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Dark History of Abuse and Cover-Up in Boy Scout Programs at Center of Lawsuit; Google Versus China in Censorship Fight; Cashing in Frequent Flier Miles for A Place to Sleep

Aired March 23, 2010 - 09:58   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: First Iraq, now Afghanistan: new insights that Iran's alleged proxy war against the U.S. is far from involved than previously thought. CNN's Brian Todd has the latest now from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): U.S. Military and intelligence officials tell CNN Iran has gone beyond giving weapons to the Taliban. The officials say the Iranians are helping train Taliban fighters in the use of small arms and are doing some of that training inside Iran.

These officials did not say how many Taliban fighters have been trained in Iran or whether this was sanctioned at the highest levels of the Iranian government.

We also spoke with Bruce Riedel, a former CIA officer who did a strategic review of Afghanistan for the Obama administration last year.

(on camera): What are they doing specifically that you know of?

BRUCE RIEDEL, SABAN CENTER FOR MIDDLE EAST POLICY: Iran and its allies like the Hezbollah are masters at improvised explosive devices. At putting bombs along the sides of ditches and roads and they're trying to transmit some of that knowledge over to the Afghan Taliban.

TODD (voice-over): The Iranian regime has always denied supporting the Taliban and contacted by CNN about this latest information an Iranian official at the United Nations say, "These are absolutely baseless and wrong allegations and strongly rejected by the Islamic Republic of Iran."

U.S. Military officials recently said Iran was training the Taliban but said it was going on inside Afghanistan. General David Petraeus has called the help limited in scope. Defense Secretary Robert Gates agrees.

ROBERT GATES, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: There is some, but to this point, I think it has been considered to be pretty low level.

TODD: Now in addition to CNN's latest information on Taliban training inside Iran, the "Sunday Times of London" quotes two unidentified Taliban commanders as saying they'd attended three-month courses inside Iran. CNN could not independently confirm those details.

The Iranians, who are Shia, have been a longtime enemy of the Taliban, which is primarily Sunni. But Riedel says in the short term Iran sees helping the Taliban as a way to counter America's overall pressure on Iran.

RIEDEL: As the United States squeezes Iran, Iran is looking for places to squeeze America back, and where better than Obama's war next door in Afghanistan.

TODD (on camera): And Riedel says Taliban leaders while having no love for Iran need to take whatever help they can get right now because Pakistan is arresting more Taliban militants inside its borders while the U.S. drone campaign continues to slam the Taliban and its allies.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doing the rounds in Washington. He heads to a White House meeting later today with President Obama. The U.S. wants Israel to back down from a construction plan in disputed East Jerusalem. Mr. Netanyahu is showing no signs of doing so.

And happening right now, a Senate panel is holding a hearing on the president's pick to head the Transportation Security Administration. Robert Harding is a retired major general with 33 years in the Army. He ran a defense and intelligence contracting firm until he sold it last year.

And it's now China's move in a chess match with Google that could determine the search engine's future there. The Chinese are criticizing Google's decision to stop censoring it's Chinese website and Beijing could go further by blocking access to it.

Counting down to history. Just over an hour from now at the White House right here President Obama will sign the health care reform bill into law, and it kicks off the most sweeping changes in generations and has fueled some of the most bitter divisions in decades. Those battle plans against health care reform are just taking shape inside the Beltway and beyond. CNN's Jill Dougherty at the White House -- Jill.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, you know, these are the moments that presidents savor, because after all he gets to sit down and sign a bill, finally something that he can show, a campaign pledge fulfilled. But not quite, there still is the second part of this which is the reconciliation bill, the fixed bill, that has to go to the Senate.

But this morning, in just about an hour, the president's going to be signing the bill in the East Room. And you know, this morning we were saying maybe they made a mistake on the weather, but it's getting overcast so it probably was right to keep it in the East Room, which we expect will be jam-packed with people. There will be, of course, the legislators who helped to bring this together, democrats all of them. And then you have nurses, doctors, health care workers, people who worked in the trenches, the grassroots people, all in that room. We also expect the widow of Senator Ted Kennedy, the proponent of course of health care, Vicky Kennedy, who will be in attendance as well.

