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The Search for Jessica; Martha Stewart in Court for Appeal Hearing; Steroids and Baseball

Aired March 17, 2005 - 12:00   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.


WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. To our viewers, thanks very much for joining us.
Unfolding this hour on NEWS FROM CNN, the so-called "person of interest" police were looking for in the case of that missing 9-year- old Florida girl is now in custody. We'll have details.

Some of baseball's greatest stars on the hot seat before the U.S. Congress. The burning question: have they ever used steroids?

And she did the time, but, she still insists, not the crime. Martha Stewart back in court to appeal her conviction.

And Coach K and Colonel Brown. As the NCAA basketball tournament gets underway, Duke's legendary coach recalls a favorite player and lifelong friend, now a leader himself in the fight for Iraq.

We'll get to all that. First, these headlines "Now in the News."

California San Quentin Prison is Scott Peterson's new home. He was transferred there overnight from a San Mateo County Jail. A judge yesterday sentenced Peterson to death for killing his pregnant wife Laci and their unborn son. After processing, Peterson is to be placed on death row.

Crude oil prices at all-time highs. The cost of a barrel of crude climbed to another record, more than $57, then slipped a bit lower earlier today. Yesterday's closing price topping $56 was the highest ever recorded.

Retailer Toys R Us announced it's agreed to sell the entire company to a group of investors in a deal worth $6 billion plus assumed debt. The agreement requires regulatory approval and also the approval by Toys R Us shareholders. That's expected to happen by July.

Among the most popular stories this hour on CNN.com, a former caretaker indicted on murder charges in connection with the disappearance of a 4-year-old Florida girl. You may remember the case. Geralyn Graham had been the caretaker for Rilya Wilson before the young girl disappeared nearly three years ago. Graham told police that she turned over the girl to the state. Rilya Wilson has never been found.

We begin this hour with a convicted sex offender now in police custody and is being questioned in the disappearance of a 9-year-old girl, Jessica Lunsford, who went missing from her Florida home three weeks ago. A law enforcement official stresses John Couey is simply "a person of interest."

Our Sara Dorsey is joining us now from Citrus County in Florida with the latest developments. Sara.

SARA DORSEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, John Couey was picked up just a short time ago in Augusta, Georgia. He was picked up at a homeless shelter.

Police have been looking for him. The sheriff, in fact, released his name just last night saying, as you said, he's a person of interest, not a suspect just yet. But the reason why they want to talk to Couey is that he is a registered sex offender and he was not living where he was supposed to be. In fact, he was living in a home just across the street from where Jessica Lunsford disappeared from.

Now, when investigators went around looking for all the sex offenders in the area, trying to clear each one, they found that Couey was out of place. And then they went to his family to say, is he even staying here, and they lied to investigators. It was that, paired with other information, that made him a person of interest.

Now, just a short time ago, Sheriff Jeff Dawsy came out here in a news conference and said to keep in mind they were happy they had him in custody but he still is just a person of interest, not a suspect. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF JEFF DAWSY, CITRUS COUNTY POLICE: Well, right now, you know, there isn't any specific direction. We're still following certain leads. And I know I've said that over and over and over again. But that's true what we're doing.

We received probably several hundred leads from the news conference yesterday about bringing Couey out. And we're still looking at all the possibilities. And I've always said that there is somebody out there that has some information.

Couey may play out not even to be in the mix. And we'll know that better. As I said this morning, I'm working for Jessica right now. Everybody is in this investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DORSEY: And investigators plan on questioning Couey starting today. The sheriff told us as soon as they have a feel whether they believe he has anything to do with this or not, they'll let us know.

He said there is a possibility that Couey couldn't be anyone. Maybe he doesn't know anything, he had nothing to do. And the sheriff plans on letting us know that.

But also, Couey is in trouble already for absconding. So he will be brought back here to face those charges, along with two others totally unrelated to this Lunsford case. But he will have to come back and face the music for that. Right now, though, investigators trying to get to the bottom of if this man knows anything about the whereabouts of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford. Wolf.

BLITZER: Sara Dorsey reporting for us. Sara, thanks very much.

Our Susan Candiotti has been following this case as well in Georgia, making her way towards -- back to Florida eventually.

What are you learning, Susan?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're currently on the way to Augusta, Georgia, where Citrus County sheriff's investigators and the FBI are also en route. This is where John Couey, as you know, is being held by the sheriff's office there. He was discovered at a homeless shelter, a Salvation Army there in Augusta, Georgia.

Now, someone at the shelter reportedly recognized him from a poster and called police. The sheriff's office responded. Couey was arrested on this probation violation, and he is being held at the county jail.

Now, according to a law enforcement source, Couey told them, "He says he wants to talk to us." At this time, remember, he is still being held only as a person of interest in connection with the Jessica Lunsford case, but he will be extradited.

He may or may not fight that extradition from Augusta, Georgia, back to Citrus County, Florida. Regardless, a law enforcement source says that they are examining possible evidence taken from a car in Florida to which he at the very least had access to, as well as a house where he had been staying. Wolf.

BLITZER: Susan Candiotti on the phone from Georgia following this case.

Let's go to New York right now. Martha Stewart has been appealing her conviction. She's walking out to the microphones. Let's listen.

WALTER DELLINGER, MARTHA STEWART'S ATTORNEY: Good afternoon. We're not going to comment on the substance of the argument. We never would.

But we just wanted to say this: The judges were extremely well prepared. They asked excellent questions of both sides. They listened very intently. They really understand, I think, the issues in the case, and that's all that anybody having an appeal can ask for.

With that, Ms. Stewart has to get back to work and I'm going to go watch basketball. Thank you very much

QUESTION: Martha, can you tell us about being back to work? Martha? BLITZER: So there you have it. Walter Dellinger, the former solicitor general of the Justice Department during the Clinton administration, now representing Martha Stewart in this appeal, seeking to overturn her conviction. She does not want to go down in history as a convicted felon, even though she has already spent five months in prison for her crime.

She wants that overturned. She wants it appealed. That's what they're doing right now. They've made arguments on that point before the judge earlier. Just a little while ago you saw them leaving the courthouse in New York.

Allan Chernoff, our reporter on the scene, is joining us now live.

You were inside, Allan, I take it?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. And I can tell you that it didn't necessarily go very well for Martha Stewart.

In an appeal you really would expect the judges to be focusing on potential errors during the actual trial. That's what Walter Dellinger was attempting to do during his arguments, but the judges kept on talking very much about Martha Stewart's statements and holes in her statements trying to explain her sale of the ImClone stock.

Of course, recall, Martha Stewart was convicted of lying about that stock sale. One of the judges said he found it was an unbelievable coincidence that Martha Stewart was selling her stock at the very same time that the daughter of the chief executive of the company was selling her shares.

Another judge said, how is it that Martha Stewart did not recall a message she received from her broker about the fact that the family members of Sam Waksal, the former chief executive of ImClone, were selling their shares? How did she not recall that message when she had tried to erase it from her assistant's computer only four days before she was interviewed by federal authorities?

And, in fact, the judges allowed the prosecutor, Michael Schachter, to just list all of the problems with Martha Stewart's story, to list his case. It almost sounded like a summation that the prosecutor was making as opposed to an argument that he was making before an appellate court. Wolf.

BLITZER: Allan, just to be clear, it's not simply a matter of trying to clear her name and her reputation, this appeal. There are practical implications if she's a convicted felon as opposed to not being a convicted felon. Explain that to our viewers.

CHERNOFF: Right. Well, Martha Stewart, of course, had been the chief executive and the chairperson of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, her public company. As a convicted felon, it makes it very difficult for her to resume any executive position there. And she also is still facing a civil case from the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is charging her with insider trading and which is asking that she be banned from serving permanently as an executive of a public company. If for some reason this case were overturned, if her criminal conviction were overturned, that certainly would put everything in a very different light. The SEC would have to see what would happen with that case.

But right now, as it stands, we expect to get an opinion from this three-judge panel within a manner of months. So then we'll have the criminal case most likely resolved, and then we can move forward with the SEC case. Most likely, there will be a settlement of that very case. Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Allan Chernoff reporting for us from outside the courthouse in New York City, watching all things Martha for us. Thank you very much, Allan, for that.

Let's get back to our top story, that missing 9-year-old girl in Florida. The police have arrested a person of interest, as he's been called. John Couey arrested in Georgia. He's about to be questioned by law enforcement authorities.

Jessica Lunsford -- our John Zarrella is in Homasassa, in Florida, speaking with family members of Jessica Lunsford. John Zarella is joining us now live.

What are they saying, John?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, I spoke just a short time ago with Ruth and Archie Lunsford, went into their home. And this was just after a police officer had left. And Ruth was obviously very upset. She was pacing in and out of her bedroom. And said she really didn't feel as if she wanted to talk right now, anything specific, other than saying that they didn't know any more than they knew last night. What they had been telling us was right along that they did not know this man, John Couey. They had never seen him before, even though he apparently was staying within eyeshot of them cattycorner to where they live.

But when the word came to them of the arrest -- now, this was before the police officer visited with them -- Ruth did speak with our affiliate WTVT and expressed her feelings that she hoped that maybe this would finally bring them some closure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUTH LUNSFORD, JESSICA'S GRANDMOTHER: We feel bad that we still don't know where Jessie is, but at least they've got somebody. Maybe he could tell them something. Maybe he did do it.

Actually, I hope he did so that we can get this -- get this settled. Maybe nobody else feels that way. Maybe that's the wrong thing to say. But I don't want nobody innocently punished for anything. But if he did do something he needs to be punished.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZARRELLA: Certainly that was the tone that she was expressing her words to me, very upset, as you can tell. But Archie last night, the grandfather, Wolf, when I spoke with him said that for whatever reasons, he did not necessarily think that John Couey was the man.

He really couldn't elaborate other than saying he did not believe that this man could have been the one who came into their house in the middle of the night. He didn't understand how that could have been accomplished without Jessica screaming or trying to cry out or them not knowing. So there is still some skepticism, and they still believe in their heart of hearts, Wolf, that Jessie will be found alive. Wolf.

