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CNN Live Today

Tragedy in Tennessee; Fifth Day of Protests on Streets of France; Star Power

Aired April 04, 2006 - 11:00   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Looking at live pictures from France. It's the fifth day of protests on the streets there. They are protesting this new jobs law and they're not letting up today.
At least 100,000 protesters, many of them young people, marching in several cities. They have the unions behind them. A nationwide strike has shut the Eiffel Tower and it has snarled air and rail travel. Protesters are demanding the repeal of a job law.

And now to Capitol Hill, where they are looking there at child pornography and the growing Internet of child pornography and exploitation there. A young man, Justin Berry (ph), plans to testify. He is going to tell how he was contacted and exploited, as he says, online through child pornography.

We'll hear from him in a little bit.

Meanwhile, it is a grim job in west Tennessee. Search crews still looking for possible victims in the rubble left by tornadoes. The storms swept across eight states, killing more than two dozen people. At least 24 of them in Tennessee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE GOAD, TORNADO SURVIVOR: That's probably the most scared I've ever been in my life. I was very scared. I was just afraid that glass was going to fly and hit them or that the house -- the rest of the house was going to go. You know, I didn't know what was going to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: From Tennessee, Governor Phil Bredesen avowed to group and rebuild as he views the region this morning.

Reporter Jason Miles with our affiliate WMC takes a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON MILES, REPORTER, WMC (voice over): Less than a day after a tornado tore through, Mary McQuarters (ph) tends to one of her pets. Both are survivors, licking their wounds after the storm ripped apart their lives and Mary's home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's just gone. I've lived in that house since 1975. MILES: She credits her survival to her brother's home next door. The family was eating dinner here Sunday night when things got scary and the roof caved in.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When that ceiling come off I thought we were gone because it sounded like a shotgun going off. And then everything started hitting us in the head.

MILES: Hers is just one of the stories from this devastatingly hard-hit community.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just total ruins.

MILES: Just down the road from those homes sits what's left of the Millsville Volunteer Fire Department (ph). People whose job it is to respond to victims became victims themselves.

And it looks the same from nearly every vantage point, damage that took even long-time residents by surprise.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can just see clothes and debris and just everything up in trees and everywhere. I've just never seen anything like it before in my life, ever.

MILES: For now, the search continues for anything salvageable. And people like Mary just hope they can cope with a loss that has yet to fully sink in.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And that report was from Jason Miles with our affiliate WMC.

Parts of California are a muddy mess. And the rain just keeps falling.

The deluge has caused mudslides and rockslides around San Francisco and other areas. And more rain is falling today. The region is under a flood alert this morning.

To North Dakota and Minnesota. The Red River is on the rise. The situation is especially troublesome in Fargo, North Dakota. Floodwaters are lapping at dozen of homes in that city. The river there is expected to crest tomorrow more than 20 feet above flood stage.

Chad, back to California. When I call home and I talk to my friends and family, also in the bay area...

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Sure.

KAGAN: ... I feel like I should have my galoshes on just to make the phone call. They are so sick of the rain.

MYERS: Well, absolutely.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: All right, Chad. Thank you.

Fire investigators are converging on the ruins of a burned out church in Talladega, Alabama, today. They're not sure yet what or perhaps who started the fire. You might remember three young men are jailed in a series of arson that damaged or destroyed nine churches in the state. No one has been charged in a suspected arson attack on a tenth Alabama church.

And now to Virginia, where we're looking at live pictures. This is the funeral service for Caspar Weinberger. He was President Ronald Reagan's secretary of defense from 1980 to 1987. And the attendees reads like a who's who from the Reagan administration, as we see the casket carried in, the flag-draped casket for Caspar Weinberger.

We hear that Vice President Dick Cheney is there, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and as well, Margaret Thatcher making an appearance at this -- at this funeral. She is the former prime minister. She is attending this funeral even though she herself is 80 and in frail health.

She was a close ally and friend of Ronald Reagan. And Margaret Thatcher has said of Caspar Weinberger that America never had a wiser patriot nor Britain a truer friend. So she herself choosing to make the journey to Virginia for the funeral services for Caspar Weinberger.

