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Homes Lost in California Landslide; Rumsfeld Lashes Out at Amnesty International; Operation on Mermaid Baby Successful

Aired June 01, 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: Guantanamo, a gulag? The secretary of defense steamed about a human rights report. We're live from the Pentagon.
Shred it and forget it. A new law today protecting your personal information. We've got the details.

And a squirrel with a sweet tooth. And we thought these guys just went nuts for nuts.

From the CNN center in Atlanta, I'm Kyra Phillips. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

Lavish homes, ocean view, falling earth. We're following today's out of the blue landslide in Laguna Beach, California. The slide claiming almost 30 homes so far and forcing more than 100 others to clear out fast.

The region hasn't had heavy rain for weeks, but it was swamped over the winter and a few mountain roads are still closed. We know of only two minor injuries, but police say they're not taking any chances. We expect to hear soon from the mayor of Laguna Beach.

In the meantime, let's get the big picture from meteorologist Rob Marciano in the CNN Weather Center -- Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, no recent rainfall for the last couple of months, but as many of you remember, this past winter was incredibly wet across this part of the world.

And according to the USGS, back in 1997, '98, that was an awesome El Nino year when storms just battered especially southern California. That's when this area began to get a little bit unstable.

This past winter we had the second wettest rainfall on record in Southern California. So that obviously didn't help matters at all. So the fact that we haven't seen any rain the past couple of months really doesn't matter. This thing was just teetering on the brink.

I should also mention, Kyra, that there was an earthquake yesterday. But it was so far away and so small, 2.9 magnitude. And it was in Santa Monica Bay. So I mean, that's not really going to have any sort of effect.

So earthquakes recently not affecting this landslide. Rainfall recently not affecting this landfall. But certainly the rainfall from this past winter and also the rainfall from 1997 and '98 likely made this area unstable.

If you know anything about Southern California -- I know you do, Kyra -- the -- lots of hillsides along -- especially near the beaches, become susceptible to this sort of deal anytime it rains. And they've had record rain or near record-setting rainfall this past winter. So that likely had something to do with it.

PHILLIPS: Yes. An all too familiar story. Remember many a live shot on those cliffs. Rob Marciano will cover it throughout the day. Thanks so much.

Now the Pentagon, where Donald Rumsfeld is fighting mad over Amnesty International's gripes with Gitmo. CNN's Barbara Starr joins me live with that -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, the defense secretary took the opportunity at a press conference earlier today to fire back and fire back hard at the human rights organization Amnesty International. The secretary was very specific. He was angry.

Amnesty International had recently issue a statement in which one of their officials called the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, quote, "the gulag of our time." Amnesty International criticizing what it said was the arbitrary and indefinite detention of hundreds of people at that Gitmo facility.

The secretary was furious. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Most would define a gulag as where the Soviet Union kept millions and forced labor concentration camps. Or I suppose some might say that where Saddam Hussein mutilated and murdered untold numbers because they held view unacceptable to his regime. To compare the United States and Guantanamo Bay to such atrocities cannot be excused.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: The secretary calling Amnesty International's statements, quote, "reprehensible and outlandish."

Now Amnesty International then issued a statement in response to the secretary, noting that the U.S. government in the past had accepted Amnesty International's criticism of Saddam Hussein's Iraq in the run-up to the war. So the charges being traded back and forth -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Barbara Starr, live from the Pentagon, thanks.

Iraqi insurgents aren't taking Operation Lightning lightly. The main U.S. military complex in Baghdad has now come under fire twice in less than 24 hours, first from a mortar, then from a suicide bomber. Several people are hurt, but no one aside from the bomber is dead.

On the other side, dozens upon dozens of arrests with dozens of explosives taken out of circulation. CNN's Jane Arraf is in the thick of it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Day three of Operation Lightning, the biggest Iraqi operation so far in Baghdad and Iraq.

The streets are relatively normal. Just outside of this military base, as we went out earlier today, a suicide car bomb, though. According to military officials here, 15 people were injured. No one killed but the suicide bomber.

