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Olympic Park Bombing Suspect Pleads Guilty to Clinic Bombing; American Contractor Taken Hostage in Iraq; Police Search for Missing Florida Girl

Aired April 13, 2005 - 13:00   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: A flu strain that killed more than a million people almost 50 years ago sent to thousands of labs around the world. Does it pose a health threat now? We expect to hear from the Centers for Disease Control this hour.
An American kidnapped in Iraq. The Al Jazeera network shows pictures of him. We're live from Baghdad and from his hometown in Indiana.

Behind these blinds, Eric Rudolph, a suspect in several bombings, goes to court today to admit to the crimes.

Preventing identity theft. A day after the revelation of a huge information breach, can lawmakers help fix the problem?

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Kyra Phillips. Miles is on assignment. CNN's LIVE FROM start right now.

Four bombings, four guilty pleas, four consecutive life sentences. Two federal courtrooms in two southern cities are the end points today in a nine-year odyssey that began with a crime of Olympic proportions.

Eric Rudolph is due in Atlanta for a plea hearing two hours from now, having told a judge in Birmingham this morning that he certainly bombed a woman's clinic there in 1998. CNN's Carol Lin is at a federal courthouse, just down the street from where I'm sitting.

Carol, what's the latest?

CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, the latest is that Eric Robert Rudolph arrived under heavy security just a short time ago. Earlier today in Birmingham, Alabama, if prosecutors or even the victims themselves expected to see any remorse from Rudolph, they were sorely disappointed.

He made the appearance in federal court essentially so that the federal judge could ask him more than three dozen detailed questions to make sure that Rudolph specifically understood the nature of the crimes and the plea that he was going to be making.

At one point, the judge asked Eric Robert Rudolph whether he specifically bombed the New Woman All-Women's Clinic in January 1998. Rudolph replied very calmly, even cockily, "Yes, I certainly did, your honor." It was crystal clear that he understood what the charges were and that he made a deal to avoid the death penalty.

Now, Kyra, the victims themselves, many of them sorely disappointed that they were not able to actually yet testify at a hearing or that Rudolph would not qualify for the death penalty.

Earlier, shortly after the plea deal was made with Rudolph, I spoke with Emily Lyons. She was a nurse who was half blinded and crippled in the Birmingham, Alabama, women's clinic bombing. I asked her whether she was disappointed and also specifically if she had the opportunity to testify at trial what would she testify to. This is what she told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMILY LYONS, BOMBING VICTIM: Some of it would have been to let Rudolph know that he failed that day and that he failed in the other places he attempted, to let the jury see the damage that he caused, to let them hear what Jeffrey and I have lost in our lives.

LIN: What have you lost, Emily?

LYONS: A career. Social contact with the people that you normally work with, or those that you're friends with. I don't have that anymore. I can't read like I used to. So it's -- it's a little isolation and a lack of independence now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Understand the sinister nature of the tactical planning that went into the crimes that Eric Robert Rudolph is willing to admit to.

For example, in the Olympic Park bombing, he built a bed of nails that, had it not tipped over at the very second, would have shot out and killed potentially hundreds of people. One person, Alice Hawthorne, tragically, did die in that bombing.

In Sandy Springs, Georgia, there were seven people injured when there was one explosion at a woman's clinic. Also, Eric Robert Rudolph designed a second explosive device so that once police were lured in by the first explosion, the second one would go off, injuring as many people as possible.

A gay and lesbian club, same thing. The plan was to have a second explosive device go off after the initial bombing attack. Four people were injured. Police were able to find that second bomb and detonate it before it hurt anybody else.

And then in the Birmingham bombing, a flower pot tipped over to hide the explosive device underneath. It lured a security guard in. The second explosion went off, killing that security guard and maiming Emily Lyons.

The victims will get a chance, though, Kyra, to speak at the sentencing hearing, which is expected on July 18.

PHILLIPS: Carol Lin, thank you. We'll talk to you again soon.

On Monday, Jeffrey Ake was working on a water treatment plant near Baghdad, 6,000 miles from his home in northwest Indiana. Today, Ake appears in one of those all too familiar kidnap victim video clips on Al Jazeera TV. The network says that Ake made some requests, clearly under threat and duress.

We get the details now from CNN's Aneesh Raman in Baghdad -- Aneesh.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, good afternoon.

The Arabic language station Al Jazeera, today, airing a video purportedly showing an American hostage who was kidnapped on Monday in the capital city in broad daylight, as he worked on a reconstruction project.

