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Showing the Caskets Arriving; Different Tone in Turkey; Quake Devastates Italian City; Avoiding Mortgage Scams; Money & Basketball: Motor City Looks for Economic Boost; FBI Launches Highway Serial Killer Initiative

Aired April 06, 2009 - 14:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, not everyone feels the way that Bonnie does about showing those coffins coming home. In about 15 minutes, I'm going to talk to the mother of this soldier, Michael Carlson. We're going to find out why she thinks the coffins should not be shown.

Well, if you have been watching CNN, you definitely heard Defense Secretary Robert Gates lay out where the Pentagon will spend and where it will cut. Some projects like the F-22 Stealth Fighter are coming to an end. Others, like helicopters needed in Afghanistan and unmanned vehicles that conduct surveillance, will get more funding. And there will be more money for military health care and childcare.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GATES, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: In the area of missile defense, we will restructure the program to focus on the rogue state and theater missile threat. We will not increase the number of current ground-based interceptors in Alaska, as had been planned, but we will continue to robustly fund continued research and development to improve the capability we already have to defend against long-range rogue missile threats. The threat in North Korea's missile launch this past weekend reminds us is real.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: We're going to have more from our Pentagon correspondent, Chris Lawrence, a little later in the hour.

President Obama is at the final scheduled stop of his international tour, but last is not least as far as the president is concerned. The president is in Turkey to send a message. It's the first U.S. presidential visit to Turkey since President George W. Bush in 2004.

And as CNN White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux reports, this visit has a very different tone.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: When President Bush came here to Ankara, Turkey, covering that, there was a great deal of strain and frustration, a very complicated relationship with the Turkish government. Obviously President Bush very frustrated he did not get the kind of support that he wanted from the Turkish government regarding the Iraq War.

Well, now President Obama is really trying to show that things are different now. There's a change of leadership, a change in message, as well as tone. He recognizes that the Turkish government is going to be a very important, critical player on a number of fronts.

They not only have troops in Afghanistan, but also could play a key role when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, perhaps dialogue there, as well as Israel's conflict with Syria, and perhaps even bridging the gap between the United States and Iran. So we heard from President Obama a new message to the Muslim community, to the people here and the wider region.

Take a listen.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The United States is not and will never be at war with Islam. In fact...

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: In fact, our partnership with the Muslim world is critical, not just in rolling back the violent ideologies that people of all faiths reject, but also to strengthen opportunity for all people. I also want to be clear that America's relationship with the Muslim community, the Muslim world, cannot and will not just be based upon opposition to terrorism.

MALVEAUX: The predominantly Muslim country borders Iran, Iraq and Syria, so it is geographically, as well as politically, positioned, really, to make an impact on this region. Barack Obama saying that this was his number one priority from day one of his administration to deal with the Middle East peace process, the conflicts in the region, so obviously looking to Turkey to really pave a new way with the Muslim community.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, President Obama laid a wreath -- actually, we're going to go to that in just a second.

If you're making a living by taking advantage of homeowners in trouble, well, keep this in mind -- Uncle Sam wants you in jail. The Treasury, Justice and two other departments announced that they are teaming up to crack down on mortgage and foreclosure fraud. Basically, the FBI and Justice will have more tools to go after these sharks. And there are a lot of them out there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIMOTHY GEITHNER, U.S. SECRETARY OF TREASURY: We will shut down fraudulent companies more quickly than before. We will target companies that otherwise would have gone unnoticed under the radar, and we will aggressively pursue individuals involved in mortgage rescue scams.

ERIC HOLDER, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: I would like to speak directly to those individuals and to those companies whose illegal and repulsive practices have harmed far too many Americans. And the message is very simple: If you prey on vulnerable homeowners with fraudulent mortgage schemes or discriminate against borrowers, we will find you and we will punish you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, mortgage fraud's at an all-time high, even though there are fewer home loans being approved. So you know there are a lot of scams out there. Gerri Willis is going to be here in just a moment to tell us what kinds of frauds are out there and how to avoid them.

