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Labor Report Disappoints Wall Street; Homebuyer Tax Credit; Rape Video Game; Disabled Diners' Reservations; Echoes of the Big Bang
Aired March 31, 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.
It's almost April. Do you know where the McStays are? Not a peep from them -- their cell phones, their credit cards -- for about two months.
Are these people missing? Maybe they don't want to be found. If that's the case, it's a heck of a vanishing act.
Groping, rape, torture. For fun? For the win? What? Is the night stalker cranking out video games from death row? No, this stuff is being made legal in Japan.
Would you want your kid -- heck, would you want your husband or boyfriend playing this video game?
And Cornell puts up fences to prevent more suicides. One student says they make the campus look like an insane asylum. His words. So is it a steel band-aid or could it make the problem even worse?
But first we begin with the weather assault of New England. Flooding that you see every 100 years, heck, maybe 500 years. Looks like this is Rhode Island's year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I could turn on the jet ski and go for a ride. What can you do? Mother Nature's winning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: The smallest state in big trouble. Rivers cresting at record levels, major roads closed, power out, evacuations, shelters everywhere. A state pounded and paralyzed by rain.
Not just there, either. Rhode Island's neighbors are taking a beating, too. A state of emergency in Massachusetts, the National Guard ready to help.
Well, it's a record river level also in Connecticut. Boats where boats shouldn't even be. The antic, more than 4 1/2 feet above flood stage. March going like an angry soaking wet lion.
Well, let's swim back to Rhode Island, shall we? Reynolds Wolf's got his boots on. You need them where he is. He's in Cranston.
So when is all this rain going to end? What do you think, Reynolds?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, look -- it looks like today the rain is going to come to a screeching halt. That couldn't happen soon enough. Take a look at this.
I happen to be on a street in Cranston, Rhode Island, as you mentioned, and about 12 hours ago this was a dry roadway. But now you have the waters, the river, the Pawtuxet River that have come right on through.
And this is what happens when you have -- let's see -- 15.47 inches of rain that fell during the month of March. So you're talking the month of March being like a wet lion. Well, Tuesday came in roaring, also, where we had 7.9 inches of rainfall that fell in about 24 hours.
When that happens, you can see the result all around me. And as you mentioned, it's something that we're dealing with not just locally but regionally, affecting millions of people.
You know we had a chance to speak a short while ago to a man by the name of Eddie Flynn, who's called Cranston home his entire life, and this morning had this river certainly brought all kinds of damage and a lot of heartbreak to both him and his family.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EDDIE FLYNN, CRANSTON RESIDENT: It is ridiculous. I mean, we just don't -- put the keys on the counter and walk out of the houses. You know? It's at that point now, you know? I mean, I got four of my neighbors down the street that had U-Haul trucks yesterday, moved everything out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF: And you are talking about some other damage they've been dealing with not just in homes but many businesses and also sewage treatment plants over in Warwick and West Warwick.
Both sewage plants closed down. That's obviously going to affect tens of thousands of people who were told not to flush the toilet, not to do laundry until conditions get better. And I'll tell you, although the rain has stopped, although and the water continues to rise, it looks like things will get better through the weekend, early next week, when all the waters recede.
Then they got to cleanup. And what a big cleanup it's going to be.
That's the latest we got from here. More stories, of course, ahead. And of course Jacqui Jeras has got the very latest on the forecast. One big weather package for you throughout the day.
Back to you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, perfect segue. Jacqui Jeras, help us out. What do you think? How are conditions looking right now?
(WEATHER REPORT)
JERAS: We'll continue to track that storm as it develops. Kyra?
PHILLIPS: Sounds good, Jacqui. Thanks so much.
First, female suicide bombers killed dozens of innocent subway riders. Now police officers have lost their lives in yet another blast in Russia.
The terrorism continues. Twelve people died today. It happened in Russia's Southern Republic. Police say the first blast happened when a car rigged with explosives blew up as police were driving by.
Then 20 minutes later, a suicide bomber impersonating a police officer blew himself up after approaching rescue workers responding to the first explosion.
Bombs, it's a terrorist weapon of choice, and this time it's happening in southern Afghanistan. Thirteen people killed, 45 injured when a bicycle laced with explosives blew up.
