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"Christian Warriors" Indicted; Help for Homeowners; Bullied to Death?; Karl Rove Heckled; Russian Subway Suicide Attacks; Forced to Pay Rent
Aired March 30, 2010 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, guys.
Do you have any idea what it's like to be growing up in 2010? Being a kid nowadays probably night and day compared to what you remember.
Do you ever remember signing a no suicide contract in the second grade? Can you even imagine being picked on to the point where death seemed like the best escape? Kids can be cruel but the stories you're about to hear are just downright brutal.
Like it or not, sexting is part of growing up in 2010. Yes, boys will be boys. But if your teen son texts a dirty picture of his girlfriend, as bone headed as it might be, does he really belong in the same category as the true perverts and pedophiles?
One other thing you didn't see back in the day. Heck, why even wear pants if they are going to hang like that? This part of growing up in 2010 might not make it to 2011 if one lawmaker has his way.
We're taking a look at all these stories over the next couple of hours and we want your feedback.
We begin right now with a group's Web site that shocked us all. A Midwest militia claiming it's preparing for end-time battles to keep the testimony of Jesus Christ alive. But federal prosecutors say the self-proclaimed Christian warriors were also preparing for another kind of war. This one against police.
A ninth member of an alleged Michigan-based militia group was captured last night. Joshua Stone surrendered peacefully after being on the run. He's the son of David Brian Stone, alleged leader of the group.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDRE ARENA, FBI: He was taken into custody right down the street here in Hillsdale County. He was in a location with some other -- five other adults and a child. Bottom line is everybody is safe. A good conclusion to a long three days.
DONNA STONE, EX-WIFE OF ALLEGED MILITIA LEADER DAVID STONE: He dragged my son into do this and it is wrong. (END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: It was right there in their own backyard. Neighbors are stunned that the militia group's military training was going right -- going on right there smack-dab in the middle of their neighborhood.
CNN's Drew Griffin joins us live in Adrian, Michigan. Drew?
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When you read the indictment, Kyra, you are stunned that this could happen anywhere in the U.S. Imagine you're here in Adrian, Michigan, an all-American kind of town, and realize that this kind of planning was going on right down the street from where you live.
That's the reality that happened this weekend as people outside of this town of Adrian woke up and began reading the news and seeing the raid just happening down the street.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN (voice-over): They are frightening videos, training for assaults, firing weapons. All the more scary to Jane and Bruce Holey, who found out about the Hutaree from news reports, went to a Web site to look them up and literally saw their neighbors practicing war on tape.
BRUCE HOLEY, LIVED NEAR ALLEGED MILITIA MEMBERS: There's things on the Web site showing all this training. It is obvious. We can pick out landmarks. It was done in our neighborhood.
GRIFFIN (on camera): So this training or military filming that they were doing, although you didn't know it was happening, it was happening right here?
HOLEY: It was happening right there.
JANE HOLEY, LIVED NEAR ALLEGED MILITIA MEMBERS: And one shot is them walking down the street with all their guns and everything. It's like, how did we not know?
GRIFFIN (voice-over): What they didn't know was that members of the Hutaree militia allegedly were preparing for a major battle against their own country, describing themselves as Christian warriors.
They have used their Web site to declare war on law enforcement and all foot soldiers of the federal government. According to that Web site, they're driven by biblical teachings. They believe command Christians to take up arms in defense of the one true church of Christ.
How attacking the federal government fits into that plan is unclear.
(On camera): To understand why the neighbors or how the neighbors could not know what was going on here, take a look at the neighborhood. The closest true neighbor is about a quarter of a mile down a dirt road where the intercession of two dirt roads. One very muddy at that. This is supposedly the base of operations for this group.
(Voice-over): This weekend, authorities moved in on this set of trailers in a rural corner of Michigan and arrested 45-year-old David Brian Stone, the man identified as the group's leader. Also known as Captain Hutaree.
Stone's wife Tina was also arrested as was his 19-year-old son, David Brian Stone Jr. All told eight members of the group were rounded up over the weekend. The ninth, Joshua Matthew Stone, arrested Monday night.
Prosecutors alleged that the group was plotting to kill a police officer, then set off bombs at the funeral in order to kill even more law enforcement agents.
David Brian Stone's ex-wife was not surprised by his arrest.
