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Live From...
Real Life Underwater CSI; Saving the Mustang
Aired May 09, 2005 - 14:31 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, CNN ANCHOR: That's the big board on the small screen for you. The Dow Jones Industrial average up 11.01. No, 10.94. No, 11.01. Well, you got the idea.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: (INAUDIBLE)
O'BRIEN: We're watching it very carefully for you, obviously. All day long here on CNN. We'll keep you posted.
PHILLIPS: "Now in the News," police in Zion, Illinois, are investigating the deaths of two girls. Their bodies were found today in a park just north of the small town. The Associated Press reports that the two are the same girls who had been reported missing last night. Authorities are treating the deaths as homicides. We're going to keep you updated on this developing story.
Two people dead and numerous students injured in a school bus wreck in Liberty, Missouri. Authorities are investigating what caused the bus to smash into two cars this morning at an intersection. The crash killed the drivers of both cars.
A high school student in Columbus, Georgia, is back in class today after his suspension prompted outrage and e-mail. Officials at Spencer said Kevin Francois became belligerent when a teacher told him to turn over his cell phone. Well, it turns out Francois was talking to his mother, a U.S. soldier in Iraq. The school later reduced his suspension. Officials say Francois will not be penalized.
Israel is postponing its withdrawal from Gaza. The pullout was to start July 25th, but Prime Minister Ariel Sharon now says that Israel will wait until after August 15th, a religious holiday. Sharon's plan calls for evacuating all 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza.
O'BRIEN: TV viewers have quite an appetite for watching fictional forensic scientists solve murder. This week, CNN's senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is looking at real CSI sleuths at work and in training.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you watch the television drama "CSI Miami," you'll see plenty of water scenes, but little underwater investigating. There will be an occasional body in the water, but the detailed investigations the shows are known for rarely take place beneath the waves.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Eric, what have you got?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Five bodies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUPTA: So is Hollywood accurately portraying reality? A few years ago, the answer would be yes.
But today, these instructors at Florida State University's underwater CSI program would beg to differ. They've built a program from scratch based on their experiences in law enforcement, criminology, forensics, even archaeology. There, students learn how to properly handle an underwater crime scene.
BANYAN PELHAM, FSU CSI TRAINING COORD.: Well, an underwater crime scene before was basically just treated as a recovery. You'd go down, anything that looks like potential evidence, you bring it up.
GUPTA: The students are not your typical coeds. They are all accomplished divers who already work in law enforcement. On this day, they're following a missing-persons case. Because it is an active investigation, we can't get into the details.
MISSY ADAMS, UNDERWATER CSI STUDENT: This was a project that I came across in some of our older files, and is regarding a missing person, and we just came to do it as a school project.
TOM KELLEY, FSU UNDERWATER CSI: Our students are actually taken out on active crime scenes. In fact, all of our instructors are called in on a regular basis to assist police officers all over the state and actually all over the country.
GUPTA: For the Clarks, they learn how to use the latest technology, a GPS, a side-scan sonar to see the bottom of the pond. They even use a remote-operating vehicle, or ROV, which has a camera that can help show where evidence might be located.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, there it is. Drop the buoy. Drop the buoy. Yes, there's a barrel there, or a bucket.
GUPTA: The students find something they think might be important, so they send in the divers. A closer look, and it appears to be a barrel that could hold a body. But the day is running out, so they'll have to come back again for further inspection.
DALE NUTE, FSU CRIMINOLOGY PROFESSOR: You will spend a lot of time, a lot of preparation, a lot of resources, and possibly come up with negative results.
GUPTA: Another class studies how to properly document a case. The assignment is to find some boats that have been intentionally sunk in the bay.
MICHAEL ZINSZER, FSU UNDERWATER CSI: The same rules and requirements that are on land are also in the water. There is no changes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we document a case, we're taking exact photographs and measurements of where the evidence is recovered or seen.
