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Attempted Abduction Caught on Tape; Distracted at the Mall: Protecting Holiday Shoppers; Countdown to Caucus

Aired December 21, 2007 - 14:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Fridays are notorious getaway days, and this Friday a lot of folks are getting away for the holiday.
(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Let's get straight to the NEWSROOM. T.J. Holmes working details on a developing story right now.

Hey, T.J.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there, Kyra.

Well, women out in a neighborhood in Los Angeles are being urged not to walk alone and parents are being urged to keep a closer eye on their children after an attempted abduction of a 4-year-old girl that was caught on tape. You're seeing the surveillance video here on the left. You see the man walking off.

That is the suspect, according to police. There he is again, but this was at an apartment complex in the North Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. And police say it was light out and he attempted to abduct this little girl, and you see it happening here.

He's fighting with the little girl, trying to drag her out, and then he drops her because over to the right there, another little kid who noticed something was up just started screaming and making some noise and apparently made the suspect uncomfortable.

Here now, listen to one of the police detectives out there in California describing what was going on in that videotape

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CMDR. GEORGE VIOLEGAS, LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPT.: What you do is you see the suspect walking back towards the front, and he looks back. He actually specifically identifies and targets his victim in a very predatory manner, and then he picks up our victim, our 4-year-old, and he essentially attempts to kidnap her.

You'll see there are a group of kids at that front end of the apartment complex. You see how he grabbed her and he's now trying to escape with her. Another child is calling out for her, and he eventually puts down the child and he ends up walking away.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: And can you believe that? The little guy came to the rescue. Of course, physically he can't compete and couldn't have taken the suspect down, but he just recognized, according to police, that something was wrong, something was up, and he made enough noise to make the suspect put the little girl down and leave.

That is the suspect sketch you're looking at there, described as a Latino between 140 and 180 pounds, 5'7 tall, somewhere in his early 30s. He was wearing, according to police, that beanie you're seeing there, an Oakland Raiders beanie that you see him have on.

They believe he's involved in now four incidents, two sexual assaults and also one incident in which he fondled a 17-year-old girl. And that was close by, like an hour before that attempted abduction we saw on the videotape that. That happened an hour before that.

So police definitely believe right now they have a predator on their hands and they believe he will continue to do this, continue to make some attempts to either abduct a child or also involved in some kind of a sexual assault. But they are afraid because he is certainly and obviously according -- at least looking at this video -- and here we're seeing it again -- bold. There he is on the left, carrying the little child, the little girl, and then finally puts her down because another child on the right was making enough noise that made him uncomfortable, and then he still kind of just strolls out of the scene there.

PHILLIPS: There's the lesson right there, you make noise, you scream. You do not give in whatsoever, T.J.

HOLMES: And we don't know the age of the little boy who -- and I guess we can say came to the rescue, if you will. But he just made enough noise. We don't know his age, but he said something's up, I don't feel good about it, and he said, hey, sir, what are you doing? And he made enough noise that made the guy comfortable. He put the 4- year-old down, and that story at least ends up a happy ending there.

But definitely, Kyra, the police think they have got a bad guy on their hands here. So we'll keep an eye on it.

PHILLIPS: Well, we'll make it our mission to track him down. We'll keep showing that videotape and give all the details.

HOLMES: All right. We sure will.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, T.J.

HOLMES: All right.

PHILLIPS: Government lawyers hauled into court today by a federal judge in Washington. The attorneys asked Judge Henry Kennedy to refrain from investigating the CIA for destroying the tapes showing harsh interrogations of two terrorism suspects.

Kennedy wants to determine whether destroying these tapes violated his order in a civil action concerning detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Now, the detainees' attorney said the tape's destruction is a smoking gun.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID REMES, ATTORNEY FOR DETAINEES: Our argument was that the destruction of the CIA videotapes raised legitimate questions and grave concerns about the government's handling of evidence generally that is being used in the Guantanamo cases. And we believe that it warrants an inquiry by the court to determine whether other evidence has been destroyed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: The destruction of the tapes is being probed by the Justice Department and some congressional committees right now.