And then, Kyra, after about an hour, he goes over to a larger space that's over in the Interior Department and he'll deliver more extensive talks about health care reform.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll be following it, Jill Dougherty. And of course, we're tracking it live. We will check back in with you as soon as that signing happens.

And some democrats who voted for the bill are feeling the backlash already and it's getting pretty ugly. Just hours after the vote, vandals actually broke out the glass door and window of Arizona Congressman Gabriel Giffords. And a prominent lawmaker in the debate saw a similar attack. Louise Slaughter says that a window was broken at her district office in Niagara Falls. And in Wichita, Kansas, a brick was tossed through a window at the Sedgwick County Democratic Headquarters. That brick had messages railing against reform and President Obama.

Also on the administration's agenda today, the epidemic of drug violence in Mexico. The big four on national security are on their way down right now -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs Chair Admiral Mike Mullen. They're going to be there to talk about security concerns and U.S. efforts to help fight the drug cartels.

Covering Mexico's drug war is a deadly game itself. Take a look at this -- already this year, four journalists have been killed for telling the story of what's happening there; 12 were killed just last year. It was the second deadliest country for journalists ahead of places like Afghanistan and Iraq, only the Philippines was worse.

So why do it? Why get in the middle of the madness? Dodging bullets, death threats, what's the motivation? Francisco Villalobos is an international correspondent with Televisa. He's one of the brave journalists willing to risk it all to tell the inside story. He joins us live from a much safer place today, Charlotte, North Carolina.

Good to see you.

FRANCISCO VILLALOBOS, NOTICIEROS TELEVISA U.S. GULF COAST BUREAU CHIEF : Much safer and also very, very much safer weather as well. How are you doing? Good morning.

PHILLIPS: Good morning to you. Well, Francisco, I don't think any of us as journalists could ever imagine what you take on on a regular basis. We may go to Juarez, other parts of Mexico and do a special series and a few reports, but you're dealing with this day in and day out, cartels killing journalists that are trying to cover this story and investigate them.

Give us a feeling for what that is like for you as you come up with these story ideas, try and decide how to go after these stories and then go in the country to do it?

VILLALOBOS: Well, in my particular situations, I covered the whole southeastern United States like the Gulf Coast region, the border between Texas and Mexico. I don't have the constant to be living in Mexico and obviously my life is not in constant danger as the people like my fellow journalists that live in Mexico, but certainly when we go and cover stories along the border, when we go into hot spots like Juarez and Matamoros and Reynosa and (INAUDIBLE), you have places that you understand that is very dangerous. And not only the metropolitan areas that we go to, we go also into place that there's no -- absolutely nothing but an invisible border which is the Rio Bravo, the Rio Grande like we know here in the United States, and in some situations they have a small little fence.

And we're aware of the situation because you only deal with the drug trafficking or with the gun trafficking, you also are having to deal also with the human trafficking as well, with the situation that if you are by yourself with your cameraman or sometimes completely by yourself, you're exposed to the elements, you're exposed to the dangers and you're exposed to somebody confusing you with a rival trafficker yourself.

And as far as the motivation, I think that any journalist that loves their passion, such as yourself, you as an anchor, or a war correspondent or in my case an international correspondent that's living in a state that is border to an international border, I'm sorry, it is the passion. You have to be passionate about it. You have to believe in what you're doing. You certainly don't do it for money, because there's no price that could buy your health or could buy your life.

I mean, you do it because you believe that by reporting the story you're doing a cause, you're serving a cause bigger than yourself. That you are reporting what's going on so that people can know what's going on so that the people that die don't die for nothing and that their stories are being told for the general public and for the people that have the power to make changes to do so.

PHILLIPS: Do you ever fear for your life? Do you fear for the lives of your family, and what's that like to try and embrace?

VILLALOBOS: I've been very careful personally, but I could talk - -I could tell you about the other fellow journalists that do fear for their life. Myself, I've been careful to not put myself into situations where I could actually have my daughter -- I have an 8- year-old daughter -- to put her, you know, that her father be in danger or for her be in danger or anything like that. I've been very careful about that, been very smart about that. And again, I live on this side of the border, a safer side of the border.