Now overseas to Paris. A fifth day of protests. Young people upset about new labor laws that were intended to try to make it easy or easier for first-time workers 26 or younger to get a job, but not a lot of job security in those new hires. And so these protests have been going on.

Unions have been supporting the young people as well. And that has caused some difficult times in France.

Our Jim Bittermann standing by on the phone from France with more on that -- Jim.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Daryn.

Yes, in fact, I'm down on the southeast corner of Paris. And this demonstration that's been going on now for a couple of hours has finally reached where we are.

It's gone from the northeast corner of Paris down to the southeast corner. Hundreds of thousands of people in the streets here. There were about, oh, 150 or 175 different cities in France that had demonstrations today. And the crowds have been totally in the hundreds of thousands.

What the organizers would like to see is they'd like to see at least the same numbers in the streets that were in the streets last week at this time. There were about a million that turned out across the country last week at this time. Of course the demonstrators thought there were more like three million. But in any case, they're in a very strong position now because they -- the government seems to be on the ropes in terms of this law that they've been insisting on.

They've been almost begging protesters to -- both the students and the unions, to come into negotiations and talk about how top end the kind of demonstrations that have been going on. And so far, at least, the unions and the students have said that unless this controversial law is withdrawn first, there can be no negotiations.

Now, we did have just a glimmer of possibility before the demonstrations began today from unions and students who said perhaps after this demonstration today they might consider the possibility of going in talks -- into talks with the government about ways to get around this law which is now effectively the law of the land -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Meanwhile, in terms of getting around, how difficult are these work stoppages and these protests making it to get around France today?

BITTERMANN: Well, not as difficult as you might think. In fact, it was less difficult today than a week ago.

Almost all the subways and the buses were running in Paris itself and in many of the other cities of France, about seven out of 10 of the high-speed trains were running. There were some disruptions for domestic flights at the airports, but many of the long haul flights were able to take off.

I think one of the things, one of the strategies that's occurred here is that the unions have managed to come up with a minimum service formula that basically is there so that people are not angered by these kind of demonstrations. In other words, they're not turned off by the union actions and the strikes, or they may be inconvenienced, they may be -- the trains may be a little more crowded the usual. And at least they make their point with a kind of limited strike action which we've seen in the last couple of demonstrations here -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Jim Bittermann, live from France.

Jim, thank you for that.

Well, back here in the states, this is not something people on the Gulf Coast want to here. Hurricane season, it is just weeks away. What is brewing for 2006? We'll have answers from an expert coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: And once again, we're watching live pictures, a fifth day of protests on the streets of France. Young people upset with a new law that does not give them the kind of job security that people over 26 would have. Something that is very much enjoyed by many people in France, but the government, trying to encourage more employers to hire more young people, came up with this law, and young people not happy about that. We all know, or many of us know, how uncomfortable it can be to have the stress of losing your job, and that actually leads to some business news here in the U.S., that stress and health problems can come just worrying about your job security.

Our Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange with the answer on that, just how much stress can that cause -- Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, this is a real eye-opener, because we all know that losing a job, getting laid off, getting fired, can be as traumatic as losing a loved one, going through a divorce, or dealing with a very serious illness. But this 16-year study found that just fearing about fearing job loss, whether it's real or not, over a long period of time can be even more serious in terms of health threats.

It can lead to depression and it can lead to some many other illnesses, Daryn. And it was really quite a surprise actually done by the University of Michigan.

KAGAN: So they're saying, Susan, that the fear of losing your job can actually be more stressful than actually losing it?

LISOVICZ: Yes, because, you know, there's this sense that when you do get your pink slip, that basically people know what to do. They have to go to the next step. They have to look for another job. They may have a severance package, there may be training programs. In a sense, they can move forward.

But if you're dealing with this relentless stress -- and, you know, let's face it, there are a lot of industries where you can relate to that, whether it's the airline -- airline business, or Detroit, it can lead to things like, for instance, sleeplessness. And we just had a whole series with Dr. Gupta on the kind of illnesses that can lead to.

