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CNN Live Today

Paris Hotel Fire; Hot Hybrids

Aired April 15, 2005 - 10:32   ET

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

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


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We are just past the half hour. Good morning once again. I'm Daryn Kagan.
Here's a look at what's happening now in the news.

Within the last hour, the man charged in the Atlanta courthouse killings returned to the building where he allegedly killed three people. Brian Nichols was surrounded by heavy security at the pre- indictment hearing. Just over a month ago, Nichols was facing a rape trial, when police say he overpowered a deputy and seized her firearm.

Hours from now, prosecutors on Cape Cod say they will announce a significant development in the murder of fashion writer Christa Worthington. She was found stabbed to death in her home of January of 2002. Two area newspapers reporting that police have arrested a local trash hauler.

And this may be the most dreaded day of the year for American taxpayers, at least those who have waited until the last minute to file their tax return. Midnight tonight is the deadline to file those returns or seek an extension.

President Bush says he's anxious to sign Congress' newly passed bankruptcy bill, and the biggest overhaul of those laws in 25 years. The new law will prevent thousands of Americans from erasing all their debts by filing for bankruptcy. The measure was pushed by the banking and credit card industries. Critics, though, say, it penalizes victims of layoffs and costly medical problems.

It was a horrific scene of total chaos as panicked parents threw their children out of windows. Trapped people were screaming for help. Occupants of a hotel in Paris desperately trying to save themselves from a fast-moving fire. The fire broke out in the middle of the night, when a lot of people were asleep. At least 20 people are confirmed dead, many of those children.

Our Paula Hancocks is near the hotel in Paris with more details -- Paula.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn.

Well, yes, it's just started to rain quite heavily here, which the firefighters are going to be very pleased about. Just about five, 10 minutes ago, we could see them pouring more water into the building, into the top floor. So obviously that shows the intensity of the fire in this six-story hotel. The latest confirmation we have is 20 people dead, as you say, 10 of those children, and also very many injured, about 50, more than 50, they believe, 11 with serious injuries.

Now they say that forensic teams are combing through the buildings at the moment, very carefully, as there is some damage that could collapse, but trying to find out exactly what started this fire. It started in the breakfast room, and then went straight into the one staircase that there was in this building, and the fire-brigade spokesman said it was like a chimney in a furnace. That's the way it swept up those stairs. So they say that when they got there at 2:00 a.m. local time, about 8:00 p.m. your time, they said that some bodies were on the pavement as people were clearly trying to jump out of the windows to get away from the heat. There was no fire exit, and they say that that is one thing they are certainly going to be investigating, the fact that the smoke alarms may not have worked and waken people from their sleep. And even if it did, there was no way of getting out as the fire was in that stairwell -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Paula, can you tell us a little bit more about this hotel? So many children staying there. Was this the type of hotel people were staying for a long amount of time?

HANCOCKS: Well, we're being told that it was probably about half tourists, then about half immigrants as well. There would have been a lot of social welfare cases there, where they would be put by the state before they find other housing for them.

Now there have been suggestions in some of these rooms there could have been three or four people staying, when in fact on the hotel records it would have showed there was just one person staying. So there's an inconsistency in the tally trying to find out exactly who was in the building at the time as well, which is complicating things, and of course whole families would have been staying there as well, which is with why so many children appear to be amongst the dead -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Just so sad.

Live from Paris. Paula Hancocks, thank you.

Domestic criminals are on the front burner at the justice department this week, looks at them, called Operation Falcon. It's a nationwide law enforcement sweep of some of the nation's most dangerous fugitives as we check out this videotape. Officials say the operation netted the most arrests ever recorded in a single operation. More than 2,000 respects rounded up, 162 were accused of or convicted of murder, 683 are wanted for armed robbery, 553 are wanted for rape or sexual assault.

Earlier today on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING," attorney general Alberto Gonzales said the raids make communities safer and open new lines of communications between law enforcement agencies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALBERTO GONZALES, U.S. ATTY. GENERAL: I think one of the greatest things that victims need to see met is to know that their perpetrators, those who have committed crimes against them, have, in fact been apprehended. I think that it was a very successful program. We rounded up over 10,000 of the most dangerous people around the country, and I think it shows the department's commitment to not only continue to fight the war on terror, but to make sure we're doing everything that we can do to make our communities safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: More than 3,000 law enforcement officials participated in this week's raids.

