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Music Downloaders Targeted By Music Industry; Health Watch: West Nile Virus; How Bad Are Our National Parks?

Aired July 19, 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.


SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: Today on NEXT@CNN, music downloaders, beware. Your chances of getting in trouble for illegal downloading are increasing. We will talk to one of the anti-pirates.
And what about your chances of getting the West Nile virus? Well, the disease has shown up in more states at this time than it did last year. Now, how worried should you be?

Also, we'll meet a man who loves turtles. I mean, this guys loves turtles. And find out about some of his good deeds.

First, the battle over sharing music online. In April of this year, the recording industry began suing individual file-swappers for copyright infringement. And this week a new bill was proposed in Congress that could get users five years in jails, and get this, a $250,000 fine. This for uploading a single file over peer to peer network.

And for those digital James Deans who aren't worried about the courts or Congress, there are also anti-pirates who may be after you. Randy Saaf, he is the CEO of Media Defender. He joins us now to tell us exactly what all that means. Randy, thanks for coming in on this glorious Saturday afternoon. Tell me what an anti-pirate is.

RANDY SAAF, CEO, MEDIA DEFENDER: Well, anti-piracy software is basically software that focuses on preventing the people from stealing any sort of content, be that music, movies, software.

CALLEBS: So why are you out there? I mean, isn't this what companies, music industry is out there doing?

SAAF: Yes. I mean, it definitely -- there's a wide variety of solutions for trying to prevent piracy, and our company's just one part of the big equation. We happen to focus on the technology side.

CALLEBS: Now, for those who may not be aware, tell us a bit about your company, and you can't tell us about your clients, can you?

SAAF: No, I mean, everything is very sensitive. You know, we respect the privacy of all of our clients.

CALLEBS: And more about the company? How do you go about cracking down and finding people out there who are stealing and passing on software.

SAAF: Our company focuses on the illegal distribution of copyrighted material. So that's mainly peer to peer networks these days. So we will go on to peer to peer network and participate in the network either by, you know, trying to find people who are committing the copyright violations or by distributing fake files on the network to try and make the real content hard to find.

CALLEBS: Now, we've talked with and heard some comments from members of the recording industry, and they tell us that your business really kind of supplants, it works hand in hand with what they're doing. Do you expect this to be a growing business in the future?

SAAF: Yes. The area of copyright violation is right now hitting the music industry very hard, and that's where a lot of the focus is. But this is something that's going to drastically affect the movie industry, and especially the software industry as time goes on. Even television is subject to quite a bit of damage from copyright violation.

CALLEBS: I'm sure you heard what Orrin Hatch said when the music industry was speaking to a congressional committee sometime ago. He said, why don't we go in there and write some kind of software that can destroy their computers if they are passing this on, if they are stealing, if they're pirating these files? And the individual said, well, no one's talking about destroying computers. And he said, I am. Do you think that's going to get to that point?

SAAF: Yes, that was actually me that said that. I was at the hearing. And so, it's not going to get to that point. Nobody's really interested in those types of solutions. Orrin Hatch -- he was speaking more metaphorically at the time. He was expressing Congress' and Senate's frustration over the fact that there is this massive amount of illegal activity going on and there aren't any clear-cut solutions to it.

CALLEBS: Tell me a little bit about your background, how you got into this? And do you sometimes feel like you have an A.P. for anti- pirate on your chest?

SAAF: No, I mean, that's all just, you know, sort of tongue in cheek. You know, I have a background in large-scale software development. I went to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) school of engineering. Basically I got into this because I saw a need for anti-piracy technology solutions. Most technology solutions in the past for anti- piracy were focused on the physical medium, trying to put something on a disk to prevent that disk from being copied. But the problem with the peer to peer network or any sort of mass distribution network is that it just takes one person to make that rip and then put it on the network, and it's off to the races.

CALLEBS: Well, Randy Saaf, quickly, is it working, yes or no?

SAAF: I mean, yes, it's working. You know, it's definitely not the silver bullet solution. There is no silver bullet solution, but it's an important part of an overall cocktail of solutions that will help prevent piracy in the future.

CALLEBS: OK, Randy Saaf, thanks very much for coming in, and best of luck on your future endeavors. We appreciate it.

SAAF: Thank you.

CALLEBS: Well, today the Recording Industry Association of America won 871 subpoenas against individual users who share files over peer to peer networks. This is the next step in the RIAA's promise to go after file sharers. But P2P networks themselves, more Kazaa and Morpheus and Imesh are not illegal. The founders of those sites say dialogue is what is needed rather than legislation and lawsuits.

Now, Elan Oren, CEO of Imesh, joins us now from Jerusalem. We appreciate you coming in today. Am I getting that right? Is it Imesh?

ELAN OREN, CEO, IMESH: Good evening, Sean, from Jerusalem. Can you repeat the question, please?

CALLEBS: Am I saying the name of the company right? It is Imesh, correct?

OREN: Yes, it is. It's Imesh.

CALLEBS: OK -- I'm sorry, go ahead. Now, do you believe that -- I understand that you say that you don't support piracy, but tell me why what your company doesn't foster that kind of changing of files.

OREN: Well, Imesh doesn't have any control over what the users do. We don't have any control over any of the files, besides the original files that do exist on Imesh. Imesh distributes original files, very successful, mainly for the gaming industry. So we actually proved that it is possible to convert users to purchase the original content when it is available.

The main problem with most of the file-sharing systems is that most of the original content is not made available to our users, and they are left with maybe pirating those files.

CALLEBS: Well, Elan, pick up on that and tell me what you think P2P's role is in stopping these kind of illegal exchange. And we apologize for the delay. You're overseas, but just bear with us.

OREN: Well, I think the responsibility is a mutual responsibility of the file-sharing companies and the industry itself. We can't do this ourselves. In order for us to assist the industry in reducing piracy, we need to have the original content. We can't force our users to abandon our systems without giving them the opportunity or the choice to choose from the original file.

Currently the original file is not on our systems. So it's like impossible for us to assist the industry. Imesh consistently, since 2000, tried to open a dialogue with the RIAA, with the record industry, with the movie industry to find solutions, but just didn't result in anything, we didn't get any response from the other side.

CALLEBS: How come? OREN: The only response -- it seems to us, well, if historically you look at this, historically the industry never wanted to put digital media on the Internet. They were actually forced to do this by the file-sharing companies, by Napster and Imesh that started this in 1999.

Later on, when Napster was announced illegal because it had a centralized server, the only thing that happened is that file-sharing companies resorted into decentralized system, and now we're not liable anymore, but it makes no sense to prevent from over 100 million users of file-sharing systems the ability to access the original content. You can pursue and chase the users for doing illegal trading of stuff if you give them the choice of the legal content. And that is not being available on file-sharing systems.

CALLEBS: OK. Now, if that isn't available and more subpoenas, more government activity comes out there and more anti-pirate companies come up, can't this have a chilling effect on companies like Imesh that are out there?

OREN: I think that the only thing we're going to see, which will really not help anybody, especially not the industry, is, you know, like the virus and the anti-virus and the hacker and the firewall, we're just going to put prevention measures so people like Andy can't trace our users.

But that's not going to help anybody. I think the only thing that companies like us and I think the other file-sharing systems, we're willing to work with the industry, the RIAA, in order to prevent, to minimize the amount of piracy that's on our networks.

I would like to add another fact, which is very important. Everybody's talking about piracy on the Internet. But the fact of the matter is that 30 percent of the plastic world is still pirated. It's not only the Internet that's being pirated. Digital media is very hard to protect. It's going to be very hard to protect on the Internet. It's probably going to be even harder to protect on the Internet. But the only way to solve this thing..

CALLEBS: But talking about that is a much sexier topic, though, Elan. We're out of time. We greatly appreciate you coming tonight into our bureau. Elan Oren, CEO of Imesh.com, thanks very much. Best of luck to you.

OREN: Thank you very much.

CALLEBS: OK. When we come back, are you in more danger of getting West Nile virus this summer than last? We'll get a reality check from an expert on the risks of infection.

And later in the show, the Segway scooter was supposed to change the way we get around, remember? Well, we'll talk with an author who get special access to the secret Segway lab. We'll get his take on whether it's living up to its hype.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (MUSIC)

CALLEBS: Welcome back, everyone. Time to take a look now at some of the stories making news on our beat this week.

Lockheed Martin launched its first Atlas 500 series rocket Thursday from Cape Canaveral. The rocket, carrying a CableVision satellite, which will directly compete with DirecTV and Dish Network to offer you yet another way to bring CNN and all the other channels into your home.

And if all goes well, the service will begin by the end of the year.

This week the world of electronic spam crossed paths with down and dirty political campaigning. And here is the results. In southern California, Nextel subscribers who responded to this message to call Jen heard this...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need you to sign the recall to remove Governor Gray Davis out of office as soon as possible. If you have already signed it, your contribution is greatly appreciated. Please ask your neighbor, friends, coworkers, or a local politics expert about how to get rid of Gray Davis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLEBS: How about that? Well, Nextel believes the campaign spam was not widespread, and there is no evidence that the spam message is connected to the official effort to recall California Governor Gray Davis.

Scientists in China have developed a robot that they say could slow the spread of infectious diseases such as SARS. It can fill in for medical workers on simple tasks, like bringing meals. The idea is to minimize the contact between workers and contagious patients. The inventors say future models will be able to change sheets and even I.V. drips.

