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U.S.-Flagged Cargo Ship Hijacked; Job Seekers Share Creative Ideas; Some Doctors Want to Keep Conscience Clause; Strong Aftershocks Continue in Italy; Vermont Becomes 4th State to Legalize Gay Marriage
Aired April 08, 2009 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Top stories happening right now. The search continues for 8-year-old Sandra Cantu's killer. Police searched a local church last night for clues. They also questioned one pastor for three hours. The little girl's body was found stuffed inside a suitcase, dumped at the bottom of a pond on a dairy farm. Police have not named any suspects, but they say whoever placed the suitcase there was familiar with the area.
Marriage rights for same-sex couples could be one step closer in the nation's capital. The Washington City Council voted unanimously in favor of recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states. The council will hold a final vote on the issue next month. Gay couples married in other states are regarded as domestic partner when they move to Washington.
And John Demjanjuk, a suspected Nazi war criminal who worked in an Ohio auto factory is still fighting deportation. A judge's stay temporarily stopping his deportation expired at midnight. An arrest warrant in Germany accuses the 89-year-old of being an accessory to the murders of 29,000 people in 1943. Right now, Demjanjuk is believed to be secluded at his home in Cleveland.
And breaking news this morning, off the east coast of Africa. Pirates have struck again. This time hijacking a U.S.-flagged cargo ship with at least 20 Americans on board.
CNN's Stan Grant joins us live from Dubai, the United Emirates this morning -- Stan?
STAN GRANT, CNN UNITED ARAB EMIRATES CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fredricka. It happened in the early hours of the morning. The ship, the "Maersk Alabama," that is operated by a U.S. subsidiary of the giant shipping firm Maersk. And that is a Danish shipping firm. It was operating under a U.S. flag, and the ship's owners say that there are 20 U.S. crewmen on board that ship at the moment. Now, of course, that ship now being hijacked by Somali pirates. This is a very tense situation obviously. And a standoff now emerging here, following very much the trend of similar piracy attacks that we have seen in the past.
Two hundred percent increase in attacks of piracy attacks off the Somalia coast just last year. There has been a little bit of a lull in that just recently but in the last week, it has kicked off again with six attacks just in the last week, five in 48 hours, and now this attack on the "Maersk Alabama." Of course, we are hearing from the owners of that cargo ship that there are 20 U.S. crew members on board, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And Stan, with so many pirate attacks that have taken place, is the case that there aren't traditionally that many U.S. ships there why this would be the first U.S. vessel with American crew on board to be attacked?
GRANT: Well, there is a big presence here, a big U.S. naval presence just in Bahrain, where the Fifth Fleet is actually active. There is also NATO presence. There are presence from many, many different nations within the region. There have been many attacks in the Gulf of Aden and that is being very much protected. That is an area that transports about five percent or more of the world's oil. About a fifth rather of the world's oil supplies. That's a very, very important sea lane there that needs to be protected.
But this is a very big area that we're talking about. It is impossible to protect all of the ships in the region. There has also been a bit of a change now in the motives and the operating procedure of the Somali pirates themselves and now moving out of this. The Sea of Aden, the port of Aden, actually looking into deeper waters and changing the way they're operating. That's where this attack has taken place, about 500 kilometers, about 300 miles off the coast of Somalia -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Stan Grant from the United Arab Emirates. Thanks so much. Appreciate it. Let's go now to the White House for a statement released just made moments ago. Kate Bolduan joins us more with that -- Kate?
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Fredricka. Obviously, a lot of moving parts here and things are happening as we speak. Let me read briefly a statement that we just received from White House press secretary Robert Gibbs. He said, "the White House is closely monitoring the apparent hijacking of the U.S.-flagged ship in the Indian Ocean and assessing a course of action to resolve this issue. Our top priority is the personal safety of the crew members on board." So that's the latest from the White House.
My recollection, and I could be corrected, but I don't believe that the White House has put out statements commenting directly on piracy attacks on ships previously but, of course, Fredricka when it involves possibly 20 U.S. nationals, that's a serious concern.
WHITFIELD: All right. Kate Bolduan at the White House. Appreciate that.
All right. The hijacking took place about 300 miles from the nearest military vessel, U.S. military vessel. Let's bring in CNN Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence right now. So Chris, what is the U.S. navy able to say?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Navy officials tell me that although this company that owns "the Alabama" has done a lot of work for the Department of Defense and even has had a top- secret clearance for some of their shipments, at the time that the "Alabama" was hijacked it was not working under a defense department contract.
