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Adopted Boy Returned To Russia; Pres. Obama's Nuclear Summit; "Don't Buy: Safety Risk"

Aired April 13, 2010 - 11:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Here are the big stories for you in the CNN NEWSROOM for Tuesday, April 13th.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody's wasted a dime in this district on these campuses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: The recession teaches educators a basic lesson about budgets. The real estate bust means new school buildings sit empty.

Two space milestones. The 40th anniversary of the failed Apollo 13 moon shot and the final spacewalk for the shuttle Discovery.

And the scent of terror. A dog's nose knows, K-9s trained to sniff out explosives.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. Those stories and your comments right here right now in the CNN NEWSROOM.

OK, more fallout from an adoption case that sparked outrage from the U.S. to Russia. It involves the 7-year-old boy adopted by a Tennessee family and then put on a flight alone and sent back to Russia. The family says the boy was violent and showed signs of psychotic behavior.

As authorities in Tennessee investigating what are final charges, Russia is one step closer to putting a freeze on adoptions to the United States. CNN's Ivan Watson has that part of the story from Moscow and Martin Savidge is following developments in Shelbyville, Tennessee.

Ivan, let's start with you. Let's talk about the news on this front, working toward what might be a freeze in U.S.-Russia adoptions and you broke some new details last hour.

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. First and foremost, Tony, this boy, 7-year-old Artem Saveliev, we've heard from Russian authorities that he's actually turning eight this week, and he's had a very difficult week and confusing week, of course, being shipped off from his adoptive parents and delivered here to Russia.

Now, I spoke with the child ombudsman for Russia and asked him, does this now mean Russia's indignation over the treatment of this boy, does this now mean that adoptions are going to be frozen? And this is what he had to say. Let's take a listen.

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PAVEL ASTAKHOV, CHILD RIGHTS OMBUDSMAN: Yes, I think this is a way we will follow, because in this situation, we have to freeze all activity in the adoptive process for the United States and for America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Now, we've done some follow up trying to find out. There hasn't been a formal statement or decree or law sign that's saying, in fact, adoptions are frozen, Tony. That's an important distinction. This may be more of a rhetorical posture right now after a case that has really infuriated a lot of Russians. What the Russians are calling for is for a new bilateral agreement to be signed to manage, better manage the large number of adoptions of Russian children by American families.

That Russian official says it's possible this could get put together within three to six months, and the U.S. embassy tells us that a delegation will be arriving within the coming weeks and that they're hoping to hammer this treaty out and the U.S. ambassador tells me it could be a matter of weeks or just months before this new proposed bilateral adoption agreement would be signed.

HARRIS: OK. So, let's dig a little deeper here and Martin, we'll get you in just a second here in Tennessee, but Ivan, do we have any idea, an inkling of how this more formal agreement should come to pass might change the way adoptions are processed today?

WATSON: That's still a little bit hazy, but it does seem what the Russians are calling for is some kind of monitoring system, some way to be able to follow up on those Russian children after they get to the U.S., after they're adopted to make sure that they're still being treated well, and what we're hearing from the Americans is for there to be more transparency, perhaps, on the part of the orphanages to provide more information on the children before they're adopted.

In the case of this child, the Russians are insisting there are no indications as have been alleged by the adoptive mother and grandmother to CNN that the child had any violent tendencies, that the child had any mental or physical problems. They've given him a clean bill of health.

HARRIS: And so, that's an important distinction here from the Russian adoption agency point of view. Ivan, appreciate it. Ivan Watson in Moscow for us. Let's bring in Martin Savidge in Tennessee.

Marty, if you will give us where we stand with this story today, what's the position of the Hanson family today?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Hanson family said that they are not going to cooperate with the sheriff's investigation to this point. At least that's the message that's been transmitted as a result of the Hanson family attorney. The family had indicated as late as Friday that they were willing to meet with the sheriff to basically explain why they did what they did. The meeting that was supposed to happen Friday was postponed until this week.

