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CNN Saturday Morning News

Battle over Terri Schiavo Goes to Congress; Mark Lunsford Speaks to Press After Suspect Confesses to Murder; Dr. Michael Gurian Discusses Gender and the Brain

Aired March 19, 2005 - 08:00   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.


RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Randi Kaye in for Betty Nguyen.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Tony Harris. Thank you for being with us.

KAYE: Two to four weeks -- doctors say that's how long it could take Terri Schiavo to die now that her feeding tube has been removed. But Republicans in Congress are vowing to pass legislation to keep the severely brain-damaged Florida woman alive. More on this story in just a few minutes when we hear from Schiavo's brother.

The search for a missing 9-year-old girl takes a grim turn. Authorities are now looking for Jessica Lunsford's body near her central Florida home. They say a convicted sex offender has confessed to kidnapping and killing the girl. She vanished from her home more than three weeks ago. A live report straight ahead.

And this was Baghdad two years ago: the night sky lit up by explosions as the U.S. attacked. Today marks the second anniversary of the start of the war. Two years later insurgent attacks continue. Meantime, a top government official vows that Iraq's National Assembly will form a government when it meets next week.

And there is madness in the air, March Madness, that is. The NCAA basketball tourney is in a full swing, with a couple of upsets. Bucknell has dumped third seed Kansas and Vermont has routed fourth seed Syracuse.

HARRIS: Also in Florida this morning an agonizing ordeal for the family of Terri Schiavo. Now that her feeding tube has been disconnected she will slowly starve to death over the next couple of weeks.

CNN's Bob Franken is in Clearwater, Florida, where emotions are running extremely high this morning.

Good morning, Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are reporting from outside the Hospice House in Woodside. That, of course, is supposed to be a place of peace. Quite a bit of turmoil as you can see from the signs in back of me.

Many of the pro-life groups protesting the removal yesterday of the nutrient tube from Terri Schiavo. Terri Schiavo has become a source of turmoil not only here in Pinellas, but also in Washington -- it's become quite the political issue, caught up in the distortion of politics and political ambition and so a lot of people looking to Washington to see if there's anything that can be done to replace what is called a feeding tube.

Terri Schiavo who has been here in what doctors are calling a persistent vegetative state since 1990 when she suffered a cardiac arrest depriving oxygen to her brain and leaving her in that state, and there's been this bitter debate that's gone on between her parents and her husband about whether she should be allowed to pass away. Now, this, of course, has gone on -- it's been fought in the courts, it's been fought in legislature and the Congress and continues to be. But yesterday the legal remedies seemed to run out and that tube was pulled.

Now, there's even a dispute about what will happen next, if she is allowed to die, whether she will suffer pain or whether it will be a peaceful death. Just another of a debate that has so distorted the life of Terri Schiavo and, of course, has meant that she does not have a voice to be heard, if there is a voice that she has -- Tony?

HARRIS: Bob Franken for us in Clearwater, Florida. Bob, thank you.

Last hour I spoke with Michael Schiavo who is behind the long legal battle to remove the feeding tube from his wife's body.

To hear the other side let's turn now to Terri's brother, Robert Schindler.

Bobby, good morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERT SCHINDLER, BROTHER OF TERRI SCHIAVO: Good morning.

HARRIS: Let me start with something that was said to me last hour by Michael Schiavo. He is suggesting that the reason that your family has fought this long protracted battle is because of money, the fact that your family is angry, bitter over the fact your family didn't get a piece of whatever money was available at the end of some kind of a settlement on the insurance. What's your response to that?

SCHINDLER: Well, it's absolutely false and untrue. Our family's intention from the beginning -- and there's a letter my dad wrote to Michael back in 1993 -- has been one and one thing only, and that's to bring Terri home and make her part of the family and take care of her again.

HARRIS: So, why is he saying this?

SCHINDLER: I don't know. Obviously, Michael's intentions are highly questionable. When Michael petitioned the court in 1997 to remove Terri's feeding tube, he was the one that stood to inherit close to a million dollars. HARRIS: Do you believe Michael Schiavo when he says it was Terri's wish not to die in this persistent, vegetative state? Do you not believe she said it? Or do you believe she said it but didn't really mean it?

SCHINDLER: Well, totally out of character for Terri to make such wishes. They were allegedly said when she was 20 years old, and they came seven years after the incident in which Terri collapsed.

Additionally, I'd like to comment, Terri is not in a PVS. There are more doctors on record with the court that have testified she is not in PVS, she's not in a coma, and can be helped if she is given proper rehabilitation and therapy. We are just asking for the chance to give her that therapy, rehabilitation, that all the doctors are adamant she can improve and improve significantly if she was just given the chance, and the courts and Michael are blocking any type of rehabilitation. They are scared to death to get Terri -- to allow her out in the public and obviously, they do not want, and are trying very hard to keep her in the hospice room so nobody can see her true condition.

HARRIS: Bobby, why? Come on, you have to tell me why Michael Schiavo would not want, if Terri were well, if she were able, why wouldn't he want the world to see her?

SCHINDLER: Well, that is the question. You have to ask Michael that. But why are they trying so hard...

HARRIS: But you're making the allegation, so at least give me some kind of rationale from your point of view. Why?

SCHINDLER: For the last five years Terri has been -- we have been denied to remove Terri from her room. She has been warehoused in a hospice facility for five years, not allowed outside. We have gone to court on a number of occasions -- Terri -- the court has blocked any type of videos to be taken of Terri.

You saw what happened yesterday when Terri was asked to be subpoenaed and appear in front of Washington, and the judge refused. I believe the judge is scared to death to allow Terri in the public, because, as I said, people would see how alive she is, how alert she is, and that we are going to starve a human being to death that is simply disabled.

HARRIS: Couldn't it also be said that this is a family, your family, and everyone would understand that, if this were true, if this were the case, that yours is the family that just doesn't want to let go of someone they love desperately?

SCHINDLER: Let go? You are asking us --

HARRIS: I'm not asking. I'm just posing the question.

SCHINDLER: Right. You know, I think a lot of people try to make this a quality of life issue. You know, someone -- we are going to determine when it is okay and not okay to starve human beings to death. I'm astonished at how comfortable we have become as a society to starve people to death. This is absolutely barbaric that we are sitting back and watching a human being, my sister who is simply disabled and needs help, has a loving family that wants to take care of her, and we're going to starve her to death. It's cruel, it's inhumane.

Look, Terri has been fighting -- she has an incredible will to live. She is fighting for the last 15 years to survive. She hasn't given up on her family, and we're not going to give up on her. We're asking to please allow us to take Terri home and give her a chance.

HARRIS: OK, Bobby Schindler, we'll leave it there. Appreciate it. Thanks for your time.

SCHINDLER: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Our e-mail question this morning: who should decide what happens to Terri Schiavo? Send us your thoughts at wam@cnn.com, and we'll be reading some of your e-mails throughout the program this morning.

KAYE: The search for Jessica Lunsford may have come to the worst of all possible ends. A convicted sex offender has allegedly confessed to abducting and killing the 9-year-old little girl. CNN's Sara Dorsey joins us now, live, from Florida, where investigators are still searching for Jessica.

Good morning, again, Sara.

SARA DORSEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you again, Randi.

It was that confession that turned this case upside down and gave crime scene investigators a clear place to start searching for the body of little Jessica Lunsford that has been missing for three weeks. Now, nothing was coming out of those talks with John Couey for quite sometime according to sources. He was interviewed more than 11 hours over two days, but when he was given a polygraph test and finished that, he told investigators, you don't have to tell me the results, apologized for wasting their time. And that's when he allegedly confessed to abducting and killing this little girl.

You may remember, she disappeared from the home she that she shared with her grandparents and father, wearing only a nightgown. It is unclear to us at this point after searching all night and into the early morning whether or not her body has been recovered, but we can tell you that investigators are planning to come out before 9:00 a.m. this morning and give us an update on what possibly they might have found.

At 9:00 we expect to hear from Mark Lunsford, Jessica's father. And the sad part about this was today he was planning to do another volunteer search, something he's continued throughout this process of his daughter being missing. He was preparing maps yesterday afternoon and into the evening when this tragic news came in.

Also, we should tell you we have learned there are three people who are being called "associates" of Mr. Couey who are being questioned by the Citrus County sheriff's officials in regards to this case -- Randi?

KAYE: All right. Sara Dorsey live for us in Florida this morning.

And Jessica's family is expected to hold a press conference in less than an hour as you just heard. Stay right here. We will, of course, bring that to you just as soon as it happens.

He says he's fighting for what his wife wants. Michael Schiavo accuses Congress of using thuggery to try to keep his wife alive. We'll look at all sides of the fight over Terri Schiavo's life ahead in our legal brief.

HARRIS: In the meantime, good morning, Baltimore, Maryland. Your weather and a look at the nation's forecast coming up with Rob Marciano in just a couple of minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RONDA HEMMINGER EIVAN, CITRUS COUNTRY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: ...ask any questions....

HARRIS: We're going to take you back to Homosassas, Florida, right now where we're getting an update on the Jessica Lunsford investigation.

EIVAN: ...sheriff will come out at 10 a.m. and provide an update on this case. There are a few things he will be updating you on.

QUESTION: Can you tell us -- we saw Mark walking -- what looked like toward the crime scene. Did you escort him back there? What was happening?

EIVAN: He did, he walked back to where we were. He was there for a little while, and he is now back up at the house. The sheriff's with him.

QUESTION: How is he doing?

EIVAN: He's doing very well actually considering the circumstances, so...

QUESTION: I know that through this, everyone, including the sheriff and Mark kept telling us they believed they could bring Jessica home alive? Do you think he's had some time and maybe knew that this was coming even though they were trying to remain positive?

EIVAN: I don't know I could ever speak for this family or any other family. I know for the sheriff's office, our hope was always until we knew that she wasn't alive, we worked this case as if she were alive. QUESTION: Can you tell us what is going to be happening with Mr. Couey? Is he back in court yet, or do you know when he might be back?

EIVAN: Those are some of the details we are working on for the sheriff at 10:00, so he can tell you about the activity that was going on during the night. He can hopefully speak to the four people that we have picked up, and where we're going to go from here in regards to Mr. Couey.

QUESTION: There's four people that we're calling associates that are being questioned, or three plus Mr. Couey?

EIVAN: There's four -- there's four people that we have picked up and are questioning.

QUESTION: Are they cooperating?

EVIAN: Four people. Four people. We had a BOLO out last night. We were looking for four people, wasn't quite sure last night when it was late whether it was three or four. It was four, and we have since picked up...

QUESTION: Are they related?

EIVAN: I don't know the answer to that.

QUESTION: Have you released the names?

EIVAN: No.

QUESTION: Are they cooperating with you all at this point?

EIVAN: I don't have any information on those four individuals because we've got, of course, lots of different things going on, so I don't have any information on that right now.

9:00 Mark will be out here. Of course, it's his timeline -- we'll try to get him out as close to 9:00 as I can, and then the sheriff at 10:00.

HARRIS: And you've been listening to the public information officer for the Citrus County Sheriff's Department in Florida, Rhonda Evian, who is essentially giving us a timeline of events that will happen this morning. We're expecting to hear from Mark Lunsford at about 9:00 this morning and then at 10:00 we'll get an update on the investigation from Citrus County -- the Citrus County Sheriff. That's at 10:00.

Of course, we'll bring both of those events to you live here on CNN.

We'll take a break and come back with more of CNN SATURDAY MORNING right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KAYE: And we want to remind you one more time: the missing Florida girl, Jessica Lunsford, the 9-year-old girl, her family, her father is expected to hold a press conference in less than an hour. So keep it here; we will of course bring that to you just as soon as it happens.

HARRIS: The right to die, the battle over Terri Schiavo goes all the way to Capitol Hill. Straight ahead, a closer look at the incredible legal fight over this woman's life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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In striking these fairway metals, here's a great tip: when you swing the club, you will brush the turf. Now, where you brush the turf, that's your ball location. That's where you want to play the ball. So, now we're up over our shot. My only thought is to brush the turf, and in doing that, you are going to get consistent predictable contact that will make these clubs the favorite in your bag.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: The case of Terri Schiavo raises more than just legal questions: it raises moral issues, too, about life and death. The battle has not only pitted Terri Schiavo's husband against her parents and siblings but has involved countless strangers, lawmakers, and judges.

But Michael Schiavo insists this case is a personal matter. We spoke to him earlier on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL SCHIAVO, HUSBAND OF TERRI: I have a sense of relief for Terri. I feel that this is her time. This is going to work for Terri. She is going to finally be at peace. And I spent the entire day with her yesterday, besides doing some interviews. I spent the morning with her, also. I will stay by her side. I will love her. And I will hold her hand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: The battle over Terri Schiavo and the case there is the focus of our "Legal Roundtable" this morning.

As usual, joining us to talk about it is civil liberties attorney Lida Rodriguez-Taseff and former prosecutor Nelda Blair.

Good morning to both of you.

NELDA BLAIR, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Good morning.

KAYE: Let's start if we can -- there's been so many twists and turns in the case, so I just want to bring everybody up-to-date.

Terry Schiavo's feeding tube removed yesterday, about 1:45 in the afternoon. The U.S. House trying to subpoena Terri and her husband, but the U.S. Supreme Court denying those subpoenas, and has now refused to intervene in the case at all.

The latest, now, a statement from Congress, House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist saying this, "Congress will work through the weekend to resolve the differences in reaching an effective solution that can clear our chambers and be signed by the president." So, in effect, they are working to come up with some legislation that would protect just one person, Terri Schiavo. Is this legal?