BLITZER: John, if you're a convicted sex offender and you're living literally around the corner next door in this kind of high- profile case, one of the first things you hear on the radio and television, you read in the papers, they're looking for convicted sex offenders in the neighborhood, your natural inclination would be to get out of there as quickly as you can even if you assume you might -- you might be violating some conditions of your being on parole or whatever. I assume the police suspect that as well.

ZARRELLA: Right, and exactly. Now, this is where it gets interesting.

Apparently, what happened was Couey lived at another address 10 miles away from the Lunsford -- Lunsfords' home, but was staying with relatives who lived cattycorner across the street. So when police first went looking for him and other sex offenders in the area to question, they went to the house where he was supposed to be living.

He was not there. That sparked the warrant for his arrest for violating his probation. He didn't tell anybody that he left. He hadn't reported to his parole officer.

By the time they got to the house where he was staying and tracked that, and found out that he was staying across, literally across the street from them, they were initially lied to by the people in the residence, police said yesterday. One person telling them, no, he wasn't there, but then eventually saying he was there.

And then eventually it came out that one of the people in that house bought Couey a bus ticket to Savannah in someone else's name, and police said very clearly that was an indication that Couey was on the run at that point and that Couey had been at this residence at the time of Jessica Lunsford's disappearance.

So that's what took so much time to track him down. And by the time they did, of course, he was gone and in Savannah. Wolf.

BLITZER: And that explains why the police are being so cautious in continuing to insist -- and I think we should insist -- he is a person of interest in this case. He's not a suspect. Clearly a person of interest. They want to question him, but they're not linking him to the disappearance of Jessica Lunsford, at least not yet.

John Zarrella will watch this story for us. Susan Candiotti is heading towards Savannah, watching this story for us. And Sara Dorsey is on the scene as well.

We'll continue to watch the latest developments and share them with you.

But we'll move on now to another huge story we're following right here in the nation's capital: the clouds surrounding big league baseball. Unfolding this hour, a much-awaited hearing on Capitol Hill involving several star sluggers suspected of using steroids to boost their homerun totals.

At the witness table now a panel of medical experts. You're looking at these live pictures from inside the hearing room.

The question of the hour, will the players subpoenaed cooperate or will they invoke their Fifth Amendment rights? We're standing by to find out. We'll bring that to you as soon as it happens.

Just a short time ago, the names of baseball legends echoed through the room as a hall-of-famer testified. Today's first witness, former pitcher Jim Bunning, the current U.S. senator from Kentucky. He's a Republican.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JIM BUNNING (R), KENTUCKY: When I played with Henry Aaron and Willie Mays and Ted Williams, they didn't put on 40 pounds and bulk up in their careers, and they didn't hit more homeruns in their late 30s than they did in their late 20s. What's happening in baseball now is not natural and it isn't right. Baseball has to get its act together or else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Jim Bunning, the U.S. senator from Kentucky, former Hall-of-Famer, the first witness before this panel.

Joining us now two guests. Mel Antonin is a baseball writer for "USA Today," and Mike Weiss, a sports columnist for "The Washington Post."

Guys, thanks very much for joining us. What do you make of this -- can we call this a spectacle? Is that pejorative if we use that expression? But what's happening on Capitol Hill right now?

MIKE WISE, "WASHINGTON POST": Well, that's fair enough. I think that what's going on is baseball's, you know, biggest homerun hitters are being questioned. And they're going to -- and Congress wants to know whether that 1998 homerun race between Sosa and McGwire was a big lie. And they want to make an example of some people.

BLITZER: Because both of them have been accused specifically by Jose Canseco, another homerun hitter, of injecting themselves with steroids. Both of them flatly deny it.

WISE: Yes. Mel knows better than me that Jose Canseco has a credibility problem. But I think in this case you can't shoot the messenger. If there are half-truths in that book, I think Congress needs to get to the bottom of it.

BLITZER: It's clear, Mel, that book, "Juiced," by Jose Canseco, sparked -- if not sparked, clearly encouraged members of this House committee to go ahead and hold these hearings.

MEL ANTONEN, "USA TODAY": Yes, I think it helped them, but I think Congress has been looking at this for quite a while. I mean, there's been some issues with the labor negotiations over steroids testing in baseball. There's just issues that are growing. And the fact that players are not cooperating and not talking about it and don't want to say anything, there's just a lot of issues that are building. And I think it's Congress' job. This may be a spectacle, but it's a necessary spectacle.

I think it's Congress' job to look into it. If this were a shoe store down on 12th Street that had 50 or more employees, you know, Congress has to look out for those employees. It's a big health issue, and I think it's a -- I think it's a snapshot of the frustration that people feel and fans feel about baseball. Are there steroids?

BLITZER: The main argument, Mike, the main argument in favor of these hearings and getting to the bottom of this is the influence, the impact these players have on young kids, teenage boys specifically who want to be baseball players or other athletes, the percentage of them now going ahead and using these illegal steroids to bulk themselves up.

WISE: I mean, there are 500,000 kids in American high schools right now using steroids, Wolf. I think that's a public health problem. I don't think it's political grandstanding. In an ideal world, you hope that that -- I don't want to say the public humiliation of these players, but at least the hard questioning of them will lead some educators and maybe some kids to say, hey, maybe I don't need to put this in my body.

BLITZER: Baseball, I guess it's fair to say Major League Baseball, has been trying to get its act together, albeit very, very late in the game right now. But they've released documents, Mel, as you well know, to the committee which show not exactly the promises that they had publicly made in recent months.

ANTONEN: That's right. And that's the credibility issues that they're dealing with.

Congress is trying to get to the bottom of it. Do -- can we get the facts? And if we get the facts, do those facts warrant federal -- tougher federal laws to figure out this problem?

BLITZER: It's fair that Congress and everybody would like Major League Baseball to police themselves on this. Forget about the federal government should not necessarily have to be involved, but so far Major League Baseball and the players' representatives, they have not shown an inclination to really get the job done.

ANTONEN: Exactly. They passed a steroids testing policy a couple of years ago in the last basic agreement. It was very, very weak. And not until public pressure just last winter did the union and the owners open up negotiations again in the labor agreement and say, we've got to have a tougher policy.

Now, first-time a steroid user will get suspended for 10 days and his name will be out in public. The debate now, is that tough enough to end steroids in baseball?

BLITZER: But if they pay the fine, Mike, if they pay the $10,000, their name won't be out in public. At least that's the way you can read these documents.

WISE: Well, Bud Selig, the commissioner, can actually go back and say, here, pay the fine. There's no disclosure of your name. I think it's pretty scary.

I think until baseball adopts the same drug policies that the USOC, the International Olympic Committee adopted, that's now the gold standard, they're severely lacking.

BLITZER: Because $10,000 for a Major League Baseball star is chump change.

WISE: Yes.

BLITZER: It's nothing, $10,000. These guys make millions and millions of dollars.

WISE: That's like $20,000 for you, Wolf.

(LAUGHTER)

WISE: Maybe.

WISE: No, it is. It's the issue. It's the credibility of the issue. Is the game going to be cleaned up? And, you know, baseball has not done a good job cleaning itself up. The public doesn't believe it. The fans don't. Now Congress doesn't believe it. And so they have to get to the bottom of it and clean it up.

BLITZER: All right. We're going to watch these hearings. I'm going to have both of you stand by because we want to bring our viewers some of the hearings right now.

We're going to make sure that we cover all of the aspects of this hearing that's unfolding in the U.S. House of Representatives. We'll take a quick break. When we come back, the health issue with steroids and their impact on kids. We'll talk about that specifically.

You're watching NEWS FROM CNN, and we're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to NEWS FROM CNN. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.

Now the role model factor. Just as every young athlete wants the right sneakers, does the high fives and maybe chews a little tobacco, many are clearly taking steroids.

As CNN's Dan Lothian reports, that's where the issue really hits home.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was the boost 17-year-old Taylor Hooten of Plano, Texas, thought he needed in order to take his baseball skills to the varsity level.

DON HOOTEN, FATHER: Taylor was on the starting lineup in his junior year.

LOTHIAN (voice-over): He says his son started taking steroids, just like nine other student athletes at this competing high school have admitted doing.

HOOTEN: I've had the kids in our area in Plano tell me that at least a third of the young men that are showing up on Friday night to play football are juicing.

LOTHIAN (voice-over): Sports medicine experts like Dr. Lyle Micheli of Children's Hospital in Boston say steroid users are getting younger and younger because of increasing pressures.

DR. LYLE MICHELI, CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL, BOSTON: Some of these kids are not in a position to draw the line. They just will do whatever it takes they think to compete.

LOTHIAN (voice-over): Earlier this month in Madison, Connecticut, six athletes from Daniel Hand High School were charged with possessing steroids. One is accused of selling the pills, bought, police say, while on a family trip to Mexico. An alert teacher turned them in.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was paying close attention to both the actions and the words of the students.

LOTHIAN (voice-over): Other school districts are now responding aggressively to this problem. But CNN found teens who aren't deterred by threats or harmful consequences.

(on camera): And where better to find out what teens are saying about steroid use than on the Internet? Chat rooms drowning with dialogue, some of it graphic, from young men who say they're 15, 16, 17 years old and they're obsessed with building the perfect body. Like this one who says he's willing to try almost anything.

(voice-over): One complains of the bad job he did injecting himself. Another describes how he bled more than usual. This one brags about the attention he's getting from girls impressed with his new overnight physique.

And a complaint from one about his bad acne, a result of juicing. Acne, doctors say, is just one of the milder side effects, which can range from mood swings to liver problems to growth issues.

MICHELI: If a kid's taking this, say, in middle school, where you're still growing, they may lose growth in the process.

LOTHIAN (voice-over): But back in cyberspace, where teens often obtain steroids, this apparent adult sings the praises of juicing, saying concerns are overblown. Tell that to the father of Taylor Hooten. The Texas 17-year-old committed suicide in 2003. His family blames depression linked to steroid withdrawal.

Some of America's young athletes redefining the meaning of the phrase "No pain, no gain."

Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: More on steroids. Medically speaking now, what's the problem?

Joining us, Todd Schlifstein is doctor of sports medicine at New York University Medical Center. He's also a professor at the NYU School of Medicine.

I don't think we can over-exaggerate, Dr. Schlifstein, how serious a problem this is for teenage boys.

DR. TODD SCHLIFSTEIN, NYU MEDICAL CENTER: Yes. I don't think we are over-exaggerating it. Certainly you get rampant mood swings, depression, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), early closure of growth plates, liver tumors both benign and malignant, acute myocardial infarctions, acute thrombosis. And these are only some of the side-effects that we're aware of today.

BLITZER: Parents and teachers must be aware if they see this incredible growth on these 15, 16, 17-year-old boys, they must be aware something bad is going on.

SCHLIFSTEIN: Yes, rapid growth and certainly muscular growth because their growth plates may close and their muscles may grow extraordinarily large. Also, when somebody uses or really abuses steroids, quite often there are other drugs that are being abused, as well, to control some of the side-effects from the steroids.

For example, some of the rage. They may take some benzodiazepines or Valium-type substances to help control their moods and aggressive behavior and try to cover up some of those side- effects.

BLITZER: What are the immediate steps that a coach or a high school -- a high school teacher or a parent or someone seeing this incredible almost overnight growth in these young boys, what must they do immediately to get these boys healthy again?

SCHLIFSTEIN: Well, they need to get them off the steroids and get them off the steroids immediately, especially when you're younger and growing. Your growth plates will close and they're not going to reopen. So you're going to block further growth of your skeleton and you won't grow anymore.

There's a lot of dangers even in the short term with the use of anabolic steroids, including heart attacks, acceleration of plaque formation, and all types of liver problems from toxic hepatitis to liver cancer. And these things need to be addressed and stopped immediately.

BLITZER: Todd -- Todd Schlifstein, hold on a second.

Mike Wise, you wrote a piece about this young Hooten boy who committed suicide in "The Washington Post" yesterday. It's pretty powerful to focus in on one individual like that. His father, by the way, is testifying before this committee today, this House committee. But multiply that by, what, half a million?

WISE: Half a million, Wolf. And that's the thing that I think baseball, its union, its owners, have to realize. This is not a witch hunt. This isn't the McCarthyism of Mark McGwire. This is a public health issue. And that's what Don Hooton, whose son committed suicide told me. He says this is -- people have a right to know what these kids are putting into their bodies. It's one thing for an adult athlete to play with his body chemistry. I think it's quite another, and Dr. Schlifstein could speak to this better than I could, that there's this melancholy and hopelessness that follows steroid withdrawal.

BLITZER: Is that the case, Dr. Schlifstein, that depression and suicide could quickly begin once you stop taking these steroids if you don't do it properly?

SCHLIFSTEIN: Yes, absolutely. A lot of times when taking these anabolic steroids, you're taking 10 to 40 times your normal amount of testosterone you have in your body. So if all of a sudden you're taking 40 times the amount of testosterone you normally have, suddenly stop it, there's rapid hormonal changes that occur, and those mood swings from aggressive behavior can rapidly go into a depressive state.

BLITZER: How often -- how much of a frequency of suicide do you see among these teenage boys?

SCHLIFSTEIN: I don't know if there's any good clinical evidence showing the incidence, or the occurrence rate of suicide attempts, and a lot more research needs to be looked into some of these side effects, short term, and there's very little data at all on long-term side effects because a lot of times these people have not been followed for many years through and through, so you don't know what kind of chronic consequences we have. We may be at just looking at the tip of the iceberg of some of these side effect. And there may be a lot more that we're not even aware of at this time.

So we're definitely underestimating these side effects. It's illegal for you to even get these steroids. How do these kids get them?

SCHLIFSTEIN: It is readily available. One, you can still buy it over the counter in Mexico. You can order online and have it delivered. If you go to many gyms or other places, it's very easy access to obtain these products. The only way legally to get them would be a prescription from a doctor, and it's a Schedule III, or very controlled substance, at this time.

BLITZER: Does Major League Baseball, Mel, have I guess the word is a responsibility to really become a lot more proactive in doing something about this health hazard for young people?

ANTONEN: Without a doubt. If Major League Baseball would take a stand in -- you know, with the players union, I think it would have a lot more credible. But not only have you've got the health issue, you've got the credibility of the game. So there's two major issues, and it's certainly is Major League Baseball's responsibility. That's why Congress is holding them to the fire today.

BLITZER: What do you think?

WISE: I'm with him. I think baseball can't police baseball. They've shown that. And I also think -- and I don't want to sound too idealistic on this, but I think the public's turned a blind eye, too. A lot of us who go to these games, we don't care how Barry Bonds hits the homerun into San Francisco Bay. We just want to see him do it. And I think until we get out of our own little bit of denial, you know, that's part of the problem.

BLITZER: Why can other professional sports like basketball, for example, the NBA, why can they police their own players, but baseball can't?

WISE: You know, I don't -- baseball is one of those code sports. It's probably one of the most clubby atmospheres. It's like a fraternity. I mean, it's -- just as the police have the blue line -- you don't talk about another -- baseball players don't talk about each other.

BLITZER: Mel, they do it in the minor leagues. They do a pretty good job policing minor league players.

ANTONEN: Because minor league players don't have the leverage that big league players do. The big league players union is the strongest union in the world. You know, if baseball players leave the set, you know, you can't get other baseball players to perform. You get football players leaving or basketball players, there's others waiting in line. So the union has a lot of leverage. It's the strongest union in America. And you know, in the '90s I think both sides, the Major League owners and the unions, turned their eyes, because there were so many problems in baseball -- '94, the players strike, the homeruns came. The owners blamed the union, and the union says we can't get a drug policy together because we have privacy rights.

But I think you got to look deeper than that. I think you've got to look at the politics of this, and I think you're going to have to follow the money. So many people were making so many millions of dollars in the 1990s that they just looked the other way, and they hide behind this privacy issue business.

BLITZER: All right, I'm going to ask Mel Antonen, Mike Wise, Dr. Todd Schlifstein to stand by. We're going to take another quick break. We're watching these hearings unfold on Capitol Hill. We'll go there live once the players start testifying. People are testifying right now on the second panel, including parents of those young men, young teenagers who died as a result of steroid use. Doctors are testifying, as well.

More of our coverage right after this.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: A dramatic story unfolding in Washington today. In the U.S. Congress, the House of Representatives, a congressional committee holding hearings right now -- we'll show you some live pictures from the hearing room -- holding hearings on steroids and Major League Baseball. Medical experts testifying right now, as well as some parents, family members of those young men, teenagers, who took steroids and wound up killing themselves in the process.

We're continuing our conversation with our guests, sports writers Mike Wise of "The Washington Post," Mel Antonen of "USA Today." They're here in the studio with me. And Dr. Todd Schlifstein of the NYU, New York University, Medical Center. He's joining us from New York.

I want to play a little piece of an interview I did with Jose Canseco, the former baseball Major League star, who's written a book entitled "Juiced," in which he says he took steroids all the time. He also implicates others. I asked him how widespread steroid use was in the Major Leagues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSE CANSECO, FMR. MLB PLAYER: Right now I think it's very minimal because of this book that came out, "Juiced." I think all players have stopped steroid use. I think they want to see what's going to happen with Congress, how much is Congress going to intervene in this. And basically they want right now -- certain individuals, certain players, Major League Baseball to protect them so we have to wait and see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right. Let's bring in Mel Antonen. How much credibility does Jose Canseco have? Because he's thrown out all sorts of allegations about the biggest stars in Major League Baseball right now. ANTONEN: Well, he was there. And, you know, his credibility is at an all-time low. You know, whenever you rat on your friends -- his credibility's at an all-time low for various reasons, around baseball. Say this about Jose. He was, in the late '80s, early '90s, considered the best player in baseball. He stopped working. He stopped listening to his managers and coaches. And I think he blew his career. He could have a lot better numbers, he could have been a Hall of Fame player. And I think he's very angry and a little bit jealous. But having said that, there's probably some degree of truth to what he says.

BLITZER: What do you think, Mike?

WISE: I don't think Jose Canseco should take credit for saving baseball and saving us from steroids. I find that kind of offensive. I go back to -- but don't shoot the messenger. If there is something in that book that causes Congress to ask hard questions of these guys, I think they need to do that.

BLITZER: Dr. Schlifstein, you've studied this issue very, very carefully over the years. Have Major League Baseball players come to you as a result of their use of steroids?

SCHLIFSTEIN: No player has come to me and admitted the use of steroids to me directly. But certainly I'm aware and they're aware of people who are using the steroids. Certainly this is not a new issue. I mean, the International Olympic Committee banned steroid use in 1976. I think now it's just a growing issue and coming to the forefront. But also Major League Baseball had to look at, and also had to ban, was use of other substances likes amphetamine, banned human growth hormone. But there's no testing for human growth hormone that's available. So even though they meant well to ban human growth hormone, there's no testing available for it.

BLITZER: We did notice, Dr. Schlifstein, and I'm sure you noticed, that in the documents that Major League Baseball made available to the congressional committee, they listed the banned substances, but there were four forms of steroids that weren't included that potentially could cause just as much damage as the others. Did you notice that?

SCHLIFSTEIN: Yes, I mean, there were several things that definitely were not included and those are just as damaging as well. The question is do they have testing available to test for all these things? And they probably don't.

BLITZER: What do you think about that decision, Mel, to not ban four of these forms of steroids that potentially could do the same thing as all these other forms of steroids?

ANONTEN: It's a bad decision. I mean, they got a lot of work to do. They're trumpeting themselves and patting themselves on the back, saying we got this done. And it is a baby step. It's a step in the right direction, but they have a long way to go yet. The human growth hormone, for instance, requires a blood test. That's not in the agreement. So there's a lot -- they need to figure it out. They need to fix it.

WISE: I'm tired of these lawyers, Donald Fehr, baseball itself, obfuscating and trying to make this a right -- a privacy issue or a collective bargaining agreement issue. It's not. It's a public health issue and I think they have to realize that and step up, so to speak.

