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Searcher Comb North Carolina Wilderness for Missing Boy Scout; Fighting Meth Addiction; Subpoenas Possible in Gonzales Probe
Aired March 18, 2007 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Rescue squads in North Carolina searching for a 12-year-old boy scout, hope he remembers the motto, and be prepared. Michael Auberry went missing late yesterday morning from a campsite in Wilkes County, North Carolina. Rescue crews from multiple agencies have been searching the park's numerous trails in hopes of finding him but it's not an easy job. The terrain of that part of North Carolina is mountainous and and rugged. Stephanie Stilwell from CNN affiliate News 14 Carolina joins us live with the latest on the search efforts. How are they going about this search, Stephanie?
STEPHANIE STILWELL, NEWS 14 CAROLINA: Well, 27 agencies and more than 130 trained responders are still searching for 12-year-old Michael Auberry. The Greensboro Cub Scout wandered away from his campsite early yesterday afternoon. Now that was more than 24 hours ago.
Right now, officials from all over northwestern, North Carolina, and southwestern, Virginia, are helping out in the search. Rescuers are using bloodhounds, air-scent dogs ATVs and helicopters equipped with infrared heat senses on.
Now officials say the temperatures overnight drop down to as low as the upper teens, lower 20s. And they say anytime it gets that cold, you have to worry.
Some of the area in and around the camp site where Michael's troop was staying, has steep and rocky terrain and although Michael does have some survival training.
Now keep in mind, rescuers are searching about 5,900 acres. Michael's parents say that he is dressed warmly and right now they're just asking for prayers. In Wilkes County, North Carolina, Stephanie Stilwell, News 14 Carolina.
WHITFIELD: So, Stephanie, a question for you, why are they searching such a huge area of 5,900 acres, surely within a 24-hour period, he may have been able to traverse a couple of miles at most, but 5,900 acres?
STILWELL: Well, they're going -- they're keeping it that particular search area. Now they're not sure exactly if they're going to stay in that or widen the search. They've pretty much gone through that, they've done a grid-by-grid search and are just moving throughout that area. Now they're thinking that he may have traveled beyond that. He might be, you know, looking for help. Look for somebody. Looking for signs. And just wandered. And officials tell us that in that part of the wilderness, everything looks pretty much the same.
WHITFIELD: And also, Stephanie, any explanation as to why they think he just kind of wandered off? Just separated himself from the group? What was taking place in the group setting at time when they noticed that he was gone or may have wandered off at that time?
STILWELL: Well, Cub Scout leaders tell us he'd just finished lunch. And they say that -- his parents say he was a curious boy. And something might have just caught his attention. He went to check it out, and before he knew it, he couldn't find his way back to camp. At least that's what officials are hoping happened.
WHITFIELD: Let's hope they find him alive and well. Thanks so much, Stephanie Stilwell.
Also the excruciating waiting game going on right now at the nation's airports. Tens of thousands of travelers are still stranded two days after a brutal winter storm in the Northeast forced airlines to cancel many flights. The disruption has created a domino effect throughout weekend. Computer problems at U.S. Airways have also made matters even worse. The airline says it is still trying to find seats for 100,000 stranded passengers.
In New York this weekend, 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 and patience is running thin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANIELLA PINORI, STRANDED AIRLINE PASSENGER: I'm almost delirious at this point. I think I have been in this airport so long. That got canceled, we got put on two more flights to DC, those were cancelled, we got put on a flight to Philly, which was cancelled and put on a flight for tonight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: What a nightmare. Well, guess what? Not everything was grounded. At least some luggage made it to their final destinations. This is Washington, DC's Reagan National Airport. Lots of luggage but no rightful owners.
Traveling by car, not a whole lot better. You're looking at drivers in Charleston, West Virginia, who got into a bit of trouble there on those slick roads there. Car after car spinning out of control in this slick stretch of the road.
And as you can see, every one of them made that very dangerous mistake by braking and locking up the wheels.
I guess we're going to see this video now, Jacqui Jeras, in the weather center, being used in all kinds of driver's ed classes?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Sure, what not not to do.
WHITFIELD: This is what you shouldn't do when you run into patches of ice like this.
JERAS: Yeah, I know it. You want to go the opposite way.
WHITFIELD: Everyone kind of does it.
JERAS: Pump the brakes unless you have ABS, right?