The embassy here confirming that man is Jeffrey Ake, a resident of Indiana. We don't know what company he was working for. We do know that in South Bend there is a company called Equipment Express which does have reconstruction projects under way here in Iraq.

Now, on the tape, Al Jazeera says the man called on the U.S. to engage with insurgents, engage in dialogue. Also calls for American troops to withdraw from the country. No claim of responsibility yet, Kyra, as to who the group is that is holding Mr. Ake.

Now this comes on a violent day of Iraq. North of where we are, in the town of Kirkuk, 12 Iraqi security forces were killed as they tried to defuse a roadside bomb that they had encountered.

Also today, Kyra, three bombs, all intended targets of the American -- of American military convoy. The first going off at 9 a.m. this morning, as a military convoy passed by one of the bombs. No casualties there, but a fuel truck ignited, causing for some dramatic video.

About an hour later a suicide car bomb taking place in western Baghdad. There, five Iraqi civilians were injured. And another bomb around 11 a.m. local, injuring three Iraqi civilians.

A very violent backdrop to another unannounced visit by an American diplomat, Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick in town today. He met with leaders of Iraq's transitional government, pushing a similar message to what we heard yesterday from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. He also went to Fallujah, Kyra, to look at some of the reconstruction projects there.

PHILLIPS: Aneesh Raman, live from Baghdad, thank you.

Well, back in Indiana, Jeffrey Ake's company isn't commenting. And his wife apparently doesn't plan to either. Can't blame her. The company's web site, however, says it played an important role in the Iraq war, helping bottle -- helping to distribute, rather, drinking water and cooking oil.

CNN's Keith Oppenheim joins me now on the phone from Indiana, in the town of Rolling Prairie. Not an easy time for that family.

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, it's a very tough one, Kyra. I'm not far from Rolling Prairie, which I'll describe as a small town near South Bend. And Jeffrey Ake has a business in a very small industrial park there.

But as small and quaint as the setting is, Jeffrey Ake was apparently quite the resourceful entrepreneur, president of a company that specialized in making equipment that can automatically package liquids, from water to pharmaceuticals, to cleaning supplies and cosmetics, things like that.

According to local media reports, in 2003, Equipment Express built a machine that fills cooking oil into containers to be used by Iraqi residents and also built a system to provide water bottles to be sold in Baghdad. Equipment Express is operated by Jeffrey Ake and his wife, Liliana, who as you said, Kyra, isn't talking at this point. Pretty much everyone close to him is keeping quiet.

Right now I'm actually outside the family's home in nearby LaPorte, Indiana. The police are here, keeping a gathering crowd of reporters away, and saying that the family is getting good support through this crisis, and that they're in touch with the FBI.

In fact, the LaPorte police chief -- I spoke to him a few minutes ago -- he emphasized that for Jeff Ake's security and safety, his family members and his employees are being told not to speak to the media.

So, you know, while there are clearly a lot of worried people around here who know that this could be a long wait and an extremely anxious one, they're being advised to wait and be quiet, at least as far as the media is concerned, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Keith, do we know if the Akes have children?

OPPENHEIM: I have heard from someone who work in a business next to Jeff's that they have two young children.

PHILLIPS: All right, Keith Oppenheim, we'll continue to check in with you, of course, from Rolling Prairie, as we do follow Jeffrey Ake and what's taking place there, as we are seeing videotape of him being held captive overseas.

Well, here today, here tomorrow. What about a year from tomorrow or 10 years? Fresh off his latest trip to Iraq, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld today found an Afghanistan in search of commitment. That country's president says he wants a long-term strategic security relationship with the United States, potentially, reportedly, including one or more permanent U.S. bases.

Rumsfeld was noncommittal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: The people of the United States are certainly proud to stand by the free citizens of Afghanistan and, Mr. President, we thank you for your courage, for your leadership, and certainly look forward to strengthening our partnership in the month and years ahead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: The secretary also met today with U.S. commanders, who told him the Afghan army is far short of requirements in both quantity and quality.

Elsewhere around the world, Lebanon is marking 30 years since the start of its 15 year civil war. Many people there prefer the term War of the Others, in reference to the heavy involvement by Syria and Israel and their various partners and proxies.

Banners in a rebuilt Beirut read "Never Again," and that's certainly the hope of anybody who remembers the Asian Flu pandemic that killed million of people in 1957. Today, labs around the world are scrambling to destroy vials that contain the H2N2 virus, which were sent out by mistake for use in quality control tests.

