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CNN Live Saturday

Missing Bride-to-Be Located; Mass Grave Found South of Baghdad

Aired April 30, 2005 - 16:00 ET

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

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A runaway bride. A woman who vanished days before her wedding turns up across country, unharmed but with quite a story to tell.
A price war among colleges. What some parents are doing to try to get the most for their child.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't hate American, I don't French. Because I wasn't born in the wartime...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: A history lesson in a Vietnamese classroom. How students feel about the American war 30 years ago.

Hello and welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. All of that and more after this check of the headlines.

Cairo, Egypt, is on edge, after two attacks that left three people dead. Authorities say a bomber blew himself up and wounded seven people behind the Egyptian Museum. It happened shortly before two women fatally shot each other aboard a tourist bus elsewhere in the city.

A today-released U.S. military report exonerates soldiers who shot and killed an intelligence agent in Iraq. The reports says the car carrying the agent and a freed hostage journalist failed to slow down approaching a checkpoint. The Italian government disputes those conclusions.

Visitors from all over the country are paying respects at Washington's Vietnam Veteran's Memorial on this 30th anniversary of the fall of Saigon. The memorial wall bears the names of U.S. service people who died in the war that ended officially 30 years ago today. You see today, in that live shot, the crowds.

A Michigan couple is somewhere on the road in a new R.V., after claiming a $208 million lottery jackpot. Ralph and Mary Stebbins (ph) produced their willing megamillions ticket. They're taking their winnings in a lump sum, which means $124.7 million before taxes.

Well, she may be at this point the most famous bride-to-be in the country, but that's not exactly a good thing. Jennifer Wilbanks made national headlines this is week when she vanished just days before her wedding. Today, instead of getting married, she's waiting to be reunited with her family 1,400 miles from her home in Georgia.

Wilbanks turned up in New Mexico, first telling authorities she had been abducted, but police say she later admitted she just couldn't handle the pressure of her large wedding and hopped on a bus to Las Vegas. She then took another bus to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and from there she called 911, seemingly sobbing and hysterical. And she described the people that had kidnapped her. Here is a portion of that tape.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

JENNIFER WILBANKS: It happened in Duluth.

911 OPERATOR: OK, and the male that did this, is he black, white, Hispanic, or Native American?

WILBANKS: Hispanic.

911 OPERATOR: About how old?

WILBANKS: I would say in their 40s, maybe.

911 OPERATOR: About how tall was he?

WILBANKS: I don't know. About my height, about 5'9."

911 OPERATOR: What is his weight? Do you think approximately thin, heavy, medium build.

WILBANKS: It was medium build, yes. I don't know.

911 OPERATOR: What color hair did he have?

WILBANKS: Black.

911 OPERATOR: Was it long or short?

WILBANKS: Short.

911 OPERATOR: Did he have any facial hair?

WILBANKS: No.

911 OPERATOR: What color shirt exactly was he wearing when you last saw him?

WILBANKS: He had on a maroon jacket and I don't know what color shirt under it.

911 OPERATOR: What color was his pants?

WILBANKS: Blue theme.

911 OPERATOR: And what kind of vehicle was he driving?

WILBANKS: It was a blue van, like a dark van. 911 OPERATOR: Was it a conversion van or small minivan?

WILBANKS: It wasn't a minivan, it was like a painter work van.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Charles Molineaux is in the woman's hometown of Duluth, Georgia. And Charles, I understand you have more information about what exactly happened in New Mexico?

CHARLES MOLINEAUX: Well, yes, of course that call was made from the 7-11 in Albuquerque and actually, as you got to hear what it sounded like, it was an upset and scared-sounding call, which apparently matched the appearance of this, at the time, alleged victim. Jennifer Wilbanks, when she was there. There was a witness who talked to us earlier about just what he saw there. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN FLORES, WITNESS: She was confused, like say, opened that door and the lady walks across the street and kind of looks around. And you could you hear the door open because it makes a noise up there, and then she walked around back and forth, you know, like she didn't know where she was going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MOLINEAUX: Well, she was going to make that call. She called 911. The news that Jennifer Wilbanks was alive and well sent off a spontaneous party at the home of her fiance, John Mason. Their families had been keeping an anguished watch there since she disappeared on Tuesday night. So it was time for cheers and hugs, until the news came that Jennifer Wilbanks had concocted the saga of being kidnapped because apparently of wedding jitters. Then the scene became one of stunned confusion, with the couples families promising and trying to understand.

John Mason's friend Melinda Larson says she knows all about wedding nerves. She is preparing for her own upcoming wedding and she had gotten close to Jennifer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELINDA LARSON, FRIEND OF JENNIFER: I think Jennifer had no idea this would turn into a criminal investigation, and had she known, I think things would have been handled probably a little differently. But sometimes things take a life of their own, just like weddings.

REV. ALAN JONES, PEACHTREE CORNERS BAPTIST CHURCH: Sure, we were all disappointed, maybe a little embarrassed, but you know what? If you remember all the interviews yesterday, we were praying, at this point, let her be a runaway bride. So God was faithful. Jennifer's alive and we're all thankful for that.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MOLINEAUX: Which is the sentiment also elocuted by the district attorney of Gwinnett County, where this actually all started. He says that he is not ruling out any possible criminal charges, but this is not the time for that sort of thing. Any decisions on that will be forthcoming once he gets a chance to look into what happened. But this is a time for celebration that, in fact, Jennifer Wilbanks is coming home safe and sound.

Reporting live, Charles Molineaux, CNN, Duluth, Georgia.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks a lot, Charles.

Well, the family of Jennifer Wilbanks spent several agonizing days without any news of her whereabouts. CNN's John Zarrella takes a look at the timeline of the events.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A case that seemed to be leading nowhere suddenly cracked wide open. About 1:40 a.m., Wilbanks places a collect call from a pay phone outside this convenience store in Albuquerque, New Mexico. More than 1,200 miles away in Duluth, Georgia, Wilbanks' fiance is in tears at the sound of her voice on the line. John Mason keeps Wilbanks on the phone long enough for police to trace the call. But he tells reporters that she gave him no details about what had happened to her.

JOHN MASON, WILBANKS FIANCEE: Obviously, I was crying, I was laughing, I was trying to stay calm to talk to her, to keep her calm. And it's just so much.

ZARRELLA: Minutes later, Albuquerque police arrive at the scene to find a shaken bride-to-be. She says she is cold and afraid. There is a lot police still don't know.

TRISH AHRENSFIELD, ABUQUERQUE, N.M. POLICE: All that is still being investigated. So at this time she is here, she is with police. She is -- doesn't appear to be any life threatening injuries.

(CROWD CHEERS)

ZARRELLA: Back in Georgia, a celebration is underway at the home of John Mason. An endless stream of Wilbanks' family and friends, including members of the bridal party, thrilled she is safe. But there is another twist to Wilbanks' story. Back in New Mexico, Wilbanks is taken to police headquarters and questioned by the FBI.

She goes into detail with police about how she was abducted, taken in Georgia, she said, by an Hispanic man and a white woman. She even described the vehicle she said she was taken in, a blue van. She told police that her abductors had cut her hair. Authorities saying it did look like her hair had been cut, but as police continued to question her, her story changed dramatically.

CHIEF RAY SCHULTZ, ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. POLICE: At approximately 4:00 a.m. this morning, Ms. Wilbanks informed agents and detectives that she had not been abducted as she had originally claimed. Agents and detectives learned that Miss Wilbanks had become scared and concerned about her pending marriage and decided that she needed some time alone.

ZARRELLA: The news hits home, where friends and family have been on a rollercoaster of emotion. Now, trying to understand what really happened to Wilbanks, and what could have caused her to run.

LARSON: Well, anyone that's planning a wedding knows that it's stressful, there's drama, it's challenging, it's overwhelming. There's so much pressure involved, that 95 percent falls on the bride. So the fact that there is stress and concern regarding the pressures involved with the wedding is of no surprise to anyone that has ever planned a wedding.

ZARRELLA: The man who was due to marry the couple Saturday night said there really is no way to describe what the groom-to-be, questioned himself earlier this week by police, has been through.

JONES: John Mason is experiencing something right now that probably nobody in this country has experienced in such a great way, with the media attention and the things that have been brought forth.

ZARRELLA: Family members flew to Albuquerque to bring Wilbanks home, alive, but with many questions left to be answered.

John Zarrella, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, hundreds of police and volunteers had been part of the nationwide search for Jennifer Wilbanks. Today, some of them share their sentiments about her actions.

CNN's Denise Belgrave joins us now from Duluth, Georgia. And Denise, I understand there are a lot of mixed emotions coming from Duluth.

DENISE BELGRAVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There really are, Fredricka. In fact, one person described what this town has been through as emotional whiplash. They searched for three days, three days, over five square miles of this town, many, many volunteers. There were dogs, there were search and rescue teams on the water.