Well, that headline says it all. It could be one of the last for "The Boston Globe."

The newspaper says its owner, The New York Times Company, is threatening to shut it down. That is, unless the unions agree to $20 million in concessions. And like many papers, "The Globe" is suffering from online competition.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PROF. TOBE BERKOVITZ, BOSTON UNIVERSITY: Many people believe that the mistake was made right at the beginning and newspapers, as well as any other type of content provider, should have charged the public for their product. They didn't. That genie's out of the bottle, and now, how do we manage to get people to pay for information that they are consuming online?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: All right. "The Globe" has been in print for 137 years.

Well, not nearly as long a history for International Pillow Fight Day. Who knew, right?

Well, the feathers flew in 100-plus cities over the weekend. This iReport from Rob Harper shows the scene on Wall Street. Things were much less lively in Detroit.

City cops cracked down on the event, confiscating people's pillows. The problem, according to police, the potential for a big old mess.

Well, the heart of L'Aquila, Italy, looking like a ghost town today -- quiet, empty and devastated after a strong earthquake hit overnight. Here's what we know so far.

The U.S. Geological Survey puts the magnitude at 6.3. At last report, the death toll was 92, but unfortunately, that's expected to rise. Some 1,500 people are hurt, 4,000 rescuers still on the scene. CNN's Diana Magnay is there as well. She joins us now with the latest.

Diana, what can you tell us?

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, I'm at the site of a student dormitory in the city of L'Aquila, which is the center of this area where the earthquake struck, and rescuers here are still hoping to pull another six bodies out of the rubble here. There are people standing around, friends and relatives, fellow students, wrapped in blankets, hoping that those bodies come out alive.

It's been a mixed story all day in various sites such as this dotted around the area. Bodies pulled out alive, but many bodies not surviving. And that is the question.

The death toll now, according to the agency here responsible, is at 100 and is still rising. As you said, 50,000 people homeless. We are in the middle of a storm here now in Italy. It's going to be a difficult night, and the first of many -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And Diana, it's not just this area, but other areas as well that you haven't even had a chance to get to, that people are reported dead and rescuers going after, correct?

MAGNAY: Well, absolutely. The entire region, it's very mountainous. There are hilltops, villages scattered around where people believe the death toll to be fairly significant.

We haven't been able to get to those areas yet. We will be going out there. But that figure of 50,000 homeless is meant to apply to this entire Abruzzo region, right in the heart of central Italy -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Diana Magnay.

We'll stay in touch. Thanks, Diana.

Well, the closing chapter of the NCAA will be written tonight, but will it include a financial boost for cash-strapped Detroit?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, here's something that you haven't seen in years -- the return of a flag-draped casket of an American serviceman. In this case, Staff Sergeant Philip Meyers (ph), who died in roadside bombing in Afghanistan.

News photographers have been banned from taking these pictures since 1991, but the Obama administration has changed the policy. It says pictures can be taken with permission from the fallen service family members.

Merrilee Carlson is the president of Families United for Our Troops. Her son, Army Sergeant Michael Carlson, died in Iraq in 2005. She says the media should not be allowed to show military caskets. She joins us live from Minneapolis.

Merrilee, good to see you.

MERRILEE CARLSON, SON KILLED IN IRAQ: Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here today.

PHILLIPS: Just to give a little background on your son, I mean, when I was reading about him, wow. He did so much while serving in the military.

Is there a certain moment in his life that you remember as something that you are the most proud of?

CARLSON: You know, he has been very, very special. And I think each moment when his buds talk about and tell me his stories of what he did to help them and to take care of them in the military, each and every one is a treasured moment. And so you can't just pick one out of the mix.

PHILLIPS: And then came the moment that you never wanted to come, and that was when you found out that he had been killed.

Tell me how that happened. And when did you find out?