For weeks now, the nation's airports have posted signs about an upcoming ban on cigarette lighters. Obviously this wasn't registering with a lot of travelers. The ban on lighters in airlines cabins started yesterday. Thousands of passengers caught with the lighters. Screeners collected about 700 lighters just here at Atlanta's airport, and that was just by the middle of the day. Same thing at the smaller airports. More than 100 passengers leaving Albany, New York had to throw away lighters. No break for those returning from their Hawaiian vacations. More than 600 lighters were taken at Honolulu's airport. In Fort Lauderdale, "Sun Sentinel" reports that more than 1,000 lighters were confiscated at South Florida's three airports.

Pulsating red and green laser beams will soon warn pilots who stray into restricted airspace around the nation's capital. Authorities say they lasers are safe, and they're not the high- intensity beams that raise concerned about blinding pilots. NORAD officials say the new system is designed to protect against another 9/11-style attack. It also might prevent the downing of a plane that has innocently wandered into restricted airspace.

Was the president in the dark? Proposed rules aimed at protecting the borders would require anyone entering the U.S., including Americans, to show a passport. Mr. Bush says he was surprised to read about it in the newspapers, and he's not exactly on board. The president says his big concern is the flow of traffic and people between the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've talked to Condi about, and the homeland security people about seeing if there's some flexibility in the law that will allow for, for example, a finger image to serve as the so-called passport for daily traffic. People have to have a passport. It's going to disrupt honest flow of traffic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Canada has threatened to retaliate by imposing similar rules on U.S. citizens crossings its border.

Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security. We'll have it here for you.

Meanwhile, we're going to talk about cashing in on cars. Rising gas prices, you know about that. Some hybrid car owners are finding out they have a hot commodity. We'll explain.

Plus remember the 1979 classic "The Amityville Horror," well, it is back. So is Mr. Moviefone, joining us with a preview when CNN LIVE TODAY returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: We're talking hybrids today, cars that run on gas and electricity. They're enjoying this surge in popularity, understandably. In some cases, entrepreneurial hybrid owners have been selling their cars for more than they paid for them.

CNN's Allan Chernoff explains how some owners are cashing in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ken Ruck, proud owner of a brand new Toyota Prius. Fully loaded and with a hybrid engine, gas and electric, it gets 55 miles per gallon.

KEN RUCK, PRIUS OWNER: I love this car because, not only is it saving money on gas, but it also is pretty cool.

CHERNOFF: What he'd love even more would be to sell the Prius at a profit of $10,000. Ken, an employee of Virgin Mobil, is advertising on the web to sell for $37,000.

RUCK: I posted the car on Craig's List Web site for $10,000 more than I paid for it, and pretty much every day since then, I've had three to four e-mails offering me not as much as what I'm asking for, but more than what I paid for it.

CHERNOFF: Yes, the Prius is popular. Toyota says the average wait for the car is two months.

(on camera): With gasoline prices near record levels, some people don't want to wait. They want their Prius now. Kelly Blue Book, the authority on car prices, says used Priuses are selling for $1,000 to $3,000 above sticker price. You can find them at cars.com or eBay Motors, but $10,000 above list?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're either crazy, or it's a great car. One or the other.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, maybe he's a better businessman than I am.

CHERNOFF (voice-over): This Toyota dealer says his customers need wait only a month for a Prius, but in New York, he says, anything is possible.

BRUCE EDLEMAN, QUEENSBORO TOYOTA: We're not paying $10,000 more for a car, no matter how great the car is. But there are some individuals who really want the car, and they're like on a quest that they want to get that car, and they'll pay. They'll pay a high, premium over the sticker price of what the customer paid for it. Probably he will get it.

CHERNOFF: If Ken Ruck gets his price, he says he'll buy another Prius to turn a quick buck, but perhaps only he sees green when looking at his silver car. At the very least, he'll save money on gas as he shows off his Prius.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF: Well, if Ken actually can sell that Prius for $10,000 more than he just paid for it, I've got a bridge a few blocks away from here that I would like to put on the market -- Daryn?

KAGAN: It would take, even at gas prices what they are now, it would take a long time to make that $10,000 mark-up pay off.

