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President Obama Holds Town Hall on Health Care Overhaul; Analysis of Health Care Plan; Security Guard Recalls 2007 Church Shooting

Aired June 11, 2009 - 14:08   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Well, he campaigned for it as a candidate. He's campaigning for it as president.

Health care reform today brought President Obama to Green Bay, Wisconsin -- go Packers, by the way -- a state with a proven record of doing more for less. And as you just heard live, the president promised to fix what's broken and build on what works.

He wants to cover just about everybody who doesn't have health insurance right now -- that's almost 50 million people -- and then while holding down costs that makes our current system the world's most expensive by far. Details, of course, will be decided a long way from Green Bay, Wisconsin, in the hallways and meeting rooms on Capitol Hill.

Well, we put together a little panel for President Obama's town hall. Each member listening closely to what he had to say today. Each for very different reasons.

Cindy Hunt is a barber in Roswell, Georgia. Money's tight, her family is uninsured, and they have had some huge health care challenges.

Then Chiqueta Williams is a former news anchor and reporter here in Atlanta, Georgia. She wasn't hurting for money but was still overwhelmed by the cost of her cancer treatment.

Also with us, CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen and CNN Senior Political Analyst Gloria Borger in Washington.

You know, let's just set Cindy and Chiqueta up for a minute, if you don't mind.

Your biggest struggle now, Cindy, is just getting by day to day, hoping that no one in your family gets hurt. Correct?

CINDY HUNT, WORKING MOTHER: Exactly.

PHILLIPS: So you're the only one providing a paycheck. The economy is tough, husband's disabled.

What were you looking for in the president's speech? And did you hear it?

HUNT: Well, what he says, it's great if it works. But I'm wondering how it works, is the thing, how it's going to work. But it's great if it works. It would be wonderful.

PHILLIPS: Did he say something specifically that you thought, oh yes, that's what I'm talking about, that's going to help me?

HUNT: Yes. People with no insurance, because I have no insurance.

PHILLIPS: Right.

HUNT: They get their choice of doctors and all that. I liked that. I like having my choice.

PHILLIPS: Chiqueta, what about you?

JAQUITA WILLIAMS, BREAST CANCER SURVIVOR: For me, it's preexisting condition. I am a breast cancer survivor, I was diagnosed in '07. And it's very important for me to know that if I decide to go to whomever, I'm not frowned upon or X'd out because I'm a breast cancer survivor. So that was important to me.

I also liked his health insurance exchange, the one-stop shopping that you can participate in. So there were a number of things that sounded good to me. It sounded like a fantasy land that I really, really hope that I can go to. I'd like to be Alice in Wonderland and be able to go there, but if not, maybe I can go to Green Bay since they have the lowest amounts of premiums and insurance for people like me who are struggling.

PHILLIPS: You know what? As a reporter and anchor, you know we have to live all over the country.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

PHILLIPS: I was there for two years, and I remember -- I was thinking back to when I had to go see the doctor, and I had such good insurance. I don't ever remember paying a dime for anything. So that's interesting that he chose Green Bay, Wisconsin. It doesn't surprise me.

What you talked about, preexisting situations, that's what you mentioned as the ah-ha tidbit in this. And we actually got a tweet from Maria in New York City saying, "With the cancer pandemic, a greater number of people now have preexisting conditions," like Jaquita's situation. "How big of a priority do you think it will be?"

That leads right in to what you paid attention to.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there was -- you know, a lot of what he said in this speech he has said before over and over again. This was something kind of new.

He hasn't sort of come out and talked a whole lot about this. And what he said -- I'm reading from the speech -- that he wants health care plans to have to cover people with preexisting conditions. I don't know how you make that happen. I mean, if he can wave his magic wand and say, hey, insurance companies, you have got to cover someone even if they have a preexisting condition, that would be huge. Because right now, if Jaquita, just herself, goes and applies for insurance, they would laugh at her. There's no way they are going to insure her.