CARLSON: Well, he was with five -- part of five young men who died in a Bradley accident in the Baqubah area of Iraq. And my husband and I happened to be on a cruise. And so when the military tried to reach my family, they had to hunt for us, and they ended up finding my other son, who then had to call us.

By the time we actually were even aware that Michael had passed, we believed that Michael and his buds were already at Dover. It was four days before we got the actual notice ourselves, and my husband was the next of kin that was to be notified.

And so there was a challenge. And of those five young men, three families they had difficulty reaching. And with this information that they wished to share, the challenge is that sometimes the media gets information before families know. And had one of those families said yes, it's very possible we would have found out by media rather than from a family member.

PHILLIPS: And that's definitely unfair. I know that a journalist actually broke confidence with your son, which is extremely disappointing, so here it was all over the news, and you didn't even have time to tell your whole family. So your issue with the media and just betraying confidence came early on, which I apologize on behalf of someone in our business.

But let me ask you about showing his flag-draped coffin. You in no way, shape or form would ever support that being shown. Am I correct?

CARLSON: For me, personally, no. Families United -- because gold star families differ in their opinions. And we took a poll of our organization, because we wanted to know where they all stood on that. Eighty-one percent said no, that it shouldn't be allowed, the media shouldn't be allowed there.

PHILLIPS: Why, Merrilee? Tell me why, because a lot would say, gosh, show the reality of his sacrifice and let's see him, let's honor him, let Americans see the brutality of war right there.

CARLSON: It goes beyond honoring them. We know that each and every soldier who comes back is honored and treasured by our military, but once those photos are taken, they become the property of the media, of that reporter. And you do not know where that will be used. Will it always be used to honor that hero, or will it be used in a way that dishonors him?

My son believed in fighting for our freedom. He was fighting to help "liberate people from oppression," quoting him. And if photos of his casket -- even the day when our son -- when we came out of the church and his casket was put into the hearse, those photos were media.

And if those were ever used to dishonor what he stood for and what he fought for, his honor would be hurt. And that's what our challenge is, not necessarily that the media doesn't want to honor them at this moment, but what's going to happen next year or two years from now?

PHILLIPS: Merrilee, and your son, when he was a senior in high school, it's amazing. I read this three-page credo that he had put together.

And he wrote, "When I'm on my deathbed, what am I going to look back on? Will it be 30 years of playing a game that in reality means nothing, or will it be 30 years of fighting crime and protecting the country of all enemies, foreign and domestic?"

"I want my life to account for something more than just a game. I want to be good at life. I want to be known as the best of the best at my job."

"I want to fight for something, be part of something that is greater than myself. I want to live forever. The only way that one could possibly achieve it in this day and age is to live on in those you have affected."

After hearing his passion for impacting this world, do you think he would have wanted the world to see him coming home, hoping that everybody would be affected by what he did and talk about living on because of what he did for us, his impact?

CARLSON: No. He wouldn't want the world or me to remember him in that flag-draped casket.

He wants the world to remember that Shrek who was riding on the back of a Humvee waving to the children in Baqubah. He wants the world to remember him as knocking down the door of houses, on rooftops, under sniper fire, to protect his buds. That's what he wants us to remember.

And it's this gift that he has given, the gift of his life, the life that they lead, not their death, that needs to be remembered. And while we treasure and honor those heroes, and we are so grateful for the work the military goes through to protect their honor and to treat them with dignity and bring them home with dignity, we also need to reach out and treat the family's privacy and take care of them.

It's challenging because when families are notified, it is the most devastating news in the world. And then the challenges that we have is the next thing they have to do is start making a lot of decisions, and one of those is to go to Dover or not. One of those is now, do I let media in or not? And they don't always have the time to think about, you know...

PHILLIPS: Because it happens so quickly.

CARLSON: It happens so quickly. They're not ready to make those decisions.