We thought it was going to happen yesterday, and then late yesterday afternoon, the sheriff, Ronald Boyle, (ph), is basically came out and said that he was told by the attorney that this family is not going to cooperate with his investigation. At least, they're not going to do it willingly. If he wants to talk to them, he's going to have to put out some sort of warrant for their arrest and that hasn't happened.

HARRIS: And it hasn't happened. So, Martin, you just heard from Ivan Watson here, from the Russian point of view, the kid had been given a clean bill of health. The Hanson family feels it got a kid with some real problems and part of the request here is for more information from the Russian side of this adoption story, correct?

SAVIDGE: That's right. The way it stands, first of all, the Hanson family made those statements in a telephone call to CNN last Friday. We've been trying to talk to the Hanson family to get their side of the story ever since, but they have essentially gone into seclusion, but what they said in that phone call was that they believe that the adoption agency in Russia greatly misrepresented this child. That they specifically asked when at that orphanage, if the child had any mental problems, had any physical problems, and they were told time and time again that this child did have not any problems, but they found that to be totally different, they say, once the child was in this country and living under their roof.

Now, as to what they're asking from authorities today, this is the sheriff's department. They're investigating two avenues. Was there abandonment? That's still being investigated. Was there abuse that was conducted by the American family on this adopted child? To that end, they've asked Russian authorities for two things. They are asking them for medical records, because the child did go to the hospital after it was returned to Russia, and they're asking for what's called a forensic interview. This is an interview videotape in which the child is basically asked to show and tell specifically responding to questions by investigators. The Russians say they will cooperate on that.

HARRIS: And you know, we would love to be able to talk to the Hanson family, and obviously, the authorities would love to be able to talk to the Hanson family. We don't know the answer to a really basic question here, the Tennessee Department of Children's Services reports that after certain point, they didn't have any contact with the Hanson family. We don't know why the Hanson family didn't report to that agency problems it was having with the child before putting the child on a plane alone to Russia, correct?

SAVIDGE: Correct. We don't know really if this family tried to reach out.

HARRIS: Yes. SAVIDGE: If it was really struggling so severely with a child that seemed to have problems. The only indication is the family said they contacted a psychologist over the telephone. Any reputable psychologist would tell you they can't make a diagnosis over the telephone, but that's what the family did, and from that advice, they believed they learned that the child simply was so severely destabilized mentally that their only option was to return the child, but you're right. No one in this community really knows this family, and people have said, if they had a problem, why didn't they reach out because there are many ways that we could assist.

HARRIS: Martin, appreciate it. Good stuff. Martin Savidge for us in Tennessee and our Ivan Watson in Moscow for us.

Checking other big stories. President Obama's top counterterrorism official says there is indisputable evidence of terrorist groups trying to get access to weapons of mass destruction. The comment comes as the president and world leaders meet for the second and final day of a global nuclear summit. The focus is on securing tons of nuclear material and keeping it out of the hands of terrorists.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The smallest amount of plutonium, about the size of an apple could kill and injure hundreds of thousands of innocent people. Terrorist networks such as al Qaeda have tried to acquire the material for a nuclear weapon, and if they ever succeed, they would surely use it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: A rare safety warning from "Consumer Reports." Its researchers say they've found the 2010 Lexus GX460 by Toyota can spin out, actually spin out in tight turns and could roll over. The magazine is urging people not to buy that particular SUV until the problem has been fixed. In a statement, Toyota says it is concerned about that finding and will look into it, adding, quote, "the GX460 meets or exceeds all federal government testing requirements."

In West Virginia, the focus shifts from recovery to investigation. Early this morning, crews brought out the last nine bodies of the 29 miners killed. And yesterday afternoon, exactly one week after the explosion, a memorial for the miners at the state capital. A moment of silence and expressions of gratitude.

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GOV. JOE MANCHIN, WEST VIRGINIA: All of the people who came forward to help during that period of time, all of the people that gave of themselves and so much to make sure that they could ease the pain.

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HARRIS: And no word yet on when investigators will go inside the upper big branch mine.