It leads to insomnia and then depression. And then lead to other -- other health -- health illnesses as well. And it's something that really employers should be noting as well, because it's something that can affect productivity and it can affect their health care costs as well.

KAGAN: Meanwhile, let's talk reality. A new report out on the number of people actually getting laid off.

LISOVICZ: Well, that's actually a good point. That's totally unrelated. That's from Challenger Gray & Christmas. And we have seen anecdotal evidence that the job market is improving.

It was seen as a lagging indicator in the last few years that, you know, we were wondering why corporate profits were improving and the job market wasn't. But that seems to be firming up now -- 4.8 percent is the jobless rate. And we got this report that showed that, in fact, from February to March, that the rate of planned U.S. layoffs was down 26 percent and down about 25 percent year over year.

So that is actually good news when we hear about a report about this, when people are worried about -- about their jobs.

KAGAN: Meanwhile, what's the mood on Wall Street?

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: People love the buzz about their favorite celebrities, but some say that one Web site is just too much. It's posting real- time information on the comings and goings of the Hollywood elite.

Here's Brooke Anderson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It's the latest innovation in celebrity obsession and it's under attack by one of Hollywood's biggest and brightest stars. Oscar winner George Clooney is trying in essence to shut down a Web site stalled Gawker Stalker.

It posts real-time information about the whereabouts of all of your favorite famous people primarily in Manhattan, complete with a map. All of the info coming from celeb sightings sent in by an e-mail or text message by the site's legions of fans. But the site's critics have called it a major threat to the safety of the stars.

STAN ROSENFELD, CLOONEY'S PUBLICIST: We've come up with a plan that could work to help render this Web site not so effective.

ANDERSON: Clooney, via his publicist, Stan Rosenfeld, sent an e- mail last week to other publicists urging them and their clients to join in the fight against Gawker. The e-mail read, "Flood their Web site with bogus sightings, a couple hundred conflicting sightings, and this Web site is worthless."

ROSENFELD: It is a First Amendment issue. They have every right in the world to have freedom of speech. What we would like to do is provide them with enough information that will make their information that they do put out suspect.

ANDERSON (on camera): Gawker.com is quick to defend itself, saying the site isn't harmful, that the celebrities' information is already out there and that they're not to blame.

JESSICA COEN, COEDITOR, GAWKER.COM: If you found out George Clooney were getting a cup of Starbucks, had the time to click your Web site, run downstairs, get down to that Starbucks, and inflict bodily harm, I think that's something that not any single Web site can take the blame for.

ANDERSON (voice over): Clooney's efforts appear to be making a difference. The site has been inundated with fake star sightings, many of which are about George Clooney, including "George Clooney's with me and helping to reset all of my clocks to Daylight Savings Time." "George Clooney at the Beverly Hills hotel." "I saw Clooney on the moon."

In truth, Clooney is now in New York City working within the fame "Michael Clayton."

ROSENFELD: I just want people to realize that this is not a case of celebrity whining. This is a case of, you know, protecting somebody's right to privacy and not putting them in any danger.

What we're concerned about is not so much the fan, because the fan has nothing but good intentions. We're concerned about somebody who might be a legitimate stalker.

ANDERSON: Seriousness aside, Clooney, known as a prankster, in all likelihood is having a bit of fun with this spirited Gawker Stalker smackdown. He ended his e-mail with this, "Just make them useless. That's the fun of it. And then sit back and enjoy the ride."

Brooke Anderson, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Drunk and dazed, a college student walks away from a party. He never made it home. His story in just a moment.

And another sign of recovery in New Orleans. Something as simple as a letter in the mail. We'll tell you about that just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: A night of college-age drinking ends with deadly results. Not a car crash or alcohol poisoning, but drowning. And it's happening more often in the Midwest.

CNN's Randi Kaye has the story of one family's heartache. The report first aired on "ANDERSON COOPER 360."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What was supposed to be an early night for Patrick Kycia, turned out to be his last night.

The Minnesota State University sophomore had a test the next morning, but made a quick stop at a fraternity party. Kycia never made it home. For some mysterious reason, he ended up dead in the Red River.

(On camera): What did it feel like when you were told that they had found him in the river?

