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Three People Killed, 10 Injured in Tornadoes Near Dallas; Band's Tour Manager to be Sentenced for Role in Rhode Island Fire; Unholy Acts

Aired May 10, 2006 - 13:59   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Check this out. Just a few minutes ago, WBRC brought us live pictures of Birmingham, Alabama. Look how dark it got and how fast that storm system moved in. It was pretty clear within the past 20 minutes or so. Now this is a live picture of what things look like as it has completely moved in.
Reynolds Wolf, you've been right on the mark. Starting watching Alabama while we were watching Texas. It just shows how fast the system is moving.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: All right, Reynolds. Thanks so much.

WOLF: You bet.

PHILLIPS: Well, wrecked roofs, crumbled walls, and concrete slabs, it's all that's left in parts of north Texas today after deadly tornadoes last night. Those twisters struck at the worst possible time, when many were just asleep in bed. At least three were killed, 10 were hurt, and there could be more victims within that rubble.

CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano joins me now from the town of Westminster.

Rob, I don't know if you're in the same spot where we had talked -- yes, I think you are sort of in the same area. What's amazing is so many people survived what we're looking at.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: This home, you saw -- you saw the other side of this home about an hour ago. And now -- now I stand on the concrete slab where the home was. Actually, I'm standing right in where the bathroom was. And if you don't have a basement -- and not many people around this area of the country do -- this would be the safest place to be.

And it's gone. It's been blown over here.

The entire home, probably a 2,000-foot-plus square foot home, has been completely shoved, bulldozed by this tornado on to one corner, the northeast corner of the home. Everything, the front door, literally the kitchen sink, the toilet, the water heater here -- now I'm moving into what -- what is the garage, and then in a garage would be a car. And this car is completely covered by -- by the debris.

It continues past the garage. Look at the rafters. Look at the 2x6 rafters there, 2x8s completely thrown over.

And then -- and then beyond that, you know, you try not to sift through this stuff and look into people's lives, but you can't help it. It's all over the place here. It's completely all over the place here.

A locomotive train set, lots of tools -- lots of tools -- guns, ammunition, and a coin -- rare coins strewn about this area. Even a bowling ball. Look at this bowling ball. A bowling ball somehow lifted up and thrown into this window. This window looks like it was part of the garage.

But the debris continues through this home beyond the road, beyond our satellite truck. A dead cow, unfortunately. And then there's a truck -- what you can't see beyond our satellite truck, there's a truck that's been toppled over several times, windows completely blown out. It must have done several barrel rolls over -- over -- over the road there.

You can see and hear choppers around. They've been flying around all day, because most of the day the only way to access or for anybody to see anything in this area was via the air. They recently let it open to media.

What's the most surprising and I suppose encouraging thing is that the people that were in this home survived. They're hospitalized. I'm not sure to what extent their injuries are, but fire rescue workers rescued them last night and got them off -- off to area hospitals.

They are still looking for people in places like this, in homes that have been destroyed to -- but that search and rescue operation is about to -- about to be wrapped up. Almost hard to believe, Kyra, isn't it? And t top it all off, to see this well-structured home completely demolished, that the people inside it survived.

Back to you.

PHILLIPS: Pretty amazing stuff, Rob. All right. We'll keep talking to you. We'll check back in, in just a little bit.

We want to quickly get back, though, to Rhode Island now, where the former band manager who set off the fireworks that led to that catastrophic nightclub fire in 2003 is just about to be sentenced.

CNN Senior Correspondent Allan Chernoff is in Providence -- Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, right now the prosecution is making the argument that Daniel Biechele, that band manager, should receive the maximum that he can receive under his plea deal, which would be 10 years in prison. Biechele did plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter, 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter under this plea agreement.

Remember, 100 people were killed in this nightclub fire. But it's a terrible ethical dilemma that the judge is confronting right now. Should he actually sentence the band manager to prison or just community service, as the defense is going to argue a little bit later today?

The judge really has not revealed his cards, but, of course, it's such a hard question here, because Biechele, of course, did not intend to kill anyone. What he did do was set off a pyrotechnics display during a rock concert, and immediately those pyrotechnics set on fire some foam that was in the nightclub. And the foam was not fire- retardant.

