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CNN Live Saturday
Students Donate Eggs for Money; Canadian Terror Suspects May Have Had Contact With Terrorist Cells in America
Aired June 03, 2006 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead this hour, a terrorist plot and plans to create explosive devices. We'll have the latest on this developing story.
Plus, the price of DNA is much higher than you might think. Coming up, women who are selling their eggs.
And, then, out of the bat cave and out of the closet. A new twist on the story of Batwoman, straight ahead.
Hello and welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. All that and more after this check of the headlines.
Terror plots averted, 17 Canadians under arrest in Toronto. They are charged with allegedly gathering bomb-making materials and planning attacks against Canadian targets. What are the implications for the U.S.? A live report in one minute.
Police raid in Indiana. They are searching for Desmond Turner. The 28-year-old is suspected of killing seven in Indianapolis, an entire family. A live report on the search in four minutes.
More lawlessness in Iraq. Thirty-three people were killed in Basra today when a bomb exploded at a crowded market. Fifty-five others were wounded. The market is some 310 miles south of Baghdad.
Intense negotiations in the Iraqi capital, and Russians and Iraqi diplomats are trying to free four Russian hostages. One Russian diplomat was killed, four others kidnapped, when gunmen attacked their SUV today.
Armed with incentives, The E.U.'s foreign policy chief is getting ready to present them to Tehran. World leaders hope the incentives will entice Iran to give up their nuclear ambitions. Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.
Seventeen Canadians under arrest, three tons of explosives seized. Ontario police believe the men planned a series of terror attacks in Canada. And the FBI thinks some of them had contacts with suspects recently arrested in this country. CNN's Kyung Lah joins us now from Washington with more -- Kyung.
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, that contact that you're talking about is, according to the FBI, here in Washington, limited contact between two men arrested in Georgia on suspicion of terrorist activity and some of the Canadian suspects.
Now, those two Atlanta-area men, U.S. citizens, were arrested in March. Neither of the attorneys for the two men have returned calls that we have made here at CNN. Now, over in Canada, authorities this morning announced that they had stopped an attack within Canada.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE MCDONELL, ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER, RCMP: Three tons of ammonium nitrate was ordered by these individuals and delivered to them. It was their intent to use it for a terrorist attack. If I can put this in context for you, the 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, that killed 168 people, was completed with only one ton of ammonium nitrate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: Now, Canadian authorities do say they snagged evidence of the suspects trying to obtain that three times of explosives used to blow up the federal building. Seventeen people were arrested last night, most of them adult men. Some of them were minors of teenage age, all from Canada, either citizens or residents suspected of plotting a terrorist attack on high-profile buildings in Toronto.
This afternoon, the prime minister of Canada congratulated law enforcement for stopping that attack.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN HARPER, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: Their target, their alleged target, was Canada, Canadian institutions, the Canadian economy, the Canadian people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: The chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, Representative Peter King of New York, says Americans do need to be concerned. Canada is a northern neighbor, as we all know, and al Qaeda is further evolving, according to intelligence experts, more and more into these homegrown terror cells -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Kyung Lah, thank you so much from Washington. And stay tuned to CNN for the latest information on your security.
An early-morning raid comes up empty. So the search continues for a mass-murder suspect in central Indiana. 28-year-old Desmond Turner is wanted in connection with the shooting deaths of seven people, three of them children.
CNN's Keith Oppenheim is standing by live in Indianapolis -- Keith.
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. And the search for Desmond Turner has been very intense, so much so that Indianapolis police have conducted seven raids in just the past day or so.
Now, Desmond Turner is the key suspect in a brutal crime that killed seven people in the home behind me, although an accomplice was arrested yesterday. The last raid happened this morning just a few miles from the murder scene and police used tear gas canisters to try to get the suspect out, but it turned out that he wasn't there.
