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Manhunt Continues for Fugitive Marine
Aired January 14, 2008 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT... for this to happen. Could happen - not quite sure-could happen while we're talking here but that doesn't seem like the sheriff is quite ready to come out here this morning. They say that more leads continue to come in as to the whereabouts of Cesar Laurean. Of course, a lot of the focus yesterday and into the day has been of this sighting of Cesar Laurean in the Shreveport, Louisiana, area and officials there say they suspect that he might be headed to the Texas area.
So Louisiana and Texas, central focal point at this point. However, the sheriff last night here was saying that those sightings, whether or not they are credible at this point or whether indeed they turn out to be Cesar Laurean is still something that they're trying to figure out exactly. So they continue with those searches.
And they did say this morning, however, that some other leads and other calls were coming in to them and so they are sifting through that information. And of course, one of the other aspects of this investigation has just been the Marine and civilian investigation into Cesar Laurean and why he wasn't the central point of this investigation a lot sooner.
We have been reporting over the last several days about how we've been trying to get information from the Marine Corps as to exactly what kind of help they provided to civilian authorities and why it took so long for civilian authorities to focus on Cesar Laurean given the history that Maria Lauterbach had with him and everything and the sexual assault case that had been going through the military justice system.
Late last night the Marine Corps here at Camp Lejeune putting out a statement that said, it's premature to comment on what's going on with the case, but that they are undergoing a review to figure out exactly when and what kind of information the Marine commanders had and so they are gathering that information and until they've gathered it all, they say it's too premature to comment on it at this point -- Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Because obviously, Ed, one of the questions that a lot of people have is that Maria Lauterbach was actually not reported missing until four days later.
LAVANDERA: Right. She last spoke with her mom on December 14th. She was reported missing to authorities here in Jacksonville on December 19th. It wasn't -- at least the authorities here in Jacksonville, say it wasn't until almost 20 days later that they really started piecing together just how much the details of Cesar Laurean and his connection and relationship with Maria Lauterbach. So there's big questions as to why the civilian authorities here didn't question that, didn't push that a little bit harder to figure out what was going on there.
Obviously, many law enforcement experts have been saying over the last few days, that they've been analyzing this case, they say, look, given that Maria Lauterbach had a military protective order, which is essentially like a restraining order, even though it had been during some point last year, had they known that information that would have turned them on to Cesar Laurean much sooner, perhaps before Christmas or initially right after she had been reported missing. We are struggling and trying to get a time line of what all these different authorities knew and when they knew it to try to report that. But that has been a real struggle over the last few days.
COLLINS: Obviously, we're waiting for those autopsy results, too, on what may have happened, what may have been the cause of death. Ed, we're going to let you keep your eye out for the sheriff there in Onslow County and let us know when he gets to those microphones and we will bring it up live here. Once again, we are going to get the latest on this case any minute from Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown. The news conference set to begin at 10:00. so watching for it for you and we will bring it to you just as soon as it gets under way.
The race for the White House this week it will look like a sprint. Three states holding contests. Democrats are holding their breath, too, but not their tongues, that's for sure. In Nevada, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama trading jabs at a racially charged debate. Clinton is accused of short changing Martin Luther King and his civil rights work. She says her comments were mischaracterized and accuses Obama of stirring outrage among African-Americans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am baffled by that statement by the senator after she made an ill-advised statement about Dr. King and suggesting that Lyndon Johnson had more to do with the Civil Rights Act.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I was responding to a speech that Senator Obama gave in New Hampshire where he did compare himself to President Kennedy and to Dr. King.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: At stake, the votes of African-Americans in South Carolina. Nearly two weeks before that primary, the founder of Black Entertainment Television rushed to Clinton's defense.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT JOHNSON, FOUNDER, BLACK ENTERTAINMENT TELEVISION: And to me, as an African-American, I am, frankly, insulted that the Obama campaign would imply that we are so stupid, that we would think Hillary and Bill Clinton, who have been deeply and emotionally involved in black issues, when Barack Obama was doing something in the neighborhood that I won't say what he was doing, but he said it in his book.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Johnson appears to be referring to Obama's past drug use. Obama admitted to it in his 1995 book.
