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Explosion Rocks Arizona Propulsion Plant; Stopping Online Sexual Predators; Bird Flu Deaths in Azerbaijan; Illinois Governor Discusses Area Damage; Alabama Cow Tests Positive for Mad Cow Disease

Aired March 13, 2006 - 15:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Want to update you right now about that explosion that took place in Phoenix, Arizona. We told about -- told you about it in about the past 45 minutes.
We want to update you. The hazmat team has responded to this second-alarm fire call, live pictures coming to us from KPNX there in Phoenix. This is Universal Propulsion Laboratory. The property has been evacuated. So have the areas, the homes and -- and other businesses in that area.

The building had caught fire. The roof collapsed, as you can see -- no injuries at the time.

Mike Sandulak, Phoenix fire chief, talked to us about this within the past hour.

Chief, any update? It looks like everything is pretty much under control and contained at this time.

MIKE SANDULAK, PHOENIX FIRE DEPARTMENT DIVISION CHIEF: Is it pretty much under control, yes. And it is contained? I wouldn't say it's under control, but it is contained. We do have an evacuation area, approximately, probably about a one-mile-square area.

Everybody from the plant, approximately 140 employees, have been safely evacuated. We are taking them to a community center nearby to get them shelter and food. We are working with the sheriff's office. The fire department is working with the sheriff's to evacuate some homes up in the mountains to the north.

We're still letting the one building burn. There are many buildings at the site of this Universal Propulsion plant. There's no exposure potential to the north, east or south. (AUDIO GAP) to the west that we are concerning right now.

We are not putting any water. We are taking a defensive strategy, a very pessimistic approach, waiting to see (INAUDIBLE) seeing -- see what we are going to do to it, put this fire out, or just let it burn.

PHILLIPS: You said -- you said no water, Chief?

SANDULAK: Say it again, ma'am.

PHILLIPS: You said no water? You're not using water? SANDULAK: No. We (INAUDIBLE) plant (INAUDIBLE) was the report of the material, which is a very, highly explosive used -- chemical used in detonation.

So, we're surrounding it. We are very -- taking a defensive posture -- posture. We are setting up to fight the fire, but we are not actively fighting the fire at this time. We're letting it burn until we determine the best situation to handle.

PHILLIPS: Interesting.

And -- and you were saying, you mentioned this one specific chemical. You were saying this -- this laboratory actually tests ejection seats for aircraft, air bags. Is that chemical somehow related with this testing of these devices?

SANDULAK: Yes, ma'am. And I'm not sure what -- how that fits into their testing. But this is a very highly explosive (AUDIO GAP) So -- and some of the material still hasn't either caught fire or been detonated yet. So, we don't want to get anybody near that.

But, like I said, we do have all the employees evacuated. We are not going to jeopardize the safety of our men. There was a complete roof collapse on the building. So, we are just getting our hazardous materials team to determine what they're going to do next.

PHILLIPS: Sure. The last thing you want is another explosion.

Phoenix Fire Chief Mike Sandulak, thanks for your time again, sir.

Well, one storm threat after another -- with heavy rains, hail and possible tornadoes, it's happening now across parts of Michigan and Ohio. Overnight, it happened in Kansas, Missouri and Illinois.

Here's a look at what those storms left behind, as told to us by those who survived.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "AMERICAN MORNING")

RUSTY KAHRS, PRESIDING COMMISSIONER, PETTIS COUNTY: It was a large tornado. It cut a swathe. It was about over 20 miles long and at least a half to three-quarters-of-a-mile wide throughout the county from west to east.

We have had over a hundred homes and businesses that were either severely damaged or destroyed, displacing between 100 and 150 families in our community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I never want to see that again. That's the most horrible sound in the world. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three or four people called. And -- and my mom was going to get us down in the basement, but the window was making a funny sound. And -- and she opened it. And -- and then, all of a sudden, it just blew in. And -- and that's when it started. And we were trapped there, near the door. Couch -- the couch had hail. And Larry (ph) -- Larry (ph) was the lifesaver. He came -- he came and rescued us.

MIKE FIEWEGER, HOMEOWNER: My truck, it was in my driveway. Now it's in my neighbor's yard. There wasn't no neighbor there, but -- and then my wife's car is up -- it's on there. My one son's car is on top, where our bedroom used to be, is on top of the house now.

Otherwise, everybody is OK, which is a good thing. That's the only thing we can really worry about, was somebody getting hurt.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a frightening scene. And you see that your -- your business and everything is under debris. Our seven vehicles, five trailer, everything is under. Our one-ton Dodge truck, hooked up to a 33-foot fifth wheel is completely turned over. But the -- the bottom line is, thank God we're all OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And this just in at CNN -- a new tornado watch.