Here at the house, people and residents have been coming by regularly, and they are appalled and devastated that a whole family has been murdered.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LUCY ROADRUCK, NEIGHBOR: Just to think that somebody -- you know, anybody, could come into your house like that and do anything like that, the mind of that, it's just scary. I hope he does get caught, because I don't want him out in the streets with other families, maybe even mine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OPPENHEIM: Well, sources are telling us they are looking very hard for him, and police are hopeful they will find him soon. Just to keep in mind about the victims, Fredricka, behind me is the home where Alberto Covarrubias and his wife, Emma, lived. They had four children, two of them grown, two of them young. They also had a grandson and all seven of them were murdered on Thursday night. There will be a funeral for six of them on Wednesday -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And, Keith, what about eyewitness accounts? Any neighbors who helped point the finger toward these lead suspects?
OPPENHEIM: Well, what neighbors probably have helped police with is a little bit about who he is. Desmond Turner actually used to live in this neighborhood, just two doors down from this house. So he's a familiar character and, also, police believe that he knew the family, or at least one of the two suspects knew them pretty well.
So there's a sense that this is a -- was a house invasion, a robbery, or at least that's what police officially call it. But they also point out that they haven't been able to determine what, if anything, was taken from the home.
WHITFIELD: All right, Keith Oppenheim, thanks so much from Indianapolis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We know that 99.9 percent of our forces conduct themselves in an exemplary manner and, we also know that in conflicts, things that shouldn't happen do happen.
In this instance, there's an investigation with respect to what took place and we'll soon know the answers. There's an investigation with respect to what took place thereafter and we'll soon know the answers, and my impression is that the Marine Corps is handling it well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld talking about the alleged unlawful killings in the Iraqi town of Haditha last November. Survivors say 24 unarmed civilians were gunned down by rampaging marines upset that a fellow marine had been killed in a bombing. More than six months later, the Pentagon says it is still investigating.
Meantime, no wrongdoing by U.S. troops. That's the conclusion of a separate probe into an incident that occurred in March in the Iraqi town of Ishaqi. Today, a military spokesman said U.S. troops acted with appropriate force after they came under fire while approaching a suspected terrorist safehouse. The spokesman said as many as 12 civilians may have been killed, in addition to an Iraqi militant.
In a third case, a marine spokesman said eight troops had been placed in pretrial confinement and four others restricted to base. The case concerns the shooting death of an Iraqi civilian last April. The Associated Press reports that seven marines and a sailor will likely face murder, kidnapping and conspiracy charges.
These questions about troop misconduct have sparked a crash course on military ethics in Iraq. All troops there will take the course, which lasts several hours.
CNN's Kathleen Koch has this report, as first seen on CNN's "PAULA ZAHN NOW."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It happens in every branch of the military, instructions in the rules of war, at basic training after recruits enlist, in officer school. In the Army, there's a refresher course every year.
BRIG. GEN. MIKE MILANO, U.S. ARMY: Rule number one is, soldiers will engage only enemy combatants. Rule number seven is, we will treat civilians humanely. And then on the other side, Army values.
KOCH: The rules are on cards and dangle on dog tags.
(on camera): There's really no excuse to forget...
MILANO: That's right.
KOCH: ... what the rules are?
MILANO: That's right.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: No more USA!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No more USA!
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: No more USA! KOCH (voice-over): And it's not just theory. In training, service members confront real-life scenarios to test whether they can apply the rules and make the correct, split-second, life-and-death decisions.
MILANO: So, we devise all kinds of scenarios that put soldiers and leaders on the horns of a dilemma: Geez, what should I do in this situation? Somebody just shot at me and then ran into that crowd. Can I call artillery fire in? Should I shoot back?
KOCH: So, the new corps warrior values training announced for all coalition forces will be a refresher course in what they have already learned.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our troops have been trained on core values throughout their training, but, obviously, there was an incident that took place in Iraq that's now being investigated. And this is just a reminder for troops either in Iraq or throughout our military that there are high standards expected of them and that there are strong rules of engagement.
KOCH: Generals in Baghdad say, when it comes to avoiding civilian casualties, the rules are clear.
MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM CALDWELL, U.S. MILITARY SPOKESMAN: The young man or woman is not going to engage somebody unless it is a hostile force. And a hostile force means you feel that your life is personally threatened.
KOCH (on camera): Pentagon officials say, ordering the core values training does not mean current training falls short. But they insist that, if the Haditha investigation reveals a flaw in how troops are instructed in the rules of war, the military will correct it.