BLITZER: Donald Fehr, the head of the players union in baseball. I want to just break away from this conversation for a moment.

There is a developing story that's happening in New Jersey right now and want to show our viewers these live pictures. And you can see this overturned van. New York -- New Jersey State Police say the van was headed southward toward Philadelphia. The vehicle struck a flat -- got a flat tire while driving down the highway.

What we're told is that the Department of Transportation van was transporting five inmates from the Northern State Prison in Newark to a highway cleanup detail when this van overturned. Approached at gunpoint, an officer and inmates were told to get out of the vehicle. Someone took this van -- the inmates apparently were trying to get out of the van and escape, but we're watching this story. Very dramatic pictures, as you can see.

It's happening -- it happened earlier today, and it's still very much unclear what happened to the inmates and how this specifically occurred, but we'll continue to monitor the situation for you, our viewers, and get some more precise clarified information once it becomes available from local law enforcement, state authorities in New Jersey.

But that's the overturned van that had been carrying five inmates from the Northern State Prison in Newark. We don't know where those inmates are. We don't know what's going on right now, but we'll watch this story for you. We'll take another quick break. More of our News From CNN right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We're continuing to watch these hearings unfold before the House of Representatives. Our congressional correspondent Ed Henry has been inside. He's been listening and watching all these developments so far. What are the headlines so far, Ed?

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, we've just gotten some news from Sammy Sosa. We have an advance copy of his statement. The players have not started testifying yet. But Sammy Sosa's opening statement is going to say, quote, "I have never injected myself or had anyone inject me with anything in dealing with steroids." So a very direct, precise statement from Sammy Sosa, denying, under oath to Congress, that he has ever used steroids. He also will say in his testimony that he was tested as recently as 2004 and was deemed clean by that test, clean of steroids.

We also have some news about Curt Schilling, the pitcher from the Boston Red Sox. There's been a little bit of a change in how this is going to play out once the players come in to be sworn in. We're being told that Curt Schilling and Frank Thomas of the White Sox will be sworn in separate from the other players and that after Schilling is sworn in, the committee is going to stop and announce that they are creating some sort of a taskforce to deal with steroids and that Curt Schilling will serve on that taskforce.

The significance here, of course, is that Curt Schilling has spoken out against the use of steroids, has never been accused of using steroids, unlike someone like Jose Canseco, who will also be testifying today and has acknowledged that he used steroids, has written an entire book it. Curt Schilling is someone who has spoken out against it, so he is going to be sworn in separately and also is going to be added to a new taskforce on steroids. So a little bit of a change to the program. And also, a little bit of news about what this committee is up to. Wolf.

BLITZER: It seems like it's dragging on. It's going on a lot longer than originally expected. Is that right, Ed?

HENRY: Yes, well, there are four panels, Wolf. The first had Senator Jim Bunning, of course, the Hall of Fame pitcher, going first. Now we're hearing from parents and experts -- parents who lost children to steroid abuse. The players will be the third panel. That's why it's dragging on a bit, but the players will eventually come in the next hour or so, and then the fourth panel will include Bud Selig, the commissioner of baseball. Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Ed Henry is watching this for us. He'll be continuing to watch all these hearings throughout the day here on CNN.

Ed, thanks very much.

Dr. Schlifstein, how accurate are these tests that can be taken to determine if steroids have been used?

SCHLIFSTEIN: Well, there are many ways to pass a test, depending on what type of test they use. For example, Major League Baseball was proposing to use urine testing. Now there are certain substances that can be used to help you pass these tests, and certainly certain designer steroids which were designed specifically not to be pick up by tests. For example, a year ago -- THG came on the market a year ago, and that was a designer steroid, an anabolic steroid, designed specifically for the purpose of not being picked up by drug testing. And it was interesting to note that he said that he never injected anything, but certainly there are steroids you can take orally as well that are anabolic steroids as well.

BLITZER: So you see a tiny little loophole there in Sammy Sosa's statement. I think what he said is, "Everything I have heard about steroids and human-growth hormones is that they are very, very bad for you. I would never put anything dangerous like that in my body. To be clear, I have never taken performance-enhancing drugs. I have never injected myself or had anyone inject me with anything."

Remember, Dr. Schlifstein -- and I want to bring in our sportswriters as well -- he's testifying under oath before a United States congressional committee. If he's lying, he could be held -- he could go to jail if he's lying on those specific kind of statements. But he's being -- I guess he's being relatively precise. What do you think, Mike?

WISE: Yes, I mean, my big complaint with Congress and all this is not they may be politically grandstanding, but why not grant some of these guys immunity? I mean, they're not heads of the Cali cartel. They're not -- their criminal behavior is isolated, sometimes to themselves. Why don't they grant them immunity? I think that's where you find out the real truth.

BLITZER: One other problem with the immunity is that there are ongoing federal investigations, criminal investigations, specifically in San Francisco involving the BALCO company.

ANTONEN: That's right. That's why Jason Giambi isn't here. I think that's probably why Barry Bonds isn't here, because they are two people that testified to the federal grand jury that they had used steroids, according to "The San Francisco Chronicle." So yes, there are some big issues there. It is a tough issue. I think Mike raises a good point about why didn't the community -- or why didn't the committee grant these people immunity? They probably would have gotten some more information.

BLITZER: All right, I want everybody to stand by. I want to go to Florida once again. Jessica Lunsford's father is speaking. She is the missing 9-year-old Florida girl. Let's listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

MARK LUNSFORD, JESSICA LUNSFORD'S FATHER: ... so anybody that can volunteer, I really need your help. I know there's a lot of questions about the guy that they just picked up. Like I said at the beginning, I'm not biting into that until the sheriff tells me that he's found my daughter, and I hope that everybody else can bear with me and do the same thing.

Let's not get our hopes up. We've had our hopes up before in the beginning, and we got let down so, you know, don't -- just bear with the sheriff and let him do his questioning.

Any questions?

QUESTION: Mark, do you know this person? What do you know about him? What can you tell us about him?

LUNSFORD: I've never met -- I've never seen him before. I never recognized his name. I didn't even know he lived over there.

QUESTION: What goes through your mind when you can see his house from yours?

LUNSFORD: Well, that does bother me, the point of being able to see the house. And I guess they said that he had a criminal background on kids or something, I'm not sure. But like I said, I just -- I didn't take it to heart. I took it like a grain of salt when I found out yesterday that they was looking for him, that they just want him for questioning. That's all they said.

QUESTION: How's the rest of your family doing?

LUNSFORD: They're doing pretty good. We're getting ready to eat dinner. So things are -- we'll never get back to normal, but at least my dad and mom they're cooking again for me now.

QUESTION: The police aren't saying -- what are police telling you that you can tell us?

LUNSFORD: Actually they've not told me anything more than they've told you. Actually, you know a little bit more than I do. But I don't -- I don't communicate with them. They would tell me if I asked or if I was there to be told. I'm sure they would tell me what they could, but I don't bother them. They've got a big job ahead of them, and I just try to stay out of their way and just, you know, be there when they need my help.

QUESTION: Mark, what kind of answers could you possibly get if this guy is the guy? What could you hope for as a parent that you might learn from this guy out...

LUNSFORD: Well, hypothetically, if it was him yes, I'd be excited. I'd want to know where is my daughter and stuff like that. But right now, you know, they're just wanting to question him.

QUESTION: Mark, neighbors have said they've seen him before. Other children have gone there to play. Is there any indication that maybe your daughter would have played with some neighbors? There's a lot of kids on the street.

LUNSFORD: Well, I mean, us living right here, I mean, there's kids up and down the street. I'm sure she played with some of them at one point in time or another.

I've never known her over on that side of the street. She's usually stays right close to home. But I heard there was children over there, too, so it wouldn't be out of the ordinary, I don't reckon. But I don't -- like I said, Jesse stayed pretty much home or with her friend, Tiffany.

QUESTION: Did you know the woman that lived there?

LUNSFORD: No. I've never met anybody over there. I didn't even know there was kids over there, and you know...

QUESTION: What about Tiffany? Have you had a chance to talk with her? Maybe she's been on that street.

LUNSFORD: No, I've not -- I've not bothered them with any of this and, you know, they don't -- they've been good about it, too. I think at one time or another there was a statement made by her dad, but like I said, it doesn't really matter. I got a tee shirt from Tiffany. I know her mom and dad watched the news. I wanted to give it to her, but I didn't want to go up to their house -- I just wanted to keep it to myself. Any other questions?

QUESTION: Are you relieved that they've got a very big lead here?

LUNSFORD: They didn't call it a big lead. And like I said, I'm just -- I'm not going to build my hopes up over anything until the sheriff tells me exactly that, hey, we're after the guy that's got your daughter. Right now all he said is that he's just got somebody he wants to question.

QUESTION: Reporter: What's your gut feeling?

LUNSFORD: Gut feeling? I'd rather not say. You know, because like I said, I wouldn't want to be wrong.

Anybody else?

I appreciate you guys, I really do. Just keep your prayers coming, OK, because I need those, and I got a search going this weekend, so everybody just come out and help as you can.

Thanks.

BLITZER: Mark Lunsford, the father of Jessica Lunsford, the 9- year-old missing Florida girl, expressing his thoughts on the apprehension of a man being described as a person of interest in this case. We'll continue to watch that. We're also watching what's happening involving baseball and steroids on Capitol Hill.

But we're all out of time right now. Just want to thank our guests for joining us, Dr. Todd Schlifstein of New York University Medical Center, and here in Washington Mike Wise and Mel Antonen, two excellent sports writers.

I'll be back later today, every weekday, 5:00 p.m. Eastern for "WOLF BLITZER REPORTS." The leader of Ireland's Sinn Fein Party once again finds himself in the middle of controversy. Gerry Adams relationship with the IRA and the uproar surrounding the death of a man outside a Belfast pub. We'll have a complete report on all of that, plus more, 5:00 p.m. Eastern.

Until then, thanks very much for watching NEWS FROM CNN. I've Wolf Blitzer in Washington.

