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Marine on the Run; Internet Safety: MySpace Partners With Attorneys General; Clinton, Obama Campaigns Clash
Aired January 14, 2008 - 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: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Don Lemon.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
PHILLIPS: First up this hour, the intensified hunt for a U.S. Marine accused of murder. Today we hear of more reported sightings of Corporal Cesar Laurean, plus a potential link to earlier sightings. Investigators say the bank card of murdered Marine Maria Lauterbach was found in a bus station in Durham, North Carolina, which may lend credence to reports of Laurean getting on or off a bus in Shreveport, Louisiana.
Today, a county sheriff sent the suspect this message...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF ED BROWN, ONSLOW COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA: I would say to Mr. Laurean, contact your parents. They're the closest friends probably you've got. And seek advice from them.
And I believe -- I don't know the parents, but I do believe they're respectable people who would sit down with their son and say, son, you might as well go ahead and turn yourself in, because law enforcement in this country is not going away as long as you can be found in this earth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Brown says that Lauterbach's body was moved today to Chapel Hill for analysis. The badly burned corpse and its fetus were dug up Saturday behind the suspect's home.
Questions remain about the history of those two Marines, but over the weekend, the picture got a lot clearer.
Here's CNN's Rusty Dornin.
(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.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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. 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 on her a unauthorized leave. The day before 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, Christina (ph), 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.
BROWN: 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.
DORNIN: But Laurean fled four hours before his wife notified authorities, something that surprised military investigators.
PAUL CICCARELLI, NAVAL CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE SERVICE: 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.
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 back yard fire pit.
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.
DORNIN: Rusty Dornin, CNN, Jacksonville, North Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Washington, D.C., Mayor Adrian Fenty is coming down hard on city employees linked to a child and family services case turned tragic. Fenty says he's firing at least six child services' workers for the way they handled concerns about a mother now accused of killing her four girls.
The decomposed bodies were found last week in the family's apartment. Today Fenty said a school social worker complained of getting the runaround when she twice expressed alarm about the mother to the city. The mayor's been under pressure since the story started developing on Wednesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR ADRIAN FENTY, WASHINGTON, D.C.: In addition to making sure that all of the information available to the government is available to the general public, it is also extremely important that we hold people accountable who had anything to do with the mishandling of the Banita Jacks case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The mayor did not name the workers who are being fired. The mother's being held on murder charges.
Well, popular with young users and online predators, MySpace has agreed to do more to keep kids and teens safe. In a deal reached with 49 states and the District of Columbia, the networking site says it will add several layers of protection. Among them, more parental controls and better screening for inappropriate content. Authorities call it a good step forward.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM CORBETT, PENNSYLVANIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: We have seen a number of arrested predators using MySpace nearly double over the past year. For instance, in 2006, eight of the 27 individuals we arrested in 2006 were using MySpace. In 2007, 31 of the 54 individuals who we arrested were also using MySpace.
Today's agreement makes it harder for adults to sexually solicit children online. Industry must partner with law enforcement. We must partner to find ways to safeguard our children as the Internet evolves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, MySpace and similar sites have been the target of a multi-state investigation into their safety practices.
(WEATHER REPORT)
LEMON: We have had Iowa and New Hampshire, with a wee stop in between for Wyoming. Well, this week, three states are holding presidential nominating contests. The Michigan primary is tomorrow, with the economy front and center there in the state with the highest jobless rate in the nation. On Saturday, South Carolina holds its Republican primary, and Nevada holds caucuses. Democrats get their turn in South Carolina a week later. Florida holds its primary on the 29th.
Well, you may say the latest spat between the Clinton and Obama campaigns had a "fairy tale" beginning. Last week, former President Clinton likened Obama's claim that he consistently opposed the Iraq war to a "fairy tale". After that the fur really started to fly. Mr. Clinton went on a nationwide radio show today and said the Obama camp distorted his remarked.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When I said I did, the Obama campaign went right out and told everybody I had attacked his campaign or him as being a fairy tale, which is not true. I've always personally complimented Senator Obama in hundreds and hundreds of appearances on Hillary's behalf.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, Mr. Clinton spoke on Roland Martin's radio show. Martin will join us here shortly to talk about the interview and the campaign controversy fueled by both Clintons, both Obamas, as well as their defenders and their detractors.