GUPTA: Sometimes that's easier said than done.
MARK FEULNER, FSU TECHNICAL ADVISER: No visibility. Like two, three feet. No visibility at all.
GUPTA: But that doesn't stop this team. They continue to measure and document the scene.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Literally, we call that diving by braille. If you can see your tape, you can take your measurement.
GUPTA: Back at the missing person case, the students have returned to the scene.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got her?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got her.
GUPTA: They've located and documented the barrel. It appears big enough for a body, so they bring it to shore.
So what was in that barrel?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Empty as it can be. Well, you've got to look. You've got to check it.
GUPTA: The crime remains a mystery.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE; It just an old case, and we hope maybe some day we'll find something, but none of this is helpful to it.
GUPTA: The students learn a life lesson. Unlike on TV, investigations take more than an hour and aren't always solved.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Take a fascinating look inside the world of criminal forensic science, as our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta goes behind the scenes of dual crime scene investigations, one with the cast and crew of the television show "CSI: Miami" and the other, a real-life homicide investigation in Miami. Don't miss "Anatomy of a Murder," Sunday night, 10:00 p.m. Eastern, only here on CNN.
PHILLIPS: Still ahead, you want taxes with that? One city is thinking about taxing fast food in order to plump up the city's coughers.
O'BRIEN: Dog saves baby. Heroism 101. That's the story, folks. The true story ahead on LIVE FROM. SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Sibila Vargas in Hollywood. The weekend box office is far from heaven. And Paula Abdul fights back with a laugh. I'll have that and more when LIVE FROM returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
PHILLIPS: All right, that's Audioslave, "Pain." Music really can unite all people. Cuba got an earful from Audioslave over the weekend. The group is the first U.S. rock band to play an outdoor concert in Cuba. More than 3,000 fans attended.
"American Idol"'s Paula Abdul pokes fun at herself amid controversy and box office revenues take a dip over the Mother's Day weekend. CNN's entertainment correspondent Sibila Vargas is live from L.A. with all the scoop on all those stories and more.
VARGAS: I got it all.
PHILLIPS: You got it all. Anything Hollywood, you got it.
VARGAS: I got it. That's right, Kyra. It looks as if the weather and spending time with Mom outranked going to the movies this weekend. And why not? She's mom. A grand total of only $83 million marks the worst box office of the year.
In the end, the star power of Orlando Bloom in his three-hour Crusades epic reigned supreme with $20 million. However, it's worth saying the Ridley Scott pic was much more royal overseas, taking in an additional $56 million in the international box office. Not bad. Paris Hilton's scary debut, "House of Wax," was hot enough for a second place finish, with just over $12 million. Hot, you know. You know she says that.
Meanwhile, headed for a box office in the not-so-distant future is the latest project from Oscar-winner Helen Hunt. Hunt returns to the big screen and for the first time directs the new comedy "Then She Found Me," based on a novel by Elinor Lipman. A tale of love and family, the actress has been working on the script for the last seven years. Diane Keaton and Woody Harrelson are in talks to co-star.
And did you happen to catch "Saturday Night Live" this weekend? Judging from her cameo appearance an the show, "American Idol"'s Paula Abdul is ready to laugh off accusations that she had an affair with a former "Idol" hopeful.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE")
PAULA ABDUL, ENTERTAINER: All right, great sketch, you guys. I just have three notes. Chris, great impression, but you need to wear a push-up t-shirt. Keenan, you need about 14 more dogs. And, Amy, you need to perfect the clap a little more and be a lot more sexier so that contestants will be willing to sleep with you and be willing to admit -- we're live from New York, it's Saturday night! (END VIDEO CLIP FROM "SATURDAY NIGHT")
VARGAS: Oh, that was pretty funny. The weekend's guest spot came just days after disqualified "Idol" contestant Corey Clark told the world that he and Abdul had an affair during the show's second season. In the skit, Abdul pretended to be -- pretended to judge "SNL"'s Amy Poehler as she impersonated Abdul. Now, Abdul follows a long line of celebs that have used the "SNL" stage to poke fun at personal controversy, including, of course, Janet Jackson, who once portrayed Condoleezza Rice having a wardrobe malfunction. I'm not sure if you've ever seen that one, Kyra, but I guess if you can't beat them, you got to join them, right?