Well, a plea today to Louisiana's governor to pardon this teenager and the rest of the Jena Six. It comes from 15 members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Mychal Bell is in juvenile detention serving 18 months for his part in the beating a white student. Texas Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee wrote to Governor Kathleen Blanco saying that all the Jena defendants have been punished enough.

No response yet from the governor. We'll track it.

In Chapel Hill, North Carolina, two women face charges in the alleged robbery and sexual assault of two University of North Carolina football players. A man is charged as well.

Additional charges include kidnapping, conspiracy and resisting arrest. Authorities say the robbery was the apparent motive in a weekend incident in the off-campus apartment of three Tarheel players. All three were allegedly bound with tape.

Other details emerged in court.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MORGAN WHITNEY, ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY: (INAUDIBLE) pulled off the victim's pants, pushed him down onto the bed, and attempted to tie his hands with his belt. The more that he wrestled, Mr. Lewis (ph) put his knife closer or further to the victim's neck. He repeatedly said no, and as he continued to resist, Ms. Taylor (ph), the co-defendant, and Ms. Washington (ph) began to beat him in the face.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: None of the three football players required medical treatment.

If you're still holiday shopping, you've got plenty on your mind. And personal security isn't at the top of your list. But CNN's Susan Candiotti reports that you really need to be on the lookout for more than just the sales.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Behind the melody, the cheer and the bargains...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We detected the following two subjects that are walking around and looking into people's vehicles.

CANDIOTTI: ... criminals are looking to cash in on distracted, overly busy holiday shoppers.

(on camera): You didn't know where your car was parked, did you? Admit it. Right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

CANDIOTTI: Right? Right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

CANDIOTTI (voice over): A few aisles over we found this car with a purse sitting right there on the front seat. We waited for its owner to show up

(on camera): I have to ask.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know. It's stupid. I know. I'm an idiot.

CANDIOTTI (voice over): Lieutenant Norris Reading (ph) says people have to be aware of their surroundings.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You see how the key is just running back and forth? You have the daughter that's about five steps in front of the mother. The little son is behind the basket, she's pulling the basket. It's not a safe way to do things.

CANDIOTTI (on camera): Does it look like she has the keys in her hand?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doesn't have the keys ready.

I don't know if you have an alarm on your car.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You do? Try to punch it just before you get to it so your doors and everything will already be open.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

CANDIOTTI (voice over): An undercover team with a crime suppression unit of the Hollywood, Florida, Police Department is doing what police all over the country do this time of year, run holiday surveillance operations. They use watch towers like this one with blackened glass, but nothing they say replaces common sense

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of times the crime actually starts on the inside, and why does it start on the inside? They're watching you count your money.

CANDIOTTI: And police say there is safety in numbers. We watched this family leave an elderly man on his own

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has to be at least 75, 80 years old. He's a potential victim.

CANDIOTTI: Lieutenant Reading (ph) makes sure his family understands the danger.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay with him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a lot of problems up here with senior citizens. They are attacking you all, they are doing all these things.

CANDIOTTI: It's a lesson for shoppers of all ages, any time of year.

Susan Candiotti, CNN, Hollywood, Florida

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: U.S. military forces stretched to the limit, and their children are suffering. We're going to have a disturbing reality check.

Christmas just around the corner. Is the stock market being naughty or nice? We'll tell you.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Caucus night in Iowa. New Year's confetti may still be in the air when we'll see the first real indicator of which way American voters are leaning in the presidential race.

Think the Democratic candidates are working in Iowa today? Oh yes. And our Jessica Yellin has been talking with some Iowa voters.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In Iowa, Democratic voters' top concerns are clear -- economy, healthcare, and Iraq.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard that there was more money allocated. I'm not sure how much. I was just wondering how you voted on this issue and...

JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There's a reason the Democrats were put in charge of Congress in November of 2006, and that reason was to stand up to Bush on this war in Iraq. YELLIN: They call it retail politics. The candidates understand in Iowa they have to let the caucus-goers get to know them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to find out more information on which candidate is going to work best for me and my needs. You know, not just for our country, but what's going to help us out individually.

YELLIN: At Obama events, you often see college-age voters who like his message of hope. At Clinton gatherings, you get a lot of older women who like her tough pragmatism. Edwards tends to draw union members who finds his populist pitch appealing.

Still, those are generalizations and every event is different, as are the reactions.

DEBRA DEGENHARDT, HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: It was very personal. It was like she was talking to me, you know, not just something on TV that you watch. And I was glad I came.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love him. I think he's terrific. I haven't felt this way about a candidate since probably Jimmy Carter.

PROF. DENNIS GOLDFORD, DRAKE UNIVERSITY: They do get good crowds at this stage of the campaign, and their job is to whip those crowds into excitement to turn out, because it doesn't matter what your opinions are. If you don't show up caucus night, it doesn't matter.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YELLIN: And you know, Kyra, the latest CNN poll shows that about half of the Democratic voters in Iowa really have yet to firmly make up their minds, and you can feel it when you go to these events. You'll talk to people on their way in. They say they are not quite decided. You talk to them on their way out, some of them say they still haven't made up their minds.

People here really are candidate shopping, and the beauty of Iowa is somebody who is interested can truly meet each candidate face to face and grill them -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Nothing like a good grilling, especially when it comes to our political candidates.

Thanks, Jessica.

Iowa, the state is no given, politically speaking. It was a red state, Republican, in '04, and voted blue, Democratic, four years before that.

CNN's Dana Bash has been on the trail with Republicans.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's called "Ask Mitt Anything." A question Iowa Republicans ask Mitt most? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I had to pick one of the most important things to me right now to talk about, it's illegal immigration.

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to have to have -- we're going to have to have a way to turn off the magnets that bring in the illegal aliens.

BASH: Mike Huckabee opens it to voters at nearly every Iowa stop, and sometimes tough questions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And also, how is that going to ensure the 47 million people who are uninsured in the United States?

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Moving us first of all from the intervention base to the prevention base. That's the biggest problem in our healthcare system. It's not a healthcare system.

BASH: Fred Thompson takes part in Iowa's tradition, too, and he's not afraid to disappoint. One voter wanted a bigger federal role in prosecuting sex crimes.

FRED THOMPSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The federal government has never had a federal police force, and I don't think they ever ought to have one.

BASH: What's most striking about Iowa? Republicans looking to lead a nation of 300 million are often speaking to rooms of 30. Who comes? For Thompson, a lot of undecided GOP voters like Mike Demeroy.

MIKE DEMEROY, IOWA VOTER: No one else has really captured my attention yet either, no. And that's sad.

BASH: Mitt Romney draws a mix of supporters and undecideds.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm undecided. You're not going to pull funding, are you?

ROMNEY: No.

BASH: Huckabee was a long shot, but his recent surge has drawn more crowds than expected.

(on camera): Why do you trust him so much?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know what? He's a God-fearing man.

BASH (voice over): Even a vendor who claims his button sales predict Iowa winners.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're at 45 percent at Romney's at 20.

HUCKABEE: You go by John's kiosk and get a chest-full of these delightful looking buttons here.

BASH (on camera): Often, it's how a candidate reacts or doesn't react in impromptu moments like that that tell voters most about that candidate. What you hear time and time again from voters in these intimate settings is that, yes, issues do matter, but sometimes likeability and trust matter just as much.

Dana Bash, CNN, Des Moines, Iowa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Buying for a handy man in the family this year? Then you'll want to hear about a recall on cordless drills.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BUSINESS REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, we have all witnessed how the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have stretched the military thin, and we have heard a lot about the lack of resources. However, there's something else that has come out of these wars that we've not heard a lot about. It's a heart-wrenching side to war that will probably send chills down your spine, and I'm talking about child abuse, men and women in uniform beating their kids. The apparent cause? Stress and long deployments.

