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Top Two Presidential Candidates in Middle of Controversy; News Conference Held on Murdered Marine Case
Aired January 14, 2008 - 10:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning once again everybody. You're with CNN.
Hi there. I'm Heidi Collins.
Developments keep coming in to the CNN NEWSROOM on Monday, the 14th of January.
Here's what's on the rundown now.
We are waiting for new information this hour about a fugitive Marine. He's on the run, accused in a grisly murder.
Race flares to the forefront in the Democratic race for president. And in Michigan, the GOP candidates find it's the economy.
What if they held an award show but the stars didn't shine? Glamour takes the night off at the Golden Globes -- in the NEWSROOM.
The race for the White House this week, it will look like a sprint. Three states holding contests now, and the candidates holding their breath.
CNN's Jim Acosta is in Nevada. It's the site of Saturday's caucuses.
So, Jim, the top two Democrats sort of in the middle of a controversy if you will, all about race.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Heidi. Democratic contenders Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are hitting each other hard over a remark the former first lady made about the civil rights movement.
This all started when Clinton recently suggested that President Lyndon Johnson deserved more credit than Martin Luther King for civil rights legislation passed in the 1960s. While she later clarified that statement, the comment angered some African-American leaders. Over the weekend, Clinton accused Obama's campaign of taking advantage of the gaffe and distorting her comments.
Yesterday, here in Las Vegas, Obama called that claim ludicrous.
(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 suggesting that Lyndon Johnson had more to do with the Civil Rights Act.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), 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)
ACOSTA: Now, one of Clinton supporters, Black Entertainment Television founder Robert Johnson, threw gasoline on the fire when he took a swipe at Obama that seemed to reference the Illinois senator's past drug abuse, something Obama talks about in some of his books.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT Johnson, FOUNDER, BLACK ENTERTAINMENT TELEVISION: 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)
ACOSTA: Now, Johnson later said he was only referring to Obama's previous work as a community leader, but that did not sit well with the Obama campaign. They fired back, demanding that both Clinton and Johnson apologize for that remark, and accused the Clinton campaign of engaging in the politics of personal destruction.
Now, Barack Obama will be campaigning in Nevada later today. Hillary Clinton will appearing at a Martin Luther King-related event in New York.
So look for this issue to continue, Heidi. This was not a president me weekend on the campaign trail, and right now there's no sign of a truce on either side on this issue.
COLLINS: Yes, it's interesting. Over the weekend, I was watching some commentators say, you know, you really can't win an election without talking poorly about your opponent. So obviously this will continue. In fact, there's another Democratic candidate who sort of had something to say about this, too, right?
ACOSTA: Well, that's right. This entire exchange between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton has sort of left John Edwards on the sidelines in all of this, but he entered the fray yesterday talking about this.
He said that as a child of the old segregation of South, he resented the fact that Hillary Clinton would give more credit to what he called a Washington politician than to Martin Luther King. But at this point, this is really a fight between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, and one has to wonder how any of this is going to end.
COLLINS: Yes, definitely. All right. Thanks so much for that.
Jim Acosta coming to us live this morning from Las Vegas.
Want to take you directly now to Jacksonville, North Carolina. We have been waiting for this press conference where we see now Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown coming to the microphone. We are going to get the very latest hopefully in the case of Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach.
We have been learning as much possible over the weekend, certainly a lot of development in this case as he prepares to go to those microphones for us there in just a couple of minutes. Actually, right now. Let's go ahead and listen in.
SHERIFF ED BROWN, ONSLOW COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA: We tried to do things as early as we can for you, but in the process of paperwork and making sure we don't come out here unprepared, we read and go back and verify. But I sent you out first, and I've got this, Lindell (ph).
That is not what I need. I need the first one I gave you, the update, updated copy of where we are at on the investigation.
You got it. I sent that out first. That came out first. You haven't got it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's all we've got.
COLLINS: All right. Well, there we go.
As the sheriff continues to try and get the most up to date notes, Ed Lavandera is standing by. He's been following this story for us for several days now.
Ed, there is so much to go over. Certainly a lot of developments over the weekend, and a lot of questions left to be answered in this case.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Heidi. One of the big questions that authorities here have been under a lot of scrutiny over is just why it took so long if Maria Lauterbach had filed sexual assault charges against Cesar Laurean, why attention wasn't focused on him sooner.
