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Boy Scout Missing in North Carolina Mountains; Student in Affair with Teacher Dies; Weather Delays Travel; Free Alaska Real Estate
Aired March 18, 2007 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello I'm Fredricka Whitfield and you're in the CNN NEWSROOM. We have a lot happening this hour and we begin with wintry weather. Cold is a concern in North Carolina where rescuers search for a 12-year-old boy scout missing in the mountains. The storm may be over in the northeast but many air travelers are still stuck and look out, icy roads and fast cars swerving into trouble.
We begin with that frantic search in the North Carolina wilderness for a missing boy scout. Michael Auberry disappeared yesterday in the mountains near the Virginia border. Searchers are scouring areas near the Blue Ridge Parkway where his troop was camping. Aubrey was last seen after having lunch with other scouts. The 12-year-old is described as being white with reddish-brown curly hair. He is 5'4" inches tall and weighs 110 pounds. He was wearing blue jeans, a red jacket with reflective tape and a dark-blue hat. Dave Bauer is a park ranger with the Blue Ridge Parkway National Park Service. He's helping with the search and joins us by phone from Wilkes County. Are you able to come up with any clues as of yet?
DAVE BAUER, BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY NATL. PARK SERVICE: As of yet the only clues that we have, except for the point last scene was we found a mess kit that was identified to belong to Michael and that was found about one half to three quarters of a mile away from the camp. So at least that gives us the direction of travel.
WHITFIELD: Ok, what's your understanding as to how he got separated from the group? There were some reports that he had lunch with other scouts and then there was another report that said they were actually hiking when somehow he disappeared.
BAUER: No, part of the group went hiking in the morning. They came back, Michael did not go hiking with them, he stayed in camp with an adult leader. When everybody returned, everybody, including Michael, had lunch at the camp and it was shortly after that, that they noticed that Michael had wandered away from the camp.
WHITFIELD: And now what about the other adult who was supervising Michael when everyone had gone away?
BAUER: He was still there and when everybody came together for lunch, the whole group just ate lunch and the adult leader was not keeping a specific eye on Michael. Just part of the group and he just wandered away. WHITFIELD: Now what about roll call checks, or any elapse of time before the adults try to check to make sure all of the kids are there? What's the process?
BAUER: Well, once they're in camp, they don't normally have a roll call or anything like that. Just everybody was having lunch and you know, as soon as they noticed that Michael had wandered away, they began searching for him immediately and they called the park service, you know, within a half an hour or so. And the park service started an initial hasty search, and called in the local rescue squads about 4:00.
WHITFIELD: And so what have the scout leaders told you about what kind of instructions the young scouts have been given, if ever they are separated from the group. What are they expected to do?
BAUER: Michael was trained to kind of find an area that was away from the weather and to cover himself up with leaves to add insulation, to protect himself from the cold environments.
WHITFIELD: How about caves or cabins in the area?
BAUER: There is -- well there are a couple of old cabins in the area that have been checked. There are no caves in the area that I'm aware of.
WHITFIELD: And how concerned are you about the weather?
BAUER: The weather certainly doesn't play in our factor because it is cold. But I have seen searches that will last a week in cold, rainy weather, and had successful outcomes.
WHITFIELD: Dave Bauer with the Blue Ridge Parkway National Park Service, thanks for your time. We wish you all of the best in the ongoing search for Michael Auberry.
And this just in now to the NEWSROOM, new video of a pretty touching reunion. A Pennsylvania mom reunited with her 1-year-old daughter. Police say a man jumped in and stole the woman's car this morning with the baby strapped in the backseat. A police chase across state lines into Delaware and the suspect soon crashed. The injured man was taken into custody. The little girl, thankfully, was unharmed. And you see there, reunited with her family.
Well, it has been one nightmare of a weekend for thousands of travelers stuck at airports all along the east coast. Thousands of flights were cancelled after a severe winter storm hit the northeast on Friday and it's been a domino effect ever since. Airlines are struggling to get back to a normal schedule today and there's a lot at stake tomorrow when business travelers head to the airports. Delays and cancellations at New York's JFK Airport have been especially bad. Some passengers were stuck on grounded airplanes for several hours, the situation reminiscent of the JetBlue debacle last month. A shortage of deicing fluid at the airport apparently contributed to that problem. In Philadelphia, lines at the ticket counter are pretty long, after US Airways cancelled 500 flights Saturday because of the weather, backups and as well as computer problems.