So the club owners also have been charged in this entire disaster. So they probably do bear certainly some responsibility here.

How much responsibility does that band manager actually bear? It really hasn't been determined. He pled guilty, as I said, to the involuntary manslaughter, and later today we will hear the judge's decision. We're expecting to hear the judge's decision in this case -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And we are monitoring those live pictures right now while we look at them, Allan, side by side with you. As soon as that sentencing phase happens or we hear what the judge has to say after all the lawyers speak, we'll check back in with you. We'll bring that to everyone live.

Allan, thank you so much.

Well, bloodstains on an altar cloth, the lifeless body of a Catholic nun, dramatic evidence in the murder trial of Father Gerald Robinson, but does it prove guilt?

CNN's Keith Oppenheim has the latest now from Toledo, Ohio, where a jury is preparing to get the case -- Keith.

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Closing arguments are still under way, Kyra, but prosecutors today have been trying to show that 26 years old a priest killed a 27-year-old nun, as the defense is trying to show that the state has not proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt.

The quick background, it was in 1980 that the body of center Margaret Ann Pahl was found in the chapel of a Toledo hospital. At the time, Father Gerald Robinson, a chaplain at the hospital, was questioned but never charged. Then 24 years later, cold case investigators took another look and believed they found a match between a bloodstain at the crime scene and a dagger-shaped letter opener that police say is the murder weapon and belongs to Father Robinson.

Closing arguments today, Kyra, really were in three phases. First, lead prosecuting attorney Dean Mandros (ph) did a very nice job of trying to connect what he said is the murder weapon, the letter opener, to the priest, and also to puncture wounds that were located on the exhumed body of the nun, saying that the letter opener fit into those puncture wounds. Also saying that the letter opener matched bloodstains from the crime scene.

And then came John Theeves (ph), defense attorney, who said that prosecution -- rather the prosecution had presented a case where the evidence was contaminated.

And then finally we had the last attorney, Allan Conniff (ph). And he gave a fairly rambling speech which probably didn't help the defense at all. In fact, I was noticing that some jurors were falling asleep during his closing argument. But what he was just trying to show was that this is not a case that's been proved beyond a reasonable doubt.

And realize here that the two sides have very different tasks. The prosecution has to build a very complete narrative, while the defense just has to punch one big hole into one section of that narrative. And the question today is whether or not either side has done what they set out to do.

PHILLIPS: Keith, have we learned any more about the possible -- well, what type of relationship that the priest had with this nun? And we've been listening to all the details of what's happening right now, but just going back into the past, what do we know about how long they knew each other and what their relationship was like?

OPPENHEIM: Well, the priest had worked at this hospital for six years, and the nun, Sister Margaret Ann Pahl, had been there for a considerably longer time. The description from the prosecution was that they had a very tense relationship, and that, in his words, that he described her as being dominant, and certainly others described her as being very strict about things.

But I think we really should point out, that one thing that the prosecution did not do and legally were not required to do is explain a motive in this case. They did give some suggestion that there -- that the tensions between them might have led to a murder, that specifically that nun was quite upset on the weekend of the murder that the priest had cut short Good Friday services and had expressed that to a number of people. But again, that may not -- that may not explain a motive in this case at all.

PHILLIPS: All right. Keith Oppenheim, we'll continue to follow it. Thanks so much.

At most, it's a fraction of 1 percent, at the least it's nothing at all. So why are investors, mortgage lenders, credit card companies and millions of consumers holding their breath right now? And why is Wall Street holding out hope for a record day? Find out shortly right here on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, the Federal Reserve is about to announce its decision on interest rates. Susan Lisovicz live from the New York Stock Exchange with more.

Everybody is saying the word "historic," Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Historic is something that has been mentioned many times leading up to this day. Not necessarily, of course, about what the Fed is going to do. It's about how stocks may react to what the Fed says in the accompanying statement.

The Federal Reserve expected any moment now to make its decision on interest rates. Expected, widely expected to raise rates for a 16th consecutive time to 5 percent. That would be the highest federal funds rate we've seen in five years.

Why is the Fed continuing to raise rates? Why do we expect it? Because the economy has been doing quite well, thank you.