PHILLIPS: Places of worship, places of prayer turned into piles of rubble. The faithful in Kenya face a hell on earth.
LEMON: Plus, no flashbulbs, no red carpet. Not much tinsel in Tinseltown, but the show, if you can call it one, went on.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, investigators in New York say that they set up profiles on social networking sites posing as kids as young as 12 and were immediately contacted by adults looking for sex. Today, a big announcement to prevent just that, and Veronica De La Cruz has all the details.
You've been following it all morning, Veronica.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kyra. And it was a pretty big announcement from MySpace, which is a site that has more than 110 million users around the world. It claims to be the country's heaviest traffic site, which is why officials are calling this a landmark agreement.
Attorneys general in 49 states will partner with MySpace to combat predators online. MySpace is hoping to do this with what they're calling their six principles.
The first principle, all images and video uploaded to the site will be subject to review. All groups will be reviewed on MySpace. A database for registered sex offenders will be set up. And profiles of all sex offenders will be deleted.
Age limits will be enforced, which might be hard to do right now because age and I.D. authentication is not yet in place. But they will make all profiles of users under the age of 16 private, and they will work hand in hand with law enforcement.
Roy Cooper is the state attorney general for North Carolina. He's also the head of the Internet Safety Task Force. He explained the initiative.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROY COOPER, NORTH CAROLINA ATTORNEY GENERAL: Through the Task Force established by this agreement, Internet business, technology companies, online safety organizations, and identity authentication experts will find and develop the tools that will help keep young children off this site, period. And the changes MySpace is making will help keep older children on the site safe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DE LA CRUZ: Now, Kyra, MySpace is agreeing to set up an e-mail registry for parents who wish to bar their kids from using MySpace. Dick Blumenthal, the state attorney general of Connecticut, had this to say...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, CONNECTICUT ATTORNEY GENERAL: Parents are the first and last line of defense. What this set of principles does is to further empower and enable parents to perform their vital responsibility in protecting their children. In no way will any of these safety measures ever supplant or replace the role of a responsible parent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DE LA CRUZ: So, again, there he's really put the onus on parents. MySpace also will be running an extensive PSA campaign in hopes of educating both parents and their kids -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So is MySpace the only social networking site on board?
DE LA CRUZ: Well, right now, they are. They are hoping to lead the way on this.
They are calling on others like Facebook, which is another huge social networking site, to join this Internet Safety Task Force, follow their six principles when it comes to Internet safety. The attorney general also noted that they haven't ruled out litigation of other social networking sites who don't want to get on board with this -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Veronica de la Cruz, thank you so much. And we're going to speak to the attorney general from Connecticut who you actually saw there in Veronica's report. He led the charge. And in the next hour of NEWSROOM, we're going to talk to him.
Also, a reminder. You can catch Veronica every morning on "AMERICAN MORNING," 6:00 to 9:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.
LEMON: No sanctuary from the violence that's wracked Kenya these past few weeks. It's all been happening there.
We'll get a live update from our Zain Verjee.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
LEMON: OK. So you've heard a little bit of the former president, Bill Clinton's radio interview this morning with Roland Martin. It seems that "fairy tale" comment has snowballed and now the Obama and Clinton campaigns are really going at it, spouses included.
Roland Martin is here to talk to us about that now.
And when I said spouses included, we were there, big event last night.
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Right. Right.
LEMON: The Trumpet Awards. Michelle Obama spoke at the preshow.
Let's take a listen real quick and then we'll talk about it.
MARTIN: Sure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, BARACK OBAMA'S WIFE: We must do it in the face of those who will attempt to play on those emotions for their own purposes to discourage us from believing what is possible, to dismiss this moment as an illusion, a fairy tale.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Her speech was very powerful. There was some criticism that it was maybe a little bit heavy-handed because it was supposed to be an event that was bipartisan -- or a nonpartisan event, I should say.
MARTIN: Well, they invited the presidential candidates...
LEMON: OK.
MARTIN: ... and that's why she came there. So...
LEMON: All right. But let's get back to the comment that sparked all this. MARTIN: Sure.
LEMON: Bill Clinton, he was on your radio show this morning. What did he say about this?