A lot of people got emotionally involved, who were trying to find Jennifer Wilbanks, but you know, everybody says they're very, very happy that she's alive, but they really are feeling very upset about the hoax and the fact that they've, in some ways, they say, been betrayed.

We spoke with one gentleman who searched for her and he told me how her activities affected him.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

AERIK RICHARDS, SEARCHER: I don't know that anger is the right word, Denise. I think that maybe betrayed. You know, that so many people were out there, that all she had to do was call one friend, one person, one family member and say you know what? I couldn't go through with it. Tell everybody I'm OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BELGRAVE: You know, he really expressed the way almost everybody I spoke to today felt. Everybody seemed to really understand that she had the jitters, that maybe she felt like she needed more time and more space. What people really seem to have taken umbrage with is that she didn't let anybody know that she was OK -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Denise Belgrave, thanks so much. From Duluth, Georgia.

Well, it's hard for anyone to understand why Wilbanks went to such great lengths to get out of her planned marriage, but my next guest helps explain the kind of anxiety facing a bride and a groom.

Erik Fisher is a clinical psychologist. And you say people really do channel their energies quite differently, especially when it comes down to anxiety, over a wedding that was believed to have about 600 guests. Does that kind of volume really add to the pressure that most brides and new grooms face?

ERIK FISHER, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: I think there's a lot of pressure in our society to be able to meet all the demands and hide a lot of the feelings. Not a lot of people in our society like to show the feelings that they have inside. Fear would be seen as a weak feeling. Insecurity, doubt are all seen as weak in our culture and I think that it's important for us to see that, you know, those feelings are part of being human.

WHITFIELD: You know, and it's tough to diagnosis the patient without really getting a chance to talk to the patient. So we really are kind of bouncing around a few different ideas, having not had a direction conversation with Jennifer Wilbanks. But clearly, she said to police that she has felt stressed out. Might there have been some red flags raised that people who know her well might have been able to see that, gee, you know, maybe she's not ready for this, or maybe for whatever reason, she's got reservations?

FISHER: Well, we live in a culture that's, you know, kind of an imposture-based culture, in a way. You know, we all want to put our best foot forward and show all these things and hide the feelings. And I think the pastor said he'd counseled them on Sunday and saw no signs and friends saw no signs that there were any stress. And she might have done a great job of hiding her feelings and emotions to present this strong front, because she probably felt obligated to go through the wedding as scheduled.

WHITFIELD: So somehow she may have felt that canceling the wedding would have been far more embarrassing and disappointing to herself, her family, everyone as a whole, than to just concoct a story like this, which, you know, just snowballs and becomes a huge mess? FISHER: Right, exactly, and when we feel feel fear, we often revert back to earlier stages in life, really. You know, we revert back to feeling like a little kid. And so inside of her, she might have been feeling like a little kid and kind of reacted like a little kid at that level. And it is a huge responsibility to say no, I'm not ready for this, and can feel like a big burden where you did fail and you let everybody down and all the money was spent was gone and all the people, of all the plans to come to the wedding, are going to have to change those plans.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And so that's all looking back. Now, looking forward, you know, she's got to see her family members, see all these loved ones, et cetera, those who have flown in. You know, what would be your best advice for her or anybody else in her kind of position who kind of flew the coop for awhile, you know, to try to face the music, so to speak?

FISHER: Well, life is about making mistakes and learning from them. You know, I tell people the purpose of failure is to learn. And this probably feels like a very big failure to her, with a lot of shame and guilt. And I think that she has her family, still loves her. Her friends who are her friends will still love her. And it's very easy to judge somebody in her situation.

And I think it would important for her to step back and say, you know, this is a learning -- a life-learning lesson here. And if my fiance really loves me, no matter what happens in our relationship, they'll stick with me. And I think they do need some help, they do need some counseling. The family's admitted that there needs to be some help there.

WHITFIELD: Boy, it's going to be a bumpy road ahead for all of the parties involved, I'm sure. Erik Fisher, psychologist and author of the book "The Art of Managing Everyday Conflicts." Thanks so much for being here.

FISHER: Thank you for having me.

WHITFIELD: And we're devoting a special hour to this very strange story. Later on today, be sure to tune in for "Runaway Bride: Jennifer Wilbanks," at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, 5:00 Pacific, right here on CNN.

A turning point in Southeast Asia. 30 years ago today, ahead on CNN LIVE SATURDAY, looking back at the fall of Saigon. We'll talk to a man who lived through the horrors of the Vietnam War, and get a view of the war as taught in classrooms in Vietnam.

But first, the most recent war involving the U.S. in Iraq, and a gruesome discovery.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Security and stability dominated talks between Iraq and its neighbors today. Foreign ministers and diplomats from nine countries met in Turkey in a show of support to Iraq's new government. The leaders pledged to boost border security and condemn the escalating attacks. A series of fresh attacks in Iraq today underscored those concerns.

Six Iraqis were killed and 29 others wounded in three separate bomb blasts in Baghdad. Two of the attacks were directed at military convoys. Another five Iraqis were killed in three attacks in the northern city of Mosul.

And in Falluja, three Iraqis were killed in a rocket attack. Casualties are mounting among American forces. A U.S. soldier assigned to the marines was killed today in Khaladiya, west of Baghdad. The military says another four U.S. soldiers were killed in an explosion Thursday in Tal Afar.

A gruesome find south of Baghdad illustrates the brutality many Iraqis endured under Saddam Hussein's reign. Forensic experts are combing through a mass grave believed to contain as many as 1,500 Iraqi Kurds, killed almost 20 years ago.

Here's CNN's Ryan Chilcote.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They found this site about 230 miles South of Baghdad and we know quite a bit about it at this point. It consists of 18 trenches and the officials believe that inside of those trenches, there are something like 1,500 Iraqi Kurds.

Now, they've actually been working at this site, this mass grave site, since early April, and so far, they've recovered the remains of about 113. At least when our crew was out there earlier in the week, that was the number. Of those 113, all of them are Kurds and they believe that all of them, with the exception of just five, are women and children. Actually, they're saying that 63 percent of them are children, but all but five are women and children.

Now, they say that these people, the Kurds, were brought here, perhaps in about 1988, as a part of the Anfall (ph) campaign, a campaign that Saddam launched to relocate Kurds from the North in Iraq to other parts and to settle those areas with Arabs. They say that they believe that these people were probably brought from detention centers somewhere in Iraq to this site and after these trenches were dug, these people were shot right at the edge of the trenches, so their bodies would fall in them.

WHITFIELD: The evidence could be passed along to the Iraqi special tribunal that will be prosecuting Saddam Hussein on war crime charges.

Ahead on CNN LIVE SATURDAY, U.S. troops making their final journey home. Why these images are so controversial and why we may never see them again.

But first, a college price war. How much is it worth to gain a student?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: This is an important weekend for high school seniors. Tomorrow is the day most have to make their final decisions on a college or university. Some parents are fighting the rising costs of higher education by playing one college off another, to match scholarships.

CNN's Kathleen Koch reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sold!

KATHLEEN KOCH (voice-over): Selling a hot commodity to the highest bidder. That tenet of capitalism is catching on on campus, with savvy parents.

DR. ROBERT MASSA, DICKINSON COLLEGE: So they come to us and say, well, what will you do, because there is this other institution gave us some money. And we're compelled either to award that student some money to impact the enrollment decision or at least play on a level playing field, or simply to say, no, we give up and you can go to that other institution.

KOCH: Brian and Theresa Cain tried bargaining with Dickinson College in Carlyle, Pennsylvania, where tuition has increased tenfold since 1970. Their son Eric didn't qualify for a merit or a need-based scholarship.

THERESA CAIN, ERIC'S MOTHER: We approached them with the offers that we had from the other schools and they were wonderful. They came back and they were the only school that gave an in-between the two categories to give us some money.

KOCH: They got the idea from a financial planner.

BRIAN CAIN, ERIC'S FATHER: He was one that indicated that, hey, you know, it doesn't hurt to go ask.

KOCH (on camera): And those who ask often receive. The College Board found that the richest quarter of students now gets more financial aid than the poorest quarter.

(voice-over): Still, some caution, the best deal doesn't necessarily mean the best education.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One school may be offering more aid, which is clearly of less quality. So it may not be the best decision to go to the school that gives you the highest discount.

KOCH: Dickering over college costs is most prevalent at elite private institutions like Dickinson. Educators fear it will reduce funds available to ensure high academic quality and need-based scholarships.

MASSA: Somebody has to pay. That's what it comes down to. KOCH: Despite Dickinson's offer, Eric decided on a less expensive college.

ERIC CAIN, HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR: Yes, I'm satisfied, I guess. I think I made the right choice, going to a different school.

KOCH: A satisfied shopper, part of a trend expected to grow as college tuition does.

Kathleen Koch, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: When CNN LIVE SATURDAY continues, a history class in Vietnam. What do students know about the war they refer to as the American War 30 years after it ended?

