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Paula Zahn Now

Father Suspected in Murder of Illinois Girls; Grenade Thrown at President Bush?

Aired May 10, 2005 - 20:00 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.

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, everyone. Thanks so much for being with us.
In a few moments, we'll have more on reports that a hand grenade may have been thrown at President Bush during his visit to the Soviet republic of Georgia. Now Georgia's foreign minister is calling those reports a lie. We're going to try to make sense of some of these confusing reports.

But, first, a second shock for a Midwestern town, an unexpected development in the murder of two young girls.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN (voice-over): In the violent attack on two young girls, a suspect is in custody tonight.

MICHAEL WALLER, LAKE COUNTY STATE'S ATTORNEY: Jerry Branton Hobbs III of Zion.

ZAHN: And a dramatic turn of events. It is someone close to home, a father of one of the victims.

WALLER: He is charged with the stabbing and beating death of both girls, which occurred on Mother's Day.

ZAHN: As more kids become targets, what should they know to keep them safe.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Were you scared?

CANDY MCBRIDE, FOURTH GRADE STUDENT: Never. I'm not scared, not of anything.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no.

ZAHN: Tonight, protecting our children.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: Two little girls go out for a bike ride on Mother's Day. And the next morning, they are found stabbed and beaten to death. That's the nightmare the people of Zion, Illinois, are living this week. The victims are eight-year-old Laura Hobbs and nine-year-old Krystal Tobias. Well, today, the local prosecutor named Laura's father as the suspect. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALLER: I've been in this business for over 30 years. This is probably the most horrific crime I've ever seen. And I, at many other news conferences, have made the statement that there's no rational explanation or reasonable motive that can be ascribed to an act of horror like this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Jerry Hobbs will have a bond hearing tomorrow. So, it is a possibility we may learn a little bit more about what might have motivated him to commit this crime, or allegedly commit this crime.

We do know that Hobbs has a spotty past. He was once convicted in Texas for chasing neighbors around with a chain saw. Hobbs' arrest may ease the fear in Zion, but not the sense of loss.

Here is Keith Oppenheim.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They were described as inseparable friends; eight-year-old Laura Hobbs enjoyed acting; nine-year-old Krystal liked to draw, liked being outdoors. Krystal's older brother, Alberto is remembering.

ALBERTO TOBIAS, BROTHER: The things she did for me. Then, before she died, I never got a chance to say I loved her or nothing.

OPPENHEIM: Laura and Krystal lived on the same street, just blocks apart. Krystal's family spoke Spanish, but these girls had no problem communicating. Family member say they often had sleepovers at each other's houses.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The teacher described both of them as having a sense of humor and wit and just really being outgoing young ladies.

OPPENHEIM: Their tight friendship in life has linked their families in death.

ARTHUR HOLLABAUGH, LAURA HOBBS'S GRANDFATHER: I know that our family and that family doesn't have money, but I wish a group would come forward and post a reward to catch these people and get them out of Zion, because we just don't want them around here.

OPPENHEIM: This conversation with the grandparents of Laura Hobbs occurred before police charged Jerry Hobbs, Laura's father, with the murders of both girls. On Monday, both grandparents made no references to their son in law.

EMILY HOLLABAUGH, LAURA HOBBS'S GRANDMOTHER: I have a lot of questions, but it is just mostly rage at whoever could do this to two little girls. I can't talk anymore.

OPPENHEIM: A day after that interview, I spoke with Laura's grandfather at his fence. His pain was no less fierce.

A. HOLLABAUGH: Everything has been said about Laura. And we're just devastated right now. But we're waiting to hear from the police and the news. And so...

OPPENHEIM (on camera): It must be overwhelming right now.

A. HOLLABAUGH: It is.

OPPENHEIM (voice-over): Down the street, the relatives of Krystal Tobias were avoiding the media, but welcoming close friends, like Maria Salgado, who told us about Krystal's mother, Christina (ph).

"I don't think she's doing well," she said. "She doesn't talk much at all."

A minister who is working to raise money for both victims' families told us about a visit with Krystal's parents.

ARSEN TUGEN, MINISTER: And we just embraced them, cried with them, prayed with them, told them that we loved them, we support them. If there's anything that we can do for them, we're here for them.

OPPENHEIM: The ministering may be a small step forward on a long road of grieving for two families, both left with pain and questions about why two young lives came to an end.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: That was Keith Oppenheim, questions that everybody wants answered tonight.

Joining me now from Zion, Mayor Lane Harrison.

First of all, we are so sorry about the loss of -- your community and now the shock of the stunning announcement that the father of one of the victims has now been named as a suspect in this crime. What's your reaction to that news?

LANE HARRISON, MAYOR OF ZION: Well, the reaction is one of dismay. It's hard to believe that, you know, being a father myself, a grandfather, and having grandchildren here in the community, that anyone could do something like this to their child.

ZAHN: What do we know about the alleged perpetrator of these murders?

HARRISON: We know nothing, really, here in our city. He moved here about four, four-and-a-half weeks ago, coming here from Texas, apparently. And that's really all we know about him.

ZAHN: Mr. Mayor, I'm going to put up on the screen now some of what we've been able to dig up in some of our reporting and some of the other reporting that's been done today, that Jerry Hobbs had been convicted of aggravated assault with a weapon, domestic battery. He'd been arrested for possessing small amounts of marijuana, driving on a suspended license, resisting arrest, evading arrest, failing to identify a fugitive from justice.

Is there any sense of relief, in spite of the horrific tragedy you've suffered here, that this man has been arrested?

HARRISON: Well, yes, there certainly is. And I know the community has to be breathing a collective sigh of relief, simply because they know someone isn't out there laying in wait for other children.

ZAHN: We know the bond hearing is going to take place tomorrow. Are you hopeful that investigators will be able to determine a motive for these brutal murders?

HARRISON: Oh, yes. I'm sure they have -- the state's attorney, Mr. Waller, is very thorough. And they would not go to a bond hearing unless they had everything they needed to sustain this.

ZAHN: You were talking about Jerry Hobbs just recently coming to Zion, Illinois, where we are told he was trying to build the relationship with Sheila Hollabaugh, the mother of three of his children. Do you know anything more about their relationship?

HARRISON: I'm sorry. I don't know anything about it at all.

ZAHN: I know one thing you do know an awful lot about is how the children of this elementary school have been affected by this loss. You happen to teach there, among other things. Describe to us what's going on at the school. We understand absences were up, as one might expect. What else can you tell us?

HARRISON: Well, the crisis intervention team has come forward and just done a marvelous job at Beulah Elementary School, where these two girls attended.

The team is put together by our administrative staff, Dr. Connie Collins (ph) taking the lead in that. And everything has just been fabulous. And the needs of the children have been the first and foremost thing in everyone's mind. They have been really, really doing a wonderful job.

ZAHN: And, Mayor Harrison, as you might imagine, this crime has sent shockwaves across the country, with parents and children wanting to know what they can learn from this. Is there a parting thought you can share with us tonight as you try to make sense of this horror?

HARRISON: Well, yes.

As I spoke with parents just moments ago in the gymnasium, we teach our children not to go out and wander about and stay close and, hopefully -- you don't want something this tragic to give those kids or give our children that sense. But something like this, I guess, will bring them together. We just thank God that the rest of the children are safe and this person is off the streets. ZAHN: Well, Mayor Harrison, we know this is a tough time for all of you living there. Thank you very much for your time tonight. And good luck with the long road you all have ahead.

HARRISON: Thank you.

ZAHN: And coming up, the story of a little girl who got away from her attacker because she knew exactly how to fight back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCBRIDE: He came behind me and put my hands like that. And then I turned. I kicked him like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Coming up next, a self-defense class that truly was a life saver and what your kids need to know to keep themselves safe.

And then, a little bit later on, the amazing story of the 15- year-old surfer who lost her arm to a shark. But she's still surfing and she's still winning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: Parents are bound to be frightened by the stories we've followed over the past couple of weeks about abused and murdered children. But there are ways children can protect and defend themselves.

Here is Ed Lavandera with the story of one young girl who survived because she was prepared for the worst.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Candy McBride is nine years old, 4'8" tall and is stuck at 79 pounds. But don't let cute fool you.

(on camera): For all the other fourth-graders who might see this out there, how would you describe yourself?

MCBRIDE: Athletic, funny. I can kick butt.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): That's the strong-willed attitude her family says helped Candy put 26-year-old Jimmy Guard in jail. The 5'10'', 185-pound man is awaiting trial for attempted kidnapping. He's accused of trying to abduct Candy last November and has pled not guilty.

