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Man Charged in Texas Slayings; Decision in Schiavo Case; ChoicePoint Fallout
Aired February 22, 2005 - 14:00 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.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: This man charged with murder after searchers find the bodies of a Texas woman and her son. Right now, forensics are on the ground and we're on the story.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Also, new developments: A decision in the case of a brain-damaged Florida woman at the center of a contentious right-to-die battle. We are live from Florida.
HARRIS: Identity theft, a company's personal information on thousands of people falls into criminal hands. How can you safeguard your privacy?
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Tony Harris, in for Miles O'Brien.
NGUYEN: And I'm Betty Nguyen, in for Kyra Phillips today.
This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.
HARRIS: The suspect is held, the charges are filed, and now the bodies are found. Three days after a pregnant bagel shop owner and her seven-year-old son went missing in Fort Worth, Texas, hours after a one-time boyfriend was arrested and charged with capital murder, the bodies of Lisa and Jayden Underwood were found near Denton, some 30 miles northeast of Fort Worth.
Before we get to CNN's Ed Lavandera, we want to remind you that we are standing by for a press conference from Lt. Gene Jones of the Fort Worth Police Department. When that happens, we will take you there to that scene that you see there on your screen live.
Let's get now to CNN'S Ed Lavandera who is following the case and joins us by phone with the very latest -- Ed?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You mentioned investigators are at that scene where the bodies of 34-year-old Lisa Underwood, who is seven-months pregnant, and her seven-year-old son, Jayden, were found just a few hours ago. They continue working through that scene, as well.
The suspect, who has been charged with capital murder in this case, Stephen Barbee, who was found in Tyler, Texas, and has already been returned to Fort Worth. We understand he was taken into police headquarters there in downtown Fort Worth, we presume taken into headquarters and is under intense questioning by investigators working this case. But there are several scenes that investigators have been working over the last 24 hours. It was yesterday morning when her truck was found in a creek north of the Fort Worth area near Denton. This other scene, not too far away from where that scene had been. And, of course, the suspect found in Tyler, which is in far east Texas, about a two- to three-hour drive from the Fort Worth area.
So this is a quickly developing story. Unfortunately, it's very hard to explain his motive. We've asked the police at this point if they have any motive in this case or if he's able to piece together any kind of reasoning behind how this happened. And authorities are not able to give us that explanation at this point.
HARRIS: OK, Ed, just a couple of quick questions.
Do we know whether or not this Stephen Barbee character has confessed to these murders?
LAVANDERA: No, we don't.
HARRIS: All right. And here's the second question. At the earlier press conference at about 11:10 this morning, we heard from Lieutenant Jones that there was information that led police to believe that the victims had, in fact, been killed. Do we know whether that information came from the interview with Barbee?
LAVANDERA: I don't think so. And I'll tell you why.
HARRIS: OK.
LAVANDERA: Because throughout the night, they had been at Stephen Barbee's home, looking for clues.
HARRIS: I see.
LAVANDERA: They were looking for -- and they said they were looking for something. They had found something. It's hard to say exactly when he was taken into custody in Tyler, if he -- you know, to what extent he might have provided information or cooperated with authorities.
They had also, if you remember, been in Lisa Underwood's home. And yesterday we had been reporting that they had found blood at the scene there. Clearly, they found something. Perhaps they were told something that led them to believe before they had even found the bodies, they knew that the family was dead.
HARRIS: And we don't know whether this Stephen Barbee would have been the father of this unborn child?
LAVANDERA: No. And, you know, just a little while ago, the last time I was able to speak with Fort Worth police officers, they were still trying to determine that. There are reports, however, at this point that say that he is.
But the official word that, I suspect we should probably take from Fort Worth police at this point, is that they aren't clear.
HARRIS: Right.
LAVANDERA: Maybe at the next press briefing they can clear that up. But that is still, I think, something that is still kind of lingering out there.
HARRIS: And Ed, that press briefing is just minutes away, we understand. Lieutenant Gene Jones of the Fort Worth Police Department we believe will step forward and all to that press briefing, and we'll get some answers, we hope, to some of these questions that we had.
Ed Lavandera, we appreciate it. Thank you, Ed.
LAVANDERA: Thank you.
NGUYEN: And we'll take that press briefing live when it happens.
But in the meantime, the Supreme Court is hearing arguments over whether government can seize private property under eminent domain purely for economic development. New London, Connecticut, wants to bulldoze homes to clear the way for a riverfront hotel, health club and offices. Now, homeowners challenging the city say few property owners' rights would be safe under this use of eminent domain.
