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CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown

Father of Murdered Girl Charged With Two Counts of First-Degree Murder; Six Bodies Found on a California Ranch

Aired May 10, 2005 - 22:00   ET

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

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


ANDERSON COOPER, GUEST HOST: Tough story to cover tonight. We're looking at the case of two young girls in Zion, Illinois, killed. A quiet suburb north of Chicago. A place that has been shaken to its core. Today residents got another shock when the father of one of the girls, 8-year-old Laura Hobbs was charged with the killings. The arrest of Mr. Hobbs as an ex-convict recently released from prison has added another layer of horror and disbelief to the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today we are filing two counts of first degree murder against Jerry Branton (ph) Hobbs III of Zion.

COOPER: Authorities in Lake County, Illinois believe they have their man, if not a motive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no rational explanation or reasonable motive that can be ascribed to an act of horror like this.

COOPER: It was only last month that Jerry Hobbs got out of jail. He served almost two years for violating probation and for skipping anger management classes. According to Lake County, Hobbs has a criminal record that spans more than 15 years. He started off with small offenses. Possession of marijuana, resisting arrest. Then in 2001, was convicted of aggravated assault when he threatened Laura's mother with a chainsaw.

There's no comfort in knowing that a parent, a father, might have killed his own child. But perhaps these charges will lessen the terror that has gripped Zion, Illinois.

MAYOR LANE HARRISON, ZION, ILLINOIS: I would think it would make a tremendous difference to the community knowing that there isn't a randomized kind of situation where someone laid in wait, if you will. More importantly, the person who committed the crime's in custody and that should bring a great deal of comfort to our community.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: It is so hard to imagine. Outside the home of little Krystal Tobias, a vigil was held tonight for both the murdered girls. Police said today they believe that Krystal and Laura, who was her best friend, were killed Sunday evening on Mother's Day in the same park where they were found. In a town like Zion, two little girls -- well, they can certainly make a very big impression.

Here's Keith Oppenheim.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They were described as inseparable friends. Eight-year-old Laura Hobbs enjoyed acting, 9-year-old Krystal Tobias liked to draw, liked being outdoors. They both lived on this same street just blocks apart. Krystal's family spoke Spanish, but these girls had no trouble communicating. Family members say they often had sleepovers at each other houses. And with such a close connection between their homes, the news that Jerry Hobbs, Laura's father had been charged with the murder of both girls, came as a painful surprise.

ALBERTO SEGURA, KRYSTAL'S BROTHER: It was very shocking. When we heard -- I didn't even believe it myself. You know, I don't know nobody that would kill their own daughter. I mean, that's just wrong.

OPPENHEIM: Their tight friendship in life has linked their families in death. This conversation with the grandparent of Laura Hobbs occurred before Jerry Hobbs was charged.

ARTHUR HOLLABAUGH, LAURA HOBB'S GRANDFATHER: I know that our family and that family doesn't have money, but I wish some group would come forward and produce a reward to catch these people and get them out of Zion. So, we just don't want them around here.

EMILY HOLLLABAUGH, LAURA HOBB'S STEP-GRANDMOTHER: I have a lot of questions, but it's just mostly rage. And whoever could do this to two little girls. I can't talk about it anymore.

OPPENHEIM: Down the street, the relatives of Krystal Tobias were avoiding the media, but welcoming close friends like Maria Salgado, who told us about Krystal's mother, Christina.

"I don't think she's doing well," she said. "She doesn't talk much at all."

A minister who is working to raise money for both victims' families, told us about his visit with Krystal's parents.

ARSEN TUGEN, MINISTER: And we just embraced them, cried with them, prayed with them. Told them that we'll love them, we'll support them. We -- if there's anything that we can do for them, you know, we're here for them.

OPPENHEIM: The ministering may be a small step forward on a long road of grieving for two families. Both left with pain and questions about why two young lives came to an end.

Keith Oppenheim, CNN, Zion, Illinois.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, before police announced the charges against Jerry Hobbs today, his father-in-law said that he was concerned that authorities might be trying to railroad his son-in-law because of his criminal record. He also said at the time, and I quote "I don't think he did it." Now the two men teamed up to search for the missing girls yesterday. And what the father found sent a small quiet city into a tailspin.

CNN's Jonathan Freed spent some time with one family.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nine-year-old Kristella Florek (ph) used to play with her best friend on this hammock.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You think about Krystal next to you.

FREED: But Krystal Tobias is never coming over to play again. Kristella and her family are wrestling with their emotions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm so sick. It just hit me. I'm so sick. I couldn't get out of bed. Every time I tried to get out of bed, I thought I was just going to faint.

FREED: The Floreks say losing Krystal is like a death in their own family.

(on camera): So, Krystal lived over where? On the other side...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Directly on the other side.

FREED: They used to watch Krystal cross the field behind their house on her way home to make sure she's safe. Are you guys angry about what happened or are you too sad to even feel anything else right now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The anger's starting to build.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think, emotionally the sadness has taken a huge toll on us where we couldn't feel anger. But not like some people are right away were enraged. But I get more -- more mad every time we talk more and more about it.

FREED: Dora (ph) is grappling with guilt, because her family wasn't home on Sunday afternoon when neighbors say they saw Krystal and Laura playing on the hammock waiting to see if Kristella would come outside.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's why I told him if she would have been OK. She would have been alive. She would have had no reason to go anywhere.

FREED: Kristella has a reminder of Krystal, a scrapbook they were making in scrap books, where Krystal pasted a picture of best friend Kristella. A simply scrap book, now turned into something precious, something Kristella wants to finish for both of them.

(on camera): So what have you been tell your own kids? What have you been telling Kristella?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's not going nowhere. I mean, not even in behind the backyard by herself. We're just going to watch her like a hawk.

FREED (voice-over): For now, the family knows it's need to grieve, but hopes the pain will pass quickly.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREED: Now, Anderson, there is some relief here in this community of Zion tonight. Now the police have said that the person responsible for this, the police are accusing the father of this. And people hearing that, at least, according to police, it was not a random act -- Anderson.

COOPER: But they haven't really said anything about a possible motive have they?

FREED: No, not yet. They were saying that because the bond hearing had not happened yet, as of late this evening, we were not even aware as to whether or not the father had retained counsel. We're hoping to hear more on that tomorrow, at tomorrow's hearing. Which is going to take place -- right now it is scheduled, Anderson, for 10:00 a.m. Central time at the Lake County Courthouse.

COOPER: All right. Jonathan Freed, thanks very much.

For a second grader, the murder of a classmate is an overwhelming piece of news to try to absorb. The murder of two classmates, that is simply unthinkable.

Mary Lamping is assistant superintendent for special services for Zion Elementary School District 6. We spoke to her earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Dr. Lamping, how do you deal with something like this in a classroom?

MARY LAMPING, ASST. SUPT. SPECIAL SERVICES: What we did is we mobilized crisis intervention teams into the schools where the two girls resided, as well as, schools where we had siblings. And those teams consisted of social work and psychologists. And they -- we prepped the teachers ahead of time to work in whole groups with the kids, and then isolate kids that were really having problems to do individual counseling with.

So we, especially, in the class where the two girls were, the teacher did a remarkable job with the students. And it really went as well as we can expect. COOPER: How do you -- I mean, you can't explain it to adults. How do you try to explain it to second graders in the classroom of these two girls? What did specifically the teacher -- I mean, how did she do it?

LAMPING: Well, we talked a lot about -- the teacher talked a lot about, you know, what people had heard, what parents had told them. And then she relayed -- one of the real neat things she did was to talk about the issue of showing emotions and crying, is she went back to two books that the children have been reading over the course of the school year.

And one was "Charlotte's Web" and the other was "The Taste of Blackberries." And within those books there was a lot of emotion in both books. And children -- some children cried during the reading of those books. And she talked about -- she related it back to that, and how well -- how students show emotions in different venues. And that really helped kind of ease the situation and get the kids ground in what they knew about and what they had already experienced.

COOPER: What does death mean to a second grader?

LAMPING: It means different things to different kids because some kids might have already experienced death in their families or in -- with friends. And some may have not experienced them at all. And we're looking for feelings to come out, not just today and not just tomorrow, but we're going to see delayed reaction to this for many days and weeks to come.

LAMPING: Do the kids -- I mean, you asked the kids what they knew, about what they had heard. Did they know a lot? I mean, did they know that one of these girl's father was -- had been apprehended?