Despite that, as we drove down that road, that airport road and other streets in Baghdad, life was relatively normal. The shops are open, despite warnings from the interior and defense minister that they were going to flood the city with 40,000 Iraqi soldiers and police. It doesn't look as if there are 40,000. That number may have been slightly overestimated. But there are considerably more police apparent, more army.

We went out on a raid last night overnight with Iraqi army troops who were going house to house and searching entire neighborhoods as they cordoned them off with the help of U.S. forces.

People there were cooperative. Iraqi forces say they rounded up 100 people in that area and others overnight. All of them suspected insurgents. Some of them, they believe who may have been involved in cells that are planting roadside bombs and launching kidnappings.

Jane Arraf, CNN, reporting from Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, forget the water. It's watermelon that you may want to avoid in parts of Iraq. We hear that 18 Iraqi troops and police became severely ill this week after eating poisoned watermelon at the checkpoints they were manning between Mosul and another city in the north.

The man who allegedly provided the stuff off the back of his truck was arrested at another checkpoint when some of his victims called ahead.

Well, whom do you trust? A more pertinent question for scientists is how do you trust? And they may now have a major clue. New research in Zurich (ph) shows that the hormone oxytocin makes people far more open, accepting, trusting of others, almost to the point of gullibility.

Oxytocin has long been known to be a factor in the sex and reproduction and the bonding of mother and child. Scientists acknowledge the potential for abuse, should liquid trust show up on pharmacy shelves. But they also see a potential benefit in treating autism or social phobias.

Well, it's a sad fact of modern life, but you can't trust everybody who may have access to your personal information. But a federal law that takes effect today may make your info, your very identity, a little safer. It requires businesses that need to see your credit report to shred it when they're through. And if you think consumers ought to celebrate, the shredding industry is throwing confetti.

CNN's Valerie Morris now, piecing this story together out of New York.

Hi, Valerie.

VALERIE MORRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Kyra.

I really love this story, because for a long time we have been saying here that the consumer needs better protection against their information just being out there.

Let me give you a brief history of the laws that currently exist. It was 1996 that HIPAA came into being, and this was to ensure proper personal document disposal in the medical industry.

Then in 1999, Gramm-Leach-Billey Act came into being, and that was to be the same thing within the financial industry.

Well, today's story is that there is a law called FACTAA. That stands for Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act. And every business that has access to credit reports must now dispose of those reports safely.

This is a long list, by the way. This includes mortgage brokers, lenders, consumer reporting agencies, insurers, employers in general, attorney, private investigators, debt collectors, landlords.

And even if you are interviewing a nanny, anyone who wants access to someone else's credit history, than you are responsible for the safe disposal of that.

And Kyra, this has been a long problem. And it is one that's kind of mopping up a problem that was perceived before but not necessarily covered by any regulation.

Right now it affects thousands of companies of all sizes. And the reality is that paper is a big source of fraud and I.D. theft. I've talked about this many times before. If you don't shred, then you're throwing your information out into the trash. And there's something that's called Dumpster diving, where people will actually go through your trash, looking for your information.

So today's FACTAA is a very good step in the right direction.

And Kyra, finally, as for the violations, if a person does not comply with this new law, the FTC can bring law enforcement action. They can seek the civil penalties up to $2,500 per violation. So this is serious and hopefully, it will have some teeth.

PHILLIPS: Valerie Morris, thank you so much. After 30 odd years, face time for Deep Throat. One of the most tantalizing secrets of modern American mystery is, well, history, now that W. Mark Felt, seen here, at 91 years old, has fessed up. And the reporters who made their reputations on his information have given their confirmation.

The former No. 2 official at the FBI is being called a hero by his family and many others but not by the many of the president's men, the president being Nixon. Chuck Colson and G. Gordon Liddy were guests last night on CNN prime time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

G. GORDON LIDDY, FORMER NIXON AIDE: According to the story, because he was urged to do so by his family for the money. He was very reluctant to do so, because he feels, and correctly in my view, a sense of dishonor.

