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CNN Live Today

Runaway Bride; Cheating 101

Aired May 05, 2005 - 10:33   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: A man accused of highway attacks in Ohio is awaiting a jury's decision. Jurors will begin their first full day of deliberations today in the case of Charles McCoy Jr. He is accused of 12 shootings over five months in the Columbus area. Both sides concede he was mentally ill, but a jury must decide his state of mind.
Let's take a look at other stories making news coast to coast. This arrest in Houston, Texas -- Oh! -- is now under investigation. Whoa! The man who was clipped by the police vehicle was allegedly being pursued because he snatched a purse outside of a Wal-Mart, then led officers on a high-speed chase. Police say the patrol vehicle slid on the wet field and hit him on accident.

Two deli owners in New Jersey making a very special delivery to Iraq. The bothers are shipping two tons of meat in the form of some 2,000 salamis. They're going to feed the entire 42nd Infantry Division in Tikrit. The men sought donations for "Operation Salami Drop." They say one girl donated $1,000 from bat mitzvah.

In California, a runaway groom returns to his Redondo 7Beach fiance. This time it's the groom. The 51-year-old failed to show up for his wedding. Foul play war feared. He was missing for a month. Turns out not only is he alive and well, he's also thinner. He lost about 40 pounds walking up and down the beaches of Southern California. All right.

Well, later today the so-called runaway bride is expected to stop and face the music a bit, at least on paper. Jennifer Wilbanks is due to issue her first public statement on her flight from the altar that triggered a costly search in and around her small Georgia town. Our Carol Lin is there. She is in Gainesville, Georgia, north of us here in Atlanta.

Carol, good morning.

CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Daryn.

I mean, this case is filled with surprises, because it was billed, today's 1:00 news conference billed as a comprehensive statement from Jennifer Wilbanks. But it has been postponed until 4:00. Our understanding is it's very unlikely we're going to hear from the woman herself. Her own attorney has described her as simply physically unable to speak.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LYDIA SARTAIN, ATTORNEY FOR JENNIFER WILBANKS: She had quite a trauma. She's been under an awful lot of pressure. That was what drove her away to start with, and really, she just has not been really physically or emotionally able to speak on her behalf. I mean, she can't even get through a complete conversation with me without breaking down. So she -- this does not help her stress level, and so I encouraged her to look after herself and take care of herself first.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: So, Daryn, what we were anticipating hearing from is her attorney, Lydia Sartain, as well as possibly the spokesperson from the Lakewood Baptist Church here. This young woman, Jennifer Wilbanks, still not seen in public since she made it through the Albuquerque airport with a blanket over her head, is emotionally distraught, according to her attorney. What she may be doing is seeking some kind of professional help. She has been getting counseling here at her church.

But, Daryn, the attorney isn't even being really specific about how much time she has even spent with her fiance, or even specifically whether, in fact, the wedding will still be on, whether it's even postponed.

In the meantime, apparently there's some discussions going on with Duluth authorities over some form of restitution. The attorney has said that she actually wants to see an itemized expense checklist before they start talking about dollars and cents, or whether there would be restitution at all -- Daryn.

KAGAN: All right, we'll wait and see if the bride shows up. She didn't last Saturday. We'll see what happens today.

Carol, thank you.

CNN will carry that statement live this afternoon. Again, we don't know if Jennifer Wilbanks is showing up or not, but we'll be ready, right now scheduled for 4:00 Eastern, 1:00 Pacific.

Still to come on this hour of CNN LIVE TODAY, are your children getting the grade they deserve? Or is there cheating going on? And are teaching helping? It's the story every parent will want to see.

Plus, Big Blue announcing big cuts. That story and a check of the financial markets coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

KAGAN: We've heard about kids cheating on tests in school, but this story about cheating might surprise you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kids were looking at me with blank stares. I said, what are you waiting on? And about a third of my students said the answers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Teachers bending the rules and how that could be cheating your child, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Pictures and information in on some breaking news out of Houston, Texas. Police there saying a man shot and killed two people this morning at an oil company office building. The shooting occurred about 8:30 a.m. local time. The building houses Cameron Oil Company. No information -- other information -- about the shooting or the gunman immediately available, including whether or not the gunman is in custody at this time. We will work on getting more information out of Houston, Texas.

The "no child left behind" law put a lot of public schools under pressure to raise test scores. And in some cases, it may have led to a culture of sanctioned cheating. This excerpt from Sunday night "CNN PRESENTS," documentary filmmaker Stanley Nelson looks into the allegations at one elementary school in Houston.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REPORTER: In 2003, another scandal hit the Houston school district. This time there were allegations of cheating.