It's been just over a week since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the first human case of West Nile virus this season. The disease, usually transmitted by mosquitoes, infected more than 4,000 people last year, killing 284.

What can we expect this year? Well, let's get the latest from Dr. John Roehrig. He's a CDC virologist who has been studying the disease and working with the public health community to help control West Nile. Dr. Roehrig joins us now from Denver. Dr. Roehrig, thanks very much for coming in. West Nile's already been found in 32 states this summer. That is up from 20 at this time last year. The CDC expected this kind of spread. Does it concern you?

JOHN ROEHRIG, CDC VIROLOGIST: Well, I think that it is of some concern to us. However, the CDC and the public health community have had five years of experience with West Nile now and are very well prepared to deal with the outbreak this year.

CALLEBS: Now, you've followed this disease basically since people first started hearing about it in the U.S.

ROEHRIG: Correct.

CALLEBS: Is there any way to predict how it will affect humans? Two hundred and eight-four deaths last year, and from what I understand, a lot of people have already been bitten by mosquitoes that do carry the West Neil virus. Those people just don't know that they could have been exposed to it, correct?

ROEHRIG: That's correct. I mean, very few cases, actually about one in every 150 individuals that get bit by an infected mosquito may go on to severe disease. Most people aren't even aware of it. The disease is asymptomatic. And consequently, the public health community doesn't even really know that those infections have occurred.

It's really difficult to predict what's going to happen this year in the transmission season. As you pointed out, there are 32 states that have documented West Nile activity. I think it's safe to say as we analyze the data, that the activity this year is pretty much on the same track as it was last year.

CALLEBS: Well, we've had a great deal of precipitation. That has been chronicled. And the standing pools of water, the kind of places that breed mosquitoes. Any danger about that, and do you expect that this could spread to all 48 lower states?

ROEHRIG: Well, standing pools of water certainly or any sort of pool of water are appropriate breeding sites for mosquitoes. The main mosquitoes that transmit and maintain West Nile virus in nature, however, use more stagnant waters. And so lots of fresh water isn't really a concern.

However, one of the most important prevention methods that people can use to try to reduce their risk from West Nile is to go around their yard and try to get rid of standing water containers that they don't need.

CALLEBS: What about just the overall information that has gotten out there and the education that people in the U.S. already have? It seems that when birds start to die, a lot of people are taking these to local health agencies, saying, this is suspect. Is this the kind of thing we can determine West Nile is coming into my area?

ROEHRIG: That's correct. One of the unique characteristics of this strain of West Nile virus is it does kill some birds, primarily birds that are members of the family corverdae (ph), or more commonly crows, bluejays, magpies, also certain (UNINTELLIGIBLE) seem to be pretty susceptible.

The public health community has used this particular characteristic of this particular strain of virus to establish essentially a dead bird surveillance system. So as individuals happen to see dead crows in their neighborhood or dead magpies, there's encouraged to take those birds, or at least call their local health department to have them come and collect those birds, and then those birds are taken to laboratories, usually at the state laboratory, to be tested for West Nile.

Over the last few years, this dead bird surveillance system has functioned very well as an early warning system for activity of West Nile in a particular geographic region.

CALLEBS: OK, Dr. Roehrig, thanks very much for bringing us up to date on the West Nile situation. We know it is still midsummer, it is probably going to get worse before it gets any better. Thanks again for joining us from Denver.

ROEHRIG: You're welcome, Sean.

CALLEBS: Now, when we come back, is the Segway a masterpiece of engineering or of marketing? We'll get an insider's view of how the scooter took center stage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CALLEBS: Welcome back, everybody. We are following a developing story. A memorial service is planned for this hour at the Santa Monica farmers market, which reopened this morning. Ten people were killed and dozens injured on Wednesday when a car careened out of control through the outdoor market for more than three blocks.

Miguel Marquez is on hand. Miguel, the markets are reopening, but I suspect it is a very sobering day there.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is a very sobering day, Sean. The market is open, and what's going on right now is a memorial service to those who died on Wednesday.

You know, 10 people died here, over 50 were injured when an 86- year-old man crashed his car into the market here.

Speaking right now is Father Mike Gutierrez (ph) from St. Anne's parish here in Santa Monica. This memorial is being done by the Santa Monica Bay Interfaith Council. You see the stage is set with the fruits that are of the market, the flowers, the fruits, the vegetables. A lot of the boxes from the vendors who are here.

It's a pretty amazing sight. They had a procession just a short time ago from the local church where they reconsecrated and repurified the market ground here. A very, very solemn affair. Representatives of the Buddhists, Ba'hai, Christian, Jewish and non-denominational sects will be here, as well as people from the police, fire and medical emergency organizations to read the names of those who died here just two days ago.

So a somber affair. They're trying to put it behind them. And the market will be open for the rest of the afternoon -- Sean.

CALLEBS: Miguel, this seems like a somewhat fluid situation the way this memorial came together. Is this something that so many people who go there go there frequently. Is this something that's coming together bit by bit throughout this day?

MARQUEZ: It is thrown together at the last moment, but it is an amazing affair. They have chairs set up for representatives from the city. They have what was a crowd of about 150 people about 10 minutes ago has now swelled to probably over 300 at this point. It's really an amazing turnout here.

The market, even though it's been going on since 8:30 this morning, appears to have come to a standstill, and we're going to hear from some farmers in a bit. A lot of the guys who are here now were here on Wednesday, and this is maybe the first official step toward getting over this tragedy -- Sean.

CALLEBS: A great deal of outpouring of grief there today. Miguel Marquez, thanks very much from Santa Monica.

On December 3, 2001, the world eagerly awaited the unveiling of one of the tech industry's best-kept secrets and most hyped products ever. When they finally saw it, a lot of people were underwhelmed by the modest-looking Segway human transporter.

Steve Kemper is the author of "Code Name Ginger," and he was the only journalist allowed with full access to the project before its release. Thanks very much for joining us here today.

What was it like, firstly, to be behind scenes when all this buzz internationally was going out about what is it?

STEVE KEMPER, AUTHOR: Well, it was pretty terrible at first, because it was my book proposal that caused this to happen. It had gotten leaked by one of the publishers that didn't get the book. So I was pretty unhappy about the leak, and so was Dean Kamen.

CALLEBS: Let's back up a bit. Tell us about your proposal for the book, how you were, in essence, embedded with Dean Kamen as they worked on this.

KEMPER: Sure. Well, I met Dean in 1994 when I did a magazine profile of him for "Smithsonian" magazine. And we kept in casual touch.

And in early 1999, he called me and said, this is the best thing I've ever done. Come up and take a look at it. And Dean has done so many incredible things that when he gives you that invitation, you dash up to New Hampshire.

CALLEBS: He really has done some simply amazing things. This guy is just brilliant.

KEMPER: Yes, he is. Not only brilliant as an inventor and an engineer, but brilliant as a salesman. He can make people believe in his ideas. And that's something that he has in common with Edison and Edes (ph) and some of the inventors of the American century.

CALLEBS: OK, we have the book right here, "Code Name Ginger," it's out right now. How is it doing?

KEMPER: You'd have to ask my publisher about that. I'm happy to be here and talking about it.

CALLEBS: Do you think that it -- it hasn't taken off the way everybody expected. You don't see Segway...

KEMPER: My book or the Segway?

CALLEBS: The Segway. You don't see it either going up or down -- unless like here in Atlanta, the police agencies here have them. I have seen them out and around our building. Why do you think that it's been slow? Is it too costly? Is it too big? Is it just not what people expected?

KEMPER: Well, I'm not sure how slow it's been. As you know, it's only been available since March to consumers. It's been available to people such as municipal workers in Atlanta for a couple of years. And that's why everybody knows about it.

I think it's extraordinary that so many people know what it is, despite the fact that hardly anybody has one yet. And it's because they're fascinated by it. I've ridden it on the streets of New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco -- not on the sidewalks in San Francisco, and people aren't afraid of it. They're curious, they're fascinated, they know what it is, and I think they're waiting for the price to drop.

CALLEBS: Well, I think -- isn't that the case with everything? We have some pictures of President Bush actually on one of these. It couldn't have helped the company when he fell off the thing.

KEMPER: Well, unless you believe the old adage that all publicity is good publicity. It turns out he didn't turn it on. Of course, it won't balance if it's not on.

CALLEBS: So that answers a big question there.

Quickly, give us some insight into Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Dean Kamen. What was it like working around three of the most intelligent, creative people out there?

KEMPER: Dynamic. That's the one word that comes to mind. Bezos and Dean once had an exchange where Dean said they thought that that idea was crazy. And Bezos said, when they tell you it's crazy, you know you have a good idea. And Dean said, yes, if they say it's a good idea, it's probably too ordinary. That's the way these guys think.

CALLEBS: Any stories stick out during the creation of It, Ginger?

KEMPER: The book is filled with stories. The whole book is about this quest that the engineers were on to take this improbable idea into the marketplace. Dean's quest to find funding for this, $90 million of funding for an unknown product that had an uncertain future. So the book is filled with that kind of stuff.

CALLEBS: Great. And here it is, "Code Name Ginger," best of luck to you. We appreciate it.

KEMPER: Thank you.

CALLEBS: Thanks again.

Drop this down here and move on.

