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Killen Found Guilty on Three Counts of Manslaughter; Wireless Insecurity; Taking Back Ground Zero

Aired June 21, 2005 - 13:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to take you now live to James McIntyre, the defense attorney for Edgar Ray Killen.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

JAMES MCINTYRE, KILLEN ATTY.: We felt like the jury might compromise, which they did. And we knew he wasn't guilty of murder. And the jury compromised on it, and voted him guilty for manslaughter.

QUESTION: What do you think the sentencing will be?

MCINTYRE: The sentencing, I don't know. I'm going to meet with the courts this afternoon at 1:30, and the court will give us some directives as to what to do. Judge Marcus Garden has done an excellent job an excellent job in seeing to the security of all the lawyers and all the participants, and I'm very pleased with Judge Gordon. He's probably one of the best in the state of Mississippi.

QUESTION: What did Mr. Killen tell you after the verdict?

MCINTYRE: Nothing.

QUESTION: If that manslaughter charge wasn't included, do you think he would have been found not guilty?

MCINTYRE: Well, I think the jury would have no option but to find him not guilty, because they didn't prove murder. Murder was not proved anywhere.

QUESTION: You plan to appeal. Are you optimistic about the outcome of that?

MCINTYRE: Well, you always try to be optimistic about everything that you do. And we feel like we have a credible appeal, and one which the court should look at closely. And we -- usually, the defendant is the one that asked for a manslaughter instruction, not the state. And it was very unusual. And all the cases that I've -- murder cases that I've been involved in, I always try to get a manslaughter instruction, because it's a lesser included offense. But he was not indicted for manslaughter. At the end the trial, they ask for a manslaughter instruction, which we objected to, because we felt like we had a case that was -- go to the jury that they couldn't possibly find him guilty of murder.

QUESTION: Was he having any complications?

MCINTYRE: No, he has shortness of breath, and they put the oxygen on him this morning.

QUESTION: This is the first time he's had the oxygen during this trial.

MCINTYRE: No, huh-uh, that's not true.

QUESTION: Real quickly, when he came out of the courtroom...

NGUYEN: You've been listening to James McIntyre, the defense attorney for Edgar Ray Killen, who today was found guilty of three counts of manslaughter in the killings of three civil rights workers back in 1964.

Well, nowadays, all you need is a laptop and wireless card, and you can log on to the Internet from almost anywhere. But just how secure are those connections? Well, our technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg is here to talk about all the risks. This can kind of get a little frightening.

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: It can get a little frightening, and you do have to be careful when you go online anywhere, and especially when you go online wirelessly.

You know, a lot of people may not realize that when they go online wirelessly, there's a possibility that they could be handing over all their personal data. We followed one expert who showed us how easy it can be to possibly break into a wireless network.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG (voice over): It's a chance to cut the cords and surf the Web from a park or a cafe. Wireless Internet access is everywhere these days, with nearly 30,000 so-called hot spots in the U.S. alone. But with convenience comes a caveat.

RICHARD RUSHING, AIR DEFENSE: Understand that the information you're doing is very similar to standing up in the park here and shouting out all of the information. Would I normally do that?

SIEBERG: Richard Rushing makes his living by helping companies strengthen wireless networks.

RUSHING: User name, and here's the password.

SIEBERG: He says many people don't realize they can have all of their personal data stolen while checking out their checking account.

RUSHING: It's great to able to sit somewhere and work with no wires attached, no nothing attached. They don't really understand the risk of wireless.

SIEBERG: To illustrate how vulnerable wireless networks can be, Rushing sends an e-mail, then intercepts the entire contents of his message.

RUSHING: You should not be able to see this message. SIEBERG: He could have done that to any of the dozens of people sitting nearby.

RUSHING: At any point in time, I can reach out and touch everyone's laptop that's at the hot spot. There's usually not any way of preventing that.

SIEBERG: And he says anybody with a little know-how and the right tools could break into the basic level of wireless security. There are even how-to video instructions online.

The bottom line? Rushing says imagine nothing is truly private.

RUSHING: A lot of the times that you really want to stay away from doing certain things at the hot spots that you would not normally do if you knew someone is going to be watching you.

SIEBERG: Basically, wireless offers a good chance to check out the baseball scores. But even if you're sitting all alone, it doesn't mean you are all alone. It may have no wires attached, but it still comes with strings.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIEBERG: It's a bit like grabbing the information right out of midair.

