Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Saturday

Sever Weather Plagues Much of the Country; Children Found Dead in Milwaukee; Mumps Spreading through the Midwest

Aired April 15, 2006 - 16:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm CNN meteorologist Bonnie Schneider, a strong thunderstorms are firing up across the country. I'll tell you where we can expect severe weather, coming up.

WHITFIELD: And then these signs say stop for a reason. But thousands of drivers don't. Ahead, what experts say need to be done to keep your kids safe and keep drivers from breaking the law.

Plus, if you've received any official-looking e-mails about your taxes, beware, you could be the target of a sophisticated tax scam.

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

Relatives of two missing Wisconsin boys say their bodies have been found. Milwaukee police are awaiting autopsy results before confirming if they are the boys who disappeared about a month ago. A news conference is expected at any moment.

An Oklahoma prosecutor plans to seek the death penalty against a man accused of killing a 10-year-old girl in the town of Purcell (ph). We'll have the latest on the investigation in about five minutes.

Four Iraqis are dead. Another 18 are wounded, after a car bomb exploded while an Iraqi police convoy drove by on a street in East Baghdad today. Three of the wounded are Iraqi police officers.

With air support from U.S.-led troops, Afghan forces killed 41 Taliban insurgents yesterday. The battles are seen as some of the fiercest in months. Six Afghan police also died in rebel attacks on Friday.

Our top story, the severe storms that are about to hit much of the Midwest. Heavy rain, hail, and damaging winds are the biggest threat there. Indiana got a taste of that wicked weather yesterday. Just look at the hail that fell in Indianapolis. Some windows and windshields were broken, but no one was hurt.

The West had its own problems, severe thunderstorms moved through Northern California. Heavy rain flooded some of the streets there. And the high winds that came with it damaged homes and businesses. That area is expected to get soaked again this weekend.

(WEATHER REPORT) WHITFIELD: Tornadoes, and heavy rains and wildfires, we've seen it all this spring. So why has 2006 been so treacherous weatherwise so far? CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano has the answer in a report first seen on CNN's "ANDERSON COOPER."

In fact, we'll bring you that in a moment. We want to take you to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where investigators now hope to reveal some information about the two bodies found late last night, possibly that of an 11 and 12 year old boy who have been missing for a month now.

CHIEF NAN HAGERTY, MILWAUKEE POLICE: I'd like to thank you for coming this afternoon. Before I begin speaking, I'd like introduce who we have here today. Tom Barrett (ph), with the city of Milwaukee. Special agent in charge of the local FBI office, James Finch. Mr. James Warren, who is the administrator of the State Department of Justice, Criminal Investigation Division, and special agent in charge, the assistant special agent in charge, Linda Krieg (ph) of the local FBI office, and to my right, Dr. Jeffrey Jansen from the Milwaukee County medical examiner's office.

I'm going to make a few brief remarks, Dr. Jansen will speak briefly. I'll make some additional remarks, and then some of the people up here will speak, and then we will open it up for questions. So, please, hold your questions until the end.

I come here this afternoon with some very tragic news, although news that I don't think is unexpected. We have positively identified the two bodies that were recovered from the McGovern Park lagoon yesterday as those of Quadrevion Henning, 12 years of age is, and 11 year old Pervis Parker.

This is a very sad day for the city. Obviously we all had a very large emotional stake in this investigation, both the community, the country, and the people from the Milwaukee Police Department who looked for these children. Our thoughts and our prayers go out to the Parker and the Henning families, obviously, and we will hold them close in our hearts in the near future.

The first body, just as a little bit of background here, the first body was recovered last night at 7:23 p.m. by a man and his son who were walking through McGovern park, near the lagoon. They called 911. Divers from the Milwaukee Fire Department responded, searched, came up with that body, and then secondly, the second body was recovered by them at about 9:45 p.m.

Now, I would like to go to Dr. Jeffrey Jansen, from the medical examiner's office to give you a report on his part of the investigation. Dr. Jansen?

JEFFREY JANSEN, MEDICAL EXAMINER: The autopsies performed this morning demonstrated findings consistent with drowning. There was no evidence of any injury or any foul play that would lead to us suspect that there was any criminal activity. The bodies appeared to be in conditions that would have been consistent with having been submerged for the time since they had been reported missing. Identifications were obtained with the assistance of Thomas Johnson, a forensic dentist, and Milwaukee Police Department also assisting. I'd like to thank members of the Milwaukee Fire Department, Milwaukee Police Department for their attempts and assistance in search and recovery of the -- of these victims and, again, our prayers go out with the family.