LIDA RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF, CIVIL LIBERTIES ATTORNEY: Absolutely not. This is absolutely the reason we have courts. The courts have spoken in this case, not once, not twice, but over seven years, the courts has spoken. The courts have decreed the wishes of Terri Schiavo are to be carried out and by carrying them out, we will allow her to finally meet her maker, to finally rest in peace.

So the idea that politicians are now wanting to get involved in this deeply personal decision after the courts have spoken over and over again is really troubling.

BLAIR: Now, Lida, these are -- people are much more than just politicians. You know, we have three branches of government -- and you know this -- executive, judicial and legislative. The judicial branch, yes, has spoken, there's no question, court after court, has upheld Michael Schiavo's right to be the guardian and make decisions for his wife.

But, we have two other branches of government that have the right and responsibilities to check on that judicial branch. Congress is looking for legal means to pass laws that may have a difference in this particular case and in other cases, as well. And if they do that, and they do it legally, there is nothing wrong. In fact, it's their responsibility.

KAYE: But, you have to ask, where has Congress been over the last decade as this battle over Terri Schiavo raged on?

BLAIR: There's no question it has made its way through the courts. Florida did the same thing. The Florida legislature did what was in its power. Now, its state supreme court checked over that and ruled it unconstitutional.

But if Congress were to act not at all would we say that's the right thing to do? No, Congress has got a responsibility to exersise whatever powers it has. The Constitution gives -- the supremacy clause gives Congress the right over states. The question is, does it prevail in this case?

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: But, Nelda, think about this -- what is really going on here is politicians are getting involved at the very end of the process to undo a judicial decision that they do not like.

This is not about creating standards of applicability to everybody. That has already been done. We have the Cruz-Ann (ph) case where the Supreme Court decided many years ago, where the Supreme Court held that it was the law of the land that every person in this country had the right to refuse medical treatment they didn't want. After that, states, including Florida, set up standards to apply the Supreme Court decision in the Cruz-Ann (ph) case. What has happened here --

KAYE: I just want to raise one issue here. Let us not forget there is a woman here who may very well starve to death over the next two weeks. When did we start doing this? Her brother was on a short time ago, here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING; he called it barbaric. When did this become allowable?

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Well, first of all, the ability that families have had in this country when their family members are terminally ill to remove hydration and nutrition is something that happens every day in this country. This is not considered barbaric. This is a very painless way to die.

In addition, this woman has no cerebral cortex. There is nothing inside her brain except liquid, and she will feel no pain. In fact, this is an incredible opportunity for her to die with dignity, for her to finally reach the peace that she deserves, and we cannot possibly sit here, all of a sudden questioning decades of medicine and family members and people who have done this over and over for their relatives, and start scaring them about somehow this being barbaric. It isn't. It's humane and dignified.

KAYE: All right, ladies. We're going to have to leave it there, but I do want to give Nelda one last word.

BLAIR: My last word would be, write a living will.

KAYE: Thank you very much to both of you.

BLAIR: Thank you.

HARRIS: And quickly, let's get to our e-mail question of the morning. Who should decide what happens to Terri Schiavo? Listen to this from Greg:

"Our politicians can't balance our budget, protect our borders or speak to us truthfully on most issues, and we're supposed to trust them with our most personal dilemmas? I think not. When we marry, our parents give us away to our spouses. In most cases, this is our soulmate."

And that is from Greg. KAYE: People have some very strong opinions about this. We want to encourage to you continue to send us your e-mails. Who should decide what happens to Terri Schiavo. You can e-mail us at wam@CNN.com.

HARRIS: We are following the story as Congress steps into the Schiavo showdown. Next hour you will hear from House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on why Congress wants Terri to live.

KAYE: And at the bottom of the hour on HOUSE CALL, our Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes on gender-brain differences. Why men and women think the way they do.

I'm Randi Kaye.

HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris. "House Call" and your top stories are straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Now in the news, the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to intervene in the Terri Schiavo case. The justices rejected a request from a U.S. House Committee. Schiavo is the brain damaged Florida woman whose feeding tube was removed yesterday. Republican congressional leaders say they'll work through the weekend to get the tube reinserted. And House Majority Leader Tom DeLay will join us next hour.

Crews are searching in Homosassa Springs, Florida this morning for the body of nine-year old Jessica Lunsford. Police in Georgia are holding registered sex offender John Couey. And they claim he has confessed to killing Jessica. Jessica's family plans to talk to reporters at 9:00 Eastern. And we will bring that to you live.

And Citrus County Sheriff Jeff Dawsy plans a news conference at 10:00 a.m. Eastern. CNN will be bringing that to you live as well.

I'm Tony Harris in Atlanta. HOUSECALL begins right now.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to HOUSECALL. Trying to figure out why your significant other acts the way they do? Or why it is hard to relate to your son or daughter?

Well, we may just have some answers for you today. Research is pointing out that more and more of these common problems between males and females are actually hard wired into our brains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN (voice-over): They notice it when they make dinner. They notice it when they walk the dog.

MICHAEL GURIAN, AUTHOR/FAMILY THERAPIST: There are about 100 identified structural differences between the male and female brain.

COHEN: Family therapist Michael Gurian and his wife, Gail Reed Gurian, say they notice all the time how differently their brains function, how he tends when they're talking to get right to the point.

GURIAN: You're taking in all sorts of stuff. Whereas all I'm doing is I'm listening for what I think is the key variable. And I hone right in on that. And that's really very male-female.

COHEN: Gurian, author of the book "What Could He Be Thinking", says when scientists look inside mens and womens brains literally with MRIs, they find a biological reason for this difference.

Women in general have a larger corpus collossum. That's the area of the brain that handles communication between the two hemispheres. So the two sides talk better to each other. That's one theory as to why studies show women tend to multitask better.

GURIAN: Female brain approach -- gather a lot of material, gather a lot of information, feel a lot, hear a lot, sense a lot.

COHEN: MRIs show men, on the other hand, tend to move information more easily within each hemisphere.

GURIAN: Men, because we tend to compartmentalize our communication into a smaller part of the brain, we tend to be better at getting right to the issue.

COHEN: MRIs also show men have more activity in the mechanical and spatial centers of the brain. So does that mean scientists think men really do have better innate science and math abilities? In a way, yes. Neuropsychiatrist Reuben Gur studies the difference between mens and womens brains.

REUBEN GUR, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: Our top performers on spatial tests were almost all men.

COHEN: But scientists say in other ways, women's brains are superior. Women have more activity in verbal centers and in general have 15 percent more blood flow to the brain.

GURIAN: They're going to be ale to do a lot more with 15 percent more blood flow.

COHEN: Researchers point out of course there are women who do highly complicated math and science. And there are men with great verbal skills. It's not black and white. There's a lot of gray matter when you're talking about the human brain.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN: All this talk about the innate strengths of men and women can generate a lot of controversy. Helping us sort through it all is family therapist Michael Gurian, who we just saw in our piece with his wife. Good morning.

GURIAN: Good morning.

COHEN: Michael, you've written many books on this topic about how men and women are simply hardwired differently. But aren't there some men who have some of these female brain characteristics and vice versa?

GURIAN: Yes, absolutely. And the term that I've developed for that is bridge brains. A bridge brain is sort of a, you know, bridging the genders. And I have a test in "What Could He Be Thinking" that allows people to see where they fit on the brain spectrum. And I tested myself. And I'm about 60 percent male, 40 percent female. A bridge brain to me would be, you know, about 50 percent each.

COHEN: Now just a couple of months ago, the president of Harvard University, Lawrence Summers, he got into a lot of hot water when he said that the reason for fewer women being in the highest academic levels is the hard -- in the hard sciences was because, "In the special case of science and engineering, there are issues of intrinsic aptitude, and particularly of the variability of aptitude."

Now in your opinion is this the reason? Is aptitude the reason why fewer women are in these high positions in the math and sciences?

GURIAN: Well, actually, I would say there are three primary reasons. And I would say the main one is that women make a life choice that revolves at some point around raising kids. Not every woman does, but 95 percent of women have children.

It's hard when you take that five to 10 years off, or when you go to part-time, to integrate that in. And then at 50 years old or 45 years old to be the executive. Because you've taken the time off. So I actually think that the primary reason is that one.

Also, though, sexism exists. It does exist. There's no doubt about it. And then also, the spatial mechanical differences. There is a larger pool of men worldwide who have more developed spatial mechanical centers, mainly in the right hemisphere, than there are women.

So there's - so there are many women who have well developed spatial mechanicals. And many of them are engineers and architects.

But the pool is larger for males because the testosterone in utero, while we're in the mom's tummy, that testosterone hits the brain. And it creates more of those centers.

And for an illustration, people can look at who plays video games. Video games that are spatial mechanical, you notice mainly males play those. And that's because those spatial mechanical centers, there are more cortical areas in the male brain for those spatial mechanicals.

COHEN: Now many people have taken issues with Summers' ideas. One of them is Penny in California who writes to us, "If it is true that male brains are better at math and science than female brains, then how do we explain the millions of women who excel at math and science?"

Michael, can you try to explain that to us? GURIAN: Well, that's the thing. That -- well you have made that wonderful thing about it's gray matter. You know, that's right. There's a brain spectrum. And we have -- one would say there's black and white and then there's gray.

Well - you know, most of it's gray because the brain spectrum is very wide. The thing is, though, that you will have a larger pool of males who are going to have these developed spatial mechanicals.

And so, when you'd say, let's say have you two million male engineers and one million female engineers. We don't know what the figure is, but you're going to have more male engineers at the end of the day than female. And especially if it's industrial or if it's mechanical. Right? Industrial engineering or mechanical engineering. You're going to tend to have more males, but you'll still have a million females who are great at it. You see what I mean?

So it's not as if it's one or the other. It's a spectrum.

COHEN: Right. It certainly is if you're saying there are plenty of women out there who are perfectly capable of doing the highest levels of math and sciences.

Now we're going to continue talking about this battle of the brains right after the break. Stay tuned.

KAYE: He never asks for directions. She cries at the drop of a hat. Are all those annoying behaviors hard wired?

Plus -- should that wiring determine how we teach our kids? A controversial plan you need to hear.

First, take today's daily dose quiz. True or false? Men may be biologically prone to a midlife crisis? That answer...

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Before the break, we asked, true or false? Men may be biologically prone to a mid-life crisis. Well, guys, the answer is true. According to Researcher Ruben Gur, by age 45, men begin losing brain tissue, especially in the area that provides self-control.

COHEN: While men may begin losing brain tissue sooner, women don't have as much to begin with at least in certain areas. Men's brains are larger. They have more of what's called white matter, but women have more gray matter.

Family therapist Michael Gurian is here to talk about that. He's written the book "What Could He Be Thinking: How a Man's Mind Really Works."

Michael, of course, everyone wants to know. What's better? To have a lot of white matter or to have a lot of gray matter?

GURIAN: Well - and of course, they're both good. They just help us to do things a little differently. One thing that white matter does is it helps the brain move signals quickly from like front to back, or back to front. And one thing that Dr. Gur has shown, that this is one of the reasons that males rely on the visual.

You know, women tend to hear better. Women tend to smell better. Taste more. They tend to take more in with touch -- so tactile.

But the visual is a sense where we're about equal. And one of the reasons is the white matter. That's moving the signal in the male brain from the visual cortex, the ocular nerve, you know, the eyes to the visual cortex. And it's one of the reasons that we're so into the visual, and we rely so much on it.

COHEN: Now our viewers have lots of questions for you. Let's start with Cricket in Tennessee, who wants to know, "Do gender differences in the brain change as we age?"

We talked about this a little bit in the quiz. Do our differences change as we get older?

GURIAN: Well, they really do -- both the brain differences and the hormonal differences, which are really quite linked. So for instance, the testosterone levels in women will tend to shine through more during and after menopause, but testosterone levels in men will go down.

And you know, I'm almost 47. And I could start telling it around 40. I could just feel it as most men can, that the testosterone levels in me is starting to go down a bit. You know, and I'm not quite as intense and not quite as aggressive and those sorts of things.

Well, women find that their independence level can tend to go up in menopause and post menopause as their testosterone level shines through and the estrogen and progesterone dissipate.

So those hormonal differences will affect us. And then, yes, in terms of the brain itself, memory. You know, and words. While males will lose -- both men and women will lose some memory, but males will tend to lose more because we don't start out with as much as women do. You know, we just don't remember as well as women do. And especially sensual stuff, because we don't take in as much of that. Store it and then talk about it. So memory.

And then words, men could have two to three active verbal centers mainly in the left hemisphere. And then as we get to 50 to 60, we could start finding the electricity to those centers dissipating even further. So we're using even less words.

Whereas women could have five to seven active verbal centers. So they would be tending to use more words even as they get older. Still tending to use more words.

COHEN: Now we mentioned that men have larger brains than women. And so Maria from Toronto -- she wants a little bit of clarification here.

"Is it true that, although males have larger brains than females, males use considerably less of their brains than females?"

I'm not going to make a comment here, Michael. I'm going to leave it to you to explain that one.

GURIAN: Well, that's brutal. It's brutal, but true in many cases.

But we need to look at what we're - you know, define the task. OK, if we're talking about what are called verbally motive. So if we're talking about feelings, right. OK, definitely. Women are using more of their brain. Men are using less.

We don't have as many neuroconnectors or the electricity. Think about it that way. From the part of the brain that's emotive and emotional and taking that in, to the part of the brain that's going to talk about it. We have less connectors there. So we're using less of our brain. And we're not able to do as much of that as women in general are able to do.