Kathleen Koch, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And five days after she was wounded in a Baghdad car bombing, CBS news correspondent Kimberly Dozier remains in critical but stable condition in Landstuhl, Germany. Dozier suffered wounds to her head and legs in Monday's bombing. Her soundman and cameraman were killed along with an American soldier and an Iraqi translator.
Whistleblowers, beware, if you work for Uncle Sam, do you have the same freedoms as ordianary Americans? The Supreme Court weighs in.
Plus, organ donors, before they go under the knife, are they thoroughly examined? Disturbing questions about a system designed to save lives.
From organ donors to egg donors, up ahead, we'll tell you why some college students are selling their eggs. You're watching, CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A setback for some government whistleblowers this week. In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that whistleblowers don't always deserve First Amendment protection when reporting allegations of wrong doing to their superiors. Writing for the majority, Justices Anthony Kennedy said, "When a citizen enters government service the citizen by necessity must accept certain limitations on his or her freedoms."
Joining me now to talk about the case is former whistleblower and FBI forensic scientist Dr. Frederick Whitehurst. Good to see you.
DR. FREDRICK WHITEHURST, FORMER WHISTLEBLOWER: Good to be here.
WHITFIELD: Perhaps had this ruling been in place at your time, would you have stepped forward as a whistle blower?
WHITEHURST: I certainly would have.
WHITFIELD: Because the incentive was simply to report what was wrong and not necessarily looking at what kind of protections you?
WHITEHURST: There weren't any protections that I realized were in place back then. There were things going wrong. There was executive order in place, which I believe is still in place that all executive service employees would report fraud, waste, abuse and corruption to the appropriate authority and that's what I did.
WHITFIELD: So what do you think is at the bottom of this argument, what gets to the bottom of the Supreme Court ruling?
WHITEHURST: How do you mean?
WHITFIELD: Well what would be the reason why this kind of order would need to be put in place, that there would have to be this mandate to let federal employees know that they don't have the same kind of protections as everyone else when it comes down to reporting wrongdoing?
WHITEHURST: You know, I obviously just actually don't have a clue. This is astonishing to me. What this does is set up the federal employee if he sees criminal activity going on by his superiors, where is he supposed to go? What can he do? If he reports it to the superiors, of course, they are going to make sure he gets fired.
WHITFIELD: So is it your fear now that a number of federal employees who might be witness to some sort of alleged wrongdoing might be deterred from coming forward now?
WHITEHURST: Well I think the whistleblowers that I know and I've met over the years since I reported allegations of misconduct, those people wouldn't be deterred by anything, you know. You have to understand that most of the people that I know work for the FBI, and the people that came forward had very strong convictions. But I think what this means is, you're going to end up with cowards and crooks in the federal government because anybody that says anything can be fired, and they will be fired if what they are saying is true, and it may effect change.
WHITFIELD: So how much of a setback do you see this, in terms of what it means to sign up as a federal employee?
WHITEHURST: Well, the rules are confusing. The president of the United States says, you will report fraud, waste, abuse and corruption to the appropriate authority. You don't have any choice in the matter. That's Executive Order 12674. The Supreme Court says --
WHITFIELD: Does that mean you are seeing double standards here?
WHITEHURST: It sounds like schizophrenia to me. It's Beltway foolishness almost. It's just phenomenal. I don't think it will stand. It can't stand for long, because it just creates confusion.
WHITFIELD: Dr. Frederick Whitehurst, thank you very much for being with us and sharing your point of view.
WHITEHURST: Sure.
WHITFIELD: Let's now go "Across America." Police say a search of a home in suburban Nashville, Tennessee, uncovered a baby food jar filled with the deadly poison ricin. They also turned up two pipe- bombs, blasting caps and five gun silencers. The owner of the house was jailed last week for violating a protective order taken out by his wife.
Two people were killed and three injured when a small corporate jet crashed off Connecticut in heavy fog. The learjet was owned by a company controlled by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson, but leased to a third party. Robertson says he is deeply grieved by the deaths.
A couple hundred residents in Sadona, Arizona, may be able to return to their homes this afternoon. A wildfire chased them from their neighborhood Thursday. Now the blaze is 50 percent contained and is moving away from houses towards a wilderness area. Five buildings have been destroyed.