This bomb went off near a crowded marketplace in Helmand Province, and as you know, Helmand Province is the forefront of the U.S.-led effort to get rid of the Taliban. As you can see, it continues to be a huge challenge for our troops.
And a chance to get out of jail today for members of that Michigan militia group that we've been telling you about. Nine members of Hutaree were indicted on weapons charges after a plot to kill police was uncovered. Their alleged plan, weapons of mass destruction to take out our cops.
Federal investigators say that attack was imminent. A judge is expected to decide if they'll get bail at a hearing this afternoon.
And we're going to track it for you.
It's not exactly drill, baby, drill, but later this morning, President Obama is poised to unveil sweeping new changes to the nation's new domestic energy policy, including opening up previously closed coastal areas for expanded oil and natural gas exploration and drilling.
The president is expected to announce his revamped energy plan a few hours from now during an address at Andrews Naval Air facility.
And you can watch it live right here on CNN. That's 11:05 a.m. Eastern Time.
Health care reform. The I's are dotted, the T's are crossed, and the complete measure signed into law. But as President Obama basks in the victory of his top domestic priority, some of his loyal Democrats are facing the wrath of angry voters.
I guess we saw that coming.
Brianna Keilar, our congressional correspondent in Cincinnati, where one congressman may have voted himself out of office.
Right, Brianna?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kyra. Behind me, this is downtown Cincinnati. This politically is not the problem for Congressman Steve Driehaus.
REP. STEVE DRIEHAUS (D), OHIO: This is the area of his district that tends -- trends more Democratic. But across town, it's a different story as he tries to sell his "yes" vote on health care reform.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR (voice-over): We're on the west side of Cincinnati.
This flower shop here is owned by my cousin.
KEILAR: Following Democratic Congressman Steve Driehaus through the neighborhood where he lives one week after he voted for health care reform.
DRIEHAUS: How you guys doing?
KEILAR: Talk to some of his constituents at the local chili joint, and it doesn't feel so sweet to be home.
(On camera): What do you think about his vote on health care?
KEN STINSON, VOTER: Pretty upsetting. I trusted Steve. I voted for Steve. And he didn't do what he said he would when he ran for Congress.
KEILAR: What do you feel like he didn't deliver on?
STINSON: I'm -- abortion.
KEILAR (voice-over): Ken Stinson went to Catholic school with Driehaus, but like many constituents in this conservative, heavily Catholic part of town, he's angry because of this.
Driehaus joined a handful of anti-abortion Democrats to deliver the needed votes to pass health care. A move that could cost him his job in November.
(On camera): Have you come to grips with the fact that, considering the environment, this could be it for you?
DRIEHAUS: Every election I run in is a tough election. If you're looking for job security, politics is not the place to be. And so I think it's absolutely the right vote, and I'm going to run on it and help people understand why it's the right thing to do for the country.
KEILAR (voice-over): Starting with local business leaders.
DRIEHAUS: But, look, I understand the fear, but the fear doesn't align with the reality of the legislation.
KEILAR: And some of health care reform's staunchest critics -- seniors.
DRIEHAUS: We're making investments in primary care.
KEILAR: But if health care reform is a tough sell in Driehaus' neighborhood, he does have some supporters. Jason and Erin Humphrey live on his street.
ERIN HUMPHREY, CINCINNATI RESIDENT: I just think with the economy and everything that's going on, I think it's a good change for people that have had issues being able to get covered in health care and be able to afford health care.
JASON HUMPHREY, CINCINNATI RESIDENT: We have to do something. We need change. And this is a good step. But, again, he may have performed career suicide.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: But supporters like his neighbors, the Humphries there, tell me they hope that his "yes" vote works to his advantage. But this is really the issue for Steve Driehaus. When he came into power, his -- his first term, 2008, he's a freshman Democrat, he was really buoyed by urban and black voters who were very much energized by President Obama being on the ticket.
Well, there are no more coattails. That's an issue for Driehaus, although he tells me, Kyra, he's hoping that President Obama can help him out by campaigning in this very competitive district and revving up that Democratic base.
PHILLIPS: We'll track it. Brianna, thanks.
They haven't been seen in nearly two months, but new evidence suggests that a family disappearing act was more deliberate than previously thought. Police and one relative weigh in on the mystery.
