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Police Search for Missing Georgia Woman; Michael Jackson's Ex- Wife Expected on Stand; Officials Work on Securing Chemical Plants; Users of Hand-Held Devices Developing Blackberry Thumb
Aired April 27, 2005 - 14:59 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.
MILES O'BRIEN: Barbara, this whole notion of, I guess swords to high test, or whatever you want to call it, swords to unleaded, kind of comes out of left field, doesn't it?
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Miles, the president's proposal to have federal agencies work to assist or incentivize, if you will, the energy industry to build refineries on closed military bases, according to one official here at the Pentagon, was a bolt out of the blue this morning. They didn't know much of anything about it until they read about it.
This could be a very problematic issue, because here's what we're really talking about. The military has closed down dozens, if not hundreds, of military bases, land that it doesn't need anymore over the last decade or so. When those bases are closed, they are no longer federal land, no longer military property. They are returned to local, county and state governments which then plan how to reuse the land. So there's really nothing definitive that can make or mandate, if you will, an oil refinery to be built on a closed military base.
What may be quite interesting here is the political climate in Washington. In the next two weeks, in fact, the Pentagon will have a new list of military bases that it proposes to close.
And most analysts, most military specialists, looking ahead believe that many of those proposed bases might be in Louisiana and Texas, oil rich states, states where the congressional delegations are very opposed to shutting down military bases. But they are oil rich states, and they may wish to have oil refineries built in their states.
So something that's being watched very closely, Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: And states that are used to being in close proximity to those refineries, avoiding the "not in my backyard" problem. All right. Barbara Starr, Pentagon, appreciate your insights. Joseph Romm (ph) preceded her. We appreciate the instant analysis -- Kyra.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: Lots more ahead on LIVE FROM. Let's take a quick look at the big board there, live at the New York Stock Exchange. Dow Industrials up 60 points. We're going to take a quick break. More LIVE FROM right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Checking some stories now in the news.
Made in America, President Bush calls for construction of new power plants and refineries in the United States, part of a White House push. The administration says it will reduce America's dependence on foreign sources of energy amid rising gas prices. Details later this hour.
A security scare at the White House today. President Bush briefly moved to an underground bunker, the vice president to a secure location after radar indicated erroneously a plane had entered a no- fly zone above the White House. Spokesman Scott McClellan blamed the false alarm on a radar anomaly.
Another step towards self government in Iraq. Incoming Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jafari announced today he's decided on a new cabinet. Iraq's transitional national assembly is scheduled to vote on the proposed government tomorrow.
A member of that assembly was gunned down outside her home in Baghdad today. Officials say the killing was politically motivated.
PHILLIPS: Police now in suburban Atlanta are searching for a 32- year-old woman who is supposed to marry this Saturday. No one has seen Jennifer Wilbanks since she left her home last night to go jogging.
More on the search now from reporter George Franco of affiliate WAGA in Atlanta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEORGE FRANCO, WAGA REPORTER (voice-over): Family and friends share moments of grief with a healthy dose of hope and optimism as they search for 32-year-old Jennifer Carol Wilbanks.
JOHN MASON, FIANCE: A lot of people from church are here, and my family and a lot of neighbors and Jennifer's family are down here. They're just looking.
FRANCO: John Mason, Jennifer's fiance, says she went for her usual jog from the home they share last night around 8:30 but never returned. The two are scheduled to be married this Saturday. Mason doesn't believe it's a case of cold feet.
MASON: If it's cold feet, she left her car, her money, her phone, her keys, her diamond ring. Something's happened, and I don't know what.
FRANCO: Duluth police have initiated a mobile command center to coordinate the search effort. Police K-9's have already backtracked Jennifer Wilbanks' jogging route, but to this point her disappearance is a mystery.
(on camera) Do you suspect foul play? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this point in time, from what I understand, we just don't know. We don't suspect anything. There's been no physical evidence of anything in that nature.
FRANCO: Anybody that would want to hurt you or her?
MASON: She's from Gainesville. She doesn't have a lot of friends here yet. She's making them of course, but so I don't know of anybody around here. I have no idea.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Anyone with information about Jennifer Wilbanks is urged to call the Duluth Police Department. That number is 770-476- 4151.
Well, what could be a make-or-break witness for the prosecution in the Michael Jackson trial? His ex-wife Debbie Rowe is in the courthouse and could be called before the day is done.
