrel, you know?
(LAUGHTER)
WOLF: Just want to make sure that is perfectly clear.
PHILLIPS: Oh, you don't cook squirrels?
WOLF: No. No.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: OK. You just shoot them?
WOLF: No. No, no, no, don't even do -- why -- why are you saying stuff like that?
(LAUGHTER)
WOLF: Why would you push me out to the ledge...
(CROSSTALK)
WOLF: What a beautiful picture.
PHILLIPS: Even when they are up in your attic running around, you still don't, you know, pull a little something up there?
(LAUGHTER)
WOLF: I'm not going there. PHILLIPS: All right.
WOLF: Not going to do that.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: Love you, Reynolds.
(LAUGHTER)
WOLF: I love animals.
PHILLIPS: All right.
WOLF: There you go.
We have got to talk after this.
Take a look at some of these temperatures we got out there. In Albany, we still have the snow on the ground. We also have nine degrees below zero. That's your windchill. Take a look at New York -- New York not quite as bad. It is 12 degrees. That's your current windchill.
But, still, between those tall buildings, when you get that breeze that comes on through, it will accelerate, and it's going to be awfully icy feeling for you. In Cleveland, it's one below. Here's a great shot that we have from Cleveland, complements of WKYC, the shot that is coming up.
No, we don't have it? We don't?
We just lost it. How is that for timing? Those darn squirrels are getting even with me.
Let's take a look at a few other things we have for you. As we look ahead, in time for this evening, it is going to be a cold night, no question about it, the snow staying in place for New York, as well as places like Toronto, and even in Detroit, where temperatures will be in the single digits, as well as the teens.
And what we're getting today, even though we're not going to get much of a warm-up in many parts of Northeast, with clear skies, all the heat that we do gain, it's going to go right up through the atmosphere, so we are going to be left with the ice below, 21 in Memphis, chilly conditions also in Atlanta, with 21 degrees, even freezing conditions in New Orleans -- the French Quarter going down to 32 degrees for tonight.
Now, for tomorrow, what we can expect is another round of snow possible for parts of, say, the Corn Belt, back into Minneapolis, the Twin Cities, Chicago, and a light touch of lake-effect snowfall for the Empire State of New York, however, very light accumulation expected, nothing heavy, certainly not like what we have seen over the last 24 to 48 hours, good news for the squirrels -- back to you.
(LAUGHTER)
WOLF: Yes.
PHILLIPS: Thank you, Reynolds.
WOLF: Any time.
LEMON: All right.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: All right. Thank you to both of you.
Well, say it isn't so, Ricky Bobby. Days before Daytona, a fuel- tampering scandal hits NASCAR -- a tank full of trouble ahead right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Well, you had a sandwich on -- a peanut butter sandwich, you better be careful. Check it out.
Peter Pan or Great Value peanut butter, check the jar. It could be contaminated with salmonella. ConAgra, the company behind those brands, say jars with product codes beginning with 2111 should be thrown out. The tainted P.B. has sickened almost 300 people in 39 states.
Now, the company is offering a full refund to anyone who bought the bad stuff. Just send the lid, along with your name and address, to ConAgra Foods, P.O. Box 57078, Irvine, California, 92619. Or you can call this number, 1-866-344-6970. Again, that number is 1-866- 344-6970. And, if you didn't get all of that, just go to our Web site, CNN.com, and you will find all that information there.
PHILLIPS: Well, there's a new Cold War churning, and this one won't affect the defense budget. Two premium ice cream brands are uniting to take on the king of cones.
Susan Lisovicz from the New York Stock Exchange talking about the details of one of our favorite subjects.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: Hey, Susan.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, my first job, I think, was making ice cream cones.
(LAUGHTER)
LISOVICZ: So, yes, I consider myself an expert on this, too.
We all know the high-end ice cream shops, those places that hand- mix the ice cream with the Snickers and the cookie dough and the gummy bears in front of you, and, then, on a warm summer night, they have a line wrapped around the block.
