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Dalai Lama Honored; Interview With Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin

Aired October 17, 2007 - 15:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: OK, take a look at this.
A lifesaving move just in the nick of time. Greer, South Carolina, is the place. Politics Sergeant Marcus O'Shields is getting a lot of thanks today from Betsy DeVall. Uh-huh. Close call. He helped DeVall from her car that had actually stalled on the railroad tracks just before that vehicle was actually hit by this speeding-by Amtrak train. You can hear her audio, where she realizes that her life was narrowly saved there. All of this caught on the police officer's dash-cam.

O'Shields talked about those frightening moments this morning on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "AMERICAN MORNING")

MARCUS O'SHIELDS, GREER S.C. POLICE DEPT.: I don't think she realized what type of danger she was actually in, until the train actually struck her vehicle, and I think that's when it just hit her and, you know, that's when the scream, she let out the scream, and then afterwards, she just thanked me and thanked me for saving her life. I think she realized what kind of danger she was in if she would have stayed in her vehicle.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Wow.

All right. So, DeVall says that she was actually trying to pull off the road to phone a friend. Darn cell phones get you every time.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: That's what I was wondering, how it got there.

WHITFIELD: But instead she turned onto the tracks and her vehicle got stuck, and so did she.

LEMON: I wonder how did she got there on the tracks. It like turned right on to the tracks.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Probably trying to navigate a little too much. I don't know.

LEMON: Yes. She's lucky. WHITFIELD: Scary stuff.

Next hour of the NEWSROOM straight ahead.

Well, guess what? You could actually have it on your skin and never even know it. Does it look like that? Yuck. It's actually some pretty frightening news out there. The bad news is, if and when superbug MRSA gets inside your skin, it's not a very good scenario. The government says it could be deadlier than AIDS.

LEMON: Deny, defend, depart temporarily. The president of Oral Roberts University steps aside for now, amid scandalous allegations from fired professors. We will catch you up on the controversy.

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

WHITFIELD: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in today for Kyra Phillips.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Well, saying the past three weeks have taken a terrible toll on his family, the president of Oral Roberts University, Richard Roberts, is taking a leave of absence. A lawsuit filed by three former professors accuses Roberts and his wife of, among other things, lavish spending and illegal involvement in a political campaign.

The university was founded it Tulsa, Oklahoma, by Roberts' father, evangelist Oral Roberts. Richard Roberts denies the allegations. He says he will continue as chairman and CEO of the Oral Roberts Ministries, and expects to return as university president when the board feels it's appropriate.

On CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE" last night, a fellow evangelist gave Richard Roberts a vote of confidence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "LARRY KING LIVE")

JOEL OSTEEN, SENIOR PASTOR OF LARGEST U.S. CONGREGATION, HOUSTON'S LAKEWOOD CHURCH: Well, I know Richard and Lindsay, not real well, but what I know of them, they're fine, respectable people -- great leaders. And the only thing I have read is one article that talked about it. And I choose to believe the best, that maybe it's just a little more sour grapes, because they seem to be fine people to me.

LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": He's been on this show. He's a good guest. He's very vibrant, like his father.

OSTEEN: He's a great guy and a great minister, as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: You can see "LARRY KING LIVE" nightly at 9:00 p.m. here on CNN. WHITFIELD: High drama at a Bank of America near Atlanta, this one right here. Police say a security guard confronted two men with guns and opened fire, killing one of them. The other suspect, apparently they were attempting to rob the bank, ended up driving off. And police are still looking for him. No customers or bank employees, however, were hurt.

And new video of Chester Arthur Stiles before a judge in Las Vegas. Police searched for Stiles for more than two weeks in connection with the videotaped rape of a little girl. He was arrested by Nevada police Monday night after being stopped for missing a license plate. He faces 21 felony charges, including lewdness with a child and using a child to make pornography. He didn't enter pleas today. He only spoke to confirm that he can't afford a lawyer.

LEMON: The Internet, for all the ways it's good and positive and educational, it's also a hunting ground for criminals and sexual predators.