D. STONE: Yes. He has got a temper. He can get radical. And he wants things done his way.
GRIFFIN: The younger Stone's fiancee said he had done nothing wrong.
BRITTANY BRYANT, FIANCEE'S ALLEGED MILITIA MEMBER: My fiancee hasn't been in it because we had a baby together. And once we had a baby and we got engaged, he stopped doing it for a while.
GRIFFIN: But according to their Web site, the group's members believed the end of days was coming -- Armageddon -- and were planning an all-out war.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN: And, Kyra, they were planning to hasten the start of that war with their own plot, which was bizarre. They were going to try to lure a police officer, either through a fake 911 call or a traffic stop, kill that police officer and then assuming there'd be a large funeral, attack the funeral procession with IEDs.
That's all according to the indictment with the U.S. attorney's office.
Josh Stone, the last to be arrested last night, he should be in court later this afternoon. Kyra?
PHILLIPS: Drew, one thing that so many people have been saying as we have been talking about this story, in the newsroom, outside the newsroom. I mean you and I both are from the Midwest. This is something just -- that just seems so out of the ordinary, not only for the area but just the militia itself.
I mean what has surprised you the most about this as you have been digging and investigating this story and this group? GRIFFIN: I think what surprised me the most is two things. Number one, the fire power that they were using out in these woods. Now there's hunting going on. There's a fireworks factory nearby.
But how could they have these semi-automatic weapons going off as we've seen on the Web site literally in the backyards of some of these people's homes, and nobody take notice of that.
The second thing that comes to mind is, if nobody took notice of that, nobody really knew these people, then I think we're dealing with a very, very isolated group which may have perpetuated this kind of -- I dare to say, there probably is some kind of mental issue here with this group.
And that they kind of, you know, stay to themselves and really believe they were battling a war with the whole world. It's not unlike some Islamic terrorist groups, both homegrown and in Canada and other parts of the world that I've covered, Kyra.
That they're self-delusional almost in the way that they view the world.
PHILLIPS: Yes. And very sad. Drew Griffin, appreciate it.
It's a day of mourning and increased security in Russia and subway stations turning into makeshift memorials.
Take a look at this. Thirty-nine people lost their lives to female bombers, explosives filled with nails. So now there is a heavier police presence in these subways.
Russian security forces believe that the attacks are linked to a terror group possibly from Chechnya. We'll talk more about that possible threat coming up in about 25 minutes.
Boy, the northeast just can't catch a break weatherwise. First, there were those record-setting winter storms or snows rather. Now there's worries about spring flooding. And then in Rhode Island, forecasters predicting serious and life-threatening flooding for the Pawtuxet River.
And second -- the second river there, the Black Stone, could chest seven feet above flood level. The entire state of Connecticut under a flood watch now. And a new storm system hitting the region this week follows a storm two weeks ago that dumped as much as 10 inches of rain.
Let's get to meteorologist Rob Marciano where it's just not stopping for him.
Hey, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Kyra. Yes, it looks like a deja vu all over again. Hate to use the words of Yogi Bear but that's what's happening.
(WEATHER REPORT)
PHILLIPS: Sounds good. Pretty hairy here in New York as well.
MARCIANO: Yes, it's been nasty up there. Come on back home if you can make it.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: I'm trying. I know. Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: See you.
PHILLIPS: Barack Obama campaigned on the promise of change. And this morning, he delivers. The change in this case is the health care reform. Just a week after signing the measure into law, this fixes bill will offer more help for struggling Americans. It will expand subsidies for lower and middle class families and it will water down a tax on expensive health insurance policies.
It also overhauls the way college students will get loans. It will shift government funding for loans away from commercial banks to new education initiatives as well.
We're going to have live coverage of President Obama's signing of the health care reform measure. It's scheduled for just after 11:00 Eastern.
And our inbox full of your questions about the health reform bill. And just about an hour from now, we're going to get you some answers at our health care desk. Joining us today, someone uniquely qualified, the first female physician in the history of the U.S. Congress.
Still no word on what's ailing Barbara Bush. She was admitted to Houston's Methodist Hospital Saturday for what's been described as routine tests. A spokesperson for her husband says Mrs. Bush had not been feeling well the week before but emphasized it's nothing considered to be life threatening.
