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D.A. to Give Update on Jena 6 Case; Suspicious Package Leads to Delays in Eugene Airport; Military Fire on Demonstrators in Myanmar; Missing Chicago Woman Found Dead; Judge Rules in Favor of Cuban Father in Custody Dispute
Aired September 27, 2007 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Blood on the cobblestones of Myanmar's capital city, for a second straight day. Military rulers unleash an onslaught against pro-democracy protesters. The whole world is watching.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: In a Miami courtroom, another Cuban child is locked in another tug-of-war between a family in Florida and her biological father back home. The judge has just made a ruling.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Supporters of Jena 6 defendant Mychal Bell have cause to celebrate today and not just his possible release from jail.
The latest now from CNN's Sean Callebs. He's in Jena, Louisiana.
Sean, bring us up to date.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, some significant developments here in Jena. We know that in one hour district attorney Reed Walters. He's going to hold a news conference and talk about the latest.
We also know that Mychal Bell, who has really been at the focal point of so much of the attention surrounding the so-called Jena 6, the massive demonstration last week, his defense team has filed a couple of significant motions.
Firstly, they're going back to an appellate court, trying to get some kind of bond file so Bell will be released from the facility. We don't know how the appeals court is looking at that just yet.
Secondly, if that does not happen they want Mychal Bell removed from the adult holding facility, La Salle Corrections Center where he's being held, and moved into a juvenile facility.
Last night, Governor Blanco met with Reverend Al Sharpton and talked with the media. And at the time, they indicated that the district attorney has chosen not to pursue charges against Mychal Bell in adult court. Instead, he's going to pursue charges in a juvenile court.
And that, Reverend Al Sharpton said, is significant.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. AL SHARPTON, CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER: If this goes into the juvenile courts, we are not going to interfere with the process once it is fairly should be. That is not our role. And I think that we respect the roles of law if the law is being applied properly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CALLEBS: And that's one thing all along that many demonstrators have maintained. They believe that it was unfair for Mychal Bell, who was 16 at the time he was charged, to be treated as an adult.
The district attorney disagrees vehemently and said it was simply a vicious attack involving Bell and five other African-American students on a white student, Justin Barker, last year at Jena High School.
But once again, Kyra, we should know in just about one hour what the district attorney has to say about this ongoing case.
PHILLIPS: Well, as you know, Sean, he really hasn't said up until about now, within the past week or so ago, and he actually wrote this op-ed piece in the "New York Times", detailing why he's doing what he's doing. Really, the first time we got to read such detail.
What do you expect him to say at this presser? I mean, is anybody there giving you a sense for how specific he's going to be?
CALLEBS: No, we're really not getting any sense for exactly how specific he's going to be. Is he going to talk about why he is choosing not to pursue charges in adult court?
I want to get to that op-ed piece, because you're exactly right. A lot of people have been highly critical of the D.A., saying he simply hasn't said very much publicly about this case. He says he prefers to try it in court rather than the public.
But one thing he did write in "The New York Times" yesterday, a reporter asked him if he would do anything differently. He said that he would definitely make his case to the public much more differently than he did in the past.
So he's upset when the news media calls it a schoolyard fight. He says a fight is like between one or two students who slug each other and maybe roll around in the dirt. He said this is dramatically different, that when Barker walked out of school he was simply cold- cocked by Mychal Bell, who's a big, strong kid and then the other members of the so-called Jena 6 began kicking him.
He said that is a beating, a pummeling, has nothing to do with a fight. And that is the reason he chose to pursue such serious charges. Also, Kyra, I want to touch on just for a second. Remember the nooses at the high school which so many people really began the racial strife. He said he did -- the D.A. did pursue the possibility of pursuing a hate crime charge against the people involved in that noose, but he says there are no such statutes in Louisiana state law. For it to be a hate crime, it has to be associated with something else, like a robbery or a beating.
PHILLIPS: We'll follow up. Sean Callebs there in front of the courthouse.
A lot is probably going to happen today. We do expect 2 p.m. Eastern Time to hear from the D.A., Reed Walters. Also possibly, the release of Mychal Bell. It will be interesting to hear what Mychal Bell has to say about what really happened during that fight at Jena High School.
LEMON: And we go now to Illinois and a grim ending in the search of a missing Chicago woman.
A family member says a body found near a suburban Chicago forest preserve this morning is Nailah Franklin. The 28-year-old pharmaceutical sales rep was reported missing more than a week ago when she failed to show up for work.