There are exceptions. But also, when we do a task, let's look at a spatial task. Well, a spatial task like playing a video game, which is very spatial mechanical, we're actually using less of our brain there, but we might be doing the task better than our sister.

Well, why? She's using more of her brain. She should do it better. But it depends on the task. This is a spatial mechanical task that we have may have compartmentalized or localized to a part of the brain that's really efficient at that. So we might be doing that better. So it really depends...

COHEN: So Michael, all of these...

GURIAN: ...on what we're doing.

COHEN: ...differences are so fascinating, but how far should we go in recognizing these gender differences? Should it affect our teaching? We're going to hear those arguments coming up on HOUSECALL.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trying to teach a 5-year-old boy to read is about as developmentally appropriate as trying to teach a two-and-a- half-year-old girl to read.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: New rules for the classroom. Are we teaching our kids the wrong way?

First, more of this week's medical headlines in The Pulse.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CHRISTY FEIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Obesity in the United States could soon reduce life expectancy by as much as five years. That's according to a report published in this week's "New England Journal of Medicine."

The government says 15 percent of children are overweight. And researchers warn overweight children may live shorter lives than their parents.

And a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association says the popular supplement Vitamin E may do more harm than good in some people. Researchers followed patients over 55 with heart disease or diabetes and found Vitamin E didn't protect against cardiovascular events or cancer. In some patients, it actually increased the risk of heart failure.

This comes just months after researchers warned that high doses of Vitamin E may increase the risk of death and should be avoided.

Christy Feig, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COHEN: Welcome back to HOUSECALL. We're talking about the differences between men and women. You know, the strong silent type versus those who talk about their feelings.

Well, all joking aside, these differences are seen by some as a reason to educate our kids in a whole new way, separating boys from girls for the betterment of their brains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN (voice-over): Elliott Burgess wasn't always this happy at school. His mother says that's because last year at his co-ed school, sometimes they expected her boy to learn like a girl.

LISA BURGESS, MOTHER: Elliott's a good writer, but his handwriting isn't as nice as some girls. And sometimes he would have to redo a story because his handwriting didn't look like other -- some of the girls' handwriting. And so Elliott had come home and was a little, you know, well I don't want to write anymore because I can't write like that.

COHEN: So the Burgesses decided to move their son, now in third grade, and his little brother Emory to an all-boys school, the University School in Shaker Heights, Ohio, where teachers told him it's fine if his handwriting's not beautiful.

LOIS TRAWEEK, TEACHER, UNIVERSITY SCHOOL: The fine motor skills aren't the same as they are with the little girls.

COHEN: But boys' spatial and mechanical parts of the brain are more developed, according to many scientists. Boys, they say, are hardwired for action. So the classrooms here were designed with lots of space to build and move.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are areas of concrete floors and drains where they can make things. What you'll see is big spaces and lots of activity, construction activity.

COHEN: Here, boys don't have to sit still in their chairs or even sit in chairs at all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just like moving around.

COHEN: Co-ed schools aren't always set up that way.

DR. LEONARD SAX, SINGLE-SEX PUBLIC EDUCATION: What's the first thing you hear a teacher say in most of those classrooms? Please, everybody, sit down and be quiet. That's easier for most five and 6- year-old girls than it is for most 5 and 6-year-old boys.

COHEN: Dr. Leonard Sax, author of the book, "Why Gender Matters" says new trends in education, such as teaching children to read in kindergarten instead of first grade, put boys at a disadvantage because the language centers in their brains develop more slowly.

SAX: Trying to teach a 5-year-old boy to read is about as developmentally appropriate as trying to teach a 2-and-a-half-year-old girl to read.

COHEN: So Sax says they should be taught separately. Not everyone buys that theory. Some say it just reinforces gender stereotypes, but Elliott's parents love it.

BURGESS: He's very excited. He's excited to go to school. And then after school, I mean we talk about school all day until bedtime. We literally talk about school until bedtime.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN: Well we're talking with Michael Gurian, a family therapist and author of the book, "Boys and Girls Learn Differently".

Now Michael, tell me, when do you think single sex education should start? Should it start in kindergarten, in pre-kindergarten?

GURIAN: Well, single sex education, I think, is a useful and important experiment. But co-education is going to be the American way. It's the Western way. And I think that's -- it's the main way that people are going to be taught. So we have to weigh this.

What we do is the boys and girls differently training at The Gurian Institute. We go around and train schools. And we make sure that all the teachers are trained in how the male brain and the female brain learn.

And if they're trained, co-education can work fine. They, for instance, won't force boys whose brains haven't developed their verbals yet. They won't force them to read yet until those verbals have developed. But since so many boys verbals have developed, you know, there are a lot of boys who read great at kindergarten than those boys, OK, fair enough, they can read. So they'll be able to weigh that.

If we do single gender, which is good, I mean we have a number of Gurian Institute model schools that are single gender. If they do single gender, then there are certain things they need to do. They need to make sure they don't have 30 boys in one classroom. That's probably overwhelming for one teacher.

So you can see that I'm not in agreement that all we should do is single gender. I think we should do both.

COHEN: Well, we've got to take a quick break now. More HOUSECALL, coming up.

KAYE: More differences between the sexes when we come back. Plus -- looking for a way to spike up your fitness routine? Our bod squad goes international when HOUSECALL returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLLY FIRFIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you're looking to spice up your usual fitness routine, add a bit of ethnicity. You won't have to look far because gyms and athletic clubs across the country are being infused with a multicultural theme.

Try the sultry moves inspired by Latin salsa meringue. Let rhythmic beats of ritual African dance transport your body and mind to another place. Or twist, turn, and sway your core muscles with belly dance with moves rooted deep in Middle Eastern and Asian culture, belly dance isn't just an ancient tradition. It's a workout that works hundreds of muscles and blasts calories.

Get wild with the exotic blend of hand twirling, torso turning and shoulder shrugging masala (ph) bongo workout. Experts agree these cultural drive moves are a great way to add variety and fun to your workout, all while reducing stress. Mastering these moves might be challenging. So remember to move at your own pace and be sure to warm up and cool down.

Holly Firfir, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN: Thanks, Holly.

We're talking this morning with Michael Gurian about the differences between men's and women's brains.

Now Michael, you mentioned that when you go into a school, you tell teachers to teach the boys and girls, remembering that they have different kinds of brains. In some ways, does that then reinforce gender stereotypes that the teachers may already have? GURIAN: You know, the teachers are trained in the male and female brain. We show them the CAT scans and so on. And if they're trained, they don't reinforce the stereotypes when they do single gender. If they're not trained, they sometimes can. You know, they walk into a classroom. They don't really...

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: All right, right now you are looking at a live picture there in Homosassa Springs, Florida. And that is the father, Mark Lunsford. That is the father of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, speaking to reporters for the first time since having learned his daughter, according to police, had been killed. Let's listen in.

MARK LUNSFORD, JESSICA LUNSFORD'S FATHER: ...has everyone heard me say time after time that she would be home. She's home now, and it's over. And now we have a new struggle. And I need more people to support now the efforts that we tried to make to change things.

I love everybody for helping, for supporting, for even talking about it. But Jesse is home now, and she is right here with me. And she knows it all.

And all the parents out there, I know everybody does, but do it more often, make sure you get that hug and kiss every day before you leave that house. I did. I got mine. You just make sure you get yours. And remember, love your children this much, and no one or nothing will come between you and them.

Thank you.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Emotional words from Mark Lunsford. As we expected this morning, Mark Lunsford stepping to the microphone, Randi, to say that she is home. Sissy is home now. Talking about his 9-year-old daughter, Jessica Lunsford, presumed dead right now.

John Couey, the homeless man who was apprehended in Augusta yesterday, finally telling police that he had kidnapped her and that he had killed her.

Mark Lunsford saying she is home and thanking everyone for their hope, for talking about it, for helping in the search. Be sure to hug your kids.

Mark is back at the microphones.

LUNSFORD: All the bikers, I'll be there. I'll be there this morning, and I'll ride with you. Thank you.

HARRIS: And right there, Mark is referring to a search that was scheduled this morning, biker friends and others who were going to go out and start another search for Jessica. That won't be necessary, but Mark is saying that he is going to go out there to join with them and...

KAYE: Last night, apparently he had -- the maps organized and the volunteers organized. And did not get to that today.

HARRIS: So they will get together this morning, and they will talk and they'll grieve together.

Let's go to CNN producer Paul Courson, who is on the phone, who has additional information about John Couey. Paul?

PAUL COURSON, CNN PRODUCER (on phone): Yes, from Augusta, Georgia. We have called the detention center where Couey has been held overnight. He naturally -- they put him on a suicide watch, authorities told us this morning, after he allegedly admitted to police in (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Florida the questioning that that killed the girl.

The guard that we spoke to this morning at the detention center wouldn't tell us whether he exhibited any behaviors overnight that would lead them to affirm that a suicide watch had been established on him. But in the meantime, he is under such a suicide watch as a protective measure.

HARRIS: OK. The latest information on John Couey from Paul Courson, our CNN producer.

We will continue to follow this story, of course.

And just to recap for you, just in to CNN, just a moment ago, you heard the father, Mark Lunsford, of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, who stepped forward to say that she is home. His 9-year-old daughter, presumed dead right now. The search continues to find her body. Sissy is home now. Mark Lunsford referring to his daughter, 9-year- old Jessica Marie Lunsford.

KAYE: And we also want to remind you, coming up at 10:00 a.m. Eastern, Citrus County Sheriff Jeff Dawsy will talk about the Jessica Lunsford case. So be sure to stay tuned for that. Live news conference right here on CNN as well.

HARRIS: Our other big story of the morning, Terri Schiavo's husband is demanding that Congress butt out of his personal life and leave his brain-damaged wife alone. Schiavo's feeding tube, as you know, was removed yesterday, despite attempts by the House committee to use its subpoena power to stop it. The U.S. Supreme Court then denied a House appeal to intervene.

In an emotional appeal on CNN about 90 minutes ago, Michael Schiavo said what Congress is doing should outrage Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL SCHIAVO, TERRI SCHIAVO'S HUSBAND: Should be with my wife right now. holding her hand. But I felt the importance to get out there and talk about what the Congress -- this government is doing. They are stepping into my personal life, and they are getting in the middle of something they know nothing about. They don't have the facts.

And it's sad. It's sad what this government is doing. And if they can do it to me, they will do it to everybody in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Michael Schiavo and his attorney appeared earlier on CNN SATURDAY MORNING. George Felos says the judge granted his client's request to have the feeding tube removed because the court determined it's what Terri herself wanted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE FELOS, MICHAEL SCHIAVO'S ATTORNEY: This is a young woman who said, No feeding tubes for me. I don't want to be kept alive artificially. Please let me go when my time comes. She said this to her best friend, to Michael, to her brother-in-law. And that's why the court has ordered this, because they found that these were her wishes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: OK, and that is the latest that we have, the sound from both sides, from Michael Schiavo and from his attorney, on the Terri Schiavo case at the moment.

KAYE: And now back to our top story this morning.

And this hour, a missing girl, an alleged confession, and a frantic search.

For the latest in the Jessica Lunsford case, let's go to her central Florida hometown of Homosassa Springs. Our Sara Dorsey is there. Sara?

SARA DORSEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Randi, just moments ago, we heard from Mark Lunsford, that is the father of Jessica Lunsford. And through tears, he said, Jesse's home now. He also said this is over. And we fear that that means possibly the body of this little girl has been found.

The PIO from the sheriff's department came out earlier, telling us they would have some new information at 10:00, that the sheriff was going to be telling us. But they did allow Mark Lunsford earlier this morning to walk back to what we're calling the crime scene, where the crime investigation truck is parked, where investigators have been digging.

Now, that digging started last night. It went well into the early morning hours this morning. We haven't seen a whole lot of activity. Most of the activity here has been focused on the Lunsford home, of course. This is a family that is grieving desperately at this point.

Throughout this search. the three-week search for this little girl, they really believed and hoped, held onto hope the entire time, that they could find her and bring her home safely.

And between 4:00 and 6:00 yesterday, the family was told that there was a confession by Mr. Couey. This man was a convicted sex offender. He was not living in the home he was supposed to, rather living in this trailer just yards right across the street, really a stone's throw away from this home that Jessica Lunsford disappeared from.

And Mr. Couey's confession came like this. He had talked to investigators over -- for about 11 hours over a two-day period. They gave him a polygraph test, at which time, when that was finished, he told investigators, You don't even need to tell me the results. Apologized for wasting their time. And then, we are told, it was then that Mr. Couey allegedly confessed to this crime, admitted to kidnapping and killing Jessica Lunsford.

Of course, this family heartbroken at this time. But Mark Lunsford came back out after that original speech, telling a group of bikers that was originally -- that were originally going to ride to raise money for the search, he said he will be there today.

You know, a strong family in light of all that they've found out in the last 24 hours, Randi.

KAYE: And Sara, let's get back to that official search, the one involving the investigators and police crews there on the scene. They started this search yesterday afternoon. They said it would take quite some time. But last night, temperatures dipping down to about the 40s in that area of Florida. What other challenges might they be facing in this search for Jessica Lunsford's body?

DORSEY: Well, the sheriff did tell us yesterday that it was a general area that they were given. So that's one thing. Not to mention the terrain. It gets a little brushy and things like that behind this particular area.

But I'll tell that you when we talked to the sheriff's office this morning, they said they have found some things. They wouldn't tell us what it was. They wouldn't tell us if it was a body. But they did say that later this morning, around 10:00, the sheriff would come out and give us a brief.