They bullied her for months and dying was the only way out. Nine Massachusetts teens face charges for their classmate's suicide.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Yes, say ready to say goodbye to Saturday delivery of snail mail. Today the post office expected to formally ask to drop a day to save money.
We've heard the rumblings for a while. But get this. The request to a regulatory is being sent by e-mail. Ironic, isn't it? Losing a day of catalogs and credit card offers will likely mean cutting around 40,000 jobs.
A helping hand for homeowners. This is good news. The government setting aside more than half a billion dollars now to help states nearing the breaking point over foreclosures. CNN's Christine Romans is here.
And the difference, as you were saying, before it was the high foreclosure states.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right.
PHILLIPS: Now it's the states with the highest unemployment.
ROMANS: That's right. This is part two of the hardest hit fund, Kyra. And what they're trying to do is get money. Instead of looking at the big picture from Washington, deciding where to modify these loans, get it to the state housing agencies who can get it to the local housing groups who know exactly what needs to be fixed and have some new kind of innovative ideas how to fix it.
So it's $600 million to the hardest hit funds. These are the new states that are going to get more money. Ohio gets the most, Kyra, $172 million. Why so much? Because it has the highest percentage of its population living in very high unemployment.
All these places have more than 12 percent unemployment. Rhode Island, North Carolina, South Carolina and Oregon. They follow up the first wave of this which was $1.5 billion to state agencies for California, Arizona, Florida, Nevada, Michigan.
In Nevada, for example, 70 percent of the loans are under water. Think of that. The sheer number of loans under water.
In California, Kyra, 35 percent of home loans? The people owe more on the mortgage than the home is even worth. So there are some serious issues still a year into the foreclosure rescue -- spending a lot of money, trying to modify loans and getting people refinanced and try to help things out -- you still have, you know, 300 foreclosure notices at least every single minute in this country.
So it is a real serious issue. This is designed to get the money to the state so the state can try to find new -- as the Treasury Department says, innovations, which I think is what they're looking for. Looking for new tricks.
PHILLIPS: The states know the problem. Specifically. Micromanaging, right, versus --
ROMANS: Local, local, local. So they're thinking about trying to get money on a local basis to try to see if they can solve these problems.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Christine.
ROMANS: Sure.
PHILLIPS: Well, can you imagine your second grade teacher making you write on the chalkboard 100 times, I will not commit suicide, I will not commit suicide. It seems absurd but that's kind of what happened at one school. Growing up sure isn't what it used to be. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: A violent confrontation last night in Portland, Oregon with protesters facing off against police after two recent fatal officer involved shootings.
How officers tried to keep the demonstrators on the sidewalk at one point using bicycles as barricades. That only infuriated the protesters more as they hurled obscenities at the police. Oregon newspaper reports that four people were arrested. One officer slightly injured when he was hit by a rock.
In Mexico, more children caught in the middle of the drug war. Ten young people between 8 to 21 shot and killed over the weekend. Probably the work of drug traffickers. The victims were in a pickup truck headed home when they were attacked.
This happened in the northern state of Durango. The attorney general there says that the killers even lobbed grenades at the victims. No arrests so far.
North of there in Mexico's murder capital of Juarez, the Mexican military brought in an alleged gang leader they thought was linked to the killings of three people with ties to the U.S. consulate.
They seem to be backing off that connection now and are looking at them as a suspect in other cases. He's a legal resident of the U.S., by the way.
They bullied her for months. And dying was the only way out. Nine Massachusetts teens face charges for their classmate's suicide.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: She was only 15 years old. Why would she want to end her life? She said she was being bullied. And her teachers, even her parents, spoke up. But unfortunately that just wasn't enough. Now nine of her classmates stand charged for her suicide.
CNN's Alina Cho has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH SCHEIBEL, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: The harassment recorded to have occurred that day in the school's library appears to have been conducted in the presence of a faculty member and several students but went unreported to school administrators until after Phoebe's death.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Phoebe Prince was just 15 years old when she hanged herself in the stairway in the building where she lived with her parents. South Hadley, Massachusetts, about 100 miles from Boston.
Prosecutors say it wasn't an accident. That she was driven to suicide by relentless abuse. SCHEIBEL: The events of January 14th were not isolated. Rather, they were the culmination of a nearly three-month campaign of verbally abusive, assaultive behavior, and threats of physical harm towards Phoebe on school grounds by several South Hadley High School students.