To require companies to pay for preexisting conditions would cost those companies a fortune. And so I'm wondering how that would work. There were no details.

PHILLIPS: Gloria Borger, you were saying one of the things that stood out to you, you didn't hear the president say if indeed if he was going to mandate that everyone get insurance. Right?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. You know, it was very interesting, because he spoke a great deal about having this public insurance system to provide the competition for private insurers. And presumably, the 46 million people who don't have health insurance would look at that at that public insurance system.

But during the campaign, the president disagreed with Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail. She said you have to force people, mandate people to sign up for insurance because that's part of the way you fund a public insurance program. And we didn't hear from him today whether he has signed up for these so-called mandates or he hasn't signed up for these mandates. And that's going to be something he's going to have to address as this works its way through Congress.

PHILLIPS: All right. Gloria, stay with us. We are going to -- our panel is going to come back in just a moment and we're going to hear more from the real folks, Cindy and Jaquita. We're going to talk more about their health care nightmares and what they are hoping will come about -- or what will come forward after President Obama made this speech and town hall today.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: If Congress moves forward on health care legislation in the coming weeks, there are going to be different ideas and disagreements about how to achieve this goal. And I welcome all ideas. We've got to have a good debate. What I will not welcome, I will not accept, is endless delay or denial that reform needs to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: All right. So we're back with the ladies of our health care panel: working mom Cindy Hunt, whose family is uninsured; former news anchor Jaquita Williams, breast cancer survivor; CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen; and CNN Senior Political Analyst Gloria Borger. She's in Washington. Cindy, I just listened to everything you have gone through just with your 9-year-old son. You had to take his stitches out yourself because you couldn't afford to take him back to the doctor. He broke his arm, you couldn't afford to put a cast on it. Now you are dealing with his teeth.

What's going on?

HUNT: Well, we rounded up a couple of hundred dollars to take him to the dentist to see what was wrong. You know, to have him have a checkup and x-rays and all this. Well, it turns out that he's got to have fillings, he's got to have a couple pulled, he's got to have some caps. And that's not even including the orthodontist treatment that he's going to have to have after the $1,400 that I've got to come up with to pay for his teeth, to pay the dentist.

PHILLIPS: So already that's $1,400 you just don't have. And this is just the beginning.

And then you have a 13-year-old daughter who had -- or another son. And you had to take his stitches out as well.

HUNT: Oh yes.

PHILLIPS: Why did you do it yourself?

HUNT: I couldn't afford to take him back to the doctor to get staples taken out of his head. You know?

PHILLIPS: Did you even know what you were doing?

HUNT: Oh, yes. I had a staple remover that they gave me with my -- I just had my daughter, and they gave me a staple remover at the hospital, and I just used it. I mean...

PHILLIPS: See, this is the kind of stuff you don't hear every single day.

And Jaquita, I mean, you were doing well. You know, you're a local news anchor and reporter.

You know, you never expected what when it came to the breast cancer?

WILLIAMS: I'll tell you what, when President Obama said that illness can wipe out your entire savings, he was dead on, because I was at the top of my game at the time. And when I had a phone call from my doctors that said, "You have breast cancer" right before I was about to do a live shot, it changed my entire perspective.

And even though I made a good salary, I was on disability, so that wasn't my complete salary. So people believe just because you have health insurance, it doesn't mean it covers everything.

There were times when I was on steroids and had to have Ambien in order to sleep. The Ambien pills were $125. So I had to come up with that.

My mother gratefully came and spent time with me. My mother was helpful in helping me with my finances, but it was a struggle just the same. So now that I am not a television anchor reporter, and having to be responsible for my own insurance, it is even more of a struggle, because I have to have somebody who checks to make sure everything with me is OK.

PHILLIPS: In listening to all of you, you hear the president's speech, oh, it sounds pretty good, but I'm hearing, fairytale, waving the magic wand, if he can do it, God bless him.