On a side note now, Chief Justice Rehnquist is working from home rather than returning to the bench. He's under treatment for thyroid cancer.
And there is a new court ruling in the emotionally charged case of a severely brain-damaged woman in Florida. CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti is live in our Miami bureau with the latest on this one.
Hi, Susan.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Betty.
Yes, a Florida appeals court now clearing the way for Terri Schiavo's husband to essentially end her life by removing a feeding tube that has kept her alive for the last 15 years. The court rejecting an appeal without comment from Terri Schiavo's parents, arguing she would have wanted to live had she known about a directive from Pope John Paul II that allows for anyone in a vegetative state, entitles them to nourishment and hydration.
And the same appeals court today sent the matter back to a lower court. Now, that's the same court that has, in the past, already given Terri Schiavo's husband the legal right to, in effect, end her life. Now, Schiavo's parents reacted quickly to this latest legal development, but took no questions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB SCHINDLER, TERRI SCHIAVO'S FATHER: We are begging and pleading with the legislators and Governor Bush to save Terri from being murdered in cold blood. And that's all I have to say.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: So what does all this mean? Well, certainly, Terri Schiavo's parents could ask this lower court for a stay. That is likely happening right now, their efforts, that is. And theoretically, however, right now, Terri Schiavo's husband could order that feeding tube to be removed, but first he would have to get a court order to do so.
In the meantime, his lawyer has scheduled a news conference for 3:30 this afternoon. However, we wanted to share with you something that Michael Schiavo has told us in the past, this in an interview that was done with him about two years ago about this very thing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL SCHIAVO, HUSBAND OF WOMAN ON FEEDING TUBE: It's difficult. But I know this is inside. I know this is Terri's wish. This is what she wanted. She wouldn't want to live like this. She wouldn't want to survive like this. And that's all she's doing is just -- she's surviving. There's nothing there. Her conscious is gone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: Meantime, Terri Schiavo's parents had said all along they intend to keep their legal fight alive. There is an emergency hearing scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. At that time, Schiavo's parents are expected to ask for a stay, if they aren't granted one ahead of time, as they begin to argue other legal issues that they said they have, for example, challenging the right of Michael Schiavo to be his wife's legal guardian.
And remember that two times in the past, the feeding tube has been removed, the last time in October of 2003. That's when Florida Governor Jeb Bush got involved, backing Terri Schiavo's parents. She had been without nourishment for about six days, but then Governor Bush went to the legislature, got them to pass a law to get that feeding tube reinserted. However, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that that law was unconstitutional.
Betty, back to you.
NGUYEN: All right. So although the court has ruled, there is still some legal maneuvering still going on. We'll keep on top of this one. Thank you so much, Susan Candiotti in Miami.
CANDIOTTI: You're welcome.
NGUYEN: Well, Michael Jackson is back in a California courtroom today as jury selection resumes in the child molestation case against him. It was delayed, as you recall, for a week while the pop star recovered from the flu. Prosecutors are questioning perspective jurors hoping to seat 12 men and women, plus eight alternates for the six-month trial. HARRIS: Turning now to Iraq, there's a new candidate for prime minister in the transitional government. The United Iraqi Alliance, the Shiite-led coalition that won last month's assembly election, tapped Ibrahim al-Jaafari. Kurdish bloc leaders plan to meet with him.
Jaafari is a 58-year-old doctor who left in Iraq in 1980 when Saddam Hussein cracked down on party leaders. He lived in Iran and London. Jaafari opposes early U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, and he's against breaking the country apart.
NGUYEN: After meeting with European leaders in Belgium today, President Bush made a somewhat cryptic statement about Iran. He is downplaying concerns that the U.S. might launch military strikes against Iran's suspected nuclear sites. European countries are currently negotiating with Tehran to abandon its uranium-enrichment activities. While the president says no strikes are planned, he didn't rule them out either.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. Having said that, all options are on the table.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Now, concern over Iran is one reason an influential American lawmaker supports the idea of permanent U.S. military bases in Afghanistan. John McCain is one of five senators meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai today. He says the bases are needed to safeguard American security interests in that region. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is part of that delegation. She also backs a long-term approach to U.S. and Afghan ties but did not give any specifics.
HARRIS: Entire villages are wiped out in Central Iran where a powerful earthquake shook the ground early this morning. Crews and residents are digging through what used to be their homes in search of survivors. So far, 400 people are reported dead. Hundreds are injured. The quake measured 6.4 and was centered near Zarand and Kerman province.