MARTIN: Well, I mean, he said that, look, I was talking about his stance on the Iraq war. I was not talking about him running for president. He had some positive things to say. I mean, obviously, he was talking to WVON in Chicago...
LEMON: Right. Yes.
MARTIN: ... a station that's in the heart of the south side of Chicago.
LEMON: I'm familiar with it, yes.
MARTIN: You know, Obama's home.
LEMON: Right.
MARTIN: And so he laid that out. But the thing that was interesting, though -- because I started off really with the Bob Johnson issue...
LEMON: OK.
MARTIN: ... because that was the most recent one. But it really wasn't the "fairy tale" comment that started. It was the comment about Bill Shaheen that had really got this started, bringing up his drug use. Are they going to say (ph) he was a drug dealer?
That was the first salvo. And all of a sudden, the "fairy tale".
Then we heard Andrew Cuomo, New York attorney general, make this comment about shucking and jiving.
LEMON: Right.
MARTIN: He tried to say, well, no, that's not what I meant. I meant something else. That was that.
And then all of a sudden, then you had, of course, when Clinton was talking to Major Garrett on FOX...
LEMON: Right.
MARTIN: ... about the whole issue of MLK and LBJ.
LEMON: Yes.
MARTIN: So, all of a sudden, people began to say there's a narrative going on. There's a number of issues going on here.
That's what really generated the heat. But the people e-mailing me, "Are you talking about this?" And I'll say, well, no, not really. This is sort of a separate sort of deal.
Hold a second. When people say it's five, six things in a row...
LEMON: In a row.
MARTIN: ... now...
LEMON: Yes. And we have his response to the MLK thing.
MARTIN: Right.
LEMON: And he tried to clarify it for us.
MARTIN: He's been doing lots of clarifying in the last...
LEMON: Yes, but he's saying -- he's saying that she didn't -- that people took it out of context.
MARTIN: Right.
LEMON: What she said is that they worked in tandem together and were a team trying to get the civil rights legislation passed.
But let's listen to him, what he said on your radio show this morning.
MARTIN: Sure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: What she thought was important was that Martin Luther King and John Kennedy, two people that Senator Obama has at least implicitly compared himself to, had both soaring eloquence and a record of doing things that made a big difference. And so did Lyndon Johnson. And Lyndon Johnson actually became more eloquent as he became president...
MARTIN: Right.
CLINTON: ... because of what he had done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Are your listeners buying this explanation?
MARTIN: Nope.
LEMON: What are they saying?
MARTIN: I mean, it was hot. It was hot. They were highly critical of his comments.
Also, when Tim Russert asked her yesterday on "Meet the Press" about, you know, is Obama qualified to be president of the United States, she wouldn't answer the question.
LEMON: Right.
MARTIN: Of course, I even asked President Clinton the question, he wouldn't answer it as well.
There is a lot of dancing going on.
LEMON: Right.
MARTIN: I mean, this is politics. That's what's going on here. People are bothered by these references. Because not only that, especially -- callers did bring up that Hillary Clinton was a Barry Goldwater supporter.
LEMON: Yes.
MARTIN: And if he became president, there definitely wouldn't be any civil rights movement.
LEMON: Yes. Well, everyone is saying that. The Obama campaign doesn't want to talk about race...
MARTIN: They don't.
LEMON: ... because they don't want people to see him as a black candidate. Obviously, he's black.
MARTIN: Well, no, no, no, no. It's not that they don't want -- they want people to see him as a black candidate.
LEMON: They just want that to be the crux of the campaign.
MARTIN: Because they recognize that we're still talking about America. There are people out here who don't like having a race conversation.
His deal is, this is who I am, these are the issues I'm trying to trumpet. They don't want to have this conversation, trust me.
LEMON: What do you mean? Now wait. Explain that to me. What do you mean people out here who don't want to have a race conversation?
MARTIN: And that is that race is the most volatile conversation in the United States.
LEMON: So it's too controversial for him or too volatile or too...
MARTIN: No, no, no, no. It's that it's so emotional and so controversial, that you want people to, in essence, see you for who you are.
LEMON: OK.
MARTIN: And so do you want to have this race debate? And there's a sense that the Clinton campaign knows he doesn't want to have the conversation, and so you sort of have this -- there's a belief...
LEMON: Is that what Bob Johnson is about, then, drawing that out to bring up the conversation?