Republicans already responding as well. John Boehner had this to say...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), MINORITY LEADER: I'm opposed to a government option, period. Listen, if you like going to the DMV, and you think they do a great job, or you like going to the post office and think it's the most efficient thing you have run into, then you will love the government-run health care system that they are proposing, because that's basically what you're going to have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Gloria?

BORGER: You know, you heard President Obama address just that today in the town hall meeting, because he said what you are going to hear people say is that we are proposing a government-run health care system. It worked in opposition to Hillary Clinton, when she proposed her plan 15 years ago. It's the same language, but he is not proposing a government-run health care system.

One component of the whole health care reform plan would be a public insurance plan as a way to get those people in the pool who are currently uninsured. But as he said at the town hall meeting, if you're employer-insured or if you have insurance that you like, you get to keep what you have. We're not asking you to change your ways.

So, you know, this is kind of an old argument that's going to be -- we're going to hear it over and over again, but that's not exactly what he is proposing.

PHILLIPS: And just to button it up, an interesting question from one of our folks on Twitter, Elizabeth. Maybe you can answer this.

You know, we're talking about all our ailments, everything we struggle with, the cost of all our treatments, drugs, et cetera.

ChadWarren76 wants to know is anything going to -- with regard to health care, "Will it include healthy eating into this plan?"

I mean, you know, will there be any accountability that we all need to take better care of ourselves. COHEN: Right. And actually, the president talked about that.

He talked about how under the current system, they don't pay much for prevention. So, for example, insurance will pay $30,000 when a diabetic needs to have their foot cut off. However, they won't pay -- insurance won't pay to have doctors and nurses religiously keep up with diabetics and call them on a regular basis and say, "Mrs. Smith, how are your sugar levels?" "Mrs. Smith, have you taken your insulin?" And everybody agrees that that is just a backward system.

Now, whether a plan will pay for healthy eating is unknown. I mean, none of these details have been worked out. But certainly everyone agrees that there needs to be more of an emphasis on prevention.

PHILLIPS: Elizabeth, thank you.

Gloria Borger in Washington, thank you so much.

Also Cindy, Jaquita, your personal stories. Let's all stay in touch and follow up on this for sure.

WILLIAMS: Will do.

PHILLIPS: Appreciate it.

Well, husband, father, hero. People are remembering Stephen Johns, the security officer gunned down at the Holocaust Museum. He's being credited with saving lines.

Plus, John Walsh from "America's Most Wanted" gives us a pretty troubling glimpse of extremists in our own back yard. Plus, he brings us a story that every parent needs to hear.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A security officer opens the door to his killer. New details from yesterday's deadly shooting at the Holocaust Museum in Washington. This is the accused gunman, James von Brunn.

D.C. police have now announced murder and weapons charges against the 88-year-old white supremacist in the rifle slaying of a museum guard. Other security officers shot back. Von Brunn remains in critical condition. We've also learned the FBI is pursuing possible hate crime charges. And we got a tragic glimpse into what happened as the gunman approached the scene of that crime.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF CATHY LANIER, D.C. METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT: As he approached the 14th Street entrance, as was said earlier, Special Police Officer Johns was kind enough to open the door to allow him to enter. As he entered, he raised the rifle, opened fire, striking Special Police Officer Johns and then engaging with other special police officers in the museum who, by all accounts, stopped him from entering that museum and injuring anybody else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, the attack allegedly fueled by hate. A victim remembered with love. Security Officer Stephen Tyrone Johns killed in yesterday's shooting. He was 39 years old, and he spent six years guarding the Holocaust Museum, where flags are at half staff today. The museum director says that Johns was a great friend with a wonderful smile who died heroically. His stepfather and 11-year-old son were heading to the hospital to see him, but Johns died just before they arrived. We want to note that the family invited the media to talk to his son, by the way, at this very difficult hour, and he bravely did that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN JOHNS, JR., SON OF SLAIN SECURITY OFFICER: I was just hoping and hoping that he would make it.

