Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

Pandemic Plan; Sugar-Free Schools; New Border Battle; Shooting Near Philadelphia High School; Online Predators; Internet Child Porn

Aired May 03, 2006 - 10:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Daryn Kagan. She's at the CNN Center, going to take you through the next couple of hours on CNN LIVE TODAY.
Hey, Daryn, good morning.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Soledad, good morning. You have a great day. To Miles, too, if he ever comes back inside. Thank you.

We are starting off this hour talking about preparing for a pandemic. Today, the government details its plans for coping with a widespread flu outbreak. One that could be triggered by bird flu. It includes more than 300 recommendation and outlines a frightening chain of events. The plan assumes a worst case scenario. A death toll of 2 million, 50 million people infected, 40 percent of the workforce off the job. White House Correspondent Ed Henry joins me this morning.

Ed, what are some of the details of how the White House would plan to deal with such a situation?

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

A lot of detail here still emerging, but the White House report includes more than 300 specific recommendations for the public and private sectors, including stockpiles vaccines. The federal government would have about 20 million doses of vaccines on hand. Voluntary quarantines. Mandatory evacuations would only be used in the most extreme cases. They're also encouraging business practices that would minimize contact among employees, such as liberal leave policies, teleconferences, as well as restricting travel.

Now the White House is stressing they have no evidence a pandemic flu is about to break out but they were, of course, pilloried for their response to Hurricane Katrina. They want to get ahead of this. Here's the president special assistant on biodefense.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJEEV VENKAYYA, SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT: There's no guarantee that the H5N1 virus is even going to lead to a pandemic. We think that it might and we think that it has shown remarkable spread in birds. As to be very clear, it's a bird virus, not a human virus. But because there's a chance that it could become a pandemic virus, we're taking these steps to prepare.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HENRY: Now experts are already charging the White House may be undercounting the number of people who could be infected. They currently have the count at 50 million. Experts saying it could be a lot more. And also experts pointing out that it's one thing to have a report. But as we saw with Katrina it's a whole 'nother thing to actually get federal agencies to coordinate and to get federal, state and local officials to be communicating.

Daryn.

KAGAN: Ed, what about closing borders?

HENRY: White House getting some criticism already about that as well because the report does not have the option of closing down the borders. White House officials say the reason is, they don't really think it's practical. They also think that it would not prevent an actual outbreak. It would only slow it down temporarily. So the disruptions would make the problem worse. It really wouldn't stop an outbreak.

Daryn.

KAGAN: And what about the costs we're taking about?

HENRY: So far the White House has requested $7 billion. About $7.1 billion. They've gotten about $4 billion of that. Of course, obviously, they need another $3 billion. I just asked White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan whether they'll need more. For now they're just saying $7 billion. Obviously as this plan unfolds, as they get more evidence of the possibly, and I stress possibility of an outbreak, they would, obviously likely request even more money. But, for now, $7 billion.

KAGAN: And then there's the sticky situation of quarantine. Do you do mandatory quarantine? And how would you even implement that?

HENRY: That's something we're still waiting for more details on that. Frankly, we have not heard of mandatory ones, but we're, obviously, going to be pressing for more details on that. This afternoon there will be a live press conference with Scott McClellan, but also Fran Townsend, who's the president's Homeland Security advisers, to lay out exactly those specific details.

Daryn.

KAGAN: And, in fact, 12:30 p.m. Eastern, I believe, is the time, Ed. We'll see that live here on CNN and we'll have your help in covering that as well, I hope.

HENRY: Thank you.

KAGAN: Ed Henry at the White House. Thank you.

On to health news now. Kids these day, everything is sweet. There's a sweet songs, a sweet rides. Schools, not so sweet. No more sugary drinks in public school vending machines. Former President Bill Clinton is leading the initiative. The American Heart Association and the nation's leading beverage companies are joining the campaign. Under the plan, elementary and middle school vending machines will carry only water, juice and low-fat milk. High schoolers can choose between diet soda, diet or unsweetened tea, fitness water and sports drinks. The former president is set to unveil his sugar free school drink initiative later this hour. And you can look for coverage live on CNN.