Authorities here say it wasn't until January 7th that they had confirmed his name in being involved in that sexual assault case which many law enforcement experts will tell you would have made him a logical person to go question much earlier on, as soon as she had been reported missing. And one of the things that the officials here are getting ready to talk about, they have just passed along what they say are the chronological events of their investigation, pinpointing, going down the list of the dates and times that they started leaning about the various developments in this investigation.
And, of course, the Marines have also been receiving a lot of heated questions over this. Officials at Camp Lejeune say that they are in the process of reviewing all of that information. And they say it's too premature at this point to talk about it.
We'll get back here to the sheriff. I think he's got the paperwork he needs to continue on. And I assume he's going to be taking questions right now.
BROWN: Everyone got your update?
I apologize again for being late. I thought this had come out before I did.
You read over it -- if you would like, I will read it myself for the cameras or the public. This is the update on the fugitive manhunt for Cesar Laurean, as of today at 10:00 a.m.
I've told you in the past that the U.S. Marshals, FBI, and every law enforcement agency that you can imagine have joined in this investigation with us. And as a result of that, the federal law enforcement agencies have proposed a reward.
I have been given some figure on that award. I can't right now say because it hasn't been validated, but it is enough to cause a reasonable person to be interested.
I've just been told by Captain Sutherland (ph) they have confirmed a $25,000 reward for information leading to the location and the arrest of Cesar Laurean. We just got that confirmation fresh from the FBI.
The FBI has coordinated the posting of Laurean's photograph on billboards all over the United States. The electronic billboards are being updated as we speak.
I have been able to confirm that the suspect does have an 18- month-old child with his wife. The child is safe and is with family members.
I want to clarify this. Christina Laurean (ph) continues to be a cooperating witness with this investigation and considered a key witness in the case.
The human remains that were removed from the shallow grave behind Laurean's residence Friday afternoon is being transported to Chapel Hill today to be examined by the state medical examiner's office. We have officers there as that examination is going on.
Maria Lauterbach's missing ATM debit card was found in Durham at the bus station this last weekend. Investigators are still continuing to follow up on leads relating to that card being found. We have several tips from citizens in the Durham/Raleigh area about Laurean's truck that corresponds to the discovery of that card, which makes that an interesting discovery.
Now I'm going to bring you in a chronological step by step to kind of draw this investigation into focus. I know dates and times change, but to the best of evidence at this time, it was on December -- on or about December 15th when Maria was killed by the suspect.
On the evening of December the 15th, 2007, Maria's roommate, Sergeant Durham, calls the victim's family and her command to notify them that Maria may have left.
On December the 19th, after the death on the 15th, Maria's mother reports her missing to the Onslow County Sheriff's Office. Maria is immediately entered into NCIC as a missing person.
The missing person unit began an investigation into the missing person report. Over the next couple of days, investigators began to focus on an incident of a concern between Maria and Laurean that deals with an assault that is being investigated on the base at unit level.
On January the 7th, detectives at the Onslow County Sheriff's Office began to narrow their focus in the investigation on Laurean. Investigators became frustrated that Laurean would not comply with their requests to be interviewed. Investigators came to me, the sheriff, and expressed their frustration at not being able to interview Laurean.
On January the 9th, 2008, about 4:30 in the morning, myself and two investigators went to the base at top command level and met with them and -- to inform them of this incident. I had called -- that they did not even know about the situation at top level command, so I went to them to inform them and also seek their assistance in getting Sergeant Durham back from his training in California and getting an opportunity to speak with Mr. Laurean.
Mr. Laurean made four or five promises to come down to the sheriff's office and meet with investigators and be interviewed. And you all know the story. The last scheduled appointment was cancelled by his three attorneys here in Jacksonville.
January the 11th, 2008, about 9:00 a.m., NCIS (INAUDIBLE) Paul Chicarelli (ph) called the sheriff, me, and reported that Laurean's wife had found a handwritten note in their home about 4:00 a.m. that morning. The note had been left by her husband, Cesar Laurean, giving information of Maria's death. It is believed at that time he was gone when the note was found. Information this case suggests that this was about the time Laurean fled.
Within six hours of the note being turned over to law enforcement, Maria's body is located by the sheriff's office in the back yard of Laurean's residence in a shallow grave. Within five days of Laurean being -- coming of focus of the investigation, it appears that the body of Maria and her unborn child were located in the back yard of Laurean's residence.