Click your mouse and you can touch, feel, grope, and -- you ready for this? Rape women. It's sick. And it's a video game that's made women mad as hell, forcing the game maker to bow to pressure.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, as we know, kids can be so cruel. And as we watched this story unravel, new heart-wrenching details surrounding a teenage girl's suicide in Hadley, Massachusetts are coming out.
They knocked books out of her hand, sent her threatening text messages, even called her an Irish slut. Now more students are being punished. This time, a small group of students have been kicked out of South Hadley High School. Nine other students have already been charged. Charges ranging from statutory rape to criminal harassment.
Prosecutors say 15-year-old Phoebe Prince was bullied for months before she hanged herself in January.
Now investigators are trying to figure out why would she be such a target of this kind of abuse.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICK SHENAS, PHOEBE PRINCE'S FRIEND: Jealousy, probably. And I would imagine that they were all jealous of her because she got a lot of attention from people, positive attention.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, Nick says that Phoebe, a freshman, had started dating a senior on the football team. The jock already had a girlfriend. Those two are now among the nine students facing charges linked to Phoebe's suicide.
Here's a case where one arrest really snowballed. Canadian authorities busted a 29-year-old Ontario man for alleged sex assault and child pornography. That led to a bigger investigation -- a global child porn ring.
Seventy-three people arrested in 20 countries. These people do their dirty work in a virtual and hard-to-reach place called "the dark net."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL GILLESPIE, FMR. TORONTO P.D. INVESTIGATOR: The offenders have taken over that area, and it is very difficult for law enforcement to get down into that area, and it is impossible to specifically identify who's doing what.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Another officer said that these child porn perps are getting harder and harder to catch.
Are they missing or does a California family just not want to be found? Police in San Diego now believe the McStay family's disappearance nearly two months ago may have been more orchestrated than originally thought.
Investigators say that evidence from the family's computer suggests a change of scenery was in their future, but a relative doesn't see it that way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. DENNIS BRUGOS, SAN DIEGO COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: They were making inquiries concerning travel in Mexico and passports, which would indicate there was at least some type of planning ahead.
SUSAN BLAKE, JOSEPH MCSTAY'S MOTHER: It kind of shocked me that, you know, someone is inquiring about that type of information because I know in my heart he would not take those babies over the border unless he was forced or drugged. They had a very good life so there was no reason at all to just up and poof and disappear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Police say that they haven't seen any activity on the McStays' bank cards, credit cards and cell phones since they vanished. Their SUV was discovered a few blocks away from a border checkpoint into Mexico.
And on the same day police believe the family is seen on surveillance tape entering the country.
Jacqui Jeras, you talked to us about it about 16 minutes ago and it's not going away. Rhode Island having some serious flooding.
(WEATHER REPORT)
PHILLIPS: It's just amazing the difference from one place to another, you know?
JERAS: It's spring.
PHILLIPS: Freezing rain in New York yesterday when I fly home and It's absolutely -- it's like summertime here, Jacqui.
JERAS: Yes, you know, Denver had, what, 20 inches of snow, what, a week ago?
PHILLIPS: Wow.
JERAS: Yesterday, 82 degrees, record high.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: Go ski some powder, come and hang out at the beach. All right, thanks, Jacqui.
JERAS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: All right. Let's go again. OK. Maybe not. The pair stranded in midair not quite what they had in mind for fun.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Pipe bombs being placed around east Texas at an increasing pace. That's according to the ATF. Two more bombs were discovered yesterday in Long View, Texas. More than a dozen have been found so far.
The ATF is sending more agents to the area, and their -- they have more than doubled the reward now for information leading to an arrest.
It was supposed to be a fun day at the Dade County Florida Fair, but instead two thrill seekers got -- a different kind of ride. They were stuck on the space board dangling 50 feet in the air. It took about two hours to get them down.
Local TV stations reported that it took so long because fire and rescue crews didn't have a long enough ladder.
Just can't stop Superman. The man of steel shattered another record for most expensive comic book. That's right. An issue of Action Comics number one. It's the one where we first saw Clark Kent. You remember that far back?