It's taken everything that's been thrown at it, everything from terrorist attacks, to oil shocks, to catastrophic hurricanes, and been able to bounce back. And that's where the "historic" comes in, Kyra. That's why the Dow industrials really on the brink of levels we haven't seen since January of 2000, when the world was a very different place.

The trading floor right now is so quiet, which is something that is always amazing, because it's a very noisy place, because -- because this is something -- the statement that comes with the Fed decision is something that is dissected almost to the punctuation. It is what the Fed says with the statement.

Is the Fed ready to say that the economy, the U.S. economy is in this Goldilocks situation, not too hot, not too cold, just right, so that the Fed really doesn't have to intervene anymore? And that in itself is amazing.

It speaks to the power of the world's biggest economy and to the resilience of the U.S. economy. And then again, that's why you're seeing the stock market -- and not only the Dow, the Nasdaq and the S&P having a good year. That creates the wealth effect.

Consumers, investors -- and there are 50 million, at least, investors in their 401(k)s and mutual funds feel good when the stock market is doing well. And that may in turn, you know, pump up the economy as well -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And this is only Ben Bernanke's second Fed meeting since he took over for Alan Greenspan. How do you think he's doing? There seems to be a lot of second-guessing over the Fed's decisions. Do you think it's because of Bernanke, or is it always like that?

LISOVICZ: Well, it is kind of always like that, but it's heightened more because Ben Bernanke is so new, Kyra. And, you know, it's interesting. "The Wall Street Journal" came out with a poll just today giving him -- it was a poll of economists giving him a B plus. Not bad for just one Fed rate decision. But they said he could use a little more polishing in his communication skills. Remember, everything that the Fed chairman says is parsed over and over and over. The Fed chairman has been called the second most powerful man in the world after the U.S. president. And what happened was, the Fed chairman spoke to a reporter at the White House correspondents dinner and told her that the market got it wrong with the way they reacted very favorably.

The markets rallied to some congressional testimony he gave on Capitol Hill. He said the markets got it wrong. So then what happened when this reporter went on the air and said that? The market stalled off.

And we just have confirmation, Kyra, that the Fed has raised rates, as expected, for a 16th consecutive time to 5 percent. So you're borrowing costs are going up.

And we're seeing how that affects, actually, borrowing costs in general. Just -- OK. We did get the statement that (INAUDIBLE) shows that some further policy firming may be needed, and that is the phrase that everybody was waiting to see, if it would be contained in this statement.

It's a very short statement, and it continues a statement that really began with Alan Greenspan when he and the Federal Reserve, under his reign, began raising rates. And so, what's happening? The Dow industrials, which were close to hitting historic highs, are selling off more dramatically.

There's no indication at this point that the Fed is ready to pause, and that's why you're seeing the Dow and the Nasdaq, for that matter, and the S&P 500 selling off a little bit more aggressively -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Susan. Stay with us. You want to talk more about if you're a homeowner you better listen up, because today's interest rates and what has happened is going to make an impact on you.

If you have an adjustable rate mortgage, well, it may be time to make some changes now. Ali Velshi has more of those details from New York -- Ali.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm just going through the statement, Kyra, that's been released by the Fed to get some read as to what this is going to mean for the future. What I can tell you is, as you know, we've been watching that Dow to see where it goes.

The Dow was off 10 points just before the news came in. We're now seeing a drop of 30 points. It was off 40. So it is now starting to come up.

Immediately, as people get this statement -- the Fed releases a statement when it releases this decision. And as it releases it, we read through it, as are traders reading through it, to try to make sense what impact this has on the economy. Now, for those of you with mortgages, hold on, calm down. It doesn't actually mean a lot for you. A lot of mortgages have nothing to do with the Fed rate. In fact, I can show you, Kyra, a chart of the last 15 increases that the Fed has taken.

Well, look at that. The yellow line is the Fed increases. Look at the blue line. That's the 30-year fixed mortgage rate. It doesn't move in lockstep with the Fed rate. Mortgages are set at the Chicago Board of Trade in the bond market.

Some things are affected by -- by this Fed rate. This is called a Fed funds rate, and it's tied to something called the prime rate, Kyra.

