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CNN Live Today

Alabama Church Fires; Boot Camp Death

Aired February 20, 2006 - 11:32   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Also in Alabama, another small church fire. This one, a small one. And investigators aren't sure if it's linked to a recent spree of suspected church arsons in the state.
Our Rusty Dornin has been covering the string of fires and joins us now. What do they know about this latest one?

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there were three over the weekend. And it certainly sparks interest, because you have this series of 10 arson fires in the western part of the state, and then these three fires the weekend that people are taking a closer look at, not necessarily related, but they're taking a closer look at.

Friday morning, there was one in the Methodist church at the University of Alabama. They had a candlelight vigil the night before, and apparently they forgot to tell somebody to put out the candles. So they're not sure about it. But that could be an accident in that case, but they have not come forth with that yet.

Then on Friday night in Tuscaloosa also there was a warehouse fire. That was a big one, causing about $1.4 million worth of damage there. Not sure if it's arson or not. They're bringing in the national response team for ATF to check on that, do some cross- referencing, to make sure, see if there are any similarities with these other fires.

Also, they say somebody might have had a cell phone that had a camera or a videotape, and they want to get ahold of that person to get ahold of that tape. Not necessarily a suspect, but just to find out what went on.

And the third one you just talked about was up in Glennco (ph), a little tiny church, about 20 members, and it appears that somebody threw some sort of Molotov cocktail. That's the only absolute arson out of the three, and it just scorched the side of the church, the vinyl siding of the church. So they're going to have a press conference today at Tuscaloosa at the warehouse fire just to talk about this and just see if there are similarities. But so far, don't know if the first two were arson or not.

KAGAN: Sometimes over the last week, they did something, authorities did, that reminded me of the sniper investigation in D.C.. They tried to communicate. They encouraged whoever is doing these string of fires to get in touch. They set up a special e-mail...

DORNIN: Phone.

KAGAN: Yes, it's like we're waiting to hear from you. Any luck with that?

DORNIN: So far, they've said no one has contacted them that they feel are the right people in this case. They're saying they believe the string of fires are solvable, but they're just hoping that these guys will come forward, reaching out to them, as you said, saying, you know, if you're stressed out, if there are things going on in your life, there are terrible things happening in the world....

KAGAN: We're here for you.

DORNIN: ... come talk to us.

KAGAN: Yes, right.

Now back in 1999, one of the places where one of these fires took place, there was another string of fires that's never been solved.

DORNIN: Never been solved. And actually we went and we talked to one of those pastors who was down in Bolagee (ph), Alabama, and they don't know what happened. They have absolutely no idea. Now there were a string of them. There were some 400 fires in the mid- '90s, church fires, and many of those went unsolved, and so they don't know if, perhaps, there's any connection with these or not. They just really still have no idea of any suspects.

KAGAN: Meanwhile, I bet a lot of scared people down in Alabama.

Rusty Dornin, thank you.

Questions persist concerning a Florida teenager who died at a boot camp. A medical examiner has been reporting the boy died of natural causes.

But CNN's Susan Candiotti reports the boy's parents aren't the only one who doubt that finding.

We want to warn you, some of the pictures are difficult to watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Martin Anderson's first day at boot camp proved to be his last day alive.

GINA JONES, MOTHER: Martin didn't have a chance at all.

CANDIOTTI: Anderson's parents accuse boot camp workers are fatally brutalizing the 14-year-old honor roll student. He died after an orientation drill that included running around a track. The action is videotaped by a fixed camera without audio. Anderson's death is under criminal investigation.

SHERIFF FRANK MCKEITHEN, BAY COUNTY, FLORIDA: It is very obvious to us that there are valid concerns raised in some of the procedures that are being used in this particular incident.

CANDIOTTI: The video, though, grainy, is uncomfortable to watch. First the teenager is seen up against a wall, drill instructors in his face and he continues running. Off camera, the medical examiner says Anderson had collapsed. Over the next 25 minute, Anderson is seen at for various times being forced to the ground. Here as the nurse watches, one worker knees him and he goes down hard on the ground.

Later, the boy's head is being held back, his legs appear rubbery. One worker hits him at least seven times in the right arm. A little later, another worker appears to have hit him hard from behind., lurching his body forward. Finally, after at least 25 minutes, the nurse steps in and paramedics arrive.

