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Climbers on Mt. Hood Found; Steroids in Baseball: House Committee Hears Testimony; Bridge Collapse Update

Aired January 15, 2008 - 14:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Months before she was murdered, this young Marine was allegedly raped by another young Marine whose name the county sheriff didn't know until three weeks after the victim had died.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And we want to know why. Who's to blame for the disconnect between military justice and civilian law and order? We're going to ask a military defense attorney and a professor in the law of war this hour.

Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

It is the top of the hour and we start with some breaking news here in the CNN NEWSROOM. And for that we want to get right to our Betty Nguyen.

Betty, I guess you can imagine the sigh of relief from...

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, my goodness.

LEMON: ... the people on the mountain and the family members, huh?

NGUYEN: Absolutely. You know, oftentimes when we give you breaking news, it is not a happy ending. Well, this one there is.

Two missing climbers on Mt. Hood have been found. In fact, they are headed down that mountain right now.

Here's how it all happened.

They went missing yesterday, during some really bad weather up on Mt. Hood, and actually had to spend the night in a snow cave. Well, once the weather broke, one of the climbers was able to call a girlfriend. And because of that cell phone signal, rescuers found their exact location and made it up to them today.

About an 18-member rescue team was on their way. But at this hour, they not only have reached the climbers, but the climbers are headed down the mountain. Sheriff officials say they are in a positive and upbeat mood, and that they were not equipped with a mountain locator device. So thankfully, they had that cell phone on them and a signal was able to be found. And rescuers are escorting them down the mountain.

They're going to take them toward a trailhead near Government Camp. But the problem is, what you're looking at right there, there's been some really heavy snow in the area, and at times it was blowing sideways, causing limited visibility and a lot of problems in that search.

But there is good news in what a lot of people were very worried about yesterday. Those two missing climbers are found. They are alive, and as far as we know, they are uninjured.

We're going to continue to follow this story, though, Don, and bring you the latest as soon as we get some video on that rescue when they do come down from the mountain.

LEMON: Betty, you say that with a smile our face.

NGUYEN: Yes.

LEMON: So -- yes.

NGUYEN: So happy to hear a good ending to the story.

LEMON: Absolutely. And it's cold -- very cold, according to our Chad.

NGUYEN: Oh man, yes.

LEMON: OK. Thank you very much.

NGUYEN: Sure.

PHILLIPS: Confirmation from North Carolina the remains found Saturday are those of a missing pregnant Marine. Investigators also are rejecting the suspect's claim that she committed suicide.

An autopsy shows Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach died of blunt- force trauma to the head. Police are keeping quiet on that search for her alleged killer now, but Marine Corporal Cesar Laurean is now being featured on the "America's Most Wanted" Web site.

Meantime, authorities are addressing some of the criticism of their handling of Lauterbach's disappearance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF ED BROWN, ONSLOW COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA: The best evidence in this case suggests that Maria Lauterbach was already dead before she was reported missing on December the 19th. After December the 19th, 2007, the only thing that any investigation could have accomplished was to bring to light sooner what had already occurred. I thank God and I am perfectly comfortable with the knowledge that nothing my office could have done would have prevented the death of Maria Lauterbach.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Lauterbach had accused Laurean of rape and was set to testify against him at a hearing. Now, there are lots of layers to this case, including a lot of criticism of how the U.S. Marine Corps handled Corporal Lauterbach's rape claim. Later this hour we're going to go more in-depth with two experts on military law.

LEMON: Stepha Henry disappeared in May after visiting a Florida club. Police never found a body, but they have found evidence that points to her death, and they've just arrested a suspect. His name is Kendrick Williams.

He was picked up this morning in New York. He is expected to be charged with second-degree murder. He drove Henry to the club but said he left her there. Forensic testing on his car led to his arrest.

Congress wants the Justice Department to investigate a baseball superstar for possible perjury. This comes as a House committee continues its look at the illegal use of steroids in that sport.

Joining us now from Washington, CNN's Brianna Keilar to talk to us about that testimony.

Roger Clemens was fingered in this report but denies using steroids. No doubt that came up today, Brianna. Did it?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It did. That's right.