The next day, the district attorney authorized the issuance of an arrest warrant for Cesar Laurean's arrest for the death of Maria Lauterbach. A massive fugitive manhunt continues for Laurean, comprised of FBI, U.S. Marshals, NCIS, Onslow county Sheriff's Office, many state and local law enforcement agencies across the United States, and medias.
That is the contents of what I have to say this morning. That more or less brings us up to date.
The next -- and the district attorney and I have conversed about this. I think the next major matter of concern would be a call to inform us that Laurean has been located. That -- to tell you that, because I don't know of anything right now that would change that will affect this case in your all's need to be updated, other than that.
(INAUDIBLE)?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, sir.
BROWN: Any questions, I'm going to let...
QUESTION: Based on this timeline you've got, December 19th, Maria's mother reports her missing to the sheriff's office. A couple days later, fair to say maybe 12/21, 12/22, you all start looking into the incident of concern between Maria and Laurean, but it's not until January 7th your focus narrows on Laurean.
Can you explain some of that gap there? It's about 16, 17 days.
BROWN: Laurean's name was not mentioned in the report. The incident of the base was referenced, but not with any matter of concern by the reporting person.
When I say the investigation began, the investigation began to -- in an effort to try to locate Mrs. Laurean. As that investigation goes on -- everything don't happen in two days. As the investigation goes on, it brings us to the point on the seventh that now the key focus is on Laurean.
The key focus on Laurean became frustrating to the officers because we needed to speak with him and we also needed to speak with Sergeant Durham, who is in California on training. That need was resolved by the top command at the military base in that we were able to get Sergeant Durham back here from California, and we began to get response from Mr. Laurean as to coming and talking with us.
QUESTION: One follow-up to that. So you're saying that in this 15-or-16-day window it took that long to find out that this unnamed person of sexual assault was in fact Laurean?
BROWN: We were focusing, as you -- as I will relay again. The person who called and reported Mrs. Laurean missing did not give a name. And to some degree -- I have the report to back me up -- listen to me, don't be talking to somebody else -- had some information to back me up that the downplay of that was given to us before the incident was mentioned.
Now, we began to focus to develop the validity of where she was missing on her own or missing because of another reason. When we began to develop leads that didn't develop, we began to then focus on the incident that happened at the base, and that is when we developed Laurean's name, and that is when we started wanting to talk with Laurean. QUESTION: You said Laurean refused to speak to investigators. Were there any attempts to intercept him on his way to work, on his way to the base, or was he just hiding out on the base as far as you can tell?
BROWN: I don't know that. You've asked me that question.
To intercept him, realize right now Laurean is as a person that we want to talk to. He is not someone we have the information that we received Friday on.
If you will notice, when we received good, solid, probable cause information Friday, the action only took six hours. But just for somebody to tell me that you've done something that had took place in April of this year, which was eight months ago, doesn't mean I can go out there on the highway and jerk you up and bring you in. You've got an right to an attorney, and his right to an attorney is what stopped him from coming to talk to us.
QUESTION: Sheriff Brown, don't you think that that (INAUDIBLE) complicated by NCIS and their involvement? You guys seem like a very aggressive agency. And because maybe you guys were overly conscious that maybe NCIS (INAUDIBLE), that is how maybe he has left the area. He has gone.
BROWN: It has nothing to do with over -- over...
QUESTION: Overly conscious.
BROWN: ... overly conscious. It has to do with the rights of a citizen in an investigation, realizing that the initial report would lead to a reasonable and prudent person, as you and I had believed up to Friday morning, that this is a situation where she just ran off on her own.
I mean, I believe that you in the media had somewhat that opinion Friday morning before this letter come in from the wife. I will wait until you hear -- 75 percent to 80 percent of your viewing audience, as well as you all, had that thought. So then if you had that thought, we had something Friday to come in that pointed us, not give us him as a person we wanted to talk to, but said he is a person we need to look at.
QUESTION: His name was being kicked around that entire time. And then on Friday, all of a sudden...
BROWN: There is no name in the initial report, not a name in the initial report. And I'm telling you, in the initial report, the incident on the base was being played down because of the validity that is attached to the behavior of Maria Lauterbach.
QUESTION: But it was common knowledge.
BROWN: No, ma'am. Common knowledge it was not. It was not even common knowledge on the base. QUESTION: But if someone from the base tells you that what her connection is to Laurean is a sexual assault case, this isn't like a traffic ticket. Shouldn't that set off red flags that this is something more serious and perhaps motive?
BROWN: This is not -- you don't know the level of command. If you knew the level of command you would understand it.