This hijacking comes just one day after we were shown a U.S. military briefing document that warned ships in the area about the dangers, the increasing dangers there. The briefing document said the pirates are going where we are not, they are looking for targets where there is limited coalition presence. And that's backed up by the International Maritime Bureau because in January and February in this part of the waters off the coast of Somalia, there were just two attacks in January and February. That jumped to 15 last month, and it's continued so far in the first week of April.
The U.S. military also says, Stan kind of touched on, that they are changing their tactics. There used to be small ships operating very close to shore. Now we are seeing attacks much further out to sea. This one happened about 300 miles off the coast. What it says to Pentagon officials is that the pirates are now using larger motherships to launch smaller ships further out to sea.
WHITFIELD: All right. Frightening scenario. Thanks so much, Chris Lawrence at the Pentagon.
All right. The "Maersk Alabama" is the sixth ship to be attacked within a week. Five other incidents took place between Saturday and Monday. A Navy spokeswoman said the attack is the first involving U.S. nationals and a U.S.-flagged vessel in recent memory.
There has been a recent spike in pirate activity. We saw only two attacks in January and February off the east coast of Somalia, but since the beginning of March, there have been at least 15 now pirate attacks.
So what are the U.S. options in dealing with the hijacking? Stay with us. At the bottom of the hour, we'll look at the military decisions. Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us live from the Persian Gulf.
A regulation from the Bush administration that allowed health care professionals to refuse treatment to patients based on moral or religious beliefs may soon be revoked by the White House. It's expected to take place momentarily. So we are monitoring a news conference right now going on at the National Press Club on those things.
All right. Our medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta is getting geared up to talk a little bit more about this quandary that we're seeing. Let's take a look at his report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How are you guys doing?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 20 years ago when Dr. Sandy Christianson went to medical school, she never thought she would face discrimination. Yet because of her anti-abortion views, she said she was repeatedly denied the opportunity to perform medical procedures that another intern was allowed to do. When she pressed her superiors, she didn't like the response.
DR. SANDY CHRISTIANSON: She's doing that because she's been working hard at the abortions and you haven't so she gets that perk.
GUPTA: Even after she got her license, Christianson said she felt unaccepted by some of her peers because of her views. Now a medical consultant for a pregnancy resource center in Frederick, Maryland, she has never performed an abortion and refuses to refer patients to abortion clinics.
CHRISTIANSON: Just in the same way that my conscience would not allow me to perform an abortion, I wouldn't ask another colleague to do that.
GUPTA: But many health care organizations, including the American Medical Association, believe health care providers like Christianson have an obligation to their patients, to advise them of the options despite their own beliefs. Now a new regulation introduced by the Department of Health and Human Services would support Christianson's right to refuse referrals and withhold information that goes against her own beliefs.
Critics argue that there are already laws on the books protecting health care professionals when it comes to refusing care for personal reasons. The new proposal goes further, by making it so that all health care workers from doctors to janitors who work in the hospitals may refuse to provide services, information or advice to patients if they are morally against it. Critics fear that could mean anything from fertility treatments to abortion to stem cell research.
ADAM SOMFIELD, GULTMACHER INSTITUTE: This regulation explicitly allows that doctor or that nurse or any other health care provider to withhold information that would be relevant for a patient trying to make a medical decision.
GUPTA: Organizations like the American Nurses Association already have a code of ethics for their members. They believe nurses and other health care professionals are there for the patient, and it's the patient's prerogative to make decisions on care based on their own beliefs, not the health care provider's.
MARY JEAN SCHUMANN, AMERICAN NURSES ASSOCIATION: We don't go to school to learn how to make god-like decisions. That's not what it's about for us. It's about trying to get to where the patient is and helping the patient make their own decision. You know, nobody appointed us the ultimate person to pass judgment.
GUPTA: But Christianson says she's not playing god, just exercising her code of ethics along with the Hippocratic oath.
CHRISTIANSON: Why would you want to eliminate people who have these certain held beliefs in conscience, from a particular field of practice, frankly, all the more reason to hold them there. (END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And Dr. Sanjay Gupta joining us now. So what kind of recourse is there?
GUPTA: Yes, it's a difficult situation. I think it's one of the more in some ways controversial things I have heard about in medicine is this conscience clause. Look, if you live in a big city, if you live in Atlanta or New York, you have options. I mean, there's one particular clinic or doctor's office where you're not getting the care for any reason, including because of this conscience clause, you can go to another clinic or to another doctor's office. Where, you know, we sort of looked into this a little bit, what's sort of striking if you live in a small town, and you have been going to the same doctor or same clinic for long time and they say, look, we're not going to do that kind of treatment anymore. We're basically using this conscience clause as a reason, you're left with very few options.
So it is tough. And I think that's part of the reason it's become so controversial. Where do the obligations lie with the patient? With the doctor? With the conscience clause?