In the Mitchell Report, not only was Clemens accused of using steroids, but also human growth hormone and testosterone. As you said, he vehemently denies those accusations, but Mitchell, George Mitchell, former Senate majority leader who authored this report, basically said today that he believes the accuser of Clemens, a trainer named Brian McNamee, over Clemens, even looking back, now that it's been a month since this report was released.

Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HENRY WAXMAN (D), CALIFORNIA: Despite the public presentation by Mr. Clemens that the testimony was not accurate, you continue to feel comfortable with Mr. McNamee's credibility?

GEORGE MITCHELL, AUTHOR, BASEBALL'S STEROIDS REPORT: We believe that the statements provided to us were truthful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Mitchell pointed out that McNamee also fingered Andy Pettitte as using HGH, and subsequent to this report coming out, Pettitte admitted that, yes, he did use HGH. He also said that McNamee understood that if he was providing any false information, he would be subject to criminal charges.

We're going to be hearing Clemens' side of the story before this very committee come February 13th, the hearing that was supposed to happen tomorrow that's been postponed. And if this committee has its way, we're also going to be hearing from Pettitte, as well as a former player, Chuck Knoblauch.

Now, another new development that I want to tell you about today, we learned at the beginning of this hearing that the Department of Justice is going to be reviewing a request from this committee to investigate Miguel Tejada and if he lied to Congress, because what happened here is that back in 2005, Tejada told -- told Congress that he had no knowledge of any players using steroids or even of players talking about using steroids. And that is in direct conflict to what we learned in the Mitchell Report -- Don.

LEMON: OK. And I want to -- fill me in on this HGH, because testimony today was about the human growth hormone, or HGH. It came up a lot. What is the concern about that, Brianna?

KEILAR: Well, the real concern -- you know, there's been so much talk about steroids, but basically people today at the hearing saying that has to do very much with the past, because according to the Mitchell Report, the real wave of the future as far as performance- enhancing drugs goes is this HGH. It is banned in baseball. However, baseball doesn't test for it, because basically there's no real accurate test.

It doesn't -- HGH doesn't really show up in either a blood or a urine sample. So one of the members of this committee, Stephen Lynch, suggested, hey, maybe there is no test right now, but get the blood sample and test it later.

We don't know if it's feasible, but the point being Congress is saying, look, we want you to be proactive, not reactive. We want baseball to turn this around or Congress is going to intervene -- Don.

LEMON: It seems like a lot more fallout even after this.

Thank you very much for that, Brianna.

PHILLIPS: Almost six months after the deadly bridge collapse in Minnesota, we're learning more about the catastrophe. The National Transportation Safety Board updated its investigation just a short time ago.

CNN's Susan Roesgen has been covering this story from the very beginning. She joins us now from Chicago with the outcome of what was discovered.

Hey, Susan.

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra.

You know, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board, Mark Rosenker, just came out moments ago to say that the investigation is not over. In fact, it's far from over. But he wanted to say that the team is focusing on what they call the gusset plates.

The gusset plates are steel plates that hold the steel beams of a bridge together. Now, on that bridge in Minneapolis, the I-35 West Bridge, there are more than 200 of these gusset plates holding beams together. But this investigation has focused on just four of them, four gusset plates that Mark Rosenker and his team say failed. And what they say is these four plates in one particular segment of the bridge caused that segment of the bridge to collapse, and that one segment pulled the rest of the bridge down with it.

Now, they say it was a simple error, a simple calculation error that was made in the design of the bridge. The head of the NTSB says that this design failure would never have been spotted in a bridge inspection. He says it's something that should have been caught when the bridge was still on paper, still being designed.

He says, the gusset plates in question, these four, were only a half an inch thick, and he said they needed to be an inch thick. So we're talking about very small amounts, very small degrees of a design here that caused this catastrophic collapse. But, what the investigators don't know yet, Kyra, is what was the straw that broke the camel's back?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK ROSENKER, NTSB CHAIRMAN: We do not today know what caused the I-35 bridge collapse, nor do we have an indications that other similar bridges in this nation have the kind of flaw that we saw in this one. But we think that in the future, before major work is performed on fracture-critical bridges, all structure elements should undergo load capacity calculations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROESGEN: So, what he's saying today, Kyra, is the reason they decided to have this announcement, even though the investigation is not over, they want the Federal Highway Department to make sure that every bridge in this country that might have those same gussets and the same similar type of design should immediately be inspected -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Yes. And we saw that right after that bridge collapse, Susan, that states all across the country started checking their bridges. It created a bit of a scare. It will be interesting to see if these same type of reports come forward in other states.