There is a downhill unit level of command that this incident had already allowed the MPO to expire. We learned that.
It happened in April. They were still allowed to work in conjection (ph) with each other. So at that time -- and we've learned this since -- at that time it was not even an issue that they felt important enough to bring to the attention of the NCIS since it was a unit type situation. And I'm not going to try to explain what the military operation is, so don't ask me to do that.
QUESTION: Well, it just seems like it was...
BROWN: It seems like -- it seems like -- it seems like this all together. A lot of things have seemed like. And I get the same frustration you do. There's a lot of things that seem like, and I have to deal with making sure it is like.
QUESTION: Sir, are you frustrated at all with the way the NCIS handled this?
BROWN: No, I'm not frustrate with NCIS at all. Understanding the activity of this thing seemed to have been, as far as I could tell right now, to such low level, and even by the reporting person, such low level that it was being handled way down here on the unit area.
QUESTION: Do you think if your organization handled something like this it would have been done differently?
BROWN: You've got to understand, I'm the sheriff and I have 170 people working for me. The base out yonder has 40,000, and they're going and coming in deployment and all the other activities that are going on.
Now, if it happens out here, if it's that report, they come here. And I'm the central local point. They go to the city if it's in the city. They go to Hollow Ridge if it's in Hollow Ridge.
They go to Swansboro. So something could be being investigated in Swansboro that would not even be brought to my attention.
QUESTION: Sheriff, (INAUDIBLE) do you think that sexual assault on base should be taken more seriously than you guys have taken this?
BROWN: Don't dare put me in that corner because I'm not going to deal with what the military should be doing.
QUESTION: Where is Laurean's wife now?
BROWN: His wife is at liberty to go and come where she wants to be.
QUESTION: She's free to go anywhere?
BROWN: She's free to go. She's a cooperating witness, and she's free to go where she wants to go.
QUESTION: Sir, did that unit commander tell you that what they were investigating was a sexual assault?
BROWN: I haven't talked to the unit commander. I only know what you know as a result of hearing what you've heard.
I'm telling you, I'm telling you, we've got five cities in this state -- I mean, this county. Any of those five cities get a report of a crime that happens in their city, they don't come run and tell the sheriff, "Sheriff, we're investigating this." They investigate that.
If it happens out of those city jurisdictions, it's reported to the sheriff's office, and I'm investigating. And it is likely in this county there could be an investigation going on between the D.A.'s office and the city of Swansboro over a rape that the sheriff of Onslow County would not know anything about.
QUESTION: Sheriff, when did the Marine Corps give you Laurean's name?
BROWN: I don't know that the Marine Corps gave us the name. I don't know how the officers gave us the name. But I do know the name was relevant on the 7th of January.
QUESTION: So, before the 7th, I mean...
BROWN: It was -- before the 7th, in the report, it was only mentioned that there was an incident and that you couldn't -- I hate to say this because she's deceased, but the person reporting the incident, you all have had her on TV, would disqualify to some degree the real validity in the matter.
April -- we learned it happened in April. We learned the MPO expired in September. The reporting person evidently did not know or didn't think it was important enough to know to give us that name. And I'm going to...
QUESTION: But you got the name on the 7th?
BROWN: I don't know when they got the name. But when they came to me, they had focused on him and they were concerned that they couldn't get him to cooperate.
QUESTION: You got the name closer to the 7th than the 9th?
BROWN: I'm telling you they came to me, that they were concerned on the 7th that they couldn't get cooperation.
(CROSSTALK) QUESTION: Sheriff, (INAUDIBLE) on the 15th, and the note was found on January 11th. Was the wife in the house the whole time? You found blood in the house.
BROWN: We have -- right at this point, I think I've laid that to rest. We are still considering Mrs. Maria -- I mean, Mrs. Christina Laurean (ph) as a cooperating witness in this case.
QUESTION: Do you think you will charge her?
BROWN: Don't ask me no more questions about that. I just answered it.
QUESTION: Sheriff, has Mr. Laurean -- has anybody (OFF-MIKE)?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me answer this.
BROWN: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me answer this.
I got a fax today from the Capital Litigation office in the state of North Carolina that they had, in fact, appointed a lawyer, Wally Paramor (ph), to represent him. That's very unusual for an attorney to be appointed.