But you're right, the temperatures dropped very low. Despite that, investigators were out into the early morning hours this morning, trying to find thing. I mean, very diligent. This confession was the first real lead in this case that investigators had to go on, Randi.

KAYE: All right. Sara Dorsey, stand by. And we'll be checking back with you. Thank you.

HARRIS: And just a moment ago, 9:00 to be exact, Mark Lunsford, the father of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, came out of his home, stepped to the microphones to talk to reporters. And here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUNSFORD: I just want to say to everybody, to my community, to everyone that seen Jesse's picture, that everyone heard me say time after time that she would be home. She's home now. And it's over. And now we have a new struggle. And I need more people to support now the efforts that we tried to make to change things.

I love everybody for helping, for supporting, for even talking about it. But Jesse is home now, and she is right here with me. And she knows, she knows it all.

And all the parents out there... , I know everybody does, but do it more often, make sure you get that hug and kiss every day before you leave that house. I did. I got mine. You just make sure you get yours. And remember, love your children this much, and no one or nothing will come between you and them.

Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Mark Lunsford, talking about his precious one. And Jessica Lunsford, 9 years old, presumed dead right now.

And I think the sound bite there, the quote that'll break a lot of fathers' hearts, mothers' hearts, parents' hearts, "Sissy's home now."

Let's go back to Homosassa Springs and Sara Dorsey.

Sara, Mark Lunsford has been a rock through this. He never really gave up hope, did he?

DORSEY: He really didn't. And I'll tell you, this is a man we all got to know. This was not a family that stayed in their home throughout this. They were out doing searches, out every day talking to the media, fulfilling all of our requests for information about Jessica, information about their family.

And this is also a family that never got out from under that umbrella of suspicion, because there were no real leads in this case until Couey confessed. This family was continuously being looked at, scrutinized by the media, looked at by investigators the entire time, never cleared.

But throughout all of that, they kept a positive attitude. Mark, as I said, was very gracious to all of us that stood outside of his home for three weeks asking for information about his little girl. And as he said, he got his hug and kiss. What he's referring to is, Jessica was put to sleep the night that she disappeared. Mark actually went out that evening. And when he came home in the morning, that's when he discovered his daughter was missing.

But he did get to spend some quality time with Jessica before he left that evening, something, as he told you, he's very thankful for.

Earlier in the day, we saw him walk back to the crime scene, which is really just over my shouter. That is the home that John Couey was staying at with family, the home he wasn't supposed to be in. This was a registered sex offender. He was registered to a different location. His family lied to investigators when they inquired about him being there.

And really, up till his confession, this case was at a standstill. The investigators from Citrus County went to Augusta, Georgia, to talk to Mr. Couey. He wasn't giving up any information, according to our sources. In fact, at some point, our sources were telling us that investigators really didn't know if he had anything to do with this.

It came after a polygraph test that Mr. Couey broke down to investigators and said, I don't even need the results of this test. I'm sorry for wasting your time, investigators. He went on then, allegedly, to say he did kidnap and kill Jessica Lunsford.

And we are told it was then he gave investigators the general area to search. The sheriff came out last night, of course, clarifying that they would be searching throughout the evening, trying to locate the body of this little girl.

And Mark, as we told you, and as you heard, said, This is finally over. We don't know exactly what that means, but we intend -- expect to hear from the sheriff's department in just a short time, and possibly they can clarify if indeed they have found the body of Jessica Lunsford, Tony.

HARRIS: OK, Sara, we appreciate it. Thank you.

KAYE: And as you just heard, Mark Lunsford, Jessica's father, speaking earlier this morning. He made a few comments to reporters there, and then he left the microphone, walked away, and came back with just one more thought. And we want to share that with you now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUNSFORD: And one other thing, to all the bikers, I'll be there. I'll be there. I'll be there this morning, and I'll ride with you. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: And there you have it, Mark Lunsford, the father of Jessica Lunsford, speaking to reporters this morning.

In that last comment, he was thanking some of the volunteers, some motorcycle riders there in the area, in Homosassa Springs, for their work and their efforts that have been underway now for three weeks in trying to find his daughter.

He did have a planned search, a search scheduled for this morning, which now has been called off, Tony.

HARRIS: Other news now.

It is a killing spree that won't soon be forgotten. One suspect, four people killed. And police say it could have been worse. A man who was attacked by courthouse shooting suspect Brian Nichols lived to talk about it. His harrowing tale live, exclusively here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Brian Nichols was the subject of the largest manhunt in Georgia history just one week ago today. Nichols is suspected of killing four people during a 24-hour shooting spree that began Friday morning at a downtown courthouse and ended in the suburbs late Saturday afternoon.

But there are other people who say they had violent encounters with Nichols while he was at large.

One of them is Shelton Warren. He joins us this morning to talk about his harrowing ordeal. And he is joined by his attorney, Nicky Bonner.

Good to see you both.

Shelton, let me see if I have the story correct. It's about 10:00 Friday night, last Friday night, and your girlfriend has the first encounter with him. She's coming home from a gym. He follows her into the development where you live and follows her up the stairs to another apartment. Then she turns to your apartment, knocks on the door.

Why don't you pick up the story from there?

SHELTON WARREN: Well, you know, I heard a knock at the door, OK? So I'm, you know, wondering who is at the door. I go to the door. On my way to the door, I hear her call my name.

HARRIS: Yes.

WARREN: Saying, It's me. So, you know, I thought that was a little strange, because she has a key. So I go and I look through the peephole. I see her sitting there -- I mean, I see her standing there next to someone. I really couldn't see. So I immediately open the door.

HARRIS: Were you immediately concerned?

WARREN: Of course.

HARRIS: OK. And what happens next?

WARREN: I look at the fellow, I look at him. And, you know, I'm, like, Who are you? You know, he looked a little surprised. He didn't say nothing. I looked at her, and, you know, she say, He said, Don't try nothing. So that's when I noticed that...

HARRIS: This is what he said to her.

WARREN: No, she said that to me.

HARRIS: Oh, I see, I see.

WARREN: And then, you know, he didn't say anything. Then, you know, he had the gun. That's when I noticed the gun. He had it pointed to her side, so...

HARRIS: So what do you do?

WARREN: I look -- I look...

HARRIS: What do you, what do you do at that moment?

WARREN: I look back at him. And when I looked at him, and from that point, that's when I was like, Wow, I know this, you know, who it was, because I'm watching TV at the same time.

So then she's -- I look back at her. She say, he wants to come in. So I just stand there in the doorway. And as they start to come in, you know, I look -- she comes on the side of me. That's when I immediately pushed her into the apartment.

HARRIS: So you pushed her into the apartment, so it was just you two together now, in sort of a doorway, right?

WARREN: Right. Then I pushed him out in the hallway, and that's when he tried to push his way in. And that's when we connected in the hallway. And I just told her, Lock the door. And, you know, she -- and then, when I said that, you know, (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

HARRIS: What do you mean when you say connected in the hallway?

WARREN: Well, he, you know, he tried to ram his way in. So, you know, I didn't allow him. We kind of, you know, like, you know, like wrestling, how you kind of lock up.

HARRIS: Right, right. And he's holding the gun at this point.

WARREN: He still has a gun in his hand.

HARRIS: Well, wait a minute. What are you thinking?

WARREN: Nothing.

HARRIS: You've seen the story. You know what this man is accused of doing. You've seen the video of him, so you know what he looks like.

WARREN: Right.

HARRIS: And now you're locked up with him in the hallway of your apartment complex, and he has a gun.

WARREN: Correct.

HARRIS: What happens next?

WARREN: Then, you know, once the door closed, that's when he hit me with the gun. You know, he hit me in the forehead, then we kind of, like, you know, lockup again, real, you know, briefly, and he hit me again. You know, now I'm just thinking, Don't let this person point this gun at me. That's why we kept -- you know, then I locked up a last time, we kind of, like, pushed off each other. And then we was just standing there face to face.

HARRIS: How far away, as far as we are, closer, farther away?

WARREN: Probably a little bit closer. But just similar to this when you push off someone.

HARRIS: Yes.

WARREN: So probably a little bit closer. And then we standing there, and he just turned around and fled.

HARRIS: But theoretically, at that moment, he had an opportunity to aim the gun and fire a shot at you.

WARREN: If he wanted to, you know. That was a chance, (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

HARRIS: Did you fear for your life?

WARREN: I mean, I was just thinking, Don't let this person in the house, you know, this person in my house. And when we were in the hallway, don't let this person point his gun at me. I didn't have no other thoughts, no other feelings.

HARRIS: I understand why, but I'll have you explain it to our viewers. Why was it so important for you to keep him from getting inside your house?

WARREN: I mean, that's just -- I mean, that's -- it was just my natural reaction, you know, he's trying to come in my home. I don't care who you are, you know, don't try to, you know, come in my home or try to harm me. It was just a natural reaction, my natural reaction.

HARRIS: So. Shelton, he had a moment where he could have fired a shot. There was a moment there. You concede that. And you say he turned around and he fled.

WARREN: Correct.

HARRIS: OK. Did he ever ask for anything other than to come into the house? Did he want money, did he want your keys, did he want, did he ever ask for anything?

WARREN: We didn't speak.

HARRIS: What happens next?

WARREN: Well, then, you know, I tried to get back in the apartment. The door was still locked. I just told her, Keep the door locked. Then I go down the stairs and I just look around, you know. I don't see anyone. So that's when I go to the next building, and there was some people coming in. They allowed me to use their cell phone.

HARRIS: How would you describe the police response to your story?

WARREN: I mean, you know, the police came. They, you know, they got there quickly and everything, you know. I was just advising them that, you know, you know, you don't need to -- he -- you know, I just seen this person, you all are looking for, so you don't need to go, you know, go through these buildings. You don't need to notify the neighbors. You need to, you know, lock these areas down, do something. He's right out here. This just happened.

So, you know, you know, it -- it was a little -- like, maybe it was hard for them to believe, maybe. I'm not sure.

HARRIS: I've got to ask you something. There's the moment that you're engaged here, and the adrenaline is flowing, and you're engaged, and you're just trying to do what you need to do to stay alive and to protect your girlfriend.

And then there are the days that follow, when you realize, perhaps you realize, how close you came to being shot by this man who is accused of killing four people. Have you had that moment? And has the whole ordeal sunk in for you yet?

WARREN: I mean, yes, I -- you know, that day -- the next day, you know, I was thankful to see another day, you know. I really can't -- I guess I really still don't even think about it, man. You know, it happened. Still hard to grasp. It's still hard to deal with, you know. My girlfriend, it's hard, really hard for her to deal with.

So you're still dealing with it, basically. Still dealing wit.

HARRIS: Amazing story. Shelton Warren, we appreciate you taking the time. Nicky Bonner, thanks for bringing him in this morning.

NICKY BONNER, SHELTON WARREN'S ATTORNEY: You're very welcome.

HARRIS: Appreciate you both. Thank you.

Ashley Smith credits faith and hope with helping her survive her seven-hour ordeal as a hostage. It's made her an instant celebrity. Find out more about her on "A Hero's Journey" on CNN's "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS" with Paula Zahn. That's today at 5:00 p.m. Eastern, 2:00 Pacific.

KAYE: And right now, we want to check in Ken and Daria Dolan to see what is coming up next on "DOLANS UNSCRIPTED" this morning.

DARIA DOLAN, HOST, "DOLANS UNSCRIPTED": Well, thank you very much, Randi, nice to see you.

And coming up on "DOLANS" today, we're going to be taking a look at the rather important (UNINTELLIGIBLE) implications of the Mary Schiavo and the Bernie Ebbers suits. KEN DOLAN, HOST, "DOLANS UNSCRIPTED": Exactly right, how it affects, Randi, how it affects, especially the Ebbers case, and even the Schiavo case, how it may affect our lives. We'll also ask the president of the NCAA, Hey, why aren't more athletes graduating? Fifty percent, is that a really acceptable (ph) and realistic goal? That and more today, Randi.

KAYE: All right, very good issues. Looking forward to it. Thank you both.

DARIA DOLAN: Thanks.

KAYE: Also at 10:o0 a.m. Eastern, Citrus County Sheriff Jeff Dawsy will talk about the Jessica Lunsford case. We will carry that live here on CNN. And then at 11:00 a.m. Eastern, it is time for "THE TURNAROUND." CNN's Ali Velshi takes on the owners of a small boxing gym who have desires to expand their business. Do they have the knockout punch to succeed? We'll find out on "THE TURNAROUND," 11:00 a.m. Eastern.

A look at the day's top stories when we come right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: "OPEN HOUSE" begins in just a moment.

But now, let's check headlines in the news.

Three weeks after she disappeared, the search for Jessica Lunsford is over. Her father made an emotional statement about 30 minutes ago, saying Jesse was, quote, "home now." A convicted sex offender who lived close by has allegedly confessed to killing and kidnapping the girl. John Couey is reportedly on a suicide watch where he is being held in Augusta, Georgia. The Citrus County Sheriff's Office will hold its own news conference on the case in about 30 minutes.

Two to four weeks, doctors say that's how long it could take Terri Schiavo to die now that her feeding tube has been removed. But Republicans in Congress are vowing to pass legislation to keep the severely brain-damaged Florida woman alive.

It was two years ago that U.S. air strikes first lit up the skies of Baghdad. Today's anniversary is being marked in Baghdad and around the world. Antiwar protesters gathered in Tokyo. Some 100,000 people marched in London to protest the war. President Bush is expected to mark the anniversary in his weekly radio address.

I'm Tony Harris in Atlanta. "OPEN HOUSE" starts right now.

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


Aired March 19, 2005 - 08:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Randi Kaye in for Betty Nguyen.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Tony Harris. Thank you for being with us.

