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Child Porn Victim Testifies Before Congress; Paris Demonstrations Turn Violent
Aired April 04, 2006 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And we want to show you some pictures from a short time ago of Congressman Tom DeLay walking back to his congressional office building. Let's check on the sound here, let's listen in.
And the former majority leader is leaving Congress moving to Virginia, he says. Facing some criminal charges, as you know, for money laundering. And DeLay says he is going to be leaving sometime in June. And of course we'll keep following developments in the Tom DeLay case as it unfolds.
Jobs and politics, once again, create a powder keg in France. Riot police used tear gas as protesters swarm the streets of Paris. This was the second national day of protest in a week over a controversial new labor law.
Last hour, I talked with "Newsweek's" Paris bureau chief, Christopher Dickey. He said in other parts of the city, the picture was very different.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTOPHER DICKEY, PARIS BUREAU CHIEF, NEWSWEEK (on phone): People feel the stagnation that exists in the society right now. They know about the unemployment. But I don't think that the daily life of most Parisians is really greatly affected. You have to know that there was a general strike called for today that was essentially ineffective.
You could go on the metro, you could go on buses, planes were perhaps delayed a little bit. But the country is not shut down, far from it. I think we always have to be careful when we're watching television images to realize that you're only seeing as much as you have on the edges of the frame.
And what is going on in the rest of the city right now is that things are perfectly calm. People are going to dinner, they're going to movies. There's no sense of violence or danger at all. We are in the far south of the city in a corner that's on the edge of a lot of working class and immigrant neighborhoods, not far from the university.
But we are very far from the Champs-Elysees or places that most tourists would normally go. I think that you have to keep that in mind. This is a problem, it's a political crisis for the government. But this is not a revolution or anything nearly that serious in France right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: A strike did close the Eiffel Tower today. Police say about one million people took part in protests at about 150 cities across France. The protesters want the government to repeal the job's law which makes it easier to fire younger workers.
A massive stroke, a coma and seven surgeries in three months but there's yet another health setback for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Doctors say he has a respiratory infection that is forcing them to postpone another operation. They were to restore part of Sharon's skull that was removed after his stroke. Israeli media says the surgery is the last step before Sharon is moved to a long-term facility. He's been at a Jerusalem hospital since the stroke left him in a coma in January.
Iran is flexing more military muscle as it conducts war games in the Persian Gulf. Today it showed off what it called a super modern flying boat capable of evading radar. It also tested a second new radar-avoiding missile. State television described it as a medium- range weapon designed to sink ships. Afterwards, a top Iranian military official said Iran would now be able to defend against any invaders from outside the region, a reference to the United States. U.S. officials say Iran tens to boast and exaggerate its military might. The test come amid heightened tensions over Iran's nuclear program.
Children at risk and the danger is only a mouse click away. That's the message Justin Berry took to Capitol Hill today. The teenager told a congressional panel how he was lured into the world of online sexual predators. He says eventually more than a thousand adults paid to watch him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUSTIN BERRY, SEXUAL PREDATOR VICTIM: In my personal opinion, the law enforcement effort is no match for them either. Until recently I never understood why these child predators always laughed about the government.
Now I know that child predators are at least partially right. They have little to fear from law enforcement. Based on my case, efforts to prosecute these people are riddled with mistakes and bureaucracy. Unless something changes, hundreds or even thousands of children will be lost forever.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Berry's mother had no idea until a "New York Times" reporter saw his image on the Internet last December. Kyra Phillips talked to that reporter, Kurt Eichenwald, about his investigation on child pornography on the Internet.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well Kurt, it's pretty amazing how you came in touch with him and convinced him to do this and come forward. What did he tell you about how it began and how it ended? It started with just taking off his shirt and then he was having sex with prostitutes.
KURT EICHENWALD, NEW YORK TIMES: Well, there was a very long path from step one to step 45. The thing about the way this worked, you should know, Justin is not the only one. I've spoken to a lot of kids who were doing this. And it's always the same story. The pedophiles come to them. They approach them in a very coordinated way. I've seen the conversations among the pedophiles.
They actually conspire on what is the next thing we're going to do to get this kid further down the path. They focus on very lonely kids. They focus on kids who have a troubled family life. And ultimately are able to convince them that their real friends are these people online and people do what their friends want them to do.
The money comes in, the money is a benefit, but the money isn't always necessary. There are kids who are doing it simply for attention. There are kids who are doing it simply to -- because they think they have friends. And they don't want to lose them.
So they go further and further and further down this path until eventually you have children who are, in fact, porn stars on the Internet.
PHILLIPS: How could Justin's parents not know what was going on? He was bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars.
EICHENWALD: The -- kids are not very good liars. And when they try to lie, you know, usually parents can figure it out. Now take that same kid and give him 1,500 adult advisers, 1,500 exceptionally manipulative people who are dedicated to making sure that he continues to stay on camera.
To use one of the more horrific examples, there was a point where Justin began to get concerned that he was going to be found out, that his mom was going to recognize what was going on in his room.
So one of the pedophiles actually came from Nevada, I believe it was, to California, where Justin lived, rented him an apartment down the street from his house, set that apartment up for Internet, paid for the Internet, and then Justin had a studio, a place he could go to perform to get his money to get -- to give his friends what they wanted, and his mother would be none the wiser.
He'd tell her he was going off to see friends and he'd go down the street to his apartment.
PHILLIPS: Obviously parents need to be in tune with what's going on with their kids. But investigators, who are they going after, what are they going after? Is it the Internet providers? Is it the kids? Who can be held accountable for this, Kurt? EICHENWALD: Well, truthfully, all of us. I mean, when you -- not criminally, but when you look at the fact that we are giving our children, who we already knew were being threatened with e-mail, we are giving our children the ability to broadcast their image across the world by buying them a Web cam, and don't think about the fact that that is exactly what the pedophiles were hoping for us to do.