For proof, check out the headlines any day of the week. Congress today is hearing from people who want more money fighting online sex crime.

CNN's Brianna Keilar joins us now from Washington with the very latest on that -- Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Don.

Yes, we're hearing from law enforcement officials and also advocates for exploited children. We also just heard from a girl named Alicia Kozakiewicz here in Washington to give a face to the victims of child sex predators. She is 19 now, but, when she was 13, she was lured from her home in Pennsylvania by Scott Tyree, a man that she met on the Internet.

Tyree took Alicia to his home in Virginia, and he sexually assaulted her and chained her up for four days. The FBI raided his house and they rescued Alicia, but she told Congress a short time ago that most kids who are in a situation like she was won't be so lucky. And she also gave them a chilling message.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALICIA KOZAKIEWICZ, ABDUCTED IN 2002: He took me apart and put me back together, and bit by bit, day by day, bite by bite. I walked out the front door and found that the boogeyman is real, and he lives on the Web. I know. I met him on the evening of January 1, 2002. He came for a 13-year-old girl for his sex slave. He came for me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: And she told members of Congress that while she was speaking to them, that boogeyman is at home with their children, a very chilling message.

She is one of many people that we're hearing from today who are backing legislation called the Protect Act. It was introduced yesterday with bipartisan support in the House. And the purpose of this act is to direct more money to task forces that target cyber- predators, task forces like the one that rescued her -- Don.

LEMON: And, Brianna, what would the extra funding go toward?

KEILAR: It would simply go toward pursuing more cyber-predators. Experts estimate there are about half a million people who are involved in the distribution of child pornography, and they believe that many of those people are active sexual predators.

But when you talk with law enforcement officials, they tell you because they have such limited resources, just not enough officers, they can only investigate a very small fraction of those criminals and they can prosecute even fewer -- Don.

LEMON: CNN's Brianna Keilar in Washington -- Brianna, thank you for your report.

WHITFIELD: Well, it is strong and it's spreading, and it might be killing more Americans each year than AIDS. It's a dangerous kind of staph infection nor as MRSA. And after the broadest look yet at its impact, the government says the so-called superbug has moved from hospitals where it first became known to schools, locker rooms and now prisons.

The latest reported victim, a 17-year-old high school senior in Virginia who died after more than a week in the hospital. His grief- stricken classmates protested, prompting the closing and cleaning of 21 Bedford County schools.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're just trying to find answers. We want to know what's going to be done about cleaning up the school.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't feel safe at all going back in there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not only to remember Ashton, but get it through to the administration and all that we don't want another one of our friends or another one of our classmates gone because of them not doing anything. And we want something done about this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, you probably have plenty of questions by now about what it is.

Let's get some perspective from Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JULIE GERBERDING, DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: In most cases, the kinds of infections we're talking about cause the typical sort of minor skin infections that usually don't even need a doctor's attention.

What they do need is to be cleaned with soap and water and kept covered, and people who touch them need to keep their hands clean. So for most of us, it's the kind of skin infection that staph aureus causes, but there are some serious strains of staph out there. Some of them are very drug-resistant. And especially in people who have other medical conditions, they can be very, very serious and sometimes fatal.

Those are the infections that account for most of the numbers that we reported today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And MRSA used to be mostly confined to hospitals, but it's clearly broken out. The bug has been spreading through prisons, gyms, locker rooms, and also through poor urban areas.

And you can take simple precautions to avoid this bug. First and foremost, wash your hands, a lot and also avoid sharing personal items such as razors or towels. And if you're an athlete, keep your sports equipment and your locker room clean.

And you can get even more information on how to dodge superbugs on our Web site. Just log on to CNN.com and follow the links.

LEMON: As you just saw here live on CNN, the nation's highest civilian honor has been bestowed on a man many see as a symbol of peace, but one the Chinese government views as a threat. It also was the first time a U.S. sitting president has appeared with the Dalai Lama in public.

Our White House correspondent Elaine Quijano is here with all that -- Elaine.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Don.