CHUCK COLSON, FORMER NIXON COUNSEL: I was struck, because I knew Mark Felt well and did not believe -- I thought he was a consummate professional, an FBI man who would take the most sensitive secrets, have everybody's personal files in his control, deputy director. I talked to him often and trusted him with very sensitive materials. So did the president. To think that he was out, going around in back alleys at night, looking for flower pots, passing information to someone, it's just so demeaning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: So what do you think? Is Mark Felt a hero or, as some have called him, a bum for leading Woodward and Bernstein to the deep, dark secrets of Watergate? Send us your e-mails: LiveFrom@CNN.com. We'll read as many as we can right on the air.

Straight ahead, her mother calls the surgery a miracle. A 13- month-old girl born with her legs fused together undergoes an operation to separate them. Her touching story straight ahead on LIVE FROM.

And she's 100 and he's 105. And their love is here to stay. Meet the couple with something to celebrate today, just ahead on LIVE FROM.

And yes, we're nuts about this video. And I'm wondering if this guy squirreled away any money for that dental plan.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: An update now on that little girl from Peru born with a condition called mermaid syndrome. Phase one of a process that could take 15 years has been completed.

CNN's David Clinch has more now on the complicated and risky surgery.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID CLINCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Success. The doctor who led the 4 1/2 hour surgery holds up the now separated legs of little Milagros Cerron. The 13-month-old little girl was born with a rare defect known as sirenomelia, or mermaid syndrome, her legs fused together, thigh to ankle.

Dr. Luis Rubio led the team of 11 surgeons at Lima's Solidarity Hospital, performing the surgery overnight while the hospital was at its quietest so all attention could be on Milagros.

Having planned only to separate the legs to the knee, Dr. Rubio and his team beamed with pride as they announced what they called a true success. Not just completely separated, but movement in both knee joints, an artery connecting the legs delicately parted without the need for a dangerous bypass.

Doctors say there are only three children alive today with this condition and the surgery was always going to be complicated and risky.

The baby's mother and father watched the entire operation live on hospital monitors, a long night of tears and tension, but finally relief and Joy.

SARA ARAUCO, MOTHER (through translator): I feel content to see my baby like that. I feel happy, very happy. I had faith, and that faith is becoming reality. Never, never I did give up my faith.

CLINCH: Despite the many years of corrective treatment and surgery Milagros still faces in order to achieve full mobility in her legs, doctors say they're thrilled that the riskiest part is now over for a little girl whose name means miracle in Spanish.

David Clinch, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Take a look at this amazing photo. These are Milagros' little pink toes peeking out from bandages just after her operation.

Now a new and troubling development in that fatal Ohio house fire we've told you about. The Cleveland Fire Department has ruled the May 21 blaze was arson.

Nine people died when the early morning fire broke out. Eight of the victims were children. Some were at the house for a sleep over. Two adults managed to escape. But one was critically burned.

Investigators now say they found evidence that the fire was deliberately set. And in a news conference just a short time ago, Cleveland's fire chief said that the high death toll is what made them suspicious. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF PAUL STUBBS, CLEVELAND FIRE DEPARTMENT: We had young, able-bodied people who, we believe, had the early notice of a smoke detector warning and yet they weren't able to self-evacuate. There's something wrong with that picture automatically, that people of that age and in good health were unable to self-evacuate. I think that got our attention the most.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Live picture now out of Laguna Beach, California. News conference now, hopefully leading to some explanations why a landslide has damaged nearly 30 homes on California's coast. Let's listen in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our understanding at the moment is that about 15 to 18 have actually been damaged. The geologists tell me that -- this is on their recollection -- that when the Bluebird Canyon landslide was mapped 20-some odd years ago that slide did not extend into this area. So as far as we know, as of an hour ago, this appears to be a totally different episode from what happened here.

The geologists are getting the old reports and reviewing them. They've been up the site as close as they can go. They're also -- one of them is in a helicopter now doing an aerial assessment, and we're getting aerial photos done. That shows the area.

We have evacuated, though, virtually this entire area as a safety precaution. So...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Any questions? Yes, sir?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Topographically speaking, that would be difficult to estimate. But I think you can tell by the houses if you look at the striations, you wouldn't be able to get more than two or three down the slope, if that gives you an estimation.