LAMPING: No. At the time -- when we talked to the students -- was in the morning, and we were going off confirmed information, simply that, at that point, that the children were killed. We did not have any confirmed information that there was a relative or any suspect that was in custody. So, we were basically talking about the fact that these two children had died and they were friends and classmates and family members of people that these children knew.

COOPER: Does it -- I mean, this may be a stupid question -- does it make it harder to explain to a second grader if, in fact, it is the father who committed these crimes? Or, I mean, does it -- is it easier if it's a stranger? Or I guess, neither is really easy.

LAMPING: I don't think either's real easy. However, the fact that somebody is in custody helps the community deal with this, so that we're not afraid that there's somebody out there, in a stranger- danger type of situation, that could be potentially taking other children.

So, that eases our minds a little bit. We still have to deal with the fact that this was a family member of one of the children and the families were close. That's going to complicate things a little bit. But we also have to watch the reaction of our families and of the children in the classrooms and in the district to see where we proceed from here.

COOPER: It's not an easy thing to proceed from here.

LAMPING: No.

COOPER: Mary Lamping, appreciate you joining us. Thank you very much.

LAMPING: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: In a few moments, we're going to look at the question of seat belts on school buses: should your kids have them on the bus that they ride? We're going to look at this video. Kids bouncing around on a bus. Ask yourself why are not -- why aren't seat belts mandatory?

Then we're going to hear from parents of a child who was in an accident, on why seat belts may not be necessary. All sides.

First, it is about 12 past the hour right now. Let's check in with Erica Hill at Headline News. Hey, Erica.

ERICA HILL, CNN HEADLINE NEWS: Hey, Anderson.

A report out of the former Soviet republic of Georgia now says an object that looked like a hand grenade may have been thrown in President Bush's direction earlier today while he was addressing a crowd there. The Secret Service, working with the FBI, the State Department, and Georgian authorities, investigating a report that the object landed within 100 feet of the president. It did not explode.

In northern Iraq, raids over the past three days have netted U.S. and Iraqi forces more than 30 suspected terrorists, weapons and munitions, and also uncovered a car bomb factory. Security forces discovered three prepared car bombs, one of which had already been in place (ph).

At some point this month the Army says it will likely order a one-day recruiting standoff in which 7,500 Army recruiters around the country will spend the day reviewing their procedures. A CBS News report today cited at least two cases in which recruiters are accused of going too far. In one, a volunteer got advice on how to pass a drug test; another, a prospect was threatened with arrest if he didn't report to a recruiting station.

And check out this little munchkin, the little girl from Tucson, Arizona. Very cute. What's her name? That's a darn good question. Nobody knows. You see, she just doesn't have one. A year-and-a-half after she was born, her parents still haven't named her. They say no single name really seems to fit her personality. Mom and dad are working on it, though. Until then that they call her baby or boby. Munchkin face. And, I know, on your show earlier, you were taking names. I mean, if it's a girl, Erica is nice, with a C, though.

COOPER: Erica with a C? Someone else mentioned Andersonia, which, I don't know, doesn't really work...

HILL: I think you could make Anderson for a girl.

COOPER: Oh, do you really?

HILL: Yeah, she'd be the cool kid with a different name.

COOPER: Yeah, thanks, Erica. Hill. Yeah, whatever.

Talk to you again in maybe about 30 minutes. We'll see. Thanks very much.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Coming up ahead on "NEWSNIGHT," a murder mystery that is just unfolding in a place where murders aren't supposed to happen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to stress at this time that this community is in no danger. We are not at this time looking for a suspect.

COOPER: Three adults and three children killed in a quiet mountain town.

A murder case more than 40 years old, and the power it still holds over one man's life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This case, it worked on me a long time. I really don't believe that there has been a single day in 40 years that I haven't thought about this case.

COOPER: He was a young reporter in Mississippi whose life changed forever when three young civil rights workers were murdered.

How dangerous is your child's school bus?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Last night we had some emotional issues when he was trying to go to sleep, thinking he was back on the bus.

COOPER: A bus ride that turned deadly. Would seat belts have helped?

How this country works.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some of my favorite images that I've captured on the road are usually the people that have been in their jobs for most of their lives.

COOPER: She took her camera on the road to capture Americans at work in all 50 states, in all kinds of jobs. From New York and around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Police in southern California tonight are trying to piece together a murder mystery. Early this morning someone called the Riverside County sheriff's office, but they didn't speak into the phone. Instead the 911 operator heard a gunshot. Police traced the call to a home where they found a terrible scene.

Reporting the story for us tonight, CNN's Ted Rowlands.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The sister of one of the six victims arrived at the scene, clearly distraught as investigators at first kept her from the house where the murders took place. It started with a 911 call at 4:30 a.m. from inside this rural mountain home near Palm Springs. It led to the discovery of six bodies, three adults and three children, all, according to investigators, victims of gunshot wounds to the head.

A 14-year-old boy, a 10-year-old girl and an 8-year-old girl were found in their beds, as was a woman in her 40s and a woman in her 60s, believed to be the children's mother and grandmother.

SHERIFF BOB DOYLE, RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA: The phone, initially hitting the wall, and then a gunshot. That was all that the dispatcher heard when that 911 call came in.

ROWLANDS: Near the phone with a handgun next to his body, according to the sheriff, was David McGowan, an investigator who worked for the local district attorney. While the sheriff says this case is being investigated as a mass homicide, he says it's possible McGowan killed his wife, his mother-in-law, his three children, and then himself.

BOYLE: He'd been with the district attorney's office for at least five years, and, you know, this -- it hits home. And it's very -- emotionally, a lot of people are distraught about it.

ROWLANDS (on camera): If McGowan did kill his family, it is unclear why. According to neighbors here in this quiet mountain community, he was a, quote, "nice guy," who always used to have a smile on his face and, according to the sheriff, there were no documented problems with McGowan at work.

Ted Rowlands, CNN, Mountain Center, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Every day when you place your kids on a school bus, you are putting your faith in that bus. The federal government says that school buses are one of the safest forms of travel, despite the fact that most of them do not have seatbelts. And that's due to the way that buses are designed. The questions about seatbelts are now being raised in Liberty, Missouri, after an accident yesterday killed two adults and sent 23 kids to the hospital. This story tonight from CNN's Ed Lavandera.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look! ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The get-well wishes keep coming to the Wansings' home in Liberty, Missouri. Seven- year-old Michael is recovering from a concussion he suffered in Monday's school bus crash. The headaches and nightmares haven't gone away yet.

LINDA WANSING, MICHAEL'S MOTHER: Last night he kind of had some emotional issues when he went to -- trying to go to sleep, thinking he was back on the bus.

LAVANDERA: Michael was sitting in the middle of the bus as it careened through this busy intersection. The impact was so severe Michael came out of his shoe.

WANSING: And, when I found him, he had one shoe on and one shoe off. So, I have no clue where the other shoe is at.

LAVANDERA: But, despite Monday's accident, Michael's parents aren't convinced seatbelts would've helped, and they're not ready to demand that Liberty school district put seatbelts in its buses.

CRAIG WANSING, MICHAEL'S FATHER: I mean, yesterday didn't change my belief, I mean, I -- the bus system here in Liberty is as safe as I have known it to be in -- and expect it to be.

LAVANDERA: But Liberty's superintendent says after Monday's crash the district will look at outfitting its buses with seatbelts.

SCOTT TAVEAU, LIBERTY SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT: If the consensus of the experts says that seatbelts on school buses is the best way to go, then we'll do everything that we can do to make that come about.

LAVANDERA: It's hard to look at this video of another school bus accident and not believe that seatbelts must be safer. Some school districts have gone through the expense of equipping buses with safety belts, but opponents say it's too expensive, considering buses are already safe.

(on camera): The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says school buses are the safest way for kids to get to school. Last year, they say five children died in school bus accidents, compared to 800 who were killed walking, biking or riding in a car with their own parents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've had every bus equipped with belts.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Parents in Chesterfield, Missouri demanded seatbelts in its school buses 15 years ago. Debbie Killeen (ph) is a PTA president. She finds comfort in knowing her child can buckle up on the way to school.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All children should have the opportunity to wear seatbelts. And if parents could stress to them that it is an important thing to have, I think all of our children would be safer.

LAVANDERA: The Wansings are paying attention to the issue now, but they're not convinced a big change is needed.