DONNA GARNER, ELEMENTARY TEACHER: I was approached by the principal and informed that I didn't know how to give tests the Wesley way. And then I was informed on how to give the test the Wesley way. And that the expectation was that I would give the test the Wesley way, which is cheating.

All right, boys and girls we're going to go ahead and begin. Open your test booklets.

JULIE JARAMILLO, MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHER: I handed out the TEX test, I read the instructions out of the administrators manual. I said OK, get busy.

The kids were looking at me with blank stares. I said, what are you waiting on? And about a third of my students said, the answers.

I know that the teachers cheating, because kids have told me that's how it was done with their particular teacher.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She would like walk around the room and you would see that she would be helping kids and telling them that the answer is wrong. You need to do it over.

GARNER: I was to stop behind them and until they placed their finger on the right answer. Then I was to continue walking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They might come behind us and like peek over our shoulder and tell us if the answer is wrong or right. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I heard her talking to students next to me saying, well which one do you think is right? Which one do you think is wrong? And helping them eliminate.

GARNER: It's disturbing to me that we're not only taking away their education, but we're instilling in small young children -- nine, ten years old -- that whatever works for you is OK.

But it's not only the teachers fault, this isn't coming from a lower level, this is coming from way up in the district.

REPORTER: The principal of Wesley Elementary declined to speak with CNN. Accusations of fraud first surfaced in 2003 when teachers began reporting incidents of cheating to the school board and to the Houston Teachers Union. While an investigation was started by the school district, it quickly stalled.

ABE SAAVEDRA, SUPERINTENDENT: I'm not sure what happened. We have -- I reviewed the file. And it seems that a year or so back it things kind of stopped as far as -- I can't -- I don't know why they didn't do any further.

REPORTER: It wasn't until January of 2005 that current Houston School Superintendent Abe Saavedra launched a new investigation examining allegations of cheating at 23 Houston schools.

SAAVEDRA: I think that testing and assessment is important. The fact is that in this school district as there is in the human race, there are dishonest people. All right. And we don't throw out programs because there's a few people that may abuse the situation.

REPORTER: The problem is not unique to Houston. 44 other schools in Texas are under investigation for suspicious rises in test scores. And within the past year, seven states have launched investigations, suspended staff or thrown out tainted scores.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Be sure to watch Stanley Nelson's hour-long documentary this Sunday night on "CNN PRESENTS." It's called "High Stakes: The Battle to Save Our Schools." It premieres at 8:00 p.m. Eastern here on CNN.

Many experienced teachers say that students are motivated to learn when they have any interesting study materials. This is especially true when it comes to reading, an area where boys often lag behind girls.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Many experienced teachers say students are more motivated to learn when they have interesting study materials. This is especially true when it comes to reading, an area where boys often lag behind girls. "Guys Write for Guys" is an anthology of stories aimed specifically at young, male readers, and the man behind all this is writer Jon Scieszka. He is the author of numerous unorthodox highly popular children's books. He's also a veteran school teacher.

Good morning. Thanks for being here with us.

JON SCIESZKA, "GUYS WRITE FOR GUYS READ": Good morning. My pleasure.

KAGAN: Well, you're a guy, and you grew up with a bunch of guys, five brothers, right?

SCIESZKA: Yes.

KAGAN: So why don't guys like to read?

SCIESZKA: It's a weird mixture of problems. A lot of it is they're not shown books that they really enjoy reading early on in school.

KAGAN: And you want to stop that trend. You want to get boys, kids turned on to reading.

SCIESZKA: Yes, I started a nonprofit literacy group called Guys Read just to connect with boys, or just at least for starters to tell people guys are having trouble reading. It's been happening for a long time.

KAGAN: Let's just start talking about it first. Now does it have to be a regular book that a boy reads. Like I remember growing up, I loved reading books. My brother loved "Mad" magazines, but he really wasn't interesting in books, but it's still reading, right?

SCIESZKA: Yes, I think that's exactly a real concrete thing we can do. We can make a wider choice of reading for boys, like magazines, newspapers, humorous books. That's stuff that's not too often seen as legitimate reading in schools.

KAGAN: And so with this book, "Guys Write for Guys" or Guys Read, your target audience, boys 11 years old and up.

SCIESZKA: Yes, it's -- my idea was to just ask all these people I know in the business to write about what it's like to be a guy, so there's...

KAGAN: Can you explain guys to us? That's a different topic. That's a whole different day.

SCIESZKA: That's a huge topic. We're going to need another couple hours.

KAGAN: That's a show.