Our Vince Gonzales brings us this disturbing reality check.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VINCE GONZALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Jonathan Klinker says he doesn't remember much about the day his daughter Nicolette (ph) died.

JONATHAN KLINKER, IRAQ WAR VETERAN: I do know that it did not feel like it was me, like somebody else was controlling my hands and it was a straight somebody who was angry a whole lot of people for no reason.

GONZALES: Klinker was in custody and wasn't at the hospital when doctors told Nicolette's (ph) mother, Amanda Radetsky, her baby would never recover.

AMANDA RADETSKY, EX-WIFE: So that evening we gathered all of my family and friends and we took her off of the life support, and I held my little girl as she gasped for air for two hours. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do.

My baby wasn't here. I couldn't take my baby home from the hospital that night. I had to leave her there.

GONZALES: Nicolette (ph) was 7 weeks old.

RADETSKY: This is Nicolette's (ph) baby blanket. It's the only piece of her that I have.

GONZALES: Klinker will spend up to 40 years in this Colorado state prison after pleading guilty to causing Nicolette's (ph) death.

Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Goodman, a battalion commander at Fort Carson, says the Army had begun trying to help Klinker immediately after he put his wife in the hospital, months before their baby's death.

LT. COL. MATTHEW GOODMAN, FORT CARSON, COLORADO: We still took all the action that we legally could to deal with this situation. He was immediately enrolled in marital counseling, he was directed to enroll in parenting classes, and additionally he enrolled in anger management classes.

GONZALES (on camera): According to Pentagon numbers, child abuse and neglect rates in military families hit a high in 2004 and then began a steep decline. But the war still goes on and long deployments are a fact of life. So what happened? Officials credit a better safety net for military families and a tough no tolerance policy.

LT. COL AARON ALDRIDGE, MARINE CORPS RECRUITMENT DEPOT: It's definitely not acceptable. It's unacceptable behavior so that's, you know, bottom line.

GONZALES: U.S. Marine Corps has historically had one of the best child abuse prevention records in the military with a steady decline in rates. Lt. Col. Aaron Aldridge of the Marine Corps Depot in San Diego credits the recent dramatic drop in military wide cases to a Pentagon investment in classes and programs aimed at spotting abuse and helping families with deployment stress.

Aldrich says this commitment is important to military preparedness.

ALDRIDGE: Oh absolutely, their preparedness. If you're tied to problems at home or family issues, then you're not going to be prepared to go when you're called upon.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Baby girl.

GONZALES: Sean Cowly (ph), who recently left the military, and his wife, Major Marisa Serano, are one of the Corps' fighting families. Both have been stationed in the war zones. Before their new baby arrived, they took Marine family classes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hard shaking causes ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One made quite an impact on them.

MAJ. MARISA SERANO, U.S. MARINE CORPS: It was the shaken baby video. I said, that scared the hell out of me. One act of rage or missing a moment of sanity in your mind could potentially affect her for the rest of her life.

GONZALEZ: It's a lesson Jonathan Klinker, who admits skipping some counselling opportunities, learned too late.

JONATHAN KLINKER, IRAQ WAR VETERAN: I love my daughter. I hope I see her again, you know, if Heaven is a true place. I really hope to see her again.

GONZALEZ: Amanda Redatsky divorced Klinker, the papers were served in prison. But she can't escape the haunting images of her baby daughter.

What do you see when you look at that picture now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pain. It just hurts. I just feel pain.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Dr. Heidi Kraft knows this military reality all too well. She's a clinical psychologist in the U.S. Navy, seeing active duty patients daily. She was actually deployed in Iraq and was responsible for the mental health care of thousands of Marines and sailors. You may have seen her new book, "Rule Number Two, Lessons I Learned In A Combat Hospital." Dr. Kraft joins us now live from San Diego.