CHARLOTTE CARR, MOTHER OF CANDY: She come like up through the grass, or what have you, and she was cutting across here. And so it happened just like right here.

LAVANDERA: Candy had just got off her school bus when police say Guard jumped from behind a tree.

CARR: When he grabbed her, he put his hands over her mouth, and he had her arms up behind her head.

LAVANDERA (on camera): The attack happened about 100 yards away from Candy's home and also just a few feet away from a busy roadway. It was 4:00 in the afternoon. Cars were driving by. Other kids were walking home from school. But, still, no one was close enough to help.

(voice-over): Candy was alone, but hardly helpless. In an instant, this little fourth-grader got mad enough to unleash her fury.

MCBRIDE: He came behind me and put my hands like that. And then I turned. I kicked him like that. I turned around. I punched him. Then he punched me back. Then I slapped him. He slapped me back. And then I hit him one more time in the stomach. Then I ran home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. No.

LAVANDERA: Candy developed the confidence to fight back in a self-defense training course called radKIDS.

ALLISON LAWSON, RADKIDS INSTRUCTOR: RadKIDS stance. Yell, stay back.

CHILDREN: Stay back. You're not my mom.

LAVANDERA: RAD stands for Resist Aggression Defensively. She took the class as a second-grader, but the lessons stuck.

MCBRIDE: Whoever hits me, believe me, they're going to get something back.

LAWSON: No. And then maybe they'll let go. What do we do? We run away and go tell somebody, right?

LAVANDERA: Allison Lawson is the instructor who taught Candy. She says the course doesn't just tell kids how to be safe. It shows them what to do to protect themselves, like how to elude and escape an attacker's grip.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come with me, kid.

MCBRIDE: No.

LAWSON: One of the things that I think radKIDS did for her was to help give her the mind-set, so that, when it really happens, they're able to kind of take control of that situation and instead of kind of freaking out for a minute and trying to decide what to do, there's a little bit of, oh, I know. There's a little bit of control there.

LAVANDERA: Not only did Candy get away. Police say she got a good enough look at the attacker that the next day she instantly picked Jimmy Guard out of a photo lineup. Candy's mother credits the radKIDS course for helping her daughter stay cool under pressure.

(on camera): Were you ever scared? MCBRIDE: Never.

LAVANDERA: Never?

MCBRIDE: I'm not scared, not of anything but my mom.

(LAUGHTER)

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Candy has a message for every young child who thinks they're too small and weak to get away from a strong attacker. Confidence, she says, is key.

MCBRIDE: They can be 2 feet, for all I care. They can do it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: And that was Ed Lavandera reporting.

Joining me now with information on protecting your children, someone who has spent years studying the ways predators entice kids, Kenneth Wooden, creator of Child Lures, a program that gives parents and children the tools they need to save themselves from becoming victims.

Good to see you. Welcome.

KENNETH WOODEN, CHILD SAFETY SPECIALIST: My pleasure.

ZAHN: As a parent, I think what our audience is about to see is some of the most chilling video I've ever witnessed. You are filming yourself as a would-be abductor with a hidden camera, showing all of us, no matter how many times we tell our children not to follow a stranger, how easy it is to lure children into danger.

Let's watch together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOODEN: I'm looking for this dog. He's a pedigree. And I'm giving a reward of $50. He's really a very, very expensive dog. Have you seen him? His name is Sam. And he loves children and he answers to their voice. Would you yell Sam a few times?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

WOODEN: Go ahead. Just yell.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sam. Yell again?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. In this area. Here, go over by that tree and just yell Sam.

WOODEN: Sam.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here, here. Back here.

WOODEN: That little kid (OFF-MIKE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. All right. Give it a loud yell.

WOODEN: Sam.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Ken, that is just absolutely horrifying to watch. You, obviously are filming this with a hidden camera. That kid went with you like that.

WOODEN: He did. Then we came back and we got his sister to go with us.

ZAHN: Why was that so easy?

WOODEN: You have got to remember, these guys that molest, murder children are con artists. They know how to apply the con. We all have good instincts. Children have good instincts. But the lure is designed to short-circuit your instinct.

ZAHN: The lure, you double -- it was a double whammy there.

WOODEN: It was a double whammy.

ZAHN: It's the pet and a $50 reward, basically.

WOODEN: Yes. It was a double whammy. And they went, because they didn't know the lure.

I'm happy to report, in some parts of the country now, with our TV news series, kids are not going. They're getting the message. But, over the years, Paula, too many kids have fallen victim to this lure, the pet lure, asking for directions, even the emergency lure. Your mom is sick. She's in the hospital. All those lures can be challenged.

For example, right now, I tell parents, when it comes to directions, look your children in the eye. No. There's no directions you give anybody. That car is too dangerous. There's no lost pet. Don't even go there. If someone wants you to look for a lost pet, you don't do it. And, mom, look your kids in the eye and communicate that.

ZAHN: And, Ken, in light of what happened in Zion, what is it that parents need to know about family members of the children their children are playing with?

WOODEN: Sure.

Well, my good wife, God bless her, if she was not comfortable with the guy next door, the neighbor or whatever, our kids didn't go over there and play. Be a strong parent. Trust your instinct. It wasn't a casual asset that your ancestors gave you. Trust it and follow it.

ZAHN: Some excellent advice we can all learn from. Thank you so much for being with us tonight.

WOODEN: Thank you. My pleasure.

ZAHN: If you want to know more about how to keep your kids safe, you can go to our Web site, CNN.com/Paula.

And, in just a minute, we're going to go live to the White House for the very latest on the reported security threat during President Bush's speech today in the former Soviet republic of Georgia.

And then later, a near fatal shark attack and a young surfer's courageous comeback.

Plus, he was just doing his job, but that may have put him on a terrorist watch list. That story coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: We are just starting to get some details tonight of what may have been an attempt on the life of President Bush. It happened during the president's appearance today in Tbilisi, the capital of the former Soviet republic of Georgia.

White House correspondent Elaine Quijano joins me now with the latest on the developing story.

Elaine, I think one of the weirder parts of all this is, we didn't even learn about this until several hours after the president had left Tbilisi. What else have you learned?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's what the Secret Service says they learned. It was several hours after President Bush left Georgia that this was made known to them.

But I think what we have to emphasize, first of all, is that this is a report that came out of Georgia by Georgian security authorities, as told to the U.S. Secret Service. Now, the account that has been relayed to the Secret Service is that, as the president was speaking on stage in Tbilisi, Georgia, that a device that appeared to be or was described as being a hand grenade was thrown about 100 feet or within 100 feet of where President Bush was on stage delivering that speech.

Now, according to this account, the device actually hit an individual, fell down, and was recognized by a Georgian security officer as a grenade. And the officer took it away. And that is that report we have, the Secret Service, though, emphasizing, they haven't seen it. They can't confirm exactly what it was -- Paula.

ZAHN: Now, what's the deal with the Interior minister tonight and what he is saying?

QUIJANO: Well, the Associated Press is reporting that a spokesman for the Georgian interior minister is calling this a lie -- so, a lot of unanswered questions right now, still waiting to find out more information. But the Secret Service says they're working with the FBI, the State Department, as well as Georgian security authorities to find out exactly what might have happened -- Paula.

ZAHN: Elaine Quijano trying to do the fact-finding she can at this hour, lots of confusion to clear up. Thanks so much.

It's just about 25 minutes past the hour. Erica Hill at HEADLINE NEWS joins us now for the rest of the day's top stories.

I haven't seen you for a couple nights. Welcome back.

ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, thanks, Paula. Nice to be back.

We start off with Iraq. For a third day, the fighting rages in Operation Matador there. U.S. forces are said to be engaged in face- to-face combat with insurgents near the border with Syria. Now, the military says this latest offensive has killed at least 100 insurgents.

United Airlines' employees can no longer count on their pension. Today, a federal bankruptcy judge approved the airline's plans to terminate employee pensions. Now, United says the move will help cut costs while it tries to settle bankruptcy claims. But workers say it violates their contract and they've threatened to strike.

On the CNN "Security Watch" tonight, fake badges, more than 1,000 of them, seized by federal agents in New York. Counterfeits from 35 different law enforcement agencies. One agent says 90 percent of them would pass scrutiny. A Russian national was arrested. Weapons and police uniforms were seized at his apartment.

And, Paula, bathing suit season right around the corner. We all know there are so many diets out there, it's often tough to choose. So, which ones are best? Weight Watchers and Slim-Fast, according to "Consumer Reports." The magazine says the low-carb Atkins diet helped people lose pounds, but, in the end, many have trouble sticking to it.