A crippled spacecraft almost became their floating tomb. Apollo 13 astronauts remember their unlucky mission 40 years ago this week.

A spring snowstorm targets the Northern Rockies. There's the man. Rob Marciano is tracking that storm for us in our severe weather center. We're back in a moment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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HARRIS: Do you know what happens 40 years ago today? Apollo 13, I'm sorry -- that's April 13, 1970 -- an oxygen tank exploded putting the moon out of reach for Apollo 13 and the launch of three astronauts on the line. For the next four days, the astronauts used the Lunar Lander as a lifeboat while NASA improvised a safe return to earth.

The 40th anniversary of Apollo 13 prompts a reunion in Chicago. Phil Schwarz for the affiliate WLS reports.

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PHIL SCHWARZ, WLS REPORTER (voice-over): The story of Apollo 13 is an incredible one, a mission to the moon that nearly turned into a disaster. Today, the surviving two astronauts and the mission's flight directors were at the Adler Planetarium viewing the shoot for the moon exhibition and recalling their memories of their voyage.

CAPT. JAMES LOVELL, APOLLO 13 ASTRONAUT: It was an oxygen tank going out, but it took us a little while to find out. When we look out, the one who saw the oxygen explosion or, you know, going out, we knew that we were in deep trouble.

SCHWARZ: The crew spent the next four days in the lunar module. To make matters worse, fellow astronaut Fred Haise developed health issues.

FRED HAISE, APOLLO 13 ASTRONAUT: I had a urinary tract infection which a byproduct is chills and fever similar to having a case of the flu. So, you feel pretty lousy, but it does not affect what you have to do.

SCHWARZ: Back at Mission Control in Houston, the flight directors were trying to come up with a variety of solutions to bring the astronauts home. One of the greatest challenges was trying to jury-rig a carbon dioxide filter.

GERALD GRIFFIN, APOLLO 13 FLIGHT DIRECTOR: We had to create a little channel to make the air go through it, and we used the covers off a checklist. We used an old sock. We used a lot of duct tape.

SCHWARZ: Eventually, the crew was able to restart the command module and return safely to earth. Now, the Ron Howard movie "Apollo 13" gives a scientifically accurate account.

GRIFFIN: Ron Howard, when we started, said I want you glued to my hip and if you see anything that's not technically correct, let me know.

SCHWARZ: The Apollo 13 crew and ground control would love to see space exploration continue and are hoping to spark an interest to learn in the youth of our country.

HAISE: I don't think we have enough young people interested in science and engineering. This country, statistically, if you look at it compared to others in the world, we're behind.

SCHWARZ: Given the accomplishments of these fine men, the catalysts to achieve couldn't come from a better source.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: President Obama will be at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida Thursday to discuss NASA's future or plan to return to the moon by 2020. It was canceled by the administration, and the end of the shuttle program in September will cost Florida's economy thousands of jobs. Tomorrow, in the NEWSROOM, I'll be talking live to the mayor of Cocoa Beach, Florida.

It took three space walks, but Discovery astronauts completed installation of an ammonia tank today. It supplies the cooling system aboard the International Space Station. Discovery is scheduled to return to earth next Monday.

Wall Street's impressive comeback, but there is little rebound on main street comparing trend lines for stocks and jobs in the NEWSROOM.

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HARRIS: OK. So, we have been watching Wall Street closely in the past few weeks, right? The Dow has been inching higher and higher. Now, the blue chips are cross a key threshold. What to make of it? I guess your 401(k)s look a lot better provided you have a job. Stephanie Elam is in New York with details.

Stephanie, what do we make of this? Good morning.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.

Even if you don't have a job right now and you did have one before, with the 401(k), it should still look better just to go off of that thought, but you're right. There is a sense of optimism here. If you take a look at a chart that we have here, we've seen stocks moving higher over the past year. Take a look that. You can see it's pretty clear, and it's not just the Dow. The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 are up about 50 percent and 40 percent each and for the everyday American, that's showing up in your 401(k) and investment portfolio statements as you just referenced, Tony.