Well, not everything was grounded. At least some luggage did make it to their final destinations. This is Washington, D.C.'s Reagan National Airport. A lot of luggage but not necessarily a lot of owners to that luggage.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WHITFIELD: Well, if you think flying was a pain this weekend, it can't hurt as much as this. Ouch, right there. No fewer than six motorists lost control after hitting this patch of ice last night in Charleston, West Virginia. And as you can see, every one of them commits the cardinal sin of breaking and locking up the wheels. That pretty much guarantees a pretty bad outcome. Drivers who went easy on the brakes fared much better.
JACQUI JERAS: He lost the bumper on that one. And notice it's an overpass too, by the way Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Which is frightening.
JERAS: A lot of times in ice events it's the bridges and overpasses that get slick, but you're fine on the main roadways so it can really catch you off guard like that.
WHITFIELD: And that is kind of the knee-jerk reaction, you want to slam on your brakes but you know folks, when you have ice you just got to let it coast and then they say of course you got to turn the wheels away from where you're --
JERAS: In the opposite direction.
WHITFIELD: Yeah from where you're going but that's always kind of hard too. All right, well a little hazardous driving 101 instruction for you out there.
JERAS: Warming up a little in West Virginia, in the northeast over the next couple of days.
WHITFIELD: Well that is good, glad to hear that. All right, thanks a lot, Jacqui.
And now to a pretty bizarre incident at the Los Angeles Airport. A man and a woman were arrested after allegedly posing as police officers and trying to bring a gun through the screening area. Officials say the pair told airport security that they were transporting a prisoner to Hawaii. You're looking at live pictures right now of LAX, but officers say their story just didn't seem to check out so both suspects were arrested for impersonating a police officer. The woman was also charged with carrying a concealed firearm. The FBI is now investigating.
And here's another conflict involving weapons, air travel, and some people who actually work at the airports. CNN's Jeanne Meserve brings us this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Every day, Audrey Loot does security at Tampa International Airport. Today, the tables were turned. When Loot reported for work, she was the one getting a security check, a pat down, a bag inspection. This arrest last week is one reason why. Thomas Anthony Munoz is charged with using his airport employee I.D. to smuggle 14 weapons and marijuana into the secure portion of the Orlando Airport and then into the passenger cabin of a plane, which flew to Puerto Rico. While he was in the air, law enforcement got a tip.
EARL MORRIS, TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMINISTRATION: No passengers were at risk because we knew who the individual was and we had air marshals on board.
MESERVE: Since then, three more arrests in an alleged airport- based drug and weapon's smuggling ring. Officials are still investigating its full dimensions. One of those charged, even posted on his website, pictures of himself flaunting cash and weapons, and in a cockpit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you doing sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good, how are you?
MESERVE: The Transportation Security Administration responded by sending a team of 160 officers into five airports in Florida and Puerto Rico. CNN was given exclusive access. Not only are their random searches of airport workers and their bags, canine teams are checking vehicles entering secure areas. Access to those areas is being limited at night. And before passengers board, some planes are getting a closer look, as security personnel check for contraband. The security teams change location every 45 minutes or so. Their goal is to be unpredictable.
DARIO COMPAIN, FED. SECURITY DIR., TAMPA AIRPORT: That is a formidable weapon, when the bad people don't know where we're going to be at what time, which door, which hallway.
MESERVE: Is it a full-proof system? Consider this, at Tampa alone there are 6300 badge holders with access to secure areas. Nationwide, about 800,000, including the swarms of people who refuel, load, cater and clean aircraft.
BILL BISHOP, RAMP AGENT: There's so much going on that one would think that anything you do, will it ever be enough?