Coming up in our next half hour, we will tell you about a threat to U.S. national parks. And it is not caused by any natural disaster.

And political campaigns will never be the same. We'll find out how the Internet is changing the search for political support.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

CALLEBS: Now back to NEXT@CNN.

Summer is in full swing, and you may be heading out to visit one of the nation's 383 national parks. But while you admire the views, the wild life, a glacier at Yellowstone, you may be more awed by cracked roads, crumbled bridges and closed campgrounds. The park system is facing a $5 billion budget crisis for a repair and maintenance project. Tom Kiernan now joins us. He's the president of the National Parks Conservation Association. Tom, thanks for joining us. Had a little trouble getting that out, but they're having trouble fixing the parks we're even at this point. Do you think that's being blown out of proportion?

TOM KIERNAN, NATL. PARKS CONSERVATION ASSN.: Absolutely not. Our national park system is the greatest system in the world. But, unfortunately this backlog of projects, about $4.9 billion worth of projects in the parks is extraordinary. We have leaky roofs in our visitor centers; we have roads with just huge potholes that are damaging vehicles. But, in addition to that, the annual operating budget of the parks is so low that we're reducing the number of rangers in the parks. We don't have as many educational trips going on in the parks, not as many fireside chats, and also the number of law enforcement rangers in our national parks will be down over the last several years.

CALLEBS: Are people noticing this? Do we expect to hear more of an uproar as people come back from the Grand Canyon, looking at -- in South Dakota, Mount Rushmore -- are we going to hear more about it as this year goes on?

KIERNAN: I imagine we will. I think visitors in our parks will have a good visit. Perhaps a great visit, but they won't have as many educational opportunities in our national parks, as many opportunities to meet and talk with national park rangers, and as well, we are losing plant and animal species and historic artifacts in our parks, because we don't have the money for the science and the research in our national parks. So, over the long term, we may not have the biodiversity, the glorious natural wonders in our parks that we go to experience when we're in the parks. And that's the true...

(CROSSTALK)

CALLEBS: How are we losing those things? Are they just dying? Are people taking them? Destroying them? What's going on?

KIERNAN: Well, it's interesting. There's not a single unit of our national park system where we have a complete inventory of the plants and animals in the parks. We simply do not know what plant and animal species we have in the parks, but yet we have some of the worst air pollution in our national parks. So, we are losing plant and animal species because of some of this horrendous air quality in our parks. Literally, the worst air quality is in this country, on an average basis is in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, not Los Angeles or Houston. So, those plants and animals are subject to just some horrendous air quality. We need to fix that and unfortunately this administration is making that problem worse, not better.

CALLEBS: And Tom, when you hear the interior secretary say, "This is being blown out of proportion," we're getting money there, we're doing everything we can, you have a pretty strong stance on this.

KIERNAN: The secretary is right; they are putting money into the parks, approximately $2.9 billion. And, we thank them for that, but that amount of funding is making it so the backlog isn't getting bigger. That's not enough funding to reduce the backlog. And the president pledged, when he campaigned and in his first State of the Union, he pledged to eliminate the backlog of maintenance and resource protection projects. This administration is holding its steady, but it's still about a $4.9 billion backlog that they have not significantly reduced.

CALLEBS: What would Teddy Roosevelt say about the way we've become?

KIERNAN: I think Teddy Roosevelt would be somewhat embarrassed by where we are with the national parks system. Teddy Roosevelt and other republicans and democrats envisioned a national park system unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations. We are enjoying our parks, but very much impairing our national parks, and the policies of this administration, in some cases, are helpful, but in most cases, are harmful to the health of our parks.

CALLEBS: Well, Tom, if these parks are -- would say be patient, how would the patient be? Is there enough funding? Is there enough medicine? Are things going to get better?

KIERNAN: Right now, I would say our parks are in a steady state of decline. They're not in an extreme crisis. They're not in intensive care at the moment, but they clearly are sick, and they clearly are getting worse. It's a low-grade fever that's getting worse and worse and worse, and we need Americans throughout this country to call on this administration and Congress to address the problem and frankly what's needed first and foremost is more funding. But then after that, policies to improve the air quality in our national parks, policies to improve the water quality, to improve taking care of the plant and animal species in the national parks.

CALLEBS: So, that's pretty much saying we can't just throw money at the problem, we can't just patch some roads, we can't say -- all right, we're going to hire more rangers we really have to take big steps or else down the road, what's going to happen?

KIERNAN: Well, down the road we'll end up, if we do put money just into the roads and buildings, we'll end up with glorious roads and buildings, but frankly nothing to see or experience. People would -- you know, we might get to a situation where you get to a Yellowstone or Grand Teton, and you're not able to see free-roaming wildlife. One example, the bison in Yellowstone, right now when they leave they park, they are shot and they slaughtered. That is not the experience we expect for the bison in Yellowstone. We need to figure out policies so that the parks can be integrated with the private and public lands outside the park. So, when wildlife leave the parks they're not slaughtered.

CALLEBS: Well, Tom, what does this do for the -- I can't get it out here -- the morale of all of the park rangers, park employees? It just has to be devastating.

KIERNAN: It's a tough time, I would say, for national park service rangers and staff. They are some of the most passionate, knowledgeable folks in this country. They care so deeply about what they do and about the national parks. Unfortunately, the administration is looking at a policy of privatizing or outsourcing 70 percent of the remaining national park service jobs, outsourcing to the private sector. And, while that approach has some benefits, there are times and places where that can be the right thing to do. Privatizing 70 percent of our national park service jobs including the science work, the research, the interpretation, education, that's not what we think is appropriate, and Congress just recently took some action that supports our position and is pushing back on the administration.

CALLEBS: We're going to be following this and we'll talk to you in a few weeks, months to see how things go. Okay, Tom?

KIERNAN: Great, I hope you enjoy the national parks, but please work to try to protect them, as well.

CALLEBS: OK, Tom Kiernan thanks very much for joining us, here today.

KIERNAN: Good to be here.

CALLEBS: It is arguably the best known and most literally named park in the world, New York City's central park. This weekend, the park is celebrating a big anniversary -- 150 years ago New York State legislature designated a large rectangle of Manhattan real estate as a public place, and what a place it is.

Beth Nissin takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BETH NISSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is a miracle of foresight, the creation of America's first great public park in the heart of what is historically been America's most crowded commercial city. Central Park's designers, winners of a city-wide design contest, were Frederick Law Olmsted, a writer who'd never designed anything in his life, and Calvert Vaux, an English architect; they did nothing less than remake nature, more than 800 rough acres of it.

At their direction, battalions of workers hacked walking paths out of dense scrub, laid underground water pipes to create streams and water falls, transplanted hundreds of trees -- there are now 26,000 here, 150 species from the American Elm to the Chinese Toon. A range of wild life was introduced, of the 800 species of birds in North America, 275 can be spotted here.

Early work crews used gunpowder to blast new Manhattan's bedrock granite and schist to make carriage ways and transference roads still in use today. They drudged out ponds and lakes. They drained swamps to make the grassy expanses, the great lawn, and the sheep meadow, a grazing area until 1934, now Manhattan's backyard, a place where a city kid can get a grass stain.

The park's designers gave it a formal side, paved avenues, cobbled applauses (PH), the mall where people have perambulated for more than a 100 years. Gazebos and band shells for concerts, a Central Park tradition, still.

It's all here, opera, jazz, swing. There is space here for children to play, grownups, too, of all ages. And something more, something priceless in a city where real estate costs a gasp per square foot, a place to sit quietly, to be somehow alone in a city of 8 million, to be in the company of others, yet pulled back from the bustle and jostle.

Frederick Olmsted once asked, "Is it doubtful that it does men good come together in this way, in pure air and under the light of heaven?"

No, sir, not doubtful at all. Beth Nissin, CNN, Central Park.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS: Here's a segue: if you think underarm odor is something to be controlled with deodorant, and not mentioned in polite company, we've not news for you. A scientist in Philadelphia has sniffed out some interesting effects of body odor. Ann Kellan has our story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANN KELLAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ah, the smell of underarms.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I smell. I do.

Organic chemist George Preti collects and studies all kinds of underarm odor at his lab at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia. Getting 18 women to grow underarm hair in the U.S. was part of the challenge. He studied their odors, then had them sniff other's and found women who get a whiff of a man's smelly B.O. feel less stressed. What do you think?

What if I told you that smell makes a difference, each other's smell makes a difference, would that surprise you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, yeah, I think that's right.

KELLAN: Your body odor actually affects her in a good way.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I never knew that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't give him any hints.

(SONG): Love stinks. Love stinks

KELLAN: Sweat itself doesn't smell, only when bacteria gets in the mix that smelly gases are released, says Preti.

GEORGE PRETI, PH.D., CHEMICAL SENSES CENTER: A number of experiments now, that demonstrate that both male and female underarm odorants and extracts thereof, can influence the length and timing of the female menstrual cycle.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I've always been regular, so I guess it helps.

(LAUGHTER)

KELLAN: Potent stuff, that Eau de B.O.

So, maybe he should go without deodorant?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I don't think so.

