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CNN Live Today

President Bush Speaks on Immigration Issues; Milwaukee Police Search for Missing Boys; "American Idol" Fever

Aired March 23, 2006 - 10:30   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: It's a brutal crime that terrified a community, and the prime suspect says they have the wrong man. This afternoon, Darryl Littlejohn is expected to plead not guilty in the brutal rape and murder of a young graduate student. Authorities say they found a DNA match of Littlejohn's blood on the plastic ties used to bind 24-year-old Imette St. Guillen's hand, and witnesses say Littlejohn was the last person seen with St. Guillen.
Four agonizing months at the hands of hostages. Three Western peace activists are free in Iraq today. The men, British and Canadian citizens, had been held at a house in the western part of Baghdad. Coalition forces went in to get them this morning. The kidnappers weren't around. Not a shot was fired. The U.S. military says the man they arrested last night gave them information on the hostages' location. American Tom Fox was also kidnapped with that group. His body was found two weeks ago. It showed signs of torture.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will have more to say about today's Iraq developments. He plans to talk with reporters at 2:00 p.m. Eastern. Our Kyra Phillips will that have for you on LIVE FROM at 2:00 p.m. Eastern.

The sentencing trial of al Qaeda conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui resumed a short time ago near Washington. A former FBI agent is expected to wrap up his testimony today, and prosecutors plan to rest their case. The government witness told jurors yesterday that Moussaoui had confessed his al Qaeda membership and his terrorist plans, the FBI could have acted on certain investigations prior to the 9/11 attacks. Today Moussaoui's defense could begin making its case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN SEACREST, "AMERICAN IDOL": Bucky, both of you, thank you for everything you've done so far. Bucky, I'm sorry that you've had to stand here. You are safe. Kevin leaves us tonight on "American Idol."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Oh, yes. It's good-bye, Kevin; hello ratings. "American Idol" grabbed more eyeballs Tuesday night than all the other entertainment networks combined. Despite five years of reality mileage, "Idol" is a primetime juggernaut, which is why we invited Adrianna Costa, an entertainment correspondent for Headline News, to come on upstairs.

ADRIANNA COSTA, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's so good here -- to be here, Daryn.

KAGAN: Let's talk about this. So Kevin is this cute little kid -- what is he, like, 16 or 17?

COSTA: He's 16 years old. And you know what, he's the underdog. That's the thing. He was always the underdog and people could relate to that. And that's why he sort of...

KAGAN: Lasted.

COSTA: ... lasted as long as he did, I would say. All the grandmothers, all the mothers, everybody loved him. But last night was his night to go. You know, sort of a little bit of a surprise. I mean, personally thought that Lisa Tucker...

KAGAN: .. would go.

COSTA: I thought it should have been her last week, personally. Along with Kevin Covais and Lisa Tucker in the room was Bucky Covington, who you just saw. You know, I got to tell you, I'm a fan of his.

KAGAN: Really? I...

COSTA: Some other people say eh, time to be out.

KAGAN: It will be soon. I think it was the proper bottom three. We should also say about Kevin, this is the kid they called Chicken Little. Which wasn't very nice!

COSTA: Chicken Little. Do we have that shot? It's so -- I mean, I'm sorry. I see the similarity absolutely. It's sort of been this like onrunning joke throughout the show that he looks like Chicken Little, although let me mention to you guys, this is the new self-proclaimed ladies man.

KAGAN: That's true. Whatever it takes, right? Now, we sit here talking about "American Idol." The ratings amazing and through the roof.

COSTA: I tell you, Daryn, sometimes we wonder, like, OK, we're doing a lot of coverage on "American Idol." Is it too much, is it too much? But the truth is this, OK? Tuesday night was the highest ratings ever for "Idol"'s performance night, OK? Brought in 33.2 million viewers. That is more than all the five competing networks combined. That includes ABC, NBC, CBS, WB and UPN. I mean, that is huge.