And illustrating the delicate balance here, the president met privately in the residence here at the White House with the Dalai Lama. The White House declined to release a photo of that private meeting, as they have done in the past. They have released photos in the past, but they knew of course all of this is such a sensitive issue at this time because of what we're about to show you now, the very public display, President Bush standing side by side on Capitol Hill with the Dalai Lama, the man that China views as a separatist.

The Dalai Lama was here to, as we note, receive the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal. China, of course, is a country that has an extremely complicated relationship with the United States. They are not at all happy about this award. The Dalai Lama for his part insisted that he is not pushing for independence from China for Tibet.

Nevertheless, the Chinese have vehemently protested this honor, calling it interference in Chinese affairs. But that did not stop President Bush from appearing today and making remarks. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Americans cannot look to the plight of the religiously oppressed and close our eyes or turn away. And that is why I will continue to urge the leaders of China to welcome the Dalai Lama to China. They will find this good man to be a man of peace and reconciliation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: Now, President Bush did try to head off some of the concerns the Chinese are now having about this appearance. Several weeks ago, when he actually met with China's President Hu Jintao at an economic summit in Sydney, Australia, explaining that he did plan on attending this particular ceremony, as he has in year's past, attending other Congressional Gold Medal ceremonies.

Nevertheless, it is a tense time for the U.S. and China, but when you look at the long term, even analysts say that this incident is not likely to cause any kind of lasting damage to the U.S./China relationship, that while it might be very uncomfortable and perhaps elaborate, because the ceremony was very elaborate, bump in the road, that in the end, the ties between these two countries are so deep and so complex that they will likely be able to move past this -- Don.

LEMON: Elaine Quijano at the White House -- thank you, Elaine.

WHITFIELD: Well, an attack would send shockwaves through the country. Protecting our electrical grid from cyber-terrorists, Congress looks at the possibility -- straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

LEMON: And what about all those flight delays? What's Congress doing about that? We will get some revealing answers from CNN investigative correspondent Drew Griffin -- coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Fourteen past the hour. Three of the stories we're working on for you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

His hands in shackles, his face partly hidden by long hair, the Las Vegas man accused of raping a toddler on videotape has made his first court appearance. Chester Stiles now faces almost two dozen felony counts.

The death of a Virginia high-schooler is prompting a nationwide health warning. The 17-year-old died of a staph infection known as MRSA. The government says it might kill more Americans each year that AIDS.

The latest vote in Turkey's parliament could be the latest headache for the U.S. war effort. Turkish lawmakers have given their military a green light to enter Iraq and hunt Kurdish rebels they blame for cross-border attacks. Turkey's prime minister says the vote won't necessarily trigger immediate action. (BUSINESS REPORT)

LEMON: Water, a precious commodity, and getting more scarce by the day in the drought-stricken Southeast, right here where we are. And what if the water runs out? This is a definite possibility here in Atlanta, Fredricka, and for the four million people who live here.

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin -- in the NEWSROOM next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right.

Earlier in the newscast, we told you about a standoff with police, a bank robbery in the Atlanta area. This one now is coming from Washington, specifically Marysville, Washington.

Police are looking for a bank robbery suspect in the area. Here's what the information -- it's coming from our affiliate there, KOMO. You see that there at the top of your screen, the pictures are coming from.

But they say a standoff involving at least one man, it's in a house. It's in the 10000 block of 52nd Avenue, which is in the northeast section of the area. One man, at least one man suspected of robbing a bank is inside that house. Authorities are saying there are police in the area. County police are assisting in that search. They say a SWAT team is on the way to the scene. And a high school in the area HARRIS: been locked down.

Again, police are in a standoff there, Marysville, Washington, police in a standoff with a bank robbery suspect. Don't have any idea about what went down, any injuries, or what have you. That's the very latest. We will continue to update you and bring you the very latest situation right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

WHITFIELD: Well, it's being said it could paralyze a nation in an instant, and the attacker wouldn't even have to get his hands dirty. A House panel is meeting today to talk about the risk our electrical grid faces at the hands of cyber-hackers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is an electric generator. It is vital because it is 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 with a smuggled bomb.

