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Nevada Police Name Suspect in Alleged Videotaped Sexual Assault; Chicago Police Under Fire

Aired September 28, 2007 - 15:00   ET

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

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, her name is Madison. And detectives in Nevada also are naming a man who may -- may be the one seen committing unspeakable acts of repulsion on that videotape. Now, if only they knew where Madison was and her abuser. The search goes on.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And, when police are the problem, who you going to call? In Chicago, cops who allegedly crossed the line are reported by the thousands and disciplined almost never.

Our Randi Kaye keeps them honest in a two-part report this hour right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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

NGUYEN: Yes, good afternoon, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen, in for Kyra Phillips today. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Let's get you the latest now on a search for a little girl now named as Madison. She was seen on a tape involved with just horrific sex acts with a man that we are learning a lot more about today. Let's take a listen to Sheriff Tony out of Nevada.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY DEMEO, NYE COUNTY, NEVADA, SHERIFF: Chester Arthur Stiles -- Chester Arthur Stiles is wanted by Las Vegas Police Department for sexual assault and lewdness with a minor under the age of 14 years of age. There is a nationwide warrant out for him from Metro, Las Vegas Police Metropolitan Police, and there's also an FBI warrant for him as well, fugitive to escape prosecution.

So, those warrants are active and the FBI gave us the information early yesterday. We're following up on some additional information that we had received, and we are looking for him. He's not considered a suspect, but he's considered person of interest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Again, that was Sheriff Tony DeMeo out of Nye County, Nevada.

The main point there, being, that there is a man of interest in connection with this videotape that was found. That person again being Chester Arthur Stiles. He's wanted on both state and federal warrants.

We also learned a little bit more on the timeline of how this tape came in the hands of police officers there in Nevada. And we learned a little bit more about the little girl on that tape, and her name being Madison.

As soon as we know much more in this investigation, of course, we will bring that to you. But, in the meantime, we will stay on top of it -- Don.

LEMON: She survived the crash, Betty, but the bureaucracy almost killed her.

A 33-year-old woman near Seattle crashed her SUV last week on her way home from work. She was trapped in the wreckage at the bottom of a ravine for eight days before rescuers got to her. Her kidneys are damaged and she's on a breathing tube. Doctors say she's improving, but it's still too early to tell how bad the damage is.

Her husband says, getting the law to look for her was an ordeal unto itself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM RIDER, CRASH VICTIM'S HUSBAND: I got there. They sat down and they had the Miranda rights on paper in front of me and he had to take the time to explain that to me, even though I knew them. I signed the paper.

He took it back from me. He says by law I have to explain this to you, another way their hands are tied. And I knew the moment I saw that it was becoming a criminal investigation, which I didn't know it was going to untie their hands and make such a miraculous discovery. I'm glad it did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: After all the red tape was cleared rescuers got to her in minutes. Doctors said, if she had been treated the day of the crash, her injuries would not threaten her life. A spokesman for the King County sheriff says employees followed standard procedures.

NGUYEN: Let's take you now to suburban Chicago where police are just now confirming a body was found yesterday near a forest preserve is that of 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.

Her body was found not far from where her abandoned car was found last week. Now, the cause of death, well, that is not known just yet, but police have not named as well a suspect in the case, so the investigation does continue.

We also want to give you another follow-up to a grisly case in Texas that we have been following at CNN, a neighbor of a 6-year-old girl found hanged in her family's garage faces charges in her sexual assault and death. The first-grader's mother found her body just over two weeks ago.

Shaun Earl Arender is now charged with capital murder. Arender lives less than a mile from the victim's family home south of Dallas. And when the charges were filed he was already in jail on unrelated burglary and drug possession. Police say DNA evidence linked him to the murder scene.

And as of late yesterday, authorities had called Kevin Anders a primary suspect in that case. He's the boyfriend of the girl's mother. Anders is in custody on child pornography charges based on a search of his computer.

LEMON: Still no real answers in a mystery on the high seas of south of Florida. The Coast Guard has suspended its search for the four missing crew members of a fishing boat based in Miami.

Two men who chartered the boat remain in custody on unrelated federal charges. A bond hearing for Kirby Archer and Guillermo Zarabozo has been postponed until Tuesday. Authorities indicate they don't believe Zarabozo's claim that hijackers killed the boat's crew members. The Joe Cool was found abandoned Sunday night a long way off its planned to Bimini. Archer and Zarabozo were found on a life raft 12 miles away.

NGUYEN: Those were holy men on a dangerous mission. Buddhist monks in the Southeast Asian nation of Myanmar leading protest marches, demanding an end to harsh military rule in their country.