For more, let's get the info from Bonnie Schneider, our meteorologist upstairs.

Bonnie, what do we know?

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Kyra, right now, we have a tornado watch that will extend all the way out until 8:00 tonight. And it does include parts of Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi, so, a pretty widespread area.

We're starting to see those thunderstorms fire up across much of the mid-South. In fact, a tornado warning is still in effect for Webster County into Mississippi. As we take a closer look at that, you will see, it's right down here into Southern Mississippi.

And there's some cells behind it, actually, that are definitely going to produce some strong downbursts of wind and have heavy rain across much of the region, as we work our way through the forecast.

Let's take a look at some storm reports, as we check out things that have been going on over the past day or so. We have had 103 reports of a storm threat going on for the region.

And we have had numerous reports of tornadoes into Missouri, into Illinois and Indiana, 103. Now, these are not all confirmed, but we're looking at definitely are a lot of situation where we had tornado touchdowns and at least reports of funnel clouds as well.

As we take a look at the map for today, here's what we're expecting for the rest of the day. We are watching for this front to eventually push to the east. So, the threat for severe weather for tomorrow actually looks like a lot less. We have got high pressure building to the Southeast. So, skies will cool -- things -- things will cool out. And we will look for a nice cool breeze from the north. So, we are definitely looking at some improvements in the forecast.

As we take a look at the rest of the map here for our radar picture now, you will see plenty of rain working its way across Central Tennessee, into Nashville, and then back out towards Memphis. It has cleared out a bit. There's that tornado I was mentioning in Webster County. And that's about to expire. It has about another 15 minutes or so. We will be watching this closely.

Here's a closer look at the cell, though, behind it. And you can see, it's pretty strong, an isolated super-cell. We have seen numerous super-cells across the area yesterday, and into the overnight period, and, certainly, early the morning.

And some of these super-cells actually traveled states at a time, creating damage and, unfortunately, some downbursts of wind, and even tornadoes.

Where else do we have the rain? As we take a look at the big picture now, here's our frontal system, as it pushes off to the east. It's pulling down much colder air behind it, so we have snow towards parts of Minnesota, up towards Wisconsin at this hour, and also some moderate rain, not in the form of heavy thunderstorms. But we will have some rain, if you're traveling across Rochester, up towards New England, into Portland, Maine.

And just north of Boston, we are getting some spotty showers, but New York City staying dry.

We will keep you up to date and let you know if we have any more tornado warnings that break out across the mid-South -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Bonnie Schneider, thanks so much.

Well, they like things big, really big, in Texas, but not when it comes to wildfires. Two huge ones have charred more than half-a- million acres, with strong winds at their back and a vast parched panhandle spread out before them.

Ed Lavandera is on the phone from Amarillo.

Ed, give us the detailed report.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

Well, first of all, this is such a huge story to kind of put your head around and -- and fully grasp, you know, when we talk about 650,000 acres that have charred in the last day or so, two massive fires.

So, what I -- what I would like to do is just kind of break it down into just, you know, what each of these firefighters who are on the ground here, having -- having to battle this fire.

We're on the northern edge of the town of Miami, Texas, which is northeast of Amarillo. And fighting these wildfires is -- is -- is a lonely battle. We are -- just met up with a group of about three firefighters who are on the northern edge of this town, making sure that these -- this wildfire does not creep any closer to this town.

We are about a mile north of the town. And firefighters are working through the -- the volunteer firefighters are working through these ridges. There's high winds. And the ridges are kind of like channeling the wind.

And, as we have stood here, in the last 20 minutes or so, we have seen two stacks of flames kind of start erupted from the brush here on the ground. And firefighters have had to quickly move to kind of contain that and then keep it from spreading any more than it already has.

So, it's very hard to kind of put your head around what 650,000 acres of -- of charred land really means. And -- and, for many of these firefighters, you know, it's -- it's kind of a -- a lonely battle out here, when you're out in the -- literally in the middle of nowhere. This is huge wide-open territory that -- that is -- that is burning.

But firefighters and Texas Forestry officials say that the vast majority of the fire has now been contained. This is the one area north of the Miami, Texas, where they're the most concerned about at this point.

And, again, it's, you know, low humidity, high winds. It is -- it is what they're battling out here. In the last day, there have been seven people killed because of these fires. Four of them were killed in a traffic accident along Interstate 40, people trying to rush away from these quick-moving wildfires.

And I can tell you just what I have seen here in the last 15 minutes or so. These are -- it -- it erupts quickly. It moves quickly. And because of the -- the -- the terrain and the way the -- the ground is here, there is very low-level brush.

So, there's -- it's not like California wildfires, for example, where you see huge plumes of flames kind of shooting up into the air. And they last for days and days. This is very quick-moving. And it is in a matter of seconds, you know, that these flames can move hundreds of yards.