And that's the skinny from HEADLINE NEWS -- Paula.

ZAHN: And there's always, of course, just sucking the tummy in.

HILL: That never hurts.

ZAHN: Yes. But you can only do it 15 minutes a stretch and then you're busted.

Thank you, Erica. See you a little bit later on, maybe about a half-hour or so from now.

Here is your chance to vote for the person of the day. Your choices, the stray dog in Kenya for saving the life of an abandoned baby, the seven betters who won the Kentucky Derby's superfecta by picking the longshot winner and the next three horses as well, or Renee Zellweger and Kenny Chesney for their very unstar-like, low- publicity wedding. Surprise.

Vote at CNN.com/Paula. The winner a little bit later in this hour.

Coming up next, the remarkable teenage surfer and her incredible comeback after a shark attack changed her life forever.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: Fewer than 100 people a year all over the world are attacked by sharks. But knowing that doesn't really make it any less frightening to think about the possibility. So, imagine how much courage would it take to get back in the water after a shark attack and losing your arm. Well, you are about to meet a teenager who did, and she's the focus of tonight's "People in the News."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN (voice-over): Bethany Hamilton is a surfer through and through. She grew up on these waves off the island of Kauai. At 13 she was competing in national surfing events. Before sunrise every day, Bethany hits the beach in search of the perfect wave. But on October 31, 2003, her life changed forever.

(on camera): Take us back to that Halloween morning when you were attacked. What do you remember leading up to the shark actually taking your arm?

BETHANY HAMILTON, SURFER: I was just surfing with my friends. I knew right away what happened, and they all pulled me in and soon enough, I was in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

ZAHN (voice-over): Bethany was attacked by a 14-foot tiger shark while she lay on her board in the surf. It tore off her left arm and with it a huge chunk of her surf board.

Tiger sharks often swim in the shallow waters off Kauai. They are considered one of the most dangerous of the 32 species known to attack humans. Bethany tried to paddle to shore on her mangled board. She was losing blood, fast.

(on camera) How did you get back to shore?

HAMILTON: My friend, Alana (ph), her dad and brother pulled me to shore.

ZAHN: If it weren't for your friend's -- Alana's -- father, you might not be alive, right?

HAMILTON: Yes, definitely.

ZAHN: So, he had the wisdom to make you a tourniquet. He saw you were in trouble and he knew he had to stop the loss of blood?

HAMILTON: Yes. He just got a surf board leash, which is like a thin plastic rubber, so it was kind of like the perfect thing. I guess the doctor said that was one thing that definitely saved me.

ZAHN (voice-over): Bethany was rushed into surgery, where doctors performed a traumatic amputation to close the large wound with a flap of her skin. She was lucky to be alive. She had lost an arm, but not her spirit.

(on camera) I think it's absolutely amazing that, three weeks almost after losing your life, you went back into the water. What made you do that?

HAMILTON: I guess all I can say is my love for surfing just is what brought me back out there, and -- I love being in the ocean, the beach and it was just one thing I want -- had to do, wanted to do. Fall off the horse, get back on.

ZAHN: And what was it like to be on the water for the first time after you were so severely attacked?

HAMILTON: I was just happy, nervous, scared, all at the same time, and by the time I caught my first wave, I just had tears of joy, and I rode it all the way to the beach. I was just so happy, just to be in the water, just to be surfing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: Blown away by her, one young woman who has shown us all what courage really means.

Coming up next, a man who the U.S. government doesn't seem to trust all because of a chance meeting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUAN CARLOS MERIDA, ON FEDERAL WATCH LIST: I haven't done anything wrong in my life. I'm very proud of being -- to be -- of being in this country. I love your country, and that's why I tried to help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Coming up, a puzzling story about the people watching out for our security.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: On the CNN "Security Watch" tonight, there have been no terrorist attacks in the U.S. since 2001. Tougher security measures like the government's no-fly list may be working. The Transportation Security Administration compiles the list from other parts of the federal government, including intelligence and law enforcement agencies. It's hard to argue with the idea of keeping terrorists off of airplane, but in our heightened state of security, is it possible that innocent people may be paying the price? Drew Griffin met one man who says the answer to that question is yes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Juan Carlos Merida's bleak situation didn't hit home until last week when he realized he couldn't get home.

(on camera) When you heard your dad had another heart attack, Juan, I'm sure the instinct was to go to Panama.

MERIDA: Immediately.

GRIFFIN: His father lay in a hospital bed in his native Panama. His son, stranded here, in Oklahoma, afraid that if he left the United States, even to see his father, he might never be able to return.

MERIDA: Hey, what are you doing this afternoon?

GRIFFIN: Juan Carlos Merida is one of thousands of people who, after the attacks of 9/11, were judged to be potential security risks and found themselves on the federal government's watch list.

MERIDA: This is when I was skinny.

GRIFFIN: But how this former Panamanian Air Force pilot, who says he loves his adopted country, got on that list is one of the more baffling stories of post-9/11 America.

(on camera) Do they think you are a terrorist? That you had something to do with this stuff?

MERIDA: I will say that, no, but my name is on the list.

GRIFFIN: Merida's nightmare began in February of 2001. He was working as a recruiter and instructor at this flight school in Norman, Oklahoma, when his boss, Brenda Keen (ph), asked him to pick up a new student flying in from overseas.

BRENDA KEEN, FLYING SCHOOL INSTRUCTOR: Well, I mean, I asked him to pick him up at the airport. You know, he's doing what he was told.

GRIFFIN: But, following his bosses's orders and driving to the Oklahoma City airport that day to pick up a foreign student turned out to be just one of two mistakes Juan Carlos would make. The second was after September 11, when he realized just who that student was.

MERIDA: When I saw his face on TV, after the events of September 11, when he was arrested, before September 11, I recognized him immediately.

GRIFFIN: The man Juan Carlos Merida recognized, the foreign flight student he picked up at this airport, was Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called 20th hijacker. Sensing the importance of his information, Merida went straight to the FBI.

MERIDA: I came to them, to try to tell them that I'm the person who went to pick him up and I took him to his place. When I told them about the apartment... GRIFFIN: Merida believes one brief encounter with a terrorist is the reason he was placed on the watch list. Since then, the FAA has denied his applications to train on large jets. His work visa has not been renewed, and, according to Merida, one person at the Department of Homeland Security told him to give up his dream of ever becoming a commercial pilot.

MERIDA: She actually told me that I wasn't allowed to fly anymore in the U.S., and she actually told me, you ask your boss if you can do something else. But you're not going to fly anymore in the U.S.? Why? Because I took that decision.

GRIFFIN (on camera): Because you picked up a guy at the airport?

MERIDA: Well, she didn't mention that. But that's the reason.

GRIFFIN: But if Moussaoui got in a cab, would we be having this discussion today?

MERIDA: No. No. I haven't done anything wrong in my life. I'm very proud of being in this country. I love your country. And that's why I tried to help.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Critics say there are thousands like Merida, law-abiding people who say they have no idea why they are on the watch list, and are frustrated because no one in the government seems willing to explain why.

We went through that same frustration, trying to find out why Juan Carlos Merida got on the government's list.

(on camera): We called the Transportation Safety Administration here in Arlington, Virginia, which maintains the lists. The TSA sent us to the Department of Justice. The Department of Justice sent us to the Department of Homeland Security. And the Department of Homeland Security sent us right back here to the TSA. No one would give us an answer.

(voice-over): Despite all this bureaucracy that has placed his dreams on hold, Juan Carlos Merida says he never regrets trying to help this adopted country of his when it needed him most.

(on camera): How can you still like a country that does that?

MERIDA: Well, let's put it this way. And I say all the time, you know, if I have to go back in time and do it again, would you help the FBI with information? Of course, I will. You know, it was really painful for me to be in this country when this event, you know, when those towers, I saw them falling. You know, and if I have to go back in time and try to help your country again, I will.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: That was Drew Griffin, reporting for us tonight.

We asked former Homeland Security Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson about this. He did give us this statement -- quote, "We have to use the intelligence we have to protect airline passengers, and put people who've had some connection with terrorism on our watch list. That said, no system is infallible, and there needs to be some improvement in the way people on those watch lists can be cleared. The process for correction is clearly not well enough known."

As for Merida's father, he's been flown to Miami for heart surgery.

Still ahead, one of the most nerve-racking jobs in the world.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUGLAS C. ROHN, AMERICAN CONSUL GENERAL: We have to be prepared for anything at any time. I think a lot of us don't sleep real well just because of the nature of our work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Stay with us and visit a place where the daily commute includes armed guards and armored cars -- and, no, we're not talking about Iraq.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: Still ahead -- a very dangerous job, where the first order of business is to watch your back.