Yes?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know you've evacuated those homes on the left. Those home on the right, how many homes total are we talking about?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As I said earlier, currently, we're at about 75-plus that have been evacuated. But you can see by the sheer numbers on this map that that number is going to extend. Unfortunately, because the area is so tenuous, we're only allowing public safety up there to do it. We're not allowing volunteers in the area at this time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So 75 now. How many possible?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would say in excess of 100. And that is only an estimate.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some of the residents were concerned. They were talking about a water main break. What does that have to do with the slide? Did that cause the slide or was that aftermath?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, the concern is a water tank that's in the area of River Canyon (ph). I was just told that that is not compromised. There was a fear initially -- obviously, if there is a fire, the firefighters do need water. Certainly, the concern was immediate flooding in the area. However, we've been assured that that tank at this point is not compromised and is not a threat to the area.

PHILLIPS: We're going to continue to follow this news conference. But right now, authorities there, Laguna Beach, California, trying to figure out, trying to explain, exactly how 15 to 18 homes have slid down this hill here in Laguna Beach, California.

They talked about a landslide that had happened about 20 years ago, not far from this area. But they're saying now what's happening here, what's taking place, is a totally different episode.

We know now -- we had been reporting nearly 30, but now we're being told from officials here 15 to 18 homes sliding down this hill.

It has spurred an emergency evacuation. About 100 other homes throughout that entire area have been evacuated. Two minor injuries reported.

We'll continue to follow what's happening there. Once again Laguna Beach, California. Thanks to our live pictures there from our affiliate KTLA out of Los Angeles.

Well, in other news across America now, federal investigators exhume a casket containing the body of Emmett Till near Chicago. Till was just 14 years old when he was murdered 50 years ago in Mississippi. That killing was a key event in the civil rights movement. And now Till's remains will be autopsied in hope that it will lead to the new clues in this case.

In Punta Gorda, Florida, rather, officials say that they won't press charges on the teens that were involved in a school bus smack down with their bus driver. This squabble started over the nonuse of seat belts and escalated into a 15 minute brawl captured on a bus surveillance camera. Prosecutor says that, though the teens were guilty of being disrespectful, rude and profane, they didn't break any laws. The driver still faces a misdemeanor battery charge.

Finally, chew on this. U.S. health officials are launching a new campaign to combat childhood obesity. The plan teaches kid a difference between go, slow and whoa. Go foods, eat all you want, slow foods, limit quantities, and whoa foods, eat only on special occasions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS (voice-over): Later on LIVE FROM, staying smart online. What you don't know about buying airline tickets or checking your credit report can cost you.

Next on LIVE FROM, "The Cinderella Man." A boxer who held the hopes and dreams of America in his fists. A knockout interview on the life of boxer Jim Braddock.

Tomorrow on LIVE FROM...

MARILYN MONROE, ACTRESS: Do you have a replacement for the basement flat (ph)?

PHILLIPS: If you like it hot, you'll love Hollywood legend Tony Curtis. He's here, in studio, on the set for the LIVE FROM interview.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Oh, yes. Today's LIVE FROM bonus story, just for you. You know how we're total suckers for cute animal video. So how could we resist this little guy who stumbled on something that he couldn't resist in downtown Denver? So how many squirrel licks does it take to get to the center of that Tootsie Pop? We'll get back to you.

In the meantime, it's our little way of saying happy 25th anniversary, CNN. Hey, it can't all be earthquakes and military coups, right folks?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAEL EISNER, CEO, THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY: As CNN came on, so many people thought what is this insanity? Cable news? Like cable music? What is going on? What is this Ted Turner doing?

And I remember one night Barry Dillard called me up and said, "I just watched CNN. It looks just as good as ABC News."

I said, "You're kidding." I turned it on. We started talk about it back and forth. We knew at that point that there was a new guy in town and we better, we better wake up. Now of course, it was years before either of us had any responsibility for news operations.

But in the beginning, everybody that was so skeptical about anything new. And Ted Turner is really one of the truly gifted media entrepreneurs who had an idea and just wouldn't let anybody tell him it was a terrible idea. He proved everybody else wrong. It's amazing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, Wall Street is going gaga for Google all over again today. So what makes Google so hot? Kathleen Hays joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange with the answer to that.