HAGERTY: Thank you, Dr. Jansen. Earlier I neglected to introduce the deputy chief of police, Brian O'Keefe. He heads up our criminal investigation division here and was instrumental in the investigation for the missing boys.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Sad news being confirmed out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, there. Hearing from the police chief as well as from the medical examiner's office that the two bodies found last night in a lagoon there in the McGovern Park area are those indeed that of an 11-year- old and 12-year-old who had been missing for a month now, 11 year old Purvis Parker and 12 year old Quadrevion Henning. And the medical examiner's office, Dr. Jeffrey Jansen, saying there appeared to be victims of drowning. No evidence of foul play or any injury to those boys. So the worst fears of that community and the family have proven to be true.

In the meantime, an FBI tip leads to an arrest in Purcell, Oklahoma. The district attorney there calls the killing of Jamie Bolin one of the most heinous and atrocious crimes he has seen. The body of the missing 10-year-old was found yesterday. Our Ed Lavandera has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Two days of searching for 10- year-old Jamie Rose Bolin came to a devastating end Friday afternoon here in the town of Purcell, Oklahoma where authorities discovered her body in an apartment complex not too far away from where she was last seen. In fact, that is the disturbing twist to this story.

Her body was discovered in the apartment of 26-year-old Kevin Ray Underwood who lived just downstairs, 15 feet away from where Jamie Rose Bolin and her family lived in this apartment complex. The district attorney here in Purcell, says that Underwood will be charged with first degree murder on Monday and will face the death penalty, and he says this is the most gruesome crime he has ever seen.

TIM KUYKENDALL, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: This is one of the most, if not the most, heinous, atrocious, and cruel case that I've been involved with in my 24 years as a district attorney.

LAVANDERA: The news of Jamie Rose Bolin's death came as a devastating blow to her family; in fact, the family was brought here to the police station just moments after they had discovered the body in the apartment complex. Her father collapsed here. He was taken away by ambulance and family members say he has been sedated at a local hospital. MARK CHILES, GIRL'S UNCLE: This happened right there in the apartment below him and you need to know who your neighbors are and don't let your kids get away from you, because, I mean, this can happen in a flash.

LAVANDERA: Authorities here in Oklahoma will not say how Jamie Rose Bolin was killed nor will they go into any details as to how Kevin Ray Underwood came into contact with her, but they do say they will spend the weekend getting the necessary search warrants so they can search his apartment and car and be prepared to file those murder charges on Monday.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Purcell, Oklahoma.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And at 10:00 p.m. tonight, a live interview with that district attorney who called this the most heinous crime he has ever seen in his career, a live interview at 10:00 p.m. eastern tonight.

And more news right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Now, news across America. The Justice Department is considering federal charges against three former Milwaukee policemen. They were acquitted last night of nearly all charges related to the beating of a mixed-race suspect. The man was kicked and punched and says he was threatened with a knife. The officers thought he had stolen a badge.

At 12:01 this morning, New Jersey became the 11th state in the nation to bar smoking in restaurants, bars, private office buildings and other public spaces. Casinos banded together and got an exemption.

And 92 years of history went kaboom today in San Diego. A demolition team toppled the landmark San Diego Hotel to make way for a federal court building.

As big as you and me, that's how a ranger is describing a black bear that attacked a family in the Appalachians. It happened Thursday in the Cherokee National Forest in Tennessee. The bear killed a six year old Ohio girl and mauled her mother and brother. It's a story you first saw on CNN's "ANDERSON COOPER 360." Rick Sanchez has these chilling details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ranger Dan Hicks has spent years telling people that black bears generally don't attack people. Now, working just a mile from a deadly assault, he's telling a different story.

(on camera) You're perplexed by this? RANGER DAN HICKS, SPOKESMAN, CHEROKEE NATIONAL FOREST: Yes, definitely. Definitely. Because it goes against what I've been telling the public for a long time.

SANCHEZ (voice-over): It happened to a mother and her two children. They, along with seven other sightseers, were visiting Benton Waterfall in Cherokee National Park. They didn't know it at the time, but there was a 300-pound bear lurking behind a fence, as Ranger Hicks illustrates.

HICKS: The bear did cross over that fence, and then just went straight for the 2-year-old and just literally picked the 2-year-old up by biting him in the head.

SANCHEZ (on camera): Wow!