And later, seeing is believing, most of the time. The untruths about this and other notorious images.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: You're looking now at live pictures of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C. on a particularly emotional day. It's the 30th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, which marked the end of the Vietnam War. Vietnam veterans and tourists have been visiting the memorial all day in honor of the U.S. troops and South Vietnamese forces who were killed fighting the Communist North.

The fall of Saigon was an unforgettable moment in history, a moment made even more memorable because of this remarkable footage: U.S. helicopters making a frantic rooftop evacuation of the last remaining Americans, a rescue that happened just hours before Saigon was overtaken by the Communist VietCong. Most troops left Vietnam two years earlier but the United States had diplomatic personnel inside Saigon to support the South Vietnamese government. Some Vietnamese were evacuated in the last chaotic hours, others fled their home country years later.

Sonny Le was one of them. He lived through the horrors of the Vietnam war and the upheaval that followed. And left when deplorable living conditions got even worse.

Good to see you, Sonny.

SONNY LE, GREW UP IN VIETNAM DURING WAR: It's good to be here.

WHITFIELD: Now as you look back 30 years at your home country, can you describe for us what life was like immediately following that reunification?

LE: You know, there was a momentary jubilation of, you know, there's no more warfare, no more suffering, no more, you know, fighting among Vietnamese, it's basically. But that didn't last long, because eventually, Vietnam got stuck in two more wars, one with China, and one in Khmer (ph) in Cambodian. And basically, after 30 years of long war, Vietnam was devastated. There was nothing left no, infrastructure whatsoever, and so famines, mismanagement, more wars. Vietnam was a broken country, and family like mine, most days, we could not afford to eat like two solid meals every day.

WHITFIELD: And things got so bad that you made a personal decision, didn't you, to decide to be a part of that mass exodus. And you would be making that decision, even though a lot of your immediate family members would not be going with you. And you'd eventually be in refugee camps. Explain what that was like for you.

LE: Basically, by 1980, when I left Vietnam, I was turning 17 at that time. If you're 16 or 17-years-old and able, you would be drafted. If you're not old enough to hold a gun and fight, you would be digging trenches. And so I would either starve to death in Vietnam or no opportunities whatsoever, or we'd draft and fight in Cambodian, which would also amount to certain death.

WHITFIELD: And earlier, just a moment ago, before this image we have on the screen, there was a picture of you really at the start of, you know what, he said were the deplorable conditions. You had nothing except for the shirt you kind of had thrown on your shoulder. And you've kept that all these years, haven't you?

LE: Yes. This picture was taken a week after I arrived in a refugee camp in Singapore, and the shirt on my right shoulder was the only shirt I left Vietnam with. And I have it with me 30 years later, it's right here. This is the very shirt that I had with me.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness!

LE: It's a dear shirt because it was made by my mom for my actual trip. And I wore it for six days straight during the sea voyage, and I still have it with me.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And when you look at that shirt, you know, you think about your family's struggle, the price that was paid by many people in your country, et cetera. What are some of the thoughts that go through your mind when you look at that shirt, particularly on this 30th anniversary?

LE: You know, the war, the Vietnam War was more than just the casualties list. The Americans lost 58,000 men and women, but Vietnamese lost as many as 5 million men and women and counting still. And the story of the Vietnamese having to escaped via sea and via land through Cambodian, the story goes that one in five perish along the way. I could have been one of those one in five, but we made it here. Basically, to me, personally, points to the cost of war. And the cost and the pain and suffering did not really end when the war ends. And it goes on until today, a lot of Vietnamese-Americans and a lot of Vietnamese in Vietnam are still not able to reconcile with the past with the war itself.

WHITFIELD: So, how do you recommend or how do you want people to honor the lives lost, American, Vietnamese et cetera, particularly on this very significant mark on the calendar? LE: You know, I total agree with having to honor and respecting those who risked their lives for our own livelihood and our own survival. But there's only one thing simple answer, there's no war in winners, there's no war in conflict, period.

WHITFIELD: Sonny Le, thanks for joining us and helping to mark this very poignant 30th anniversary.

LE: It's good to be here. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: So what do people in Vietnam think of the United States, 30 years after the war? Many hold absolutely no anger toward the U.S. government, or too Americans as a whole. It's an attitude that's due in large part to their youth.

Here's CNN's Atika Shubert.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): History class in Vietnam. Students are enacting in song the decisive Battle of Dienbienphu, signalling the end of French rule and the beginning of what is called here the American War.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't hate the Americans, I don't hate French. I think because I wasn't born in the wartime.

SHUBERT: That sentiment is widely shared in the schoolyard in the city formerly known as Saigon, now called Ho Chi Minh City, after Vietnam's victorious communist leader. Yet hamburgers, American movies and pop music are all favorites here. The only place the war is mentioned is in the history books.

(on camera): Two-thirds of the population here is under the age of 30, a generation that has no memory of the war.

(voice-over): Compared to French colonization and countless Chinese invasions, the American War is apparently a blip in Vietnamese history. In their textbook, the American War doesn't even rate its own chapter, but it does have a place of pride.

This student may be a fan of American boy bands, but she knows the party line.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Vietnam won the war because the people were united, and the communist party worked out a correct revolutionary strategy. I feel very proud of this victory.

SHUBERT: Yet, in a sign of the times, others in class are more skeptical.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) control of thinking about this world.

SHUBERT: He even suggests that Vietnam's flirtation with free markets may pave the way for other changes. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The politics will change when the economy change. Because our economy today is very open.

SHUBERT: If anything, students here seem less concerned about American war history than American-style economics, seen as the key to their future.

Atika Shubert, CNN, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Coming up, they may be the most poignant images of war, but it's something we don't often see. Ahead, why the military released these photographs and how they're reigniting debate. We'll talk to a woman whose son was killed in battle in Iraq.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Here's news that might surprise you. Children are developing more melanomas than ever before. Why is that surprising? Well, melanomas are usually adult cancers. So, what's going on and how do you protect your kids?

Dr. Bill Lloyd is joining us. Thanks again for joining us this lovely Saturday. Let's talk about some of the dangers, but let's break it down to the simplest of forms, such as why is the sun so dangerous?

DR. BILL LLOYD, UNIV. OF CALIF, DAVIS MED. CTR.: Fredricka, we're bombarded by all different types of radiation from the sun, including that dangerous ultraviolet. If visible light is right here, ultraviolet is just underneath it. And ultraviolet can damage cells that can lead to changes that may one day cause cancer. We now find that children who are under the age of 20 have as much sun exposure in that first 20 years than they have over the rest of their life. So, its that he first 20 years where we need to pay extra attention to protect children from those dangerous harmful rays from the sun.

WHITFIELD: And therein lies the problem of what kind of SPF do you -- you know, you should get, because you see everything from 2 to 30 these days, even 45.

LLOYD: The most important point is, there's no absolute protection from the harmful effects of the sun. SPF sun screens are helpful, but they can only protect at the very best perhaps 97 percent of those harmful rays. Good old-fashioned SPF 15 will take to you 93 percent, and there's an important teaching point, even if you're using sunblock still use extra protection like hats and shirts. When you apply a sunblock, put it on at least 30 minutes early before you go out side, and reapply it often.

Fredricka, we cheat. We don't use enough sunblock.

WHITFIELD: Wow, and the time of day can also be a factor, right?

LLOYD: It certainly can. 10:00 to 2:00 is usually the most dangerous time. So, tell your children, if they can see their shadow or their shadow is shorter than they are, it's time to put on extra sunblock or even a better idea, go inside and watch CNN for awhile.

WHITFIELD: That's a great idea. Now, we're looking at -- we saw some videotape of kids and the application of sunscreen on the little ones. What about these kids who are often in and out of the water, should you start toward leaning toward waterproof sunscreen or does it really even matter?

LLOYD: Here's a true statement, you can never overapply sunblock. I mentioned earlier, we're cheap. We pay seven, $8 for a bottle of sunblock, so we want it to last all summer. Maybe it should only last a week. We put the stuff on, it makes us all white, makes the skin all white. You don't want to see that thick stuff. But when they test those SPF factors they're testing it on maximum amount of sunblock. So, some of the sunblock manufactures have gotten clever and they've made green and purple sunblocks now. So, you slap that on, so you know you've put enough on. And in just a few minutes the color disappears, and the kids really like it.

WHITFIELD: And just like the bottom that product that we just saw, there are actually expiration dates on some of these?

LLOYD: Oh, they do. And you always have to read the label. You know, you get what you pay for when it comes to sunblock. In addition to making sure it's got a current expiration, look for products like Powersol (ph), or Amobenzone (ph). These are very expensive, and they've jacked the prices of sunscreens. But they make it worthwhile because they're the top quality sunscreens that are present in sunblock lotions.

WHITFIELD: All right. It looks like I need to clean out my medicine cabinet. I think I have quite a few old bottles, now, of sunscreen.

LLOYD: Summertime, time to freshen up, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Time to freshen up. Good advice. Thanks a lot, Dr. Bill Lloyd.