DAN GELBER, FLORIDA STATE HOUSE: The worst thing is anyone watching this video could see that this child was very, very ill.

CANDIOTTI: Florida lawmaker Dan Gelber, a former federal prosecutor who handled police brutality cases, was shown the tape by investigators and watched it with CNN.

GELBER: This is not a kid who needs an attitude adjustment. This is a kid who needs medical attention.

CANDIOTTI: The county medical examiner does not think the force was excessive or unreasonable. He ruled Anderson died of natural causes. Internal bleeding brought on by stressful exercise and complicated by a sickle cell trait. Yet a hematologist told CNN the bleeding could only be caused by trauma.

DR. STUART TOLEDANO, UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI: You could not have internal bleeding strictly from sickle cell disease or sickle cell trait. It does not happen.

JONES: They murdered my baby. They beat him, the tape. I can't watch the whole tape. I walked out. I couldn't stand to see my baby like that.

CANDIOTTI: In addition to the state criminal investigation, the Justice Department's civil rights division is also investigating Anderson's death to see whether excessive force was used or medical help deliberately ignored.

Susan Candiotti, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Still to come, do you ever feel like you need a Phd to navigate the complicated health care system? Well, now you can now hire a coach to help you find the best way to make the best choices for your family. But is it worth the money? A closer look, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: And we're looking at live pictures. This is Birmingham, Alabama, 16th Street Baptist Church. This is the site where in September of 1963, the Ku Klux Klan bombed this church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four little girls. It is an act that shocked the country and galvanized the civil rights movement. This church is being designated a national landmark, and that's a ceremony taking place right now. More on that story just ahead.

Right now, we turn to today's "Daily Dose" of health news. Most of us experienced the frustration and confusion of the health care system, whether it's getting conflicting diagnoses for an illness or dealing with insurance companies. But changes could be on the way.

CNN's Carol Lin reports that some businesses are offering health care help for a price.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Kevin Cassidy heard his mom could barely move, he didn't know what to do.

KEVIN CASSIDY, PINNACLECARE SUBSCRIBER: I got a call from my sister who said, you know, we can't get my mom out of the car.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good morning, Sally.

LIN: Doctors diagnosed Sally Cassidy with Alzheimer's, but Kevin wasn't so sure. So he hired a personal health coach who found his mother a specialist.

CASSIDY: When we saw the rheumatologist, the rheumatologist right away said, "We've got rheumatoid arthritis."

LIN (on camera): Not Alzheimer's?

CASSIDY: Not Alzheimer's.

LIN (voice over): What's a health coach? John Hutchins is the founder of PinnacleCare, which provides such specialized service.

JOHN HUTCHINS, PINNACLECARE: We provide education, information, guidance through a confusing health system.

LIN: At a price. The initiation fee is anywhere from $10,000 upwards, and then there's the annual fee of at least $5,000.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have also gone ahead and sent over your medical records and completed the paperwork.

LIN: For big bucks. PinnacleCare will make your appointments, even go with you. Clients have their case reviewed by Pinnacle's own physician board.

That's why Kevin Cassidy signed up. He believes insurance alone is not enough.

CASSIDY: Eighty percent of the time you go into a doctor and everything is fine. Then 20 percent of the time it's a disaster. And the reason it's a disaster is because we don't know.

LIN (on camera): There's no way to actually prove that companies like PinnacleCare can deliver better health care, because doctors typically see the sickest patients first regardless of who refers them.

(voice over): But companies like PinnacleCare are tapping into consumer frustration and selling convenience to those willing to pay for it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, this is a lot of room.

LIN: But critics say that's a dangerous sign for health care in America.

DR. JOHN GOODSON, HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL: And if we are to allow people with high income access that is over and above everybody else, what that means is that the rest of us are going to be in a longer line and not going to have the same kind of access.

LIN: So confusing is the health care system that some big companies have signed up health advocates to help their employees choose between providers, get advice on care, and negotiate refunds. Even if they don't get Pinnacle's individualized care.

(on camera): So what do you say to critics who say that services like Pinnacle are creating a two-tiered medical system?

HUTCHINS: I like two-tiered systems because I think they force changes, necessary changes in various fields.

LIN (voice-over): John Hutchins sees the emergence of health advocates as a wakeup call to the industry. In a system where costs are rising fast, but so is frustration with co-pays, deductions, waiting lists, and so on, companies like Pinnacle some a way to make change and money, too.