ROESGEN: Very true. Very true. We'll have to see.

PHILLIPS: All right. Susan Roesgen following that for us.

Thanks so much -- Don.

LEMON: It is not easy traveling Florida's Interstate 4 these days. Once again, heavy smoke forced the highway patrol to close a section of I-4 early this morning. It's since reopened. Now, this is the same stretch of interstate where smoke and fog caused a series of crashes last week. In one 70-vehicle pileup, four people were killed and almost 40 others were hurt in that.

Just look at the video. Unbelievable pictures there.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Well, can you imagine Princess Diana married and living in Pakistan? Her former lover says she wanted to do it. The guy in the shades at her funeral breaks the silence about their relationship.

LEMON: And Britney Spears, it's almost too scary to ask what else could go wrong.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Well, seven hours to go until the last polls close on primary day in Michigan. It's all about the economy, and it's all about the Republicans.

John McCain's banking on Independent voters to boost him in a second straight primary victory. But Mitt Romney's counting on his native state to turn his campaign around.

Less at stake for the Democrats. The state's being punished for moving its primary up, so no Democratic delegates are up for grabs. Hillary Clinton's the only major candidate on the Democratic ballot.

Undecided voters could be the swing vote in Michigan, and as CNN John Roberts found out, some are also unemployed, underinsured and unsure of their future.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECKY BREINING, UNDECIDED VOTER: Yes, I've lived here my whole life and the reason I'm leaving is I lost my job with Chrysler after 12 years of working with them. And in order to survive, you know, the economic situation right now I'm going to have to go Georgia to get a job. So...

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wow. It's just that bad? There's just nothing else out there?

BREINING: It's that bad. It really is.

ROBERTS: And what about your home? Are you going to lose? Do you own a home? Will you...

BREINING: I just bought a house a couple of months ago and that's part of it. I'm trying to save my house.

VINCE RANELLI, UNDECIDED VOTER: We had approximately 50 people working for us last year and for the last 20 years. And we've lost 35 people in this market. ROBERTS: And you had to lay them off yourself, right?

RANELLI: Yes, sir. It is...

ROBERTS: How tough was that?

RANELLI: It's disheartening. I mean, these people that built my company, our company, and we were together into this. And now I've got to lay them off not because of the way they worked. They're qualified, they're good people.

It's because immigrant labor has come over here, they work here for nine months, they take the job at less money. They take it sometimes for less money than my health care costs.

ROBERTS: You're the owner of a company. You had to lay off your two sons?

DAVE DOLLEY, UNDECIDED VOTER: Right. They work for me. And I actually have three boys. One left my company and then I had laid off the other two.

I have the same problems as Vince does. The immigration is a big problem. They're undercutting our work. They're coming in working for less than minimum wage. And also, the health care is another issue too.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: That is what's really going on out there.

Are you marking your election calendar? Well, it's time to mark it. We've been to Iowa and New Hampshire, with a wee stop in Wyoming in between.

The Michigan primary, well, it's going on right now. Then on Saturday, South Carolina holds its Republican primary and Nevada holds caucuses.

The Democrats get their turn in South Carolina one week later. And Florida holds its primary on the 29th.

On February 5th, which is Super Tuesday, 24 states hold primary caucuses -- primaries, caucuses, or in the case of West Virginia, a Republican-nominating convention. California is the biggest prize, with 370 Democratic delegates and 170 Republican delegates at stake.

PHILLIPS: The CNN political ticker this hour, the Clinton and Obama campaigns try to cool things down for the sake of the party, while a senior Democratic lawmaker throws another log on the fire. New York Congressman Charles Rangel, a Hillary Clinton supporter, calls Barack Obama's recent remarks about her "absolutely stupid." Obama has criticized Clinton for saying Martin Luther King's dream was not realized until President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act.

So can you name the differences between Clinton, Obama and John Edwards in 40 seconds or less? Edwards tries to in four 10-second TV ads on the air in South Carolina. He also points to a recent CNN poll showing that he's the only Democratic candidate to beat all the Republicans in a one-on-one contest.