Public displays of opposition spiked just a few days ago, triggering a violent crackdown. People who are there report guns and beatings, even killings by police and soldiers. The official death toll is nine civilians, but some witnesses say that figure is very low. But their claims cannot be verified.

One victim of the worsening clashes is, as far as we know, the only non-national killed so far, a journalist from Japan, Kenji Nagai. The Japanese confirms his death. Now, he was reportedly shot dead in Yangon yesterday when police opened fire on protests there.

Well, before-and-after photographs taken from space, want you to take a look at these. These are several shots inside Myanmar, where outsiders are not permitted, but where witnesses say people used to live. Now they don't or can't. Didn't exist before, but now they do. These pictures tell a story, but what exactly?

Well, here to help us sort it out is Lars Bromley, who heads the American Association For the Advancement of Science.

And we appreciate you coming on today to talk about these satellite images. But before we get to them, how difficult is it to get images out of Myanmar?

LARS BROMLEY, AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE: To get satellite images, it's simply a matter of scheduling the satellite. If you're talking about on-the-ground photographs, that's obviously another story altogether. NGUYEN: It's a very secretive state, and these images do provide some clues as to what people are reporting on the ground.

So, let's take a look at the first before-and-after shots, this being what you're describing as a military internment camp. The one on the left there was before May of 2004, the one on the right, February of this year. Tell us what you know about these pictures and what has happened there.

BROMLEY: Actually, the images that you're showing me right now are images of a removed village.

NGUYEN: You know, you're right about that. We do have the wrong images up at this time. But -- so, tell us about this particular village, because it looks like the forestation on the second one, if we can put those back up now, has grown back after something has happened in that area. So, explain that.

BROMLEY: Yes.

Well, essentially, what we did was, we looked at reporting coming out of the region from several human rights and humanitarian relief groups. These are groups like Free Burma Rangers, the Karen Human Rights Group, and the Thailand Burma Border Consortium.

These groups would essentially publish information on where attacks would take place, and we would research available high- resolution commercial satellite imagery to corroborate that reporting.

So, the example you have on your screen now is one of the examples that we found basically, one of about 18 where when we looked in areas where these groups were telling us that villages were being destroyed, we did in fact find evidence of villages that had been removed. Now, we don't make the claim from the satellite imagery itself that the village had been destroyed, but rather we link it with the reporting that comes from these organizations active in the region.

NGUYEN: Well, yes, that's what I wanted to ask you. Is this hard, cold evidence or is it just deductive reasoning that you don't see, you know, the land being shown in that and all you see is forestation?

BROMLEY: On some of the images, you see the remains of houses. You do see the outlines of fence lines or the foundations of houses. Some of the images also show very distinctive burn marks of square- shaped areas on the ground that were essentially charged and blackened in a pattern that is consistent with what a village would like...

(CROSSTALK)

NGUYEN: Yes, we're showing one right now, this one June of 2007. Now, you're saying that this was a structural burn scar?

BROMLEY: Yes. There is essentially about 10 darker black areas within that image right under the cloud there. And they are the size and shape roughly of houses. We also have another -- of they remains of houses. We also have another image where you see those sorts of burn scars directly next to houses that still exist.

NGUYEN: So, what does that tell you? What happened in that area?

BROMLEY: Well, we collected that image specifically because the Free Burma Rangers gave us a report that on April 22, a unit of the military government was moving through that area, targeting the ethnic minorities that live there as part of their campaign against those people.

And as part of that attack, they burned several villages, drove a lot of people out, planted land mines, and killed some people as well. So, when we finally got an image of that location about a month-and-a- half or two months after the attack, we were still able to see the black char marks on the ground from the...

(CROSSTALK)

NGUYEN: So, is this definitive evidence in your eyes that that indeed happened or is this just something that can perhaps support a claim like that?

BROMLEY: I would consider it very, very strong evidence.

I mean, given the shape and the layout of the burn marks themselves, that's essentially -- I mean, there could theoretically be other reasons that an entire village was burned down. It's less likely when we had two or three of these villages kind of right in a row that experienced burning, and also just the coinciding with the report that we got from the region. Obviously, the only airtight evidence would be something like a videotape of the attack in progress.

NGUYEN: All right.

Well, we appreciate you sharing some of these satellite images to give us just a glimpse at what could possibly have happened there on the ground in Myanmar, just an area where we're just getting very little information obviously and the latest indication of what is going on with the protests there. So, thank you so much for your time today.

BROMLEY: You're welcome. Thanks for having me.