But all it took was a computer, some patient work, and the click of a mouse.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Wow, pretty scary stuff. Well, that clip was from a report by CNN homeland security correspondent Jeanne Meserve. And her piece is being featured at today's hearing, in fact.

Jeanne joins us now live from Washington with more -- Jeanne.

MESERVE: Yes, let me explain a little bit more what that is about.

There are something called control systems which help run the electrical power grid. The control systems turn switches and valves, govern load. And what that videotape from Idaho National Labs showed is that a hacker, by getting into that system, could disrupt the cycle of electricity and physically destroy a piece of equipment.

What it means is that a terrorist or some other evildoer wouldn't need a bomb to damage our electrical infrastructure. All they would need was a computer, and they could be on the other side of the world.

These systems are becoming more and more vulnerable, experts say, because more and more of them are connected to the Internet, and they have become more standardized. And the very same equipment that is used in the United States is used overseas.

And so today a congressional committee is looking at the question of what's being done to better secure these systems. They were told that the nuclear industry has taken mitigating efforts across the board.

But someone from the Department of Homeland Security was not able to tell the committee what proportion of other electrical infrastructure owners had taken mitigating actions. And then the Government Accountability Office spoke out. And it said that, overall, it thinks the Department of Homeland Security has to do more to secure these systems.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREG WILSHUSEN, GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE: In a report being released today, we recommend that the secretary of homeland security develop an overarching strategy to guide efforts for securing control systems and establish a rapid and secure process sharing sensitive vulnerability information with control system stakeholders.

Until DHS implements these actions, increased risk exists that the federal government and private sector will invest in duplicative efforts, miss opportunities to learn from the activities of others, and not be timely informed about key vulnerabilities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MESERVE: One of the things being discussed today is regulation, and whether that's needed to protect these systems.

Industry is opposed to it, and we heard a representative of industry today saying this vulnerability that was exposed by that Idaho National Lab experience is being addressed through a public- private partnership. But there are others who will be testifying today who feel that voluntary standards that the industry is adhering to are not enough and that there does need to be a real regulatory effort by the federal government to make sure these systems are protected.

And, Fredricka, I should add that these systems exist not only in the electric power industry, but almost every critical industry across the country. Pipelines have control systems. So do even sewage systems. So, this is a very big issue. Hard to consider any issue that's much bigger in the whole cyber-realm.

WHITFIELD: Yes, it would seem there would have to be some sort of safety net that everyone is on board with.

Jeanne Meserve, thank you.

MESERVE: You bet.

LEMON: An encoded image decoded by police, and now they have the face and the name of a suspected pedophile. Have you seen this man? The latest coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM.

WHITFIELD: And flight delays, a pretty aggravating problem at airports across the U.S. You know it's happened to you. So, what is Congress doing to fix things? We will get some revealing answers from CNN investigative correspondent Drew Griffin -- coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Hello, everyone.

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

WHITFIELD: And I'm Fredricka Whitfield in for Kyra Phillips.

It gets worse by the day -- drought punishes the Southeast and now battle lines are being drawn over water rights.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN MASSEY, HAMPTON ROADS, VIRGINIA: Under that dust -- watch this, folks. That's a farmer and his tractor out trying to take care of his land. It's just so dry he literally disappears inside that cloud of dust. This is the Nottoway River, folks, just west of Franklin. Take a look at that. Normally, you would not be able to cross that water without having to wade waist deep through it to get to the other side. There are sections now that you can literally take one giant step from one side of the riverbank to the other. The flow is almost nonexistent.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: Wow, this dry. The Mid-Atlantic States bone dry. These scenes were shot from a helicopter over Hampton Roads, Virginia. And that was WAVY reporter John Massey describing what he saw. Because of the drought, Virginia's governor has actually asked for a federal disaster declaration for the entire state.

LEMON: A water war in the Southeast is getting nastier today, as the deadline for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reduce the water it releases from Georgia's Lake Lanier or face a lawsuit from the state. Lake Lanier is the Atlanta area's main source of drinking water. And authorities say unless it's replenished, it could dry up within three months.