So, these -- these volunteer firefighters, you know, trying to control what they can and keeping it from -- from hitting this town of Miami, Texas. And they seem to be pretty confident about at this moment, but that's the scene we're watching right now unfold -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Ed Lavandera, live there from Amarillo, Texas.

And, Ed, you can actually hear the wind blowing over your mike. Does it seem that winds are picking up speed? And, of course, that is not going to help these fires.

LAVANDERA: No, it doesn't.

You know, it -- it is very hard to tell, because what we are -- we are -- we're basically standing on a ridge that separates the fire from this town. So, the -- the wind kind of shoots over the ridge. And -- and, so, what we're getting is a little bit of a channeled effect.

But, nonetheless, the winds are still rather high. As were driving in there, you know, driving into this town, you know, we -- we could see the wind kind of blowing -- blowing debris and tumbleweeds, if you will, across the roadway.

So, it's -- you know, it's definitely very windy out here, made even worse by the fact that (AUDIO GAP) between these ridges, where the wind gets channeled through. But that -- you know, that -- that triggers the -- the fires to kind of -- kind of erupt. And, like I mentioned, in a matter of the 15 minutes we have been here, we have seen two large flames of fire just erupt from the ground here.

PHILLIPS: Ed Lavandera, joining us by the phone from Amarillo, Texas, following those wildfires -- thanks so much, Ed.

Well, a fun new way to make friends, or an open invitation to sexual predators?

LIVE FROM takes a closer look at popular Web sites that may be putting your kids at risk.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: News just in to CNN right now, it's coming across the Associated Press wires out of Washington.

A cow in Alabama has tested positive for mad cow disease. This is according to the Agricultural Department -- or the Agriculture Department, rather -- just confirmed this.

Apparently, a routine test last week had indicated the presence of mad cow disease. The results were then confirmed by more detailed testing at a government lab in Ames, Iowa.

And now I'm being told that CNN has confirmed this story. CNN has confirmed the story that an Alabama cow has tested positive for mad cow disease. U.S. investigators had found two previous cases of mad cow disease. You will remember when we covered this. The first was back in 2003. But that was a Canadian-born cow in Washington state. The second was last June in a cow that was born and raised in Texas.

Now we're getting word that an Alabama cow has tested positive for mad cow disease. Our Christy Feig is actually listening to a mass news conference that is going on right now. The USDA is holding a teleconference. She's monitoring that. And, of course, she will bring us more information. We will try explain what this means, obviously, for meat consumption and your shopping on a regular basis.

But, at this point, we have confirmed that an Alabama cow has tested positive for mad cow disease. We will bring you more information as soon as Christy Feig gets off that USDA call and bring you the newest information that we have.

So, is the ultimate penalty off the table for Zacarias Moussaoui? A federal judge in Virginia today put Moussaoui's sentencing trial on hold, angrily accusing the government of breaking her rules. She may decide to penalize prosecutors by withholding the death penalty from a man the government claims could have prevented 9/11.

Let's bring in our legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin.

Before I ask you -- back up a little bit and ask you a few details, Jeffrey. Considering that this is the only man right now that has -- that is being held accountable for -- for 9/11, do you really think that the judge would make the decision to knock a death- penalty option out of the ring?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Not at this point, Kyra.

I -- I think the case is too big. Too much time has been invested, too much money, millions of dollars. And, frankly, the case is too important to have this really terrible, unthinkable error by a single government attorney, to have the whole thing thrown out at this point.

PHILLIPS: All right. So, with that said, let's back up a little bit. I was reading that there's this witness-coaching rule.

TOOBIN: Right.

PHILLIPS: First of all, tell me what -- what this witness- coaching rule is.

TOOBIN: Well, it -- it's a basic rule of all trials, that, if you're going to be a witness in a trial, you don't sit in the courtroom and watch.

You don't hear what other witnesses have to say, because, then, you could know what the other evidence is and tailor your testimony, so that you -- you would be consistent with one side's version of the facts, and -- and avoid problems on cross-examination.

In this trial, that was a formal rule of the judge, not just kind of a rule that everybody understands. So, that was very much on the -- on Judge Brinkema's mind. And she told lawyers here, don't let witnesses hear other witnesses' testimony. PHILLIPS: So, pre-trial orders could vary. I mean, some judges may not mind if the lawyers take some of the opening statements and -- and let the witnesses read the paperwork, right? But...

TOOBIN: I would say most would...

PHILLIPS: Say no way.

TOOBIN: ... frown on that practice, but, certainly, in this case, there was no doubt that it was completely against her rules.

PHILLIPS: OK. So, what happens next?