HICKS: He's holding this baby in the air.

SANCHEZ: Forty-five-year-old Susan Cenkus managed to save Luke, her 2-year-old, and got the bear to maul her instead. Her injuries so severe she went into shock. The question is, where was her 6-year-old daughter?

HICKS: The little girl's body was found 100 yards from the waterfall.

SANCHEZ (voice-over): In fact, it wasn't until paramedics arrived 20 minutes later that they found the little girl. And the bear was hovering over her, guarding its fallen prey.

(on camera) The little girl, it sounds like, just made a run for it, because she was so frightened about what she had just seen.

HICKS: Exactly.

SANCHEZ: And she thought maybe she'd be able to get back to her car?

HICKS: There's no telling what she was thinking, but I think she was wanting to get away from what was happening.

SANCHEZ: Elora, the 6-year-old, was killed. Her condition, as explained by this veteran ranger, just too horrible to detail. Her two year old brother is doing remarkably well, even though he suffered puncture wounds that penetrated his skull.

DR. GREG TALBOTT, PEDIATRIC INTENSIVE UNIT: He was alert when he arrived her but anxious about the medical care environment, obviously frightened, and today somewhat irritable. And he's just, you know, gotten out of the operating room and is on some pain medication. And so I would say he's doing about as well as you can expect.

SANCHEZ: Doctors say the mother is awake and alert.

DR. VINCENT MEJIA, ERLANGER MEDICAL CENTER: She is still facing a significant number of future operations for her soft tissue injuries, upper extremities and lower extremities, but other than that she's doing well.

SANCHEZ: Why did the bear attack? Was it famished from a long winter, or could it have had an illness of some type? Hicks suggests rabies or a brain tumor, for example. Rangers will only know if they catch the bear in one of the eight traps they've set. Not easy in this 1,500-acre section of the forest roamed by as many as 500 black bears.

Rick Sanchez, CNN, Cherokee National Forest.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And that story was first seen on "ANDERSON COOPER 360." You can see the show each week night at 10:00 p.m. eastern.

An illness you may not have thought about recently. Mumps. Cases of the illness are way up in Iowa and health officials are puzzled. That story, when we come right back.

And the world's second face transplant, this time in China. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The CDC is investigating what has become a medical mystery, a rare outbreak of the mumps spreading in eight midwestern states. Researchers believe the culprits may two infected air travelers. Doctors say that whatever the source, it's a testing ground for other potential outbreaks like bird flu. This story first aired on CNN's the situation room. Here's CNN's Mary Snow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Health officials discovered the first U.S. cases on an Iowa college campus in December. Now cases of the mumps in Iowa have skyrocketed to more than 600. And nearby Midwest states report dozens more, puzzling doctors.

DR. WILLIAM SCAFFNER, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: Where did it lurk? How is it that we didn't see further cases?

SNOWHITFIELD: Mumps cause the glands under the jaw to swell, and people usually have a fever and headache. Severe complications like deafness and meningitis are rare. Mumps spread when infected people cough and sneeze.

What about when they travel?

DR. JANE SEWARD, CDC EPIDEMIOLOGIST: A disease like mumps spreading on a plane, it's very uncommon. But we wanted to be cautious and just inform passengers.

SNOWHITFIELD: The Centers for Disease Control is now investigating whether this mumps outbreak put air travelers at risk. The government is reaching out to passengers on flights taken by two infected people. Those infected people had many layovers. According to the CDC, the first infected person traveled from Waterloo, Iowa, in late March to Minneapolis, Minnesota, then to Detroit, Michigan, then to Washington, D.C. , and back. The other went from Tucson, Arizona, to Dallas, Texas, to Lafayette, Arkansas, to St. Louis, Missouri, to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on April 2nd.

SCAFFNER: We can take this mumps epidemic as kind of a fire drill for what might happen if bird flu suddenly became transmissible to humans and was introduced into the United States.

SNOWHITFIELD: It's also testing the public health system response that was put into place after 9/11 to deal more effectively with biological emergencies.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So it is not only being useful for dealing with mumps, but it's actually testing our ability to deal with biological emergencies and showing us where we can do better.

Mary Snow, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

s: That report first aired on CNN's "SITUATION ROOM." And you can see it at 4:00, 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. eastern.

Doctors in China are reporting that nation's first face transplant. They say the 30 year old patient had two-thirds of his face repaired after being attacked by a bear. The operations lasted 14 hours and ended on Friday. Doctors say the surgery was even more complex than the first face transplant performed on a French woman last November.