Downstream, Alabama and Florida say Georgia is keeping too much of its water that flows out of the lake through the Chattahoochee River. Their battle over water rights, well, it has dragged on almost two decades. But this year's drought has made the situation critical.

WHITFIELD: For air travelers, this has been a year to remember -- and not in a good way -- flight delays, cancellations, passengers stuck on tarmacs for hours.

So, what's Congress doing to fix things?

Or can they fix things?

CNN investigative correspondent Drew Griffin did some digging.

So should we be turning to Congress to, say, do something?

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, why not?

They should do something, right?

WHITFIELD: You would think.

GRIFFIN: You know, how bad it was?

This summer, 12,000 plus flights were delayed at Newark Airport in just two months. The average flight delay about an hour. That's average flight delay for Newark.

WHITFIELD: That is miserable.

GRIFFIN: So what is Congress doing?

In particular what is the Senate doing?

We checked it out.

So -- so...

WHITFIELD: Here we go.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

GRIFFIN (voice-over): So what is the Senate doing in its Senate transportation bill to fix the major airports?

"Keeping Them Honest," we found the senators from Massachusetts fixing the airports important to them. Senators Ted Kennedy and John Kerry asked for and got $8 million earmarks to replace control towers at their airports -- the tiny Nantucket Airport near the summer home of -- remember this moment -- windsurfing John Kerry and the small Barnstable Airport near they famous Kennedy compound in Hyannis.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

GRIFFIN: Now, do you think those two airports, Fred, were on the high priority list for congestion relief?

WHITFIELD: No.

GRIFFIN: No, they weren't. "Keeping Them Honest" tonight, we are going to tell you some more little facts about these airport earmarks that we found. And they're on both sides of the aisle. Quite frankly, it was shocking to me to see this, especially coming out of the worst period of air traffic delays since they began keeping records.

WHITFIELD: And you know what?

I think I'm guilty -- and I know a lot of folks, when they're stuck on the tarmac or they're waiting at the gate, you're angry at the airline. You're thinking that, wait a minute, you guys are just overbooked, overscheduled. So that -- it's not as simple at that.

GRIFFIN: Well, there's a lot of factors. There's too many planes in the air. There's too few runways to take off from. And if there's any little glitch in the weather, it just collapses the system.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

GRIFFIN: The problem is the infrastructure. We have not been building airport runways as fast enough to keep up with...

WHITFIELD: It's expensive, right.

GRIFFIN: ...with the congestion. And the FAA does have targeted projects they want to fund. Not these.

WHITFIELD: Wow!

Well, we will be watching, Drew, because it's alarming.

It gets you mad, too, doesn't it?

GRIFFIN: You bet.

WHITFIELD: As a traveler.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: And, of course, there's (INAUDIBLE) it burns me up. There's only one place to catch Drew Griffin's special report tonight on flight delays. You do not want to miss it, because we know it burns you up, too. "A.C. 360" with Anderson Cooper. It's coming up at 10:00 Eastern only on CNN.

Thanks, Drew.

LEMON: You don't want to get Drew mad. He might make that noise.

WHITFIELD: That's right.

LEMON: Whatever that is.

President Bush's nominee for attorney general says the president has no power to authorize torture and the Justice Department was wrong to say that he did. At his confirmation hearing today, Michael Mukasey repudiated a 2002 memo of the treatment of suspected terrorists. That's something former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales refused to do.

Observers say if there were ever any doubt Mukasey's words today all but assures his confirmation. Mukasey is a retired chief federal judge for the Southern District of New York. He was appointed to that post by President Reagan almost 20 years ago.

WHITFIELD: And the search intensifies for a missing autistic teenager in a West Virginia forest. Another day and a new set of challenges. The siblings speak to CNN, straight ahead in THE NEWSROOM.

LEMON: An encoded image decoded now by police. Now they say they have a face and a name of a suspected pedophile.

Have you seen this man?