Now, the hope is that the more money in our pockets will prompt people and businesses to spend and spending, as we always talk about, consumer spending is two-thirds of the economy and that will help our recovery, put a band-aid and get everyone feeling better. So, we would like to see that. Right now, the Dow back below 11,000, off 22 points, 10,984; Nasdaq off about a quarter of a percent at 2,452, but remember, you know, this is not new territory for us. We're simply making up what we lost, because the Dow first crossed 11,000 back in 1999 when you partied like it was such.

HARRIS: Yes. Yes. But we don't necessarily want all that back because that was kind of bubble driven. Help me here. There seems to be this one big disconnect. We've got the Dow rising to 11,000. OK. But the unemployment rate, as you know, is at 9.7 percent. Make of that what you will.

ELAM: Yes. That makes it hard to get excited about something like this. That's true. You know, we've seen stocks rising. We've seen the markets starting to look better, but unemployment is still in a place we'd like it not to be. A year ago, it was at 8.9 percent, and now, it's at 9.7 percent. So, it's not what we'd like to see. Wall Street is well aware of this. Also, this is a lagging indicator when you take a look at this data of unemployment.

It's going to drag behind the stock market, but that's why we haven't seen the Dow skyrocketing above 11,000 right now. It's been a slow, steady climb, and it's probably going to stay that way until we know the recovery is on solid footing. But remember just yesterday, that key group in DER, that key group of economists that say it's too soon whether or not to say that the recession is over. They are not calling it yet. That means there's still a lot of caution out at this point -- Tony.

HARRIS: Yes. You know, we say this all the time as well, that you know, two-thirds of the economy is driven by consumer spending, but you know, we did a lot of that on plastic, and we don't necessarily need a return to those debt levels as well, do we, Stephanie?

ELAM: No. No, we don't. And you've seen that consumers are reacting differently because of this recession.

HARRIS: Yes.

ELAM: And for many of them, it's the longest recession they've seen in their life time. So, therefore, they're not spending that way and that could be a good thing if it changes the patterns, but we'd like them to have more money and not go into debt when they do it.

HARRIS: Stephanie, see you next hour. Thank you.

From Pennsylvania Avenue to Main Street Americans are growing anxious about the nation's mounting debt. It stands at more than 12 trillion. I can't even comprehend that number. How about you? From increased taxes to slashed benefits, officials are wrestling with what to do. We want to hear from you. What are you willing to sacrifice? What are you willing to accept in order to bring down the national debt?

Don't pawn this off on your neighbor and cut his stuff, not mine. We want to know what you would accept, what you would sacrifice? I know you've got something to say on this topic. Go to CNN.com/Tony. Leave me a comment. We'll share it on the air or you can call me at 1877-742-5760 or you can leave your comment after the tone and include your name and where you are calling from. Please, if you would, keep your comment to under 30 seconds. Let's do this. Let's get you caught up on our top stories now.

President Obama says the risk of nuclear attack on the United States is rising. He says the world must quickly secure nuclear material to keep it out of the hands of terrorists. The president spoke this morning at the main working session of a nuclear security summit in Washington, D.C.

Happening today, a public viewing for the late Polish president and his wife. Her casket arrived in Warsaw today. Their bodies are lying in state at the presidential palace. Thousands have lined up to pay respects. The funeral is on Sunday.

