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Brain Drain a Problem for FBI; Military Families Deal with Extended Deployments; Austrian Girl Escapes Kidnapping After Eight Years

Aired August 24, 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: There's some big medical news unfolding this hour. The FDA is now allowing over-the-counter sales of so- called morning-after pill. That's according to the company that manufactures the drug. Barr Pharmaceuticals announced this morning that women over 18 can purchase Plan B without a prescription. Younger girls still need one. The company says it hopes to begin sales of the drug by the end of the year.
Brain drain at the FBI. There's turnover at the top, and critics say it comes at the worst possible time. Here now, justice correspondent Kelli Arena.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An FBI agent for 31 years, Ronald Nesbitt, has decided to call it quits.

RONALD NESBITT, FORMER FBI AGENT: I knew that I had to make a decision while I was still relatively young, while I was attracted to the private sector and not much later in my career.

ARENA: Nesbitt, who is 52, ran the counterintelligence unit for the FBI's Washington field office. He says he was happy at work and wasn't job hunting, but got offers anyway. In the end, he says he did what was best for his family and accepted a security job with a large corporation.

NESBITT: I have two daughters that are adults, and one is graduating, one is still a sophomore in college. I have a young daughter still. So I was really looking at expenses.

ARENA: Nesbitt is just one of several top officials giving into the lure of the private sector.

Gary Ball, the top counterterrorism chief, also left recently to work in security for a cruise line. In fact, since the attacks on September 11th, at least six top counterterrorism officials have left, alarming some members of Congress.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These are critical jobs at a critical time.

ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: I understand what you're saying. And it is an issue we're wrestling with.

ARENA: The FBI points out the officials who left spent decades working at the FBI and says it's well prepared to replace them.

MIKE MASON, FBI EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: We know what the dynamic is in terms of the average retirement age of senior bureau employees. And as a result, are working hard to develop the bench we need to develop.

ARENA: But according to a study requested by Congress, the high turnover at the top makes it harder for the FBI to make necessary changes. Tim Roemer was a member of the 9/11 commission.

TIM ROEMER, FORMER 9/11 COMMISSION MEMBER: When you have six managers in the counterterrorism area in five years and you don't have that experience and that leadership at the top, even when you're bringing in creative new people, you are going to have significant morale and transfer and turnover problems at the bottom.

ARENA: Nesbitt says in his case, there wasn't much the FBI could do. It came down to needing the money.

(on camera): The salary for his government position tops out at $165,000. But in the private sector, his expertise commands a whole lot more.

Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And you can catch more of Kelli's reporting on "ANDERSON COOPER 360." Watch "A.C. 360" weeknights at 10:00 Eastern, only here on CNN.

It has been nearly five years since 9/11, and we wanted to know how Americans feel about the safety now. A new CNN poll asked, is the U.S. safer from terrorism than before 9/11? Only 43 percent said yes. Thirty-two percent say they feel about as safe, and a quarter say they feel less safe.

The poll also found 54 percent think there will likely be another terrorist attack in the U.S. in the next several weeks. And more than half feel the U.S. government is not prepared to handling damage from a terrorist attack, 47 percent think it is. The poll was conducted by Opinion Research Corporation.

CNN "Security Watch" keeps you up-to-date on your safety. Stay tuned day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

We have news breaking out of Michigan. Carol has that -- Carol.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: That's right, news to chew over breakfast. There has an explosion at the Battle Creek, Michigan plant. The Post Cereal plant in Battle Creek. This according to Michigan television affiliates. This is what we know so far, that they're reporting -- that just before 4:00 a.m., police say that a blast came at that plant. One worker was killed, another injured.

Apparently this was caused by a power outage caused by a storm. It built up pressure in one of the tanks and then it exploded. So debris flying for two or three-foot thick block wall. It struck both men in the leg, Daryn. So this is an ongoing situation. They seem to, according to Michigan affiliates -- seem to have a grasp on what caused the problem. But sad report for those families who have lost a loved one and another one injured in the hospital.

KAGAN: All right. We'll be tracking that. Thank you, Carol.

American troops in Baghdad. They have struggled to secure the city for three-and-a-half years now. Still, a Wild West atmosphere prevails, and that's one reason U.S. forces are still there in high numbers. Right now, an estimated 138,000 U.S. troops are in Iraq, about the same number that went into the country in 2003.

Many troops are on extended deployments. The army called more than 13,000 reservists back to active duty last year. The Pentagon will soon send thousands of marines for another tour. The surprise reactivation turns life upside down for military families.

Meredith Leyva is a Navy wife who knows all about that. She is the author of "Married to the Military," and she also moderates what I think is a fascinating online community, about 900,000 military wives and women in uniform. And it is called -- Meredith, tell us the name of your Web site.

MEREDITH LEYVA, WIFE OF NAVY LIEUTENANT: It's called cinchouse.com. And it's...