CHERNOFF: No question about that.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

KAGAN: 1980, you remember the U.S. Olympic hockey team upsetting the Soviets? CNN first signed on the air and the door opened to 25 breathtaking breakthroughs in technology. For a quick preview, let's check in at the dotcom desk with CNN's Veronica De La Cruz.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN.COM CORRESPONDENT: Can you imagine life without the remote control? The Internet? How about cell phones? At cnn.com, a look at the look at the top 25 innovations over the past quarter century. We've come a long way since the '80s, when telephones were stuck to walls and facts were found on your bookshelves. According to a panel of experts, it's the advent of the wireless world that has done the most to revolutionize life as we know it.

This interactive gallery highlights the top ten technological innovations, from digital storage, which gives us the ability to store tons of information in cell phones or digital cameras, to the wireless world, and the proliferation of personal digital assistants and wi-fi.

How much do you know about technological innovations? You can find out in this interactive quiz. For example, in which decade did the Zenith company develop the first remote control for television? Was it the '40s, '50s, '60s or '70s? You can log on for the answer.

For a complete list of the top 25 innovations, go to cnn.com/cnn25. You can also join CNN's Daniel Sieberg as he counts down the top 25 breakthroughs in technology from the last 25 years. That's this Sunday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

From the dotcom news desk in Atlanta, I'm Veronica De La Cruz.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Flashback to the 1930s to shanghai, gangs ruling the streets by doing the kung fu hussle. At least that's the premise of a box office movie this weekend. Mr. Moviefone, joining us with a preview. CNN LIVE TODAY is back right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Why didn't you tell us about the people who died here?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Did you hear that?

The babysitter told me that two little boys died in our room.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Well, now there's a fine flick to take the kids to and give the kids jitters at bedtime. But will the new version of the Amityville horror scare up business at the box office?

To answer that and preview a flick that was meant to be funny, a different one, we're joined by Russ Leatherman, the voice of Mr. Moviefone.

Hi, Russ.

RUSS LEATHERMAN, "MR. MOVIEFONE": Hello, Daryn. How are you?

KAGAN: I'm doing fine. All is right with the world because you're here with the bad dream movie.

LEATHERMAN: And I knew this would make you happy in the morning, he has a good question. Dad, why didn't you tell us about the quadruple homicide that happened before we moved in the house.

KAGAN: You're a father. You might mention that to your kids.

LEATHERMAN: I would tell them. I would tell them what was going on.

KAGAN: Good for you.

LEATHERMAN: I really would.

Here's the thing, this is a remake. And you know it's a slow movie week, Daryn, when the biggest movie you have is a remake of a 1970s classic. And we are talking about "The Amityville Horror." Now everybody probably knows the story, and the first movie was really creepy, but it's about this family who moves into this house that this quadruple homicide has happened, and that's questionable behavior right out of the gate. But they move into this creepy haunted house and guess what happens? That's right.

KAGAN: Bad things.

LEATHERMAN: Bad things happen, Daryn. And here's the first sign, when dad goes outside and starts chopping wood, it's time to call the realtor and move, I think. It's time to get out. They don't do that here. They stay for 28 days while all of these terrible things happen.

And here's the deal on the movie, I thought it was OK. I didn't think it was terrible. I think if you pay 10 bucks to see the recent string of horror flicks that have been in theaters, this one is as good as those are, but it's not as creepy as the first one. It's rated 'R,' so it's got a lot of the requisite jumps, and gore, and scares and all those things you'd expect from a movie.

KAGAN: Excellent.

LEATHERMAN: Just right up your alley, Daryn.

KAGAN: Let's just move ahead to fun. How about "Kung Fu Hustle?" What is that?

LEATHERMAN: I want to talk about the scary some more. No, I'm just kidding. "Kung Fu Hustle," this is a very, very funny movie, and I couldn't recommend it more highly. I think you're going to enjoy it. It's by Steven Chow, the guy who did "Shaolin Soccer," and it's a crazy setup of these martial arts films. He plays a small-time hustler. He wants to be a member of this notorious Hong Kong ax gang, and his crazy antics sort of pit him against an entire town of kung fu experts.

I have to tell you, this is a strange brew of action comedy, musical drama, and it really is an absolute blast. The slapstick moves at 100 miles an hour. It's really one of those movies that you just sit there, you just have fun at. And I think this is well worth your 10 bucks.