MARTIN: There they believe that it's not coming from the Obama campaign. The Clinton campaign denies it. There's a belief among African-Americans, especially among political operatives, the Clinton campaign is trying to draw him out to discuss race so he can talk about it in an effort to help white voters. In essence, sort of a reverse southern strategy.
LEMON: OK.
MARTIN: And so the question is, is it happening? They're saying no. I asked Bill Clinton straight out, and he said, no, that's not what's going on.
LEMON: OK. All this -- you've got all this talk, all this rhetoric, everybody is going back and forth...
MARTIN: And no issues whatsoever.
LEMON: OK. So no issues. So here's what the real issue is, I think, for most voters.
When it comes to either Clinton -- Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, where -- what is their path (ph) on issues as it affects African-Americans in this country? Everyone talks the talk, saying, you know, I'm down with black people, let's put it that way.
MARTIN: Right.
LEMON: But what's their actual record on it? What kind of legislation have they actually passed? That's the question.
MARTIN: Well, you know, on one side you have Clinton who talks about what she's done for women, what she has done in terms of Children's Defense Fund, issues of African-American children and health care. You have Obama, who sponsored the racial profiling law in the state of Illinois, who also...
LEMON: And death row.
MARTIN: The whole issue of death row. And so he has laid out this criminal justice issue. They've talked about that. That's really what it's about.
Here's what the real issue is that I'm waiting on. I wonder when Howard Dean is going to show some leadership as the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and is going to come forward and say, Senator Obama, Senator Clinton...
LEMON: Right.
MARTIN: ... enough is enough. If you want to talk about black men in jail, if you want to talk about the fact that the number one group that has HIV and AIDS are black women, let's talk about that.
He has to show some leadership, and he hasn't done it yet. This conversation is just going so far that we're not talking about issues. We're talking about, frankly, some minute stuff.
LEMON: Right. We're talking about -- right. Right. Right. Right.
OK. Thank you, Roland. We're out of time. We can talk about this all day, but we appreciate that.
MARTIN: Of course. See you.
LEMON: We'll see you all day. We'll see you all day, and tomorrow, and the day after that and the day after that.
Good luck on the campaign trail.
MARTIN: Appreciate it.
LEMON: Thank you.
And for the Democratic contenders a tough audience awaits. One week from today, Roland, the Congressional Black Caucus in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The questions, the answers right here on CNN, next Monday night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.
PHILLIPS: A much smaller stage for the Golden Globes. The awards were given out, but no stars were there to pick them up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BUSINESS REPORT)
LEMON: President Bush is in Saudi Arabia for two days of meetings with King Abdullah. It's his first-ever visit, and he didn't come empty-handed. He brings a $20 billion weapons deal. The White House said the package is aimed at countering threats from Iran. Iran calls the president's Middle East tour an attempt to turn up Iranophobia. Mr. Bush leaves Wednesday for Egypt, the last stop on his eight-day tour.
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators got to work in Jerusalem today, or talked about it. They explored ways to approach the core issues, among them Israeli settlement in the West Bank and Jerusalem as a shared capital. The Bush administration is pushing both sides to hammer out a final peace deal by next January.
PHILLIPS: The government of Kenya has two words for would-be international mediators, butt out. As you may know, two weeks of violence have followed a disputed presidential election there with hundreds of people killed, and tribal and religious vendettas reemerging.
Here's our CNN's Zain Verjee who is from the area.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: God and politics became a deadly mix in Kenya's Kibera slum. A church looted and burned by an angry mob, moments after President Mwai Kibaki was declared the election winner late last month. Mohammed Doka, a Muslim cobbler who keeps an eye on the church takes me through the rubble.
MOHAMMED DOKA, CHURCH KEEPER: I just saw smoke -- pastors houses burning.
VERJEE: The church pastor is a Kikuyu, the same tribe as President Kibaki. He has fled. His picture is all that's left of his home.
DOKA: A beautiful house like this, just demolished, it's not good. Not good at all.
VERJEE: Opposition supporters made their message clear.
DOKA: So many people came from their houses. They were shouting. They were screaming. People are carrying the banners of Raila, they were saying, we won't agree. Raila has won.
