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CNN Saturday Morning News
Millions of Visas and MasterCards Stolen in Security Breach; Operation Spear is Latest U.S. Offensive in Iraq; New Suspect in Holloway Case; Teen Pregnancy in Pop Culture
Aired June 18, 2005 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: The question this morning is how can you prevent it? Hackers may have gotten their hands on the credit card accounts of some 40 million customers. And that just might include you.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING on the 18th day of June.
Good morning, everybody.
I'm Betty Nguyen.
Tony Harris will be back tomorrow morning.
Iran's presidential election heads for a runoff next Friday. Officials have counted about two thirds of the ballots from yesterday's vote, but they don't expect any of the candidates to get the majority needed to avoid a runoff. President Bush has critical condition the election, saying it ignores the basic requirements of democracy.
CNN's Christiane Amanpour joins us with a live update in about 30 minutes.
Day two in Operation Spear. U.S. Marines are engaged in intense battles with insurgents holed up in bunkers in Karabila, near the Syrian border. These exclusive pictures from CNN's Jane Arraf, the only reporter embedded with troops taking part in that operation.
Meantime, U.S. troops and Iraqi forces have also launched Operation Dagger in the area. Their mission? To find hidden weapons and insurgent hideouts.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has launched a Mideast peace tour. She's in Jerusalem this morning, trying to prod Israelis and Palestinians to live up to their peace pledges. Rice's trip will also take her to Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
We do have a warning for millions of MasterCard and Visa holders. There's been a security breach at a firm that handles credit card transactions. That breach affects more than 40 million MasterCard branded cards, including Visa accounts, as well.
More details are on the way in just a minute.
Also, still to come this hour, it's been nearly three weeks since Natalee Holloway vanished. And now the investigation grows.
Plus...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "BABY MAMA" BY FANTASIA, COURTESY AOL MUSIC)
BABY MAMA: Don't know what took so long, cause nowadays it's like a badge of honor to be a baby mama.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: And "American Idol" strikes a sour note with some. We'll tell you how this "Baby Mama" started a whole lot of drama.
And, when Tiger is on the prowl, he really sinks his teeth into the ratings. We'll take it all "Beyond The Game."
But first up, our top story this morning, protecting your credit. You may need to check for a security breach. MasterCard says it looks like hackers tampered with computers at a company that processes credit card transactions. More than 40 million credit card numbers are at risk and it's not just MasterCard that's affected.
CNN's Allan Chernoff joins us live from New York with much more on this -- Allan, how do you know if your information was part of that that was breached?
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Betty, that's a very good question, because what's happened here is that MasterCard has told the banks that issue the credit cards to us that this happened. So they've given the numbers over to the various banks. And now it's up to the banks, those who issue the credit cards, to actually tell consumers it's happened to them.
We can't be sure that the banks are going to go ahead and do that in every case.
Now, keep in mind what happened here is that a hacker or hackers got the credit card numbers, but they don't have Social Security numbers, they don't have birth dates, they don't even have names tied to these cards. They have the actual card numbers. So the risk here is really danger to credit card fraud, somebody actually using your card number to buy goods and services. So that's the real danger here, not typical identity theft.
NGUYEN: OK, so if we're having to wait on the banks to tell us, which may take some time -- and you're saying they may not even tell you -- so is the best bet to check your credit card receipts and make sure you don't have any outstanding, you know, purchases on there?
CHERNOFF: You want to make sure you have no unauthorized purchases, exactly. And that is the best thing that we can do, because we literally cannot prevent this sort of thing happening and this sort of thing actually has happened in the past. But now the companies are required by California law to reveal any time there is a breach of their security. That's why we're hearing about all these cases of stolen identity, stolen numbers, stolen credit card numbers, etc. It's not as if it hasn't happened before, but now the companies have to tell us.
What we have to do as consumers is watch our statements very closely. Keep track of what you're buying with your credit card and if something doesn't look right, immediately call up the credit card company, tell them about it. You will not be responsible, the companies say, for any unauthorized transactions.
NGUYEN: Should you be extra proactive and go ahead and put a fraud alert out?
CHERNOFF: It certainly is something that you can do. You can contact the various credit agencies and ask. You can get a 90 day fraud alert if you believe that there has been an unauthorized transaction. They're not just going to do it for free just like that. But if there has been an unauthorized transaction, you can certainly have that done.
NGUYEN: OK, Allan, we thank you for that information.
And this security breach is just the latest in a long line of cases involving compromised personal information. It's tough to operate these days without credit cards. So the question is what do you do?
Well, that is our e-mail question. What steps do you take to keep your financial details safe? Of course, the more creative your answers, the better. So send us your safeguarding strategies to weekends@cnn.com. You never know, you might give all of us a pretty good idea.
Battles, they are raging in western Iraq this morning, as U.S. and Iraqi forces try to take out insurgents along the Syrian border.
CNN's Jane Arraf is embedded with troops taking part in Operation Spear and she joins us now by phone from Karabila -- Jane, what are you seeing so far?
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Betty, what I see in front of me is absolutely heartbreaking. It's two of four hostages who are being taken away, rescued. They were rescued this morning. They're Iraqi and they were found in this complex that Marines first thought was a car bomb factory. In fact, they did find what they believe was a potential car bomb or suicide car bomb.
But inside this complex, they found something even more sinister -- four Iraqis who were handcuffed, their hands and feet bound with steel cuffs. They're now being taken away for medical treatment, one being borne away on a stretcher.
The man now in intense pain that they're trying to get into a vehicle, has been tortured, he says, and has all the marks of being tortured with electricity. His back is crisscrossed with welts. The other man is even -- in even more bad shape. Their crime was to be part of the border police. The Marines came in here this morning, rescued them. The battle is still raging around us. I don't know if you can hear the gunfire, but this is a major offensive to get rid of insurgents and foreign fighters in this city near the Syrian border -- Betty.
NGUYEN: That is just heartbreaking, Jane.
And we can hear the fighting around you.
Let's talk a little bit more about those hostages that were rescued.
Have you captured those who took them hostage?
ARRAF: The insurgents who had presumably held them hostage had fled. And this is what they're finding as they come into cities like this. They've so far killed perhaps about 40 insurgents or foreign fighters. But there are many more out there, as you can hear from the sounds of gunfire and the explosions. And they move. They have the ability to move very quickly. They have the ability to blend into the population.