TOOBIN: Well, what happened -- what actually happened was that a lawyer for part of the Department of Homeland Security, which represents at least, apparently, seven witnesses, shared some of the testimony, some of the opening statements -- the details aren't clear at this point -- with these witness, complete violation of the judge's rules.

So, the question is, what this is remedy? One remedy, which is the defense is asking for, is just throw the whole thing out. Moussaoui gets life in prison without chance of parole. Death penalty is off the table -- trial over.

I think the more likely scenario is that the judge, having put the fear of God into prosecutors by, you know, suspending trial for the day, will say to the defense, no, I'm not throwing the case out, but I will let you cross-examine these witnesses about the fact that they had access to these transcripts, so you can tell the jury, look, isn't it true that you got your ideas for testifying from this other evidence?

That is, I think...

PHILLIPS: That's interesting.

TOOBIN: Well, that...

(LAUGHTER)

TOOBIN: That's sort of the way trial judges often finesse these kind of controversies, is, rather than throw the whole case out, they air the controversy in front of the jury, and let the jury draw an adverse inference or think less of the prosecution for having had the government break the rules.

PHILLIPS: You know, why -- in such a big case -- and, of course, I'm asking for your personal opinion here...

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: ... is -- is, in -- in such a big case, why would the -- the attorneys even do this? I mean, why go against...

(LAUGHTER) PHILLIPS: ... what the judge said you can't do in such a massive case?

TOOBIN: Well, here, I think I -- I would be speculating.

But, when you have such a massive case, you have often dozens of lawyers involved. And it seems the error here was not made by the Justice Department prosecutors. It was made by a government lawyer who represented witnesses. And this lawyer may not have been very experienced in trial work, may not have understood the judge's rules.

The -- the -- in a way, the bigness of the case makes the mistake more understandable, because you have more lawyers involved, more moving parts. And, so, you have this really outrageous mistake, but it's not the fault of the lawyers who are actually trying the case. At least, that's how it seems to me, at some distance.

PHILLIPS: Got it. Jeffrey Toobin, thanks so much.

TOOBIN: OK, Kyra. See you.

PHILLIPS: Well, stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

Well, more deadly bombs and gun battles today in Iraq -- a roadside bomb in the capital killed one person and wounded six others. Two members of a security company were shot dead elsewhere in the city. The attacks came hours after car bombs and mortar shells ripped through markets jammed with shoppers in Baghdad's Sadr City yesterday.

More than 45 people killed. Dozens more were hurt. It's the deadliest wave of sectarian killings since last month's reprisal attacks for the bombing of a Shiite shrine.

President Bush is asking for patience. Mr. Bush launched a new series of speeches on Iraq six, days before the war's third anniversary. Polls now show a majority of Americans consider the war a mistake. Well, Mr. Bush is citing what he considers progress on the political front, as well as in the fight against insurgents. In remarks you may have seen live here on CNN, he also explained what U.S. troops are doing to fight the insurgents' favorite weapon, roadside bombs, or IEDs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Before arriving in Iraq and Afghanistan, our combat units get training on how to counter the threat of IEDs.

And to improve our training, last month we established a new IED Joint Center of Excellence, headquartered at Fort Irwin, California, where we're taking lessons learned from the IED fight in Iraq and sharing them with our troops in the field and those preparing to deploy.

This new initiative will ensure that every Army and Marine combat unit headed to Afghanistan and Iraq is prepared for the challenges that IEDs bring to the battlefield.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Mr. Bush says, despite fears of many Iraqis, he's confident that all-out civil war won't happen. The key, he says, is a national unity government.

Straight ahead, sexual predators online, how do the cops bust them, and how can parents protect their kids from them? That's straight ahead.

The news keeps coming. We will keep bringing it to you -- more LIVE FROM next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A teenage prank ends in arrest. But it's not the kids who wind up in the slammer.

It started with some boys in Fontana, California, decided to cheer up a buddy who had just broken up with his girlfriend. So, they invented a fake 15-year-old girl on the popular Web site Myspace.com. But the bogus profile drew sexual messages and a photo from an adult, a man who suggested meeting the nonexistent teen. The kids followed up.

And when the man showed up at the local park, well, they called the cops. Forty-eight-year-old Michael Ramos was booked on charges of attempted lewd and lascivious conduct with a child, a felony. It's yet another example of a trend that sends shudders through every parent of an Internet-savvy child, sexual predators trolling for victims online.

CNN's Daniel Sieberg on efforts to stop them before they strike.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our suspect is supposed to arrive in a green shirt. So, it is looking good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, he's getting out. We will get a good look at him right now.