Polls suggest that Edwards is running a distant third in his native state among Democrats. And speaking of Edwards, he says his daughter, Cate, is doing fine after an automobile accident. An apparent drunk driver hit her car Friday in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Neither Cate Edwards nor the other driver was hurt.

The Edwards family lost their teenage son, Wade, to a vehicle crash in 1996.

For more on the presidential candidates and the next stops, go to cnnpolitics.com. It's your one-stop shop for all things political.

So, what would you ask the presidential candidates if you could? Well, here's your chance.

Send your questions to CNN.com. They might be used Monday night in a South Carolina Democratic debate co-sponsored by CNN. Plus, keep track of all the races at cnnpolitics.com.

LEMON: Royal secrets or maybe the lack of them? They took center stage today at an inquest into Princess Diana's death. We'll tell you what her former butler has to say.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

We're hearing that rescuers have reached two climbers who got caught in near whiteout conditions on Oregon's Mt. Hood. One of the men was able to make a cell phone call to his girlfriend. The climbers are now heading down the mountain.

And we're finally learning more about what caused last year's deadly bridge collapse in Minneapolis. Federal investigators cite flaws in some of the bridge's steel plates. Thirteen people were killed in that collapse.

Firefighters are on the scene of a raging blaze in Cambridge, Maryland. A downtown store is in flames. No injuries are reported.

PHILLIPS: Investors have been complaining for years that executives are making too much money, and they are especially outraged about excessive pay when the company is failing. Now Congress is getting involved.

Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange with the latest.

(BUSINESS REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: A royal secret? Not quite.

The coroner in the Princess Diana death inquest is trashing claims by her former butler. Paul Burrell had testified he knew a mysterious secret about Diana, but now the coroner says the info was already known and that Burrell even mentioned it in one of his books.

The so-called secret? Diana planned to buy land to live on part of the time in the U.S. or South Africa.

Diana and her boyfriend, Dodi Fayed, were killed when their car crashed in a Paris tunnel in 1987. Fayed's father believes the couple were victims of a royal conspiracy.

PHILLIPS: Diana's other love, some called him the love of her life, is speaking publicly about their affair for the very first time. We get that report from ITN's Neil Connery.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NEIL CONNERY, REPORTER, ITN (voice over): As millions mourned her passing, one man looked on with the grief of a lover. Among the hundreds inside Westminster Abbey, Hasnat Khan, the man Diana's friends call the love of her life, looks on. Their relationship had just ended two months before. Wearing the sunglasses she'd given him as a gift, his gaze lingers on her coffin as it's borne away.

For more than a decade, he said nothing about the woman he loved. Now, in his first television interview, the heart surgeon Diana called "Mr. Wonderful" spoke to me at his family home in Pakistan about the princess who talked about moving here and marrying him.

DR. HASNAT KHAN, HEART SURGEON: I found her a very normal person. A normal person with great qualities and of course some -- you know, personal drawbacks like we have. And I think she did great work for the country and for people all over the world.

CONNERY (on camera): Diana had talked about marriage to Hasnat Khan and the possibility of moving here to Pakistan. But the impact of cultural differences weighed heavily on their minds.

For many years there's been stories about the contact that she had with his family. He's now confirmed to me that they did meet and that Diana enjoyed the family-centered culture that she found here.

KHAN: She enjoyed her time here. She really liked the days she spent here, I think.

CONNERY: And meeting your family? That must have been a special moment for her and for them.

KHAN: I think it definitely was for my family. And I think she enjoyed the afternoon tea with them.

CONNERY (voice over): Diana described Hasnat Khan as "Mr. Wonderful." I asked him if he thought he's lived up to that title.

KHAN: Oh, I don't know. I think -- well, really, I'm just a -- any -- any sort of guy who likes his profession.

CONNERY: Hasnat Khan says he's prepared to give evidence at Diana's inquest with his lawyer's agreement. He hopes it will bring closure for everyone. But can it really ever end for the man said to be the love of Princess Diana's life?

Neil Connery, News at 10, Jhelum, Pakistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: What is the big issue as Michigan voters go to the polls today. Here's a hint, it was a refrain heard repeatedly in the 1992 Bill Clinton campaign.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: It is all about the economy and it's all about the Republicans. It's primary day in Michigan and voters are at the polls. They're there right now. Polls show John McCain and Mitt Romney in a tight GOP race, in a vote where the state's ravaged economy is front and center. Michigan was punished for moving its primary up, so no Democratic delegates are up for grabs. The Democratic hopefuls are focusing on their next major contest, Saturday's Nevada caucuses.