Other journalists, I could tell you, I mean, it's a situation where they are constantly threatened that if they make -- that they have to move, in fact, from Mexico. I have a friend that just moved. She was a columnist in Coahuila, which is a state -- is also a border state. And she moved to Houston, Texas because of her column. She got death threats to the point that she couldn't continue living in her city.

When I do my stories, and talking about myself, of course, I don't think about those things because I'm a person of faith. I try to be careful. I do my homework. I don't put myself into situations that are stupid situations and I try to be aware of my surroundings. I also talk a lot with the local people, not necessarily with the authorities, but also with the people living in these areas and the people that know these areas at best. And anybody that could be a war correspondent that could be -- that go to foreign countries, you know that the local people, the inhabitants people are the best source of information and the best source of your safety.

PHILLIPS: Francisco, we admire what you do that at Televisa and we just appreciate you sharing time with us today. Obviously, it's a story, even though it's from afar we continue to cover and we appreciate your insight.

VILLALOBOS: Thank you. Thank you for having us and good job on what you guys are doing at CNN as well. You guys have awesome correspondents as well.

PHILLIPS: Thank you, Francisco.

The Boy Scout motto "Be Prepared" takes new meaning in light of the perversion files highlighting decades of alleged abuse upon. We're dedicating an entire segment to this disturbing story. That's coming up later in the hour.

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PHILLIPS: You probably have a lot of questions about health care reform. E-mail your questions to my blog page. CNN.com/Kyra. A medical team will join me all this week to answer your questions.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Let's take a look at the Big Board. Straight from the New York stock Exchange, Dow Industrials it looks like up almost 36 points. We're tracking it for you.

Welcome home, a milestone for Maine's troop greeters on duty night and day for serve years not allowing any returning troops to go unappreciated.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Friendly face and a smile on arrival. U.S. Troops returning from war zones overseas come through Bangor, Maine on their way home and there's always a group of people waiting to say welcome back. The Maine troop greeters actually marked their own milestone -- 1 million welcome homes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DUSTY FISHER, TROOP GREETER: When they come around the corner the excitement and the heart beats a little faster and the emotions get up and I don't think the feelings change for any of us. We're spending time with quality people, and that can't be bad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: They've been doing it for seven years now and have no plans to stop until everyone is back home.

Bill Clinton has a plan to help Haiti's economic recovery after January's devastating earthquake. Clinton joined George Bush for a tour of Port-au-Prince yesterday. The former presidents are heading up a U.S. fund-raising effort in Haiti. In an exclusive interview with CNN, Clinton says the U.S. should extend trade preferences for Haiti that would allow Haiti to export textiles, creating tens of thousands of jobs. Clinton also graded recovery efforts so far.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM J. CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think that the Haitians and the international community have done a good job distributing food and water. I think they've done a good job of beginning to clear the rubble given the resources they had. I think that we've not done as good as any of us should have done in providing adequate shelter with adequate sanitation.

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's hard to describe adequately the devastation. It's profound and it's affected a lot of people's lives. It's one thing to see it on TV, it's another thing to see it firsthand. And hopefully, our trip will remind people in our country that Haiti needs help.

I'll let the president speak at the donor's conference on March 31st. I can tell you, though, that a lot of people in the America care about the plight of the Haitian people. They want to help, be a part of the long-term solution. They just want to make sure there's a plan in place that will work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: The Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund has brought in more than $37 million so far.

Scandal-plagued community group ACORN says it's shutting down next month citing falling revenue and blaming a right-wing smear campaign for its downfall. The group lost its federal funding after secretly shooting these videos showing ACORN workers giving advice about how to set up a brothel and evade paying taxes. It was a pair of conservative activists who masqueraded as a pimp and prostitute. ACORN'S CEO called the videos a setup.

Attorneys defending Dr. Conrad Murray in the death of Michael Jackson are blasting prosecutes for allegedly leaking details of a police report. That report claims Dr. Murray stopped trying to revive Jackson so he could collect drug vials from the Jackson home. The L.A. district attorney's office denies that it leaked that document.