KAYE: Two to four weeks -- doctors say that's how long it could take Terri Schiavo to die now that her feeding tube has been removed. But Republicans in Congress are vowing to pass legislation to keep the severely brain-damaged Florida woman alive. More on this story in just a few minutes when we hear from Schiavo's brother.

The search for a missing 9-year-old girl takes a grim turn. Authorities are now looking for Jessica Lunsford's body near her central Florida home. They say a convicted sex offender has confessed to kidnapping and killing the girl. She vanished from her home more than three weeks ago. A live report straight ahead.

And this was Baghdad two years ago: the night sky lit up by explosions as the U.S. attacked. Today marks the second anniversary of the start of the war. Two years later insurgent attacks continue. Meantime, a top government official vows that Iraq's National Assembly will form a government when it meets next week.

And there is madness in the air, March Madness, that is. The NCAA basketball tourney is in a full swing, with a couple of upsets. Bucknell has dumped third seed Kansas and Vermont has routed fourth seed Syracuse.

HARRIS: Also in Florida this morning an agonizing ordeal for the family of Terri Schiavo. Now that her feeding tube has been disconnected she will slowly starve to death over the next couple of weeks.

CNN's Bob Franken is in Clearwater, Florida, where emotions are running extremely high this morning.

Good morning, Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are reporting from outside the Hospice House in Woodside. That, of course, is supposed to be a place of peace. Quite a bit of turmoil as you can see from the signs in back of me.

Many of the pro-life groups protesting the removal yesterday of the nutrient tube from Terri Schiavo. Terri Schiavo has become a source of turmoil not only here in Pinellas, but also in Washington -- it's become quite the political issue, caught up in the distortion of politics and political ambition and so a lot of people looking to Washington to see if there's anything that can be done to replace what is called a feeding tube.

Terri Schiavo who has been here in what doctors are calling a persistent vegetative state since 1990 when she suffered a cardiac arrest depriving oxygen to her brain and leaving her in that state, and there's been this bitter debate that's gone on between her parents and her husband about whether she should be allowed to pass away. Now, this, of course, has gone on -- it's been fought in the courts, it's been fought in legislature and the Congress and continues to be. But yesterday the legal remedies seemed to run out and that tube was pulled.

Now, there's even a dispute about what will happen next, if she is allowed to die, whether she will suffer pain or whether it will be a peaceful death. Just another of a debate that has so distorted the life of Terri Schiavo and, of course, has meant that she does not have a voice to be heard, if there is a voice that she has -- Tony?

HARRIS: Bob Franken for us in Clearwater, Florida. Bob, thank you.

Last hour I spoke with Michael Schiavo who is behind the long legal battle to remove the feeding tube from his wife's body.

To hear the other side let's turn now to Terri's brother, Robert Schindler.

Bobby, good morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERT SCHINDLER, BROTHER OF TERRI SCHIAVO: Good morning.

HARRIS: Let me start with something that was said to me last hour by Michael Schiavo. He is suggesting that the reason that your family has fought this long protracted battle is because of money, the fact that your family is angry, bitter over the fact your family didn't get a piece of whatever money was available at the end of some kind of a settlement on the insurance. What's your response to that?

SCHINDLER: Well, it's absolutely false and untrue. Our family's intention from the beginning -- and there's a letter my dad wrote to Michael back in 1993 -- has been one and one thing only, and that's to bring Terri home and make her part of the family and take care of her again.

HARRIS: So, why is he saying this?

SCHINDLER: I don't know. Obviously, Michael's intentions are highly questionable. When Michael petitioned the court in 1997 to remove Terri's feeding tube, he was the one that stood to inherit close to a million dollars. HARRIS: Do you believe Michael Schiavo when he says it was Terri's wish not to die in this persistent, vegetative state? Do you not believe she said it? Or do you believe she said it but didn't really mean it?

SCHINDLER: Well, totally out of character for Terri to make such wishes. They were allegedly said when she was 20 years old, and they came seven years after the incident in which Terri collapsed.

Additionally, I'd like to comment, Terri is not in a PVS. There are more doctors on record with the court that have testified she is not in PVS, she's not in a coma, and can be helped if she is given proper rehabilitation and therapy. We are just asking for the chance to give her that therapy, rehabilitation, that all the doctors are adamant she can improve and improve significantly if she was just given the chance, and the courts and Michael are blocking any type of rehabilitation. They are scared to death to get Terri -- to allow her out in the public and obviously, they do not want, and are trying very hard to keep her in the hospice room so nobody can see her true condition.

HARRIS: Bobby, why? Come on, you have to tell me why Michael Schiavo would not want, if Terri were well, if she were able, why wouldn't he want the world to see her?

SCHINDLER: Well, that is the question. You have to ask Michael that. But why are they trying so hard...

HARRIS: But you're making the allegation, so at least give me some kind of rationale from your point of view. Why?

SCHINDLER: For the last five years Terri has been -- we have been denied to remove Terri from her room. She has been warehoused in a hospice facility for five years, not allowed outside. We have gone to court on a number of occasions -- Terri -- the court has blocked any type of videos to be taken of Terri.

You saw what happened yesterday when Terri was asked to be subpoenaed and appear in front of Washington, and the judge refused. I believe the judge is scared to death to allow Terri in the public, because, as I said, people would see how alive she is, how alert she is, and that we are going to starve a human being to death that is simply disabled.

HARRIS: Couldn't it also be said that this is a family, your family, and everyone would understand that, if this were true, if this were the case, that yours is the family that just doesn't want to let go of someone they love desperately?

SCHINDLER: Let go? You are asking us --

HARRIS: I'm not asking. I'm just posing the question.

SCHINDLER: Right. You know, I think a lot of people try to make this a quality of life issue. You know, someone -- we are going to determine when it is okay and not okay to starve human beings to death. I'm astonished at how comfortable we have become as a society to starve people to death. This is absolutely barbaric that we are sitting back and watching a human being, my sister who is simply disabled and needs help, has a loving family that wants to take care of her, and we're going to starve her to death. It's cruel, it's inhumane.

Look, Terri has been fighting -- she has an incredible will to live. She is fighting for the last 15 years to survive. She hasn't given up on her family, and we're not going to give up on her. We're asking to please allow us to take Terri home and give her a chance.

HARRIS: OK, Bobby Schindler, we'll leave it there. Appreciate it. Thanks for your time.

SCHINDLER: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Our e-mail question this morning: who should decide what happens to Terri Schiavo? Send us your thoughts at wam@cnn.com, and we'll be reading some of your e-mails throughout the program this morning.

KAYE: The search for Jessica Lunsford may have come to the worst of all possible ends. A convicted sex offender has allegedly confessed to abducting and killing the 9-year-old little girl. CNN's Sara Dorsey joins us now, live, from Florida, where investigators are still searching for Jessica.

Good morning, again, Sara.

SARA DORSEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you again, Randi.

It was that confession that turned this case upside down and gave crime scene investigators a clear place to start searching for the body of little Jessica Lunsford that has been missing for three weeks. Now, nothing was coming out of those talks with John Couey for quite sometime according to sources. He was interviewed more than 11 hours over two days, but when he was given a polygraph test and finished that, he told investigators, you don't have to tell me the results, apologized for wasting their time. And that's when he allegedly confessed to abducting and killing this little girl.

You may remember, she disappeared from the home she that she shared with her grandparents and father, wearing only a nightgown. It is unclear to us at this point after searching all night and into the early morning whether or not her body has been recovered, but we can tell you that investigators are planning to come out before 9:00 a.m. this morning and give us an update on what possibly they might have found.

At 9:00 we expect to hear from Mark Lunsford, Jessica's father. And the sad part about this was today he was planning to do another volunteer search, something he's continued throughout this process of his daughter being missing. He was preparing maps yesterday afternoon and into the evening when this tragic news came in.

Also, we should tell you we have learned there are three people who are being called "associates" of Mr. Couey who are being questioned by the Citrus County sheriff's officials in regards to this case -- Randi?

KAYE: All right. Sara Dorsey live for us in Florida this morning.

And Jessica's family is expected to hold a press conference in less than an hour as you just heard. Stay right here. We will, of course, bring that to you just as soon as it happens.

He says he's fighting for what his wife wants. Michael Schiavo accuses Congress of using thuggery to try to keep his wife alive. We'll look at all sides of the fight over Terri Schiavo's life ahead in our legal brief.

HARRIS: In the meantime, good morning, Baltimore, Maryland. Your weather and a look at the nation's forecast coming up with Rob Marciano in just a couple of minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RONDA HEMMINGER EIVAN, CITRUS COUNTRY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: ...ask any questions....

HARRIS: We're going to take you back to Homosassas, Florida, right now where we're getting an update on the Jessica Lunsford investigation.

EIVAN: ...sheriff will come out at 10 a.m. and provide an update on this case. There are a few things he will be updating you on.

QUESTION: Can you tell us -- we saw Mark walking -- what looked like toward the crime scene. Did you escort him back there? What was happening?

EIVAN: He did, he walked back to where we were. He was there for a little while, and he is now back up at the house. The sheriff's with him.

QUESTION: How is he doing?

EIVAN: He's doing very well actually considering the circumstances, so...

QUESTION: I know that through this, everyone, including the sheriff and Mark kept telling us they believed they could bring Jessica home alive? Do you think he's had some time and maybe knew that this was coming even though they were trying to remain positive?

EIVAN: I don't know I could ever speak for this family or any other family. I know for the sheriff's office, our hope was always until we knew that she wasn't alive, we worked this case as if she were alive. QUESTION: Can you tell us what is going to be happening with Mr. Couey? Is he back in court yet, or do you know when he might be back?

EIVAN: Those are some of the details we are working on for the sheriff at 10:00, so he can tell you about the activity that was going on during the night. He can hopefully speak to the four people that we have picked up, and where we're going to go from here in regards to Mr. Couey.

QUESTION: There's four people that we're calling associates that are being questioned, or three plus Mr. Couey?

EIVAN: There's four -- there's four people that we have picked up and are questioning.

QUESTION: Are they cooperating?

EVIAN: Four people. Four people. We had a BOLO out last night. We were looking for four people, wasn't quite sure last night when it was late whether it was three or four. It was four, and we have since picked up...

QUESTION: Are they related?

EIVAN: I don't know the answer to that.

QUESTION: Have you released the names?

EIVAN: No.

QUESTION: Are they cooperating with you all at this point?

EIVAN: I don't have any information on those four individuals because we've got, of course, lots of different things going on, so I don't have any information on that right now.

9:00 Mark will be out here. Of course, it's his timeline -- we'll try to get him out as close to 9:00 as I can, and then the sheriff at 10:00.

HARRIS: And you've been listening to the public information officer for the Citrus County Sheriff's Department in Florida, Rhonda Evian, who is essentially giving us a timeline of events that will happen this morning. We're expecting to hear from Mark Lunsford at about 9:00 this morning and then at 10:00 we'll get an update on the investigation from Citrus County -- the Citrus County Sheriff. That's at 10:00.

Of course, we'll bring both of those events to you live here on CNN.

We'll take a break and come back with more of CNN SATURDAY MORNING right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KAYE: And we want to remind you one more time: the missing Florida girl, Jessica Lunsford, the 9-year-old girl, her family, her father is expected to hold a press conference in less than an hour. So keep it here; we will of course bring that to you just as soon as it happens.

HARRIS: The right to die, the battle over Terri Schiavo goes all the way to Capitol Hill. Straight ahead, a closer look at the incredible legal fight over this woman's life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARD SMALL, GOLF INSTRUCTOR: Next to your driver, the fairway metal is one of the most used clubs in your golf bag. You are going to use it on layups, on par 5s, on long par 4s, some par 3s. So the club has a lot of versatility, and the manufacturers are falling in line by building 5, 7 and 9 woods to help you with your game, and I think it is a club that should be in your golf bag to help make your game more fun and enjoyable for you.

In striking these fairway metals, here's a great tip: when you swing the club, you will brush the turf. Now, where you brush the turf, that's your ball location. That's where you want to play the ball. So, now we're up over our shot. My only thought is to brush the turf, and in doing that, you are going to get consistent predictable contact that will make these clubs the favorite in your bag.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: The case of Terri Schiavo raises more than just legal questions: it raises moral issues, too, about life and death. The battle has not only pitted Terri Schiavo's husband against her parents and siblings but has involved countless strangers, lawmakers, and judges.

But Michael Schiavo insists this case is a personal matter. We spoke to him earlier on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL SCHIAVO, HUSBAND OF TERRI: I have a sense of relief for Terri. I feel that this is her time. This is going to work for Terri. She is going to finally be at peace. And I spent the entire day with her yesterday, besides doing some interviews. I spent the morning with her, also. I will stay by her side. I will love her. And I will hold her hand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: The battle over Terri Schiavo and the case there is the focus of our "Legal Roundtable" this morning.

As usual, joining us to talk about it is civil liberties attorney Lida Rodriguez-Taseff and former prosecutor Nelda Blair.

Good morning to both of you.

NELDA BLAIR, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Good morning.

KAYE: Let's start if we can -- there's been so many twists and turns in the case, so I just want to bring everybody up-to-date.

Terry Schiavo's feeding tube removed yesterday, about 1:45 in the afternoon. The U.S. House trying to subpoena Terri and her husband, but the U.S. Supreme Court denying those subpoenas, and has now refused to intervene in the case at all.

The latest, now, a statement from Congress, House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist saying this, "Congress will work through the weekend to resolve the differences in reaching an effective solution that can clear our chambers and be signed by the president." So, in effect, they are working to come up with some legislation that would protect just one person, Terri Schiavo. Is this legal?