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A police stakeout in Laguna Beach, California. Officers prepare to take down their suspect. They say 24-year-old Fernando Guerin Jr. (ph) is attempting to lure a 13-year-old girl to this playground for sex.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If he starts walking through the park or something, we will take him down.

SERGEANT DARIN LENYI, LAGUNA BEACH POLICE DEPARTMENT: "I just wanna kiss you right now and lick you, snible you up and down from head to toe."

SIEBERG: Sergeant Darin Lenyi reads one example of the language allegedly used by his suspect on the messenger program Yahoo chat. Much of it is too explicit for this program.

He shows us what is believed to be Guerin's (ph) page on the popular social networking site Myspace. And he shows us several naked photos he claims Guerin (ph) e-mailed to his chat buddy.

So, how does Sergeant Lenyi know about all this? Well, it is an Internet sting operation. And the Laguna Beach P.D. has planned a number of them in the past several months.

This surveillance video is from another operation that netted 13 arrests in one night. One suspect arrives with a single red rose for his underage date. Officers are waiting inside to arrest each one, a pharmaceutical technician, a Starbucks manager, an engineer, even a lieutenant with the California Highway Patrol.

All are formally charged with attempt to child molest and are in the process of being arraigned.

The citizens group Perverted-Justice.com creates phony profiles of underage kids to see if anyone will take the bait, complete with cultural references and Internet lingo. Working with all levels of law enforcement, they claim to have busted several dozen pedophiles since 2004.

"FRAG," PERVERTED-JUSTICE.COM: We have caught doctors, lawyers, cops, firefighters, teachers, social workers, you know, really all walks of life.

One of the predators actually had to find a baby-sitter for his 13-year-old daughter, so he could come over and molest someone else's 13-year-old daughter.

SIEBERG: To circumvent the arbitrary minimum 14-year age requirement on some sites, Perverted Justice volunteers simply make up another number. It is something any child could do.

"DEL HARVEY," PERVERTED-JUSTICE.COM: She puts 113, obviously not being 113, and, down below, clarifies, for anybody who could have missed it, that she's not 113. She's 13.

SIEBERG (on camera): OK.

(voice-over): Myspace says that while it can't prevent all fraud, the company has deleted more than 200,000 underage profiles to date. And one warning on the safety tips page reads, "If you're under 14, go away."

"Frag" and "Del," not their real names, of course, say they never initiate the conversations, but, rather, wait to be contacted. Then they and their volunteers engage in chat sessions and, whenever it is requested, allow the person to call them on the phone. Adult members of Perverted Justice who sound underage pick up the line.

Here is a sample conversation. And it is disturbing.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How old are you?

UNIDENTIFIED PERVERTED JUSTICE MEMBER: Twelve.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You sound pretty cute.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED PERVERTED JUSTICE MEMBER: Thank you.

SIEBERG: So, what are you up to?

UNIDENTIFIED PERVERTED JUSTICE MEMBER: Nothing really. Talking to you.

SIEBERG: You're -- you're, like, horny, aren't you?

UNIDENTIFIED PERVERTED JUSTICE MEMBER: I don't know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're so cute.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

SIEBERG: And when these phone or cyber-exchanges move into the real world, the authorities can act.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And let us know where he's going.

SIEBERG (on camera): The folks at Perverted Justice have worked for about a week with the Laguna Beach Police Department to set up this stakeout operation here at a park, where the 13-year-old girl says she's going to show up, after playing hooky from school today.

(voice-over): But rather than a teenage girl waiting on this playground:

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turn around. Drop your Beanie. All right, partner, you're under arrest for attempted molestation of a minor.

SIEBERG: Police search Guerin's (ph) car and find condoms and a digital camera, which, based on his alleged chat, Guerin (ph) was going to use to take dirty pictures.

He has since has been charged with attempt to child molest and sending lewd pictures to a minor by the Orange County district attorney. He's being held on $100,000 bail and faces up to four years in prison. The public defender's office declined comment.

LENYI: Obviously, if this was a real 13-year-old chatting with this individual, it -- it is robbing some innocence from that child. So, it is rewarding that we made this happen and no harm did come to a -- a 13-year-old little girl. SIEBERG: A deterrent for anyone who attempts to contact a teenager online: That curious and chatty child may actually be wearing a badge.

Daniel Sieberg, CNN, Laguna Beach, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, for every predator caught, how many others are still out there? Research shows that one in every five children who use the Internet have been sexually approached in some way.

John Sheehan is with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Washington. He's joining with me with more on the dangers of socializing online and what parents can do to protect their kids.

John, you see a story like that -- and that's something you deal with everyday, don't you?

JOHN SHEEHAN, ONLINE SAFETY SPECIALIST: It is. The cybertip line was launched in March of 1998 through a congressional mandate. Since then, we've received over 380,000 leads that have come through regarding some sort of child sexual exploitation. On a weekly basis, we're averaging about 1,500 leads, 50 of which are regarding the online enticement of children for sexual acts.