Well, if the economy is on the top of the issues on voters' minds nationwide, that's doubly true in Michigan. So, what do the Republican contenders plan to do about it?

CNN's Mary Snow takes a look at it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The sleek new models showcasing in Detroit are the talk of the town. But it's the struggles of American carmakers that are the talk on the campaign trail. It's one of the reasons Michigan has the highest unemployment rate in the country. With widespread fears of a recession, Michigan has forced the economy into the forefront and the candidates to offer solutions.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Clearly, we need to keep the tax cuts permanent. We need to do some things right away.

SNOW: Republican presidential hopeful, Senator John McCain, wants to make President Bush's middle class tax cuts permanent. As for Michigan, McCain says, old jobs are gone. The answer now is to retrain workers and invest in new technology. He also thinks cutting government spending will help. Mitt Romney has a different approach.

MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well the pessimists are wrong. The auto industry and all its jobs do not have to be lost.

SNOW: Romney wants a five-fold increase in spending on research into new technology and energy sources, and a tax cut for anyone making less than $200,000. Mike Huckabee says for immediate help, gas prices need to come down. MIKE HUCKABEE, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We also need to be looking at our oil reserves to try to do everything we can to hold the price of fuel down.

SNOW: Huckabee says breaking America's dependence on foreign oil is key to boosting the economy. In the long run, he wants the so- called fair tax that would replace income taxes with the national sales tax. While one economist applauds some of the pledges on the campaign trail, he says the time for action is now.

PROF. JOEL SLEMROD, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: These policies should be happening in 2008, and early in 2008. By 2009, the cycle might be reversed. And it will be, certainly, too little and probably too late.

SNOW (on-camera): Michigan's plight poses a challenge to Republicans who often look to the free market to work out economic issues. But in this case, say some observers, that option won't wash.

Mary Snow, CNN, Detroit.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Are the candidates really speaking to the issues you care about? Lou Dobbs, well, he wants to know. And he's going to find out in a prime-time special tonight. It's at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. Don't miss "Independents Day, Awakening the American Spirit," only here on CNN.

And for more on the presidential candidates and their next stops, go to cnnpolitics.com. It's your one-stop shop for all things political.

PHILLIPS: Marine investigators have scheduled a news conference at 4:00 Eastern we're told today. And the violent death of Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach is what they're going to be talking about. Now a fellow marine, this man right here, on the run, charged with Lauterbach's murder. Now some say the Marine Corps dropped the ball in this case and left one of their own in danger. And now she's dead.

CNN's Randi Kaye is keeping them honest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach had accused this man, Corporal Cesar Laurean, of rape and was supposed to testify against him the same month she disappeared. She was also eight months pregnant, her family says, with Laurean's baby. And now, this bombshell. She had filed for protection against him, with the Marines back in June. But amazingly, her sudden disappearance in December, barely raised a red flag with the Marines.

PAUL STEINER, MARIA LAUTERBACH'S UNCLE: My sister talked to the Marines. They said that they were only investigating the rape for 30 days. They would not investigate any type of disappearance whatsoever. That she was considered awol. KAYE: Lauterbach's uncle says the Marines let his niece down -- "360" obtained this protective order and found it expired just three months before she went missing. But even though it had expired, her disappearance was treated simply as an unauthorized absence. In fact, one naval investigator even said, there was little reason for concern, though Laurean was under investigation for raping her.

PAUL CICCARELLI, NAVAL INVESTIGATOR: There are indications that they carried on a, I would say, a some type of friendly relationship, after she had reported this incident.

KAYE (on-camera): A friendly relationship? Then why had Laurean been ordered to stay away from Lauterbach? And why hadn't the Onslow County sheriff's department, the lead investigating agency, been told that? Investigators for the Marines say they alerted Sheriff Ed Brown to the protective order a week ago. But the sheriff told me the first he heard of it was when his deputies discovered it last weekend in Lauterbach's car, just about a month after she disappeared.