Hi, Kathleen.

(STOCK REPORT) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired June 1, 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: Guantanamo, a gulag? The secretary of defense steamed about a human rights report. We're live from the Pentagon.
Shred it and forget it. A new law today protecting your personal information. We've got the details.

And a squirrel with a sweet tooth. And we thought these guys just went nuts for nuts.

From the CNN center in Atlanta, I'm Kyra Phillips. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

Lavish homes, ocean view, falling earth. We're following today's out of the blue landslide in Laguna Beach, California. The slide claiming almost 30 homes so far and forcing more than 100 others to clear out fast.

The region hasn't had heavy rain for weeks, but it was swamped over the winter and a few mountain roads are still closed. We know of only two minor injuries, but police say they're not taking any chances. We expect to hear soon from the mayor of Laguna Beach.

In the meantime, let's get the big picture from meteorologist Rob Marciano in the CNN Weather Center -- Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, no recent rainfall for the last couple of months, but as many of you remember, this past winter was incredibly wet across this part of the world.

And according to the USGS, back in 1997, '98, that was an awesome El Nino year when storms just battered especially southern California. That's when this area began to get a little bit unstable.

This past winter we had the second wettest rainfall on record in Southern California. So that obviously didn't help matters at all. So the fact that we haven't seen any rain the past couple of months really doesn't matter. This thing was just teetering on the brink.

I should also mention, Kyra, that there was an earthquake yesterday. But it was so far away and so small, 2.9 magnitude. And it was in Santa Monica Bay. So I mean, that's not really going to have any sort of effect.

So earthquakes recently not affecting this landslide. Rainfall recently not affecting this landfall. But certainly the rainfall from this past winter and also the rainfall from 1997 and '98 likely made this area unstable.

If you know anything about Southern California -- I know you do, Kyra -- the -- lots of hillsides along -- especially near the beaches, become susceptible to this sort of deal anytime it rains. And they've had record rain or near record-setting rainfall this past winter. So that likely had something to do with it.

PHILLIPS: Yes. An all too familiar story. Remember many a live shot on those cliffs. Rob Marciano will cover it throughout the day. Thanks so much.

Now the Pentagon, where Donald Rumsfeld is fighting mad over Amnesty International's gripes with Gitmo. CNN's Barbara Starr joins me live with that -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, the defense secretary took the opportunity at a press conference earlier today to fire back and fire back hard at the human rights organization Amnesty International. The secretary was very specific. He was angry.

Amnesty International had recently issue a statement in which one of their officials called the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, quote, "the gulag of our time." Amnesty International criticizing what it said was the arbitrary and indefinite detention of hundreds of people at that Gitmo facility.

The secretary was furious. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Most would define a gulag as where the Soviet Union kept millions and forced labor concentration camps. Or I suppose some might say that where Saddam Hussein mutilated and murdered untold numbers because they held view unacceptable to his regime. To compare the United States and Guantanamo Bay to such atrocities cannot be excused.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: The secretary calling Amnesty International's statements, quote, "reprehensible and outlandish."

Now Amnesty International then issued a statement in response to the secretary, noting that the U.S. government in the past had accepted Amnesty International's criticism of Saddam Hussein's Iraq in the run-up to the war. So the charges being traded back and forth -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Barbara Starr, live from the Pentagon, thanks.

Iraqi insurgents aren't taking Operation Lightning lightly. The main U.S. military complex in Baghdad has now come under fire twice in less than 24 hours, first from a mortar, then from a suicide bomber. Several people are hurt, but no one aside from the bomber is dead.

On the other side, dozens upon dozens of arrests with dozens of explosives taken out of circulation. CNN's Jane Arraf is in the thick of it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Day three of Operation Lightning, the biggest Iraqi operation so far in Baghdad and Iraq.

The streets are relatively normal. Just outside of this military base, as we went out earlier today, a suicide car bomb, though. According to military officials here, 15 people were injured. No one killed but the suicide bomber.

Despite that, as we drove down that road, that airport road and other streets in Baghdad, life was relatively normal. The shops are open, despite warnings from the interior and defense minister that they were going to flood the city with 40,000 Iraqi soldiers and police. It doesn't look as if there are 40,000. That number may have been slightly overestimated. But there are considerably more police apparent, more army.