WHITFIELD: Wow, what are some of the other potential scenarios? You talked about the small towns but in larger cities, they're probably more options for people in which to go other places.
GUPTA: Yes, there's no question, more options. And you know, the thing I think that is interesting is how far reaching this potentially could be. So, for example, a lab technician who doesn't believe in stem cell research, they're not going to use stem cells. A fertility doctor who doesn't believe same sex couples should have a baby. So they're not going to help a same-sex couple have a baby. Obviously a lot of people talk about this conscience clause in its relationship to abortion.
And also medications, birth control pills, things like that. So it's tough when you have a far-reaching clause like this to understand all of the various implications but there are different scenarios that could potentially play out. Now to be fair, I haven't heard about a lot of those scenarios actually playing out but I think there's a concern that might happen, which is prompting this news conference and prompting this potential rescinding. We don't know exactly what this conference is about and what's going to happen but a lot of discussion has been going on since we have been looking into this over the past few months.
WHITFIELD: We will continue to monitor that conference as it happens as well.
GUPTA: Yes.
WHITFIELD: All right. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
GUPTA: Sure. WHITFIELD: All right. We will, of course, try to keep you up to date on this conscience clause. A news is taking place out of the National Press Club and we will bring those details to you as soon as we get them.
All right. Confirmation now that Cuba's ailing former leader Fidel Castro is still very much alive. It comes from U.S. lawmakers who met with him in Havana. Let's go to CNN's Jim Acosta in Washington. So are we seeing the beginning of a shift in U.S. policy?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Possibly, Fredricka. We're going to have to watch this one. This congressional trip that you mentioned managed to confirm one thing, as you said, Fidel Castro is alive and well enough to meet with U.S. politicians. And it's the first time Raul Castro has met with American officials as the current president. More signs there could be a thawing in this Caribbean cold war.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA (voice-over): Members of the Congressional Black Caucus went to Cuba in search of the Spanish word for detant(ph).
REP. BARBARA LEE (D), CALIFORNIA: Given the new direction in our foreign policy, it's time to look at a new direction in our policy towards Cuba. The Cubans do want dialogue. They do want talks, and they do want normal relations with the United States of America.
ACOSTA: They also got behind closed doors with Cuba's ailing ex- leader, Fidel Castro, who has not been seen in public since 2006.
LEE: The former president Fidel Castro is very engaging, very energetic.
REP. LAURA RICHARDSON (D), CALIFORNIA: And he also asked a very important thing. He said, how can - how can we - how can we as Cuba help President Obama?
ACOSTA: In a statement on the visit announced on Cuban television, Fidel Castro left the door open a crack. "We do not fear dialogue with the United States, nor do we need confrontation to exist." The Cuban kumbaya comes as support is building in Congress to end the U.S. ban on travel to the island and the White House says it may ease restrictions on Cuban-Americans visiting their homeland. Before the president attends a summit with Latin American nations this month.
JEFFREY DAVIDOW, PRESIDENT INSTITUTE OF THE AMERICAS: The president has said he's going to do it, he's going to make some changes. The vice president has repeated that. So it's going to happen.
SEN. MEL MARTINEZ (R), FLORIDA: We keep talking about change here in Washington. What about change in Havana?
ACOSTA: But Cuban-Americans in Congress are outraged. They don't want to see any changes that could lead to an end in the 47-year embargo on Cuba.
MARTINEZ: Having tourists on Cuban beaches is not going to change the equation of how to create the opportunity for democratic transition in Cuba.
ACOSTA: Restaurant owner Jessica Rodriguez is part of a younger generation of Cuban-Americans, trying to overcome the reservations of older Cuban exiles.
JESSICA RODRIGUEZ, OWNER: I think it would be good to kind of open those doors because, you know, I have so many customers that say I wish I could go to Cuba and I say, yes, me too. It would be great if the world can see what Cuba it is, for Cuba itself.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: Now the congressional black caucus plans to deliver its findings to the White House and they appear to have a message from the Castro brothers. They are ready to talk. Now, during the campaign, President Obama said he would be willing to meet with Cuba's leader Raul Castro. Fredricka, he may get that chance.
WHITFIELD: And what about the issue of human rights violations in Cuba, did that come up?
ACOSTA: Not on this trip, according to Congresswoman Lee, who led this delegation down to Cuba. She said she has met with those dissidents down there in the past. They didn't come up this time because they are saying they want to try to move the ball down the field. What you have to keep in mind here is that Cuba essentially had what was a civil war 50 years ago. And this country had a civil war 100 years ago, more than 100 years ago and it took about 100 years to get over there.