And for the Republicans, all eyes are on Michigan. Its primaries are tomorrow and the stakes may be highest for native son Mitt Romney. CNN's Mary Snow is in Detroit this morning. She's following the candidates and their economic messages at the auto show.
Joining us now by phone, good morning to you, Mary.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. And certainly the economy is taking the forefront of the debate here among Republican candidates. We have seen Mitt Romney, Senator John McCain, Mike Huckabee also campaigning throughout the state today. And later on this afternoon, all three are expected to come to the Detroit auto show. This state has been so hard hit by massive job cuts and the candidates are trying to vie for voters making their last push by demonstrating what they would do to help get the jobless rate lower.
And one of the riffs between Mitt Romney and John McCain, that Mitt Romney is trying to say that John McCain has been pessimistic by suggesting that some of the jobs are just gone and not coming back. McCain is shrugging that off, fighting back saying, yes, some of these jobs are gone, but they need to focus on retraining workers and new technology. Certainly green technology is the key here at the Detroit auto show as all these new cars are being displayed. Auto company executives are here touting their new green technology. Also, Mike Huckabee is making the pitch that the United States really owes the state of Michigan for all it's contributed. He is also courting evangelical voters in this state. Heidi?
COLLINS: Mary, if you had to choose, who do you think has the strongest message of those Republican candidates for Michigan?
SNOW: You know, it's such a tight race here. Mitt Romney and John McCain have really been hammering home their economic plan, both saying that they're committed to the state of Michigan. And just talking to a lot of voters here, you know, there are some that are undecided, swaying between those two when it comes to the economy. But certainly everyone agrees that that is the key issue here.
Mike Huckabee has also been saying that his populist message, he's been saying that you would rather have a president who reminds you of the guy that you work with, not the person who is going to lay you off. He believes that he's striking a chord among a lot of blue collar workers here. So the race is getting a lot of attention here and certainly that economic message is hitting home.
COLLINS: No question about that. CNN's Mary Snow on the phone for us from Detroit. Mary, we appreciate that.
And just a quick reminder, CNN tonight at 9:00 Eastern, fresh off the debate in South Carolina, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is going to sit down with Larry King. What is his strategy going forward? Can he win Michigan? "LARRY KING LIVE," CNN tonight, 9:00 Eastern.
Return to winter. Boy, if you forgot, it was a rude awakening today. New Englanders got a snowstorm sucker punch today after being lulled by last week's thaw. Our Rob Marciano has the latest now from Hartford.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Meanwhile, scientists create an animal heart in the lab. So are humans next?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Three thousand people a year don't have other options. We want to make a difference. We're willing to admit that it's a crazy idea.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Crazy idea, indeed. The beat goes on in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: An Ohio man described by neighbors as a good father charged with murder and arson in the deaths of his wife and her four small children. Police trying to sort out exactly what happened inside this burned home about 20 miles outside Cincinnati. The woman was stabbed to death and found with one of the children. Three other children were taken from the burning home and died at a hospital.
Turning now to the case of that murdered hiker Meredith Emerson. This morning the man charged is being investigated in other killings and his former boss is speaking out. New accusations about Gary Hilton. CNN's Catherine Callaway away has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN TABOR, HILTON'S FORMER EMPLOYER: I just could never imagine that someone I knew could be the heartless, brutal murderer that he appears to be.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Gary Michael Hilton worked on and off for John Tabor's siding company for almost 10 years. Tabor says Hilton was always an outdoors man and a bit eccentric. But last year he noticed a change. He says Hilton belligerent, difficult to communicate with and took large doses of prescription drugs.
TABOR: He told me that he really needed these drugs because if he didn't take them, the demons started to come back, something to that effect. And this isn't the type of language I had heard from him before. And he just, quite frankly, got to the point where he wasn't doing his job.
CALLAWAY: Tabor says he fired Hilton, but in September he started calling demanding money.
TABOR: Basically it got to the point where he threatened to kill me if I didn't give him $10,000. He said he didn't care how I got it but that he wanted it and he could take half now and get the rest later. But he -- he made no bones about it, that he wanted that money or else.