C. WANSING: If I only gain, you know, 1 percent more safety, and it costs me, you know, a ton of bucks in my tax dollars in order to make that happen, you know, then maybe it's not worth that cost benefit.

L. WANSING: You got what you want. OK? Let's go out to the car.

LAVANDERA: Michael Wansing is on his way to the doctor's office for a check-up, but he knows very soon he'll be on a bus headed back to school.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Liberty, Missouri.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, a murder case that is more than four decades old, and a killer still had not been brought to justice. And how one reporter has worked the story since the beginning; 40 years later is waiting to write its ending.

And a bit later tonight, "America's Workers." A look at who we are and the jobs we perform. A break first. From New York, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: If you ask any reporter, they'll tell you there's one story that's affected them, that has changed their lives. Maybe something they witnessed covering a war, the assassination of a political leader, a fire that claimed a family.

One reporter in Mississippi knows that feeling all too well. For him, it was a triple murder more than 40 years ago, a story that still does not have a happy ending. Candy Crowley explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Now, is this the road where they drove out of town?

STANLEY DEARMAN, RETIRED JOURNALIST: Yeah. This is state Highway 19.

CROWLEY (voice-over): Even now in broad daylight, 41 years later, the trek from Philadelphia, Mississippi to neighboring Meridian, is an uneasy ride.

(on camera): Have you ever made this trip without thinking about it?

DEARMAN: No. No. Never have. And I make this trip at least once or twice a week to Meridian.

CROWLEY (voice-over): Stanley Dearman was a 31-year-old reporter when he was assigned the story of his life. Dateline: Philadelphia, June, 1964. Three civil rights workers were tailed by the KKK down this two-lane stretch of Mississippi.

DEARMAN: Right here, at this store, there was a car, and another -- another one down here. I think maybe there were like three cars full of Klansmen.

CROWLEY (on camera): And how high did they get up?

DEARMAN: Over 100 miles an hour.

CROWLEY: Oh, man.

(voice-over): Sometimes reporters grab stories and sometimes stories grab reporters. This is one of those.

It is about three young men, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner of New York, James Chaney of Meridian, who were to spend the summer in Mississippi registering blacks to vote, and it is about the local newsman who covered their disappearance.

DEARMAN: This case, it worked on me a long time. I really don't believe that there's been a single day in 40 years that I haven't thought about this case.

CROWLEY: It cannot be history until you stop living it. And this story still moves inside Stanley Dearman, still breathes in Philadelphia, Mississippi. It is alive in the boarded-up old building, the old jail. This is where the three civil rights workers were taken after Philadelphia Deputy Sheriff Cecil Price picked them up for allegedly speeding. It was the afternoon of June 21st. They were held until late that night, long enough for the Klan to get into position.

DEARMAN: And this is where they had their last meal, in this jail. They were released, and Cecil Price, the deputy, told them to get out of Neshoba County.

CROWLEY (on camera): And they took off.

DEARMAN: They took off.

CROWLEY (voice-over): A KKK informant and an FBI investigation put the story together. Just outside town, the three were chased off the road, forced into Klan cars, driven up this hill.

DEARMAN: Can you imagine the terror they've felt. This is it. This is -- at this fork in the road.

CROWLEY: This is where they died. The bodies were found 44 days later, buried on private property, miles away, but they were shot dead here at a dusty turnaround in the middle of nowhere.

(on camera): And why did they bring them here here? Because it was out of the way?

DEARMAN: Killen lives a mile-and-a-half down this road. He knew this place. Killen chose the venue.

CROWLEY (voice-over): Edgar Ray Killen has always said he wasn't involved. At the time, the state of Mississippi, couldn't, wouldn't, didn't, file charges against anyone. With no statute to cover the murders, the federal government charged Killen in 1967 with conspiring to violate the rights of another. He was found not guilty. Of seven men convicted on conspiracy, no one served more than six years.

DEARMAN: And after the federal trial, then people used that to say, well, in essence, that's -- we've had justice.

CROWLEY: But you don't think that?

DEARMAN: No, no. There's a difference between conspiracy and murder.

CROWLEY: He broods about saving the jail as a historical site. He wants a memorial downtown, the kind that an international architect designs.

DEARMAN: Not just a little plaque of some kind, but a real fitting monument, impressive monument.

CROWLEY: But finally, and mostly, he wants justice. Dearman moved on from a reporter to editor and publisher of "The Neshoba Democrat." In 1989 he interviewed Caroline Goodman, mother of Andrew, hoping to bring new life to a story a town wanted to forget.

DEARMAN: I want to tell these people here that a real human being was a victim. You know, the public, they deal with names. That didn't mean enough.

CROWLEY: In May of 2000, he wrote an editorial calling for justice.

DEARMAN: Come hell or high water, there needed an accounting. It's time.

CROWLEY: He is a member of the Philadelphia Coalition, an interracial group of citizens on a mission to recognize an ugly past, honor the murdered men, and seek justice.

DEARMAN: The way I think that the town has come around to view this case is to face it head on and call it what it was, a call for justice.

CROWLEY: Last year, the coalition demanded that Mississippi take action. January 6th of this year, the state indicted Edgar Ray Killen on three counts of murder.

DEARMAN: I don't know how to describe, but it was like a great feeling, like a weight being lifted or a cloud moving on.

CROWLEY: Dearman cannot count the number of people he has brought here to the spot where three men ages, 20, 21 and 24, were killed for trying to register black voters. He does remember one person in particular.

DEARMAN: And he looked around and he said, there's nothing here to say what happened? And that's true. Something should be done about it.

CROWLEY: You want to put a memorial.

DEARMAN: Yes. Or some kind of memorial. They'd probably dynamite it or do something to it, but...

CROWLEY: Still.

DEARMAN: There are those who would do it.

CROWLEY: So, maybe it hasn't changed so much.

DEARMAN: Well, some people haven't changed, and they'll just have to be -- time will have to take care of them. But there are a lot of people who have changed, and if it hadn't been for that, for a lot of people having strong feelings about this, and pushing for an indictment or indictment for justice, it never would have taken place. As I said, this came from within.

CROWLEY: The trial of Edgar Ray Killen is scheduled to begin in June, almost 41 years to the date they disappeared. He is the first to be charged with the murders of Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner and James Chaney. But there are others out there.

DEARMAN: There are a number of people in Meridian that -- in that Klan unit, that voted to have Schwerner eliminated. They should be held accountable.

CROWLEY: Stanley Dearman is retired now, but this is his story and it will not let go.

Candy Crowley, CNN, Philadelphia, Mississippi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: More than 40 years.

Still to come on NEWSNIGHT, the American worker. One photographer has traveled the country to record Americans at their jobs. Remarkable photos.

And, it is CNN week on "Jeopardy," believe it or not. Tips for those of you who want to compete, from a Jeopardy champion, and yes, I'm talking about me. From New York, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: It is the question we ask when meeting someone new. What do you do? The question whose answer helps define us. Most of us spend most of our lives working. Close to three years ago, photographer Christine Hauber set out to document the working lives of Americans in all 50 states. She has four more states to go. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINE HAUBER, WWW.WORKINGINTHEUSA.COM: Working in the U.S.A. is about the working people of America, not just the blue collar workers, but every aspect of the American worker. Everything from the fishermen and the farmers to the scientists working on Alzheimer's genes.

I wanted to really find out and share with the world who real Americans are, what we really do. We do struggle. We do have jobs that are hard, and that -- we work with our hands. And we're not all rich, good-looking blond people with fancy cars, that we are very diverse nation.

I kind of capture the diversity, everything from the worm grunter who picks worms out of the ground, all the way up to the archaeologist who works the land in a different way. So, it's really that diversity of the people and the occupations that keep the pictures very different from each other.

I try and photograph about an average of seven people per state, and usually those people, at least some of them, are people who represent major industry within that state. Being a native of Colorado, I decided that I was going to focus on some of the Colorado industries, one being Celestial Seasonings, and so I traveled to Boulder -- one, two, three -- where I found the blend master, Charlie, and photographed him. I've traveled approximately 52,000 miles. I've looped the United States two times. The first year was spent traveling the outside, the perimeters, of America, doing all the border states. And then the second year or year and a half was spent on more of the inside states. I photographed this particular lady in Nevada. She is considered a legal prostitute at the brothels that are in Nevada. She's actually in one of the bedrooms sitting on the bed. She wanted to make sure that her high heels were showing.