The CDC or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta says the risk to public health is low.

More on that killer flu later this hour. Disease expert Lori Garrett (ph) will join me to talk about it, and the CDC is expected to make a statement this hour, as well.

Also ahead, it happened again in Florida. A girl goes missing. Authorities are questioning registered sex offenders. And we'll have a live report later on LIVE FROM.

ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Early Sunday morning was the last time anyone remembers seeing Sarah Michelle Lunde. As an intense search continues for the missing 13-year-old, investigators say they've accounted for nearly two dozen convicted sex offenders living in the area.

Right now, we're talking to you live from Ruskin, Florida, where reporter Chuck Johnson of CNN affiliate Bay-9 News is on the scene with the latest information.

Chuck, what do you have for us?

CHUCK JOHNSON, BAY-9 NEWS REPORTER: Hello, Kyra.

As the search for Sarah Lunde continues, the concern for her well being grows by the minute here. A total of seven local, state and federal law enforcement agencies now involved in the search.

That search resumed early this morning with 80 deputies and more than 50 volunteers taking part. Horse-mounted units and Marine patrols are also involved in the search. They're concentrating on a three square mile area around the girl's home. Of course, that is where she was discovered missing early Sunday morning.

Detectives have interviewed more than 200 people in this case. And as you mentioned, that includes 23 of the 24 registered sexual offenders who live in the same zip code as Sarah.

Detectives say one of those offenders knows Sarah's mother and has had contact with the family in the past. Detectives say they are having an ongoing dialogue with that person. Detectives have also located Sarah's natural father, Richard Lunde, who lives somewhere in Florida. And as we speak, detectives should be interviewing him.

Now, many of the search crews were able to take a brief lunch break just a short time ago. And they also held a briefing at the tent you might be able to see behind me. Where they were using maps, all grouped together, looking and trying to figure out a strategy for this afternoon's search. As I say, they scattered, and they are beginning their search in earnest once again this afternoon, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Chuck, what has the family said? Was she inside the home, outside of the home? And do they definitely believe this is an abduction?

JOHNSON: Well, detectives obviously believe there's some foul play involved. The family has not really spoken up that much. But what we do know is that that night she went to bed and at about 4 in the morning, her older brother came home to a mobile home where they lived. He discovered the door open and the girl missing.

So naturally, when they contacted authorities, everybody thought -- thought the worst, especially considering what's happened recently in this area with Jessica Lunsford.

PHILLIPS: No doubt. Chuck Johnson with CNN affiliate Bay News 9. Thank you so much for that update. We're going to talk more about it later in the hour.

News to report today on one of the key figures in last month's courthouse killings in Atlanta. Cynthia Hall left the hospital this morning. Hall is the Fulton County sheriff's deputy who was escorting Brian Nichols to trial when authorities say he beat her up, took her keys, got her gun and went on that killing spree. Hall received head and face injuries and told doctors that she's anxious to get back into uniform.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. GERALD BILSKY, SHEPHERD SPINAL CENTER: She has talked a little bit about it. She was most anxious to get out of the hospital. She sort of felt it was time to leave the hospital. She knows she has some work to do still. She does want to get back to work in some capacity, whatever that may be. She's still sorting out what her role is and will be in the workforce. But she wants to go back to work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And in other news across America now, the doors are open again at Red Lake High School in Minnesota, but attendance is sparse. More than two-thirds of the students stayed away when classes resumed Tuesday for the first time since last month's shooting rampage. Seven people at the school were killed before the gunman Jeff Wiest took his own life. An investigation continues into possible co-conspirators.

They're accused of taking part in at least eight gangland slayings. Now a couple of jailed former cops may be taking a whack at Hollywood. New York's "Daily News" quotes sources in reporting that Lewis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa are negotiating with Universal Pictures to sell the story of their alleged involvement with the Luchese crime family. Lawyers for both men said that they have no knowledge of any movie talks.

And it's official: Britney Spears goes from shaking her booty to knitting booties, so we think. The 23-year-old performer let the stork out of the bag in an announcement on her official web site. Thus ends weeks of speculation over Britney's expanding figure. It will be Spears' first child and the third for her husband, dancer Kevin Federline.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS (voice-over): Next on LIVE FROM, are you a racist? Before you say no, watch our story about what your subconscious reveals about racial attitudes.