(LAUGHTER)

KELLAN: Ann Kellan, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS: And, when we come back, can an electronic gizmo really tell you what your cat is trying to say? And how much would you pay for one? We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CALLEBS: Now a check of some of the other stories on our beat. It may not be the remains of the Loch Ness Monster, but scientists are still thrilled with this well-preserved fossil found on the banks of a Scottish lake. Experts at the National Museum of Edinburgh say the vertebrae are about 150 million years old, and appear to be the remains of a long-necked carnivorous sea reptile known as the plesa -- I'm sorry, plesiosaur and a little old to be related to Nessie.

These rare northern bottle-nosed whales have their prime feeding area over the coast of Navasota. That's also where petroleum companies are conducting seismic tests to look for oil and gas deposits. Scientists have just completed ten days of research to try and figure out if the underwater sounds are damaging to mammals. They hope to have some answers in a few months.

For this sea lion named Harley, it was a lack of sound that was dangerous. Harley was in bad shape when rescued off the coast of California. He was born completely deaf and vulnerable to boats and predators. Since he can't hear whistles or words of praise, trainers at Chicago's Brookfield Zoo, Harley's new home, are teaching him sign language. He won't have to do any tricks, but communication will help Harley him stay calm when dealing with handlers and veterinarians.

The baby snow leopard is now wowing crowds at the Sacramento Zoo. Like many other big cats, the leopard is born blind and helpless and stays in the den for up to three months. This youngster was born in May and now wanders out to greet visitors in the morning and the afternoon. Just a few thousand of these Central Asian cats still survive in the wild.

Most cat lovers spend a good chunk of time trying to figure out what Fluffy wants. By Fall, Feline fanciers will be able to purchase this "Meowlingual" (LAUGHTER).

It a (SIC) electronic that reportedly translates kitty conversation into a small screen. Toy makers say the $75 device -- you know if the cat's happy, hungry, or wants to be alone.

OK, if you doubt it -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

And will online campaigning come into its own with the 2004 elections? It is paying off so far for Howard Dean. The former Vermont governor's early success on the web has helped catapult him near the front of the pack of democratic presidential contenders.

Judy Woodruff has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICCO MELE, WEBMASTER: You have the power to reclaim our nation's destiny.

JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the gospel according to Nicco, the "Dean for America" webmaster and true believer in the internet's power to transform American politics.

NICCO: Yeah, it is cool.

WOODRUFF: Cutting-edge technology powered by a skeleton crew has propelled the Dean campaign into the vanguard of virtual politics with very real results. The message: the internet is the future of grassroots organizing, replacing television as a way for candidates and voters to connect and bringing new people into the political process. For Dean, it is paying off. In three months, he raised $3.6 million online. 800,000 of it in a single marathon day.

NICCO: Here is the students for Dean site. $25.18, "Starving student." $35.18, "Mom sent me 50 bucks for food." All the way down to 150 bucks, "trust funds rock"

WOODRUFF: Campaign manager, Joe Trippi, the force behind Dean's online juggernaut, says the tally is rising.

JOE TRIPPI, CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Our high-tech nerve center keeping track of it.

WOODRUFF: Noting internet contributions for the first ten days of July totaled more than the April and May online numbers combined. But, money is just one piece of the internet puzzle. The other part is about bringing dean's supporters together in a real-world setting. Go to deanforAmerica.com, type in your zip code, and you'll get a list of campaign events in your area.

TRIPPI: This is "Meetup" central, here.

WOODRUFF: Meetup.com connects "netitizens" to people nearby who share a particular interest. Team Dean latched on to the site to move his virtual pep rally from the computer screen to bars and coffee houses across the country. More than 60,000 people have signed up for these events, where Dean supporters turn online connections into ground-level organizing. At last rendezvous, Dean fans reached out to undecided Iowa voters the old-fashioned way, by writing letters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that all right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, that's great.

WOODRUFF: We admit, it's all pretty cool. But, will the coolness catapult Dean to the White House?

TRIPPI: The net is not the answer to everything, and it does not reach everybody.

WOODRUFF: A quick scan of a D.C. Meetup raises questions, the crowd is young and largely white. Can Dean bridge the digital divide and make traditional appeals across demographic lines? Trippi says yes.

TRIPPI: We now have the resources, though, to now move beyond just the net into the traditional campaign organizing, reaching into the African-American community, reaching out in the Latino community.

WOODRUFF: Nearly 200,000 people have signed onto the Dean e-mail list. The campaign's hoping to have a million onboard by the end of the year. And, Dean is counting on them to pad his war chest and support him in a more traditional venue, the polling place. Judy Woodruff, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS: And, still to come here: Why would someone keep 1,200 turtles in a New York loft? We will have the answer when we return.

DAVID KIRKPATRICK, "FORTUNE" SENIOR EDITOR: Given that the enterprise sector of corporate buying is so slow, one area that more and more companies are focusing on is the consumer sector. Because globally, not just in the U.S., consumers are getting more and more infatuated with more and more kinds of technology. There is increasingly not a sector of technology where there's not significant consumer interest. We're seeing people more and more network their homes, for example. Consumer technology is exploding around the world. Portable devices and most notably, cell phones. That's the area where the most astonishing phenomenon is taking place. We're up to 400 million plus cell phones each year selling globally, and they're selling as much in China and India as they are Western Europe and the United States.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANN KELLAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Robots as musicians, artists, dancers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are some of the coolest toys on the planet right now.

KELLAN: This drawing machine picks up the sounds in a room and draws them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a lot like a seismograph that records earthquakes and things like that.

KELLAN: This one named "Neal" reacts to your emotions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, right now it looks like it's, kind of, not in a great mood, it's kind of dark and it's a little bit frowny. It's not getting enough attention, yet.

KELLAN: This one reacts to whoever wears it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's good.

These are flex sensors in the gloves, and by operating -- opening and closing the glove, you can open and close the hand. The tail is run by an EKG that measures a heartbeat that's inside each glove.

KELLAN: There's a guitar bot that plays that plays along with the human violinist.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like there's somebody there. And, when technology starts to affect our musical sensibility, that's exciting.

KELLAN: Tap a few steps, and these happy feet will tap to your beat. Dial up a house, and this bot using high-pressured water jets carves it out of ice. This robotic arms, painting lines in New York, is being manipulated by live rat brain cells in Atlanta. Weird.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we're interfacing between the brain and the body with the internet.

KELLAN: Who's the creative one here, the maker or the bot? While you think about it, say cheese, and the bot inside this box will outline your face in lights onto Polaroid film.

Ann Kellan, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS: Well, lots of New Yorkers have apartments crawling with roaches or maybe mice -- but turtles? CNN's Jeanne Moos has the shell-shocking details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ever yearn for a turtle when you were a kid? How about 1,200 turtles? An entire Manhattan loft crammed with tanks full of them. Richard Ogust calls himself a turtle conservationist.

RICHARD OGUST, TURTLE CONSERVATIONIST: But, I'm also pretty nuts about turtles.

MOOS: He's nuts about the one that looks like an albino anteater. He's nuts about the snake neck.

OGUST: These guys are almost extinct.

MOOS: And, he's really nuts about his favorite, Oscar, as in Oscar Mayer Wieners.

OGUST: She was brought to us as a blind turtle that someone had raised on frankfurters.

MOOS: Malnutrition by hotdogs, left Oscar blind, thought her vision is improving with proper diet. They turtles here, do seem to eat well, from fish...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, here he goes. There we go.

MOOS: To cantaloupe worth fighting over, to lots and lots of lettuce.

(on camera): Did you hear what the one turtle said to the other turtle?

OGUST: I did.

MOOS: I'll have a BLT, but hold the B and the T.

(voice-over): Their names are unpronounceable. He's a Yawanawa (PH). This is called Qawra Muquardi (PH). She's Kund (PH), and she's Ond (PH).

MOOS: Richard bought some of the turtles, some he rescued; some are endangered species confiscated by authorities. He still has his very first turtle. She was about to become part of the seafood buffet at this Chinatown restaurant. Richard spotted her in the tank and was fixated.

OGUST: I got her for 20 bucks. They started to take her back to the kitchen to chop her up and put her in a bag for me. I said, "No, no, no, no!"

MOOS: He took her home and a friend named her "Empress." That was nine years ago. 1,200 turtles ago, and the turtles Richard he collects keep reproducing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have turtle love happening here.

MOOS: The male bites the female's neck to keep her in position. Speaking of lovers, turtle lovers helped fund this operation. There are plans to move it to a 50-acre site in New Jersey. The highlight of our tour was hand-feeding figs to Burmese turtles.

(on camera): Is there a technique, so that I can keep my fingers?

OGUST: That's the technique.

MOOS: Now, if only he had practiced it.

OGUST: Ow! That hurt.

MOOS: I mean, does it cut?

OGUST: I was really lucky.

MOOS: Richard would never dream of eating turtle soup, but turtles apparently can't resist, finger food.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS: And that's all we have time for, today.

But next, we'll be back tomorrow at 5:00 Eastern Time. Among the stories we'll have then, scientists have discovered an unfamiliar ape in the forest of West Africa. Is it a new species? And, if not, then what is it? That story and much more coming up tomorrow. Hope you'll be watching then.

And, thanks for joining us here, today.

Just ahead on "CNN Live Saturday," coming up at the top of the hour in the "Dollar Signs" segment, we'll take your questions about finding the right mortgage for you. That's followed by "People in the News" at 5:00 Eastern Time, with profiles of Lance Armstrong and Will Smith. Then it's "CNN Saturday" at 6:00 Eastern.

First a quick break, and then we'll tell you what's happening at this hour.