CNN's Ted Rowlands fills us in now -- Ted.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We have yet to hear from Debbie Rowe, Michael Jackson's ex-wife and mother of two of his three children. We did anticipate that she would take the stand at some point today and, presumably, we thought she was going to come up after Hamid Moslehi, Michael Jackson's personal videographer, who spent a good portion of the morning on the stand. That did not happen.
Prosecutors have brought up a couple of witnesses pertaining to phone records, phone calls made from a private airplane, and these phone calls were made, according to the prosecution, from Michael Jackson and the accuser. They say that they were making random crank calls to people on the ground, flying from Miami back to Neverland Ranch in February.
The reason that these witnesses have been interjected here presumably was a scheduling issue. These folks are from out of state. How long this will take remains unclear.
So we still await Debbie Rowe to take the stand. She is considered to be a very important prosecution witness here with just a few days left of presenting evidence in their case.
Rowe is expected to be the first real witness to tie Michael Jackson himself to the conspiracy theory, that he had something to do with the plot to keep the accuser's family at Neverland and force them into participating in a rebuttal video and firsthand knowledge of getting them to Brazil during this period of time.
Whether or not Rowe will be able to do that for the prosecution remains unclear. The judge has indicated, while he's allowing her to testify, he will greatly reduce the scope of the testimony. We won't be able to hear, the jury won't be able to hear any details about Michael Jackson's life or presumably any details about the agreement between Jackson and Rowe and their children.
So the headline here is there is no headline. We're still awaiting Debbie Rowe to take the stand.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Ted Rowlands.
Also making news across America, first baseball, now football. NFL players and executives testifying before Congress about their tougher new steroids policy. It allows players to be tested at random half a dozen times during the off-season. The head of the House panel looking into steroids use by professional athletes is pushing for one policy covering all sports.
House members could vote soon on whether to reverse at least some of the recent changes to congressional ethics rules. Those changes have set off a fierce partisan battle that Speaker Dennis Hastert admits is becoming a distraction.
Democrats have said Republicans forced the changes this year to protect Majority Leader Tom DeLay. He's facing a number of ethics questions about his travel expenses and fund-raising.
And that chain reaction crash in Times Square yesterday led to a premature birth. The mother, a passenger in this taxi, delivered her daughter a month early. The baby's healthy. The mother is still in critical condition.
PHILLIPS: Chemical plants are everywhere in the U.S., and some say the government is making it easy for terrorists to target them. But there's no lack of ideas about how to change all that. Our guest thinks his plan can make you safer. Find out next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: News about your security now. Ahmed Ressam, convicted in the so-called millennium plot to bomb Los Angeles International Airport sentenced -- was to be sentenced today. But a judge has delayed sentencing until July 28 to give Ressam time to think about offering more help to U.S. officials. Although Ressam's public defender said he's been cooperating with authorities and spilling the beans on other terrorists. Federal officials say he hasn't done enough.
PHILLIPS: Sulfuric acid, ammonia chlorine can prove deadly if released by accident or by terrorist design. With more than 100 U.S. chemical facilities located near urban areas, a Senate committee is taking a closer look at just how vulnerable they and we are.
CNN's Jeanne Meserve with a sobering assessment.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Chemical facilities are in every state, every city, and almost every one is a potential weapon of mass destruction.
"I am aware of no other category of potential terrorist targets that presents as great a danger," says a recently depart top homeland security official. Richard Falkenrath blames himself and others in government for not doing enough to make chemical facilities more secure.
RICHARD FALKENRATH, SECURITY ANALYST: There's been a lot of activity in chemical site security but not a lot of results.
MESERVE: Working cooperatively with industry, the Department of Homeland Security says it has identified the 300 plants that pose the greatest risk and has improved security at 160 of them.
A spokesman acknowledges more needs to be done. Much more, say the critics.
SEN. JON CORZINE (D), NEW JERSEY: There's no regulation. There's no enforcement. There's no oversight. There's no accountability.
MESERVE: Though chemical security legislation has stalled repeatedly in Congress, some in industry have made improvements voluntarily. The American Chemistry Council said its 140 members have spent about $2 billion on security. Now it wants the government to regulate companies who have not stepped up to the plate.
MARTY DURBIN, AMERICAN CHEMISTRY COUNCIL: Absolutely want to level the playing field, make sure everyone is doing what needs to be done.
MESERVE: A DHS official says the department intends to play a more rigorous role in chemical security, and although he did not mention the chemical sector specifically, in a speech Tuesday, the new secretary hinted at a new, tougher stance towards industry.
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: When necessary, we can require a specific set of steps from a security standpoint if voluntary measures failed to exceed their needed results.