But first, we are watching the clock. It's time again for Erica Hill at HEADLINE NEWS to check the top stories. Please don't come in light, please don't come in heavy.

HILL: Paula, the Secret Service is investigating reports that what may have been a hand grenade was thrown while President Bush was giving a speech in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. The device landed about 100 feet from the stage at a rally in Tbilisi and did not explode. One spokesman for the Georgian government is now denying the object thrown was a grenade.

In Iraq, a suicide car bombing in Baghdad killed at least seven people and wounded 14 others. It was one of three bombings reported today in the capital.

Also today -- Congress approved $82 billion more in military spending for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. So far, the war on terror has cost Americans more than $300 billion since September 11th.

The U.S. Army, falling short of recruits, says it plans to investigate allegations of unethical recruiting practices like helping recruits cheat on drug tests.

And how about this one? Hundreds of young fans cheered Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones at a brief concert in New York City as they kicked off a new album and another world tour.

Plus, Martha Stewart, now back in business without missing a beat. Here is Valerie Morris with today's "Market Movers."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALERIE MORRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two months after being released from federal prison, Martha Stewart is more in demand than ever. Her latest gig, a serious deal with Sirius Satellite Radio, to create a 24-hour channel. Subscribers can tune in for advice on cooking, entertaining and gardening. This comes on the heels of two Martha TV deals. She plans to create a version of "The Apprentice" and a daily homemaking show.

Stewart is trying to rebuild her business after serving five months in prison for lying to the government about a stock sale.

(on camera): Shares of Martha Stewart Living have more than doubled in the past year, but are down more than 30 percent since she was released from prison.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: And that's the latest from HEADLINE NEWS at this hour. Paula, back to you.

ZAHN: Thanks, Erica.

Time to move on to our own mover and shaker, Larry King, who's coming up at the top of the hour. Who is with you tonight, Larry?

LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": I'm moving and shaking. You know, "Everybody Loves Raymond," one of the best sitcoms in the history of this business, is going off the air after nine years. Its last presentation will be next Monday night in fact, and Ray Romano, Patricia Heaton and Brad Garrett are all going to be here. We're going to show excerpts from their favorite shows, take viewer calls. It's going to be a lot of fun as we salute "Everybody Loves Raymond" at the top of the hour, Paula.

ZAHN: Are you going to make any of those people cry tonight, Larry? It's kind of sad, they've been a family now for almost a decade here.

KING: We're going to miss them.

ZAHN: Yeah, a great job.

KING: They will be on forever, though, right? They're going to run forever.

ZAHN: Yeah, you know, they'll be collecting residuals until the year 3000, I think.

KING: You're not kidding. And tomorrow night, by the way, a full hour with Condoleezza Rice.

ZAHN: That should be interesting. Thanks, Larry, have a good show tonight. KING: Thanks, dear.

ZAHN: Coming up next -- the person of the day. Is it that stray dog who saved the abandoned baby in Kenya? The seven Kentucky Derby superfecta winners, for picking the top four finishers and walking away with an absolute fortune? Or Renee Zellweger and new husband Kenny Chesney, for getting married quietly, without any of us snooping on them?

And the winner with 78 percent of the vote, the Kenyan dog.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN (voice-over): They call her Baby Angel. She's one lucky girl, who apparently owes her life to this dog. It was foraging for food in the Kenyan bush when villagers say it came across the two- week-old baby. The child was wrapped in a pair of black shorts. The villagers think the dog dragged the bundle through a barbed wire fence, across a busy road and back to its own litter of pups. Some children heard the baby crying and told their parents. The adults brought her to the hospital. Baby Angel's future looks bright. A Kenyan newspaper editor says adoption offers are coming in from all over the world. And back in the village, it is no longer a dog's life for the canine hero. And for being a baby girl's best friend, you picked her as the "Person of the Day." We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: Today almost four years after 9/11, and nearly seven years after the attacks on U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, there are some real concerns about whether American officials are getting enough protection overseas. The Government Accountability Office says the State Department has no comprehensive strategy to protect diplomats outside the embassies where they work. They are on the frontlines without flak jackets in some of the world's most dangerous places.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: It's 7:30 a.m. at the consul general's house. And Douglas Rohn is being picked up for work by his seriously armed security detail. It's only a few short blocks to the office, a two-minute ride, but tight security is essential, because Douglas Rohn is the U.S. consul general in Karachi, Pakistan, one of the most dangerous postings in the world for American diplomats.

The list of attacks here over the past few years is staggering. In June 2002, the consulate was car bombed, killing a dozen people just outside its walls.

In 2004, another car bomb parked in front of the building was defused.

But just weeks later a double bomb blast went off a few blocks away at the Pakistan/American Cultural Center.

And back in 1995, two employees at the U.S. Consulate here were shot to death on their way to work.

ROHN: There's a history of events here, we have to be prepared for anything at any time. I think a lot of us don't sleep real well because of the nature of our work.

ZAHN: The nature of Douglas Rohn's work is to be the public face of the United States. A tough assignment in a region often openly hostile toward American policy.

ROHN: The big challenge I think of our generation is the global war on terror. Being here at this time, at this place is one of the sort of hinge of fate moments.

ZAHN: So Rohn invited CNN to tag along on a day in his heavily guarded life.

ROHN: This is Doug Rohn in Karachi.

ZAHN: At first, Rohn's office might seem ordinary. But on the outside, it's fortified with razor wire and a gauntlet of cement barricades. Local police stand watch every minute of the day. For security reasons, we weren't allowed to film the U.S. Marines who also patrol the grounds. Inside the consulate looks and feels like a bunker. And that can be frustrating for staff like Public Affairs Officer Rex Moser.

REX MOSER, EMBASSY PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER: This actually is a kind of metaphor for the experience that we have in Karachi itself, because much of the city is completely off limits to us. We're not even able to drive through large parts of the city because of the security situation. And this is frustrating in terms of the work we do, which is supposed to be public outreach.

ZAHN: But despite the risks, Moser and his boss know that getting out and meeting people is the best hope for improving relations between Pakistan and the Muslim world.

ROHN: One thing it does allow us do is to project the human face of the United States. And you really can't underestimate the impact of something like that. That if you go out there, show personal interest in people, maybe give them a few words of encouragement. These sorts of things can linger for a long time.

ZAHN: The first stop this morning for Consul General Rohn is a local, private school. The faculty and students are welcoming. They already benefit from the American attempt to win their hearts and minds. Although the school has been preselected and screened, Rohn's guards are always just a few steps away watching his back.

ROHN: All of our travel is cleared by our security officers. They look for patterns. If somebody wants to go to a certain place, they say, no, somebody went there two weeks ago. Let's wait and not go there for a while. We try not to telegraph our movements and move through traffic as quickly as one can through this huge city, and go someplace, do our job, get back in the car. ZAHN: And back out of the car -- this time, at Karachi University -- and an important audience of Islamic scholars who want reassurance about U.S. intentions.

ROHN: Americans don't know a lot about Islam but their words. We find a lot of misconceptions on both sides. Certainly, our image needs a lot of work out here.

ZAHN: After a precisely staged photo-op, it's back into the armored car. Consul General Rohn, a Washington state native, misses the wide open roads back home.

ROHN: You know, I'm a good old boy from way out West. And one of my great joys in life is getting behind the wheel of a car and driving a long way. So, I don't get to do that here. But driving around Karachi is not a fun experience.

ZAHN: Although Rohn is most vulnerable when he's out around town, history has proven that even within the walls of the consulate, he and his staff could be targets, a top concern for Security Chief Tom Gallagher.

TOM GALLAGHER, REGIONAL SECURITY OFFICER: Every day before I go to work I think in my mind what might happen to us and what our response is going be to react to any type of threat scenario. At some point the law of averages says there will be an attempt again against the consulate.

ZAHN: There's no doubt Americans are targets in Karachi. It was here that journalist Daniel Pearl was abduct and murdered. One way to diminish the threat is to work with local law enforcement. So, the last appointment of Rohn's day is for a security update.

ROHN: And they can say things like don't go in this neighborhood in a white sedan of this particular make between these hours, that you'll have the highest chances (ph) you're not getting carjacked.

ZAHN: But now, back safely, Rohn's night ends with a party within his residence.

ROHN: We would just be interested if any -- if any of you have any observations.

ZAHN: Still at work -- preparing America's image for the relative security of his home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: (INAUDIBLE) is great public service. Thanks so much for joining us tonight. We'll be back tomorrow night. Have a great evening.

