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Army Plans to Burn Old Chemical Weapons in Alabama; Which Creatures Inhabit Central Park?; Flying Like an Eagle
Aired June 28, 2003 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Today on NEXT@CNN, the little town of Anniston, Alabama. It's home to tons of old chemical weapons. The Army plans to burn them up starting next month. Is that really the safest way to deal with them? We'll hear a debate on that.
Also, what lifeforms lurk in New York's Central Park? Scientists may have some new answers today.
And have you ever dreamed about flying like an eagle? How about flying like a squirrel? We'll show you how it's done.
But first, as the U.S. Army prepares to incinerate tons of aging chemical weapons in Anniston, Alabama, critics worry about the risks to nearby residents.
Joining us to discuss the science and the safety concerns are Kevin Flamm, the U.S. Army's acting program manager for the elimination of chemical weapons, and Ross Vincent, a chemical engineer and senior policy adviser with the Sierra Club.
Gentlemen, thanks for joining us.
KEVIN FLAMM, U.S. ARMY: Good afternoon.
ROSS VINCENT, SIERRA CLUB: Hi, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Well, Mr. Ross, let me begin with you. What types of chemicals are going to be potentially destroyed at the Anniston incinerator?
VINCENT: Well, the Anniston incinerator has virtually all of the chemical agents (UNINTELLIGIBLE) that are still in the U.S. stockpile, mustard agent, VX, and (UNINTELLIGIBLE). And they'll be attempting to destroy all of those there.
WHITFIELD: And do you believe that this is likely to be the best way in which to destroy these chemicals?
VINCENT: No, I'm confident it isn't, unfortunately. The Army -- the Department of Defense has developed several other methods that are being used at some of the other sites, and that I'm confident are much safer. Unfortunately, the folks in Alabama have not had the option of choosing those other alternatives, and they're at the point now where they're about to start up an incinerator.
WHITFIELD: Well, Mr. Flamm, what are your views on this? Is this the best way to go about this?
FLAMM: Yes, Fredricka. The incinerator technology that is inclined to be used at Anniston is well proven. We have safely destroyed 16 million pounds of chemical agents of all types, as well as over a million different munitions configurations.
It has been independently reviewed, not only within the Department of Defense, but as well as by several independent external organizations, such as the National Research Council, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
It's robust, it's complete, and it's protective of the environment, and this serves the citizens of Anniston extremely well by eliminating the risk that the stockpile presents to the citizens of Alabama.
WHITFIELD: Well, Mr. Flamm, there have been a lot of expressed concerns about the air and water quality and how it potentially may be jeopardized. How do you respond to that?
FLAMM: Again, the facilities have been designed to be completely protective of not only the safety of the workforce but that of the environment. The facility is built with numerous safeguards. There are continuous emissions monitoring systems, there are process control elements.
Before we ever begin the testing of the facility, it goes through a series of test burns that validate the operation, the efficacy of the process. Those tests, and the results of those tests, have been reviewed by the state of Alabama environmental agencies, they're reviewed by, again, by Army and Department of Health and Human Services.
All this goes towards the validation to provide confirmation and hopefully confidence within the public that the facility is protective of their health as well as the environment.
WHITFIELD: Well, Mr. Vincent, chemical neutralization is something that's been used in other places. Do you believe that that would be applicable to Anniston, or does Anniston have the right kind of procedure in which to dispose of these chemicals?
VINCENT: Well, we know it would be. The neutralization processes that have been developed and demonstrated by the Department of Defense will work on the Anniston stockpile, as they will on the stockpiles at all of the chemical weapons sites. I live in Pueblo, Colorado, one of the stockpile sites where we will be using one of the neutralization methods.
Four of the eight domestic United States stockpile sites, in fact, will be using neutralization instead of incineration. And the other four are committed to incineration. Hopefully, those decisions over time can be revisited.
I'm fairly confident that significant changes are going to have to be made in the incinerators that they have built and are building before they can finish the job at these other sites. And neutralization offers an option that will help to make that process easier.
WHITFIELD: Well, Mr. Flamm, is that an option, or are there other options, perhaps more remote locations, more remote than Anniston?
FLAMM: Well, I think it's important to realize, Fredricka, that the risk to the public, the greatest risk to the public is coming from that from the stockpile, not from the destruction. So it's important to destroy the weapons as quickly as possible, while maintaining the safety of the workforce and that of the environment.
The destruction facility at Anniston has been designed to provide that maximum protection. It is a third-generation facility. It is built on the lessons learned that we had from the first facility that was built in Johnson Atoll in the Pacific. That facility, in fact, has safely destroyed its entire stockpile. It's also...
WHITFIELD: So how do you safeguard a populated area, then?
FLAMM: The safeguard, again, is built into the operations of the facility. Our first line of protection is that of the workforce. The men and women of the Anniston facility are trained, highly trained, and they know how to operate this facility to protect it.
We,... again, we have imminent numerous process controls that ensure that the facility is operating properly. In the event there should be an upset, which we don't expect, but if it should occur, there are automatic cutoffs that prevent any more processing of material...
WHITFIELD: OK.
FLAMM: ... in the facility until it's been remedied.
WHITFIELD: Well, Mr. Vincent, are you convinced of that?
VINCENT: No. And, in fact, the greatest risk to the public is not from continued storage of the stockpile. That conclusion results from a fairly bizarre risk analysis that the Army had done for them quite some years ago.
WHITFIELD: All right.
VINCENT: Those weapons have been in storage at all of the sites for 50 years or more with -- in relative safety, and Army analysis indicates that probably another 30 or 40 years...
WHITFIELD: OK.
VINCENT: ... of safe storage is...
WHITFIELD: Well...
VINCENT: ... possible. WHITFIELD: Well, Ross Vincent, you've got the last word, only because we've run out of time, a chemical engineer and senior policy adviser with the Sierra Club, and Kevin Flamm, U.S. Army's acting program manager for the elimination of chemical weapons.
Thanks very much to both of you gentlemen.
FLAMM: Thank you, Fredricka.
VINCENT: You're welcome.
WHITFIELD: Well, when we come back, military hardware that may dominate the battlefield of the future is being invented right now, by a former grocer in Australia. We'll have that story.
And later in the show, who says people can't fly? Find out what it takes to glide through the air something like this. And, maybe even land safely.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Well, the time has come to face the music. If you're a music pirate, the recording industry wants to talk to you. And they want you to walk down the plank.
The Recording Industry Association of America is preparing to file lawsuits against hundreds of individuals who swap copyrighted music online.
Our technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg joins us now with more on RIAA and some other tech news.
DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Hi, Dan.
SIEBERG: It's all part of the new strategy from the Recording Industry Association of America, going after you or people who are online and sharing what they call substantial amounts of music. There are a couple of things that they're going after.
They're looking at people who are sharing this music online, and they're going to do it by basically trying to find out who these people are, gathering evidence, and then going through the Internet service provider. And they're saying they're going to be putting these lawsuits together over the next couple of months.
So who are these people, and what are these file-sharing services? We can show you at least the file-sharing services that we're talking about, one of them being Morpheus. We need to point out these file-sharing sites that allow this to happen online are not technically considered illegal, although much of the activity that goes on on them is considered to be illegal. We're talking about Morpheus and Grokster. Now, on the legitimate or the legal side, we're talking about newer services like Apple's iTunes service, and as well, MusicNet, which is backed by the music industry, AOL Time Warner, the parent company of CNN, is part of this, PressPlay and others that are out there.
There are some -- there is an uphill battle here, Fredricka, when we're talking about these lawsuits. First of all, there are critics out there who say this is very heavy-handed, that it's only going to alienate a lot of music fans that are out there, that they're going to be very upset with these lawsuits.
They're also saying that, you know, I've been going around online and seeing what people are talking about on the discussion boards. A lot of the reaction is very negative. As you might expect, a lot of people also still feel fairly anonymous.
Now, the music industry is saying you can no longer feel anonymous. We are going to be trying to find you. We're going to come after you and file these lawsuits.
But again, some critics are saying this is frivolous, that it's going to accomplish what the music industry is trying to do, which is to cut down on piracy, which they say is a big part of why CD sales are down, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: So Dan, isn't there a feeling, though, that this would be enough to be a deterrent to discourage an awful lot of people not to download? They don't want to see these kinds of fines.
SIEBERG: Right. Exactly. They certainly hope that this will be a deterrent. It's similar to what happened just recently. Four college students settled and, you know, these lawsuits could amount to millions of dollars, though they'll likely be settled for much less.
But they're hoping that it's a bit of a scare tactic, that it will stop some people from doing this file-sharing online. But there's no guarantee. A lot of people just feel they're still anonymous online, and they're not so worried about the recording industry coming after them.
WHITFIELD: All right.
Another huge development this week, the FTC and the FCC announcing this do-not-call list, you know, going to the Internet and putting your name on a list so that telemarketers don't take advantage of your phone number. They have gotten overwhelming response, haven't they?
SIEBERG: Right. It's easy to find somebody who feels annoyed by a telemarketing call. And so they've made it easy to try and contact them about this do-not-call list. You see the number there up on the screen, the 1-888 number, as well as the donotcall.gov site, which we can show you right now.