PHILLIPS: Those rare video moments that not a lot of the world saw. That is my crew.
VARGAS: Yes, just a tiny percentage.
PHILLIPS: Thank you, Sibila. Salacious scoop Sibila. Salacious scoop Sibila.
O'BRIEN: We've got the dish. Let's press on now.
PHILLIPS: All right, entertainment legend in the house. Next hour of LIVE FROM, Broadway star Patti LuPone will be here.
O'BRIEN: Also ahead, is your cell phone bill getting a little thicker? We'll tell you about some new taxes to watch out for.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, we've all heard the headline a dingo ate my baby, but now we can report a dog saves a baby. A hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, says a stray dog found an abandoned baby girl in the forest. It's believed that the dog carried the baby and placed her with the dog's own litter of puppies. Local residents later discovered the child. The hospital says the baby, who is being called Angel, is now in stable condition.
O'BRIEN: Out in the plains of Wyoming, there is an effort to save the Mustang. We're not talking about the '65 Mustang that Lee Iacocca gave us, but the real one, the animal, born to be wild.
CNN's Drew Griffin has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For these animals that have endured life out on the wind swept plains, scratching out an existence through frigid winters in the scrubbed grass, it seems an undignified end. But a growing number of these symbols of the old west will end up in a packing plant like this one in suburban Chicago, where the slaughter has already started.
RON HAWKINS, RANCHER: They've always represented that free wild roaming choice of freedom that we all make every day. GRIFFIN: Ron Hawkins has spent his entire life working on ranches, where wild horses are as much a part of life as the rivers and the mountains that surround them. He's determined to save these Mustangs.
HAWKINS: These horses are too much of a symbol, if not what Americans do and who we are, to just fall into a pit and disappear.
GRIFFIN: Back in 1934, a federal law gave wild mustangs a permanent home. Out here on public ranges, they've roamed since the Spanish brought them over five centuries ago. They've thrived, doubling in population every five years. But the other animals that also graze on these lands, the antelope, cattle, and sheep are losing the fight for food.
In more than 30 years, the government tried to reduce the size of the mustang herd by offering them up for adoption.
STEPHANIE ANDERSON, BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT: We need to get more people to our facilities to adopt, yes.
GRIFFIN: Stephanie Anderson runs the Bureau of Land Management's adoption program in Rock Springs. But at this event, only three of the 100 or so horses are taken.
In spite of everything Anderson has done, photos on the Internet, sending horses to other adoption centers, 9,000 horses in government hands are now considered excess. A federal law passed late last year allowed them to be auctioned off.
But that would be very sad for the people around here to know that these horses could be sold?
ANDERSON: We're only dealing with adoption here.
GRIFFIN: You're being very diplomatic.
ANDERSON: Yes. I like the horse program and I like my job.
GRIFFIN: The workers here may not want to talk about it, but most of these horses have been up for adoption two or three times.
(on camera): And now the federal government is paying to warehouse horses that nobody wants. Under the new law, these are the horses that could end up at a slaughter house.
(voice-over): Late last month, the Bureau of Land Management temporarily suspended the sales of these horses after discovering 41 animals that had been sold to private owners were in fact slaughtered at this Illinois plant. But the law remains. Any horse that has not been adopted or is older than 10 years, could be on its way to serving a growing appetite for horse meat in Europe and Asia, where a horse is considered a delicacy. The wild American mustang served for dinner.
That's where Ron Hawkins comes in.
HAWKINS: They fought their way through years and years of survival here. They've earned a right to be here.