VERJEE: In the church, only singed Swahili hymns and a message of hate. So shall we burn you. Many churches in Kibera have been set on fire. How many people who are Kikuyu have (INAUDIBLE) have gone?
DOKA: For now it is half -- half the population of Kibera -- or Karanja. Half of them have already gone.
VERJEE: How many, number?
DOKA: To me, I think it is about 30 to 40 families.
VERJEE: And these children, mostly Kikuyu, depended on the church for food. They are now scattered, living in a park, relying on hand-outs.
BEN KIVUVA, AID WORKER: They had to leave the slum because their houses had been burned.
VERJEE: The children here need food, blankets, clothes and medicine. Their place of worship and shelter, now a source of scrap metal. Amid the ruins of the church, Mohammed tells us he still has faith. A place of peace, destroyed, in this Nairobi slum. There have been scenes like this all across the country. It's not about God and religion, but about tribe and power.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, Zain joins us now live from Nairobi.
Zain, are Kenyans worried that the tribal violence will get worse?
VERJEE: They are. They're afraid and they're bracing that tribal violence could get a lot worse. You know, Kyra, many people here say that it's the politicians that are exploiting the tribal differences that are fueling all the rivalries, the economic and political differences in this country. But the real underlying issue, too, Kyra, we can't forget this, is poverty.
Most people live on less than a dollar a day, so they feel, hey, we've got nothing to lose. So, there is a criminal element to a lot of the violence that we see on TV. Mass demonstrations are also planned for three days later this week.
What happens here in Kenya is that the paramilitary forces are also going to be deployed to the slum areas, for instance, on the outskirts of Nairobi and just keep everybody in there. The police here tend to use excessive force, so there are likely to be skirmishes -- Kyra?
PHILLIPS: So, the next major showdown is tomorrow, right? What exactly is going to happen?
VERJEE: Yes, there's going to be a big confrontation between both sides in Parliament. It's the first session of Parliament since the elections that are so controversial. And there are a couple of things. Both sides have different candidates they want to have the influential position of speaker.
But also, Raila Odinga is saying that he won the majority, so he's going to sit on the government side, because he is the government. The government's saying, no, we're the government. We're going to sit there. So, there's likely to be a confrontation that -- that doesn't bode well for them, for Kenyans or for Kofi Annan who is coming later in the week to mediate -- Kyra?
PHILLIPS: All right, Zain, you know I have to ask a personal question every time I see you. Because you're from this area, and I know you've had a chance to see your parents. A little bit. But, you have been working really hard, have you had a chance to relax at all? You're working for us on your vacation.
VERJEE: No, actually, I haven't -- I haven't really had much chance to relax, unfortunately. It's wonderful being back home. But, you know, it's under such difficult circumstances. I haven't really had a chance to see my parents too much. My mom came by today and brought us lunch because we were hungry. And they're going to pick me up in a few minutes so I can go home for a bit.
PHILLIPS: Very good. And I'm sure the --
VERJEE: Hopefully, I'll get to spend a few extra days.
PHILLIPS: Well, no doubt. I can just imagine the political discussions around that dinner table. Great to see you, Zain.
LEMON: New accusations about the man charged with killing a 24- year-old woman in the north Georgia mountains. We'll hear what his former boss has to say.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Near Mobile Bay, Alabama, a search resumes today for two of the four children allegedly thrown by their father from a towering coastal bridge. By boat, by foot, and by air, Teams are covering marshy terrain for Lindsay and Hannah Luong, ages one and two. The bodies of the girls' young brothers were recovered over the weekend several miles apart on shore. The father is being held in Mobile County on charges of capital murder.
PHILLIPS: The remains of the 2-year-old girl once known as Baby Grace are heading home to Ohio now for burial. A funeral for Riley Ann Sawyers will be held Wednesday. That child was only known as Baby Grace when her body was found last year in a plastic container in Galveston Bay in Texas. Her mother and her boyfriend are charged with murder.
LEMON: Well, the man accused of killing and decapitating a Georgia hiker now is a suspect in two other cases. Gary Michael Hilton is in jail charged with abducting and killing 24-year-old Meredith Emerson. Police say she met Hilton on a hiking trail in the north Georgia mountains.
