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Paula Zahn Now
Coast Guard Raises Questions About Port Security Deal; Do Nail Salons Pose Deadly Hidden Dangers?
Aired February 27, 2006 - 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. And thank you all for being with us.
Tonight, the controversy that just won't cool down -- troubling new questions about who should control America's harbors.
On the CNN "Security Watch" -- why did a multibillion-dollar port deal go through when even the Coast Guard had questions about security?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R), MAINE: The process was truly flawed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: Syria's new concerns about possible terrorism.
The "Eye Opener" -- a CNN investigation told you about the growing risk of serious infections at some nail salons. Well, tonight, you are going to meet a man who says a pedicure killed his former wife.
And, "Beyond the Headlines" -- ordinary people in extraordinary danger. These amazing videos could help save your life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He actually, I think, made the situation worse and more dangerous for himself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: Is there a right way and a wrong way? What should you do?
And welcome back.
We start with a CNN "Security Watch" tonight and startling new developments in the planned takeover of some U.S. port operations by a company from the United Arab Emirates.
Just hours ago, senators emerged from a closed-door briefing, and a Republican called the deal a rush to judgment and the result of a process, in her words, that was -- quote -- "truly flawed."
The company, Dubai Ports World, is trying to diffuse the controversy by asking for a 45-day security review of its takeover of terminals in New York, Newark, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Miami, and New Orleans. But, today, for the very first time, we learned that the Coast Guard has a list of problems about the deal.
Senior national correspondent John Roberts has the very latest from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was the last thing administration officials wanted to see as they briefed senators on the new upcoming security review, a document from the Coast Guard warning of many intelligence gaps concerning the potential for DPW or P&O assets to support terrorist operations that precludes the overall threat assessment of the merger.
For the chair of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, it was a huge red flag.
SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R), MAINE: That it involves potential unknown threats against a large number of potential vulnerabilities, that language is very troubling to me.
ROBERTS: Officials, who had previously said no one raised objections about the deal, insisted that the extra security assurances Dubai Ports World gave put the Coast Guard's worries to rest.
CLAY LOWERY, ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY: In this case, the concerns that you're citing were addressed and resolved.
ROBERTS: Even so, senators demanded a classified briefing to more fully understand what happened. The closed hour-and-a-half-long session seemed to assure them of one thing.
COLLINS: I am more convinced than ever that the process was truly flawed.
ROBERTS: The new 45-day investigation will begin almost immediately after D.P. World files a new application. Fourteen government agencies, led by Treasury and Homeland Security, will oversee the review.
The director of national intelligence will coordinate intelligence-gathering on the company to determine any further possible security concerns. When the investigation is complete, the president will have an additional 15 days to give a thumbs up or down in the deal. At the moment, only the president can make that decision, though Congress may introduce legislation to give it final approval.
PATRICK MULLOY, INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAW EXPERT, GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY: It has been a disaster for the president. And -- and it has been a disaster, I think, for the United States.
ROBERTS: International trade expert Patrick Mulloy helped write the original law and can't believe the government failed to do what he said should have been a mandatory security review before the original ports deal decision. He's urging the administration to get a fresh start.
MULLOY: I hope that they feel that, within -- within themselves, the strength to say, we should not be prejudging this; let's do the investigation, and see where it leads us.
ROBERTS: But will the administration do that? Listen to the president's national security adviser.
STEPHEN L. HADLEY, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: The president is very clear as to where he stands. He thinks there has been a good process. He thinks that the -- there are not outstanding national security concerns that need to be addressed, and that this -- this deal needs to go forward.
ROBERTS: The company, DPW, is confident of a positive outcome, in a statement, saying: "The review will confirm that D.P. World's acquisition does not pose any threat to America's safety and security. We hope that voluntarily agreeing to further scrutiny demonstrates our commitment to our longstanding relationship with the United States."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: While the deal could well go through, Congress is demanding to be kept in the loop on the investigation. And, in fact, the law provides for that. Going forward, there is talk on Capitol Hill about changing the whole approval process to give more congressional oversight of it.
And officials on the Committee For Foreign Investment in the United States have been told to sharpen their political radar, so the next time a deal like this comes over their transom, they tell the White House about it -- Paula.
ZAHN: John Roberts, thanks so much for the update.
Now, the ports deal has created a nationwide uproar that is across the board. Democrats, Republicans and ordinary people across the country are very upset about this.
My colleague Lou Dobbs has been all over the story. He joins me now to offer some perspective and absolutely no passion about the subject...
LOU DOBBS, HOST, "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT": None whatsoever.
ZAHN: ... whatever.
DOBBS: Why should anyone be passionate about the national interest, national security?