Police haven't confirmed the identity, only that the body was found unclothed and not far from Franklin's abandoned car. Police -- police also have not named any suspects. We'll have a live report straight ahead, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Meantime, we want to get you to the CNN news room, the breaking news desk, as a matter of fact. Fredricka Whitfield working on the details for us. What do you have, Fred?
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Don, I want to take you to Eugene, Oregon, where for a moment the airport there was evacuated and locked down, because somehow a suspicious piece of luggage that was bound for Denver -- it was United Express Flight 6649 -- somehow it was separated from the passenger who was to be on that plane.
The plane did take off, did land in Denver, and apparently, according to TSA and other federal officials, they will be asking questions of that passenger who belongs to that suspicious piece of luggage, as to why it may have been left behind. Was it accidental? Was it on purpose?
And, you know, earlier reports indicated that this suspicious package may actually be some sort of explosive device. We're still waiting confirmation on what was found of that piece of luggage.
Meantime, flights are able to land at Eugene, Oregon's, airport, but no departing flights right now, so we're going to continue to watch the situation there -- Don.
LEMON: Fredricka Whitfield, we'll check back. Thank you very much for that. PHILLIPS: Normally Noah's Arc, a nursery and preschool in Jefferson City, Tennessee, is filled with children. Today it's closed and under investigation.
Acting Tuesday on an anonymous tip, state investigators say they found a 4-month-old alone in a darkened bathroom with a pacifier taped to his mouth. They immediately called 911.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAURA FAIN, DHS: This is the evaluator that's with me, went to the back to investigate a child who had tape on its mouth with a pacifier shoved inside of it. She asked me if we removed it, and I said no. Did you remove it?
LYNN FOX, DHS: No, they have now.
FAIN: They have now.
So you saw it?
FOX: In the bathroom. I heard the baby crying.
FAIN: We're standing outside because we're a little upset.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.
FAIN: And we'll afraid we might say something that we might regret.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, police say that one of the caregivers told them it had happened before, calling it a mutual idea between her and another caregiver. No comment yet from the daycare owner.
LEMON: And a bad story gets more twisted every day. That boat on the right side of your screen, there, right in the middle of your screen, is the Joe Cool, found drifting between Florida and Cuba with signs that something went horribly wrong on board.
As we've been reporting in the CNN NEWSROOM, two men hired the crew of this boat to thank you them to the Bahamas. A day later the men were found in a lifeboat and, according to court papers, one is now telling a story of piracy and murder. No sign of the four-person crew.
Now, these are the missing people, a husband and wife among them. Their frantic relatives are hoping for the best and not buying the pirate story.
CNN's Nancy Grace spoke with one of them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were just hoping and praying, you know, there is a chance. This story that this guy's saying doesn't make sense. You know, these guys -- my whole family, my best friend, they are all missing, but they've been out in the water their whole lives. If someone can survive, it would be them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The boat's records reportedly show it making a turn towards Cuba before it started drifting. The man telling the pirate story is a Cuban national. The other is wanted for a theft in Arkansas. Both are in federal custody.
PHILLIPS: For the second straight day, the roar of a quiet nation met the sound of military gunfire.
Reports out of Myanmar say that troops fired again on pro- democracy protesters, killing several people. The bloodshed began yesterday when the military junta apparently lost patience with an anti-government movement led by Buddhist monks.
With the very latest, here's CNN's Dan Rivers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Running for their lives, as troops open fire. This was the moment one of the main boulevards in Yangon was filled with tear gas and brutally cleared by the junta. It didn't take long. Those that didn't run fast enough were caught and led away.
One protester posted a video of the protests on the Internet. It shows how the day started peacefully, with crowds singing in front of the city's famous Sule Pagoda.
A man bearing a placard supporting the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy, is enthusiastically applauded.
But then soldiers arrive in trucks. The atmosphere changes, and the crowd starts jeering.
And soon, the shooting starts. The man holding the camera runs for cover. Among those hit, a Japanese journalist filming nearby. A western tourist told me what he saw.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was the most scary point for me. The most scary, and the most terrible for me was -- was this little -- this little guy. This soldiers are all over -- I think they were 18 years old or something, so young, only young -- young men come here and they are going to shoot on these kids.
RIVERS: One woman also told of the moment she saw fellow protesters shot dead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They shot the crowd. So we ran, and I ran, as well. And I saw one guy, he is running. He was running at the middle of the street, and he was shot. I was very angry at -- I have no weapons. The only thing that I can do is I can shout. RIVERS: The protesters are fighting for an end to military rule. The army has run this country for 45 years. General Than Shwe is the latest in a long line of dictators.