The donotcall.gov site allows you to enter up to three different numbers. You can put three different numbers in. You also need to put in your e-mail address, which you can see down here towards the bottom. The reason you need to put your e-mail address in there, Fredricka, is that they will send you a confirmation e-mail saying, We've received your numbers, respond back to this, so that we know that this is you.
Now, this is so popular, you can imagine that there are -- they're expecting as many as 60 million people to sign up for this. They've already received close to a million numbers as part of this sign-up service.
So the site -- you know, I actually registered my numbers the other day, and it was fairly slow, I have to tell you. And some of the Internet measurement companies that are out there have noticed that it's very sluggish, it's taking people a long time to try and get the Web page even to load, let alone the time it takes to get the confirmation e-mail back.
However, a lot of this doesn't take effect until the coming months ahead. The actual effect of this list doesn't take place until October.
There are also some exemptions we should point out as part of this list. There are charities and surveys and political groups that are not part of this do-not-call list.
And you know, it's just another battle front in the war of annoying ads, I suppose, because a lot of these companies may already be using spam or they may go from doing a phone call to the Internet.
So it's all part of that battle.
WHITFIELD: Yes, I wonder, Dan, did you or anybody you know have any reluctance to signing up, divulging information to get your name on the list, being fearful, perhaps, that you might be open to solicitation of another sort later on?
SIEBERG: You know, I haven't heard anybody who's been too reticent for that particular reason. And I wasn't, because I'm hoping, at least, maybe I'm putting too much faith in this particular list, but I'm hoping, at least, that the FTC is going to use this list for the reasons that it saying, to get people off of these lists that you're using.
As I say, though, it is going to take a little while for some people to get onto this list. It was very slow yesterday. It's gotten a little bit more manageable today. But, you know, they were expecting this huge reaction, and clearly that's what they're getting at this point. You're seeing the number there again. And their Web site, again, donotcall.gov.
WHITFIELD: All right. Dan Sieberg, thanks very much. Get on the list now to get off the list.
SIEBERG: Right.
WHITFIELD: And, of course, you see the results come October.
SIEBERG: Right.
WHITFIELD: All right, thanks a lot.
SIEBERG: All right.
WHITFIELD: Taking a look at some of the stories making news on our beat this week. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday that it's OK for Congress to force public libraries to use filtering software to protect children from seeing online porn. The ruling upheld the Children's Internet Protection Act, which a lower court struck down last year. The majority opinion said the law does not infringe on free speech.
A federal judge shut down many of the Interior Department's Internet systems yesterday because of concerns that hackers could get into a $1 billion fund. The judge says the move was necessary because the government refused to have outside tests done to make sure the money was safe from hackers. It's the second time Judge Royce Landbert (ph) has shut down department computers to protect the $1 billion American Indian Fund.
The Army started testing its new armored troop carrier, the Striker, at Fort Knox, Kentucky, this week. The vehicle is light and quick compared to older carriers. It's also packed with technology, including a screen that lets a commander see the location of everyone in the unit. A spokesman says the Striker is part of the Army's transformation to a lighter, more mobile force.
The hardware for that new-style Army doesn't just come from big defense contractors. An entrepreneur in Australia is developing some sophisticated new weapons with support from the U.S. and Australian military.
Geoff Hiscock has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEOFF HISCOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Imagine a gun that fires a million rounds a minute, enough to shred a target in the blink of an eye or throw up a defensive wall against an incoming missile.
This is Metal Storm, a weapons system that forsakes all-star mechanics for the speed of electronics.
Its inventor is Mike O'Dwyer, a one-time grocer in the Australian city of Brisbane. He spent 30 years and most of his own money to develop this technology.
Now, finally, the doors are opening for him at the Pentagon.
MIKE O'DWYER, FOUNDER, METAL STORM: The real value comes from the electronic capability to deliver rights of fire and different types of projectiles very precisely. HISCOCK: O'Dwyer's weapons range from a handgun that can only be operated by an authorized user, to an grenade launcher that can fire either lethal or nonlethal ammunition.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are cleared, hot on target.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roger. I have HUD, have visual on friendlies at 10:00.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HISCOCK: What looks like a video game is a deadly serious sales pitch for Metal Storm's vision of how its technology can be used.
O'DWYER: Where network-centric warfare is going, that's moving the principal systems of weapons from the big, heavy, sly stuff to the small, light, fast, inexpensive, many of, but here's the important thing, very, very smart.
HISCOCK: It's this promise of speed and flexibility that has got the American and Australian military to commit $60 million in research and development funding for O'Dwyer's array of weapons.
Here, in this Brisbane workshop, is where it all started, where all the prototypes have been built. Increasingly, Metal Storm looks to the United States, where most of its staff are now based, and where it hopes to clinch sales to defense agencies and police forces next year.
(on camera): Going global has been in Mike O'Dwyer's sights for many years. And from these small beginnings, it's a target that gets a little bigger and a little closer every day.
Jeff Hiscock, CNN, Brisbane, Australia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Coming up, scientists and kids get together to catalog the wildlife of Central Park. We'll show you what they found.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: It's the 150th anniversary of Central Park this year. To mark the occasion, hundreds of scientists, naturalists, and volunteers started combing the park yesterday at noon in a 24-hour biological inventory of Manhattan's biggest green space. The goal is to catalog as many species as possible.
CNN's Kathleen Hays is there. And Kathleen, just how many species do they think are there?
KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, the cataloguing has just begun, but it looks like at least 836 species have been found so far. But when all is said and done, they're hoping to find even more.
This is a first-time-ever event in Central Park, as you say, sponsored or organized by a group called the Explorers Club, 99 years old, includes first person to the North Pole, first person to the South Pole, first person to the moon, and to the highest mountains in the world, and the deepest parts of the ocean.
I'm joined by the president of the club, Richard Wiese, who's going to tell us a little bit more about BioBlitz, how it started, and why it's happening now.
Welcome, Richard.
RICHARD WIESE, THE EXPLORERS CLUB: Well, thank you very much.
I mean, this has been a very interesting experience, not only for Central Park, but in terms of marrying technology with field exploration. We're lucky enough to have Microsoft as a sponsor. And we use this as a testing ground for some of their tablet PCs. We use it as a testing ground for some of the biologists to do some fieldwork here.
And one of the great things about this particular thing is, it could be done anywhere in the world. We think that BioBlitz is, again, doing a total cataloguing of every living organism. It's something that you could do in Central Park, Hyde Park, any place in the world.
HAYS: What was it like being out in the park last night? I mean, there were -- I just had -- you know, Central Park, you think of people worried about muggers. You guys were out worried about, what, wild owls and snakes?
WIESE: Well, I was looking for bats and then for owls. And, you know, New York is generally a very blase place. It takes a lot to get a New Yorker to react. And they were looking for owls. And one of the ways you do a sort of search for an owl is, you have owl calls.
What it does is, owls are very territorial. They'll come to an area. So they had all these mechanical owls making screeches. And I was watching this couple who were sitting on a bench, and they're hearing owls, birds. It sounded like you were in a tropical rainforest.
And it was a little unusual for -- it was a New York moment.
HAYS: Well, tell us a little bit about -- there's been actually potentially a discovery, something that's never been found in the park before.
WIESE: Absolutely. You know, less than 5 percent of all living organisms actually have a name. So virtually any place you stand on earth, or especially in water, those little creatures, microbes, and in the ocean, large species that have no name to it.
We're quite confident that when Dr. Sylvia Earl takes some of her water samples, she and I were swimming in Central Park's rowing pond there, we took some water samples, when she puts it under a microscope, she will identify some new images, some new species.
HAYS: And Sylvia Earl, of course, one of the world's renowned marine biologists.
WIESE: Absolutely.
HAYS: Tell us about the goal. Does BioBlitz end here? Does it occur again in Central Park? Is this something you'd like to see happen around the world?
WIESE: Well, I'd like to see it happen around the world. But as I mentioned earlier, it's really a testing ground. It's a testing ground for field scientists to rapidly collect data.
Now, when Charles Darwin went down to the Galapagos Islands, he spent three weeks there, it took him 23 years to publish "The Origin of Species." You know, he didn't have the technology that we have today. I think if Charles Darwin would have had a tablet PC and maybe some of this software from Microsoft, he would have even increased the knowledge from that time period.
So we're lucky we're in an era where we can do just such rapid transmission of data, of collections, and all sorts of technology. So it's great.
HAYS: OK. So, so much happening, you know, you're thinking we're here with the bugs and the insects and leaves and the trees, but technology playing a big part.
We thank Richard Wiese and everybody who's taken the time to stick around, because these people have been up for a long, long time.
Back to you.
WHITFIELD: Well, Kathleen, it's pretty remarkable, and some would say even just very ironic, that here it is, New York, known as a concrete jungle, would also be home to this very lush and rich kind of urban jungle, if you will. Are the naturalists as fascinated about what they're finding as some of the volunteers are?