And we're starting to see the beginnings of that. Younger Cuban- Americans, they want to go see the island. They want to see it for themselves, despite the reservations of their parents and their grandparents and the Obama administration is sensing this as an opportunity. They want to see Cuban-Americans going down there as the first ambassadors of the united states to try to ease some tensions between these two countries.
WHITFIELD: So what are the realistic prospects of large number of Americans traveling to Cuba?
ACOSTA: Right. That's the question. If they lift the U.S. travel ban on Cuba, then Americans could go down there instead of going to Cancun, they can go to Havana. And it will be interesting to see how the Cubans respond to that. You know, for years and years, Fredricka, Americans have been going to Cuba. There are Americans in Cuba right now. They just do it illegally. They go through other countries like Jamaica or Mexico or Canada and they simply go into Cuba and the Cubans say welcome to Cuba.
What members of Congress are saying is that let's do away with all of that. Let's let Americans go legally and members in the house who support this say they have the votes for this. Now, whether it can pass in the senate is another matter and whether the White House will sign off on it is also another matter. We're going to have to wait and see. But this is a beginning of a thawing of this very long cold war. A cold war that's lasted longer than the one with the soviet union.
WHITFIELD: All right, Jim Acosta, thanks so much from Washington. Appreciate it.
ACOSTA: You bet.
WHITFIELD: Another very important meeting going on in the communist world today. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is visiting China this week. He's there to seal development deals worth billions of dollars. The big issue here is oil. Venezuela have it and China needs it. Chavez is an outspoken critic of the U.S., which still buys about half of his country's oil.
Well calls today for a criminal investigation into the death of a man during last week's G-20 protests in London. We have new video now that shows a man being pushed by police just minutes before he collapsed.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A U.S. flag cargo ship was hijacked this morning, off the coast of Somalia, there are at lest 20 Americans in the crew of the "Maersk Alabama." Maersk have headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia. The attack happened about 300 miles off the coast of Somalia. The ship was headed for Kenya. A spokesman for the company says the ship was most likely carrying international aid for Africa. Pentagon officials say the pirates are still holding at least 15 ships off the coast of Somalia. The reason is ransom. The pirates are hoping the owners of the ship will pay big money to get back the cargo and the crew.
Well, that was the reality facing James Christodoulou. A ship owned by his company was hijacked last November. He joins us now from New York. All right. Give me the scenario. You got a phone call the day after Thanksgiving that your vessel had been hijacked. Tell me what that call was about.
JAMES CHRISTODOULOU, INDUSTRIAL SHIPPING ENTERPRISES CORP.: Well, we got our call from our technical manager who received a call from the captain on the bridge of the ship as the attack was actually occurring, notifying me that the ship was attacked, hijacked and now controlled by pirates.
WHITFIELD: And then what were you to do? Were you feeling like, you were very limited in your options? Or did you feel like you had a card to play?
CHRISTODOULOU: Well, you really don't have any cards to play. The hand is kind of dealt. It's how well you play that hand that I think really sets the tone. You know, you first identify all of the issues that are affecting the ship. You assign various areas of responsibility to people inside your company or various consultants or lawyers. Then you have to set up the communication between all of those teams that are working on the various aspects of the crisis.
WHITFIELD: In your mind, you're already thinking, we're going to have to come up with some big money because we know that's what the pirates want.
CHRISTODOULOU: I mean, it's their business, Fredricka. That's what they do. Fortunately, there's no political agenda to it. They hijack the ship, they ransom the crew and the ship for money and you know that's what it's always about.
WHITFIELD: You also befriended another vessel that had been through the same experience. In what way did that help you?
CHRISTODOULOU: Well, it enabled us, first of all, to commiserate, to compare tactics, to share, you know, information as far as what they were hearing from their pirate captors versus what we were hearing to get an overall - I hate to say it - landscape of the pirate market in that area at that time.
WHITFIELD: It was difficult to know exactly what to believe. Your understanding was, what, these pirates in shorts and tank tops and t-shirts climbed on board the vessel. What did you know about how they were treating the crew?
CHRISTODOULOU: Well, first of all, it's not just tank tops and t-shirts that they're coming on board with. It's tank tops, t-shirts, AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades and that's really what kind of sets the tone. But we knew that they were there, we knew they wanted the money and we tried to develop a relationship of at least trust. Certainly not appreciation, but we knew we're dealing -
WHITFIELD: How do you develop that relationship of trust with people who have come on board with weaponry and are threatening your crew?
CHRISTODOULOU: Well, you have to establish right off the bat that you have no animosity towards them. This is not a platform for them to make a political statement against us or for us to make a political statement against them. What we are doing now is unfortunately trying to resolve a hostage crisis and really the only way to do that is by rewarding them for their criminal activity.
WHITFIELD: And what did you reward them with? And in the end, how did that insure the safety of your crew? Because everyone was released unharmed.