PHILLIPS: Well, I know that you will be very happy with this, because the picture we are going to show is going to lift up Army Sergeant Michael Carlson when he was alive, doing exactly what you wanted him to do, what he wanted to be remembered for.

So we lift up your son, Merrilee. And as your husband beautifully wrote, "He didn't die in vain," and that "a free Iraq and safer America will come because of what you son did."

We're going to go to break.

Thank you, Merrilee Carlson.

CARLSON: Thank you so much.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: It hit as Italy slept, and it hit hard. A strong earthquake brought down whole blocks in the medieval city of L'Aquila, about 75 miles outside of Rome. The death toll has now climbed to more than 100.

A college dorm, apartment buildings, a 13th century church collapsing in the overnight quake. The mayor says tens of thousands of people have been left homeless. And now Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi declaring a state of emergency and canceling a planned trip to Russia.

President Obama in Turkey, an important secular Muslim country that straddles the border between Europe and Asia. He visited the mausoleum of the founder of modern Turkey, Ataturk, and spoke to the parliament in Ankara. He says that he was there to send a message. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: The United States is not and will never be at war with Islam. In fact...

(APPLAUSE)

In fact, our partnership with the Muslim world is critical, not just in rolling back the violent ideologies that people of all faiths reject, but also to strengthen opportunity for all people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Turkey is the final stop on the president's international tour.

Take a look at the Big Board now. Dow industrials still down 96 points, now at 98 points.

We'll continue to monitor what's happening on Wall Street.

Now, with many homeowners in trouble, mortgage fraud on the rise. Now the government has new plans to combat it. And we're going to help you fight it first hand.

Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis joins us with the knowledge that you need to protect yourself.

Gerri, let's talk about how prevalent it is.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hi there.

Well, Kyra, the numbers are astonishing. Mortgage fraud on the rise. In fact, the FBI has called it the fastest growing white collar crime.

Let's take a look at the most recent mortgage fraud report from the FBI.

As you can see right here, financial institutions reported over 46,000 cases of fraud in 2007. That's an increase of 500 percent over '03. This fraud just grows. Not only does it grow, it finds new ways of finding life. So it's a real threat to people out there -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, so what kind of scams should people be aware of?

WILLIS: All right, well, let's talk about some of the most prevalent.

The foreclosure rescue scam. It's so important right now, because there's so much foreclosure. Basically, what happens is that you open up your mailbox one day and you find out that you're being offered a way out of foreclosure. If you've been delinquent on your loan, an offer of a rescue. Guess what, that's not what it is at all. In fact, the idea here is that the scammers take your home from you by tricking you into signing a deed transfer form. So that's something you don't want to get involved with.

Application fraud, this is a garden variety kind of fraud. People lying on their applications about their income typically, so they can afford a bigger house. Very big during the housing boom. Sometimes it was people buying the house, sometimes it was their lender who did it, but it's on the rise yet again because these loans are so hard to get.

Deed property stealing. This is happening with a lot of seniors out there who already own their own home and scammers are going into the courthouse, forging documents, forging the names of people who already own their own home, and literally stealing the property from underneath them - Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Gerri, appreciate it.

Here's some reporting we love to report. Geri. Sallie Mae, the nation's largest student lender, plans to hire 2,000 workers within the next 18 months. They're actually doing reverse outsourcing, moving jobs from Mexico and the Philippines to the U.S. Call center jobs, IT positions and operations support will be available. Wilkes- Barre, Pennsylvania is getting 600 of those jobs. Sallie Mae has 20 offices in the U.S. and it's not clear yet where the other 1,400 jobs will go.

Big hopes always ride on the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. But this year's final set for tonight in Detroit could mean a financial windfall for the city that's taken a big hit from the recession.

Our Larry Smith is in Detroit.

Larry, will the Final Four have an immediate impact on the city's economy?

LARRY SMITH, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, it will for the most part immediately. Talking up to $50 million to be spent here in the city. But what difference will that make as large as their problems are?