HAYS: I think so. And they point out, you know, that Central Park was actually created 150 years ago. It was swampland. Every tree, every bush, many of the species of animals were actually introduced in Central Park. They point out that if a BioBlitz taking place in a more natural environment, you'd find even more specimens.
But they do seem very excited about cataloguing what is here. And, of course, part of the point of this, now they have a benchmark. They'll be able to say, Is the park gaining ground? Is it getting healthier? Is the biodiversity increasing, or is it losing ground? Are there steps that need to be taken?
And they're really hoping this will raise, you know, awareness in citizenry that this is something that educates kids as well. So I think they're all very excited about it. It's been a fun thing to observe.
WHITFIELD: Wow, and help people better appreciate the park that they've got right there instead of taking it for granted.
HAYS: Well, New Yorkers really do love this park. I think it's interesting, we've got baseball players over there, you get sunbathers behind you, there's handball over there. And I think probably a lot of people weren't even aware that the scientists were here. Maybe if they do this again, we'll get more people down helping the scientists find the beetles and moths, and there's even parrots in this park.
WHITFIELD: Well, great. Neat science. All right. Thanks very much, Kathleen Hays, from Central Park.
Well, coming up in our next half-hour, NASA's flying wing comes crashing down. We'll have details. And just what is going on when people are convinced that they see an image of the Virgin Mary in some unlikely places? We'll talk to a theologian who is also an engineer. His answers may surprise you.
First, a quick break and a check of the latest headlines. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
WHITFIELD: The National Park Service rescues more than 4,500 lost or injured hikers each year. This Tuesday the "Personal Locator Beacon" goes on sale for just such occasions. Daniel Sieberg is back and he's got one of these devices on hand. How does it work?
SIEBERG: Hey, Fredricka. That's right. These Personal Locator Beacons, or PLBs, they use GPS technology and are tracked on a worldwide satellite rescue system. Basically these devices are designed to be fairly user friendly in the event of an emergency. The person must first register the unit with the NOAA registration Web site. You need to provide details like the owner's name, address, phone number, and the PLB's identification number, so they know exactly who you are.
Then when the user is in trouble all they have to do is press the button and undo the antenna. We've got one here in the studio. You can see here, the button on the front and top is what you're meant to actually press to act -- to start the device. This is a demo unit, so we're not doing anything, right now. And, there's an antenna, you can see here, on the top, this actually unfolds as part of the unit. And then, once you've done that it's very simple. The beacon will then send out a distress signal and that will put into motion the search and rescue team.
Now, it's important mention that this is an emergency alert system, a little bit like 911, it is only to be used when all other methods of self-rescue have been exhausted. The signal is sent to all of the emergency rescue forces from the Coast Guard, to the military, to the local emergency force. You know, if the system is deployed as a prank, there are fines of $250,000 and jail time in place. The owner would also have to pay for the costs incurred in the rescue.
Now, speaking of costs, these devices here, they're a little bit pricey, start about $700. and outdoorsmen, hikers, and back-country skiers who will be in remote areas are the ones are most encouraged to use them. But, if you're not going to be in a remote area, the norm at means of communication, such as a cell phone or even a two-way radio would likely suffice. Now, officials hope that public use of the PLB will make it easier for rescue personnel to contact those in need and that it help to save lives -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Wow, $700, not cheap, but if you're a serious hiker or a serious outdoors person, this really does sound like a vital tool.
SIEBERG: Right, and maybe -- you know, no cost is too high in order to save lives.
WHITFIELD: No kidding. All right, thanks very much, Daniel.
SIEBERG: All right.
WHITFIELD: Well, rescue beacons may be the way to go for hikers and other folks who venture into remote areas, but when most of us find ourselves in an emergency situation, we call 911. Now technology is making it possible to locate people in distress even when they call from a mobile phone. Here's Kathleen Koch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERT MAINS, ALEXANDRIA, VA, POLICE: It zooms right to the call, and zooms right to the map.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Alexandria, Virginia, using sophisticated positioning technology to pinpoint emergency cell phone calls to within about 300 yards.
MAINS: She's calling from this building here, and it puts it within the 300 meters. She's just right across the creek.
KOCH: The life-saving technology wasn't available in 1993 when 18-year-old college student Jennifer Koon was abducted in Pittsburgh, New York and called 911.
KIMBERLY BELL, 911 OPERATOR: She kept saying, "Please." She kept saying she was hurt. She kept saying "help me."
KOCH: Jennifer was found shot to death in her car hours later. Her father, now a New York state assemblyman is lobbying to spread the new technology nationwide.
DAVID KOON, VICTIM'S FATHER: Unfortunately, with Jenny and with other -- so many other people that have lost their lives in this country, the people who cannot tell the dispatcher where they're located exactly, have no chance.
KOCH: The federal communications commission has mandated that 95% of all cell phones have the capability to be traced by 2005, but finding the money and cell phone industry cooperation has been difficult.
MICHAEL POWELL, FCC CHAIRMAN: The different technologies have -- just had different characteristics, different challenges associated with deploying them, and candidly, companies have had different levels of commitment.
KOCH: State support, too, has been mixed.
SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: Just hasn't gotten done. Some states like our own state of New York has diverted money that cell phone users have paid for more than a decade, away from the purpose, which is to establish a universal E-911 system.
KOCH: More than $300 million in cell phone surcharges in New York state alone. So, Clinton is sponsoring legislation to four states to spend the money on the new 911 technology. Alexandria's police point out the system can be phased in as departments make regular equipment updates.
DAVID BAKER, ALEXANDRIA, VA, POLICE: So, it is costly, but it's not as costly as one would think because you don't buy it separately, it's an upgrade.
KOCH (on camera): The FCC says 30 to 50% of all 911 calls come from wireless phones. Still, some worried that tracing technology could potentially invade people's privacy, by allowing their every move to be tracked. But, police say that risk is outweighed by the lives that could be saved by speeding emergency responders to accidents, crime scenes and other disasters.
Kathleen Koch, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Well, NASA has named a panel to investigate why an experimental aircraft crashed into the Pacific on Thursday. The Helios Prototype was an unmanned solar powered flying wing. It was flying at about 3,000 feet on Thursday, going 21 miles an hour when it broke up and crashed according to NASA. Some pieces of the $15 million aircraft have been recovered; a team of scientists and engineers will try to figure out what went wrong.
NASA plans to launch a rover to Mars late tonight, the second this month. The robotic rover named "Opportunity" is about three weeks behind its twin "Spirit" launched on June 10. Both are expected to arrive at Mars in January. They'll crawl around different sections of the Martian surface, gathering soil, rock samples, and scientists are hoping to find out whether -- and for how long rivers may have existed on mars, which could give them clues about whether the planet could once have supported life. When we come back, some of the world's rarest diamonds are gathered in one place this weekend. We'll tell you where you can see these rocks.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Checking some NEXT news headlines for this Saturday, scientists have discovered at least 100 previously unknown species in the unexplored waters off Australia's East Coast. Using new mapping techniques, researchers were able to drop nets on extinct volcanoes, called sea mounts, deep beneath the surface. this is what they hauled up. New types of sharks and rays and a variety of invertebrates. Researchers say this is just the tip of the iceberg. wow! Look at this stuff. They explored 14 sea mounts, and there are 30,000 of theme apparently worldwide.
The Right whale is getting some unprecedented protection. Canada is changing the shipping lanes in the Bay of Fundy to prevent collisions between whales and ships. It's said to be the first time an international shipping route has been altered to protect an endangered species. Only about 350 north Atlantic Right whales exist and up to two-thirds of them gather in the bay's feeding grounds each summer.
Well, these strange looking robots might someday save your life. A research center funded by the Japanese government has unveiled several robots designed to help victims of disasters like earthquakes. The robots can crawl, fly, or even jump over rubble to find survivors. Most are equipped with short-wave cameras and censors. The researchers are also planning to build robots that can dig through rubble and carry survivors to safety. Amazing stuff.
And a girl could find some new best friends at an exhibit that opened yesterday at the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum in the nation's capital. Seven of the world's rarest design -- diamonds, rather, went on display. The rocks include the flawless and colorless Millennium Star at 203 carats, it's the size of a plum. Well, the others range in color from sparkling yellow to dark blue, all of them beautiful.
Well, for the past two weeks thousands have flocked to a hospital -- a hospital parking lot, for that matter, in Milton, Massachusetts, to view a window with a cloudy silhouette resembling Blessed Virgin Mary. Well, Father Harvey Egan is a Jesuit theologian. He was also trained as an electrical engineer. He joins us now from our Boston bureau.
Father Egan, help us understand. Some people think they're seeing the Mother Virgin Mary in the window. You're saying this is not a premonition, that's accurate, but maybe this is just their eyes playing tricks on them?
WHITFIELD: Can you hear me, father Egan?
FATHER HARVEY EGAN, JESUIT THEOLOGIAN: I can hear you.
WHITFIELD: OK. Well, are you...
EGAN: All right, I'd like to say it's some sort of...
WHITFIELD: Are you in agreement?
EGAN: I'd like to place it in some sort of context.
WHITFIELD: OK.