GRIFFIN: Together with his partners, Ron started Wild Horses Wyoming, to raise money to buy land and save the excess horses. Starting with 200 wild mares they bought from the government, they hope the American public will join their call to preserve the wild horses.
While the government only allows horses to be adopted by people who have the know how and the space to care for them, Ron and his partners offer adoption that guarantees the wild horses will stay wild by finding thousands of private acres to let them roam free out here in the west.
HAWKINS: Our whole plan is that the land will -- that we will be able to purchase will provide for these horses.
GRIFFIN: Sponsors would pay from $50 to $5,000 to care for a wild horse right here in the southeastern corner of Wyoming for the rest of his life. Ron and his partners hope to raise enough money to buy a new home for as many as 5,000 of the 9,000 horses the government has to unload. The money would pay for the land. The horses wouldn't care for themselves.
HAWKINS: I feel like there's lots and lots of ground that these horses can still go onto, but it's private ranch around now.
GRIFFIN: Every morning, Ron Hawkins checks the 200 wild mares he and his group have already saved. He has to teach them to follow the feed truck. Just two months ago, they were condemned to the same fate as other surplus government stock.
HAWKINS; They're not general horses. They're not ranch horses. They're wild horses. And if you approach them, they're choice is to leave.
GRIFFIN: You shouldn't measure the American mustang by its worth as a pet or a work horse on a ranch, Hawkins says, but as a living symbol of the American west.
HAWKINS: To me, I think it's all about America. It's all about freedom. It's about how Americans feel about their freedom. That's what these horses represent to me. And my love of horses is one thing, but my love for this country and what it stands for, it's represented in these horses.
GRIFFIN: Drew Griffin, CNN, Centennial, Wyoming.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Beautiful landscape.
We got a special guest coming up in the next hour of LIVE FROM.
O'BRIEN: Broadway star Patti LuPone will be here. We'll talk about her latest project and some of her favorite roles of all time. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN.COM CORRESPONDENT: When it comes to the nation's hottest zip codes, forget Beverly Hills, 90210. Some of the most desirable five digits across the country may surprise you. CNNmoney.com takes a look at why certain real estate in certain cities is sizzling.
First off, forget the glitz and glam. Some of the most alluring zip codes exist where yoga studios and martini bars are few and far between. The reason, well -- analysts say it's the following three trends driving up home prices. Number one, affordability. In the priciest cities, buyers are searching far and wide for something they can't afford. Number two, urban trumps suburban. It used to be buyers would head for the suburbs, but all that is changing, with more and more buyers opting to revitalize older neighborhoods. Number three, home buyers are going coastal. Not only are they buying closer to the city, but now, nabbing a waterfront home is becoming more and more popular.
So, where are the hottest zip codes across the country? This chart breaks down the top zips in ten metro areas. And what do they look like? This interactive gallery spotlights what's on the market. And you can find it all online at CNNmoney.com/zipcodes.
From the dot-com newsdesk, I'm Veronica De La Cruz.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: "Now in the News," the defense sets out to build its case in the Michael Jackson child molestation trial. A Jackson housekeeping supervisor testified today that the young accuser's mother asked for a job and complained of money problems. Actor Macaulay Culkin is expected to testify at some point in Jackson's defense.
An Amber Alert has been posted for 16-month-old Justin Black. Police say a friend found the boy gone and his mother dead in her apartment in southern New Mexico. Police are looking for the woman's husband, 22-year-old Ivan Villa. Villa is not the boy's father.
Two Marines and dozens of insurgents are reported dead, casualties of a blistering offensive launched by U.S. forces in western Iraq's Anbar province. The offensive began Saturday. More than 1,600 American soldiers have now died in the Iraq war.
President Bush in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. The greeting was festive for the fourth and final stop of Mr. Bush's five- day trip. Tomorrow, in the capital city of T'Bilisi, Mr. Bush will deliver a speech focusing on democracy and freedom.