Well, in a move that could shake up this culinary niche, an investment firm is buying Marble Slab Creamery and MaggieMoo's, the second -- nation's second and third largest premium ice cream shops. The idea is to take on the market leader, Cold Stone Creamery. The investment firm is planning to expand both Marble Slab and MaggieMoo's, which have a combined 500 stores. Cold Stone has 1,300 stores.
The high-end ice cream business has exploded in the past five years. And it's not just high-end ice cream. Consumers crave premium versions of everyday products, like beer, coffee and vodka -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Hmm, Vodka.
LISOVICZ: Hmm.
PHILLIPS: Hey, you remember the days we used to make the ice cream, you know, in the old wooden bucket, and you would turn, and the ice, and...
LISOVICZ: That -- no.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: ... the salt.
You didn't do any of that?
LISOVICZ: No.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: Wow.
LISOVICZ: It was all -- it was all soft-serve stuff.
PHILLIPS: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
LISOVICZ: It's all in the wrist, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. All right.
Well, let's stick with ice cream for now. What is -- well, we actually were talking about this, this morning. Stephen Colbert has something to do with one of these ice creams, right?
LISOVICZ: Yes. This is a great honor, I think.
Ben and Jerry's naming a new ice cream in honor of the Comedy Central comedian, and it's called Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream, and will be available in about a month. The new flavor is vanilla ice cream. But you know it has got to have a bite. It comes with fudge, covered waffle cone pieces, and caramel. Of course, Ben and Jerry's is known for naming its flavors after pop culture folks like Jerry Garcia and the band Phish. And, by the way, Stephen Colbert says that he is going to donate the profits to charity. He says he will save the world. And that is quintessential Colbert.
Turning to Wall Street, the major averages are modestly higher, but still higher. After two days of really nice gains, it looks like we're close at another record high. And we are starting to close -- get close to 12800.
Individual stock shares of JetBlue jumping nearly 5 percent -- despite those major flight delays and cancellations we told you about yesterday, Goldman Sachs upgraded JetBlue.
Checking the numbers, the Dow industrials taking off as well, up 30 points, or a quarter-of-a-percent. The Nasdaq is up seven, also a quarter-of-a-percent.
That is the latest from Wall Street. I will be back in 30 minutes for the closing well.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Hello everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon.
It's the pits for some of NASCAR's top names just days before the Daytona 500. Their pit crew is busted for allegedly sneaking a little something extra into the fuel tank. Over the wall and over the edge, you're live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
But first, this half hour, the secret lives of online predators. They thrive in your child's cyberworld out of sight of Internet inept parents. But a new Web site claims it can help parents stay one step ahead. Our Brianna Keilar is in Washington to tell us all about it. What do you have for us, Brianna?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, I have a little pop quiz for you on online language first. I know you know what LOL means. But do you have any what PIR means?
LEMON: I think I have an idea just because I know you're doing this story. Does it mean parent in room?
KEILAR: It certainly does. While you're savvy and you figured that out and you know what story I'm doing. A lot of parents aren't so savvy. They don't know what that means. Obviously that might alarming, maybe not when your child is just waving off a classmate because they want some privacy, but what if they are talking to someone online, unbeknownst to them it is a child predator. That is somewhat alarming and that's where this Web site comes in. It was launched by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. It's called netsmartz411.org. Netsmartz with a "Z" in there.
And if you check out the library here, you can look and see what these abbreviations and acronyms mean. Now some of them are harmless. JK means just kidding but others are somewhat alarming. You have P911, my parents are coming or PAL, parents are listening.
And if you think or know your child has been solicited by an online predator there is a link here that tells you some of the information you can get from your child, from your computer that would be helpful if you want to either call or e-mail their cyber tipline here or if you want to talk with law enforcement authorities.
And also, if you are interested in things knowing what your child is doing at online discussions on Xbox live or Runescape, these are popular online video games that are interactive, those questions can be answered on this Web site as well.