(BUSINESS REPORT)

LEMON: Meantime, let's talk about America's racial divide. It's causing a buzz on talk radio. Ahead in the NEWSROOM, radio talk show host Warren Ballentine weighs in on Jena Six and other race-related cases. There's been a lot of them this week, right? Top of the news.

NGUYEN: Yes. We are going to be looking into this. What is going on in the Windy City? Thousands of complaints against Chicago cops. Very little apparently is being done about it. We have those details in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: It's 17 after the hour.

Here are three of the stories that we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.

A Nevada sheriff says this man, Chester Arthur Stiles, is a person of interest in the search for a little girl who was sexually assaulted on videotape. Stiles is already wanted on unrelated sex assault charges. The sheriff also says that the little girl is referred to by the name of Madison on that videotape.

Chicago police have confirmed that the body of a woman found yesterday is that of Nailah Franklin. The cause of death has not been determined, but dental records were used to identify Franklin, who was reported missing nine days ago.

Myanmar's military government has reportedly shut down all Internet access, further isolating the country from the outside world. At least nine people have been killed in this week's anti-government violence.

There's more NEWSROOM in a moment. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Let's get you straight to the news room now with Fredricka Whitfield with the details on a developing story involving an American Airlines flight.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, some frightening moments for passengers on board this American Airlines flight that had taken off from Saint Louis Airport on the way to Chicago.

And apparently some eyewitnesses, according to our affiliate KSDK, actually saw flames coming from the engine of this American Airlines Flight 1400, an MD-80. And apparently it did land safely, according to our affiliate. There was a fire in the left engine on the plane. Firefighters were able to put the fire out on the runway.

And, as of 1:45 p.m., local time, I understand the passengers were still on the plane on the tarmac. The passengers were going to get off the plane on the tarmac, but we don't know of any reported injuries as of yet.

So, the picture that we are certainly describing sounds awfully frightening.

NGUYEN: Yes. WHITFIELD: But, as we understand, according to our affiliate, KSDK, this American Airlines flight, which now we're seeing the live pictures of this actual flight there on the tarmac. We don't know about the folks, whether they are indeed still on board. But, as I mentioned, according to our affiliate, they were on board and there is successful efforts to actually put out those flames. But...

(CROSSTALK)

NGUYEN: Yes, you can see the passengers there. It looks like many of them have already gotten off.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Right. As we pull out on those pictures, we're seeing a lot of people there, but I don't know if these are indeed passengers. Really don't have any clarity on who a lot of these people are. As we push in there, still -- well, it's still unclear to me. We could do a lot of guesswork, but I don't know officially who these folks are.

NGUYEN: Well, the good news is, they're safe, they're on the ground, and the fire has been out.

WHITFIELD: Right.

NGUYEN: and the question now is, why did it catch on fire?

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Yes, exactly. Scary moments, Saint Louis.

(CROSSTALK)

NGUYEN: We will be following it. And we will be tuning it into you as well as more news develops. Thank you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Great.

LEMON: All right. Here's a story that we have been doing extensive coverage on here at CNN. It's about the Jena Six. And today is Mychal Bell's first full day of freedom in 10 months.

The Jena Six defendant was released last night on $45,000 bond. He was the only one of the six African-American teens still behind bars. His case is now heading to juvenile court, with a hearing scheduled for Tuesday. The six teens are accused of beating a white schoolmate.

Radio talk show host and attorney -- and attorney -- Warren Ballentine has kept a close watch on this case. He joins us now.

And, Warren, you can offer a unique perspective here, because not only are you an attorney, but you are a radio talk show host. Got your ears to the community, and they are calling you on your radio show, talking about this, and especially these war of words that have been going on this week, first between O'Reilly, and now with the district attorney down in Jena, Louisiana.

WARREN BALLENTINE, ATTORNEY AND RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Well, I think you can look at this, Don, and say wow, what's going on in this country right now?

You got Bill O'Reilly coming out saying that he was surprised that Sylvia's restaurant in Harlem was just like any other restaurant. You have this district attorney who specifically was asked a question, are you racist? His answer was, wrong. He wouldn't answer yes or no. Then he makes the comment that only God, by God's grace did nothing happen down in Jena when all these people came down there.

LEMON: Yes. And you know what? Yesterday, in the press conference -- and I don't know if many people caught it -- there were a couple of questions that he was asked very quickly. And one person said, are you racist?

BALLENTINE: Yes.

LEMON: And he goes, "Wrong."

And it was -- I was here yesterday with Kyra. And we kind of looked at each other and say, did someone ask him if he was racist? But he moved right on.