We went out on a raid last night overnight with Iraqi army troops who were going house to house and searching entire neighborhoods as they cordoned them off with the help of U.S. forces.

People there were cooperative. Iraqi forces say they rounded up 100 people in that area and others overnight. All of them suspected insurgents. Some of them, they believe who may have been involved in cells that are planting roadside bombs and launching kidnappings.

Jane Arraf, CNN, reporting from Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, forget the water. It's watermelon that you may want to avoid in parts of Iraq. We hear that 18 Iraqi troops and police became severely ill this week after eating poisoned watermelon at the checkpoints they were manning between Mosul and another city in the north.

The man who allegedly provided the stuff off the back of his truck was arrested at another checkpoint when some of his victims called ahead.

Well, whom do you trust? A more pertinent question for scientists is how do you trust? And they may now have a major clue. New research in Zurich (ph) shows that the hormone oxytocin makes people far more open, accepting, trusting of others, almost to the point of gullibility.

Oxytocin has long been known to be a factor in the sex and reproduction and the bonding of mother and child. Scientists acknowledge the potential for abuse, should liquid trust show up on pharmacy shelves. But they also see a potential benefit in treating autism or social phobias.

Well, it's a sad fact of modern life, but you can't trust everybody who may have access to your personal information. But a federal law that takes effect today may make your info, your very identity, a little safer. It requires businesses that need to see your credit report to shred it when they're through. And if you think consumers ought to celebrate, the shredding industry is throwing confetti.

CNN's Valerie Morris now, piecing this story together out of New York.

Hi, Valerie.

VALERIE MORRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Kyra.

I really love this story, because for a long time we have been saying here that the consumer needs better protection against their information just being out there.

Let me give you a brief history of the laws that currently exist. It was 1996 that HIPAA came into being, and this was to ensure proper personal document disposal in the medical industry.

Then in 1999, Gramm-Leach-Billey Act came into being, and that was to be the same thing within the financial industry.

Well, today's story is that there is a law called FACTAA. That stands for Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act. And every business that has access to credit reports must now dispose of those reports safely.

This is a long list, by the way. This includes mortgage brokers, lenders, consumer reporting agencies, insurers, employers in general, attorney, private investigators, debt collectors, landlords.

And even if you are interviewing a nanny, anyone who wants access to someone else's credit history, than you are responsible for the safe disposal of that.

And Kyra, this has been a long problem. And it is one that's kind of mopping up a problem that was perceived before but not necessarily covered by any regulation.

Right now it affects thousands of companies of all sizes. And the reality is that paper is a big source of fraud and I.D. theft. I've talked about this many times before. If you don't shred, then you're throwing your information out into the trash. And there's something that's called Dumpster diving, where people will actually go through your trash, looking for your information.

So today's FACTAA is a very good step in the right direction.

And Kyra, finally, as for the violations, if a person does not comply with this new law, the FTC can bring law enforcement action. They can seek the civil penalties up to $2,500 per violation. So this is serious and hopefully, it will have some teeth.

PHILLIPS: Valerie Morris, thank you so much. After 30 odd years, face time for Deep Throat. One of the most tantalizing secrets of modern American mystery is, well, history, now that W. Mark Felt, seen here, at 91 years old, has fessed up. And the reporters who made their reputations on his information have given their confirmation.

The former No. 2 official at the FBI is being called a hero by his family and many others but not by the many of the president's men, the president being Nixon. Chuck Colson and G. Gordon Liddy were guests last night on CNN prime time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

G. GORDON LIDDY, FORMER NIXON AIDE: According to the story, because he was urged to do so by his family for the money. He was very reluctant to do so, because he feels, and correctly in my view, a sense of dishonor.

CHUCK COLSON, FORMER NIXON COUNSEL: I was struck, because I knew Mark Felt well and did not believe -- I thought he was a consummate professional, an FBI man who would take the most sensitive secrets, have everybody's personal files in his control, deputy director. I talked to him often and trusted him with very sensitive materials. So did the president. To think that he was out, going around in back alleys at night, looking for flower pots, passing information to someone, it's just so demeaning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: So what do you think? Is Mark Felt a hero or, as some have called him, a bum for leading Woodward and Bernstein to the deep, dark secrets of Watergate? Send us your e-mails: LiveFrom@CNN.com. We'll read as many as we can right on the air.