The latest coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right, a standoff between police and a suspected bank robber in Washington State. Police have the house surrounded. They say that gunman is inside, again, accused of robbing a bank. One high school there on lockdown. Police are looking for that bank robbery suspect in the area. But, again, looking for one -- and at least one man is suspected of robbing a bank and is inside of a house. We'll continue to follow this developing story straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: So California becomes the first state to ban a chemical called phthalates from toys and baby products. It's used to soften plastics, but scientists have also linked it to health problems. Toxic toys are one concern, but not the only one.

CNN's Anderson Cooper takes a look at all the chemicals in your body and what they could mean for your health.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE) ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): I don't like going to the doctor, so this is no fun.

(on camera): I'm not a big fan of needles.

(voice-over): I'm here for what's called a body burden test. Not the most pleasant of procedures, it will take 120 CCs of blood -- almost a pint -- for scientists to look at traces of 250 industrial chemicals in my body.

(on camera): Will I just actually -- is...

DR. LEO TRASANDE: Sure.

COOPER: Have you ever had anyone pass out because they gave so much blood?

TRASANDE: I haven't had anyone pass out. I've had people get nauseated a little bit. Let's get you some orange juice just so that you can fuel up after.

COOPER (voice-over): Public health experts are only beginning to understand what harm, if any, low level chemical exposure can cause. Dr. Leo Trasande worries most about children.

TRASANDE: We're certainly in an epidemic of chronic disease among American children. Rates of asthma, childhood cancers, birth defects and developmental disabilities are all on the rise. And, increasingly, they're being attributed to chemicals that we're all exposed to on a daily basis.

COOPER (on camera): You really -- you consider it an epidemic?

TRASANDE: I do consider it an epidemic.

COOPER (voice-over): Rowan and Mikhaila Holland (ph) are some of the first children to sound the alarm.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the beginning, I wasn't worried at all. I was fascinated.

Oh, you had this (INAUDIBLE).

CHILD: Can I see it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let you see it?

COOPER: Three years ago, when this video was taken, the entire Holland family decided to get body burden testing for a story in the "Oakland Tribune". Their son Rowan was just 18 months old. At the time, he was the youngest child in America to ever be tested for chemical exposure. Mikhaila (ph) was just 5-years-old.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought that would be really interesting to see, you know, if mom and dad are high in something, would their kids be high in it, too. COOPER: Their chemical exposure levels were high. But then they got the kids' results and they were shocked. Rowan and Mikhaila's (ph) levels of chemical exposure were two, three and four times that of their parents.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, that is some alarming stuff.

So, to see what's running through Anderson's bloodstream and find out why doctors are concerned about what's running through yours, you need to tune into "Planet In Peril," Tuesday and Wednesday, October 23 and 24, 9:00 Eastern.

And if you just can't wait, you can download the "A.C. 360" pod cast. Go to cnn.com/planetinperil to download it right now.

LEMON: A dream come true for one little girl -- daddy's home from the war. The heartwarming story, straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Forty-six past the hour. Three of the stories we're working on for you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM, we're now hearing that Richard Roberts will temporarily step down as president of Oral Roberts University. The school is fighting a lawsuit from three former professors who accuse the Roberts family of lavishly spending school money on themselves.

Police here in Atlanta are on the hunt for two bank robbery suspects. They were apparently waiting outside in a gray Jeep Cherokee while a third man went inside and robbed a bank. That man was shot and killed by security guards. The other two fled.

Personal and disturbing testimony on Capitol Hill this afternoon, as lawmakers consider a bill to boost the fight against online sex crimes. They're hearing from Alisha Kusikevic (ph), who was kidnapped six years ago and brutalized by a man she met on the Internet.

WHITFIELD: And something we're watching right now outside of Tulsa, Oklahoma. This is the scene of a plane crash -- a small plane crash. And we don't know exactly the type of plane right now, but we understand that this plane may have clipped a power line and crashed into the area near Cold Creek Landing. This is near Jenks, just south of Tulsa, somewhere between the Highway 75 and Elwood Avenue area. And it is believed that there are deaths. We're working to confirm some of the numbers of how many people may have been involved, how many people were on board this small plane and exactly what may have happened there outside of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Meantime, in West Virginia, day four of the search for missing hiker Jacob Allen. He is 18-years-old and said to be severely autistic. He wandered away from his parents on Sunday with no food, no water, no heavy clothes. And at the time, the family was hiking in the Dolly Sods Wilderness Area.