Now let me say, it's in Chinese, OK?

KAGAN: Oh, there's that.

LEATHERMAN: So there is that, and you have to read a little bit, but, man, this is what these movies were meant to be. It reminded me a lot of the older Jackie Chan movies. We've had these kinds of movies "House of Flying," "Hero," have taking this genre really, really seriously. I like that this one went back and totally makes fun of the whole thing, so I think this is well worth your 10 bucks.

KAGAN: We will look for that. Mr. Moviefone, Russ Leatherman, thank you. You have a great weekend.

LEATHERMAN: You, too.

KAGAN: We have breaking news coming out of Massachusetts, an arrest in the longtime mysterious murder of a single mother on Cape Cod. We'll have more on that story just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: This just in to CNN, prosecutors in Cape Cod plan to announce a significant development in a long time mysterious murder, the murder of Christa Worthington. This is one that has been a mystery for a long time on this little island. We have on the phone with us now Maria Flook. She wrote the book on this murder. It's called "Invisible Eden," and she's joining us on the phone now tell us more about the man we believe who might be charged with the crime, also about the mystery surrounding the women and the unsolved crime.

Maria, thanks for being here with us.

MARIA FLOOK, AUTHOR, "INVISIBLE EDEN": It's nice to be here. It's an exciting day for us in Touro.

KAGAN: First of all, what do you know about the man who prosecutors plan to announce has been arrested?

FLOOK: I know probably not much more than the general public, being that the news about him is still hearsay in the local newspapers, and until the district attorney stands up there at the microphone and gives us the full story, what we do know about this possible alleged suspect is that he was a local trash collector in Touro. He picked up trash from Christa Worthington's house.

In Touro, there is no trash pickup unless you pay for it. Most of the local citizens drive to the dump with their trash themselves, but they do have people pick up trash, and apparently this fellow has some history of being violent to women. He has restraining orders against him, and he also has a criminal sheet. He was apparently in a car-theft activity or something like that. So if this person does turn out to be arrested and his DNA is the matching DNA, it will be interesting to find out how Christa...

KAGAN: What the connection was there.

FLOOK: Right.

KAGAN: Let me just say the Associated Press reporting, two newspapers in Boston reporting the man's name is Christopher McCown (ph), as you said, a trash hauler who lives in a rooming house in Hienas (ph).

Now take us back, not a lot of murders can warrant an entire book, but this was very unusual in that Christa Worthington was a single mother. When her body was found, she had been stabbed to death and her 2-year-old daughter was found clinging to her mother's body. The father of that baby had some spotlight put on him when this murder took place.

FLOOK: Yes, this was an out-of-wedlock baby. Christa was a very interesting woman. She was an older woman in her 40s when she had her first baby. She was a fashion writer for "Women's Wear Daily," and "The New York Times" and "Elle" magazine, had lived in Paris, London, New York City for the majority of her adult life, and then decided to go home to Touro where she spent her childhood summers, and her desire for a baby was very strong. And when she got pregnant with a local fisherman, she decided to have the baby, whether he liked it or not, and she did not have any help from him in the beginning, in the first two years of her baby's life, and was a single mother figure here in Touro.

She really represents, I think, the American woman that a lot of women can really identify with, a single mother who decided to raise a baby on her own. She left, you know, a very fashionable and successful career, to become a mother, and so our sympathy is very strong for her, and then to be murdered in a place she returns for refuge and for a new life, really, I think hit, you know, in the guy. Anytime you have a baby at the center of a murder, and this baby was found clinging to her mother's body.

KAGAN: A dramatic, dramatic story.

FLOCK: ... unfound for -- hadn't been found for possibly up to 36 hours after the murder. So the baby was in the house. And apparently, there were traces that she tried to care for her mother, who was laying on the kitchen floor.

The news of perhaps finally having somebody to blame this on is, you know, something this town really has been waiting for. We haven't had a murder for 30 years.

KAGAN: And hopefully that will be at least 30 until the town needs to look at another one. We're going to learn a lot more, as you said, when prosecutors make their announcement about the man that they say have arrested or will be arresting in this case.

Maria Flock, thank you.

FLOCK: Thank you. OK.