"LIVE FROM" with Kyra Phillips, solo again, standing by in New York.

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


Aired March 17, 2005 - 12:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. To our viewers, thanks very much for joining us.
Unfolding this hour on NEWS FROM CNN, the so-called "person of interest" police were looking for in the case of that missing 9-year- old Florida girl is now in custody. We'll have details.

Some of baseball's greatest stars on the hot seat before the U.S. Congress. The burning question: have they ever used steroids?

And she did the time, but, she still insists, not the crime. Martha Stewart back in court to appeal her conviction.

And Coach K and Colonel Brown. As the NCAA basketball tournament gets underway, Duke's legendary coach recalls a favorite player and lifelong friend, now a leader himself in the fight for Iraq.

We'll get to all that. First, these headlines "Now in the News."

California San Quentin Prison is Scott Peterson's new home. He was transferred there overnight from a San Mateo County Jail. A judge yesterday sentenced Peterson to death for killing his pregnant wife Laci and their unborn son. After processing, Peterson is to be placed on death row.

Crude oil prices at all-time highs. The cost of a barrel of crude climbed to another record, more than $57, then slipped a bit lower earlier today. Yesterday's closing price topping $56 was the highest ever recorded.

Retailer Toys R Us announced it's agreed to sell the entire company to a group of investors in a deal worth $6 billion plus assumed debt. The agreement requires regulatory approval and also the approval by Toys R Us shareholders. That's expected to happen by July.

Among the most popular stories this hour on CNN.com, a former caretaker indicted on murder charges in connection with the disappearance of a 4-year-old Florida girl. You may remember the case. Geralyn Graham had been the caretaker for Rilya Wilson before the young girl disappeared nearly three years ago. Graham told police that she turned over the girl to the state. Rilya Wilson has never been found.

We begin this hour with a convicted sex offender now in police custody and is being questioned in the disappearance of a 9-year-old girl, Jessica Lunsford, who went missing from her Florida home three weeks ago. A law enforcement official stresses John Couey is simply "a person of interest."

Our Sara Dorsey is joining us now from Citrus County in Florida with the latest developments. Sara.

SARA DORSEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, John Couey was picked up just a short time ago in Augusta, Georgia. He was picked up at a homeless shelter.

Police have been looking for him. The sheriff, in fact, released his name just last night saying, as you said, he's a person of interest, not a suspect just yet. But the reason why they want to talk to Couey is that he is a registered sex offender and he was not living where he was supposed to be. In fact, he was living in a home just across the street from where Jessica Lunsford disappeared from.

Now, when investigators went around looking for all the sex offenders in the area, trying to clear each one, they found that Couey was out of place. And then they went to his family to say, is he even staying here, and they lied to investigators. It was that, paired with other information, that made him a person of interest.

Now, just a short time ago, Sheriff Jeff Dawsy came out here in a news conference and said to keep in mind they were happy they had him in custody but he still is just a person of interest, not a suspect. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF JEFF DAWSY, CITRUS COUNTY POLICE: Well, right now, you know, there isn't any specific direction. We're still following certain leads. And I know I've said that over and over and over again. But that's true what we're doing.

We received probably several hundred leads from the news conference yesterday about bringing Couey out. And we're still looking at all the possibilities. And I've always said that there is somebody out there that has some information.

Couey may play out not even to be in the mix. And we'll know that better. As I said this morning, I'm working for Jessica right now. Everybody is in this investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DORSEY: And investigators plan on questioning Couey starting today. The sheriff told us as soon as they have a feel whether they believe he has anything to do with this or not, they'll let us know.

He said there is a possibility that Couey couldn't be anyone. Maybe he doesn't know anything, he had nothing to do. And the sheriff plans on letting us know that.

But also, Couey is in trouble already for absconding. So he will be brought back here to face those charges, along with two others totally unrelated to this Lunsford case. But he will have to come back and face the music for that. Right now, though, investigators trying to get to the bottom of if this man knows anything about the whereabouts of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford. Wolf.

BLITZER: Sara Dorsey reporting for us. Sara, thanks very much.

Our Susan Candiotti has been following this case as well in Georgia, making her way towards -- back to Florida eventually.

What are you learning, Susan?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're currently on the way to Augusta, Georgia, where Citrus County sheriff's investigators and the FBI are also en route. This is where John Couey, as you know, is being held by the sheriff's office there. He was discovered at a homeless shelter, a Salvation Army there in Augusta, Georgia.

Now, someone at the shelter reportedly recognized him from a poster and called police. The sheriff's office responded. Couey was arrested on this probation violation, and he is being held at the county jail.

Now, according to a law enforcement source, Couey told them, "He says he wants to talk to us." At this time, remember, he is still being held only as a person of interest in connection with the Jessica Lunsford case, but he will be extradited.

He may or may not fight that extradition from Augusta, Georgia, back to Citrus County, Florida. Regardless, a law enforcement source says that they are examining possible evidence taken from a car in Florida to which he at the very least had access to, as well as a house where he had been staying. Wolf.

BLITZER: Susan Candiotti on the phone from Georgia following this case.

Let's go to New York right now. Martha Stewart has been appealing her conviction. She's walking out to the microphones. Let's listen.

WALTER DELLINGER, MARTHA STEWART'S ATTORNEY: Good afternoon. We're not going to comment on the substance of the argument. We never would.

But we just wanted to say this: The judges were extremely well prepared. They asked excellent questions of both sides. They listened very intently. They really understand, I think, the issues in the case, and that's all that anybody having an appeal can ask for.

With that, Ms. Stewart has to get back to work and I'm going to go watch basketball. Thank you very much

QUESTION: Martha, can you tell us about being back to work? Martha? BLITZER: So there you have it. Walter Dellinger, the former solicitor general of the Justice Department during the Clinton administration, now representing Martha Stewart in this appeal, seeking to overturn her conviction. She does not want to go down in history as a convicted felon, even though she has already spent five months in prison for her crime.

She wants that overturned. She wants it appealed. That's what they're doing right now. They've made arguments on that point before the judge earlier. Just a little while ago you saw them leaving the courthouse in New York.

Allan Chernoff, our reporter on the scene, is joining us now live.

You were inside, Allan, I take it?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. And I can tell you that it didn't necessarily go very well for Martha Stewart.

In an appeal you really would expect the judges to be focusing on potential errors during the actual trial. That's what Walter Dellinger was attempting to do during his arguments, but the judges kept on talking very much about Martha Stewart's statements and holes in her statements trying to explain her sale of the ImClone stock.

Of course, recall, Martha Stewart was convicted of lying about that stock sale. One of the judges said he found it was an unbelievable coincidence that Martha Stewart was selling her stock at the very same time that the daughter of the chief executive of the company was selling her shares.

Another judge said, how is it that Martha Stewart did not recall a message she received from her broker about the fact that the family members of Sam Waksal, the former chief executive of ImClone, were selling their shares? How did she not recall that message when she had tried to erase it from her assistant's computer only four days before she was interviewed by federal authorities?

And, in fact, the judges allowed the prosecutor, Michael Schachter, to just list all of the problems with Martha Stewart's story, to list his case. It almost sounded like a summation that the prosecutor was making as opposed to an argument that he was making before an appellate court. Wolf.

BLITZER: Allan, just to be clear, it's not simply a matter of trying to clear her name and her reputation, this appeal. There are practical implications if she's a convicted felon as opposed to not being a convicted felon. Explain that to our viewers.

CHERNOFF: Right. Well, Martha Stewart, of course, had been the chief executive and the chairperson of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, her public company. As a convicted felon, it makes it very difficult for her to resume any executive position there. And she also is still facing a civil case from the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is charging her with insider trading and which is asking that she be banned from serving permanently as an executive of a public company. If for some reason this case were overturned, if her criminal conviction were overturned, that certainly would put everything in a very different light. The SEC would have to see what would happen with that case.

But right now, as it stands, we expect to get an opinion from this three-judge panel within a manner of months. So then we'll have the criminal case most likely resolved, and then we can move forward with the SEC case. Most likely, there will be a settlement of that very case. Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Allan Chernoff reporting for us from outside the courthouse in New York City, watching all things Martha for us. Thank you very much, Allan, for that.

Let's get back to our top story, that missing 9-year-old girl in Florida. The police have arrested a person of interest, as he's been called. John Couey arrested in Georgia. He's about to be questioned by law enforcement authorities.

Jessica Lunsford -- our John Zarrella is in Homasassa, in Florida, speaking with family members of Jessica Lunsford. John Zarella is joining us now live.

What are they saying, John?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, I spoke just a short time ago with Ruth and Archie Lunsford, went into their home. And this was just after a police officer had left. And Ruth was obviously very upset. She was pacing in and out of her bedroom. And said she really didn't feel as if she wanted to talk right now, anything specific, other than saying that they didn't know any more than they knew last night. What they had been telling us was right along that they did not know this man, John Couey. They had never seen him before, even though he apparently was staying within eyeshot of them cattycorner to where they live.

But when the word came to them of the arrest -- now, this was before the police officer visited with them -- Ruth did speak with our affiliate WTVT and expressed her feelings that she hoped that maybe this would finally bring them some closure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUTH LUNSFORD, JESSICA'S GRANDMOTHER: We feel bad that we still don't know where Jessie is, but at least they've got somebody. Maybe he could tell them something. Maybe he did do it.

Actually, I hope he did so that we can get this -- get this settled. Maybe nobody else feels that way. Maybe that's the wrong thing to say. But I don't want nobody innocently punished for anything. But if he did do something he needs to be punished.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZARRELLA: Certainly that was the tone that she was expressing her words to me, very upset, as you can tell. But Archie last night, the grandfather, Wolf, when I spoke with him said that for whatever reasons, he did not necessarily think that John Couey was the man.

He really couldn't elaborate other than saying he did not believe that this man could have been the one who came into their house in the middle of the night. He didn't understand how that could have been accomplished without Jessica screaming or trying to cry out or them not knowing. So there is still some skepticism, and they still believe in their heart of hearts, Wolf, that Jessie will be found alive. Wolf.