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 May 9, 2005 - 14:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: That's the big board on the small screen for you. The Dow Jones Industrial average up 11.01. No, 10.94. No, 11.01. Well, you got the idea.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: (INAUDIBLE)
O'BRIEN: We're watching it very carefully for you, obviously. All day long here on CNN. We'll keep you posted.
PHILLIPS: "Now in the News," police in Zion, Illinois, are investigating the deaths of two girls. Their bodies were found today in a park just north of the small town. The Associated Press reports that the two are the same girls who had been reported missing last night. Authorities are treating the deaths as homicides. We're going to keep you updated on this developing story.
Two people dead and numerous students injured in a school bus wreck in Liberty, Missouri. Authorities are investigating what caused the bus to smash into two cars this morning at an intersection. The crash killed the drivers of both cars.
A high school student in Columbus, Georgia, is back in class today after his suspension prompted outrage and e-mail. Officials at Spencer said Kevin Francois became belligerent when a teacher told him to turn over his cell phone. Well, it turns out Francois was talking to his mother, a U.S. soldier in Iraq. The school later reduced his suspension. Officials say Francois will not be penalized.
Israel is postponing its withdrawal from Gaza. The pullout was to start July 25th, but Prime Minister Ariel Sharon now says that Israel will wait until after August 15th, a religious holiday. Sharon's plan calls for evacuating all 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza.
O'BRIEN: TV viewers have quite an appetite for watching fictional forensic scientists solve murder. This week, CNN's senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is looking at real CSI sleuths at work and in training.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you watch the television drama "CSI Miami," you'll see plenty of water scenes, but little underwater investigating. There will be an occasional body in the water, but the detailed investigations the shows are known for rarely take place beneath the waves.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Eric, what have you got?
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Five bodies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUPTA: So is Hollywood accurately portraying reality? A few years ago, the answer would be yes.
But today, these instructors at Florida State University's underwater CSI program would beg to differ. They've built a program from scratch based on their experiences in law enforcement, criminology, forensics, even archaeology. There, students learn how to properly handle an underwater crime scene.
BANYAN PELHAM, FSU CSI TRAINING COORD.: Well, an underwater crime scene before was basically just treated as a recovery. You'd go down, anything that looks like potential evidence, you bring it up.
GUPTA: The students are not your typical coeds. They are all accomplished divers who already work in law enforcement. On this day, they're following a missing-persons case. Because it is an active investigation, we can't get into the details.
MISSY ADAMS, UNDERWATER CSI STUDENT: This was a project that I came across in some of our older files, and is regarding a missing person, and we just came to do it as a school project.
TOM KELLEY, FSU UNDERWATER CSI: Our students are actually taken out on active crime scenes. In fact, all of our instructors are called in on a regular basis to assist police officers all over the state and actually all over the country.
GUPTA: For the Clarks, they learn how to use the latest technology, a GPS, a side-scan sonar to see the bottom of the pond. They even use a remote-operating vehicle, or ROV, which has a camera that can help show where evidence might be located.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, there it is. Drop the buoy. Drop the buoy. Yes, there's a barrel there, or a bucket.
GUPTA: The students find something they think might be important, so they send in the divers. A closer look, and it appears to be a barrel that could hold a body. But the day is running out, so they'll have to come back again for further inspection.
DALE NUTE, FSU CRIMINOLOGY PROFESSOR: You will spend a lot of time, a lot of preparation, a lot of resources, and possibly come up with negative results.
GUPTA: Another class studies how to properly document a case. The assignment is to find some boats that have been intentionally sunk in the bay.
MICHAEL ZINSZER, FSU UNDERWATER CSI: The same rules and requirements that are on land are also in the water. There is no changes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we document a case, we're taking exact photographs and measurements of where the evidence is recovered or seen.
GUPTA: Sometimes that's easier said than done.