END

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

Aired May 10, 2005 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, everyone. Thanks so much for being with us.
In a few moments, we'll have more on reports that a hand grenade may have been thrown at President Bush during his visit to the Soviet republic of Georgia. Now Georgia's foreign minister is calling those reports a lie. We're going to try to make sense of some of these confusing reports.

But, first, a second shock for a Midwestern town, an unexpected development in the murder of two young girls.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN (voice-over): In the violent attack on two young girls, a suspect is in custody tonight.

MICHAEL WALLER, LAKE COUNTY STATE'S ATTORNEY: Jerry Branton Hobbs III of Zion.

ZAHN: And a dramatic turn of events. It is someone close to home, a father of one of the victims.

WALLER: He is charged with the stabbing and beating death of both girls, which occurred on Mother's Day.

ZAHN: As more kids become targets, what should they know to keep them safe.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Were you scared?

CANDY MCBRIDE, FOURTH GRADE STUDENT: Never. I'm not scared, not of anything.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no.

ZAHN: Tonight, protecting our children.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: Two little girls go out for a bike ride on Mother's Day. And the next morning, they are found stabbed and beaten to death. That's the nightmare the people of Zion, Illinois, are living this week. The victims are eight-year-old Laura Hobbs and nine-year-old Krystal Tobias. Well, today, the local prosecutor named Laura's father as the suspect. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALLER: I've been in this business for over 30 years. This is probably the most horrific crime I've ever seen. And I, at many other news conferences, have made the statement that there's no rational explanation or reasonable motive that can be ascribed to an act of horror like this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Jerry Hobbs will have a bond hearing tomorrow. So, it is a possibility we may learn a little bit more about what might have motivated him to commit this crime, or allegedly commit this crime.

We do know that Hobbs has a spotty past. He was once convicted in Texas for chasing neighbors around with a chain saw. Hobbs' arrest may ease the fear in Zion, but not the sense of loss.

Here is Keith Oppenheim.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They were described as inseparable friends; eight-year-old Laura Hobbs enjoyed acting; nine-year-old Krystal liked to draw, liked being outdoors. Krystal's older brother, Alberto is remembering.

ALBERTO TOBIAS, BROTHER: The things she did for me. Then, before she died, I never got a chance to say I loved her or nothing.

OPPENHEIM: Laura and Krystal lived on the same street, just blocks apart. Krystal's family spoke Spanish, but these girls had no problem communicating. Family member say they often had sleepovers at each other's houses.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The teacher described both of them as having a sense of humor and wit and just really being outgoing young ladies.

OPPENHEIM: Their tight friendship in life has linked their families in death.

ARTHUR HOLLABAUGH, LAURA HOBBS'S GRANDFATHER: I know that our family and that family doesn't have money, but I wish a group would come forward and post a reward to catch these people and get them out of Zion, because we just don't want them around here.

OPPENHEIM: This conversation with the grandparents of Laura Hobbs occurred before police charged Jerry Hobbs, Laura's father, with the murders of both girls. On Monday, both grandparents made no references to their son in law.

EMILY HOLLABAUGH, LAURA HOBBS'S GRANDMOTHER: I have a lot of questions, but it is just mostly rage at whoever could do this to two little girls. I can't talk anymore.

OPPENHEIM: A day after that interview, I spoke with Laura's grandfather at his fence. His pain was no less fierce.

A. HOLLABAUGH: Everything has been said about Laura. And we're just devastated right now. But we're waiting to hear from the police and the news. And so...

OPPENHEIM (on camera): It must be overwhelming right now.

A. HOLLABAUGH: It is.

OPPENHEIM (voice-over): Down the street, the relatives of Krystal Tobias were avoiding the media, but welcoming close friends, like Maria Salgado, who told us about Krystal's mother, Christina (ph).

"I don't think she's doing well," she said. "She doesn't talk much at all."

A minister who is working to raise money for both victims' families told us about a visit with Krystal's parents.

ARSEN TUGEN, MINISTER: And we just embraced them, cried with them, prayed with them, told them that we loved them, we support them. If there's anything that we can do for them, we're here for them.

OPPENHEIM: The ministering may be a small step forward on a long road of grieving for two families, both left with pain and questions about why two young lives came to an end.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: That was Keith Oppenheim, questions that everybody wants answered tonight.

Joining me now from Zion, Mayor Lane Harrison.

First of all, we are so sorry about the loss of -- your community and now the shock of the stunning announcement that the father of one of the victims has now been named as a suspect in this crime. What's your reaction to that news?

LANE HARRISON, MAYOR OF ZION: Well, the reaction is one of dismay. It's hard to believe that, you know, being a father myself, a grandfather, and having grandchildren here in the community, that anyone could do something like this to their child.

ZAHN: What do we know about the alleged perpetrator of these murders?

HARRISON: We know nothing, really, here in our city. He moved here about four, four-and-a-half weeks ago, coming here from Texas, apparently. And that's really all we know about him.

ZAHN: Mr. Mayor, I'm going to put up on the screen now some of what we've been able to dig up in some of our reporting and some of the other reporting that's been done today, that Jerry Hobbs had been convicted of aggravated assault with a weapon, domestic battery. He'd been arrested for possessing small amounts of marijuana, driving on a suspended license, resisting arrest, evading arrest, failing to identify a fugitive from justice.

Is there any sense of relief, in spite of the horrific tragedy you've suffered here, that this man has been arrested?

HARRISON: Well, yes, there certainly is. And I know the community has to be breathing a collective sigh of relief, simply because they know someone isn't out there laying in wait for other children.

ZAHN: We know the bond hearing is going to take place tomorrow. Are you hopeful that investigators will be able to determine a motive for these brutal murders?

HARRISON: Oh, yes. I'm sure they have -- the state's attorney, Mr. Waller, is very thorough. And they would not go to a bond hearing unless they had everything they needed to sustain this.

ZAHN: You were talking about Jerry Hobbs just recently coming to Zion, Illinois, where we are told he was trying to build the relationship with Sheila Hollabaugh, the mother of three of his children. Do you know anything more about their relationship?

HARRISON: I'm sorry. I don't know anything about it at all.

ZAHN: I know one thing you do know an awful lot about is how the children of this elementary school have been affected by this loss. You happen to teach there, among other things. Describe to us what's going on at the school. We understand absences were up, as one might expect. What else can you tell us?

HARRISON: Well, the crisis intervention team has come forward and just done a marvelous job at Beulah Elementary School, where these two girls attended.

The team is put together by our administrative staff, Dr. Connie Collins (ph) taking the lead in that. And everything has just been fabulous. And the needs of the children have been the first and foremost thing in everyone's mind. They have been really, really doing a wonderful job.

ZAHN: And, Mayor Harrison, as you might imagine, this crime has sent shockwaves across the country, with parents and children wanting to know what they can learn from this. Is there a parting thought you can share with us tonight as you try to make sense of this horror?

HARRISON: Well, yes.

As I spoke with parents just moments ago in the gymnasium, we teach our children not to go out and wander about and stay close and, hopefully -- you don't want something this tragic to give those kids or give our children that sense. But something like this, I guess, will bring them together. We just thank God that the rest of the children are safe and this person is off the streets. ZAHN: Well, Mayor Harrison, we know this is a tough time for all of you living there. Thank you very much for your time tonight. And good luck with the long road you all have ahead.

HARRISON: Thank you.

ZAHN: And coming up, the story of a little girl who got away from her attacker because she knew exactly how to fight back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCBRIDE: He came behind me and put my hands like that. And then I turned. I kicked him like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Coming up next, a self-defense class that truly was a life saver and what your kids need to know to keep themselves safe.

And then, a little bit later on, the amazing story of the 15- year-old surfer who lost her arm to a shark. But she's still surfing and she's still winning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: Parents are bound to be frightened by the stories we've followed over the past couple of weeks about abused and murdered children. But there are ways children can protect and defend themselves.

Here is Ed Lavandera with the story of one young girl who survived because she was prepared for the worst.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Candy McBride is nine years old, 4'8" tall and is stuck at 79 pounds. But don't let cute fool you.

(on camera): For all the other fourth-graders who might see this out there, how would you describe yourself?

MCBRIDE: Athletic, funny. I can kick butt.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): That's the strong-willed attitude her family says helped Candy put 26-year-old Jimmy Guard in jail. The 5'10'', 185-pound man is awaiting trial for attempted kidnapping. He's accused of trying to abduct Candy last November and has pled not guilty.

CHARLOTTE CARR, MOTHER OF CANDY: She come like up through the grass, or what have you, and she was cutting across here. And so it happened just like right here.