EGAN: All right? In the last century, the official church has approved only three sightings of our lady. The Lords, Fatima, and in a little place in Belgium. Now, what I wish to emphasize here is that when the official church approves, it's essentially a negative approval. Now, what do I mean by that? The church essentially says there is nothing here contrary to faith and morals. All right? That's number one. Secondly, it allows Catholics to believe it. The Catholic does not have to believe.
WHITFIELD: And so, do you think that -- well, do you think that's what's happening? People are lining up, there are 40,000 people who are there for a reason because they believe in what they're seeing, and are you saying to these people that they're being misguided?
EGAN: No. All I'm saying is, what the church teaches about this is that when the church gives its approval, you can believe it if you want. I don't have to believe it and you can believe it with the human faith. Now, what do I mean by that? When Wolf Blitzer is on CNN and in Jerusalem or in Baghdad, I believe that, that's the human faith. However, I know from divine faith, from God's word that Jesus Christ was raised bodily from the dead. Secondly, if you look at the great saints in the Christian tradition, many of them said, you can safely ignore all these phenomena. In fact, many of the great saints had a great horror of such phenomena because they were fearful of being -- well, yeah, they were in fear of being deluded. All right. Also, in some cases it might come from the demonic. Now, let's take it from there.
WHITFIELD: Well, you're saying...
EGAN: I spoke with...
WHITFIELD: You're saying, too, that while people -- while it's the Christian thing to endorse a belief, a sense of belief that many of these people have, you're not criticizing people for having the belief, but you're saying that people have to be a little bit more reasonable in what they believe?
EGAN: No. I am saying that -- for example, I'll give you two examples. There's a marvelous secretary who went to view the hospital. When she saw it, she fell on her knees, it reminded her of the humble figure of Virgin -- the Virgin and child, and she prayed. She's a very saintly woman. I have nothing against that. There's a Jesuit colleague of mine, with whom I have breakfast, he's an old mathematician with an international reputation, he's visited with his sister because she lives in that area. WHITFIELD: OK.
EGAN: He says it's a Rorschach. He says it's a Rorschach test. Now, ironically, his hobby is a garden, and at the center of the garden he has a statue of our lady, all right? Thirdly...
WHITFIELD: Well, Father Egan, we're running out of time, so we're going to have to wrap this up.
EGAN: All right, well, we'll wrap it up.
WHITFIELD: OK. All right.
EGAN: Is it a miracle. No, no, go ahead. I'll let you -- no, go ahead
WHITFIELD: I'll let you wrap -- why don't you give me your response in ten seconds or less. Is it a miracle?
EGAN: All right. I'll ask you a question. I have a friend whose life was -- his life was falling apart. It was a dark, gloomy day, raining. He picked up a gun, put it to his head and said, "My life and as bleak and gloomy as this day." the sun came out. He put the gun down. Is that a miracle? I see a miracle as a well-placed coincidence, a meaningful coincidence, and for some people who go to the hospital, fine. However,
WHITFIELD: OK
EGAN: ...the greater miracle would be if they...
WHITFIELD: Thank you.
EGAN: ...we're there, and then came back, and forgave their neighbor. All right?
WHITFIELD: Thank you, Father Egan. Appreciate it. Thanks for joining us.
EGAN: OK. Thank you. Bye-bye.
WHITFIELD: Well, in recent years, crowds have flocked to the image of Mary in ice and a freezer, some have seen it that way, some on windows, some on trees and sides of mailboxes, even in a dish of melted ice cream. Well take a look for yourself at a few of them.
Well, is seeing -- is seeing believing? Do you believe what you've just seen? Well, when we come right back, what can flying squirrels teach human athletes? Believe this or not. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, because we like to live on the edge, jumping out of a plane is certainly dangerous enough, but imagine skydiving in a suit that as a 96 percent failure rate, or at least suits like it. Seventy-two out of 75 pioneers of the "Wing Suit" plummeted to their deaths between 1930 and 1960. However, a radical redesign with some high-tech safety features is allowing expert skydivers to become better birdmen, now. Joining us is Jari Kousma, who's developed a new suit.
And, you're wearing it right now. Here you are in the flesh, but let's see it in action. We've got it on tape.
JARI KOUSMA, BIRDMAN: Sure. OK. Right now, here you see me flying, and this is actually a really good shot and there is lots of other birdmen.
WHITFIELD: And here you -- you all are descending at about 13,500 feet.
KOUSMA: Yeah. We are jumping at 13,500 feet, going down about 35 miles an hour, while normal skydivers go down about 120 miles an hour. And, we go forward maybe 18 miles an hour while normal guys would go just straight down.
WHITFIELD: And, when you jump out of the plane, you are essentially doing like a nosedive and then I see you kind of open up your wings.
KOUSMA: Exactly. I do open up my wings and I kind of, make this wing shape. I'm a human superman, basically.
WHITFIELD: Cool.
KOUSMA: And I can go and cross -- you know, I see a nice cloud there, I go around it, I see some canyons, and I go in between and it's a just pure joy.
WHITFIELD: Wow! And so, not only are you kind of like a bird, but almost like a flying squirrel, as well.
KOUSMA: Right.
WHITFIELD: Was that kind of the model, you know, for this kind of suit?
KOUSMA: Sure. Of course, I mean the man always wanted to fly, and they were watching the birds and the flying squirrels. But, instead of those guys, we created these wings that fill with the air.
WHITFIELD: Ah-ha.
KOUSMA: And, create the wing profile all the way and create lift when we fly.
WHITFIELD: This is thin, but you've got something in between to kind of brace, what seems to be two nylon pieces.
KOUSMA: Exactly, I have semi-rigid rings -- ribs, here, that make the profile.
WHITFIELD: Wow.
KOUSMA: And I can do...
WHITFIELD: And it's all one suit. You step into this one suit and you zip up?
KOUSMA: It's all one suit. And obviously, I do have my parachute with me, because we still can't land it -- yet. But, maybe one day we can.
WHITFIELD: OK, and at what point, then, would you open up the chute to actually land?
KOUSMA: When we jump from 13,500, we fly about three minutes and open our parachute maybe at 2,000 feet, and that gives me about 25,000 feet soaring time forward.
WHITFIELD: Wow.
KOUSMA: So that's almost five miles flying.
WHITFIELD: OK. So, this -- we all know and agree, this is a huge risk you're taking, but somehow you feel confident enough about this suit. You've done this jump more than once.
KOUSMA: Yeah. I have done 1,400 flights.
WHITFIELD: And you're here to tell us about this.
KOUSMA: I have about 1,400 flights with that and yes, it's true that in the history of this, almost everybody dies doing that. But, me and my buddy Robert Pecnik from Croatia, we created this suit, and made it, actually, safe for any skydiver with enough experience to fly and that's my dream is to have that every skydiver in the whole world be fly in the suit.
WHITFIELD: And, Jari, you think that could be a reality, this is not a pipedream, but other divers just might want to do this?
KOUSMA: Well, I'm a dreamer. Yeah, many, many skydivers want to do that and more I do enough of the show.
WHITFIELD: Wow! And so, compare for me quickly, the difference of the sensation of flying in this way, in this kind of suit, versus in a parachute.
KOUSMA: Well, in the normal parachute the people, just -- they jump out, they can't choose the spot they just go straight down. But, I look where I'm going, I fly for almost five miles and open my parachute, and land. And obviously, this can be a little bit risky, but with my suit, I have safety features. I can open my parachute, have my wings on...
WHITFIELD: Do you got a backup?
KOUSMA: I can get the read out: bad parachute. I can use my reserve, open that. I can free my arms.
WHITFIELD: A little air conditioning.
KOUSMA: Do this. Exactly, oh, of course. I have to have air conditioning. Yes.
Yeah. Jari.
KOUSMA: I can cut away with my wings if there's any problem.
WHITFIELD: Wow!
KOUSMA: And get rid of my suit, basically. And then, even for the landing, you know, we do some high-speed landing, it's almost 60 miles an hour, I can free my legs.
WHITFIELD: OK.
KOUSMA: Using the zippers (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and...
WHITFIELD: Wow.
KOUSMA: ...and I can even...
WHITFIELD: It's quite convertible. Well, Jari, thanks so much for coming in and showing us your Birdman suit...
KOUSMA: Well, thank you.
WHITFIELD: ...and taking to the skies and continued success. And good luck to you.
KOUSMA: Thank you very much. And, do you want to -- you want to go to fly with me?
WHITFIELD: I think I'll think about it a little bit.
KOUSMA: OK.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
KOUSMA: I give you a call, later.
WHITFIELD: It's inviting, though. All right, thanks a lot.
KOUSMA: Thanks.
WHITFIELD: Well, that's all we have time for, today. But, NEXT will be back tomorrow at 5:00 Eastern Time. Among the stories we'll be following for you, the latest pet crazed sparked by a movie, clownfish the colorful fish are featured in the film "Finding Nemo." But, the movie has also sparked another trend, kids flushing their fish down the toilet to free them. What in the world is going on? That story and more coming up tomorrow, we hope you'll be watching. And, thanks for joining us, today.