The Marines are here with a few Iraqi armed forces who are helping, but they don't have a lot of people here. And one of the strengths of this ever evolving insurgency is that they move from city to city, from neighborhood to neighborhood -- Betty.
NGUYEN: And so as we talk about this, that's underway right now, and we can, like I said, hear the gunfire in the background, is this mission going house to house? Are we looking at house to house combat here?
ARRAF: In some cases. What they were initially doing was going into a part of the city and essentially finding out where the insurgents might be. Now it's apparent where a lot of the insurgents are because they're shooting at the Marines.
As we were in this building where the hostages were being held, we were taking incoming mortar fire from around here.
They're not at the point where they're going house to house searches because that's something that you do when it's safe enough to do that, and it's not nearly safe enough to do that. They are going into areas where they know or believe insurgents or foreign fighters are holed up. They're dropping bombs on them. They're using all of their weapons and then they're going in after that to clear those streets -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Jane, you mentioned the discovery of a car bomb factory.
What else has the military found there?
ARRAF: They found quite a lot of weapons. They've, this is thought to be an area where foreign fighters have really taken hold. They still come from the Syrian border, which is just five miles away. And there were thought to originally be at least 100 of them here. So, weapons, in fact, in a school. We were in a school, a girls school just next to the place we are now, and there were weapons stockpiled there, landmines. On the blackboard, school notes for several holidays. But on the blackboard, somewhere where school girls would normally be learning their ABCs, there was a diagram for a relay system for homemade bombes.
This is an area of town where insurgents really do appear to have taken over and they have left evidence of it, even though in some cases, in many cases, it seems, they themselves have fled.
NGUYEN: Let's talk again about those hostages, especially for those just joining us this morning. You said that in this mission, some Iraqi hostages have been rescued.
Tell us about that, Jane.
ARRAF: Marines here this morning going into what they thought would be a car bomb factory, which it appears it perhaps was, have found four Iraqis who were bound and held in the most horrible of conditions. There were two young men who say they don't know why they were seized. They say they didn't hear the voices of their captors, only people whispering in their ear that they were going to be killed.
But we have just watched the two who were most badly treated be carried out of here for medical equipment, one of them on a stretcher, an older man who worked for the border police, along with his colleague. And they're, they were the ones who got the worst of the beatings. One of them has welts crisscrossed on his back from -- and they showed us the room, the Marines showed us the room where he says he was hung by his feet, his head dipped in water and then tortured with electric shocks repeatedly.
One of the other men, the other border police, was two weak, really, to tell us what had happened. But he obviously was in very, very bad shape.
They were rescued this morning as Marines and Iraqi forces came into this complex, which included an underground bunker, weapons stockpiles and other things, and found them here. Their captors have fled.
NGUYEN: And when we talk about these captors and the insurgents in this fight that is going on right now -- we can hear it in the background there -- with the U.S. Marines, these foreign fighters, is there some fear that they may have already crossed into the Syrian border? Because this is very close to Syria.
ARRAF: It is very close to Syria and it's believed there are still what they consider rad lines, which are ways that they come across through the Syrian border. They are not saying that the Syrian government is responsible. Some military officials are saying clearly the Syrian government could perhaps be doing a better job. But it's a very porous border and we have to understand that this is a part of the country that is not Baghdad, it's not Basra, it's not a cosmopolitan city. It is the wild West, in a sense, of Iraq. This particular territory, western Al Anbar Province, is 30, 000 square miles. That is the territory that the Marine unit here is responsible for. It's relatively easy for foreign fighters or anyone else to slip through that border and to blend in, in some sense, to cities and towns like this. There's no police force. There's no Iraqi Army.
I'm looking out around me and I see a deserted city -- some of the buildings bombed, smoke still rising from them. Civilians, many of them left a long time ago. The rest are afraid to come out, just the same way they were afraid to come out or say anything when the insurgents came into their towns.
This is the kind of fight that the Marines are fighting here and it is very, very difficult.
NGUYEN: Well, Jane Arraf, we appreciate your update.
Do stay safe.
We'll be checking in with you throughout the day.
Thank you.
That's Jane Arraf in the western Al Anbar Province, where Operation Spear is underway with the U.S. Marines. This is near the Syrian border. And they are battling with insurgents there.
We'll continue to keep you updated on this throughout the day.
Stay with CNN.
We're going to take a short break.
We'll be right back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIM ZAGAT: The Los Angeles surveyors rated the three top places for service as Diaghiley in the Wyndham Belage Hotel in West Hollywood, the Belvadere, which is in the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills and Bastide in West Hollywood.
I think it's interesting to note that two out of three were in hotels. I think the hotels put a premium on training and service.
We asked people what are their principal complaints about dining out. Seventy-two percent of over 200, 000 people this year said that it was service, one thing or another about service. Being nice is hard to train. You have to hire nice people. After that, you can train them.
I would say those restaurants have got both aspects of this. They've done a brilliant job in both hiring and training.
(END VIDEO CLIP) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: New developments in the mysterious disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalee Holloway in Aruba. There is now a fourth suspect.
We want to go live to Aruba and CNN's Chris Lawrence for an update -- hi, Chris.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Betty.
His name is Steven Gregory Croes. He's 26 years old, so a little bit older than the other three men. And the police superintendent told us they picked him up based on information from one of the other three young men who is already in custody.
Now, we've also learned that he is a D.J. Croes is a D.J. He worked as a D.J. on this local party boat. It's called The Tattoo and runs sort of a booze cruise here in Aruba.
Last night we spoke with Croes' boss, who described him as a model employee and said his connection may be that he knew one of the two Surinamese brothers who has already been arrested from a local Internet cafe where that brother used to work.
Now, Natalee Holloway's mother has been here almost from the very beginning.
Last night we spoke with her about this latest arrest, coming after the other three.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BETH HOLLOWAY TWITTY, MISSING GIRL'S MOTHER: It's been no secret of my feelings and thoughts on the other individuals, that I strongly feel are definitely involved with my daughter's disappearance. But, you know, I just do not have any thoughts or feelings about this one. And, of course, I was surprised and am anxious to find out further information.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAWRENCE: Now, we also caught up with another parent who is involved in this case. Paul van der Sloot is a local judge and the father of Joren, the Dutch teenager who was one of the last to see Natalee nearly three weeks ago now. Now, Mr. Van der Sloot did not say much, but we did watch him go to the jail, although we're told that he was not allowed to see his son.