CHRISTODOULOU: Everybody was released. And for me, it was - success was not measured just by having them released, physically, mentally and emotionally unharmed and returning them back to their families intact.
WHITFIELD: You had to pay how much?
CHRISTODOULOU: Well, I really don't want to get into how much we paid. It's interesting, it's not really important, Fredricka. What's important is that this crisis as demonstrated today and even this past week still exists. It undermines global trade, it threatens the shipping industry. It puts our crew members at risk and it really traumatizes everyone involved.
WHITFIELD: James Christodoulou, thanks so much for your time. Appreciate it. Glad that everyone did make it out safely in the case of your ship. Appreciate it.
CHRISTODOULOU: We hope the same thing with the other ships being held now?
WHITFIELD: We do, indeed.
CHRISTODOULOU: Thanks.
WHITFIELD: So how is a band of pirates, how is it they're able to hijack such huge ships? A look at some of the tactics straight ahead.
And imagine driving down the highway when all of a sudden you can't see a thing. That's what it was like for dozens of drivers in California late yesterday. Quite a few were actually no doubt calling their insurance companies today.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. The dust simply rolled in without warning and so thick that no one could actually see a thing. You could barely make out the images there for your folks in the damaged car. One by one, big rigs and cars were colliding. A dozen in all, closing interstate 5 near Bakersfield, California, for hours actually. Amazingly, the drivers were not seriously hurt.
Rob Marciano here in the weather center. Some pretty wacky weather.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Wacky stuff.
MARCIANO: A little bit of west coast update, they would like to have a little bit cooler weather, maybe a little more rainfall and I think they're going to get that.
WHITFIELD: Oh, you will deliver.
MARCIANO: Good living in California. You might think it's nasty stuff. It's not bad at all.
WHITFIELD: Can be pretty nice.
MARCIANO: Fredricka, when those arrows aren't going around, that means -
WHITFIELD: No motion. MARCIANO: That means my stuff is not good.
WHITFIELD: That's not happening.
MARCIANO: I forget my head if it wasn't attached.
WHITFIELD: What's happening now?
MARCIANO: All right. Here we go. A little storm coming into the west coast. Windy conditions, yes. Mostly interior sections but the rain and cooler weather certainly is on the way. We had some problems with fires down around Palm Bay, Florida, yesterday. Fire threat remains high there and will be increasing across the parched area of Texas as we go through tomorrow.
All right. San Francisco up through to Lake Tahoe area, late season snowfall for you getting into the act there and some rain of course at the lower elevations. That rain will be shifting farther down to the south as well. All right. Here we go. La Guardia, ground stop mostly because of wind. Newark 45-minute delays and San Francisco, you got some ground delays there because of the rainfall and low cloud cover.
Blue hours in the horizon for the northeast. So a little bit of rainfall but really just the wind and it's kind of chilly, at least right now. It will be warming up as we go through the afternoon. Snowfall heavy at times across parts of upstate New York, near Watertown, Lake Ontario. A little lake-effect snow late in the season here and some light showers down across the New York metropolitan area. Maybe some snow mixing in there just to kind of say, hey, is it still April?
Robbinsville, North Carolina, 12 inches of snow yesterday. So folks across the deep south getting several inches just to kind of wake you up a little bit. Sixty-three degrees the high temperature in Atlanta, 51 in New York City. So that's --
WHITFIELD: Chilly?
MARCIANO: Yes, chilly stuff. And they're playing the masters at Augusta, where they were wearing wool hats yesterday.
WHITFIELD: I know. It always seems to begin with a little chill in the air and then all of a sudden it becomes glorious. Just in time for the real crowd to come.
MARCIANO: The azaleas will be out, no doubt, come Sunday.
WHITFIELD: It will indeed. All right. Thanks so much, Rob.
MARCIANO: You got it.
WHITFIELD: As you disappeared.
All right. So here's a question for you, how are those pirates able to hijack such huge ships? We are taking a look at that. Plus, standing out in a crowded job market. How do you do it? Three successful job seekers share their secrets actually finding your next paycheck.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A U.S.-flagged cargo ship hijacked this morning off the coast of Somalia. There are at least 20 Americans in the crew of the Maersk Alabama. Maersk has headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia. The attack happened about 300 miles off the coast of Somalia. The ship was headed actually for Kenya.
A spokesman for the company says the ship was most likely carrying international aid for Africa. The pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia had slowed earlier this year but have begun to pick up once again. They were at their height last year when our David McKenzie filed this report on how the pirates are actually able to successfully capture such large ships.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Pirates posing on a captured vessel, their weapons proudly displayed. These are the ragged (ph) buccaneers bringing in millions of loot. It's so compelling because it's so unlikely.