LEMON: OK. And I'm sure parents will have lots of questions as well because not everything can be on that Web site, Brianna.
KEILAR: And certainly, it isn't. I had some questions that weren't answered by this Web site but there is a really cool feature. It is called ask an expert. And you just click and it brings up this template for an e-mail. Then you can send your question in and then the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has a lot of experts, they say, who have at least six months in training in answering these questions and that within one day they will get to your question.
LEMON: Good stuff. Brianna Keilar, thank you so much for that.
PHILLIPS: Well, if you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin'. And if you're a NASCAR fan you'll recognize that line which has been around since the sport began. But things may be changing. Witness the crackdown this week affecting five drivers preparing for Sunday's Daytona 500. CNN's Ray D'Alessio is in Florida for the race and I talked with him earlier about the controversy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAY D'ALESSIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: NASCAR officials sending out the message loud and clear that enough already. Cheating will no longer be tolerated. You mentioned it, five crew chiefs suspended. Most notably, David Hyder, who was the crew chief for Michael Waltrip, of course, Waltrip a two-time winner of the Daytona 500. Hyder suspended indefinitely and fined a record $100,000 after NASCAR inspectors found a illegal fuel additive in Waltrip's car before and after last Saturday's qualifying.
Now in all the penalties this week, some of the harshest ever handed down by NASCAR, fines totaling $250,000. And as you might expect all this has caused quite a buzz in the garage area. BORIS SAID, NASCAR DRIVE: NASCAR has finally drawn a line. Not even a line, a ditch in the sand where they don't want to tolerate any cheating or any pushing the rules. And just like speeding on the highway, you know? You get a hundred dollar ticket. If the fine was life imprisonment you wouldn't speed and that is what NASCAR is doing now to us racers.
KYLE PETTY, NASCAR DRIVER: I'm not throwing rocks. I live in that glass house. I've cheated 10 million times and I'll admit it straight up, dude. I've done it 10 million times. I live to pay for it and live to walk away from it so we've all been there.
TY MORRIS, GM, WALTRIP RACING: We don't know what the substance is, where it was or how it was added but we're pretty confident that someone, somewhere, somehow has independently done this and we are also in our own investigation.
D'ALESSIO: That was Ty Norris, the general manager for Michael Waltrip racing. Norris really stopping short of calling the whole fuel additive a possible sabotage. Now there have been reports it was possibly jet fuel but some of the people that we talked to here today would not confirm that. Michael Waltrip himself once again addressing the media today and apologizing for the embarrassment this whole has not only caused Michael Waltrip Racing but the manufacturer of Toyota as well. Waltrip saying he actually thought about withdrawing his name from today's qualifying race but was talked out of it by his wife Buffy and NASCAR president Mike Helton.
Kyra?
PHILLIPS: So, Ray. What do you think? Is it possible the drivers didn't know what was going on? Because usually they're pretty tuned into their crew and what is happening with their car.
D'ALESSIO: I laugh because we actually had a chance to talk to Richard Petty who was the king, of course, of NASCAR. A very famous driver, legendary driver. Richard Petty did not want to go on camera. He said I don't want to get up in the whole controversy because it didn't doesn't involve my team but I will say this. I was here for the first day of Daytona 500 and they were cheating way back when. So it's there, Kyra, it's just a matter if these guys want to push the line and get caught or not. But as they say the show must go on.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, the worst of the winter storm may be over but the mess remains and so does the danger. Take a look at this amazing dashboard video. It happened near Cincinnati at the height of the storm on Tuesday. A tractor-trailer slides on the road, slamming into a car and police cruiser. An officer was responding to another accident at the time. And unbelievably, nobody was seriously hurt.
LEMON: Well, rain is the worry in parts of Washington State. It is causing hillsides in the town of Stevenson to give way. Crews are shoring everything up as best they can before the weekend when another inch of rain could fall there. PHILLIPS: They wanted to leave the cold and snow behind them for the warm beaches of Cancun but their plane wasn't moving.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody gave us any answers. They kept telling us -- we know as much as you do. And I said I don't work here, you do, give me answers. We have no answers is all we were getting all day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Stranded on the tarmac for eight hours. Straight ahead from the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Kyra Phillips and Don Lemon.