Later on LIVE FROM...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a nice way to travel. And the savings really mount up.

PHILLIPS: Reining in high gas cost. One woman's unique solution to price shock at the pump.

Tomorrow on LIVE FROM, will a new proposal in Washington put the Pentagon out of business? A push for a Department of Peace. Congressman Dennis Kucinich and best-selling author Mary Ann Williamson join us live.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: The Catholic faithful are lined up again today in Vatican City. It's the first day since Pope John Paul II's funeral that the doors to St. Peter's Basilica are open to the public. And a chance for many people to be close to the pope one last time.

CNN's Chris Burns is in Vatican City, where visitors began lining up even before the sun came up.

Hi, Chris.

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

Yes, in fact, I was among -- some of those among the press were lucky enough to visit the cyst yesterday before they opened it up to public viewing. And there were some people coming back from that crypt with tears in their eyes, that I saw.

And today, thousands of people lining up, streaming through St. Peter's Square over my shoulder, going into the basilica and down into the crypt to have a look at that crypt.

It's quite interesting, really. It's a very simple slab of white marble, a 10 foot by 10 foot alcove under the basilica, with the inscription of the pope's name in Latin letters, and just some -- some -- just a plant there in the back of it. But people are really moved by how -- the simplicity of it. It's quite moving.

Meanwhile, the cardinals are meeting on a daily basis. The conclave is to begin to -- to elect the new pope on Monday, but there is business every day. They're talking policy. They're talking finances. And there is already this discussion about who is going to be the next pope. That is unavoidable.

In fact, the newspapers today, if you have a look at this "Il Tempo" newspaper. That's one of the main newspapers. The two that they say are Cardinal Ratzinger and Cardinal Sodano. Cardinal Ratzinger is the dean of the College of Cardinals, the No. 2 here at the Vatican, and Sodano is essentially the secretary of state, the foreign minister. Both are 77 years old. They could be seen as interim posts.

Back to you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Chris Burns, we patiently wait. Thank you so much. Beautiful backdrop there.

Well, it's the gift that keeps on giving, the $2 billion worth of stock. That's what one CEO's wife got for her birthday. Not bad. Susan Lisovicz joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange for more on that story.

Susan, if you're struggling with what to get me, well, that would be just fine.

(STOCK REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired April 13, 2005 - 13:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: A flu strain that killed more than a million people almost 50 years ago sent to thousands of labs around the world. Does it pose a health threat now? We expect to hear from the Centers for Disease Control this hour.
An American kidnapped in Iraq. The Al Jazeera network shows pictures of him. We're live from Baghdad and from his hometown in Indiana.

Behind these blinds, Eric Rudolph, a suspect in several bombings, goes to court today to admit to the crimes.

Preventing identity theft. A day after the revelation of a huge information breach, can lawmakers help fix the problem?

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Kyra Phillips. Miles is on assignment. CNN's LIVE FROM start right now.

Four bombings, four guilty pleas, four consecutive life sentences. Two federal courtrooms in two southern cities are the end points today in a nine-year odyssey that began with a crime of Olympic proportions.

Eric Rudolph is due in Atlanta for a plea hearing two hours from now, having told a judge in Birmingham this morning that he certainly bombed a woman's clinic there in 1998. CNN's Carol Lin is at a federal courthouse, just down the street from where I'm sitting.

Carol, what's the latest?

CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, the latest is that Eric Robert Rudolph arrived under heavy security just a short time ago. Earlier today in Birmingham, Alabama, if prosecutors or even the victims themselves expected to see any remorse from Rudolph, they were sorely disappointed.

He made the appearance in federal court essentially so that the federal judge could ask him more than three dozen detailed questions to make sure that Rudolph specifically understood the nature of the crimes and the plea that he was going to be making.

At one point, the judge asked Eric Robert Rudolph whether he specifically bombed the New Woman All-Women's Clinic in January 1998. Rudolph replied very calmly, even cockily, "Yes, I certainly did, your honor." It was crystal clear that he understood what the charges were and that he made a deal to avoid the death penalty.

Now, Kyra, the victims themselves, many of them sorely disappointed that they were not able to actually yet testify at a hearing or that Rudolph would not qualify for the death penalty.