He's refused to set free pro-democracy heroine Aung San Sun Kyi, who's been under house arrest for 12 years.
The last outbreak of dissent was in 1988. Then, up to 3,000 people are thought to have died; many students who led the rebellion. This time, Buddhist monks have been leading the marches. But that hasn't stopped the military's brutal crackdown.
State-run television has admitted nine people were killed. But with monasteries being raided and the floors soaked with blood, the death toll may already be much higher. And the monks are noticeably absent from the crowds of protesters now.
Dan Rivers, CNN, Bangkok.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And just as we've been hearing from Dan Rivers, we're also hearing from the Bush administration. Apparently, it's announcing imposing economic sanctions against 14 senior officials of the government in Myanmar.
Also, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino made this comment just moments ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN PERINO, WHITE HOUSE SPOKESWOMAN: I call on all nations that have influence with the regime to join us in supporting the aspirations of the Burmese people and to tell the Burmese junta to cease using force on its own people, who are peacefully expressing their desire for change.
By its own accounts, the junta has already killed at least nine nonviolent demonstrators and many others who have been injured and arrested as they seek to express their views peacefully.
I urge the Burmese soldiers and police not to use force on their fellow citizens. I call on those who embrace the values of human rights and freedom to support the legitimate demands of the Burmese people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: In addition, the Bush administration once again announcing imposing economic sanctions against 14 senior officials of the government in Myanmar. We'll bring you more as we get more information.
LEMON: Absolutely.
Torn between parents. Who gets to make a home for the Cuban girl at the center of an international custody case? Caring foster parents, a father in Cuba, or a birth mother with a problematic past? A judge has made a decision.
PHILLIPS: Plus, some say it could wreak more havoc than a hurricane or even the Great Depression. A threat to the U.S. power supply. CNN has exclusive details.
LEMON: And have you been misdiagnosed? Find out how we can empower ourselves as patients.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Well, a heartbreaking end to a search for a missing Chicago woman. Family members say a body found this morning in suburban Chicago is Nailah Franklin's.
Let's go straight to Marcella Raymond of CNN affiliate WGN for the very latest on that -- Marcella.
MARCELLA RAYMOND, WGN CORRESPONDENT: Don, good afternoon.
There are family members that are telling us that the body that was found here is Nailah Franklin, the 28-year-old who's been missing for almost two weeks.
But Chicago police are very firm about telling us that they have not made a positive identification yet. So, they are waiting to see, you know, when they're going to do that. We're waiting for that. And then we should have that probably in the next few hours or so.
In the meantime, the body has been taken away, is taken to the Cook County morgue, where I am assuming that family members will be to, hopefully, identify this body.
It's been a long waiting game for them. They have just been praying all morning that this is not the body of the 28-year-old pharmaceuticals rep who was last seen last Sunday, almost two weeks ago, Sunday, at a south suburb of Chicago.
She was having dinner at an Outback Steakhouse, and no one knows who she was with. She was with somebody and texting family members, you know, saying she would call them in just a few hours after she was done with dinner. And then never called them. Didn't show up for work the next day on a Monday. And that's when the search began for her.
So, her car was found just a week ago in Hammond, Indiana, in northwest Indiana. And now this morning, early this morning, a body found here just two miles from that Outback Steakhouse where Nailah was last seen.
The body, we are told, is badly decomposed there. The body was unclothed. They will not tell us the race of the body. Detectives saying they really don't know, because the body is decomposed. But they've been searching this area. There's a lot of woods around here. They've been searching this area for, you know, the past week or so, just trying to see if there are some clues.
And apparently, some police officers still going out looking in these woods. Came across something that led them to believe that it was a body here, and that's when they found her.
LEMON: Right. Right.
RAYMOND: So still no positive I.D. But, you know, we're just waiting for that. The coincidence is just too great, though, Don.
LEMON: So Marcella, lots of ins and outs of this story. Apparently, the car was found this week in Hammond, Indiana, and then in Calumet City, in a lake or a retention pond or something, some of her belongings were found, what have you.
RAYMOND: Right. Right.
LEMON: But then also, the boyfriend, we understand, an ex- boyfriend who had allegedly been threatening her, police are questioning him.
RAYMOND: Yes.
LEMON: Is he officially a suspect in all of this?
RAYMOND: No, they won't say he's officially a suspect. We do know that they did talk with him earlier this week. He is not in police custody right now. So they have called him a person of interest.
Apparently, he is an acquaintance of Nailah's, and he had been threatening her, making some harassing phone calls.
LEMON: Yes.