Straight ahead, her mother calls the surgery a miracle. A 13- month-old girl born with her legs fused together undergoes an operation to separate them. Her touching story straight ahead on LIVE FROM.

And she's 100 and he's 105. And their love is here to stay. Meet the couple with something to celebrate today, just ahead on LIVE FROM.

And yes, we're nuts about this video. And I'm wondering if this guy squirreled away any money for that dental plan.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: An update now on that little girl from Peru born with a condition called mermaid syndrome. Phase one of a process that could take 15 years has been completed.

CNN's David Clinch has more now on the complicated and risky surgery.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID CLINCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Success. The doctor who led the 4 1/2 hour surgery holds up the now separated legs of little Milagros Cerron. The 13-month-old little girl was born with a rare defect known as sirenomelia, or mermaid syndrome, her legs fused together, thigh to ankle.

Dr. Luis Rubio led the team of 11 surgeons at Lima's Solidarity Hospital, performing the surgery overnight while the hospital was at its quietest so all attention could be on Milagros.

Having planned only to separate the legs to the knee, Dr. Rubio and his team beamed with pride as they announced what they called a true success. Not just completely separated, but movement in both knee joints, an artery connecting the legs delicately parted without the need for a dangerous bypass.

Doctors say there are only three children alive today with this condition and the surgery was always going to be complicated and risky.

The baby's mother and father watched the entire operation live on hospital monitors, a long night of tears and tension, but finally relief and Joy.

SARA ARAUCO, MOTHER (through translator): I feel content to see my baby like that. I feel happy, very happy. I had faith, and that faith is becoming reality. Never, never I did give up my faith.

CLINCH: Despite the many years of corrective treatment and surgery Milagros still faces in order to achieve full mobility in her legs, doctors say they're thrilled that the riskiest part is now over for a little girl whose name means miracle in Spanish.

David Clinch, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Take a look at this amazing photo. These are Milagros' little pink toes peeking out from bandages just after her operation.

Now a new and troubling development in that fatal Ohio house fire we've told you about. The Cleveland Fire Department has ruled the May 21 blaze was arson.

Nine people died when the early morning fire broke out. Eight of the victims were children. Some were at the house for a sleep over. Two adults managed to escape. But one was critically burned.

Investigators now say they found evidence that the fire was deliberately set. And in a news conference just a short time ago, Cleveland's fire chief said that the high death toll is what made them suspicious. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF PAUL STUBBS, CLEVELAND FIRE DEPARTMENT: We had young, able-bodied people who, we believe, had the early notice of a smoke detector warning and yet they weren't able to self-evacuate. There's something wrong with that picture automatically, that people of that age and in good health were unable to self-evacuate. I think that got our attention the most.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Live picture now out of Laguna Beach, California. News conference now, hopefully leading to some explanations why a landslide has damaged nearly 30 homes on California's coast. Let's listen in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our understanding at the moment is that about 15 to 18 have actually been damaged. The geologists tell me that -- this is on their recollection -- that when the Bluebird Canyon landslide was mapped 20-some odd years ago that slide did not extend into this area. So as far as we know, as of an hour ago, this appears to be a totally different episode from what happened here.

The geologists are getting the old reports and reviewing them. They've been up the site as close as they can go. They're also -- one of them is in a helicopter now doing an aerial assessment, and we're getting aerial photos done. That shows the area.

We have evacuated, though, virtually this entire area as a safety precaution. So...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Any questions? Yes, sir?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Topographically speaking, that would be difficult to estimate. But I think you can tell by the houses if you look at the striations, you wouldn't be able to get more than two or three down the slope, if that gives you an estimation.