MARK FEULNER, FSU TECHNICAL ADVISER: No visibility. Like two, three feet. No visibility at all.
GUPTA: But that doesn't stop this team. They continue to measure and document the scene.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Literally, we call that diving by braille. If you can see your tape, you can take your measurement.
GUPTA: Back at the missing person case, the students have returned to the scene.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got her?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got her.
GUPTA: They've located and documented the barrel. It appears big enough for a body, so they bring it to shore.
So what was in that barrel?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Empty as it can be. Well, you've got to look. You've got to check it.
GUPTA: The crime remains a mystery.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE; It just an old case, and we hope maybe some day we'll find something, but none of this is helpful to it.
GUPTA: The students learn a life lesson. Unlike on TV, investigations take more than an hour and aren't always solved.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: Take a fascinating look inside the world of criminal forensic science, as our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta goes behind the scenes of dual crime scene investigations, one with the cast and crew of the television show "CSI: Miami" and the other, a real-life homicide investigation in Miami. Don't miss "Anatomy of a Murder," Sunday night, 10:00 p.m. Eastern, only here on CNN.
PHILLIPS: Still ahead, you want taxes with that? One city is thinking about taxing fast food in order to plump up the city's coughers.
O'BRIEN: Dog saves baby. Heroism 101. That's the story, folks. The true story ahead on LIVE FROM. SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Sibila Vargas in Hollywood. The weekend box office is far from heaven. And Paula Abdul fights back with a laugh. I'll have that and more when LIVE FROM returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
PHILLIPS: All right, that's Audioslave, "Pain." Music really can unite all people. Cuba got an earful from Audioslave over the weekend. The group is the first U.S. rock band to play an outdoor concert in Cuba. More than 3,000 fans attended.
"American Idol"'s Paula Abdul pokes fun at herself amid controversy and box office revenues take a dip over the Mother's Day weekend. CNN's entertainment correspondent Sibila Vargas is live from L.A. with all the scoop on all those stories and more.
VARGAS: I got it all.
PHILLIPS: You got it all. Anything Hollywood, you got it.
VARGAS: I got it. That's right, Kyra. It looks as if the weather and spending time with Mom outranked going to the movies this weekend. And why not? She's mom. A grand total of only $83 million marks the worst box office of the year.
In the end, the star power of Orlando Bloom in his three-hour Crusades epic reigned supreme with $20 million. However, it's worth saying the Ridley Scott pic was much more royal overseas, taking in an additional $56 million in the international box office. Not bad. Paris Hilton's scary debut, "House of Wax," was hot enough for a second place finish, with just over $12 million. Hot, you know. You know she says that.
Meanwhile, headed for a box office in the not-so-distant future is the latest project from Oscar-winner Helen Hunt. Hunt returns to the big screen and for the first time directs the new comedy "Then She Found Me," based on a novel by Elinor Lipman. A tale of love and family, the actress has been working on the script for the last seven years. Diane Keaton and Woody Harrelson are in talks to co-star.
And did you happen to catch "Saturday Night Live" this weekend? Judging from her cameo appearance an the show, "American Idol"'s Paula Abdul is ready to laugh off accusations that she had an affair with a former "Idol" hopeful.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE")
PAULA ABDUL, ENTERTAINER: All right, great sketch, you guys. I just have three notes. Chris, great impression, but you need to wear a push-up t-shirt. Keenan, you need about 14 more dogs. And, Amy, you need to perfect the clap a little more and be a lot more sexier so that contestants will be willing to sleep with you and be willing to admit -- we're live from New York, it's Saturday night! (END VIDEO CLIP FROM "SATURDAY NIGHT")
VARGAS: Oh, that was pretty funny. The weekend's guest spot came just days after disqualified "Idol" contestant Corey Clark told the world that he and Abdul had an affair during the show's second season. In the skit, Abdul pretended to be -- pretended to judge "SNL"'s Amy Poehler as she impersonated Abdul. Now, Abdul follows a long line of celebs that have used the "SNL" stage to poke fun at personal controversy, including, of course, Janet Jackson, who once portrayed Condoleezza Rice having a wardrobe malfunction. I'm not sure if you've ever seen that one, Kyra, but I guess if you can't beat them, you got to join them, right?