Now, Joran van der Sloot and those other two brothers will be in jail for at least another eight days. In a hearing particular to Aruban law, prosecutors had to go into court yesterday and basically show evidence why they should be continued to be held without actually filing charges against them. They did so. The judge agreed. So they will be in jail at least another eight days without being charged -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Chris Lawrence keeping us up to date. Thanks, Chris.
He is the most watched golfer in the world, and not just by fans. Television executives are also keeping an eye on Tiger. We go "Beyond The Game" and take you live to the U.S. Open.
That's next.
Then, making your money count -- some common sense strategies to make sure you have the dollars and cents you need for the future.
Stay with CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
CHRISTY FEIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is National Headache Prevention Week and 21 million women battle one of the most debilitating types of headaches -- migraines. Most experts believe that during a migraine, blood vessels on the surface of the brain expand and press into nerves. Symptoms include sharp, stabbing sensations, light sensitivity and sometimes nausea or visual disturbances.
Doctors believe the best treatments shrink expanded blood vessels after a headache has started. But increasingly, doctors are helping patients prevent migraines from ever coming on. They recommend avoiding foods that can trigger them, like chocolate, red wine and some cheeses. It also helps to eat a healthy diet and exercise.
At least 10 medications have proven useful in preventing migraines. Most are actually for high blood pressure, depression or epilepsy. But studies have shown they work in about two thirds of people who try them.
Christy Feig, CNN.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right, news flash -- Tiger Woods isn't golf's only superstar. But he's just on every tournament and they're the ones that they want on his course.
We have our own celebrity at the U.S. Open this morning.
He's known as the sport professor and is the author of "When the Game Is On the Line, " CNN sports business analyst Rick Horrow.
Rick joins us this morning from Pinehurst, North Carolina -- good morning to you.
Looking nice out there on the golf course. It looks like you fit in.
But the question is, you're not on that leader board. Who is?
RICK HORROW, CNN SPORTS BUSINESS ANALYST: Well, I'm on my own leader board, as you know.
We've got Jason Gore. We've got Olin Browne. And we've got Retief Goosen at two under. We've only got five guys under par and we've got Tiger lurking ominously, as they say in the trade, only three back.
By the way, David Toms, five over par in two holes, in the last couple of holes he played. It looked like your co-anchor out there, by the way.
NGUYEN: Oh, I'm going to be sure to tell him that when he comes back.
HORROW: Yes, absolutely.
NGUYEN: There is so much talk about Tiger's popularity, but he has only won one major tournament in about three years and ratings overall, well, they're down.
So without Tiger winning consistently, will the networks renew this record $850 million TV deal when it expires soon?
HORROW: It's the normal TV negotiation dance. The networks are saying ratings down 25 percent, as you said. But the tour is saying they signed it just before September 11. And that's a world changing event, clearly. And, also, Tiger is not winning every event, he did before, but he's still very important and corporate America loves golf. The average golfer is $66, 000, upwardly mobile income who loves to play. That's why 60 percent of the tour money or more comes from corporate America, and prize money.
On a beautiful day like this, this is a day to talk about great ratings. And it's going to be a great weekend, by the way.
NGUYEN: All right, you're not dealing with Tony today, you're dealing with me. So let's talk about women and golf, shall we?
Anika Sorenson keeping the women's game in the headlines. After her victory at the LPGA championship last week, she e-mailed her friend, Tiger Woods -- nice to be his friend, right -- to tell him that she tied him with nine major titles, tied Tiger.
Is this women's game catching up with the men?
HORROW: Absolutely, Betty. And it is all about the common fan. That's critical. You know, we play 600 million rounds of golf, some of us intense golfers. There are 100 million of us who play and 16, 000 golf courses. But you need new blood, for example. Anika, just like Tiger, just like Jack Nicklaus before them and Arnold before them, brought golf to the masses. My 11-year-old daughter Caroline loves the game and that's the key, is to keep the new fan and the new players playing, a 25 percent increase in women golfers. That's 10 million women golfers.
And there's a common man story, by the way. This is important. There's a guy by the name of Spallone who is a U.S. Open qualifier here, by the way, and he had his auction on eBay to get people to come and watch him and pay for him to play; a $7, 600 sponsorship fee. He was paid for. By the way, he shot 20 over par.
NGUYEN: Oh.
HORROW: The story didn't end well.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HORROW: But that common man story is critical for the game, just like you and I, who may love to play, especially at a place like this.
NGUYEN: Yes.
I don't think I'll be on the links any time soon. I'm not so hot at it. I'm not very good. Maybe you could teach me a few things out there.
HORROW: Well, you know, tennis with you, golf with your buddy when he comes back.
NGUYEN: With Tony.
HORROW: I know you tell him. You tell him that we're waiting for him out here.
NGUYEN: I will do that.
HORROW: It's a great tournament.
NGUYEN: I will do that.
Rick, you have a good time out there.
Talk to you later.
HORROW: Thanks a lot.
Talk to you soon.
NGUYEN: All right, stay tuned. There is much more to come.
They voted by the millions, but Iranians still don't know who their president is. We will have a live report. That is coming up.
And a new song puts single moms in the spotlight. We'll take a deeper look at what it really means to be a baby mama.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Returning now to the Iranian elections and the other big stories making news around the world. Let's hand it over to Anand Naidoo at the CNN International Desk.
A busy day already -- Anand.
ANAND NAIDOO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A busy day, Betty.
Good morning to you.
And first up, we've got a look at the Iranian election.
What we're learning this morning is that there is no clear winner, which means that the two top candidates will do battle once again in a runoff election.
For the latest, we're going to go now to CNN's chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, in Tehran -- Christiane.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anand, the interior ministry here has announced that there will, in fact, be a second round, which will take place next week, because no candidate has received the required 50 percent plus one vote to win outright.
The all along frontrunner, Hashemi Rafsanjani, the previous president, appears to be in the lead right now, although final official results have not been posted. But what's interesting is who will be the second, who will compete against him in the runoff. And it's been a see-saw all day between a very hard-line candidate, the mayor of Tehran, Mahmood Ahmadinejad, and between one of the clerics who's running, a former parliament speaker, Mehdi Karoubi. Both of them have about the same percentage and both of them are vying for the second place, vying for a place in the second round next week.
If it turns out to be a race between Rafsanjani and Ahmadinejad, it'll mean a race between a conservative who's postered himself now as a reformist -- that would be Rafsanjani -- and a very hard-line candidate, Ahmadinejad, who is the candidate of Iran's supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Khomeini. He is one of the three hard- line candidates to run and he the support of many of the hard-line vigilantes that are in Iran. He has the support of many of the mosques and his support is very big in the poor areas of the capital, Tehran, where he's mayor, and in other parts of the country.