Let's put it into perspective. Pirates nabbed the gigantic supertanker, the Sirius Star -- it's longer than three football fields -- and captured it with a skiff as big as this. It's about as long as your car.
So, how did they do it? Will Geddes has 20 years of experience as a security expert and tracks pirate tactics closely. He says it's often a matter of deception rather than force.
WILL GEDDES, CEO, INTERNATIONAL CORPORATE PROTECTION: The problems that many tankers have when they're actually approached by pirates is that they will present threat on a number of levels. They can either pretend to be officials that are seeking to board the actual ship for inspections. They can masquerade as a coast guard.
MCKENZIE: And even without the mask, they can always rely on scare tactics. They use fast skiffs with RPGs and assault rifles. A well-placed shot with one of these could puncture the hull of boats that can carry dangerous cargo like chemicals, oil and weapons.
So, the crew is usually happy to sit it out on the hijack, waiting for ransom, rather than risk blowing up their vessel and themselves. And wherever the crew goes in this entire million square- mile region, they are at risk because pirates have advanced.
GEDDES: What we're seeing with these Somalian pirates is their ability to use some of the ships that they've captured already to enable them to reach further afield and to deeper nautical miles to actually capture larger ships. MCKENZIE: They're called motherships, and maritime agencies warn that their use is expanding the pirate reach and the pirate threat. And though the warships in the area patrolling for pirates have the guns and the technology to thwart the pirates, there are just not enough boats in the water to patrol this giant, expansive ocean. So, until they can be reined in, these unlikely ocean hijackers will still have the tactics and territorial reach to take on as many Goliaths as they can get their hands on.
David McKenzie, CNN, Nairobi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And while the White House continues to monitor what's taking place off the African coast, take a look right now. A hero's welcome here in this country for troops at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. And helping to lead it, Vice President Joe Biden, who is there with his wife. Earlier images right there of his arrival there at Fort Bragg. Members of the 18th Airborne Corps are returning from their second tour in Iraq. The unit has been in Iraq since February of last year.
All right, the government may come to the rescue once again. So far, the Treasury has thrown money at banks and automakers, and now another sector could benefit. Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange with details on that -- Susan.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Fredricka. Well, "The Wall Street Journal" says the very busy Treasury Department may soon offer aid to life insurance companies that own banks. And that announcement could come within days. The money will come from TARP. There's about $130 billion in those funds remaining. Not sure how much of it will go to life insurance companies.
How is it they're in such dire shape? Well, companies typically invest their customers' premiums into the market. So, they have a huge exposure to the stock market, Fredricka. It's all interrelated.
WHITFIELD: Wow. All right. Thanks so much, Susan. Appreciate that.
All right, let's talk about jobs and unemployment and how in the world we and everybody else is going to get out of this. Millions of Americans are out of work and facing a job market with very few openings. So today, in our "Snapshot from -- across America," we want to reintroduce you to a few folks who have figured out a creative way in which to grab a job.
There are job seekers that say creativity may indeed be the key to success. In Seattle, unemployed architect John Morefield offers his expertise online for a mere nickel. In San Francisco, Jamie Varon also took her plea to the Internet with Twittershouldhireme.com. And New Yorker Pat Bennett took the low-tech route. She defied the experts and got her first interview by sending a handwritten note.
All right, so, let's begin with you, John. You set up this kind of Charlie Brown-style booth. You wanted to give up your architectural expertise for just a nickel, and it worked.
JOHN MOREFIELD, ARCHITECTURE5CENTS.COM: Yes, yes it did. I set up the booth at the Ballard farmer's market and just started answering questions for people, and they responded well. So, just real people with real questions. And it just kind of took off to even a nationwide Web site campaign with other people like me jumping on.
WHITFIELD: So you kind of consider yourself employed now? Full bore?
MOREFIELD: I definitely consider myself employed, so...
WHITFIELD: OK, and Jamie, you wanted to work for Twitter. And so, you created this Web site, Twittershouldhireme.com. Where did this idea come from? And it worked as well?
JAMIE VARON, TWITTERSHOULDHIREME.COM: Well, I didn't get the job at Twitter, but it has worked in spawning off so many different opportunities for me. I actually opened my own business the other day to offer graphic design services and marketing consultation.
But I came up with the idea because -- it was just a flash one night, and I just was like, that seems like that could work. And so I used Twitter to get to Twitter. And I had lunch with them. And I don't know, maybe somewhere down the road I could work for them. But for now, I'm actually pretty busy with some work, so...
WHITFIELD: Oh, that's fantastic. We're glad you're busy. And so, Pat, you kind of took a two-prong attack approach. You did lots of research on companies, and you decided to send out some letters. But you did what many would find blasphemous. You actually sent out a handwritten note, but somehow, that got someone's attention.