PHILLIPS: Those rare video moments that not a lot of the world saw. That is my crew.
VARGAS: Yes, just a tiny percentage.
PHILLIPS: Thank you, Sibila. Salacious scoop Sibila. Salacious scoop Sibila.
O'BRIEN: We've got the dish. Let's press on now.
PHILLIPS: All right, entertainment legend in the house. Next hour of LIVE FROM, Broadway star Patti LuPone will be here.
O'BRIEN: Also ahead, is your cell phone bill getting a little thicker? We'll tell you about some new taxes to watch out for.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, we've all heard the headline a dingo ate my baby, but now we can report a dog saves a baby. A hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, says a stray dog found an abandoned baby girl in the forest. It's believed that the dog carried the baby and placed her with the dog's own litter of puppies. Local residents later discovered the child. The hospital says the baby, who is being called Angel, is now in stable condition.
O'BRIEN: Out in the plains of Wyoming, there is an effort to save the Mustang. We're not talking about the '65 Mustang that Lee Iacocca gave us, but the real one, the animal, born to be wild.
CNN's Drew Griffin has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For these animals that have endured life out on the wind swept plains, scratching out an existence through frigid winters in the scrubbed grass, it seems an undignified end. But a growing number of these symbols of the old west will end up in a packing plant like this one in suburban Chicago, where the slaughter has already started.
RON HAWKINS, RANCHER: They've always represented that free wild roaming choice of freedom that we all make every day. GRIFFIN: Ron Hawkins has spent his entire life working on ranches, where wild horses are as much a part of life as the rivers and the mountains that surround them. He's determined to save these Mustangs.
HAWKINS: These horses are too much of a symbol, if not what Americans do and who we are, to just fall into a pit and disappear.
GRIFFIN: Back in 1934, a federal law gave wild mustangs a permanent home. Out here on public ranges, they've roamed since the Spanish brought them over five centuries ago. They've thrived, doubling in population every five years. But the other animals that also graze on these lands, the antelope, cattle, and sheep are losing the fight for food.
In more than 30 years, the government tried to reduce the size of the mustang herd by offering them up for adoption.
STEPHANIE ANDERSON, BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT: We need to get more people to our facilities to adopt, yes.
GRIFFIN: Stephanie Anderson runs the Bureau of Land Management's adoption program in Rock Springs. But at this event, only three of the 100 or so horses are taken.
In spite of everything Anderson has done, photos on the Internet, sending horses to other adoption centers, 9,000 horses in government hands are now considered excess. A federal law passed late last year allowed them to be auctioned off.
But that would be very sad for the people around here to know that these horses could be sold?
ANDERSON: We're only dealing with adoption here.
GRIFFIN: You're being very diplomatic.
ANDERSON: Yes. I like the horse program and I like my job.
GRIFFIN: The workers here may not want to talk about it, but most of these horses have been up for adoption two or three times.
(on camera): And now the federal government is paying to warehouse horses that nobody wants. Under the new law, these are the horses that could end up at a slaughter house.
(voice-over): Late last month, the Bureau of Land Management temporarily suspended the sales of these horses after discovering 41 animals that had been sold to private owners were in fact slaughtered at this Illinois plant. But the law remains. Any horse that has not been adopted or is older than 10 years, could be on its way to serving a growing appetite for horse meat in Europe and Asia, where a horse is considered a delicacy. The wild American mustang served for dinner.
That's where Ron Hawkins comes in.
HAWKINS: They fought their way through years and years of survival here. They've earned a right to be here.