LLOYD: We'll talk again soon.

WHITFIELD:: Yes, all right.

Well, Groucho Marx once said, "Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?" Well, when you see a photo of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt frolicking together on the beach, you can't necessarily believe your own eyes? Well, doctored photographs are igniting an ethical controversy among journalists.

CNN's Jeanne Moos reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The headline says "Brad and Angelina Caught," but caught in the act was "Star" magazine itself. Take it from the editor of archrival "Us Weekly."

JANICE MIN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "US WEEKLY": "Us" real, "Star" fake.

MOOS: "Us" paid half a million bucks for real photos of the pair on a beach in Kenya. But "The Star" electronically slapped together two old photos from two separate beaches taken months apart.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brad is just inserted into it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How deceptive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's shocking.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's sleazy.

MOOS: Though at first glance hardly anyone could tell.

(on camera): See anything wrong with this picture?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah. It's got two people I really care nothing about and shoving it down my throat.

MOOS (voice-over): "The Star's" defense is that it tells readers the cover is a composite, in teeny-tiny print on page 8.

MIN: I think they were thinking "Us" magazine paid a lot of money to get these exclusive photos. Let's try to confuse the consumer out there so they might think that these are actually those photos.

MOOS: At least "The Star" didn't do what Stalin did -- pose with people, later have them executed, then erase them.

We have seen everything from "TV Guide" putting Oprah's head on Ann-Margret's body, to Kate Winslet upset because "GQ" reduced the size of her legs.

Someone on the Internet took this real photo of George Bush reading and turned his book upside down to make him look dumb.

A telltale sign in the Brad Pitt photo, even though he's walking on dry land in the composite...

(on camera): He still has waves around his feet.

MOOS: Back in 1992, "National Geographic" moved the pyramids, squeezing them to fit in the vertical cover. Back then they called it retroactive repositioning of the photographer. Talk about positioning. The 9/11 tourist guy was posed atop the World Trade Center as a plane closed in. Next thing you know he was popping up at the Hindenburg and the Titanic. These days anyone can photo shop -- take this woman's husband.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He took a picture of us in the Adirondacks and added our dog to do it who hadn't been there. MOOS: Pranksters claim this picture won "National Geographic's" Photo of the Year, when all it really was was a shark photo combined with this army chopper. Doctored to appear together, John Kerry and Jane Fonda can commiserate with Brad and Angelina, make that Brad and Jeanne.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, not really on a Beach in Kenya.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: She wishes.

CNN LIVE SATURDAY continues in an hour and 15 with Carol Lin. She's here to give us a preview of what's coming up.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we're continuing on this runaway bride story. And I'm going to be talking with an FBI investigator in Albuquerque. As you know, by now, Jennifer Wilbanks, her whole story fell apart in the middle of the night while investigators were questioning her about this alleged kidnapping plot. We're going to have a one-hour special on this, Fred, at 8:00 tonight where I'm also going to be talking with a close friend of both Jennifer Wilbanks and her fiance. Obviously, a lot of emotions right now as this family is trying to get reunited and ask Jennifer the questions that they all want to ask her.

WHITFIELD: So awkward.

LIN: That's right.

WHITFIELD: It's good that a friend will be talking in her defense to explain.

LIN: We're also going to get -- we're going to have viewers weigh in on this story.

WHITFIELD: Good.

LIN: So, we want to hear from you. So, please tune in. 6:00 and 10:00 Eastern time tonight. And the 8:00 special.

WHITFIELD: Don't forget that. All right, thanks a lot, Carol.

LIN: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Facing pressure, the Pentagon days -- days ago, rather, released never before seen images of coffins of fallen American troops. The move has reignited debate over whether the images should be kept from public view.

CNN's Senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre takes a closer look at the controversy. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONENT (voice-over): The photographs were released in two batches. First, 92 images that had already been released on various military Web sites, including this one showing the casket of a Navy SEAL killed in Afghanistan in 2002 being strapped to the floor of a C-17. Here, flag-draped coffins carrying the remains of Americans missing from the Vietnam War are shown when they arrive on U.S. soil in Guam in 2002. And there's this poignant image of a rarely seen burial at sea ceremony, conducted aboard the U.S. Aircraft Carrier Enterprise in May of last year.

But another series of 268 pictures were released without any identifying information. No dates, no locations, and with the faces of service members in combat zones blacked out, for reasons of privacy, the Pentagon insists. The mountains in this image suggest it is in Afghanistan. This one shows a blue body bag being gently lowered into a metal casket, but, again, the Pentagon withheld any details.

The release comes in response to a lawsuit filed by former CNN correspondent and University of Delaware journalism professor Ralph Begleiter, along with the National Security Archive.

RALPH BEGLEITER, UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE: I think it's important for the American people to be able to assess the cost of war and to pay respects to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

MCINTYRE: The Pentagon counters that its concern is protecting the privacy of the fallen and their families and argues that it announces all casualties and that coverage of individual funerals is up to the families. But many believe the true genesis of the ban was an incident in December of 1989, when President Bush was shown by network television in a split screen, joking with White House reporters, juxtaposed against the first images of U.S. war dead being returned from Panama.

MCINTYRE (on camera): The Pentagon insists there will be no change in its policy banning access to the return of American military remains. and it's unclear if the Pentagon's release a relatively small number of images will be enough to end the legal action against it.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, the release of these photographs is seen as a victory by many families who've lost a loved one in war. Cindy Sheehan lost her son, Casey in Iraq. His coffin was photographed and published in "The Seattle Times" awhile back, not part of the batch of images we just saw, offer.

Cindy, good to see you.

CINDY SHEEHAN, REALVOICES.ORG: Oh, thank you, nice to be here.

WHITFIELD: Since 1991 the U.S. government has had this policy of banning the publication of any of these types of images. Whose decision do you think it ought to be in which to release the images of the fallen men and women in their caskets?

SHEEHAN: I really think that it should just be something that's shown. This war, this invasion has been sanitized beyond belief to the American people, and these should be desanitized. The American people need to be told the truth. They need to be shown the truth, because war is ugly. Why should only 1,586 of us families have to suffer anything for this invasion and occupation?

WHITFIELD: So, when you saw these latest images that were released by the Department of Defense, do you feel like America is getting a chance to see something that perhaps they were unaware of before, the honor of being paid to these fallen military men and women. The salutes taking place, whether it be on the helicopter or on board a flight deck?

SHEEHAN: Well, for example, before I saw the picture of my son's coffin, I didn't know what the military did with a soldier after he was -- he or she was killed. For all we knew, they put him in a body bag and put him in the corner or something. And we saw the care and respect they were treated with, and it gave us a small measure of comfort to see that they were treated with such honor and dignity.

WHITFIELD: And do you feel that might be the case for an awful lot of family members?

SHEEHAN: I haven't spoken to a family member yet who does not think that the American public needs to see the pictures of our children coming home. You know, the American public needs to look at them and think, wow, that could be my son or daughter. That could be me. Maybe we should take a harder look at what we're doing in this world.

WHITFIELD: And this might be a one-time shot, however. The Department of Defense may not choose to reveal any more images. However, these that were released, they don't have a time stamp. You don't know the location or the soldiers or military men and women involved. Is that a mistake or do you understand the protection of their privacy?

SHEEHAN: It's a mistake. You know, are that he shamed of our children who are coming home this way? You know, they need to show our children, not bring them home in the dead of night. And the people who are escorting them home, this is one of their most sacred duties, and I think they're proud of it. and here they are covering their faces like they're criminals, like the Pentagon thinks they're doing something wrong. Well, maybe the Pentagon's doing something wrong and they really need to face that.

WHITFIELD: And at this point, you've got a chance to see really, as a strange circumstance, when you saw the casket of your son, which was published in "The Seattle Times," that was quite controversial at the time, that that photographer was not authorized to take that picture, et cetera. You mentioned the comfort that many family members might be feeling, after having seen the honor being paid. How did it catch you, when you first the image, how were you informed that that photograph had been taken?

SHEEHAN: I saw the picture, it wasn't too long -- I saw the photograph, It wasn't too long after my son was killed. There was like over 20 coffins, and I know that week my son was killed was a devastating week. So I kind of thought he was one of the bodies in one of the coffins, but the air force officer who escorted him home confirmed to my family that he was in that picture. And let me tell you, it's just a small comfort. You know, not very many things can comfort one in a situation like that. But I look at the flag that's folded on our -- on our shelf. And I know that it covered Casey from the time he left Iraq until the time we buried him, and you know, it's a shame. It should never have happened and not one person should be dead but it is a small measure of comfort and the people who guard them, you know, they consider it as an honorable duty. And they're not ashamed what have they do.

WHITFIELD: Cindy Sheehan, thanks so much for joining us and sharing with us your views and your experience.

SHEEHAN: Thank you. Thank you so much.