A group like, as John Roberts just reported, CFIUS, the committee that is composed of six departments, six agencies -- offices -- that has only rejected one deal in 1,500, one deal in 1,500, it tells you the kind of extraordinary effort that they go to.
ZAHN: So, what is the truth here? We hear from the Coast Guard that they expressed some grave security concerns. And, then, late this afternoon, we heard from the White House press secretary that -- quote -- "There are no security fears unresolved."
DOBBS: Well, there are great security fears. They may not be resident in the White House, but they are certainly within Congress.
They are within the port industry itself, certainly within port security. There are broad fears here. And one of the fears is that this administration, its representatives, have not been straightforward. They said initially that no expression of concern was registered in the CFIUS committee hearings.
It turns out now, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Homeland Security Department did raise concerns. They were -- quote, unquote -- "resolved." We don't know how.
We do know, as you reported there, Susan Collins, the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, has grave concerns. She thinks it is a flawed process, and she thinks this was a rush to judgment. This should be enough to are this president, this administration, the United States government, to say, stop.
ZAHN: At the end of the 40-day -- 45-day review process, if the report comes back, and it says that there were no faults...
DOBBS: Right.
ZAHN: ... in the way this was decided, will you accept that conclusion?
DOBBS: At the end of 45 days, after I see what they have done.
But if it -- if it is another rubber-stamp process, as we have just seen by CFIUS, not only will I not accept it; I don't think any American will accept it. I don't think anyone but -- other than someone with an agenda, who wants -- think about what we're witnessing here, Paula.
We're watching the Bush administration, the United States government, pushing with all of its vigor and its assets and its advantage to push through a commercial deal.
ZAHN: All right. But you know what? The government...
DOBBS: You heard...
ZAHN: ... continues to say, night after night, Michael Chertoff, homeland security secretary, that -- that -- that the UAE will have nothing to do with the -- the -- the imposing of security measures in place.
DOBBS: It's blatantly wrong.
ZAHN: That will be handled by the Coast Guard.
DOBBS: This administration, Paula, said that they -- that terminal operators have nothing to do with security.
That is straightforwardly wrong. The terminal operators are responsible for security of those terminals. This would be giving a foreign government control over those terminals. The -- the Coast Guard, undermanned, understaffed, has the right to review those plans. But that puts security plans in the hands of a foreign government.
And, frankly, I don't care whether it is the UAE. I don't care whether it is Singapore or -- or China itself.
ZAHN: That's the distinction you make, foreign government vs. foreign operated...
DOBBS: Yes. And isn't it...
ZAHN: ... some 80 percent of our ports are run...
DOBBS: Well...
ZAHN: ... by foreign companies...
DOBBS: Foreign...
ZAHN: ... some of whom you might argue are operated by foreign governments.
DOBBS: Two in -- specifically.
ZAHN: And don't have the independence that you think they should have.
DOBBS: But those -- those deals were put together pre-9/11.
For this to go forward, with this kind of approach, with a foreign government, is -- is an absurdity. It's a calamity. And people are talking about the politics. We hear Treasury Secretary John Snow, for crying out loud, say that he's worried about global investment.
What in the world does that have to do with a national security consideration and process? The priorities are wrong. The criteria are wrong. As Susan Collins said just today, the secretary of the Homeland -- Senate Homeland Security Committee, this is flawed.
ZAHN: Can I ask you a very simple question?
(CROSSTALK)
ZAHN: Would you be in more -- more in favor of -- of China controlling these terminals, as opposed to the UAE?
DOBBS: I...
ZAHN: Or opposed to both?
DOBBS: I would be opposed to the UAE, China, Great Britain, any country -- having a government-owned company in charge of our ports.
This is key infrastructure. What is next? We turn over Hoover Dam? Do we outsource security for our borders? I mean, what -- where does this mindlessness end? The responsibility of the U.S. government is to protect our national security, our national interests, not to worry about the global investment climate.
ZAHN: Thanks for stopping by.
DOBBS: Paula.
ZAHN: How do you really feel, Lou Dobbs?
DOBBS: It's -- it's great to be with you.
ZAHN: Nice to have you here.
We are going to switch gears now for a little bit. There is a new development in an ongoing CNN investigation. A man says his wife died because she got a pedicure. Coming up, he will be joining us. How could a trip to the beauty salon potentially threaten your life?
And what would you do if a robber demanded your money? Would you fight? Would you run? What would that be the right thing do? We will have some advice for you tonight.
And, against the odds, a little baby gets a life-saving heart transplant. But why do his parents need another miracle?
Before that, more than 19 million of you went to our Web site today. Here is our countdown of the top 10 most popular stories on CNN.com.