And Heidi, when you see that piece, you hear that piece, is Klinker the norm or is this very rare?

DR. HEIDI KRAFT, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: This is very rare, extremely rare.

PHILLIPS: Tell me why.

KRAFT: Well I think first of all, the military has historically much lower rates of domestic violence than the general population and there's probably a couple reasons for that. One is that they are ostensibly screened for criminal behavior before they are allowed into the military. And then also, there's a pretty strict no tolerance policy on drugs and alcohol dependence and some of the things that lead to domestic violence in the real world.

So, I think we're protected with the people that join the military. They tend to have that sort of character that would lead them to want to serve their countries. I would think this is probably all protective.

PHILLIPS: So, when someone like a Klinker comes forward and says it was the long deployment, it's what I saw overseas, it's what I went through, he even used the quote, "it's like I was a train off the tracks," is he telling the truth? Is it possible that something happens over there in war that messes with your head, and messes with it so badly that you beat your child to death?

KRAFT: Again, totally the exception. But certainly there are a lot of people that suffer from the trauma that they experience in the combat zone, and that suffering is manifested in different ways. The violence that we see in that story, which is really heartbreaking, is certainly the exception in my experience.

PHILLIPS: So what is it -- as you meet with men and women and you deal with depression and post-traumatic stress and you deal with people like Klinker -- what is it that gets to them? Is it the long hours and no sleep? Is it the violence? Is it having to kill people? Is it watching people die? What is it psychologically that sort of takes that shift in someone's mind?

KRAFT: Well, I think you probably added -- you could add to the list that you even just said. It's all those things and it's more. But for many people the development of PTSD specifically involves very specific trauma that involves horror or intense fear or intense grief. And then you add the chronicity of the fatigue, the long hours, the difficult conditions, the separation and all those things together then I think add to that stress reaction that some people have.

PHILLIPS: Do you think that there needs to be more Dr. Heidi Krafts, more psychologists, you know, more psychiatrists dealing with these men and women. Not only there during -- in the war zone but when they come home?

KRAFT: Well, the DOD is actively working on that right now. Many people are being hired and our mental health departments are being plussed up. This is something that was very clearly identified as a need. So, this is in the process of -- many new people are being hired. So hopefully there will be lots of new mental health providers to provide those services for our service members and their families.

PHILLIPS: When you see a piece like this and you learn about a Klinker type -- and even when you sit down with these men and women that are coming back from Iraq -- I mean you came back from Iraq, you had your own challenges of things you had to deal with. What strikes you the most? If you were to sit back and sort of write a case study on, OK, this is how things have to change, this is what we've got to do to move forward so we can prevent this from becoming a bigger problem.

KRAFT: Well, I think, when I think about my marines, both the people I took care of in the acute sense in the desert as well as the guys that I take care of now in the more chronic sense, I think that one thing that strikes me about them is that we think of marines as being brave on the battle field, but these guys are brave for admitting that they are suffering and that they need assistance. And so I think that what society can do, what our families can do to help make this better, is be active members in the process of destigmatizing this.

This is a long-standing military culture that does not go to doctors of any kind, let alone mental health. So, I think supporting these brave people in their decisions to get the treatment that they know works and get their lives back on track, get back to work, get back to their families, get back to what they call their old selves, that's a brave choice. And I think supporting them in that choice and helping get rid of that stigma is probably the most important thing that we can do.

PHILLIPS: Beautifully put. Dr. Heidi Kraft, always great to see you. Thanks so much.

KRAFT: Thank you. PHILLIPS: Lets go straight to the news room now. T.J. Holmes is working details on a developing story for us -- T.J.?

HOLMES: Yes, this is one we've been following for over a year now. Erik Volz, 28-year-old man who was convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend in Nicaragua, according to his family he has now been freed. He was convicted by a court there and then that conviction was overturned because of lack of evidence.