KAGAN: And I'm one of the millions who is watching. Frankly, past my bedtime, but I stay tuned. Who do you think is ultimately going to win?

COSTA: OK, let me tell you this, first of all. If it was my choice Taylor Hicks.

KAGAN: Really?

COSTA: Not -- I'm sorry, let me rephrase. I don't think he's going to win, but he would be my choice to win because I love him. Very soulful.

KAGAN: Explain, he's the one -- what he looks like.

COSTA: With the gray hair. We don't have a shot of him, I don't think. But he's got the gray hair. He looks a little bit older. He's only 29 years old, despite what people might think.

KAGAN: Which is sounding younger all the time, I got to tell you. There will come a time when that sounds younger to you, too.

COSTA: Well, if you don't have a girlfriend, I'm ready to go on a date, I'll tell you. No, but I'm going to give you the top three who I think will make it to the end. For starters, Chris Daughtry.

KAGAN: The rocker.

COSTA: The rocker, OK? No hair on that guy, just to let you guys know.

KAGAN: From gray hair to no hair.

COSTA: From gray hair to no hair. Also Mandisa. She...

KAGAN: Who I love.

COSTA: She's a major frontrunner in this competition. She looks great, she sounds great. And then Katherine McPhee, you know, she's got the whole package. I'm going to give it to her. She has the "Idol" looks and she's got the "Idol" talent. If you look at, you know, previous years with "Idol" winners -- there's been some four competitions -- three of the four were won by females. So I have to say I think it's going to be a guy this year. Not to mention the pool of talent with the guys, in my opinion, is a little bit better.

KAGAN: I think it's going to be Katherine McPhee. And I think there are a lot of people on there who don't even need "Idol," who will go on to be big stars.

COSTA: Absolutely. Kevin Covais could be one of them.

KAGAN: Fun to talk about. Adrianna, thank you.

COSTA: It's so good to be here with you.

KAGAN: Good to have you up here with us.

Parents, a bracelet that can be hazardous to for your child's health. Reebok is recalling 300,000 of the bracelets because they contain lead. This comes after word that a 4-year-old in Minneapolis died from lead poisoning after she swallowed a piece of the charm. Reebok has included the bracelet as a freebie with some children's shoe purchases for the last two years. So watch out for those. As if students applying for college need any more stress. Now the College Board has discovered more mistakes with SAT scores. Officials say 27,000 exams were not rescanned after the initial errors were found. As a result, they found another 375 students who were given lower scores for the October tests than they should have gotten. That brings the total to more than 4,400. The College Board says that from now on, all answer sheets will be scanned twice.

To Detroit, where about 1,500 Detroit teachers who called in sick yesterday -- apparently they're feeling a little better today. And officials expect everything to be back to normal. Those teachers called in sick to protest administrative pay raises after they agreed to a temporary pay cut. The protest shut down more than 50 of the city's nearly 240 schools. Detroit is the state's largest public school district, with about 130,000 students.

Without a trace. Milwaukee police set up a search for two boys who disappeared while playing. Anxious family members waiting for word, and a local company now offering a reward. A live news conference. Milwaukee police get started in just a few minutes. We will bring that to you live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: We've been following an Amber Alert on a 3-year-old boy out of Texas, very close to Dallas. With more on that and an update, Let's go to Carol Lin -- Carol.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: We have a picture now of this little boy, Anthony Turner. He is five years old, And what a cutie. The last time he was seen was yesterday about 4:30 or 5:00 in Johnson County. That's south of the Dallas metro area. He was last seen riding his bike.

Now an Amber Alert went out at 10:30 last night. We do know now according to local reports that none of the family members are suspects at this time. The mother was questioned by the FBI, but so far they are now focusing on a wider search. People went out searching last night. We have fresh video coming in to the CNN Center of the search.