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HARRIS: OK. So, here's the situation. In California, a real matter of life and death. Rescue teams worked frantically to save a woman who was in a car that -- man, look at that. She's ranging like a ragdoll there. The car was in that swollen canal. They pulled the 74-year-old woman to safety. Her son and husband were also in the car. The son was killed and the husband is presumed dead. Oh, man. The body has not been found.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Keeping nuclear material out of the hands of terrorists. Day two of the global summit. Our Josh Levs looks at who has nuclear weapons and who has given them up and the markets have opened, right? They've been open for just about two hours now. Let's take a look at the Dow. Dow, negative territory down 14 points. Stephanie Elam is helping us with the numbers -- the market checks throughout the day right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: President Obama calling for unified action against a nuclear terrorism. The president is hosting leaders of 46 nations at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington. He opened the main working session today, calling for a new mind set against what he describes is the greatest threat to global security.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Just the smallest amount of plutonium, about the size of an apple, could kill and injure hundreds of thousands of innocent people. Terrorist networks such as al Qaeda have tried to acquire the material for a nuclear weapon, and if they ever succeeded, they would surely use it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: So, part of the focus of the nuclear summit is on two nations not represented, Iran and North Korea. Efforts to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons and to stop North Korea's program are priorities for President Obama, and they were a topic of discussion on CNN's "JOHN KING USA."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: In the context of those who are not here, what can this group of leaders who are here do to help to deal with the North Korean problem or the Iranian problem, for example.

QUEEN NOOR, JORDAN: Well, we at Global Zero believe, and I personally believe, that if we're able to achieve consensus, if we're able to bring the nuclear states and also the nuclear capable states, and obviously this meeting is a group of states who have nuclear materials or access to nuclear materials, if we're able to bring as many of those states together as possible and to agree, for example, as I hope this summit will, that there will be concrete agreements made to safeguard nuclear materials -- smuggling, nuclear materials crossing borders and nuclear materials within a country's borders -- then, you're beginning to develop a global consensus, a certain momentum that is critical to achieving Global Zero and diminishing the threats of nuclear terrorism, of those materials that are so many of them in unstable parts of the world reaching the hands of those who would use them to wreak havoc on any of us anywhere in the world.

KING: Is there any risk in doing this in the sense that if you watch Iranian behavior over the years, North Korean behavior over the years, sometimes when they are lectured by the world community and especially the United States, they respond by saying essentially, poke me, I will poke you back. Is there some risk that there will be a reaction from them after this?

WENDY SHERMAN, EXPERT ON NUCLEAR ISSUES: I think we've already started to see some reaction. We heard Ahmadinejad -- President Ahmadinejad of Iran basically say this was humiliating and that nations shouldn't take these kinds of actions.

But in fact, I think that we'll hear the United States talk about the commitments it needs to make as well. We have an enormous amount of nuclear material as we were discussing before, some in our research reactors that we have to make sure is secure and move down to low enriched rather than highly enriched uranium. So everybody has work to do, including the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Let's do this, let's bring in Josh Levs.

Josh, you there? Let's drill down on this, take a big step back here. Who has nuclear weapons? Which nations don't. Let's break it out. Where do you want to start?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I'm going to pick a few of the major nations here. Cause when you talk about trying to decrease proliferation and work toward a world in which there are no nuclear weapons, you've got to look at the numerical task in front of you. Just how big is it? We're going to start right here in the United States, because we do have, you know, as these things go, a big supply. This is how many, according to the experts out there that have looked at it, our crack research team put this together. The United States has approximately 5,200 nuclear weapons inside this country. Now, those who are experts look at these figures and they say how many are strategic and how many are nonstrategic? But within the United States, that is the number you're looking at.

Let's zoom over now to Russia, because as we know, another major power in the world there, there's a lot of talk about the role Russia can play in this kind of interplay. When we look at Russia, Tony, this is what the experts are saying. They're saying 3,900 in Russia, 3,900 nuclear weapons inside Russia and these are what is known and in some cases it's the number of total suspected, but there are a number of experts who look at this very closely and that's the number that is believed for Russia.

We have got two more countries we're going to go to. Let's go to China, because as we know, an emerging super power in many ways. China's numbers are 240 according to what the experts are saying, 240 inside China. And, Tony, that's one of the smaller supplies of the major nations.

And we will end on one that is, of course, getting a lot of talk because there are so many security concerns about what happens to these nukes inside Pakistan. It is believed that in Pakistan you have between 60 and 120 nuclear weapons somewhere in there, in that range. That's in the country. And as we know, one of the big concerns there, Taliban forces, al Qaeda forces, are they able to get their hands on them? A lot of countries nervous about that, Tony.