In Taos, New Mexico, I found a silver smith. His clientele used to be primarily the ranchers and the farmers, doing silver work for them. He says his clientele has changed quite a bit. And now it's primarily the yuppies and the more wealthy people who are looking for jewelry.

Some of my favorite images that I've captured on the road are usually the people that have been in their jobs for most of their lives. This particular man I found in Texas. He is a roughneck working on a big oil rig down in Texas. He's been working this ever since he came back the Vietnam War. And still bounces up and down the stairs of the platform like a gazelle.

What I learned most is that 98 percent of the people are absolutely wonderful, sweet and caring and will do anything for you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: That is certainly true. Ahead on NEWSNIGHT tonight, another look at the headlines, we'll bring you up to date. Then we're going to play a little "Jeopardy." Well, I'll show you what it was like when I played "Jeopardy." And yes, I won. We'll talk about that ahead. A break first. This is NEWSNIGHT. Look, there I am.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: And it is just a quarter until the hour. Erica Hill joins us with the headlines. Hey, Erica.

HILL: Hey, Anderson, right on time.

Thirty-eight years ago yesterday, four members of a U.S. patrol were killed in Vietnam, but it took decades to bring them home. Today thanks to a join U.S./Vietnam effort to recover the remains of missing Americans, three of the four were finally laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. The fourth soldier was buried in his hometown on Saturday with full military honors.

Between 1979 and 1981, 29 boys and young men were murdered in and around Atlanta. Wayne Williams was convicted of two of those homicides and suspected of having committed the rest. But according to Frank Ski, Atlanta radio host, Williams believes he will be set free. In a jailhouse interview, Williams told Ski he was encouraged by the decision of the DeKalb County police chief to reopen some of the cases.

On the CNN security watch, fake badges. More than a thousand of them seized by federal agents in New York. Counterfeits of the badges of 35 different law enforcement agencies. One agent said, 90 percent of them would actually pass scrutiny. A Russian national was arrested. Weapons and police uniforms were also seized at his apartment.

And in New York, a little trouble at first ever Daytony 500. Yesterday, talk show host, Tony Danza, crashed his go cart after getting a little bump and run from NASCAR start Rusty Wallace. Luckily, Danza wasn't hurt. I know that's one of your favorite stories, Anderson. It makes me think though, maybe that's exactly why "Taxi" was eventually canceled?

COOPER: I don't know. Who's the boss? Where is -- where is -- what is there ways. I forgot their names.

HILL: You want the names.

COOPER: Judy -- no, no.

HILL: Angela, Mona, Samantha, Jonathan, Anderson.

COOPER: You watched far too much "Who's the Boss." But I love that about you, Erica.

HILL: But could you -- could you answer those who's the boss questions on "Jeopardy"? I mean, I hear you're a champion and all.

COOPER: I don't like to brag. But yes, I'm a "Jeopardy" champion. Well, we'll go head-to-head sometime. All right, Erica, thanks very much. This week on "Jeopardy" contestants are squaring off over CNN categories in honor of CNN's 25 anniversary. So we thought tonight we'd pass along some tips from a former "Jeopardy" champion. And yes, that's right, you're looking right at him. I won big on "Jeopardy." Now, admittedly, it was one of those dumbed down celebrity edition of "Jeopardy." But believe me, this "Jeopardy" champion still makes one hell of a great pickup line.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEX TREBEK, HOST, JEOPARDY: It's power player week on "Jeopardy."

COOPER (voice-over): I was pretty excited to be on "Jeopardy," even if it was one of those dumbed down celebrity editions.

TREBEK: Please welcome Anderson Cooper.

COOPER: OK, so he mispronounced my name. I didn't let that get to me.

TREBEK: Anderson, off you go.

COOPER: Right away, I wanted to let my opponents know I was here to play, I was here to win.

(on camera): What is equal.

TREBEK: Correct.

COOPER: What is Vietnam.

TREBEK: Yes.

COOPER: What is D-Day.

TREBEK: D-Day or Normandy, correct.

COOPER: What is an aardvark.

TREBEK: That's it.

COOPER: What is Kwanzaa.

TREBEK: Right.

COOPER: Who is Aaron?

TREBEK: Aaron is the correct response. That takes you to 3,400.

COOPER: The trick is don't focus on the money, just try to read the answers fast, buzz in quick and hope your opponents choke big time.

(on camera): NAACP (ph) for 800.

TREBEK: Established in 1867, it's America's first fashion magazine.

Maria (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is "Vogue"?

TREBEK: No. Anderson.

COOPER: What is "Haper's Bazaar."

TREBEK: Remember, it must have those two A's in there.

COOPER (voice-over): Maybe if she'd watched "Jeopardy" more, she'd have got the whole two A thing. But hey, we all make mistakes.

(on camera): What is Baghdad.

TREBEK: No. No, idiot. You were thinking of the tigers.

COOPER: Yes, I'm an idiot.

TREBEK: No you're not.

COOPER: Lets see.

Who is afraid of Virginia -- what is who is afraid of Virginia Woolf.

TREBEK: No.

Maria or Kwiethi (ph)?

What is "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."

COOPER (voice-over): A big part of doing well is getting into a rhythm with that little buzzer. As long as you buzz in quickly, you can answer slowly.

TREBEK: Anderson.

COOPER (on camera): What is Berlin?

TREBEK: Yes.

COOPER: Sorry.

TREBEK: That's all right.

COOPER: I'm just little slow there.

(voice-over): I don't know much about sports. But I do know how to play to a hometown crowd.

TREBEK: Serena was seen with Lavar Arrington, linebacker for this NFL team certain to draw cheers when you answer.

COOPER (on camera): What is the Washington Redskins. TREBEK: That's right.

COOPER (voice-over): At this point in the game I was way in the lead, and my luck just kept getting better.

TREBEK: Daily Double and it's a video.

COOPER (on camera): Who is Maria Von Trapp.

TREBEK: That's it. Yes, indeed. Boy, you work that one, Anderson.

COOPER (voice-over): By Final Jeopardy I was way out in front, which was a good thing because I knew very little about the category.

TREBEK: Here is the category -- metals.

COOPER: I tried to concentrate, but in my head I kept humming along with that tune. In the end, I simply guessed, wrong.

TREBEK: Coltan.

COOPER: Yes, is that anything?

TREBEK: It's called gold. Gold is the correct response.

COOPER: Really?

TREBEK: Yes, isn't that amazing? You lost $1,000 only, but you're the leader and the winner today.

COOPER: Trebek called me a winner. I prefer the term "Jeopardy" champion. I was going to put it on my business cards, but I don't like to brag. Instead, I just have it on my stationary.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, still ahead on NEWSNIGHT, the story behind the story as only a reporter can tell it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, some stories are dense with layers. The murders of three civil rights workers in Philadelphia, Mississippi is certainly one of those stories. In tonight's edition of "Newsbeat," CNN's Candy Crowley peels back those layers and gives us a sense of the dread the three men may have felt as their lives were about to end.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CROWLEY (on camera): There's so many things about this story. It is the story of a town that is caught somewhere between its history and its future. It is the story of people who have struggled with the murders of these three civil rights workers for four decades. And it's the story of redemption. How does a town find redemption? There was a time when Stanley drove us up the hill, and at this point in the story, as he's telling it while we're driving up, the three young civil rights workers are now in the car of the Klansmen. And they are driving them up to what would be the murder site.

The feeling that you get is so chilling, about what happened and the horror of it. And what those young men must have been feeling. I have sons in their 20s. And to think of these three young men who are trying to register blacks to vote and knowing, as they drove up the road that we are driving up, they surely knew they were going to die that night. It is very easy to see why this story grabbed hold of Stanley Dearman, because it grabbed a hold of me as well.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Candy Crowley. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Let's take a look at what's happening tomorrow morning on "AMERICAN MORNING" with Soledad O'Brien -- Soledad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Anderson.

Tomorrow on "AMERICAN MORNING," a story from horse racing of the biggest win in a lifetime, followed by the biggest loss. Chris Hertzog bought a winning ticket picking the top four horses in Saturday's Kentucky Derby, a payout of more than $850,000, but he lost the ticket. Finding it again would become a bigger longshot than Derby winner Giacomo. But perhaps it was just that kind of derby day. We've got the winner's story on CNN tomorrow, 7:00 a.m. Eastern -- Anderson.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Soledad, thanks very much. That's it for NEWSNIGHT tonight. Thanks very much. Aaron Brown will be back tomorrow, and you can join me on "360" tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time. Good night.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired May 10, 2005 - 22:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, GUEST HOST: Tough story to cover tonight. We're looking at the case of two young girls in Zion, Illinois, killed. A quiet suburb north of Chicago. A place that has been shaken to its core. Today residents got another shock when the father of one of the girls, 8-year-old Laura Hobbs was charged with the killings. The arrest of Mr. Hobbs as an ex-convict recently released from prison has added another layer of horror and disbelief to the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today we are filing two counts of first degree murder against Jerry Branton (ph) Hobbs III of Zion.