LEMON: Well, he is a blue state Republican with a platform that spans a political spectrum, well, almost. Rudy Giuliani tells our Larry King he is definitely running for president and not just exploring and he's not running away from some social positions that are more in line with many Democrats.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARRY KING, CNN HOST: Are you pretty sure that no matter what you appoint, Roe v. Wade will remain?
RUDY GIULIANI, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Nobody knows that.
KING: Would it hurt you if they overturned it and you appointed judges that ...
GIULIANI: I don't know if it would help me or hurt me or it would be a matter of states making a decision.
KING: Would you be indifferent to it?
GIULIANI: I wouldn't be indifferent to it. It wouldn't be the litmus test on which I would appoint somebody. I would appoint somebody because I thought they would be a good judge who would do the best they could to interpret the Constitution and maybe nine times out of 10, I'll be satisfied with that opponent and one out of 10 times I'll sit there like I used to do when I appointed lots of people when I was the mayor and say, how could they do that? Why did they do that? I didn't understand why they did it.
KING: You're pro basically the gay movement -- that gays have equal rights to heteros - that they be treated the same way in society and have insurance benefits and all that?
GIULIANI: Gays should be protected. I signed the Domestic Partnership Law in New York but the way I'm portrayed by my opponents, and I guess to drive people away from me, is that I'm a favor of gay marriage, I am not. I did 220 weddings, they were all between a man and a woman. I believe marriage should be between a man and a woman. At least I hope they were between a man and a woman, it looked that way at the time.
But, yeah, I believe that marriage is something that should be between a man and a woman and that the way to handle this and the way to handle respect and everything else is to have something like domestic partnership which I support.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: A very interesting LARRY KING LIVE tonight. The fight for Anna Nicole Smith's body. Join him at 9:00 p.m. Eastern only on here on CNN.
PHILLIPS: So your bags are packed, your hotel is booked, mentally you're already on the beach in the middle of a dismal winter. Suddenly winter strikes back. Your airport is snowed in, your flight is cancelled before you even get past security. Could anything be worse? Yes. You could spend all day on the airplane on the tarmac going nowhere except back to the gate eventually. CNN's Carol Costello has the story of Flight 751 from hell.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR (voice-over): They are frustrated, they're uncomfortable, many are anxious and hungry. And they are literally trapped on JetBlue Flight 751 bound for Cancun but going nowhere.
Passengers took these photos during the eight hours they were literally trapped on the tarmac in New York's Kennedy Airport, victims of the winter weather gripping the northeast and also victims of what JetBlue admits were unacceptable decisions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean it was just sitting there and sitting there. And they would say that they were going to pull us into the gate. And they never did. They had -- you know, there was very little food. It was just a nightmare.
COSTELLO: This trip from hell started just after 8 in the morning when the plane pulled back from the gate and got in line for deicing. The airline says it was anticipating a break in the weather, but that never materialized.
Then JetBlue says there were no gates available and some of the plane's wheels actually froze to the ground. So people on Flight 751 waited and waited and waited.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was no power, and it was hot. There was no air. They kept having to open the actual plane doors so we could breathe comfortably.
COSTELLO: Hours went by with no movement and no information. One passenger said it was like being held hostage. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody gave us any answers. They kept telling us, "We know as much as you do."
And I said, "I don't work here. You work here. Give me answers."
"We have no answers." That's all we were getting all day.
COSTELLO: After more than eight hours, buses were finally brought in to take the passengers back to the terminal.
In a statement, JetBlue conceded it should have returned Flight 751 to a gate.
(on camera): The airline is apologizing to the passengers and offering them a full refund as well as a free round trip ticket.