Let's take a listen to his comments, though, where he brought Jesus into this and then we will talk about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REED WALTERS, LASALLE PARISH DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I firmly believe, and am confident of the fact that had it not been for the direct intervention of the lord Jesus Christ last Thursday, a disaster would have happened. You can quote me on that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK. We don't know exactly what he was saying.

But listening to your show and other shows on radio, people have been heated about this. How are they feeling? What are they saying to you?

BALLENTINE: Well, my audience thinks he's a racist, point blank, him and Bill O'Reilly.

And I'm not talking about just African-American people. I'm talking about Caucasian, Hispanic, Asian. They're calling my show and saying, look, what these guys are saying are just flat-out wrong. I mean, he made us sound like animals. And "You can quote me on this"?

And this is the district attorney and the same judge is just going to be hearing Mychal Bell's case on Tuesday. It's nothing. It's sad. When you think about Jena and all the different racial ethnic groups that came down there, we came as Americans. We didn't come as blacks. We didn't come as white. We came as people who were concerned about justice.

That was the reason we were down there. And for him to take the stance that he's taking -- he had an opportunity right there, Don, to literally kind of diffuse this fire that's in Jena. But he threw gasoline on it even more.

LEMON: You think he reignited it even more?

BALLENTINE: Yes, he did.

And I think, when you look at Bill O'Reilly, who we knew he was a little bit slow to begin with. But now he shows that he's not only slow; he's an idiot. For him to make a statement about a restaurant the way that he did...

LEMON: OK. All right. Let me get -- because those are very strong words to say about Bill O'Reilly. And Bill O'Reilly has been -- he has been defending himself on this issue.

All along, he's maintained, he said that the Web site or the group that put it out is a liberal left-wing group who goes against -- goes out to get people who are on the right and people like him, who speak out. He is saying that he was taken out of context.

Last night on his show, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, there was an exchange, first time I think in like 14 years the Reverend Jesse Jackson has been on his show to talk about this and for him to defend himself.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE O'REILLY FACTOR")

REVEREND JESSE JACKSON, FOUNDER, RAINBOW/PUSH COALITION: In the Sylvia's statement, what were you trying to say?

BILL O'REILLY, HOST: The press is corrupt and they are exploiting black America.

JACKSON: No, when you said about -- you know, about how civil the people were, what was your point?

O'REILLY: Oh, up in Sylvia's?

JACKSON: Yes.

O'REILLY: Did you hear the tape, by the way? Did you hear the whole hour?

JACKSON: Yes. What were you trying to say?

O'REILLY: But did you hear it?

JACKSON: Yes.

O'REILLY: You heard the whole hour? JACKSON: Not the whole hour, no.

O'REILLY: OK. OK. Because I have to tailor my explanation for what you heard. The hour was on how whites fear -- many whites fear blacks. And fear drives racism, as you know. Fear drives it.

And I said to my audience, look, this is a restaurant like any other restaurant, but a lot of whites are afraid to go there. And you walk in there and it is just like any other restaurant. OK?

It was framed in the sense that fear drives racism, and there is nothing to be afraid of.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Warren?

BALLENTINE: Well, you know, I'm going to say this.

One of the things that was not touched on there is that he also made the statement that African-American people are listening or doing things on their own without following Reverend Sharpton or Reverend Jackson.

And I got to say this. Every time somebody does something in the news, the first people they want to run to is Reverend Jackson and Reverend Sharpton. And, as much as I love and respect both of the reverends, they're not the mouthpiece for black America. They're not the ones who really are talking about this. It's the listeners, Don.

And my listeners are very polarized by what Bill O'Reilly said.

LEMON: And this was -- and, yes. And, as we said, people are talking about this and Jena as well. And we have said it here on CNN. This whole thing was driven by people and grassroots organizations and really had very little to do with the Reverend Jesse Jackson -- Reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, except that they were there to help those families out.

BALLENTINE: Well, you know, I have got to clarify something. Now, I got to give Reverend Sharpton his props.

LEMON: Yes.

BALLENTINE: He is beating the drum, along with Syndication One, along with myself, for what happened down in Jena. But it disheartens me that, every time somebody does something wrong or racial, they want to run to Reverend Jackson or Reverend Sharpton.

Look, if you really didn't mean it in that context, why do you have to explain what you said to begin with? That's my question?

LEMON: Yes. All right. All right.

Thank you, Warren Ballentine.

BALLENTINE: Thanks, Don.

LEMON: Always a pleasure. You have a fantastic weekend.

BALLENTINE: Thank you. You, too.