You know, if you've got credit cards or loans that are tied to prime, well, prime is about three points higher than what the Fed rate is. So, if the Fed rate has moved to 5 percent right now, that means prime is 8 percent.

If you're a really good client at the bank, that means that's what you're paying for your loans. If you are not that good a client, you're paying prime plus three, or prime plus four, or five. That's going to affect you, some credit cards, some auto loans, home equity lines of credit. Things like that are going to get more expensive for you.

And as we speak, we're just coming in with the release from the Fed, Kyra, and it says, "The committee judges that some further policy firming may yet be needed to address inflation risks, but it emphasizes that the extent and timing of any such firming will depend on evolution of the economic outlook."

Now, what that means is the Fed is sending the message they may not be done with interest rates. If they had said, "We're done," Kyra, you would have seen that Dow pop all the way. We might have even seen it get very close to that all-time high record of 11,722. The Fed didn't say that, which means we may see more interest rates -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. You hit on a hot topic, and that is which loans are going to get more expensive. I heard you say shorter-term home equity loans.

VELSHI: Yes.

PHILLIPS: And you also said most lines of credit, right? What else?

VELSHI: Lines of credit, home equity loans, credit cards, in many cases, some auto loans. If you didn't get one of those loan finance loans from the car company, and you got it from the bank, well, they're often tied to prime.

Any -- any loan that is adjustable, that varies according to the prime rate, will move as a result of this. In fact, you will see some banks today adjusting their prime rate. This afternoon it tends to be uniform amongst -- across banks, about 3 percent higher than the Fed rate. And you will see -- so you will see a 25 basis point, a quarter of a percent increase, in any loan that you have that is tied to the prime rate today.

If it's a mortgage, it's not the same thing. Your mortgage rate right now for a 30-year fixed mortgage is about 6.67 percent, and that depends on other things.

The National Association of Realtors, Kyra, said yesterday they expect the mortgage interest rate for a 30 year to go to about 7 percent by the end of the year. It's not dependent on these Fed rates.

PHILLIPS: All right. But raising rates helps fight inflation, on the good side of things.

VELSHI: Well, that's -- you know, we think about the Fed in terms of housing prices and we think of it in terms of the stock market. Really, the Fed's job is to fight inflation.

So, when you raise rates on things like the credit cards, the auto loans, business loans, things like that, what that means is the companies who borrow money, it's more expensive for them to do so. It's more expensive for us to borrow money on our credit cards.

And you know, Kyra, we've talked about the fact that Americans have a negative savings rate. So, if you pinch up that interest rate, that means we spend less. That cools down the economy. People buy less, they spend less and inflation is contained.

PHILLIPS: Ali Velshi, we'll be talking more -- thanks.

VELSHI: OK.

PHILLIPS: Garbage in, terror out. Well, concerns about security have the U.S. and Canada talking trash. LIVE FROM dives right into the controversy straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANITA FOSTER, AMERICAN RED CROSS: One of the target areas that we'll be looking at today is our Red Cross disaster mental health team, because this particular disaster isn't going to be just about food, clothing and shelter. It's also going to be about the emotions, because people lost lives, and they lost lives in this community of folks who all know each other. So people are going to take that pretty hard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, they're going door to door in parts of Texas today, even if the doors aren't there, looking for victims of last night's deadly tornadoes. Some towns just north of Dallas look like a war zone.

Three people are dead, all were inside mobile homes. Other houses were blown off their foundations, just like you see here. Survivors report a surreal landscape after the storm. One woman says she emerged from her house only to find one of her horses in a tree.

Well, they say one man's trash is another man's treasure, but it may be that one country's trash is another country's terror.

CNN Homeland Security Correspondent Jeanne Meserve has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Michigan is making a stink over Canadian garbage. Trash picked up in Toronto is compacted into tractor-trailer trucks which hit the road for the U.S. border.

(on camera): Every day, about 350 of these trucks crammed full of trash come over bridges into Michigan.

(voice over): About 700,000 tons of trash a year, all bound for U.S. landfills.

SEN. CARL LEVIN (D), MICHIGAN: We don't need trash from Canada. Canada should take care of their own bloody trash. It's that simple.