So by now you're feeling a little paranoid. What else can you do? Well, you might want to consider some additional software, perhaps a firewall or something like that. There are a number of programs out there. The bottom line is you need to update it, and install it and use it, which a lot of people just don't do.

You also want to be aware of fake hotspots. These are called evil twins, and they look like a legitimate hotspot, where you would go to log in at a park or a cafe. But they're completely fake, so experts are saying the best thing to do is to prepay for your wireless access by going to, say, the T-Mobile Web site ahead of time, rather than doing it at the hotspot.

And last of all, just be very careful and consider what you're sending while you're there. Maybe avoid online banking, and just stick to casual web surf, because wireless is fun and people like to do it, but there are inherent risks with it as well.

NGUYEN: Now you mentioned these firewalls. Is that something that's very costly to put them on your computer? Because you probably need them, especially if you want to go on to your banking Web site and things like that.

SIEBERG: Right, you'd certainly want to consider it in that case. We talked about being out in public, and in cafes, using a firewall on your laptop when you're connecting somewhere. But if you have your own network at home, then you've got your own wireless network, and other people can try to get onto that, so you want to try to protect that and make sure you've secured that. If you have nothing on your computer, which a lot of people, unfortunately, do, not only are you making your computer available to anybody who could hack into it, you're also giving your neighbor's free wireless Internet access. So it's worth considering on both levels.

NGUYEN: All right, it's one thing to buy a firewall, but as in most things, are there upgrades that you have to buy so you have to continue to buy and buy and buy.

SIEBERG: There are upgrades, in that these companies will always try to push you the latest product and the latest one. At the very least, do the basic level, which comes with most wireless security software, when you go out and buy something for your own home. The other thing you want to look for, we've got a shot here, we can pull up, and look for what you need to know when you're logging into a wireless signal.

When you go out to a public hotspot, you might see something like this pop up on your computer. A lot of times these days a laptop is built with a wireless card inside it already, and so this will come up.

And you can see that these are two networks that are actually unsecured. What that means is virtually anybody with a little know- how could easily not only use these networks, but break in. And so when you would see a network that was secure, you would actually see a little padlock somewhere around here, and that would tell you that it's a secure network and you shouldn't be able to get into that network without at least a little bit of work. Security measures that are in place, some people criticize them for not being secure enough, but they'll deter the casual hacker at least.

NGUYEN: So get the firewall and look for the padlocks.

SIEBERG: Right, yes. And still have a little fun. I mean, everybody like convenience the of wireless of course.

NGUYEN: Yes, it's so easy.

SIEBERG: So there's a way to have fun with it, and just be careful.

NGUYEN: All right, thank you, Daniel.

Well, if you're watching this at work, brace yourself. Coming up on LIVE FROM, the germinator gets the dirt on the nasties in the office place, and you won't believe where the worst germs are found.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Here's a live look now at the White House, where Senate Republicans have just met with President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney on the nomination of John Bolton to the U.N. Let's listen.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS) SEN. BILL FIRST, (R) MAJORITY LEADER: ... we reflected it, as well, is delivering for the American people. We are moving America forward to a future that is safer, that is more secure, that is healthier and more prosperous.

The president reviewed with us the accomplishments that he has seen to date. That is, a budget which will take us to cutting the deficit in half in the future. A bankruptcy bill that focuses on individual responsibility. A class action bill that will lower the price of all consumer goods in this country.

And the president also addressed the importance and renewed call for a strong comprehensive energy bill and also a call for a highway bill that is physically responsible, again, mentioning the figure of $284 billion.

I will speak to the president's comments on the energy bill and our comments in the meeting. We will, hopefully by Friday, pass an energy bill that will reduce our dependence, our dangerous dependence, on foreign oil. An energy bill that will promote production of clean, affordable and safe energy supply, that promotes conservation that focuses on renewables as well as alternative sources of fuel.

It's been too long in the making. The American people deserve it and we will deliver that to the American people. An energy bill that will be comprehensive, an energy bill that will promote job creation in this country.

I'll turn to each of my colleagues. Each of us will comment briefly on one issue that has been discussed over the last hour, an issue important to United States Senate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me just mention that next week, we'll start the appropriations process and we'll lead off with a Homeland Security bill, which Chairman Judd Gregg, in a very creative way, has reconfigured in a significant way to deal with the border security problem.