Yes?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know you've evacuated those homes on the left. Those home on the right, how many homes total are we talking about?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As I said earlier, currently, we're at about 75-plus that have been evacuated. But you can see by the sheer numbers on this map that that number is going to extend. Unfortunately, because the area is so tenuous, we're only allowing public safety up there to do it. We're not allowing volunteers in the area at this time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So 75 now. How many possible?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would say in excess of 100. And that is only an estimate.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some of the residents were concerned. They were talking about a water main break. What does that have to do with the slide? Did that cause the slide or was that aftermath?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, the concern is a water tank that's in the area of River Canyon (ph). I was just told that that is not compromised. There was a fear initially -- obviously, if there is a fire, the firefighters do need water. Certainly, the concern was immediate flooding in the area. However, we've been assured that that tank at this point is not compromised and is not a threat to the area.

PHILLIPS: We're going to continue to follow this news conference. But right now, authorities there, Laguna Beach, California, trying to figure out, trying to explain, exactly how 15 to 18 homes have slid down this hill here in Laguna Beach, California.

They talked about a landslide that had happened about 20 years ago, not far from this area. But they're saying now what's happening here, what's taking place, is a totally different episode.

We know now -- we had been reporting nearly 30, but now we're being told from officials here 15 to 18 homes sliding down this hill.

It has spurred an emergency evacuation. About 100 other homes throughout that entire area have been evacuated. Two minor injuries reported.

We'll continue to follow what's happening there. Once again Laguna Beach, California. Thanks to our live pictures there from our affiliate KTLA out of Los Angeles.

Well, in other news across America now, federal investigators exhume a casket containing the body of Emmett Till near Chicago. Till was just 14 years old when he was murdered 50 years ago in Mississippi. That killing was a key event in the civil rights movement. And now Till's remains will be autopsied in hope that it will lead to the new clues in this case.

In Punta Gorda, Florida, rather, officials say that they won't press charges on the teens that were involved in a school bus smack down with their bus driver. This squabble started over the nonuse of seat belts and escalated into a 15 minute brawl captured on a bus surveillance camera. Prosecutor says that, though the teens were guilty of being disrespectful, rude and profane, they didn't break any laws. The driver still faces a misdemeanor battery charge.

Finally, chew on this. U.S. health officials are launching a new campaign to combat childhood obesity. The plan teaches kid a difference between go, slow and whoa. Go foods, eat all you want, slow foods, limit quantities, and whoa foods, eat only on special occasions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS (voice-over): Later on LIVE FROM, staying smart online. What you don't know about buying airline tickets or checking your credit report can cost you.

Next on LIVE FROM, "The Cinderella Man." A boxer who held the hopes and dreams of America in his fists. A knockout interview on the life of boxer Jim Braddock.

Tomorrow on LIVE FROM...

MARILYN MONROE, ACTRESS: Do you have a replacement for the basement flat (ph)?

PHILLIPS: If you like it hot, you'll love Hollywood legend Tony Curtis. He's here, in studio, on the set for the LIVE FROM interview.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Oh, yes. Today's LIVE FROM bonus story, just for you. You know how we're total suckers for cute animal video. So how could we resist this little guy who stumbled on something that he couldn't resist in downtown Denver? So how many squirrel licks does it take to get to the center of that Tootsie Pop? We'll get back to you.

In the meantime, it's our little way of saying happy 25th anniversary, CNN. Hey, it can't all be earthquakes and military coups, right folks?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MICHAEL EISNER, CEO, THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY: As CNN came on, so many people thought what is this insanity? Cable news? Like cable music? What is going on? What is this Ted Turner doing?

And I remember one night Barry Dillard called me up and said, "I just watched CNN. It looks just as good as ABC News."

I said, "You're kidding." I turned it on. We started talk about it back and forth. We knew at that point that there was a new guy in town and we better, we better wake up. Now of course, it was years before either of us had any responsibility for news operations.

But in the beginning, everybody that was so skeptical about anything new. And Ted Turner is really one of the truly gifted media entrepreneurs who had an idea and just wouldn't let anybody tell him it was a terrible idea. He proved everybody else wrong. It's amazing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, Wall Street is going gaga for Google all over again today. So what makes Google so hot? Kathleen Hays joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange with the answer to that.

Hi, Kathleen.

(STOCK REPORT) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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