It brought back memories of the more destructive Bam earthquake of 2003. That devastating quake killed some 26,000 people. Relief officials say Iran appears more prepared now than it was then.
NGUYEN: All right. Criminals outsmart a data company. It's happened.
HARRIS: And that means the personal information of thousands of people, well, like you and me, fell into the wrong hands. Ahead on LIVE FROM, what you can do to protect yourself from identity theft in the information age.
NGUYEN: And she's getting out of jail soon. But tales of what Martha Stewart was forging on prison grounds, they are emerging. We have those details ahead.
HARRIS: And plus, as president of the Motion Picture Association, he's been hobnobbing in Hollywood for more than 30 years. Find out what Jack Valenti thinks of Chris Rock as the host and his pick for the best Oscar year ever.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: This thing in California is really getting to be insane. Let's bring in Jacqui Jeras from the Weather Center.
Jacqui, we've got rock slides, mudslides, big old sink holes, rain for months, it seems. And now you've got a picture of what, a water spout now?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, a water spout. We actually had a tornado yesterday in the Sacramento area and two over the weekend, very weak ones.
But just a couple minutes ago, I'd say 15 minutes ago, this video coming in. We want to show you a water spout. And this one was about five miles off the coastline near Santa Monica. If you know where Venice is, it was right around there near Will Rogers State Beach, as it made its way toward the shoreline.
But there you can clearly see the funnel. Basically, what a water spout is, in layman's terms, it's a tornado over the water. And if that thing held together and made its way on show, we could have been seeing some wind damage.
There was a marine warning which was issued for this storm. But it's made its way onshore right now. And we haven't heard any reports of it holding together or any tornado touchdowns.
Also, you can see there, as we pull out -- oh, yes, look at that nice rope along the top. And then you see how the water kind of spins up there on the bottom.
We want to go to our radar picture right now and show you where that particular cell is. And where we're concerned throughout this afternoon where more of these water spouts or isolated tornadoes may be developing. This is the cell which is in question. You can see already across the Pacific Coast Highway, and it's now moving into Will Rogers State Park. So hopefully not a lot of people out there for today. Shouldn't be a concern, but there's not a tornado warning on this one at this time. It looks like it has weakened very significantly.
But look offshore here, just off the Channel Islands, extending down to the south of Long Beach there. These little areas of light rain you can see, these could be developing thunderstorms. And we're concerned as those continue to move on up to the north-northwest, they could become a little bit stronger.
And so the National Weather Service has now issued, just at the top of the hour, there you can see, a tornado watch. And that will be in effect until 6 o'clock local time.
We're also going to be seeing some very nasty weather up here towards Point Conception down through the Channel Islands here. This has been producing some very heavy rain on the rate of about a half inch to an inch an hour. And it's been raining there since about 7 o'clock this morning. And that will likely persist over the next couple of hours. So a major threat of continued flooding with this storm system.
Our upper low remains offshore, trying to squeak its way on the coastline now for today. And that's some good news, because it's been offshore for over a week now. We are expecting it to continue to slowly move eastward over the next 24 hours.
And finally, looking at some breaks for California, by your Thursday, so hang in there. But, again, keep in mind, no warnings in place at this hour any longer, but a tornado watch has been issued throughout the area. It does include areas from Los Angeles all the way down to San Diego until 6 o'clock tonight -- Tony?
HARRIS: Boy, oh boy.
Jacqui, just too much. Too much for those people in California. We appreciate it. Thank you.
NGUYEN: All right. We have some breaking news to tell you about right now. We just mentioned not too long ago that a Florida appeals court has cleared the way for the feeding tube to be removed from Terri Schiavo.
Well, now it appears, this just in, that a Florida circuit court has issued a stay, which will prevent Terri Schiavo's husband, Michael Schiavo, from doing anything until at least 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday. So, of course, we will continue to follow this story for you.
In the meantime, there is more fallout over that identity theft scare at ChoicePoint, which is the data collection agency. It now says that it is re-screening all of its clients to make sure that they are legit. And consumers in all 50 states are being warned that their private information may be compromised.
How can you protect yourself? Well, Dean Faust is with "Business Week," and he's here in Atlanta to explain this to us.
Thanks for being with us today.
DEAN FAUST, BUSINESS WEEK: Glad to be with you.
NGUYEN: First off, let's understand exactly what ChoicePoint is. What kind of a company is this? And how do they get our information without us knowing about it?