Sold for 1.5 million bucks. Superman breaks a previous record set by Batman, by the way, last month. So take that, Caped Crusader.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Are your multivitamins doing more harm than good? All right, before you go and clean out the medicine cabinet, listen up. So there's a study actually linking vitamins to greater instances of breast cancer in some women.
CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta talking about how serious that risk is.
OK, that kind of freak -- you hear a lot of stories about multivitamins, and I've actually gone back and forth tossing them out, buying them again, tossing them out. So --
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
PHILLIPS: How do you know?
GUPTA: Yes. And these are tough stories to report because they are confusing and there have been studies in the past showing just the opposite of what you just said, that the multivitamins don't have any increase to breast cancer risk.
But this was an interesting study. It was done out of Sweden. It was a big study, 35,000 women, following them over 10 years. And what they do is they try and find certain populations of people who are more likely to get breast cancer, and figure out what are the things that are different in those women than the women who didn't.
And one of the things that came out was this use of multivitamins. And what they basically said was there was about a 19 percent increased risk if women were taking multivitamins at the beginning of a 10-year period and -- as compared to women who are not.
They are very careful to say that there is not a cause and effect here, that multivitamins somehow causing breast cancer, but there does appear to be this association, which is what I think they were focused on. We talked to several people about this, and they say, look, you know, it's not cause for going out and throwing out all the multivitamins in your medicine cabinet, but is it biologically plausible that something in a multivitamin, which has lots of vitamins, lots of minerals, lots of different things, could somehow increase your risk of breast cancer?
Possibly. We don't know what it is, we don't know who the women that are more likely to develop it. And again there is no direct cause and effect established.
PHILLIPS: So is it possible -- and I know I'm throwing out random questions here that we didn't discuss so tell me if you just don't know. But you know everything.
GUPTA: I often don't know.
PHILLIPS: Exactly. It's like -- I don't know, Moveon.org. Like is it possible there's just something in that multivitamin -- one part of that multivitamin -- that just needs to be isolated and taken out? And then -- are they going to study that now, are they going to break it apart? And --
GUPTA: That's exactly what it is.
PHILLIPS: OK.
GUPTA: And they have some ideas already. They're sort of focusing on the B vitamins, I think maybe B12, B6, possibly. And I say this with, you know, great reluctance.
PHILLIPS: Isn't that what you take for energy?
GUPTA: So some people take it --
PHILLIPS: Yes.
GUPTA: Because they have a deficiency of it.
PHILLIPS: Right.
GUPTA: And that brings up another point. Should you be taking a multivitamin for the heck of it or should you be taking it to -- overcome some sort of deficiency? And there are people who should take multivitamins, you know, for sure. People who are -- pregnant women, for example, who take it --
PHILLIPS: Yes. Prenatals.
GUPTA: Prenatal vitamins.
PHILLIPS: Right.
GUPTA: Seniors. You can see the list there. People who have some sort of GI disorders, restricted diets. But for the vast majority of people, Kyra, we've talked about this before. If you're eating a healthy diet of fruits and vegetables, you probably don't need to take the multivitamin.
In fact, trying to get the good stuff, if you will, out of food and putting it into a pill form, is a lot harder than it sounds. I mean you have these bottles with a picture of broccoli on it. You're not really getting broccoli in a pill. You're getting a few of the substances of broccoli. And is that enough? Just not sure.
PHILLIPS: All right, we got to keep talking about it.
GUPTA: Keep talk about this. Yes.
PHILLIPS: I've got more questions later on.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: Thanks.
GUPTA: I think I filibustered you there. Sorry about that.
PHILLIPS: No, that's OK.
(LAUGHTER)
GUPTA: Next time.
PHILLIPS: Thank you, Sanjay.
Well, time may be running out on a tax credit, but if you still haven't found your dream home, don't fret it. You could still save a ton of cash.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Expectations are growing that reports this week would show some job growth. Opening bell there on Wall Street. But some of the air has come out of that balloon.
Stephanie Elam, whew, boom.
(LAUGHTER)
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. As I came, we were so excited, and now we're kind of like, yes. But you're right, you know, there are still some roadblocks that are out there. Wall Street was expecting today's unemployment report from ADP to show that jobs were added this month, but instead, private sector payrolls dropped by 23,000.