HARRIS: Very quickly, which countries have given up nuclear weapons programs?

LEVS: This is interesting, the ones that gave them up, because we heard a lot about Libya. We heard Libya is giving them up. But you know what's another place that's giving them up? We're going to show you guys this map pretty quickly, we have highlighted some other countries that have given up nuclear weapons in recent years -- Kazakhstan, Belarus, Ukraine, South Africa and Brazil. They've either given up actual weapons or they've given up nuclear weapons programs, and there is a trend to be giving up the programs and that's what the people at the summit want to see more of.

HARRIS: All right, Josh, good stuff. Thank you.

LEVS: You got it, Tony.

HARRIS: Empty schools, a byproduct of the Great Recession. We've got an example of just that for you coming up in just minutes right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: I need you to reach out to the program, talk to me directly. A couple ways to do it. First of all, CNN.com/Tony takes you directly to this -- bam -- our blog page. To send us your thoughts on Facebook, here's what you do. Tony Harris, CNN. Here's my Twitter address, TonyharrisCNN. Call us. Pick up the phone. 877- 742-5760. Let's have more of your thoughts on the program. CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris.

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HARRIS: It is a phenomenon happening across country, once booming school districts hit hard by the real estate bust, that means fewer students and less tax revenue. Such is the case for a suburban Dallas school district, Jonathan Betz with affiliate WFAA shows us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN BETZ, WFAA REPORTER (voice-over): In Crowley, workers rush to finish a school that for now will largely sit empty. The money is there to build it, but not to fully open it. This $40- million campus was supposed to be a 1,200-student middle school.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I understood the financial situation that the district was in.

BETZ: So instead the new superintendent is re-using it, turning part of the building into a career and technology education center for high school students. The large kitchen, for one, will now be used for cooking classes. The art rooms, transformed for cosmetology courses.

(on camera): Like the plumbing and everything is already in place.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was already in place for art.

BETZ (voice-over): The entire second floor of classrooms, the gym, athletic fields and even the cafeteria will largely sit empty for now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's why we've had to make some hard choices this spring about if -- if opening these buildings are really important us to, where do we get the money to do that?

BETZ: For Crowley, that lesson came too late. For years, this suburban Fort Worth district saw huge growth. But after the housing collapse, new students slowed to a trickle and sinking property values slammed tax roles. Now in a deficit, it mothballed two intermediate schools, brand new campuses built last year, now locked up and untouched with no money to spend.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody looks forward to having empty buildings and not using them on behalf of students.

BETZ: It infuriates parents with kids in overcrowded schools.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A big waste of money for them to sit empty over there. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sounds like somebody didn't do some planning.

BETZ: Amy Houtsen (ph) sends her two boys to a school that relies on portable classrooms. A nearby vacant intermediate school was supposed to relieve congestion.

AMY HOUTSEN, PARENT: It's just something typical, something that Crowley would do. Their school system it's just -- they just don't have it together.

BETZ: It's put Crowley's new superintendent on the defensive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody's wasted a dime in this district on these campuses.

BETZ: He hopes to open all of the schools by the fall, but to do that, he's been slashing spending by millions as this district and others suddenly find themselves with more schools than they can afford.

In Crowley, Jonathan Betz, Channel 8 News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Let's get you caught up on top stories right now.

First lady Michelle Obama is in Haiti right now. She's making a stop in the earthquake-ravaged nation before heading to Mexico this afternoon. We'll keep you updated on her first official out-of- country visit.

More troubles for Toyota. "Consumer Reports" says the 2010 Lexus GX460 SUV can spin out in tight turns and roll over. It is giving a rare "Don't Buy" warning to consumers. Toyota says it is concerned with the findings and its engineers will try to duplicate to tests to determine its next steps.