WHITFIELD: And that's going to do it for this hour of CNN LIVE SATURDAY. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Back with more after this.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

Aired April 30, 2005 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A runaway bride. A woman who vanished days before her wedding turns up across country, unharmed but with quite a story to tell.
A price war among colleges. What some parents are doing to try to get the most for their child.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't hate American, I don't French. Because I wasn't born in the wartime...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: A history lesson in a Vietnamese classroom. How students feel about the American war 30 years ago.

Hello and welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. All of that and more after this check of the headlines.

Cairo, Egypt, is on edge, after two attacks that left three people dead. Authorities say a bomber blew himself up and wounded seven people behind the Egyptian Museum. It happened shortly before two women fatally shot each other aboard a tourist bus elsewhere in the city.

A today-released U.S. military report exonerates soldiers who shot and killed an intelligence agent in Iraq. The reports says the car carrying the agent and a freed hostage journalist failed to slow down approaching a checkpoint. The Italian government disputes those conclusions.

Visitors from all over the country are paying respects at Washington's Vietnam Veteran's Memorial on this 30th anniversary of the fall of Saigon. The memorial wall bears the names of U.S. service people who died in the war that ended officially 30 years ago today. You see today, in that live shot, the crowds.

A Michigan couple is somewhere on the road in a new R.V., after claiming a $208 million lottery jackpot. Ralph and Mary Stebbins (ph) produced their willing megamillions ticket. They're taking their winnings in a lump sum, which means $124.7 million before taxes.

Well, she may be at this point the most famous bride-to-be in the country, but that's not exactly a good thing. Jennifer Wilbanks made national headlines this is week when she vanished just days before her wedding. Today, instead of getting married, she's waiting to be reunited with her family 1,400 miles from her home in Georgia.

Wilbanks turned up in New Mexico, first telling authorities she had been abducted, but police say she later admitted she just couldn't handle the pressure of her large wedding and hopped on a bus to Las Vegas. She then took another bus to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and from there she called 911, seemingly sobbing and hysterical. And she described the people that had kidnapped her. Here is a portion of that tape.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

JENNIFER WILBANKS: It happened in Duluth.

911 OPERATOR: OK, and the male that did this, is he black, white, Hispanic, or Native American?

WILBANKS: Hispanic.

911 OPERATOR: About how old?

WILBANKS: I would say in their 40s, maybe.

911 OPERATOR: About how tall was he?

WILBANKS: I don't know. About my height, about 5'9."

911 OPERATOR: What is his weight? Do you think approximately thin, heavy, medium build.

WILBANKS: It was medium build, yes. I don't know.

911 OPERATOR: What color hair did he have?

WILBANKS: Black.

911 OPERATOR: Was it long or short?

WILBANKS: Short.

911 OPERATOR: Did he have any facial hair?

WILBANKS: No.

911 OPERATOR: What color shirt exactly was he wearing when you last saw him?

WILBANKS: He had on a maroon jacket and I don't know what color shirt under it.

911 OPERATOR: What color was his pants?

WILBANKS: Blue theme.

911 OPERATOR: And what kind of vehicle was he driving?

WILBANKS: It was a blue van, like a dark van. 911 OPERATOR: Was it a conversion van or small minivan?

WILBANKS: It wasn't a minivan, it was like a painter work van.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Charles Molineaux is in the woman's hometown of Duluth, Georgia. And Charles, I understand you have more information about what exactly happened in New Mexico?

CHARLES MOLINEAUX: Well, yes, of course that call was made from the 7-11 in Albuquerque and actually, as you got to hear what it sounded like, it was an upset and scared-sounding call, which apparently matched the appearance of this, at the time, alleged victim. Jennifer Wilbanks, when she was there. There was a witness who talked to us earlier about just what he saw there. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN FLORES, WITNESS: She was confused, like say, opened that door and the lady walks across the street and kind of looks around. And you could you hear the door open because it makes a noise up there, and then she walked around back and forth, you know, like she didn't know where she was going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MOLINEAUX: Well, she was going to make that call. She called 911. The news that Jennifer Wilbanks was alive and well sent off a spontaneous party at the home of her fiance, John Mason. Their families had been keeping an anguished watch there since she disappeared on Tuesday night. So it was time for cheers and hugs, until the news came that Jennifer Wilbanks had concocted the saga of being kidnapped because apparently of wedding jitters. Then the scene became one of stunned confusion, with the couples families promising and trying to understand.

John Mason's friend Melinda Larson says she knows all about wedding nerves. She is preparing for her own upcoming wedding and she had gotten close to Jennifer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELINDA LARSON, FRIEND OF JENNIFER: I think Jennifer had no idea this would turn into a criminal investigation, and had she known, I think things would have been handled probably a little differently. But sometimes things take a life of their own, just like weddings.

REV. ALAN JONES, PEACHTREE CORNERS BAPTIST CHURCH: Sure, we were all disappointed, maybe a little embarrassed, but you know what? If you remember all the interviews yesterday, we were praying, at this point, let her be a runaway bride. So God was faithful. Jennifer's alive and we're all thankful for that.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MOLINEAUX: Which is the sentiment also elocuted by the district attorney of Gwinnett County, where this actually all started. He says that he is not ruling out any possible criminal charges, but this is not the time for that sort of thing. Any decisions on that will be forthcoming once he gets a chance to look into what happened. But this is a time for celebration that, in fact, Jennifer Wilbanks is coming home safe and sound.

Reporting live, Charles Molineaux, CNN, Duluth, Georgia.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks a lot, Charles.

Well, the family of Jennifer Wilbanks spent several agonizing days without any news of her whereabouts. CNN's John Zarrella takes a look at the timeline of the events.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A case that seemed to be leading nowhere suddenly cracked wide open. About 1:40 a.m., Wilbanks places a collect call from a pay phone outside this convenience store in Albuquerque, New Mexico. More than 1,200 miles away in Duluth, Georgia, Wilbanks' fiance is in tears at the sound of her voice on the line. John Mason keeps Wilbanks on the phone long enough for police to trace the call. But he tells reporters that she gave him no details about what had happened to her.

JOHN MASON, WILBANKS FIANCEE: Obviously, I was crying, I was laughing, I was trying to stay calm to talk to her, to keep her calm. And it's just so much.

ZARRELLA: Minutes later, Albuquerque police arrive at the scene to find a shaken bride-to-be. She says she is cold and afraid. There is a lot police still don't know.

TRISH AHRENSFIELD, ABUQUERQUE, N.M. POLICE: All that is still being investigated. So at this time she is here, she is with police. She is -- doesn't appear to be any life threatening injuries.

(CROWD CHEERS)

ZARRELLA: Back in Georgia, a celebration is underway at the home of John Mason. An endless stream of Wilbanks' family and friends, including members of the bridal party, thrilled she is safe. But there is another twist to Wilbanks' story. Back in New Mexico, Wilbanks is taken to police headquarters and questioned by the FBI.

She goes into detail with police about how she was abducted, taken in Georgia, she said, by an Hispanic man and a white woman. She even described the vehicle she said she was taken in, a blue van. She told police that her abductors had cut her hair. Authorities saying it did look like her hair had been cut, but as police continued to question her, her story changed dramatically.

CHIEF RAY SCHULTZ, ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. POLICE: At approximately 4:00 a.m. this morning, Ms. Wilbanks informed agents and detectives that she had not been abducted as she had originally claimed. Agents and detectives learned that Miss Wilbanks had become scared and concerned about her pending marriage and decided that she needed some time alone.

ZARRELLA: The news hits home, where friends and family have been on a rollercoaster of emotion. Now, trying to understand what really happened to Wilbanks, and what could have caused her to run.

LARSON: Well, anyone that's planning a wedding knows that it's stressful, there's drama, it's challenging, it's overwhelming. There's so much pressure involved, that 95 percent falls on the bride. So the fact that there is stress and concern regarding the pressures involved with the wedding is of no surprise to anyone that has ever planned a wedding.

ZARRELLA: The man who was due to marry the couple Saturday night said there really is no way to describe what the groom-to-be, questioned himself earlier this week by police, has been through.

JONES: John Mason is experiencing something right now that probably nobody in this country has experienced in such a great way, with the media attention and the things that have been brought forth.

ZARRELLA: Family members flew to Albuquerque to bring Wilbanks home, alive, but with many questions left to be answered.

John Zarrella, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, hundreds of police and volunteers had been part of the nationwide search for Jennifer Wilbanks. Today, some of them share their sentiments about her actions.

CNN's Denise Belgrave joins us now from Duluth, Georgia. And Denise, I understand there are a lot of mixed emotions coming from Duluth.

DENISE BELGRAVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There really are, Fredricka. In fact, one person described what this town has been through as emotional whiplash. They searched for three days, three days, over five square miles of this town, many, many volunteers. There were dogs, there were search and rescue teams on the water.

A lot of people got emotionally involved, who were trying to find Jennifer Wilbanks, but you know, everybody says they're very, very happy that she's alive, but they really are feeling very upset about the hoax and the fact that they've, in some ways, they say, been betrayed.