END

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





Watch: West Nile Virus; How Bad Are Our National Parks?>


Aired July 19, 2003 - 15:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: Today on NEXT@CNN, music downloaders, beware. Your chances of getting in trouble for illegal downloading are increasing. We will talk to one of the anti-pirates.
And what about your chances of getting the West Nile virus? Well, the disease has shown up in more states at this time than it did last year. Now, how worried should you be?

Also, we'll meet a man who loves turtles. I mean, this guys loves turtles. And find out about some of his good deeds.

First, the battle over sharing music online. In April of this year, the recording industry began suing individual file-swappers for copyright infringement. And this week a new bill was proposed in Congress that could get users five years in jails, and get this, a $250,000 fine. This for uploading a single file over peer to peer network.

And for those digital James Deans who aren't worried about the courts or Congress, there are also anti-pirates who may be after you. Randy Saaf, he is the CEO of Media Defender. He joins us now to tell us exactly what all that means. Randy, thanks for coming in on this glorious Saturday afternoon. Tell me what an anti-pirate is.

RANDY SAAF, CEO, MEDIA DEFENDER: Well, anti-piracy software is basically software that focuses on preventing the people from stealing any sort of content, be that music, movies, software.

CALLEBS: So why are you out there? I mean, isn't this what companies, music industry is out there doing?

SAAF: Yes. I mean, it definitely -- there's a wide variety of solutions for trying to prevent piracy, and our company's just one part of the big equation. We happen to focus on the technology side.

CALLEBS: Now, for those who may not be aware, tell us a bit about your company, and you can't tell us about your clients, can you?

SAAF: No, I mean, everything is very sensitive. You know, we respect the privacy of all of our clients.

CALLEBS: And more about the company? How do you go about cracking down and finding people out there who are stealing and passing on software.

SAAF: Our company focuses on the illegal distribution of copyrighted material. So that's mainly peer to peer networks these days. So we will go on to peer to peer network and participate in the network either by, you know, trying to find people who are committing the copyright violations or by distributing fake files on the network to try and make the real content hard to find.

CALLEBS: Now, we've talked with and heard some comments from members of the recording industry, and they tell us that your business really kind of supplants, it works hand in hand with what they're doing. Do you expect this to be a growing business in the future?

SAAF: Yes. The area of copyright violation is right now hitting the music industry very hard, and that's where a lot of the focus is. But this is something that's going to drastically affect the movie industry, and especially the software industry as time goes on. Even television is subject to quite a bit of damage from copyright violation.

CALLEBS: I'm sure you heard what Orrin Hatch said when the music industry was speaking to a congressional committee sometime ago. He said, why don't we go in there and write some kind of software that can destroy their computers if they are passing this on, if they are stealing, if they're pirating these files? And the individual said, well, no one's talking about destroying computers. And he said, I am. Do you think that's going to get to that point?

SAAF: Yes, that was actually me that said that. I was at the hearing. And so, it's not going to get to that point. Nobody's really interested in those types of solutions. Orrin Hatch -- he was speaking more metaphorically at the time. He was expressing Congress' and Senate's frustration over the fact that there is this massive amount of illegal activity going on and there aren't any clear-cut solutions to it.

CALLEBS: Tell me a little bit about your background, how you got into this? And do you sometimes feel like you have an A.P. for anti- pirate on your chest?

SAAF: No, I mean, that's all just, you know, sort of tongue in cheek. You know, I have a background in large-scale software development. I went to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) school of engineering. Basically I got into this because I saw a need for anti-piracy technology solutions. Most technology solutions in the past for anti- piracy were focused on the physical medium, trying to put something on a disk to prevent that disk from being copied. But the problem with the peer to peer network or any sort of mass distribution network is that it just takes one person to make that rip and then put it on the network, and it's off to the races.

CALLEBS: Well, Randy Saaf, quickly, is it working, yes or no?

SAAF: I mean, yes, it's working. You know, it's definitely not the silver bullet solution. There is no silver bullet solution, but it's an important part of an overall cocktail of solutions that will help prevent piracy in the future.

CALLEBS: OK, Randy Saaf, thanks very much for coming in, and best of luck on your future endeavors. We appreciate it.

SAAF: Thank you.

CALLEBS: Well, today the Recording Industry Association of America won 871 subpoenas against individual users who share files over peer to peer networks. This is the next step in the RIAA's promise to go after file sharers. But P2P networks themselves, more Kazaa and Morpheus and Imesh are not illegal. The founders of those sites say dialogue is what is needed rather than legislation and lawsuits.

Now, Elan Oren, CEO of Imesh, joins us now from Jerusalem. We appreciate you coming in today. Am I getting that right? Is it Imesh?

ELAN OREN, CEO, IMESH: Good evening, Sean, from Jerusalem. Can you repeat the question, please?

CALLEBS: Am I saying the name of the company right? It is Imesh, correct?

OREN: Yes, it is. It's Imesh.

CALLEBS: OK -- I'm sorry, go ahead. Now, do you believe that -- I understand that you say that you don't support piracy, but tell me why what your company doesn't foster that kind of changing of files.

OREN: Well, Imesh doesn't have any control over what the users do. We don't have any control over any of the files, besides the original files that do exist on Imesh. Imesh distributes original files, very successful, mainly for the gaming industry. So we actually proved that it is possible to convert users to purchase the original content when it is available.

The main problem with most of the file-sharing systems is that most of the original content is not made available to our users, and they are left with maybe pirating those files.

CALLEBS: Well, Elan, pick up on that and tell me what you think P2P's role is in stopping these kind of illegal exchange. And we apologize for the delay. You're overseas, but just bear with us.

OREN: Well, I think the responsibility is a mutual responsibility of the file-sharing companies and the industry itself. We can't do this ourselves. In order for us to assist the industry in reducing piracy, we need to have the original content. We can't force our users to abandon our systems without giving them the opportunity or the choice to choose from the original file.

Currently the original file is not on our systems. So it's like impossible for us to assist the industry. Imesh consistently, since 2000, tried to open a dialogue with the RIAA, with the record industry, with the movie industry to find solutions, but just didn't result in anything, we didn't get any response from the other side.

CALLEBS: How come? OREN: The only response -- it seems to us, well, if historically you look at this, historically the industry never wanted to put digital media on the Internet. They were actually forced to do this by the file-sharing companies, by Napster and Imesh that started this in 1999.

Later on, when Napster was announced illegal because it had a centralized server, the only thing that happened is that file-sharing companies resorted into decentralized system, and now we're not liable anymore, but it makes no sense to prevent from over 100 million users of file-sharing systems the ability to access the original content. You can pursue and chase the users for doing illegal trading of stuff if you give them the choice of the legal content. And that is not being available on file-sharing systems.

CALLEBS: OK. Now, if that isn't available and more subpoenas, more government activity comes out there and more anti-pirate companies come up, can't this have a chilling effect on companies like Imesh that are out there?

OREN: I think that the only thing we're going to see, which will really not help anybody, especially not the industry, is, you know, like the virus and the anti-virus and the hacker and the firewall, we're just going to put prevention measures so people like Andy can't trace our users.

But that's not going to help anybody. I think the only thing that companies like us and I think the other file-sharing systems, we're willing to work with the industry, the RIAA, in order to prevent, to minimize the amount of piracy that's on our networks.

I would like to add another fact, which is very important. Everybody's talking about piracy on the Internet. But the fact of the matter is that 30 percent of the plastic world is still pirated. It's not only the Internet that's being pirated. Digital media is very hard to protect. It's going to be very hard to protect on the Internet. It's probably going to be even harder to protect on the Internet. But the only way to solve this thing..

CALLEBS: But talking about that is a much sexier topic, though, Elan. We're out of time. We greatly appreciate you coming tonight into our bureau. Elan Oren, CEO of Imesh.com, thanks very much. Best of luck to you.

OREN: Thank you very much.

CALLEBS: OK. When we come back, are you in more danger of getting West Nile virus this summer than last? We'll get a reality check from an expert on the risks of infection.

And later in the show, the Segway scooter was supposed to change the way we get around, remember? Well, we'll talk with an author who get special access to the secret Segway lab. We'll get his take on whether it's living up to its hype.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (MUSIC)

CALLEBS: Welcome back, everyone. Time to take a look now at some of the stories making news on our beat this week.

Lockheed Martin launched its first Atlas 500 series rocket Thursday from Cape Canaveral. The rocket, carrying a CableVision satellite, which will directly compete with DirecTV and Dish Network to offer you yet another way to bring CNN and all the other channels into your home.

And if all goes well, the service will begin by the end of the year.

This week the world of electronic spam crossed paths with down and dirty political campaigning. And here is the results. In southern California, Nextel subscribers who responded to this message to call Jen heard this...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need you to sign the recall to remove Governor Gray Davis out of office as soon as possible. If you have already signed it, your contribution is greatly appreciated. Please ask your neighbor, friends, coworkers, or a local politics expert about how to get rid of Gray Davis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLEBS: How about that? Well, Nextel believes the campaign spam was not widespread, and there is no evidence that the spam message is connected to the official effort to recall California Governor Gray Davis.

Scientists in China have developed a robot that they say could slow the spread of infectious diseases such as SARS. It can fill in for medical workers on simple tasks, like bringing meals. The idea is to minimize the contact between workers and contagious patients. The inventors say future models will be able to change sheets and even I.V. drips.