NGUYEN: Well, we all know police are supposed to serve and protect, and almost all of them do. But what if they don't? Who polices the police?

Well, in Chicago, it's the Office of Professional Standards. And by any standard, it's got its hands full, thousands and thousands of complaints from Chicago citizens against Chicago Police.

CNN's Randi Kaye found some cases in point.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was supposed to be a good time at this popular Chicago nightclub. Robin Petrovic went out dancing with friends. She came home looking like this.

ROBIN PETROVIC, ALLEGES POLICE BEAT HER: I had two black eyes. One of my ears was, like, completely, like, black and blue. My face kind of was swollen. I was bruised under my chin. I had bruising on my arms and my legs, lacerations all over my back and my arms and bruising in my genital area.

KAYE: Petrovic says she was badly beaten.

PETROVIC: Both my eyes are black and blue.

KAYE: Even more disturbing than her injuries is who Petrovic says caused them -- a Chicago police officer.

PETROVIC: He grabbed me and threw me against the car. He picked me up and threw me face down into the ground. And since my hands were handcuffed behind my back, I couldn't, you know, break my fall at all, so I just landed on my face. Then he began kicking me in the back of my head.

KAYE: Petrovic, a college English teacher, says until that night, she'd never had trouble with the law.

It was 1:30 in the morning, July 2005, when she got into an altercation with the club's bouncer and called police for help. Instead, she says, Officer James Chaves attacked her after she refused to sign a blank incident report and attempted to get his badge number.

PETROVIC: And he just stood above me and he raised his foot and stomped down on my head as hard as he could, like on my ear. It felt like my head was going to, like, explode.

KAYE: In the end, Petrovic was arrested and charged with aggravated battery. Chaves said she'd attacked him for no reason. The charge was later dropped. Petrovic filed a complaint with the Office of Professional Standards. (on camera) What were you told would be done?

PETROVIC: That they would investigate it.

KAYE: It seems the Office of Professional Standards keeps pretty busy. "Keeping Them Honest," CNN has learned between 2002 and 2004, there were more than 10,000 complaints -- many of them involving brutality and assault -- filed against Chicago police officers.

(voice-over) Lawyer Craig Futterman made that stunning discovery while researching a client's claim. With Futterman's help, Diane Bond sued the city of Chicago and a handful officers for allegedly beating and sexually abusing her.

DIANE BOND, ALLEGES POLICE BEAT HER: He took me in the bathroom, locked the door, had me unfasten my bra. Then he had me shake my bra. He had me pull my pants down, stick my hands in my panties and do like this while he looked on.

KAYE: The city settled for $150,000 but never admitted any wrongdoing. The officers denied ever meeting Bond. None of them were reprimanded. In fact, two have been promoted.

Futterman says only 18 of the 10,000 complaints filed during that three year period resulted in meaningful disciplinary action.

Which brings us back to Robin Petrovic.

She has the pictures to prove it, but would the city do anything about the officer she says beat her so badly?

And what does he say happened that night?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Well, just ahead, the surprising outcome of Robin Petrovic's complaint.

More than 600 Chicago cops have had 10 or more complaints filed against them, yet their names are kept secret.

Randi Kaye asks Chicago's mayor about that in part two of her report.

LEMON: I want to tell you about this developing story. You're looking at a bus there. Those are passengers being taken off the runway in Lambert Field in St. Louis.

What happened to their airplane?

A possible fire?

Was it a fire?

There's the plane right there. We're going to update you after we take a break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We're learning new details about that plane in St. Louis at Lambert Field. Here's the information. Just moments ago, we saw a busload of passengers being taken off the runway by bus there. That is the plane.

Here's what we're learning. It's American Airlines Flight Number 1400 that landed at 1:40 Central time, 2:40 Eastern. It was scheduled -- a flight from St. Louis to Chicago. Firefighters were staged along the runway to respond to an engine fire, we're told. It landed safely. No injuries reported. And passengers are in the process of being deported onto -- off the runway now.

As we said, we saw on that bus -- that is a bus -- one of the buses -- one of the number of buses that took those passengers off the plane there. Again, this is Lambert Field in St. Louis, Missouri. You see the folks who are on that plane getting off this bus again. American Airlines Flight 1400.

If you knew someone on this flight, no need to worry now because we're being told there are no injuries reported. It landed safely. It must have been some really, really harrowing times and scary moments with passengers there. A fire reported. But everything is safe.

We'll continue to update you as we get more information on this developing story.

NGUYEN: Let's get to more now on the mountain of civilian complaints against police in Chicago.

Many times the same names keep coming up, yet they're not made public.