We spoke with one gentleman who searched for her and he told me how her activities affected him.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

AERIK RICHARDS, SEARCHER: I don't know that anger is the right word, Denise. I think that maybe betrayed. You know, that so many people were out there, that all she had to do was call one friend, one person, one family member and say you know what? I couldn't go through with it. Tell everybody I'm OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BELGRAVE: You know, he really expressed the way almost everybody I spoke to today felt. Everybody seemed to really understand that she had the jitters, that maybe she felt like she needed more time and more space. What people really seem to have taken umbrage with is that she didn't let anybody know that she was OK -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Denise Belgrave, thanks so much. From Duluth, Georgia.

Well, it's hard for anyone to understand why Wilbanks went to such great lengths to get out of her planned marriage, but my next guest helps explain the kind of anxiety facing a bride and a groom.

Erik Fisher is a clinical psychologist. And you say people really do channel their energies quite differently, especially when it comes down to anxiety, over a wedding that was believed to have about 600 guests. Does that kind of volume really add to the pressure that most brides and new grooms face?

ERIK FISHER, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: I think there's a lot of pressure in our society to be able to meet all the demands and hide a lot of the feelings. Not a lot of people in our society like to show the feelings that they have inside. Fear would be seen as a weak feeling. Insecurity, doubt are all seen as weak in our culture and I think that it's important for us to see that, you know, those feelings are part of being human.

WHITFIELD: You know, and it's tough to diagnosis the patient without really getting a chance to talk to the patient. So we really are kind of bouncing around a few different ideas, having not had a direction conversation with Jennifer Wilbanks. But clearly, she said to police that she has felt stressed out. Might there have been some red flags raised that people who know her well might have been able to see that, gee, you know, maybe she's not ready for this, or maybe for whatever reason, she's got reservations?

FISHER: Well, we live in a culture that's, you know, kind of an imposture-based culture, in a way. You know, we all want to put our best foot forward and show all these things and hide the feelings. And I think the pastor said he'd counseled them on Sunday and saw no signs and friends saw no signs that there were any stress. And she might have done a great job of hiding her feelings and emotions to present this strong front, because she probably felt obligated to go through the wedding as scheduled.

WHITFIELD: So somehow she may have felt that canceling the wedding would have been far more embarrassing and disappointing to herself, her family, everyone as a whole, than to just concoct a story like this, which, you know, just snowballs and becomes a huge mess? FISHER: Right, exactly, and when we feel feel fear, we often revert back to earlier stages in life, really. You know, we revert back to feeling like a little kid. And so inside of her, she might have been feeling like a little kid and kind of reacted like a little kid at that level. And it is a huge responsibility to say no, I'm not ready for this, and can feel like a big burden where you did fail and you let everybody down and all the money was spent was gone and all the people, of all the plans to come to the wedding, are going to have to change those plans.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And so that's all looking back. Now, looking forward, you know, she's got to see her family members, see all these loved ones, et cetera, those who have flown in. You know, what would be your best advice for her or anybody else in her kind of position who kind of flew the coop for awhile, you know, to try to face the music, so to speak?

FISHER: Well, life is about making mistakes and learning from them. You know, I tell people the purpose of failure is to learn. And this probably feels like a very big failure to her, with a lot of shame and guilt. And I think that she has her family, still loves her. Her friends who are her friends will still love her. And it's very easy to judge somebody in her situation.

And I think it would important for her to step back and say, you know, this is a learning -- a life-learning lesson here. And if my fiance really loves me, no matter what happens in our relationship, they'll stick with me. And I think they do need some help, they do need some counseling. The family's admitted that there needs to be some help there.

WHITFIELD: Boy, it's going to be a bumpy road ahead for all of the parties involved, I'm sure. Erik Fisher, psychologist and author of the book "The Art of Managing Everyday Conflicts." Thanks so much for being here.

FISHER: Thank you for having me.

WHITFIELD: And we're devoting a special hour to this very strange story. Later on today, be sure to tune in for "Runaway Bride: Jennifer Wilbanks," at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, 5:00 Pacific, right here on CNN.

A turning point in Southeast Asia. 30 years ago today, ahead on CNN LIVE SATURDAY, looking back at the fall of Saigon. We'll talk to a man who lived through the horrors of the Vietnam War, and get a view of the war as taught in classrooms in Vietnam.

But first, the most recent war involving the U.S. in Iraq, and a gruesome discovery.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Security and stability dominated talks between Iraq and its neighbors today. Foreign ministers and diplomats from nine countries met in Turkey in a show of support to Iraq's new government. The leaders pledged to boost border security and condemn the escalating attacks. A series of fresh attacks in Iraq today underscored those concerns.

Six Iraqis were killed and 29 others wounded in three separate bomb blasts in Baghdad. Two of the attacks were directed at military convoys. Another five Iraqis were killed in three attacks in the northern city of Mosul.

And in Falluja, three Iraqis were killed in a rocket attack. Casualties are mounting among American forces. A U.S. soldier assigned to the marines was killed today in Khaladiya, west of Baghdad. The military says another four U.S. soldiers were killed in an explosion Thursday in Tal Afar.

A gruesome find south of Baghdad illustrates the brutality many Iraqis endured under Saddam Hussein's reign. Forensic experts are combing through a mass grave believed to contain as many as 1,500 Iraqi Kurds, killed almost 20 years ago.

Here's CNN's Ryan Chilcote.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They found this site about 230 miles South of Baghdad and we know quite a bit about it at this point. It consists of 18 trenches and the officials believe that inside of those trenches, there are something like 1,500 Iraqi Kurds.

Now, they've actually been working at this site, this mass grave site, since early April, and so far, they've recovered the remains of about 113. At least when our crew was out there earlier in the week, that was the number. Of those 113, all of them are Kurds and they believe that all of them, with the exception of just five, are women and children. Actually, they're saying that 63 percent of them are children, but all but five are women and children.

Now, they say that these people, the Kurds, were brought here, perhaps in about 1988, as a part of the Anfall (ph) campaign, a campaign that Saddam launched to relocate Kurds from the North in Iraq to other parts and to settle those areas with Arabs. They say that they believe that these people were probably brought from detention centers somewhere in Iraq to this site and after these trenches were dug, these people were shot right at the edge of the trenches, so their bodies would fall in them.

WHITFIELD: The evidence could be passed along to the Iraqi special tribunal that will be prosecuting Saddam Hussein on war crime charges.

Ahead on CNN LIVE SATURDAY, U.S. troops making their final journey home. Why these images are so controversial and why we may never see them again.

But first, a college price war. How much is it worth to gain a student?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: This is an important weekend for high school seniors. Tomorrow is the day most have to make their final decisions on a college or university. Some parents are fighting the rising costs of higher education by playing one college off another, to match scholarships.

CNN's Kathleen Koch reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sold!

KATHLEEN KOCH (voice-over): Selling a hot commodity to the highest bidder. That tenet of capitalism is catching on on campus, with savvy parents.

DR. ROBERT MASSA, DICKINSON COLLEGE: So they come to us and say, well, what will you do, because there is this other institution gave us some money. And we're compelled either to award that student some money to impact the enrollment decision or at least play on a level playing field, or simply to say, no, we give up and you can go to that other institution.

KOCH: Brian and Theresa Cain tried bargaining with Dickinson College in Carlyle, Pennsylvania, where tuition has increased tenfold since 1970. Their son Eric didn't qualify for a merit or a need-based scholarship.

THERESA CAIN, ERIC'S MOTHER: We approached them with the offers that we had from the other schools and they were wonderful. They came back and they were the only school that gave an in-between the two categories to give us some money.

KOCH: They got the idea from a financial planner.

BRIAN CAIN, ERIC'S FATHER: He was one that indicated that, hey, you know, it doesn't hurt to go ask.

KOCH (on camera): And those who ask often receive. The College Board found that the richest quarter of students now gets more financial aid than the poorest quarter.

(voice-over): Still, some caution, the best deal doesn't necessarily mean the best education.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One school may be offering more aid, which is clearly of less quality. So it may not be the best decision to go to the school that gives you the highest discount.

KOCH: Dickering over college costs is most prevalent at elite private institutions like Dickinson. Educators fear it will reduce funds available to ensure high academic quality and need-based scholarships.

MASSA: Somebody has to pay. That's what it comes down to. KOCH: Despite Dickinson's offer, Eric decided on a less expensive college.

ERIC CAIN, HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR: Yes, I'm satisfied, I guess. I think I made the right choice, going to a different school.

KOCH: A satisfied shopper, part of a trend expected to grow as college tuition does.

Kathleen Koch, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: When CNN LIVE SATURDAY continues, a history class in Vietnam. What do students know about the war they refer to as the American War 30 years after it ended?