FAUST: ChoicePoint is a spin-off of one of the big credit reporting bureaus known as Equifax. And there are a couple of companies like ChoicePoint, broadly speaking, thousands of companies that deal in data. And that's what ChoicePoint is, they are an information broker.
They use public records. If you buy a house or sell a house, they get records of the deed transfer. They get prison records for criminal records from the police departments. And in some cases, we provide the information to ChoicePoint itself.
Anytime you go to the grocery store or the drugstore and swipe a card through to get that little discount, there's a record being created of everything that you purchase. Anytime you go onto the Internet and enter some sweepstakes or contest and you provide all of your personal data, that data is going to marketing firms that then may try to sell you products. So often...
NGUYEN: It's partly our fault, then, because we're using all of this technology to our advantage, yet other people are accessing our information because of it.
All right. That being the case, ChoicePoint has our information, the information of 145,000 people, which was sold or at least provided to these illegitimate people and businesses out there who are posing to be legitimate sources or businesses. They take this information. They do what they want with it.
How liable is ChoicePoint if there's criminal activity? For example, if a bank account is drained because of this, or if those companies and people use that information to do criminal activity, is ChoicePoint liable to those consumers whose information they have?
FAUST: This is a good question because we're moving into a new realm here. But there is a little bit of evidence from some recent court decisions that the companies that provide the data may be liable. And so it very well may fall on ChoicePoint to re-compensate. In this case, to the best of our information right now, 750 individuals, the criminals tapped the bank-opened bank accounts or open credit-card accounts for 750 individuals. The losses are untold at this point.
NGUYEN: All right. And how many companies like ChoicePoint are there out there?
FAUST: A couple of very, very large companies. ChoicePoint has about $900 million in annual revenues. They like to boast that they have 19 billion pieces of information on individuals like you and I. One of the other large companies is Experian, which like ChoicePoint, is a spin-off of one of the credit-reporting bureaus. Beyond that, thousands, there are thousands of mom and pop information -- which deal in very narrow little specialties such as real estate transaction records.
NGUYEN: OK, so bottom line, what do people, one, do to protect themselves, and two, what do the people do whose information has been given out?
FAUST: For the individuals whose information has been given out, wait because ChoicePoint has said that they will, over the next two months, they will notify -- they say it's 145,000. The feds in California say 500,000. They're going to notify everyone and let them know. And they're going to provide a credit monitoring service for the next year to all of these individuals that will notify anytime a new credit-card account or any new request for credit has been opened in their name.
More broadly, what can we do?
NGUYEN: Exactly.
FAUST: Be careful who you give information to. Again, we talked about entering a contest on the Internet. Sometimes you get a phone call at home or you may get a questionable e-mail claiming to be from Citibank, wanting to verify your user name and password. Be very careful who you give your information to.
NGUYEN: Keep your information to yourself. And, I guess, use cash if you can, because otherwise that information is out there.
FAUST: It's a quaint concept.
NGUYEN: All right. Dean Faust of "Business Week," we appreciate it.
Tony?
HARRIS: Will the fifth time be the charm for Hollywood director Martin Scorsese?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTIN SCORSESE, FILM DIRECTOR: Movies that you like, if you like me and my movies, they've already been done. I didn't receive any Oscar for best director.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: He goes full throttle about "The Aviator" in our CNN interview. That's coming up.
DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm David Haffenreffer at the New York Stock Exchange. Advertising is about to get very personal. I'll tell you who's zoning in on your spending habits next on LIVE FROM. Stay tuned.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: All right. Look here, forget about the ads for things you don't need or don't want. Advertising is getting very personal.
NGUYEN: Very personal. David Haffenreffer joins us now live from the New York Stock Exchange for that story.
Hey, David.
HAFFENREFFER: And maybe, Betty and Tony, a little bit scary, as well. This new tactic could very well change the face of TV advertising. Comcast, our parent company, Time Warner, and other cable companies are rolling out technologies that enable them to target ads as precisely as direct mail.
Different messages can be sent to specific neighborhoods, even targeting homes within a neighborhood. It could help cable get a leg up over satellite. "USA Today" says geographically targeted ads could sell for at least three times more than the going rate for regular ads.
Let's take a check now of how the markets are faring today. Stocks are deep in the red thanks to sharply higher oil prices. Oil is surging $2.70 above $51 a barrel. The Dow Industrials down 139 points. We're just at about the lows of the day. The NASDAQ down 1 percent. That is the latest from Wall Street.
Later this hour, airlines spend more than $1 billion each year on mishandled baggage. I'll tell you what's behind this baggage mess.