RAYMOND: She filed a police report with Chicago police. And so, you know, that would be someone, obviously, that they would want to talk to.
LEMON: All right. Marcella Raymond, thank you very much for that report.
PHILLIPS: Well, if you remember Elian Gonzalez' story out of Miami, it will sound very familiar. A judge handed down an initial ruling in favor of a Cuban farmer who wants to take his 5-year-old daughter back to Cuba.
Susan Candiotti is standing by with all the details -- Susan.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.
After nearly a month of highly emotional, dramatic and at times conflicting testimony, a judge has ruled in essence that Rafael Izquierdo, a Cuban father, is not an unfit parent to his 5-year-old daughter.
The judge ruled that, No. 1 he did not fail to protect his child from an abusive mother, who later attempted suicide; and, two, that he did not abandon his child by failing to stop the mother from bringing from Cuba to the United States. And the judge dismissed any notion that the father was motivated by politics.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDGE JERI COHEN, MIAMI-DADE CIRCUIT COURT: The court rejects the motion that by allowing EPI to leave Cuba for a better life with her mother and brother in the United States, even knowing that he may not see her again for many years, that the father manifested an attempt to abandon her.
Certainly, the policy of the United States is to encourage parents and children to leave Cuba legally and to settle in the United States. To find that Izquierdo abandoned EPI by allowing her to leave Cuba with her mother would set a dangerous precedent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: The judge, of course, referring to the small child by her initials.
Now, some people have compared this case to Elian, but unlike Elian Gonzalez, that case, this one was wholly decided in a family court. And, also, it barely raised any commotion in this community.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): It's hard not to draw comparisons to Elian Gonzalez when one of the main players in this latest custody battle is the man seen here tossing a baseball to then 6-year-old Elian.
Former Miami sports agent Joe Cubas and his wife are foster parents to a little Cuban girl who, at the request of a judge, the media has agreed not to identify.
Unlike Elian, the girl's Cuban father didn't object when his daughter moved with his mother and 13-year-old half brother to Miami in 2005.
But soon after arriving, the mother attempted suicide, and the state of Florida judged her unfit to be a parent. The mother lost custody of both children.
Ever since, the girl's father, a farmer in Cuba, has been fighting to take his daughter home, and won a Visa, just as Elian's father did, to wage his battle in person.
"I am her father and adore my daughter very much," says Rafael Izquierdo. He adds, "I'm a father who's proven his love for his daughter. Of course, I believe that children belong with their parents." While foster parents to the girl, Cubas and his wife already have adopted the girl's half brother. They argue the children should not be split.
JOE CUBAS, FOSTER PARENT: I don't believe this is a matter of whether a better life could be provided. More important issue is these two children have been together their entire lives.
CANDIOTTI: Cubas won fame for helping Cuban baseball players to defect, including major league pitchers Orlando and Livan Hernandez.
The little girl's father says politics and fame aren't the issue. Blood lines are.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: Of course, the case isn't over yet. The foster parents will be filing an appeal. And also, there is another hearing next month to decide whether removing the child from her foster parents and half brother would harm this little girl -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: We'll keep following it. Susan Candiotti live from Miami, thanks.
LEMON: A frightening scenario for Americans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Could a large-scale, simultaneous cyber attack knock out power to a huge part of the country for months?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Stick around for an answer that may cause you to shudder.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Verizon is hanging up on an old text messaging policy and allowing a controversial group to use its network after all. Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange with the news of this about- face.
Hi, Susan.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Interesting story, interesting times we live in. Lots of different ways you can get your message out, Don. And now Verizon will allow an abortion rights group to use its network for a sign-up text messaging program.
Verizon initially denied the group, NAWAL, access to the network, saying it had the right to block controversial or unsavory text. Today, the telecom giant reversed course, saying the initial decision was incorrect.
Verizon says the initial decision was based on a, quote, "dusty internal policy," unquote, that was designed to prevent spam. Verizon said that policy was made long before text messaging became so popular -- Don.
LEMON: Dusty internal policy. OK.
LISOVICZ: Their words.
LEMON: What exactly is sending a text message again, and what's the group trying to do on this?
LISOVICZ: This is interesting. And I guess you know on the eve of a presidential election year we're going to see more of it.
You may have seen ads that ask you to send a text message to a five-digit code. That puts you on a list to receive future text messages. NAWAL's web site says people who sign up for the service can expect to receive text messages once or twice a month on key issues at a time when it can make a critical difference. In other words, when the timing is important.
The other major wireless carriers allowed the sign-up.