LIDA RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF, CIVIL LIBERTIES ATTORNEY: Absolutely not. This is absolutely the reason we have courts. The courts have spoken in this case, not once, not twice, but over seven years, the courts has spoken. The courts have decreed the wishes of Terri Schiavo are to be carried out and by carrying them out, we will allow her to finally meet her maker, to finally rest in peace.

So the idea that politicians are now wanting to get involved in this deeply personal decision after the courts have spoken over and over again is really troubling.

BLAIR: Now, Lida, these are -- people are much more than just politicians. You know, we have three branches of government -- and you know this -- executive, judicial and legislative. The judicial branch, yes, has spoken, there's no question, court after court, has upheld Michael Schiavo's right to be the guardian and make decisions for his wife.

But, we have two other branches of government that have the right and responsibilities to check on that judicial branch. Congress is looking for legal means to pass laws that may have a difference in this particular case and in other cases, as well. And if they do that, and they do it legally, there is nothing wrong. In fact, it's their responsibility.

KAYE: But, you have to ask, where has Congress been over the last decade as this battle over Terri Schiavo raged on?

BLAIR: There's no question it has made its way through the courts. Florida did the same thing. The Florida legislature did what was in its power. Now, its state supreme court checked over that and ruled it unconstitutional.

But if Congress were to act not at all would we say that's the right thing to do? No, Congress has got a responsibility to exersise whatever powers it has. The Constitution gives -- the supremacy clause gives Congress the right over states. The question is, does it prevail in this case?

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: But, Nelda, think about this -- what is really going on here is politicians are getting involved at the very end of the process to undo a judicial decision that they do not like.

This is not about creating standards of applicability to everybody. That has already been done. We have the Cruz-Ann (ph) case where the Supreme Court decided many years ago, where the Supreme Court held that it was the law of the land that every person in this country had the right to refuse medical treatment they didn't want. After that, states, including Florida, set up standards to apply the Supreme Court decision in the Cruz-Ann (ph) case. What has happened here --

KAYE: I just want to raise one issue here. Let us not forget there is a woman here who may very well starve to death over the next two weeks. When did we start doing this? Her brother was on a short time ago, here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING; he called it barbaric. When did this become allowable?

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Well, first of all, the ability that families have had in this country when their family members are terminally ill to remove hydration and nutrition is something that happens every day in this country. This is not considered barbaric. This is a very painless way to die.

In addition, this woman has no cerebral cortex. There is nothing inside her brain except liquid, and she will feel no pain. In fact, this is an incredible opportunity for her to die with dignity, for her to finally reach the peace that she deserves, and we cannot possibly sit here, all of a sudden questioning decades of medicine and family members and people who have done this over and over for their relatives, and start scaring them about somehow this being barbaric. It isn't. It's humane and dignified.

KAYE: All right, ladies. We're going to have to leave it there, but I do want to give Nelda one last word.

BLAIR: My last word would be, write a living will.

KAYE: Thank you very much to both of you.

BLAIR: Thank you.

HARRIS: And quickly, let's get to our e-mail question of the morning. Who should decide what happens to Terri Schiavo? Listen to this from Greg:

"Our politicians can't balance our budget, protect our borders or speak to us truthfully on most issues, and we're supposed to trust them with our most personal dilemmas? I think not. When we marry, our parents give us away to our spouses. In most cases, this is our soulmate."

And that is from Greg. KAYE: People have some very strong opinions about this. We want to encourage to you continue to send us your e-mails. Who should decide what happens to Terri Schiavo. You can e-mail us at wam@CNN.com.

HARRIS: We are following the story as Congress steps into the Schiavo showdown. Next hour you will hear from House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on why Congress wants Terri to live.

KAYE: And at the bottom of the hour on HOUSE CALL, our Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes on gender-brain differences. Why men and women think the way they do.

I'm Randi Kaye.

HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris. "House Call" and your top stories are straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Now in the news, the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to intervene in the Terri Schiavo case. The justices rejected a request from a U.S. House Committee. Schiavo is the brain damaged Florida woman whose feeding tube was removed yesterday. Republican congressional leaders say they'll work through the weekend to get the tube reinserted. And House Majority Leader Tom DeLay will join us next hour.

Crews are searching in Homosassa Springs, Florida this morning for the body of nine-year old Jessica Lunsford. Police in Georgia are holding registered sex offender John Couey. And they claim he has confessed to killing Jessica. Jessica's family plans to talk to reporters at 9:00 Eastern. And we will bring that to you live.

And Citrus County Sheriff Jeff Dawsy plans a news conference at 10:00 a.m. Eastern. CNN will be bringing that to you live as well.

I'm Tony Harris in Atlanta. HOUSECALL begins right now.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to HOUSECALL. Trying to figure out why your significant other acts the way they do? Or why it is hard to relate to your son or daughter?

Well, we may just have some answers for you today. Research is pointing out that more and more of these common problems between males and females are actually hard wired into our brains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN (voice-over): They notice it when they make dinner. They notice it when they walk the dog.

MICHAEL GURIAN, AUTHOR/FAMILY THERAPIST: There are about 100 identified structural differences between the male and female brain.

COHEN: Family therapist Michael Gurian and his wife, Gail Reed Gurian, say they notice all the time how differently their brains function, how he tends when they're talking to get right to the point.

GURIAN: You're taking in all sorts of stuff. Whereas all I'm doing is I'm listening for what I think is the key variable. And I hone right in on that. And that's really very male-female.

COHEN: Gurian, author of the book "What Could He Be Thinking", says when scientists look inside mens and womens brains literally with MRIs, they find a biological reason for this difference.

Women in general have a larger corpus collossum. That's the area of the brain that handles communication between the two hemispheres. So the two sides talk better to each other. That's one theory as to why studies show women tend to multitask better.

GURIAN: Female brain approach -- gather a lot of material, gather a lot of information, feel a lot, hear a lot, sense a lot.

COHEN: MRIs show men, on the other hand, tend to move information more easily within each hemisphere.

GURIAN: Men, because we tend to compartmentalize our communication into a smaller part of the brain, we tend to be better at getting right to the issue.

COHEN: MRIs also show men have more activity in the mechanical and spatial centers of the brain. So does that mean scientists think men really do have better innate science and math abilities? In a way, yes. Neuropsychiatrist Reuben Gur studies the difference between mens and womens brains.

REUBEN GUR, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: Our top performers on spatial tests were almost all men.

COHEN: But scientists say in other ways, women's brains are superior. Women have more activity in verbal centers and in general have 15 percent more blood flow to the brain.

GURIAN: They're going to be ale to do a lot more with 15 percent more blood flow.

COHEN: Researchers point out of course there are women who do highly complicated math and science. And there are men with great verbal skills. It's not black and white. There's a lot of gray matter when you're talking about the human brain.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN: All this talk about the innate strengths of men and women can generate a lot of controversy. Helping us sort through it all is family therapist Michael Gurian, who we just saw in our piece with his wife. Good morning.

GURIAN: Good morning.

COHEN: Michael, you've written many books on this topic about how men and women are simply hardwired differently. But aren't there some men who have some of these female brain characteristics and vice versa?

GURIAN: Yes, absolutely. And the term that I've developed for that is bridge brains. A bridge brain is sort of a, you know, bridging the genders. And I have a test in "What Could He Be Thinking" that allows people to see where they fit on the brain spectrum. And I tested myself. And I'm about 60 percent male, 40 percent female. A bridge brain to me would be, you know, about 50 percent each.

COHEN: Now just a couple of months ago, the president of Harvard University, Lawrence Summers, he got into a lot of hot water when he said that the reason for fewer women being in the highest academic levels is the hard -- in the hard sciences was because, "In the special case of science and engineering, there are issues of intrinsic aptitude, and particularly of the variability of aptitude."

Now in your opinion is this the reason? Is aptitude the reason why fewer women are in these high positions in the math and sciences?

GURIAN: Well, actually, I would say there are three primary reasons. And I would say the main one is that women make a life choice that revolves at some point around raising kids. Not every woman does, but 95 percent of women have children.

It's hard when you take that five to 10 years off, or when you go to part-time, to integrate that in. And then at 50 years old or 45 years old to be the executive. Because you've taken the time off. So I actually think that the primary reason is that one.

Also, though, sexism exists. It does exist. There's no doubt about it. And then also, the spatial mechanical differences. There is a larger pool of men worldwide who have more developed spatial mechanical centers, mainly in the right hemisphere, than there are women.

So there's - so there are many women who have well developed spatial mechanicals. And many of them are engineers and architects.

But the pool is larger for males because the testosterone in utero, while we're in the mom's tummy, that testosterone hits the brain. And it creates more of those centers.

And for an illustration, people can look at who plays video games. Video games that are spatial mechanical, you notice mainly males play those. And that's because those spatial mechanical centers, there are more cortical areas in the male brain for those spatial mechanicals.

COHEN: Now many people have taken issues with Summers' ideas. One of them is Penny in California who writes to us, "If it is true that male brains are better at math and science than female brains, then how do we explain the millions of women who excel at math and science?"

Michael, can you try to explain that to us? GURIAN: Well, that's the thing. That -- well you have made that wonderful thing about it's gray matter. You know, that's right. There's a brain spectrum. And we have -- one would say there's black and white and then there's gray.

Well - you know, most of it's gray because the brain spectrum is very wide. The thing is, though, that you will have a larger pool of males who are going to have these developed spatial mechanicals.

And so, when you'd say, let's say have you two million male engineers and one million female engineers. We don't know what the figure is, but you're going to have more male engineers at the end of the day than female. And especially if it's industrial or if it's mechanical. Right? Industrial engineering or mechanical engineering. You're going to tend to have more males, but you'll still have a million females who are great at it. You see what I mean?

So it's not as if it's one or the other. It's a spectrum.

COHEN: Right. It certainly is if you're saying there are plenty of women out there who are perfectly capable of doing the highest levels of math and sciences.

Now we're going to continue talking about this battle of the brains right after the break. Stay tuned.

KAYE: He never asks for directions. She cries at the drop of a hat. Are all those annoying behaviors hard wired?

Plus -- should that wiring determine how we teach our kids? A controversial plan you need to hear.

First, take today's daily dose quiz. True or false? Men may be biologically prone to a midlife crisis? That answer...

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Before the break, we asked, true or false? Men may be biologically prone to a mid-life crisis. Well, guys, the answer is true. According to Researcher Ruben Gur, by age 45, men begin losing brain tissue, especially in the area that provides self-control.

COHEN: While men may begin losing brain tissue sooner, women don't have as much to begin with at least in certain areas. Men's brains are larger. They have more of what's called white matter, but women have more gray matter.

Family therapist Michael Gurian is here to talk about that. He's written the book "What Could He Be Thinking: How a Man's Mind Really Works."

Michael, of course, everyone wants to know. What's better? To have a lot of white matter or to have a lot of gray matter?

GURIAN: Well - and of course, they're both good. They just help us to do things a little differently. One thing that white matter does is it helps the brain move signals quickly from like front to back, or back to front. And one thing that Dr. Gur has shown, that this is one of the reasons that males rely on the visual.

You know, women tend to hear better. Women tend to smell better. Taste more. They tend to take more in with touch -- so tactile.

But the visual is a sense where we're about equal. And one of the reasons is the white matter. That's moving the signal in the male brain from the visual cortex, the ocular nerve, you know, the eyes to the visual cortex. And it's one of the reasons that we're so into the visual, and we rely so much on it.

COHEN: Now our viewers have lots of questions for you. Let's start with Cricket in Tennessee, who wants to know, "Do gender differences in the brain change as we age?"

We talked about this a little bit in the quiz. Do our differences change as we get older?

GURIAN: Well, they really do -- both the brain differences and the hormonal differences, which are really quite linked. So for instance, the testosterone levels in women will tend to shine through more during and after menopause, but testosterone levels in men will go down.

And you know, I'm almost 47. And I could start telling it around 40. I could just feel it as most men can, that the testosterone levels in me is starting to go down a bit. You know, and I'm not quite as intense and not quite as aggressive and those sorts of things.

Well, women find that their independence level can tend to go up in menopause and post menopause as their testosterone level shines through and the estrogen and progesterone dissipate.

So those hormonal differences will affect us. And then, yes, in terms of the brain itself, memory. You know, and words. While males will lose -- both men and women will lose some memory, but males will tend to lose more because we don't start out with as much as women do. You know, we just don't remember as well as women do. And especially sensual stuff, because we don't take in as much of that. Store it and then talk about it. So memory.

And then words, men could have two to three active verbal centers mainly in the left hemisphere. And then as we get to 50 to 60, we could start finding the electricity to those centers dissipating even further. So we're using even less words.

Whereas women could have five to seven active verbal centers. So they would be tending to use more words even as they get older. Still tending to use more words.

COHEN: Now we mentioned that men have larger brains than women. And so Maria from Toronto -- she wants a little bit of clarification here.

"Is it true that, although males have larger brains than females, males use considerably less of their brains than females?"

I'm not going to make a comment here, Michael. I'm going to leave it to you to explain that one.

GURIAN: Well, that's brutal. It's brutal, but true in many cases.

But we need to look at what we're - you know, define the task. OK, if we're talking about what are called verbally motive. So if we're talking about feelings, right. OK, definitely. Women are using more of their brain. Men are using less.

We don't have as many neuroconnectors or the electricity. Think about it that way. From the part of the brain that's emotive and emotional and taking that in, to the part of the brain that's going to talk about it. We have less connectors there. So we're using less of our brain. And we're not able to do as much of that as women in general are able to do.