Stay tuned. LIVE FROM is coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired February 22, 2005 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: This man charged with murder after searchers find the bodies of a Texas woman and her son. Right now, forensics are on the ground and we're on the story.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Also, new developments: A decision in the case of a brain-damaged Florida woman at the center of a contentious right-to-die battle. We are live from Florida.
HARRIS: Identity theft, a company's personal information on thousands of people falls into criminal hands. How can you safeguard your privacy?
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Tony Harris, in for Miles O'Brien.
NGUYEN: And I'm Betty Nguyen, in for Kyra Phillips today.
This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.
HARRIS: The suspect is held, the charges are filed, and now the bodies are found. Three days after a pregnant bagel shop owner and her seven-year-old son went missing in Fort Worth, Texas, hours after a one-time boyfriend was arrested and charged with capital murder, the bodies of Lisa and Jayden Underwood were found near Denton, some 30 miles northeast of Fort Worth.
Before we get to CNN's Ed Lavandera, we want to remind you that we are standing by for a press conference from Lt. Gene Jones of the Fort Worth Police Department. When that happens, we will take you there to that scene that you see there on your screen live.
Let's get now to CNN'S Ed Lavandera who is following the case and joins us by phone with the very latest -- Ed?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You mentioned investigators are at that scene where the bodies of 34-year-old Lisa Underwood, who is seven-months pregnant, and her seven-year-old son, Jayden, were found just a few hours ago. They continue working through that scene, as well.
The suspect, who has been charged with capital murder in this case, Stephen Barbee, who was found in Tyler, Texas, and has already been returned to Fort Worth. We understand he was taken into police headquarters there in downtown Fort Worth, we presume taken into headquarters and is under intense questioning by investigators working this case. But there are several scenes that investigators have been working over the last 24 hours. It was yesterday morning when her truck was found in a creek north of the Fort Worth area near Denton. This other scene, not too far away from where that scene had been. And, of course, the suspect found in Tyler, which is in far east Texas, about a two- to three-hour drive from the Fort Worth area.
So this is a quickly developing story. Unfortunately, it's very hard to explain his motive. We've asked the police at this point if they have any motive in this case or if he's able to piece together any kind of reasoning behind how this happened. And authorities are not able to give us that explanation at this point.
HARRIS: OK, Ed, just a couple of quick questions.
Do we know whether or not this Stephen Barbee character has confessed to these murders?
LAVANDERA: No, we don't.
HARRIS: All right. And here's the second question. At the earlier press conference at about 11:10 this morning, we heard from Lieutenant Jones that there was information that led police to believe that the victims had, in fact, been killed. Do we know whether that information came from the interview with Barbee?
LAVANDERA: I don't think so. And I'll tell you why.
HARRIS: OK.
LAVANDERA: Because throughout the night, they had been at Stephen Barbee's home, looking for clues.
HARRIS: I see.
LAVANDERA: They were looking for -- and they said they were looking for something. They had found something. It's hard to say exactly when he was taken into custody in Tyler, if he -- you know, to what extent he might have provided information or cooperated with authorities.
They had also, if you remember, been in Lisa Underwood's home. And yesterday we had been reporting that they had found blood at the scene there. Clearly, they found something. Perhaps they were told something that led them to believe before they had even found the bodies, they knew that the family was dead.
HARRIS: And we don't know whether this Stephen Barbee would have been the father of this unborn child?
LAVANDERA: No. And, you know, just a little while ago, the last time I was able to speak with Fort Worth police officers, they were still trying to determine that. There are reports, however, at this point that say that he is.
But the official word that, I suspect we should probably take from Fort Worth police at this point, is that they aren't clear.
HARRIS: Right.
LAVANDERA: Maybe at the next press briefing they can clear that up. But that is still, I think, something that is still kind of lingering out there.
HARRIS: And Ed, that press briefing is just minutes away, we understand. Lieutenant Gene Jones of the Fort Worth Police Department we believe will step forward and all to that press briefing, and we'll get some answers, we hope, to some of these questions that we had.
Ed Lavandera, we appreciate it. Thank you, Ed.
LAVANDERA: Thank you.
NGUYEN: And we'll take that press briefing live when it happens.
But in the meantime, the Supreme Court is hearing arguments over whether government can seize private property under eminent domain purely for economic development. New London, Connecticut, wants to bulldoze homes to clear the way for a riverfront hotel, health club and offices. Now, homeowners challenging the city say few property owners' rights would be safe under this use of eminent domain.