A race in Washington today, but it's not political. This one is personal. It's The Race for the Cure Against Breast Cancer. And Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was on the front lines today. She has seen the battle against breast cancer firsthand.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: My mother had breast cancer, and she first had it when I was 15 years old. But she survived. She was a survivor. She was -- I was 30 when she succumbed to metastasis of the cancer, but the wonderful is that she didn't saw not her 15 year old daughter but her 30-year-old daughter and she knew that I grew up to teach at Stanford and become a specialist in international politics and I think that underscores taht what we really are looking for here is, of course, the cure, a cure that makes it so no one ever has to worry about this diesease
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation's Race for the Cure raises millions of dollars each year to fight the disease.
College students in debt, couples desperate for children. A match made in heaven or clouded by cash? The gift of life for sale.
Also ahead, getting your name on to the top of the list. What it takes to be first in line for an organ transplant. We'll take a closer look. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Help wanted, part-time work, $20,000, men need not apply. This college grad has answered the call, twice. She and many other women are donating their eggs for a fee. It is a godsend to couples trying desperately to conceive and business is booming. CNN's Deborah Feyerick explains in a story from "PAULA ZAHN NOW."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Meet Jamie Coahran, beautiful, bright, a varsity athlete. She just graduated from the University of Colorado. She believes in ghosts and wishes on stars. It says so right in her profile.
(on camera): They ask you very detailed questions...
JAMIE COAHRAN, EGG DONOR: Yes.
FEYERICK: ... things that you wouldn't necessarily expect. So, for example, food, your answer?
COAHRAN: My answer is crab.
(LAUGHTER)
FEYERICK: Color.
COAHRAN: Red.
FEYERICK: Season.
COAHRAN: Fall or winter.
FEYERICK: Holiday.
COAHRAN: Christmas.
FEYERICK (voice-over): These aren't questions for some dating Web site. It's an egg donation site for couples trying to have a baby, searching for the perfect donor. The details are in the DNA, and getting the right DNA doesn't come cheap. Ten thousand dollars, that's the price a couple agreed to pay for Jamie's next egg donation, twice what she was paid when she first donated last year -- the demand, even greater now.
Anywhere you find college kids, you're likely to find ads in student papers promising great money, too good to pass up, $10,000, $15,000, $20,000 for first-time donors.
Andrew Vorzimer is president of Egg Donation Inc., one of 250 such privately owned agencies across the United States. There's no set price for egg donations. Vorzimer, who doesn't work with anyone under the age of 21, says dangling high figures can be dangerously tempting.
ANDREW VORZIMER, PRESIDENT, EGG DONATION INC.: When you target 19-, 20-year-old college ladies who are facing $50,000, $60,000, $100,000 in tuition bills, they see these advertisements in their school paper, and they jump at it without considering the risks, without thinking through the ramifications of going forward.
FEYERICK: The risks in very rare cases include infertility. The ramifications include donor babies who may one day try to find their genetic mother. Yet, the money can't be ignored.
(on camera): Why did they say, we picked you?
FEYERICK (voice-over): And women at Ivy League universities and top-tier colleges can command even higher prices.
FEYERICK (voice-over): Egg donation requires a month-long commitment, twice daily hormone shots to stimulate the ovaries, and surgery under general anesthesia to remove the eggs. They are then fertilized. And the resulting embryos are implanted in the birth mother's womb.
COAHRAN: You got your appointments and everything. So, I mean, it's almost kind of like a job. It's like, why would you expect somebody to come and work for you and to do all these things for you and to be punctual, and not expect any type of compensation?
FEYERICK: Twenty-five thousand dollars is far above the $6,000 agencies say they pay for first-time donors. Yet, it shows how far some couples will go to get the right kind of genes to conceive their ideal child.
Dr. Zev Rosenwaks, director of the Infertility Center at Cornell Weill Medical Center, pioneered egg donation.
DR. ZEV ROSENWAKS, WEILL MEDICAL COLLEGE: I always worry about a fee being coercive. I want that patient who goes through egg donation to do it for the right reason.