WHITFIELD: Right.
JERAS: Anyway, slow down. How about, just don't drive?
WHITFIELD: That's the best solution.
JERAS: Exactly. You got ice like that and noticed it was on the bridge and overpass area. And those tend to freeze first especially when your temperatures hovering right now near that freezing mark.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WHITFIELD: That would be nice. That would be nice.
Well, still speaking about airports, Jacqui, you wouldn't believe this one. A very bizarre incident at LAX.
A man and woman arrested after allegedly posing as police officers. And trying to bring a gun through the screening area.
Officials say the pair told airport security they were transporting a prisoner to Hawaii. The officers say -- the real officers say the story just didn't seem to check out. You're looking at live pictures right now of LAX and both suspects were arrested for impersonating a police officer.
The woman was also charged with carrying a concealed firearm and now the FBI is investigating as well.
Well, can President Bush and his military commanders come up with a plan to save Iraq? And if they do, will the American people go along with it?
One student's protest sign, sparks a controversy that has reached all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Find out what it's all about.
And not every spring breaker is just looking for fun in the sun. We'll take you along as one group of college students spends their break helping others.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: And on this eve of the four-year anniversary of the start of the Iraq War, you're looking at more protests taking place. This one in San Francisco quite sizable. Some of the organizers say thousands of people have gathered there in downtown San Francisco, right off Market Street and right near downtown's City Hall.
Most of these folks demonstrating, are demonstrating against the war in Iraq. Lots of protests happening throughout country all weekend long.
And now word of another U.S. military death from combat in Iraq, making a total of seven American troops killed this weekend alone. The latest, a U.S. marine assigned to Multinational Force West fighting in Anbar Province. This weekend's American troop fatalities bring this month's toll to 56.
And it doesn't seem that there is any let-up in the violence across Iraq. This is northeastern Baghdad. A Shiite neighborhood called Shab (ph). A car bomb exploded inside of 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 about the war and here are the results of our poll by the Opinion Research Corporation. The question, do you feel proud?
Look at the difference between those answers and from the start of the war. Complete flip flop of numbers there.
The question, do you feel confident? An even wider gap from four years ago. Only 45 percent of respondents asking that question saying they do feel confident about the war.
And the question, do you feel afraid? That is just one area, one constant, where American opinions have changed very little.
The so-called troop surge to Iraq, more than 30,000 men and women, well it is on, despite a House resolution against it. And the war's plummeting popularity. Military units earmarked for the deployment are either gearing up to move or are already in country. CNN's John King reports from Kuwait.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This desert base is the staging point for the Iraq troop surge. Refurbished Bradley fighting vehicles ready for soldiers heading to Iraq just as the unpopular war reaches the four-year mark.
Adding troop levels in 2007 is far from what Bush White House envisioned when it launched the war in March 2003 and far from what American people support.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're tired. They want a resolution and they want American troops home. This is a country that has largely come to judgment and the judgment is we've been in Iraq long enough.
GEORGE W. BUSH, U.S. PRESIDENT: Major combat operations in Iraq have ended.
When the president made his now-infamous "Mission Accomplished" visit to the USS Abraham Lincoln on May 1st, 2003, the U.S. death toll in Iraq stood at 139. It is more than 3,200 now. And a president who already lost Democratic and independent support for the war is facing increasing opposition within his own party.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today for the first time by double digits, Republicans say that they're less confident of success in Iraq. That's a change, that's a shift. And it just tells you again the very difficult job facing the president.
KING (on camera): And as profound as the domestic political problem is, the bigger crisis facing Mr. Bush is the deepening belief that it is too late for 30,000 troops or more tanks like these about to head north from Kuwait into Iraq to make any lasting difference.
RICHARD HAASS, PRESIDENT, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: I, for one, would say the odds are against Iraq becoming a normal country, much less a democratic country.
KING (voice-over): The troops tend to steer clear of the politics. Their immediate concern here is their equipment. And those back a second or third time quickly noticed the improved armor on these humvees.
STAFF SGT. CLARENCE CALHOUN, U.S. ARMY: You can see the changes being made and it's also letting us know that voices are being heard and things are being corrected from the soldier's standpoint.
KING: But even this progress is not without some controversy.