ROSE FOLEY, PATRICK KYCIA'S MOM: It felt like somebody punched me in the chest. I remember sitting down on the ground because we were searching the riverbanks with a group of people, and just -- just being numb.

KAYE (voice-over): No signs of foul play, no trauma to the body. So how and why, Rose Foley wonders, did her son die?

FOLEY: You feel for the parents, and you think, oh, it must be awful to go through. But you don't -- you don't realize how truly torturous it is to go through. You don't really think it could happen to you. Not my son. Not my kids, you know, it's always somebody else's kids that it happens to.

KAYE (on camera): Sometime after midnight, investigators say Kycia left the party and started to make his way home. He only had about six blocks to go. But after three blocks, investigators say he turned in here up this driveway, then stopped. A homeowner found his wallet back there and evidence he had vomited.

(Voice-over): But it appears Kycia kept going. About 4:00 a.m., a janitor spotted an intoxicated student matching Kycia's description, pulling on the doors of this building.

Sometime after that, Kycia called his roommate.

RICKY SAYARATH, PATRICK KYCIA'S ROOMMATE: Hung up, you know, called him back right away, no answer. We all tried again. No answer. KAYE: Then it appears he left campus, crossed a busy highway and two railroad tracks, before reaching the river. Remember, he had been just six blocks from home when he started out, but ended up two miles away.

(On camera): How do you explain to yourself that your son, just three blocks from home, somehow ended up two miles from home in the other direction in the Red River?

JULIAN KYCIA, PATRICK KYCIA'S DAD: I don't explain it because I -- I wish I had answers. I wish I had what was going through his head, what was going on, you know, at that party.

KAYE (voice-over): Their son would be missing four days before the mystery was over.

But early on, they came across a stunning surprise. At the party, their son had been drinking heavily. At 6'3", 220 pounds, it took a lot to get Kycia drunk.

FOLEY: I mean, we were going A plus B equals D. We know he went to a frat party. We know he drank. We know he ended up in the river. We don't know the middle part. And to me, there's got to be a middle part.

KAYE: Witnesses from the party told police Kycia was doing shots and drinking from a whiskey bottle. He was drunk and dazed. For days, search teams roamed the area.

FOLEY: It was clearly the most difficult four days I've ever spent in my life. And you don't want to think about what might have happened. But the whole time you're trying not to think about it, you're looking in dumpsters and you're searching riverbanks.

SHANNON MONROE, SERGEANT, MOORHEAD POLICE: You see that little bit of stump or whatever sticking up?

KAYE: Yes.

MONROE: It'd be right in that area there, where his footprints were at.

KAYE: So he would have entered there at those trees?

MONROE: He entered right there.

KAYE: Moorhead Police Sergeant Shannon Monroe remembers the break in the Kycia case. This New Balance sneaker, Kycia's sneaker, was spotted floating on the Red River. His body wasn't far away. Julian Kycia ID'd his son.

KYCIA: It's not a really nice scene in a body bag. You felt like you wanted to almost crawl right next to him and hug him, lay down next to him for the last time.

KAYE: Deaths like Patrick Kycia's are not officially tracked. But they are not uncommon. College campuses coast to coast report similar deaths.

In Minnesota and western Wisconsin alone, at least a dozen college students in the last decade have drowned after walking away from a party or a bar.

St. Cloud State Junior Scot Radel, pulled from the Mississippi River. Michael Noll, from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, discovered in this ice covered lake. University of Minnesota Senior Christopher Jenkins, recovered from the Mississippi River, still dressed in the Halloween costume he disappeared in. And St. Johns University Student Josh Guimond, whose body still hasn't been found three years later.

Why are college kids disappearing and dying in this part of the country?

LISA JACK, PSYCHOLOGIST: There is water everywhere. Land of 10,000 lakes.

KAYE: While most alcohol related deaths of college students occur in car crashes, Teen Alcohol Expert Lisa Jack says the landscape in this part of the country offers an added danger.

Also, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more binge drinking takes place in the Upper Midwest than in any other part of the country.

Combine binging with college campuses and open water, and the result can be deadly.

JACK: You may think in your impaired judgment that you can walk across the water, and in fact, you can't because it's not ice.