So this new initiative will have an affect on an estimated 35 million school children nationwide. The idea is to fight childhood obesity, but will it help? Our Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here to weigh in on that.

How much can it help just to have school drinks?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It actually can help a lot more than you might think. Of course, the aim for a lot of pediatric obesity experts would be to overhaul school lunches in general, but they also say that starting with the beverages is not a bad place to begin.

Let's go over, again, the details of what this plan would be. It would be, the aim, is that by the fall of 2008, 75 percent of public schools would be onboard with this. That elementary and middle schools, no soda, no diet soda, no full-fat milk. In high schools, those same restrictions, except diet sodas would be allowed. And so they're hoping that by doing that, that at least puts a dent in childhood obesity.

KAGAN: Yes, maybe a dimple. You know, when you just think about the sugary drinks, there's so much other sugar and junk around schools, from the cafeteria to the vending machine.

COHEN: There is. But you would be amazed at how many calories can you get from drinking. And much of the problem is that people, children as well as adults, don't always -- you don't feel full from those calories the way you do -- did if you were actually eating those calories. Let's take a look at those calories very specifically.

For example, soda. A 12 ounce can of soda has 150 calories. If you drank, or if a child drank, a can of soda a day, that's 15 pounds a year. That is quite a bit.

Now let's take a look at full-fat milk. An 8 ounce glass of full-fat milk is 150 calorie, eight grams of fat. That's more fat and calories than in a chocolate chip cookie.

So again, it all can really add up. And again, it's really interesting how the body, if you ate a cookie, you're probably going to feel more full than if you drank a glass of milk. So kids will just drink this stuff and not realize how many calories they're taking in.

KAGAN: So it's not that you don't want kids drinking milk, it's that you don't want them drinking the whole milk.

COHEN: Exactly because skim or 2 percent has the same nutrients, but it doesn't have the fat. And so why not go with that.

KAGAN: Right. But this could take over a year to implement.

COHEN: Right. They're hoping by the fall of 2008 to have 75 percent of public schools on board.

KAGAN: All right, Elizabeth Cohen, thank you for that.

On to other news now. The U.S./Mexican board, a battle line in the drug war. Now this twist. Mexico may soon legalize small amounts of marijuana, cocaine, even heroin. The move could be an irresistible invitation to many Americans. Our Chris Lawrence investigated for "Anderson Cooper 360."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Mexico's new law has shocked people on both sides of the border.

BONNIE DUMANIS, SAN DIEGO DISTRICT ATTORNEY: The drug lords running the show.

LAWRENCE: They're outraged in cities like San Diego, just 15 miles from Mexico.

DR. JAMES DUNFORD, MEDICAL DIRECTOR, SAN DIEGO PARAMEDICS: It's hard to imagine that you could essentially allow any of your children, young adults, to walk around with enough lines of cocaine to snort for one to three days.

LAWRENCE: The new law makes it's legal to possess 500 milligrams of cocaine. That's enough for three or four lines. Also legal, enough marijuana for about four joints and small amounts of other drugs like heroin and ecstasy.

JOHN WALTERS, OFFICE OF NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL POLICY: It's never a good idea to say that's OK or to say that's tolerable because it leaves people with the impression that somehow these harms are not real.

LAWRENCE: U.S. drug czar John Walters admits he didn't have a lot of information about Mexico's plan, which suggests it may have caught American officials by surprise. Since then, they've been calling their Mexican counterparts pressing them for details on how this works.

Under Mexico's current law, if someone gets caught with a small amount of drugs, it's up to local judges and police to decide whether they should be prosecuted on a case-by-case basis. There were a lot of loopholes if you could prove that you were an addict and it led to a lot of bribes.

Supporters say that won't happen now because the law sets strict limits on possession. It also empowers local police to make arrests on a level similar to federal agents. RUBEN AGUILAR, PRESIDENT'S SPOKESMAN, (through translator): This law permits the use of better judicial tools so that the law enforcement can better combat the crimes against the health of children and young adults committed by narcotics traffickers.