QUESTION: Who appointed him?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The North Carolina -- Capital Litigation out of Raleigh -- Capital Defenders, excuse me -- appointed Wally Paramor (ph), which is a local attorney to represent him. And in a faxed copy, I have -- they indicate they appointed him because they understand that there are -- there are charges pending against him to conduct an investigation to determine, number one, if he's indigent, and, number two, whether or not he has counsel to protect his rights.
QUESTION: Is that normal, sir, for someone...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, that's not normal. I never heard of that before.
His name is Walter Paramor (ph). He's known as Wally Paramor (ph). He's a local attorney here.
QUESTION: It's extremely unusual for someone to be appointed prior to custody?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I would so. And I've tried to get into contact with them to find out if there's been a request from the family or even the suspect to have an attorney appointed, because it's rather (INAUDIBLE) to me why they would appoint a lawyer before -- while we don't know have him in custody.
Normally, a lawyer is appointed one he's arrested and has a first appearance in district court, and a determination is made by the court that the person is, in fact, indigent. And he also has to request for an attorney. As you know, most people have to...
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: Does he have ties in Texas or Mexico?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's something you need to ask the sheriff.
Let me address this issue about the Naval investigative -- investigation of this alleged rape that happened in April.
You know, I have many questions, too, because as we've talked before, this is an incident that allegedly occurred -- and I say allegedly occurred in April not within my jurisdiction or the sheriff's jurisdiction, but on base. I knew nothing. No one in my office knew anything about this allegation until her disappearance.
I have some concerns about it and I, in fact, am meeting with naval investigators this afternoon because I want them to tell me about that, because I'm very interested in that. But just because there's an allegation that someone's been raped doesn't necessarily mean that a crime occurred.
I think if we learned anything in North Carolina from the Durham case, and I hate to have to use that as an example, but the sheriff and I, and I don't think any of you folks, should be jumping, or any citizens should jump too any conclusions at this time that -- number one, that a rape occurred. Because charges were never filed in all these months. Or number two, that he committed a crime.
So, you know, I think we need to wait until all the facts have come out before we come to that conclusions. I mean, as far as I know...
QUESTION: But sir, it wouldn't have mattered. The point is the allegation was out there. And many people will tell you that that is enough.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, there's been a lot -- and I hate to have to try to defend the Navy, because that's not by job. It's their job, and I don't know why they're not doing a more aggressive job of defending themselves. If I were them, I would do that.
But I just want the people to know that right now we don't know that to be true. There's another scenario that was very -- as the sheriff was talking about -- that maybe it didn't occur and that she had just got frustrated and left town. That was the dominant theory until we got the note Friday, I believe.
So, you know, I just caution everybody. Let's be -- and I've been that way. I think we need to be very careful before we be jumping to conclusions. And that's what I'd ask the general public to do. Just wait until all the facts come out. And I'm sure with all you folks here that the facts certainly will come out.
QUESTION: Have the NCIS investigators been cooperative with you so far? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. They've been very cooperative with the sheriff and very cooperative with my office. In fact, they're going to meet with me today at 3:00.
QUESTION: But have they been forthcoming with information, or are they telling you they're doing their own investigation?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. I think the sheriff can address that, but as far as I know, they've been very cooperative.
QUESTION: Sheriff, given that we've heard so little about Laurean's whereabouts, do you have any concerns or worries that perhaps he's getting help out there somewhere?
BROWN: I would imagine he's getting help. I can imagine a lot of things, Ed. And I would suspect a lot of things.
I mean, he's got friends out there, even though he's committed this horrible crime. He's still got friends.
One of the things it does -- I think I need to express to your viewing media, not only does he have friends, he has family. And that family, I believe, are good people that had no impact or influence on his behavior in this case.
But I do believe they have -- I know -- don't even know them, but I believe they are hurt by this, and I do believe if the opportunity comes, I think there may be a conversation between the family and him that would encourage him to do the right thing. And that is to turn himself in.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)
BROWN: I have not. The U.S. Marshals have talked to his family. I'm just telling you how it is with us who have children.
QUESTION: Sheriff, the FBI (INAUDIBLE) his nationality is unknown. And the press release said that he was probably of Mexican nationality. I mean, they said he wasn't a flight risk. NCIS said he wasn't a flight risk as of whenever you first started talking to him.
I mean, did you all know that? Did the Marines -- you know, did you find that out from the Marines that he was possibly a Mexican national?
BROWN: I really don't know how that plays into the investigation if he -- regardless of who he is or where he's from.
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: That don't matter. What mattered is what happened Friday.