DAVID SHELDON, RETIRED NAVY JAG: The Marine Corps really dropped the ball here in terms of not alerting Onslow County that there was a protective order in place.

KAYE (voice-over): So, what is the protocol for the military to alert civilian law enforcement? You might be surprised to learn there isn't one. But, retired Navy JAG, David Sheldon, says it was up to the Marines to share the information.

(on-camera): Would that have helped you?

ED BROWN, SHERIFF, ONSLOW COUNTY: I don't know that it would have made a difference in it.

KAYE (voice-over): The sheriff isn't laying blame, but imagine this -- the Marines didn't release Laurean's name to the sheriff's department until January 7th, 20 days after Lauterbach had disappeared, 20 days. How is that possible? Keeping them honest, we asked the Marines for answers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, did the delay by the Marines, allow a dangerous man to get away? The rest of Randi Kaye's report, straight ahead.

Plus, we're going to talk live with two experts on military law about the twists and turns in the Lauterbach case.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: A marine charged with murder still on the loose. Could the Marine Corps have moved the investigation forward, faster? Here again is Randi Kaye.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE (voice-over): Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach, eight months pregnant, and police believe murdered. Could the information the Marines had about the man accused of killing her, information they didn't share with the sheriff's office, have saved her life or helped catch her killer?

It took the Marines 20 days to give the sheriff's department suspect Cesar Laurean's name, 20 days he used to possibly kill Lauterbach, 20 days he used to plot his escape.

(on camera): How do you investigate a guy whose name you don't even know?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can get the name when it comes time and that's what we did.

KAYE (voice-over): Keeping them honest, we asked the Marines about the handling of Lauterbach's case. Naval investigators say they are reviewing the timeline. A spokesman at Camp Lejeune where the two worked, told us, "Immediately upon her failure to report to work on time, her leadership began to inquire into her whereabouts. Several steps were taken to contact her via telephone, cell phone, even in person by sending Marines sent to her residence."

So why wasn't key information promptly shared? Would it have made a difference? The sheriff says it appears Lauterbach died around December 15th, four days before he even took over the investigation. By that time, she and her unborn baby may already have been buried in the fire pit in Laurean's backyard, where authorities believe their charred remains were discovered last week.

(on camera): If the Marines had been more forthcoming, it may not have saved Lauterbach, but it may have prevented a nationwide manhunt. Laurean may have been considered a flight risk. If the sheriff knew all the Marines knew, Laurean may not have been able to skip town before investigators realized he was their prime suspect.

Randi Kaye, CNN, Jacksonville, North Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: So, were there critical missteps by the U.S. Marine Corps, or is this more a military/civilian culture clash? Gary Solis is a law of war professor and David Sheldon is a military defense lawyer. They both join us now from Washington.

David, let's start with you. Did the Marines screw up?

DAVID SHELDON, MILITARY DEFENSE LAWYER: Well, I certainly think they dropped the ball in this case. I mean, they had certain information that was put forward to them. No. 1, the accusation of rape that had been made. No. 2, they had had a military protective order in place. No. 3, they have a Marine that inexplicably goes AWOL and nobody connects the dots between all of these events.

But the most important thing is the family of this missing Marine comes forward and says, hey, we haven't heard from our daughter. We're very, very concerned with her, and they don't do anything. They treat this as a typical AWOL case, and anybody who's done this, knows that AWOL, people who go AWOL, Marines who go AWOL or soldiers that go AWOL, the first thing that they do is they call mom and dad.

And so, for her not to reach out to her parents if she was, in fact, AWOL, is very, very suspicious in light of all of the other circumstances. And why somebody didn't do something with that is beyond me.

PHILLIPS: OK, Gary, when I listen to David, it sounds like the Marines totally dropped the ball here and are responsible for what happened to this young Marine.

GARY SOLIS, LAW OF WAR PROFESSOR: Well, in retrospect, one might make that assertion. But you'd have to have been a clairvoyant to realize the dots were there to be connected. And it's not been my experience that individuals who go UA immediately call their parents. So, the Marine Corps realized that she was missing, took steps to try to determine where she was.

There was no reason as far as I know that they should have immediately gone to the sheriff, as your reporter indicated, and given him a story, because they had no reason to know that there was any foul play afoot.