On a side note now, Chief Justice Rehnquist is working from home rather than returning to the bench. He's under treatment for thyroid cancer.
And there is a new court ruling in the emotionally charged case of a severely brain-damaged woman in Florida. CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti is live in our Miami bureau with the latest on this one.
Hi, Susan.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Betty.
Yes, a Florida appeals court now clearing the way for Terri Schiavo's husband to essentially end her life by removing a feeding tube that has kept her alive for the last 15 years. The court rejecting an appeal without comment from Terri Schiavo's parents, arguing she would have wanted to live had she known about a directive from Pope John Paul II that allows for anyone in a vegetative state, entitles them to nourishment and hydration.
And the same appeals court today sent the matter back to a lower court. Now, that's the same court that has, in the past, already given Terri Schiavo's husband the legal right to, in effect, end her life. Now, Schiavo's parents reacted quickly to this latest legal development, but took no questions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB SCHINDLER, TERRI SCHIAVO'S FATHER: We are begging and pleading with the legislators and Governor Bush to save Terri from being murdered in cold blood. And that's all I have to say.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: So what does all this mean? Well, certainly, Terri Schiavo's parents could ask this lower court for a stay. That is likely happening right now, their efforts, that is. And theoretically, however, right now, Terri Schiavo's husband could order that feeding tube to be removed, but first he would have to get a court order to do so.
In the meantime, his lawyer has scheduled a news conference for 3:30 this afternoon. However, we wanted to share with you something that Michael Schiavo has told us in the past, this in an interview that was done with him about two years ago about this very thing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL SCHIAVO, HUSBAND OF WOMAN ON FEEDING TUBE: It's difficult. But I know this is inside. I know this is Terri's wish. This is what she wanted. She wouldn't want to live like this. She wouldn't want to survive like this. And that's all she's doing is just -- she's surviving. There's nothing there. Her conscious is gone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: Meantime, Terri Schiavo's parents had said all along they intend to keep their legal fight alive. There is an emergency hearing scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. At that time, Schiavo's parents are expected to ask for a stay, if they aren't granted one ahead of time, as they begin to argue other legal issues that they said they have, for example, challenging the right of Michael Schiavo to be his wife's legal guardian.
And remember that two times in the past, the feeding tube has been removed, the last time in October of 2003. That's when Florida Governor Jeb Bush got involved, backing Terri Schiavo's parents. She had been without nourishment for about six days, but then Governor Bush went to the legislature, got them to pass a law to get that feeding tube reinserted. However, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that that law was unconstitutional.
Betty, back to you.
NGUYEN: All right. So although the court has ruled, there is still some legal maneuvering still going on. We'll keep on top of this one. Thank you so much, Susan Candiotti in Miami.
CANDIOTTI: You're welcome.
NGUYEN: Well, Michael Jackson is back in a California courtroom today as jury selection resumes in the child molestation case against him. It was delayed, as you recall, for a week while the pop star recovered from the flu. Prosecutors are questioning perspective jurors hoping to seat 12 men and women, plus eight alternates for the six-month trial. HARRIS: Turning now to Iraq, there's a new candidate for prime minister in the transitional government. The United Iraqi Alliance, the Shiite-led coalition that won last month's assembly election, tapped Ibrahim al-Jaafari. Kurdish bloc leaders plan to meet with him.
Jaafari is a 58-year-old doctor who left in Iraq in 1980 when Saddam Hussein cracked down on party leaders. He lived in Iran and London. Jaafari opposes early U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, and he's against breaking the country apart.
NGUYEN: After meeting with European leaders in Belgium today, President Bush made a somewhat cryptic statement about Iran. He is downplaying concerns that the U.S. might launch military strikes against Iran's suspected nuclear sites. European countries are currently negotiating with Tehran to abandon its uranium-enrichment activities. While the president says no strikes are planned, he didn't rule them out either.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. Having said that, all options are on the table.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Now, concern over Iran is one reason an influential American lawmaker supports the idea of permanent U.S. military bases in Afghanistan. John McCain is one of five senators meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai today. He says the bases are needed to safeguard American security interests in that region. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is part of that delegation. She also backs a long-term approach to U.S. and Afghan ties but did not give any specifics.
HARRIS: Entire villages are wiped out in Central Iran where a powerful earthquake shook the ground early this morning. Crews and residents are digging through what used to be their homes in search of survivors. So far, 400 people are reported dead. Hundreds are injured. The quake measured 6.4 and was centered near Zarand and Kerman province.