Coming up, whether you like seafood or lot, the omega 3 fatty acids in them are good for you. We'll talk to a doctor about just how much you need to have.

And then, we talk to someone who says, he can help protect you from tax scams and identity fraud.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: A look at the headlines, Milwaukee police confirm two bodies found in a park lagoon are those of two missing boys missing since March 19th. An autopsy revealed 11 year old Purvis Parker and 12 year old Quadrevion Henning had drowned. Police say there was no evidence of foul play.

Police in the town in southern Oklahoma say the body of a missing girl was found in a neighbor's apartment. Twenty six year old Kevin Ray Underwood is in police custody awaiting a charge of first-degree murder. Ten year old Jamie Bolin was last seen on Wednesday.

And a federal judge rules that convicted terrorist Richard Reid may not appear on the witness stand at the sentencing trial of Zacarias Moussaoui. The judge denied a defense request that Reid be allowed to refute Moussaoui's testimony. Earlier Moussaoui said he and Reid were part of the 9/11 plot and had planned to hijack a fifth airliner.

Now to the nation's capital where they walked, they waited and eventually they eventually got what they came for: prized tickets for the White house Easter egg roll. It's a yearly tradition, but as CNN's Brian Todd reports, this year will be unlike any other before.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dressing up...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALES: Yay!

(CHEERING)

TODD: ... rolling eggs, posing with Peter Rabbit...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALES: Yay!

TODD: ... time-honored traditions at the White House Easter Egg Roll, which, this year, come with a twist, a twist that starts at the ticket line, where more than 100 gay and lesbian couples are converging this year to grab first-come, first-serve passes for the event.

JENNIFER CHRISLER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, FAMILY PRIDE COALITION: I think we're making a statement, certainly that we are here, that we exist, that we're raising children.

TODD: Jennifer Chrisler, a mother of twins, is organizing the effort, and says, it's only about giving their children about access to events and creating memories.

One Christian group thinks otherwise.

MARK TOOLEY, UNITED METHODIST DIRECTOR, INSTITUTE ON RELIGION AND DEMOCRACY: I think the groups who are organizing this statement basically are exploiting a children's event to share their political perspective.

TODD: Chrisler says, this isn't political. But when we asked what her group thinks about the Bush administration's record on gays and lesbians ...

CHRISLER: I believe this administration is wrong about how they think about the policies that affect gay and lesbian people and gay and lesbian families in this country.

TODD (on camera): OK. So, putting that together with what you're doing and the fact that you didn't do it for a Democratic administration, this is not a political statement that you're making?

CHRISLER: No. This is about us being visible for the American people, so that they can see that gay and lesbian parents exist in this country.

TODD (voice-over): White House officials will only say this is a public event, everyone is welcome to attend and they have no plans to make the Egg Roll invitation only in the future.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, if you've put off doing your taxes until the last minute, there's still some time left. April 15th is the traditional tax filing deadline, but because it fell on a Saturday this year, most procrastinators are getting an extra two days to get their returns done.

In some Northeastern states, taxpayers are getting even more time. Their filing deadline is April 18th. That's because New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Hampshire, Maine Vermont and Washington, D.C. will be observing Patriots Day.

At first glance, they appear to be the real thing. Official looking e-mails from the IRS say you have a tax refund coming your way. It links to a site asking for personal information. And before you know it, you've been hooked. It's called phishing -- that's phishing with a "PH."

CNN's technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It's tax time and that means deadlines, refunds and scams. And you may have already fallen victim.

ANDREW ERISTOFF, COMMISSIONER, NEW YORK STATE TAXATION AND FINANCE DEPARTMENT: About a month ago I was checking my e-mail at my desk, my government office, and I saw an e-mail from the outfit called taxrefunds@irs.gov.

SIEBERG: This is an example of the message Andrew Eristoff received, complete with the right logos and language.

ERISTOFF: All I needed to do was to give them my credit card information and my Social Security number so it would verify my identify and I'd get my refund.

SIEBERG: But fortunately, Andrew knew enough not to click on it. That's because...

ERISTOFF: I'm commissioner of the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. Here they are targeting a tax administrator with a tax refund scam. Unbelievable.

SIEBERG: By now you may have heard about phishing. It's an insidious online scam that starts with a cyber criminal sending bulk e-mails, some promising money, some demanding a response. The e-mails appear to be from places like the IRS, PayPal and eBay. They often contain a link to a site that also looks real, requesting personal information. At this time of year, those claiming to be from the IRS are in full swing.