Number 10, Saddam Hussein's lawyers have convinced him to end his hunger strike after 11 days. The former Iraqi president has stopped eating to protest being on trial for crimes against humanity.
That one had Lou chuckling behind the scenes.
And, number nine, the White House has rejected a call for some House Democrats to have Attorney General Alberto Gonzales appoint a special counsel to investigate the president's domestic spying program.
Don't move -- numbers eight and seven coming your way.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: Still ahead tonight, a little baby gets a new heart and a chance for a normal life. But what about his twin brother?
Now on to our next story -- if you go into a salon for something as simple as a pedicure, you certainly don't expect to come out with a deadly infection. Yet, that's exactly what one family is claiming tonight, after the death of a Texas mother of three.
In a moment, you're going to hear from her former husband.
Now, while deaths like this are rare, serious health problems from infections at nail salons are surprisingly common.
And our consumer correspondent Greg Hunter went all over the country investigating nail salons, a $6.5-billion-a-year industry. And what he found is tonight's "Eye Opener."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GREG HUNTER, CNN CONSUMER CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's supposed to be a treat for your toes, a pedicure in a whirlpool foot spa, but did you know a relaxing pedicure could lead to this, a terrible skin infection that causes painful leg boils?
MARILYN CLARKE, SUFFERED SKIN INFECTION: I had huge, oozing lesions on my leg, pussy oozing.
CYNTHIA HINZ, SUFFERED SKIN INFECTION: It looks like cigarette burns, somebody took cigarettes and went up and down your leg.
HUNTER: Hundreds of women have developed skin infections after getting pedicures in salons. Doctors say it's a disturbing trend caused by bacteria that can grow in dirty foot spas.
DR. SHELLEY SEKULA-GIBBS, DERMATOLOGIST: We really can't scare people enough regarding this. It's a very real threat.
HUNTER (on camera): All across the country?
SEKULA-GIBBS: All across the country.
HUNTER (voice-over): In the U.S., the problem was first noticed in California, where there had been three serious outbreaks of bacterial infections in five years.
In 2002, a month after getting a pedicure near San Jose, Angela Lanctot noticed what she thought were mosquito bites. The bumps turned into sores. Her father, a surgeon, had to drain daily by squeezing them.
(on camera): Painful?
ANGELA LANCTOT, SUFFERED SKIN INFECTION: Extremely painful, and kind of like grit- your-teeth, you know, scream-out-loud painful.
HUNTER (voice-over): And, worst of all, Lanctot was suffering during one of the biggest events of her life, her wedding.
LANCTOT: There were open sores that were -- that were seeping with puss.
HUNTER (on camera): All under your beautiful white wedding dress? LANCTOT: Yes.
HUNTER: Pretty memorable?
LANCTOT: Yes.
HUNTER (voice-over): But Lanctot isn't alone.
(on camera): Did any of you ever imagine that you would be saying, pedicure, open sores in the same sentence?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Never. Never. Never.
(CROSSTALK)
HUNTER (voice-over): All of these women have sued California salons for skin infections after a pedicure.
MONICA DITTRICH, SUFFERED SKIN INFECTION: It really makes you feel ugly and damaged. And I really felt like a leper.
HUNTER: The Centers for Disease Control says, infections like these are caused by this water-borne bacteria. In a 2002 study of California salons, the CDC found the rapidly growing bacteria were highly prevalent in whirlpool footbaths.
Infections have now been reported in 12 states. Dr. Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, a dermatologist, says you can absorb bacteria from dirty footbath water from through a tiny cut or abrasion on your skin.
SEKULA-GIBBS: It can really hurt people's legs. And it can leave them with disfiguring scars. So, it's very bad.
HUNTER: Something these women know all too well. Several showed us their legs.
Nineteen-year-old Brittany Welby had some of the worst scars.
BRITTANY WELBY, SUFFERED SKIN INFECTION: I'm not the same person anymore. And I can't live the life that I used to when I was 18. This past year has just damaged me so much.
HUNTER: Infections can be prevented, scientists say, if foot spas are cleaned properly.
One problem is this screen that covers the plumbing in many machines. It can trap dirt, hair, and skin, turning the tub into a breeding ground for bacteria.
We wanted to see for ourselves what's behind foot spa screens. So, we went along with this salon inspector in Raleigh, North Carolina.
CONNIE WILDER, NORTH CAROLINA STATE BOARD OF COSMETIC ART EXAMINERS: My name is Connie. I'm a state board inspector. HUNTER: In the first shop, the foot spa screens turn out to be clean. But, at another salon, watch what happens when this footbath screen is removed. Look how much buildup is there. The owner claims it's from one day of doing pedicures.
(on camera): So, that's from one day?