KAGAN: Once again, the book is called "Invisible Eden." And this arrest in the murder of former fashion writer Christa Worthington, more on that.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired April 15, 2005 - 10:32   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We are just past the half hour. Good morning once again. I'm Daryn Kagan.
Here's a look at what's happening now in the news.

Within the last hour, the man charged in the Atlanta courthouse killings returned to the building where he allegedly killed three people. Brian Nichols was surrounded by heavy security at the pre- indictment hearing. Just over a month ago, Nichols was facing a rape trial, when police say he overpowered a deputy and seized her firearm.

Hours from now, prosecutors on Cape Cod say they will announce a significant development in the murder of fashion writer Christa Worthington. She was found stabbed to death in her home of January of 2002. Two area newspapers reporting that police have arrested a local trash hauler.

And this may be the most dreaded day of the year for American taxpayers, at least those who have waited until the last minute to file their tax return. Midnight tonight is the deadline to file those returns or seek an extension.

President Bush says he's anxious to sign Congress' newly passed bankruptcy bill, and the biggest overhaul of those laws in 25 years. The new law will prevent thousands of Americans from erasing all their debts by filing for bankruptcy. The measure was pushed by the banking and credit card industries. Critics, though, say, it penalizes victims of layoffs and costly medical problems.

It was a horrific scene of total chaos as panicked parents threw their children out of windows. Trapped people were screaming for help. Occupants of a hotel in Paris desperately trying to save themselves from a fast-moving fire. The fire broke out in the middle of the night, when a lot of people were asleep. At least 20 people are confirmed dead, many of those children.

Our Paula Hancocks is near the hotel in Paris with more details -- Paula.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn.

Well, yes, it's just started to rain quite heavily here, which the firefighters are going to be very pleased about. Just about five, 10 minutes ago, we could see them pouring more water into the building, into the top floor. So obviously that shows the intensity of the fire in this six-story hotel. The latest confirmation we have is 20 people dead, as you say, 10 of those children, and also very many injured, about 50, more than 50, they believe, 11 with serious injuries.

Now they say that forensic teams are combing through the buildings at the moment, very carefully, as there is some damage that could collapse, but trying to find out exactly what started this fire. It started in the breakfast room, and then went straight into the one staircase that there was in this building, and the fire-brigade spokesman said it was like a chimney in a furnace. That's the way it swept up those stairs. So they say that when they got there at 2:00 a.m. local time, about 8:00 p.m. your time, they said that some bodies were on the pavement as people were clearly trying to jump out of the windows to get away from the heat. There was no fire exit, and they say that that is one thing they are certainly going to be investigating, the fact that the smoke alarms may not have worked and waken people from their sleep. And even if it did, there was no way of getting out as the fire was in that stairwell -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Paula, can you tell us a little bit more about this hotel? So many children staying there. Was this the type of hotel people were staying for a long amount of time?

HANCOCKS: Well, we're being told that it was probably about half tourists, then about half immigrants as well. There would have been a lot of social welfare cases there, where they would be put by the state before they find other housing for them.

Now there have been suggestions in some of these rooms there could have been three or four people staying, when in fact on the hotel records it would have showed there was just one person staying. So there's an inconsistency in the tally trying to find out exactly who was in the building at the time as well, which is complicating things, and of course whole families would have been staying there as well, which is with why so many children appear to be amongst the dead -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Just so sad.

Live from Paris. Paula Hancocks, thank you.

Domestic criminals are on the front burner at the justice department this week, looks at them, called Operation Falcon. It's a nationwide law enforcement sweep of some of the nation's most dangerous fugitives as we check out this videotape. Officials say the operation netted the most arrests ever recorded in a single operation. More than 2,000 respects rounded up, 162 were accused of or convicted of murder, 683 are wanted for armed robbery, 553 are wanted for rape or sexual assault.

Earlier today on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING," attorney general Alberto Gonzales said the raids make communities safer and open new lines of communications between law enforcement agencies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALBERTO GONZALES, U.S. ATTY. GENERAL: I think one of the greatest things that victims need to see met is to know that their perpetrators, those who have committed crimes against them, have, in fact been apprehended. I think that it was a very successful program. We rounded up over 10,000 of the most dangerous people around the country, and I think it shows the department's commitment to not only continue to fight the war on terror, but to make sure we're doing everything that we can do to make our communities safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: More than 3,000 law enforcement officials participated in this week's raids.