KAYE: When Patrick Kycia's body was recovered, his blood-alcohol measured .17, more than twice the legal limit. Until then, his family thought at most their son had an occasional drink.

FOLEY: It took about six to eight weeks probably before the drowning nightmares stopped, where I felt like I was drowning, almost every night, wake up gagging.

KAYE: The lingering questions make the pain unbearable.

FOLEY: Just if I could have one more hug from him. That would be -- that would be wonderful.

KAYE: Just one more hug.

FOLEY: It does happen. It happens to good kids, really good kids. And it only takes one bad night.

KAYE: A hug and another chance to teach her son that teenagers are not invincible.

Randi Kaye, CNN, Moorhead, Minnesota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And you can get a fresh perspective on the day's top stories on "ANDERSON COOPER 360" weeknights at 10:00 Eastern.

I want to take a live picture of Capitol Hill. This is a young man, Justin Berry, testifying today, talking about the rampant child pornography on the Internet and how he himself was a victim and encouraged to become part of it. This is his opening statement. Let's listen in a little bit.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

JUSTIN BERRY, SEX PREDATOR VICTIM: I plugged the device into my computer and then followed the instructions on the software. Within minutes, my Web cam image was loaded on to a Web site called spotlife.com. Like many young teenagers, I hoped my Web cam would improve my social life. I didn't have a lot of friends and I was very lonely. I hoped the Web cam would help me meet other teenager online, hopefully a few girls my age. That never happened. No teenager outside of the Web cam pornography business ever contacted me, but I did hear from many child predators.

Within minutes of appearing on Spotlife, I received an Instant Message from an adult male. This man, I now know was a child predator. I did not understand at that time. More child predators followed. Looking back today, my thoughts seemed foolish, but at 13 I believe these people were my friends. They were kind. They complimented me. They wanted to know about my day and they were endlessly patient in listening to me, and they were generous. In no time one of these man wanted to send me a gift. He showed me how to set up a wish list on amazon.com, which allowed anyone who knew my codename to send me a present, without requiring me to disclose my address.

Soon I was swamped with videos, CDs and computer equipment, including better Web cams, all free from my new friends. I always rushed back from school to scoop up the packages that were on my doorstep before my mother got home from work. My new friends were kinder and more generous to me than anyone I had ever known. I trusted them. And that's when everything had changed.

One afternoon a few weeks after setting up my Web cam one of these men approached me online with a proposal. He would pay me $50 if I took off my shirts for a few minutes while sitting in front of my Web cam. He explained to me how to set up an account on paypal.com, an instant online money payment system. I was excited about the $50, an amount that struck me at the time as a huge sum of money. Taking off my shirt seemed harmless. I did it at the pool. The money arrived, and I took off my shirt. My viewers complimented me, and it felt good.

The weeks that followed are a blur, but I now understand that by removing my shirt I signaled that I would be manipulated. More gifts and money arrived, along with increasingly explicit requests. They wanted me to take off my pants, remove my underwear and eventually masturbate on camera. The seduction shun was slow. Each request only went a bit further than the last, and horror of what was happening didn't strike me at that time.

I wish I could say I hated what was happening. Perhaps I would absolve some of my sense of guilt, but the truth is I did not. As more clothes came off, more people contacted me. The compliments were endless. The gifts and payments terrific. I thought I had achieved online what alluded me in real life, I was popular. Everyone wanted to know my thoughts. Everyone wanted to give me things. I was the king of my own universe. All I had to do in exchange was strip and masturbate while alone in my room.

Men began to reach out to me. One man, Ken Gorlay (ph), approached me online to discuss my interest in computers. He operated his own web-hosting company called Chain Communications I was on. Here was someone running a real Internet business talking to me, a 13- year-old kid and treating me as an equal.

In the months that followed, Ken raised the possibility of hiring me at Chain as an executive director of sales and marketing. It seemed like a dream come true. As I was working for him, Ken recommended that I attend an elite computer camp at the University of Michigan where I could obtain advanced certifications. My mother agreed to send me there that summer while I was still 13. At that time, I thought it was just luck that Ken and Chain were both based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I now know that I had been set up.