You may be worried that when health care reform kicks in you'll be worse off. We're going to show you how you can benefit.

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PHILLIPS: All right, we're getting live pictures in from our affiliate WBAL out of Baltimore, Maryland. Apparently this is a crash scene involving a light rail train and a tractor trailer. It happened -- it looks like about 9:30 a.m., so just about an hour ago. There are unconfirmed reports right now that there is somebody trapped in the wreckage here, and we possibly might have seen someone just a moment ago getting airlifted out of there.

Let me see if I can find any other information here. Another affiliate reporting that the driver of the tractor suffered a broken leg. If you know this area, as we look at a wider shot here, Gilroy Road is apparently what leads into here, it has been closed off due to traffic and also this scene.

So we're working this for you, trying to get more information on the light rail train and tractor trailer that crashed here in Baltimore County, Maryland. We'll bring you as much information as possible.

Your fears about -- well, you probably have a lot of fears about health care reform and it's reflected in these numbers. The new CNN Opinion Research poll shows fewer than one in five Americans think that they'll be better off. Nearly think that it will make things worse for them.

Let's try and go beyond those numbers and look at individual cases. Elizabeth Cohen always helps with us that, and you've been tracking scenarios according to certain kind of families. So would half of all Americans actually be worse off?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, you know, I think that depends on who you ask. And so what we decided to do, rather than play politics is to make a couple of people up. We just invented some people and decided to talk about what would happen to them under health care reform.

So let's take some people who might not be so happy about health care reform. For example, we have Invincible Isabelle here. Look at those muscles, Kyra. Do you see how strong and healthy she is? Look how happy she is.

PHILLIPS: She's got good health care.

COHEN: Well, no, she doesn't. She's healthy and she says I don't need insurance, I'm healthy. Look how strong I am. I don't need to buy anything. I'm happy the way I am. I'd rather spend that money on a trip to Hawaii or something. So Isabelle is not going to be so happy with health care reform, you know why? Cause she is going to get charged a $95 fine for not having insurance starting in 2014, and that number is just going to get bigger and bigger every year. So you know what? Isabelle is not going to be so thrilled with health care reform.

Let me introduce you now, Kyra, to someone who might not be so happy with health care reform, and that is Marlene who is on the other end of the spectrum, she's on Medicare. Let me tell you a bit about her. She knows that every year Medicare increases the amount money they spend on her by 4 percent. And you know, she likes that. She likes getting more and more money each year. But not anymore, under health care reform that is going to be history and instead Medicare will increase spending on her by only about 2 percent.

Now, some people say Marlene's going to feel that difference; other people say Marlene will never, ever know. So Marlene right now is safe to say, is feeling just a big old question mark.

PHILLIPS: Obviously, there's a lot of people who will benefit.

COHEN: Right. So let's go over some of those people. We invented a couple more people to illustrate that point.

For example, let's take a look at young Yvette. You can see that Yvette here has her little graduation cap on. She's graduated and she wants to go, I don't know, travel the world or go to graduate school or something. She'd like to stay on mom and dad's policy. Well, the way it works now in most states she couldn't do that, but under health care reform, she can. She can stay, she will be covered on mom and dad's insurance, as long as she's dependent, until she's 26. You and I talked a bit about this yesterday. So until 26 she can stay on mom and dad's policy, as long as she's a dependent.

So let's bring up someone else, if I can get her going here, hold on one second. All right -- Bad back Bob. Bob is not a happy camper. He has a bad back and he has a preexisting condition and he's had a terrible time finding anyone who is willing to insure him for a reasonable price. So now Bob, under health care reform, will immediately go into a high-risk pool. So in other words, he'll have insurance and then further down the line private companies won't be allowed to say no to him. So Bob under health care reform is a happy camper -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: OK, well, you'll be staying on top of this, obviously, and later today you'll have more specific examples.

COHEN: That's right. This isn't a made-up person. This is actually me. Starting at 1:20 today I'm going to be talking about more examples, what health care reform means to you because we're all in different situations -- Kyra. PHILLIPS: Sounds good. Thanks, Elizabeth.