It's been just over a week since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the first human case of West Nile virus this season. The disease, usually transmitted by mosquitoes, infected more than 4,000 people last year, killing 284.

What can we expect this year? Well, let's get the latest from Dr. John Roehrig. He's a CDC virologist who has been studying the disease and working with the public health community to help control West Nile. Dr. Roehrig joins us now from Denver. Dr. Roehrig, thanks very much for coming in. West Nile's already been found in 32 states this summer. That is up from 20 at this time last year. The CDC expected this kind of spread. Does it concern you?

JOHN ROEHRIG, CDC VIROLOGIST: Well, I think that it is of some concern to us. However, the CDC and the public health community have had five years of experience with West Nile now and are very well prepared to deal with the outbreak this year.

CALLEBS: Now, you've followed this disease basically since people first started hearing about it in the U.S.

ROEHRIG: Correct.

CALLEBS: Is there any way to predict how it will affect humans? Two hundred and eight-four deaths last year, and from what I understand, a lot of people have already been bitten by mosquitoes that do carry the West Neil virus. Those people just don't know that they could have been exposed to it, correct?

ROEHRIG: That's correct. I mean, very few cases, actually about one in every 150 individuals that get bit by an infected mosquito may go on to severe disease. Most people aren't even aware of it. The disease is asymptomatic. And consequently, the public health community doesn't even really know that those infections have occurred.

It's really difficult to predict what's going to happen this year in the transmission season. As you pointed out, there are 32 states that have documented West Nile activity. I think it's safe to say as we analyze the data, that the activity this year is pretty much on the same track as it was last year.

CALLEBS: Well, we've had a great deal of precipitation. That has been chronicled. And the standing pools of water, the kind of places that breed mosquitoes. Any danger about that, and do you expect that this could spread to all 48 lower states?

ROEHRIG: Well, standing pools of water certainly or any sort of pool of water are appropriate breeding sites for mosquitoes. The main mosquitoes that transmit and maintain West Nile virus in nature, however, use more stagnant waters. And so lots of fresh water isn't really a concern.

However, one of the most important prevention methods that people can use to try to reduce their risk from West Nile is to go around their yard and try to get rid of standing water containers that they don't need.

CALLEBS: What about just the overall information that has gotten out there and the education that people in the U.S. already have? It seems that when birds start to die, a lot of people are taking these to local health agencies, saying, this is suspect. Is this the kind of thing we can determine West Nile is coming into my area?

ROEHRIG: That's correct. One of the unique characteristics of this strain of West Nile virus is it does kill some birds, primarily birds that are members of the family corverdae (ph), or more commonly crows, bluejays, magpies, also certain (UNINTELLIGIBLE) seem to be pretty susceptible.

The public health community has used this particular characteristic of this particular strain of virus to establish essentially a dead bird surveillance system. So as individuals happen to see dead crows in their neighborhood or dead magpies, there's encouraged to take those birds, or at least call their local health department to have them come and collect those birds, and then those birds are taken to laboratories, usually at the state laboratory, to be tested for West Nile.

Over the last few years, this dead bird surveillance system has functioned very well as an early warning system for activity of West Nile in a particular geographic region.

CALLEBS: OK, Dr. Roehrig, thanks very much for bringing us up to date on the West Nile situation. We know it is still midsummer, it is probably going to get worse before it gets any better. Thanks again for joining us from Denver.

ROEHRIG: You're welcome, Sean.

CALLEBS: Now, when we come back, is the Segway a masterpiece of engineering or of marketing? We'll get an insider's view of how the scooter took center stage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CALLEBS: Welcome back, everybody. We are following a developing story. A memorial service is planned for this hour at the Santa Monica farmers market, which reopened this morning. Ten people were killed and dozens injured on Wednesday when a car careened out of control through the outdoor market for more than three blocks.

Miguel Marquez is on hand. Miguel, the markets are reopening, but I suspect it is a very sobering day there.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is a very sobering day, Sean. The market is open, and what's going on right now is a memorial service to those who died on Wednesday.

You know, 10 people died here, over 50 were injured when an 86- year-old man crashed his car into the market here.

Speaking right now is Father Mike Gutierrez (ph) from St. Anne's parish here in Santa Monica. This memorial is being done by the Santa Monica Bay Interfaith Council. You see the stage is set with the fruits that are of the market, the flowers, the fruits, the vegetables. A lot of the boxes from the vendors who are here.

It's a pretty amazing sight. They had a procession just a short time ago from the local church where they reconsecrated and repurified the market ground here. A very, very solemn affair. Representatives of the Buddhists, Ba'hai, Christian, Jewish and non-denominational sects will be here, as well as people from the police, fire and medical emergency organizations to read the names of those who died here just two days ago.

So a somber affair. They're trying to put it behind them. And the market will be open for the rest of the afternoon -- Sean.

CALLEBS: Miguel, this seems like a somewhat fluid situation the way this memorial came together. Is this something that so many people who go there go there frequently. Is this something that's coming together bit by bit throughout this day?

MARQUEZ: It is thrown together at the last moment, but it is an amazing affair. They have chairs set up for representatives from the city. They have what was a crowd of about 150 people about 10 minutes ago has now swelled to probably over 300 at this point. It's really an amazing turnout here.

The market, even though it's been going on since 8:30 this morning, appears to have come to a standstill, and we're going to hear from some farmers in a bit. A lot of the guys who are here now were here on Wednesday, and this is maybe the first official step toward getting over this tragedy -- Sean.

CALLEBS: A great deal of outpouring of grief there today. Miguel Marquez, thanks very much from Santa Monica.

On December 3, 2001, the world eagerly awaited the unveiling of one of the tech industry's best-kept secrets and most hyped products ever. When they finally saw it, a lot of people were underwhelmed by the modest-looking Segway human transporter.

Steve Kemper is the author of "Code Name Ginger," and he was the only journalist allowed with full access to the project before its release. Thanks very much for joining us here today.

What was it like, firstly, to be behind scenes when all this buzz internationally was going out about what is it?

STEVE KEMPER, AUTHOR: Well, it was pretty terrible at first, because it was my book proposal that caused this to happen. It had gotten leaked by one of the publishers that didn't get the book. So I was pretty unhappy about the leak, and so was Dean Kamen.

CALLEBS: Let's back up a bit. Tell us about your proposal for the book, how you were, in essence, embedded with Dean Kamen as they worked on this.

KEMPER: Sure. Well, I met Dean in 1994 when I did a magazine profile of him for "Smithsonian" magazine. And we kept in casual touch.

And in early 1999, he called me and said, this is the best thing I've ever done. Come up and take a look at it. And Dean has done so many incredible things that when he gives you that invitation, you dash up to New Hampshire.

CALLEBS: He really has done some simply amazing things. This guy is just brilliant.

KEMPER: Yes, he is. Not only brilliant as an inventor and an engineer, but brilliant as a salesman. He can make people believe in his ideas. And that's something that he has in common with Edison and Edes (ph) and some of the inventors of the American century.

CALLEBS: OK, we have the book right here, "Code Name Ginger," it's out right now. How is it doing?

KEMPER: You'd have to ask my publisher about that. I'm happy to be here and talking about it.

CALLEBS: Do you think that it -- it hasn't taken off the way everybody expected. You don't see Segway...

KEMPER: My book or the Segway?

CALLEBS: The Segway. You don't see it either going up or down -- unless like here in Atlanta, the police agencies here have them. I have seen them out and around our building. Why do you think that it's been slow? Is it too costly? Is it too big? Is it just not what people expected?

KEMPER: Well, I'm not sure how slow it's been. As you know, it's only been available since March to consumers. It's been available to people such as municipal workers in Atlanta for a couple of years. And that's why everybody knows about it.

I think it's extraordinary that so many people know what it is, despite the fact that hardly anybody has one yet. And it's because they're fascinated by it. I've ridden it on the streets of New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco -- not on the sidewalks in San Francisco, and people aren't afraid of it. They're curious, they're fascinated, they know what it is, and I think they're waiting for the price to drop.

CALLEBS: Well, I think -- isn't that the case with everything? We have some pictures of President Bush actually on one of these. It couldn't have helped the company when he fell off the thing.

KEMPER: Well, unless you believe the old adage that all publicity is good publicity. It turns out he didn't turn it on. Of course, it won't balance if it's not on.

CALLEBS: So that answers a big question there.

Quickly, give us some insight into Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Dean Kamen. What was it like working around three of the most intelligent, creative people out there?

KEMPER: Dynamic. That's the one word that comes to mind. Bezos and Dean once had an exchange where Dean said they thought that that idea was crazy. And Bezos said, when they tell you it's crazy, you know you have a good idea. And Dean said, yes, if they say it's a good idea, it's probably too ordinary. That's the way these guys think.

CALLEBS: Any stories stick out during the creation of It, Ginger?

KEMPER: The book is filled with stories. The whole book is about this quest that the engineers were on to take this improbable idea into the marketplace. Dean's quest to find funding for this, $90 million of funding for an unknown product that had an uncertain future. So the book is filled with that kind of stuff.

CALLEBS: Great. And here it is, "Code Name Ginger," best of luck to you. We appreciate it.

KEMPER: Thank you.

CALLEBS: Thanks again.

Drop this down here and move on.

Coming up in our next half hour, we will tell you about a threat to U.S. national parks. And it is not caused by any natural disaster.