PAT BENNETT, HANDWRITTEN LETTER GOT HER A JOB: Yes, I did. I took a very personal approach. And just to back it up a little bit, it was important to me to do a great deal of research. I had worked for a company and was also teaching research at the college level for about 15 years.
So, I really needed to differentiate myself in a marketplace that was very, very crowded. This was about a year ago, and I had decided that I wanted to find companies that could maximize my kind of talent. So, I literally went on a research campaign identifying companies and handwrote letters to several people at very senior levels as well as some management to identify some strengths.
WHITFIELD: But did you have some doubt for a moment? You were sending the handwritten letters to, you know, upper-level management, as you said. Weren't you a little, I guess, concerned that perhaps they wouldn't take you seriously?
BENNETT: No, I was never concerned. I was very optimistic. I thought that it was going to stand out in the sea of e-mail that many CEOs get. It also helped to handwrite the letter and to put a stamp on it. So, that really did get some attention.
WHITFIELD: All right, so, John, what's your best advice to people about how to get noticed, how to clinch that job?
MOREFIELD: Well, I think the biggest thing that people have taken from me is that you just got to take life by the horns and just go out there and meet people and talk to people. And it's just as simple as that. I collect nickels, and I start conversations.
WHITFIELD: All right. And Jamie, your best advice?
VARON: I believe that you've got to figure out what you want and then do something above and beyond that people have not thought of to prove that you're worth your profession, and what -- and prove that you have experience before a company gives it to you.
WHITFIELD: And Pat?
BENNETT: Be passionate, be enthusiastic and build upon your own personal relationships, and don't be afraid to stretch yourself a little bit in finding something that just may end up into a great opportunity for you.
WHITFIELD: All right, Pat Bennett, Jamie Varon and John Morefield, thanks so much for your advice. And hopefully you've given the advice that folks need out there to try and clinch that job. Be noticed. Congrats.
All right, time's up. A deportation stay for an accused Nazi guard living in the U.S. has expired. We'll tell you where he is this morning.
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WHITFIELD: A U.S.-flagged cargo ship hijacked this morning off the coast of Somalia. There are at least 20 Americans in the crew of the Maersk Alabama. Maersk has headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia. The attack happened about 300 miles off the coast of Somalia. The ship was headed for Kenya. A spokesman for the company said the ship was most likely carrying international aid for Africa.
And still no deportation for nazi war crime suspect John Demjanjuk. The alleged Nazi death camp guard is reportedly at his suburban Cleveland home. Yet a judge's stay temporarily stopping his deportation expired at midnight. An arrest warrant in Germany accuses the 89-year-old of being an accessory to the murders of 29,000 people in 1943. Demjanjuk's attorney is trying to block his deportation.
Should doctors or other health care workers be allowed to refuse services to patients based on their own moral or religious belief? President Obama is expected to lift a regulation from the Bush administration that allows the practice. It's called the conscience clause. Health care professionals are speaking out about it at a news conference this hour.
CNN's Elaine Quijano joins us now from Washington with more on this. Elaine, what is the main objection to changing the conscience clause? ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what these doctors are saying is that this clause, in their view, protects doctors, health care workers and medical professionals against discrimination. They say doctors and nurses are often in danger of losing their jobs or being passed up for promotions because of their beliefs. Of course, we're talking about their opposition to abortion.
But the doctors also raised another question, Fredricka. One of the doctors said, taking a step back from any specific issues, with health care being increasingly driven by cost, does it really make sense, this doctor asked, to force physicians to abandon their moral beliefs in their practices? This physician argued that would not be good for patients. Take a listen.
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DR. DAVID STEVENS, CEO, CHRISTIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Do we want our professional schools to ethically neuter doctors of all moral convictions that are not approved by the government? As Hippocrates knew and some people are forgeting, the moral integrity of health care professionals is the patient's best protection, especially in a health care system increasingly driven by cost.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now, opponents of this clause, groups like Planned Parenthood, argue that this provision needs to be done away with because medical professionals, they feel, have an obligation to fulfill patients' medical needs regardless of what they believe, so, Fredricka, the debate continues.
WHITFIELD: So, why now? Why is this coming out now?
QUIJANO: Well, this is all coming to a head because basically the public comment period, there's a 30-day public comment period that is ending at midnight. And obviously, the doctors and the physicians on both sides are trying to really put the pressure on the Obama administration. And again, in this case, the doctors holding the news conference this past hour obviously are opposed to removing this provision. So, that is why they decided to hold this news conference today -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, Elaine Quijano in Washington. Thank you.