The new health care package also means big changes to a menu near you. As part of the legislation, any restaurant with more than 20 locations will be required by the FDA to clearly list the number of calories with food items on the menu, it also applies to foods sold in vending machines. Supporters say that the new law will provide consumers with better information in the fight against obesity.

Be prepared? Maybe for a cover up. Secret files uncovered have boy scouts been sexually abused for almost 100 years? You won't want to miss this interview.

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PHILLIPS: Now a disturbing case that all of you parents should know about. A Boy Scout leader accused of sexual abuse but allegedly allowed to stay with the Scouts as a volunteer while the abuse continued. By itself, it's a horrific story, but an attorney now says it's just one thread in a pattern of cover ups by the Boy Scouts of America. CNN's Brian Todd reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As it marks a century of molding the character and morality of young men, this is another image the Boy Scouts of America must deal with, a convicted sex offender's deposition in open court and charges that the scouts' organization engaged in a culture of cover-up. How the Scouts handled the case of former scout leader Timmer Dikes (ph) is at the center of an explosive lawsuit in Portland, Oregon.

Attorney Kelly Clark represents six men who are suing the Boy Scouts, alleging the organization knew that when they were young boys in the 1980s, at least one of them had been abused by Dikes.

They also alleged that although Dikes was removed as a scout leader, he was allowed to stay on as a volunteer, and they claim the abuse continued.

KELLY CLARK, PLAINTIFF' ATTORNEY: When they knew this, the evidence will be, was in January,1983, before (EXPLETIVE WORD) the --

TODD: The accusers' lawyers provided CNN with a copy of the complaint and their opening statement. We couldn't get similar documents from the defense, but in court, the Scouts' lawyers say the organization didn't know about Dikes' prior record and an outstanding warrant until he was pulled over during a routine traffic stop.

PAUL XOCHIHUA, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That bench warrant wasn't known. Nobody followed up on it, until after Mr. Dikes was pulled over in Tillamook with several boys.

TODD: The Scouts' lawyers claim the organization acted immediately and cooperated with police, but Clark, the lawyer for the accusers, has a broader allegation. He produced documents that he says were part of an archive of secret Boy Scouts files chronicling the abuse of young boys for decades. Contacted by CNN, a spokesman for the Boy Scouts of America didn't respond specifically to that allegation. He said the organization does have confidential files. He said that's to protect information about people who are ineligible to be scout leaders but who may not have done anything illegal.

I spoke about that with Patrick Boyle, author of a book about asexual abuse in the Boy Scouts, who says he's also seen some of these files.

TODD: What about the Boy Scouts' argument that, look, these files contain confidential information that could damage people who are not involved in these cases?

PATRICK BOYLE, AUTHOR, "SCOUT'S HONOR": Sure, they absolutely do which is one reason the first time these files were ever made public back in 1985 in a lawsuit, the Scouts blacked out the names of every victim and every molester. And then they turned the files over. So, there is a way to make these files public.

TODD: More details from those files could be made public as this trial progresses. While not commenting on the case, a spokesman for the Boy Scouts of America did say in recent years they've taken extensive measures to keep abusers out.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: The author that you just saw in that piece, Patrick Boyle says the Boy Scouts secret files of abuse go back -- ready for this --nearly 100 years. Patrick joins me now to talk about what he discovered.

I just want to get right to the letters in these secret files, if you don't mind. Patrick, this one I'm looking at specifically, something that really bothered me about this, and it talks about the victim and the molester and what exactly happened.

But here's what bugs me the most and disturbs me the most when it talks about action and recommendation. It talks about this troop leader no longer remaining active as volunteer, but then it says "he does not anticipate any criminal charges and believes the matter will be settled quietly." The matter will be settled quietly. That is appalling.

BOYLE: Unfortunately, you see memos like that throughout these files, Kyra. One of the main things to remember here is the Boy Scouts had these files confidential for a couple of reasons -- very good reasons, actually.

One is to protect the boys and also some of these people what were not charged with crimes. But also, they were trying to protect the corporation. This is a very big corporation that brings in $150 million a year, and they frequently work to try to keep these cases out of court and out of the press because they know it would hurt the brand. I have to say, they didn't act unlike a lot of other organizations as well.