MESERVE: Chertoff says risk, threat, and consequence will dictate his priorities. Using that matrix, experts say, chemical plants should be at the top of his list.
Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: From India to South Carolina we've already seen the deadly results of inadvertent chemical accidents, but what if someone wanted to wreak deliberate havoc by targeting a chemical site near an urban area? Security analyst Richard Falkenrath testified this morning on an issue that he says has uniquely deadly potential. Joins us live from the Brookings Institution in Washington with more reasons why.
Great to see you, Richard.
FALKENRATH: Hi, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: While you were blunt and straight to the point in that piece that Jeanne Meserve did, and you said hey, you blame yourself and others in government for not doing enough. Why come out and say this?
FALKENRATH: Well, I think when a government official leaves office and then becomes a critic, they need to take responsibility themselves, and there's nothing tackier than someone who leaves government and then criticizes everyone that stayed behind and is still working these very hard issues.
So the only point I was trying to make is I was part of this process. I'm sorry we didn't get more results. Now it's time to look forward and try to get them.
PHILLIPS: And you went before the Senate committee. I'm going get to six of the basic -- basically the parts of your testimony, your solution, your ideas you gave before the Senate.
But first of all, the chemical sector, very unique as you point out, because of the danger that it poses but also the freedom from government security oversight.
FALKENRATH: That's exactly right. Look at nuclear power plants. They're very tightly regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and that's what the American people would expect. The same for aircraft, very tightly regulated by the Transportation Security Administration. The reason is because they're very, very dangerous if attacked by a terrorist group.
The chemical sector is at least as dangerous, probably more so, and yet it's basically free of government oversight.
PHILLIPS: All right. Let's talk about your statement here that I read, what you read to the Senate committee today. And you talk about, you said new chemical site security statute, you propose, that would establish a regulatory approach with six basic parts. These are the six basic parts, but we're going to pick a few of them here.
Tiered standards, let's talk about the importance of No. 2, the second point that you make.
FALKENRATH: Well, the basic idea is that the secretary of homeland security should publish a set of very practical security requirements for different types of chemical facilities, based on the objective risk that they present to the communities. There's no one size fits all standard, so he's going to need a set of tiers of standards based on the risk of the facility. PHILLIPS: When you move into the certification procedure, then, how do you make sure, then, that those standards have been put into place and that owners are complying with the standards that have set, or have been set, I guess, by homeland security, right?
FALKENRATH: Yes, well, that would be the next step. You require the owners or the boards of directors to personally certify that their plants have come up to standard, and they would have to vouch for that. And by doing so they would be accepting civil and criminal liability if they, in fact, did not meet those standards.
PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk more about those penalties. You talk about the compliance part of it. I mean, how tough are you talking here?
FALKENRATH: As tough as any other regulatory regime in government. And some are very, very tough. If you look at the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, they have the ability to impose fines right away on noncompliant corporations. And so I think the secretary of homeland security should have the same authority.
There should also be criminal penalties for noncompliance. We have criminal penalties for accounting malfeasance in the Sarbanes/Oxley Act. There should also be criminal penalties, I think, for major security lapses of chemical -- chemical facilities.
PHILLIPS: So how does one uncover such a lapse? Are you talking about more inspectors? The -- that they need to be going to these chemical plants on a regular basis? I mean, how often? How in depth? And how many inspectors would be necessary to do something like this?
FALKENRATH: Well, you would have to have on-site inspections. You'd have to have a verification regime for all the certifications, and the exact numbers would have to be worked out. It wouldn't be 100 percent. There would be, you know, some scheduled, with higher risk facilities visited more often.
And there would probably have to be some new hiring at the Department of Homeland Security, but they should have the flexibility to use other government officials, even third parties, outside corporations, to do the checking for them.
PHILLIPS: If this doesn't happen, what's your greatest fear, and let me ask you this, too, maybe can you combine it into one answer, has anything happened that maybe we, all of us in the public, don't know about that really pushed you to put this statement together and go before the Senate committee?
FALKENRATH: No, there hasn't been any terrorist -- major terrorist attack on a large chemical facility that I'm aware of. And my -- I'm drawn to this issue by a vulnerability assessment. By essentially looking at all the different targets in the United States that still present a really catastrophic danger for our population.
And chemicals are just at the top of the list. There's no debate among that among experts who have looked at all the different targets. They're the absolute top of the list in terms of the remaining vulnerabilities in our country.