If it's Mehdi Karoubi, he is more of a reformist. He's a cleric and he was parliament speaker under the outgoing president, Khatami.
So we don't know yet. We're still waiting. We're at a very crowded press conference where Ahmadinejad is meant to come and tell us his vision for the future.
And we will get back to you as soon as we know more.
NAIDOO: Christiane Amanpour there talking to us from Tehran.
Now to some of the other stories making news "Around the World." And fierce battles reported from western Iraq 24 hours into Operation Spear. U.S. Marines are engaged in an intense fight near the Syrian border. What you're looking at right now is exclusive video of day one fighting. CNN's Jane Arraf is embedded with U.S. Marines. Troops are battling insurgents holed up in a bunker.
Most of the action is taking place in the town of Karabila, thought to be a major transit point for foreign fighters entering Iraq. American military officials estimate they've killed 50 insurgent fighters since early yesterday. Two Marines have been lightly wounded.
And we have just heard that there is a second operation going on in Iran. This one is called Operation Dagger and it's taking place in Al Anbar Province.
Now to the other battlefront, Afghanistan. Taliban rebels have ambushed a police convoy and officials say at least 10 officers and a district police chief have been taken hostage. That ambush taking place in the south. The attack happened near Kandahar, a Taliban stronghold.
There has been a sharp increase in attacks in Afghanistan since March. That's when snow on the passes, on the mountain passes across the country melted. And these are the mountain passes that are used by the insurgents. About 240 insurgents have died in battle since that period and 29 U.S. troops have also died.
That's all from me.
More later.
Now back to Betty.
NGUYEN: All right, we'll be checking in.
Thanks, Anand.
Some stories making "News Across America" this morning.
Two former Tyco executives could face up to 30 years behind bars. A New York jury has found former CEO Dennis Kozlowski and former financial chief Mark Swartz guilty of looting the company of $150 million. Sentencing is set for August 2.
In Fresno, California, a conviction in a grizzly murder case. A jury has found Marcus Wesson guilty of killing nine of his children in 2004. He was also convicted of raping his young daughters and nieces. Some of his children were the product of incest. Wesson could get the death penalty.
It's been a busy week for New York City emergency officials. Two helicopters crashed into the East River during a four day period. A corporate chopper went down yesterday, leaving the pilot in critical condition this morning. And on Tuesday, a sightseeing helicopter plunged into the river, as well. Rescuers managed to save everyone on both choppers.
Bears and bulls, ups and downs, the stock market has its good days and its bad days. So, are stocks where you should put your hard earned cash? Our Dot-Com Desk has the answer. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: The next time a hurricane slams into Florida, the no vacancy sign will be out for some people at emergency shelters. Is that legal?
Just one of the topics this morning, as lawyers square off in "Legal Briefs." That is live next hour, 8:00 a.m. Eastern.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And good news on the tropical weather front, we don't have any tropical storms or hurricanes to tell you about today.
But pollen is still active, especially out West. Central and northern California seeing the sage brush in some of the desert areas, especially in Nevada, kick in; the grass, as well, up across the Pacific Northwest. A little bit of nettle kicking in there. But some relief across parts of the Southeast, and that's good news.
I hope you're feeling well on this Saturday.
CNN LIVE SATURDAY MORNING will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Hey, did you know you can make your money grow with a simple point and click?
Well, Veronica De La Cruz from the Dot-Com Desk is here to explain.
If that's easy, I'm ready to do it right now.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I wish it was that easy.
NGUYEN: I know.
DE LA CRUZ: I'm going to tell you some tips. I wish it was that easy.
NGUYEN: OK.
DE LA CRUZ: We're all looking for ways to gain financial freedom, right?
NGUYEN: Yes, absolutely.
DE LA CRUZ: Yes. Show me the money.
NGUYEN: Show me the money.
DE LA CRUZ: Well, you can learn to make your money grow with the basics of investing by logging onto cnnmoney.com.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
DE LA CRUZ: To get started, here's a list of the top ten things to know.
If you're thinking of long-term investments, stocks have historically outperformed all others. From 1926 to 2004, the stock market returned an average annual 10.4 percent gain. The next best performing asset class, bonds, returned 5.4 percent. If stocks make you nervous, get the lowdown on other types of investments, like bonds, which can be slightly more predictable than stocks or mutual funds, which allow you to diversify your portfolio easily.
Now do you feel you're in the know when it comes to investing? You can test yourself with this online quiz. For example, true or false -- if you're looking for a place to invest money you'll need in a year or two, stocks ever the place because they'll give the best returns. To get the answer, logon and find out.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
NGUYEN: All right.
DE LA CRUZ: And you can learn more about the basics of investing at cnnmoney.com/101. You'll also find information on buying a home, a car, controlling your debt and protecting yourself from identity theft, which is...
NGUYEN: Which is very important.
DE LA CRUZ: ... very important right now.
NGUYEN: The news that we've gotten with 40 million people who could be at risk.
But my question to you is what was the answer to that, yes or no?
DE LA CRUZ: True.
NGUYEN: True?
DE LA CRUZ: It is true.
NGUYEN: OK, so stock is the place to go if you just want to invest for one or two years?
DE LA CRUZ: For a couple of years. Well, actually, mutual funds would probably be better, something a little bit more on the safer side.
NGUYEN: The safe side?
DE LA CRUZ: Yes.
NGUYEN: OK, that's what I was thinking. DE LA CRUZ: Yes, yes, exactly.
NGUYEN: Stocks can be volatile.
DE LA CRUZ: Well, you know your stuff then.
NGUYEN: Well, I think I do. I have to take the test to make sure, right?
DE LA CRUZ: Right.
NGUYEN: Thanks, Veronica.
"American Idol" star Fantasia says she knows all too well the trials of being a single parent. So she wrote a song about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "BABY MAMA" BY FANTASIA, COURTESY AOL MUSIC)
BABY MAMA: Don't know what took so long , cause nowadays it's like a badge of honor to be a baby mama .
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: But the song hit a sour note with some people. What's the problem with an anthem for unwed mothers? We'll have that story, when we come back.
First, though, a "CNN Extra."