PHILLIPS: We're talking about thousands of possible cases out there. And we went to Boy Scouts of America, Patrick, and this is what they told us. "Scouts seeking to prevent child abuse through a comprehensive program of education or" -- I'm sorry, "scouting seeks to prevent this program of education, chartered organization leader selection procedures, criminal and other background checks barriers to abuse, prompt reporting and swift action."

Okay. That's the statement, but that's not -- we haven't seen that happen in decades, and we're sitting here looking at papers that were in these files saying the matter will be settled quietly. What's the Boy Scouts of America doing to try to prevent sexual abuse like this?

BOYLE: They're doing more than they used to. Don't forget, these cases happened in the 1980s. And frankly, one of the things the Scouts were doing which was the same thing everybody else was doing, which was let's get these guys to go away and let's hold our noses and hope they don't bother us again. Churches did it, schools did it and the Scouts certainly did it.

There's a lot of debate about how far the Scouts have come. They've done an awful lot more than they used to do and you read some of the list of activities there. It is not clear, Kyra, whether or not these are uniformly applied throughout the country, and that's one of the big questions for people who have kids in the Scouts. Do you always have criminal background checks? Do they cover people who were registered with the Scouts many years ago? After all, it is still a corporation trying to protect its image, and it's trying to protect the image of the good volunteers that carry out the Scout program around the country.

PHILLIPS: And we should point out there are a number of fabulous Scout leaders as well.

BOYLE: Right.

PHILLIPS: Now, you conducted interviews with eight former Scout leaders who molested boys. What did they tell you?

BOYLE: Well, they told me a couple of things. One of which was, unfortunately, although the scouts created a wonderful organization for boys, they also created a perfect organization for child molesters. Because they found the Scouts gave them access to a lot of boys all of a sudden. Gave them opportunities to be alone with those boys because of campouts and meetings in church basements. And most importantly allowed them to establish close relationships with these boys.

Kyra, right from the beginning, the Scouts have pitched themselves as an organization that focuses on a man/boy relationship, a mentoring relationship that's supposed to be very close. That's a wonderful thing. But for some of these guys, that relationship enabled them to begin grooming these boys for sexual activity, and that's what eventually happened. A lot of them were shocked that they were able to get into the Boy Scouts even after been caught previously. The confidential file system that we're talking about here is extensive. It goes back as you said, almost 100 years, but it has hardly been foolproof.

PHILLIPS: That goes to show that there are not enough checks and balances in the system. So, how is it that the pope now can come forward and apologize for sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, and the Boy Scouts of America can't do that?

BOYLE: I think it comes down to the fact that nobody has made them. I mean, the Catholic Church has been buffeted by this problem for many years, and there's bad publicity about the church. The Scouts have pretty much gotten away on a case-by-case basis. And I think, Kyra, one of the main reasons, frankly, is a lot of people have it out for the Catholic Church in the way they don't for the Boy Scouts. The Boy Scouts have a very good reputation, a lot of goodwill. And people have given them slack on this, and they're not apologizing because they really don't have to.

PHILLIPS: Your advice to me as a parent, I want to sign my son up for scouts. How do I know he is not going to get involved in a troop where when he goes on a campout that his leader is giving him alcohol, as I'm reading in some of these memos here, and he's waking up being molested in a tent?

BOYLE: Yes. That's a great question. I can tell you as a parent of three children myself. Here's two pieces of advice that came to me from frankly -- from molesters and parents and victims.

Number one, if your kid is involved, you should be involved. That's what one father told me. These molesters tell me, Kyra, that they take advantage of kids whose parents are absentee. They said they could tell right from the first meeting which kids were going to be vulnerable to them because the parents just drop them off.

It doesn't mean you have to be the coach. It means you could be the statistician, the snack parent, you talk to the coaches or the team leader. Or at least are at some of the practices. They have to see that you're there and you have to see what's going on.

The second thing is you have to make sure your child is comfortable talking with you about abuse if something happens. And I know this really difficult, especially for young children. But there are a lot of good materials out there -- videos, books and Web sites that will help you have this conversation with your child.