MESERVE: But Levin is concerned about more than garbage. He is concerned about security. He believes terrorists could conceal weapons of mass destruction in trash shipments and successfully smuggle them into the U.S. He cites a recent government report which concludes the likelihood of finding prohibited items is limited because compacted trash behinders the effectiveness of high-tech screening and low-tech searches.

Trash-filled trucks are run through radiation detection portals twice in Toronto and again at the U.S. border, where some trucks are pulled aside for a closer look by Customs agents, dogs, scanning machines. A gamma ray scan recently revealed stowaways in a truckload of Styrofoam trays.

Customs and Border Protection wouldn't show us the image of compacted trash. Senator Levin does.

LEVIN: The trash is just one black glob on the x-ray. There's no way to say, oh, look at that little black spot there, that's a biological weapon, or that's a chemical weapon, or that's an illegal drug. You can't determine it.

MESERVE: But Customs and Border Protection insist agents can use the scans.

ROBERT PEREZ, U.S. CUSTOMS & BORDER PROTECTION: They are accustomed to seeing what those images of the waste should look like. If something isn't quite right, it will alert them to either look at it again or more closely with that technology, or follow it to the municipal waste site.

MESERVE: A very few trucks get that kind of inspection. As they unload, Customs agents poke around for illegal or dangerous items.

Canadian officials say the theory that terrorists might conceal valuable weapons in trash trucks is, frankly, garbage.

MAYOR DAVID MILLER, TORONTO: The idea that there's a security risk in Toronto's garbage is simply false. It's not true.

MESERVE: Canadians point out that toxic waste and other dangerous items come into their country from the U.S.

SHELLY CARROLL, TORONTO CITY COUNCIL: The biggest problem facing the city of Toronto right now is young men killing each other. And they're killing each other with guns that were purchased legally in the United States and find their way illegally across the border northward. So if you want to talk about security, we've got an issue here.

MESERVE: On both sides of the border the solution seems to be an old one: don't throw your trash in my back yard.

Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Toronto, Canada.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And stay with CNN day and night for the latest homeland security information.

The Rhode Island nightclub fire. Victims' families share their pain in court.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My life will never be the same again. I just miss my son so much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Now comes the sentence for the former band manager who set off the fireworks. We'll bring it to you live when it happens. More LIVE FROM straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Interests rates raised one quarter percent. That's how it was affecting the markets. We're talking about St. Louis now and an eight-year-old girl, the alleged victim of a shocking assault. But the age of her attackers is even more shocking, boys just six to eight years old.

Robert Townsend has more from our affiliate KMOV.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ROBERT TOWNSEND, KMOV REPORTER (voice-over): Stunning allegations at Columbia Accelerated Elementary School in North St. Louis have angered many parents.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's bad. It's terrible. These children are so disrespectful.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's sad. There was no supervision.

TOWNSEND: School officials and juvenile authorities are investigating an eight-year-old girl's claims that last Friday a group of boys sexually assaulted the second grader on the school's playground during recess. Investigators say two teachers were outside on duty at the time of the alleged attack, but they didn't realize what happened until it was too late.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They see stuff on TV and all that type of stuff, and I think it really was the teacher's responsibility to be watching the kids.

TOWNSEND: James White's (ph) daughter attends Columbia School.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm real upset, because I've got nothing but daughters. And, you know, I feel that somebody is supposed to be watching them at all times.

TOWNSEND: Moreover, others are upset because the school district didn't send home letters telling parents about the alleged assault until today. Meanwhile, Superintendent Dr. Creg Williams says the two teachers who were outside with the students were negligent.

CREG WILLIAMS, ST. LOUIS SCHOOL SUPT: Since then, I have suspended one employee, I have terminated another employee. And as this investigation continues, I will act accordingly to any other individuals who I feel or who we feel as a result of the investigation should have been doing a much better job.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Want to get straight to the Roosevelt Room. The president of the United States, a meeting today with victims of identity theft here in the Roosevelt Room. I'm being told that tomorrow he's supposed to sign off some new legislation, creating the president's identity theft task force.

Let's listen in.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... from our fellow citizens who have had their identity stolen. I listened to their ideas about how the federal government can help in the response in not only dealing with those who commit the crime, but helping those who have been victimized.