LEROY CARTER, STEPFATHER OF SLAIN SECURITY OFFICER: Didn't seem like it would be that dangerous. Dangerous, right, to a point, but not where somebody could just run in like that.

JOHNS: When I had heard about what happened, I was just sad, mad at the guy who shot him.

CARTER: Yes. It was bad.

JOHNS: He was a loving father, and so many...

CARTER: A hero, wasn't he? You should think of him as a hero.

JOHNS: And he was also my hero.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: There's a tribute to Security Officer Johns on the Web site of the Security Police Fire Professionals of America, representing more than 30,000 security workers nationwide. The union refers to Officer Johns as "our brother" and sends prayers to his family. You can go to the Web site as well. It's www.spfpa.org.

Well, as you can imagine, this shooting has Jewish centers from coast to coast on high alert now, places like the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, where extra guards are now deployed around the buildings. L.A. police are also boosting patrols, and FBI agents have visited the center. Also upping security, the Illinois Holocaust Museum just outside Chicago and the Virginia Holocaust Museum in Richmond.

So, what's it like to face down a rampaging gunman? Our next guest can answer that question firsthand. Jeanne Assam was on security duty at a Colorado Springs church in 2007 when a gunman opened fire. Jean, a former cop, took him down.

She's on the phone with us right now. Jeanne, thanks so much for joining me.

JEANNE ASSAM, SECURITY OFFICER (via telephone): Glad to be here.

PHILLIPS: I am curious that when you heard about this story, and it was all breaking yesterday, did your heart start to thump, and did you start thinking about the moment where it happened to you just a year ago?

ASSAM: No. My heart didn't start to thump or anything, I just -- my condolences go out to the family of the fallen officer.

PHILLIPS: Put us in the mindset, Jeanne, you know, for those who are not in law enforcement that don't go through the training, that don't know what it's like to come face to face with a madman. You know, everything happens so quickly.

When that happens, when you see, OK, there are lives at stake, tell me and maybe take me back to your situation in 2007, specifically, because we all know about it, what's going through your mind, how quickly do you have to act? You know, how does your training and your instinct kick in?

ASSAM: Well, as an officer, especially in uniform or just in my situation where you're given the responsible to take care of people as their security, you always have to be ready for anything to happen. I mean, you just always have to be on guard and just know that at any point, something could happen where you have to react quickly.

And my feeling is the police, the uniformed police and SWAT are fantastic, but if they're not there, you have to act, and you have to act quickly. You don't have time to wait. And you cannot retreat. That's your job. And you have to just go in and take care of it, take care of the situation.

PHILLIPS: And, Jeanne, to put this in perspective, apparently, we had reported that there were thousands of people inside that museum. We've also reported that the gunman, that von Brunn possibly had ten more rounds in that rifle. You know, when you look at Officer Johns and the fact that he died at the hands of this gunman, and the other guards or officers, rather, responded and shot the gunman, I mean, this madman could have killed many more people.

ASSAM: Yes, he could have, absolutely. The other officers. It sounds like, you know, Officer Johns didn't have a chance. And it sounds like the other officers reacted very quickly. And it's just a tragic situation. And Officer Johns was doing his job. He was being, like you said, courteous in opening the door for an elderly gentlemen. And who knew?

PHILLIPS: And we're still wondering if that rifle was in sight or not. That's still a question, and how things could happen so quickly. Let me ask you, Jeanne, also, when you were a security officer at the church, were you wearing a bulletproof vest? ASSAM: No, I wasn't.

PHILLIPS: And why did you choose not to wear one?

ASSAM: I never -- I just -- I don't think about it. I just think, you know, I'm in plainclothes, and I'm, I don't know. It's not something I think about. I always stood in uniform as a patrol officer but...

PHILLIPS: Is it because you never really thought that a threat could be that intense at the church?

ASSAM: No, not at all. I just -- I'm in regular plainclothes. So, I didn't have one on.