I've had them with my children. And the point is you can't guarantee nothing will happen, Kyra, but if you put children through this education, we do know they're more likely to stop abuse sooner, and they're more likely to tell their parents early. And that's really the best protection you can give them.

PHILLIPS: Patrick, you do fantastic work. The book is "Scout's Honor." I encourage every parent to pick it up, and I appreciate your insight today. BOYLE: Thanks, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Patrick.

The latest shot by Google to get by China's censors, trying an end through Hong Kong. Well, is China ready to respond?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: It's Google versus China in a censorship fight. The Internet giant makes a move and tries to pull out of China. Felicia Taylor is in New York with the details. So, Felicia, does Google's Chinese Web site still exist?

FELCIA TAYLOR, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Kyra. It does still exist, but it actually only redirects users to its site in Hong Kong, which is uncensored. So, since the Web site's servers are in Hong Kong, Google doesn't actually have to follow China's self- censorship laws.

But the Chinese people still can't actually Google anything they want because the Chinese government's Web site -- web filter, rather, kicks in. So, if you search something considered a little controversial, the link to that Web site won't work. But this move by Google does show that it's taking a pretty significant stand against Chinese restrictions. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Well, China is a huge and growing market. It's really in Google's best interests to leave China?

TAYLOR: No. Absolutely not, and the truth is, Google isn't pulling out completely. It's going to maintain its maps, music search and sales operations in China. But as you said, China is one of the world's fastest growing markets. So, it would be difficult for Google to pull out altogether.

And some analysts believe that if Google did leave, it would even be bad PR for china. The country wants to portray itself as sort of an open environment where companies all over the world can come and do business. In a way, as that one analyst, said they do need each other in order for things to work. So, Google is not pulling out altogether, they do have still have operations there and it's in a sort of refashioned way.

On Wall Street, Google shares, they are down over 2 percent. Baidu, which is its rival -- that's the biggest search company in China. They're up almost 3 percent, thanks to some analyst upgrades. But overall, the stock market in the U.S. is doing quite well. The Dow industrials up 34 points, and the NASDAQ is up almost three.

Kyra, back to you.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Felicia.

It's nearly unthinkable after last month's Snowmageddon at the nation's capital. A new spring prediction, and this one isn't coming from a groundhog.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: We're about half hour away from history. President Obama set to -- or set to his landmark health care legislation, set to sign it rather, into law. Sorry about that. So, stay with us. CNN will bring you live coverage as soon as he steps up to the table.

The former university professor charged with shooting her colleagues is due in court today. It's just a preliminary hearing for Amy Bishop. She still hasn't entered a plea. She is charged, though, with murdering three of her co-workers in the university of Alabama in Huntsville. Three others were injured in last month's attack.

Coastal flood warnings posted for, let's see, eastern New England again, right, Rob?

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PHILLIPS: All right. Thanks, Rob.

MARCIANO: All right. You got it.

PHILLIPS: A few short weeks removed from Washington, D.C.'s Snowmageddon, and the National Park Service says it expects the annual cherry blossoms around the nation's capital to bloom earlier this year. The trees will likely begin blooming this weekend, just in time for the annual cherry blossom festival. And it's set to run from March 27th to April 11 and you will not want to miss it.

Almost every town has its share of abandoned, boarded-up homes. Some towns are using stimulus money to fight back. T.J. Holmes will be here to show us how.

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PHILLIPS: He lost his job, and he lost his home. Now a former business travel cashes in his frequent flier miles just to save himself from being homeless.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I accumulated them, I was hoping it would be for something a little bit more like trips to Hilton Head to play golf or wine country or go to Europe or something. But turns out I'm using them to put a roof over my head.

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PHILLIPS: One man's remarkable story, straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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PHILLIPS: Just one abandoned home can drive an entire neighborhood into decline. And while the problem isn't new, the mortgage meltdown made it worse. Some communities are using federal stimulus money to fight back.

It's back. And he's back. T.J. Holmes and the Stimulus Desk. What can you tell us about the program, T.J.?

T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It is the desk. And of course, we're just letting people know this money is constantly going out, constantly going out. So we're letting people know how their money is being used.