Text messages have become an important communication tool. Interest groups use them to rally their forces.
And just yesterday St. John's University here in New York used its sign-up program for security-related messages when a gunman was on the loose on campus. No one was hurt in that incident.
And, of course, text messaging has become a primary way of communication for a lot of teens. Many parents know that first-hand.
As for Wall Street, stocks are barely moving today as investors digest several economic reports. New home sales tumbled to a seven- year low in August and are down 21 percent from a year ago. Piggybacks from this -- from the report we got.
And existing home sales a couple days ago, also very bad. Prices fell in this report, too.
The Dow, however, is up more than 11 percent this year as the blue chips inch closer to the 14,000 level. Inch is the right word to use this afternoon. The Dow Industrials are inching higher, up 6.5 points: 13,884. So less than 120 points to 14,000.
LEMON: It was -- it was just 666 right there, when I went ooh.
LISOVICZ: Ooh, that's a jinx. Take it back.
LEMON: Yes, take -- fingers crossed or whatever.
LISOVICZ: The NASDAQ is up eight. It's up about 0.33 percent, Don.
LEMON: What do you have up next for us? Anything interesting?
LISOVICZ: Well, we're going to have something on Wal-Mart. Hopes that the price of some of its pills will be a bit easier to swallow. I'll tell you what meds are getting the $4 treatment in the next hour of NEWSROOM. That's something that will also be interesting to a lot of our viewers, Don.
Back to you.
LEMON: Look forward to that. Thank you, Susan.
PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, homeland security identifies a new threat, one that could leave all of us in the dark, and it could happen with the simple click of a mouse. The story you need to see, next in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Hello, everyone, I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. America's power supply, a target for terror. A shocking experiment shows how destructive an attack could happen with just the click of a mouse.
LEMON: Is the government doing enough to prevent it? We're investigating. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
PHILLIPS: New hope today for supporters of Jena 6 defendant Mychal Bell. The Parish D.A. Reed Walters has agreed to try Bell's case in juvenile court. A move that could pave the way for Bell's release on bond. He was originally charged and convicted as an adult.
Word of the decision from Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. KATHLEEN BLANCO, LOUISIANA: Late this afternoon he gave me a call and informed me that -- that he had rendered his decision and he thought that the case would best be served in the juvenile system. Of course, I thanked him profusely. And I know that's a very wise decision, that he has made.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: The Jena 6 defendants are accused of beating a white schoolmate. Three months earlier nooses were hung from a tree on the school's campus. Bell is the only one of the Jena 6 defendants behind bars. The prosecutor in the Jena 6 case, District Attorney Reed Walters, is scheduled to hold a news conference at 2:00 p.m. eastern. You'll see it live right here on CNN.
LEMON: Who is watching the border? A new U.S. government report says far too often nobody. Federal investigators today released details of their successful attempts to cross into Canada on foot unnoticed. U.S. agents even set up a sting hoping they'd be caught, smuggling fake radioactive material in large red bags into and out of Canada. They capture themselves in photos and video, and are appearing in person before a Senate committee. PHILLIPS: Think of all the ways that we could rely on electricity and yet today we're hearing the nation's power supply could be an easy target for terrorists, Potentially crippled for months with a single click of a mouse. Here's CNN Homeland Security Correspondent, Jeanne Meserve.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: This is an electric generator. It is vital because it's the kind that power companies use to bring electricity to your home. It shudders and shakes, then goes up in smoke. Destroyed just as effectively as if it was a smuggled bomb. But all it took was a computer. Some patient work, and the click of a mouse.
ROBERT JAMISON, HOMELAND SECURITY DEPT.: What's new here is that through a cyber attack, you can actually get in and cause physical damage to equipment. That's the new piece of this.
MESERVE: This previously classified video of a test cyber attack on a power plant control system has sent shock waves through the federal government and the power industry. Could a large-scale, simultaneous cyber attack knock out power to a huge part of the country for months?
The nightmare scenario, at first it would be inconvenient. Lights out, businesses shut. No teller machines. No gas pumps. By day three, stores would be out of food. Emergency generators, out of gas. After ten days with no hope of power being restored, people want to evacuate. But where to? With what fuel?
And with no emergency services, medicine, heating, or air- conditioning, lives could be lost. Listen to what economist Scott Borg projects if such a nightmare scenario played out with a loss of power to a third of the country for three months.
SCOTT BORG, U.S. CYBER CONSEQUENCES UNIT: It's equivalent to 40 to 50 large hurricanes striking all at once. It's greater economic damage than any modern economy has ever suffered.