PHILLIPS: And we've talked a lot about this myspace.com. I mean, we have a lot of parents in our group that say, yes, my kids love this and love to be able to socialize this way. This Web site, or this company, has actually contacted you on how to make it safer, right?

SHEEHAN: That's correct. We have provided MySpace with a variety of different ways that they can beef up the security and make the site a little more secure for children, as well as for parents to report any type of incidents that they're finding.

PHILLIPS: How do you make it more secure, though, John?

SHEEHAN: Well, first and foremost, there has to be a way that they can readily report this type of information to the provider itself. Not only that, but they need to provide prevention educational material to parents and to children.

We had -- the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children funded a series of focus groups. We actually interviewed parents and teachers and adults. And one of the first things we found was parents readily admitted they didn't have the Internet knowledge that their children did. They also said that they didn't believe it could happen to their children.

So putting that information together, we realized we needed to get some information out there to the parents. Off of our Web page, cybertip line.com, you'll find a section, "HDOP," Help Delete Online Predators. And what that's for, it's really to bring awareness to the issue for parents, to help educate them on this issue.

PHILLIPS: All right, I'm going to get to some of the details in just a moment. But while I'm thinking about it, I want ask you about these sites. I mean, if you're under 18, shouldn't there be some type of rule to say you cannot put pictures of yourself on there and you can't put a lot of personal information. Because it's amazing how detailed these kids get. And I've seen some of these pictures -- 12, 13 year-olds, and they're sexy photos, John. I mean, I wouldn't want my child putting those kind of glamour shots on the Internet.

SHEEHAN: You're absolutely correct. It really -- it does boil down the Web sites themselves monitoring and keeping that type of content off the site. But it also goes back to the parents. They need to be able to communicate with their children. The vast majority of parents out there don't even realize their children have accounts like this, so they need to be able to talk to their kids and tell them why it's so important not to put that type of information out there. Sites like that really are just breeding ground for these child predators to go out there and research their victims.

PHILLIPS: Well, John, I understand the parents' involvement. But for example, myspace.com. So you're telling me that they could -- whoever is running it could take it upon themselves to say I want to verify your age and I'm telling you right now you can't put pictures like that on this Web site. I mean, could the company do that, go that far and make that mandatory?

SHEEHAN: There are a variety of methods that they could take to beef up their security. I know, for instance, they have a zero tolerance for any type of pornography on their Web page. It's just a matter of getting those eyes and getting those reports into them for review.

PHILLIPS: All right, let's get down to the advice that's on your Web site. There's actually a page. You talk about -- for parents to pay attention to large amounts of time that their kids are online, to pay attention to pornography on the computer. Follow phone bills and if strangers call. Now that's interesting. So you think parents should actually look at the phone bills, see if they're making long distance calls and also make sure they know every man and woman that's calling the house?

SHEEHAN: Most definitely. They need to keep track of records that are coming in, not only to the home phone, but to that child's cell phone, as well. There has to be rules and regulations. Parents need to remember that it's privilege for children to use the Internet, not a right. The worst case situation is if that computer is in the child's bedroom. They need to get that out into a central location so they can monitor the activities.

PHILLIPS: And also monitor mail, packages coming from strangers, see if your child is turning off the screen when you come into the room. Watch if they're withdrawn. And also using online accounts that are belonging to somebody else. How do you know if your son or daughter is using an account that belongs to somebody else? SHEEHAN: That's an excellent question. And to be honest with you, it boils down to communication. There are a variety of Web-based e-mail accounts that are absolutely free that a child can go out and create and they would never know about it. Parents have to be able to talk to their kids.

One part of our Help Delete Online Predators campaign that's at cybertipline.com also has acronyms. Children are using an entirely different lingo online that parents don't even know about. For example, A/S/L -- age, sex, location. BRB, be right back. PRS, parent over shoulder. LMIRL, let's meet in real life. Those are acronyms that we obtain though a series of focus groups with the children. We provide those online so parents can try and educate themselves so they can pick up on these types of things and monitor their children.

PHILLIPS: Interesting. Great information. John Sheehan, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, out of Washington there. Thanks, John.

SHEEHAN: Thanks for having me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: We had reported not long ago that we got word that a cow in Alabama had tested positive for mad cow disease. We told you our Christy Feig was actually on a conference call with the USDA trying to get more information on what's happening.

We got Christy with us now out of Washington.

Of course, a lot of people concerned about this, Christy, wondering, OK, am I going to be able to buy that steak and do I need to worry about this spreading?