KELLY NGUYEN, SALON OWNER: Yes. We got very busy today.
HUNTER (voice-over): So, we take a closer look at one screen.
WILDER: That looks like mold with dead skin.
HUNTER (on camera): And people's feet are in this?
WILDER: Yes.
HUNTER: Is that gross?
WILDER: That is terrible.
HUNTER (voice-over): But it isn't just one screen. According to our inspector, all three of the salon's foot spas show signs of serious neglect.
(on camera): Do you think this is as clean as it should be?
NGUYEN: No.
HUNTER: No.
NGUYEN: No.
HUNTER: It's -- it's bad, isn't it?
NGUYEN: Yes.
HUNTER: It's gross, right?
NGUYEN: Yes.
HUNTER (voice-over): The following week, the salon was reinspected and the footbaths were clean.
(on camera): It takes about an hour to do a pedicure. But the numbers really add up for just one chair. You can do eight pedicures a day, 50 pedicures a week, around 200 pedicures a month in one chair. And, if it's not cleaned correctly, it's like sitting in the same bath as everyone before you.
CLARKE: It's gross. I would never do that. It -- it makes you feel gross, dirty and disgusting.
HUNTER (voice-over): This California salon, where more than 100 women were allegedly infected, settled, along with its insurance company and some of its suppliers, a lawsuit for nearly $3 million. Cases against five other salons are pending. Neither the salons, nor their lawyers, would agree to speak with us.
But the industry says the vast majority of millions of consumers who get pedicures every year are not at risk.
PAUL DYKSTRA, SENIOR DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL NAIL TECHNICIANS ASSOCIATION: The salon professionals with proper education will do what is necessary to make sure that this isn't a problem.
HUNTER: Paul Dykstra heads the International Nail Technicians Association, which has published guidelines, advising members to clean like this Chicago salon does, by scrubbing foot spa screens daily and disinfecting after every client.
But Dykstra believes it's up to consumer to ask questions.
DYKSTRA: If the salon professional, God forbid, is one that doesn't understand these procedures, they shouldn't get the service there.
HUNTER: So, we decided to find out what happens when consumers inquire about cleaning.
We asked Nancy King, a nationally known industry expert who trains nail professionals, to go into upscale salons in Houston wearing a hidden camera. Our expert finds one salon doing everything right, disinfecting after each pedicure.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have to, because there's water jets in there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the germs get caught in the water jets.
HUNTER: At another salon, the receptionist says the right thing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After every client, they clean and disinfect.
HUNTER: But when King talks to the pedicure technician, she gets a different story.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If there's a salon out there saying that they're cleaning and, like, bleaching after every client, that's a lie, because they can't do it. I mean I have never seen anybody do that.
HUNTER: CNN asked the salon owner to comment. He never responded.
(on camera): You went to seven spas. How many did you approve of?
NANCY KING, SALON SAFETY SPECIALIST: One.
HUNTER: What does that tell you? KING: That there are a lot of people out there that need a lot more training.
HUNTER: These women know how important a safe pedicure is.
WELBY: It's really, really sad that this -- a pedicure has changed my life like this.
HUNTER: They face a lifetime of scars they say may never heal.
Greg hunter, CNN, Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: And, as I mentioned at the top of that story, just two weeks ago, a Texas mom died from a staph infection she believed was caused by a pedicure. Kimberly Kaye (ph) Jackson was 46 years old and the mother of three boys.
Joining me now from Dallas is her former husband, David Jackson, and her friend Patricia Mathis.
Thank you both for joining us.
And I'm so sorry about your loss.
DAVID JACKSON, EX-HUSBAND OF KIMBERLY JACKSON: Thank you.
PATRICIA MATHIS, FRIEND OF KIMBERLY JACKSON: Thank you, Paula.
ZAHN: So, David, why are you convinced that Kimberly picked up this infection from the nail salon?
JACKSON: She knew instantly that she -- she got cut from this pedicure. She actually was paralyzed, but she watched them actually perform the pedicure on her, because she couldn't feel anything. But she actually seen the blood on the pumice stone when she was cut right then.
And she told the -- the girl right then: Stop. Stop. You cut me.
And the girl just -- sorry, sorry.
And that was it. And the damage was done right then.
ZAHN: So, David, given the fact that Kim was a paraplegic, is it possible that she might have had a cut on her foot that she wasn't aware of?
JACKSON: No. No ma'am. There was nothing. There was nothing wrong with her. She was in physical health and everything. She was in real good health.
ZAHN: And, Patricia, how quickly did some of the symptoms show up?
MATHIS: It was within the next few days. She began to have sores on her legs. The wound started draining, and it just never did heal. Matter of fact, the day that we buried her, we buried her with an open wound on the foot.