We're talking about the NSP this time. The Neighborhood Stabilization Program. It's supposed to help the neighborhoods that have been hurt with foreclosure. Some of the homes sit out and the weeds grow and it's boarded up and all that stuff. That doesn't look good for a neighborhood, not good for property values. So, this program gives out the money to help with those foreclosed homes.

Earlier this year, the government handed out about $2 billion in NSP grants is what they're called. They were authorized, of course, by the stimulus bill. Grants went out to 56 recipients over 28 states and D.C. go some, as well. And it goes to states and local municipalities.

Giving you one example here, Kyra, of how your money is being spent. Evanston, Illinois, right outside of Chicago. They got about $18 million. They were supposed to use this money for two particular neighborhoods, two blighted neighborhoods. They plan to take that money. They'll purchase and rehabilitate about 100 foreclosed units for rental, for resale, going to redevelop those properties, and then offer them as 30 units for affordable housing.

So, they're cleaning up the neighborhood and make it available for someone else to move in. They're expecting the work to begin sometime this summer. Could take about three years.

Of course, as well, Kyra, the big deal of all this in the stimulus bill is how much of all of this money will be used to actually create jobs? On this project in particular, they're not exactly sure how many jobs they're going to be able to create. But as a rule, we were told, for every $100,000 in construction cost, that's the equivalent of about one full-time job. So, some jobs will be created and again, the purpose over here, Stimulus Desk, to let you know how your money is being used. Kyra.

PHILLIPS: You sound like an infomercial.

HOLMES: Did I? I'm training for a later career.

PHILLIPS: It's going to be -- oh, I see. I think you plenty of years left in this place. That's for sure. Thanks, T.J.

Out of work and out of savings. But not yet on the street. This is a great story. We'll tell you how a former business travel is using frequent flier miles to keep a roof over his head.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: President Obama ready to sign that massive health care reform bill. The ceremony scheduled to start in just a little over 20 minutes from now. We will take you there live as soon as it gets under way.

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PHILLIPS: Well, as a business traveler he racked up frequent flier miles and dreamed of cashing them in for a posh vacation some time. He just never imagined that those accumulated points would eventually save him from being homeless. At least for the time being. It's a remarkable and touching story from our CNN photojournalist Gabi Ramirez.

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JIM: I was managing corporate development for a firm in the Bay Area and helped them acquire their largest competitor, and they said thank you and sent me packing.

I lost my house about two months ago.

I did a lot of traveling in the software business for firms meeting clients, so I accumulated a lot of miles. When I accumulated them, I was hoping it would be for something like trips to Hilton Head to play golf, wine country or go to Europe or something. But it turns out I'm using them to put a roof over my head.

I found after a while that you can use United and Delta points on a sliding scale. For example, one of the hotels is, for example, say, 6,000 points a night, but if you throw in $20 a night, it will go down to 4,500 points a night. With 170,000 miles, that would last me over 30 nights or so. So, that's 30 nights, another one, 25 nights, another one probably another 30 nights. So, I've got another six to eight weeks depending upon how the night works out with a night at a Motel 6 here or there, throwing in before I'm going to be in more desperate straits than I already am in.

I started just as a way to let people know what's going on, and to Twitter about what was happening with being homeless and looking for a job in the recession. I hope - I was just kind of a third party, hope maybe some manager in Orange County would see it or in the Bay Area and say hey, we should talk to this guy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happens in two months if things don't change?

JIM: Well, I'm confident I'll find a job before then. So I'm -- I'll figure out something else at that point, but I'm confident I'll find a job between now and then, and it won't be a problem, and I'll be able to move on with my life, move forward.

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PHILLIPS: We're just about 15 minutes away from history. President Obama set to sign his landmark health care legislation into law. We're going to bring it to you live.

Tony Harris, are you ready for the big moment?

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, this is going to be something. This is going to be quite a moment.

We've got a terrific team set up. Wolf Blitzer will be joining us in just a couple of minutes. We're going to watch history unfold before our eyes, right here in the NEWSROOM.

Kyra, you have a great day, lady.

PHILLIPS: You, too.