Keep in mind, just three years ago, the Super Bowl was hosted here in the same building, Ford Field. And at that time, it's estimated that visitors put a quarter of a billion dollars into this city and yet, even before this most recent downturn, the problems were massive here in the city. The schools are in trouble, over $100 million in debt for the school district here. The jobs being lost. So will it help immediately, yes. Will it create a bunch of new jobs and turn things around, that's yet to be seen.

PHILLIPS: So with a local team, obviously Michigan State being involved, does that help or hurt the expected stimulus for the city? SMITH: You know, really, in some ways, it hurts it. It helps because, certainly, you'll have a lot of people out here walking the streets and they're going to sell the tickets. It's not a problem at all.

What we saw this last year with the BCS Football Championship being played in New Orleans and LSU in Baton Rouge, just an hour up the road, was there. There were a lot of hotel rooms, not as many hotel rooms were sold than if a team from outside the region had come in.

Michigan State is here, that's one thing. The fact that they won the game and are going to be here again tonight, Monday night, to play in the championship, that means that the UConn fans for the most part probably left. And that's again, some hotel rooms that went possibly vacant for these last couple of nights.

PHILLIPS: So has the economy had any impact on the event itself?

SMITH: You know, it has. I talked with one NCAA official and he said the number of media is down quite a bit from last year, not as many reporters here because of cutbacks that we have experienced in our industry.

Tickets are being -- packages of tickets are being - can be got, can be had, can be bought, for about half of what they were last year in San Antonio.

And General Motors, a sponsor of the NCAA Tournament, actually gave back its three suites. This is not a time right now for wining and dining for the nation's largest automaker.

PHILLIPS: Larry, appreciate it. We'll follow the numbers too, of course, on the court.

Well, hundreds of murders across thousands of miles, a possible link and the FBI says long-haul truckers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Think all the drinks you could get out of the vending machine. An armored car overturned in Maryland, the driver and passenger OK, but they lost their load. Thousands of dollars in quarters. Yes, I-95 was like one giant sofa cushion this morning. The wayward coins shut down several lanes of interstate.

New York's Empire State Building changes color just about every day of the week. Today, it's going green -- permanently.

Susan Lisovicz isn't too far from there.

It's got to be a huge undertaking to make such a big building so energy-efficient. Can they even do it and how do they plan on doing it, Susan?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, they're going to be working on a lot of windows.

You think about this, you know, the Empire State Building is once again the city's tallest building. So there's 6,500 windows. The windows, Kyra, will be triple-glazed for better insulation. They will improve the efficiency of the radiators and, you know, do something that we've seen a lot of in our homes, the occupancy sensors to reduce electricity use. Well, that's a lot of floors in the Empire State Building and that's how they're going to reduce the energy use by 40 percent, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Wow. OK. That requires a big, upfront cost, obviously. How long will it take to make that money back?

LISOVICZ: Well, the private investors who own the Empire State Building say that it will take three years or I have read some business analysts who say they could simply raise the rent for all the tenants that work in the building.

PHILLIPS: (INAUDIBLE) about that.

LISOVICZ: Yes, but it should take about a year and a half starting this summer, and in three years is when they expect to recoup the cost - Kyra.

PHILLIPS: OK, we'll follow it. Now, are they going to light up all the lights in green in honor of going green or I guess...

LISOVICZ: Tonight.

PHILLIPS: They are going to? So they're talking about saving money, going green, yet they're going to light up all the lights in green and cost a lot of money.

LISOVICZ: Those lights, from what I understand, are already fluorescent. So these are some of the other areas inside the building. Yes, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, we'll be watching. Thanks, Susan.

LISOVICZ: You're welcome.