COOPER: Authorities in Lake County, Illinois believe they have their man, if not a motive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no rational explanation or reasonable motive that can be ascribed to an act of horror like this.

COOPER: It was only last month that Jerry Hobbs got out of jail. He served almost two years for violating probation and for skipping anger management classes. According to Lake County, Hobbs has a criminal record that spans more than 15 years. He started off with small offenses. Possession of marijuana, resisting arrest. Then in 2001, was convicted of aggravated assault when he threatened Laura's mother with a chainsaw.

There's no comfort in knowing that a parent, a father, might have killed his own child. But perhaps these charges will lessen the terror that has gripped Zion, Illinois.

MAYOR LANE HARRISON, ZION, ILLINOIS: I would think it would make a tremendous difference to the community knowing that there isn't a randomized kind of situation where someone laid in wait, if you will. More importantly, the person who committed the crime's in custody and that should bring a great deal of comfort to our community.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: It is so hard to imagine. Outside the home of little Krystal Tobias, a vigil was held tonight for both the murdered girls. Police said today they believe that Krystal and Laura, who was her best friend, were killed Sunday evening on Mother's Day in the same park where they were found. In a town like Zion, two little girls -- well, they can certainly make a very big impression.

Here's Keith Oppenheim.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They were described as inseparable friends. Eight-year-old Laura Hobbs enjoyed acting, 9-year-old Krystal Tobias liked to draw, liked being outdoors. They both lived on this same street just blocks apart. Krystal's family spoke Spanish, but these girls had no trouble communicating. Family members say they often had sleepovers at each other houses. And with such a close connection between their homes, the news that Jerry Hobbs, Laura's father had been charged with the murder of both girls, came as a painful surprise.

ALBERTO SEGURA, KRYSTAL'S BROTHER: It was very shocking. When we heard -- I didn't even believe it myself. You know, I don't know nobody that would kill their own daughter. I mean, that's just wrong.

OPPENHEIM: Their tight friendship in life has linked their families in death. This conversation with the grandparent of Laura Hobbs occurred before Jerry Hobbs was charged.

ARTHUR HOLLABAUGH, LAURA HOBB'S GRANDFATHER: I know that our family and that family doesn't have money, but I wish some group would come forward and produce a reward to catch these people and get them out of Zion. So, we just don't want them around here.

EMILY HOLLLABAUGH, LAURA HOBB'S STEP-GRANDMOTHER: I have a lot of questions, but it's just mostly rage. And whoever could do this to two little girls. I can't talk about it anymore.

OPPENHEIM: Down the street, the relatives of Krystal Tobias were avoiding the media, but welcoming close friends like Maria Salgado, who told us about Krystal's mother, Christina.

"I don't think she's doing well," she said. "She doesn't talk much at all."

A minister who is working to raise money for both victims' families, told us about his visit with Krystal's parents.

ARSEN TUGEN, MINISTER: And we just embraced them, cried with them, prayed with them. Told them that we'll love them, we'll support them. We -- if there's anything that we can do for them, you know, we're here for them.

OPPENHEIM: The ministering may be a small step forward on a long road of grieving for two families. Both left with pain and questions about why two young lives came to an end.

Keith Oppenheim, CNN, Zion, Illinois.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, before police announced the charges against Jerry Hobbs today, his father-in-law said that he was concerned that authorities might be trying to railroad his son-in-law because of his criminal record. He also said at the time, and I quote "I don't think he did it." Now the two men teamed up to search for the missing girls yesterday. And what the father found sent a small quiet city into a tailspin.

CNN's Jonathan Freed spent some time with one family.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nine-year-old Kristella Florek (ph) used to play with her best friend on this hammock.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You think about Krystal next to you.

FREED: But Krystal Tobias is never coming over to play again. Kristella and her family are wrestling with their emotions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm so sick. It just hit me. I'm so sick. I couldn't get out of bed. Every time I tried to get out of bed, I thought I was just going to faint.

FREED: The Floreks say losing Krystal is like a death in their own family.

(on camera): So, Krystal lived over where? On the other side...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Directly on the other side.

FREED: They used to watch Krystal cross the field behind their house on her way home to make sure she's safe. Are you guys angry about what happened or are you too sad to even feel anything else right now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The anger's starting to build.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think, emotionally the sadness has taken a huge toll on us where we couldn't feel anger. But not like some people are right away were enraged. But I get more -- more mad every time we talk more and more about it.

FREED: Dora (ph) is grappling with guilt, because her family wasn't home on Sunday afternoon when neighbors say they saw Krystal and Laura playing on the hammock waiting to see if Kristella would come outside.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's why I told him if she would have been OK. She would have been alive. She would have had no reason to go anywhere.

FREED: Kristella has a reminder of Krystal, a scrapbook they were making in scrap books, where Krystal pasted a picture of best friend Kristella. A simply scrap book, now turned into something precious, something Kristella wants to finish for both of them.

(on camera): So what have you been tell your own kids? What have you been telling Kristella?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's not going nowhere. I mean, not even in behind the backyard by herself. We're just going to watch her like a hawk.

FREED (voice-over): For now, the family knows it's need to grieve, but hopes the pain will pass quickly.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREED: Now, Anderson, there is some relief here in this community of Zion tonight. Now the police have said that the person responsible for this, the police are accusing the father of this. And people hearing that, at least, according to police, it was not a random act -- Anderson.

COOPER: But they haven't really said anything about a possible motive have they?

FREED: No, not yet. They were saying that because the bond hearing had not happened yet, as of late this evening, we were not even aware as to whether or not the father had retained counsel. We're hoping to hear more on that tomorrow, at tomorrow's hearing. Which is going to take place -- right now it is scheduled, Anderson, for 10:00 a.m. Central time at the Lake County Courthouse.

COOPER: All right. Jonathan Freed, thanks very much.

For a second grader, the murder of a classmate is an overwhelming piece of news to try to absorb. The murder of two classmates, that is simply unthinkable.

Mary Lamping is assistant superintendent for special services for Zion Elementary School District 6. We spoke to her earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Dr. Lamping, how do you deal with something like this in a classroom?

MARY LAMPING, ASST. SUPT. SPECIAL SERVICES: What we did is we mobilized crisis intervention teams into the schools where the two girls resided, as well as, schools where we had siblings. And those teams consisted of social work and psychologists. And they -- we prepped the teachers ahead of time to work in whole groups with the kids, and then isolate kids that were really having problems to do individual counseling with.

So we, especially, in the class where the two girls were, the teacher did a remarkable job with the students. And it really went as well as we can expect. COOPER: How do you -- I mean, you can't explain it to adults. How do you try to explain it to second graders in the classroom of these two girls? What did specifically the teacher -- I mean, how did she do it?

LAMPING: Well, we talked a lot about -- the teacher talked a lot about, you know, what people had heard, what parents had told them. And then she relayed -- one of the real neat things she did was to talk about the issue of showing emotions and crying, is she went back to two books that the children have been reading over the course of the school year.

And one was "Charlotte's Web" and the other was "The Taste of Blackberries." And within those books there was a lot of emotion in both books. And children -- some children cried during the reading of those books. And she talked about -- she related it back to that, and how well -- how students show emotions in different venues. And that really helped kind of ease the situation and get the kids ground in what they knew about and what they had already experienced.

COOPER: What does death mean to a second grader?

LAMPING: It means different things to different kids because some kids might have already experienced death in their families or in -- with friends. And some may have not experienced them at all. And we're looking for feelings to come out, not just today and not just tomorrow, but we're going to see delayed reaction to this for many days and weeks to come.

LAMPING: Do the kids -- I mean, you asked the kids what they knew, about what they had heard. Did they know a lot? I mean, did they know that one of these girl's father was -- had been apprehended?