It brought back memories of the more destructive Bam earthquake of 2003. That devastating quake killed some 26,000 people. Relief officials say Iran appears more prepared now than it was then.
NGUYEN: All right. Criminals outsmart a data company. It's happened.
HARRIS: And that means the personal information of thousands of people, well, like you and me, fell into the wrong hands. Ahead on LIVE FROM, what you can do to protect yourself from identity theft in the information age.
NGUYEN: And she's getting out of jail soon. But tales of what Martha Stewart was forging on prison grounds, they are emerging. We have those details ahead.
HARRIS: And plus, as president of the Motion Picture Association, he's been hobnobbing in Hollywood for more than 30 years. Find out what Jack Valenti thinks of Chris Rock as the host and his pick for the best Oscar year ever.
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HARRIS: This thing in California is really getting to be insane. Let's bring in Jacqui Jeras from the Weather Center.
Jacqui, we've got rock slides, mudslides, big old sink holes, rain for months, it seems. And now you've got a picture of what, a water spout now?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, a water spout. We actually had a tornado yesterday in the Sacramento area and two over the weekend, very weak ones.
But just a couple minutes ago, I'd say 15 minutes ago, this video coming in. We want to show you a water spout. And this one was about five miles off the coastline near Santa Monica. If you know where Venice is, it was right around there near Will Rogers State Beach, as it made its way toward the shoreline.
But there you can clearly see the funnel. Basically, what a water spout is, in layman's terms, it's a tornado over the water. And if that thing held together and made its way on show, we could have been seeing some wind damage.
There was a marine warning which was issued for this storm. But it's made its way onshore right now. And we haven't heard any reports of it holding together or any tornado touchdowns.
Also, you can see there, as we pull out -- oh, yes, look at that nice rope along the top. And then you see how the water kind of spins up there on the bottom.
We want to go to our radar picture right now and show you where that particular cell is. And where we're concerned throughout this afternoon where more of these water spouts or isolated tornadoes may be developing. This is the cell which is in question. You can see already across the Pacific Coast Highway, and it's now moving into Will Rogers State Park. So hopefully not a lot of people out there for today. Shouldn't be a concern, but there's not a tornado warning on this one at this time. It looks like it has weakened very significantly.
But look offshore here, just off the Channel Islands, extending down to the south of Long Beach there. These little areas of light rain you can see, these could be developing thunderstorms. And we're concerned as those continue to move on up to the north-northwest, they could become a little bit stronger.
And so the National Weather Service has now issued, just at the top of the hour, there you can see, a tornado watch. And that will be in effect until 6 o'clock local time.
We're also going to be seeing some very nasty weather up here towards Point Conception down through the Channel Islands here. This has been producing some very heavy rain on the rate of about a half inch to an inch an hour. And it's been raining there since about 7 o'clock this morning. And that will likely persist over the next couple of hours. So a major threat of continued flooding with this storm system.
Our upper low remains offshore, trying to squeak its way on the coastline now for today. And that's some good news, because it's been offshore for over a week now. We are expecting it to continue to slowly move eastward over the next 24 hours.
And finally, looking at some breaks for California, by your Thursday, so hang in there. But, again, keep in mind, no warnings in place at this hour any longer, but a tornado watch has been issued throughout the area. It does include areas from Los Angeles all the way down to San Diego until 6 o'clock tonight -- Tony?
HARRIS: Boy, oh boy.
Jacqui, just too much. Too much for those people in California. We appreciate it. Thank you.
NGUYEN: All right. We have some breaking news to tell you about right now. We just mentioned not too long ago that a Florida appeals court has cleared the way for the feeding tube to be removed from Terri Schiavo.
Well, now it appears, this just in, that a Florida circuit court has issued a stay, which will prevent Terri Schiavo's husband, Michael Schiavo, from doing anything until at least 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday. So, of course, we will continue to follow this story for you.
In the meantime, there is more fallout over that identity theft scare at ChoicePoint, which is the data collection agency. It now says that it is re-screening all of its clients to make sure that they are legit. And consumers in all 50 states are being warned that their private information may be compromised.
How can you protect yourself? Well, Dean Faust is with "Business Week," and he's here in Atlanta to explain this to us.
Thanks for being with us today.
DEAN FAUST, BUSINESS WEEK: Glad to be with you.
NGUYEN: First off, let's understand exactly what ChoicePoint is. What kind of a company is this? And how do they get our information without us knowing about it?
FAUST: ChoicePoint is a spin-off of one of the big credit reporting bureaus known as Equifax. And there are a couple of companies like ChoicePoint, broadly speaking, thousands of companies that deal in data. And that's what ChoicePoint is, they are an information broker.