PHILLIPS: Your stimulus money in action. Working for a cleaner environment can now earn you some green. The Department of Energy has approved $468 million in federal funding in Idaho, which is now fourth on the list receiving the most federal funding aid. The extra funds have opened up hundreds of new environmental jobs in the state and officials say it's also helped them retain most of their work force.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM COOPER, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY: We were anticipating a substantial amount of layoffs. With the stimulus money, we are able to retain that work force.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS Well, the money will be used to demolish some nuclear facilities and clean up buried waste.

And those jobs in Idaho suggest the stimulus plan is starting to create some green jobs, but help wanted signs aren't exactly popping up all over the country. When is hiring actually going to start? Well, maybe CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow knows within our "Energy Fix" today.

Hey, Poppy.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra.

Yes, I mean, we haven't seen the massive wave of green jobs that the Obama administration had promised. What's interesting, of course, we got the big March jobs report last Friday, hundreds of thousands of job losses, but we're also seeing layoffs in the energy sector.

A few to tell you about. BP Solar last week cutting 140 jobs at a plant in Maryland. In Iowa, a wind turbine plant these cutting 58 workers.

One area where we are seeing slight job creation is weatherizing homes, making them more energy efficient. That's interesting. Stimulus plan setting aside $5 billion to do just that. The estimate is that could create 115,000 jobs.

We really haven't seen that, though, says a group that tracks all of this. They say only so far, about 16 or 17 states, Kyra, have gotten a small portion of the $5 billion. So the hiring has barely started, but the stimulus plan didn't pass that long ago. We got to give it some time, right?

PHILLIPS: It's only been six weeks, but why isn't it happening more quickly?

HARLOW: A couple reasons. A few things here. A lot of money to distribute, of course, to the local governments. The federal government wants to get it right.

Secondly, green job training has to happen. The stimulus bill set aside $500 million for the training. Apparently none of that money has been allocated yet. So it's one thing to pass it and put the money aside, it's another to put it to work, right, Kyra?

PHILLIPS: That is true. I agree.

All right, so tell us more about these jobs that will be created and are these well-paid positions? Of course, that's what people want to know. Show me the money.

HARLOW: Right. Right. And that's what we heard time and again from President Obama. Not only will we create jobs, we'll create well-paying jobs. The administration saying those green jobs could pay 10 percent to 20 percent more than regular jobs. That depends on what you're doing.

What we found out, basic weatherization of homes, that pays an average of $9.00 to $11.00 an hour. As you move up, if you're an auditor, an energy inspector, the salaries go up.

We're going to keep an eye on the green job creation, bring it to you as we know. Some good news for Idaho in terms of green jobs, we'll let you know where others pop up - Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Thanks, Poppy.

HARLOW: Sure.

PHILLIPS: We are giving job seeker Peter Bowleg a 30-second chance to pitch, a chance to pitch his resume on our air. So for all of you prospective employers, that's Peter's e-mail right there at the bottom of the screen, and here he is in person.

Go ahead, Peter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER BOWLEG, JOBSEEKER: My name is Peter Bowleg; middle name, Giant. Why? Twelve-pound baby. Last Bowleg, American-Indian name.

My background is sales. My background is also broadcasting and I've done voice-overs, commercials, and a little bit of this, little bit of that.

Why you should hire me, I'm the hardest worker you will ever find. I'll be there early, I'll be there late and I'm also creative. In the process of writing a book of poetry.

So hey, here I am, p_bowleg@yahoo.com.

Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Right on the money. You got to love that name: Peter Giant Bowleg. Giant? Why is that his middle name? Twelve pounds when he was born.

Peter, thanks.

Here's his e-mail once again on the screen: p_bowleg@yahoo.com

Well, on a much more serious note, even serial killers have to have day jobs, and the FBI says the perfect cover might be driving a big rig.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, the mayor of Binghamton, New York says that he's grateful for the world of support his city's gotten after that horrible shooting spree on Friday. Fourteen people, including the gunman, died at an immigration services center.