CHO: Nine students were indicted. Three will be prosecuted as adults. Among them, 17-year-old Sean Mulveyhill facing charges of statutory rape and a violation of civil rights resulting in bodily injury. Eighteen-year-old Austin Renaud also faces statutory rape charges. And 17-year-old Kayla Narey. She'll answer to criminal harassment and civil rights charges.
Phoebe and her family had recently moved to western Massachusetts from Ireland. Students say the torment she endured was harsh. Books routinely knocked out of her hands. Her face scribbled out of photographs on school walls. Threatening text messages constantly sent to her cell phone.
The DA says the alleged bullying --
SCHEIBEL: Appears to have been motivated by the group's displeasure with Phoebe's brief dating relationship with a male student that had ended some six weeks previous.
CHO: At South Hadley High School, students were stunned.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Until you guys came around, I had no idea.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think they need to be prosecuted. You know it's not right at all.
CHO (on camera): Do you think they should face charges?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If they had anything to do with it, they should.
CHO: Phoebe Prince isn't the first student in the area to commit suicide in recent months. Last year, an 11-year-old boy subjected to harassment also killed himself. After that suicide, the Massachusetts legislature stepped up work on an anti-bullying law. But so far, that bill has not passed.
Alina Cho, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Now listen to this story. The high schooler succeeded. The grade schooler failed. Yes. Grade schooler. An eight-year-old boy in Houston said he couldn't stand the bullies anymore. So what did he do? He jumped out the second floor window of the school.
Bottom line, he is OK, physically. But there's a lot more to this story. His mom says the school made him read and sign a no suicide contract right afterward even though he is dyslexic. He also says the school knew about the bullying for months but didn't do anything. We are taking a closer look at this story next hour.
We're also talking about this story on the blog today. We want to know. Would you ask your child to sign a no suicide pact?
Go to CNN.com/Kyra and weigh in on my blog. I'd like to read some of your comments on the air next hour.
One teenager's search for a career may have led him to a calling. We're going to show you how 15 weeks changed his life. A soldier's story and an unprecedented look inside the life of a military recruit.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Kyra Phillips.
PHILLIPS: Well, the market has been a terror lately with the Dow Industrials rising nearly 1,000 points in less than seven weeks. There is the opening bell. Can we continue that upward momentum today?
Stephanie Elam, you got all the actions for us.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: As long as you stayed in New York, Kyra, I think, you know, it can happen. You see?
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: Hey, anything I can do to help the economy, I'll stick around. You know I love this city.
ELAM: You are such a wonder woman. I love that.
You know what, I can tell you that Dow 11,000, is no longer just a pipe dream. Heading into today's session, the Dow is just over 100 points away. Not bad. In early February, the Dow was traded below the 10,000 mark. So, we've had a long way pretty quickly.
And for those of you out there who have been wanting an iPhone, you actually may be in luck because of some changes. We do want a change because of carriers, now, you may be able to get the phone you want and stick with the carrier you want. Apple reportedly plans to begin producing a new iPhone this year that could allow companies other than AT&T to sell the gadget.
"The Wall Street Journal" reports the iPhone would work with technology use by both Verizon and Sprint Net Tell. Apple's recent successes have made it one of the most valuable businesses in America. The company's market value now stands at more than $210 billion making it the fourth most valuable company in the country; that's behind Exxon Mobil, Microsoft, and Wal-Mart.
Now on the economic front today, a report on home prices shows another decline in January. That's not bringing the markets down. Yes, another little nice rally today. The Dow was on the upside by 12 points, 10,908, getting closer and Nasdaq better y three points at 2,408. In about 30 minutes, we will get the numbers on consumer confidence. So, we'll be watching those. Until then, we would like to thank Kyra Phillips for being in New York and helping out the markets.
PHILLIPS: I really wish I could take credit. Thanks, Stephanie. You always make my day, though.
For the last several months, we have followed a California teenager as he left behind civilian life and began a career in the U.S. Army. It's been a journey, both physical and mental, and the Pentagon has given us unprecedented access to document all of it.