There could be an attack today. It could happen tomorrow. The casualties could be zero. No one could be hurt if the wind is blowing in the right direction. Or the casualties could be in the tens of thousands. A lot of different variables will determine it.
And so it's hard to say what exactly will happen. Hopefully, there never will be such an attack. But it is appropriate for the Department of Homeland Security to get to the business of improving the security of these facilities.
PHILLIPS: Absolutely. Preventative maintenance. Security analyst Richard Falkenrath. As always, a pleasure. Thanks, Richard.
FALKENRATH: Thanks, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: CNN is committed to providing the most reliable coverage of new that affects your security. Stay tuned to CNN for the latest information day and night -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right, Kyra. That was a good interview, but I was busy catching up on my Blackberry. And I've got to tell you, about -- I guess it was about two months ago I had this terrible pain right in here. I went to see my doctor, Dr. Parton (ph). He said it was tendonitis. It turns out I've got Blackberry thumb problems. Can you relate, Kyra?
PHILLIPS: Absolutely not. I refuse to take it out of the box.
O'BRIEN: You refuse to use the darn thing.
PHILLIPS: You know what? You are on your laptop far more than your Blackberry.
O'BRIEN: I know. Well, but I started trying to use my index finger. That didn't work so well. Anyway, we're going to have a full report on that. If you had the problem I have, you're going to want to stay tuned for that.
Also, let's check the markets for you. Dow Jones Industrials up nearly 48 right now. We're watching the markets for you all day long here on CNN.
Back with more LIVE FROM in just a moment. Got to get back to my Blackberry now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Everybody knows about tennis elbow. Ready for this one? Blackberry thumb. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has more on this ailment of our times.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You've seen them, busy professionals walking through airports and office hallways, seemingly mesmerized by their handheld devices.
Fifty-four-year-old Betty Kelpner's (ph) hand held of choice was the Blackberry, until she developed what she calls a Blackberry thumb.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Blackberry thumb seems to be one of those things that is not officially a diagnosis, but is a reality. What a limit in life it is, if you can't use your thumbs.
GUPTA (on camera): According to its manufacturer, more than three million people will be using one of these Blackberries by year's end. And I'll tell you this, people here at CNN are so addicted to them, they jokingly refer to them as Crackberries.
As more and more people use them for work, for e-mail, for text messaging, Internet and even video games, greater attention is being focused on possible injuries due to an overworked thumb.
DR. KEITH RASKIN, HAND SURGEON, NYU MEDICAL CENTER: Just as the keyboard and the personal computer led to a lot of concern over repetitive stress of typing, this is the next wave of concern with the use of the thumb on a handheld device.
GUPTA: In fact, the condition is tendonitis or inflammation of the tendons.
Dr. Keith Raskin, a hand surgeon at NYU Medical Center, says that young people are protected, because they have more fluid in their joints. Whereas those with a history of arthritis or tendonitis in their body, as well as the elderly, are more prone to the ache in their thumbs.
The thumb, with one fewer joint than the rest of the fingers, is more sensitive to stress than the other three jointed fingers.
RASKIN: I usually find that if a patient was to just reduce the workload or reduce the repetitive nature of this condition, their symptoms will resolve.
GUPTA: As for Betty: four weeks of occupational therapy, painkillers, acupuncture, acupressure and magnets gave her a little relief, but it was only quitting cold turkey that took the pain away.
While Betty has had to shut her Blackberry off, as for me, and millions of other users, we are showing no signs of problems and happily clicking away.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: OK, that's all the time we have today.
PHILLIPS: Buzzes. Buzzes (ph). There's a note from Judy, toss to me or I'll come beat you down.
O'BRIEN: Or I'll come smash your thumbs! Judy Woodruff with "INSIDE POLITICS" lies ahead.
JUDY WOODRUFF, HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": All right. Miles and Kyra. I have so much fun watching the two of you. Thank you. See you tomorrow.
Well, lately it seems President Bush has not had much success in selling some of his pet issues. Today on "INSIDE POLITICS" I'll talk with Republican Senator John Thune and Democratic Senator Barack Obama about why the Democrats are being called obstructionists and why some members of the president's own party appear to be jumping ship.
"INSIDE POLITICS" begins in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: The House speaker waves a white flag in the standoff over ethics rules.
REP. DENNIS HASTERT (R-IL), SPEAKER: I think we need to move forward in the ethics process.
ANNOUNCER: What does that mean for Majority Leader Tom DeLay and questions about his ethics?
Two rising stars in the Senate, Republican John Thune and Democrat Barack Obama, go head-to-head on hot topics, from the Bolton nomination to the filibuster fight.