MARK EVERSON, IRS COMMISSIONER: The phishing scheme, if you will, this is exploding. All I can say is that we do not reach out and communicate with taxpayers by e-mail.

SIEBERG: More than 17,000 unique phishing attacks were reported to the anti-phishing working group in February of this year. So perhaps you think your scam radar can filter out the bad stuff. Well, professors at Harvard and U.C.-Berkeley recently conducted a study of why phishing scams work.

RACHNA DHAMIJA, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: Some of our most educated users and most cautious users were also very surprised at their inability to detect a legitimate versus phishing Web site.

SIEBERG: The 22 participants were wrong 40 percent of the time. This phishing site fooled 90 percent of its participants, nearly identical to the actual Bank of the West site, but for one small detail.

DHAMIJA: It used BankoftheVVest.com in the URL. So the W was replaced by two Vs. And that's really hard for users to spot. It's very trivial for phishers to create Web sites. For example, the Web site that fooled the most of our users took about 10 minutes to make.

SIEBERG (on camera): The bottom line is don't even click on the links within an e-mail message. Start from scratch if you're concerned about a message's authenticity and type it in in your browser window. Otherwise, you risk getting hooked by a phisher.

Daniel Sieberg, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: So how do you keep your personal information out of the bad guys' hands?

Let's ask Todd Davis.

He's an expert in the field of I.D. theft and phishing.

Good to see you, Todd.

TODD DAVIS, I.D. THEFT EXPERT, CEO, LIFELOCK: Thanks, Fredericka.

Good to be here.

WHITFIELD: All right, so, I guess first clue, if you're receiving e-mail and they're asking for personal information, you are being reeled in, you're being phished?

DAVIS: Yes. They've got the bait out there for you. Don't take it. So please don't respond to anything that comes to you that -- even though it looks like it's a credible source, don't respond. Go contact them independently. If they're looking for you to get verification of personal information, they'll know what they're looking for and you can talk to them then.

WHITFIELD: So what makes you more phisable than the next guy?

DAVIS: Well, because we have LifeLock that creates the first preventive solution for people. So people can go find out more about our service at lifelock.com. But we're so confident in it, because we know people's information is out there, we're going to protect them with a $1 million guarantee that we can stop this crime from occurring or fix it if it doesn't.

WHITFIELD: So how does it work?

DAVIS: We go put fraud alerts with the four major credit bureaus -- Equifax, Experian, TransUnion and also with a consumer reporting agency, Check System.

WHITFIELD: But that's something you can do on your own, isn't that right? How do you guys take it to the next step, the next level?

DAVIS: Yes, it is. That's a great point. We still use the expertise. So even though you've got those out there, fraud alerts only work about 80 to 90 percent of the time. So things still get through. So I would tell you, we have the expertise to back it up. And I'm so confident in it, Fredericka, I'll give you my Social Security number on national television right now.

WHITFIELD: So even if you get the fraud alert on your tax -- on your credit report with all the agencies, that doesn't mean that someone's still not going to send you an e-mail that looks awfully legit, which is how a lot of people get roped in, right?

DAVIS: You bet. A lot get roped in because they're going to look legitimate. So we still say stop those. So even as a LifeLock client, we still stop all those pre-approved credit card offers. We still work with you to make sure that those vulnerability points like phishing scams, like the credit cards will stop so that you're not having as many points of exposure.

But then we back it up and give you the peace of mind that if something still creeps through, as your previous story noted, 40 percent of the people who were experts still fell for it -- we can still back it up and control it and make sure you have no financial exposure.

WHITFIELD: So you're really pushing for your program. But it's not like a one time fee that people pay.

DAVIS: Right.

WHITFIELD: It's a service, right, $10 a month?

DAVIS: Absolutely. It's a $10 a month fee because we have to go out and actively renew those fraud alerts every 70 days. Look, the credit bureaus don't love that you have them on there. They sell your personal data. So we're going to go and make it so it's invaluable to the thief. They're not going to be able to turn it into money. And if we can stop that, we can stop this crime from occurring.

WHITFIELD: Does it seem as though all of these scams, these very sophisticated measures of getting people's I.D. really seem to be blossoming. Instead of them being pared down or a clamp being put on them, they're turning up everywhere.