MESERVE: Even the Great Depression?
BORG: It's greater than the Great Depression.
MESERVE: The potential damage is so severe, the Department of Homeland Security asks CNN not to divulge certain technical details about the government experiment. Dubbed Aurora (ph), the test was conducted last march at the Idaho National Lab. We can say that the research involved hacking in a replica of a power plant's control system.
Researchers change the operating cycle of the generator, sending it out of control, until it self-destructed. Since the test, the Department of Homeland Security has been working feverishly with the electric industry to thwart such an attack.
Can you say right now that this vulnerability has been eliminated?
JAMISON: No, I can't say it's been eliminated. But I can say a lot of risk has been taken off the table.
MESERVE: But the job of protecting power plants is hard, because control systems that open and close valves and switches and govern the load are increasingly connected to the Internet for efficiency reasons, making them vulnerable. Joe Weiss is an expert on power plant control systems and has been sounding the alarm for five years.
So, the same systems we're using here are being used in Iran, Pakistan?
JOE WEISS, APPLIED CONTROL SOLUTIONS: Very, very possibly.
MESERVE: Which means people there know how to run them?
WEISS: Absolutely.
MESERVE: They know how to bring them down?
WEISS: Absolutely. They have the same training, the same passwords.
MESERVE: And security experts say, it would be virtually impossible to figure out who attacked. In 2002, the current Director of National Intelligence, Mike McConnell, and former CIA Director James Woolsey, were among more than 50 computer and security experts who begged President Bush for a massive cyber defense program to avoid a national disaster. Five years later, there is no such program.
JAMISON: We need to get on this and get on it quickly.
MESERVE: Keeping them honest, we looked at how much is being spent on cyber security, across the federal government, it is projected there will be a slight increase next year, but homeland security cyber security budget is projected to decrease, with only $12 million budgeted for protecting control systems.
DHS points out that its own research uncovered the power plant vulnerability and action it is taking with industry is reducing the risk. But the question remains -- can the U.S. close the cyber security holes before the hackers find them?
Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And Jeanne Meserve is still investigating this. She'll have more at 10:00 Eastern time on "AC 360."
LEMON: And we go now to Illinois and a possible grim ending to the search for a missing Chicago woman. A family member says, that the body found near a suburban Chicago forest preserve is that of Nailah Franklin. The 28-year-old pharmaceutical rep was reporting missing more than a week ago when she failed to show up to work. A family member is saying that, that's according to the Associated Press. But police say they haven't confirmed the identity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF RUSSELL LARSON, CALUMET CITY, ILL. POLICE: At no time has anyone identified this body. OK? That's the first thing I need to tell you. And no one has indicated to anyone who this might be or might not be. The only people that have been close to this -- this deceased are police officers and they absolutely cannot make an identification.
So, I want to make that clear, there are people walking through the crowd apparently purporting to be people that they are not or they are confused. However, this family that everybody anticipates, we're trying to be considerate of their feelings and their emotions, so try to keep all that in mind.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: That body was found not far from Franklin's car and police also have not named any suspects.
PHILLIPS: Some diseases are misdiagnosed over and over again. The most common ones and ways to avoid it. Straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM. And playpen dangers. An infant's death sparks a recall. Details for parents, straight ahead, from the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: When we go to the doctor, we expect to be diagnosed correctly. But that doesn't always happen.
CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now with some thoughts on avoiding those misdiagnoses.
Actually, you hear about these quite a bit.
ELIZABETH COHEN, MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You do hear about it quite a bit. In fact, there are several -- sometimes you hear it happening even to famous people, who have all the money and all the means to get to good health care.
For example, I'm sure many people remember John Ritter. John Ritter, the actor, he died of a -- excuse me, an aortic dissection. And in a lawsuit, his widow alleged that he had been to the hospital twice and was misdiagnosed. So in this, there's John Ritter right now. You can see him on our Web site.
If you go to CNN.com/health, you can learn about five diseases that are commonly misdiagnosed. You really need to know these, because if you're diagnosed with them or you're diagnosed with something similar, you might want to know, could it have been that disease?
Now, Kyra, another one that experts tell me is commonly misdiagnosed are heart attacks.
PHILLIPS: But that's so obvious.
COHEN: You would think, you would think it's big and obvious. And I said to the former head of the American Heart Association, I said that's big and obvious, someone clutches their chest, they fall to the ground. And he said, that's the Hollywood heart attack. And only some people have those. Other people, they might just feel a fullness in their chest and nausea and go to the doctor and say, I just don't feel great, and the doctor sometimes misses the heart attack. So, that's something that people need to be aware of.