ZAHN: So sad.
And -- and, David, what did you think when doctors told you that Kimberly had this very serious staph infection?
JACKSON: The sad part about it is, you know, something so minor as -- as a pedicure, you know, I -- it's hard -- I couldn't -- actually, until I actually seen the -- the doctor's report, where he signed it, the coroner's report was confirmed that caused her death...
ZAHN: I can only imagine how difficult that was for you to accept. But did any doctors along the way warn you what a serious case of staph Kimberly had?
JACKSON: No.
That's -- why didn't -- if it was so bad, why didn't they hospitalize her?
ZAHN: Patricia, how terrified was Kimberly as this was all happening?
MATHIS: Well, I know, the longer that it went on with her, the more concerned she got that she was going to lose her foot. But I don't think, at any time, she ever considered the fact that she would lose her life.
ZAHN: So, David, you now have the Dallas County Health Department reporting a growing number of staph infections they believe are associated with nail salons.
You also have Texas officials looking at Kimberly's case. What is it that you want the public to know about what you have been through and what Kimberly went through?
JACKSON: This is serious. This is not -- it is deadly. It is deadly -- not to take it lightly.
ZAHN: And, David, how confident are you that these Texas officials will get to the bottom of all of this and -- and prove what you're alleging here tonight?
JACKSON: I just hope -- I hope they crack down on the laws. Something has got to be done.
ZAHN: So, Patricia, in your mind, what would be justice for Kim?
MATHIS: The mission for us today is to get the word out that, if you're not comfortable going in and asking them questions, or asking them to pull the -- the cover off of the whirlpool spa, so that you can look in there and make sure that it is clean, and ask them what their -- their sanitation habits are, then you need to leave the facility.
If they're doing the right thing, then they're not going to have a problem showing you what -- you know, what their routine is.
ZAHN: Well, Patricia and David, thank you...
MATHIS: Thank you so much.
ZAHN: .. for sharing your stories with us tonight.
MATHIS: Thank you for -- thank you for getting this out for us to the public.
JACKSON: Thank you.
ZAHN: And good luck to both of you.
MATHIS: Thank you.
JACKSON: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: Authorities in Texas say, while they haven't received a formal complaint, they are launching an investigation into the death of Kimberly Kaye (ph) Jackson.
Coming up next, we have a story with some riveting pictures. If someone threatened you with a gun or a knife, what would you do? Stay with us and get advice from the experts.
And, for 16 years, this woman refused to believe her little boy simply disappeared. How did her persistence pay off?
Now on to number eight on our CNN.com countdown -- the discovery of dozens of never-released photos of the struggle for civil rights in Alabama. An intern found them buried in a closet at the offices of "The Birmingham News."
And, number seven, Senator Hillary Clinton speaking out about a new book which quotes White House aide Karl Rove saying she will be the 2008 Democratic presidential nominee. Clinton says she thinks Rove and other Republicans are talking up her possible candidacy to draw attention away from the 2006 midterm elections.
Stay with us -- numbers six and five coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: Well, sometimes we see the most amazing and frightening scenes caught on surveillance video, like confrontations between store clerks and thieves armed with everything from guns to blow torches. Now some people fight back. You could call that being brave or stupid depending on the outcome. But what should you do if you're ever unlucky enough to be caught in a life or death situation? Heidi Collins takes us beyond the headlines and asks an expert for some answers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): In California, a robber armed with a blow torch gets the surprise of his life when a convenience store owner attacks him with a bat. In Oram, Utah, a woman working at a check cashing store tries to negotiate her way out of being robbed by a man with a gun. A robber and a ski mask armed with a foot and a half long machete goes into a Mobile Mart in Massachusetts and demands money. The clerk complies.
In Oregon, a man with a gun enters a restaurant full of people. A fight breaks out. An innocent man is shot. And a Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, clerk decides to take the law into his own hands. He attacks a hooded robber wielding a knife.
Five life threatening situations and split second decisions. Five very different reactions.
So what would you do if you were faced with a situation like this? We set out to find someone who could help us break it down. New Jersey detective Brian Reich takes a close look at these different scenarios so we all know what to do if ever we're caught up on this kind of life and death situation.
(on camera): Brian. let's go ahead and show everybody this video of our first case. It is a convenience store, guy comes in, demands to get money from the clerk, the clerk apparently says forget it. Goes after him with a baseball bat and now he comes up against the guy with the blow torch in his hand.
Let's go back if we could and tell you tell what he did right and wrong.
BRIAN REICH, BERGEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE: Very, very volatile situation. You see here that the subject was using this type of device to conceal a weapon. The victim comes around the corner and chases him and escalates the violence by chasing him. Then he chases him outside of the store. And very, very volatile situation.