NGUYEN: You have been listening to Senate Republicans after their meeting with President Bush and Dick Cheney at the White House today. A number of things that were discussed, including John Bolton, the president's nomination to the U.N. Also, the energy bill was also discussed. We'll have much more on this.

You're watching CNN's LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Their loved ones died on 9/11, and they are not pleased at all about some of the plans for Ground Zero. They've launched a public campaign to, in their words, take back the memorial.

More now from CNN's Mary Snow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is what the site should all be about. Thank you.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Families of 9/11 victims say Ground Zero should be dedicated to remembering 9/11 and nothing else.

ANTHONY GARDNER, BROTHER OF 9/11 VICTIM: I believe that politics and economic agendas are destroying this sacred site and are taking precedence over the 9/11 Memorial and Museum.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nine 11 memorial only.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nine 11 memorial only.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nine 11 memorial only.

SNOW: The families are protesting plans to include another museum that would feature other periods of American history, such as the Revolution and the civil rights movement.

MICHAEL BURKE, BROTHER OF 9/11 VICTIM: This is a history that we all should know and learn, but not here, not on sacred ground.

SNOW: The building officials say there is a place for history at the site, besides 9/11. They say the International Freedom Center, which will stand next to the 9/11 Memorial, should include exhibits on what they call America's march toward freedom.

JOHN CAHILL, LOWER MANHATTAN DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: The Freedom Center stands for what was attacked that day, here and around the world.

SNOW (on camera): Officials estimate that more than nine million people visit Ground Zero each year. Nothing is built here yet, and families of victims say that's why they want to keep the focus on 9/11 only.

(voice-over) That memorial is still four years away. It would have an underground center to tell the stories of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the World Trade Center attack. The Freedom Center would be above ground, adjacent to the Memorial Plaza.

Some families worry the exhibits will contain political slants. Charles Wolf, who lost his wife on 9/11, says the site will become a magnet for protests.

CHARLES WOLF, WIDOWER OF 9/11 VICTIM: Do you find a debate about Nazism at Auschwitz? Do you find a debate about the North and the South at Gettysburg?

SNOW: Rebuilding officials say the Freedom Center will not be a political forum.

CAHILL: Americans want a place, on sacred ground, that attacks American history. Americans won't stand for that, and I believe that Americans will be, as in the general public, will be the best censors for this site. SNOW: But that's not good enough for some 9/11 families who have not, until now, been outspoken about the rebuilding effort.

Jackie Mardikian lost her son in the Trade Center.

JACKIE MARDIKIAN, MOTHER OF 9/11 VICTIM: This is sacred ground, and we want to save it for September 11 issues. We want to have a memorial adequate for the thousands of people who lost their lives and perished on that day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: It's germs. Well, we've all experienced it. You know exactly what I'm talking about, those nasty germs in the office. But you may be shocked by how many there are and where they're hiding.

Here's CNN's Heidi Collins. Get your handy wipes out, too.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sushi, sandwiches and salads all sharing space with computers, phones and files.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It saves time eating at your desk. There's really no time to eat out.

COLLINS: Add to that shared workspaces and sick colleagues, and you have a veritable petri dish of illness-causing organisms.

DR. CHARLES GERBA, MICROBIOLOGIST: People don't realize that office space is their personal space. They really don't -- most people don't clean their desk until they start sticking to it.

COLLINS: And Professor Charles Gerba should know. To many, he is Dr. Germ. Gerba has been tracking disease-causing bacteria in the office as part of several studies sponsored by Clorox. What he found is, even though we nearly live at the office, we definitely don't clean it like we should.

GERBA: An area we call a high-touch zone.

COLLINS: He and his team collected more than 7,000 samples from workplaces across the country. He found, on the average work space, 21,000 bacteria per square inch, and before you touch that elevator button, might want to put on a glove. He found 3,500 bacteria per square inch. That may not mean much to you, but compare it with the average workplace toilet, just 49 bacteria per square inch.

That means your workspace may have a whopping 400 times more bacteria than your office toilet. To make things worse, on many of the surfaces he tested, he found para-influenza, and that will just plain make you sick.

DR. ROSLYN STONE, COO, WELLNESS, INC.: People don't wash their hands and they've brought their germs from outside into work. They come to work often sick, and our hands transmit those germs to our desks, to the break room, to the sponge, you know, to the refrigerator handle.