LAMPING: No. At the time -- when we talked to the students -- was in the morning, and we were going off confirmed information, simply that, at that point, that the children were killed. We did not have any confirmed information that there was a relative or any suspect that was in custody. So, we were basically talking about the fact that these two children had died and they were friends and classmates and family members of people that these children knew.

COOPER: Does it -- I mean, this may be a stupid question -- does it make it harder to explain to a second grader if, in fact, it is the father who committed these crimes? Or, I mean, does it -- is it easier if it's a stranger? Or I guess, neither is really easy.

LAMPING: I don't think either's real easy. However, the fact that somebody is in custody helps the community deal with this, so that we're not afraid that there's somebody out there, in a stranger- danger type of situation, that could be potentially taking other children.

So, that eases our minds a little bit. We still have to deal with the fact that this was a family member of one of the children and the families were close. That's going to complicate things a little bit. But we also have to watch the reaction of our families and of the children in the classrooms and in the district to see where we proceed from here.

COOPER: It's not an easy thing to proceed from here.

LAMPING: No.

COOPER: Mary Lamping, appreciate you joining us. Thank you very much.

LAMPING: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: In a few moments, we're going to look at the question of seat belts on school buses: should your kids have them on the bus that they ride? We're going to look at this video. Kids bouncing around on a bus. Ask yourself why are not -- why aren't seat belts mandatory?

Then we're going to hear from parents of a child who was in an accident, on why seat belts may not be necessary. All sides.

First, it is about 12 past the hour right now. Let's check in with Erica Hill at Headline News. Hey, Erica.

ERICA HILL, CNN HEADLINE NEWS: Hey, Anderson.

A report out of the former Soviet republic of Georgia now says an object that looked like a hand grenade may have been thrown in President Bush's direction earlier today while he was addressing a crowd there. The Secret Service, working with the FBI, the State Department, and Georgian authorities, investigating a report that the object landed within 100 feet of the president. It did not explode.

In northern Iraq, raids over the past three days have netted U.S. and Iraqi forces more than 30 suspected terrorists, weapons and munitions, and also uncovered a car bomb factory. Security forces discovered three prepared car bombs, one of which had already been in place (ph).

At some point this month the Army says it will likely order a one-day recruiting standoff in which 7,500 Army recruiters around the country will spend the day reviewing their procedures. A CBS News report today cited at least two cases in which recruiters are accused of going too far. In one, a volunteer got advice on how to pass a drug test; another, a prospect was threatened with arrest if he didn't report to a recruiting station.

And check out this little munchkin, the little girl from Tucson, Arizona. Very cute. What's her name? That's a darn good question. Nobody knows. You see, she just doesn't have one. A year-and-a-half after she was born, her parents still haven't named her. They say no single name really seems to fit her personality. Mom and dad are working on it, though. Until then that they call her baby or boby. Munchkin face. And, I know, on your show earlier, you were taking names. I mean, if it's a girl, Erica is nice, with a C, though.

COOPER: Erica with a C? Someone else mentioned Andersonia, which, I don't know, doesn't really work...

HILL: I think you could make Anderson for a girl.

COOPER: Oh, do you really?

HILL: Yeah, she'd be the cool kid with a different name.

COOPER: Yeah, thanks, Erica. Hill. Yeah, whatever.

Talk to you again in maybe about 30 minutes. We'll see. Thanks very much.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Coming up ahead on "NEWSNIGHT," a murder mystery that is just unfolding in a place where murders aren't supposed to happen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to stress at this time that this community is in no danger. We are not at this time looking for a suspect.

COOPER: Three adults and three children killed in a quiet mountain town.

A murder case more than 40 years old, and the power it still holds over one man's life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This case, it worked on me a long time. I really don't believe that there has been a single day in 40 years that I haven't thought about this case.

COOPER: He was a young reporter in Mississippi whose life changed forever when three young civil rights workers were murdered.

How dangerous is your child's school bus?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Last night we had some emotional issues when he was trying to go to sleep, thinking he was back on the bus.

COOPER: A bus ride that turned deadly. Would seat belts have helped?

How this country works.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some of my favorite images that I've captured on the road are usually the people that have been in their jobs for most of their lives.

COOPER: She took her camera on the road to capture Americans at work in all 50 states, in all kinds of jobs. From New York and around the world, this is NEWSNIGHT

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Police in southern California tonight are trying to piece together a murder mystery. Early this morning someone called the Riverside County sheriff's office, but they didn't speak into the phone. Instead the 911 operator heard a gunshot. Police traced the call to a home where they found a terrible scene.

Reporting the story for us tonight, CNN's Ted Rowlands.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The sister of one of the six victims arrived at the scene, clearly distraught as investigators at first kept her from the house where the murders took place. It started with a 911 call at 4:30 a.m. from inside this rural mountain home near Palm Springs. It led to the discovery of six bodies, three adults and three children, all, according to investigators, victims of gunshot wounds to the head.

A 14-year-old boy, a 10-year-old girl and an 8-year-old girl were found in their beds, as was a woman in her 40s and a woman in her 60s, believed to be the children's mother and grandmother.

SHERIFF BOB DOYLE, RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA: The phone, initially hitting the wall, and then a gunshot. That was all that the dispatcher heard when that 911 call came in.

ROWLANDS: Near the phone with a handgun next to his body, according to the sheriff, was David McGowan, an investigator who worked for the local district attorney. While the sheriff says this case is being investigated as a mass homicide, he says it's possible McGowan killed his wife, his mother-in-law, his three children, and then himself.

BOYLE: He'd been with the district attorney's office for at least five years, and, you know, this -- it hits home. And it's very -- emotionally, a lot of people are distraught about it.

ROWLANDS (on camera): If McGowan did kill his family, it is unclear why. According to neighbors here in this quiet mountain community, he was a, quote, "nice guy," who always used to have a smile on his face and, according to the sheriff, there were no documented problems with McGowan at work.

Ted Rowlands, CNN, Mountain Center, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Every day when you place your kids on a school bus, you are putting your faith in that bus. The federal government says that school buses are one of the safest forms of travel, despite the fact that most of them do not have seatbelts. And that's due to the way that buses are designed. The questions about seatbelts are now being raised in Liberty, Missouri, after an accident yesterday killed two adults and sent 23 kids to the hospital. This story tonight from CNN's Ed Lavandera.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look! ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The get-well wishes keep coming to the Wansings' home in Liberty, Missouri. Seven- year-old Michael is recovering from a concussion he suffered in Monday's school bus crash. The headaches and nightmares haven't gone away yet.

LINDA WANSING, MICHAEL'S MOTHER: Last night he kind of had some emotional issues when he went to -- trying to go to sleep, thinking he was back on the bus.

LAVANDERA: Michael was sitting in the middle of the bus as it careened through this busy intersection. The impact was so severe Michael came out of his shoe.

WANSING: And, when I found him, he had one shoe on and one shoe off. So, I have no clue where the other shoe is at.

LAVANDERA: But, despite Monday's accident, Michael's parents aren't convinced seatbelts would've helped, and they're not ready to demand that Liberty school district put seatbelts in its buses.

CRAIG WANSING, MICHAEL'S FATHER: I mean, yesterday didn't change my belief, I mean, I -- the bus system here in Liberty is as safe as I have known it to be in -- and expect it to be.

LAVANDERA: But Liberty's superintendent says after Monday's crash the district will look at outfitting its buses with seatbelts.

SCOTT TAVEAU, LIBERTY SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT: If the consensus of the experts says that seatbelts on school buses is the best way to go, then we'll do everything that we can do to make that come about.

LAVANDERA: It's hard to look at this video of another school bus accident and not believe that seatbelts must be safer. Some school districts have gone through the expense of equipping buses with safety belts, but opponents say it's too expensive, considering buses are already safe.

(on camera): The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says school buses are the safest way for kids to get to school. Last year, they say five children died in school bus accidents, compared to 800 who were killed walking, biking or riding in a car with their own parents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've had every bus equipped with belts.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Parents in Chesterfield, Missouri demanded seatbelts in its school buses 15 years ago. Debbie Killeen (ph) is a PTA president. She finds comfort in knowing her child can buckle up on the way to school.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All children should have the opportunity to wear seatbelts. And if parents could stress to them that it is an important thing to have, I think all of our children would be safer.

LAVANDERA: The Wansings are paying attention to the issue now, but they're not convinced a big change is needed.

C. WANSING: If I only gain, you know, 1 percent more safety, and it costs me, you know, a ton of bucks in my tax dollars in order to make that happen, you know, then maybe it's not worth that cost benefit.