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Creatures Inhabit Central Park?; Flying Like an Eagle>
Aired June 28, 2003 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Today on NEXT@CNN, the little town of Anniston, Alabama. It's home to tons of old chemical weapons. The Army plans to burn them up starting next month. Is that really the safest way to deal with them? We'll hear a debate on that.
Also, what lifeforms lurk in New York's Central Park? Scientists may have some new answers today.
And have you ever dreamed about flying like an eagle? How about flying like a squirrel? We'll show you how it's done.
But first, as the U.S. Army prepares to incinerate tons of aging chemical weapons in Anniston, Alabama, critics worry about the risks to nearby residents.
Joining us to discuss the science and the safety concerns are Kevin Flamm, the U.S. Army's acting program manager for the elimination of chemical weapons, and Ross Vincent, a chemical engineer and senior policy adviser with the Sierra Club.
Gentlemen, thanks for joining us.
KEVIN FLAMM, U.S. ARMY: Good afternoon.
ROSS VINCENT, SIERRA CLUB: Hi, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Well, Mr. Ross, let me begin with you. What types of chemicals are going to be potentially destroyed at the Anniston incinerator?
VINCENT: Well, the Anniston incinerator has virtually all of the chemical agents (UNINTELLIGIBLE) that are still in the U.S. stockpile, mustard agent, VX, and (UNINTELLIGIBLE). And they'll be attempting to destroy all of those there.
WHITFIELD: And do you believe that this is likely to be the best way in which to destroy these chemicals?
VINCENT: No, I'm confident it isn't, unfortunately. The Army -- the Department of Defense has developed several other methods that are being used at some of the other sites, and that I'm confident are much safer. Unfortunately, the folks in Alabama have not had the option of choosing those other alternatives, and they're at the point now where they're about to start up an incinerator.
WHITFIELD: Well, Mr. Flamm, what are your views on this? Is this the best way to go about this?
FLAMM: Yes, Fredricka. The incinerator technology that is inclined to be used at Anniston is well proven. We have safely destroyed 16 million pounds of chemical agents of all types, as well as over a million different munitions configurations.
It has been independently reviewed, not only within the Department of Defense, but as well as by several independent external organizations, such as the National Research Council, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
It's robust, it's complete, and it's protective of the environment, and this serves the citizens of Anniston extremely well by eliminating the risk that the stockpile presents to the citizens of Alabama.
WHITFIELD: Well, Mr. Flamm, there have been a lot of expressed concerns about the air and water quality and how it potentially may be jeopardized. How do you respond to that?
FLAMM: Again, the facilities have been designed to be completely protective of not only the safety of the workforce but that of the environment. The facility is built with numerous safeguards. There are continuous emissions monitoring systems, there are process control elements.
Before we ever begin the testing of the facility, it goes through a series of test burns that validate the operation, the efficacy of the process. Those tests, and the results of those tests, have been reviewed by the state of Alabama environmental agencies, they're reviewed by, again, by Army and Department of Health and Human Services.
All this goes towards the validation to provide confirmation and hopefully confidence within the public that the facility is protective of their health as well as the environment.
WHITFIELD: Well, Mr. Vincent, chemical neutralization is something that's been used in other places. Do you believe that that would be applicable to Anniston, or does Anniston have the right kind of procedure in which to dispose of these chemicals?
VINCENT: Well, we know it would be. The neutralization processes that have been developed and demonstrated by the Department of Defense will work on the Anniston stockpile, as they will on the stockpiles at all of the chemical weapons sites. I live in Pueblo, Colorado, one of the stockpile sites where we will be using one of the neutralization methods.
Four of the eight domestic United States stockpile sites, in fact, will be using neutralization instead of incineration. And the other four are committed to incineration. Hopefully, those decisions over time can be revisited.
I'm fairly confident that significant changes are going to have to be made in the incinerators that they have built and are building before they can finish the job at these other sites. And neutralization offers an option that will help to make that process easier.
WHITFIELD: Well, Mr. Flamm, is that an option, or are there other options, perhaps more remote locations, more remote than Anniston?
FLAMM: Well, I think it's important to realize, Fredricka, that the risk to the public, the greatest risk to the public is coming from that from the stockpile, not from the destruction. So it's important to destroy the weapons as quickly as possible, while maintaining the safety of the workforce and that of the environment.
The destruction facility at Anniston has been designed to provide that maximum protection. It is a third-generation facility. It is built on the lessons learned that we had from the first facility that was built in Johnson Atoll in the Pacific. That facility, in fact, has safely destroyed its entire stockpile. It's also...
WHITFIELD: So how do you safeguard a populated area, then?
FLAMM: The safeguard, again, is built into the operations of the facility. Our first line of protection is that of the workforce. The men and women of the Anniston facility are trained, highly trained, and they know how to operate this facility to protect it.
We,... again, we have imminent numerous process controls that ensure that the facility is operating properly. In the event there should be an upset, which we don't expect, but if it should occur, there are automatic cutoffs that prevent any more processing of material...
WHITFIELD: OK.
FLAMM: ... in the facility until it's been remedied.
WHITFIELD: Well, Mr. Vincent, are you convinced of that?
VINCENT: No. And, in fact, the greatest risk to the public is not from continued storage of the stockpile. That conclusion results from a fairly bizarre risk analysis that the Army had done for them quite some years ago.
WHITFIELD: All right.
VINCENT: Those weapons have been in storage at all of the sites for 50 years or more with -- in relative safety, and Army analysis indicates that probably another 30 or 40 years...
WHITFIELD: OK.
VINCENT: ... of safe storage is...
WHITFIELD: Well...
VINCENT: ... possible. WHITFIELD: Well, Ross Vincent, you've got the last word, only because we've run out of time, a chemical engineer and senior policy adviser with the Sierra Club, and Kevin Flamm, U.S. Army's acting program manager for the elimination of chemical weapons.
Thanks very much to both of you gentlemen.
FLAMM: Thank you, Fredricka.
VINCENT: You're welcome.
WHITFIELD: Well, when we come back, military hardware that may dominate the battlefield of the future is being invented right now, by a former grocer in Australia. We'll have that story.
And later in the show, who says people can't fly? Find out what it takes to glide through the air something like this. And, maybe even land safely.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Well, the time has come to face the music. If you're a music pirate, the recording industry wants to talk to you. And they want you to walk down the plank.
The Recording Industry Association of America is preparing to file lawsuits against hundreds of individuals who swap copyrighted music online.
Our technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg joins us now with more on RIAA and some other tech news.
DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Hi, Dan.
SIEBERG: It's all part of the new strategy from the Recording Industry Association of America, going after you or people who are online and sharing what they call substantial amounts of music. There are a couple of things that they're going after.
They're looking at people who are sharing this music online, and they're going to do it by basically trying to find out who these people are, gathering evidence, and then going through the Internet service provider. And they're saying they're going to be putting these lawsuits together over the next couple of months.
So who are these people, and what are these file-sharing services? We can show you at least the file-sharing services that we're talking about, one of them being Morpheus. We need to point out these file-sharing sites that allow this to happen online are not technically considered illegal, although much of the activity that goes on on them is considered to be illegal. We're talking about Morpheus and Grokster. Now, on the legitimate or the legal side, we're talking about newer services like Apple's iTunes service, and as well, MusicNet, which is backed by the music industry, AOL Time Warner, the parent company of CNN, is part of this, PressPlay and others that are out there.
There are some -- there is an uphill battle here, Fredricka, when we're talking about these lawsuits. First of all, there are critics out there who say this is very heavy-handed, that it's only going to alienate a lot of music fans that are out there, that they're going to be very upset with these lawsuits.
They're also saying that, you know, I've been going around online and seeing what people are talking about on the discussion boards. A lot of the reaction is very negative. As you might expect, a lot of people also still feel fairly anonymous.
Now, the music industry is saying you can no longer feel anonymous. We are going to be trying to find you. We're going to come after you and file these lawsuits.
But again, some critics are saying this is frivolous, that it's going to accomplish what the music industry is trying to do, which is to cut down on piracy, which they say is a big part of why CD sales are down, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: So Dan, isn't there a feeling, though, that this would be enough to be a deterrent to discourage an awful lot of people not to download? They don't want to see these kinds of fines.
SIEBERG: Right. Exactly. They certainly hope that this will be a deterrent. It's similar to what happened just recently. Four college students settled and, you know, these lawsuits could amount to millions of dollars, though they'll likely be settled for much less.
But they're hoping that it's a bit of a scare tactic, that it will stop some people from doing this file-sharing online. But there's no guarantee. A lot of people just feel they're still anonymous online, and they're not so worried about the recording industry coming after them.
WHITFIELD: All right.
Another huge development this week, the FTC and the FCC announcing this do-not-call list, you know, going to the Internet and putting your name on a list so that telemarketers don't take advantage of your phone number. They have gotten overwhelming response, haven't they?
SIEBERG: Right. It's easy to find somebody who feels annoyed by a telemarketing call. And so they've made it easy to try and contact them about this do-not-call list. You see the number there up on the screen, the 1-888 number, as well as the donotcall.gov site, which we can show you right now.