There are exceptions. But also, when we do a task, let's look at a spatial task. Well, a spatial task like playing a video game, which is very spatial mechanical, we're actually using less of our brain there, but we might be doing the task better than our sister.

Well, why? She's using more of her brain. She should do it better. But it depends on the task. This is a spatial mechanical task that we have may have compartmentalized or localized to a part of the brain that's really efficient at that. So we might be doing that better. So it really depends...

COHEN: So Michael, all of these...

GURIAN: ...on what we're doing.

COHEN: ...differences are so fascinating, but how far should we go in recognizing these gender differences? Should it affect our teaching? We're going to hear those arguments coming up on HOUSECALL.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trying to teach a 5-year-old boy to read is about as developmentally appropriate as trying to teach a two-and-a- half-year-old girl to read.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: New rules for the classroom. Are we teaching our kids the wrong way?

First, more of this week's medical headlines in The Pulse.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CHRISTY FEIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Obesity in the United States could soon reduce life expectancy by as much as five years. That's according to a report published in this week's "New England Journal of Medicine."

The government says 15 percent of children are overweight. And researchers warn overweight children may live shorter lives than their parents.

And a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association says the popular supplement Vitamin E may do more harm than good in some people. Researchers followed patients over 55 with heart disease or diabetes and found Vitamin E didn't protect against cardiovascular events or cancer. In some patients, it actually increased the risk of heart failure.

This comes just months after researchers warned that high doses of Vitamin E may increase the risk of death and should be avoided.

Christy Feig, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COHEN: Welcome back to HOUSECALL. We're talking about the differences between men and women. You know, the strong silent type versus those who talk about their feelings.

Well, all joking aside, these differences are seen by some as a reason to educate our kids in a whole new way, separating boys from girls for the betterment of their brains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN (voice-over): Elliott Burgess wasn't always this happy at school. His mother says that's because last year at his co-ed school, sometimes they expected her boy to learn like a girl.

LISA BURGESS, MOTHER: Elliott's a good writer, but his handwriting isn't as nice as some girls. And sometimes he would have to redo a story because his handwriting didn't look like other -- some of the girls' handwriting. And so Elliott had come home and was a little, you know, well I don't want to write anymore because I can't write like that.

COHEN: So the Burgesses decided to move their son, now in third grade, and his little brother Emory to an all-boys school, the University School in Shaker Heights, Ohio, where teachers told him it's fine if his handwriting's not beautiful.

LOIS TRAWEEK, TEACHER, UNIVERSITY SCHOOL: The fine motor skills aren't the same as they are with the little girls.

COHEN: But boys' spatial and mechanical parts of the brain are more developed, according to many scientists. Boys, they say, are hardwired for action. So the classrooms here were designed with lots of space to build and move.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are areas of concrete floors and drains where they can make things. What you'll see is big spaces and lots of activity, construction activity.

COHEN: Here, boys don't have to sit still in their chairs or even sit in chairs at all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just like moving around.

COHEN: Co-ed schools aren't always set up that way.

DR. LEONARD SAX, SINGLE-SEX PUBLIC EDUCATION: What's the first thing you hear a teacher say in most of those classrooms? Please, everybody, sit down and be quiet. That's easier for most five and 6- year-old girls than it is for most 5 and 6-year-old boys.

COHEN: Dr. Leonard Sax, author of the book, "Why Gender Matters" says new trends in education, such as teaching children to read in kindergarten instead of first grade, put boys at a disadvantage because the language centers in their brains develop more slowly.

SAX: Trying to teach a 5-year-old boy to read is about as developmentally appropriate as trying to teach a 2-and-a-half-year-old girl to read.

COHEN: So Sax says they should be taught separately. Not everyone buys that theory. Some say it just reinforces gender stereotypes, but Elliott's parents love it.

BURGESS: He's very excited. He's excited to go to school. And then after school, I mean we talk about school all day until bedtime. We literally talk about school until bedtime.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN: Well we're talking with Michael Gurian, a family therapist and author of the book, "Boys and Girls Learn Differently".

Now Michael, tell me, when do you think single sex education should start? Should it start in kindergarten, in pre-kindergarten?

GURIAN: Well, single sex education, I think, is a useful and important experiment. But co-education is going to be the American way. It's the Western way. And I think that's -- it's the main way that people are going to be taught. So we have to weigh this.

What we do is the boys and girls differently training at The Gurian Institute. We go around and train schools. And we make sure that all the teachers are trained in how the male brain and the female brain learn.

And if they're trained, co-education can work fine. They, for instance, won't force boys whose brains haven't developed their verbals yet. They won't force them to read yet until those verbals have developed. But since so many boys verbals have developed, you know, there are a lot of boys who read great at kindergarten than those boys, OK, fair enough, they can read. So they'll be able to weigh that.

If we do single gender, which is good, I mean we have a number of Gurian Institute model schools that are single gender. If they do single gender, then there are certain things they need to do. They need to make sure they don't have 30 boys in one classroom. That's probably overwhelming for one teacher.

So you can see that I'm not in agreement that all we should do is single gender. I think we should do both.

COHEN: Well, we've got to take a quick break now. More HOUSECALL, coming up.

KAYE: More differences between the sexes when we come back. Plus -- looking for a way to spike up your fitness routine? Our bod squad goes international when HOUSECALL returns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLLY FIRFIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you're looking to spice up your usual fitness routine, add a bit of ethnicity. You won't have to look far because gyms and athletic clubs across the country are being infused with a multicultural theme.

Try the sultry moves inspired by Latin salsa meringue. Let rhythmic beats of ritual African dance transport your body and mind to another place. Or twist, turn, and sway your core muscles with belly dance with moves rooted deep in Middle Eastern and Asian culture, belly dance isn't just an ancient tradition. It's a workout that works hundreds of muscles and blasts calories.

Get wild with the exotic blend of hand twirling, torso turning and shoulder shrugging masala (ph) bongo workout. Experts agree these cultural drive moves are a great way to add variety and fun to your workout, all while reducing stress. Mastering these moves might be challenging. So remember to move at your own pace and be sure to warm up and cool down.

Holly Firfir, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COHEN: Thanks, Holly.

We're talking this morning with Michael Gurian about the differences between men's and women's brains.

Now Michael, you mentioned that when you go into a school, you tell teachers to teach the boys and girls, remembering that they have different kinds of brains. In some ways, does that then reinforce gender stereotypes that the teachers may already have? GURIAN: You know, the teachers are trained in the male and female brain. We show them the CAT scans and so on. And if they're trained, they don't reinforce the stereotypes when they do single gender. If they're not trained, they sometimes can. You know, they walk into a classroom. They don't really...

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: All right, right now you are looking at a live picture there in Homosassa Springs, Florida. And that is the father, Mark Lunsford. That is the father of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, speaking to reporters for the first time since having learned his daughter, according to police, had been killed. Let's listen in.

MARK LUNSFORD, JESSICA LUNSFORD'S FATHER: ...has everyone heard me say time after time that she would be home. She's home now, and it's over. And now we have a new struggle. And I need more people to support now the efforts that we tried to make to change things.

I love everybody for helping, for supporting, for even talking about it. But Jesse is home now, and she is right here with me. And she knows it all.

And all the parents out there, I know everybody does, but do it more often, make sure you get that hug and kiss every day before you leave that house. I did. I got mine. You just make sure you get yours. And remember, love your children this much, and no one or nothing will come between you and them.

Thank you.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Emotional words from Mark Lunsford. As we expected this morning, Mark Lunsford stepping to the microphone, Randi, to say that she is home. Sissy is home now. Talking about his 9-year-old daughter, Jessica Lunsford, presumed dead right now.

John Couey, the homeless man who was apprehended in Augusta yesterday, finally telling police that he had kidnapped her and that he had killed her.

Mark Lunsford saying she is home and thanking everyone for their hope, for talking about it, for helping in the search. Be sure to hug your kids.

Mark is back at the microphones.

LUNSFORD: All the bikers, I'll be there. I'll be there this morning, and I'll ride with you. Thank you.

HARRIS: And right there, Mark is referring to a search that was scheduled this morning, biker friends and others who were going to go out and start another search for Jessica. That won't be necessary, but Mark is saying that he is going to go out there to join with them and...

KAYE: Last night, apparently he had -- the maps organized and the volunteers organized. And did not get to that today.

HARRIS: So they will get together this morning, and they will talk and they'll grieve together.

Let's go to CNN producer Paul Courson, who is on the phone, who has additional information about John Couey. Paul?

PAUL COURSON, CNN PRODUCER (on phone): Yes, from Augusta, Georgia. We have called the detention center where Couey has been held overnight. He naturally -- they put him on a suicide watch, authorities told us this morning, after he allegedly admitted to police in (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Florida the questioning that that killed the girl.

The guard that we spoke to this morning at the detention center wouldn't tell us whether he exhibited any behaviors overnight that would lead them to affirm that a suicide watch had been established on him. But in the meantime, he is under such a suicide watch as a protective measure.

HARRIS: OK. The latest information on John Couey from Paul Courson, our CNN producer.

We will continue to follow this story, of course.

And just to recap for you, just in to CNN, just a moment ago, you heard the father, Mark Lunsford, of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, who stepped forward to say that she is home. His 9-year-old daughter, presumed dead right now. The search continues to find her body. Sissy is home now. Mark Lunsford referring to his daughter, 9-year- old Jessica Marie Lunsford.

KAYE: And we also want to remind you, coming up at 10:00 a.m. Eastern, Citrus County Sheriff Jeff Dawsy will talk about the Jessica Lunsford case. So be sure to stay tuned for that. Live news conference right here on CNN as well.

HARRIS: Our other big story of the morning, Terri Schiavo's husband is demanding that Congress butt out of his personal life and leave his brain-damaged wife alone. Schiavo's feeding tube, as you know, was removed yesterday, despite attempts by the House committee to use its subpoena power to stop it. The U.S. Supreme Court then denied a House appeal to intervene.

In an emotional appeal on CNN about 90 minutes ago, Michael Schiavo said what Congress is doing should outrage Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL SCHIAVO, TERRI SCHIAVO'S HUSBAND: Should be with my wife right now. holding her hand. But I felt the importance to get out there and talk about what the Congress -- this government is doing. They are stepping into my personal life, and they are getting in the middle of something they know nothing about. They don't have the facts.

And it's sad. It's sad what this government is doing. And if they can do it to me, they will do it to everybody in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Michael Schiavo and his attorney appeared earlier on CNN SATURDAY MORNING. George Felos says the judge granted his client's request to have the feeding tube removed because the court determined it's what Terri herself wanted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE FELOS, MICHAEL SCHIAVO'S ATTORNEY: This is a young woman who said, No feeding tubes for me. I don't want to be kept alive artificially. Please let me go when my time comes. She said this to her best friend, to Michael, to her brother-in-law. And that's why the court has ordered this, because they found that these were her wishes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: OK, and that is the latest that we have, the sound from both sides, from Michael Schiavo and from his attorney, on the Terri Schiavo case at the moment.

KAYE: And now back to our top story this morning.

And this hour, a missing girl, an alleged confession, and a frantic search.

For the latest in the Jessica Lunsford case, let's go to her central Florida hometown of Homosassa Springs. Our Sara Dorsey is there. Sara?

SARA DORSEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Randi, just moments ago, we heard from Mark Lunsford, that is the father of Jessica Lunsford. And through tears, he said, Jesse's home now. He also said this is over. And we fear that that means possibly the body of this little girl has been found.

The PIO from the sheriff's department came out earlier, telling us they would have some new information at 10:00, that the sheriff was going to be telling us. But they did allow Mark Lunsford earlier this morning to walk back to what we're calling the crime scene, where the crime investigation truck is parked, where investigators have been digging.

Now, that digging started last night. It went well into the early morning hours this morning. We haven't seen a whole lot of activity. Most of the activity here has been focused on the Lunsford home, of course. This is a family that is grieving desperately at this point.

Throughout this search. the three-week search for this little girl, they really believed and hoped, held onto hope the entire time, that they could find her and bring her home safely.

And between 4:00 and 6:00 yesterday, the family was told that there was a confession by Mr. Couey. This man was a convicted sex offender. He was not living in the home he was supposed to, rather living in this trailer just yards right across the street, really a stone's throw away from this home that Jessica Lunsford disappeared from.

And Mr. Couey's confession came like this. He had talked to investigators over -- for about 11 hours over a two-day period. They gave him a polygraph test, at which time, when that was finished, he told investigators, You don't even need to tell me the results. Apologized for wasting their time. And then, we are told, it was then that Mr. Couey allegedly confessed to this crime, admitted to kidnapping and killing Jessica Lunsford.

Of course, this family heartbroken at this time. But Mark Lunsford came back out after that original speech, telling a group of bikers that was originally -- that were originally going to ride to raise money for the search, he said he will be there today.

You know, a strong family in light of all that they've found out in the last 24 hours, Randi.

KAYE: And Sara, let's get back to that official search, the one involving the investigators and police crews there on the scene. They started this search yesterday afternoon. They said it would take quite some time. But last night, temperatures dipping down to about the 40s in that area of Florida. What other challenges might they be facing in this search for Jessica Lunsford's body?

DORSEY: Well, the sheriff did tell us yesterday that it was a general area that they were given. So that's one thing. Not to mention the terrain. It gets a little brushy and things like that behind this particular area.

But I'll tell that you when we talked to the sheriff's office this morning, they said they have found some things. They wouldn't tell us what it was. They wouldn't tell us if it was a body. But they did say that later this morning, around 10:00, the sheriff would come out and give us a brief.