And I want to thank you all for joining. Thanks a lot. I appreciate Al Gonzales and Chairman Majoras -- Deb Majoras of the FTC for being here, because I just signed an executive order that has the attorney general as the chairman, the chairman of the FTC as the vice chairman of a coordinating group to make sure that this government of ours uses our assets in a responsible way, in a good way to not only put those people who commit identity fraud in jail, but to help the victims of identity fraud.

I've signed two pieces of legislation which are important, one of which says that credit companies must issue a credit report once a year free of charge. We're very serious about upholding the law in this administration.

And credit companies must look at the spirit and letter of that law so that when citizens ask for the free credit report on an annual basis, he or she should be given that free credit report.

I also signed a law enhancing penalties. Now what we're going to do is make sure that the 13 governmental agencies involved with identity theft have a well-coordinated strategy to help the victims and to put those who commit the theft behind bars.

And again, I want to thank you all very much for helping us understand the issues, but more importantly, giving -- telling a story of the emotions and the feelings that you went through during these difficult periods of your life.

Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: So it looks like the president signed two pieces of legislation today. It's not going to happen tomorrow. First, that credit card companies give us all a free credit report once a year, and also enhancing penalties for identity theft. He was actually meeting with victims of identity theft there at the Roosevelt Room, talking about how he's going to create the president's identity theft task force, as well as signing that legislation.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Well, you may have to pass a criminal background check to get a job, but to go to a high school prom? Well, before you buy that gown or rent that tux, better have a look at your date's permanent record. LIVE FROM goes to the principal's office to get the full story, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Tux? Check. Corsage? Check. Rap sheet? Uh-oh, no prom for you. A high school in Cape Cod is standing by a decision to screen prom dates in hopes of stopping trouble at the door. Here's CNN's Carol Costello.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Prom night -- it is the main event for many high school seniors, but students at the Dennis Yarmouth Regional High School in Cape Cod have a real beef with school officials, who this year initiated criminal background checks for non-students attending the prom. So far at least six prom dates have been banned from Saturday's big dance.

TANYA DOCKRAY, STUDENT: I bought a dress, I bought a purse, I bought a nice shawl to keep me warm.

COSTELLO: Tanya Dockray and her family have already spent $700 on the prom. She turned in the required form with information on her prom date, a guy she's been dating for three years. Last week it came back, date denied.

T. DOCKRAY: A couple years back he was in possession of marijuana.

COSTELLO (on camera): Selling it?

T. DOCKRAY: No. He just had it on him.

ANGIE DOCKRAY, MOTHER: Assault and battery, you know, really violent crimes I can understand. But this, I mean, it's really extreme.

COSTELLO (voice-over): Erica's Eckert's boyfriend was rejected by the school because of a prior alcohol possession charge.

RUSS ROBIE, BANNED DATE: They probably think that we're going to cause some ruckus or something there, you know, show up drunk or something stupid. You know, we all learn from our mistakes, and it's just ridiculous.

ERICA ECKERT, STUDENT: There's also other kids at the school that have longer records than our boyfriends and stuff like that. So it's like, you know, what's good for them should be good for everyone else.

COSTELLO: Both Erica and Tanya's families say the prom information said nothing about their dates being subjected to a criminal background check. A spokesman for the State Education Department says the screening may actually violate state law.

For its part, the Dennis Yarmouth District says, quote, "no students from Dennis Yarmouth Regional High School have been prohibited from attending the event. Although school rules allow the administration to deny access to any guest, the Dennis Yarmouth school district and both police departments are reviewing policies and procedures to ensure compliance and consistency with state regulations."

ROBERT ECKERT, FATHER: I think they're going overboard, because from what I understand, they do have a police officer there.

KATHY ECKERT, MOTHER: It's a senior prom. He's not going for this great, big, important job.

COSTELLO: Still, others say the criminal checks are a good thing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel great with what they're doing, yes, for the kids' safety.

COSTELLO: But the school's ruling changes everything seniors like Erica and Tanya, suddenly all dressed up with nowhere to go.