CALLAWAY: Tabor filed a report with the police and began carrying a firearm for protection. He says he thought Hilton was out of his life until January 3rd, while watching CNN, he heard the description of the person of interest in the case of missing hiker Meredith Emerson.
TABOR: I put all of that together and my heart just sunk to my stomach. I said, oh, my god, this must be Gary Hilton.
CALLAWAY: Tabor gave authorities Hilton's vehicle description and plate number. Just hours later, his cell phone rang. It was Hilton.
TABOR: He sounded more sane and rational than he had for the most of the past year. He sounded clear headed. He acted as though nothing was wrong.
CALLAWAY: Tabor said he pretended there was no problem between them and told Hilton he would leave him money at his office, but instead, called authorities. He thinks Hilton was on the way to his office when he was apprehended. Tabor is haunted by the fact that Meredith Emerson was still alive when Hilton called him, but says he did everything he could to see that Hilton was caught.
TABOR: I have felt physically ill from the very first moment that I identified him to authorities. And it seems to just get worse every day as more facts come forward and they're discovered and the overwhelming guilt and the vicious, horrible nature of the crime just makes me sick, sick to my stomach.
CALLAWAY: Tabor says Hilton worked as a telemarketer for his company. He says he was never sent to work at anyone's home for his company. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation would not comment about Tabor's involvement in this case. They say they don't talk about people who give them tips.
Catherine Callaway, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Hilton is still in jail and has not yet entered a plea in this case.
Still ahead, the economy's down but you needn't be. Your wallet can survive. Gerri Willis will show you how.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Let's check out the big board. Look, there's a positive sign. Yippee! Dow Jones Industrial averages up about 105 points right now, resting at 12,712. Mostly here in the NASDAQ is up about 23 points. We are going to check in with Susan Lisovicz a little bit later and ask more questions about that possible rate cut by Fed. We'll find out what the prognosis is in just a few minutes.
Meanwhile, sinking property values and rising unemployment, those problems plague Detroit. But they're a growing threat all across the country. Gerri Willis is here now with some advice from that area.
Gerri, what's to do in a struggling economy? Joining us now from the motor city. Good morning to you, Gerri.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. Good to see you. Just to give you a little background on where I'm standing, I'm in Shelby County, which is outside of Detroit. We're on street here where there are eight foreclosures. Can you imagine eight foreclosures on your street? The house over my shoulders here sold for $760,000, went into foreclosure, is on the market now for $400,000. Can you imagine losing that kind of value in a house? Amazing.
COLLINS: Yes, that is an awful lot of money. What can you do to protect yourself in this type of struggling economy? There's got to be a few things that we can do.
WILLIS: First thing protect your income. The biggest problem with a recession is that employers retrench, they fire people, they lay people off. You want to try to protect your job. Raise your profile with your boss. Work on the most important projects that your company does. Make sure you're in the spotlight because you don't want to lose your job -- Heidi?
COLLINS: Absolutely. Any moves that people can make now to cushion themselves, though, from the falling economy?
WILLIS: Yes, you want to make sure that you have enough savings in place, emergency savings, so that if the worst does happen, you have a cushion to fall back on. If you're not in that situation, maybe you're having trouble putting that together if you have equity in your home. You can take out what they call a home equity line of credit. Get a no cost home equity line of credit.
This will give you options. You will have cash in case you can't pay your mortgage out of your regular income. It's always a great idea. And put aside some savings, any kind of savings. Maybe you don't have three months to six months worth of savings. A savings account, a CD, you can find decent rates right now, five percent with online bank accounts. That's a decent place to stock away some money just in case you do run into some headwinds. At the very least, you want to prepare as much as you can for the worst, just in case.
And keep in mind you probably don't won't to make a major improvement to your house right now. If you're in one of these communities like Michigan that is really suffering and maybe you want to scale back any improvements out there, not do the really expensive kitchen upgrade with something that's much more affordable -- Heidi. COLLINS: And what about your emergency cash? I guess we should always being looking to kind of protect ourselves for about six months or so?
WILLIS: That's right. You want six months worth of living expenses. You can put those away in one of the high-interest accounts online. That's easy enough to do. Go to bankrate.com to get the name of some of those accounts that are available out there. Some of them pay as much as 5 percent right now. You've got to put stuff away. So if the rainy day comes, you're prepared.