This story caused quite some outrage, people will remember, because ten people came forward and gave testimony and signed affidavits saying that he was actually in his office, some two hours away from where the young lady was killed when the murder happened.

But still, the court, a judge there, convicted him in Nicaragua of this murder, sentenced him to 30 years in prison. Well an appellate court then came in and overturned that but he still wasn't released from prison just yet. He's still been in jail for the past, almost week now, after the conviction was overturned because the judge refused to sign papers to release him.

According to several reports, the judge was simply stalling, saying that things as simple, Kyra, as the pages weren't numbered correctly on the documents, and that they weren't stapled correctly and one day even said she had a flat tire and couldn't get into work and couldn't get the papers signed.

So, this has been a long ordeal for this young man and his family. Eric Volz, again, 28, of Nashville, Tennessee. That's not him there, that's another -- there's the gentleman we're talking about, Eric Volz. But he has now been freed, finally, from prison after his conviction was overturned by an appellate court there.

So, don't know when he might be coming home, but he had been living there and working there and then published a magazine there in Nicaragua, but been going through this ordeal for quite some time. The murder happened in November 2006 and he was convicted earlier this year. And now it finally appears he is freed and waiting on word to see if he can possibly come back home to the U.S. -- Kyra?

PHILLIPS: All right T.J., thanks.

On the road to recovery. A tough journey for a little kid who nonetheless is determined to get the better of our chief medical correspondent.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: He acts like any other five-year-old, something his parents are delighted to see. Youssif was much different though when we met him this summer. He had been badly burned by a group of masked attackers in his native Iraq. Since that horrible day, Youssif and his family have been through terrible heartache.

Youssif's road to recovery is chronicled in a Christmas special now, hosted by our Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Thanks.

You know what's worth pointing out that a lot of this is due to you, the CNN viewer and the CNN.com user. So many donations came in from all over the world they were enough to pay for Youssif and his entire family to come to the United States, and Dr. Peter Grossman, who's a plastic surgeon in California, volunteered his time and volunteered his services to try to help Youssif.

Here's a clip of the special.

Dr. Grossman let me scrub in to observe. He showed me how he hopes to undo much what have an unspeakably cruel act has done to this 5-year-old boy.

VOICE OF DR. PETER GROSSMAN, GROSSMAN BURN CENTER: We'll basically be excising this thickened scar tissue around here.

GUPTA: He planned to remove scare tissue from around Youssif's nose and insert tissue expanders, small balloons under the healthy skin in Youssif's cheek and neck. Over time Dr. Grossman hoped to stretch the healthy skin so it can replace the heavy scars on Youssif's chin, jaw line and next to his ear

GROSSMAN: Now it's time to operate.

GUPTA: Dr. Grossman took Youssif's case for free and expected to perform half a dozen or more operations over the year. How Youssif fared in this initial operation would play an enormous role in how well the boy heals and how much evidence remained of the attack that disfigured his young face. For me it was a fascinating close-up view of state-of-the-art burn surgery. For Youssif's parents it was an ordeal of waiting

GROSSMAN: This is not a sure thing.

GUPTA: Well, Youssif has had three operations now and he still has some more in store, but I can tell you he looks better, both physically and emotionally he's healing, much happier than he was before.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Don't forget our special coverage of a special little boy, one who's been through so much suffering. Christmas eve, "Rescuing Youssif," his life then, his life now only here on CNN.

Shot with rubber bullets, sprayed with a fire hose -- tasered nothing works as police in Phoenix tried to get a suspect off a roof. We're going to show you what happened

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kareen Wynter in Los Angeles. Jamie Lynn Spears' pregnancy may have spawned a television special, that's right, and I'll tell you all about it when CNN NEWSROOM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, the pregnancy of Britney Spears' little sister is creating a new opportunity for one cable channel. Entertainment Correspondent Kareen Wynter joins me now to explain.