Well, this morning Jacob's siblings spoke with CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "AMERICAN MORNING")

BRITTANY ALLEN, SISTER: I'm sure he's, you know, very afraid and scared and cold and, of course, hungry. You know, that is our biggest concern that he, you know, if someone calls for him, he can't say, you know, I'm here, help me. That is our biggest concern with him not being able to respond. I'm sure, if he does see someone, I'm sure he would go to them and, you know, willing to go with them. I'm sure of that. And we just -- we just hope that we can visually see him. You know, Jacob works very visually. Usually when we do call for him, he comes to us. And we often use pictures to communicate with him rather than verbal -- verbal use. And that is our biggest concern in trying to find him. And we just -- we just really want to find him out there. And, you know, that's our -- that's what we hope to do today.

MICAH ALLEN, BROTHER: By now, he's probably very tired and weak. So he's probably laying down or sitting down somewhere. But, I mean, yes, he's very fit. I mean he's pretty skinny, but he's healthy and he's hiked a lot before and he can make his own paths. He just tries to find the easiest way out and down. But by today, I don't know if he's going to be able to do much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: This is heartbreaking. Well, searchers are concerned about temperatures in the West Virginia woods, which have dropped to near freezing at night.

LEMON: A high profile murder trial came to a stop today over money. Jury selection in the Atlanta courthouse shooting trial began Monday. But today the judge suspended it -- indefinitely. The public defender's office says it's spent $1.8 million on behalf of Brian Nichols so far and can't go on without more funding, which neither the state nor the county want to provide. Nichols is accused of murdering a judge and three other people in a 2005 rampage that began at the Fulton County Courthouse.

WHITFIELD: He's a teacher. He's Canadian. He lives and works in Southeast Asia and police think he's a child molester. A global manhunt already three-years-old caught a high tech break.

Pauline Chiou reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

PAULINE CHIOU, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): His face and name are now public -- Christopher Paul Neil. His family in Canada is asking Neil to turn himself in to answer to allegations of sexually abusing at least 12 young boys in Southeast Asia.

MATTHEW NEIL, SUSPECT'S BROTHER: We're actually devastated. The range of emotions is from anger, shock, devastation.

CHIOU: Neil is now the subject of an international manhunt. Investigators say they were able to identify him after unscrambling digitized photos that surfaced on the Internet -- photos that showed a man abusing boys.

KRISTIN KVIGNE, INTERPOL INVESTIGATOR: We've gotten a tremendous response from the public. We had more than 350 tips from the public as to who this man could be, and in identifying Christopher Paul Neil, as the one.

CHIOU: Neil, who was teaching English in South Korea, is now believed to be on the run in Thailand.

This international case is in the headlines as a victim in another Internet predator case prepares to testify on Capitol Hill today. Alisha Kusikevic was 13 when she met an older man online five years ago. She disappeared from her home in Pennsylvania and was found days later in Virginia -- tied up in a bedroom inside the home of a computer programmer. He's now behind bars, serving a nearly 20 year sentence -- an outcome lawmakers want to repeat as they cast a wide net for more online predators.

(on camera): Along with Alisha's testimony on Capitol Hill, there will also be the lead lawyers from AOL and Yahoo! They will talk about strategies on how to make the Internet safer for children.

Pauline Chiou, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

LEMON: All right, we want to get back to the scene of some developing news we told you about in Washington State. It involved a suspected bank robber and a standoff.

We are being told by our affiliate KIRO there that the bank robber and the man who is inside that home or the person inside that home has surrendered. And police say the situation there is under control. Again, police were -- they had that suspect inside the home, holding him at bay. He was holed up in there. And now we are told by our affiliate that that suspect has surrendered and the standoff is no more.