Now, live from Washington, "JUDY WOODRUFF'S INSIDE POLITICS."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
END
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired April 27, 2005 - 14:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN: Barbara, this whole notion of, I guess swords to high test, or whatever you want to call it, swords to unleaded, kind of comes out of left field, doesn't it?
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Miles, the president's proposal to have federal agencies work to assist or incentivize, if you will, the energy industry to build refineries on closed military bases, according to one official here at the Pentagon, was a bolt out of the blue this morning. They didn't know much of anything about it until they read about it.
This could be a very problematic issue, because here's what we're really talking about. The military has closed down dozens, if not hundreds, of military bases, land that it doesn't need anymore over the last decade or so. When those bases are closed, they are no longer federal land, no longer military property. They are returned to local, county and state governments which then plan how to reuse the land. So there's really nothing definitive that can make or mandate, if you will, an oil refinery to be built on a closed military base.
What may be quite interesting here is the political climate in Washington. In the next two weeks, in fact, the Pentagon will have a new list of military bases that it proposes to close.
And most analysts, most military specialists, looking ahead believe that many of those proposed bases might be in Louisiana and Texas, oil rich states, states where the congressional delegations are very opposed to shutting down military bases. But they are oil rich states, and they may wish to have oil refineries built in their states.
So something that's being watched very closely, Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: And states that are used to being in close proximity to those refineries, avoiding the "not in my backyard" problem. All right. Barbara Starr, Pentagon, appreciate your insights. Joseph Romm (ph) preceded her. We appreciate the instant analysis -- Kyra.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: Lots more ahead on LIVE FROM. Let's take a quick look at the big board there, live at the New York Stock Exchange. Dow Industrials up 60 points. We're going to take a quick break. More LIVE FROM right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Checking some stories now in the news.
Made in America, President Bush calls for construction of new power plants and refineries in the United States, part of a White House push. The administration says it will reduce America's dependence on foreign sources of energy amid rising gas prices. Details later this hour.
A security scare at the White House today. President Bush briefly moved to an underground bunker, the vice president to a secure location after radar indicated erroneously a plane had entered a no- fly zone above the White House. Spokesman Scott McClellan blamed the false alarm on a radar anomaly.
Another step towards self government in Iraq. Incoming Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jafari announced today he's decided on a new cabinet. Iraq's transitional national assembly is scheduled to vote on the proposed government tomorrow.
A member of that assembly was gunned down outside her home in Baghdad today. Officials say the killing was politically motivated.
PHILLIPS: Police now in suburban Atlanta are searching for a 32- year-old woman who is supposed to marry this Saturday. No one has seen Jennifer Wilbanks since she left her home last night to go jogging.
More on the search now from reporter George Franco of affiliate WAGA in Atlanta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEORGE FRANCO, WAGA REPORTER (voice-over): Family and friends share moments of grief with a healthy dose of hope and optimism as they search for 32-year-old Jennifer Carol Wilbanks.
JOHN MASON, FIANCE: A lot of people from church are here, and my family and a lot of neighbors and Jennifer's family are down here. They're just looking.
FRANCO: John Mason, Jennifer's fiance, says she went for her usual jog from the home they share last night around 8:30 but never returned. The two are scheduled to be married this Saturday. Mason doesn't believe it's a case of cold feet.
MASON: If it's cold feet, she left her car, her money, her phone, her keys, her diamond ring. Something's happened, and I don't know what.
FRANCO: Duluth police have initiated a mobile command center to coordinate the search effort. Police K-9's have already backtracked Jennifer Wilbanks' jogging route, but to this point her disappearance is a mystery.
(on camera) Do you suspect foul play? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this point in time, from what I understand, we just don't know. We don't suspect anything. There's been no physical evidence of anything in that nature.
FRANCO: Anybody that would want to hurt you or her?
MASON: She's from Gainesville. She doesn't have a lot of friends here yet. She's making them of course, but so I don't know of anybody around here. I have no idea.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Anyone with information about Jennifer Wilbanks is urged to call the Duluth Police Department. That number is 770-476- 4151.
Well, what could be a make-or-break witness for the prosecution in the Michael Jackson trial? His ex-wife Debbie Rowe is in the courthouse and could be called before the day is done.
CNN's Ted Rowlands fills us in now -- Ted.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We have yet to hear from Debbie Rowe, Michael Jackson's ex-wife and mother of two of his three children. We did anticipate that she would take the stand at some point today and, presumably, we thought she was going to come up after Hamid Moslehi, Michael Jackson's personal videographer, who spent a good portion of the morning on the stand. That did not happen.