So ADP says American businesses are on the cusp of recovery, that's exactly how they put it. And that loss of 23,000 jobs doesn't compare to the hundreds of thousands of job losses we saw at the start of the recession, and it actually happens to be the smallest number of cuts in more than two years.
And this report comes two days before we get the big jobs report from the government and for March, and it's expected to show job growth since taking into account. The folks that were hired to handle in the 2010 Census. The fact that some people couldn't get hired because of the snowstorms in February. So, this is actually supposed to show a really big number of 190,000. That's the estimate there.
So, we'll be keeping our eyes on that one. It's usually more in line than this, so we'll be watching this one. It may have to do with folks hired to do the census.
So, in corporate news, the first factory built, Chevy Volt is scheduled to roll off the production line today. It said it was date from mass reduction of the electric vehicle, and it comes just a day after Nissan announced its battery-powered car, the Leaf, and it would cost $33,000 or $25,000 after a federal tax credit, and that happens to be about $6,000 less than the Volt.
Finally, we're watching shares of Apple. They hit an all-time high yesterday after "The Wall Street Journal" said the company is developing an iPhone for the Verizon network. Right now, the iPhone is only available through AT&T, and this will open up their product to a whole new slew of people out there who might be willing to go ahead and get it if it's at Verizon.
So, let's go ahead and check the markets and see how they're reacting to this ADP report, Kyra. And really, not too surprising to see that we're on the down side, the Dow off 28 points,10,882 just about where we are, the Nasdaq off about seven at 2403.
So, we'll be keeping our eyes on it. But so far, folks not too happy to see that this jobs report is going the other direction of what we're hoping to hear on Friday.
PHILLIPS: All right. Thanks, Steph.
ELAM: Sure.
PHILLIPS: All right. Let's talk about saving you some money, shall we? If you've been thinking about taking advantage of that home buyer tax credit, you've got a month left, but depending on where you're house shopping you could maybe get an even better deal later on. Josh Levs at the stimulus desk. What do you think, Josh?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, all a matter of what position you're in. Isn't it nice to know that there are people out there who are buying homes at all, right, in this economy? It's something compared to where we have been.
And they kept delaying this or really extending this opportunity from the stimulus, this home buyer tax credit. People wanted to take advantage of it. It gives you $8,000. And this is right here what it says there. It expires April 30th, and you have up to $8,000 for first-time home buyers.
Now, it doesn't apply to absolutely every person. There are some specifications there, like there are limits on your income. There are limits on how much you can be spending on your home. But overall, if you're a new home buyer, you can get up to $8,000. And if you're someone else who is wanting to get a home and you already own one, you can get up to $6,500, all that coming from the stimulus.
But this is what I find so interesting here. You might be better off not going for that big chunk of change and instead waiting. And the reason there, Kyra, is that, unfortunately, it's a reality of our economy, home prices are still dropping more and more. So, if you rush to take advantage of that $8,000 now, you might miss out on the fact that the same home might cost $20,000, $30,000, $40,000 less later this year, beginning of next year.
So, this is where you get into that kind of gamble, that kind of guessing game. Do you want to take advantage of that $8,000 now or do you want to risk it and see if the home price goes down a lot more? So, Kyra, that's why we're saying it's great that out there from the stimulus don't necessarily rush to take advantage of it right now.
PHILLIPS: So, how can people know prices will go up or down where they want move to?
LEVS: Yes. This is where I get to get interactive on you. This is really cool. I have a map that I get to click on that's going to show you.
Let's take this computer behind me right now. We have a lot of information for you at CNN.com/stimulus, and this story right here shows you these maps. And what you do is you click on all these different cites here, and it shows you what's been going on with home prices in that area and what is expected to happen in the coming months all the way up to the next year.
So, this can help you a lot. I've been looking into this. And these figures that we have on this map for you do have a really good track record. The places that are providing some information have a good track record of getting it right. And I have linked everything for you right here on my Facebook @joshlevsonCNN.
So, if you're interested in buying a house and want to check it out right now, hopefully that will give you the information that you need to give yourself the most educated guess you can. But of course, the big caveat in the end, it is something of a guessing game, something of a gamble. You make that call, and we wish you the best of luck -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Josh.