(on camera): The newly-arriving troops are getting tanks, humvees and other equipment from what army called pre-positioned stocks, designed to be kept in reserve for rapid deployments. Critics in Congress say depleting those reserves to fill urgent needs in Iraq leaves the army unprepared should a crisis spring up elsewhere in the world.
John King, CNN, Kuwait.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Tonight on an all new CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT, an inside look at Iraqi death squads. As the fifth year of the war begins, we'll be focusing on the death squads tonight with John Roberts. That's the CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.
A student's proactive sign, or maybe we should say it's provocative. Well, that kind of got him suspended. Well, what will it mean for other students who want to speak their mind?
And the ravages of meth abuse. Can an in-your-face ad campaign make a difference for potential victims?
And there's the rest of the NEWSROOM team. Rick Sanchez getting ready for the next round of THE NEWSROOM straight ahead. He'll be joining us to let us know what to expect for the rest of the evening.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, you will agree, this is kind of bizarre. The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments tomorrow in what could become a landmark case on the free speech rights of students. It goes by the improbable name of, "Bong hits 4 Jesus."
CNN's Gary Nurenberg has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Reporter: as the symbolic torch was carried through Juneau, Alaska on its way of the 2002 Olympics, Douglas Public High School let students stand on city streets to watch it pass by. When it did, Douglas student Joe Frederick unfurled this banner "Bong hit 4 Jesus."
JOSEPH FREDERICK, HELD "BONG HITS 4 JESUS" SIGN: I find it absurdly funny. I was not promoting drugs. I assumed most people would take it as a joke.
NURENBERG: His school principal didn't. Sheer took down the banner and suspended him. Frederick sued arguing his constitutional rights were violated.
DOUGLAS MERTZ, FREDRICK'S LAWYER: He was a citizen, exercising free speech in a public place, at a public event.
NURENBERG: But school argues ...
KENNETH STARR, DEAN, PEPPERDINE SCHOOL OF LAW: It was a field trip, where the school was able and did exercise its authority.
NURENBERG: In this case, to prevent kids from being exposed to, arguably, pro-drug messages, according to its attorney Kenneth Starr.
STARR: The school should be able to put a stop to these kinds of pro-drug culture messages.
NURENBERG: They disagree. As members of Students for a Sensible Drug Policy, they traveled to Washington to demonstrate for student speech rights.
ADAM KOLTUN, HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: If they're learning at such young age that freedom of speech is more myth than a fact, then that's sort of a dangerous precedent to set for our country.
NURENBERG: The court has long ruled that schools do have rights to limit student speech but Frederick's lawyer Douglas Mertz says they don't apply in this case.
MERTZ: The test is whether the exercise of free speech creates a substantial disruption of the educational process.
NURENBERG: But what's disruptive enough to limit free speech? These California kids demonstrated against immigration policy last year.
(on camera): Others oppose the war in Iraq. Can school muzzle those views?
(voice-over): Some Christian groups have filed briefs here, saying that too much school power could prevent kids from espousing religious view.
ED LAZARUS, CONSTITUTIONAL SCHOLAR: The legal rule that's established is going to cover lots of different kinds of protests. It may involve student messages that are much more profound and really aimed at some the most important disputes in society.
NURENBERG: Making the fight over "Bong Hits 4 Jesus," a case that could define the limits on free speech for students. Gary Nurenberg, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: So you ever wonder what $206 million looks like? One big pile? Well, take a look at this, here you go. Mexican agents seized the cash stash from a network trafficking in pseudoephedrine.
You probably know the drug as a primary ingredient in cold medicine and it's also needed to make meth. Authorities say the cash was hidden inside of a villa in an upscale area of Mexico City. Stashed in suitcase, closets and even inside of the walls. In addition to the Ben Franklins, agents say they found a similar amount of euros and pesos.
Well, remember the "Just Say No" anti-drug campaign?
Well, Montana has a, new much more modern version targeting potential methamphetamine abusers. And this time the commercials and the apparent results are hard to dismiss. Here's CNN's Dan Simon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop looking at me.
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They depict the horrors of methamphetamine addiction.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let me in. I'm going to kill you.
SIMON: A gritty ad campaign running in Montana, targeting the most vulnerable population. Teenagers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look, I'm just going to shoot up. Just once. All right, I'm not going to be like that guy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey. SIMON: This girl wants to spoke meth for the very first time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Give her some.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, given me some.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, all right. Do you want meth kid? Here's your meth. And here's your meth dealer and your meth boyfriends. And your meth baby. And don't forget your meth face.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It hits you kind of personally, I guess.