PHILLIPS: Final question. The company that employed Officer Johns, Wackenhut, didn't require that the officers wear vests. In light of what we've seen happen, and, you know, a lot of us don't like having these discussions after the fact, but, you know, what are your feelings as a security officer, as a former police officer, you know, in this day and age, should security officers be wearing vests?

ASSAM: I think they should. It's their choice. Everything is a choice for the officer. It's the officer's choice to have a state of mind that if a bad guy comes in shooting that you can either retreat or take cover, or you can take him on and have the mindset that the enemy has no power over me.

Either you have to think to yourself, I'm not going to die as the officer. He is going to die as the bad guy. And that's a mindset that we should all have, even if you are a civilian and a potential victim of a crime.

What power does the bad guy have over you? He's got none. So, my recommendation is to fight back. And it doesn't have anything to do with a bulletproof vest or not. It's all in your mindset. So...

PHILLIPS: Jeanne Assam -- go ahead, finish your thought.

ASSAM: Oh, I was just going to say, don't be a victim. Be a victor.

PHILLIPS: And you definitely were. Jeanne Assam, appreciate your time so much.

ASSAM: Thank you. Appreciate it.

PHILLIPS: Well, our next guest has been pushing for bulletproof vests for security officers, including the ones who work at the Holocaust Museum. Assane Faye is the Washington district director of the Security Police and Fire Professionals of America. Assane, thanks so much for sticking around. We had to listen to the president's speech on health care. We didn't want to lose sight of this story and the importance of it.

And just to bring our viewers up to date, Wackenhut does not require its security officers to get vests. You were involved with negotiations with this company to get vests to those security officers. Just to bring our folks up to date, what happened with those negotiations? How did that end? Were they going to get vests or not?

ASSANE FAYE, WASHINGTON DISTRICT DIRECTOR, SPFPA: They were open-minded to the issue. They said, yes, this is something we need to do. We will take a look at it. My second idea was to die the vests to the page provisions (ph), because of the job that they do requires more pay. For me to argue a good reasoning for them to get the money that they deserve, I have to bring the risk that they are taking. I also said, "Look, not only do you have to (INAUDIBLE), you have to provide safety. (INAUDIBLE)...the vests. They said, "Okay, we will look at it." It was not something new to the company. They provided vests to old army bases and some other sites that they have.

PHILLIPS: So let me ask you this. In light of what happened, when you look at high-threat areas or high-threat buildings -- and this clearly was, they had armed security officers there -- what is your feeling now? Should Wackenhut and other companies require their security officers to wear vests when they are in -- you could name a lot of high-threat type of buildings, abortion clinics, the Holocaust Museum. What are your feelings now? What should the company do? What should other companies do?

FAYE: They absolutely should provide the vests. It is always part of my negotiations, always part of the language that I submit that they must have safety provision. For instance, at the University of George Washington, they have that. The guards ask for it, for perfect vests (ph). It is not just one size fits all. It's fitted, sort of these -- from what I heard, if it is fitted, then the bullet is not going to be as harmful as it would have, you know, otherwise.

So I think they should do it and follow that example. They have to make sure that these officers are safe. You know, it's -- not having it is not an option -- is just not an option in my mind.

PHILLIPS: Hopefully, companies like Wackenhut and others will provide those vests. They're very expensive. They can be worth more than a thousand dollars. But it's worth saving a life...

FAYE: It's absolutely worth it.

PHILLIPS: That vest could have saved officer Johns' life.

FAYE: That could have saved Officer Johns today, yes.

PHILLIPS: Assane Faye, we will follow up. Appreciate your time today.

FAYE: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Well, keeping hate alive despite what the FBI's numbers say, those in the know say hate is alive, well and growing. One of America's most famous thug hunters will tell us how he is keeping watch on these haters. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Hate. It's alive, well, seething, and we saw yesterday, deadly. We want to talk with a famous thug hunter about what kinds of threats, what kinds of haters are out there. So say hello, John Walsh, host of "America's Most Wanted." And John, I had a chance to chat with you for just a minute, but I am curious how much of these hate mongers you have on your most wanted list?