SCIESZKA: But see, that's the thing everyone realizes, like, boys are different from girls. So let's take that into consideration, and maybe guys read -- learn to read differently.

KAGAN: So you took some of these famous writers, some of these famous guys, and you said write to boys about stuff that they're interested in, and so you get Steven King writing about farting. Excuse my language, but that was in the book.

SCIESZKA: Exactly. Well, I left it a pretty broad assignment. I said just write about growing up being a guy, and so there were guys...

KAGAN: And so that's going to include you know what for boys.

SCIESZKA: A lot of farting. Gary Paulson has a story peeing on an electric fence. Somebody else has hammering a bullet. A lot of good stuff in here.

KAGAN: Talking to your inner boy.

And so if people are interested on getting their kid turned on to this, what do they need to do?

SCIESZKA: Well, then can start by just getting the book, because it's got all of these guys in here. It's a way of almost starting with just this as a reference. So you can read these short pieces, and it's the opposite of testing. There's no test at the end of these.

KAGAN: No test like that. As we said, you're a popular children's author. Anybody who has written a book called "Stinky Cheese Man" must have something fun coming out. Any stuff on the kids front coming out for you, besides...

SCIESZKA: Yes, I just had a book called "Science Verse," which was science poetry, and then I did a book with the Museum of Modern Art called "Scene Art."

KAGAN: Fun. Well, you're a fun guy, sound like a fun dad as well, and thanks for coming by.

SCIESZKA: My pleasure.

KAGAN: Guys Read and "Guys Write for Guys Who Read." Jon Scieszka, thank you, and thanks for your efforts.

SCIESZKA: Thanks.

KAGAN: Let's take look at the time, 10:53 here on the East Coast, 7:53 on the West Coast.

Also, think about this, it's Cinco De Mayo, and this is the fifth day of the fifth month of 2005. Hmm, what does that all mean?

Stay with us. We'll be back with a quick check of your morning forecast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: All right, let's check in on what's happening in Houston, Texas. Getting a little bit more information about what took place. It's still pretty sketchy, though. Houston, Texas, a man goes into this office park that houses Cameron Oil Company and shoots two people. This is in the northwest part of the city. No information on the gunman, even if he is in custody. This is in the Sam Houston Parkway Complex, and the building has been evacuated. No other details on the government or the shooting. We will get back to that as more information becomes available.

(WEATHER REPORT)

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 May 5, 2005 - 10:33   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: A man accused of highway attacks in Ohio is awaiting a jury's decision. Jurors will begin their first full day of deliberations today in the case of Charles McCoy Jr. He is accused of 12 shootings over five months in the Columbus area. Both sides concede he was mentally ill, but a jury must decide his state of mind.
Let's take a look at other stories making news coast to coast. This arrest in Houston, Texas -- Oh! -- is now under investigation. Whoa! The man who was clipped by the police vehicle was allegedly being pursued because he snatched a purse outside of a Wal-Mart, then led officers on a high-speed chase. Police say the patrol vehicle slid on the wet field and hit him on accident.

Two deli owners in New Jersey making a very special delivery to Iraq. The bothers are shipping two tons of meat in the form of some 2,000 salamis. They're going to feed the entire 42nd Infantry Division in Tikrit. The men sought donations for "Operation Salami Drop." They say one girl donated $1,000 from bat mitzvah.

In California, a runaway groom returns to his Redondo 7Beach fiance. This time it's the groom. The 51-year-old failed to show up for his wedding. Foul play war feared. He was missing for a month. Turns out not only is he alive and well, he's also thinner. He lost about 40 pounds walking up and down the beaches of Southern California. All right.

Well, later today the so-called runaway bride is expected to stop and face the music a bit, at least on paper. Jennifer Wilbanks is due to issue her first public statement on her flight from the altar that triggered a costly search in and around her small Georgia town. Our Carol Lin is there. She is in Gainesville, Georgia, north of us here in Atlanta.

Carol, good morning.

CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Daryn.

I mean, this case is filled with surprises, because it was billed, today's 1:00 news conference billed as a comprehensive statement from Jennifer Wilbanks. But it has been postponed until 4:00. Our understanding is it's very unlikely we're going to hear from the woman herself. Her own attorney has described her as simply physically unable to speak.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LYDIA SARTAIN, ATTORNEY FOR JENNIFER WILBANKS: She had quite a trauma. She's been under an awful lot of pressure. That was what drove her away to start with, and really, she just has not been really physically or emotionally able to speak on her behalf. I mean, she can't even get through a complete conversation with me without breaking down. So she -- this does not help her stress level, and so I encouraged her to look after herself and take care of herself first.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: So, Daryn, what we were anticipating hearing from is her attorney, Lydia Sartain, as well as possibly the spokesperson from the Lakewood Baptist Church here. This young woman, Jennifer Wilbanks, still not seen in public since she made it through the Albuquerque airport with a blanket over her head, is emotionally distraught, according to her attorney. What she may be doing is seeking some kind of professional help. She has been getting counseling here at her church.