CHRISTY FEIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. This raises a lot of red flags every time it happens, and this is only the third time that it's happened. But the USDA in this case was very quick to say this cow did not get into the food supply. This cow was in Alabama. We don't know what city yet.

It was about ten years old. The cow got sick, they called the veterinarian. The veterinarian came over, the cow wasn't walking very well. By law, they have to send a sample into the USDA. They did put the cow down, and the cow was buried on the farm there. So the USDA is saying food is safe. It's not in the food supply.

PHILLIPS: And Christy, we remember that we got word of mad cow popping up -- it was in 2003, December 2003. I think that was the Canadian case, right?

FEIG: That's right.

PHILLIPS: And then a little later on, there was another case in Texas. And same thing happened there, the cow was put down, and everything was OK, right? FEIG: That's exactly right. There's one thing we need to bring up with this, is they're doing a lot of testing now since mad cow has become a little more popular. And they're really starting to do these screenings very regularly. If a cow is not walking, they have to test them for mad cow disease. They can't let it get into the food supply. And we should also point that you cannot get this from eating meat. This type of disease is only found in the brain and spinal cord, what we call the central nervous system tissue of a cow. And that's usually not the parts that we eat, it's usually the steak that we eat and you can't get mad cow from that.

PHILLIPS: Christy Feig, thanks so much.

Well the news is just in to CNN, bird flu is reportedly confirmed in three deaths in Azerbaijan, that's from the "Associated Press." It's citing a top Azerbaijan health official who got the word from the World Health Organization. One case involved a 16-year-old boy, another was a 17-year-old girl. Both of them died last week in a region new the Caspian Sea. Details on the third victim have not been released yet. And these deaths bring the official world-wide total to 101.

Shouts in the fog lead to a search in the sea. Does the discovery of a row boat offer any leads? The mystery off the coast of Rhode Island when LIVE FROM continues right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: As you know, we've been reporting on the severe weather that's taking place across the Midwest and the deaths that have been reported since these tornadoes, specifically in Illinois.

We've been bringing you a number of live shots and updates about that area. Our Keith Oppenheim is bringing us the latest information. I'm now told that we've been able to make contact with the Illinois governor, Rod Blagojevich, he's joining us live from Springfield, Illinois. He just got finished surveying a lot of the damage there in his state. Governor, tell me, did you just board a bus and start going from town to town? Just give me an overview of what you've been able to see in your assessment?

GOV. ROD BLAGOJEVICH, ILLINOIS: Well we just took an aerial tour from the helicopter and we were able to see the damage here in Springfield and in the area surrounding Springfield, as well as here in the village of Jerome, which is where I'm physically at right now.

And then after that, I had a chance to walk through some neighborhoods in the city of Springfield, so I was given two perspectives. One, from an aerial perspective to get an overview of the extent of the damage and path of the tornado and then I was able to see up close and personal, by my walk through the neighborhoods what the damage meant to neighborhoods and what it meant to homes and businesses.

And so, it's an interesting -- the path that this tornado took is very interesting because it was a tornado that went from a southwesterly to northwesterly direction and tended to just skip and sort of bounce from one place to another, so that a business in one portion could be destroyed completely, yet the property next door is completely intact. And so that pattern was one that I was able to see from the helicopter, and it's a very clear pattern.

PHILLIPS: Now Governor, you're not far from my birthplace and I've been calling relatives on the phone to find out what kind of damage has struck these various areas.

I know that these are communities that train for this. We did it in school and most of us have basements to be able to get down to. How bad is it at this point? Are you going to declare a state of emergency? Do you think it's that bad at this point?

BLAGOJEVICH: Well, it's very bad from the standpoint of property damage, businesses and homes, significant damage. In fact, last night, more than 65,000 businesses and homes here in Springfield and in the village of Jerome and areas here at central Illinois were without power.

But fortunately, there has been no loss of life. There have been 24 reported cases of injuries, but fortunately no loss of life. So that the damage is so far has been confined to property. And it's been extensive. And so after the assessments that were taken by our experts and then after I had a chance to walk through neighborhoods and then see from the helicopter what the damage was, I issued a state emergency declaration.

And so the state of Illinois is going to step up and do its part, to help the city of Springfield and the village of Jerome, Sangamon County and six other counties here in Illinois: Randolph County, Scott County, Morgan County, Greene County, Logan County, and any other county that's been affected.

We're also going to ask the federal government to come in and do an assessment on its own and I'm hopeful that when they do, they'll see what we've seen, and that is there's a real need to help these communities because the property damage is very extensive and very significant, damage to businesses and to homes.

PHILLIPS: Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, sir, thank you for your time.

BLAGOJEVICH: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: I'm getting word now that tornado warning has been extended. Bonnie Schneider is working more information for us on the severe weather. What are you seeing, Bonnie?