Well, calls today for a criminal investigation into the death of a man during last week's G-20 protests in London. We have new video that shows a man being pushed by police just minutes before he died.
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WHITFIELD: Calls today for a criminal investigation after the death of a man during last week's G-20 protest in London, and new video is now part of the story. Our Andrew Carey has details now from London.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ANDREW CAREY, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY PRODUCER (voice-over): The video acquired by the "Guardian" newspaper was shot, the paper says, around 7:20 in the evening last Wednesday towards the end of a day of protests in London's financial district. The man highlighted, the paper said, is Ian Tomlinson, 47 years old.
According to the paper, he had not taken part in the demonstrations, but was walking home from work. With his back to police officers, he appears to be making his way slowly down the street when he appears to be hit by a by a baton to the leg. Then the same officer appears to push him to the ground. Shortly after this video was shot, Ian Tomlinson suffered a heart attack and died.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission, the IPCC, is investigating the incident and says it believes the man in the video is Ian Tomlinson. The Metropolitan Police Service tells CNN, "it would be inappropriate of us to comment at the moment since we are a party in the case." Tomlinson's son and wife spoke to Britain's Channel 4 News before the new video came to light.
PAUL KING, IAN TOMLINSON'S SON: You know, we're getting (INAUDIBLE) every day to what's happening (INAUDIBLE). But we can't comment on that. I mean, as far as I'm aware, he left work roundabout 7:00, but (INAUDIBLE) began his journey. And it seems every street he's gone down, the police were there cordoning it off and refused him access. And it looks like he's going to ask the police to get through the cordoned area to arrange passage (ph). From our understanding, he was on his way home to watch the football.
CAREY: The presence in London last week of world leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama, attending the G-20 summit saw a huge security operation. On Wednesday, the day Ian Tomlinson died, several thousand demonstrators were in the city, and there was a series of skirmishes between police and protesters.
The police commander said last week tactics had been proportionate, and it worked. But protest organizations say that policing of demonstrations has become increasingly confrontational. One of the main groups, "Stop the War," saying it's been warning police for six months it could lead to serious injury or death.
Andrew Carey, CNN, London.
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WHITFIELD: And one person is dead in a shooting at a religious retreat in southern California. At last check, three others were listed in critical condition. Last night, someone opened fire on a Korean group at a remote camping spot. Police do believe that the shooter is among the injured, but investigators are still trying to piece together exactly what happened.
The shaking has not stopped in L'Aquila, Italy. Strong aftershocks are keeping people on edge there. At least 260 people died in the quake. Crews are searching through the debris for those who are still missing. One witness tells CNN that one survivor was pulled out after 42 hours in the rubble.
The Vatican says Pope Benedict will visit the quake region as soon as possible after Easter. There are also about 20,000 homes that still need to be checked for safety before families can actually return. The Italian government says it will set up new prefabricated villages to house the homeless.
Gay rights activists celebrating new gains in their fight for same-sex marriage. We'll tell you where the wedding bells could soon be ringing.
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WHITFIELD: Gay rights activists are celebrating a new victory in their battle for same-sex marriage. Lawmakers in Vermont have mustered the votes to override their governor's veto. Vermont becomes the fourth state to legalize gay marriage and the first to do so with the legislature's vote. Gay and lesbian couples will be allowed to marry there beginning September 1st.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When this first came up as an issue, it was like, it will happen in the next generation. To actually see it happen in Vermont and now three other states with us, I think it's -- this is the wave of the future. And I think more importantly, I think people are coming to accept us for who we are and that acceptance is really what this is about.
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WHITFIELD: Same-sex marriage also gains ground in the nation's capital. Washington's city council has voted unanimously to recognize gay marriages performed in other states. The measure is now subject to a review by Congress.
Well, how much do you expect to pay for your kids' cell phone bills -- $40, $50 at most? Well, imagine getting a bill for nearly $5,000. The Christoffersens in Wyoming signed up for a family plan that didn't include texting, but their 13-year-old daughter, Dina, was able to send them anyway and she went overboard, sending 10,000 in just one month. Once Dad saw the bill, he had a simple solution.
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DENA CHRISTOFFERSEN, SENT 10,000 TEXT MESSAGES: Dad took it with the hammer and, yes, this is what happened to it. You know, I felt really bad, and I have learned my lesson.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What lesson is that?
CHRISTOFFERSEN: When your parents tell you not to do something, don't do it.
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WHITFIELD: Good, good, good. Well, Dena says she learned her lesson, but she is grounded until school is out. Yikes.
All right, I'm Fredricka Whitfield in for Heidi Collins. Join us again tomorrow morning starting at 9:00 a.m. Eastern. For now, the the CNN NEWSROOM continues with Tony Harris.