SIMON: Talk to teenagers as we did at Billings Senior High School.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The thing of the meth ads did is they brought this problem out of hiding.
SIMON: And it's clear Madison Avenue should take note.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's so many different ones, each of them have their own impact on you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The most disturbing one is probably the one where she's like scabbed up in the bathtub.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't do it. Don't do it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many of you know somebody your age who's tried meth?
SIMON: Almost every student raised their hand. And would the ads keep the kids from trying themselves? This time it's unanimous.
(on camera): The state known for its big skies has a big problem. Meth crimes account for half of Montana's prison population. For female inmates, it's a staggering 90 percent. And meth use among teens here is dramatically higher than the national average.
(voice-over): That's even though meth use nationally has been rising. Law enforcement officials say with the arrests more than doubling over the past decade.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is drugs.
SIMON: Ad creators took note of past anti-drug campaigns, including Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No." They felt the new messages need to be jarring, provocative, and in your face to actually make a difference.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm really close with my mom. I always have been.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are you doing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing. Leave me alone. Leave me alone. Just shut up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We did message whether teens want to hear. They said don't sugar coat the issues. Tell us like it is.
SIMON: The agent in charge of Montana's DEA office saying the change in people's attitudes is striking.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The kids are scared to death. They're saying, I'm never going it touch that. They'll take cocaine or heroin before they'll ever touch methamphetamine.
SIMON: Because of the ads?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because of the ads.
SIMON: Kristina Jennings was just around the target age of the ad campaign, 15 when she started doing meth. And for the next eight years, she says she used to almost every day. An addiction so powerful, Kristina's children had to be placed in foster care.
KRISTINA JENNINGS, FORMER METH ADDICT: Even though I knew I couldn't take care of them, they were better without me. That was the hard part. Knowing that they were better off without me.
SIMON: She's now 25, clean for two years and has her children back. She sees herself in the ads, but doesn't think they would have stopped her from becoming a meth addict.
JENNINGS: I was in need of escape of marijuana and alcohol weren't doing it. I would have done it eventually.
SIMON: But early statistics suggest the commercial are working. The ads began blanketing the local air waves in 2005. And Montana's attorney general reports that, last year, hospitals treated 67 percent fewer patients addicted to meth. During the same period, Montana also saw a 70 percent drop for workers testing positive for meth. No one can say for certainty ads directly responsible but drug fighters here are encouraged by the early numbers and feedback from teenagers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I did meth. And now this is my life.
SIMON: Dan Simon, CNN, Billings, Montana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Pretty hard-hitting. Well, the fight over eight fired U.S. attorneys is heating up. Democrats vow to subpoena White House officials. Find out who tops the list.
A cry for help from a marine just home from Iraq goes unanswered. How did the system fail him?
And CNN goes along as a group of college students on spring break reaches out to victims of Hurricane Katrina.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Put down your scissors, there's a new way to bring your coupons to the store. It's called a personal coupon scanner. The company ScanAps developed a key chain device that allows consumers to scan the bar codes of up to 150 printed coupons. At the store, they place the scanner into a small docking unit at the check out to download their coupons and receive their savings.
VIJAY CHETTY, PRESIDENT AND CEO, SCANAPS: Our device gets rid of all the cumbersome process. It's seamless, simple, convenient, you just scan it, you dock it, you're done. Our initial market is supermarkets and eventually expanding to retail markets. We have just launched it in one store and we're hoping to launch it in about 20 to 40 stores this year and expand nationwide in 2008.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: He returned from Iraq a broken man. His cry for help unheeded. The story of a U.S. marine whose life took a tragic turn.
And cyberspace campaigning is the future of U.S. politics online. Welcome back to the NEWSROOM, I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
Another day, another dramatic development in the latest scandal to envelop the Bush administration. Democrats are promising to subpoena top White House officials to testify in public about the firings of eight federal prosecutors. Here with the story, CNN's Kathleen Koch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Top political strategist Karl Rove, former White House counsel Harriet Miers, two of the high level White House officials who its now been revealed were involved early on in discussions about dismissing U.S. attorneys. Democratic senators investigating whether the firings were politically motivated, now vow to subpoena Rove, Miers and others to testify if they won't come voluntarily.