A new survey shows one third of homeowners spend more than 30 percent of their monthly income on mortgage payments, property taxes and the cost of utilities. One in eight spend more than 50 percent. Many homeowners are moving further away from their jobs to find a home that they can actually afford. And for lower income families, the cost of getting to work can eat up 10 to 11 percent of their monthly income.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Checking our top stories right now, it may be time to double check your credit card statements. A company that processes Visa and MasterCard transactions says it's been the victim of a computer hacker. More than 40 million credit card accounts could be affect. The FBI is investigating.
Oil prices have hit an all time high. Prices set at $58.47 a barrel yesterday. Traders say the market is being driven by increasing demand and fears that a rough hurricane season can set back U.S. refineries.
And the U.S. Open is wide open. Three players share the top of the leader board. But there are 24 golfers within five shots of the three leaders, and this is just at the halfway point.
The trial of a man suspected in the 1964 triple murder of civil rights workers resumes in just over an hour from now. We'll take you live to Mississippi to the courthouse there at the top of the hour for an update on that.
But first, a lot of radio air play, a lot of fan fixation. What song wouldn't want this kind of attention?
Well, instead of being just a hit, the song is taking hits for lyrics some call outlandish, others call outstanding. It's from a single unwed mother who was once struggling but is now successful enough to sing about living through it.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "BABY MAMA" BY FANTASIA, COURTESY AOL MUSIC)
BABY MAMA: B-A-B-Y M-A-M-A. This goes out to all my baby mamas. This goes out to all my baby mamas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN (voice-over): A catchy tune, a touchy topic. ""Baby Mama, "" a song by former "American Idol" winner Fantasia. It salutes young, unwed many thanks. Fantasia was single and 17 when she became a parent. For some, the song is a touching tribute; for others, a bitter ballad denounced as encouraging teen pregnancy. It's been chided in chat rooms, like America's debate, blasted by blogs and criticized by several columnists for lyrics like these.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "BABY MAMA" BY FANTASIA, COURTESY AOL MUSIC)
BABY MAMA: Don't know what took so long, cause nowadays it's like a badge of honor to be a baby mama.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEBBIE SCHLUSSEL, CONSERVATIVE RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Saying that somebody is a badge of honor by their very status as a single mother and that they deserve a national holiday is certainly glorifying it. And I'm saying Fantasia Barrino is sending the wrong message when she sings this song. If she didn't want to glorify it, she shouldn't have come out with this song.
NGUYEN: One recent report says 34 percent of young women become pregnant at least once before they turn 20. Fantasia says she's not trying to glorify teen pregnancy, just gain greater acceptance for teen mothers.
While Fantasia's manager says she wasn't available to talk to CNN, this is what she recently told MTV.
FANTASIA BARRINO: I'm a young mother. I caught a lot of flak for being a young mama. She's a young mom. She can't finish school. She can't do this. She can't do that. And when I did it, I said I want a song for all those young parents. I want a song to encourage them and let them know, regardless of what you've done, your past, you can better yourself, whatever it is you want to do.
Whether this song is a badge of honor or a mark of shame depends on who you ask. Sophia Barnett, who herself was a teen mother, says the song made her happy.
SOPHIA BARNETT, MOTHER: I was proud because I don't think she was glorifying having a baby, you know, out of wedlock. I think what she was doing was trying to motivate women to keep going and give them praise for what they're doing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "BABY MAMA" BY FANTASIA, COURTESY AOL MUSIC)
BABY MAMA: I see ya workin' ya job. I see ya goin' to school.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(END VIDEO TAPE)
NGUYEN: So, is "Baby Mama" motivational or is it detrimental to the campaign to curb teen pregnancy?
We want to delve deeper into this issue.
And joining me now are two women with two different opinions.
Brenda Rhode Miller is the executive director of the D.C. Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.
And Kalisha Wright Smith is a young mother.
They join me from Washington, D.C.
And we appreciate you both being with us today.
Kalisha, let's start with you.
How did you become a young mother? What were the circumstances behind that?
KALISHA WRIGHT SMITH, YOUNG MOTHER: Hi.
Good morning.
Thank you for having me.
I became a young mother when I was 19 years old. I had my daughter, who is now three, while I was a sophomore at Howard University.
NGUYEN: OK. So when you hear this song, what does it say to you?
WRIGHT SMITH: I can understand why some people disagree with this song, but I agree with the sentiments of the song. Although the terminology can be something that other people would see as negative, I agree that we should praise motherhood that has positive parenting in any shape or form that it comes.
NGUYEN: All right, Brenda, I want to bring you in now.
Are you worried that songs like this are glorifying teen polygamy?
BRENDA RHODE MILLER, CAMPAIGN TO PREVENT TEEN PREGNANCY: Well, I think the song is really about us as a nation more than about individuals. And I think that the take home message should be that strong families are the foundation of this country.
NGUYEN: At a point, though, would you say that a song like this at least brings the issue out in the open so parents can talk with their children about teen pregnancy, so that children can talk with their friends about it, as well?
RHODE MILLER: Well, anything that stimulates conversation between parents and their children about a whole range of issues is really an important thing. But in particular, this song points to the badge of shame that in Washington, D.C., where I work, more than half of all births are to single women, including over 1, 000 every year to teens. That's something to be concerned about.
NGUYEN: So are you saluting a song like this, then?
RHODE MILLER: No, I'm not saluting a song like this. I'm saying that the Washington, D.C., the capital of the greatest nation in the history of the world, can and must do better by its children and by its families.
NGUYEN: And a song like this at least brings it out into the public form?
RHODE MILLER: Yes, it's a hook that you can hang a conversation on to talk about what we need to do to prevent teen pregnancy, to support families and to encourage kids to put off adult responsibilities until they can handle them.
NGUYEN: Kalisha, does this song not only bring it out into the open, but also kind of erase some of the stigma that comes with being a young, single mother?
WRIGHT SMITH: Yes, I believe it does. I think it's about time that we bring some of these issues to light, you know, so that women can feel OK with the decisions that they make, so that we don't have any more young mothers feeling so isolated and desperate that they're in bathroom stalls having babies.
NGUYEN: And we understand that you are not a single mother. You are married.
WRIGHT SMITH: Yes, I am, six months now.
NGUYEN: And we have this beautiful wedding picture.
What kind of advice do you have to young women out there who may finds themselves in a circumstance perhaps similar to yours?
WRIGHT SMITH: The only thing that I can say is believe in yourself, find people that are supportive of you and of your dreams. Because you're a young mother does not mean that you have to put the things that you believe and that you want for yourself on hold. Continue. Find a great support group and keep going. You can do it.