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: All right, Bonnie Schneider, thank you so much. The news keeps coming, we'll keep bringing it to you. More LIVE FROM after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: The outrage story of the day. More than half a year later, victims of Hurricane Katrina are still turning up. Yesterday, after being called by a contractor, firefighters found a body inside a home in New Orleans's lower Ninth Ward, a home police that had not planned to search.

Two other bodies were found in the ward last week. Another more thorough search may be in the works.

An empty row boat, an oar, a baseball cap and a sandal, the only clues so far in a search for three adults off the coast of Rhode Island, at least two are students at the University of Rhode Island. They reportedly launched a row boat this morning from a university pier on Narragansett Bay. The Coast Guard launched a search after a security guard reported hearing screams near the pier.

Time now to check in CNN's Wolf Blitzer. He is standing by in "THE SITUATION ROOM" to tell us what's coming up at the top of the hour.

Great to see you, Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Always good to see you, Kyra. Thanks very much.

Will President Bush hit a new low? There's a brand-new CNN "USA Today" Gallup poll that is about to be released only a few moments from now. We are going to show you where the president stands with the American people.

Also, damage control, the president takes his case for war to a college campus. Did he gain any ground? One of his top congressional critics Congressman John Murtha join us.

Plus, a former White House adviser busted, accused of scamming department stores. How did this darling of the Christian right fall so far from grace? We're looking at this story.

And we are watching the Senate floor, as Democratic Senator Russ Feingold promises to introduce a resolution to censure the president of the United States. That's coming up any minute now. We are going to bring it to you live. All that, Kyra, coming up right at the top of the hour.

PHILLIPS: All right. Wolf, thanks.

The news keeps coming. We'll keep bringing it to you. More LIVE FROM after this.

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PHILLIPS: Can you name that tune? New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel not the first place you would associate with legendary rock 'n roll, but today it plays host to the latest batch of inductees into rock music's hall of fame. Lynyrd Skynyrd, Blondie, The Sex Pistols, who you're listening to now, Black Sabbath and Miles Davis all being immortalized like never before.

Johnny Rotten and his fellow Pistols pioneered the punk sound of the 70s and still apparently have little use for the Waldorf, the hall of fame or respectability in general, so don't look for them at the ceremony.

I bet Ali Velshi every now and then jumped into a mosh pit and went a little crazy with The Pistols.

Right, Ali?

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A little body surfing, why not?

PHILLIPS: A little bashing here and there.

VELSHI: Kyra, how are you? It's good to see you.

PHILLIPS: It's good to see you too. I don't think The Sex Pistols though would be wearing a tie quite like the one you have wrapped around your neck. How's that for a segue?

VELSHI: No, no, I have a little story about this tie. Thank you for noticing.

PHILLIPS: I knew you did. You're welcome.

VELSHI: Well, today has been all about deals, Kyra. Big, big deals going on all over the place. In Germany, two drug companies, Merck -- now that's not the Merck that we have here -- this is Germany's Merck offering to buy Germany's Schering Pharmaceuticals for about $17 billion. Schering says that is not enough money. Other people who follow the deal say it's too much money.

But, as you know, it's a big industry. And you have got to have these blockbusters, which sell more than a billion bucks a year, so the name of the game with drug companies is to merge.

Over here in the states, Capital One offering -- not offering -- closing a deal to buy North Fork Bank for about $14 billion. You remember Capital One only started in 1995. After this deal, it will be the 10th largest financial institution in the United States.

And there's a newspaper deal. McClatchy buying the newspaper assets of Knight- Ridder. McClatchy is responsible for things like "The Sacramento Bee" and "The Minneapolis Star Tribune." It is going to be buying Knight-Ridder, which has things like "Philadelphia Inquirer" and "Miami Herald."

All sorts of deals going through right now. Big merger Monday for us, Kyra, and I still haven't explained the tie.

PHILLIPS: I know. I was waiting for it thinking, OK, he is going to somehow get to it, get to it, get to it.

VELSHI: I am going to tell it to you very quickly.

PHILLIPS: I'll say goodbye, love and kisses.

VELSHI: Good to talk to you.

PHILLIPS: Time for the closing bell. Tell us about the tie.

VELSHI: We shall see you tomorrow. The tie is the Hudson Bay colors. You will remember those blankets that the Hudson Bay Company is famous for, the stripes on those blankets. Well, the Hudson Bay Company, the oldest operating company in North America, started in 1670, it's been sold. It's an old Canadian company. It's been sold to the Americans.

I have my own little New York Stock Exchange bell. I am ringing it now. It's been an interesting day on the exchange, and we are closing up with a loss of two points on the Dow. And the Nasdaq is just up a few.

Here's Wolf in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

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