SEN. PATRICK LEAHY, (D) JUDICIARY CMTE. CHAIRMAN: They'll have to testify under oath. I am tired of having the story change every other day
KOCH: The White House promises to let senators know by Tuesday whether it will fight that citing executive privilege.
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER, (D) JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Their claim of privilege has weakened considerably, because documents they've already issued that came from the Justice Department, name Karl Rove and others and you can't claim privilege for some things and not for others.
KOCH: Schumer says already Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' former chief of staff was offered to testify. A Justice Department official says Gonzales in a Friday conference call apologized for his handling of the dismissals. And for suggesting some were based on job performance. One fired prosecutor calls that a huge step but wants Congress to hold someone accountable.
BUD CUMMINS, FMR. U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: They need to go around the room and say who knew about the bases for these decisions as they went along. Who knew that the White House had this much input, was able to inject this much improper political consideration into these decisions? Because each of those people really don't need to be at the Department of Justice anymore.
KOCH: Meanwhile, Republicans charge Senator Charles Schumer, who's leading the investigation, has a conflict of interest. He heads a committee dedicated to electing Democrats to the Senate, and they caution the organization is profiting from the controversy.
SEN. JOHN CORNYN, (R) JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: I think that undermines the legitimacy of what I agree is a valid inquiry into the facts.
KOCH (on camera): And so begins another week where the White House has to wrestle with the story, it just wants to go away. On Monday, the Justice Department will give Congress hundreds of documents on the case. And lawmakers will debate a measure to again require the Senate to confirm all new U.S. attorneys. Kathleen Koch, CNN, the White House.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And it's been a deadly weekend for U.S. troops in Iraq. The military now says seven American troops died Saturday. The seventh fatality was a marine killed during a combat mission in the dangerous Anbar Province. Four soldiers died in an explosion in Baghdad. Two others were killed in insurgent attacks in east Iraq.
A marine returns home, still haunted by memories of the war in Iraq. He needed treatment. He was told he had to wait and his unanswered cries for help took a tragic turn. The story from CNN's Randi Kaye.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the story of marine Jonathan Schulze, number 26 on a list. A list no one wants to be on. So you're telling me that Jonathan told this hospital twice now --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
KAYE: That he was feeling suicidal and they told him.
MARIANNE SCHULZE, JONATHAN SCHULZE'S STEPMOTHER: He was number 26, they didn't have room, it would take two weeks --
KAYE: Before he could be admitted?
SCHULZE: Correct.
KAYE: Twenty six on a waiting list? SCHULZE: Right and to check back in a few days to see what number he was on the list.
KAYE: Did you think that Jonathan had a few days at that point to wait?
SCHULZE: No, no.
KAYE: Months of intense fighting in Iraq. That's all it took for this fun-loving teddy bear of a guy with a smile as wide of the Minnesota farm he grew up on to unravel. Twenty five year old Schulze returned home in March 2005, a tortured soul.
SCHULZE: I remember a broken man. Somebody who had no expression on his face who would cry very easily. Who at night, you'd hear him screaming, moaning, groaning.
KAYE: Jonathan's step mom says he was sleeping just two hours a night, drinking heavily, having panic attacks. There was guilt over the loss of 16 men from his squad, including his two best friends.
JIM SCHULZE, JONATHAN SCHULZE'S FATHER: He was big, he was strong, he was brave, but his whole experience over there almost left him trembling like a little kid.
KAYE: Jonathan's drinking and violence led the marines to give him a general discharge. Jim Schulze says his son became withdrawn, edging dangerously close to ending his life. Jim says Jonathan talked openly about suicide. The family doctor had diagnosed Jonathan with post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD. And prescribed valium, ambien and paxil. None of it seemed to quiet this marines mind. Desperate for help, Jonathan turned to the VA hospital in Minneapolis. He couldn't hold a job and without medical insurance, the VA was the only place he could afford. When he asked to be accepted into an in-patient program at the Minneapolis VA, what did that hospital tell him?
M. SCHULZE: They told him he couldn't get into their program at that time, it was full.
KAYE: And he had to wait how long for the next one.