DAVIS: Well, that's because they're being so effective. For the sixth year in a row, it's the fastest growing crime in America. It's over a $50 billion a year problem. So think about what we're up against on any given day, the size of that company we have to go fight. So they've got expertise, technology at their fingertips that we've got to go counter.

WHITFIELD: OK.

All right, Todd Davis of LifeLock, thanks so much for being with us and giving us some pretty important tips there.

DAVIS: Thanks, Fredericka.

WHITFIELD: Well, not everyone stops for school buses, even those who should know better. But watch out -- the cameras may be rolling. Ours were. We'll show you what we caught on tape.

And you've heard the saying you are what you eat. There's a new report out about a possible link between diet and violence.

This is CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The law in all 50 states requires drivers to stop when a bus is picking up or dropping off children. But they often ignore the law, with deadly consequences.

This story first aired on CNN's "PAULA ZAHN NOW" and CNN's Greg Hunter has the story now.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

GREG HUNTER, CNN CONSUMER CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's one of the biggest your dangers your child faces every day -- getting on or off a school bus. Traffic is required by law to wait, but too often people drive right by a stopped bus.

PETER MANNELLA, NEW YORK ASSOCIATION FOR PUPIL TRANSPORTATION: That's a chance for a child to die.

HUNTER: Peter Mannella heads an association of school bus operators in New York State.

MANNELLA: We estimate 50,000 times a day, in our state alone, people pass school buses when they're stopped to let off kids.

HUNTER (on camera): Every day?

MANNELLA: Every day.

HUNTER (voice-over): School transportation officials say millions of motorists nationwide pass buses illegally.

Look at this video from Maryland. And North Carolina. You won't believe what we saw when we followed this bus in Long Island, New York for just one day.

(on camera): You know, that police officer says you shouldn't even be driving.

(voice-over): Police say a growing number of drivers don't see or blatantly ignore school buses stop signs, making a split-second decision that can lead to a lifetime of pain.

In February, when Gloria Woodson rushed to this accident near her St. Louis home, she knew something terrible had happened.

GLORIA WOODSON, MOTHER: I'm still thinking that's somebody else's child laying on the ground, not knowing it was mine.

HUNTER: Woodson's 6-year-old son, Aaron, had just step off his school bus and was crossing the street when police say a truck drove around the bus and hit the first-grader, knocking him into the air as his classmates watched in horror.

Police found the truck a few blocks away and say the driver, 28- year-old Ronald Brown, not only left Aaron lying in the street, he asked his girlfriend to tell investigators the vehicle had been stolen.

COLONEL JOSEPH MOKWA, SAINT LOUIS POLICE CHIEF: I think it's somebody that's totally irresponsible, self-centered, and you have to question their humanity.

HUNTER: Brown pleaded not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter and leaving the scene. His attorney declined our request for an interview, but says it was an accident, that his client is not criminally responsible.

Aaron, one of the Woodson family's 12 children, died at the scene of massive injuries.

(on camera): That's got to be one of the saddest moments of your life as a mama.

WOODSON: Yes. It broke my heart.

HUNTER (voice-over): But tragedies like this aren't unusual. Statistics collected since 1970 found that nationwide, passing vehicles have killed more than 400 children boarding or exiting their school bus. (on camera): What goes through your mind when somebody runs a stop arm?

DEREK GRAHAM, PRESIDENT-ELECT, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF STATE DIRECTORS OF PUPIL TRANSPORTATION SERVICES: What were you thinking?

HUNTER (voice-over): Derek Graham, president-elect of the nation's school bus transportation director says with more traffic and so many driving distractions, many people aren't paying attention or are in too much of a hurry to heed flashing warning lights.

GRAHAM: They see that amber light on the school bus just like the yellow light on a traffic signal and they want to try to beat the light, beat the bus.

HANK DRUM, SCHOOL BUS DRIVER: It's a common thing. I see it all time.

HUNTER: Hank Drum (ph) has a school buses driver in Long Island, New York, for eight years. We wanted to see what bus drivers encounter on a typical day. So, we wired Hank's bus with cameras and rode with local police, who follow buses to catch violators.

DRUM: There's a lot of traffic on this highway.

HUNTER: When a bus has amber lights flashing, that means slow down. Once the lights turn red, traffic is required to stop. Some drivers did just that, stopping well in front of the bus. Others hit the brakes just in time. But watch what happened here. Instead of slowing down, this SUV went right by the bus.

UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: I stopped you because you passed a school bus there.