NGUYEN: And, Brenda, quickly, what's the single most important factor when it comes to preventing teen pregnancy?
RHODE MILLER: Having a close, caring relationship with your parents or other trustworthy adults. That seems to be the real protective factor that all kids need.
NGUYEN: All right, Brenda Miller, Kalisha Wright Smith, we thank you both for your time today.
WRIGHT SMITH: Thank you.
RHODE MILLER: Thank you.
NGUYEN: We do have a warning that goes out to credit card holders this morning after word that hackers may have gotten to millions of accounts.
What steps are you taking to keep your financial information safe?
And we'll have the first set of answers to this morning's e-mail question, as well. That question right here on your screen. Send them in.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: You know who we haven't seen today is Rob Marciano -- Rob, where have you been hiding?
MARCIANO: Where you guys put me back in the weather office. And then, you know...
NGUYEN: I had nothing to do with it. Promise.
MARCIANO: A full hour it's all Betty all the time, you know, this news, that news.
NGUYEN: This came up last minute and you know it.
MARCIANO: All right. All right. Whatever. I won't take it personally.
NGUYEN: OK.
MARCIANO: Here's what's happening weather-wise.
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: It looks like summer is right around the corner. In fact, it is, on Tuesday, right?
MARCIANO: Is that -- yes, you're right.
NGUYEN: Maybe we should switch.
MARCIANO: See, in the weather department we think of June 1 beginning our weather season. That's how it works for us.
NGUYEN: I see.
MARCIANO: But thanks for reminding me.
NGUYEN: Hey, that's what I'm here for.
MARCIANO: You see, I help do your job one week, you help do my job the next.
NGUYEN: That's right. We pat each other on the back, too.
MARCIANO: And I appreciate that.
NGUYEN: Hey, I need some help now.
MARCIANO: OK.
NGUYEN: We're going to be talking about some viewer e-mails.
Here's the question this morning. Our morning e-mail question -- what steps do you take to safeguard your financial details?
Well, Nancy says: "I document everything at home in my notebook and keep a running tally and pay the balance every two weeks in full. I check online to see what transactions have come through and, yes, I check my statement and balance to the penny."
Nancy is on top of it.
MARCIANO: Yes, that's very diligent. I wish I was that way.
NGUYEN: I'm not even close to that, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right, here's Joe in Studio City. It's more brief and I might like this one: "Put a lock on your mailbox." All right.
NGUYEN: OK.
MARCIANO: "Consider having your bills and other important documents sent to a P.O. box." That's pretty simple, as well. "Or just take your chances."
NGUYEN: Yes, like we do.
All right, Rob, we'll be talking with you soon. MARCIANO: Cool.
See you, Betty.
NGUYEN: See you next hour.
And speaking of that next hour, it starts right now.
From the CNN Center, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. It is June 18. Good morning, everyone. I'm Betty Nguyen. Tony Harris is off today.
We want to thank you for being with us.
"Now in the News," if you have Visa or MasterCard, credit cards, you'll want to listen up. You could be affected by the latest security breach. It happened at a third-party payment processor and involves 40 million credit card accounts. The security breach was reported to the FBI in May.
Two U.S. military operations are under way this morning in Iraq to fight insurgents near the Syrian border. These exclusive pictures are from CNN's Jane Arraf, the only reporter embedded with U.S. Marines taking part in Operation Spear. Marines are engaged in house- to-house battles and have freed several Iraqi hostages.
There will be a runoff in Iran's presidential election. No clear winner emerged, with about three quarters of the vote counted. A final tally is expected later this morning. The White House, though, calls the election illegitimate, as all seven candidates were picked by the ruling clerics.
Battles, they are raging in western Iraq this morning as U.S. and Iraqi forces try to take out insurgents along the Syrian border.
CNN's Jane Arraf is embedded with troops taking part in Operation Spear, and she join us on the phone from Karabila (ph).
Jane, when we spoke with you earlier, we could hear the gunfire in the background. What's the situation right now?
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on phone): Betty, there's a bit of a lull, but we know it's going to pick up again as Marines and Iraqi troops move forward into the city. It's a relatively small city, 60,000 people, just five miles from the Syrian border.
But as we go through these streets with the Marines and the Iraqis who are with them, they are uncovering horrifying things. They say that at least 100 foreign fighters are here, many insurgents. And what we have found so far, that they have uncovered in the fighting, are car bomb factories, hostages being held.
At the last place, they found four men, two of them Iraqi border police, who were held for more than three weeks, and tortured. Horrendous scars. They're in terrible shape, so afraid they wouldn't even let us record their voices. They said they would be killed immediately.
We've just seen them taken away for medical treatment, and the Marines are moving forward, continuing to encounter gunfire, mortars, rockets, all sorts of things involved in this battle for this city near the Syrian border, Betty.
NGUYEN: Jane, these hostages, any indication if they're helping the Marines find the insurgents?
ARRAF: These particular ones, Betty, really don't seem to know very much, which is part of the tragedy of it. Two of them were quite young. They didn't have jobs, they were unemployed. And one Marine told us that they possibly were from the wrong tribe, that it was a tribe that was opposed to the presence of foreign fighters. They say they weren't even interrogated, they were merely beaten and handcuffed, their hands and their feet bound with metal handcuffs.
The other two got the worst of the treatment. They were border police. One beaten so badly, his back was almost an entire welt of red bruises and dried blood. He said he been tortured with electric shocks. His wrist was broken, and swelled up so badly that they couldn't get the handcuff off.
I'm not sure that they would have known very much that they could have told their captors. One of the things they did find in that house, Betty, were lists of people applying to be -- to work in the Iraqi security forces, applications they had filled out with the photograph, an indication that there are people who are passing this information within the security forces to the insurgents, who are wreaking the worst of the violence on Iraqi border police, Iraqi army, Iraqi police themselves, Betty.
NGUYEN: CNN's Jane Arraf. We thank you for that information, with Operation Spear that's going on right now in the western Al Anbar Province. We'll be checking in with you, Jane, throughout the day.
We do have a big story for Americans this morning. It's getting harder to protect your identity, as more than 40 million credit card accounts are compromised.
Chris Huntington explains how the snafu happened.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The FBI is investigating what may be the biggest criminal security breach of credit card information ever. The names and numbers on some 40 million credit card accounts appear to have been stolen from the computers of CardSystems Solutions, a processor of credit card transactions in Tucson, Arizona. Twenty-two million Visa card accounts and nearly 14 million MasterCard accounts were compromised, according to the companies.