KAGAN: And what's that for?

LEYVA: Military jargon for "Commander in Chief of the House," i.e. a military spouse.

KAGAN: Ah-ha!

LEYVA: Yes. Because we...

KAGAN: So one might be going off to war, but we know who's running the place at home.

LEYVA: You bet. And running the show, running the base operation, so to speak, for the service members, plus holding down our jobs and running the family.

KAGAN: Very good. And then you get to add the Web site on top of that. Tell us what you're seeing on your Web site. Because I know chat is a big part of it. It's a place where spouses feel they can come online and share their feelings.

LEYVA: Well, absolutely. With 65 percent of military service members today married, you have a lot of military spouses who have been through a lot over the last five years, since 9/11. And the deployments have been back-to-back-to-back, with most families on their third or fourth deployment.

And these are not your standard six-month tours with 18 months home. These are nine months out, six to nine weeks back at home, and then another nine months out with no short tours and no port calls. Additionally, army folks are seeing typically a 15-month deployment. So it's really been a very difficult five years for military families.

KAGAN: Let's look at some of the postings that have appeared on your Web site, cinchouse.com.

Panquera writes, "I'm not freaked anymore. I hate them" -- the tours, she's referring -- "but whining and crying isn't going to get me anywhere, so we just enjoy all the time we have together until he goes again." That, to me, seems to me a sense of acceptance.

This is from Izi. She writes, "It doesn't matter how many times I hear about a new round of deployments. It always leaves me with a sinking feeling in my stomach. I know the men and women going signed up for it, but it's still not something you want to deal with."

A couple questions there. First of all, are those pretty representative of what we see on the Web site?

LEYVA: Very much so.

KAGAN: And second of all, in terms of the frustration level, have you noticed a change in that in recent months?

LEYVA: Well, it's very typical in a sense that, yes, we have volunteered for military service. This has been all professional force. But we're being treated like a draftee service. And...

KAGAN: And I see that in some of the articles. What do you mean by that?

LEYVA: Well, you know, back in Vietnam and even World War II, you know, the army could draft in some guy off the street and send him out for a year, and it didn't matter whether he had a family or personal commitments or anything. And typically, actually, those folks were back within the end of the year.

Today, we have an all-volunteer service. These are professional service members. And the folks who are in the military now are really the hardened troops who want to be there. But we signed up on the basis of that there would be some time with our families. Most of us have two small children under the age of six.

KAGAN: Which includes you.

LEYVA: Yes, myself included. I have a three-and-a-half-year-old and a six-month-old. And so when you're talking about a 15-month deployment, you're talking about my children's lifetimes away. And that's become very difficult now that we're on our fifth -- you know, just finishing up our fifth year of war.

KAGAN: And two questions here. One, this is not to say -- or let me just put it -- is this to say that the people, the women, the spouses who write in, don't support what is happening in Iraq or don't support the people who are doing service there? It's a different conversation.

LEYVA: It's actually very interesting. And Senator McCain's recent comments have been very enlightening and almost a relief. Because it used to be that if you criticized anything about the tactics or the strategy in engaging the war, it was the same thing as criticizing the mission. Those are two very different things.

Most service members want to finish out the mission in Iraq. The question is, how do we do it? And at this rate we -- of deployments -- after five years, we're running our troops into the ground.

KAGAN: What kind of advice do you give on the Web site to spouses going through this?

LEYVA: Well, first of all, make a lot of friends, because you're not only going to need those friends to talk about these issues to come up, to talk about things like why is my 3-year-old acting this way, but you'll also find a lot of emergency babysitters among your friends.

KAGAN: More support out there.

LEYVA: Yes. Because those emergencies are going to happen, and your family support group is there for you. But there's also groups like Operation Homefront that can provide that emergency assistance that you'll inevitably need during a deployment. I mean, whatever my husband deploys, I guarantee you, the roof is going to leak, the car is going to break down. And Operation Homefront gets the support of the community to help out military families in those times of crisis so service members aren't focused on the crisis at home, they're focused on the dangerous task at home.

KAGAN: We'd love to ask you a personal question, because as I was looking over the Web site, which is so well organized and a great resource this morning. I was thinking what kind of response do you get? Aren't military wives, a Navy wife, aren't you supposed to be silent and just supporting?

LEYVA: Wilting flowers? Yes, that's going to happen.

KAGAN: Stereotypes. But do you get any kind of brush to put a lid on it, or good for you? What kind of response do you get for doing a project like this?

LEYVA: Great question. You know in the old days you did have a lot of, forgive me, a lot of World War II-era spouses pining away at home very quiet. But today's military spouses work outside the home. We have professional and personal ambitions of our own. And in fact about 50 percent of service members are reporting that spouses earn as much or more than the service member. So you're not going to see a lot of wilting daisies in this day and age.

KAGAN: A lot of fascinating women. And there's resource there is for men, I would assume, if they are the spouse.