Prosecutors have brought up a couple of witnesses pertaining to phone records, phone calls made from a private airplane, and these phone calls were made, according to the prosecution, from Michael Jackson and the accuser. They say that they were making random crank calls to people on the ground, flying from Miami back to Neverland Ranch in February.
The reason that these witnesses have been interjected here presumably was a scheduling issue. These folks are from out of state. How long this will take remains unclear.
So we still await Debbie Rowe to take the stand. She is considered to be a very important prosecution witness here with just a few days left of presenting evidence in their case.
Rowe is expected to be the first real witness to tie Michael Jackson himself to the conspiracy theory, that he had something to do with the plot to keep the accuser's family at Neverland and force them into participating in a rebuttal video and firsthand knowledge of getting them to Brazil during this period of time.
Whether or not Rowe will be able to do that for the prosecution remains unclear. The judge has indicated, while he's allowing her to testify, he will greatly reduce the scope of the testimony. We won't be able to hear, the jury won't be able to hear any details about Michael Jackson's life or presumably any details about the agreement between Jackson and Rowe and their children.
So the headline here is there is no headline. We're still awaiting Debbie Rowe to take the stand.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Ted Rowlands.
Also making news across America, first baseball, now football. NFL players and executives testifying before Congress about their tougher new steroids policy. It allows players to be tested at random half a dozen times during the off-season. The head of the House panel looking into steroids use by professional athletes is pushing for one policy covering all sports.
House members could vote soon on whether to reverse at least some of the recent changes to congressional ethics rules. Those changes have set off a fierce partisan battle that Speaker Dennis Hastert admits is becoming a distraction.
Democrats have said Republicans forced the changes this year to protect Majority Leader Tom DeLay. He's facing a number of ethics questions about his travel expenses and fund-raising.
And that chain reaction crash in Times Square yesterday led to a premature birth. The mother, a passenger in this taxi, delivered her daughter a month early. The baby's healthy. The mother is still in critical condition.
PHILLIPS: Chemical plants are everywhere in the U.S., and some say the government is making it easy for terrorists to target them. But there's no lack of ideas about how to change all that. Our guest thinks his plan can make you safer. Find out next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: News about your security now. Ahmed Ressam, convicted in the so-called millennium plot to bomb Los Angeles International Airport sentenced -- was to be sentenced today. But a judge has delayed sentencing until July 28 to give Ressam time to think about offering more help to U.S. officials. Although Ressam's public defender said he's been cooperating with authorities and spilling the beans on other terrorists. Federal officials say he hasn't done enough.
PHILLIPS: Sulfuric acid, ammonia chlorine can prove deadly if released by accident or by terrorist design. With more than 100 U.S. chemical facilities located near urban areas, a Senate committee is taking a closer look at just how vulnerable they and we are.
CNN's Jeanne Meserve with a sobering assessment.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Chemical facilities are in every state, every city, and almost every one is a potential weapon of mass destruction.
"I am aware of no other category of potential terrorist targets that presents as great a danger," says a recently depart top homeland security official. Richard Falkenrath blames himself and others in government for not doing enough to make chemical facilities more secure.
RICHARD FALKENRATH, SECURITY ANALYST: There's been a lot of activity in chemical site security but not a lot of results.
MESERVE: Working cooperatively with industry, the Department of Homeland Security says it has identified the 300 plants that pose the greatest risk and has improved security at 160 of them.
A spokesman acknowledges more needs to be done. Much more, say the critics.
SEN. JON CORZINE (D), NEW JERSEY: There's no regulation. There's no enforcement. There's no oversight. There's no accountability.
MESERVE: Though chemical security legislation has stalled repeatedly in Congress, some in industry have made improvements voluntarily. The American Chemistry Council said its 140 members have spent about $2 billion on security. Now it wants the government to regulate companies who have not stepped up to the plate.
MARTY DURBIN, AMERICAN CHEMISTRY COUNCIL: Absolutely want to level the playing field, make sure everyone is doing what needs to be done.
MESERVE: A DHS official says the department intends to play a more rigorous role in chemical security, and although he did not mention the chemical sector specifically, in a speech Tuesday, the new secretary hinted at a new, tougher stance towards industry.
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: When necessary, we can require a specific set of steps from a security standpoint if voluntary measures failed to exceed their needed results.
MESERVE: Chertoff says risk, threat, and consequence will dictate his priorities. Using that matrix, experts say, chemical plants should be at the top of his list.
Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: From India to South Carolina we've already seen the deadly results of inadvertent chemical accidents, but what if someone wanted to wreak deliberate havoc by targeting a chemical site near an urban area? Security analyst Richard Falkenrath testified this morning on an issue that he says has uniquely deadly potential. Joins us live from the Brookings Institution in Washington with more reasons why.
Great to see you, Richard.
FALKENRATH: Hi, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: While you were blunt and straight to the point in that piece that Jeanne Meserve did, and you said hey, you blame yourself and others in government for not doing enough. Why come out and say this?
FALKENRATH: Well, I think when a government official leaves office and then becomes a critic, they need to take responsibility themselves, and there's nothing tackier than someone who leaves government and then criticizes everyone that stayed behind and is still working these very hard issues.
So the only point I was trying to make is I was part of this process. I'm sorry we didn't get more results. Now it's time to look forward and try to get them.
PHILLIPS: And you went before the Senate committee. I'm going get to six of the basic -- basically the parts of your testimony, your solution, your ideas you gave before the Senate.
But first of all, the chemical sector, very unique as you point out, because of the danger that it poses but also the freedom from government security oversight.
FALKENRATH: That's exactly right. Look at nuclear power plants. They're very tightly regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and that's what the American people would expect. The same for aircraft, very tightly regulated by the Transportation Security Administration. The reason is because they're very, very dangerous if attacked by a terrorist group.
The chemical sector is at least as dangerous, probably more so, and yet it's basically free of government oversight.
PHILLIPS: All right. Let's talk about your statement here that I read, what you read to the Senate committee today. And you talk about, you said new chemical site security statute, you propose, that would establish a regulatory approach with six basic parts. These are the six basic parts, but we're going to pick a few of them here.
Tiered standards, let's talk about the importance of No. 2, the second point that you make.
FALKENRATH: Well, the basic idea is that the secretary of homeland security should publish a set of very practical security requirements for different types of chemical facilities, based on the objective risk that they present to the communities. There's no one size fits all standard, so he's going to need a set of tiers of standards based on the risk of the facility. PHILLIPS: When you move into the certification procedure, then, how do you make sure, then, that those standards have been put into place and that owners are complying with the standards that have set, or have been set, I guess, by homeland security, right?
FALKENRATH: Yes, well, that would be the next step. You require the owners or the boards of directors to personally certify that their plants have come up to standard, and they would have to vouch for that. And by doing so they would be accepting civil and criminal liability if they, in fact, did not meet those standards.
PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk more about those penalties. You talk about the compliance part of it. I mean, how tough are you talking here?
FALKENRATH: As tough as any other regulatory regime in government. And some are very, very tough. If you look at the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, they have the ability to impose fines right away on noncompliant corporations. And so I think the secretary of homeland security should have the same authority.
There should also be criminal penalties for noncompliance. We have criminal penalties for accounting malfeasance in the Sarbanes/Oxley Act. There should also be criminal penalties, I think, for major security lapses of chemical -- chemical facilities.
PHILLIPS: So how does one uncover such a lapse? Are you talking about more inspectors? The -- that they need to be going to these chemical plants on a regular basis? I mean, how often? How in depth? And how many inspectors would be necessary to do something like this?
FALKENRATH: Well, you would have to have on-site inspections. You'd have to have a verification regime for all the certifications, and the exact numbers would have to be worked out. It wouldn't be 100 percent. There would be, you know, some scheduled, with higher risk facilities visited more often.
And there would probably have to be some new hiring at the Department of Homeland Security, but they should have the flexibility to use other government officials, even third parties, outside corporations, to do the checking for them.
PHILLIPS: If this doesn't happen, what's your greatest fear, and let me ask you this, too, maybe can you combine it into one answer, has anything happened that maybe we, all of us in the public, don't know about that really pushed you to put this statement together and go before the Senate committee?
FALKENRATH: No, there hasn't been any terrorist -- major terrorist attack on a large chemical facility that I'm aware of. And my -- I'm drawn to this issue by a vulnerability assessment. By essentially looking at all the different targets in the United States that still present a really catastrophic danger for our population.
And chemicals are just at the top of the list. There's no debate among that among experts who have looked at all the different targets. They're the absolute top of the list in terms of the remaining vulnerabilities in our country.
There could be an attack today. It could happen tomorrow. The casualties could be zero. No one could be hurt if the wind is blowing in the right direction. Or the casualties could be in the tens of thousands. A lot of different variables will determine it.