T. DOCKRAY: Every girl wants to go to the senior prom, and finding out that I can't go with the person I want to be with, you know, I don't want to go alone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: The parents of affected students appealed the screening, but nothing changed. The American Civil Liberties Union is investigating.

You can see more stories like this from Carol Costello on "AMERICAN MORNING." That's weekdays, 6:00 a.m. Eastern.

Straight ahead, entertainment news with A.J. Hammer of "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT." Hey, A.J.

A.J. HAMMER, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Hey there, Kyra. Big news to talk about today. Britney Spears speaking out about those pregnancy rumors that have been flying around. The question is, is a baby on the way? I will have a full and complete report when LIVE FROM returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Can you drive an SUV with two babies on your lap? We ask because it's baby time in celebrity land again. There was a surprise visit last night to deliver the news. Just in case you missed it, A.J. Hammer is here with all the scoop. A.J.?

HAMMER: Kyra, you are sitting down, right?

PHILLIPS: Yes, I'm sitting down.

HAMMER: I'm glad about that, because today's entertainment news so huge, it's the only story I'm going to tell you about. Here we go, are you ready? After months of speculation and countless tabloid reports, Britney Spears has finally laid those pregnancy rumors to rest. I'm now required by the school of obligatory Britney references to say, oops, she did it again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID LETTERMAN, TALK SHOW HOST: We've established now that you are, in fact, pregnant, is that right?

BRITNEY SPEARS, SINGER: Yes. LETTERMAN: There you go, see, Paul?

SPEARS: Don't worry, Dave. It's not yours.

LETTERMAN: Oh. I think that's good news for both of us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: That's right, hit me baby one more time. I promise you that's the last obligatory reference.

The pop princess confirmed yesterday with that surprise stop on "The Late Show with David Letterman" she is indeed expecting baby No. 2 and as you heard, the 24-year-old singer joked with the "Late Show" host as the crowd went wild upon hearing the news.

Spears already has a son, seven-month-old son Sean Preston with her husband, dancer Kevin Federline. Now until now, Spears and her camp have been very tight-lipped about the growing speculation that's been going on.

But Kyra, word of the baby is now officially out. The speculation ends right here. Actually, it ended last night. But we officially -- you know, saying it on CNN, it has different gravitas.

PHILLIPS: Oh, now parenthood hasn't always been really an easy job for Spears, right?

HAMMER: That is true, Kyra. Of course back in February, you remember, she was photographed driving with Sean Preston, as you alluded to, earlier -- Sean on her lap in between her and the steering wheel. That incident prompted the visit to her home by sheriff's deputies at the request of child welfare authorities.

Most recently agents paid the couple's home another visit. That was reportedly after the baby fell from his high chair and hit his head. So no, it hasn't exactly been smooth sailing. Baby watch is on. We're going to be doing this for some time to come.

PHILLIPS: So do we know a due date?

HAMMER: There's no official due date yet. But there's been a lot of speculation going on. There was one tabloid report that actually showed a picture of Britney saying she's pregnant. I believe that was at the beginning of last month, so you could do the math. Some reports are saying it could be as early as October.

PHILLIPS: All right, tell me you're working on something else tonight.

HAMMER: We're working on several other things tonight. My guess is we might make mention of it. But tonight on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," some serious stuff to talk about, sex sickos on the prowl in cyberspace. Looking for kids to molest, they're finding some of them performing live. It is very scary stuff and now there are T.V. shows and movies that are spreading the word about the dangers in a very dramatic way. You can see it all for yourself on T.V.'s most provocative entertainment news hour, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," 11 p.m. Eastern on CNN Headline Prime. Kyra, we will see you then.

PHILLIPS: Great to see you A.J., thanks.

Well it's been grim for the comic strips for years. Make that decades, make that generations. Dagwood Bumstead sneaking down to the kitchen for a huge sandwich. Well, Dagwood wants you to have a bite too. Dean Young, who draws the "Blondie" comic strip plans a change of Dagwood sandwich shops. The first is set to open in Florida in August. No word whether young plans and angry boss in each store yelling at Dagwood to get back to work.

So the House of Representatives is passing out laurels today to a few of its alumni. Some big names getting big tributes on Capitol Hill. We're live, we're all over it, coming up.

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