Earlier, shortly after the plea deal was made with Rudolph, I spoke with Emily Lyons. She was a nurse who was half blinded and crippled in the Birmingham, Alabama, women's clinic bombing. I asked her whether she was disappointed and also specifically if she had the opportunity to testify at trial what would she testify to. This is what she told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMILY LYONS, BOMBING VICTIM: Some of it would have been to let Rudolph know that he failed that day and that he failed in the other places he attempted, to let the jury see the damage that he caused, to let them hear what Jeffrey and I have lost in our lives.

LIN: What have you lost, Emily?

LYONS: A career. Social contact with the people that you normally work with, or those that you're friends with. I don't have that anymore. I can't read like I used to. So it's -- it's a little isolation and a lack of independence now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Understand the sinister nature of the tactical planning that went into the crimes that Eric Robert Rudolph is willing to admit to.

For example, in the Olympic Park bombing, he built a bed of nails that, had it not tipped over at the very second, would have shot out and killed potentially hundreds of people. One person, Alice Hawthorne, tragically, did die in that bombing.

In Sandy Springs, Georgia, there were seven people injured when there was one explosion at a woman's clinic. Also, Eric Robert Rudolph designed a second explosive device so that once police were lured in by the first explosion, the second one would go off, injuring as many people as possible.

A gay and lesbian club, same thing. The plan was to have a second explosive device go off after the initial bombing attack. Four people were injured. Police were able to find that second bomb and detonate it before it hurt anybody else.

And then in the Birmingham bombing, a flower pot tipped over to hide the explosive device underneath. It lured a security guard in. The second explosion went off, killing that security guard and maiming Emily Lyons.

The victims will get a chance, though, Kyra, to speak at the sentencing hearing, which is expected on July 18.

PHILLIPS: Carol Lin, thank you. We'll talk to you again soon.

On Monday, Jeffrey Ake was working on a water treatment plant near Baghdad, 6,000 miles from his home in northwest Indiana. Today, Ake appears in one of those all too familiar kidnap victim video clips on Al Jazeera TV. The network says that Ake made some requests, clearly under threat and duress.

We get the details now from CNN's Aneesh Raman in Baghdad -- Aneesh.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, good afternoon.

The Arabic language station Al Jazeera, today, airing a video purportedly showing an American hostage who was kidnapped on Monday in the capital city in broad daylight, as he worked on a reconstruction project.

The embassy here confirming that man is Jeffrey Ake, a resident of Indiana. We don't know what company he was working for. We do know that in South Bend there is a company called Equipment Express which does have reconstruction projects under way here in Iraq.

Now, on the tape, Al Jazeera says the man called on the U.S. to engage with insurgents, engage in dialogue. Also calls for American troops to withdraw from the country. No claim of responsibility yet, Kyra, as to who the group is that is holding Mr. Ake.

Now this comes on a violent day of Iraq. North of where we are, in the town of Kirkuk, 12 Iraqi security forces were killed as they tried to defuse a roadside bomb that they had encountered.

Also today, Kyra, three bombs, all intended targets of the American -- of American military convoy. The first going off at 9 a.m. this morning, as a military convoy passed by one of the bombs. No casualties there, but a fuel truck ignited, causing for some dramatic video.

About an hour later a suicide car bomb taking place in western Baghdad. There, five Iraqi civilians were injured. And another bomb around 11 a.m. local, injuring three Iraqi civilians.

A very violent backdrop to another unannounced visit by an American diplomat, Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick in town today. He met with leaders of Iraq's transitional government, pushing a similar message to what we heard yesterday from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. He also went to Fallujah, Kyra, to look at some of the reconstruction projects there.

PHILLIPS: Aneesh Raman, live from Baghdad, thank you.

Well, back in Indiana, Jeffrey Ake's company isn't commenting. And his wife apparently doesn't plan to either. Can't blame her. The company's web site, however, says it played an important role in the Iraq war, helping bottle -- helping to distribute, rather, drinking water and cooking oil.

CNN's Keith Oppenheim joins me now on the phone from Indiana, in the town of Rolling Prairie. Not an easy time for that family.

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, it's a very tough one, Kyra. I'm not far from Rolling Prairie, which I'll describe as a small town near South Bend. And Jeffrey Ake has a business in a very small industrial park there.

But as small and quaint as the setting is, Jeffrey Ake was apparently quite the resourceful entrepreneur, president of a company that specialized in making equipment that can automatically package liquids, from water to pharmaceuticals, to cleaning supplies and cosmetics, things like that.