LAVANDERA: Candy had just got off her school bus when police say Guard jumped from behind a tree.

CARR: When he grabbed her, he put his hands over her mouth, and he had her arms up behind her head.

LAVANDERA (on camera): The attack happened about 100 yards away from Candy's home and also just a few feet away from a busy roadway. It was 4:00 in the afternoon. Cars were driving by. Other kids were walking home from school. But, still, no one was close enough to help.

(voice-over): Candy was alone, but hardly helpless. In an instant, this little fourth-grader got mad enough to unleash her fury.

MCBRIDE: He came behind me and put my hands like that. And then I turned. I kicked him like that. I turned around. I punched him. Then he punched me back. Then I slapped him. He slapped me back. And then I hit him one more time in the stomach. Then I ran home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. No.

LAVANDERA: Candy developed the confidence to fight back in a self-defense training course called radKIDS.

ALLISON LAWSON, RADKIDS INSTRUCTOR: RadKIDS stance. Yell, stay back.

CHILDREN: Stay back. You're not my mom.

LAVANDERA: RAD stands for Resist Aggression Defensively. She took the class as a second-grader, but the lessons stuck.

MCBRIDE: Whoever hits me, believe me, they're going to get something back.

LAWSON: No. And then maybe they'll let go. What do we do? We run away and go tell somebody, right?

LAVANDERA: Allison Lawson is the instructor who taught Candy. She says the course doesn't just tell kids how to be safe. It shows them what to do to protect themselves, like how to elude and escape an attacker's grip.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come with me, kid.

MCBRIDE: No.

LAWSON: One of the things that I think radKIDS did for her was to help give her the mind-set, so that, when it really happens, they're able to kind of take control of that situation and instead of kind of freaking out for a minute and trying to decide what to do, there's a little bit of, oh, I know. There's a little bit of control there.

LAVANDERA: Not only did Candy get away. Police say she got a good enough look at the attacker that the next day she instantly picked Jimmy Guard out of a photo lineup. Candy's mother credits the radKIDS course for helping her daughter stay cool under pressure.

(on camera): Were you ever scared? MCBRIDE: Never.

LAVANDERA: Never?

MCBRIDE: I'm not scared, not of anything but my mom.

(LAUGHTER)

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Candy has a message for every young child who thinks they're too small and weak to get away from a strong attacker. Confidence, she says, is key.

MCBRIDE: They can be 2 feet, for all I care. They can do it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: And that was Ed Lavandera reporting.

Joining me now with information on protecting your children, someone who has spent years studying the ways predators entice kids, Kenneth Wooden, creator of Child Lures, a program that gives parents and children the tools they need to save themselves from becoming victims.

Good to see you. Welcome.

KENNETH WOODEN, CHILD SAFETY SPECIALIST: My pleasure.

ZAHN: As a parent, I think what our audience is about to see is some of the most chilling video I've ever witnessed. You are filming yourself as a would-be abductor with a hidden camera, showing all of us, no matter how many times we tell our children not to follow a stranger, how easy it is to lure children into danger.

Let's watch together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOODEN: I'm looking for this dog. He's a pedigree. And I'm giving a reward of $50. He's really a very, very expensive dog. Have you seen him? His name is Sam. And he loves children and he answers to their voice. Would you yell Sam a few times?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

WOODEN: Go ahead. Just yell.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sam. Yell again?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. In this area. Here, go over by that tree and just yell Sam.

WOODEN: Sam.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here, here. Back here.

WOODEN: That little kid (OFF-MIKE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. All right. Give it a loud yell.

WOODEN: Sam.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Ken, that is just absolutely horrifying to watch. You, obviously are filming this with a hidden camera. That kid went with you like that.

WOODEN: He did. Then we came back and we got his sister to go with us.

ZAHN: Why was that so easy?

WOODEN: You have got to remember, these guys that molest, murder children are con artists. They know how to apply the con. We all have good instincts. Children have good instincts. But the lure is designed to short-circuit your instinct.

ZAHN: The lure, you double -- it was a double whammy there.

WOODEN: It was a double whammy.

ZAHN: It's the pet and a $50 reward, basically.

WOODEN: Yes. It was a double whammy. And they went, because they didn't know the lure.

I'm happy to report, in some parts of the country now, with our TV news series, kids are not going. They're getting the message. But, over the years, Paula, too many kids have fallen victim to this lure, the pet lure, asking for directions, even the emergency lure. Your mom is sick. She's in the hospital. All those lures can be challenged.

For example, right now, I tell parents, when it comes to directions, look your children in the eye. No. There's no directions you give anybody. That car is too dangerous. There's no lost pet. Don't even go there. If someone wants you to look for a lost pet, you don't do it. And, mom, look your kids in the eye and communicate that.

ZAHN: And, Ken, in light of what happened in Zion, what is it that parents need to know about family members of the children their children are playing with?

WOODEN: Sure.

Well, my good wife, God bless her, if she was not comfortable with the guy next door, the neighbor or whatever, our kids didn't go over there and play. Be a strong parent. Trust your instinct. It wasn't a casual asset that your ancestors gave you. Trust it and follow it.

ZAHN: Some excellent advice we can all learn from. Thank you so much for being with us tonight.

WOODEN: Thank you. My pleasure.

ZAHN: If you want to know more about how to keep your kids safe, you can go to our Web site, CNN.com/Paula.

And, in just a minute, we're going to go live to the White House for the very latest on the reported security threat during President Bush's speech today in the former Soviet republic of Georgia.

And then later, a near fatal shark attack and a young surfer's courageous comeback.

Plus, he was just doing his job, but that may have put him on a terrorist watch list. That story coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: We are just starting to get some details tonight of what may have been an attempt on the life of President Bush. It happened during the president's appearance today in Tbilisi, the capital of the former Soviet republic of Georgia.

White House correspondent Elaine Quijano joins me now with the latest on the developing story.

Elaine, I think one of the weirder parts of all this is, we didn't even learn about this until several hours after the president had left Tbilisi. What else have you learned?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's what the Secret Service says they learned. It was several hours after President Bush left Georgia that this was made known to them.

But I think what we have to emphasize, first of all, is that this is a report that came out of Georgia by Georgian security authorities, as told to the U.S. Secret Service. Now, the account that has been relayed to the Secret Service is that, as the president was speaking on stage in Tbilisi, Georgia, that a device that appeared to be or was described as being a hand grenade was thrown about 100 feet or within 100 feet of where President Bush was on stage delivering that speech.

Now, according to this account, the device actually hit an individual, fell down, and was recognized by a Georgian security officer as a grenade. And the officer took it away. And that is that report we have, the Secret Service, though, emphasizing, they haven't seen it. They can't confirm exactly what it was -- Paula.

ZAHN: Now, what's the deal with the Interior minister tonight and what he is saying?

QUIJANO: Well, the Associated Press is reporting that a spokesman for the Georgian interior minister is calling this a lie -- so, a lot of unanswered questions right now, still waiting to find out more information. But the Secret Service says they're working with the FBI, the State Department, as well as Georgian security authorities to find out exactly what might have happened -- Paula.

ZAHN: Elaine Quijano trying to do the fact-finding she can at this hour, lots of confusion to clear up. Thanks so much.

It's just about 25 minutes past the hour. Erica Hill at HEADLINE NEWS joins us now for the rest of the day's top stories.

I haven't seen you for a couple nights. Welcome back.

ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, thanks, Paula. Nice to be back.

We start off with Iraq. For a third day, the fighting rages in Operation Matador there. U.S. forces are said to be engaged in face- to-face combat with insurgents near the border with Syria. Now, the military says this latest offensive has killed at least 100 insurgents.

United Airlines' employees can no longer count on their pension. Today, a federal bankruptcy judge approved the airline's plans to terminate employee pensions. Now, United says the move will help cut costs while it tries to settle bankruptcy claims. But workers say it violates their contract and they've threatened to strike.

On the CNN "Security Watch" tonight, fake badges, more than 1,000 of them, seized by federal agents in New York. Counterfeits from 35 different law enforcement agencies. One agent says 90 percent of them would pass scrutiny. A Russian national was arrested. Weapons and police uniforms were seized at his apartment.

And, Paula, bathing suit season right around the corner. We all know there are so many diets out there, it's often tough to choose. So, which ones are best? Weight Watchers and Slim-Fast, according to "Consumer Reports." The magazine says the low-carb Atkins diet helped people lose pounds, but, in the end, many have trouble sticking to it.

And that's the skinny from HEADLINE NEWS -- Paula.