LEYVA: Absolutely. KAGAN: Cinchouse.com -- C-I-N-C-House -- one word -- dot come.

Meredith Leyva, thank you for your time.

LEYVA: Thank you, Daryn.

KAGAN: Fascinating site. Thank you.

Another cut in oil production at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, but is it going to mean bigger prices at the gas pump? That is ahead.

And she vanished eight years ago as a 10-year-old. Now it's believed she has been found. You'll hear her story that she's telling police on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

KAGAN: Well, speaking of oil, the nation's largest oil field seems to be pumping as many problems as crude these days. A corroded B.P. Pipeline cut production from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska by half earlier this month. Now it's been cut by almost half again. The latest problem, a broken compressor. BP says it will take several days to fix that, and it's not clear how that will affect gas prices. Just yesterday the government reported a surprising increase in gasoline inventory and a slight drop in oil prices.

It is about oil. Venezuela has plenty and China needs more. Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez is in Beijing wheeling and dealing. It's seen as a counterplay against Venezuela's top customer of crude, the U.S. And we will get to that with our Stan Grant in just a moment.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: We're going to get back to that piece about Venezuela President Hugo Chavez going to China to sell some oil. That'll come in the next hour. Right now, though, as we move ahead, a controversial contraceptive makes a big breakthrough. It's the so- called morning-after pill that goes over the counter. There are exceptions. Some of you will not be allowed to buy it over the counter. The details coming up.

And urgent warnings about the threat from Iran, ahead on CNN. You're watching the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Kidnapped and held captive for years. Now it appears the young woman is free, but police will never be able to charge her alleged abductor.

CNN's Tim Lister has the story that's unfolding in Austria.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) TIM LISTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Natascha Kampusch was ten when she disappeared, walking to school in Vienna on a March morning in 1998. A massive police search found no trace of her.

Eight years later, a young woman is found wandering in a garden. Her stunned family gets a call from police.

Natascha's father, in shock, tells a reporter, "We'd still be sitting here tomorrow if I had to tell you what I did to find her. Everything a man could possibly do." Then he's asked what he will do first if the young woman is confirmed as Natascha.

Austrian police are still piecing together what happened to Natascha. They believe she was abducted that March morning in 1998 by this man, Wolfgang Priklopil. For eight years, he kept her in a cell under a garage, occasionally allowing her into his garden.

After she escaped on Wednesday, police launched a manhunt for 44- year-old Priklopil, and found his car abandoned at a shopping mall near Vienna. Hours later, he committed suicide, jumping in front of an express train.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE) Natascha Kampusch.

LISTER: Police say Natascha is in good health and bears no sign of abuse. They're awaiting DNA tests, but they say are quite sure the woman is Natascha Kampusch. They say Natascha has so far told them little about her captivity, but that she had apparently escaped Priklopil's garden when he was busy. She may have been deprived of the chance to grow up like any other teenager, and traumatized her captivity, but Natascha is alive and free again.

Tim Lister, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: You know about sexual predators who prowl Internet chat rooms, well, what about your child playing Halo online? His opponent might not be who you think. Find out on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Parents, more than ever, you want to know your kids' video games. Internet predators may be targeting your child in a place you might not suspect.

Joanne Castaneda of our affiliate KDAF in Dallas explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOANNE CASTANEDA, KDAF REPORTER (voice-over): It's only fun and games to kids, but to predators, game consoles like Xbox are another tool to reach your child. MARIA NORRIS, PARENT: I think most people just don't think about it. They just think it's a game, and it's -- you know, that's it, that's the end. The kids are having fun.

CASTANEDA: Maria Norris says she was leery about getting Internet service for her son's Xbox, a service that would allow 13- year-old Alec (ph) to play and communicate from people around the world, including child predators posing as teens.

NORRIS: But anything having to do with online kind of scares me.

CASTANEDA: Microsoft, the makers of Xbox, agree, saying parents should be cautious.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With all of the good of the Internet, there's also the potential that some of these tools can be abused or misused.

CASTANEDA: This week, the company participated in the Crimes Against Children Conference in Dallas. Microsoft technicians held workshops dealing specifically with Xbox and how police can catch predators who are using the popular game to lure victims.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can help to teach them steps that they can take to help preserve digital and other evidence that they can capture as it's occurring on the Internet, so that they can use that to have a more effective investigation.

CASTANEDA (on camera): Microsoft doesn't just want to just educate law enforcement, they're also looking to educate parents. Every one of their Xbox systems has parental controls, and they want to remind parents to use them.

(voice-over): Some of the controls including limiting your child's online friends to only people you know, and even what type of communication they can have. The Norris family is glad to know they have these options to help them get ahead of the game.

NORRIS: If we go online, I will definitely do my homework

CASTANEDA: In Dallas, Joanne Castaneda for CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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