We'll follow if any news comes out of this -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Also, coming up, a very little girl and a very big surprise.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAYLOR: I think it was something different. But it was my daddy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: A daddy and his daughter reunited -- a sailor's story straight ahead.

And a final look at the trading day. We're live with the closing bell.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.

Coming up at the top of the hour in "THE SITUATION ROOM," he's an actor and advocate -- an outspoken advocate for human rights in Tibet. Richard Gere will be here on this, the day the Dalai Lama receives the Congressional Gold Medal. I'll ask Richard Gere about his relationship with the Dalai Lama and his campaign for a free Tibet.

Also, Democrats are relying on African-Americans to help them win. But we have some fresh poll numbers on just what's important to black voters -- findings that may surprise some of you.

And he's an Army lieutenant colonel who's guarded Saddam Hussein his final days.

Did he really help give the deposed dictator Cuban cigars and hair dye?

And could he be going to jail for life for allegedly aiding the enemy through other acts?

All that and a lot more coming up right here in "THE SITUATION ROOM" -- back to Fred and Don.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Wolf.

We'll be watching -- Don.

LEMON: Absolutely.

And the surprise of a lifetime for a little girl in Texas. Daddy's home from the war.

Reporter Jessie Degollado of CNN affiliate KSAT was on hand for the reunion in San Antonio.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JESSIE DEGOLLADO, KSAT CORRESPONDENT: At the last minute, dad, Jimmy Reyes, had to go get balloon. His two youngest, dressed in honor of their Navy C.B. father, knew something was up -- unlike their oldest sister. Told to close her eyes, she was about to realize her dream.

CRYSTAL REYES, HUSBAND HOME FROM IRAQ: She tells me, mommy, I'm going to see my daddy. I'm going to run to him and I'm going to hug him.

JIMMY REYES, U.S. NAVY: It's a real joy to see her run up to me like that.

DEGOLLADO: Exactly as described.

J. REYES: I feel like crying but I'm not going to cry.

C. REYES: I was crying like a baby.

J. REYES: Here. We got you some balloons.

TAYLOR: Thank you.

DEGOLLADO: Beaming with joy, Taylor had been promised a surprise of some sort.

TAYLOR: I think it was something different, but it was my daddy.

DEGOLLADO: Daddy has a new son, born right before he went to Iraq.

J. REYES: I don't even know him, so I've got to get to know my son. I missed Taylor a lot. And Jasmine, too.

C. REYES: It's just better when he's here, you know?

I just wish that everybody could come home already. But the good thing is, you know, that it makes us stronger. I'm glad that she sees my daughter a lot of things about real sacrifice.

DEGOLLADO: Eight months without you father is a long time when you're five.

C. REYES: Honest to God, she always asks for him to protect her daddy.

DEGOLLADO (on camera): After the reunion, the family will eventually move back to California, where they say they'll be starting their lives over again as a family.

Jessie Degollado, KSAT-12 News.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: That is sweet.

LEMON: Wow!

How sweet is that?

WHITFIELD: I know.

LEMON: She say, "My daddy!"

WHITFIELD: Daddy's girl.

LEMON: Yes.

WHITFIELD: All right, the closing bell just moments away.

LEMON: Yes.

Susan Lisovicz standing by with a final look at the trading day -- Susan, what do you have for us? A busy day for us.

You too, hey?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes, very busy.

But I just want to tell you about an extreme makeover -- which is, of course, the name of a popular show by Disney put out on its ABC network. But Disney is undergoing its own extreme makeover. Its theme park called California Adventures -- have you guys ever been there?

It's in Glendale.

WHITFIELD: No.

LEMON: No. Not at all.

LISOVICZ: That's -- that's the problem. Not enough people have been there. It only opened six years ago. They're going to spend more than $1 billion on the makeover. That's more than it cost to build the park.

LEMON: Oh.

WHITFIELD: Wow!

LEMON: OK.

LISOVICZ: They're going to make it more like Disneyland, which is in next door...

WHITFIELD: Anaheim.

LISOVICZ: ...Anaheim.

WHITFIELD: Right.

LISOVICZ: Exactly. They're going to put more like Disney themes.

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