L. WANSING: You got what you want. OK? Let's go out to the car.

LAVANDERA: Michael Wansing is on his way to the doctor's office for a check-up, but he knows very soon he'll be on a bus headed back to school.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Liberty, Missouri.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, a murder case that is more than four decades old, and a killer still had not been brought to justice. And how one reporter has worked the story since the beginning; 40 years later is waiting to write its ending.

And a bit later tonight, "America's Workers." A look at who we are and the jobs we perform. A break first. From New York, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: If you ask any reporter, they'll tell you there's one story that's affected them, that has changed their lives. Maybe something they witnessed covering a war, the assassination of a political leader, a fire that claimed a family.

One reporter in Mississippi knows that feeling all too well. For him, it was a triple murder more than 40 years ago, a story that still does not have a happy ending. Candy Crowley explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Now, is this the road where they drove out of town?

STANLEY DEARMAN, RETIRED JOURNALIST: Yeah. This is state Highway 19.

CROWLEY (voice-over): Even now in broad daylight, 41 years later, the trek from Philadelphia, Mississippi to neighboring Meridian, is an uneasy ride.

(on camera): Have you ever made this trip without thinking about it?

DEARMAN: No. No. Never have. And I make this trip at least once or twice a week to Meridian.

CROWLEY (voice-over): Stanley Dearman was a 31-year-old reporter when he was assigned the story of his life. Dateline: Philadelphia, June, 1964. Three civil rights workers were tailed by the KKK down this two-lane stretch of Mississippi.

DEARMAN: Right here, at this store, there was a car, and another -- another one down here. I think maybe there were like three cars full of Klansmen.

CROWLEY (on camera): And how high did they get up?

DEARMAN: Over 100 miles an hour.

CROWLEY: Oh, man.

(voice-over): Sometimes reporters grab stories and sometimes stories grab reporters. This is one of those.

It is about three young men, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner of New York, James Chaney of Meridian, who were to spend the summer in Mississippi registering blacks to vote, and it is about the local newsman who covered their disappearance.

DEARMAN: This case, it worked on me a long time. I really don't believe that there's been a single day in 40 years that I haven't thought about this case.

CROWLEY: It cannot be history until you stop living it. And this story still moves inside Stanley Dearman, still breathes in Philadelphia, Mississippi. It is alive in the boarded-up old building, the old jail. This is where the three civil rights workers were taken after Philadelphia Deputy Sheriff Cecil Price picked them up for allegedly speeding. It was the afternoon of June 21st. They were held until late that night, long enough for the Klan to get into position.

DEARMAN: And this is where they had their last meal, in this jail. They were released, and Cecil Price, the deputy, told them to get out of Neshoba County.

CROWLEY (on camera): And they took off.

DEARMAN: They took off.

CROWLEY (voice-over): A KKK informant and an FBI investigation put the story together. Just outside town, the three were chased off the road, forced into Klan cars, driven up this hill.

DEARMAN: Can you imagine the terror they've felt. This is it. This is -- at this fork in the road.

CROWLEY: This is where they died. The bodies were found 44 days later, buried on private property, miles away, but they were shot dead here at a dusty turnaround in the middle of nowhere.

(on camera): And why did they bring them here here? Because it was out of the way?

DEARMAN: Killen lives a mile-and-a-half down this road. He knew this place. Killen chose the venue.

CROWLEY (voice-over): Edgar Ray Killen has always said he wasn't involved. At the time, the state of Mississippi, couldn't, wouldn't, didn't, file charges against anyone. With no statute to cover the murders, the federal government charged Killen in 1967 with conspiring to violate the rights of another. He was found not guilty. Of seven men convicted on conspiracy, no one served more than six years.

DEARMAN: And after the federal trial, then people used that to say, well, in essence, that's -- we've had justice.

CROWLEY: But you don't think that?

DEARMAN: No, no. There's a difference between conspiracy and murder.

CROWLEY: He broods about saving the jail as a historical site. He wants a memorial downtown, the kind that an international architect designs.

DEARMAN: Not just a little plaque of some kind, but a real fitting monument, impressive monument.

CROWLEY: But finally, and mostly, he wants justice. Dearman moved on from a reporter to editor and publisher of "The Neshoba Democrat." In 1989 he interviewed Caroline Goodman, mother of Andrew, hoping to bring new life to a story a town wanted to forget.

DEARMAN: I want to tell these people here that a real human being was a victim. You know, the public, they deal with names. That didn't mean enough.

CROWLEY: In May of 2000, he wrote an editorial calling for justice.

DEARMAN: Come hell or high water, there needed an accounting. It's time.

CROWLEY: He is a member of the Philadelphia Coalition, an interracial group of citizens on a mission to recognize an ugly past, honor the murdered men, and seek justice.

DEARMAN: The way I think that the town has come around to view this case is to face it head on and call it what it was, a call for justice.

CROWLEY: Last year, the coalition demanded that Mississippi take action. January 6th of this year, the state indicted Edgar Ray Killen on three counts of murder.

DEARMAN: I don't know how to describe, but it was like a great feeling, like a weight being lifted or a cloud moving on.

CROWLEY: Dearman cannot count the number of people he has brought here to the spot where three men ages, 20, 21 and 24, were killed for trying to register black voters. He does remember one person in particular.

DEARMAN: And he looked around and he said, there's nothing here to say what happened? And that's true. Something should be done about it.

CROWLEY: You want to put a memorial.

DEARMAN: Yes. Or some kind of memorial. They'd probably dynamite it or do something to it, but...

CROWLEY: Still.

DEARMAN: There are those who would do it.

CROWLEY: So, maybe it hasn't changed so much.

DEARMAN: Well, some people haven't changed, and they'll just have to be -- time will have to take care of them. But there are a lot of people who have changed, and if it hadn't been for that, for a lot of people having strong feelings about this, and pushing for an indictment or indictment for justice, it never would have taken place. As I said, this came from within.

CROWLEY: The trial of Edgar Ray Killen is scheduled to begin in June, almost 41 years to the date they disappeared. He is the first to be charged with the murders of Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner and James Chaney. But there are others out there.

DEARMAN: There are a number of people in Meridian that -- in that Klan unit, that voted to have Schwerner eliminated. They should be held accountable.

CROWLEY: Stanley Dearman is retired now, but this is his story and it will not let go.

Candy Crowley, CNN, Philadelphia, Mississippi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: More than 40 years.

Still to come on NEWSNIGHT, the American worker. One photographer has traveled the country to record Americans at their jobs. Remarkable photos.

And, it is CNN week on "Jeopardy," believe it or not. Tips for those of you who want to compete, from a Jeopardy champion, and yes, I'm talking about me. From New York, this is NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: It is the question we ask when meeting someone new. What do you do? The question whose answer helps define us. Most of us spend most of our lives working. Close to three years ago, photographer Christine Hauber set out to document the working lives of Americans in all 50 states. She has four more states to go. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINE HAUBER, WWW.WORKINGINTHEUSA.COM: Working in the U.S.A. is about the working people of America, not just the blue collar workers, but every aspect of the American worker. Everything from the fishermen and the farmers to the scientists working on Alzheimer's genes.

I wanted to really find out and share with the world who real Americans are, what we really do. We do struggle. We do have jobs that are hard, and that -- we work with our hands. And we're not all rich, good-looking blond people with fancy cars, that we are very diverse nation.

I kind of capture the diversity, everything from the worm grunter who picks worms out of the ground, all the way up to the archaeologist who works the land in a different way. So, it's really that diversity of the people and the occupations that keep the pictures very different from each other.

I try and photograph about an average of seven people per state, and usually those people, at least some of them, are people who represent major industry within that state. Being a native of Colorado, I decided that I was going to focus on some of the Colorado industries, one being Celestial Seasonings, and so I traveled to Boulder -- one, two, three -- where I found the blend master, Charlie, and photographed him. I've traveled approximately 52,000 miles. I've looped the United States two times. The first year was spent traveling the outside, the perimeters, of America, doing all the border states. And then the second year or year and a half was spent on more of the inside states. I photographed this particular lady in Nevada. She is considered a legal prostitute at the brothels that are in Nevada. She's actually in one of the bedrooms sitting on the bed. She wanted to make sure that her high heels were showing.

In Taos, New Mexico, I found a silver smith. His clientele used to be primarily the ranchers and the farmers, doing silver work for them. He says his clientele has changed quite a bit. And now it's primarily the yuppies and the more wealthy people who are looking for jewelry.