QUESTION: Do you know if he has ties in Texas or Mexico?
BROWN: I don't know where he's got ties or friends at. But what really mattered, what really mattered to me mattered -- it was Friday. Even though it was horrible, and that is where is Maria Lauterbach and her unborn child? What are their conditions and are they all right? But we have gone at this with breakneck speed while the incident had happened way before we got the information.
QUESTION: Do you think that if military investigators were as aggressive as you guys are, he might not have not flown out of the area? Do you think if they were as aggressive as you guys are, it would be a different situation right now?
BROWN: No. And the reason I don't, our aggression really kicked into high speed when we got that letter Friday.
Until then, we were walking, driving forward. But when Friday came, we went into battle. And it shows what happens when we got enough probable cause to move hard in that direction.
Within 24 hours we have arrest want, within six hours we have a body. So you have to move according to what probable cause you've got and what degree of involvement you think the person is in, and you can't second-guess what you should have known and what you didn't know. You've got to go with what you do know.
QUESTION: Can you character rice the evidence at all when you're talking that perhaps she died on (INAUDIBLE)?
BROWN: That is developed by some interviews.
QUESTION: Strictly interviews? Do you have evidence...
BROWN: Interviews. All of that will be determined by the medical examiner's office. But indications of interviews and other stuff that we can put together gives us that date. And that is the date for the warrant and, as it says, on or about.
QUESTION: Sheriff, members of Lauterbach's family have told us that she was ridiculed, her car had been keyed because of the allegations she had made against Laurean. In those initial conversations, did those unit commanders who had to have known about that situation, did they tell you that that was going on and that would raise more red flags earlier?
BROWN: Understand this Ed -- Ed has asked a question. Ask it again so everybody can hear it.
QUESTION: Don't put me on the spot like that. Basically, the question is, is that Lauterbach's family have expressed to us that she had been ridiculed in the months -- because of these allegations that her car had been keyed. She been ridiculed and harassed by other Marines because of these allegations.
Did the unit commanders pass that along to you, and wouldn't that have raised -- if they did, wouldn't that have raised red flags earlier on? Even though this girl be giving conflicting information, that she is clearly someone who's undergoing some amount of stress. BROWN: Under -- I'll answer your question, so everybody could hear it. About the keying of her car. The activity that took place on the base in this case were unknown to us until we got into the case of investigation, and developed him and his name. I think once she became a reported person, that should have caused somebody to come say, here, this is going on on the base. We go into that rather than it coming to us.
QUESTION: Are you saying that in a nut shell, you all didn't know any of the back story and that you're finding out -- you found out on the 7th about this report, but Laurean was unnamed? And, you're also saying that in fact the validity of her accusation of sexual assault in April was in question back then. So therefore, you weren't on his trail. That's the --
BROWN: We had no reason to be on his trail. This has nothing to do with civilian world. Nothing about this had to do anything with civilian world. If became relevant to the civilian world after Marie Lauterbach got missing, we knew nothing of it.
I want to show you -- and you go back to your own home towns and I think you will find this to the same situation. In this county you got five cities. They've got five jurisdictions. They handle what happens in those jurisdictions in their jurisdictions, and Mr. Hudson is the key focal point for their information.
I'm not their key focal point. So they could be investigating a rape and have indicted somebody, and I not even know about it. That's because they handle it at their levels. Go ahead.
DEWEY HUDSON, DISTRICT ATTORNEY ONSLOW COUNTY: Let me say this. He's correct about the cities, but I'm not the focal point of the base. I have nothing to do with any allegations occurred on base.
QUESTION: You're saying interviews determined when she died. That means -- are you saying more than Kristina Laurean?
BROWN: You're reading in to what I'm saying. I'm just telling you the interviews.
QUESTION: I'm just asking are there more than one person interviewed that indicated she died --?
BROWN: I told you and I'm not going in to try to support what I'm telling you.
QUESTION: The focus of the search for Laurean spill in the Texas, Louisiana area, and do you believe that those were accurate citings yesterday?
BROWN: The search for Laurean is earth-wide.
QUESTION: How many law enforcement agencies are working on this case, do you know?
BROWN: Earth-wide. QUESTION: What about those reports that he was spotted, do you regard (ph) they were accurate --
BROWN: Right now, we have looked into them and I don't know that I -- but I do want to say this, since you've got me back up here at the podium. Citizens who are watching, and I believe you're watching throughout the United States. Keep your eyes open for Cesar Laurean. We still want him. You're still important to this investigation.