Emerson died of blunt-force trauma to the head. Last week the 61-year-old was named the primary suspect in the death of Cheryl Dunlap. The Florida nurse's body was found in a national forest. And now, Hilton is suspected in the death of Irene Bryant and the presumed death of her husband John. They disappeared while hiking in a North Carolina national forest. John Bryant has never been found.
Saturday, CNN's Catherine Callaway sat down with one of Hilton's former employers who had some revealing things to say about him.
(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: Gary Michael Hilton worked on and off for John Tabor's siding company for almost ten years. Tabor said Hilton was always an outdoorsman and a bit eccentric. But last year he noticed a change. He said Hilton became belligerent, difficult to communicate with and took large doses of prescription drugs.
TABOR: He told me that he really need these drugs because if he didn't take them, the demons were -- started to come back, something to that effect. And this isn't the type of language I 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 that together, and I -- 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 most of the past year. He sounded clear-headed. He acted as though nothing was wrong.
CALLAWAY: Tabor says 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 (on-camera): 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)
LEMON: And something new from our friends at cnn.com, and TruTV. We've teamed up to bring you all the crime and punishment that you can handle. Click on and check out cnn.com/crime.
PHILLIPS: Lately when you say Britney Spears, you only get drama. And today is no exception. Drama this hour in the courtroom. Will the troubled pop star regain the right to visit her kids? Stay tuned.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)(
PHILLIPS: Lets get straight to the newsroom, Betty Nguyen working details on a developing story happening right now out of New York City.
Betty?
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, take a look at this live picture from WABC. There has been a crane accident in SoHo. And its kind of hard to tell from this picture which particular building that we're speaking of. But let me tell you what happened. A little bit earlier today, a crane dropped its load of concrete on the top two floors of a Trump building under construction in SoHo.
Two people were injured and we understand now, CNN has confirmed, that there's been one fatality and one injury in this construction accident. And we understand, as well, that the New York Police Department confirms that a worker fell approximately 30 feet and, unfortunately, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Again, this being a crane accident where some -- for some reason it dropped its load of concrete on the top two floors of a Trump building, which is under construction, in SoHo, killing one person and another person is injured at this hour. Of course, we'll continue to follow this tragic story for you, Kyra, and bring you the latest.
PHILLIPS: All right, appreciate it. Thanks, Betty.
LEMON: We're working two big entertainment stories this hour. Our Kareen Wynter is in Los Angeles for Britney Spears' latest custody hearing. And Brooke Anderson has all the wins and losses from last night's bare bones Golden Globes announcement.
Let's start with Kareen in Los Angeles, with the big question is, where is Britney Spears? Did she ever show up for court? And there's some new developments in that, right?
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. A no show, we didn't see her -- we haven't seen here actually here yet, Don. But we just got word from some of the celebrity outlets that really cover the pop stars so closely, in fact, they are glued, they are always staked out outside of her home. And they tell me that she will be here quite soon, in about an hour. So, we'll have to see if that what happens. But, you know, the hearing has been going on for a few hours now and a lot has happened.
Kevin Federline, Britney Spears' ex, she's in a bitter custody dispute with him. He showed up very early for today's hearing. Britney wasn't required to be here, but everyone thought that she would be. The fact that the commissioner striped all visitation rights from her. So Kevin shows up, he's sporting this new mohawk, he's in a crisp suit, just looking like the model parent.
And also, witnesses from that incident a week and half ago that took place when LAPD responded to her home regarding the custody dispute when she refused to hand over her kids to Kevin Federline. So Kevin's camp said we want you here, we want you to testify, we want you to tell the commissioner why Kevin should still retain sole legal and physical custody of the case, which is the case now, Don. LEMON: Kareen, what is this -- I just got some information coming across the wire, the judge in this case cleared the courtroom of all reporters. What's going on with that?
WYNTER: Oh, my gosh, you know, Britney isn't here, but there's always color surrounding this case. We have producers inside and what happened initially when he went in there -- it's, you know, no surprise, both camps, both legal teams, they always want to close it to the media. So, instead of just getting up and leaving the courtroom, well a celebrity reporter sighed, and the commissioner said, excuse me, is there a problem here? Do you have a problem with this ruling?
So, they've been back and forth. There have been breaks that they've been taking. We asked Kevin -- or rather Britney Spears' attorneys, is she showing up? And they just gave us a flat, no comment. I've been out here covering the story from this end, but we have a crew inside. So, they'll keep us posted, Don.