M. SCHULZE: Six months.
KAYE: Jonathan was sinking fast. In January this year, the Schulzes tried another VA hospital in St. Cloud, Minnesota, about an hour outside Minneapolis.
Jim and Marianne Schulze both insist they heard Jonathan tell the intake nurse he was feeling suicidal. They recall being told the social worker who screens PTSD patients was too busy to see their son that day, even though they say, he'd been made aware of Jonathan's suicidal tendencies. Jonathan was sent home and told to call back the next day, and when he did his step mom was listening.
M. SCHULZE: And Jonathan said yes, I feel suicidal.
KAYE: The next day when he called the hospital, you heard him tell them a second time that he was suicidal?
M. SCHULZE: Yes, a second time. He eventually was told that -- right at that point, there would be about a two-week wait. He, at this point, was number 26 on the list. And to check in periodically.
KAYE: Four days later with a picture of his daughter at his side, Jonathan wrapped an extension cord around his neck, tied it to a beam in the basement of this home he'd been renting from a friend and hanged himself. Unanswered cries for help silenced.
M. SCHULZE: If our men are going to serve for our country and serve in a war or a conflict, when they come home, they should be taken care of. They were promised when they went in, they were promised when they signed on that piece of paper. And they come home and they have a problem, what are they told? You're number 26.
KAYE: In Jonathan's massive medical file, an alarming absence. The social worker Jonathan spoke to by phone did not record the marine's suicidal thoughts. How do you explain that in that 400-page medical file of his, there isn't a single note mentioning that he said he felt suicidal.
J. SCHULZE: Very plain and simple -- St. Cloud VA altered those records or else the individual he talked to did not put it in there when John did mention that.
KAYE: If so, why wasn't he admitted immediately? The U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs is investigating and would not comment.
J. SCHULZE: When a vet cries out that he's suicidal, even if they'd have to set a bed up in a kitchen, you don't turn them away, you don't put them on a waiting list.
KAYE: Keeping them honest, we've learned the St. Cloud VA hospital has just 12 beds for PTSD patients. The Schulzes say those beds were full. We've also confirmed the number of beds has remained unchanged for a decade, even though the U.S. has spent the last five years fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Department of Veterans Affairs tells us, it expects 1 in 5 returning veterans to need treatment for PTSD. While the Schulzes struggle to heal, they find themselves at the center of a debate over the seemingly ill- prepared and overwhelmed VA system. Jonathan in death has breathed new life into the issue.
M. SCHULZE: Jonathan didn't come home to die.
KAYE: Nor did he come off the battlefield expecting he'd have to fight to get medical help at home. Randi Kaye, CNN, Stewart, Minnesota.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And now forget television ads, is the future of political campaigning as close as your home computer.
And no sun and sand for these college students. Come along as they find a new way to spend their spring break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Let's take a look at what's happening right now. Search teams are scouring the rugged North Carolina Mountains for a missing boy scout, 12-year-old Michael Auberry was last seen yesterday around noon. Searchers found part of the boy's mess kit late last night, but so far no other signs of the missing scout.
Now to the campaign trail where a familiar face is re-introducing himself to New Hampshire voters this weekend. Senator John McCain's straight-talk express bus is racking up the miles in the granite state, with a stop today in Dover. In 2000 New Hampshire voters supported McCain in their state primary. The Arizona Republican is hoping for a replay in 2008.
Democratic presidential hopefuls are willing voters as well. Senator Christopher Dodd spent the morning speaking to Democratic supporters in Manchester, New Hampshire. And Senator Barack Obama is scheduled to attend a fundraiser in Colorado.
And tomorrow night, our Larry King sits down with Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama. That's at 9:00 eastern only on CNN.
Online giant Youtube may help presidential contenders without deep pockets. They may level the playing field. The video-sharing site has made an interesting offer to all the presidential hopefuls, play your message here. Our Chris Lawrence explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARACK OBAMA: Something's stirring across the country because --
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Barack Obama's speech at a Selma, Alabama church was quickly posted on the internet by someone outside his campaign. When politicians first met Youtube, it was like a rude guest who points out every embarrassing flaw. From bad singing to just bad judgment.
Yellow shirt, macaca or whatever his name is.
LAWRENCE: Now Youtube's inviting those same candidates over for dinner. Giving them a seat at the table, so to speak.
MCCAIN: Keep that faith. Keep your courage. Stick together.