HUNTER: In New York, the penalties for illegally passing are stiff -- five points on a driver's license, a $250 fine and up to 30 days in jail.

(on camera): Did you see the school bus lights flashing?

UNIDENTIFIED DRIVER: I did see it, but the lights were yellow, so I thought it was safe to still keep proceeding.

GRAHAM: When you see a soccer ball roll in front of your car, what do you do? You immediately hit the brakes. Now, why can't we develop that same kind of reaction around a school bus?

HUNTER: Did you know that when you pass a stopped school bus, you could, like, hit a kid and kill them?

UNIDENTIFIED DRIVER: Yes. I -- I -- I really did not -- I really, really did not mean to do anything, I swear to God.

HUNTER: Yes. Do you know how serious that is?

UNIDENTIFIED DRIVER: Yes, I do. Right. But I did not see any...

HUNTER (voice-over): The officer gave her a ticket, as she tearfully apologized. This driver should have known better. It turns out she's a teacher.

But our day was just beginning. In the afternoon, as the bus unloaded a child, we saw this white car turn right anyway. Behind the wheel, another apologetic driver.

UNIDENTIFIED DRIVER: I'm a retired elementary school principal. That's the -- absolutely the -- the -- if I saw someone do that in front of my school, I would chase them down myself.

HUNTER: But it kept happening. On this busy road, another school bus passed the bus, along with seven other vehicles in both directions, too many for the officer to safely pull over.

And then there was this car that blew right past the stop arm.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was one of the most blatant ones that I have seen in eight years.

UNIDENTIFIED DRIVER: No, I didn't see a stop sign out.

HUNTER (on camera): It was out, OK?

UNIDENTIFIED DRIVER: If you say it was out.

HUNTER: Does that bother you, that you didn't see a flashing stop sign?

UNIDENTIFIED DRIVER: Oh, my God. Are you kidding me, sir? Sir, are you kidding me? I'm trying to get to work. I don't have time for your questions.

MANNELLA: How do you miss a vehicle that size? It's big and yellow and it's flashing at you and waving red stop signs.

HUNTER (voice-over): Peter Mannella, who represents New York school bus operators, questions the ability of drivers who pass illegally.

MANNELLA: How do you feel comfortable getting behind the wheel when you did that?

HUNTER (on camera): Do you question your driving ability, not seeing something like that?

UNIDENTIFIED DRIVER: I'm not questioning my driving ability. My driving ability is quite fine.

HUNTER (voice-over): Well, not exactly. The officer says he doesn't even have a driver's license, only a learner's permit, requiring him to be with a licensed driver.

(on camera): You know, the police officer says you shouldn't even be driving.

(voice-over): He didn't drive anymore. The officer ticketed him and made him leave the car.

UNIDENTIFIED DRIVER: Thank you.

HUNTER: Some school districts are putting cameras on buses, like we did.

In Iowa, a school camera caught 40 drivers in six months.

(on camera): So how does this technology work? Well, it's pretty simple. If you approach a school bus and a stop arm is out, you're supposed to stop. But if you don't and the bus has cameras like this one, it catches you coming and going, including my license plate.

(voice-over): These digital images can be retrieved on a computer and e-mailed to police.

Schools in North Carolina are trying to make buses more noticeable. Compare this bus to one with new electronic lights and signs.

But some say tougher laws are needed to change driver behavior.

DALE FOLWELL, NORTH CAROLINA STATE HOUSE: People lose children for lots of reasons, unfortunately. And this doesn't have to be one of them.

HUNTER: North Carolina lawmaker Dale Folwell and his wife Synthia lost their son Dalton in 1999. The 7-year-old was hit in front of their home as he tried to board his bus.

(on camera): What happened to the person that hit your son?

FOLWELL: She received 100 hours of community service after she killed our child.

HUNTER: Did she ever spend a day in jail?

FOLWELL: She did not.

HUNTER (voice-over): Folwell sponsored a state law making it a felony to injure a child by illegally passing. He hopes to prevent other families from suffering the same fate.

Near Aaron Woodson's home, this shrine now marks the place where he died coming home from school, a roadside reminder of the consequences of not stopping for a school bus.

Greg Hunter, CNN.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: And be sure to join Paula Zahn weeknights at 8:00 Eastern, 5:00 Pacific on CNN.

And coming up, more of CNN LIVE SATURDAY with Carol Lin.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: You know, Fred, that story was so sad.