MESERVE: All airport workers with access to secure areas are fingerprinted and undergo background checks. But the TSA doesn't have the resources to screen them all daily. So it will move its surge teams unannounced to other airports in the weeks and months ahead. Hoping to deter, if not detect. Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Tampa International Airport.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: The war in Iraq, how America's opinions about it have evolved since the conflict began four years ago. The latest poll results straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
Plus --
KATHLEEN KOCH: As the fourth anniversary of the Iraq war approaches, the administration is defending its policy there. I'm Kathleen Koch at the White House I'll have more coming up. Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: All right, thanks Kathleen.
And what might be the capital challenge for the next president? Coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: New York City echoing today with angry voices. Their message and the war in Iraq, bring home the troops. It's nearly the four-year mark since the invasion of Iraq. Marchers packed the streets, of not only New York, but San Francisco, Los Angeles, and -- Washington, D.C. Thousands filed across the Potomac yesterday from downtown to the Pentagon. Plenty of war supporters lined the route as well. But police reported no major trouble between the groups.
Four years of war and the violence in parts of Iraq has intensified. This is northeastern Baghdad, a Shiite neighborhood called Shab. A car bomb exploded inside a crowded marketplace there today, killing at least six people and wounding four times that number.
A couple of hours earlier a roadside bomb in eastern Baghdad killed a police officer and a civilian. Five other police were hurt. In all, at least 11 people died today in several attacks throughout the city.
So, what do you think? After four years of war, we asked more than a thousand American adults to check their gut. Not on politics, not on policy, but just about how they feel. Here are the results of our poll by the Opinion Research Corporation. The question, "Do you feel proud?" Look at the difference between today's answers and those from the start of the war, completely flip-flopped. The question, "Do you feel confident?" An even wider gap from four years ago, only 35 percent of respondents answering that say they do feel confident about the war. And the question, "Do you feel afraid?" That's the one area, one constant, where American's opinions have changed very little.
Poll numbers and protest marches, it's how Americans are voicing their frustration toward the war now four-year old Iraq war. And here's one more question, is anyone in Washington listening? Let's bring in CNN's Kathleen Koch.
KOCH: Fredricka, certainty the White House realizes that this war is increasingly unpopular with Americans. Still the administration put out top officials on the Sunday morning talk shows to defend its policies and its strategy. National security adviser Stephen Hadley said that withdrawing U.S. troops too soon would leave security to Iraqi forces that are still unable to protect their country on their own and it would create a safe haven for al Qaeda. The defense secretary Robert Gates on another Sunday morning show hinted that the new troop increase strategy is showing signs of progress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: I think that the way I would characterize it is so far, so good. It's very early. General Petraeus, the commander out there, has said that it'll probably be summer before we know weather we're being successful or not.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: But Democrats are planning to attach conditions, including a September 2008 pullout date to a new emergency war funding bill, providing funding for Iraq in Afghanistan that it will begin debating later this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN MURTHA, (D) PENNSYLVANIA: We need benchmarks. The Iraqis are not going to pay any attention to the threats because they keep making threats over and over again. We have a responsibility, the American people, to get these troops out of there. The first step to redeploy -- or the first step to stability is redeployment of the troops in Iraq.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
KOCH: President Bush returned to the White house around midday today and so missed seeing the anti-war protests here in Washington. So the White House did not respond to them, other than releasing a short statement. Spokesman Blair Jones saying, quote, "Our constitution guarantees the right to peacefully express one's views and the men and women in our military are fighting to bring the people of Iraq the same rights and freedoms. Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: All right, Kathleen Koch at the White House thanks so much.
KOCH: You bet.
WHITFIELD: And one more note on Iraq. On an all new CNN special investigations unit, Iraqi death, putting U.S. troops in danger as the fifth year of the war begins. An all new CNN SIU, "Death Squads" airs tonight at 8:00 eastern.
The war anniversary, providing the backdrop for most of the '08 stumping this weekend. At a campaign stop in New Hampshire, Republican Senator John McCain acknowledging mistakes in the way the Iraq war has been handled. McCain says he's confident he can repeat his 2000 primary win in New Hampshire. Illinois Senator Barack Obama told an Oakland, California audience, he's proud he opposed the war from the start. And Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton took her presidential campaign to Texas, at a stop in Houston, she said she would run a more confident government than the Bush administration.