And so it's hard to say what exactly will happen. Hopefully, there never will be such an attack. But it is appropriate for the Department of Homeland Security to get to the business of improving the security of these facilities.
PHILLIPS: Absolutely. Preventative maintenance. Security analyst Richard Falkenrath. As always, a pleasure. Thanks, Richard.
FALKENRATH: Thanks, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: CNN is committed to providing the most reliable coverage of new that affects your security. Stay tuned to CNN for the latest information day and night -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right, Kyra. That was a good interview, but I was busy catching up on my Blackberry. And I've got to tell you, about -- I guess it was about two months ago I had this terrible pain right in here. I went to see my doctor, Dr. Parton (ph). He said it was tendonitis. It turns out I've got Blackberry thumb problems. Can you relate, Kyra?
PHILLIPS: Absolutely not. I refuse to take it out of the box.
O'BRIEN: You refuse to use the darn thing.
PHILLIPS: You know what? You are on your laptop far more than your Blackberry.
O'BRIEN: I know. Well, but I started trying to use my index finger. That didn't work so well. Anyway, we're going to have a full report on that. If you had the problem I have, you're going to want to stay tuned for that.
Also, let's check the markets for you. Dow Jones Industrials up nearly 48 right now. We're watching the markets for you all day long here on CNN.
Back with more LIVE FROM in just a moment. Got to get back to my Blackberry now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Everybody knows about tennis elbow. Ready for this one? Blackberry thumb. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has more on this ailment of our times.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You've seen them, busy professionals walking through airports and office hallways, seemingly mesmerized by their handheld devices.
Fifty-four-year-old Betty Kelpner's (ph) hand held of choice was the Blackberry, until she developed what she calls a Blackberry thumb.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Blackberry thumb seems to be one of those things that is not officially a diagnosis, but is a reality. What a limit in life it is, if you can't use your thumbs.
GUPTA (on camera): According to its manufacturer, more than three million people will be using one of these Blackberries by year's end. And I'll tell you this, people here at CNN are so addicted to them, they jokingly refer to them as Crackberries.
As more and more people use them for work, for e-mail, for text messaging, Internet and even video games, greater attention is being focused on possible injuries due to an overworked thumb.
DR. KEITH RASKIN, HAND SURGEON, NYU MEDICAL CENTER: Just as the keyboard and the personal computer led to a lot of concern over repetitive stress of typing, this is the next wave of concern with the use of the thumb on a handheld device.
GUPTA: In fact, the condition is tendonitis or inflammation of the tendons.
Dr. Keith Raskin, a hand surgeon at NYU Medical Center, says that young people are protected, because they have more fluid in their joints. Whereas those with a history of arthritis or tendonitis in their body, as well as the elderly, are more prone to the ache in their thumbs.
The thumb, with one fewer joint than the rest of the fingers, is more sensitive to stress than the other three jointed fingers.
RASKIN: I usually find that if a patient was to just reduce the workload or reduce the repetitive nature of this condition, their symptoms will resolve.
GUPTA: As for Betty: four weeks of occupational therapy, painkillers, acupuncture, acupressure and magnets gave her a little relief, but it was only quitting cold turkey that took the pain away.
While Betty has had to shut her Blackberry off, as for me, and millions of other users, we are showing no signs of problems and happily clicking away.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: OK, that's all the time we have today.
PHILLIPS: Buzzes. Buzzes (ph). There's a note from Judy, toss to me or I'll come beat you down.
O'BRIEN: Or I'll come smash your thumbs! Judy Woodruff with "INSIDE POLITICS" lies ahead.
JUDY WOODRUFF, HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": All right. Miles and Kyra. I have so much fun watching the two of you. Thank you. See you tomorrow.
Well, lately it seems President Bush has not had much success in selling some of his pet issues. Today on "INSIDE POLITICS" I'll talk with Republican Senator John Thune and Democratic Senator Barack Obama about why the Democrats are being called obstructionists and why some members of the president's own party appear to be jumping ship.
"INSIDE POLITICS" begins in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: The House speaker waves a white flag in the standoff over ethics rules.
REP. DENNIS HASTERT (R-IL), SPEAKER: I think we need to move forward in the ethics process.
ANNOUNCER: What does that mean for Majority Leader Tom DeLay and questions about his ethics?
Two rising stars in the Senate, Republican John Thune and Democrat Barack Obama, go head-to-head on hot topics, from the Bolton nomination to the filibuster fight.
Now, live from Washington, "JUDY WOODRUFF'S INSIDE POLITICS."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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