He actually escalated the force. In the beginning, you can see how the perpetrator is not doing any overt acts against him and he actually, I think, made the situation worse and more dangerous for himself. One of the things the victim did not know at the time as he presented a blow torch in the initial robbery, he chased him outside. He doesn't know if this subject is waiting with somebody else who has a gun or this subject himself has a weapon and now shoots him and kills him when he's running after him.
COLLINS: So lesson learned. Certainly don't run after your attacker. Let's go ahead move on now to the video here from Utah. This robbery taking place at a check cashing store. Guy jumps right over the counter pushes the woman to the ground. You can see she's resisting but not violently. Looks like she's talking to him, almost negotiating. Because here now we see that she goes ahead and she begins taking the money right out of the safe which is exactly what he was after.
REICH: You could see her talking to him, trying to plead with him. We don't have the luxury of the audio. Telling him that she has a family and she's a mother and so forth. You to be extremely careful when you're engaging these people and talking to them. Because they're irrational, they could be under the influence of a narcotic or a drug and you really need to be careful.
COLLINS: The other thing here we're about to see, she follows him out the door after he leaves. You say don't do that. Why?
REICH: We learn later on that she actually ran out to lock the door after he left. But you don't know if he is sitting there waiting to see if she's going come after him. If she's running into an ambush. You don't want the violence to start all over again. Sit tight, wait five, ten, 15 minutes and let him get out of there and go ahead and call 911. Your object is to survive this, not actually apprehend him.
COLLINS: Let's move on, Brian, to this incredible scene. It happened in Massachusetts. Guy comes in with a ski mask on. And he's got a foot and a half long machete. Look at that thing. You can see it is huge. He goes after the store clerk. Store clerk just says here you go. Backs away, see his hands go up there. Guy goes out the store and the robbery is over. Tell me what he did right and wrong.
REICH: He did everything that was right. He gave the money in the face of a weapon. He also created distance between himself and the weapon and you could see the counter right here, if we pause it for one second, you could seat counter is right here. And he actually backs up and creates distance.
He throws his hands up in the air, we can roll the tape saying here is your money, I don't have anything else, I won't put up any resistance, I'm not calling the police, go. And the guy takes his money and runs out of the place. That's what you want to do.
COLLINS: Let's go ahead now and look at this video. It is a restaurant in Oregon and unbelievable what happens here. Guy walks in, there is a whole room full of people at this restaurant. He doesn't care. Shows them the gun right away.
Several people come after him like they are just completely unafraid. Maybe they were in shock. We don't know. But we see it again. Another man coming out of nowhere holding a chair in his hand going right after that attacker who, yes, is armed. Tell us, Brian, what we can learn from video like this.
REICH: What we can learn, we can learn what not to do. We see this guy coming in. One of the first things he does, he announces it is a robbery. Freeze it there. We can see that the guy is pointing a gun directly at this guy over here. He still goes after him and tries to assault him. He winds up getting shot in the leg. He is continuing to order people down, pointing his gun at people. He files everybody into the back room into a bathroom, I believe. We can pause it there for a second. This guy over here, knowing that this perpetrator already shot somebody, has a gun pointed directly at him, holds a table up thinking it is some type of cover, some type of shield and it is absolutely not. It is a table, a chair, it is wood. The bullet will go right through.
He actually created a larger target and really put himself and everything else in jeopardy and people can get killed when he wanted to do is come in there and get money. Money is certainly not worth giving your life over.
COLLINS: That's pretty scary seeing in a mini mart in Pennsylvania. Guy walks in, has a big scary looking hood covering his face. Puts a plastic bag down on the counter. Don't know what is in there, but from the looks of it, he was demanding money because this guy just goes ballistic. Takes out a bat and starts beating him over and over and over again. Let's talk about this one.
REICH: Yes, there is a lot to be learned here. We go back to the beginning. We can see right there, that he has a plastic bag, apparently there is some type of knife in there and he is making some type of demand for the money.
The store owner wasn't having it, takes out a bat, begins to beat him with it. And we can see the two people -- stop it right there for a second. We can see one, two people are working the store. They must think, I got this guy outnumbered, I'll come around with the bat with my buddy and beat this guy down. We're going to throw him out.
What they don't realize is, and they don't think about it at the time is, maybe this guy has another guy or two outside that are now going to come in. Maybe there is somebody surreptitiously hidden in their store.
We always say in law enforcement, the plus one rule. This guy has one knife, they knock it out of his hand. Maybe he has another knife or a gun. and he's saying, I pulled a knife, that didn't work. I'll take my gun out this time and shoot the two of these guys. We could roll the video.