COLLINS: Absolutely. All right. CNN's personal finance editor Gerri Willis from Shelby Township, Michigan, a struggling neighborhood there. Gerri, thanks for that.
Drivers are paying a lot more at the pump. Gas prices shot up once again, according to the Lundberg survey. Pump prices rose nearly 10 cents a gallon over the past three weeks. The national average now for a gallon of self-serve regular is $3.07. That's $0.75 cents higher than the price one year ago. The Lundberg survey says gasoline is finally catching up with the increases in crude.
An award show like no other. The Golden Globes are handed out but the winners don't show up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Welcome back once again, everybody, 10:30 Eastern time now. I'm Heidi Collins. Updating the manhunt for Marine Corporal Cesar Laurean. Laurean is wanted in connection with the death of a pregnant Marine found buried in his background near Camp Lejeune. Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown says more leads are coming in as detectives have spoken to Laurean's family. Laurean is described as dangerous and possibly violent. We are waiting to hear from Sheriff Brown. As soon as his news conference begins, we will bring it to you live.
Disturbing signals ahead of the brutal killing of the pregnant Marine. CNN's Rusty Dornin offer a time line.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): April 2007, Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach tells her superiors at Camp Lejeune she was raped by Corporal Cesar Laurean, a fellow personnel clerk. She's pregnant. An investigation begins. That's also when her family says her nightmare really began.
PETER STEINER, MARIA LAUTERBACH'S UNCLE: She was scared and didn't know what was going to happen to her. And so during this process, after she eventually did report it, she was consistently harassed by other Marines.
DORNIN: In May a protective order is issued by the Marines against Laurean, but then in October, Camp Lejeune Marine commanders request the military version of a grand jury investigation. In December, Lauterbach was due to testify. On the 14th is the last time her mother speaks to her by phone. The same day, a woman believed to be Lauterbach buys a bus ticket to El Paso, Texas, for the following day. The ticket was never used.
On December 19th, Lauterbach's mother calls police and says her daughter is missing. After she disappeared the Marines listed her on unauthorized leave. A day live from Christmas, police say Corporal Laurean uses Lauterbach's ATM card. On January 9th, the Marine Corps at Camp Lejeune says it's cooperating with the Onslow County Sheriff's Department.
There was speculation that the pregnant Marine might be alive, but then on January 11th, a break in the case. Laurean's wife Kristina notifies the sheriff's department that her husband gave her a note. In the note, Corporal Laurean claims the pregnant Marine committed suicide and he buried her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF ED BROWN, ONSLOW COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: Mrs. Lauterbach is dead, and has been buried here in Onslow County. The suspect in the case is the Marine accused by her for assaulting her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: But Laurean fled four hours before his wife notified authorities, something that surprised military investigators.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL CICCARELLI, NAVAL CRIMINAL INVES. SERVICES CAMP LEJEUNE: He was considered not a flight risk. There's a lot of factors in this investigation that I obviously can't divulge. It's still an active investigation as far as this rape complaint that I can't share with you at this point in time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: His wife said Laurean left their home at 4:00 a.m. that morning. The search was on to find Lauterbach's remains. They find blood spattered on the walls and ceiling at the Marine corporal's home, and a grim find in the backyard fire pit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: The body was much charred. It appeared that the body of the adult was laying over on the side with the face, down in the bottom of the pit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Rusty Dornin, CNN, Jacksonville, North Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: President Bush is in Saudi Arabia this morning visiting a key ally in the Middle East. It's the latest stop on his tour of the region. Tensions over Iran taking center stage. A top Iranian official day criticized President Bush's tour saying he is trying to stir up, quote, "Iran-ophobia." That coming after comments the President made yesterday labelling Iran the world's leading sponsor of terror.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE BUSH, UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: Iran's actions threaten the security of nations everywhere. So the United States is strengthening our longstanding security commitments with our friends in the golf and rallying friends around the world to confront this danger before it is too late.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: While in Saudi Arabia President Bush and King Abdallah are expected to hold talks on democracy and Middle East peace.