We heard a report about a tan Ford Taurus, a 1985 tan Ford Taurus, but local reports are now discounting that report. So the FBI now issuing an amber alert. Anybody who has seen this little boy, please call authorities -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Carol, thank you. We'll keep our viewers up to date on the latest on that.

Meanwhile, this week CNN continues its year-long look. We're looking into the future and how it's being shaped by technology. Wireless conductivity, or wi-fi -- that's an easier way to say it -- is among the latest ways to hook up the Internet. But even that's going to undergo a radical change. Our Miles O'Brien offers us in this welcome to the future.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's great that wi-fi technology exists, but if I need to spend all day searching for a hot spot, it doesn't help me.

Wi-fi is a way to get on the Internet wirelessly, and a hot spot is a public place you can do it. Right now, if I need to get information, I've got to scramble around to try to find the nearest hot spot. I want get access everywhere. I want access on the street corners, in a subway, in a bus, so that I can get access to whatever information I want, whenever and wherever I am.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Hot spots are great, but what if you're in the cold abyss that lies between them? Might as well be digital Siberia. So how long before we can connect wirelessly wherever, whenever, seamlessly? Now, that would be hot!

(voice-over): Frank Hanzlik is director of the Wi-Fi Alliance, which sets standards for the technology, and he says wi-fi is spreading like wildfire.

FRANK HANZLIK, DIRECTOR, WI-FI ALLIANCE: One of the things that we're really going to see over the next few years is this notion, really, of seamless connectivity. So you're actually going to stay connected using a variety of different networks. You're not going to know you're on one network or another network. You're just going to stay connected with the best network at the lowest cost.

M. O'BRIEN: In other words, you could use one mobile device everywhere -- home, office, on the road -- painlessly tapping into a quilt of networks without missing an e-mail or a call.

HANZLIK: The nice thing about wi-fi is we're really just getting started. We're seeing wi-fi move into consumer electronics products, but we're also seeing wi-fi moving in the future into cars. So vehicle navigation systems, intelligent highway management systems, those kind of things, are really going to enable us to travel with a lot more intelligence and a lot more convenience, as well.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And Hanzlik says another item on the wi-fi horizon is voice-over wi-fi. So in addition to e-mail or Internet, soon we'll be able to have voice capabilities as well.

(MARKET REPORT)

KAGAN: We're standing by. Any second now, we expect to see some tape that was just shot at the White House. President Bush meeting with a number of officials about immigration. We do expect him to make some comments. This is in anticipation of his going to Mexico next week.

Let's listen.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS) GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... had a very constructive and important dialogue with members of the agricultural community, the faith community, the concerned citizen community about immigration.

Ours is a nation of law and ours is a nation of immigrants. And we believe that we can have rationale, important immigration policy that's based upon law and reflects our deep desire to be a compassionate and decent nation.

Our government must enforce our borders. We've got plans in place to do so.

But part of enforcing our borders is to have a guest worker program that encourages people to register their presence so that we know who they are, and says to them, "If you're doing a job an American won't do, you're welcome here for a period of time to do that job."

The immigration debate is a vital debate for our country. It's important that we have a serious debate, one that discusses the issues.

But I urge members of Congress, and I urge people who like to comment on this issue, to make sure the rhetoric is in accord with our traditions.

I look around the table and I recognize that we've got people from different backgrounds, different heritages. We all may have different family histories, but we all sit around this table as Americans. And therefore, when we conduct this debate, it must be done in a civil way. It must be done in a way that brings dignity to the process. It must be done in a way that doesn't pit one group of people against another. It must be done in a way that recognizes our history.

I think now is the time for the United States Congress to act to get an immigration plan that is comprehensive and rationale and achieves important objectives.

And so I want to welcome you all for here. I want to thank you very much for your involvement in this vital issue.

I've assured folks here at the table that I will continue to speak out on the issue. I feel passionately about the need for our country to conduct ourselves with dignity and at the same time enforce our border and treat people here with respect.