For weeks now, the nation's airports have posted signs about an upcoming ban on cigarette lighters. Obviously this wasn't registering with a lot of travelers. The ban on lighters in airlines cabins started yesterday. Thousands of passengers caught with the lighters. Screeners collected about 700 lighters just here at Atlanta's airport, and that was just by the middle of the day. Same thing at the smaller airports. More than 100 passengers leaving Albany, New York had to throw away lighters. No break for those returning from their Hawaiian vacations. More than 600 lighters were taken at Honolulu's airport. In Fort Lauderdale, "Sun Sentinel" reports that more than 1,000 lighters were confiscated at South Florida's three airports.

Pulsating red and green laser beams will soon warn pilots who stray into restricted airspace around the nation's capital. Authorities say they lasers are safe, and they're not the high- intensity beams that raise concerned about blinding pilots. NORAD officials say the new system is designed to protect against another 9/11-style attack. It also might prevent the downing of a plane that has innocently wandered into restricted airspace.

Was the president in the dark? Proposed rules aimed at protecting the borders would require anyone entering the U.S., including Americans, to show a passport. Mr. Bush says he was surprised to read about it in the newspapers, and he's not exactly on board. The president says his big concern is the flow of traffic and people between the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've talked to Condi about, and the homeland security people about seeing if there's some flexibility in the law that will allow for, for example, a finger image to serve as the so-called passport for daily traffic. People have to have a passport. It's going to disrupt honest flow of traffic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Canada has threatened to retaliate by imposing similar rules on U.S. citizens crossings its border.

Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security. We'll have it here for you.

Meanwhile, we're going to talk about cashing in on cars. Rising gas prices, you know about that. Some hybrid car owners are finding out they have a hot commodity. We'll explain.

Plus remember the 1979 classic "The Amityville Horror," well, it is back. So is Mr. Moviefone, joining us with a preview when CNN LIVE TODAY returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: We're talking hybrids today, cars that run on gas and electricity. They're enjoying this surge in popularity, understandably. In some cases, entrepreneurial hybrid owners have been selling their cars for more than they paid for them.

CNN's Allan Chernoff explains how some owners are cashing in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ken Ruck, proud owner of a brand new Toyota Prius. Fully loaded and with a hybrid engine, gas and electric, it gets 55 miles per gallon.

KEN RUCK, PRIUS OWNER: I love this car because, not only is it saving money on gas, but it also is pretty cool.

CHERNOFF: What he'd love even more would be to sell the Prius at a profit of $10,000. Ken, an employee of Virgin Mobil, is advertising on the web to sell for $37,000.

RUCK: I posted the car on Craig's List Web site for $10,000 more than I paid for it, and pretty much every day since then, I've had three to four e-mails offering me not as much as what I'm asking for, but more than what I paid for it.

CHERNOFF: Yes, the Prius is popular. Toyota says the average wait for the car is two months.

(on camera): With gasoline prices near record levels, some people don't want to wait. They want their Prius now. Kelly Blue Book, the authority on car prices, says used Priuses are selling for $1,000 to $3,000 above sticker price. You can find them at cars.com or eBay Motors, but $10,000 above list?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're either crazy, or it's a great car. One or the other.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, maybe he's a better businessman than I am.

CHERNOFF (voice-over): This Toyota dealer says his customers need wait only a month for a Prius, but in New York, he says, anything is possible.

BRUCE EDLEMAN, QUEENSBORO TOYOTA: We're not paying $10,000 more for a car, no matter how great the car is. But there are some individuals who really want the car, and they're like on a quest that they want to get that car, and they'll pay. They'll pay a high, premium over the sticker price of what the customer paid for it. Probably he will get it.

CHERNOFF: If Ken Ruck gets his price, he says he'll buy another Prius to turn a quick buck, but perhaps only he sees green when looking at his silver car. At the very least, he'll save money on gas as he shows off his Prius.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHERNOFF: Well, if Ken actually can sell that Prius for $10,000 more than he just paid for it, I've got a bridge a few blocks away from here that I would like to put on the market -- Daryn?

KAGAN: It would take, even at gas prices what they are now, it would take a long time to make that $10,000 mark-up pay off.