Young voters may make the difference in the 2008 election. CNN's Gary Nuremberg has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY NUREMBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Have you noticed all the young faces surrounding John McCain? Mike Huckabee's crowds?
NEWT GINGRICH, FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: Governor Huckabee was arousing a new generation of people to be involved on the Republican side.
NUREMBERG: Barack Obama literally embracing young voters? The direct appeals?
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is especially about all of the young people in New Hampshire.
FRED THOMPSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're asked, what are you doing to do for my generation, meaning the younger generation. I always tell them that I'm going to try to protect you from our generation.
NUREMBERG: In 2008, 44 million Americans between 18 and 29 will be eligible to vote.
HEATHER SMITH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, "ROCK THE VOTE": That means we're about a quarter to a fifth of the entire electorate.
NUREMBERG: Which also means campaigns are paying attention. After 18-year-olds were first allowed to vote in the presidential contest of 1972 between Nixon and McGovern, participation by young voters began to decline. But it increased in 2004, and it's up again this year nearly tripling from four years ago, the youth turnout in the Iowa caucuses and doubling the youth turnout in New Hampshire.
SMITH: It's just a whole new generation out, the millennial generation. We're not our older brothers and sisters of Gen-X. We're paying way more attention to politics.
NUREMBERG: Apparent advantage, Democrats.
SCOTT KEETER, PEW RESEARCH CENTER: The youth vote was the best group demographically for John Kerry in 2004.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: I gained the higher percentage of youth vote than any person who'd ever run.
KEETER: They were the best group for Democratic candidates as a whole in 2006. And right now, in terms of party affiliation, young people are more Democratic than any other group in the population.
NUREMBERG: The impact in both parties is only going to grow.
SMITH: By, you know, 2012 we're going to be about a third of the voting population.
NUREMBER: Not the American politics of old. GARY NUREMBERG CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: It's the American way. Freedom of speech, freedom to choose. Tomorrow night at 8:00, what people will do to get answers to the issues most important to them. Don't miss INDEPENDENT'S DAY AWAKENING THE AMERICAN SPIRIT, a Lou Dobbs special, CNN, tomorrow night, 8:00 eastern.
Scientists create an animal heart in the lab. Are humans next?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DORIS TAYLOR, UNIV. OF MINNESOTA: 3,000 people a year don't have other options. We want to make a difference. We're willing to admit that it's a crazy idea.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Crazy idea, when the beat goes on, in the newsroom.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: It kind of sounds like something from the lab of Dr. Frankenstein. Scientists grow a beating heart. Could it be an answer to the transplant crisis? Julianna Olsen, with affiliate KARE has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JULIANNA OLSEN, KARE CORRESPONDENT: Behold a holy grail of medical research. A beating heart, created by scientists in the university of Minnesota laboratory.
STEFAN KREN, UNIV. OF MINNESOTA: We really have the audacity to claim to build a functional organ from scratch, so to speak. OLSEN: Researchers know it sounds like the work of Dr. Frankenstein.
TAYLOR: We're willing to admit it's a crazy idea.
OLSEN: But they say this crazy idea could one day save thousands of lives, because there aren't nearly enough hearts for everyone who needs a transplant.
TAYLOR: 3,000 people a year don't have other options. We want to make a difference.
OLSEN: So researchers started with the dead heart of a rat and using a detergent washed away all of its cells. All that was left was a gelatin-like framework. Scientist took that framework and injected new heart cells from newborn rats back into it. Within a week, the heart was beating and pumping once again.
KREN: It's exciting. Yes, it's exciting.
OLSEN: While a rat heart can't help humans, a pig heart can.
TAYLOR: It looks like a human heart, it acts like a human heart.
OLSEN: So, the goal is to take a pig heart framework like this one, inject the potential transplant recipient's own stem cells into it, and grow a heart that matches the recipient's body, eliminating the need for anti-rejection drugs.
TAYLOR: What we've done is hopefully open a door to the idea that we can actually begin to build not just pieces of tissues and organs but build organs.
OLSEN: All sorts of organs.
KREN: This is a pig liver.