BLITZER: John, if you're a convicted sex offender and you're living literally around the corner next door in this kind of high- profile case, one of the first things you hear on the radio and television, you read in the papers, they're looking for convicted sex offenders in the neighborhood, your natural inclination would be to get out of there as quickly as you can even if you assume you might -- you might be violating some conditions of your being on parole or whatever. I assume the police suspect that as well.

ZARRELLA: Right, and exactly. Now, this is where it gets interesting.

Apparently, what happened was Couey lived at another address 10 miles away from the Lunsford -- Lunsfords' home, but was staying with relatives who lived cattycorner across the street. So when police first went looking for him and other sex offenders in the area to question, they went to the house where he was supposed to be living.

He was not there. That sparked the warrant for his arrest for violating his probation. He didn't tell anybody that he left. He hadn't reported to his parole officer.

By the time they got to the house where he was staying and tracked that, and found out that he was staying across, literally across the street from them, they were initially lied to by the people in the residence, police said yesterday. One person telling them, no, he wasn't there, but then eventually saying he was there.

And then eventually it came out that one of the people in that house bought Couey a bus ticket to Savannah in someone else's name, and police said very clearly that was an indication that Couey was on the run at that point and that Couey had been at this residence at the time of Jessica Lunsford's disappearance.

So that's what took so much time to track him down. And by the time they did, of course, he was gone and in Savannah. Wolf.

BLITZER: And that explains why the police are being so cautious in continuing to insist -- and I think we should insist -- he is a person of interest in this case. He's not a suspect. Clearly a person of interest. They want to question him, but they're not linking him to the disappearance of Jessica Lunsford, at least not yet.

John Zarrella will watch this story for us. Susan Candiotti is heading towards Savannah, watching this story for us. And Sara Dorsey is on the scene as well.

We'll continue to watch the latest developments and share them with you.

But we'll move on now to another huge story we're following right here in the nation's capital: the clouds surrounding big league baseball. Unfolding this hour, a much-awaited hearing on Capitol Hill involving several star sluggers suspected of using steroids to boost their homerun totals.

At the witness table now a panel of medical experts. You're looking at these live pictures from inside the hearing room.

The question of the hour, will the players subpoenaed cooperate or will they invoke their Fifth Amendment rights? We're standing by to find out. We'll bring that to you as soon as it happens.

Just a short time ago, the names of baseball legends echoed through the room as a hall-of-famer testified. Today's first witness, former pitcher Jim Bunning, the current U.S. senator from Kentucky. He's a Republican.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JIM BUNNING (R), KENTUCKY: When I played with Henry Aaron and Willie Mays and Ted Williams, they didn't put on 40 pounds and bulk up in their careers, and they didn't hit more homeruns in their late 30s than they did in their late 20s. What's happening in baseball now is not natural and it isn't right. Baseball has to get its act together or else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Jim Bunning, the U.S. senator from Kentucky, former Hall-of-Famer, the first witness before this panel.

Joining us now two guests. Mel Antonin is a baseball writer for "USA Today," and Mike Weiss, a sports columnist for "The Washington Post."

Guys, thanks very much for joining us. What do you make of this -- can we call this a spectacle? Is that pejorative if we use that expression? But what's happening on Capitol Hill right now?

MIKE WISE, "WASHINGTON POST": Well, that's fair enough. I think that what's going on is baseball's, you know, biggest homerun hitters are being questioned. And they're going to -- and Congress wants to know whether that 1998 homerun race between Sosa and McGwire was a big lie. And they want to make an example of some people.

BLITZER: Because both of them have been accused specifically by Jose Canseco, another homerun hitter, of injecting themselves with steroids. Both of them flatly deny it.

WISE: Yes. Mel knows better than me that Jose Canseco has a credibility problem. But I think in this case you can't shoot the messenger. If there are half-truths in that book, I think Congress needs to get to the bottom of it.

BLITZER: It's clear, Mel, that book, "Juiced," by Jose Canseco, sparked -- if not sparked, clearly encouraged members of this House committee to go ahead and hold these hearings.

MEL ANTONEN, "USA TODAY": Yes, I think it helped them, but I think Congress has been looking at this for quite a while. I mean, there's been some issues with the labor negotiations over steroids testing in baseball. There's just issues that are growing. And the fact that players are not cooperating and not talking about it and don't want to say anything, there's just a lot of issues that are building. And I think it's Congress' job. This may be a spectacle, but it's a necessary spectacle.

I think it's Congress' job to look into it. If this were a shoe store down on 12th Street that had 50 or more employees, you know, Congress has to look out for those employees. It's a big health issue, and I think it's a -- I think it's a snapshot of the frustration that people feel and fans feel about baseball. Are there steroids?

BLITZER: The main argument, Mike, the main argument in favor of these hearings and getting to the bottom of this is the influence, the impact these players have on young kids, teenage boys specifically who want to be baseball players or other athletes, the percentage of them now going ahead and using these illegal steroids to bulk themselves up.

WISE: I mean, there are 500,000 kids in American high schools right now using steroids, Wolf. I think that's a public health problem. I don't think it's political grandstanding. In an ideal world, you hope that that -- I don't want to say the public humiliation of these players, but at least the hard questioning of them will lead some educators and maybe some kids to say, hey, maybe I don't need to put this in my body.

BLITZER: Baseball, I guess it's fair to say Major League Baseball, has been trying to get its act together, albeit very, very late in the game right now. But they've released documents, Mel, as you well know, to the committee which show not exactly the promises that they had publicly made in recent months.

ANTONEN: That's right. And that's the credibility issues that they're dealing with.

Congress is trying to get to the bottom of it. Do -- can we get the facts? And if we get the facts, do those facts warrant federal -- tougher federal laws to figure out this problem?

BLITZER: It's fair that Congress and everybody would like Major League Baseball to police themselves on this. Forget about the federal government should not necessarily have to be involved, but so far Major League Baseball and the players' representatives, they have not shown an inclination to really get the job done.

ANTONEN: Exactly. They passed a steroids testing policy a couple of years ago in the last basic agreement. It was very, very weak. And not until public pressure just last winter did the union and the owners open up negotiations again in the labor agreement and say, we've got to have a tougher policy.

Now, first-time a steroid user will get suspended for 10 days and his name will be out in public. The debate now, is that tough enough to end steroids in baseball?

BLITZER: But if they pay the fine, Mike, if they pay the $10,000, their name won't be out in public. At least that's the way you can read these documents.

WISE: Well, Bud Selig, the commissioner, can actually go back and say, here, pay the fine. There's no disclosure of your name. I think it's pretty scary.

I think until baseball adopts the same drug policies that the USOC, the International Olympic Committee adopted, that's now the gold standard, they're severely lacking.

BLITZER: Because $10,000 for a Major League Baseball star is chump change.

WISE: Yes.

BLITZER: It's nothing, $10,000. These guys make millions and millions of dollars.

WISE: That's like $20,000 for you, Wolf.

(LAUGHTER)

WISE: Maybe.

WISE: No, it is. It's the issue. It's the credibility of the issue. Is the game going to be cleaned up? And, you know, baseball has not done a good job cleaning itself up. The public doesn't believe it. The fans don't. Now Congress doesn't believe it. And so they have to get to the bottom of it and clean it up.

BLITZER: All right. We're going to watch these hearings. I'm going to have both of you stand by because we want to bring our viewers some of the hearings right now.

We're going to make sure that we cover all of the aspects of this hearing that's unfolding in the U.S. House of Representatives. We'll take a quick break. When we come back, the health issue with steroids and their impact on kids. We'll talk about that specifically.

You're watching NEWS FROM CNN, and we're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back to NEWS FROM CNN. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.

Now the role model factor. Just as every young athlete wants the right sneakers, does the high fives and maybe chews a little tobacco, many are clearly taking steroids.

As CNN's Dan Lothian reports, that's where the issue really hits home.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was the boost 17-year-old Taylor Hooten of Plano, Texas, thought he needed in order to take his baseball skills to the varsity level.

DON HOOTEN, FATHER: Taylor was on the starting lineup in his junior year.

LOTHIAN (voice-over): He says his son started taking steroids, just like nine other student athletes at this competing high school have admitted doing.

HOOTEN: I've had the kids in our area in Plano tell me that at least a third of the young men that are showing up on Friday night to play football are juicing.

LOTHIAN (voice-over): Sports medicine experts like Dr. Lyle Micheli of Children's Hospital in Boston say steroid users are getting younger and younger because of increasing pressures.

DR. LYLE MICHELI, CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL, BOSTON: Some of these kids are not in a position to draw the line. They just will do whatever it takes they think to compete.

LOTHIAN (voice-over): Earlier this month in Madison, Connecticut, six athletes from Daniel Hand High School were charged with possessing steroids. One is accused of selling the pills, bought, police say, while on a family trip to Mexico. An alert teacher turned them in.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was paying close attention to both the actions and the words of the students.

LOTHIAN (voice-over): Other school districts are now responding aggressively to this problem. But CNN found teens who aren't deterred by threats or harmful consequences.

(on camera): And where better to find out what teens are saying about steroid use than on the Internet? Chat rooms drowning with dialogue, some of it graphic, from young men who say they're 15, 16, 17 years old and they're obsessed with building the perfect body. Like this one who says he's willing to try almost anything.

(voice-over): One complains of the bad job he did injecting himself. Another describes how he bled more than usual. This one brags about the attention he's getting from girls impressed with his new overnight physique.

And a complaint from one about his bad acne, a result of juicing. Acne, doctors say, is just one of the milder side effects, which can range from mood swings to liver problems to growth issues.

MICHELI: If a kid's taking this, say, in middle school, where you're still growing, they may lose growth in the process.

LOTHIAN (voice-over): But back in cyberspace, where teens often obtain steroids, this apparent adult sings the praises of juicing, saying concerns are overblown. Tell that to the father of Taylor Hooten. The Texas 17-year-old committed suicide in 2003. His family blames depression linked to steroid withdrawal.

Some of America's young athletes redefining the meaning of the phrase "No pain, no gain."

Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: More on steroids. Medically speaking now, what's the problem?