Carol Costello, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: JetBlue's problems persist. Dozens of flights out of JFK have been cancelled because of weather leaving yesterday's backlog of passengers waiting yet again to reach their destinations. And there is one more factor that will affect the rebookings. A holiday weekend is around the corner which always increases air travel so be patient when you go to the airport.
LEMON: Well, if you've got the money, honey, they've got the time. Three minutes, to be exact.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ladies, it's time to rotate to the next highest table!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Darwinian speed dating, it's survival of the richest straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, it turns out the Queen of the Nile may not have been a beauty queen after all. This could be the proof. A 2000-year- old coin now on display at England's Newcastle University. This Cleopatra has a shallow forehead, a pointed chin, a thin lips and sharp nose. She's still attractive, come on.
A far cry from the sultry image Elizabeth Taylor gave us in the 1963 film. Then again, Mark Antony was no Richard Burton, either. Antony's coin depicts him with bulging eyes, a hook nose and a thick neck.
LEMON: That's really cool. Very cool stuff. Well, the rich and the beautiful, do they need help finding each other? Do they really have much sympathy if they do? CNN's Jeanne Moos sat in on a high stakes mixer that proves the rich and the hot are just like the rest of us except they can get into high stakes mixers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Think of it as speed dating on steroids. Only rich men and hot women need apply.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I'm not embarrassed at all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I promise you that I'm not embarrassed that it's shallow.
MOOS: Sort of makes "The Dating Game," seem quaint. Only 40 of the more than 900 women who applied for Natural Selection speed dating made the cut based totally on their photos.
JANIS SPINDEL, SERIOUS MATCHMAKING, INC.: Pretty blond, lawyer, big eyes, pretty face, great hair, pretty skin. In.
MOOS: And to get in, the men had to submit financial data to prove they are loaded.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoa, big papa! $113 million.
MOOS: The cream of the dating crop, approximately 40 men and 40 women ended up in a Manhattan club speed dating. Three minutes per partner.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ladies, it's time to rotate to the next highest table!
MOOS: The men paid 500 bucks for this night out. The women 50. Organizers dismissed hate mail they've gotten from feminists and anti- elitists.
JEREMY ABELSON, POCKETCHANGENYC.COM: We're giving people - I feel like Moses. We're giving people what they want.
MOOS: What is it they want, Moses?
ABELSON: Women want successful men. Men want beautiful women.
MOOS (on camera): I would assume you would have zero trouble meeting men.
ANA MACVALOVAITE, NATURAL SELECTION SPEED DATER: I have no trouble meeting men. I have trouble meeting quality men.
MOOS (voice-over): Ana is a human rights lawyer. But where are the human rights?
(oh camera): We're headed downstairs. We're being sequestered while the event is underway.
(voice-over): TV crews could shoot only a few minutes of the speed dating. Few of these elite speed daters wanted their faces shown. Those with blue dots were off limits to the press.
(on camera): Are you after a rich guy?
SAILA SMITH, NATURAL SELECTION SPEED DATER: No. Am I after a rich guy? A good, smart, intelligent, successful.
MOOS: With a net worth of over a million?
SMITH: Yeah. What's wrong with that?
MOOS: Midway through the event -- how is this?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Depends on the person. Five seconds, you know!
VEKRUM KAUSHI, NATURAL SELECTION SPEED DATER: Interesting is the best way to describe it.
MOOS (on camera): Any nice girls?
KAUSHI: Um. No.
MOOS: You're straight, right?
KAUSHI: Yes.
MOOS: OK!
(voice-over): To placate detractors, organizers have another speed dating event in the works.
ABELSON: Sugar mammas and boy toys.
MOOS: Women 45 and older worth $4 million speed dating speed dating poor guys 28 and under. It's too soon to tell if true love blossomed here.
(on camera): Have you two met?
ROHIT SINGH, NATURAL SELECTION SPEED DATER: No. We just met on camera. Who knows, this might be the match made in heaven.
MOOS (voice-over): They did meet for a nice follow-up date.
SMITH: Men are visual, let's face it.