LAWRENCE: Youtube is inviting political candidates to post their own videos as part of a push to educate voters.
OBAMA: We want a positive vision for the future.
LAWRENCE: Most of the major presidential candidates are on board.
MITT ROMNEY: I believe we're spending too much money.
LAWRENCE: But it's the second-tier candidates who could benefit most by broadcasting their message at minimal cost.
ALAN HOFFENBLUM, POLITICAL ANALYST: This could help a lot of candidates who don't have the big money that the top tier candidates have.
LAWRENCE: But will anyone watch?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some of them are long, have 15, 20-minute films. You have to really be devoted to want to sit through 15 minutes of that.
LAWRENCE: Professor Thomas Hollihan wrote a book called "Political Campaigns in a Media Age." Do you think some candidates will benefit more than others from Youtube.
PROF. THOMAS HOLLIHAN, UNIV. OF SOUTHERN CARLIFONIRA: Those candidates who are spontaneous, quick on their feet, smile easily, are witty, they're going to really prosper in a Youtube age.
HILLARY CLINTON: My bill would cap the number of troops in Iraq at January 1st levels.
RUDY GIULIANI: What I don't get is the nonbinding resolution.
HOLLIHAN: Candidates who are ponderous, who need a closely guided script, who don't have good emotional control, they're the candidates likely to suffer in the Youtube era.
LAWRENCE: It really is a new era. Unlike television advertising, Youtube is free. The video clips are not subject to campaign finance limits and you don't need those disclosure statements, such as, my name is Chris, and I approve this message. Chris Lawrence, CNN, New York.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: You go, Chris!
WHITFIELD: Uh-huh. All right, much more ahead in the NEWSROOM with Rick Sanchez. What you got?
SANCHEZ: Two developing stories that we're going to be following, one at 7:00, one at 10:00 and both in between as well, probably. Start with one that we're going to be following at 7:00. This is in Syracuse, New York. A 62-year-old man, boy, really having a serious problem with police. They're all over the place amid the snow and the wind. As you could see, they've been able to get a couple of people out of the house. His wife, apparently, and allegedly, we should say, was shot by him, they've taken her to the hospital but he's still there. They're shooting tear gas in the home, they've brought his pastor, they're trying to talk him out. He just won't budge. He's in there and he's fighting them every bit of the way. So, it's one of those sad scenes that you get from time to time. We're going to be checking on it to see how it develops. And then we're also at 10:00 following the story that you've been reporting on, this little boy, this boy scout in North Carolina. He's in the woods. We'll break it down for you where he is. Yeah, I mean you know the good news is they say that he's at least wearing the proper apparel. Because you know I talk about this a million times. The biggest thing that kills you or hurts you out there is exposure, 20 degrees, that's very cold.
WHITFIELD: Yeah, very cold.
SANCHEZ: If you're not wearing a jacket or something, I mean you've got roughly about three hours to live.
WHITFIELD: Yeah.
SANCHEZ: So if he's wearing the right stuff, he could probably last a lot longer and hey, he's a boy scout.
WHITFIELD: And he's a scout.
SANCHEZ: Exactly, he's got the right skills, so you know we're pulling for him, we're praying for him. Hopefully everything will work out. But we're going to be going there live and brining you that story.
WHITFIELD: Ok, we'll be watching and listening.
SANCHEZ: All right Fred.
WHITFIELD: Thanks a lot Rick.
All right, well, it is spring break season. And I don't have to tell you what that means for most college students. The beach, the parties, and a reckless pursuit of good times in the sun, right? Well, hold on. Some St. Louis students are breaking the mold this year. Spring breaking the mold. We wanted to see for ourselves.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JUSTIN STRINGER, COLLEGE STUDENT: I got a call yesterday about 7:15 and a lady was on the other side of the line, said, well, CNN's going to follow you. And I was like, what?
MEGAN TOWEY, CNN PRODUCER: Hi, my name is Megan, I'm with CNN in New Orleans. How are you doing?
Good, good. I'm actually calling because we're trying to put together a story for this weekend on volunteerism and the students that are coming down here during spring break to volunteer.
KEN TILLIS, CNN PHOTOJOURNALIST: Is she in a good spot?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, it looks like it.