FEYERICK (on camera): Do you ever think about the possibility that a child with half your genetic makeup will be out there somewhere? COAHRAN: I mean, I think it's always in the back of your head for any egg donor or sperm donor or anybody for that matter. I just think it's a piece of them now. I don't really consider like oh, that's half of me.
FEYERICK: And right now she doesn't think her feelings about that will change. She may even consider donating again after she has her own kids. Deborah Feyerick, CNN, Colorado Springs, Colorado.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And you can see more of Deborah Feyerick's reports on "PAULA ZAHN NOW." That's weeknights at 8:00 eastern, 5:00 pacific.
And, now, top stories. Canada terror sweep. Police in Canada show off what they identified as bomb making equipment. They seized the material during a series of overnight raids. They say the raids followed a lengthy investigation. Seventeen Canadians were arrested for terrorism-related offenses. Police say they have made arrangements to obtain three tons of ammonium nitrate, a powerful explosive.
More than 100 police in Indianapolis are searching for the main suspect in a family slaying. Desmond Turner is wanted in connection with a murder of seven people, including three children.
In Iraq, one Russian diplomat is dead, four others have been kidnapped. Gunmen opened fire on the diplomats car in Baghdad's Mansoor neighborhood. That's where the Russian embassy is located.
Also in Iraq, 33 people are killed and 55 injured in a car bomb explosion. It happened in a market in the southern city of Basra.
An Army probe has cleared a group of U.S. troops accused of killing up to a dozen Iraqi civilians. Officials say the troops came under attack in the Iraqi town in March and returned fire. Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.
A few short weeks ago, few in the U.S. knew much about the Iraqi town of Haditha. Now, Haditha could define the political landscape, not only in Iraq, but in this country as well. CNN's senior political correspondent Candy Crowley explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Prime minister Nouri al-Maliki of Iraq governs precariously between uncertain hope and complete chaos. He came to power through a democratic process. He stays in power largely through the security provided by U.S. troops. His fierce comments on alleged U.S. atrocities in Haditha speak directly to the fragile internal politics of Iraq.
NOURI AL-MALIKI, IRAQI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): This is a phenomenon that has become common among many of the multinational forces, no respect for citizens, driving over vehicles, and killing on suspicion of a hunch. It's unacceptable.
CROWLEY: It is the first and most dangerous political impact of Haditha, backlash on the world stage, something the president tried to temper with his words.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: One of the things that happens in a transparent society like ours is that there is -- there will be a full and complete investigation. The world will see the full and complete investigation.
CROWLEY: In Iraq and in the Arab world, where U.S. motives are suspect, war atrocities committed by American Marines would be a propaganda tool, a way to fuel hatred in a war less about winning territory than hearts and minds.
In the U.S., with a midterm election in five months, most strategists and politicos think, even assuming the worst in Haditha, it's too early to assess political fallout. Others suggest, it may be too late, that Haditha would only add to the existing political zeitgeist.
Terry Jeffrey is editor "Human Events," a conservative weekly.
TERRY JEFFREY, EDITOR, "HUMAN EVENTS": I mean, I really think we have sort of reached a default level. Everything about the politics of Iraq I think is already discounted into American politics.
CROWLEY: Nonetheless, those who support this now unpopular war brace for another hit.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Things that happen like this are always harmful, and as far as public opinion is concerned, and disappointing to many Americans.
CROWLEY: Still, U.S. military personnel are almost universally honored across the political spectrum. However they feel about the war, said one Democrat, most Americans believe that our guys are the good guys, which may mean that Haditha, used as a purely political issue, may not sit well.
JEFFREY: Any politician who seems to prejudge them or to genuinely besmirch the service of our troops in Iraq I think is going to meet the wrath of the voters.
CROWLEY: For now, Democrats have been cautious about using Haditha as a political weapon. They don't know yet what really happened. And, in any case, they may not need it.
Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And our thanks to Candy Crowley for that report. Part of the best political team on television.
Well let's say you need a kidney transplant to live. Now, ask yourself if you had been waiting two years for a donor, would you be willing to pay to get the kidney you need immediately? Our Dr. Bill Lloyd joins us live to discuss people cutting in line to get organs they desperately need.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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