Tomorrow night, the focus will be -- the presidential race. Our Larry King sits down with Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, that's at 9:00 eastern only on CNN.
Well, whoever wins the 2008 presidential election will have to deal with the financial realities of an aging population. One expert calls it an impending doom. CNN's senior analyst Jeff Greenfield has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF GREENFIELD, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST (on camera): Now that this presidential campaign has begun months earlier than times past, maybe the candidates could put some of this time to good use. Not by running from New York to sunny California, in search of campaign cash and not with carefully-managed internet chats. Maybe they could spend some of this time talking very clearly and specifically about their plans to keep America from going broke.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very busy.
GREENFIELD (voice-over): That's the goal of this man, David Walker, the controller general of the United States. That's the government's accountant in chief.
The last few years, he's been going around country, telling anyone who will listen, that we're headed for an economic train wreck of catastrophic proportions. It's a message millions of Americans heard a week or so ago on "60 minutes."
A message walker is happy, maybe happy is not quite the right word, to deliver to us as well. That we're spending way more than we're taking in.
DAVID WALKER, U.S. COMPTROLLER GENERAL: Really tough choices are going to have to be made to reform social security, Medicare and Medicaid, to reform our tax system and to reengineer spending
GREENFIELD: The problem is you. If you're one of the 78 million baby boomers born between 1946 and 1964. The oldest of you will start hitting the social security rolls next year. By 2011, you'll start being eligible for Medicare. And that's when the real trouble begins. There just isn't enough money, Walker says, to cover what the government has promised to do. Now back in the 1980s, Republican President Reagan and a Democratic House hammered out a fix on social security. At a time when that system was perilously close to disaster.
WALKER: We were within weeks of the checks not going out on time.
GREENFIELD: And now.
WALKER: Our long-range problem is much worse and it's very close to becoming a reality because boomers start retiring next year. GREENFIELD: And that means some very tough choices. Like, trimming benefits, or having seniors pay more of their health costs, or raising taxes. But most Democrats want more benefits. And for most Republicans, tax cuts, not tax hikes, are the first, second, third, and fourth commandments, which is why Walker is, in effect, campaigning with experts from the left, right and center. His purpose?
WALKER: Try to make sure that any serious candidate for the president, and most importantly the two nominees for the major parties, that they make fiscal responsibility one of their top three priorities. If they don't, they don't deserve to be president. And if they don't, we're in trouble.
GREENFIELD (on camera): And what are the odds that a credible presidential candidate will face these tough choices head-on? About the same odds that you'll be seeing snow on this California landscape anytime soon.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right, CNN's Jeff Greenfield and Kathleen Koch are part of the best political team on television. And remember, for the latest political news at anytime, check out our political ticker at cnn.com/ticker.
The Donald, face-to-face with our Wolf Blitzer, and surprise! He's not holding back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP: Well, I think Bush is probably the worst president in the history of the United States.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: He wants the president fired, sort of. Much more from Donald Trump coming up.
Also, a secret indictment no longer secret but what happens next in a New York groom shooting? Some answers straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: And we're just getting in new pictures right now, the intense search taking place in the North Carolina Mountains. The search is on for a 12-year-old Boy Scout who was somehow separated from his Boy Scout troop. Michael Auberry has been missing now almost 24 hours. The search continues for any sign of this little boy. We'll keep you updated and we'll have a live report from a reporter in that region, also coming up at top of the hour.
Meantime, here are some of the most popular videos on cnn.com, a controversial art exhibit in Tallahassee, Florida. The art uses the confederate flag and a hanging noose to symbolize the end of the civil war and white supremacy. Some say its offensive and some want the pieces taken down. Many of you want to hear Donald Trump sound-off on a number of issues. CNN's Wolf Blitzer interviews the billionaire businessman about a possible presidential run and his strong views on the Iraq war.
And another piece that's getting a lot of hits, Youtube politics. The website is offering presidential candidates an intriguing invitation. Find out what it is on cnn.com.
And if you think there are a lot of U.S. presidential candidates, then take a look at Nigeria. CNN's Jeff Koinange does in a fascinating report on the country's crowded and rather dramatic campaign season. That's number four on the most popular at cnn.com.