Joining us, Todd Schlifstein is doctor of sports medicine at New York University Medical Center. He's also a professor at the NYU School of Medicine.

I don't think we can over-exaggerate, Dr. Schlifstein, how serious a problem this is for teenage boys.

DR. TODD SCHLIFSTEIN, NYU MEDICAL CENTER: Yes. I don't think we are over-exaggerating it. Certainly you get rampant mood swings, depression, (UNINTELLIGIBLE), early closure of growth plates, liver tumors both benign and malignant, acute myocardial infarctions, acute thrombosis. And these are only some of the side-effects that we're aware of today.

BLITZER: Parents and teachers must be aware if they see this incredible growth on these 15, 16, 17-year-old boys, they must be aware something bad is going on.

SCHLIFSTEIN: Yes, rapid growth and certainly muscular growth because their growth plates may close and their muscles may grow extraordinarily large. Also, when somebody uses or really abuses steroids, quite often there are other drugs that are being abused, as well, to control some of the side-effects from the steroids.

For example, some of the rage. They may take some benzodiazepines or Valium-type substances to help control their moods and aggressive behavior and try to cover up some of those side- effects.

BLITZER: What are the immediate steps that a coach or a high school -- a high school teacher or a parent or someone seeing this incredible almost overnight growth in these young boys, what must they do immediately to get these boys healthy again?

SCHLIFSTEIN: Well, they need to get them off the steroids and get them off the steroids immediately, especially when you're younger and growing. Your growth plates will close and they're not going to reopen. So you're going to block further growth of your skeleton and you won't grow anymore.

There's a lot of dangers even in the short term with the use of anabolic steroids, including heart attacks, acceleration of plaque formation, and all types of liver problems from toxic hepatitis to liver cancer. And these things need to be addressed and stopped immediately.

BLITZER: Todd -- Todd Schlifstein, hold on a second.

Mike Wise, you wrote a piece about this young Hooten boy who committed suicide in "The Washington Post" yesterday. It's pretty powerful to focus in on one individual like that. His father, by the way, is testifying before this committee today, this House committee. But multiply that by, what, half a million?

WISE: Half a million, Wolf. And that's the thing that I think baseball, its union, its owners, have to realize. This is not a witch hunt. This isn't the McCarthyism of Mark McGwire. This is a public health issue. And that's what Don Hooton, whose son committed suicide told me. He says this is -- people have a right to know what these kids are putting into their bodies. It's one thing for an adult athlete to play with his body chemistry. I think it's quite another, and Dr. Schlifstein could speak to this better than I could, that there's this melancholy and hopelessness that follows steroid withdrawal.

BLITZER: Is that the case, Dr. Schlifstein, that depression and suicide could quickly begin once you stop taking these steroids if you don't do it properly?

SCHLIFSTEIN: Yes, absolutely. A lot of times when taking these anabolic steroids, you're taking 10 to 40 times your normal amount of testosterone you have in your body. So if all of a sudden you're taking 40 times the amount of testosterone you normally have, suddenly stop it, there's rapid hormonal changes that occur, and those mood swings from aggressive behavior can rapidly go into a depressive state.

BLITZER: How often -- how much of a frequency of suicide do you see among these teenage boys?

SCHLIFSTEIN: I don't know if there's any good clinical evidence showing the incidence, or the occurrence rate of suicide attempts, and a lot more research needs to be looked into some of these side effects, short term, and there's very little data at all on long-term side effects because a lot of times these people have not been followed for many years through and through, so you don't know what kind of chronic consequences we have. We may be at just looking at the tip of the iceberg of some of these side effect. And there may be a lot more that we're not even aware of at this time.

So we're definitely underestimating these side effects. It's illegal for you to even get these steroids. How do these kids get them?

SCHLIFSTEIN: It is readily available. One, you can still buy it over the counter in Mexico. You can order online and have it delivered. If you go to many gyms or other places, it's very easy access to obtain these products. The only way legally to get them would be a prescription from a doctor, and it's a Schedule III, or very controlled substance, at this time.

BLITZER: Does Major League Baseball, Mel, have I guess the word is a responsibility to really become a lot more proactive in doing something about this health hazard for young people?

ANTONEN: Without a doubt. If Major League Baseball would take a stand in -- you know, with the players union, I think it would have a lot more credible. But not only have you've got the health issue, you've got the credibility of the game. So there's two major issues, and it's certainly is Major League Baseball's responsibility. That's why Congress is holding them to the fire today.

BLITZER: What do you think?

WISE: I'm with him. I think baseball can't police baseball. They've shown that. And I also think -- and I don't want to sound too idealistic on this, but I think the public's turned a blind eye, too. A lot of us who go to these games, we don't care how Barry Bonds hits the homerun into San Francisco Bay. We just want to see him do it. And I think until we get out of our own little bit of denial, you know, that's part of the problem.

BLITZER: Why can other professional sports like basketball, for example, the NBA, why can they police their own players, but baseball can't?

WISE: You know, I don't -- baseball is one of those code sports. It's probably one of the most clubby atmospheres. It's like a fraternity. I mean, it's -- just as the police have the blue line -- you don't talk about another -- baseball players don't talk about each other.

BLITZER: Mel, they do it in the minor leagues. They do a pretty good job policing minor league players.

ANTONEN: Because minor league players don't have the leverage that big league players do. The big league players union is the strongest union in the world. You know, if baseball players leave the set, you know, you can't get other baseball players to perform. You get football players leaving or basketball players, there's others waiting in line. So the union has a lot of leverage. It's the strongest union in America. And you know, in the '90s I think both sides, the Major League owners and the unions, turned their eyes, because there were so many problems in baseball -- '94, the players strike, the homeruns came. The owners blamed the union, and the union says we can't get a drug policy together because we have privacy rights.

But I think you got to look deeper than that. I think you've got to look at the politics of this, and I think you're going to have to follow the money. So many people were making so many millions of dollars in the 1990s that they just looked the other way, and they hide behind this privacy issue business.

BLITZER: All right, I'm going to ask Mel Antonen, Mike Wise, Dr. Todd Schlifstein to stand by. We're going to take another quick break. We're watching these hearings unfold on Capitol Hill. We'll go there live once the players start testifying. People are testifying right now on the second panel, including parents of those young men, young teenagers who died as a result of steroid use. Doctors are testifying, as well.

More of our coverage right after this.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: A dramatic story unfolding in Washington today. In the U.S. Congress, the House of Representatives, a congressional committee holding hearings right now -- we'll show you some live pictures from the hearing room -- holding hearings on steroids and Major League Baseball. Medical experts testifying right now, as well as some parents, family members of those young men, teenagers, who took steroids and wound up killing themselves in the process.

We're continuing our conversation with our guests, sports writers Mike Wise of "The Washington Post," Mel Antonen of "USA Today." They're here in the studio with me. And Dr. Todd Schlifstein of the NYU, New York University, Medical Center. He's joining us from New York.

I want to play a little piece of an interview I did with Jose Canseco, the former baseball Major League star, who's written a book entitled "Juiced," in which he says he took steroids all the time. He also implicates others. I asked him how widespread steroid use was in the Major Leagues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSE CANSECO, FMR. MLB PLAYER: Right now I think it's very minimal because of this book that came out, "Juiced." I think all players have stopped steroid use. I think they want to see what's going to happen with Congress, how much is Congress going to intervene in this. And basically they want right now -- certain individuals, certain players, Major League Baseball to protect them so we have to wait and see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right. Let's bring in Mel Antonen. How much credibility does Jose Canseco have? Because he's thrown out all sorts of allegations about the biggest stars in Major League Baseball right now. ANTONEN: Well, he was there. And, you know, his credibility is at an all-time low. You know, whenever you rat on your friends -- his credibility's at an all-time low for various reasons, around baseball. Say this about Jose. He was, in the late '80s, early '90s, considered the best player in baseball. He stopped working. He stopped listening to his managers and coaches. And I think he blew his career. He could have a lot better numbers, he could have been a Hall of Fame player. And I think he's very angry and a little bit jealous. But having said that, there's probably some degree of truth to what he says.

BLITZER: What do you think, Mike?

WISE: I don't think Jose Canseco should take credit for saving baseball and saving us from steroids. I find that kind of offensive. I go back to -- but don't shoot the messenger. If there is something in that book that causes Congress to ask hard questions of these guys, I think they need to do that.

BLITZER: Dr. Schlifstein, you've studied this issue very, very carefully over the years. Have Major League Baseball players come to you as a result of their use of steroids?

SCHLIFSTEIN: No player has come to me and admitted the use of steroids to me directly. But certainly I'm aware and they're aware of people who are using the steroids. Certainly this is not a new issue. I mean, the International Olympic Committee banned steroid use in 1976. I think now it's just a growing issue and coming to the forefront. But also Major League Baseball had to look at, and also had to ban, was use of other substances likes amphetamine, banned human growth hormone. But there's no testing for human growth hormone that's available. So even though they meant well to ban human growth hormone, there's no testing available for it.

BLITZER: We did notice, Dr. Schlifstein, and I'm sure you noticed, that in the documents that Major League Baseball made available to the congressional committee, they listed the banned substances, but there were four forms of steroids that weren't included that potentially could cause just as much damage as the others. Did you notice that?

SCHLIFSTEIN: Yes, I mean, there were several things that definitely were not included and those are just as damaging as well. The question is do they have testing available to test for all these things? And they probably don't.

BLITZER: What do you think about that decision, Mel, to not ban four of these forms of steroids that potentially could do the same thing as all these other forms of steroids?

ANONTEN: It's a bad decision. I mean, they got a lot of work to do. They're trumpeting themselves and patting themselves on the back, saying we got this done. And it is a baby step. It's a step in the right direction, but they have a long way to go yet. The human growth hormone, for instance, requires a blood test. That's not in the agreement. So there's a lot -- they need to figure it out. They need to fix it.

WISE: I'm tired of these lawyers, Donald Fehr, baseball itself, obfuscating and trying to make this a right -- a privacy issue or a collective bargaining agreement issue. It's not. It's a public health issue and I think they have to realize that and step up, so to speak.