ZAHN: And there's always, of course, just sucking the tummy in.

HILL: That never hurts.

ZAHN: Yes. But you can only do it 15 minutes a stretch and then you're busted.

Thank you, Erica. See you a little bit later on, maybe about a half-hour or so from now.

Here is your chance to vote for the person of the day. Your choices, the stray dog in Kenya for saving the life of an abandoned baby, the seven betters who won the Kentucky Derby's superfecta by picking the longshot winner and the next three horses as well, or Renee Zellweger and Kenny Chesney for their very unstar-like, low- publicity wedding. Surprise.

Vote at CNN.com/Paula. The winner a little bit later in this hour.

Coming up next, the remarkable teenage surfer and her incredible comeback after a shark attack changed her life forever.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: Fewer than 100 people a year all over the world are attacked by sharks. But knowing that doesn't really make it any less frightening to think about the possibility. So, imagine how much courage would it take to get back in the water after a shark attack and losing your arm. Well, you are about to meet a teenager who did, and she's the focus of tonight's "People in the News."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN (voice-over): Bethany Hamilton is a surfer through and through. She grew up on these waves off the island of Kauai. At 13 she was competing in national surfing events. Before sunrise every day, Bethany hits the beach in search of the perfect wave. But on October 31, 2003, her life changed forever.

(on camera): Take us back to that Halloween morning when you were attacked. What do you remember leading up to the shark actually taking your arm?

BETHANY HAMILTON, SURFER: I was just surfing with my friends. I knew right away what happened, and they all pulled me in and soon enough, I was in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.

ZAHN (voice-over): Bethany was attacked by a 14-foot tiger shark while she lay on her board in the surf. It tore off her left arm and with it a huge chunk of her surf board.

Tiger sharks often swim in the shallow waters off Kauai. They are considered one of the most dangerous of the 32 species known to attack humans. Bethany tried to paddle to shore on her mangled board. She was losing blood, fast.

(on camera) How did you get back to shore?

HAMILTON: My friend, Alana (ph), her dad and brother pulled me to shore.

ZAHN: If it weren't for your friend's -- Alana's -- father, you might not be alive, right?

HAMILTON: Yes, definitely.

ZAHN: So, he had the wisdom to make you a tourniquet. He saw you were in trouble and he knew he had to stop the loss of blood?

HAMILTON: Yes. He just got a surf board leash, which is like a thin plastic rubber, so it was kind of like the perfect thing. I guess the doctor said that was one thing that definitely saved me.

ZAHN (voice-over): Bethany was rushed into surgery, where doctors performed a traumatic amputation to close the large wound with a flap of her skin. She was lucky to be alive. She had lost an arm, but not her spirit.

(on camera) I think it's absolutely amazing that, three weeks almost after losing your life, you went back into the water. What made you do that?

HAMILTON: I guess all I can say is my love for surfing just is what brought me back out there, and -- I love being in the ocean, the beach and it was just one thing I want -- had to do, wanted to do. Fall off the horse, get back on.

ZAHN: And what was it like to be on the water for the first time after you were so severely attacked?

HAMILTON: I was just happy, nervous, scared, all at the same time, and by the time I caught my first wave, I just had tears of joy, and I rode it all the way to the beach. I was just so happy, just to be in the water, just to be surfing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: Blown away by her, one young woman who has shown us all what courage really means.

Coming up next, a man who the U.S. government doesn't seem to trust all because of a chance meeting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUAN CARLOS MERIDA, ON FEDERAL WATCH LIST: I haven't done anything wrong in my life. I'm very proud of being -- to be -- of being in this country. I love your country, and that's why I tried to help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Coming up, a puzzling story about the people watching out for our security.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: On the CNN "Security Watch" tonight, there have been no terrorist attacks in the U.S. since 2001. Tougher security measures like the government's no-fly list may be working. The Transportation Security Administration compiles the list from other parts of the federal government, including intelligence and law enforcement agencies. It's hard to argue with the idea of keeping terrorists off of airplane, but in our heightened state of security, is it possible that innocent people may be paying the price? Drew Griffin met one man who says the answer to that question is yes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Juan Carlos Merida's bleak situation didn't hit home until last week when he realized he couldn't get home.

(on camera) When you heard your dad had another heart attack, Juan, I'm sure the instinct was to go to Panama.

MERIDA: Immediately.

GRIFFIN: His father lay in a hospital bed in his native Panama. His son, stranded here, in Oklahoma, afraid that if he left the United States, even to see his father, he might never be able to return.

MERIDA: Hey, what are you doing this afternoon?

GRIFFIN: Juan Carlos Merida is one of thousands of people who, after the attacks of 9/11, were judged to be potential security risks and found themselves on the federal government's watch list.

MERIDA: This is when I was skinny.

GRIFFIN: But how this former Panamanian Air Force pilot, who says he loves his adopted country, got on that list is one of the more baffling stories of post-9/11 America.

(on camera) Do they think you are a terrorist? That you had something to do with this stuff?

MERIDA: I will say that, no, but my name is on the list.

GRIFFIN: Merida's nightmare began in February of 2001. He was working as a recruiter and instructor at this flight school in Norman, Oklahoma, when his boss, Brenda Keen (ph), asked him to pick up a new student flying in from overseas.

BRENDA KEEN, FLYING SCHOOL INSTRUCTOR: Well, I mean, I asked him to pick him up at the airport. You know, he's doing what he was told.

GRIFFIN: But, following his bosses's orders and driving to the Oklahoma City airport that day to pick up a foreign student turned out to be just one of two mistakes Juan Carlos would make. The second was after September 11, when he realized just who that student was.

MERIDA: When I saw his face on TV, after the events of September 11, when he was arrested, before September 11, I recognized him immediately.

GRIFFIN: The man Juan Carlos Merida recognized, the foreign flight student he picked up at this airport, was Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called 20th hijacker. Sensing the importance of his information, Merida went straight to the FBI.

MERIDA: I came to them, to try to tell them that I'm the person who went to pick him up and I took him to his place. When I told them about the apartment... GRIFFIN: Merida believes one brief encounter with a terrorist is the reason he was placed on the watch list. Since then, the FAA has denied his applications to train on large jets. His work visa has not been renewed, and, according to Merida, one person at the Department of Homeland Security told him to give up his dream of ever becoming a commercial pilot.

MERIDA: She actually told me that I wasn't allowed to fly anymore in the U.S., and she actually told me, you ask your boss if you can do something else. But you're not going to fly anymore in the U.S.? Why? Because I took that decision.

GRIFFIN (on camera): Because you picked up a guy at the airport?

MERIDA: Well, she didn't mention that. But that's the reason.

GRIFFIN: But if Moussaoui got in a cab, would we be having this discussion today?

MERIDA: No. No. I haven't done anything wrong in my life. I'm very proud of being in this country. I love your country. And that's why I tried to help.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Critics say there are thousands like Merida, law-abiding people who say they have no idea why they are on the watch list, and are frustrated because no one in the government seems willing to explain why.

We went through that same frustration, trying to find out why Juan Carlos Merida got on the government's list.

(on camera): We called the Transportation Safety Administration here in Arlington, Virginia, which maintains the lists. The TSA sent us to the Department of Justice. The Department of Justice sent us to the Department of Homeland Security. And the Department of Homeland Security sent us right back here to the TSA. No one would give us an answer.

(voice-over): Despite all this bureaucracy that has placed his dreams on hold, Juan Carlos Merida says he never regrets trying to help this adopted country of his when it needed him most.

(on camera): How can you still like a country that does that?

MERIDA: Well, let's put it this way. And I say all the time, you know, if I have to go back in time and do it again, would you help the FBI with information? Of course, I will. You know, it was really painful for me to be in this country when this event, you know, when those towers, I saw them falling. You know, and if I have to go back in time and try to help your country again, I will.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: That was Drew Griffin, reporting for us tonight.

We asked former Homeland Security Undersecretary Asa Hutchinson about this. He did give us this statement -- quote, "We have to use the intelligence we have to protect airline passengers, and put people who've had some connection with terrorism on our watch list. That said, no system is infallible, and there needs to be some improvement in the way people on those watch lists can be cleared. The process for correction is clearly not well enough known."

As for Merida's father, he's been flown to Miami for heart surgery.

Still ahead, one of the most nerve-racking jobs in the world.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUGLAS C. ROHN, AMERICAN CONSUL GENERAL: We have to be prepared for anything at any time. I think a lot of us don't sleep real well just because of the nature of our work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Stay with us and visit a place where the daily commute includes armed guards and armored cars -- and, no, we're not talking about Iraq.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: Still ahead -- a very dangerous job, where the first order of business is to watch your back.