And later, seeing is believing, most of the time. The untruths about this and other notorious images.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: You're looking now at live pictures of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C. on a particularly emotional day. It's the 30th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, which marked the end of the Vietnam War. Vietnam veterans and tourists have been visiting the memorial all day in honor of the U.S. troops and South Vietnamese forces who were killed fighting the Communist North.

The fall of Saigon was an unforgettable moment in history, a moment made even more memorable because of this remarkable footage: U.S. helicopters making a frantic rooftop evacuation of the last remaining Americans, a rescue that happened just hours before Saigon was overtaken by the Communist VietCong. Most troops left Vietnam two years earlier but the United States had diplomatic personnel inside Saigon to support the South Vietnamese government. Some Vietnamese were evacuated in the last chaotic hours, others fled their home country years later.

Sonny Le was one of them. He lived through the horrors of the Vietnam war and the upheaval that followed. And left when deplorable living conditions got even worse.

Good to see you, Sonny.

SONNY LE, GREW UP IN VIETNAM DURING WAR: It's good to be here.

WHITFIELD: Now as you look back 30 years at your home country, can you describe for us what life was like immediately following that reunification?

LE: You know, there was a momentary jubilation of, you know, there's no more warfare, no more suffering, no more, you know, fighting among Vietnamese, it's basically. But that didn't last long, because eventually, Vietnam got stuck in two more wars, one with China, and one in Khmer (ph) in Cambodian. And basically, after 30 years of long war, Vietnam was devastated. There was nothing left no, infrastructure whatsoever, and so famines, mismanagement, more wars. Vietnam was a broken country, and family like mine, most days, we could not afford to eat like two solid meals every day.

WHITFIELD: And things got so bad that you made a personal decision, didn't you, to decide to be a part of that mass exodus. And you would be making that decision, even though a lot of your immediate family members would not be going with you. And you'd eventually be in refugee camps. Explain what that was like for you.

LE: Basically, by 1980, when I left Vietnam, I was turning 17 at that time. If you're 16 or 17-years-old and able, you would be drafted. If you're not old enough to hold a gun and fight, you would be digging trenches. And so I would either starve to death in Vietnam or no opportunities whatsoever, or we'd draft and fight in Cambodian, which would also amount to certain death.

WHITFIELD: And earlier, just a moment ago, before this image we have on the screen, there was a picture of you really at the start of, you know what, he said were the deplorable conditions. You had nothing except for the shirt you kind of had thrown on your shoulder. And you've kept that all these years, haven't you?

LE: Yes. This picture was taken a week after I arrived in a refugee camp in Singapore, and the shirt on my right shoulder was the only shirt I left Vietnam with. And I have it with me 30 years later, it's right here. This is the very shirt that I had with me.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness!

LE: It's a dear shirt because it was made by my mom for my actual trip. And I wore it for six days straight during the sea voyage, and I still have it with me.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And when you look at that shirt, you know, you think about your family's struggle, the price that was paid by many people in your country, et cetera. What are some of the thoughts that go through your mind when you look at that shirt, particularly on this 30th anniversary?

LE: You know, the war, the Vietnam War was more than just the casualties list. The Americans lost 58,000 men and women, but Vietnamese lost as many as 5 million men and women and counting still. And the story of the Vietnamese having to escaped via sea and via land through Cambodian, the story goes that one in five perish along the way. I could have been one of those one in five, but we made it here. Basically, to me, personally, points to the cost of war. And the cost and the pain and suffering did not really end when the war ends. And it goes on until today, a lot of Vietnamese-Americans and a lot of Vietnamese in Vietnam are still not able to reconcile with the past with the war itself.

WHITFIELD: So, how do you recommend or how do you want people to honor the lives lost, American, Vietnamese et cetera, particularly on this very significant mark on the calendar? LE: You know, I total agree with having to honor and respecting those who risked their lives for our own livelihood and our own survival. But there's only one thing simple answer, there's no war in winners, there's no war in conflict, period.

WHITFIELD: Sonny Le, thanks for joining us and helping to mark this very poignant 30th anniversary.

LE: It's good to be here. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: So what do people in Vietnam think of the United States, 30 years after the war? Many hold absolutely no anger toward the U.S. government, or too Americans as a whole. It's an attitude that's due in large part to their youth.

Here's CNN's Atika Shubert.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): History class in Vietnam. Students are enacting in song the decisive Battle of Dienbienphu, signalling the end of French rule and the beginning of what is called here the American War.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't hate the Americans, I don't hate French. I think because I wasn't born in the wartime.

SHUBERT: That sentiment is widely shared in the schoolyard in the city formerly known as Saigon, now called Ho Chi Minh City, after Vietnam's victorious communist leader. Yet hamburgers, American movies and pop music are all favorites here. The only place the war is mentioned is in the history books.

(on camera): Two-thirds of the population here is under the age of 30, a generation that has no memory of the war.

(voice-over): Compared to French colonization and countless Chinese invasions, the American War is apparently a blip in Vietnamese history. In their textbook, the American War doesn't even rate its own chapter, but it does have a place of pride.

This student may be a fan of American boy bands, but she knows the party line.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Vietnam won the war because the people were united, and the communist party worked out a correct revolutionary strategy. I feel very proud of this victory.

SHUBERT: Yet, in a sign of the times, others in class are more skeptical.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) control of thinking about this world.

SHUBERT: He even suggests that Vietnam's flirtation with free markets may pave the way for other changes. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The politics will change when the economy change. Because our economy today is very open.

SHUBERT: If anything, students here seem less concerned about American war history than American-style economics, seen as the key to their future.

Atika Shubert, CNN, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Coming up, they may be the most poignant images of war, but it's something we don't often see. Ahead, why the military released these photographs and how they're reigniting debate. We'll talk to a woman whose son was killed in battle in Iraq.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Here's news that might surprise you. Children are developing more melanomas than ever before. Why is that surprising? Well, melanomas are usually adult cancers. So, what's going on and how do you protect your kids?

Dr. Bill Lloyd is joining us. Thanks again for joining us this lovely Saturday. Let's talk about some of the dangers, but let's break it down to the simplest of forms, such as why is the sun so dangerous?

DR. BILL LLOYD, UNIV. OF CALIF, DAVIS MED. CTR.: Fredricka, we're bombarded by all different types of radiation from the sun, including that dangerous ultraviolet. If visible light is right here, ultraviolet is just underneath it. And ultraviolet can damage cells that can lead to changes that may one day cause cancer. We now find that children who are under the age of 20 have as much sun exposure in that first 20 years than they have over the rest of their life. So, its that he first 20 years where we need to pay extra attention to protect children from those dangerous harmful rays from the sun.

WHITFIELD: And therein lies the problem of what kind of SPF do you -- you know, you should get, because you see everything from 2 to 30 these days, even 45.

LLOYD: The most important point is, there's no absolute protection from the harmful effects of the sun. SPF sun screens are helpful, but they can only protect at the very best perhaps 97 percent of those harmful rays. Good old-fashioned SPF 15 will take to you 93 percent, and there's an important teaching point, even if you're using sunblock still use extra protection like hats and shirts. When you apply a sunblock, put it on at least 30 minutes early before you go out side, and reapply it often.

Fredricka, we cheat. We don't use enough sunblock.

WHITFIELD: Wow, and the time of day can also be a factor, right?

LLOYD: It certainly can. 10:00 to 2:00 is usually the most dangerous time. So, tell your children, if they can see their shadow or their shadow is shorter than they are, it's time to put on extra sunblock or even a better idea, go inside and watch CNN for awhile.

WHITFIELD: That's a great idea. Now, we're looking at -- we saw some videotape of kids and the application of sunscreen on the little ones. What about these kids who are often in and out of the water, should you start toward leaning toward waterproof sunscreen or does it really even matter?

LLOYD: Here's a true statement, you can never overapply sunblock. I mentioned earlier, we're cheap. We pay seven, $8 for a bottle of sunblock, so we want it to last all summer. Maybe it should only last a week. We put the stuff on, it makes us all white, makes the skin all white. You don't want to see that thick stuff. But when they test those SPF factors they're testing it on maximum amount of sunblock. So, some of the sunblock manufactures have gotten clever and they've made green and purple sunblocks now. So, you slap that on, so you know you've put enough on. And in just a few minutes the color disappears, and the kids really like it.

WHITFIELD: And just like the bottom that product that we just saw, there are actually expiration dates on some of these?

LLOYD: Oh, they do. And you always have to read the label. You know, you get what you pay for when it comes to sunblock. In addition to making sure it's got a current expiration, look for products like Powersol (ph), or Amobenzone (ph). These are very expensive, and they've jacked the prices of sunscreens. But they make it worthwhile because they're the top quality sunscreens that are present in sunblock lotions.

WHITFIELD: All right. It looks like I need to clean out my medicine cabinet. I think I have quite a few old bottles, now, of sunscreen.

LLOYD: Summertime, time to freshen up, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Time to freshen up. Good advice. Thanks a lot, Dr. Bill Lloyd.