Kareen, always looking for those new opportunities, these producers, creators, companies.

WYNTER: Oh, absolutely. You have to jump on one opportunity before it passes you by. As the shock of Jamie Lynn Spears' pregnancy settles in, the network that airs her kid show, Nickelodeon, well they may soon take action. Nickelodeon is considering doing a special for its young viewers. That's right. It will talk about sex and love and teen pregnancy.

This comes, of course, on the heels of the 16-year-old's revelation she has a baby on the way. Spears, of course, is the star of the hit series "Zoey 101," now filming for that show's fourth and final season was completed before the pregnancy announcement. Those episodes by the way are slated to air in February.

Now, Nickelodeon is reportedly talking with a veteran news woman Linda Ellerbee to host the special on teen pregnancy. Spears, as we all know is the younger sister of pop star Britney spears. Jamie Lynn's 18-year-old boyfriend Casey Aldrich is the father, but still no word yet on whether Spears' show will return for a fifth season.

OK, Kyra, it didn't take long, no surprise here, for NBA star Tony Parker to decide to sue those responsible for uncovering an alleged sexual affair. We told you about this. Parker filed a lawsuit on Wednesday against a gossip Web site X17 online. The Web site claimed the married San Antonio Spurs player had an affair with a French model.

Parker fought back saying the site posted a series of false and defamatory stories that he cheated on his wife, Desperate Housewives actress Eva Longoria. Now, the two got married in July. It was a lavish ceremony in Paris. The model claims she allegedly had a two- month affair with Parker after he got married, and that she actually attended Parker's wedding to Longoria. Parker is seeking some big bucks here $40 million in damages, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: OK, well, let's talk about some of these, I guess, good news going on in Hollywood, right.

WYNTER: Yes, a little bit of good news.

PHILLIPS: A lot of your favorite shows coming back to the air, I hear.

WYNTER: Absolutely, Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart, they're returning to the air. "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report" are returning to the air on January 7th, but there's a catch. Kyra, they're coming back without their striking writers. Now, how are they going to do all of this?

Well, the shows will try to work around the missing writers by relying heavily on pre-taped segments from the field. The Writers Guild of America West issued a statement and what they're saying in essence is that Comedy Central forcing Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert back on the air will not give the viewers the quality shows they have come to expect.

And one other note for Colbert: he's been voted Associated Press's celebrity of the year. Are you surprised by that?

PHILLIPS: Not at all, actually.

WYNTER: Not at all.

PHILLIPS: And these guys, come on, they don't need writers, they're funny enough, right. They can ad-lib the whole show.

WYNTER: Of course, they're naturals.

PHILLIPS: Yes.

WYNTER: They're naturals, so I think they're going to do just fine.

He was voted by various newspaper editors and broadcast producers, they say he had the biggest impact on pop culture in 2007.

All right. A little bit about what's going to happen later on tonight on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT." We'll talk more, of course, about the Spears sisters, the Spears marriage question. Should Britney Spears' pregnant kid sister get married or would that be the wrong thing for a 16-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears to do? A heated debate on TV's most provocative entertainment news show, 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific.

PHILLIPS: Well, is she in love with this guy and do you really know what love is at 16-years-old?

WYNTER: Who knows. We'll have to see, you know, they're together one minute and in a couple weeks, you can expect anything out of Hollywood. We're talking Hollywood here.

PHILLIPS: Yes, that's true, it's a whole different level, different playing field.

All right, Kareen. Have a great weekend.

WYNTER: All right, see you.