Some of my favorite images that I've captured on the road are usually the people that have been in their jobs for most of their lives. This particular man I found in Texas. He is a roughneck working on a big oil rig down in Texas. He's been working this ever since he came back the Vietnam War. And still bounces up and down the stairs of the platform like a gazelle.

What I learned most is that 98 percent of the people are absolutely wonderful, sweet and caring and will do anything for you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: That is certainly true. Ahead on NEWSNIGHT tonight, another look at the headlines, we'll bring you up to date. Then we're going to play a little "Jeopardy." Well, I'll show you what it was like when I played "Jeopardy." And yes, I won. We'll talk about that ahead. A break first. This is NEWSNIGHT. Look, there I am.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: And it is just a quarter until the hour. Erica Hill joins us with the headlines. Hey, Erica.

HILL: Hey, Anderson, right on time.

Thirty-eight years ago yesterday, four members of a U.S. patrol were killed in Vietnam, but it took decades to bring them home. Today thanks to a join U.S./Vietnam effort to recover the remains of missing Americans, three of the four were finally laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. The fourth soldier was buried in his hometown on Saturday with full military honors.

Between 1979 and 1981, 29 boys and young men were murdered in and around Atlanta. Wayne Williams was convicted of two of those homicides and suspected of having committed the rest. But according to Frank Ski, Atlanta radio host, Williams believes he will be set free. In a jailhouse interview, Williams told Ski he was encouraged by the decision of the DeKalb County police chief to reopen some of the cases.

On the CNN security watch, fake badges. More than a thousand of them seized by federal agents in New York. Counterfeits of the badges of 35 different law enforcement agencies. One agent said, 90 percent of them would actually pass scrutiny. A Russian national was arrested. Weapons and police uniforms were also seized at his apartment.

And in New York, a little trouble at first ever Daytony 500. Yesterday, talk show host, Tony Danza, crashed his go cart after getting a little bump and run from NASCAR start Rusty Wallace. Luckily, Danza wasn't hurt. I know that's one of your favorite stories, Anderson. It makes me think though, maybe that's exactly why "Taxi" was eventually canceled?

COOPER: I don't know. Who's the boss? Where is -- where is -- what is there ways. I forgot their names.

HILL: You want the names.

COOPER: Judy -- no, no.

HILL: Angela, Mona, Samantha, Jonathan, Anderson.

COOPER: You watched far too much "Who's the Boss." But I love that about you, Erica.

HILL: But could you -- could you answer those who's the boss questions on "Jeopardy"? I mean, I hear you're a champion and all.

COOPER: I don't like to brag. But yes, I'm a "Jeopardy" champion. Well, we'll go head-to-head sometime. All right, Erica, thanks very much. This week on "Jeopardy" contestants are squaring off over CNN categories in honor of CNN's 25 anniversary. So we thought tonight we'd pass along some tips from a former "Jeopardy" champion. And yes, that's right, you're looking right at him. I won big on "Jeopardy." Now, admittedly, it was one of those dumbed down celebrity edition of "Jeopardy." But believe me, this "Jeopardy" champion still makes one hell of a great pickup line.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEX TREBEK, HOST, JEOPARDY: It's power player week on "Jeopardy."

COOPER (voice-over): I was pretty excited to be on "Jeopardy," even if it was one of those dumbed down celebrity editions.

TREBEK: Please welcome Anderson Cooper.

COOPER: OK, so he mispronounced my name. I didn't let that get to me.

TREBEK: Anderson, off you go.

COOPER: Right away, I wanted to let my opponents know I was here to play, I was here to win.

(on camera): What is equal.

TREBEK: Correct.

COOPER: What is Vietnam.

TREBEK: Yes.

COOPER: What is D-Day.

TREBEK: D-Day or Normandy, correct.

COOPER: What is an aardvark.

TREBEK: That's it.

COOPER: What is Kwanzaa.

TREBEK: Right.

COOPER: Who is Aaron?

TREBEK: Aaron is the correct response. That takes you to 3,400.

COOPER: The trick is don't focus on the money, just try to read the answers fast, buzz in quick and hope your opponents choke big time.

(on camera): NAACP (ph) for 800.

TREBEK: Established in 1867, it's America's first fashion magazine.

Maria (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is "Vogue"?

TREBEK: No. Anderson.

COOPER: What is "Haper's Bazaar."

TREBEK: Remember, it must have those two A's in there.

COOPER (voice-over): Maybe if she'd watched "Jeopardy" more, she'd have got the whole two A thing. But hey, we all make mistakes.

(on camera): What is Baghdad.

TREBEK: No. No, idiot. You were thinking of the tigers.

COOPER: Yes, I'm an idiot.

TREBEK: No you're not.

COOPER: Lets see.

Who is afraid of Virginia -- what is who is afraid of Virginia Woolf.

TREBEK: No.

Maria or Kwiethi (ph)?

What is "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."

COOPER (voice-over): A big part of doing well is getting into a rhythm with that little buzzer. As long as you buzz in quickly, you can answer slowly.

TREBEK: Anderson.

COOPER (on camera): What is Berlin?

TREBEK: Yes.

COOPER: Sorry.

TREBEK: That's all right.

COOPER: I'm just little slow there.

(voice-over): I don't know much about sports. But I do know how to play to a hometown crowd.

TREBEK: Serena was seen with Lavar Arrington, linebacker for this NFL team certain to draw cheers when you answer.

COOPER (on camera): What is the Washington Redskins. TREBEK: That's right.

COOPER (voice-over): At this point in the game I was way in the lead, and my luck just kept getting better.

TREBEK: Daily Double and it's a video.

COOPER (on camera): Who is Maria Von Trapp.

TREBEK: That's it. Yes, indeed. Boy, you work that one, Anderson.

COOPER (voice-over): By Final Jeopardy I was way out in front, which was a good thing because I knew very little about the category.

TREBEK: Here is the category -- metals.

COOPER: I tried to concentrate, but in my head I kept humming along with that tune. In the end, I simply guessed, wrong.

TREBEK: Coltan.

COOPER: Yes, is that anything?

TREBEK: It's called gold. Gold is the correct response.

COOPER: Really?

TREBEK: Yes, isn't that amazing? You lost $1,000 only, but you're the leader and the winner today.

COOPER: Trebek called me a winner. I prefer the term "Jeopardy" champion. I was going to put it on my business cards, but I don't like to brag. Instead, I just have it on my stationary.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Well, still ahead on NEWSNIGHT, the story behind the story as only a reporter can tell it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Well, some stories are dense with layers. The murders of three civil rights workers in Philadelphia, Mississippi is certainly one of those stories. In tonight's edition of "Newsbeat," CNN's Candy Crowley peels back those layers and gives us a sense of the dread the three men may have felt as their lives were about to end.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CROWLEY (on camera): There's so many things about this story. It is the story of a town that is caught somewhere between its history and its future. It is the story of people who have struggled with the murders of these three civil rights workers for four decades. And it's the story of redemption. How does a town find redemption? There was a time when Stanley drove us up the hill, and at this point in the story, as he's telling it while we're driving up, the three young civil rights workers are now in the car of the Klansmen. And they are driving them up to what would be the murder site.

The feeling that you get is so chilling, about what happened and the horror of it. And what those young men must have been feeling. I have sons in their 20s. And to think of these three young men who are trying to register blacks to vote and knowing, as they drove up the road that we are driving up, they surely knew they were going to die that night. It is very easy to see why this story grabbed hold of Stanley Dearman, because it grabbed a hold of me as well.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: Candy Crowley. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COOPER: Let's take a look at what's happening tomorrow morning on "AMERICAN MORNING" with Soledad O'Brien -- Soledad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Anderson.

Tomorrow on "AMERICAN MORNING," a story from horse racing of the biggest win in a lifetime, followed by the biggest loss. Chris Hertzog bought a winning ticket picking the top four horses in Saturday's Kentucky Derby, a payout of more than $850,000, but he lost the ticket. Finding it again would become a bigger longshot than Derby winner Giacomo. But perhaps it was just that kind of derby day. We've got the winner's story on CNN tomorrow, 7:00 a.m. Eastern -- Anderson.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: Soledad, thanks very much. That's it for NEWSNIGHT tonight. Thanks very much. Aaron Brown will be back tomorrow, and you can join me on "360" tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time. Good night.

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