CHERNOFF: No question about that.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

KAGAN: 1980, you remember the U.S. Olympic hockey team upsetting the Soviets? CNN first signed on the air and the door opened to 25 breathtaking breakthroughs in technology. For a quick preview, let's check in at the dotcom desk with CNN's Veronica De La Cruz.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN.COM CORRESPONDENT: Can you imagine life without the remote control? The Internet? How about cell phones? At cnn.com, a look at the look at the top 25 innovations over the past quarter century. We've come a long way since the '80s, when telephones were stuck to walls and facts were found on your bookshelves. According to a panel of experts, it's the advent of the wireless world that has done the most to revolutionize life as we know it.

This interactive gallery highlights the top ten technological innovations, from digital storage, which gives us the ability to store tons of information in cell phones or digital cameras, to the wireless world, and the proliferation of personal digital assistants and wi-fi.

How much do you know about technological innovations? You can find out in this interactive quiz. For example, in which decade did the Zenith company develop the first remote control for television? Was it the '40s, '50s, '60s or '70s? You can log on for the answer.

For a complete list of the top 25 innovations, go to cnn.com/cnn25. You can also join CNN's Daniel Sieberg as he counts down the top 25 breakthroughs in technology from the last 25 years. That's this Sunday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

From the dotcom news desk in Atlanta, I'm Veronica De La Cruz.

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KAGAN: Flashback to the 1930s to shanghai, gangs ruling the streets by doing the kung fu hussle. At least that's the premise of a box office movie this weekend. Mr. Moviefone, joining us with a preview. CNN LIVE TODAY is back right after this.

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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Why didn't you tell us about the people who died here?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Did you hear that?

The babysitter told me that two little boys died in our room.

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KAGAN: Well, now there's a fine flick to take the kids to and give the kids jitters at bedtime. But will the new version of the Amityville horror scare up business at the box office?

To answer that and preview a flick that was meant to be funny, a different one, we're joined by Russ Leatherman, the voice of Mr. Moviefone.

Hi, Russ.

RUSS LEATHERMAN, "MR. MOVIEFONE": Hello, Daryn. How are you?

KAGAN: I'm doing fine. All is right with the world because you're here with the bad dream movie.

LEATHERMAN: And I knew this would make you happy in the morning, he has a good question. Dad, why didn't you tell us about the quadruple homicide that happened before we moved in the house.

KAGAN: You're a father. You might mention that to your kids.

LEATHERMAN: I would tell them. I would tell them what was going on.

KAGAN: Good for you.

LEATHERMAN: I really would.

Here's the thing, this is a remake. And you know it's a slow movie week, Daryn, when the biggest movie you have is a remake of a 1970s classic. And we are talking about "The Amityville Horror." Now everybody probably knows the story, and the first movie was really creepy, but it's about this family who moves into this house that this quadruple homicide has happened, and that's questionable behavior right out of the gate. But they move into this creepy haunted house and guess what happens? That's right.

KAGAN: Bad things.

LEATHERMAN: Bad things happen, Daryn. And here's the first sign, when dad goes outside and starts chopping wood, it's time to call the realtor and move, I think. It's time to get out. They don't do that here. They stay for 28 days while all of these terrible things happen.

And here's the deal on the movie, I thought it was OK. I didn't think it was terrible. I think if you pay 10 bucks to see the recent string of horror flicks that have been in theaters, this one is as good as those are, but it's not as creepy as the first one. It's rated 'R,' so it's got a lot of the requisite jumps, and gore, and scares and all those things you'd expect from a movie.

KAGAN: Excellent.

LEATHERMAN: Just right up your alley, Daryn.

KAGAN: Let's just move ahead to fun. How about "Kung Fu Hustle?" What is that?

LEATHERMAN: I want to talk about the scary some more. No, I'm just kidding. "Kung Fu Hustle," this is a very, very funny movie, and I couldn't recommend it more highly. I think you're going to enjoy it. It's by Steven Chow, the guy who did "Shaolin Soccer," and it's a crazy setup of these martial arts films. He plays a small-time hustler. He wants to be a member of this notorious Hong Kong ax gang, and his crazy antics sort of pit him against an entire town of kung fu experts.

I have to tell you, this is a strange brew of action comedy, musical drama, and it really is an absolute blast. The slapstick moves at 100 miles an hour. It's really one of those movies that you just sit there, you just have fun at. And I think this is well worth your 10 bucks.