The donotcall.gov site allows you to enter up to three different numbers. You can put three different numbers in. You also need to put in your e-mail address, which you can see down here towards the bottom. The reason you need to put your e-mail address in there, Fredricka, is that they will send you a confirmation e-mail saying, We've received your numbers, respond back to this, so that we know that this is you.
Now, this is so popular, you can imagine that there are -- they're expecting as many as 60 million people to sign up for this. They've already received close to a million numbers as part of this sign-up service.
So the site -- you know, I actually registered my numbers the other day, and it was fairly slow, I have to tell you. And some of the Internet measurement companies that are out there have noticed that it's very sluggish, it's taking people a long time to try and get the Web page even to load, let alone the time it takes to get the confirmation e-mail back.
However, a lot of this doesn't take effect until the coming months ahead. The actual effect of this list doesn't take place until October.
There are also some exemptions we should point out as part of this list. There are charities and surveys and political groups that are not part of this do-not-call list.
And you know, it's just another battle front in the war of annoying ads, I suppose, because a lot of these companies may already be using spam or they may go from doing a phone call to the Internet.
So it's all part of that battle.
WHITFIELD: Yes, I wonder, Dan, did you or anybody you know have any reluctance to signing up, divulging information to get your name on the list, being fearful, perhaps, that you might be open to solicitation of another sort later on?
SIEBERG: You know, I haven't heard anybody who's been too reticent for that particular reason. And I wasn't, because I'm hoping, at least, maybe I'm putting too much faith in this particular list, but I'm hoping, at least, that the FTC is going to use this list for the reasons that it saying, to get people off of these lists that you're using.
As I say, though, it is going to take a little while for some people to get onto this list. It was very slow yesterday. It's gotten a little bit more manageable today. But, you know, they were expecting this huge reaction, and clearly that's what they're getting at this point. You're seeing the number there again. And their Web site, again, donotcall.gov.
WHITFIELD: All right. Dan Sieberg, thanks very much. Get on the list now to get off the list.
SIEBERG: Right.
WHITFIELD: And, of course, you see the results come October.
SIEBERG: Right.
WHITFIELD: All right, thanks a lot.
SIEBERG: All right.
WHITFIELD: Taking a look at some of the stories making news on our beat this week. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday that it's OK for Congress to force public libraries to use filtering software to protect children from seeing online porn. The ruling upheld the Children's Internet Protection Act, which a lower court struck down last year. The majority opinion said the law does not infringe on free speech.
A federal judge shut down many of the Interior Department's Internet systems yesterday because of concerns that hackers could get into a $1 billion fund. The judge says the move was necessary because the government refused to have outside tests done to make sure the money was safe from hackers. It's the second time Judge Royce Landbert (ph) has shut down department computers to protect the $1 billion American Indian Fund.
The Army started testing its new armored troop carrier, the Striker, at Fort Knox, Kentucky, this week. The vehicle is light and quick compared to older carriers. It's also packed with technology, including a screen that lets a commander see the location of everyone in the unit. A spokesman says the Striker is part of the Army's transformation to a lighter, more mobile force.
The hardware for that new-style Army doesn't just come from big defense contractors. An entrepreneur in Australia is developing some sophisticated new weapons with support from the U.S. and Australian military.
Geoff Hiscock has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GEOFF HISCOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Imagine a gun that fires a million rounds a minute, enough to shred a target in the blink of an eye or throw up a defensive wall against an incoming missile.
This is Metal Storm, a weapons system that forsakes all-star mechanics for the speed of electronics.
Its inventor is Mike O'Dwyer, a one-time grocer in the Australian city of Brisbane. He spent 30 years and most of his own money to develop this technology.
Now, finally, the doors are opening for him at the Pentagon.
MIKE O'DWYER, FOUNDER, METAL STORM: The real value comes from the electronic capability to deliver rights of fire and different types of projectiles very precisely. HISCOCK: O'Dwyer's weapons range from a handgun that can only be operated by an authorized user, to an grenade launcher that can fire either lethal or nonlethal ammunition.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are cleared, hot on target.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roger. I have HUD, have visual on friendlies at 10:00.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HISCOCK: What looks like a video game is a deadly serious sales pitch for Metal Storm's vision of how its technology can be used.
O'DWYER: Where network-centric warfare is going, that's moving the principal systems of weapons from the big, heavy, sly stuff to the small, light, fast, inexpensive, many of, but here's the important thing, very, very smart.
HISCOCK: It's this promise of speed and flexibility that has got the American and Australian military to commit $60 million in research and development funding for O'Dwyer's array of weapons.
Here, in this Brisbane workshop, is where it all started, where all the prototypes have been built. Increasingly, Metal Storm looks to the United States, where most of its staff are now based, and where it hopes to clinch sales to defense agencies and police forces next year.
(on camera): Going global has been in Mike O'Dwyer's sights for many years. And from these small beginnings, it's a target that gets a little bigger and a little closer every day.
Jeff Hiscock, CNN, Brisbane, Australia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Coming up, scientists and kids get together to catalog the wildlife of Central Park. We'll show you what they found.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: It's the 150th anniversary of Central Park this year. To mark the occasion, hundreds of scientists, naturalists, and volunteers started combing the park yesterday at noon in a 24-hour biological inventory of Manhattan's biggest green space. The goal is to catalog as many species as possible.
CNN's Kathleen Hays is there. And Kathleen, just how many species do they think are there?
KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, the cataloguing has just begun, but it looks like at least 836 species have been found so far. But when all is said and done, they're hoping to find even more.
This is a first-time-ever event in Central Park, as you say, sponsored or organized by a group called the Explorers Club, 99 years old, includes first person to the North Pole, first person to the South Pole, first person to the moon, and to the highest mountains in the world, and the deepest parts of the ocean.
I'm joined by the president of the club, Richard Wiese, who's going to tell us a little bit more about BioBlitz, how it started, and why it's happening now.
Welcome, Richard.
RICHARD WIESE, THE EXPLORERS CLUB: Well, thank you very much.
I mean, this has been a very interesting experience, not only for Central Park, but in terms of marrying technology with field exploration. We're lucky enough to have Microsoft as a sponsor. And we use this as a testing ground for some of their tablet PCs. We use it as a testing ground for some of the biologists to do some fieldwork here.
And one of the great things about this particular thing is, it could be done anywhere in the world. We think that BioBlitz is, again, doing a total cataloguing of every living organism. It's something that you could do in Central Park, Hyde Park, any place in the world.
HAYS: What was it like being out in the park last night? I mean, there were -- I just had -- you know, Central Park, you think of people worried about muggers. You guys were out worried about, what, wild owls and snakes?
WIESE: Well, I was looking for bats and then for owls. And, you know, New York is generally a very blase place. It takes a lot to get a New Yorker to react. And they were looking for owls. And one of the ways you do a sort of search for an owl is, you have owl calls.
What it does is, owls are very territorial. They'll come to an area. So they had all these mechanical owls making screeches. And I was watching this couple who were sitting on a bench, and they're hearing owls, birds. It sounded like you were in a tropical rainforest.
And it was a little unusual for -- it was a New York moment.
HAYS: Well, tell us a little bit about -- there's been actually potentially a discovery, something that's never been found in the park before.
WIESE: Absolutely. You know, less than 5 percent of all living organisms actually have a name. So virtually any place you stand on earth, or especially in water, those little creatures, microbes, and in the ocean, large species that have no name to it.
We're quite confident that when Dr. Sylvia Earl takes some of her water samples, she and I were swimming in Central Park's rowing pond there, we took some water samples, when she puts it under a microscope, she will identify some new images, some new species.
HAYS: And Sylvia Earl, of course, one of the world's renowned marine biologists.
WIESE: Absolutely.
HAYS: Tell us about the goal. Does BioBlitz end here? Does it occur again in Central Park? Is this something you'd like to see happen around the world?
WIESE: Well, I'd like to see it happen around the world. But as I mentioned earlier, it's really a testing ground. It's a testing ground for field scientists to rapidly collect data.
Now, when Charles Darwin went down to the Galapagos Islands, he spent three weeks there, it took him 23 years to publish "The Origin of Species." You know, he didn't have the technology that we have today. I think if Charles Darwin would have had a tablet PC and maybe some of this software from Microsoft, he would have even increased the knowledge from that time period.
So we're lucky we're in an era where we can do just such rapid transmission of data, of collections, and all sorts of technology. So it's great.
HAYS: OK. So, so much happening, you know, you're thinking we're here with the bugs and the insects and leaves and the trees, but technology playing a big part.
We thank Richard Wiese and everybody who's taken the time to stick around, because these people have been up for a long, long time.
Back to you.
WHITFIELD: Well, Kathleen, it's pretty remarkable, and some would say even just very ironic, that here it is, New York, known as a concrete jungle, would also be home to this very lush and rich kind of urban jungle, if you will. Are the naturalists as fascinated about what they're finding as some of the volunteers are?
HAYS: I think so. And they point out, you know, that Central Park was actually created 150 years ago. It was swampland. Every tree, every bush, many of the species of animals were actually introduced in Central Park. They point out that if a BioBlitz taking place in a more natural environment, you'd find even more specimens.