PHILLIPS: But -- but Gary, in June, she filed for protection. She said, look, this guy is threatening to me. I'm worried about my life. Then in April, she tells military officials that she had been raped. And it wasn't until the end of October that Marine commanders actually submitted a request, just a request, to send the rape case to the military's version of a Grand Jury.

SOLIS: Well, actually, the Marine Corps found out about the case on 11 May, and there was a seven-month period before the article 32, the preliminary hearing, was scheduled. And I would suggest that in any large city, if you can get a case from allegation to the courtroom in seven months, you're doing pretty darn well.

PHILLIPS: Do you agree with that, David?

SHELDON: Well, first, it's not to the courtroom. It's simply to an investigating officer. And whether or not that's good or bad, the fact remains, aside from all of this, this Marine had filed for a protective order. She'd obtained the protective order. The case was ongoing. She'd made very, very serious allegations against another Marine.

And let me say, I respect Mr. Solis very much. He's a good Marine and an outstanding professor of military law. That said, I can't see how you get to the end game here, where nobody takes up the thumb when this Marine is missing under suspicious circumstances and says, hey, Onslow County, she has made allegations against another Marine that are very, very serious. That there was an ongoing investigation. And she's missing. I don't see why that wasn't done. And whether or not it would have saved her, whether or not she would still be alive, nobody can determine that. But certainly, I mean, an investigator could have come out, talked to this suspected Marine, and perhaps obtained a warrant. I mean, he was doing suspicious things, asking for apparently a large amount of charcoal for unknown reasons of his neighbors. And that's certainly suspicious. And perhaps that would have led investigators somewhere to -- to apprehend him.

PHILLIPS: And you hear all of this, Gary, and the talk now is, well you know what, the Marine Corps, it's a good-old-boy network, they just don't take allegations of rape seriously. Look at what happened to this woman, look at how long it took to actually do something. I mean, as soon as those allegations came forward, when she had the guts to do that, shouldn't Laurean, had -- he should have been questioned or arrested or somehow monitored, right?

SOLIS: Well, he was -- he was questioned. He certainly could not be arrested, put in confinement on the basis of the evidence that was present at the time. The Marine Corps is not a good-old-boy network that disregards allegations of rape. The Marine Corps, like all the armed services, take these things very seriously, particularly in today's world. We know what's at stake.

PHILLIPS: But what kind of evidence do you need? She came forward. She was obviously pregnant with his child and says, I was raped.

SOLIS: Was she? Well, we -- first of all, the next day, we sent her to a victim counselor, and the same day we moved her from the building she was in with Laurean to a building nine buildings away, a building in which the victim's counselor worked. We issued a protective order. The Marine Corps issued a protective order. Ordered Laurean to stay away from her. And initiated an investigation.

And, remember, there was no evidence in this case. The report of the rape occurred some time after it allegedly occurred. And it's very difficult in a he said/she said, to gather the material, the statements from the possible witnesses to move a case forward into a preliminary hearing stage in the courtroom.

PHILLIPS: Final thought, you sort of touched on this, David. But if the Marine Corps would have acted in a quicker manner, could her life have been -- could she have been saved?

SHELDON: We'll never know. But I mean, I would say, it seems like we're having our cake and eating it, too. On the one hand, we're told that this is a he said/she said situation, and on the other hand, we're told that, you know, there's all of these statements that have to be generated and evidence that has to be obtained to be able to get in front of the investigating officer.

I think you can't have it both ways. It -- certainly had this been on track and moved more quickly, maybe we wouldn't have what we have today, which is a dead Marine who tragically, it appears, her life has been taken by another Marine. PHILLIPS: And I just want to make the point too, we've been calling the Marine Corps every single day, a number of people at CNN, and still, we cannot get an interview or any type of response, we're hoping to hear from the Marine Corps on this case at some point. Gary Solis, and also David Sheldon really appreciate your insight today. Thank you.

LEMON: Two climbers stranded on Mt. Hood. Getting to them wasn't easy. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kareen Wynter in Hollywood. While a judge was decided if she could have visitation rights with her kids, Britney made it to court but didn't go in. We'll have all the latest and the saga of Britney Spears coming up next in the NEWSROOM.

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LEMON: OK, from the ridiculous to the sublime, it is time for the next installment of the life and times of Britney Spears. And CNN Entertainment Correspondent Kareen Wynter is in Hollywood, and she has the very latest for us.