This particular case, they were lucky it worked. Went out of there. If he did have a gun or had another suspect with him that had a gun, these guys would have been in a world of trouble. Certainly for a couple of hundred dollars in a register, it is certainly not worth it.
COLLINS: And 13 years experience in law enforcement, you should know. Detective Brian Reich, thank you very much.
REICH: My pleasure.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: Once again, that was Heidi Collins reporting for us tonight.
We have two stories of parents who despite incredible odds simply wouldn't give up. Coming up next, will the parents of identical twins get identical medical miracles?
Also, a mother's long fight to learn the truth. What really happened to her little boy.
First, number six on our CNN.com countdown, a Detroit congregation is mourning tonight after a woman was shot and killed Sunday during a church service. The gunman killed another man and wounded a child before taking his own life.
Number five, Dan Brown, author of "The Da Vinci Code" appears in court in London where publisher Random House is fighting charges that parts of a 1982 book were the basis for Brown's blockbuster novel. Random House denies the accusation.
We've got numbers three and four right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: Thanks to a heart transplant a little baby boy has a chance to grow up. What about his identical twin?
Our next story, though, is about a mother who suffered the worst pain any parent can face. The loss of her child. Even though police could never solve the case and years went by she never gave up. And now finally her tenacity may have led to an answer. Here is Allan Chernoff with tonight's "Outside the Law."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For 16 years, La Shawn McCoy would look at a picture of her missing first born son and believe he was still alive. Curtis McCoy was two years old when his mother, then living in South Carolina, agreed to have the boy visit his father, Curtis Williams, who lived in New Jersey.
La Shawn now a mother of four never saw Curtis again.
(on camera): Williams told police he was shopping with his son here in downtown Newark on November 18th of 1989 when he reached back to grab his son's hand , he said all he touched was air. Little Curtis was gone. Curtis' mother says she couldn't believe the story.
LA SHAWN MCCOY, VICTIM'S MOTHER: All he told me was he didn't know. Where is little Curtis, what happened? I don't know. Never cried on the phone, never said he was sorry.
CHERNOFF (voice-over): Newark police also found it strange that Williams appeared unmoved and was uncooperative when they questioned him. Though police scoured Newark, they could find no one who had seen the boy or any evidence of foul play. They exhausted all means, Newark's police director told CNN.
La Shawn and her husband Perry believe the Newark police didn't try hard enough.
MCCOY: The story never added up to me. I never could figure out how that story got by for 16 years.
CHERNOFF: La Shawn never gave up. She moved to New Jersey and often spent hours staking out Williams' home.
MCCOY: I spent the last 16 years either sitting outside of this man's house, following him and his girlfriend, following their children, looking at children on the street wondering is this my son?
CHERNOFF: On the 15th anniversary of Curtis' disappearance, she convinced a Jersey City detective to take up the case.
The new investigation revealed that Williams and his girlfriend Tabitha Moore (ph) had allegedly claimed Curtis as a dependent when they got a $40,000 housing loan from Jersey City. Williams also had allegedly claimed Curtis as a dependent on his tax returns.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the arraignment of Curtis Williams.
CHERNOFF: Jersey City Police arrested and jailed Williams and Moore last September on fraud charges. Moore then agreed to testify against her boyfriend implicating, him in the murder of his son.
Hudson County Prosecutor, Edward DeFazio (ph), tells CNN his office has found other witnesses, including one who claims to have seen the murder of Curtis McCoy in Union City, about ten miles from Newark.
In New Jersey State Court, Williams lawyer proclaimed his client innocent.
JEFFREY JABLONSKI, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I will enter his appearance of not guilty to all counts cited in that indictment.
Mr. Williams and I are looking forward to a vigorous defense of these charges.
CHERTOFF: La Shawn McCoy had been hoping for contrition from Williams.
MCCOY: Why don't you say this is what happened and this is where he is and be a man and stand up and face your punishment? This is your child. This is not somebody else's child. This is your child.
CHERNOFF: Investigators were still hunting for Curtis' remains and at Williams' arraignment, the prosecution said it would offer a plea bargain if Williams were to show authorities where he left the body. Otherwise, this summer, after 16 years, Curtis Williams will likely stand trial for the murder of his two year old son.
Allan Chernoff, CNN, Jersey City, New Jersey.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: Very sad.
Now we change our focus to "LARRY KING LIVE" who is coming up about 14 minutes from now. He has a very special guest tonight. I'm jealous. You going to talk to Jon Stewart.
LARRY KING, CNN HOST: One of my favorite people. He'll be right here in the studio with us. We'll open up the phones. He is here to host The Academy Awards next Sunday night. Jon Stewart is our special guest and we always have a lot of fun with Jon. He is a great talent and he's the inventor of fake news, isn't he?