But they do seem very excited about cataloguing what is here. And, of course, part of the point of this, now they have a benchmark. They'll be able to say, Is the park gaining ground? Is it getting healthier? Is the biodiversity increasing, or is it losing ground? Are there steps that need to be taken?
And they're really hoping this will raise, you know, awareness in citizenry that this is something that educates kids as well. So I think they're all very excited about it. It's been a fun thing to observe.
WHITFIELD: Wow, and help people better appreciate the park that they've got right there instead of taking it for granted.
HAYS: Well, New Yorkers really do love this park. I think it's interesting, we've got baseball players over there, you get sunbathers behind you, there's handball over there. And I think probably a lot of people weren't even aware that the scientists were here. Maybe if they do this again, we'll get more people down helping the scientists find the beetles and moths, and there's even parrots in this park.
WHITFIELD: Well, great. Neat science. All right. Thanks very much, Kathleen Hays, from Central Park.
Well, coming up in our next half-hour, NASA's flying wing comes crashing down. We'll have details. And just what is going on when people are convinced that they see an image of the Virgin Mary in some unlikely places? We'll talk to a theologian who is also an engineer. His answers may surprise you.
First, a quick break and a check of the latest headlines. We'll be right back.
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(NEWSBREAK)
WHITFIELD: The National Park Service rescues more than 4,500 lost or injured hikers each year. This Tuesday the "Personal Locator Beacon" goes on sale for just such occasions. Daniel Sieberg is back and he's got one of these devices on hand. How does it work?
SIEBERG: Hey, Fredricka. That's right. These Personal Locator Beacons, or PLBs, they use GPS technology and are tracked on a worldwide satellite rescue system. Basically these devices are designed to be fairly user friendly in the event of an emergency. The person must first register the unit with the NOAA registration Web site. You need to provide details like the owner's name, address, phone number, and the PLB's identification number, so they know exactly who you are.
Then when the user is in trouble all they have to do is press the button and undo the antenna. We've got one here in the studio. You can see here, the button on the front and top is what you're meant to actually press to act -- to start the device. This is a demo unit, so we're not doing anything, right now. And, there's an antenna, you can see here, on the top, this actually unfolds as part of the unit. And then, once you've done that it's very simple. The beacon will then send out a distress signal and that will put into motion the search and rescue team.
Now, it's important mention that this is an emergency alert system, a little bit like 911, it is only to be used when all other methods of self-rescue have been exhausted. The signal is sent to all of the emergency rescue forces from the Coast Guard, to the military, to the local emergency force. You know, if the system is deployed as a prank, there are fines of $250,000 and jail time in place. The owner would also have to pay for the costs incurred in the rescue.
Now, speaking of costs, these devices here, they're a little bit pricey, start about $700. and outdoorsmen, hikers, and back-country skiers who will be in remote areas are the ones are most encouraged to use them. But, if you're not going to be in a remote area, the norm at means of communication, such as a cell phone or even a two-way radio would likely suffice. Now, officials hope that public use of the PLB will make it easier for rescue personnel to contact those in need and that it help to save lives -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Wow, $700, not cheap, but if you're a serious hiker or a serious outdoors person, this really does sound like a vital tool.
SIEBERG: Right, and maybe -- you know, no cost is too high in order to save lives.
WHITFIELD: No kidding. All right, thanks very much, Daniel.
SIEBERG: All right.
WHITFIELD: Well, rescue beacons may be the way to go for hikers and other folks who venture into remote areas, but when most of us find ourselves in an emergency situation, we call 911. Now technology is making it possible to locate people in distress even when they call from a mobile phone. Here's Kathleen Koch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERT MAINS, ALEXANDRIA, VA, POLICE: It zooms right to the call, and zooms right to the map.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Alexandria, Virginia, using sophisticated positioning technology to pinpoint emergency cell phone calls to within about 300 yards.
MAINS: She's calling from this building here, and it puts it within the 300 meters. She's just right across the creek.
KOCH: The life-saving technology wasn't available in 1993 when 18-year-old college student Jennifer Koon was abducted in Pittsburgh, New York and called 911.
KIMBERLY BELL, 911 OPERATOR: She kept saying, "Please." She kept saying she was hurt. She kept saying "help me."
KOCH: Jennifer was found shot to death in her car hours later. Her father, now a New York state assemblyman is lobbying to spread the new technology nationwide.
DAVID KOON, VICTIM'S FATHER: Unfortunately, with Jenny and with other -- so many other people that have lost their lives in this country, the people who cannot tell the dispatcher where they're located exactly, have no chance.
KOCH: The federal communications commission has mandated that 95% of all cell phones have the capability to be traced by 2005, but finding the money and cell phone industry cooperation has been difficult.
MICHAEL POWELL, FCC CHAIRMAN: The different technologies have -- just had different characteristics, different challenges associated with deploying them, and candidly, companies have had different levels of commitment.
KOCH: State support, too, has been mixed.
SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D), NEW YORK: Just hasn't gotten done. Some states like our own state of New York has diverted money that cell phone users have paid for more than a decade, away from the purpose, which is to establish a universal E-911 system.
KOCH: More than $300 million in cell phone surcharges in New York state alone. So, Clinton is sponsoring legislation to four states to spend the money on the new 911 technology. Alexandria's police point out the system can be phased in as departments make regular equipment updates.
DAVID BAKER, ALEXANDRIA, VA, POLICE: So, it is costly, but it's not as costly as one would think because you don't buy it separately, it's an upgrade.
KOCH (on camera): The FCC says 30 to 50% of all 911 calls come from wireless phones. Still, some worried that tracing technology could potentially invade people's privacy, by allowing their every move to be tracked. But, police say that risk is outweighed by the lives that could be saved by speeding emergency responders to accidents, crime scenes and other disasters.
Kathleen Koch, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Well, NASA has named a panel to investigate why an experimental aircraft crashed into the Pacific on Thursday. The Helios Prototype was an unmanned solar powered flying wing. It was flying at about 3,000 feet on Thursday, going 21 miles an hour when it broke up and crashed according to NASA. Some pieces of the $15 million aircraft have been recovered; a team of scientists and engineers will try to figure out what went wrong.
NASA plans to launch a rover to Mars late tonight, the second this month. The robotic rover named "Opportunity" is about three weeks behind its twin "Spirit" launched on June 10. Both are expected to arrive at Mars in January. They'll crawl around different sections of the Martian surface, gathering soil, rock samples, and scientists are hoping to find out whether -- and for how long rivers may have existed on mars, which could give them clues about whether the planet could once have supported life. When we come back, some of the world's rarest diamonds are gathered in one place this weekend. We'll tell you where you can see these rocks.
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WHITFIELD: Checking some NEXT news headlines for this Saturday, scientists have discovered at least 100 previously unknown species in the unexplored waters off Australia's East Coast. Using new mapping techniques, researchers were able to drop nets on extinct volcanoes, called sea mounts, deep beneath the surface. this is what they hauled up. New types of sharks and rays and a variety of invertebrates. Researchers say this is just the tip of the iceberg. wow! Look at this stuff. They explored 14 sea mounts, and there are 30,000 of theme apparently worldwide.
The Right whale is getting some unprecedented protection. Canada is changing the shipping lanes in the Bay of Fundy to prevent collisions between whales and ships. It's said to be the first time an international shipping route has been altered to protect an endangered species. Only about 350 north Atlantic Right whales exist and up to two-thirds of them gather in the bay's feeding grounds each summer.
Well, these strange looking robots might someday save your life. A research center funded by the Japanese government has unveiled several robots designed to help victims of disasters like earthquakes. The robots can crawl, fly, or even jump over rubble to find survivors. Most are equipped with short-wave cameras and censors. The researchers are also planning to build robots that can dig through rubble and carry survivors to safety. Amazing stuff.
And a girl could find some new best friends at an exhibit that opened yesterday at the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum in the nation's capital. Seven of the world's rarest design -- diamonds, rather, went on display. The rocks include the flawless and colorless Millennium Star at 203 carats, it's the size of a plum. Well, the others range in color from sparkling yellow to dark blue, all of them beautiful.
Well, for the past two weeks thousands have flocked to a hospital -- a hospital parking lot, for that matter, in Milton, Massachusetts, to view a window with a cloudy silhouette resembling Blessed Virgin Mary. Well, Father Harvey Egan is a Jesuit theologian. He was also trained as an electrical engineer. He joins us now from our Boston bureau.
Father Egan, help us understand. Some people think they're seeing the Mother Virgin Mary in the window. You're saying this is not a premonition, that's accurate, but maybe this is just their eyes playing tricks on them?
WHITFIELD: Can you hear me, father Egan?
FATHER HARVEY EGAN, JESUIT THEOLOGIAN: I can hear you.
WHITFIELD: OK. Well, are you...
EGAN: All right, I'd like to say it's some sort of...
WHITFIELD: Are you in agreement?
EGAN: I'd like to place it in some sort of context.
WHITFIELD: OK.