CHRIS HOOFNAGLE, EPIC: This one is looking more and more like an "Exxon Valdez" of privacy, where, literally, tens of millions of accounts have been compromised. The big risk here is massive amounts of credit card fraud.
HUNTINGTON: Massive indeed. The number of accounts breached at CardSystems Solutions is nearly 10 times that of the previous five reported biggest reported data losses combined, from a unit of Citigroup, Bank of America, CNN's parent company, Time Warner, Ameritrade, and Choicepoint.
How could CardSystems lose control of 40 million accounts? Dan Clements, a data security professional and expert at retrieving stolen computer files, says thieves on the inside could have dumped the data onto discs, hacked in from the outside with a virus, or most likely, exploited well-known weak spots in the company's computer system, using access codes that can be found on the Internet.
DAN CLEMENTS, CARDCOPS.COM: They scan the server of the bank or the processor for known vulnerabilities, files that are unprotected. And what they do is, they load in 1,000 different files into a scanner, and they just hit Submit, and it goes to that server, looks for a hole. And if they find a hole, bingo. They're in the server, and they have access to 40 million records. It's that simple.
HUNTINGTON: Both Visa and MasterCard tell CNN that CardSystems Solutions was not in compliance with their security requirements. CardSystems says it discovered the, quote, "potential security incident" on May 22, told the FBI the next day, then told Visa and MasterCard.
LINDA FORD, CARDSYSTEMS SOLUTIONS: We called in a third party forensics investigator that happens to actually be certified with MasterCard to come in here and to do a complete investigation, scan of everything, to actually image systems, and to go back and do research on what was going on.
HUNTINGTON: MasterCard tells CNN that it has detected only a small amount of fraudulent activity in the accounts lost from CardSystems, and that because the data did not contain Social Security numbers nor addresses, identity theft would be highly unlikely.
Chris Huntington, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: All right. So here's how to fight back against identity theft. Go to the government's Web site at www.ftc.gov, and click on Identity Theft. There you can find out how to contact the credit bureaus and fill out an ID theft affidavit, which will protect you from fraudulent accounts.
This security breach is just the latest in a long line of cases involving compromised personal information. It's tough to operate without credit cards, so what do you do?
Well, that is our e-mail question for you this morning. What steps do you take to keep your financial details safe? The more creative, the better. Send us your safeguarding strategies to weekends@cnn.com.
The prosecution in Mississippi's civil rights murder trial could rest its case today. Eighty-year-old Edgar Ray Killen is on trial for taking part in the deaths of three civil rights workers back in 1964.
CNN's Catherine Callaway is live in Philadelphia, Mississippi, with an update on this trial.
Good morning, Catherine.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Betty.
Yes, a court will resume here in Nashova (ph) County, Mississippi, in about an hour and 20 minutes. A full day of testimony yesterday, in which a good deal of time was spent actually reading the transcripts from Killen's 1967 trial, in which the jury deadlocked 11 to 1 in favor of convicting Killen.
In fact, the current district attorney here in this county, Mark Duncan, was actually on the stand yesterday, reading that transcript, and some emotional testimony we heard from Carolyn Goodman yesterday, the 89-year-old mother of the slain civil rights worker Andrew Goodman, and Mike Hatcher, a retired Meridian police officer and a former Klansman, testified on the stand that he actually met with Killen the day after the murders in '64, and that Killen bragged about the elimination of Goodman, Schwerner, and Cheney.
MIKE HATCHER, FORMER KLANSMAN: He proceeded to tell me that, We got rid of them civil rights workers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said, We did?
HATCHER: We got rid of those civil rights workers. We won't have no more trouble out of Goatee (ph).
CALLAWAY: And Goatee is actually what the Klansmen called Michael Schwerner, their nickname for him.
Prosecution continue to present its case this morning. They will conclude, if they're able to do that, by noon. That is when the court will recess for the weekend.
Betty, back to you.
NGUYEN: And we'll be monitoring it. Thank you, Catherine Callaway, thank you.
Seeking shelter from the storm. Why some people in Florida won't have a place to stay this hurricane season. We'll take it up in legal briefs.
And we want to say good morning, Chicago. Look at the big, beautiful sky with all those clouds today. This is a look at the Windy City, a live look. Rob Marciano is here with your weekend forecast. That's ahead. And today on "HOUSE CALL," a show devoted to Dad. A new dad himself, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, has tips for new parents. And how to baby- proof your home. That's coming up at the half-hour right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Rob Marciano's going to be joining us now with a look at the weather.
Rob, we talked about summer just a few minutes ago. I don't know if I'm ready for it just yet. It's already hot here in Atlanta.
MARCIANO: Yada, a lot of people not ready for it.
NGUYEN: Whoo!
MARCIANO: (INAUDIBLE) but it's, it'll cool off (INAUDIBLE), Betty.
NGUYEN: All right.
MARCIANO: Try to get out your, you know, a couple hours you have off this afternoon, tomorrow, cool air is pours down across the, especially east of the Appalachians Mountains.
(WEATHER FORECAST)
MARCIANO: Hey, if your lawn's fast and crispy right now, your gardening tip today is that, you know, your lawns typically need about an inch of water every week to keep a healthy lawn. You're going to have to do that when Mother Nature doesn't supply it. An inch is about maybe a tuna can full of water. So throw that out there in the sprinkler and hit it once, Betty. I know you know that. Hit it once. Don't spread it out over a week. Do it once overnight. One inch of water, and your lawn's going to be looking good.
NGUYEN: You're such the common man. An inch is a tuna can.
MARCIANO: That's right.
NGUYEN: You know, I can relate to that. I got it.
MARCIANO: See? Good, (INAUDIBLE).
NGUYEN: It works.
MARCIANO: (INAUDIBLE).
NGUYEN: Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: See you.
NGUYEN: Here's a quick look at our top stories this morning.
The military says so far, U.S. Marines and Iraqi forces have killed 50 insurgents in Operation Spear. The troops moved into the insurgent hotbed in western Iraq yesterday.
U.S. and Iraqi troops kicked off another anti-insurgent operation today. Operation Dagger is aimed at finding weapons and insurgent hideouts in an area about 50 miles west of Baghdad.
"Gimme Shelter," it's a line usually associated with the Rolling Stones. So why are sex offenders in a Florida saying it? We'll weather this storm ahead in legal briefs.