LEVS: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Boy, the days of Pong, blithe (ph), Merlin are so over. There's a video game out there now where players can actually grope, torture, and, get this, rape women. This game's so bad we can't even tell you all the graphic details., but we can tell you, though, will blow you away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: And we're just getting this news in to CNN. Apparently, the U.S. Navy right now is searching for a missing crewman in the Persian Gulf. He was actually aboard a radar surveillance plane taking part in Operation Enduring Freedom. The other three crew members, we are told, have been rescued. The plane was actually heading back to the carrier USS Eisenhower.
We'll be tracking the story for you to bring you more information. This is actually not the aircraft that went down. It is a similar -- it's a picture of the same type of surveillance plane that they are looking for. If you're not familiar with this kind of aircraft, it can hold a pretty good amount of crew members monitoring radars and special satellites to try and find enemy aircraft weapons on the ground.
It's extremely important aircraft for the U.S. Navy, and apparently, now we're getting word that it went down and a member of the crew is still missing. Meanwhile, three others of that crew have been rescued. We're tracking it for you. We'll bring you more information as we get it.
A video game so vile and disgusting that it makes your stomach turn. Players actually groping, stalking, even raping women and little girls because they think it's fun. The game is made in Japan, but women's groups around the world are outraged. More now from CNN's Kyung Lah in Tokyo.
Kyung, it's a story that definitely makes your stomach sick.
KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's the reaction that a lot of women's groups around the world and mainly in the United States are having that feeling after watching and viewing this game or even just hearing about it.
We want to make something very clear, the game has been pulled from the shelves, but in our digital borderless world, that's just the very beginning of the story. We want to warn our viewers that some of the information in this story you may find a little disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAH (voice-over): The heart of Japan's electronics district, the world's games of tomorrow on sale today. On shelves in mainstream stores, plenty of what's known here as Hentai games. Almost all feature girlish-looking characters. Some are violent, depicting rape, torture, and bondage in detail.
It didn't take long to find the game where the object is revenge. Find and rape the woman who fired the player from his imaginary job. Most of this game we cannot show you.
Hentai games are not new for Japan. This country has long produced products the rest of the world would call pornographic, but before the internet shrunk the world, it's stay here. A quick web search general rates hundreds of Japanese games. Once a game goes on sale in Tokyo, it's digitized and shared everywhere.
This one, called "rapelay," begins with a teenage girl on a subway platform. With a click of your mouse, you can grope her and lift her skirt. You, the player, stalk her, her sister, and her mother, following them on the train.
LAH (on-camera): What follows is a series of graphic interactive scenes that we can't show you. Players can corner the women to rape them again and again, and it goes on from there.
(voice-over): The game infuriated women's rights groups.
TAINA BIEN-AIME, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, EQUALITY NOW: These sort of games that normalize extreme sexual violence against women and girls have really no place in our communities.
LAH: International outrage led the Japanese developer to pull the "rapelay" game from stores last year, but that didn't stop it spread. In fact, the controversy took it viral. That's how Lucy Kibble and Jim Gardner (ph) in England heard about and downloaded the game as they told me over Skype.
LUCY KIBBLE, BRITISH GAMER: It's a controversial subject, and I wanted to try it just to see what it was all about.
LAH: That global availability is why international women's rights groups say Japan needs to regulate game makers better, stopping creation of certain content.
BIEN-AIME: What we are calling for, though, is that the Japanese government banned all games that promote and simulate sexual violence, sexual torture, stalking, and rape against women and girls. And there are plenty of games like that.
LAH (on-camera): How sensitive is Japan to this issue? Despite weeks of repeated calls to the government, not a single government official would speak to CNN on camera. They wouldn't even make a statement on paper.
Over the phone, one official who would not allow us to use her name said that the government realizes these games are a problem, and it is checking to see whether self-policing by the gaming industry is enough.
(voice-over): Sexual images are subject to censorship in Japan. For example, in the "rapelay" game, genitalia are obscured. But Japan does not have laws that restrict video game themes.
(on camera): Did you feel offended as a woman?
KIBBLE: No. not at all.
LAH: Lucy and Jim point out it is easy to find shoot 'em up games which no one seems to worry about.
KIBBLE: It's escapism. That's why people play it.