PHILLIPS: Well, a sweep in Boston for John McCain. We're going to tell you why he has a reason to smile in this picture.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Well, you've got to see this to believe it. An Arizona man faces arson, burglary and assault charges after a bizarre incident this morning in Phoenix. It started when a homeowner heard noises on his roof and called police. When officers arrived, they found the suspect on the roof, as you can see right here and he refused to come down. So, he started throwing clay tiles at the officers. Police say that he set three fires on that roof and firefighters sprayed him with water, didn't faze him, they tried rubber bullets, that didn't work either.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. JACKIE MACCONNELL, PHOENIX POLICE: He did not comply, even after being hit with the rubber bullets. He was tased. After he was tased, he fell off the roof from the second floor and when he landed on the ground, he got up and began running.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, the man finally was chased down by a police dog. He's been taken to a hospital. Authorities don't even know the guy's name.

Leading our political ticker, comments from a Republican candidate for president draw an angry response from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Mike Huckabee recently criticized the Bush administration for what he said was a "go at it alone" foreign policy. Today, Rice shot back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: The idea that somehow this is a "go it alone" policy is just simply ludicrous and one would only have to be not observing the facts, let me say that, to say that this is now a "go it alone" foreign policy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Among other things, Huckabee accused the administration of having an "arrogant bunker mentality."

Senator John McCain scores are double in Boston. The Republican presidential candidate has picked up the endorsement of the "Boston Herald" five days after gaining the support of the "Boston Globe." Both papers reach a sizable number of voters in neighboring New Hampshire which holds its presidential primary in 18 days.

From Republican White House hopeful Mitt Romney an admission. He now says he never actually saw his father march with Martin Luther King Jr. as he had claimed earlier. Romney said that his father, former Michigan governor, George Romney told him he had marched with the civil rights leader and he had used the word "saw" in a figurative sense. Historical evidence shows that no record of George Romney marching with King, although he did participate in a civil rights march and supported King's agenda. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign has taken potshots lately at Barack Obama and taken flack because of it, but keeping them honest, CNN's Joe Johns found it hasn't been a one-sided fight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hit-and-run politics, attack and retreat, throw the rock and hide your hand. It's practiced 365 days a year in this country, but when it gets this close to actually casting votes, people really start paying attention.

Example: Clinton supporter Bob Kerrey apologizing after using Senator Obama's full name, Barack Hussein Obama, to make a point. Kerrey said he did not mean to insult him or contribute to misinformation about Obama's heritage.

Another example, a Clinton campaign official in New Hampshire who raised questions about how Republicans might exploit Obama's drug use when he was young. Hit and run. Clinton apologized, the official resigned.

But when it comes to Obama's voting record as a state senator in Illinois, no apologies from the Clinton camp. Clinton supporters didn't hesitate to talk about how often Obama voted present instead of taking a stand on things by voting yes or no.

REP. ANTHONY WEINER (D), NEW YORK/CLINTON SUPPORTER: And you believe it's OK to look at what they're for, you believe it's OK to look at what they're against, why can't you look at the votes they ducked?

JOHNS: That's not hit-and-run politics. It's a full frontal above-the-board attack. The Clinton team registered two domain names on the Internet to highlight the issue, but decided not to put anything on a Web site.

(on camera): What's significant about this is that it suggests the Clinton campaign is so worried about Obama, it's resorting to these kinds of tactics.

(voice-over): Not lost here is that Barack Obama was the first campaign to go on the offensive, sharpening his rhetoric, what they call contrasting himself with Senator Clinton before she started fighting back.

STEPHANIE CUTTER, FMR. KERRY COMMUNICATIONS DIR.: I think Barack Obama started to do a sharp contrast on Hillary Clinton about six weeks ago. And he didn't pay a price for that. I think Hillary Clinton started to do a sharp contrast against Barack Obama just about four weeks ago, and in the media at least, she has paid a price for that.

JOHNS: Opening salvos (ph), but if the race stays this close, prepare for a barrage.

Joe Johns, CNN, Washington. (END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.

Look closely: what you're seeing could have been horrible. A predator stalks and grabs a young girl, then lets her go when her friend makes a fuss. He's still on the loose.

Teams on the field, state title on the line, player's dad in Iraq. The underdog Falcons of Fort Campbell, Kentucky win the championship, and two of them join me in the NEWSROOM.

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