In New York City, tomorrow, charges against police made public in connection with the groom-to-be fatal shooting. What are the expectations? That's straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
And a teacher/student love affair turns deadly. We have the details in this tragic story coming up. You're in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're looking at a picture at a Tennessee teenager who is allegedly having an affair with a teacher and who was shot and killed. The teacher's husband is charged with the crime.
And straight ahead, we'll tell you how to really get away from all of it. An Alaskan frontier town is giving away land to bid to win new residences.
Welcome back to THE NEWSROOM, I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
It's been a New York City police-involved shooting that has sparked outrage. Now, the high-profile case takes a turn tomorrow. Three police officers face charges for their role in the shooting of Sean Bell hours before his wedding. Defense attorneys say they're confident the officers will be cleared. Senior correspondent Allan Chernoff has the latest on the case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A city that was on edge, as the grand jury deliberated this week in the Sean Bell shooting case, was relatively calm Saturday. Only a few dozen people showed at a rally to protest the fact that just three of the five officers who shot at the groom's car were indicted. Monday morning, three police detectives who say they've done nothing wrong are to approve at this Queen's courthouse to be arrested and fingerprinted. Detective Michael Oliver who fired 31 shots at the car, undercover Detective Gescard Isnora (ph) who fired first and shot 11 bullets and Detective Marc Cooper, who fired four times. Queens' D.A. Richard Brown will reveal the grand jury's criminal charges.
The detectives were part of an undercover narcotics operation November 25th at the Kalua's Strip Club in Jamaica Queens, where Sean Bell was celebrating his bachelor party. The N.Y.P.D. says undercover Detective Isnora approached Bell's Nissan Ultima. Bell's car bumped the detective then hit an undercover police mini van twice. Five officers fired a total of 50 bullets at the car, killing Bell and wounding his friends Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield. The victims were all unarmed. Defense attorneys tell CNN they're disappointed but not shocked that the grand jury chose to indict three of the officers.
PHILIP KARASYK, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Consider it like a two-foot hurdle to convict is like a 10-foot hurdle beyond a reasonable doubt. So there is a long way to go between indictment and a conviction at trial.
CHERNOFF: Indeed, defense attorneys and the detectives union chief predict the officers will be cleared of criminal charges at trial.
MICHAEL PALLADINO, DETECTIVES ENDOWMENT FUND: These officers, as all of law enforcement officers do throughout the country, they get up every morning and they humbly go to work and acting in good faith, they try and protect the public. In this particular situation, that's what our detectives did.
CHERNOFF: Police officers were acquitted of murder charges in the 1999 case of Amadou Diallo who was shot 41 times in his Bronx apartment building. That sparked widespread protest in New York and black activists warn it could happen again.
REV. AL SHARPTON, NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK: We'll fight till the end until we get justice.
CHERNOFF: Allan Chernoff, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And now a Tennessee teen has been killed after an affair with a teacher allegedly. The person charged with the murder the teacher's 31-year-old husband, Eric McLean. McLean has admitted to the crime. His lawyer says the trial will be about why, not who. According to police, McLean's wife met 18-year-old Sean Powell last fall. Powell's adoptive parents say he told them about the affair. And dropped out of school because of it. His mother says Sean was played upon by the teacher.
Shifting gears now literally, here's another look at some winter driving gone very wrong. No fewer than six motorists lost control after hitting this patch of ice last night in Charleston, West Virginia. And as you can see, every one of them commits the cardinal sin of braking and locking up the wheels. It's pretty much going to guarantee that you're going to very bad outcome. Drivers who went easy on the brakes fared much better. Just because folks just couldn't get enough of that. No one got seriously injured, Jacqui and that is why we are able to run it over and over again.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's driver Ed 101, right?
WHITFIELD: People forget.
JERAS: You do, absolutely. And this time of the year, you know this winter, overall, too, you know, we've been kind of spoiled. Overall, this winter.
WHITFIELD: It's been very mild, yes.