LAWRENCE: The government says it's spending money to go after drug dealers, not users. But we found a group of Mexican health officials already meeting to find ways to fight this law. They don't believe their government's official line.

MARTHA MONTEJANO CARDENAS, MEXICAN HEALTH OFFICIAL, (through translator): This law has not been passed to catch the big fish. The real reason is the jails are already full of criminals and they can't keep them all in.

LAWRENCE: Across the boarder, the group has an ally in San Diego.

MAYOR JERRY SANDERS, (R) SAN DIEGO: I've already called the White House to inform the administration of our concern and will personally write to President Fox to encourage him not to enact this bill.

LAWRENCE: Where local officials are taking their concerns to both presidents.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: "Anderson Cooper" is keeping them honest on border security. Join "A.C. 360" weeknights at 10:00 Eastern on CNN.

Defending Duke. A lacrosse players speaks out about the scandal involving his teammates.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you certain that a rape did not occur that night at the party?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma'am.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: The exclusive interview ahead and a discussion about rape cases. Who's on trial here? Sometimes it seems to be the accuser.

An unseen enemy. A look at sexual predators prowling the Internet. Also, that was the wrong picture for that.

We were talking about death waiting for a convicted killer. Coming up, what went wrong at an execution.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Breaking news this morning about a shooting near a school. With more that, let's go to our Carol Lin. Carol.

CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, this is what we know.

This took place in Philadelphia, about four blocks away from Olney High School. We know that two teenagers were shot. Their ages about 16, 17 years old. They were shot about four blocks away from the high school.

There may about a suspect in custody right now. We've been watching the police action around the school as that school is now in a lockdown.

But, Daryn, we don't know if these kids were actually students at that high school. This did happen at about 8:45 in the morning and we're waiting to hear from a police spokesperson to hear more details about this. But this is what we know right now.

KAGAN: All right.

LIN: You're look at live pictures.

KAGAN: We will have you monitor the pictures and the information.

LIN: Yes.

KAGAN: Carol, thank you for that.

LIN: Sure.

KAGAN: To Ohio now. Death delayed. A convicted killers execution had to be put on hold for 90 minutes. The lethal injection team couldn't find a suitable vein when they were trying to injecting the deadly dose. After a while, get this, the condemned man, Joseph Clark, turned to prison workers and complained the drugs weren't working. The curtain separating the inmate from witnesses was pulled shut. The team tried again. The second injection did work.

There are new warnings about the dangers your children can face online and they center around a disturbing case out of Connecticut. Police say a 13-year-old girl ended up in this motel with a man she met on the popular website myspace.com. What happened next sent shock waves through the community. Reporter Kara Sundlun of CNN affiliate WFSB has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARA SUNDLUN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Erin Whitney (ph) ducked down in the back of this police cruiser when he saw our cameras at Middletown Superior Court. He's accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl he met on myspace.com here at the Riverdale Motel. Police say this case is a wake-up call for parents.

SGT. PAUL VANCE, CONNECTICUT STATE POLICE: Exposing children to computers is educational and necessary, but they also need to know the dangers of being online. Putting a computer in a private space, in a bedroom, out of sight, is wrong.

SUNDLUN: After the girl's mother reported her missing, police searched her computer. They say they found evidence that Whitney was having an online relationship with the young girl. Then they started searching the area and found his car at this motel in Portland and found the two of them together.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the room here, room 28, where the two people were.

SUNDLUN: So that's where police found them?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's where the police found them at 4:00 this morning.

SUNDLUN: Rich Collins has worked here at the Riverdale Motel on Route 66 for the last three years and he says he feels sick about this.

RICH COLLINS, HOTEL EMPLOYEE: A 13-year-old kid and one man there, my God. I just couldn't believe it. This is not right.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And sexual predators, for many, the Internet is their playground. Lawmakers get an earful about online abuse of children today. CNN's Nancy Grace is one of those set to testify on Capitol Hill. Also testifying is 13-year-old Nasha Allen (ph) who grew up a victim of online pornography. CNN's David Mattingly takes us back to last year when the child was rescued after years of abuse.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): In June 2001, investigator believe a Pittsburgh engineer took his adopted daughter to a Disney resort in Orlando where they suspect he sexually abused and photographed the blond-haired child, then posted her pictures on the Internet.