OLSEN: U of M researchers believe they'll one day be able to create new livers, pancreas, kidneys, lungs, saving not just thousands, but millions of lives.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's really been science fiction in the past, and we'd like to think that we've helped make it science.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Researchers say it will be at least 10 years before people could possibly benefit from this research. Interesting nonetheless.
(BUSINESS HEADLINES)
COLLINS: Want to get to the situation in Iraq. Security there, the situation is better. But still, many families remain fearful. Living in wretched conditions rather than return home.
CNN's Arwa Damon explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): No one expects to have to live their life like this. The youngest seemingly oblivious. The elders face is etched hardship. While the government and military continue to use the word progress, we decided to talk to those who need security the most, the displaced.
Vidat (ph) just gave birth to her sixth child. There's no crib here, just the cover and blankets to protect the little one from Baghdad's harsh cold. "I wish that God will make my dream come true and save us, and not leave I like this," she says. "We have children. Where can we go? Did you see the mud and dirt outside?"
She lives here, in a former warehouse, now little more than a collection of mud huts. Her neighbors are some 100 other Shia families who would rather stay in squalor than risk their lives to go home again.
"They, the Sunni, will kill us if we return. I swear to god, we cannot return," she says. Majat's family used to own four homes. Now his family of five live in a one-room mud house. He clearly remembers the day he left everything behind.
"We were fleeing in cars packed with our furniture, and they chased us armed with a machine gun," he says. "They were masked and about to shoot us, but suddenly American forces appeared and we managed to escape."
(on camera): Most of the families here at this specific refugee camp have actually not gone back home. Even when it's deemed safe enough for them to return back to their original neighborhoods, because it's not just the security situation that is forcing them to live like this.
Abbas never thought he would see this. "When I see my house, I don't have any emotions left or the ability to feel," he says.
A year ago this neighborhood in southern Baghdad was under al Qaeda's control. Baid's (ph) neighbors left. He says they fled because of al Qaeda. The day after the family left, he says, al Qaeda planted bombs. Baid any many like him believe the government is unable or unwilling to help.
"Consider this Iraq, let them consider this Iraqi, please. Let them rebuild Iraq. This is our home." Whether it's rebuilding from the rubble or just rebuilding their lives, the years of war in Iraq have created more than a reduction in the violence can reverse.
Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COLLINS: Two children still missing. The search along the Alabama coast resuming this morning. Crews are looking for two small girls allegedly thrown off a bridge by their father. The man's two sons already have been found. The 3-year-old boy, the oldest, found yesterday about five miles from the bridge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAM PHENGISIOMBOUM, FAMILY MEMBER: He had to drop one at a time, so the current, the wave of the water, it kind of pushed them maybe the same direction, together, or maybe just their heart, and their mind and their soul connected with each other, so they're not that far away from each other.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Today a search is expected to move West in the Dauphin Island area closer to the Mississippi coast. The father is being held without bail. He faces four murder charges.
Grief counselors, right now, helping a Canadian high school deal with the deaths of seven members of the basketball team. The players, and the coach's wife, killed in a highway crash. CTV reporter, Jed Kahane, has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JED KAHANE, CTV REPORTER: At Bathurst High School, an outpouring of grief as news spread through town about the devastating loss.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody is just in shock. We can't believe that we've lost so many amazing people.
KAHANE: This is all that's left of the van that was carrying the team members back from their game with their coach behind the wheel. The weather was bad, a mix of snow, ice pellets and freezing rain. Police say the driver lost control and veered into the path of an on coming tractor trailer.
SGT. DEREK STRONG, ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE: Road conditions played a major role in this accident, if not the only role in the accident.
KAHANE: When ambulances arrived at the scene, eight of the van's 12 passengers were already dead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll say it, people up top wanted some angels and they got some.
KAHANE: As Bathurst struggles with its loss, hundreds of tributes have already been posted online for the athletes they call the boys in red. One of them was Nathan Cleland.
EMILY CLELAND, NATHAN'S CLELAND'S SISTER: He was one of those strong silent types, you know. But, whenever he said something, it was something meaningful. Every time he spoke, people wanted to listen. He was so charismatic. People were just drawn to him. You know, he was a really great guy.
KAHANE: Traveling around to play sports is a ritual of life in places like Bathurst, and around here, at least, one that will never be the same. But parents say it won't end because of this tragedy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's good for the school spirit. It's something that I'm sure will continue in the future.