Mayor Matthew Ryan hopes his city won't become synonymous with carnage. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR MATTHEW RYAN, BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK: Thank you to everybody in our community. It's been such an amazing outpouring of sentiment from not just our community, but all over the country and all over the world, really. They've really come to our aid.

And you know, a lot of people have talked about whether our community will be defined by this tragedy. And what we're trying to tell people is our community will be defined by the response to this tragedy and what it really is, and that's a great community with a very low crime rate and a very accepting community of immigrants and diversity in our community. We pride ourselves with this and we have a long history of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Binghamton Police are defending their response to the shooting. Records show officers waited 40 minutes before entering the building, but officials say no one could have been saved if police had gone in sooner because the injuries were too severe.

You always hear about crimes of opportunity. Well, take a look at this map. Each of these red dots represents a murder victim. Each of the bodies found along a U.S. highway over the last 30 years. And a computer database is helping the FBI connect the dots. The Bureau suspects serial killers working as long haul truckers are behind hundreds of those crimes. The job providing plenty of opportunity to find their next victim.

Terri Turner is senior intelligence analyst with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, and some cases she was working on actually helped kick-start the FBI's highway serial killings initiative.

Terri, good to see you.

TERRI TURNER, ANALYST, OKLAHOMA STATE BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION: Thank you.

You know, you look at that map and you see where all those murders took place across the country. I mean, we're talking 30 years. Have you found through your research, do any of these guys ever work in cahoots with each other or are these more so individual serial killers?

TURNER: I would say there's probably more incidents of single killers than there probably would be where they work in cahoots with each other. That has been known to happen, but if you stay by yourself, there's less chance somebody's going to give information on you. So I think they generally try to stay to themselves.

PHILLIPS: Tell me what you were working on and how long you were working on the case before you actually found the killer. And we'll get to Williams in just a second. Just give us some background. TURNER: In September of 2003, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation received a homicide case along Interstate 40 east of Oklahoma City, about halfway between Oklahoma City and the state line. This was a young female, unidentified body. Our investigation took us where we would put out a teletype information to local law enforcement around the area in the region to see if we could identify this female or to give information as to the mode of operation that, you know, what had happened to her.

Within 72 hours, we got two responses in particular that were very similar to our case. These cases happened in July and August. So right initially I had three cases that were very similar in nature. I started working with my communications people and started watching for additional cases to come up in the next few months, and ended up with seven cases in seven months.

PHILLIPS: What were the patterns that you found as you were studying these murders?

TURNER: Each one of these young women were truck-stop prostitutes. Several of them had - six of the seven had direct ties to Oklahoma, whether they were from Oklahoma or if their body had been found in Oklahoma, some both. They had a wide range in age, probably from about 19 to about 40, but they all were found along interstate highways and were last seen in the area of truck stops.

PHILLIPS: So here you had been working on this case for a long period of time, and then you decided to reach out to the FBI and tell me how that helped bring to justice John Robert Williams, 28-years- old, the man you had been looking for after analyzing these patterns for so long.

TURNER: Well, after the cases that I'd been working on with the local investigators and just coordinating the information on the new cases between all of the investigators so they would all know what was happening, we had our first meeting at the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation headquarters in February of 2004. After that meeting, lots and lots of information started coming in, and it was much more than what I could handle or should handle on my own.

Having been in law enforcement for quite awhile, I was very aware of VICAP and the group that works with this type of cases, trying to pull information like this together on the national level in Quantico, Virginia. So I called VICAP, spoke with a new analyst there, and ran down the situation that I had all of these girls, that I had information in several different states and need to see if they might be able to help me with the coordination. And they were very, very willing to send someone out to offer whatever resources that they might have to be able to help coordinate this on a larger level.

PHILLIPS: Well, it's pretty amazing. Because of that and the idea that you had, the FBI now created the Highway Serial Killers Initiative. It will be interesting to see now as this goes forward how many other killers will be caught, starting with your case. We hope to see more behind bars.