Well, here's Randi Kaye, "Keeping Them Honest," in part two of her report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE (voice-over): Robin Petrovic wasted no time filing a brutality complaint against Chicago Police Officer James Chaves, after she says he beat her bloody.

(on camera) Did you do anything to provoke this attack?

PETROVIC: No.

KAYE (voice-over): When it was over, she had two black eyes, cuts on her back and bruising from head toe. This college English teacher says the Office of Professional Standards, or OPS, which investigates complaints against officers, promised to look into it. Apparently, they did.

CNN obtained this statement by Officer Chaves. He told investigators Petrovic went after him in an unprovoked attack. Even though OPS had a record of her injuries, her complaint was tossed out. She got this letter saying OPS had conducted a thorough investigation and determined her complaint was unfounded.

(on camera) The message to you was that the officers would not be disciplined?

PETROVIC: Yes.

KAYE (voice-over): Petrovic's lawyer, John Loevy.

(on camera) What is wrong with this system, overall?

JON LOEVY, ATTORNEY: The Chicago Police Department doesn't do a good job of policing itself. There's a small minority of the police officers that are inclined to violence, for whatever reason, and abuses. There's no check. There's no deterrence because the city does not investigate and punish police abuses.

KAYE: Petrovic is suing Chaves and the city of Chicago. Her attorney tells CNN Chaves racked up nearly 50 brutality complaints in his 12 years with the Chicago P.D. He'd never been disciplined, and the only reason he's no longer on the job is because he resigned after he was caught using credit cards stolen from an arrestee. He was sentenced to 30 months' probation.

We tried to ask Chaves about his run-in with Robin Petrovic, but he didn't return our calls.

(voice-over): Chicago attorney Craig Futterman found more than 660 Chicago cops, like Chaves, have 10 or more complaints against them.

CRAIG FUTTERMAN, CHICAGO ATTORNEY: There were officers within the last five years who amassed 50 or more complaints who had never even been flagged by the police department, much less disciplined at all.

KAYE: "Keeping Them Honest," we asked Chicago police for an interview. They refused.

Chicago's new head of OPS wouldn't address past complaints, but says she'll be independent and thorough going forward. Still, the mayor won a temporary court order to keep the names of the worst alleged defenders secret.

(on camera) Why aren't the names of these officers being made public?

MAYOR RICHARD DALEY, CHICAGO: Because it's only an investigation. It's appropriate. And you should not name them publicly, because they're out there doing their job. There's complaints and there will be complaints.

KAYE (voice-over): Petrovic's lawyer argues until the public is aware of who the problem officers are, the abuse will continue.

LOEVY: In a properly functioning police department, there would be more of a system of discipline, more of a system of punishment, so that an officer knew that if they did something wrong, somebody was actually going to care.

KAYE: Before another night on the town ends badly.

PETROVIC: Their behavior is criminal. They are battering innocent people.

KAYE: And another Chicago cop gets blamed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: Randi Kaye joins us now from New York to talk about this.

Randi, you mentioned the claims of brutality and abuse.

How serious and widespread is it, really?

KAYE: It's very serious and awfully widespread, actually, Betty. Our sources told us that most of the officers accused of brutality work in the lower income areas, predominantly African-American communities. Lawyer Craig Futterman, who investigated this for his client, told us he went to some of these neighborhoods and heard the stories from the neighbors, what can only be described, really, as sadistic acts -- police officers lining up black men, kicking them between their legs, taking African-American women, strip searching them, ridiculing their bodies. This not what you expect from a police officer.

NGUYEN: Absolutely not.

But, Randi, with thousands of complaints filed against officers alleging brutality, how is it that the department heads or the chief or anyone in charge didn't know about it and why haven't these numbers been out there?

KAYE: That's what we wanted to k. And, actually, it wasn't until this attorney, Craig Futterman, in researching his own client's case, he started digging that the extent of the complaints were actually exposed.

But here is the kicker. He dug up the files and all of the complaints at police headquarters. So all of the data came from the city -- from police headquarters. But nobody ever requested it. Nobody ever looked at it. So they really couldn't see the whole picture. It wasn't just one officer getting one complaint filed against him. They might have found a whole box full of complaints if anyone bothered to look.

But this new head of the Office of Professional Standards, of course, promising things will change. Critics not so sure. But we, of course, will keep watching it -- Betty.

NGUYEN: Well, we're looking forward to that.

Randi Kaye, as always, we thank you.

What an interesting, interesting piece you've done. Thank you.