DET. SGT. PAUL GILLESPIE, TORONTO POLICE: It's horrific abuse of a very young, vulnerable child. And you just -- once you've seen the images and you've seen the collection that this -- this set of pictures is, it really breaks your heart.

MATTINGLY: So from hotel rooms in Orlando, to chat rooms in Toronto, investigators mounted an extraordinary search and then this surprising announcement.

LT. MATT IRWIN, ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: We have located the victim in our case.

MATTINGLY: While detectives in two countries took their very public manhunt to more than a dozen states, the girl had already been rescued. Her adoptive father already convicted and imprisoned by federal authorities back in 2003. That's when the FBI learned that the disturbing photos didn't begin to tell this little girl's story. MARY BETH BUCHANAN, U.S. ATTORNEY: Based upon all the evidence that we had seen, it does appear that the adoption was motivated by the defendant's interest in sexual activity, illegal sexual activity with children.

MATTINGLY: U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan of western Pennsylvania describes how the girl had been adopted from Russia at the age of five by a 45-year-old divorced engineer working with agencies in the U.S. and abroad. Buchanan says he sexually abused the girl throughout the years that followed. Even kept her on a strict diet to the make her look younger.

BUCHANAN: The child at age 11 did appear to be younger than an 11-year-old child. And the types of illegal material that this suspect was trying to obtain on the Internet would involve children who were of the age of approximately eight to 10, and specifically he was looking for images of young children who appeared -- who had a very thin appearance.

MATTINGLY: The FBI pursued the girl's adoptive father from a child porn chat room to his home in a rural suburb of Pittsburgh. That's where they found computerized evidence of child pornography and his tormented victim.

BUCHANAN: We believe that this was the first opportunity that this child had to disclose the activities that had been occurring to her. And luckily, the federal law enforcement agents who were executing the search were well-trained in investigating cases involving child sexual exploitation.

MATTINGLY: The girl was immediately placed in foster care and has since been adopt by a new family far from the home where she endured such pain. Her abuser got the maximum sentence possible at the time, 15 years in prison for producing and possessing child pornography.

But more than 200 explicit photos of the girl continue to be traded by Internet pedophiles around the world where they later caught the attention of authorities in Europe, who alerted detectives in Toronto, where a second investigation was launched on a case that had already been solved.

But detectives working this case say their experience will not be remembered as a complete waste of time. The search for this girl resulted in a series of law enforcement breakthroughs that may make it easier to find other victims of child pornography.

The Toronto police developed the idea of using computers to remove the victim from photographs and to re-creating the rooms behind them. What they came up with were surprisingly accurate photos of crime scenes that they could share with the public. For example, the bedspread in this photo led them to the Disney resort in Orlando. These bricks, spotted in some of the photos, were identified by experts and led the investigators to believe that the girl was in Pennsylvania.

David Mattingly, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And the man accused of abusing the girl, Matthew Mancuso, is in a federal prison hospital in Massachusetts. Authorities say he is unlikely to ever be free again.

Following breaking news out of Philadelphia. A school shooting. Carol Lin has more information on that.

Carol.

LIN: Daryn, this happened close to Olney High School in Philadelphia. In the Philadelphia area. And apparently two teenagers were shot. We don't know if they were students at that high school. But they ran into that high school after the shooting to get help and the school was then set in a lockdown.

Now you're looking at live pictures of the police activity outside of Olney High School. With me on the telephone right now is Yolanda Dawkins. She's with the Philadelphia Police Department.

Ms. Dawkins, what can you tell us? Is there a suspect in custody?

YOLANDA DAWKINS, PHILADELPHIA POLICE DEPARTMENT: We possibly have a person responsible for the shooting in custody. We're just trying to get some more information just to verify that this is the person that we are looking for.