LLOYD: We'll talk again soon.

WHITFIELD:: Yes, all right.

Well, Groucho Marx once said, "Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?" Well, when you see a photo of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt frolicking together on the beach, you can't necessarily believe your own eyes? Well, doctored photographs are igniting an ethical controversy among journalists.

CNN's Jeanne Moos reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The headline says "Brad and Angelina Caught," but caught in the act was "Star" magazine itself. Take it from the editor of archrival "Us Weekly."

JANICE MIN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "US WEEKLY": "Us" real, "Star" fake.

MOOS: "Us" paid half a million bucks for real photos of the pair on a beach in Kenya. But "The Star" electronically slapped together two old photos from two separate beaches taken months apart.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brad is just inserted into it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How deceptive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's shocking.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's sleazy.

MOOS: Though at first glance hardly anyone could tell.

(on camera): See anything wrong with this picture?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah. It's got two people I really care nothing about and shoving it down my throat.

MOOS (voice-over): "The Star's" defense is that it tells readers the cover is a composite, in teeny-tiny print on page 8.

MIN: I think they were thinking "Us" magazine paid a lot of money to get these exclusive photos. Let's try to confuse the consumer out there so they might think that these are actually those photos.

MOOS: At least "The Star" didn't do what Stalin did -- pose with people, later have them executed, then erase them.

We have seen everything from "TV Guide" putting Oprah's head on Ann-Margret's body, to Kate Winslet upset because "GQ" reduced the size of her legs.

Someone on the Internet took this real photo of George Bush reading and turned his book upside down to make him look dumb.

A telltale sign in the Brad Pitt photo, even though he's walking on dry land in the composite...

(on camera): He still has waves around his feet.

MOOS: Back in 1992, "National Geographic" moved the pyramids, squeezing them to fit in the vertical cover. Back then they called it retroactive repositioning of the photographer. Talk about positioning. The 9/11 tourist guy was posed atop the World Trade Center as a plane closed in. Next thing you know he was popping up at the Hindenburg and the Titanic. These days anyone can photo shop -- take this woman's husband.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He took a picture of us in the Adirondacks and added our dog to do it who hadn't been there. MOOS: Pranksters claim this picture won "National Geographic's" Photo of the Year, when all it really was was a shark photo combined with this army chopper. Doctored to appear together, John Kerry and Jane Fonda can commiserate with Brad and Angelina, make that Brad and Jeanne.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, not really on a Beach in Kenya.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: She wishes.

CNN LIVE SATURDAY continues in an hour and 15 with Carol Lin. She's here to give us a preview of what's coming up.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we're continuing on this runaway bride story. And I'm going to be talking with an FBI investigator in Albuquerque. As you know, by now, Jennifer Wilbanks, her whole story fell apart in the middle of the night while investigators were questioning her about this alleged kidnapping plot. We're going to have a one-hour special on this, Fred, at 8:00 tonight where I'm also going to be talking with a close friend of both Jennifer Wilbanks and her fiance. Obviously, a lot of emotions right now as this family is trying to get reunited and ask Jennifer the questions that they all want to ask her.

WHITFIELD: So awkward.

LIN: That's right.

WHITFIELD: It's good that a friend will be talking in her defense to explain.

LIN: We're also going to get -- we're going to have viewers weigh in on this story.

WHITFIELD: Good.

LIN: So, we want to hear from you. So, please tune in. 6:00 and 10:00 Eastern time tonight. And the 8:00 special.

WHITFIELD: Don't forget that. All right, thanks a lot, Carol.

LIN: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Facing pressure, the Pentagon days -- days ago, rather, released never before seen images of coffins of fallen American troops. The move has reignited debate over whether the images should be kept from public view.

CNN's Senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre takes a closer look at the controversy. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONENT (voice-over): The photographs were released in two batches. First, 92 images that had already been released on various military Web sites, including this one showing the casket of a Navy SEAL killed in Afghanistan in 2002 being strapped to the floor of a C-17. Here, flag-draped coffins carrying the remains of Americans missing from the Vietnam War are shown when they arrive on U.S. soil in Guam in 2002. And there's this poignant image of a rarely seen burial at sea ceremony, conducted aboard the U.S. Aircraft Carrier Enterprise in May of last year.

But another series of 268 pictures were released without any identifying information. No dates, no locations, and with the faces of service members in combat zones blacked out, for reasons of privacy, the Pentagon insists. The mountains in this image suggest it is in Afghanistan. This one shows a blue body bag being gently lowered into a metal casket, but, again, the Pentagon withheld any details.

The release comes in response to a lawsuit filed by former CNN correspondent and University of Delaware journalism professor Ralph Begleiter, along with the National Security Archive.

RALPH BEGLEITER, UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE: I think it's important for the American people to be able to assess the cost of war and to pay respects to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

MCINTYRE: The Pentagon counters that its concern is protecting the privacy of the fallen and their families and argues that it announces all casualties and that coverage of individual funerals is up to the families. But many believe the true genesis of the ban was an incident in December of 1989, when President Bush was shown by network television in a split screen, joking with White House reporters, juxtaposed against the first images of U.S. war dead being returned from Panama.

MCINTYRE (on camera): The Pentagon insists there will be no change in its policy banning access to the return of American military remains. and it's unclear if the Pentagon's release a relatively small number of images will be enough to end the legal action against it.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, the release of these photographs is seen as a victory by many families who've lost a loved one in war. Cindy Sheehan lost her son, Casey in Iraq. His coffin was photographed and published in "The Seattle Times" awhile back, not part of the batch of images we just saw, offer.

Cindy, good to see you.

CINDY SHEEHAN, REALVOICES.ORG: Oh, thank you, nice to be here.

WHITFIELD: Since 1991 the U.S. government has had this policy of banning the publication of any of these types of images. Whose decision do you think it ought to be in which to release the images of the fallen men and women in their caskets?

SHEEHAN: I really think that it should just be something that's shown. This war, this invasion has been sanitized beyond belief to the American people, and these should be desanitized. The American people need to be told the truth. They need to be shown the truth, because war is ugly. Why should only 1,586 of us families have to suffer anything for this invasion and occupation?

WHITFIELD: So, when you saw these latest images that were released by the Department of Defense, do you feel like America is getting a chance to see something that perhaps they were unaware of before, the honor of being paid to these fallen military men and women. The salutes taking place, whether it be on the helicopter or on board a flight deck?

SHEEHAN: Well, for example, before I saw the picture of my son's coffin, I didn't know what the military did with a soldier after he was -- he or she was killed. For all we knew, they put him in a body bag and put him in the corner or something. And we saw the care and respect they were treated with, and it gave us a small measure of comfort to see that they were treated with such honor and dignity.

WHITFIELD: And do you feel that might be the case for an awful lot of family members?

SHEEHAN: I haven't spoken to a family member yet who does not think that the American public needs to see the pictures of our children coming home. You know, the American public needs to look at them and think, wow, that could be my son or daughter. That could be me. Maybe we should take a harder look at what we're doing in this world.

WHITFIELD: And this might be a one-time shot, however. The Department of Defense may not choose to reveal any more images. However, these that were released, they don't have a time stamp. You don't know the location or the soldiers or military men and women involved. Is that a mistake or do you understand the protection of their privacy?

SHEEHAN: It's a mistake. You know, are that he shamed of our children who are coming home this way? You know, they need to show our children, not bring them home in the dead of night. And the people who are escorting them home, this is one of their most sacred duties, and I think they're proud of it. and here they are covering their faces like they're criminals, like the Pentagon thinks they're doing something wrong. Well, maybe the Pentagon's doing something wrong and they really need to face that.

WHITFIELD: And at this point, you've got a chance to see really, as a strange circumstance, when you saw the casket of your son, which was published in "The Seattle Times," that was quite controversial at the time, that that photographer was not authorized to take that picture, et cetera. You mentioned the comfort that many family members might be feeling, after having seen the honor being paid. How did it catch you, when you first the image, how were you informed that that photograph had been taken?

SHEEHAN: I saw the picture, it wasn't too long -- I saw the photograph, It wasn't too long after my son was killed. There was like over 20 coffins, and I know that week my son was killed was a devastating week. So I kind of thought he was one of the bodies in one of the coffins, but the air force officer who escorted him home confirmed to my family that he was in that picture. And let me tell you, it's just a small comfort. You know, not very many things can comfort one in a situation like that. But I look at the flag that's folded on our -- on our shelf. And I know that it covered Casey from the time he left Iraq until the time we buried him, and you know, it's a shame. It should never have happened and not one person should be dead but it is a small measure of comfort and the people who guard them, you know, they consider it as an honorable duty. And they're not ashamed what have they do.

WHITFIELD: Cindy Sheehan, thanks so much for joining us and sharing with us your views and your experience.

SHEEHAN: Thank you. Thank you so much.

WHITFIELD: And that's going to do it for this hour of CNN LIVE SATURDAY. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Back with more after this.

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