CNN's Jason Carroll here to take us inside a soldier's life once again. Pretty amazing experience for you, too.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, yes. I know you are into a lot of these military stories. And it's nice to see that Will finally made it. It's been a long road for him, and he's met all of the qualifications. All of the hard work and discipline for Mill McLain has finally paid off, but that was not the case for everyone.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Next, come on over.
CARROLL (voice-over): When Will McLain looks in the mirror these days, he sees a different person.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Put your watch back on.
CARROLL: In his 15 weeks of training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, he's dropped 54 pounds.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get off the ground.
CARROLL: He tackled the physical challenges, the mental, the psychological, and completed weapons qualification.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hate this.
CARROLL: Now, the day has come for Will and the other members of his company to graduate and move on to their next assignments.
Will is ready.
WILL MCLAIN, U.S. SOLDIER: I want nothing to do with Missouri. I'm out of here.
CARROLL: This is the last time members of Alpha Company 35th Engineer Battalion will stand together.
(on-camera): So right now, we're backstage as Will is about to go through his ceremonies. We're just a few minutes away. Will, how are you feeling?
W. MCLAIN: I'm feeling good. It's good to finally be here, you know. You got your starting out like you waited so long for it and now it's finally here. We're graduating and getting ready to move on.
CARROLL: Any butterflies for any of you, guys?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't wait to get this over with.
CARROLL (voice-over): Will knows his family won't be there to share in his accomplishment. The cost of travel from California too much.
LORI MCLAIN, MOTHER: We should have been there.
CARROLL: So, we showed Will's mother the tape.
L. MCLAIN: He looked great in that video. He looked very proud, like he achieved something that was all him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Private William McLain, Rosemont, California.
CARROLL: But it was another soldier will missed on this day as he received his combat engineer crest, his battle buddy, Demetrius Daniels, the recruit assigned to him for every step of training back in the barracks.
DEMETRIUS DANIELS, BATTLE BUDDY: He doesn't find out I wasn't able to participate, but hopefully, everything will pull through in my favor.
CARROLL: His graduation hanging in the balance. Daniels was disciplined for disarming an alarm to sneak off base to play pool. His future plans continuing on with Will to Fort Stewart, now, uncertain.
DANIELS: A very immature decision. Definitely, if I could turn back the hands of time, I wouldn't actually did it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good job, McLain. Congratulations.
CARROLL (on camera): Is it occur when you think about Will, your battle buddy, and some of the other guys going through what they went through today, it hurts?
DANIELS: Yes, definitely. The hardest part is disciplining myself. Drill sergeants and people who have faith in me.
W. MCLAIN: We all make mistakes. Hopefully, he'll be right (ph) for me. You know, he is a smart kid. He just made a bad choice. Take care, man.
CARROLL (voice-over): As Will says his goodbyes --
DRILL SGT. JOSEPH RIX, U.S. ARMY: All right. McLain, congratulations.
W. MCLAIN: Thank, drill sergeant.
RIX: All right. W. MCLAIN: I appreciate this.
CARROLL: -- he can't leave without thanking Drill Sergeant Rix --
RIX: Get outside and get them in here. Move.
CARROLL: -- who pushed him and the others every step of the way.
W. MCLAIN: He isn't screaming on this one. But --
CARROLL: No screams today.
W. MCLAIN: -- they're just doing their job.
DRILL SGT. JOSEPH RIX, U.S. ARMY: You really get to see people transformed and become soldiers. It does give you a lot of pride in what you do.
Dismissed.
CARROLL: After 15 weeks, Will McLain and the others live as soldiers. Will's new life as a combat engineer is about to begin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: And 174 recruits started and 156 actually ended up graduating. And as for Demetrius Daniels, his superiors tell me that he is a very good soldier. He has a good record and that will all be taken into account as the Army decides his fate.
PHILLIPS: So he could return?
CARROLL: Absolutely.
PHILLIPS: OK. Now, a couple things I was taking notes. First of all, Will lost 54 pounds. I mean, he looks amazing.
CARROLL: He is a different person, physically and mentally. Fifty-four pounds. I mean, he was a heavy guy going in. You know, the physical challenges were a lot for him in the very beginning, but he managed to pull through.
PHILLIPS: He seems like such a sophisticated young man in so many ways.
CARROLL: He barely (ph) where he was, right?