You know what, Kareen, I almost -- I don't want to make fun of her, because obviously she is in trouble. But what's going on? What do you have for us today? It just seems like it's never ending.

WYNTER: You know, another day, another day in the life of Britney Spears, and Don, it wasn't a good one yesterday. She still doesn't have the right to see her kids. A superior court commissioner kept in place the ban on her visitation rights after a day long chaotic hearing. Folks, I was out there, and it was an absolute mess.

Britney lost her visitation rights January 4th, the day after she refused to return her sons to ex Kevin Federline, and she was hospitalized. Spears was not required to be in court for this hearing, but the speculation was that she would attend. Well, she was followed all day by the media. But when she finally decided to come to the courthouse, she didn't go in.

It appeared that she was spooked somehow by the paparazzi, so after getting out of her car, she turned around and just left. According to several reports, she stopped at a church on the way home. Probably looking for a little peace and quiet. What do you think, Don?

LEMON: You know, I don't -- I really don't know what to think. I talked to our legal analyst, "AMERICAN MORNING's" legal analyst, I talked to Harvey Levin from TMZ earlier. I don't know what to think. I mean it's just really ...

WYNTER: It's hard to make sense of it.

LEMON: It seems like -- Catch-22, she's feeling it, but the media's feeling it, but all she has to do is stay out of sight and go to court. WYNTER: Absolutely, absolutely.

LEMON: So, I don't know what's going on. OK, let's turn to some good news.

WYNTER: Let's move on.

LEMON: Yes, move on now. "American Idol" back and probably just in time especially with the writers' strike.

WYNTER: Can you imagine? It's a ratings whale. It's back, season seven of American Idol, it kicks off tonight on Fox. Now normally the show gets a huge audience. We're talking more than 30 million people an episode. There was a very small decline in the ratings last season.

But, you know, the future still looks good for "Idol," particularly this season as the writers' strike means that other networks won't have new scripted episodes to put up against "Idol." Either way, the show keeps rolling and rolling, despite the problems that exist in the music industry.

LEMON: Yes, you said a slight ratings decline, when you're on a mountain like that ...

WYNTER: It doesn't even matter, does it?

LEMON: No. A slight decline, you are still heaps and gobs above the rest. OK, but despite the power the show has, there have been a few former Idols who were just released from their record labels. Apparently, if someone releases you from your record label, obviously, you are not doing too well.

WYNTER: I was shocked when I read about this. Former winners Reuben Studdard, Taylor Hicks, runner-ups Katherine McPhee even Diana DeGarmo she did some Broadway action. Also, let's not forget about Bo Bice. Well they're all looking for a new recording deal. Over the last year, all of those former idols have been let go boy their labels.

This is more of a reflection though of the music industry, than "Idol's" actual appeal. CD sales overall, are down almost 10 percent overall in the last year. And record labels have been making cuts all across the board, but the artists they still have somewhat of a following.

Bice, for example, sold 500,000 copies of his first album, but it just didn't do well enough for his label, and so they had to cut him loose. He told us that he views it as being a free agent in sports, and he responded by releasing a second album on his own label through Wal-Mart.

The majority of "Idol" winners by the way are still signed and doing very, very well. It seems you can't turn on the radio these days and not hear Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson or even former fourth place finisher, Chris Daughtry. So on a whole, the idols are still a great success.

All right, folks I wanted to end on a high note, but back on a low note, Don. Britney Spears -- she'll be on. We'll be talking about her tonight. She won't be on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," but we will be talking more about Britney Spears, enough is enough.

How many chances should she be given in her battle for her kids? Was her latest courtroom snub the last straw? And what could she have possibly been thinking? The breaking Britney news on TV's most provocative entertainment news show, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific. Be sure to tune in.

LEMON: I keep thinking all the entertainment shows are going to change their names to the Britney Entertainment Hour. All Britney, all the time.

WYNTER: That's a good point. Great talking to you. I haven't spoken to you in a while.

LEMON: I know. Hey there.

WYNTER: Hi.

LEMON: See you.

WYNTER: Bye.

LEMON: Bye.

PHILLIPS: The paycheck was big and the perks were many, but it wasn't enough. Find out why a former Microsoft executive gave it all up to help some of the world's poorest children.

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