LEMON: The State of California is running a controversial ad campaign it hopes will stop parents from feeding their kids junk food.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports in today's "Fit Nation" report.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These ads might see shocking.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, COURTESY FIRST 5 CALIFORNIA)

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Dad, can you buy me some diabetes?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Can I used another cup of sugar, pretty please?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Please?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA: The State of California hopes the ads will force parents to stop and think before they give their kids junk food.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, COURTESY FIRST 5 CALIFORNIA)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't look unhealthy. But the foods I ate sure was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA: The ad warn parents that poor diet can lead to weight problems, illnesses, even early death.

KRIS PERRY, DIRECTOR, FIRST 5 CALIFORNIA: We're trying to convey that these little choices all day long -- a cookie here, a doughnut there, a glass of juice, some chips -- by the end of the day, your child has consumed far more calories than they really needed.

GUPTA: Now, the campaign is funded by the state's tobacco tax and is part of a larger state initiative to get kids fit. And the ads are getting noticed -- even by celebrities.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE FROM "LATE NIGHT WITH DAVID LETTERMAN," COURTESY CBS/WORLDWIDE PANTS)

ADAM SANDLER, LETTERMAN GUEST HOST: A child obesity commercial came on. You know, they showed this kid just eating and eating, the family keeps feeding him and then eventually he gets diabetes and stuff. And we were watching it. It's a very powerful commercial. Me and my little girl just both took the cheeseburgers out of our mouth and we're like, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP) GUPTA: California is not the only state to take on childhood obesity, but it's the first to fund millions of dollars into anti- obesity effort of this magnitude. But states with smaller budgets can still do their part. Look at Arkansas. They were the first state to push for better nutrition in public schools by getting rid of vending machines.

KEN STANTON, "OBESITY REPORT CARD": Arkansas would be a good example, because that's certainly not one of the most affluent states and yet they were sort of the head runner in terms of where we started our obesity report card.

GUPTA: Back in California, state officials say about 60 percent of all Californians have seen the ads since the campaign was launched about a year ago. Their hope -- parents will think twice the next time their kids ask for unhealthy foods.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Well, for most people work comes before play. But one man now walking the halls on Capitol Hill had his fun first.

CNN's Ali Velshi has his story in today's Life After Work.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's fall in Washington and Heath Shuler is back under center. But this time he's quarterbacking a team of his fellow U.S. congressman practicing for a charity game. You see, Shuler's new playing field is the U.S. Capitol.

REP. HEATH SHULER (D), NORTH CAROLINA: True leaders lead by example in the way that they can stand for it and say look, you can follow me. You can follow me. We can do this together. And I think we just have to have more people that will have the courage to stand up and reject their own party when they feel that the party is wrong.

VELSHI: Shuler's independent streak is part of the reason he got elected last November as a conservative Democrat from North Carolina. But he's better known for his days as a star quarterback at University of Tennessee and a brief NFL career.

His road to politics started when a major foot injury in 1997 forced him to think about life after football.

SHULER: I knew at that point I needed to have a new direction in my life, that football wasn't going to be here forever. I needed to have that plan for my life going forward.

VELSHI: Shuler retired from football and built a successful real estate business with his brother, but a part of him felt unfulfilled.

SHULER: I never had intentions to be a member of Congress.

It was, what can I do to help my community?

And my community suggested that I put my hat in the arena to be a member of Congress.

VELSHI: And so Shuler continues to learn the Washington playbook as he works on issues that are important to him -- the environment and assisting small businesses. And he's already made plans for the future. Shuler says he's running for reelection in 2008.

Ali Velshi, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: New information now on that plane in St. Louis at Lambert Field.

Joining us on the phone now, Captain Steve Simpson from the St. Louis Fire Department.

Tell us what, you know, sir.

CAPT. STEVE SIMPSON, ST. LOUIS FIRE DEPARTMENT: Well, they had a plane came in for a landing right around 1:30 p.m.. They radioed into the firehouse. They responded out to Runway 30 Right. They had an MDA that came in with fire and smoke in the left engine. One hundred and forty-two people were on board. Of course, they got them off safely with no incident and they extinguished the engine with foam. So they're in the process now out there, you know, mopping up, getting everything taken care of.

LEMON: So the flight actually took off -- did it take off from St. Louis and was on its en route to Chicago, correct?

SIMPSON: That is correct.

LEMON: Did they have to turn it around?

SIMPSON: Yes.

LEMON: Is that what happened?

They've turned this around.

A hundred and forty-two people.

Now, was this on takeoff or had they made it out, because you know there's that danger zone right there when you're taking off.

Were they just taking off when the flames started or had they been cruising for a while?