PHILLIPS: Right. OK. Now, his mom, Jason, his mom, you know, crying, as she watched the video. Why didn't you guys fly her out to the graduation ceremony?
CARROLL: You know, that's a good question. We've been getting a lot of e-mails about that as well, and let me explain. My goal initially upon doing this story was to keep it real, and the reality is there are a lot of military families out there who cannot afford it. And so, we wanted to show what the real military experience is like. If we had flown them in, that's not -- most people out there --
PHILLIPS: You would have been making the story better and that's --
CARROLL: Exactly.
PHILLIPS: That's a tough one, though.
CARROLL: Yes, it is a tough one.
But think about it this way, most people out there don't have a camera crew or a CNN out there able to fly them in. So, this is the reality of how military families do it. Some of them. So, we wanted to show that.
PHILLIPS: Good point to make. More local communities need to raise money to help these parents get to those graduations if they can't afford it. There we go.
CARROLL: Very good point.
PHILLIPS: All right. What a great series. Thanks, Jason.
Protecting allied soldiers from the Taliban's most lethal weapon before they go to Afghanistan. We'll show you the U.S. military's new and innovative approach to fighting roadside bombs.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: We haven't heard much talk about H1N1 lately, but the CDC is reminding everyone it's still around and it's still causing serious illness. Three states, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina have seen a recent spike in cases. Eight other states are reporting local flu activity. Adults with chronic health conditions, not children, are being hospitalized. The surgeon general says there are plenty of vaccines still available.
And it was a book signing gone out of bounds in Beverly Hills. Former White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove was confronted by protesters last night, including one activist, attempting to make a citizen's arrest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JODI EVANS, CO-FOUNDER, CODEPINK: Look what you did. You outed a CIA officer. You lied to take us to war. You ruined a country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Rove defended the administration stance on several controversial issues. He was there to promote his new book, "Courage and Consequences: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight." He left without signing any copies.
A helping hand from the government, but it ain't free. People are being told to pony up or get out. So, what are the luxury digs they are getting bounced from? FEMA trailers. Go figure.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: It's back to normal in Moscow subway system today just a day after suicide attacks killed 39 people. The trains are back on schedule. The only difference is the makeshift memorials at the two stations targeted in the bombing.
It's an official day of mourning in Russia, but there are also a lot of questions like who is really responsible? How could the government even let this happen? There has been no clear claim of responsibility, but security forces think they know who did it -- Chechen separatists. But now the question, so, what are you going to do about it?
We want to bring you a little more in depth on this story. Joining me to help this out, Thomas Pickering, former U.S. ambassador to Russia.
Mr. Ambassador good to see you.
THOMAS PICKERING, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA: Good morning, Kyra. Nice to be with you.
PHILLIPS: You know, we've talked a lot about the Black Widows and the history of these women who become suicide bombers. I still think, though, that a lot of our viewers, even though they heard of them, don't really understand the background or the context. Are you surprised to hear that they may be the ones behind this? And how did they come about?
PICKERING: Not at all. It fits their modus operandi. Since the early 1990s, there has been active fighting between in Southern Russia between Russians and Chechens. The Russians want to continue to keep Chechnya in Russia, the Chechens want out. There've been a lot of insurgencies. There have been a lot of rate and attacks back and forth. A number of Chechens insurgence who are just people in the wrong place at the wrong time. Males have been killed, their widows have been recruited as suicide bombers and have taken part in a number of bombings over the last decade including two domestic airline flights, apparently one other subway bombing and a number of others, and of course, the two yesterday. This is their way of proceeding. The Russian government hasn't claimed conclusive evidence yet that it is the Chechens, but everything points in that correction.
PHILLIPS: And this cause has changed quite a bit, hasn't it? It's not just about land, territory, neighborhood, control of where they live. I mean, the Chechen cause has gone into helping terrorists in Afghanistan and beyond.
PICKERING: The cause remains the same. I think it would be a mistake to conclude that the Chechens have changed their view about wanting independence from Russia. But they have been united around Islam. Of course, it's not new for them. It took the Russian czar 49 years to conquer Chechnya in the middle of the 19th century. And some Chechens have gone abroad and helped in places like Afghanistan to fight both the United States and others.