LEMON: All right, Kareen Wynter and, of course, you'll be reporting the very latest on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT." We look forward to that.
All right. Let's turn now to the no-glitz and no-glamour and certainly no stars. Our Brooke Anderson is in Los Angeles with more on last night's Golden Globes show.
It was certainly interesting and short.
BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: It was, short and sweet, about half an hour, Don. And "Atonement," the British tragic romance, starring Keira Knightley, came out of the night the big winner with Best Drama. But there was no clear front-runner coming out of the Golden Globes, leading up to the Oscars in February.
In fact, the awards were kind of evenly divided. "Atonement" picked up two awards. "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" picked up two. "No Country for Old Men," two, and "Sweeney Todd" also with two. And as soon as I had a chance, I headed over to the famous Chateau Marmont Hotel and that's where some of the film and television shows were having private viewing parties of the announcements and where they were celebrating.
And I spoke with the director from "Atonement," Joe Wright, also cast members, Saoirse Ronan and James McAvoy and they told me that watching it at a hotel in a low-key get-together was actually pretty refreshing, listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES MCAVOY, ACTOR, "ATONEMENT": It was nice. It was an awards ceremony you very rarely get to celebrate it with anybody who is in the film other than the director and maybe some of the other people that were nominated. Most of the crew don't get to be there and we had a number of key crew members here celebrating who are very responsible for the film and for the greatness of the film, so that was a real bonus. That was really special.
JOE WRIGHT, DIRECTOR, "ATONEMENT": All the family were here. All the family were here. It doesn't matter -- there was no problems with tickets.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: No problems with tickets, this year, so that was something positive to come out of the truncated version of the Golden Globes this year. I also found the party for AMC's "Mad Men." It was at the penthouse of the Chateau Marmont. "Mad Men" had a big night last night, winning Best Drama Series and also Best Actor in a Drama Series for Jon Hamm. I spoke with Jon Hamm and he told me what he thought about the writers' strike and his hope for this dispute.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON HAMM, ACTOR, "MAD MEN": I hope it gets resolved as soon as it can possibly get resolved because we all want to go back to work. We all are in this job to work. None of us wants to sit around on the sidelines twiddling our thumbs. And I want it to be resolved fairly. I think everybody wants to it be resolved fairly. It's a shame that it's come to this sort of very, very angry sort of standoffish approach.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: And, Don, now everybody's attention turns to the Oscars. Those nominations announced on the 22nd. The Academy hasn't gotten a waiver from the Writers' Guild. Will it suffer the same quiet fate as the Golden Globes? We shall see soon.
LEMON: And speaking of actors who had a big night -- well you had a big night yourself last night.
ANDERSON: I did.
LEMON: You were an announcer. What was it like to take part? It was an historic event? Wow!
ANDERSON: Thank you, Don.
PHILLIPS: She dresses up good.
LEMON: You looked good.
ANDERSON: It was surreal, actually. I was a little bit nervous. I wanted to do it justice for the nominees. I knew they were watching. They told me -- I had spoken to a number of them over the past week or so, they would be watching. It was an important night for them and also the Hollywood Foreign Press, they've been through so much over the past several weeks. One member told me it had been an emotional roller coaster and that they were sad to be stuck in the middle of the entire dispute. But the president said, hey, this is a first for us, too. Thanks for being here, let's forge together. And that's what we did. I know it was boring for most people, but I had a blast.
LEMON: It wasn't boring if they got to look at you. All right. Thank you very much for that, Brooke Anderson.
PHILLIPS: She could go into the movies. She's a movie star.
Well, just looking at these pictures is enough to make you seasick. Imagine what the crew on this cargo ship was feeling. (INAUDIBLE), choppy waters, high seas rescue.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well even if you have your sea legs, it would be pretty tough to stand this. Just ask the crew of this Greek registered cargo ship carrying thousands of tons of timber. The wood actually shifted in choppy seas between England and France and it caused the ship to tilt like this. And it was dangerous, by the way. Luckily, the British Coast Guard saved the day, rescuing 20 crew members. Only one of them suffered a broken leg.
Real-world progress against cyberpredators. We're going to talk to the Connecticut's attorney general about today's MySpace announcement.
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