And in my column, I list five kinds of questions that you can ask your doctor to avoid being misdiagnosed.
PHILLIPS: Can you tell us some of that?
COHEN: Absolutely, yes, OK. Let's go over a couple of them. One of them that you can do is that you can get your doctors to talk to each other. Anyone who has a bunch of different doctors working with them knows that that can be really tough to do, so Dr. A gets the results of a test and doesn't share it with Dr. B. That's a problem.
So, one person said, you know what, the conference call function on your cell phone, use it. Make phone appointments with a couple different doctors at one time and then conference them all in together. You don't even have to warn them that you're doing that.
Secondly, be wary when doctors work in shifts. If you're in the hospital and a test is done and then the doctors change shifts, don't be confident that that test result got passed on to the next shift. There have been studies that show that too often, those test results don't get passed on and people get misdiagnosed.
PHILLIPS: If you missed this information, go to CNN.com, read your column.
COHEN: That's right.
PHILLIPS: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.
COHEN: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: All right, well, for other commonly misdiagnosed diseases and how you can avoid being a victim, you can go see Elizabeth's "Empowered Patient" feature. Actually, it's at CNN.com/health.
LEMON: A little wine with dinner is good for you, right? Well, maybe not, if you're a woman. Researchers at Kaiser Permanente say women who have one or two drinks a day increase their breast cancer risk by 10 percent. Women who have three or more drinks a day increase their risk by 30 percent. Similar to smoking a pack of cigarettes. Researchers say it doesn't matter whether it's wine, beer, or hard alcohol. It's the alcohol content that counts. PHILLIPS: Playpens are supposed to be a safe place for babies, but hundreds of thousands are being recalled today because of a dangerous design flaw. The Consumer Products Safety Commission says that Kolcraft is recalling about 425,000 Playard brand playpens following the death of a 10-month-old. The recall affects 12 models which have raised changing tables with restraint straps. Those straps, they form a loop under the changing table and then it poses a choking hazard. Owners are being advised to cut off that strap and contact the company for a repair kit. Their number is 888-655-8484. You can also logon to the Web site www.kolcraft.com.
LEMON: She is leading in the polls and the primary season is drawing near. Up next, did any of Hillary Clinton's Democratic rivals dare to criticize her directly last night? Well, what did they and didn't they say, straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Well, from the very beginning, last night's Democratic presidential debate focused heavily on how the party hopefuls would handle the war in Iraq. When asked if they could guarantee all U.S. combat troops would be out of Iraq by the end of the next presidential term, the leading candidates balked.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D-IL) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe that we should have all our troops out by 2013. But I don't want to make promises.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D-NY) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is my goal to have all troops out by the end of my first term. But I agree with Barack. It is very difficult to know what we're going to be inheriting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Excuse me, you'll pledge to have all troops out by January of 2013?
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: By January -- by April of 2007, and you can mark that on your calendars, if you want to take a new direction.
TIM RUSSERT, NBC: Well, it's September of '07 now. So we're going to have a problem.
KUCINICH: Make that 2009. I'm ready to be president today!
RUSSERT: All right.
CLINTON: This is for political purposes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, the debate was also notable for what did not happen. None of Hillary Clinton's rivals criticized her directly, even as she appears to be solidifying her standing as a party frontrunner. But the moderator did try to draw a distinction between her views on handling terror suspects and the views of her husband, the former president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: I think it's dangerous to go down this path.
RUSSERT: The guest who laid out this scenario for me with that proposed solution was William Jefferson Clinton last year.
CLINTON: Well ...
RUSSERT: So he disagrees with you.
CLINTON: Well, he's not standing here right now.
RUSSERT: So, there is a disagreement?
CLINTON: Well, I'll talk to him later.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Senator Joe Biden warned that Hillary Clinton's past policy roles as First Lady could come back to haunt her. She said she would face the same opposition from special interests that she and her husband faced a decade ago. In his words, a lot of old stuff comes back from past battles.
Well, big changes to report in the New Hampshire Republican primary race. The latest CNN/WMUR poll finds Mitt Romney with just a one-point lead over Rudy Giuliani, 25 percent to 24 percent. Back in July, Romney led Giuliani by 14 points. John McCain, well, he has gained six points since July. He's now at 18 percent. Fred Thompson held steady at 13 percent. Well keep in mind, only one in eight New Hampshire Republicans say they have definitely made up their minds about whom to vote for.