JIM GARDNER, BRITISH GAMER: It's the idea of finding or telling people what they can and can't do just because on the off chance some kid might get involved in it is just ridiculous. LAH: But women's rights groups say the interactive games step closer and closer to reality and no one should play a game where the only way to win is to rape.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAH: In part because of the international pressure, there are a couple of proposals in Japan to talk about limiting and raining in child pornography, but Kyra, there is no discussion as of yet on how to limit the assault of women in these video games -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: That should be banned, period. We'll follow the story with you. Kyung Lah, disturbing reporting, but I'm glad you told it. So really, do we even have to go there. Tell us what you think about the rape video game. Just go to my blog at CNN.com/Kyra. Post your comments. I'll read some of them on the air next hour. Thanks for weighing in.
How about an order of insensitivity with a side order of humiliation. You might have found a restaurant that served up exactly that.
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PHILLIPS: Weather permitting, rescue helicopters will take off this morning for the summit of California's Mt. Shasta. Climber is believed to be trapped there. His partner was rescued Monday as he was trying to make his way down the mountain. That climber says his friend was not in good shape when he left for help.
And Milwaukee's archbishop says his archdiocese and not the Vatican should take the blame for mishandling the case of an abusive priest.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The mistakes were made here in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in the 70s, in the 80s, in the 90's --
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PHILLIPS: I apologize for that. We were supposed to hear some of what Father Richard Murphy -- or the story regarding Father Richard Murphy. He died in 1998. He's believed to have molested -- molested rather up to 200 boys, mostly at a school for the deaf.
Now, even though students told church officials about the abuse, Murphy was promoted to run the school. Students eventually reported Murphy to police and no charges were filed.
Again a lot of flooding in Rhode Island -- well, a lot of flooding that nobody has ever seen, not unless you've -- not if you're a few hundred years old.
Reynolds Wolf is right there in the middle of it in Cranston. So, Reynolds, these people already had bad flooding a couple of weeks ago, right? Any hopes for drying out anytime soon?
WOLF: Yes. I don't think it's going to -- this thing is going to happen rapidly. I mean, it's going to take a while for all this water to recede.
You know, to just to give you a little bit of our bearings, we are in Cranston North Street where it was dry less than 12 hours ago, 24 hours ago. It's now water. I mean, as far as you can see.
If you look way back over those trees, that's where the Pawtuxet River used to run, but now it flows right through here. And to be honest, folks, you're not just seeing water. You're also seeing history. We're talking over 15 inches of rainfall that fell in this area just during the month of March. On Tuesday alone, we had nearly eight inches of rainfall. And this is the result.
Another big result has been widespread evacuations, mandatory evacuations in some places, voluntary here in the Ocean State of Rhode Island. There have been hundreds that have been evacuated, also businesses. They've emptied out as the water has been coming through.
Other big problems we've had on roadways, not just the one I'm standing on but there have sections of I-95 that have closed down. Obviously countless side roads and back streets are in the same condition that you see it right here, water all over the place.
Well, also and speaking of water, two wastewater facilities in Warwick and West Warwick have closed down due to the rising floodwaters.
Things are expected to get better but it's going to take time. Thankfully we don't have any major rainfall in the forecast for this particular region, which is great news, but still we have to wait for this water to recede and then the cleanup will begin.
That's the latest from this area. Let's send it back to you in the studio.
PHILLIPS: All right. Thanks, Reynolds.
Well, you want to see the end of the world? Just click play. This is a video of what a black hole would look like as it gobbles up the earth. So what prompted this doomsday scenario? We're going to tell you in just a few minutes.
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PHILLIPS: Their child has brain damage and this is what they got. Sorry, no food, no service, no sympathy. Now get out. A Texas couple says that's pretty much how it went down at a restaurant and how they were treated. I guess sensitivity isn't on the menu.
More from this story now, CNN affiliate WFAA Jason Whitley brings us the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MATT JOHNSON, MAKENNA'S FATHER: Yes, there she is.
JASON WHITLEY, CNN AFFILIATE WFAA (voice-over): Makenna is the middle child, an exuberant 5-year-old with special needs after being born with brain damage.
MARIANNE JOHNSON, MAKENNA'S MOTHER: Makenna --
WHITLEY: Mom and dad say her world is often accommodating, but recently humiliating.