GRIFFIN: Together with his partners, Ron started Wild Horses Wyoming, to raise money to buy land and save the excess horses. Starting with 200 wild mares they bought from the government, they hope the American public will join their call to preserve the wild horses.
While the government only allows horses to be adopted by people who have the know how and the space to care for them, Ron and his partners offer adoption that guarantees the wild horses will stay wild by finding thousands of private acres to let them roam free out here in the west.
HAWKINS: Our whole plan is that the land will -- that we will be able to purchase will provide for these horses.
GRIFFIN: Sponsors would pay from $50 to $5,000 to care for a wild horse right here in the southeastern corner of Wyoming for the rest of his life. Ron and his partners hope to raise enough money to buy a new home for as many as 5,000 of the 9,000 horses the government has to unload. The money would pay for the land. The horses wouldn't care for themselves.
HAWKINS: I feel like there's lots and lots of ground that these horses can still go onto, but it's private ranch around now.
GRIFFIN: Every morning, Ron Hawkins checks the 200 wild mares he and his group have already saved. He has to teach them to follow the feed truck. Just two months ago, they were condemned to the same fate as other surplus government stock.
HAWKINS; They're not general horses. They're not ranch horses. They're wild horses. And if you approach them, they're choice is to leave.
GRIFFIN: You shouldn't measure the American mustang by its worth as a pet or a work horse on a ranch, Hawkins says, but as a living symbol of the American west.
HAWKINS: To me, I think it's all about America. It's all about freedom. It's about how Americans feel about their freedom. That's what these horses represent to me. And my love of horses is one thing, but my love for this country and what it stands for, it's represented in these horses.
GRIFFIN: Drew Griffin, CNN, Centennial, Wyoming.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Beautiful landscape.
We got a special guest coming up in the next hour of LIVE FROM.
O'BRIEN: Broadway star Patti LuPone will be here. We'll talk about her latest project and some of her favorite roles of all time. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN.COM CORRESPONDENT: When it comes to the nation's hottest zip codes, forget Beverly Hills, 90210. Some of the most desirable five digits across the country may surprise you. CNNmoney.com takes a look at why certain real estate in certain cities is sizzling.
First off, forget the glitz and glam. Some of the most alluring zip codes exist where yoga studios and martini bars are few and far between. The reason, well -- analysts say it's the following three trends driving up home prices. Number one, affordability. In the priciest cities, buyers are searching far and wide for something they can't afford. Number two, urban trumps suburban. It used to be buyers would head for the suburbs, but all that is changing, with more and more buyers opting to revitalize older neighborhoods. Number three, home buyers are going coastal. Not only are they buying closer to the city, but now, nabbing a waterfront home is becoming more and more popular.
So, where are the hottest zip codes across the country? This chart breaks down the top zips in ten metro areas. And what do they look like? This interactive gallery spotlights what's on the market. And you can find it all online at CNNmoney.com/zipcodes.
From the dot-com newsdesk, I'm Veronica De La Cruz.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: "Now in the News," the defense sets out to build its case in the Michael Jackson child molestation trial. A Jackson housekeeping supervisor testified today that the young accuser's mother asked for a job and complained of money problems. Actor Macaulay Culkin is expected to testify at some point in Jackson's defense.
An Amber Alert has been posted for 16-month-old Justin Black. Police say a friend found the boy gone and his mother dead in her apartment in southern New Mexico. Police are looking for the woman's husband, 22-year-old Ivan Villa. Villa is not the boy's father.
Two Marines and dozens of insurgents are reported dead, casualties of a blistering offensive launched by U.S. forces in western Iraq's Anbar province. The offensive began Saturday. More than 1,600 American soldiers have now died in the Iraq war.
President Bush in the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. The greeting was festive for the fourth and final stop of Mr. Bush's five- day trip. Tomorrow, in the capital city of T'Bilisi, Mr. Bush will deliver a speech focusing on democracy and freedom.
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