SIMPSON: I believe they had just taken off, according to what they told me.

LEMON: OK. So then they see flames on the left side and the left engine, as well.

Have you been able to speak to the folks on the ground there to tell you about what passengers and crew members saw and felt?

SIMPSON: No, I haven't. The chief is supposedly getting back with me. That might be him calling now. But he's supposed to be calling me back. I haven't had a chance to talk to him directly, just what I received from one of the people that was in our communications center out there.

LEMON: Obviously, sir, when something like this happens, I mean you guys just spring into action. This is very, very serious.

SIMPSON: Yes, it is. Yes, it is. And we treat it very seriously. The guys train all the time for incidents like this and we're just glad that the plane landed without incident, all the people got off safely and they extinguished the fire there.

LEMON: Yes, especially when you have 142 people on board, that can certainly cause some concern.

All right, we thank you so much.

Captain Steve Simpson from the St. Louis Fire Department joining us here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

The closing bell is going to happen in just a bit.

What's happening on Wall Street? We're going to tell you after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: What time is it, Don?

LEMON: I can just -- I feel like, what times is it?

NGUYEN: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

NGUYEN: It's that time.

LEMON: Time to check in with CNN's Wolf Blitzer to tell us what's coming on at the top of the hour -- hi, Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Hi, guys.

Thanks very much.

Ending the war -- there's an important new development emerging right now as a small group of Republican senators, most of them up for re-election next year -- they're now banding together to try to get U.S. forces out of Iraq after -- after President Bush leaves office. We'll have the latest. Also, the U.S. Supreme Court justice, Clarence Thomas, he's speaking out about his embattled nomination hearings years ago. But hear what he has to say right now about Anita Hill.

And Senator Barack Obama, here in THE SITUATION ROOM, one-on-one. That's coming up, as well. Lots going on. You're going to hear what he has to say he needs to do to try beat Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination.

All that and a lot more coming up at the top of the hour -- back to you.

NGUYEN: Gee, that's some good stuff. I can't wait to see it.

Thank you, Wolf.

LEMON: All right, you know, we just can't make this stuff up, Betty.

NGUYEN: No.

LEMON: A mother gives birth on the way to the hospital and wait until you hear why they were running late -- and who was along for the ride, straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: All right, we have some good advice for new dad David Harrah of West Virginia -- next time would you just listen to your wife, OK?

Harrah thought he had time for a quick cup of coffee before racing his pregnant wife, Sherry, and eight children to the hospital.

Well, he was wrong. That's right, on the way, Harrah had to pull the family's SUV off the road, where his wife gave birth.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERRY HARRAH, GAVE BIRTH IN SUV: Actually, when got up on Quarter J, I knew I wasn't going to make it. And my water broke like before that. And I started screaming at him that my water was -- I said, oh, god, here it comes. Here the water. And it wasn't shortly after that, you know, where she was already coming out. And I was still fully dressed. So I'm screaming at him and I'm trying to get my, you know, my bottoms off. And the next thing I know, she falls on the floor and it's dark and the way the road is. And he swerved about the time she came out, so she kind of like rolled up against the doorway. So I couldn't find her. So I'm sitting here screaming, you know, "Where's my baby? Where's my baby?"

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(LAUGHTER)

NGUYEN: Oh, my goodness. She gave birth and she couldn't find the baby. It was nowhere in the car. Sherry Harrah is a labor nurse, also a labor delivery nurse, which is probably why she was so calm. The couple named her new baby girl Carlee after the car.

I guess it was a good thing she wasn't in the truck, huh?

(LAUGHTER)

Can you imagine?

Anyway...

LEMON: I'm just thinking, I'm like he thought he had time for a cup of coffee. I mean they have eight kids.

NGUYEN: He (INAUDIBLE) time.

LEMON: He doesn't have time for anything.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: They've been busy, wouldn't you say?

NGUYEN: Yes, (INAUDIBLE).

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: You've been busy -- they've been busy -- getting busy.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they've been getting busy. They have enough kids now to field a baseball team, with nine kids.

She's got a sense of humor. I liked that.

NGUYEN: She does.

LISOVICZ: Listen, it was a really busy afternoon, Don and Betty. I want to mention, the UAW held a press conference this afternoon. We want to give you a few details.

UAW President Ron Gettelfinger saying that a lot of manufacturing jobs will be saved as a result of this tentative agreement. It will be made in the USA -- a lot of products will be made in the USA. He said: "A total moratorium on outsourcing."

Good news for the UAW. A lot of UAW officials approved the contract. Rank and file yet to approve it. Then you have Ford and Chrysler.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

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