Ken picked me up at camp one day to show me Chain. He took me to his home. There I was sexually molested by Ken for what would prove to be first of many times by him and other adult men. With the help of my family and my psychologist, I now understand that my molestation by Ken was a turning point that set me on a path to self destruction. Afterwards, Ken apologized, promising me it would never happen again, but it did.

By this time I had formalized my Web cam business. I had opened a site called justin'scam.com, where child predators could come and watch and offer me money and gifts to do what they wanted. After my first molestation, I began to act out sexually. I was reckless. Part of me wanted to die. And every day on camera part of me did.

The next stage emerged with the help, once again, of Ken Gorlay. I decided I should sell monthly membership for a new Site jfwy.com. Ken offered to set up the membership section and host the business at Chain. People could now using this site, programmed by Ken, pay me a monthly membership fee to PayPal and watch all they wanted. Another computer executive, Gilo Chino (ph), was one of my members. He had been an engineer at Intel and a principle designer of the Pentium 4 processor. I was so impressed. So when Gilo Chino told me wanted to hang out with me in Bakersfield, California, where I lived, and bring me presents, I agreed.

I met him and we went to his hotel. At some point, he gave me a $1,500 projector and other gifts. We talked about Intel and computers. And then he molested me. I look back on those events with Gorlay and Chino and feel ashamed. All of my explanations seem inadequate. How could I get myself into that situation, how could I not see it? But this is one of the issues I wish to stress. Web cams and instant messaging give predators power over children. The predators become part of that child's life. Whatever warnings the child may have heard about meeting strangers, these people are no longer strangers. They have every advantage. It is the standard seduction of child predators multiplied on a geometric scale.

I no longer cared about anything other than getting as much money as possible, but when another teenager in my own town found the videos from my Web site and distributed them to my classmates, I felt compelled to leave. My father lived in Mexico. I wanted to establish a relationship with him. My mother said I could visit him for a week. My week-long visit to Mexico was extended again and again.

At one point, my father asked where all my money was coming from. I told him about my business and he offered, in his words, "to help maximize the earning potential." I had already established a new site called mexicofriends.com, which featured me engaging in sex with Mexican women. My father helped by hiring prostitutes for me to have sex with on camera. The number of members -- of paid members skyrocketed. I was 16 years old.

I became even more self destructive. I abused marijuana terribly and consumed so much cocaine that I'm amazed I survived. My life was a swirl of drugs, money and sex. When a paying member of my site, Greg Mitchell, offered to come to Mexico and bring me gifts, I accepted. He, too, sexually molested me. But I no longer cared. I just wanted his money. I had become exactly what my members viewed me to be, what their degrading conversations convinced me I was, a piece of meat for sale to the highest bidder.

Just after my 18th birthday, I tried to leave the business. Money was still coming in from Mexico Friends, but I wanted nothing to do with it. I used it to purchase clothes and other items for homeless people in California. I rented a truck and delivered the materials myself. I was looking for my own redemption, but I failed.

I was still addicted to drugs and Greg Mitchell urged me to return to the business as his partner. Together, he said, we could set up a new Web site, justinsfriends.com. I resisted for months, but I could not find my way in the real world anymore. Depressed and high on drugs every day, I agreed to return to porn. The site was fully operational in June of 2005.

KAGAN: I want to explain to you what we are listening to. This is a young man, Justin Berry, riveting testimony as he appears before this House panel. He is telling his own personal story of how he was exploited through child predators just by being a lonely kid who was surfing around on the Internet. He has had a hellacious journey, and he feels it's important to share with the House right now so other kids don't become victims like he has.

Let's go ahead and continue to listen in to Justin Berry.

BERRY: ... out of the business, I did. He asked for my help in exposing this world, and I agreed. When I told him of the other children who were being exploited and molested by adult men, he convinced me it was important to tell law enforcement what I knew. I agreed, even though I feared this meant that I could be sent to prison.

I believed that the government would protect the children being abused. I believed they would act quickly. I was wrong.