ZAHN: He certainly is. It is sort of interesting when we went through the political campaigns that a fairly good percentage of young people who watch his show think they're listening to the real thing.
KING: He's pulled it off.
ZAHN: He has. He's very, very smart guy. Thanks so much, Larry. Look forward to seeing the two of you talk about everything, politics and the Oscars coming up. Thanks. Have a good show.
Coming up tonight, some parents are waiting and hoping. They have identical twins who had identical problems. What's changed for one of them?
ZAHN: First, though, on to number four on our CNN.com countdown. Andrea Yates turns down a prosecution offer of a 35 year prison term in exchange for pleading guilty to drowning her children. The plea deal would have allowed her to avoid a retrial scheduled to begin next month.
And number three, actor Dennis Weaver has died. He starred in a number of TV series including "Gunsmoke" and "McCloud." Weaver was 81.
Number two on our countdown straight ahead. Be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAHN: In tonight's "Vital Sign," a story that runs so against the odds that statistically it never should have happened at all. It is about a baby in need of a new heart. That is just the beginning of a story that is much about love and faith as it is about medical miracles. Peter Viles has tonight's "Vital Signs."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In his seven months Nick Draper has never left the hospital. Born with an enlarged heart, his only hope for a healthy life was a new heart, a transplant. And then miraculously the call came.
NICOLE DRAPER, MOTHER: I looked down at him and said they have a heart for you. And very, very exciting.
VILES: The next day when he was wheeled in for surgery, little Nick's eyes were wide open. The tiny heart that would save his life was rushed to Los Angeles. But then after five hours of surgery, a complication. It seemed Nick's body was rejecting the new heart.
DR. MARK PLUNKETT, PEDIATRIC HEART SURGEON: Following implantation, the heart, which initially began to function and beat normally, it did not function well and did not seem strong enough to take over the entire work load.
DRAPER: We were very scared and initially disappointed. We were still hopeful but it was very scary.
VILES: For several days machines kept Nick alive as another miracle took place. His little body and his new heart learned to work together.
PLUNKETT: It is doing very well. And he is doing very well. So we remain cautiously optimistic that both Nicholas and his new heart are going to continue to improve and eventually do well in the long run.
VILES: There is more to this story, so much more. You see, Nick has an identical twin brother named Nate and against all odds, Nate suffers from the same heart condition.
DRAPER: It is incredibly rare for even one child to have the condition that they have. And the word the cardiologist used that both of them had it is just unfathomable.
VILES: Doctors put Nick first in line because he seemed more likely to survive a transplant. So now the Draper family needs another miracle, another tiny heart.
DRAPER: We know that Nate is struggling a little bit. That he has shown a little deterioration and that he is going to need that miracle to keep going.
VILES: For all their struggles, the Drapers feel that they are blessed.
MICHAEL DRAPER: You really gotta focus in the positive and I think, you know, we just knew all along that the boys were going to be OK and I think we just gotta cling to that thought. It is it happened for Nick. And we're going to believe that it is going to happen for Nate.
VILES: So for now, the drapers rejoice and pray for another miracle. Peter Viles for CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZAHN: Need a lot of prayers there. One more thing, the Drapers now know that the heart that saved their son's life came from a four month old Florida boy who accidentally suffocated. Both families say they's like to meet each other some day.
Coming up at the top of the hour, "LARRY KING LIVE." His guest tonight, Oscar host and funny guy Jon Stewart. Phone lines will be open in a little bit. Before that, number two on our countdown of the top ten most popular stories on CNN.com, in Baghdad, a new outbreak of religious violence. Two bombs exploded outside a mosque killing four people. Dozens of others were wounded. The attack took place just after a daytime curfew was lifted.
Number one on our countdown right after this.
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ZAHN: Hard to believe that our cold cam didn't freeze up out there. With wind chill it feels like it is ten below zero out there tonight. Pretty night though on Columbus Circle.
Now number one on our CNN.com countdown; 19 million of you logging on to our site today. Pop singer George Michael now facing drug possession charges after his arrest in London over the weekend.
Before we go, we thought we'd leave you with this picture. All of New Orleans is out on this night before Mardi Gras really gets underway, which happens to fall exactly six months since Hurricane Katrina hit the city.
Anderson Cooper, as you've just heard, will be there live at 10:00 and we'll have the very latest on all the events for you from 10:00 to 12:00 and you can see more of our live coverage tomorrow on "AMERICAN MORNING" which gets underway at 6:00 a.m.
Meanwhile "LARRY KING LIVE" is next. His guest tonight Jon Stewart.
Thanks so much for joining us. Have a great night everyone.
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