PHILLIPS: Our Republican presidential forum targeting African- American voters is going forward tonight. But there will be some empty spots on stage. The four leading candidates, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, John McCain and Mitt Romney are all skipping the Baltimore event, blaming scheduling conflicts.
The moderator, Tavis Smiley, tells CNN that Republicans have already skipped the Spanish language debate and that they are missing another chance to reach a new audience.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TAVIS SMILEY, FORUM MODERATOR: When you say no to every black and brown request you receive, is that a scheduling problem or is that a pattern? And I think it's pretty clear that it's a pattern.
Why that pattern exists, you have to ask them, but one cannot deny that they're trying to go, these frontrunners, these Republican front-runners, trying to go through this entire primary process and never have to address voters of color and never be queried by journalists of color, and I think in the most multi-cultural, multi- racial, multi-ethnic America ever, that, quite frankly, is unacceptable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Former Republican House speaker Newt Gingrich, who's still considering his own White House run, has joined those criticizing the frontrunners for skipping tonight's events.
CNN and YouTube recently sponsored a Democratic debate. Now, we're getting ready for the Republicans' turn. The GOP presidential hopefuls will square off Wednesday, November 28th, so you can submit a question at YouTube.com/Republicandebate and of course, you can watch it right here on CNN.
LEMON: Waiting, worrying, and suing. A Texas man is doing all of the above after getting some really bad news about a surgery he's had. The bone of contention? Well, it's literally a bone.
Here's CNN's Chris Hawes, or CNN -- from CNN affiliate WFAA.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS HAWES, WFAA REPORTER (voice-over): Jim Livingston endured a herniated disk in his neck for nearly a year. Even walking caused great pain.
JIM LIVINGSTON, RECEIVED DONOR BONE: I thought I was having a hard attack, it hurt so bad.
HAWES: In 2005, his surgeon in Ft. Worth removed the disk, and replaced it with a small bone from a donor.
LIVINGSTON: So, I considered the surgery very successful.
HAWES (on camera): Then last year, Livingston got a disturbing call from here at the hospital. Doctors believe the bone in his neck was stolen.
According to investigators, a company, Biomedical Tissue Services, paid off funeral home directors to allow them to harvest bone and tissue from bodies inside the funeral homes, without the grieving families ever finding out.
(voice-over): According to the FDA, BTS supplied the tissue to five other firms. The Food and Drug Administration got involved, publicizing a voluntary recall of the unused tissue, citing concerns over the donors' medical histories.
LIVINGSTON: It was very surreal at first. I -- using the term recall, I asked them if they wanted the bone back, which I knew wasn't really an option as it's grafted into my other neck bones, but ...
HAWES (on camera): Do you feel bad for your donor knowing that he didn't sign a donor card? LIVINGSTON: Yes, I mean -- and his family. I mean, they may not even know that happened to him.
HAWES (voice-over): Livingston is now suing Biomedical Tissue Services and the companies that supplied the bone to his surgeon, hoping to force stricter safeguards and the release of his donor's records. So far, his tests are negative and the donations are sterilized to kill any diseases.
LIVINGSTON: Well of course, in today's world, I don't know if the gentleman died of AIDS, bone cancer.
HAWES: But for Livingston, only knowing what caused the death of his unwilling donor will convince him what's now inside his body won't one day cause his own.
In Ft. Worth, Chris Hawes, Channel 8 News.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Well, it's unclear just how many patients are out there who received stolen tissue or bone.
PHILLIPS: And we expect to hear from the district attorney in the Jena 6 case, 2:00 Eastern hour. Louisiana's governor says that D.A. Reed Walters has decided not to appeal the decision sending defendant Mychal Bell's case to juvenile court. Bell's convictions as an adult were thrown out. Now, his attorneys are trying to get him released on bond.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Former president Bill Clinton is butting heads with the New York City restaurant owner. At issue, a picture of Clinton's daughter Chelsea that hangs in the popular eatery, the owner Nino Selimaj, is in the picture with Chelsea. There it is right there.
Well, he says he's gotten a letter from the former president's office demanding that it be taken down, right now. It hangs alongside photos of other celebrities who have eaten there, including Rudy Giuliani. Well, Selimaj says the letter says Chelsea is a private citizen and hasn't given her permission for the photo to hang in the restaurant.
The next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
An appeals court ruled, demonstrators marched, but Reed Walters stood his ground.
PHILLIPS: Now, through a change of heart, from the district attorney who prosecuted the Jena 6, that could change everything for the only teenage defendant still locked up.
Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
We're about to hear from Reed Walters live in Jena, Louisiana.
LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon.
You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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