And if you see him, call your local law enforcement agencies. Don't try to detain him. Even with this new amount of $25,000. It's not worth getting hurt over, and it is evident that he will hurt you.
COLLINS: All right. So, we have been listening into Onslow Sheriff there, Ed Brown, for quite some time now about the very latest developments, and some new information coming in on Marine Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach who he is telling us was killed on December 15th.
Went through an extensive time line about some initial reports of something that happened on base at Camp Lejeune back in April, an incident report and whether or not that was passed along to the civilian world.
As he is just now getting in to, which I think is going to become really the crux of what we learn in the days to come. It's the different between the uniform code of military justice and how they handle things in the military regarding crime versus what happens in the civilian world and who is the authority there. So, we will look much further into that as the days go by here.
Now, I want to move on to the Michigan primary. It's obviously what we're talking about in this election process. Is it a must win for native son Mitt Romney?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: For the Republicans all eyes are on Michigan. Native son Mitt Romney struggling to survive, while John McCain is fighting for another primary win. CNN's Dana Bash is traveling with Senator McCain. She's joining us now from Kalamazoo. Dana, they are talking about improving the economy. That's certainly seems to be the message.
Unfortunately as you can tell, we are having very serious audio problems. Dana, we will check on her microphones and that connection for us and bring her up once again in just a couple of minutes.
Meanwhile, from a touch of spring to a wallop of winter New England smacked by a snowstorm this morning after days of usually mild weather. Ares of north and west of Boston may get up to 14 inches of snow before the storm heads out to sea later today. Look at that.
Many schools in the region have canceled classes, and the power is out for more than 13,000 customers in Connecticut. The storm has been affecting air travel into and out of northeastern airports. Boy, I bet that is the truth. Certainly, Bonnie Schneider is in the weather center tracking that storm for us. Hi there, Bonnie.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Bonnie, than you. Want to take a moment now to get back to the political
(INSERT 11:30)
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: I want to take a moment to get back to the political scene and the upcoming primary in Michigan.
CNN's Dana Bash is traveling with senator John McCain. She's joining us now from Kalamazoo.
Dana, if you can hear me, I know that they're talking about the economy there.
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is all they're talking about here. It is the -- I mean, it's impossible to overstate how critical the economy here is in Michigan, particularly in the Republican race. So we have been saying for some time, but it's important to reiterate the fact that the unemployment rate here in the state of Michigan is about 7 1/2 percent. That is by far bigger than any other state nationwide.
This state has been laying off jobs while many other -- nationwide jobs have been actually increasing. So it is really the topic among the Republican candidates, the only candidates who are competing here in the state of Michigan. And that is why at the beginning of this town hall that John McCain just wrapped up, just like every town hall did all weekend long, he talked over and over about jobs, and about his prescription for how to deal with the fact that jobs are lost. He says he'll give straight talk that a lot of these jobs are not coming back, but he insists that his prescription for trying to help those people who have lost jobs is actually having the government help a bit, having a more help from community colleges, retraining, and that is, he says, is the way to help with the ailing economy and job loss here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRES. CANDIDATE: I will herald a new day for Michigan, and I will do everything I can do make sure the heartland of America, the state that saved the world during World War II, will again resume its rightful place in our economy, and in our nation and in the world. I am committed to it, my friends. And I'm going to do it for you. And it's going to be new jobs. It's going to be new jobs. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now, it's going to be new jobs, that's what John McCain says. He has been having, as you can imagine, Heidi, quite a tit for tat with his chief rival for the state of Michigan, and that is Mitt Romney. Mitt Romney is a native son. He was born here, and he has been going all across the state, talking about the fact that he does not think that Washington has done enough here. So that has been sort of the dynamic between Mitt Romney and John McCain in the state of Michigan. Crucial, crucial state for each of these men to win tomorrow -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, certainly is crucial, as we listen to them putting away the chairs behind you there, if people are wondering what all that racket was.
All right, Dana Bash, thanks so much, live from Kalamazoo, Michigan. Appreciate that.
And CNN tonight at 9:00 Eastern, want to let you know, fresh off a debate in South Carolina, presidential candidate Mitt Romney sits down with Larry King. So what will his strategy be going forward? Can he win in Michigan? "LARRY KING LIVE" CNN tonight, 9:00 Eastern.