BLITZER: Donald Fehr, the head of the players union in baseball. I want to just break away from this conversation for a moment.

There is a developing story that's happening in New Jersey right now and want to show our viewers these live pictures. And you can see this overturned van. New York -- New Jersey State Police say the van was headed southward toward Philadelphia. The vehicle struck a flat -- got a flat tire while driving down the highway.

What we're told is that the Department of Transportation van was transporting five inmates from the Northern State Prison in Newark to a highway cleanup detail when this van overturned. Approached at gunpoint, an officer and inmates were told to get out of the vehicle. Someone took this van -- the inmates apparently were trying to get out of the van and escape, but we're watching this story. Very dramatic pictures, as you can see.

It's happening -- it happened earlier today, and it's still very much unclear what happened to the inmates and how this specifically occurred, but we'll continue to monitor the situation for you, our viewers, and get some more precise clarified information once it becomes available from local law enforcement, state authorities in New Jersey.

But that's the overturned van that had been carrying five inmates from the Northern State Prison in Newark. We don't know where those inmates are. We don't know what's going on right now, but we'll watch this story for you. We'll take another quick break. More of our News From CNN right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We're continuing to watch these hearings unfold before the House of Representatives. Our congressional correspondent Ed Henry has been inside. He's been listening and watching all these developments so far. What are the headlines so far, Ed?

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, we've just gotten some news from Sammy Sosa. We have an advance copy of his statement. The players have not started testifying yet. But Sammy Sosa's opening statement is going to say, quote, "I have never injected myself or had anyone inject me with anything in dealing with steroids." So a very direct, precise statement from Sammy Sosa, denying, under oath to Congress, that he has ever used steroids. He also will say in his testimony that he was tested as recently as 2004 and was deemed clean by that test, clean of steroids.

We also have some news about Curt Schilling, the pitcher from the Boston Red Sox. There's been a little bit of a change in how this is going to play out once the players come in to be sworn in. We're being told that Curt Schilling and Frank Thomas of the White Sox will be sworn in separate from the other players and that after Schilling is sworn in, the committee is going to stop and announce that they are creating some sort of a taskforce to deal with steroids and that Curt Schilling will serve on that taskforce.

The significance here, of course, is that Curt Schilling has spoken out against the use of steroids, has never been accused of using steroids, unlike someone like Jose Canseco, who will also be testifying today and has acknowledged that he used steroids, has written an entire book it. Curt Schilling is someone who has spoken out against it, so he is going to be sworn in separately and also is going to be added to a new taskforce on steroids. So a little bit of a change to the program. And also, a little bit of news about what this committee is up to. Wolf.

BLITZER: It seems like it's dragging on. It's going on a lot longer than originally expected. Is that right, Ed?

HENRY: Yes, well, there are four panels, Wolf. The first had Senator Jim Bunning, of course, the Hall of Fame pitcher, going first. Now we're hearing from parents and experts -- parents who lost children to steroid abuse. The players will be the third panel. That's why it's dragging on a bit, but the players will eventually come in the next hour or so, and then the fourth panel will include Bud Selig, the commissioner of baseball. Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Ed Henry is watching this for us. He'll be continuing to watch all these hearings throughout the day here on CNN.

Ed, thanks very much.

Dr. Schlifstein, how accurate are these tests that can be taken to determine if steroids have been used?

SCHLIFSTEIN: Well, there are many ways to pass a test, depending on what type of test they use. For example, Major League Baseball was proposing to use urine testing. Now there are certain substances that can be used to help you pass these tests, and certainly certain designer steroids which were designed specifically not to be pick up by tests. For example, a year ago -- THG came on the market a year ago, and that was a designer steroid, an anabolic steroid, designed specifically for the purpose of not being picked up by drug testing. And it was interesting to note that he said that he never injected anything, but certainly there are steroids you can take orally as well that are anabolic steroids as well.

BLITZER: So you see a tiny little loophole there in Sammy Sosa's statement. I think what he said is, "Everything I have heard about steroids and human-growth hormones is that they are very, very bad for you. I would never put anything dangerous like that in my body. To be clear, I have never taken performance-enhancing drugs. I have never injected myself or had anyone inject me with anything."

Remember, Dr. Schlifstein -- and I want to bring in our sportswriters as well -- he's testifying under oath before a United States congressional committee. If he's lying, he could be held -- he could go to jail if he's lying on those specific kind of statements. But he's being -- I guess he's being relatively precise. What do you think, Mike?

WISE: Yes, I mean, my big complaint with Congress and all this is not they may be politically grandstanding, but why not grant some of these guys immunity? I mean, they're not heads of the Cali cartel. They're not -- their criminal behavior is isolated, sometimes to themselves. Why don't they grant them immunity? I think that's where you find out the real truth.

BLITZER: One other problem with the immunity is that there are ongoing federal investigations, criminal investigations, specifically in San Francisco involving the BALCO company.

ANTONEN: That's right. That's why Jason Giambi isn't here. I think that's probably why Barry Bonds isn't here, because they are two people that testified to the federal grand jury that they had used steroids, according to "The San Francisco Chronicle." So yes, there are some big issues there. It is a tough issue. I think Mike raises a good point about why didn't the community -- or why didn't the committee grant these people immunity? They probably would have gotten some more information.

BLITZER: All right, I want everybody to stand by. I want to go to Florida once again. Jessica Lunsford's father is speaking. She is the missing 9-year-old Florida girl. Let's listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

MARK LUNSFORD, JESSICA LUNSFORD'S FATHER: ... so anybody that can volunteer, I really need your help. I know there's a lot of questions about the guy that they just picked up. Like I said at the beginning, I'm not biting into that until the sheriff tells me that he's found my daughter, and I hope that everybody else can bear with me and do the same thing.

Let's not get our hopes up. We've had our hopes up before in the beginning, and we got let down so, you know, don't -- just bear with the sheriff and let him do his questioning.

Any questions?

QUESTION: Mark, do you know this person? What do you know about him? What can you tell us about him?

LUNSFORD: I've never met -- I've never seen him before. I never recognized his name. I didn't even know he lived over there.

QUESTION: What goes through your mind when you can see his house from yours?

LUNSFORD: Well, that does bother me, the point of being able to see the house. And I guess they said that he had a criminal background on kids or something, I'm not sure. But like I said, I just -- I didn't take it to heart. I took it like a grain of salt when I found out yesterday that they was looking for him, that they just want him for questioning. That's all they said.

QUESTION: How's the rest of your family doing?

LUNSFORD: They're doing pretty good. We're getting ready to eat dinner. So things are -- we'll never get back to normal, but at least my dad and mom they're cooking again for me now.

QUESTION: The police aren't saying -- what are police telling you that you can tell us?

LUNSFORD: Actually they've not told me anything more than they've told you. Actually, you know a little bit more than I do. But I don't -- I don't communicate with them. They would tell me if I asked or if I was there to be told. I'm sure they would tell me what they could, but I don't bother them. They've got a big job ahead of them, and I just try to stay out of their way and just, you know, be there when they need my help.

QUESTION: Mark, what kind of answers could you possibly get if this guy is the guy? What could you hope for as a parent that you might learn from this guy out...

LUNSFORD: Well, hypothetically, if it was him yes, I'd be excited. I'd want to know where is my daughter and stuff like that. But right now, you know, they're just wanting to question him.

QUESTION: Mark, neighbors have said they've seen him before. Other children have gone there to play. Is there any indication that maybe your daughter would have played with some neighbors? There's a lot of kids on the street.

LUNSFORD: Well, I mean, us living right here, I mean, there's kids up and down the street. I'm sure she played with some of them at one point in time or another.

I've never known her over on that side of the street. She's usually stays right close to home. But I heard there was children over there, too, so it wouldn't be out of the ordinary, I don't reckon. But I don't -- like I said, Jesse stayed pretty much home or with her friend, Tiffany.

QUESTION: Did you know the woman that lived there?

LUNSFORD: No. I've never met anybody over there. I didn't even know there was kids over there, and you know...

QUESTION: What about Tiffany? Have you had a chance to talk with her? Maybe she's been on that street.

LUNSFORD: No, I've not -- I've not bothered them with any of this and, you know, they don't -- they've been good about it, too. I think at one time or another there was a statement made by her dad, but like I said, it doesn't really matter. I got a tee shirt from Tiffany. I know her mom and dad watched the news. I wanted to give it to her, but I didn't want to go up to their house -- I just wanted to keep it to myself. Any other questions?

QUESTION: Are you relieved that they've got a very big lead here?

LUNSFORD: They didn't call it a big lead. And like I said, I'm just -- I'm not going to build my hopes up over anything until the sheriff tells me exactly that, hey, we're after the guy that's got your daughter. Right now all he said is that he's just got somebody he wants to question.

QUESTION: Reporter: What's your gut feeling?

LUNSFORD: Gut feeling? I'd rather not say. You know, because like I said, I wouldn't want to be wrong.

Anybody else?

I appreciate you guys, I really do. Just keep your prayers coming, OK, because I need those, and I got a search going this weekend, so everybody just come out and help as you can.

Thanks.

BLITZER: Mark Lunsford, the father of Jessica Lunsford, the 9- year-old missing Florida girl, expressing his thoughts on the apprehension of a man being described as a person of interest in this case. We'll continue to watch that. We're also watching what's happening involving baseball and steroids on Capitol Hill.

But we're all out of time right now. Just want to thank our guests for joining us, Dr. Todd Schlifstein of New York University Medical Center, and here in Washington Mike Wise and Mel Antonen, two excellent sports writers.

I'll be back later today, every weekday, 5:00 p.m. Eastern for "WOLF BLITZER REPORTS." The leader of Ireland's Sinn Fein Party once again finds himself in the middle of controversy. Gerry Adams relationship with the IRA and the uproar surrounding the death of a man outside a Belfast pub. We'll have a complete report on all of that, plus more, 5:00 p.m. Eastern.

Until then, thanks very much for watching NEWS FROM CNN. I've Wolf Blitzer in Washington.

"LIVE FROM" with Kyra Phillips, solo again, standing by in New York.

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