JERAS: And even when it was cold, we didn't have a lot of snow, which is, you know, hard to tell the people who just got one to two feet here over the weekend. But still, believe it or not with all that, there has been a deficit in many areas across the northeast. And look at these temperatures at this hour. Just getting above that freezing mark right now. And then temperatures overnight dropped down below freezing again. So you get kind a freeze/thaw effect, you can be caught off guard. That morning commute tomorrow morning, keep this in mind that you could have some black ice on the roadways so use a lot of caution. So a lot of cold air in place here, drawn behind our storm which is now across parts of Quebec. That cold air staying in place for a couple of days but we're going to see a nice warming trend. Look at those temperatures warming up very nicely into the 50s for the middle and latter part of the week.
Now the storm system even though it just moved on up into Canada still causing some problems today, you can see some of the low overcast conditions here and in addition to that as high pressure builds into the area, we've got a very type radiant between the pressure systems, which means the winds are rather strong and if you've been outside today across the northeast, you really been feeling it and it's those strong winds that have been causing many delays today. JFK, you've got 1:10, ground delays, these are arrival delays, by the way. New York City, La Guardia, just about 1:30 and Baltimore, Washington International Airport, 45 minute departure delays and that one is due to high volume, not the weather.
But still a lot of people are trying to make up from what we've had over the weekend. The good news is the weather is going to be more cooperative across the east for tomorrow and we watch for some delays maybe across the nation's midsection from Chicago down to St. Louis.
Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Let's hope for a much better travel week.
JERAS: I hope so.
WHITFIELD: People deserve it after last week.
JERAS: Yes they do.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks a lot, Jacqui.
Well, you know that saying, if it sounds too good to be true, well, it probably is. Well, this may be the exception to that rule. Free land in one of the most picturesque spots in North America. Are you interested? Where the deer and the antelope play? You know all of that? Well, it could be yours, really! We'll explain. Also --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you knew your unborn baby was gay and there was a prenatal treatment to change that, would you?
WHITFIELD: So, would you? That controversy coming up in THE NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Fifteen minutes to the top of the hour now. Here is what is happening.
A second day of protests on the eve of the four-year anniversary of the Iraq war. Here's one of the day's largest and most vocal demonstrations being held in New York City. A similar rally being held on Long Island. On the east coast and the beyond the weather may have improved but the backlog of stranded air travelers sure hasn't. Airlines still trying to get thousands of ticket holders to their destinations.
And in the North Carolina wooded forest area along the Blue Ridge Parkway, the search intensifies for a 12-year-old boy scout who somehow got separated from his troop. Michael Auberry (ph) is still being searched almost 24 hours now, there is a picture of him, he is about 5'4", and about 110 pounds and we'll be joined by a reporter coming up at the top of the hour to give us an update on the search.
Well, what does present day Anderson, Alaska have in common with 1889 Oklahoma, the answer is, right there over my shoulder there. No joke, the town of 500 people is giving away 26 plots of land for home sites. Each of a little more than an acre as an incentive to boost its population. Anderson will start accepting applications for the land rush tomorrow morning, 9:00 a.m. Anderson Mayor Mike Pearson joins us now on the phone with details. So, Mr. Mayor, it's kind of free. I mean it's just $500. So it is almost like giving away land. What kind of response have you been getting?
MIKE PEARSON, MAYOR, ANDERSON, ALASKA (via telephone): We've been getting an overwhelming response. The phones haven't stopped for the last three days.
WHITFIELD: Wow. So what people need to do is, fill out an application, have $500 at their ready, and then how do they get selected to get one of these 26 plots of land?
PEARSON: Well, right now when I left a little bit ago, there was 15 individuals standing in line at 20 below this morning, ready to go. After Monday morning at 9:00, we'll open up the doors. Those people will come through. And after that is when the post office opens at 12:00, we'll start taking the applications out of the mail.
WHITFIELD: Wow, so those 15 people in line, 20 below that means they've got sleeping bags and stuff because they're willing to stay overnight to be the first ones in? PEARSON: Yes, ma'am. There are some of them that have tents, they've built campfires some them have clothes. There were two individuals from Yakima Washington. There was two from another -- oh, another Juno, they'd driven up and there was two more from outside.
WHITFIELD: Wow. So that's pretty incredible. So it sounds like folks didn't need a huge incentive to make the journey. Make me your biggest sell. Why do I want to have land, buy land for $500 in Anderson, Alaska?