Now let me say, it's in Chinese, OK?

KAGAN: Oh, there's that.

LEATHERMAN: So there is that, and you have to read a little bit, but, man, this is what these movies were meant to be. It reminded me a lot of the older Jackie Chan movies. We've had these kinds of movies "House of Flying," "Hero," have taking this genre really, really seriously. I like that this one went back and totally makes fun of the whole thing, so I think this is well worth your 10 bucks.

KAGAN: We will look for that. Mr. Moviefone, Russ Leatherman, thank you. You have a great weekend.

LEATHERMAN: You, too.

KAGAN: We have breaking news coming out of Massachusetts, an arrest in the longtime mysterious murder of a single mother on Cape Cod. We'll have more on that story just ahead.

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KAGAN: This just in to CNN, prosecutors in Cape Cod plan to announce a significant development in a long time mysterious murder, the murder of Christa Worthington. This is one that has been a mystery for a long time on this little island. We have on the phone with us now Maria Flook. She wrote the book on this murder. It's called "Invisible Eden," and she's joining us on the phone now tell us more about the man we believe who might be charged with the crime, also about the mystery surrounding the women and the unsolved crime.

Maria, thanks for being here with us.

MARIA FLOOK, AUTHOR, "INVISIBLE EDEN": It's nice to be here. It's an exciting day for us in Touro.

KAGAN: First of all, what do you know about the man who prosecutors plan to announce has been arrested?

FLOOK: I know probably not much more than the general public, being that the news about him is still hearsay in the local newspapers, and until the district attorney stands up there at the microphone and gives us the full story, what we do know about this possible alleged suspect is that he was a local trash collector in Touro. He picked up trash from Christa Worthington's house.

In Touro, there is no trash pickup unless you pay for it. Most of the local citizens drive to the dump with their trash themselves, but they do have people pick up trash, and apparently this fellow has some history of being violent to women. He has restraining orders against him, and he also has a criminal sheet. He was apparently in a car-theft activity or something like that. So if this person does turn out to be arrested and his DNA is the matching DNA, it will be interesting to find out how Christa...

KAGAN: What the connection was there.

FLOOK: Right.

KAGAN: Let me just say the Associated Press reporting, two newspapers in Boston reporting the man's name is Christopher McCown (ph), as you said, a trash hauler who lives in a rooming house in Hienas (ph).

Now take us back, not a lot of murders can warrant an entire book, but this was very unusual in that Christa Worthington was a single mother. When her body was found, she had been stabbed to death and her 2-year-old daughter was found clinging to her mother's body. The father of that baby had some spotlight put on him when this murder took place.

FLOOK: Yes, this was an out-of-wedlock baby. Christa was a very interesting woman. She was an older woman in her 40s when she had her first baby. She was a fashion writer for "Women's Wear Daily," and "The New York Times" and "Elle" magazine, had lived in Paris, London, New York City for the majority of her adult life, and then decided to go home to Touro where she spent her childhood summers, and her desire for a baby was very strong. And when she got pregnant with a local fisherman, she decided to have the baby, whether he liked it or not, and she did not have any help from him in the beginning, in the first two years of her baby's life, and was a single mother figure here in Touro.

She really represents, I think, the American woman that a lot of women can really identify with, a single mother who decided to raise a baby on her own. She left, you know, a very fashionable and successful career, to become a mother, and so our sympathy is very strong for her, and then to be murdered in a place she returns for refuge and for a new life, really, I think hit, you know, in the guy. Anytime you have a baby at the center of a murder, and this baby was found clinging to her mother's body.

KAGAN: A dramatic, dramatic story.

FLOCK: ... unfound for -- hadn't been found for possibly up to 36 hours after the murder. So the baby was in the house. And apparently, there were traces that she tried to care for her mother, who was laying on the kitchen floor.

The news of perhaps finally having somebody to blame this on is, you know, something this town really has been waiting for. We haven't had a murder for 30 years.

KAGAN: And hopefully that will be at least 30 until the town needs to look at another one. We're going to learn a lot more, as you said, when prosecutors make their announcement about the man that they say have arrested or will be arresting in this case.

Maria Flock, thank you.

FLOCK: Thank you. OK.

KAGAN: Once again, the book is called "Invisible Eden." And this arrest in the murder of former fashion writer Christa Worthington, more on that.

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