KAHANE: Right now, though, far too many people here are trying to come to terms with losing their closest friends.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Losing their best friends at such a young age, it's unreal.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: The players' funerals will be held in an arena in the town on Wednesday.
Britain's prime minister pushing a controversial plan to increase organ donations. CNN's Emily Chang has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
EMILY CHANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: To opt in or opt out can be a question of life and death. And one a UK government task force will consider while trying to combat an often fatal lack of organ donors. Now, people in the UK must opt in to donate, usually by carrying a donor card. But prime minister, Gordon Brown, is supporting a measure that hospitals can take patient's organs unless they explicitly opt out, or their family objects.
In "The Daily Telegraph" he writes, the system could "close the aching gap between the potential benefits of transplant surgery in the UK and the limits imposed by our current system of consent." But patient advocacy groups argue this idea of presumed consent means no consent at all and violates patient's rights.
MICHAEL SUMMERS, PATIENTS ASSOCIATION: I think everyone has the right over their own body. It's a right which shouldn't be taken by the state. It should be taken by individual patients and their families.
CHANG: Currently there are 8,000 patients in the UK waiting for transplants and 1,000 die every year without getting the organ they need.
BEN BRADSHAW, U.K. HEALTH MINISTER: This system works very well in other parts of the world, in other European countries in particular. They've managed to get their number of organ donations up. I think we can do better here, if not least for those thousand people every year who die waiting for an organ.
CHANG: UK officials hope to emulate Spain's successful model, which has the highest number of donors per capita. France and Belgium also use the opt out system. When the presumed consent law passed in Austria, the number of available organs quadrupled. The U.S. has a system called "Required Request," in which hospitals must ask family members of dying patients about donations.
(on-camera): Here in the UK supporters say the opt out system will dramatically increase the number of organs donated. Prime minister Gordon Brown says he wants the measure on the table this year. But opponents cite the need for greater awareness, saying the government should encourage more people to opt in instead.
Emily Chang, CNN, London.
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COLLINS: A blustery blow heart, a big nor'easter doing a number on New England.
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COLLINS: The Golden Globes, an award show with no big stars but plenty of winners. CNN Entertainment correspondent, Brooke Anderson, has the run down.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We all hope that the writer's strike will be over soon.
BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: It was hardly the glitzy show originally envisioned by the Hollywood Foreign Press. The Writer's Guild had threatened to protest the ceremony and Hollywood's biggest names refused to cross the picket line. So the usual dinner gala at the Beverly Hilton was scrapped and replaced with a press conference hosted by entertainment journalists. Recognize anyone?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the Golden Globe goes to --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the Golden Globe goes to --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Golden Globe goes to --
ANDERSON: No funny acceptance speeches, no red carpet fashion parade, no backstage press. Just a quick recap of the nominees and the announcement of the winners. They spread the gold around this year with no film winning more than two awards.
In the dramatic categories, the tragic romance, "Atonement," won Best Film. Actor Daniel Day-Lewis was honored for the oil epic, "There Will Be Blood." And veteran actress, Julie Christie, got her first Golden Globe win for "Away From Her." "Sweeney Todd" sliced through the competition in the musical comedy categories, winning Best Film and Best Actor for its leading man, Johnny Depp. First time nominee, Marian Cotillard, won for her work in the Edith Piaf bio pick, "La Vie En Rose."
HBO shows nabbed six of the 11 TV awards, including three for the made for TV movie, "Longford" and Best Comedy series winner, "Extras." AMC's "Mad Men" won Best Drama series and Best Actor for John Ham.
(on-camera): Now all eyes in Hollywood are turning to the Academy Awards. Will the lack of writers and the threat of pickets derail that show as well? The Academy says, the show will be go on. But without stars, Oscar could face the same quiet fate as the Golden Globes.
Brooke Anderson, CNN, Beverly Hills.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Good morning, you're with CNN. Hi there, I'm Heidi Collins. Developments coming in to the CNN NEWSROOM on Monday, the 14th of January.
Here's what's on the run down. We're waiting for new information this hour about a fugitive marine.
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