According to local media reports, in 2003, Equipment Express built a machine that fills cooking oil into containers to be used by Iraqi residents and also built a system to provide water bottles to be sold in Baghdad. Equipment Express is operated by Jeffrey Ake and his wife, Liliana, who as you said, Kyra, isn't talking at this point. Pretty much everyone close to him is keeping quiet.

Right now I'm actually outside the family's home in nearby LaPorte, Indiana. The police are here, keeping a gathering crowd of reporters away, and saying that the family is getting good support through this crisis, and that they're in touch with the FBI.

In fact, the LaPorte police chief -- I spoke to him a few minutes ago -- he emphasized that for Jeff Ake's security and safety, his family members and his employees are being told not to speak to the media.

So, you know, while there are clearly a lot of worried people around here who know that this could be a long wait and an extremely anxious one, they're being advised to wait and be quiet, at least as far as the media is concerned, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Keith, do we know if the Akes have children?

OPPENHEIM: I have heard from someone who work in a business next to Jeff's that they have two young children.

PHILLIPS: All right, Keith Oppenheim, we'll continue to check in with you, of course, from Rolling Prairie, as we do follow Jeffrey Ake and what's taking place there, as we are seeing videotape of him being held captive overseas.

Well, here today, here tomorrow. What about a year from tomorrow or 10 years? Fresh off his latest trip to Iraq, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld today found an Afghanistan in search of commitment. That country's president says he wants a long-term strategic security relationship with the United States, potentially, reportedly, including one or more permanent U.S. bases.

Rumsfeld was noncommittal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, DEFENSE SECRETARY: The people of the United States are certainly proud to stand by the free citizens of Afghanistan and, Mr. President, we thank you for your courage, for your leadership, and certainly look forward to strengthening our partnership in the month and years ahead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: The secretary also met today with U.S. commanders, who told him the Afghan army is far short of requirements in both quantity and quality.

Elsewhere around the world, Lebanon is marking 30 years since the start of its 15 year civil war. Many people there prefer the term War of the Others, in reference to the heavy involvement by Syria and Israel and their various partners and proxies.

Banners in a rebuilt Beirut read "Never Again," and that's certainly the hope of anybody who remembers the Asian Flu pandemic that killed million of people in 1957. Today, labs around the world are scrambling to destroy vials that contain the H2N2 virus, which were sent out by mistake for use in quality control tests.

The CDC or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta says the risk to public health is low.

More on that killer flu later this hour. Disease expert Lori Garrett (ph) will join me to talk about it, and the CDC is expected to make a statement this hour, as well.

Also ahead, it happened again in Florida. A girl goes missing. Authorities are questioning registered sex offenders. And we'll have a live report later on LIVE FROM.

ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Early Sunday morning was the last time anyone remembers seeing Sarah Michelle Lunde. As an intense search continues for the missing 13-year-old, investigators say they've accounted for nearly two dozen convicted sex offenders living in the area.

Right now, we're talking to you live from Ruskin, Florida, where reporter Chuck Johnson of CNN affiliate Bay-9 News is on the scene with the latest information.

Chuck, what do you have for us?

CHUCK JOHNSON, BAY-9 NEWS REPORTER: Hello, Kyra.

As the search for Sarah Lunde continues, the concern for her well being grows by the minute here. A total of seven local, state and federal law enforcement agencies now involved in the search.

That search resumed early this morning with 80 deputies and more than 50 volunteers taking part. Horse-mounted units and Marine patrols are also involved in the search. They're concentrating on a three square mile area around the girl's home. Of course, that is where she was discovered missing early Sunday morning.

Detectives have interviewed more than 200 people in this case. And as you mentioned, that includes 23 of the 24 registered sexual offenders who live in the same zip code as Sarah.

Detectives say one of those offenders knows Sarah's mother and has had contact with the family in the past. Detectives say they are having an ongoing dialogue with that person. Detectives have also located Sarah's natural father, Richard Lunde, who lives somewhere in Florida. And as we speak, detectives should be interviewing him.

Now, many of the search crews were able to take a brief lunch break just a short time ago. And they also held a briefing at the tent you might be able to see behind me. Where they were using maps, all grouped together, looking and trying to figure out a strategy for this afternoon's search. As I say, they scattered, and they are beginning their search in earnest once again this afternoon, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Chuck, what has the family said? Was she inside the home, outside of the home? And do they definitely believe this is an abduction?

JOHNSON: Well, detectives obviously believe there's some foul play involved. The family has not really spoken up that much. But what we do know is that that night she went to bed and at about 4 in the morning, her older brother came home to a mobile home where they lived. He discovered the door open and the girl missing.