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger won't face charges for the alleged sexual assault of a Georgia woman, but he is still apologizing for the incident.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN ROETHLISBERGER, NFL QUARTERBACK, PITTSBURGH STEELERS: I am truly sorry for the disappointment and negative attention I brought to my family, my teammates, coaches, the Rooneys and the NFL. I understand that the opportunities I have been blessed with are privileged and that much is expected of me as a quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

I absolutely want to be the leader this team deserves, valued in the community and a role model to kids. I have much work to do to earn this trust, and I'm committed to improving and showing everyone my true values.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Athletes apologizing. I've got to tell you, the Georgia college student accused Roethlisberger of sexually assaulting her in a nightclub bathroom in early March. Prosecutors say the accusations cannot be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

A somber day for the Los Angeles Police Department. Just an amazing scene taking shape. Look at this, thousands turning out for a final salute to one of their own killed in Afghanistan.

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HARRIS: So we've got two and a half days to get your taxes done and wouldn't you know it? The IRS is planning more audits this year. Stephanie Elam back with us from New York.

And, Stephanie, let's walk through this here. What can trigger an audit?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, first thing you need to keep in mind, Tony, is that just over a little of over 1 percent of individual tax returns are audited. But at the same time, you don't necessarily want to put yourself in a situation where they are trying to look at you.

But as you mentioned, the number of audits is on the rise. Last year, audits increased by 2.5 percent, while the IRS won't comment on what can trigger an audit, here are some things that may increase the scrutiny of your return. Deductions that are very large compared to income; rounding out your numbers or doing some math errors, that's not going to help you out at all; and incorrect information, that's probably pretty obviously -- excuse me -- that will raise some red flags.

Now, one of the best ways to avoid an audit is to keep precise records. E-filing is another way to cut down on those math errors since the software programs, they double-check your math, they do the numbers, therefore you won't have a problem with that, Tony.

HARRIS: Hey, Stephanie, all right, so what happens if you are audited?

ELAM: Yes. If you do happen to be one of those 1 percenters who do get this notification, here's what you should keep in mind. Most audits are done through letters or maybe even through a phone call. So make sure you keep all of this correspondence and really do not ignore a letter from the IRS.

HARRIS: Yes.

ELAM: Answer the letter before the due date. The IRS is not going to be, like, we didn't hear from them and they're just go away. They're going to keep coming back.

And if you had taxes prepared by a firm or an accountant sit down and talk to them. If you did it yourself, make sure that you have all of the necessary information to give to the IRS.

If this isn't sufficient, you may be called in to face a face-to- face audit, and if that happens, consider hiring a professional like a CPA or a tax attorney to go with you.

If you have questions on this one, for more information, you can go to IRS publication 556 and that's at IRS.gov to get information on that, Tony.

HARRIS: All right, a CPA could help, a tax attorney obviously can help, anyone else out there that can help you?

ELAM: Yes, I mean, if you decided that you really want to duke it out with the IRS --

HARRIS: Hello?

ELAM: -- you can do that and check out the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service. This is an organization within the IRS that helps taxpayers solve problems. If you face a delay of more than 30 days to resolve a tax-related problem or not receiving a response by the date promised, you can get free help from this organization. We put the number up on the screen for you there. The toll-free number is 1-877-777-4778.

And of course, if you have questions that you would like for us to help you out with here on "The Help Desk," you can e-mail them to us at CNNhelpdesk@CNN.com.

And if you haven't done your taxes, yes, you might want to get on that.

HARRIS: Stephanie, appreciate it. Thank You, Stephanie, see you next hour.

ELAM: Sure.

HARRIS: Bomb-sniffing dogs have been really effective on the warfront and now an elite pack of dogs is fighting terror right here in the United States.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Look, I got to tell you something. Inside the last hour, it came to our attention that there was going to be a huge law enforcement turnout in Los Angeles to mourn a fellow officer killed at war. Here it is. LAPD Officer Robert Cottle died last month in Afghanistan while on reserve duty. These are live pictures.