JOHN WALSH, HOST, "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED": Well, we've done literally hundreds of them over the years, and, you know, first, I would like to say, which has been accurate on your program so many times, about security guard Johns' family and what a hero he was yesterday and the other security guards. They probably prevented wholesale slaughter of innocent people there at the Holocaust Museum. My prayers go out to them.

I also don't understand any of the debate about vests. A hundred and eighty-one cops died in the line of duty two years ago, a hundred and thirty-three cops last year. These are national museums. Everybody should be wearing a vest, because this is a country where whack jobs express their feelings or their philosophies or their religious obsessions by getting a gun somewhere and killing as many people as they can.

They are dangerous. We have to take them very, very serious as a society. I'm a very responsible gun owner and hunter. I don't know how these guys get guns. They shouldn't be able to. We should be able to track them better because they go and kill multiple people. They try to take out as many as they can.

PHILLIPS: And John, since you are making that point, because I would like to drive that home, what would be your message to companies like Wackenhut, especially when they have security officers guarding what you can say is a sensitive building. It could be a high-threat building. You are right. It's a plays that can be a target for hate- mongers. What would be your message to them about, hey, give these guys proper firepower, give them the training and give them the vests no matter how much they cost?

WALSH: Absolutely. No debate. The bad guys have more guns, they have better guns, they have more high-powered guns. These are national museums in the nation's capital. Where else could you make a bigger nut case, whack job statement than to kill somebody in the nation's capital in a museum, particularly the Holocaust Museum, which is all about tolerance? I don't think there is any debate. That's an absolute necessity, especially in the nation's capital. And they are proven to save lives, without a doubt.

PHILLIPS: Since we are there, we are talking about vests, how about gunfire power? These guys had .38 pistols. They didn't have .45s. You tend to wonder, okay. They had the training. They shot the gunman in the head. If they would have had more firepower, would this gunman still be alive?

WALSH: Unfortunately, I have learned an awful lot about the bad guys in 22 years of America's Most Wanted. For example, I was just in Mexico with a general down there about the cartel violence on the border, and he showed me a warehouse full of 4,000 automatic weapons, mostly sold by Americans into Mexico to the cartels that were AK-47s, AR-15s, fifty-caliber machine guns. The cops and security guards have got to be at least as well-armed as the bad guys. They arm their security in Israel and Germany and other parts of the world. They know the nut jobs and the whack jobs have better guns.

PHILLIPS: Point well made. John Walsh, I love days like this, because I get you for two segments. So stay with me, please. In just a few minutes, I will ask John about a real game changer in the fight against child predators that he is all over.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, the considered ghosts of the crime world -- alleged child porn fans and/or molesters. Thanks to new software, though, everyone can see the ghosts. The sheet's off and the secret's out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Now to a child porn sting in Florida called Operation Orange Tree. Five young alleged victims rescued. That's the good news. Nearly 80 suspects arrested. That's good news, as well. Some said to have an instructional video that shows how to molest children and avoid getting caught. How sick is that?

Here's a map that shows the places where child porn was distributed, from the tip of the Keys, all the way up to the northwest corner of the Panhandle. The star of the sting could be new software that finds and connects the dots.

Let's bring back John Walsh of "America's Most Wanted." He wants to make sure that your state has this same technology as Florida. And Mike Phillips, he's with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. They're looking to make even more arrests.

And guys, while I have the pictures -- I know you're still looking for four of these despicable, disgusting individuals: Roshard Whitehead Ricardo Lecky, Pierre Domville. I am being told now it's three that you are focusing on and those are the three individuals at this time. Roshard Whitehead, possibly in Georgia. Ricardo Lecky, possibly in Ohio and Pierre Domville, not quite sure. There's a national search for them.

We do have pictures of those three -- are we going to show those pictures? There we go.