MOOS (on camera): And I see you've dressed for the occasion?
SMITH: Why, thank you.
MOOS (voice-over): Deep cleavage, deep pockets, nothing shallow about that. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York. (END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: We are definitely fishing in the wrong pond!
PHILLIPS: Oh, my goodness gracious.
LEMON: Let's move on. Time now to check in with CNN's Wolf Blitzer ...
PHILLIPS: Oh, perfect. I would love to have a date with Wolf Blitzer but he is a happily married man.
BLITZER: Kyra, you're a happy married woman so it's not happening here. Thanks, guys, very much.
The Senate is divided and paralyzed over resolution proposing more troops for Iraq. I'll talk about it with a leading Democratic critic of the president's Iraq policy, a man now running for the White House himself, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman, Joe Biden.
Also, are leaders in the Iranian government directly arming Shiite militias in Iraq? We are watching the apparent disconnect between the White House and the Pentagon over that question. Two top Pentagon officials scheduled to speak this hour, defense secretary Robert Gates, joint chiefs chairman Peter Pace. We are going to bring you that briefing live.
And is U.S. frustration with the war in Iraq sapping support for the war in Afghanistan? CNN's senior political analyst Bill Schneider has some brand new poll numbers that show a growing problem for the White House. All of that, guys, coming up right here in THE SITUATION ROOM. Back to you.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Wolf.
LEMON: All right. Thanks Wolf.
PHILLIPS: Well, from the front lines to the baselines. Corporal Brandon Cooper, a marine just back from Iraq has a new assignment with the San Diego Padres. He's been offered a minor league contract but he can't actually sign it until his discharge papers come through. The right-hander who injured his left hand in combat is set to report to spring training the first of next month. We hope to talk to him, too, once he starts playing.
LEMON: Closing bell and a wrap of all the action on Wall Street just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Only 313 shopping days until Christmas. It looks like another high-flying year for the makers of the high-tech toys. Wow! That is cool! Check this one out. The annual toy fair in New York. The alien-looking robot becomes a helicopter as you can see. Robocopter might not be such a good toy if you have priceless porcelains in your house or little kids, too. That's cool, though, I like that.
PHILLIPS: Closing bell about to ring on Wall Street. I bet Susan Lisovicz would have fun playing with something like that.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Don - he has got a wish list that keep growing. It's only February.
LEMON: Anything electronic.
LISOVICZ: A typical male, what can I say.
Listen, I have something that will bring you down to earth. Yesterday we told you about 1-800-FLOWERS. About the downgrade on the busiest day of the year for florists.
Today I am going to tell you about Hershey's, the American candy maker from Hershey, Pennsylvania where the street lamps look like measure Hershey kisses. It had a post-valentine's day note to 1,500 workers today, and yes, they were on pink slips. That is about 12 percent of the work force the next three years. Their jobs will be eliminated.
What is the problem at Hershey's? Well, the company needs to reinvigorate its core brand. The Hershey Kisses and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and no, it has nothing to do with the peanut butter recall that you were talking about earlier.
So that's bad news coming from Hershey's but great news coming on Wall Street today. The Dow looks like it is going to close at another record high despite the fact we got word this afternoon that the housing market, boy, really suffering this setback in the fourth quarter. Prices dropped on average nearly three percent. That is worse than expected. More widespread, deeper than expected.
The worst place, the biggest drop Sarasota and the Venice, Florida, Bradenton, Florida area. Of course they still had the big price booms when the housing market was on fire. The realtors are saying they hope for better things this spring when buyers start to come out, we'll see.
What we do know is looking good is the stock market today. Ben Bernanke once again reassuring investors. Oil prices held steady. JetBlue was up five percent and CAT was up more than two percent.
PHILLIPS: Despite all those mad passengers.
LISOVICZ: Yes, they must not be shareholders, Kyra. We'll see you guys tomorrow. The Dow closed at a record high. The NASDAQ closed up a third of a percent. Now it's time for the SIT ROOM and Wolf.
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