Our understanding is that literally thousands are expected to attend Officer Cottle's funeral today. Police officials say Cottle was the first active LAPD officer to be killed in Iraq or Afghanistan. He had served two tours of duty in Iraq and was deployed to Afghanistan in August. He and a Marine were killed when their armored vehicle stroke a roadside bomb. Officer Cottle was 45 years old, 20 of those years were spent with the LAPD. Joining me on the phone now is Officer Tony Rusterucci of the Voorhees Township New Jersey Police Department. And, Tony, we wanted to get you on the line here because, frankly, this is an amazing event that we are witnessing. Look at that overhead view supplied by our affiliate in Los Angeles, KTLA, of all the law enforcement personnel on hand.

If you would, you've known this man for some time. Will you take a moment as we watch these pictures, because we did not want to just sort of show the pictures and move on, we wanted to stop and honor this man's service., will you take some moments here -- go as long as you want. I don't care -- and tell us about this man, Officer Cottle?

OFFICER TONY RUSTERUCCI, VOORHEES TOWNSHIP, N.J. POLICE DEPARTMENT (via telephone): It would be an honor.

First of all, I met R.J., along with our squad team in Voorhees back in May of '99 in Berwick, Pennsylvania. He was one of our tactical instructors, and his personality right from the beginning was something that you would never forget. Just the way he presented himself, carried himself, it was amazing. He would always make the best of any situation, pull the most excitement and emotion from simple everyday things.

Once again, we had an opportunity to train with R.J. as a team during the terror attacks of 9/11. Our SWAT team was in Blackwater training center in North Carolina, and we heard about the attacks while training. During one of our breaks, we watched the news actually unfolding on CNN. R.J. looked at us and said -- pretty much he said, this is the exact reason why we have to train hard and be prepared. We have got to stay motivated, keep our heads on straight. At that point, he said, break's over, let's get back to training.

So he was the type of guy who was in touch with reality but always tried to make the best out of everything.

HARRIS: I'm looking at notes here. R.J., as you call him, had been deployed to Afghanistan in August of last year and was scheduled to return home, boy, this summer.

RUSTERUCCI: Yes.

HARRIS: You stayed in touch over the years. Did you ever talk to him about the war effort, the role he felt he needed to play in the war effort?

RUSTERUCCI: Well, he was definitely a patriot through and through. He was -- he was dedicated to everything that he did. He was dedicated to LAPD, he was dedicated to the Marine Corps. Just got recently got promoted to sergeant major, which he was proud of and everybody around him was proud of. So he knew his role, what he had to do, and he understood it.

It's very difficult talking about it because when I talked to him, one of the last things I e-mailed to him was to stay safe, you know, and it's kind of hard. HARRIS: What do you think of this turnout today as we continue to watch live pictures from Los Angeles? Look at -- look at this scene. Again, thousands of people expected for this funeral today.

RUSTERUCCI: Well, his personality was definitely contagious. I mean, he was a motivated, fun-loving person that loved living and shares laughs with everyone. He was just -- he was a proud man. He always just -- he always showed himself as being a person who was caring and understanding and always enjoyed life.

He was -- he was happy to be a newlywed and a recent birth of his daughter. You could just see through the pictures that I have and most of the people have seen, he was just -- he was all smiles and proud. And that's R.J., through and through.

HARRIS: And his wife, Emily, is a naval officer stationed in Hawaii.

Tony, thank you. I just -- we just couldn't stop. We just couldn't stop until we took a moment to spend it with you, someone who knows him well, someone -- and you readily admit, right, that he made a powerful impression on you and your life, correct?

RUSTERUCCI: That's correct. And the team, as an officer and an individual, he -- he was one of a kind, you know. And I'll be bringing down a group of officers down to Arlington on Friday for his service.

HARRIS: Well, Tony, thank you. Thanks for your time.

And just take a look at this scene in Los Angeles today, the funeral for LAPD Officer Robert "R.J." Cottle, 45 years old, killed March 24th in Afghanistan while on Marine reserve duty traveling with three other Marines in the Marjah region. We talked a lot about that offensive there. That was really for maybe about a month or so ago, the focus of a really intense U.S.-led offensive against the Taliban. Look at this funeral and the horse drawn caisson for Officer Cottle.

Take a break. We're back in the NEWSROOM in just a moment.