Terri Turner, thank you so much.

TURNER: Thank you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Let's go now to T.J. Holmes for a look at what he's working on in the next hour of the NEWSROOM.

T.J., what you got?

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there, Kyra.

We're going to keep following a lot of these pictures we are getting out of Italy. This thing keeps getting worse. The death toll keeps going up. But more and more people have been killed in this earthquake over there, fairly strong earthquake. Really strong earthquake. Earthquake that hit in a place that has literally hundreds and hundreds of year old buildings. Really old buildings. So that wasn't a good thing, but they continue to dig out over in Italy where that major earthquake was. A big thing we're following, showing you some of the latest pictures at the top.

And also, Kyra, talking about really the Defense Department going through major changes. The military is going to be different from how we've known it over the years. Not as conventional and traditional as we have known it. We are going to have with us a man who knows all about putting a budget together for the military, former Secretary of State William Cohen talking about Secretary Gates' plan he came out with today. Going to be cutting a lot of things, adding a lot of things to the defense budget. A lot of jobs are going to be lost, but he's also saying that the Defense Department is going to be creating a lot of jobs as well. Breaking it down with the former Secretary Cohen, that at the top of the hour.

Which I will see you in just about six minutes, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Sounds good. See you soon, T.J.

HOLMES: All right.

PHILLIPS: Should the media be allowed to photograph the arriving caskets of armed service members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan? We have been taking your e-mails at CNN NEWSROOM at CNN.com. We'll read some of your responses.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: If you have been watching CNN, you heard Defense Secretary Robert Gates talk about the Pentagon's budget. Some projects are getting cut, others will get more money.

Let's get straight to Chris Lawrence, he's at the Pentagon. He watched it, too.

It was interesting to see where he was adding -- a lot of troops, family stuff -- but then the warrior fund losing a lot of money for assets as well. CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, what struck me is this was really a fundamental shift in how Secretary Gates plans to fund the Defense Department budget, shifting somewhat.

But again, I think what really summed it up is when he said, we now face a spectrum of conflict. You may face in the field an insurgent with an AK-47 who is then backed up and supported by an element with the sophisticated ballistic missile and seeing those two in the same theater.

Here's what Secretary Gates had to say about some of these very radical changes with the budget.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GATES: This is a reform budget reflecting lessons learned in Iraq and Afghanistan, yet also addressing the range of other potential threats around the world now and in the future. I know that in the coming weeks, we will hear a great deal about threats and risk and danger to our country and to our men and women in uniform associated with different budget choices. Some will say I am too focused on the wars we are in and not enough on future threats. The allocation of dollars in this budget definitively belies that claim.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAWRENCE: The program for the new presidential helicopters that is behind schedule and over budget, he wants to kill it.

The orders for more F-22 jets, he doesn't want to build any more.

But again, he does want to keep adding to the numbers of Army and Marines and he wants to stop the reductions in the Navy and the Air Force in terms of personnel - Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, and we'll track how that affects the U.S. military, of course.

Chris, thanks so much.

And for the first time in nearly 20 years, the government is allowing the news media to photograph the returning caskets of U.S. servicemen and women. We've been asking for your e-mails, too, and here are some of your responses.

Fiona writes, "If we show the coffins, we can begin somehow to reconnect to the intrinsic value that life has and that these soldiers have sacrificed."

Lindsay writes, "As a military wife, I believe the government has done the right thing to leave the decision up to each family about media coverage. Each family will and is different and will find closure in their own way."

Nancy saw it differently and writes this, "This should be kept private for the military families out of good old fashioned respect. They're not Hollywood personalities. Let America's heroes return home in peace and dignity."

And then William wrote, "I believe the news media should show the flag-draped coffins. It shows that this country has a lot of heroes. War has a high cost."

Thanks to all of you for writing in. We appreciate it.

That does it for us. We'll be back here tomorrow.

T.J. Holmes in for Rick Sanchez.