Now in terms of criminal responsibility, there is, in fact, an entire infrastructure of businesses that have built up around these for-pay Web sites. There are credit card processors who know what they are doing. There are credit card processors who are unwitting. There are companies that provide Web hosting who know what's going on. There are companies that provide streaming video who know what's going on.
So there are an array of companies, some of which are criminally liable, some of which are unwitting dupes whose technology is being used for illicit purposes. Those are very high on the list.
And also within that group are those pedophiles who currently have children within their reach, currently have children somehow under their control. There were a number of those who turned up in the course of this investigation which was a primary motivating factor behind Justin becoming a federal witness.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Still ahead, from young and healthy to screaming in pain. A drug trial goes terribly wrong. We'll hear one man's story straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: A new look today at plans on how to keep bird flu from spreading across the U.S. A research team using computer models believes a rapid and aggressive vaccination program is the best thing to do even if the vaccine isn't a perfect match with the disease. They also say quick use of anti-viral drugs like Tamiflu could help stop an outbreak.
In another development, The United Nations says some of the nearly $2 billion pledged in January to fight bird flu is finally getting to Asian an European countries hard hit by the virus.
Now to an epidemic in the nation's heartland that has even the experts stumped. Almost 250 cases of mumps have been reported across Iowa this year. It's the state's first mumps epidemic in almost two decades. Public health officials say the virus may be spreading to neighboring states.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, VANDERBILT MEDICAL CENTER: This is a good reason to realize that if we want to eliminate disease, if we have tolerance for no disease and we have that in the United States, make sure your child is well immunized before college, before going to school.
It also reminds us that the world is a very small place. The viruses can hitchhike in people, get on an airplane and be introduced into the United States at any time. We all need to be well protected.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: The mumps vaccine is considered 95 percent effective, but there can still be permanent AND very serious complications.
There's a good reason a British man can't remember much about a nine-year, yes, a nine-year stretch of his life. Consultants at an addiction center in London say the man took about 40,000 ecstasy pills over the period.
The 37 year old man says he stopped taking the drugs seven years ago but he still suffers severe physical and mental side effects including extreme memory problems, paranoia and depression. Really? Health experts say the heaviest previously known intake of ecstasy was about 2,000 pills.
Update now on a horrifying story out of London where a clinical trial went awry, sending six test subjects to the hospital. One of the victims is talking about his ordeal. Here is CNN's Paula Newton.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a short trip from a clinic bed to intensive care. One jab and in a few minutes, Nav Modi said his head felt as if it was going to explode. And literally, it was ballooning out of control, swelling to twice its natural size.
NAV MODI, DRUG TRIAL VICTIM: I wasn't able to bear the pain. I was shouting for help. I said, doctor, please do something. The pain is killing me. I was literally scratching my head.
NEWTON: By this time, it was like a scene from science fiction. Six young, healthy male volunteers testing a new drug. Within minutes, their organs are shutting down, they are screaming in pain.
MODI: I was trying my best to get out of the pain. But the pain was so intense, and it was kind of a huge pressure being put upon my head. I was trying to grab it. Doctor, the pain is killing me!
NEWTON: It was killing him. Modi thought he would pocket an easy $3,500 to test a harmless new drug for the Boston-based researched company, Par XL (ph). When his frantic relatives were called in, what they found typified the horror of these human guinea pigs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His face is bloated out like Elephant Man.
NEWTON: Modi says he felt like the Elephant Man. He couldn't have cared less about the money anymore, and says he thought they were trying to kill him. A nurse warned him to cooperate. MODI: Look, it's something serious here. If you don't cooperate with us, you're going to die.
NEWTON: Less than three weeks after the ordeal, four men have released. Two remain in hospital. An investigation is under way and the drug trial has been stopped. TeGenero, the German company that originally developed the drug to help boost the immune system of leukemia, arthritis and multiple sclerosis patients, says it didn't see this coming. For years, it has depended on young, healthy people to test drugs for cash, a necessary step in getting medicines approved.
And to find volunteers, the drug company looked for crash- strapped travelers. The company advertised in magazines, explaining volunteers would be paid to take the drug. And weeks later, few volunteers have been scared off. The payoff big, the side effects usually not life threatening. This pharmacologist says he didn't have anyone back out of the drug trials.
DR. STEVE WARRINGTON, CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGIST: We have to take one or two phone calls from anxious people who've done studies in the past who are worried about long-term side effects. But in general, we've been able to reassure them.
NEWTON: And it's easy to see why. This young traveler says the side effects are a bit unnerving, but...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wouldn't say no. (INAUDIBLE) was handed to me on a plate, I would certainly have a look at it.
NEWTON: Drug testing is necessary. Drugs, when approved, can be life saving for so many. But Nav Modi says never again.
Paula Newton, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Well it's not something people living along the Gulf and Atlantic coastline want to hear, but hurricane season, coming up. What is ahead for 2006. Some answers from an expert coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Neither rain, sleet nor the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina can stop the U.S. Postal Service for long. For the first time since the storm, the New Orleans postmark is back. The postal service began processing and distributing mail from a center in New Orleans this week. There's still an embargo on magazines, newspapers and catalogs, though, but officials believe the move will eliminate delivery times of a week or more for mail heading across the city.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: More LIVE FROM straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: Oh, you know what? You had to work that gator -- you had to work the Gator madness in, didn't you, Jen (ph)? Outrageous!
OK, almost time for the closing bell on Wall Street. Ali Velshi is here.
(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)
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