Thank you all very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: President Bush speaking just a few minutes ago at the White House, talking about immigration, one of the most hotly debated topics in America right now. The president encourages and supports something that he calls a guest worker program, which would have illegal immigrants come in and register to say that they are here. It would allow them to work in the U.S. for a certain amount of time, and then they would be forced to go back to their country. There are many people who don't agree with that, as the debate over immigration goes.

The president, by the way, heads to Mexico next week, and we'll have extensive coverage of that trip here on CNN.

Coming up, we're going to look at the meaning behind some of your dreams, like this one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dreams of taking a test, being back in school, being examined. That kind of dream often occurs when we feel we're being tested right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta speaks with a dream expert, and we'll give you a couple tips on how to remember your dreams.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: An update for you now on the cruise ship fire that we were following out of Montego Bay. This is a Princess Cruise ship that caught on fire around 3:00 this morning. Now we're hearing one person died in the wake of that fire. The fatality was due to a cardiac arrest. That's according to a statement on the Princess Cruise's Web site. Also two people suffered significant smoke inhalation, and nine others had minor complications due to smoke inhalation. So one dead in the wake of that cruise ship fire, as that ship heads into Montego Bay. More on that just ahead.

Now, to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It has been an agonizing four days for the relatives of two missing Milwaukee boys. So far there's still no sign of 12-year-old Quadrevion Henning or 11-year-old Purvis Parker. We are expecting a news conference with police in this next hour.

Joining us by phone is Purvis Parker's mother, Angela Virginia, who we had a chance to talk to about this time yesterday.

Ms. Virginia, thank you for taking the time to be with us during this very difficult time. Ms. Virginia, are you with us?

ANGELA VIRGINIA, MOTHER OF MISSING BOY: I'm here.

KAGAN: How are you and your family holding up as you wait -- await word on your son, Purvis?

VIRGINIA: It's just -- it's slow -- it's hard because it's the fourth day, you know. I got support from my family, you know. A strength come, a little strength go. But I have to just stay strong and just keep focusing. Just make sure I just keep going until my baby comes home. KAGAN: When we had a chance to talk with you yesterday, you were telling us some great stories about your son Purvis, how he's an artist, how he's a good boy, he's not the type to run away. We hear the same thing about Quadrevion, which is one of the reasons there's so much concern. I was reading in the local Milwaukee that you believe somebody has these boys.

VIRGINIA: In my heart, you know -- I don't know if it's (INAUDIBLE) or not, but I really believe someone, you know, have our boys against their will. That's what I believe. Because, you know, the investigators all out there and the police out there, they did all the searching. And, you know, they haven't found anything. And there haven't been that too many cold of days. The boys wouldn't have got that far away. They haven't lived around here that long. Quadrevion only live around here three years, and Purvis only live around here a year. Those boys don't know this area that well.

KAGAN: And so you're just standing by, waiting, hoping there's going to be some word?

VIRGINIA: Oh, yes. I have to. I can't stop. I can't stop. And I'm not going to stop upon no circumstances.

KAGAN: Well, I know there's much of America that's waiting right along with you. Many people who you don't even know. And we're keeping our eye on the story.

VIRGINIA: And I would like to thank them. I'm really pleased with all of the help that everybody has given me and Quadrevion's family. Because I know they know if they got hope, they know our boys are coming home safe, unharmed. They going to forgive the person that took them. I'm hoping that, you know, it be some good news coming soon. I hope.

KAGAN: We're hoping that right along with you. Thank you for checking in with us and sending good thoughts your way as you make it through this very, very difficult time. Angela Virginia, the mother of Purvis Parker, the 11-year-old boy who's been missing since Sunday, along with Quadrevion Henning.

And we do expect to hear from police in Milwaukee within a few moments. They're holding a news conference at the top of the hour. We're going to show that you live right here on CNN.

A police officer springs into action in the face of deadly flames, and pushes his personal safety aside just to save a man. We're going to tell you this dramatic rescue story just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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