As we show those pictures and you see the names and you look at their faces -- John Walsh, Mike Phillips still need your help in finding these three.

John, you know, I know these arrests that were made -- it was a huge coup. But, why is this still growing? Is it because we're becoming more aware? Or are there more of these scum suckers still out there?

WALSH: Well, I think it's both. That we're starting to be very, very aware. Operation Orange Tree, I think, was historic in many ways.

Now Governor Charlie Crist years ago when he was Attorney General of Florida, started one of the first cyber crime units in the state's -- in the nation's history. Attorney General, Bill McCullom had expanded that to about 30 investigators. Florida Department Law Enforcement picked up the mantle, has used this new software that came free to all the agencies through the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. And It was a model, model template for the nation.

The federal agencies, the U.S. Marshalls and the FBI, in partnership with Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Florida sheriff's -- one sheriff department in Folk County caught over 40 of these suspects. I've never seen anything like it. It was a good day.

PHILLIPS: So --

WALSH: Child pornographers send those images -- those horrible images into cyberspace forever. Child molesters destroy kids' lives. We haven't had this technology before and I think Florida set the bar for the rest of the nations. I'd like to see the other 49 states, 49 governors and 49 AG's do what they did in Florida.

PHILLIPS: I don't think anyone's going to argue with that.

Mike Phillips, without giving away any secrets, tell me what you can about this software and how did you capture these guys? Why was it so effective?

MIKE PHILLIPS, HELPED COORDINATE FLORIDA CHILD PORN STING: You know, 20 years ago when I started in law enforcement, the only way we found out about these guys was if somebody in the family or a friend told us about them.

Now, we've got technology that can pinpoint them through the software, tell us geographically where they're located. So that now we can focus our manpower on them and our jurisdictional regions. We can focus on the worst of the worst. Not just somebody that might have you know, downloaded one or two. These were people who downloaded multiple videos, had this tutorial video on how to molest children. And has been seen by law enforcement for quite some time now.

PHILLIPS: Mike, had you ever seen anything like that before? An actual tutorial on how to molest a child in the hands of these predators?

M. PHILLIPS: No, not like this. It's a video that tells them how to physically do it. And then it also tells how to avoid detection by wives or you know, people who may come into the situation. And it's very graphic. Not only visually graphic but just to read the actual words and how these children are molested. And when we're talking about children, I'm not talking about a teenager. I'm starting about starting before they're even one years old.

K. PHILLIPS: God. That just -- you just -- it's just absolutely -- it's an outrage. It's an absolute outrage.

And John Walsh, you know, so many of these guys commit these kind of crimes and do a little time and they're back out on the streets. I mean, it's going to take more than software to track them down. It's going to take laws that put these guys away forever.

WALSH: Well, absolutely. Sometimes the penalties are just a slap on the wrist. And I've got to say the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Mike's S.W.A.T. team for kids did an incredible job.

You know, my wife always calls child pornographers and child molesters terrorists -- terrorists of children. And some of these guys were repeat offenders, were convicted sex-offenders that were back out on the street. I really hope that other states, state legislatures and on the federal level -- they realize how insidious these people are, how well-organized they are.

This software is available for free. It should go to every police agency in the country. And my hat's off to the state of Florida. They did it the right way on a federal, state, and local level. They probably have the best cyber crimes units in the country. We need that.

Look at 77 of the worst of the worst in Florida. You can't imagine how many other creeps are out there. And the tough things is that several of the children in this child pornography have not been identified yet. Their pain hasn't been ended. We need to find who those kids are and where these images were made and we need to stop these guys. This was a good day for children.

K. PHILLIPS: Mike Phillips, you're a true hero.

We appreciate you so much.

M. PHILLIPS: Thank you.

K. PHILLIPS: Also, John Walsh, we always appreciate talking to you. And we will push forward and try to monitor every state and see who does take that software and implement it.

Rick Sanchez takes it from here.