And one of the other stories that we're covering today is, you know, this little girl, this 10-year-old girl in Oklahoma City. A neighbor is a suspect. We cover so many stories that involve strangers. So what I'm going to be doing is talking with the Center for Missing Kids about this whole notion of stranger danger. And it may do a disservice to children and how we teach our kids to be safe, who they can trust, what they should do when somebody approaches them.

And I think some of the solutions are going to be really interesting.

WHITFIELD: Right.

LIN: You know, I know we're dealing with this as new parents and I hope this will be helpful to other people.

WHITFIELD: We'll be listening.

LIN: 6:00. It's going to be really interesting.

If you can't afford one of these hybrid cars, which are like $35,000, $40,000, $50,000, OK?

WHITFIELD: Yes.

LIN: You spend it on the car and not the gas, but there are some other solutions, you know? Under $30,000, maybe even around $20,000.

WHITFIELD: Really?

LIN: They use gas but they (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

WHITFIELD: Available now?

LIN: Available now -- get great gas mileage. It's just that the hybrids are getting all the hype. So Lauren Fix is going to be my guest, from the Auto Show.

WHITFIELD: All right, we'll be looking forward to that.

LIN: There you go.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Carol.

Still ahead this hour, food and the murder rate?

Some researchers say there's a strong connection. The details straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: Researchers say they may have found a link between lower murder rates and the omega-3 fatty acids often found in fish. It's the subject of an article in the "New York Times" magazine this weekend.

Dr. Bill Lloyd of the University of California-Davis Medical Center joins us.

He is live in Anaheim.

Good to see you, Dr. Bill.

DR. BILL LLOYD, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-DAVIS MEDICAL CENTER: Hi, Fredericka.

WHITFIELD: All right, so, what's to this parallel between the murder rate and the omega-3 fatty acids?

LLOYD: Fredericka, if you ever wanted to have a controlled study, you do it in a prison. And that's what happened. Researchers working from Oxford worked with 230 prisoners. Half the group got a diet that was rich in those omega-3 fatty acids. The other half, they got a sugar pill.

And lo and behold, the group that got the omega-3s was reported to be one third less violent.

Now, this doesn't say that diet alone may make a difference, but it follows a trend from previous studies that omega-3 fatty acids have a powerful, beneficial effect on the brain and on your body.

WHITFIELD: So everyone has always kind of thought that diet and nutrition has something to do -- or at least are influences in our behavior.

But might this be a stretch when we talk about violent behavior?

LLOYD: You know, they say you are what you eat and if you eat a sufficient enough of these omega-3 fatty acids, you're going to enrich the cells in your brain that work in the specific area that control behavior. And they did blood tests and other studies of known criminals. And you know what? They found out that they were low in those omega-3 fatty acids.

Omega-3s are found in every cell of the body. They help keep the cells in line. They help them communicate with one another. So people with problems with auto-immune disorders, for example, where one cell isn't talking properly to another cell, they do much better and have better control over their diseases when they're taking an adequate diet rich in omega-3s.

WHITFIELD: So what do you say to people who are concerned about the mercury levels that are in particularly fatty fish, like salmon, which is a source of the omega-3 fatty acids?

LLOYD: Sure. A Harvard study said that although mercury remains a risk, the risk of the mercury is nowhere near as dangerous as the risk of having insufficient omega-3s. And this applies doubly to pregnant mothers and their new babies.

So everyone should not be afraid about eating two portions of fish, three or four ounces, twice a week and get that 1,000 milligrams that they need of the omega-3s, not to be so afraid of the mercury. But if you're totally petrified of it and you don't want any contact possibly with mercury, there are some other sources. There are some leafy plants like spinach that are rich on omega-3s. They have omega- 3 fortified foods like eggs, that are loaded with omega-3s because the chickens that ate the seed ate grasses that were loaded with the omega-3s. And you can also take an omega-3 supplement, like a daily vitamin pill that's loaded with synthetic vitamin threes.

None of these are as good, though, as eating fresh fish that's loaded with the omega-3 fatty acids.

WHITFIELD: All right, Dr. Bill Lloyd, thanks so much for being with us from Anaheim.

Good to see you.

LLOYD: Happy Easter.

WHITFIELD: And I like that green.

LLOYD: We'll talk again soon.

WHITFIELD: All right.

Happy Easter.

Still much more ahead on CNN.

Carol Lin is coming up next with more of CNN LIVE SATURDAY.

I'm Fredericka Whitfield.

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