And political campaigns will never be the same. We'll find out how the Internet is changing the search for political support.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

CALLEBS: Now back to NEXT@CNN.

Summer is in full swing, and you may be heading out to visit one of the nation's 383 national parks. But while you admire the views, the wild life, a glacier at Yellowstone, you may be more awed by cracked roads, crumbled bridges and closed campgrounds. The park system is facing a $5 billion budget crisis for a repair and maintenance project. Tom Kiernan now joins us. He's the president of the National Parks Conservation Association. Tom, thanks for joining us. Had a little trouble getting that out, but they're having trouble fixing the parks we're even at this point. Do you think that's being blown out of proportion?

TOM KIERNAN, NATL. PARKS CONSERVATION ASSN.: Absolutely not. Our national park system is the greatest system in the world. But, unfortunately this backlog of projects, about $4.9 billion worth of projects in the parks is extraordinary. We have leaky roofs in our visitor centers; we have roads with just huge potholes that are damaging vehicles. But, in addition to that, the annual operating budget of the parks is so low that we're reducing the number of rangers in the parks. We don't have as many educational trips going on in the parks, not as many fireside chats, and also the number of law enforcement rangers in our national parks will be down over the last several years.

CALLEBS: Are people noticing this? Do we expect to hear more of an uproar as people come back from the Grand Canyon, looking at -- in South Dakota, Mount Rushmore -- are we going to hear more about it as this year goes on?

KIERNAN: I imagine we will. I think visitors in our parks will have a good visit. Perhaps a great visit, but they won't have as many educational opportunities in our national parks, as many opportunities to meet and talk with national park rangers, and as well, we are losing plant and animal species and historic artifacts in our parks, because we don't have the money for the science and the research in our national parks. So, over the long term, we may not have the biodiversity, the glorious natural wonders in our parks that we go to experience when we're in the parks. And that's the true...

(CROSSTALK)

CALLEBS: How are we losing those things? Are they just dying? Are people taking them? Destroying them? What's going on?

KIERNAN: Well, it's interesting. There's not a single unit of our national park system where we have a complete inventory of the plants and animals in the parks. We simply do not know what plant and animal species we have in the parks, but yet we have some of the worst air pollution in our national parks. So, we are losing plant and animal species because of some of this horrendous air quality in our parks. Literally, the worst air quality is in this country, on an average basis is in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, not Los Angeles or Houston. So, those plants and animals are subject to just some horrendous air quality. We need to fix that and unfortunately this administration is making that problem worse, not better.

CALLEBS: And Tom, when you hear the interior secretary say, "This is being blown out of proportion," we're getting money there, we're doing everything we can, you have a pretty strong stance on this.

KIERNAN: The secretary is right; they are putting money into the parks, approximately $2.9 billion. And, we thank them for that, but that amount of funding is making it so the backlog isn't getting bigger. That's not enough funding to reduce the backlog. And the president pledged, when he campaigned and in his first State of the Union, he pledged to eliminate the backlog of maintenance and resource protection projects. This administration is holding its steady, but it's still about a $4.9 billion backlog that they have not significantly reduced.

CALLEBS: What would Teddy Roosevelt say about the way we've become?

KIERNAN: I think Teddy Roosevelt would be somewhat embarrassed by where we are with the national parks system. Teddy Roosevelt and other republicans and democrats envisioned a national park system unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations. We are enjoying our parks, but very much impairing our national parks, and the policies of this administration, in some cases, are helpful, but in most cases, are harmful to the health of our parks.

CALLEBS: Well, Tom, if these parks are -- would say be patient, how would the patient be? Is there enough funding? Is there enough medicine? Are things going to get better?

KIERNAN: Right now, I would say our parks are in a steady state of decline. They're not in an extreme crisis. They're not in intensive care at the moment, but they clearly are sick, and they clearly are getting worse. It's a low-grade fever that's getting worse and worse and worse, and we need Americans throughout this country to call on this administration and Congress to address the problem and frankly what's needed first and foremost is more funding. But then after that, policies to improve the air quality in our national parks, policies to improve the water quality, to improve taking care of the plant and animal species in the national parks.

CALLEBS: So, that's pretty much saying we can't just throw money at the problem, we can't just patch some roads, we can't say -- all right, we're going to hire more rangers we really have to take big steps or else down the road, what's going to happen?

KIERNAN: Well, down the road we'll end up, if we do put money just into the roads and buildings, we'll end up with glorious roads and buildings, but frankly nothing to see or experience. People would -- you know, we might get to a situation where you get to a Yellowstone or Grand Teton, and you're not able to see free-roaming wildlife. One example, the bison in Yellowstone, right now when they leave they park, they are shot and they slaughtered. That is not the experience we expect for the bison in Yellowstone. We need to figure out policies so that the parks can be integrated with the private and public lands outside the park. So, when wildlife leave the parks they're not slaughtered.

CALLEBS: Well, Tom, what does this do for the -- I can't get it out here -- the morale of all of the park rangers, park employees? It just has to be devastating.

KIERNAN: It's a tough time, I would say, for national park service rangers and staff. They are some of the most passionate, knowledgeable folks in this country. They care so deeply about what they do and about the national parks. Unfortunately, the administration is looking at a policy of privatizing or outsourcing 70 percent of the remaining national park service jobs, outsourcing to the private sector. And, while that approach has some benefits, there are times and places where that can be the right thing to do. Privatizing 70 percent of our national park service jobs including the science work, the research, the interpretation, education, that's not what we think is appropriate, and Congress just recently took some action that supports our position and is pushing back on the administration.

CALLEBS: We're going to be following this and we'll talk to you in a few weeks, months to see how things go. Okay, Tom?

KIERNAN: Great, I hope you enjoy the national parks, but please work to try to protect them, as well.

CALLEBS: OK, Tom Kiernan thanks very much for joining us, here today.

KIERNAN: Good to be here.

CALLEBS: It is arguably the best known and most literally named park in the world, New York City's central park. This weekend, the park is celebrating a big anniversary -- 150 years ago New York State legislature designated a large rectangle of Manhattan real estate as a public place, and what a place it is.

Beth Nissin takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BETH NISSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is a miracle of foresight, the creation of America's first great public park in the heart of what is historically been America's most crowded commercial city. Central Park's designers, winners of a city-wide design contest, were Frederick Law Olmsted, a writer who'd never designed anything in his life, and Calvert Vaux, an English architect; they did nothing less than remake nature, more than 800 rough acres of it.

At their direction, battalions of workers hacked walking paths out of dense scrub, laid underground water pipes to create streams and water falls, transplanted hundreds of trees -- there are now 26,000 here, 150 species from the American Elm to the Chinese Toon. A range of wild life was introduced, of the 800 species of birds in North America, 275 can be spotted here.

Early work crews used gunpowder to blast new Manhattan's bedrock granite and schist to make carriage ways and transference roads still in use today. They drudged out ponds and lakes. They drained swamps to make the grassy expanses, the great lawn, and the sheep meadow, a grazing area until 1934, now Manhattan's backyard, a place where a city kid can get a grass stain.

The park's designers gave it a formal side, paved avenues, cobbled applauses (PH), the mall where people have perambulated for more than a 100 years. Gazebos and band shells for concerts, a Central Park tradition, still.

It's all here, opera, jazz, swing. There is space here for children to play, grownups, too, of all ages. And something more, something priceless in a city where real estate costs a gasp per square foot, a place to sit quietly, to be somehow alone in a city of 8 million, to be in the company of others, yet pulled back from the bustle and jostle.

Frederick Olmsted once asked, "Is it doubtful that it does men good come together in this way, in pure air and under the light of heaven?"

No, sir, not doubtful at all. Beth Nissin, CNN, Central Park.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS: Here's a segue: if you think underarm odor is something to be controlled with deodorant, and not mentioned in polite company, we've not news for you. A scientist in Philadelphia has sniffed out some interesting effects of body odor. Ann Kellan has our story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANN KELLAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ah, the smell of underarms.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I smell. I do.

Organic chemist George Preti collects and studies all kinds of underarm odor at his lab at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia. Getting 18 women to grow underarm hair in the U.S. was part of the challenge. He studied their odors, then had them sniff other's and found women who get a whiff of a man's smelly B.O. feel less stressed. What do you think?

What if I told you that smell makes a difference, each other's smell makes a difference, would that surprise you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, yeah, I think that's right.

KELLAN: Your body odor actually affects her in a good way.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I never knew that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't give him any hints.

(SONG): Love stinks. Love stinks

KELLAN: Sweat itself doesn't smell, only when bacteria gets in the mix that smelly gases are released, says Preti.

GEORGE PRETI, PH.D., CHEMICAL SENSES CENTER: A number of experiments now, that demonstrate that both male and female underarm odorants and extracts thereof, can influence the length and timing of the female menstrual cycle.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I've always been regular, so I guess it helps.

(LAUGHTER)

KELLAN: Potent stuff, that Eau de B.O.

So, maybe he should go without deodorant?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I don't think so.

(LAUGHTER)

KELLAN: Ann Kellan, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS: And, when we come back, can an electronic gizmo really tell you what your cat is trying to say? And how much would you pay for one? We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CALLEBS: Now a check of some of the other stories on our beat. It may not be the remains of the Loch Ness Monster, but scientists are still thrilled with this well-preserved fossil found on the banks of a Scottish lake. Experts at the National Museum of Edinburgh say the vertebrae are about 150 million years old, and appear to be the remains of a long-necked carnivorous sea reptile known as the plesa -- I'm sorry, plesiosaur and a little old to be related to Nessie.