And coming up today on "OPEN HOUSE," sniffing out a deal in real estate. That's at 9:30 Eastern. A foreclosure expert joins Gerri Willis with tips on finding that diamond in the rough.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: MasterCard and Visa say hackers may have hammered their way into more than 40 million credit card accounts. It's just the latest in a long line of cases involving compromised personal information, which brings us to our morning e-mail question for you today. What steps do you take to keep your financial details safe?
Well, we've been getting lots of e-mails, and Robert from Raleigh, North Carolina, says, "Both my medical and dental health insurance cards use my Social Security to Id my accounts. I keep them separate from my wallet, because if lost, a thief could use that number, and with the address and date of birth on my driver's license, steal my identity."
Very good point there.
"Recently, I called up both my insurance companies to request a card without my Social Security number. Most companies will cooperate and send a car with a different ID."
And I can testify to that. We did that around here. So good advice, there, Robert, thank you.
But keep your information coming, your advice coming, to our e- mail question of the day. All you have to do is e-mail it to WAM -- or actually, we changed that to weekends@cnn.com.
Here's the question one more time. What steps do you take to safeguard your financial details? We want to hear from you this morning.
All right. Now to frustration on the greens. Coming up next hour on CNN SATURDAY MORNING, what exactly is going on at Pinehurst? We'll have a live report from the U.S. Open.
But first, on this Father's Day weekend, a very special "HOUSE CALL" to devoted Dad. That's coming up on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) NGUYEN: Note to registered sex offenders in Hillsboro County, Florida. If a hurricane heads your way, you will have to save yourself. That's because you've been banned from the public shelters your neighbors will be using. But is that legal? We'll talk about that.
And a judge still refuses to let a 13-year-old suffering from Hodgkin's disease return home to her parents. That's despite the parents' promise that they won't resist efforts to resume her chemotherapy.
Two topics this morning on the docket in legal briefs, and we toss these topics to our legal experts. Here they are, criminal defense attorney Michelle Suskauer is live from West Palm Beach, Florida. We'll put her up. There she is. Good morning. And former prosecutor Nelda Blair is at her usual post in Houston, Texas.
Thanks for being with us, ladies.
NELDA BLAIR, FORMER PROSECUTOR: You're welcome.
NGUYEN: All right, Michelle, let's start right with you. If this little girl's parents say that they will resume this chemotherapy, shouldn't they get custody of her?
MICHELLE SUSKAUER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, you know, if they're going to comply with the judge's order. But there have been problems with these parents being compliant with the judge's order. And the mother, I believe, ran away with this little girl, absconded with this little girl. So maybe it would be better at this point to put the little girl with a family member instead of a parent.
But ultimately, if the parents are going to comply, this little girl needs to be back with her parents.
NGUYEN: All right, but now, the taking a child away from her parents, is that going too far in this case, or was it necessary to save her life, in the eyes of some?
BLAIR: It was absolutely necessary. The way Michelle puts it sounds like it's a mild case. This is not a mild case of child neglect. This is a classic child protective services abuse case. Not only did these parents not treat Katie in the first place, you know, when they brought her into the emergency room, she had a mass of -- a big mass on her chest that turned out to be Hodgkin's disease, enlarged lymph nodes. She was in severe distress, according to her doctor's testimony, would have died within 24 hours. They were just bringing her to treatment.
He prescribed antibiotics for a sore that put her back in the hospital. They didn't even fill the prescription.
These people don't give -- won't give her radiation. They say they will now. Why should they believe them? Why should the judge believe them? They've absolutely proven that they are going to neglect and abuse this child, and the judge was right in putting her in a foster home while she gets treatment.
NGUYEN: All right, Michelle, let me go back (INAUDIBLE) just for a moment, because this case has really put a parent's rights in the spotlight. Does it diminish a parent's right to question what the doctor has in line for a child?
SUSKAUER: No. Certainly, a parent always has a right to question a doctor's recommendation. They certainly have a right to go and get a second opinion.
But what this case is, and I don't disagree with her, what this case is, is, is a parent certainly doesn't have an ultimate right to abuse and completely disregard advice that flies in the face of common medical sense and treatment.
So I don't think that they -- the judge was wrong in this case, but, again, a parent does have a right to make medical decisions. But this is what we're seeing here in this state was, the state had the right to step in and take this child and say, These parents are not making proper medical decisions in this case.
NGUYEN: Which is what the state did.
All right, let's move on to our next topic. Commissioners in the Hillsboro County, Florida, say if you're a sex offender, you're not going to be allowed in any of the public hurricane shelters. In fact, the sheriff says if you show up, you're going to be arrested. Nelda, is that legal?
BLAIR: Well, you know, this is a gutsy, unique law that this county has passed. And it may sound like it's very farfetched. But remember, in past few years, Florida has had a rash of young girls that have been kidnapped and murdered by registered sex offenders.
They have passed laws that require monitoring, they've passed laws that require longer sentences, DNA testing for registered sex offenders, which had been upheld by the federal courts.
So this is just one more step. What Florida's trying to do is protect its other citizens that are going to be in those hurricane shelters. And, you know, it just might be upheld on that basis.
NGUYEN: All right, but could this be a liability, Michelle, because, say, a hurricane happens. A sex offender is not allowed in. And as a result, that sex offender is killed in this hurricane. There's a lawsuit there, isn't there?
SUSKAUER: Well, absolutely. You know, although Hillsboro County, what they're doing, what they're trying to do is admirable and protect their citizens, this is absolutely the wrong avenue to do it. If you have a public hurricane shelter, you have to be able to avail all of your citizens, not certain citizens that you prescribe to avail themselves of this emergency shelter.
We're talking about an emergency situation here. And to say, We're going to arrest you if you come within 100 feet of this emergency shelter during a hurricane, is absolutely outrageous.
NGUYEN: All right. Quickly, we're going to move on to the Jackson case. I know, Nelda, you said, Hey, he was going to be found guilty. That was not the case. So that being the situation, does Jackson have a case against prosecutor Tom Sneddon? Because this trial was something that he had been investigating for many years, and, of course, it came to pass, and Jackson was found not guilty.
BLAIR: He absolutely has no cause against Tom Sneddon, no question about it.
You know, the prosecution brought this case under the good faith and belief that they had a good case against a person who was breaking the law. And not only did the some -- many of the jurors say that they do believe that Michael Jackson may be committing some crimes, they just didn't think the evidence was strong enough in this case.
You know, a prosecutor can only try the case with the evidence, the testimony, and the witnesses he has on hand...
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