EGAN: All right? In the last century, the official church has approved only three sightings of our lady. The Lords, Fatima, and in a little place in Belgium. Now, what I wish to emphasize here is that when the official church approves, it's essentially a negative approval. Now, what do I mean by that? The church essentially says there is nothing here contrary to faith and morals. All right? That's number one. Secondly, it allows Catholics to believe it. The Catholic does not have to believe.
WHITFIELD: And so, do you think that -- well, do you think that's what's happening? People are lining up, there are 40,000 people who are there for a reason because they believe in what they're seeing, and are you saying to these people that they're being misguided?
EGAN: No. All I'm saying is, what the church teaches about this is that when the church gives its approval, you can believe it if you want. I don't have to believe it and you can believe it with the human faith. Now, what do I mean by that? When Wolf Blitzer is on CNN and in Jerusalem or in Baghdad, I believe that, that's the human faith. However, I know from divine faith, from God's word that Jesus Christ was raised bodily from the dead. Secondly, if you look at the great saints in the Christian tradition, many of them said, you can safely ignore all these phenomena. In fact, many of the great saints had a great horror of such phenomena because they were fearful of being -- well, yeah, they were in fear of being deluded. All right. Also, in some cases it might come from the demonic. Now, let's take it from there.
WHITFIELD: Well, you're saying...
EGAN: I spoke with...
WHITFIELD: You're saying, too, that while people -- while it's the Christian thing to endorse a belief, a sense of belief that many of these people have, you're not criticizing people for having the belief, but you're saying that people have to be a little bit more reasonable in what they believe?
EGAN: No. I am saying that -- for example, I'll give you two examples. There's a marvelous secretary who went to view the hospital. When she saw it, she fell on her knees, it reminded her of the humble figure of Virgin -- the Virgin and child, and she prayed. She's a very saintly woman. I have nothing against that. There's a Jesuit colleague of mine, with whom I have breakfast, he's an old mathematician with an international reputation, he's visited with his sister because she lives in that area. WHITFIELD: OK.
EGAN: He says it's a Rorschach. He says it's a Rorschach test. Now, ironically, his hobby is a garden, and at the center of the garden he has a statue of our lady, all right? Thirdly...
WHITFIELD: Well, Father Egan, we're running out of time, so we're going to have to wrap this up.
EGAN: All right, well, we'll wrap it up.
WHITFIELD: OK. All right.
EGAN: Is it a miracle. No, no, go ahead. I'll let you -- no, go ahead
WHITFIELD: I'll let you wrap -- why don't you give me your response in ten seconds or less. Is it a miracle?
EGAN: All right. I'll ask you a question. I have a friend whose life was -- his life was falling apart. It was a dark, gloomy day, raining. He picked up a gun, put it to his head and said, "My life and as bleak and gloomy as this day." the sun came out. He put the gun down. Is that a miracle? I see a miracle as a well-placed coincidence, a meaningful coincidence, and for some people who go to the hospital, fine. However,
WHITFIELD: OK
EGAN: ...the greater miracle would be if they...
WHITFIELD: Thank you.
EGAN: ...we're there, and then came back, and forgave their neighbor. All right?
WHITFIELD: Thank you, Father Egan. Appreciate it. Thanks for joining us.
EGAN: OK. Thank you. Bye-bye.
WHITFIELD: Well, in recent years, crowds have flocked to the image of Mary in ice and a freezer, some have seen it that way, some on windows, some on trees and sides of mailboxes, even in a dish of melted ice cream. Well take a look for yourself at a few of them.
Well, is seeing -- is seeing believing? Do you believe what you've just seen? Well, when we come right back, what can flying squirrels teach human athletes? Believe this or not. We'll be right back.
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WHITFIELD: All right, because we like to live on the edge, jumping out of a plane is certainly dangerous enough, but imagine skydiving in a suit that as a 96 percent failure rate, or at least suits like it. Seventy-two out of 75 pioneers of the "Wing Suit" plummeted to their deaths between 1930 and 1960. However, a radical redesign with some high-tech safety features is allowing expert skydivers to become better birdmen, now. Joining us is Jari Kousma, who's developed a new suit.
And, you're wearing it right now. Here you are in the flesh, but let's see it in action. We've got it on tape.
JARI KOUSMA, BIRDMAN: Sure. OK. Right now, here you see me flying, and this is actually a really good shot and there is lots of other birdmen.
WHITFIELD: And here you -- you all are descending at about 13,500 feet.
KOUSMA: Yeah. We are jumping at 13,500 feet, going down about 35 miles an hour, while normal skydivers go down about 120 miles an hour. And, we go forward maybe 18 miles an hour while normal guys would go just straight down.
WHITFIELD: And, when you jump out of the plane, you are essentially doing like a nosedive and then I see you kind of open up your wings.
KOUSMA: Exactly. I do open up my wings and I kind of, make this wing shape. I'm a human superman, basically.
WHITFIELD: Cool.
KOUSMA: And I can go and cross -- you know, I see a nice cloud there, I go around it, I see some canyons, and I go in between and it's a just pure joy.
WHITFIELD: Wow! And so, not only are you kind of like a bird, but almost like a flying squirrel, as well.
KOUSMA: Right.
WHITFIELD: Was that kind of the model, you know, for this kind of suit?
KOUSMA: Sure. Of course, I mean the man always wanted to fly, and they were watching the birds and the flying squirrels. But, instead of those guys, we created these wings that fill with the air.
WHITFIELD: Ah-ha.
KOUSMA: And, create the wing profile all the way and create lift when we fly.
WHITFIELD: This is thin, but you've got something in between to kind of brace, what seems to be two nylon pieces.
KOUSMA: Exactly, I have semi-rigid rings -- ribs, here, that make the profile.
WHITFIELD: Wow.
KOUSMA: And I can do...
WHITFIELD: And it's all one suit. You step into this one suit and you zip up?
KOUSMA: It's all one suit. And obviously, I do have my parachute with me, because we still can't land it -- yet. But, maybe one day we can.
WHITFIELD: OK, and at what point, then, would you open up the chute to actually land?
KOUSMA: When we jump from 13,500, we fly about three minutes and open our parachute maybe at 2,000 feet, and that gives me about 25,000 feet soaring time forward.
WHITFIELD: Wow.
KOUSMA: So that's almost five miles flying.
WHITFIELD: OK. So, this -- we all know and agree, this is a huge risk you're taking, but somehow you feel confident enough about this suit. You've done this jump more than once.
KOUSMA: Yeah. I have done 1,400 flights.
WHITFIELD: And you're here to tell us about this.
KOUSMA: I have about 1,400 flights with that and yes, it's true that in the history of this, almost everybody dies doing that. But, me and my buddy Robert Pecnik from Croatia, we created this suit, and made it, actually, safe for any skydiver with enough experience to fly and that's my dream is to have that every skydiver in the whole world be fly in the suit.
WHITFIELD: And, Jari, you think that could be a reality, this is not a pipedream, but other divers just might want to do this?
KOUSMA: Well, I'm a dreamer. Yeah, many, many skydivers want to do that and more I do enough of the show.
WHITFIELD: Wow! And so, compare for me quickly, the difference of the sensation of flying in this way, in this kind of suit, versus in a parachute.
KOUSMA: Well, in the normal parachute the people, just -- they jump out, they can't choose the spot they just go straight down. But, I look where I'm going, I fly for almost five miles and open my parachute, and land. And obviously, this can be a little bit risky, but with my suit, I have safety features. I can open my parachute, have my wings on...
WHITFIELD: Do you got a backup?
KOUSMA: I can get the read out: bad parachute. I can use my reserve, open that. I can free my arms.
WHITFIELD: A little air conditioning.
KOUSMA: Do this. Exactly, oh, of course. I have to have air conditioning. Yes.
Yeah. Jari.
KOUSMA: I can cut away with my wings if there's any problem.
WHITFIELD: Wow!
KOUSMA: And get rid of my suit, basically. And then, even for the landing, you know, we do some high-speed landing, it's almost 60 miles an hour, I can free my legs.
WHITFIELD: OK.
KOUSMA: Using the zippers (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and...
WHITFIELD: Wow.
KOUSMA: ...and I can even...
WHITFIELD: It's quite convertible. Well, Jari, thanks so much for coming in and showing us your Birdman suit...
KOUSMA: Well, thank you.
WHITFIELD: ...and taking to the skies and continued success. And good luck to you.
KOUSMA: Thank you very much. And, do you want to -- you want to go to fly with me?
WHITFIELD: I think I'll think about it a little bit.
KOUSMA: OK.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
KOUSMA: I give you a call, later.
WHITFIELD: It's inviting, though. All right, thanks a lot.
KOUSMA: Thanks.
WHITFIELD: Well, that's all we have time for, today. But, NEXT will be back tomorrow at 5:00 Eastern Time. Among the stories we'll be following for you, the latest pet crazed sparked by a movie, clownfish the colorful fish are featured in the film "Finding Nemo." But, the movie has also sparked another trend, kids flushing their fish down the toilet to free them. What in the world is going on? That story and more coming up tomorrow, we hope you'll be watching. And, thanks for joining us, today.
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Creatures Inhabit Central Park?; Flying Like an Eagle>