This is not, in my view, a major part of their cause. Their cause remains the same, but they're willing to scratch the backs of people who scratch theirs. Others have come to help them in their fight against Russia and they have gone to help others in whatever fight the others have been engaged in.
There's not a clear connection with al Qaeda but certainly Chechens have been in the same places or nearby where al Qaeda has been in the past, in places like Afghanistan.
PHILLIPS: So and when you look at the Russian campaign in Chechnya, by all accounts, brutal. I mean, it's understandable when you want to root out terrorism. But you preach human rights. So many people in that part of the country -- part of the world preach human rights. Do you feel that the U.S. needs to step in maybe with a tougher role pressuring Russia to be more humane when dealing with Chechnya?
PICKERING: The U.S. and Russia have an extensive cooperation in dealing with terrorism. I believe the U.S. has consistently made the points that you have to deal not just with the effects of terrorism and the attacks of terrorism which is extremely important of course.
But, you have to deal with some of the underlying causes. And some of the underlying causes are obviously causes that are stimulated by ill treatment of people, whoever they might be, that turns them into ready recruits, whether they are black widows or insurgent fighters. And so it goes on.
And we believe that part of the -- of the -- of the war against terrorism. The attacks against terrorism, the fight against terrorism has to continue obviously to be paid attention to.
In my day, we spoke to the Russians about this. I think my successors have continued to do so. Obviously, it has to be blended in our common effort to exchange information to work together against terrorists.
PHILLIPS: Ambassador Thomas Pickering, always great to have your insights. It's good to see you, sir.
PICKERING: Thank you and nice to be with you.
PHILLIPS: Let's check in again with CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano in the Severe Weather Center, tracking all kinds of nasty weather across the country -- Rob.
(WEATHER REPORT)
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Rob.
There are free samples and there are free samples. The stuff one bunch of bad guys is putting out there, you won't find it out for the sampling in the warehouse club.
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PHILLIPS: Now, who doesn't love free samples? You can make a five-course meal out of them at a Warehouse Club. But another kind of free sample has California police hunting down some gang members. Apparently the gangs are offering up free samples of cocaine to teen, even giving free lessons on how to smoke it. What a generous bunch?
It's happening, allegedly, in the Glendale area. Police there say the courtesy cocaine is part of a bigger drug problem among teens. Apparently the thing to do now is raid your parent's medicine cabinet, bring meds like Oxycontin and Vicodin to a party and just dump them all into a giant bowl for sharing.
They're given to you in a time of crisis, shelter after the storm; a way to get back on your feet, rent-free until now. How do you feel about hurricane victims having to pay to live in FEMA trailers? First rent check now due Thursday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARY COLUNGA, RESIDENT: The first notice of $895 for the rent for here and then they came out and did an evaluation as to what our income was and then I receive this notice $386.
DUANA BOSWELL-LOCHEL, ATTORNEY: They're scared. They're frustrated. They're depressed. They're at the end of their rope.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Yes. I can understand why. Here's the deal. There was a deadline to get rid of all those trailers by March 12th, that's been pushed to July, but FEMA says it'll charge rent until then. They say it's just -- they're just following the law.
Storm victims could face rent as high as $1,600 for their trailer. You can rent a house for that. And just to add more salt to the wound a lot of these victims are still waiting for insurance payments to come through and contractors to finish their original homes.
Spring flood fears, Wall Street's new magic number and making sure the fix is in for health care reform. We're working all those stories for you next hour.
Let's start with Rob Marciano.
MARCIANO: Kyra, can you imagine having to evacuate your home twice in the same month? That's what people in Francine, Rhode Island (ph) are doing right now as that river continues to rise and the rains continue to come down. Weather is at the top of the hour.
ELAM: It was more than a decade ago when the Dow first topped 11,000, but the blue chips are inching ever closer to hitting that mark again, this as we come out of the worst recession since World War II. I'm Stephanie Elam in New York and I'll have more on the milestone in the next hour. SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Suzanne Malveaux at the White House. In less than an hour President Obama will sign the final portion of health care reform. The package of so- called fixes and it could dramatically change the way families pay for college tuition. I'll tell you who the winners are as well as the losers coming up.
PHILLIPS: And pull up those drawers of yours, would you? A New York lawmaker wants to make baggy pants a thing of the past. But critics say he's going below the belt in raising awareness.
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