KARREN KNOWLTON, WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: I'm Karren Knowlton, a sophomore mechanical engineer at Washington University. I came here because I wanted to help these people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, everybody, this is the CNN team. KNOWLTON: Justin told me last night, he needed to talk to me, because he said, you guys were coming to ask him questions and you asked for someone who could kind of tell about their experience. Today, I got a mike strapped to me. That's never happened before. So we came, we drove. We had some trouble finding the site.
STRINGER: We're not lost, I just don't know where to turn.
KNOWLTON: We got here, eventually.
STRINGER: Going into the house, my first reaction was to be a little bit overwhelmed.
KNOWLTON: Going inside and seeing it, it really does make me think of last year. And all of the cockroaches, there weren't cockroaches before.
STRINGER: The first thing we're going to do is we're going to carry all of the stuff from the building, all of that loose stuff from the building, and put it out here in the street.
KNOWLTON: We've been clearing out bedrooms, mattresses, TVs, entertainment centers. We're just taking out the drywall and once we do that we'll get the nails. This thing's getting in the way, though. Like, it's a pain.
STRINGER: Hey ladies? Steph, watch out for nails on these boards.
We've got people in there sleeping.
KNOWLTON: I saw you taking the little camera and strapping it to the shovel and then taping the girl as you are shoveling. So you kind of had two views, I thought that was cool.
TILLIS: You're getting really good at sort of staying out of the way. You know, like being there but not like being -- there.
STRINGER: So much fun for me to work alongside, these people, to be one to give up a spring break to come down here and help other people out.
TOWEY: You could have gone to the Bahamas or you could come here for fun, but --
KNOWLTON: Yeah. I feel like my summers for the rest of my life, I'm going to be working. That's really (INAUDIBLE). This is my chance while I'm in college to give my summers to someone else.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And that is a lot of hard work. And they're not the only ones. Some 500 students from Howard University in Washington, D.C. are also helping out in New Orleans this week. We'll talk to a couple of them about their spring break on the Bayou next Sunday. And forget mother goose, we're talking motor goose. Right here the story of Daisy the floating bird is straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A major pet food recall under way today. It covers a long list of brand-names made by the company Menu Foods. The pet food is sold at places like Wal-Mart, Safeway and Kroger. You can go to menufoods.com/recall for the specifics or you can call 1-866-895- 2708. The recall was announced after at least 10 pets ate the food and then died of kidney failure. You can get more on this story at cnn.com.
And now to the story about the one that got away. This huge sunfish was spotted off the coast of Australia in December. It's believed to weigh about 1.5 tons and to give you some perspective, the diver who found it is over six feet tall and weighs some 230 pounds and says, he was dwarfed by the fish. That's a big one. Researchers spotted the sun fish's dorsal fin and thought it was a shark. The diver said the fish's eyeball was bigger than his fist.
Well it's not the kind of crew you normally see on a speedboat. The dog, maybe but the goose, Ken Speak with affiliate KARE in Minneapolis, St. Paul, has more on this wild goose chase.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There we go.
KEN SPEAK, KARE: Dan Stephan says the first time this happened, he thought Daisy would leave. After all, that would be only natural. But she flew then as now close and fast until she decided to stop. You see Daisy appears to know when she has it good and sometimes it's more fun to just ride on the boat rather than fly beside it. But to see her fly so close that Dan Stephan can reach out and touch her, it is one of those things that cannot happen but does.
DAN STEPHAN, BEFRIENDED GOOSE: Yeah, it is odd. I don't know how and why this happens. But nature is a funny thing and this is a silly goose.
SPEAK: But that silly goose appears to have broken the lines which separate the species. That silly goose has become friends with a dog named Sam. And a person who could very well be mother goose.
STEPHAN: Good girl.
SPEAK: Ken Speak, KARE 11 news, Cross Lake.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: That is so cute! Still much more ahead on CNN. Next on "LOU DOBBS THIS WEEK" a special report on why U.S. attorneys are failing to prosecute some drug smugglers crossing the southern border. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, the latest on today's top stories and then "LOU DOBBS THIS WEEK" right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Hello again I'm Fredericka Whitfield. Here's what's happening right now in the news. Another bloody Sunday in Baghdad as the U.S. enters its fifth year of fighting in Iraq. Eleven people killed, 35 wounded in today's insurgent attacks. Most of the casualties came from a car bombing outside a crowded market.
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