But, Daryn, the attorney isn't even being really specific about how much time she has even spent with her fiance, or even specifically whether, in fact, the wedding will still be on, whether it's even postponed.

In the meantime, apparently there's some discussions going on with Duluth authorities over some form of restitution. The attorney has said that she actually wants to see an itemized expense checklist before they start talking about dollars and cents, or whether there would be restitution at all -- Daryn.

KAGAN: All right, we'll wait and see if the bride shows up. She didn't last Saturday. We'll see what happens today.

Carol, thank you.

CNN will carry that statement live this afternoon. Again, we don't know if Jennifer Wilbanks is showing up or not, but we'll be ready, right now scheduled for 4:00 Eastern, 1:00 Pacific.

Still to come on this hour of CNN LIVE TODAY, are your children getting the grade they deserve? Or is there cheating going on? And are teaching helping? It's the story every parent will want to see.

Plus, Big Blue announcing big cuts. That story and a check of the financial markets coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

KAGAN: We've heard about kids cheating on tests in school, but this story about cheating might surprise you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kids were looking at me with blank stares. I said, what are you waiting on? And about a third of my students said the answers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Teachers bending the rules and how that could be cheating your child, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Pictures and information in on some breaking news out of Houston, Texas. Police there saying a man shot and killed two people this morning at an oil company office building. The shooting occurred about 8:30 a.m. local time. The building houses Cameron Oil Company. No information -- other information -- about the shooting or the gunman immediately available, including whether or not the gunman is in custody at this time. We will work on getting more information out of Houston, Texas.

The "no child left behind" law put a lot of public schools under pressure to raise test scores. And in some cases, it may have led to a culture of sanctioned cheating. This excerpt from Sunday night "CNN PRESENTS," documentary filmmaker Stanley Nelson looks into the allegations at one elementary school in Houston.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REPORTER: In 2003, another scandal hit the Houston school district. This time there were allegations of cheating.

DONNA GARNER, ELEMENTARY TEACHER: I was approached by the principal and informed that I didn't know how to give tests the Wesley way. And then I was informed on how to give the test the Wesley way. And that the expectation was that I would give the test the Wesley way, which is cheating.

All right, boys and girls we're going to go ahead and begin. Open your test booklets.

JULIE JARAMILLO, MIDDLE SCHOOL TEACHER: I handed out the TEX test, I read the instructions out of the administrators manual. I said OK, get busy.

The kids were looking at me with blank stares. I said, what are you waiting on? And about a third of my students said, the answers.

I know that the teachers cheating, because kids have told me that's how it was done with their particular teacher.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She would like walk around the room and you would see that she would be helping kids and telling them that the answer is wrong. You need to do it over.

GARNER: I was to stop behind them and until they placed their finger on the right answer. Then I was to continue walking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They might come behind us and like peek over our shoulder and tell us if the answer is wrong or right. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I heard her talking to students next to me saying, well which one do you think is right? Which one do you think is wrong? And helping them eliminate.

GARNER: It's disturbing to me that we're not only taking away their education, but we're instilling in small young children -- nine, ten years old -- that whatever works for you is OK.

But it's not only the teachers fault, this isn't coming from a lower level, this is coming from way up in the district.

REPORTER: The principal of Wesley Elementary declined to speak with CNN. Accusations of fraud first surfaced in 2003 when teachers began reporting incidents of cheating to the school board and to the Houston Teachers Union. While an investigation was started by the school district, it quickly stalled.

ABE SAAVEDRA, SUPERINTENDENT: I'm not sure what happened. We have -- I reviewed the file. And it seems that a year or so back it things kind of stopped as far as -- I can't -- I don't know why they didn't do any further.

REPORTER: It wasn't until January of 2005 that current Houston School Superintendent Abe Saavedra launched a new investigation examining allegations of cheating at 23 Houston schools.

SAAVEDRA: I think that testing and assessment is important. The fact is that in this school district as there is in the human race, there are dishonest people. All right. And we don't throw out programs because there's a few people that may abuse the situation.

REPORTER: The problem is not unique to Houston. 44 other schools in Texas are under investigation for suspicious rises in test scores. And within the past year, seven states have launched investigations, suspended staff or thrown out tainted scores.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Be sure to watch Stanley Nelson's hour-long documentary this Sunday night on "CNN PRESENTS." It's called "High Stakes: The Battle to Save Our Schools." It premieres at 8:00 p.m. Eastern here on CNN.