(BUSINESS HEADLINES)
COLLINS: Baby seals in the middle of an mini population boom in Germany.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: "YOUR WORLD TODAY" is coming up in about 10 minutes or so right here on CNN.
Rosemary Church is standing by to tell us more about the program. Hi there, Rosemary.
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Heidi. Hello, everyone. We've got a lot coming up at the top of the hour. The U.S. prison of course in Saudi Arabia reaching out to a close ally with the offer of an arms deal, but not everyone's happy about that. We'll have a live report.
Also, Princess Diana's inquest wraps up today after a star witness told how she feared for her life and who she really loved. You might just be surprised. We'll go live to London for that.
And how would you feel if you or a loved one had organs removed after death without direct consent? Well, that's exactly what's being considered in Britain. And the prime minister supports the idea. Should the state have the right to take your organs? We should take a look at that, and of course, all the other stories across the globe coming up in just a few minutes on "YOUR WORLD TODAY" here on CNN.
Heidi, back to you.
COLLINS: All right, Rosemary, thanks. We'll be watching, coming up in 10 minutes from now.
A baby seal boomlet. Environmentalists are optimistic as a dwindling population starts to rebuild.
CNN's Diana Magna has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DIANA MAGNA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: From the air, the remote islands in of Helgoland in Germany's North Sea don't appear the obvious spot for a population explosion. Wind-swept and desolate, for two months each year these beaches are alive with gray seal pups. The perfect spot for rock pulling, to test out young flippers or to soak up the winter sun before braving the North Sea.
(on-camera): This little seal pup is just five days old. She's a female. Quite a lot closer a second ago, but the mother started to get extremely aggressive. They can move very fast, apparently, when they are aggressive and we had to move pretty fast to get out of the way.
(voice-over): The female gray seal returns to the beach where she was born to give birth. This year, there are 55 new seal pups on the island. A record, almost twice a many as last year. A triumph for the island's conservationists who say that hunting and previous centuries nearly wiped out the North Sea's gray seal population.
ROLF BLAEDEL, HELGOLAND CONSERVATIONIST (through translator): Next year, we reckon we will get 80. But then again, this year we only thought we would have 40 and we got 55.
MAGNA: Helgoland seals are getting almost as much attention as Germany's polar bear cups. Campaigners see this as a good opportunity to highlight the plight of endangered seal types in other parts of the world, like Canada.
RALF SONNTAG, INTL. FUND FOR ANIMAL WELFARE: The seal mothers, which are dependent on an ice sheet to put the pups on, they have less and less ice to put their pups on. Last year there was almost no ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, so we think there was a very, very high mortality of those seal pups, maybe close to one hundred percent.
MAGNA: Happily for this seal colony, Helgoland's beaches aren't in any immediate danger from global warming. And once pups like this one are weaned, the cycle begins again.
Diana Magna, CNN, Helgoland, Germany.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Drivers are paying a lot more at the pump. Prices of gas have shot up once again, according to the Lundberg Survey. Pump prices rose nearly ten cents a gallon over the past three weeks. The national average for a gallon of self serve regular is $3.07 a gallon, that's $0.75 cents higher than the price one year ago. The Lundberg Survey says gasoline is finally catching up with increases in crude. Scientists create an animal heart in the lab. Are humans next?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DORIS TAYLOR, UNIV. OF MINNESOTA: 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, the beat goes on, in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: It 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, of affiliate KARE, has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JULIANNA OLSEN, KARE REPORTER: Behold a holy grail of medical research. A beating heart, created by scientists in a 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 that 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: Three thousand 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. Scientists 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.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's exciting. Yes, it's exciting.
OLSEN: While a rat heart can't help humans, a pig heart can.
TAYLOR: If 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 a 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, opened a door to the idea that we can actually begin to build not just pieces of tissue and organs, but organs.
OLSEN: All sorts of organs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the pig liver.
OLSEN: U of M researchers believe they will one day be able to create new livers, pancreas, kidneys, lungs, saving not just thousands but millions of lives.
TAYLOR: 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 ten years before people could possibly benefit from the research.
And to get your daily dose of health news online, log on to our Web site. You'll find the latest medical news, a health library and information on diet and fitness. The address, cnn.com/health.
A pregnant marine killed. Her body burned and buried. Another marine accused in the grisly murder. Today, a nationwide manhunt intensifies.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: CNN NEWSROOM continues one hour from now. "YOUR WORLD TODAY" is next with news happening across the globe and right here at home. I'm Heidi Collins. Have a great day everybody.
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