PEARSON: Well, I think the biggest thing, we've been getting a lot of calls out of the big cities, New York, L.A., and I think people are maybe tired of all of the hustle and bustle and looking for a slower --
WHITFIELD: And we're talking really slow, right? Because I hear there's no gas station, no grocery store. Does this mean you have to go and hunt for food every day?
PEARSON: No, ma'am. Fairbanks Alaska is 75 miles away and Anchorage is 300 miles to the south, there is a grocery store that is about 30 miles either side of that.
WHITFIELD: Bottom line is, though, for those folks who do want to apply for this land, it is not like they can development years from now, and they want to plan on their late retirement years. No you want them to build now. Like, right away.
PEARSON: One of the requirements is they have to build a thousand square foot home within the next two years and it has to be a certified living structure. And we're looking for people to move into our community to boost the school. I think one of the big factors that brought this on is there wasn't enough for the varsity basketball teams. They have to play co-ed last winter. We're looking for people to help the school out and the scouts out, and the churches out and that such.
WHITFIELD: And so, Mr. Mayor, you talk about the school, help out the schools; it's really a school's idea, right? Students and teacher who came up with this pretty innovative idea to try to lure people to Anderson, Alaska. Tell me about it.
PEARSON: That's true. The city of Anderson, the school, all the groups around here work well together. And the school is having an economic class and they came up with -- it's a kid's history class. And they came up with an idea that Anderson has, would be (INAUDIBLE)
WHITFIELD: Wow that's incredible. So when do you make the decision? When do these 26 people, or families, find out that they're the winners?
PEARSON: They'll know Monday morning, at 9:00; we'll let them through the door. And then one week from that we'll have the final selection. As they come through the door, they're going to select a lot that they want. The final selection for everybody will be the following Monday. WHITFIELD: Mayor Mike Pearson of Anderson, Alaska. That perhaps that means in a week that we'll have you back so you can tell us about the final selection for your new 26 plot of land owners.
PEARSON: Yes.
WHITFIELD: All right.
PEARSON: I would appreciate it. Yeah.
WHITFIELD: We will do that.
PEARSON: And the people in the line down there I think are a great bunch of people. It's been working well so far.
WHITFIELD: Well it sounds like a great plan. All right, Mr. Mayor thanks so much and good luck on your search for 26 lucky new landowners.
PEARSON: Well, thank you very much.
WHITFIELD: All right, well, here's a question for you, changing subjects all the way around. Can homosexuality be detected and reversed in the womb? And would you do it? A surprising new controversy coming up.
Plus --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many people do you think have died if Darfur?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nine thousand.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Only 9,000.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nine thousand.
WHITFIELD: Death and denial Sudan's government insists there's no genocide in Darfur. And the world watches without taking any action. Coming up in THE NEWSROOM.
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WHITFIELD: Some very mixed reaction to the new Palestinian unity government, which met for the first time today. Norway and the European Union say they'll recognize the new government hammered out between the rival Hamas and Fatah Factions but the Israeli cabinet has endorsed its prime minister call to boycott the new Palestinian leader. The Israeli leader Abu Omar says there will be no peace talks until the Palestinian body renounces violent and formally recognizes Israel's right to exist.
Echoing that, a statement from a U.S. State Department spokesperson, saying, "Any Palestinian government must renounce violence, recognize Israel and respect previous peace agreements made by the parties. We will continue to evaluate whether the government formed, has committed itself to these principles."
Hopes for U.N. sanctions against Sudan are fading. China and Russia have joined several Arab nations in opposition, despite continuing reports of human rights abuses in Darfur. CNN's senior U.N. correspondent Richard Roth reports that the possibility of action is growing increasingly unlikely.
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RICHARD ROTH, SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Despite all the people dying painfully slow deaths from malnutrition and dehydration in Sudan, the world's leaders still have yet to do anything substantive to stop the genocide.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: It's simply the case that the Sudanese government needs to recognize that the international community can't stand idly by while people suffer --
ROTH: But the Darfur dilemma has now been on the U.N. radar for nearly four years, but still nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a catastrophic failure of the international community and the U.N. system in preventing genocide in the past.