Many experienced teachers say that students are motivated to learn when they have any interesting study materials. This is especially true when it comes to reading, an area where boys often lag behind girls.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Many experienced teachers say students are more motivated to learn when they have interesting study materials. This is especially true when it comes to reading, an area where boys often lag behind girls. "Guys Write for Guys" is an anthology of stories aimed specifically at young, male readers, and the man behind all this is writer Jon Scieszka. He is the author of numerous unorthodox highly popular children's books. He's also a veteran school teacher.

Good morning. Thanks for being here with us.

JON SCIESZKA, "GUYS WRITE FOR GUYS READ": Good morning. My pleasure.

KAGAN: Well, you're a guy, and you grew up with a bunch of guys, five brothers, right?

SCIESZKA: Yes.

KAGAN: So why don't guys like to read?

SCIESZKA: It's a weird mixture of problems. A lot of it is they're not shown books that they really enjoy reading early on in school.

KAGAN: And you want to stop that trend. You want to get boys, kids turned on to reading.

SCIESZKA: Yes, I started a nonprofit literacy group called Guys Read just to connect with boys, or just at least for starters to tell people guys are having trouble reading. It's been happening for a long time.

KAGAN: Let's just start talking about it first. Now does it have to be a regular book that a boy reads. Like I remember growing up, I loved reading books. My brother loved "Mad" magazines, but he really wasn't interesting in books, but it's still reading, right?

SCIESZKA: Yes, I think that's exactly a real concrete thing we can do. We can make a wider choice of reading for boys, like magazines, newspapers, humorous books. That's stuff that's not too often seen as legitimate reading in schools.

KAGAN: And so with this book, "Guys Write for Guys" or Guys Read, your target audience, boys 11 years old and up.

SCIESZKA: Yes, it's -- my idea was to just ask all these people I know in the business to write about what it's like to be a guy, so there's...

KAGAN: Can you explain guys to us? That's a different topic. That's a whole different day.

SCIESZKA: That's a huge topic. We're going to need another couple hours.

KAGAN: That's a show.

SCIESZKA: But see, that's the thing everyone realizes, like, boys are different from girls. So let's take that into consideration, and maybe guys read -- learn to read differently.

KAGAN: So you took some of these famous writers, some of these famous guys, and you said write to boys about stuff that they're interested in, and so you get Steven King writing about farting. Excuse my language, but that was in the book.

SCIESZKA: Exactly. Well, I left it a pretty broad assignment. I said just write about growing up being a guy, and so there were guys...

KAGAN: And so that's going to include you know what for boys.

SCIESZKA: A lot of farting. Gary Paulson has a story peeing on an electric fence. Somebody else has hammering a bullet. A lot of good stuff in here.

KAGAN: Talking to your inner boy.

And so if people are interested on getting their kid turned on to this, what do they need to do?

SCIESZKA: Well, then can start by just getting the book, because it's got all of these guys in here. It's a way of almost starting with just this as a reference. So you can read these short pieces, and it's the opposite of testing. There's no test at the end of these.

KAGAN: No test like that. As we said, you're a popular children's author. Anybody who has written a book called "Stinky Cheese Man" must have something fun coming out. Any stuff on the kids front coming out for you, besides...

SCIESZKA: Yes, I just had a book called "Science Verse," which was science poetry, and then I did a book with the Museum of Modern Art called "Scene Art."

KAGAN: Fun. Well, you're a fun guy, sound like a fun dad as well, and thanks for coming by.

SCIESZKA: My pleasure.

KAGAN: Guys Read and "Guys Write for Guys Who Read." Jon Scieszka, thank you, and thanks for your efforts.

SCIESZKA: Thanks.

KAGAN: Let's take look at the time, 10:53 here on the East Coast, 7:53 on the West Coast.

Also, think about this, it's Cinco De Mayo, and this is the fifth day of the fifth month of 2005. Hmm, what does that all mean?

Stay with us. We'll be back with a quick check of your morning forecast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: All right, let's check in on what's happening in Houston, Texas. Getting a little bit more information about what took place. It's still pretty sketchy, though. Houston, Texas, a man goes into this office park that houses Cameron Oil Company and shoots two people. This is in the northwest part of the city. No information on the gunman, even if he is in custody. This is in the Sam Houston Parkway Complex, and the building has been evacuated. No other details on the government or the shooting. We will get back to that as more information becomes available.

(WEATHER REPORT)

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