Carol Lin, CNN, Baltimore.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: To get your "Daily Dose" of health news online, logon to our Web site. You'll find the latest medical news, a health library and information on diet and fitness. The address is CNN.com/health.

We're going to check in on weather and business up next. And doctors -- actually, no doctors, no nurses, just mom, dad and the friendly faces at the Wal-Mart layaway counter. A birthday story no one will ever forget.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KAGAN: Once again, live pictures from Birmingham, Alabama. This is the 16th Street Baptist Church where a Ku Klux Klan bombing in September of 1963 killed four little girls.

Here now is U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

ALBERTO GONZALES, U.S. ATTY. GENERAL: ... for the realization of the American dream. And it was only two weeks earlier that dr. King described to the world his dream of equality. And it was just several months after the tragedy here Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, followed by the Voting Rights Act and other statements skin the with our chart of creed.

This building was the catalyst for the cause of justice. It gave those who worshipped here the will and the hope to persevere. As the staging ground for the Birmingham Nonviolent Movement and later as the site of unspeakable evil, this church was a backdrop to the important changes in our nation's laws and our neighbors' respect for the rule of law.

The Department of Justice is charged with enforcing those laws, and I've always believed that we play an important role in safeguarding the dream, the American dream, of which Dr. King spoke. It is a dream of living and prospering in a secure, lawful, hopeful and safe society. It's a dream pursued by my parents and grandparents. It's a dream imagined in the pews of this church, voiced on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, echoed longer and louder than a blast of dynamite and fulfilled still today, in the actions of the Justice Department and the hearts of every American.

After nearly half a century of healing, we are still ever mindful of the painful past. And that's why we're here today, to preserve for future generations the stories of history. It's why we are here to mark this church as a tangible reminder of the sacrifices of our ancestors. And it is why we are pursuing a civil rights agenda that is as vital today as it was on September 15, 1963.

KAGAN: And we've been listening in Birmingham, Alabama. U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales at the designation ceremony to make the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham a national landmark. That was the site where on September, 1963, the Ku Klux Klan bombed the church, killing four little girls. And as you heard the attorney general talk about today, that was one of the moments that galvanized the civil rights movement across the U.S.

(MARKET REPORT)

KAGAN: Well, it sounds like something out of a movie. But there's a movie about a Wal-Mart baby, but the thing -- this is the real thing. We get the story, an amazing one, from Adam WIlliams from our Florida affiliate, WSVN.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ADAM WILLIAMS, WSVN REPORTER (voice-over): Meet little Alicia (ph) Deceus, a true Wal-Mart baby.

JUSTINE DECEUS, NEW MOTHER: The employee help me, and then I have to thank all of them for that.

WILLIAMS: The six-pound little girl born Thursday night in the layaway section of the Florida city Wal-Mart.

BAMBI ROBINSON, WAL-MART ASST. MANAGER: We jumped in. We didn't really have time to think about anything. You look down, somebody needs help, and we were just all there.

WILLIAMS: A team of store employees were there to help. There weren't any doctors around.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Paramedics were already called, but I guess they were in a distance from us.

WILLIAMS (on camera): This is the very area baby Alicia was delivered. And here in the layaway department, there was a lot of drama minutes before, all caught on surveillance camera.

(voice-over): Cameras catch Alicia's dad walking up to the counter, coincidentally to pick up a car seat. Moments later, mom walk walks up, clearly uncomfortable. She twists her body and puts her hands over her head. A different camera shows employees surrounding the soon-to-be mother. Then little Alicia one is delivered, surrounded not by doctors and nurses, but by cashiers and managers. Paramedics arrive and rush the baby and her mother to the hospital.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have to say thanks to all of them. Thank you.

CAROL ALBURY, WAL-MART EMPLOYEE: It's a wonderful experience to do something like that.

WILLIAMS: An experience to be remembered always. In Florida City, Adam Williams, 7 News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Now that's what you call full service.

I'm Daryn Kagan. International news is coming up next. But I want to encourage you to stay with us. 12:25 the president will be speaking in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He is speaking about energy, and you'll see that live here on CNN. We'll also have the latest U.S. headlines for you, coming in about 20 minutes. I'll see you then.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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