ROTH: There have even been arguments over whether genocide has been committed. Two Sudanese men in fact, have been accused of war crimes but Sudan's not buying it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not genocide. This is blown out into proportion.
ROTH: The United Nations estimates at least 2 million people displaced and 200,000 people dead. How many people do you think have died in Darfur?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nine thousand.
ROTH: Only 9,000?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nine thousand yes.
ROTH: Other estimates put it at least 300,000, 400,000?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no, this is dramatization, (INAUDIBLE) to come and invade the country.
ROTH: But there's no cavalry to come to the rescue. Under U.N. rules if a country doesn't want troops to come in the U.N. backs off. Sudan also has friends on the Security Council; China buys a lot of oil from Sudan and stands ready to block stiffer action against Sudan.
WANG GUANYA, CHINESE AMBASSADOR TO U.N: We don't agree at this stage, that it will help the peace process.
ROTH: The current president of the Security Council is from a major African country, but can only offer sympathy.
DOMISANI KUMALO, SOUTH AFRICAN AMBASSADOR TO U.N: It tears your heart apart. It makes all of this look like, what are we doing?
ROTH: You can be sure that someone, somewhere in the United Nations system is already planning on one of their lessons learned symposiums. The obvious problem is, there is still no peace in Darfur.
Richard Roth, CNN, United Nations.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: An update on today's top stories coming up in about seven minutes from now. But first a controversial question for families. If babies are born gay, can homosexuality be reversed in the womb? And if so, would you do it? The story next in THE NEWSROOM.
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JERAS: Hello everyone, I'm Jacqui Jeras in the CNN Weather Center with today's cold and flu report. You know February it is a peak month for the number of cases of influenza. And since we have started March those numbers have been going down across the country. A lot of improvements here across parts of the west, in the nations mid section where we had a lot of red, red means wide spread numbers. So we are still seeing that across parts of the northeast and the southeast, but some pretty good improvement across the mid Atlanta. We will be right back.
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WHITFIELD: Tampering with the unborn, not exactly an idea that you would expect from a religious leader but that's what a Baptist minister says the bible supports if the unborn shows genetic signs of being gay. CNN's Mary Snow reports.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): If you knew your unborn baby was gay and there was a prenatal treatment to change that, would you? Southern Baptist leader Rev. Albert Mohler suggests there could be a biological basis and if there was, he says the bible would sanction a change in biology. Reasoning homosexuality is a sin.
ALBERT MOHLER: I think if you went to Christian parents and said, look, here's a way you can help your child, not just to deal with homosexuality, in terms of resisting homosexual acts, but actually to have -- to have that entire process reversed. I think most Christian parents would go for it, in a heartbeat.
SNOW: Gay right supporters are outraged.
HARRY KNOX, HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN: Being gay is an immutable, unchangeable gift from god. And to act as if we can throw that gift back by using hormone treatments on fetuses in the womb is just reprehensible. SNOW: Some evangelicals are unhappy too, they say being gay is a choice and a sin that can be overcome by prayer and counseling. Mohler provoked the debate by commenting on research that he read about, but admits there's no proof that it's credible and experts agree.
ARTHUR CAPLAN, U. OR PENN. CTR. FOR BIOETHICS: As of today there is no simple marker, no simple task. Nothing that you could do to say that person is going to become gay.
SNOW: Bioethics expert Arthur Caplan says he wouldn't be surprised if tests in a decade or so could determine the likelihood of someone's sexual orientation. He sees it as dangerous territory and one where firm rules need to be established.
CAPLAN: Are we going to allow doctors, encourage those who do genetic testing to do this kind of thing, just because it fits somebody's preference, somebody's bias, somebody's bigotry?
SNOW: The bioethics expert we spoke with says the job of medicine is to treat disease and disorder. And he advocates laws to prevent genetic testing from being used for anything else such as sexual differences.
Mary Snow, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Troop surge in Iraq. Is it making a difference? We will take a closer look on the eve of the 4th anniversary of the war.
And bong hits for Jesus? How did this banner wind up at the center of a U.S. Supreme Court case? Those stories coming up in THE NEWSROOM. Hello, everyone, I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
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