So naturally, when they contacted authorities, everybody thought -- thought the worst, especially considering what's happened recently in this area with Jessica Lunsford.

PHILLIPS: No doubt. Chuck Johnson with CNN affiliate Bay News 9. Thank you so much for that update. We're going to talk more about it later in the hour.

News to report today on one of the key figures in last month's courthouse killings in Atlanta. Cynthia Hall left the hospital this morning. Hall is the Fulton County sheriff's deputy who was escorting Brian Nichols to trial when authorities say he beat her up, took her keys, got her gun and went on that killing spree. Hall received head and face injuries and told doctors that she's anxious to get back into uniform.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. GERALD BILSKY, SHEPHERD SPINAL CENTER: She has talked a little bit about it. She was most anxious to get out of the hospital. She sort of felt it was time to leave the hospital. She knows she has some work to do still. She does want to get back to work in some capacity, whatever that may be. She's still sorting out what her role is and will be in the workforce. But she wants to go back to work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And in other news across America now, the doors are open again at Red Lake High School in Minnesota, but attendance is sparse. More than two-thirds of the students stayed away when classes resumed Tuesday for the first time since last month's shooting rampage. Seven people at the school were killed before the gunman Jeff Wiest took his own life. An investigation continues into possible co-conspirators.

They're accused of taking part in at least eight gangland slayings. Now a couple of jailed former cops may be taking a whack at Hollywood. New York's "Daily News" quotes sources in reporting that Lewis Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa are negotiating with Universal Pictures to sell the story of their alleged involvement with the Luchese crime family. Lawyers for both men said that they have no knowledge of any movie talks.

And it's official: Britney Spears goes from shaking her booty to knitting booties, so we think. The 23-year-old performer let the stork out of the bag in an announcement on her official web site. Thus ends weeks of speculation over Britney's expanding figure. It will be Spears' first child and the third for her husband, dancer Kevin Federline.

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PHILLIPS (voice-over): Next on LIVE FROM, are you a racist? Before you say no, watch our story about what your subconscious reveals about racial attitudes.

Later on LIVE FROM...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a nice way to travel. And the savings really mount up.

PHILLIPS: Reining in high gas cost. One woman's unique solution to price shock at the pump.

Tomorrow on LIVE FROM, will a new proposal in Washington put the Pentagon out of business? A push for a Department of Peace. Congressman Dennis Kucinich and best-selling author Mary Ann Williamson join us live.

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PHILLIPS: The Catholic faithful are lined up again today in Vatican City. It's the first day since Pope John Paul II's funeral that the doors to St. Peter's Basilica are open to the public. And a chance for many people to be close to the pope one last time.

CNN's Chris Burns is in Vatican City, where visitors began lining up even before the sun came up.

Hi, Chris.

CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

Yes, in fact, I was among -- some of those among the press were lucky enough to visit the cyst yesterday before they opened it up to public viewing. And there were some people coming back from that crypt with tears in their eyes, that I saw.

And today, thousands of people lining up, streaming through St. Peter's Square over my shoulder, going into the basilica and down into the crypt to have a look at that crypt.

It's quite interesting, really. It's a very simple slab of white marble, a 10 foot by 10 foot alcove under the basilica, with the inscription of the pope's name in Latin letters, and just some -- some -- just a plant there in the back of it. But people are really moved by how -- the simplicity of it. It's quite moving.

Meanwhile, the cardinals are meeting on a daily basis. The conclave is to begin to -- to elect the new pope on Monday, but there is business every day. They're talking policy. They're talking finances. And there is already this discussion about who is going to be the next pope. That is unavoidable.

In fact, the newspapers today, if you have a look at this "Il Tempo" newspaper. That's one of the main newspapers. The two that they say are Cardinal Ratzinger and Cardinal Sodano. Cardinal Ratzinger is the dean of the College of Cardinals, the No. 2 here at the Vatican, and Sodano is essentially the secretary of state, the foreign minister. Both are 77 years old. They could be seen as interim posts.

Back to you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Chris Burns, we patiently wait. Thank you so much. Beautiful backdrop there.

Well, it's the gift that keeps on giving, the $2 billion worth of stock. That's what one CEO's wife got for her birthday. Not bad. Susan Lisovicz joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange for more on that story.

Susan, if you're struggling with what to get me, well, that would be just fine.

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