MARIANNE JOHNSON: I felt as if -- my daughter was treated as if she was an animal. She's a 5-year-old little girl. She's beautiful.
WHITLEY: The Johnsons say they never expected what happened as they lunched recently at a Chinese buffet in Plano.
MATT JOHNSON: Well, Makenna makes an "uh" sound -- ok, whenever she wants more.
MARIANNE JOHNSON: You're a happy girl?
MATT JOHNSON: And she hits her chest and she says "uh", definitely not any louder than the other kids in the restaurant.
WHITLEY: But her father, a pastor turned policeman says the manager marched over, stuffed suckers in her hand and singled them all out.
MATT JOHNSON: He said, well, everyone is complaining and you're too loud and you need to go. You need to leave. And I said, are you serious? And he said go, go, go.
WHITLEY: It happened at the Great Wall Super Buffet on West Plano Parkway. The manager wouldn't talk to us on camera, but showed us surveillance video of what happened. The manager said he never touched Makenna and never asked them to leave only to be quiet because he says four or five senior citizens complained of noise then got up to move.
MARIANNE JOHNSON: This shouldn't happen to anyone.
WHITLEY: The Johnson's filed a complaint with the Department of Justice alleging the restaurant discriminated against their daughter and violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by asking her to leave.
A claim the diner disputes and feds will decide.
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PHILLIPS: Well, we'll definitely stay on the story and let you know how it develops and ultimately ends.
Suicide at Cornell, are fences the answer or are they a band-aid to a bigger problem? We're going to talk about it next hour. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Oh happy birthday, Eiffel Tower. You look pretty darn good for 121 years old. I'll bet you didn't know it actually opened as a temporary monument for the World's Fair. Yes, temporary. It was actually only supposed to stand for 20 years. It was just too popular and it brought in way too much money to tear down and now you can't even think Paris without the Eiffel Tower, right?
Ok. It's not a time machine, but a massive scientific experiment may just take us back to the very birth of our universe. But this breakthrough is not just about the past, but our future. It could unlock all kinds of scientific mysteries around us. CNN's Atika Shubert shows us why researchers around the world are buzzing.
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ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It took 16 years and more than $10 billion, but finally, the large hadron collider, the biggest scientific experiment in history has yielded results. Scientists watched in suspense as two particle beams traveling at close to the speed of light, collided at the highest-ever recorded energy. This, in essence, recreates the Big Bang, the conditions at the very beginning of our universe.
GUIDO TONELLI, CERN SCIENTIEST: We really are starting physics and this is the really -- the first time in which we enter a new territory, exploring silent TV (ph) would be a fantastic adventure.
We are just at the beginning. Still we have to do a lot of work. We have to understand our detectors (ph), understand physics in this new region of energy.
SHUBERT: One of the top goals, to identify the much-theorized but never before detected Higgs Bosen particle. The so-called God particle that gives mass to particles, meaning it allows solid structures like say, a table or a chair to exist.
There could also be new discoveries in what scientists call super symmetry, the idea that every particle in our universe has a super partner mirrored in another quantum dimension. But scientists aren't expecting those first major discoveries until later this year.
The large hadron collider needs to run for several months for scientists to collect enough data. And keeping the machine going is an engineering feat in itself. The hadron collider has already stalled twice before. Directing two particle beams around this 17- mile or 27-kilometer track underneath the Swiss-French border is as one scientist put it, like trying to get two needles to crash into each other over the Atlantic.
So watching those first successful collisions is something for scientists to celebrate. Now they believe the discovery of what our universe is made of can really begin.
Atika Shubert, CNN, London. (END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Critics warn the scientists had no idea what forces they might unleash. Some doomsayers say that the particle accelerator could create a black hole that swallows up the world. Since none of us would be around to see it we wanted to show you what it might look like.
So the experiment begins. The end unfolds. The siren screams. The black whole erupts. It sucks in Europe and spreads out in all directions; the earth, literally being sucked into itself, or rather, into a well of gravity so dense not even light escapes. Pretty grim, huh?
The good news, the manner of extinction would be relatively painless. By the way, this earth-swallowing animation has had nearly 4 million hits now on YouTube.