But first, we are watching the clock. It's time again for Erica Hill at HEADLINE NEWS to check the top stories. Please don't come in light, please don't come in heavy.

HILL: Paula, the Secret Service is investigating reports that what may have been a hand grenade was thrown while President Bush was giving a speech in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. The device landed about 100 feet from the stage at a rally in Tbilisi and did not explode. One spokesman for the Georgian government is now denying the object thrown was a grenade.

In Iraq, a suicide car bombing in Baghdad killed at least seven people and wounded 14 others. It was one of three bombings reported today in the capital.

Also today -- Congress approved $82 billion more in military spending for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. So far, the war on terror has cost Americans more than $300 billion since September 11th.

The U.S. Army, falling short of recruits, says it plans to investigate allegations of unethical recruiting practices like helping recruits cheat on drug tests.

And how about this one? Hundreds of young fans cheered Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones at a brief concert in New York City as they kicked off a new album and another world tour.

Plus, Martha Stewart, now back in business without missing a beat. Here is Valerie Morris with today's "Market Movers."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALERIE MORRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two months after being released from federal prison, Martha Stewart is more in demand than ever. Her latest gig, a serious deal with Sirius Satellite Radio, to create a 24-hour channel. Subscribers can tune in for advice on cooking, entertaining and gardening. This comes on the heels of two Martha TV deals. She plans to create a version of "The Apprentice" and a daily homemaking show.

Stewart is trying to rebuild her business after serving five months in prison for lying to the government about a stock sale.

(on camera): Shares of Martha Stewart Living have more than doubled in the past year, but are down more than 30 percent since she was released from prison.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: And that's the latest from HEADLINE NEWS at this hour. Paula, back to you.

ZAHN: Thanks, Erica.

Time to move on to our own mover and shaker, Larry King, who's coming up at the top of the hour. Who is with you tonight, Larry?

LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": I'm moving and shaking. You know, "Everybody Loves Raymond," one of the best sitcoms in the history of this business, is going off the air after nine years. Its last presentation will be next Monday night in fact, and Ray Romano, Patricia Heaton and Brad Garrett are all going to be here. We're going to show excerpts from their favorite shows, take viewer calls. It's going to be a lot of fun as we salute "Everybody Loves Raymond" at the top of the hour, Paula.

ZAHN: Are you going to make any of those people cry tonight, Larry? It's kind of sad, they've been a family now for almost a decade here.

KING: We're going to miss them.

ZAHN: Yeah, a great job.

KING: They will be on forever, though, right? They're going to run forever.

ZAHN: Yeah, you know, they'll be collecting residuals until the year 3000, I think.

KING: You're not kidding. And tomorrow night, by the way, a full hour with Condoleezza Rice.

ZAHN: That should be interesting. Thanks, Larry, have a good show tonight. KING: Thanks, dear.

ZAHN: Coming up next -- the person of the day. Is it that stray dog who saved the abandoned baby in Kenya? The seven Kentucky Derby superfecta winners, for picking the top four finishers and walking away with an absolute fortune? Or Renee Zellweger and new husband Kenny Chesney, for getting married quietly, without any of us snooping on them?

And the winner with 78 percent of the vote, the Kenyan dog.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN (voice-over): They call her Baby Angel. She's one lucky girl, who apparently owes her life to this dog. It was foraging for food in the Kenyan bush when villagers say it came across the two- week-old baby. The child was wrapped in a pair of black shorts. The villagers think the dog dragged the bundle through a barbed wire fence, across a busy road and back to its own litter of pups. Some children heard the baby crying and told their parents. The adults brought her to the hospital. Baby Angel's future looks bright. A Kenyan newspaper editor says adoption offers are coming in from all over the world. And back in the village, it is no longer a dog's life for the canine hero. And for being a baby girl's best friend, you picked her as the "Person of the Day." We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ZAHN: Today almost four years after 9/11, and nearly seven years after the attacks on U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, there are some real concerns about whether American officials are getting enough protection overseas. The Government Accountability Office says the State Department has no comprehensive strategy to protect diplomats outside the embassies where they work. They are on the frontlines without flak jackets in some of the world's most dangerous places.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: It's 7:30 a.m. at the consul general's house. And Douglas Rohn is being picked up for work by his seriously armed security detail. It's only a few short blocks to the office, a two-minute ride, but tight security is essential, because Douglas Rohn is the U.S. consul general in Karachi, Pakistan, one of the most dangerous postings in the world for American diplomats.

The list of attacks here over the past few years is staggering. In June 2002, the consulate was car bombed, killing a dozen people just outside its walls.

In 2004, another car bomb parked in front of the building was defused.

But just weeks later a double bomb blast went off a few blocks away at the Pakistan/American Cultural Center.

And back in 1995, two employees at the U.S. Consulate here were shot to death on their way to work.

ROHN: There's a history of events here, we have to be prepared for anything at any time. I think a lot of us don't sleep real well because of the nature of our work.

ZAHN: The nature of Douglas Rohn's work is to be the public face of the United States. A tough assignment in a region often openly hostile toward American policy.

ROHN: The big challenge I think of our generation is the global war on terror. Being here at this time, at this place is one of the sort of hinge of fate moments.

ZAHN: So Rohn invited CNN to tag along on a day in his heavily guarded life.

ROHN: This is Doug Rohn in Karachi.

ZAHN: At first, Rohn's office might seem ordinary. But on the outside, it's fortified with razor wire and a gauntlet of cement barricades. Local police stand watch every minute of the day. For security reasons, we weren't allowed to film the U.S. Marines who also patrol the grounds. Inside the consulate looks and feels like a bunker. And that can be frustrating for staff like Public Affairs Officer Rex Moser.

REX MOSER, EMBASSY PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER: This actually is a kind of metaphor for the experience that we have in Karachi itself, because much of the city is completely off limits to us. We're not even able to drive through large parts of the city because of the security situation. And this is frustrating in terms of the work we do, which is supposed to be public outreach.

ZAHN: But despite the risks, Moser and his boss know that getting out and meeting people is the best hope for improving relations between Pakistan and the Muslim world.

ROHN: One thing it does allow us do is to project the human face of the United States. And you really can't underestimate the impact of something like that. That if you go out there, show personal interest in people, maybe give them a few words of encouragement. These sorts of things can linger for a long time.

ZAHN: The first stop this morning for Consul General Rohn is a local, private school. The faculty and students are welcoming. They already benefit from the American attempt to win their hearts and minds. Although the school has been preselected and screened, Rohn's guards are always just a few steps away watching his back.

ROHN: All of our travel is cleared by our security officers. They look for patterns. If somebody wants to go to a certain place, they say, no, somebody went there two weeks ago. Let's wait and not go there for a while. We try not to telegraph our movements and move through traffic as quickly as one can through this huge city, and go someplace, do our job, get back in the car. ZAHN: And back out of the car -- this time, at Karachi University -- and an important audience of Islamic scholars who want reassurance about U.S. intentions.

ROHN: Americans don't know a lot about Islam but their words. We find a lot of misconceptions on both sides. Certainly, our image needs a lot of work out here.

ZAHN: After a precisely staged photo-op, it's back into the armored car. Consul General Rohn, a Washington state native, misses the wide open roads back home.

ROHN: You know, I'm a good old boy from way out West. And one of my great joys in life is getting behind the wheel of a car and driving a long way. So, I don't get to do that here. But driving around Karachi is not a fun experience.

ZAHN: Although Rohn is most vulnerable when he's out around town, history has proven that even within the walls of the consulate, he and his staff could be targets, a top concern for Security Chief Tom Gallagher.

TOM GALLAGHER, REGIONAL SECURITY OFFICER: Every day before I go to work I think in my mind what might happen to us and what our response is going be to react to any type of threat scenario. At some point the law of averages says there will be an attempt again against the consulate.

ZAHN: There's no doubt Americans are targets in Karachi. It was here that journalist Daniel Pearl was abduct and murdered. One way to diminish the threat is to work with local law enforcement. So, the last appointment of Rohn's day is for a security update.

ROHN: And they can say things like don't go in this neighborhood in a white sedan of this particular make between these hours, that you'll have the highest chances (ph) you're not getting carjacked.

ZAHN: But now, back safely, Rohn's night ends with a party within his residence.

ROHN: We would just be interested if any -- if any of you have any observations.

ZAHN: Still at work -- preparing America's image for the relative security of his home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: (INAUDIBLE) is great public service. Thanks so much for joining us tonight. We'll be back tomorrow night. Have a great evening.

END

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