They use public records. If you buy a house or sell a house, they get records of the deed transfer. They get prison records for criminal records from the police departments. And in some cases, we provide the information to ChoicePoint itself.
Anytime you go to the grocery store or the drugstore and swipe a card through to get that little discount, there's a record being created of everything that you purchase. Anytime you go onto the Internet and enter some sweepstakes or contest and you provide all of your personal data, that data is going to marketing firms that then may try to sell you products. So often...
NGUYEN: It's partly our fault, then, because we're using all of this technology to our advantage, yet other people are accessing our information because of it.
All right. That being the case, ChoicePoint has our information, the information of 145,000 people, which was sold or at least provided to these illegitimate people and businesses out there who are posing to be legitimate sources or businesses. They take this information. They do what they want with it.
How liable is ChoicePoint if there's criminal activity? For example, if a bank account is drained because of this, or if those companies and people use that information to do criminal activity, is ChoicePoint liable to those consumers whose information they have?
FAUST: This is a good question because we're moving into a new realm here. But there is a little bit of evidence from some recent court decisions that the companies that provide the data may be liable. And so it very well may fall on ChoicePoint to re-compensate. In this case, to the best of our information right now, 750 individuals, the criminals tapped the bank-opened bank accounts or open credit-card accounts for 750 individuals. The losses are untold at this point.
NGUYEN: All right. And how many companies like ChoicePoint are there out there?
FAUST: A couple of very, very large companies. ChoicePoint has about $900 million in annual revenues. They like to boast that they have 19 billion pieces of information on individuals like you and I. One of the other large companies is Experian, which like ChoicePoint, is a spin-off of one of the credit-reporting bureaus. Beyond that, thousands, there are thousands of mom and pop information -- which deal in very narrow little specialties such as real estate transaction records.
NGUYEN: OK, so bottom line, what do people, one, do to protect themselves, and two, what do the people do whose information has been given out?
FAUST: For the individuals whose information has been given out, wait because ChoicePoint has said that they will, over the next two months, they will notify -- they say it's 145,000. The feds in California say 500,000. They're going to notify everyone and let them know. And they're going to provide a credit monitoring service for the next year to all of these individuals that will notify anytime a new credit-card account or any new request for credit has been opened in their name.
More broadly, what can we do?
NGUYEN: Exactly.
FAUST: Be careful who you give information to. Again, we talked about entering a contest on the Internet. Sometimes you get a phone call at home or you may get a questionable e-mail claiming to be from Citibank, wanting to verify your user name and password. Be very careful who you give your information to.
NGUYEN: Keep your information to yourself. And, I guess, use cash if you can, because otherwise that information is out there.
FAUST: It's a quaint concept.
NGUYEN: All right. Dean Faust of "Business Week," we appreciate it.
Tony?
HARRIS: Will the fifth time be the charm for Hollywood director Martin Scorsese?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTIN SCORSESE, FILM DIRECTOR: Movies that you like, if you like me and my movies, they've already been done. I didn't receive any Oscar for best director.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: He goes full throttle about "The Aviator" in our CNN interview. That's coming up.
DAVID HAFFENREFFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm David Haffenreffer at the New York Stock Exchange. Advertising is about to get very personal. I'll tell you who's zoning in on your spending habits next on LIVE FROM. Stay tuned.
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HARRIS: All right. Look here, forget about the ads for things you don't need or don't want. Advertising is getting very personal.
NGUYEN: Very personal. David Haffenreffer joins us now live from the New York Stock Exchange for that story.
Hey, David.
HAFFENREFFER: And maybe, Betty and Tony, a little bit scary, as well. This new tactic could very well change the face of TV advertising. Comcast, our parent company, Time Warner, and other cable companies are rolling out technologies that enable them to target ads as precisely as direct mail.
Different messages can be sent to specific neighborhoods, even targeting homes within a neighborhood. It could help cable get a leg up over satellite. "USA Today" says geographically targeted ads could sell for at least three times more than the going rate for regular ads.
Let's take a check now of how the markets are faring today. Stocks are deep in the red thanks to sharply higher oil prices. Oil is surging $2.70 above $51 a barrel. The Dow Industrials down 139 points. We're just at about the lows of the day. The NASDAQ down 1 percent. That is the latest from Wall Street.
Later this hour, airlines spend more than $1 billion each year on mishandled baggage. I'll tell you what's behind this baggage mess.
Stay tuned. LIVE FROM is coming right back.
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