LIN: All right. Can you describe that person? Man? Woman?

DAWKINS: That information I don't have.

LIN: All right. Do you know if it's a teenager at least or an adult?

DAWKINS: That information I don't have.

LIN: So nothing about the suspect, but someone in custody.

DAWKINS: No, ma'am.

LIN: You're still not sure if it's the shooter. Why was this person apprehend?

DAWKINS: Just based on witnesses statements that were at the scene and different information that we received once we got in the location.

LIN: All right. Can you tell us if the two teenagers who were shot, a boy and a girl, did they -- are they students at Olney High School?

DAWKINS: That information we are not able to verify at this moment. LIN: All right. But you do know that there was a shooting at 8:45 in the morning. Did it take place across the street at a store or a few blocks away? We have two different stories.

DAWKINS: In close proximately to the school. The shooting actually happened at Front (ph) and Ashdale (ph) Street.

LIN: Any idea what the motive was?

DAWKINS: No, ma'am.

LIN: Or even if the person in custody knew the two teenagers who were shot?

DAWKINS: No, ma'am.

LIN: All right. The girl apparently shot in the back?

DAWKINS: She's actually shot in the rear end.

LIN: And the boy shot on the upper right side?

DAWKINS: That's correct.

LIN: How are they doing?

DAWKINS: They're both in stable condition.

LIN: So you're expecting them to survive?

DAWKINS: Yes, ma'am.

LIN: All right. Is the school still in a lockdown situation?

DAWKINS: As far as we know, it still is in a lockdown situation.

LIN: And why is that?

DAWKINS: Just because parents reaction to the different things that are going on into the school and we want to contain everybody and make sure that everything is OK at that location.

LIN: So is there still a search for accomplices or perhaps a different suspect?

DAWKINS: That information I don't have.

LIN: All right. So how long is the school going to remain in lockdown then?

DAWKINS: That's information I don't have.

LIN: Because it suggests to parents who might be watching that somebody else may be on the loose.

DAWKINS: That information I don't have. LIN: OK. Yolanda Dawkins, I know this is a developing situation. We appreciate your time.

Daryn, so right now you're looking at a high school, Olney High School, in a lockdown as one person is in custody but still a fluid situation. We don't know whether there's another shooter out on the loose.

KAGAN: All right. We'll continue to follow it.

Carol, thank you.

A Duke lacrosse player speaks out about the rape allegations against his teammate. What he says did not happen ahead on CNN LIVE TODAY.

And another Los Angeles Lakers player accused of sexual assault. We'll tell you what's going on straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Markets have been open close to an hour. Let's go ahead and check on how they're doing. You can see the Dow is down a bit. It is down 22 points. The Nasdaq also down but barely moving really. It is down just over 3.5 points.

A hundred and thirteen people were onboard. No one survived. That's the word from the Russians after a passenger jet crashed into the Black Sea. The Armenian plane went down about four miles off the coast of the resort of Sochi. Search crews are working in driving rain and high seas. They have found parts of the plane, baggage and life jackets. Authorities say the pilot did not report any problems before the crash.

In Iraq, a hot spot heats up again. A suicide bomber blew himself up at a police recruitment center in Fallujah. That's in the so-called Sunni Triangle. At least 16 people were killed and more than two dozen wounded. And other deadly violence today in Baghdad and Baqubah.

To Iran now. A new boast concerning that country's nuclear ambitions. Iran's nuclear chief now claims scientists have enriched uranium to a level that's even higher than last month's announcement. But he says it's still below what's required for nuclear weapons. Iran and its leader also drawing some tough words from Israel. In parliament, Shimon Perez called on Iran to abandon its nuclear program and warned that Israel knows how to defend itself.

Little women and big cars.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SINGING: Suburban housewife driving in her SUV.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Well, a suburban songwriters driving home a point? More toe-tapping ahead on CNN LIVE TODAY.

And a cruise like you will not believe. Coming up, we'll go onboard the world's largest cruise ship. Luxury and fun ruling the seas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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