My lawyer Steven Ryan of Manatt, Phelps and Phillips, a former federal prosecutor, contacted prosecutors of the Department of Justice and was put in touch with the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section on July 14th, 2005. He informed them that the adult I had worked with suspected I was seeking out law enforcement.

He told them my life was potentially in danger and that the evidence was being destroyed. He provided D.O.J. with a written proffer of my testimony and described the physical evidence of IP addresses, credit card information and other proof I could make available.

Mr. Ryan insisted that D.O.J. provide me with immunity for the testimony to protect me. He was confident they would respond promptly. Mr. Ryan was wrong, also. Almost two weeks passed. Finally, we informed the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section that I was flying to Washington, not at government expense, and would be available to meet with them for two days, July 25th and July 26th. At almost the last minute, CEOS scheduled the meeting.

In our meetings, I identified children who were currently being exploited and molested, as well as other men who were committing the crimes. I identified the adult child molesters, such as Mr. Mitchell, Mr. Chino and others. I told of the Internet locations where evidence of these crimes could be found. I informed them that I had names, credit card numbers, IP addresses of approximately 1,500 people who paid to watch child pornography from my Web sites, and identified the businessmen, the adult businessmen, who facilitated the credit card payments necessary for these businesses.

The FBI case agents I spoke with were very professional and of the highest integrity. I cannot say enough good things about them. But the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section did not make me confident. Weeks passed, seemingly without progress. I cannot describe the agony of that time. Each night, I wondered, were the children I knew being molested that night? Were they being filmed? Why was no one stopping this?

I understood it would take time to decide whether I should have immunity or not, but why couldn't they rescue the children in danger? In late August, my lawyer informed them CEOS in writing that if they did not act, he would take me elsewhere to get state law enforcement officials to begin to work on the matter. Mr. Ryan began discussions with the California Attorney General Lockyer, whose staff agreed to consider taking the case.

Also at that time, I believe "The New York Times" was preparing a story about the government's failure to do anything about my case. I remember Kurt asking me what I would tell other cam kids who wanted to disclose their ring of predators to law enforcement. I told Kurt, knowing my message would be heard by other kids, that no one should ever step forward again. I got the distinct feeling that the CEOS prosecutors did not know what to do with me or my information.

Then everything changed. It was so sudden that I have come to believe that CEOS feared that "The New York Times" was going report the delay. But whatever the cause, I was granted immunity. My lawyer turned over the physical evidence. The following week, on September 12, 2005, Greg Mitchell was arrested. I expected this to be the first of many prosecutions. Again, I was wrong.

I wish I could say the prosecution story had a happy endings. It did not. At that time, I was concerned I would be killed by the adults who would be harmed by my testimony, and were frantically searching for me. After the Mitchell arrest, a sensitive government document was deliberately unsealed from court records. It is my understanding that this was done by the U.S. Department of Justice. While the names were blacked out, the document clearly identified potential defendants under investigation, as well as the fact that I was a witness against them. Worse, it warned all the adult perpetrators across the country that I was cooperating with law enforcement.

The local U.S. attorney quoted in the newspapers, based on the release of the document, and all of it appeared on the Internet, where the adult perpetrators looking for me could read it. I feared for my life. CEOS then offered me government protection, which I needed in part because CEOS, or the U.S. Attorney's Office, had deliberately sought the release of the affidavit. I declined their offer. I do not trust CEOS to protect me. I feared the actions of CEOS from that day forward, although not nearly as much as I feared the anger of the predators.

Today I have been off drugs for nine months and just finished my first quarter at college. My grades are good and I have friends. Had I not met Kurt Eichenwald, I would never have had this chance at a new life. I will never be able to repay what he has done for me. In a profession which is taught to give the story, he did that, but he treated me with compassion of a good Samaritan.

I have my life back. But every day I have regrets, not just for the dreadful decisions I made in the past years, but for failing to have the impact that I had hoped on this illegal trade.

I have never been asked by law enforcement about any of the 1,500 names I provided them. Some of those who molested me, like Mr. Gorlay and who made all of this possible, are continuing to live their lives unaware or uncaring about any government inquiry. People like Mr. Brown, who operate the credit card infrastructure of web cam child pornography, shave been permitted to continue their work, seemingly undisturbed by any law enforcement effort.