These rare northern bottle-nosed whales have their prime feeding area over the coast of Navasota. That's also where petroleum companies are conducting seismic tests to look for oil and gas deposits. Scientists have just completed ten days of research to try and figure out if the underwater sounds are damaging to mammals. They hope to have some answers in a few months.

For this sea lion named Harley, it was a lack of sound that was dangerous. Harley was in bad shape when rescued off the coast of California. He was born completely deaf and vulnerable to boats and predators. Since he can't hear whistles or words of praise, trainers at Chicago's Brookfield Zoo, Harley's new home, are teaching him sign language. He won't have to do any tricks, but communication will help Harley him stay calm when dealing with handlers and veterinarians.

The baby snow leopard is now wowing crowds at the Sacramento Zoo. Like many other big cats, the leopard is born blind and helpless and stays in the den for up to three months. This youngster was born in May and now wanders out to greet visitors in the morning and the afternoon. Just a few thousand of these Central Asian cats still survive in the wild.

Most cat lovers spend a good chunk of time trying to figure out what Fluffy wants. By Fall, Feline fanciers will be able to purchase this "Meowlingual" (LAUGHTER).

It a (SIC) electronic that reportedly translates kitty conversation into a small screen. Toy makers say the $75 device -- you know if the cat's happy, hungry, or wants to be alone.

OK, if you doubt it -- (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

And will online campaigning come into its own with the 2004 elections? It is paying off so far for Howard Dean. The former Vermont governor's early success on the web has helped catapult him near the front of the pack of democratic presidential contenders.

Judy Woodruff has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICCO MELE, WEBMASTER: You have the power to reclaim our nation's destiny.

JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the gospel according to Nicco, the "Dean for America" webmaster and true believer in the internet's power to transform American politics.

NICCO: Yeah, it is cool.

WOODRUFF: Cutting-edge technology powered by a skeleton crew has propelled the Dean campaign into the vanguard of virtual politics with very real results. The message: the internet is the future of grassroots organizing, replacing television as a way for candidates and voters to connect and bringing new people into the political process. For Dean, it is paying off. In three months, he raised $3.6 million online. 800,000 of it in a single marathon day.

NICCO: Here is the students for Dean site. $25.18, "Starving student." $35.18, "Mom sent me 50 bucks for food." All the way down to 150 bucks, "trust funds rock"

WOODRUFF: Campaign manager, Joe Trippi, the force behind Dean's online juggernaut, says the tally is rising.

JOE TRIPPI, CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Our high-tech nerve center keeping track of it.

WOODRUFF: Noting internet contributions for the first ten days of July totaled more than the April and May online numbers combined. But, money is just one piece of the internet puzzle. The other part is about bringing dean's supporters together in a real-world setting. Go to deanforAmerica.com, type in your zip code, and you'll get a list of campaign events in your area.

TRIPPI: This is "Meetup" central, here.

WOODRUFF: Meetup.com connects "netitizens" to people nearby who share a particular interest. Team Dean latched on to the site to move his virtual pep rally from the computer screen to bars and coffee houses across the country. More than 60,000 people have signed up for these events, where Dean supporters turn online connections into ground-level organizing. At last rendezvous, Dean fans reached out to undecided Iowa voters the old-fashioned way, by writing letters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that all right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, that's great.

WOODRUFF: We admit, it's all pretty cool. But, will the coolness catapult Dean to the White House?

TRIPPI: The net is not the answer to everything, and it does not reach everybody.

WOODRUFF: A quick scan of a D.C. Meetup raises questions, the crowd is young and largely white. Can Dean bridge the digital divide and make traditional appeals across demographic lines? Trippi says yes.

TRIPPI: We now have the resources, though, to now move beyond just the net into the traditional campaign organizing, reaching into the African-American community, reaching out in the Latino community.

WOODRUFF: Nearly 200,000 people have signed onto the Dean e-mail list. The campaign's hoping to have a million onboard by the end of the year. And, Dean is counting on them to pad his war chest and support him in a more traditional venue, the polling place. Judy Woodruff, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS: And, still to come here: Why would someone keep 1,200 turtles in a New York loft? We will have the answer when we return.

DAVID KIRKPATRICK, "FORTUNE" SENIOR EDITOR: Given that the enterprise sector of corporate buying is so slow, one area that more and more companies are focusing on is the consumer sector. Because globally, not just in the U.S., consumers are getting more and more infatuated with more and more kinds of technology. There is increasingly not a sector of technology where there's not significant consumer interest. We're seeing people more and more network their homes, for example. Consumer technology is exploding around the world. Portable devices and most notably, cell phones. That's the area where the most astonishing phenomenon is taking place. We're up to 400 million plus cell phones each year selling globally, and they're selling as much in China and India as they are Western Europe and the United States.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANN KELLAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Robots as musicians, artists, dancers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are some of the coolest toys on the planet right now.

KELLAN: This drawing machine picks up the sounds in a room and draws them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a lot like a seismograph that records earthquakes and things like that.

KELLAN: This one named "Neal" reacts to your emotions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, right now it looks like it's, kind of, not in a great mood, it's kind of dark and it's a little bit frowny. It's not getting enough attention, yet.

KELLAN: This one reacts to whoever wears it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's good.

These are flex sensors in the gloves, and by operating -- opening and closing the glove, you can open and close the hand. The tail is run by an EKG that measures a heartbeat that's inside each glove.

KELLAN: There's a guitar bot that plays that plays along with the human violinist.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like there's somebody there. And, when technology starts to affect our musical sensibility, that's exciting.

KELLAN: Tap a few steps, and these happy feet will tap to your beat. Dial up a house, and this bot using high-pressured water jets carves it out of ice. This robotic arms, painting lines in New York, is being manipulated by live rat brain cells in Atlanta. Weird.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we're interfacing between the brain and the body with the internet.

KELLAN: Who's the creative one here, the maker or the bot? While you think about it, say cheese, and the bot inside this box will outline your face in lights onto Polaroid film.

Ann Kellan, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS: Well, lots of New Yorkers have apartments crawling with roaches or maybe mice -- but turtles? CNN's Jeanne Moos has the shell-shocking details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ever yearn for a turtle when you were a kid? How about 1,200 turtles? An entire Manhattan loft crammed with tanks full of them. Richard Ogust calls himself a turtle conservationist.

RICHARD OGUST, TURTLE CONSERVATIONIST: But, I'm also pretty nuts about turtles.

MOOS: He's nuts about the one that looks like an albino anteater. He's nuts about the snake neck.

OGUST: These guys are almost extinct.

MOOS: And, he's really nuts about his favorite, Oscar, as in Oscar Mayer Wieners.

OGUST: She was brought to us as a blind turtle that someone had raised on frankfurters.

MOOS: Malnutrition by hotdogs, left Oscar blind, thought her vision is improving with proper diet. They turtles here, do seem to eat well, from fish...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, here he goes. There we go.

MOOS: To cantaloupe worth fighting over, to lots and lots of lettuce.

(on camera): Did you hear what the one turtle said to the other turtle?

OGUST: I did.

MOOS: I'll have a BLT, but hold the B and the T.

(voice-over): Their names are unpronounceable. He's a Yawanawa (PH). This is called Qawra Muquardi (PH). She's Kund (PH), and she's Ond (PH).

MOOS: Richard bought some of the turtles, some he rescued; some are endangered species confiscated by authorities. He still has his very first turtle. She was about to become part of the seafood buffet at this Chinatown restaurant. Richard spotted her in the tank and was fixated.

OGUST: I got her for 20 bucks. They started to take her back to the kitchen to chop her up and put her in a bag for me. I said, "No, no, no, no!"

MOOS: He took her home and a friend named her "Empress." That was nine years ago. 1,200 turtles ago, and the turtles Richard he collects keep reproducing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have turtle love happening here.

MOOS: The male bites the female's neck to keep her in position. Speaking of lovers, turtle lovers helped fund this operation. There are plans to move it to a 50-acre site in New Jersey. The highlight of our tour was hand-feeding figs to Burmese turtles.

(on camera): Is there a technique, so that I can keep my fingers?

OGUST: That's the technique.

MOOS: Now, if only he had practiced it.

OGUST: Ow! That hurt.

MOOS: I mean, does it cut?

OGUST: I was really lucky.

MOOS: Richard would never dream of eating turtle soup, but turtles apparently can't resist, finger food.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS: And that's all we have time for, today.

But next, we'll be back tomorrow at 5:00 Eastern Time. Among the stories we'll have then, scientists have discovered an unfamiliar ape in the forest of West Africa. Is it a new species? And, if not, then what is it? That story and much more coming up tomorrow. Hope you'll be watching then.

And, thanks for joining us here, today.

Just ahead on "CNN Live Saturday," coming up at the top of the hour in the "Dollar Signs" segment, we'll take your questions about finding the right mortgage for you. That's followed by "People in the News" at 5:00 Eastern Time, with profiles of Lance Armstrong and Will Smith. Then it's "CNN Saturday" at 6:00 Eastern.

First a quick break, and then we'll tell you what's happening at this hour.

END

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