But you're right, the temperatures dropped very low. Despite that, investigators were out into the early morning hours this morning, trying to find thing. I mean, very diligent. This confession was the first real lead in this case that investigators had to go on, Randi.

KAYE: All right. Sara Dorsey, stand by. And we'll be checking back with you. Thank you.

HARRIS: And just a moment ago, 9:00 to be exact, Mark Lunsford, the father of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, came out of his home, stepped to the microphones to talk to reporters. And here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUNSFORD: I just want to say to everybody, to my community, to everyone that seen Jesse's picture, that everyone heard me say time after time that she would be home. She's home now. And it's over. And now we have a new struggle. And I need more people to support now the efforts that we tried to make to change things.

I love everybody for helping, for supporting, for even talking about it. But Jesse is home now, and she is right here with me. And she knows, she knows it all.

And all the parents out there... , I know everybody does, but do it more often, make sure you get that hug and kiss every day before you leave that house. I did. I got mine. You just make sure you get yours. And remember, love your children this much, and no one or nothing will come between you and them.

Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Mark Lunsford, talking about his precious one. And Jessica Lunsford, 9 years old, presumed dead right now.

And I think the sound bite there, the quote that'll break a lot of fathers' hearts, mothers' hearts, parents' hearts, "Sissy's home now."

Let's go back to Homosassa Springs and Sara Dorsey.

Sara, Mark Lunsford has been a rock through this. He never really gave up hope, did he?

DORSEY: He really didn't. And I'll tell you, this is a man we all got to know. This was not a family that stayed in their home throughout this. They were out doing searches, out every day talking to the media, fulfilling all of our requests for information about Jessica, information about their family.

And this is also a family that never got out from under that umbrella of suspicion, because there were no real leads in this case until Couey confessed. This family was continuously being looked at, scrutinized by the media, looked at by investigators the entire time, never cleared.

But throughout all of that, they kept a positive attitude. Mark, as I said, was very gracious to all of us that stood outside of his home for three weeks asking for information about his little girl. And as he said, he got his hug and kiss. What he's referring to is, Jessica was put to sleep the night that she disappeared. Mark actually went out that evening. And when he came home in the morning, that's when he discovered his daughter was missing.

But he did get to spend some quality time with Jessica before he left that evening, something, as he told you, he's very thankful for.

Earlier in the day, we saw him walk back to the crime scene, which is really just over my shouter. That is the home that John Couey was staying at with family, the home he wasn't supposed to be in. This was a registered sex offender. He was registered to a different location. His family lied to investigators when they inquired about him being there.

And really, up till his confession, this case was at a standstill. The investigators from Citrus County went to Augusta, Georgia, to talk to Mr. Couey. He wasn't giving up any information, according to our sources. In fact, at some point, our sources were telling us that investigators really didn't know if he had anything to do with this.

It came after a polygraph test that Mr. Couey broke down to investigators and said, I don't even need the results of this test. I'm sorry for wasting your time, investigators. He went on then, allegedly, to say he did kidnap and kill Jessica Lunsford.

And we are told it was then he gave investigators the general area to search. The sheriff came out last night, of course, clarifying that they would be searching throughout the evening, trying to locate the body of this little girl.

And Mark, as we told you, and as you heard, said, This is finally over. We don't know exactly what that means, but we intend -- expect to hear from the sheriff's department in just a short time, and possibly they can clarify if indeed they have found the body of Jessica Lunsford, Tony.

HARRIS: OK, Sara, we appreciate it. Thank you.

KAYE: And as you just heard, Mark Lunsford, Jessica's father, speaking earlier this morning. He made a few comments to reporters there, and then he left the microphone, walked away, and came back with just one more thought. And we want to share that with you now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUNSFORD: And one other thing, to all the bikers, I'll be there. I'll be there. I'll be there this morning, and I'll ride with you. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: And there you have it, Mark Lunsford, the father of Jessica Lunsford, speaking to reporters this morning.

In that last comment, he was thanking some of the volunteers, some motorcycle riders there in the area, in Homosassa Springs, for their work and their efforts that have been underway now for three weeks in trying to find his daughter.

He did have a planned search, a search scheduled for this morning, which now has been called off, Tony.

HARRIS: Other news now.

It is a killing spree that won't soon be forgotten. One suspect, four people killed. And police say it could have been worse. A man who was attacked by courthouse shooting suspect Brian Nichols lived to talk about it. His harrowing tale live, exclusively here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Brian Nichols was the subject of the largest manhunt in Georgia history just one week ago today. Nichols is suspected of killing four people during a 24-hour shooting spree that began Friday morning at a downtown courthouse and ended in the suburbs late Saturday afternoon.

But there are other people who say they had violent encounters with Nichols while he was at large.

One of them is Shelton Warren. He joins us this morning to talk about his harrowing ordeal. And he is joined by his attorney, Nicky Bonner.

Good to see you both.

Shelton, let me see if I have the story correct. It's about 10:00 Friday night, last Friday night, and your girlfriend has the first encounter with him. She's coming home from a gym. He follows her into the development where you live and follows her up the stairs to another apartment. Then she turns to your apartment, knocks on the door.

Why don't you pick up the story from there?

SHELTON WARREN: Well, you know, I heard a knock at the door, OK? So I'm, you know, wondering who is at the door. I go to the door. On my way to the door, I hear her call my name.

HARRIS: Yes.

WARREN: Saying, It's me. So, you know, I thought that was a little strange, because she has a key. So I go and I look through the peephole. I see her sitting there -- I mean, I see her standing there next to someone. I really couldn't see. So I immediately open the door.

HARRIS: Were you immediately concerned?

WARREN: Of course.

HARRIS: OK. And what happens next?

WARREN: I look at the fellow, I look at him. And, you know, I'm, like, Who are you? You know, he looked a little surprised. He didn't say nothing. I looked at her, and, you know, she say, He said, Don't try nothing. So that's when I noticed that...

HARRIS: This is what he said to her.

WARREN: No, she said that to me.

HARRIS: Oh, I see, I see.

WARREN: And then, you know, he didn't say anything. Then, you know, he had the gun. That's when I noticed the gun. He had it pointed to her side, so...

HARRIS: So what do you do?

WARREN: I look -- I look...

HARRIS: What do you, what do you do at that moment?

WARREN: I look back at him. And when I looked at him, and from that point, that's when I was like, Wow, I know this, you know, who it was, because I'm watching TV at the same time.

So then she's -- I look back at her. She say, he wants to come in. So I just stand there in the doorway. And as they start to come in, you know, I look -- she comes on the side of me. That's when I immediately pushed her into the apartment.

HARRIS: So you pushed her into the apartment, so it was just you two together now, in sort of a doorway, right?

WARREN: Right. Then I pushed him out in the hallway, and that's when he tried to push his way in. And that's when we connected in the hallway. And I just told her, Lock the door. And, you know, she -- and then, when I said that, you know, (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

HARRIS: What do you mean when you say connected in the hallway?

WARREN: Well, he, you know, he tried to ram his way in. So, you know, I didn't allow him. We kind of, you know, like, you know, like wrestling, how you kind of lock up.

HARRIS: Right, right. And he's holding the gun at this point.

WARREN: He still has a gun in his hand.

HARRIS: Well, wait a minute. What are you thinking?

WARREN: Nothing.

HARRIS: You've seen the story. You know what this man is accused of doing. You've seen the video of him, so you know what he looks like.

WARREN: Right.

HARRIS: And now you're locked up with him in the hallway of your apartment complex, and he has a gun.

WARREN: Correct.

HARRIS: What happens next?

WARREN: Then, you know, once the door closed, that's when he hit me with the gun. You know, he hit me in the forehead, then we kind of, like, you know, lockup again, real, you know, briefly, and he hit me again. You know, now I'm just thinking, Don't let this person point this gun at me. That's why we kept -- you know, then I locked up a last time, we kind of, like, pushed off each other. And then we was just standing there face to face.

HARRIS: How far away, as far as we are, closer, farther away?

WARREN: Probably a little bit closer. But just similar to this when you push off someone.

HARRIS: Yes.

WARREN: So probably a little bit closer. And then we standing there, and he just turned around and fled.

HARRIS: But theoretically, at that moment, he had an opportunity to aim the gun and fire a shot at you.

WARREN: If he wanted to, you know. That was a chance, (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

HARRIS: Did you fear for your life?

WARREN: I mean, I was just thinking, Don't let this person in the house, you know, this person in my house. And when we were in the hallway, don't let this person point his gun at me. I didn't have no other thoughts, no other feelings.

HARRIS: I understand why, but I'll have you explain it to our viewers. Why was it so important for you to keep him from getting inside your house?

WARREN: I mean, that's just -- I mean, that's -- it was just my natural reaction, you know, he's trying to come in my home. I don't care who you are, you know, don't try to, you know, come in my home or try to harm me. It was just a natural reaction, my natural reaction.

HARRIS: So. Shelton, he had a moment where he could have fired a shot. There was a moment there. You concede that. And you say he turned around and he fled.

WARREN: Correct.

HARRIS: OK. Did he ever ask for anything other than to come into the house? Did he want money, did he want your keys, did he want, did he ever ask for anything?

WARREN: We didn't speak.

HARRIS: What happens next?

WARREN: Well, then, you know, I tried to get back in the apartment. The door was still locked. I just told her, Keep the door locked. Then I go down the stairs and I just look around, you know. I don't see anyone. So that's when I go to the next building, and there was some people coming in. They allowed me to use their cell phone.

HARRIS: How would you describe the police response to your story?

WARREN: I mean, you know, the police came. They, you know, they got there quickly and everything, you know. I was just advising them that, you know, you know, you don't need to -- he -- you know, I just seen this person, you all are looking for, so you don't need to go, you know, go through these buildings. You don't need to notify the neighbors. You need to, you know, lock these areas down, do something. He's right out here. This just happened.

So, you know, you know, it -- it was a little -- like, maybe it was hard for them to believe, maybe. I'm not sure.

HARRIS: I've got to ask you something. There's the moment that you're engaged here, and the adrenaline is flowing, and you're engaged, and you're just trying to do what you need to do to stay alive and to protect your girlfriend.

And then there are the days that follow, when you realize, perhaps you realize, how close you came to being shot by this man who is accused of killing four people. Have you had that moment? And has the whole ordeal sunk in for you yet?

WARREN: I mean, yes, I -- you know, that day -- the next day, you know, I was thankful to see another day, you know. I really can't -- I guess I really still don't even think about it, man. You know, it happened. Still hard to grasp. It's still hard to deal with, you know. My girlfriend, it's hard, really hard for her to deal with.

So you're still dealing with it, basically. Still dealing wit.

HARRIS: Amazing story. Shelton Warren, we appreciate you taking the time. Nicky Bonner, thanks for bringing him in this morning.

NICKY BONNER, SHELTON WARREN'S ATTORNEY: You're very welcome.

HARRIS: Appreciate you both. Thank you.

Ashley Smith credits faith and hope with helping her survive her seven-hour ordeal as a hostage. It's made her an instant celebrity. Find out more about her on "A Hero's Journey" on CNN's "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS" with Paula Zahn. That's today at 5:00 p.m. Eastern, 2:00 Pacific.

KAYE: And right now, we want to check in Ken and Daria Dolan to see what is coming up next on "DOLANS UNSCRIPTED" this morning.

DARIA DOLAN, HOST, "DOLANS UNSCRIPTED": Well, thank you very much, Randi, nice to see you.

And coming up on "DOLANS" today, we're going to be taking a look at the rather important (UNINTELLIGIBLE) implications of the Mary Schiavo and the Bernie Ebbers suits. KEN DOLAN, HOST, "DOLANS UNSCRIPTED": Exactly right, how it affects, Randi, how it affects, especially the Ebbers case, and even the Schiavo case, how it may affect our lives. We'll also ask the president of the NCAA, Hey, why aren't more athletes graduating? Fifty percent, is that a really acceptable (ph) and realistic goal? That and more today, Randi.

KAYE: All right, very good issues. Looking forward to it. Thank you both.

DARIA DOLAN: Thanks.

KAYE: Also at 10:o0 a.m. Eastern, Citrus County Sheriff Jeff Dawsy will talk about the Jessica Lunsford case. We will carry that live here on CNN. And then at 11:00 a.m. Eastern, it is time for "THE TURNAROUND." CNN's Ali Velshi takes on the owners of a small boxing gym who have desires to expand their business. Do they have the knockout punch to succeed? We'll find out on "THE TURNAROUND," 11:00 a.m. Eastern.

A look at the day's top stories when we come right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: "OPEN HOUSE" begins in just a moment.

But now, let's check headlines in the news.

Three weeks after she disappeared, the search for Jessica Lunsford is over. Her father made an emotional statement about 30 minutes ago, saying Jesse was, quote, "home now." A convicted sex offender who lived close by has allegedly confessed to killing and kidnapping the girl. John Couey is reportedly on a suicide watch where he is being held in Augusta, Georgia. The Citrus County Sheriff's Office will hold its own news conference on the case in about 30 minutes.

Two to four weeks, doctors say that's how long it could take Terri Schiavo to die now that her feeding tube has been removed. But Republicans in Congress are vowing to pass legislation to keep the severely brain-damaged Florida woman alive.

It was two years ago that U.S. air strikes first lit up the skies of Baghdad. Today's anniversary is being marked in Baghdad and around the world. Antiwar protesters gathered in Tokyo. Some 100,000 people marched in London to protest the war. President Bush is expected to mark the anniversary in his weekly radio address.

I'm Tony Harris in Atlanta. "OPEN HOUSE" starts right now.

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