I have watched as my former members go online to attack me, boldly proclaiming themselves as my former customers and having no fear that their self disclosure could result in their arrest. And events have proved them right.

Since I left the child pornography business last summer, I have risked everything to get to tell these facts to persons who care, like this committee. It is my hope that Congress will do everything it can to see to it that children are protected, and that our law enforcement effort is competent to combat this evil. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Justin, thank you.

KAGAN: Justin Berry, a teenager testifying before this House panel about how he became a victim of child pornography exploitation online, trying to expose what, he says, were more than 1,000 customers, the business he set up with a Web cam and his computer, and also trying to gain attention and save other kids who might be facing the same thing out there. We're going to have much more on this just ahead. We're going to monitor the hearing. And then tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern, "ANDERSON COOPER 360" will make this a big focus of his show.

Quick break now, more on this topic in just a moment.

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KAGAN: Money, you can't live without it, you may think that you're stashing enough for retirement. But a new study suggests that most people are fooling themselves.

Our personal finance editor Gerri Willis joins us with more.

Ger, how are people so off base?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: It's unbelievable. Daryn, a new study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute says that almost 70 percent of workers think they're going to have enough money for retirement. But get this, more than half of those people have saved less than $25,000. Now, you can attribute this to overconfidence, to high expectations. You know, workers have seen their parents retire, buy second homes. And of course, our parents took advantage of pensions and retiree health coverage. All of that isn't available to this generation. And what's more, those parents also built up more equity in their homes. We see people now approaching their retirement, they're still making mortgage payments. So our expectations are out of whack and they've got to be changed.

KAGAN: So what are some other big mistakes that people are making?

WILLIS: I think people put money in the wrong place. With the cost of college and private school tuition just going through the roof, parents are tempted to divert money away from retirement to 401(k) to fund education. They may even be tempted to borrow from that 401(k). It's a bad idea. Remember, there are federal loans out there for students, but not for retirees. And if you take an early withdrawal from your 401(k), you're charged penalties.

KAGAN: OK, so drum roll, please. What is the magic number, what kind of money do we need?

WILLIS: Well, what you want to make sure you do is save enough for retirement. The experts out, there they say that 75 percent of your pre-retirement income is the amount of money you want to go for.

Now, check this out: if you were earning $50,000 right before retirement, that means $37,500 each year is what you're going need. Now you need to back out Social Security, because you're going to get some money from Social Security, and here we're estimating it's about $17,500. So that means the amount of money you have to come up with is $20,000 each and every year. But what's the total number you need at retirement? Well, if you multiply that by 20, which means a rate of withdrawal of about five percent each year, you come up with $400,000. And, Daryn, I got to tell you, you know, a lot of kids out there not saving early enough. They're not saving the right way. They tend to be very, very conservative. This has got to at the time you right back on the right track when you see numbers like $400,000.

What's more, if you're in your 40s, 50s, you're giving up, you're saying, I haven't saved yet. Maybe I shouldn't. You got to rethink that. Your going live a long time. Life expectations now 80, 70. You're going to need to start saving, because you're going to have plenty of time, even at that age, to put together a nest egg.

KAGAN: Not fun to talk about, but oh so important.

Gerri, thank you.

WILLIS: You're welcome.

KAGAN: And in our final moment here, a quick correction for you. In the story about kitchen germs that aired on this program on Friday, viewers were advised to allow food to cool before putting it in the fridge. In fact, that's the wrong thing to do. And it directly is contrary to USDA recommendations. Food allowed to cool before refrigeration runs a greatly increased risk of getting contaminated with bacteria. The USDA and other food safety experts recommend refrigerating food as rapidly as possible. If necessary, the USDA recommends food be stored in shallow pans to allow quicker chilling, or be placed in an ice bag. A fact check on proper food storage can be found on the USDA's food safety Web site. CNN regrets the error.

That's going to wrap up this hour. I'm Daryn Kagan. International news is up next. Stay tuned for YOUR WORLD TODAY. And I'll be back with the latest headlines from the U.S. in about 20 minutes.

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