COLLINS: Roslyn Stone is the COO of Wellness, Incorporated, and is the chairman of the CDC's Workplace Flu-Prevention Team. She says people who come to work sick have become a pricey problem for employers.

According to a Harvard Business review, companies lose $150 billion a year in lost productivity and higher health care expenses.

STONE: These germs stay alive for 72 hours, which is longer than we thought, you know, three full days. But, what we find is when you use a disinfectant, it does keep that surface relatively germ-free for 24 hours. So you need to do it every day.

COLLINS: But are we doing it every day, especially since most of us hardly have enough time to eat a proper lunch, much less clean up. Here at CNN, we do have disinfecting wipes like these, but this is a busy 24-hour news operation. So, we began to wonder. What might be lurking on our desks, phones, and conference tables, and is anyone cleaning them? So we brought in the germinator himself.

Armed with a cooler full of swabs and a germ meter, Professor Gerba arrived at our offices ready to put us to the test.

Do you think this is going to be a particularly germy workplace or does it look relatively clean to you?

GERBA: Well, some of the germiest workplaces are actually news media offices.

COLLINS: Already, things weren't looking good. With his germ meter at the ready, Dr. Germ wanted to see exactly what we gamble with every day.

GERBA: It's reading the energy molecules of bacteria. It's going to give me a relative idea how many bacteria are on it and usually, if it's really bad, it's going to beep here and it's going to say fail.

COLLINS: Then the beeping begins.

GERBA: That's not a good sign.

COLLINS: He tested the phones, the workstations, the mouse, and that conference table where we hold our meetings every morning.

GERBA: Yes, it looks like -- right here, this looks bad. Oh, 5.5.

COLLINS: 5.5!

GERBA: That's a record. That's the record. That means there's about -- more than 50 million bacteria. COLLINS: Fifty million bacteria?

GERBA: Wow.

COLLINS: The breakroom was so bad he sent the samples off to the lab where they came back at astronomical levels. The lab technician stopped counting when the number hit 100,000 bacteria per square inch on the break room sponge. Remember, the average workplace toilet is only 49 bacteria per square inch.

Just when we didn't think it could get any worse, we found Richard's desk. When Gerba checked his germ meter, it came back...

GERBA: 4.3.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 4.3?

GERBA: That's off the charts.

COLLINS: That's the highest we've had, isn't it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow. That's embarrassing.

COLLINS: Gerba went on to test Richard's keyboard and found it, too, was high.

GERBA: 3.5.

COLLINS: When Dr. Germ is amazed, this is not good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not good.

COLLINS: After all that, we weren't sure we could take anymore, but there was one place we hadn't tested and we just had to know about, anchorman and colleague Anderson Cooper. Conveniently enough, the day we were testing, he was away.

This is Anderson's office.

What we found was horrifying.

That's heinous.

GERBA: This guy needs to wash his hands once in a while.

Well, I certainly wouldn't use this desk. I'd leave this guy alone.

COLLINS: We just couldn't resist telling Anderson our results when he came back into the office.

You failed miserably.

COOPER: So, 2.5 is passing.

COLLINS: Yes. COOPER: I got a 3.7.

COLLINS: Yes.

COOPER: Wow.

COLLINS: That fails miserably. The next one is your keyboard here, OK? You got a 4.1, and I can tell you that four, the number four, equals about 10,000 bacteria per square inch.

COOPER: Wow, and again, it's 2.5 to pass?

COLLINS: 2.5 to pass.

COOPER: Wow, so my keyboard is...

COLLINS: I would not -- I would not even touch it again. And then your phone is dismal, OK, 4.6, which, once we hit the number five...

COOPER: It doesn't look that bad.

COLLINS: I mean, you are talking about 1 million bacteria per square inch.

COOPER: It smells a little...

COLLINS: Did you put your nose on it?

COOPER: Yeah.

COLLINS: I wouldn't do that either.

Even Professor Gerba was disgusted.

GERBA: Well, this is pushing a two or three in terms of the germiest places I've ever seen. We haven't found one pass in the whole office area we tested all day, which is really unusual.

COLLINS: So, what should you do? Gerba says you should wash your hands frequently for at least 60 seconds. You say you don't have time? Then Gerba says pick up a hand sanitizer and wash your hands with that and wipe down your desk with disinfectant every day.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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