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CNN Saturday Morning News
Man Hunted for Wife and Daughter's Killing; More on the Secret Service Scandal
Aired April 28, 2012 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: We start this hour with a standoff near Seattle. A man accused of murdering his wife and daughter now believe holed up in a home made underground bunker. A SWAT team pumped in tear gas in an effort to force Peter Keller out. It's believed that he is well armed and the bunker is well stocked. So the police are being cautious and patient.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SGT. CINDY WEST, KING CO., WASHINGTON SHERIFF'S OFFICE: It doesn't matter how long it takes, if this takes a day, a month, a week, we're going to wait it out.
SHERIFF STEVE STRACHAN, KING COUNTY, WASHINGTON: This isn't a hole in the ground. This is a large built up structure but hidden. It took some time to find it and in fact our tactical team smelled the wood smoke coming before they actually saw it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: The bodies of Keller's wife and daughter were found in their home on Sunday. The house had been set on fire. Keller has not been seen since.
Next week marks the one-year anniversary since the killing of Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. We caught up with Defense secretary Leon Panetta for his take on that night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEON PANETTA, DEFENSE SECRETARY: They said that they had CIA, confirmed that in fact that it had happened. So that was the moment that we knew all of the work that had been done was paying off. I think the one thing all of us feel pretty good about that were involved in this operation is that as a result of what we did, America's safer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Panetta, of course, was CIA director at the time of the raid on the Bin Laden compound. Senior officials say Al Qaeda has been marginalized and is in survival mode since Bin Laden's death. They also say there are no known credible threats connected to the anniversary. A wayward dolphin is drawing crowds in Huntington Beach, California. Check him out. It's straight into a wet lands area, several miles from the ocean, people gathered along the banks to get a look at this unusual visitor. Rescue crews are trying to lure it back out to the open water.
It's being called "the nation's largest community improvement movement." Some 10,000 volunteers are expected to take part today in the great American cleanup. It's happening in nearly all of the 50 states and includes picking up litter and planting trees. Ten cities will have large scale trash removal.
Last year's cleanup resulted in the removal of 177 million pounds - that's right, million pounds of trash.
And a school in Indiana is about to get rid of kindergarten and tenth grade and every other grade level. Instead, students will have a certain benchmark since state standards to meet and then move up when they're ready. The school uses iPads so students can make their own lesson plans. This fall, the (INAUDIBLE) are testing the system. It's called mass customized learning. If this year's test goes well, everyone in the district will use it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID VORNHOLT, SOPHOMORE: It sounds really good. It might be hard to get there, it might take a lot of trial and error kind of stuff.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Well, some parents are worried that the new program will mean some kids get left behind.
It may be spring, but winter isn't giving up without a bit of a fight. Reynolds is checking on that, so I guess it's pretty cold and dreary in some parts?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Definitely in the northern rocky where they could see a foot of snow in some locations. Other spots less and certainly rain is on the horizon too for many places including the Great Lakes.
Let's go right to the map. As we do so, we're going to take the map slowly. You can see the chance of severe storms across the Ohio Valley, Great Lakes and even into the central and southern plains. Most of that action will take place by late afternoon. The snow as we mentioned northern Rockies, rain in the Pacific northwest, but plenty of sunshine in the extreme northeast, southeast and into parts of the West Coast even the Great Basin with a mix of sunshine and clouds.
Now in terms of high temperatures for you today we're going to the 50s and 60s in the northeast. 89 degrees in Tampa, 79 in Miami but a chance of some thunderstorms could cool you down into the afternoon, 71 in Kansas City, 46 in Minneapolis. 62 in Denver, 58 in Salt Lake City and 60s from Seattle to Portland, San Francisco and back to Los Angeles, 76 your expected high for the day. That's the quick snapshot on your forecast, Randi, let's toss it right back to you.
KAYE: All right. Reynolds, thank you very much.
You've heard this, right, location, location, location, it is critical in real estate. And now one chef says it is just as important for your food and your table at home. Coming up, why he wants you to think more about eating local.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: This morning, we are taking a closer look at food. What we eat and why we eat it. Earlier this week we heard about a case of mad cow disease in California. The sickened cow never made it to the food chain and public health officials say there was no danger to the public. So the food safety system work for the most part. But cases like this still raise fears and awareness, of course. It can also push people away from processed foods and toward a more natural diet and organic foods. Hugh Acheson is an award-winning chef with several successful restaurants in Georgia. You may also recognize him from Bravo TV's "Top Chef." He says when it comes to food, it is all about going local, sustainable and organic.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE (on camera): Well, welcome to the very busy kitchen here of Empire State South. We are here with Chef Hugh Acheson who is kind enough to show us a little bit about the local ingredients that you use and talk a little bit about the importance in terms of the trend that you're seeing and that we're seeing that people are using at home.
So first, if you would, tell us what is on your table here.
HUGH ACHESON, CHEF, FIVE & TEN: You know, there's a lot of stuff and this mixture between forage and cultivated and farmed items but it's from our locality, our community. Now we're going to stretch the community of the South to everywhere from kumquats from Louisiana, ramps from the lower Appalachians. These are strawberries from woodland gardens (ph) in Athens. Beautiful vidalia onions. I've got amroot, green garlic, Georgia olive oil, some Black Creek Bog (ph) oyster mushrooms and a varietal, a number of different grains from Anson Mills (ph), which is really a heritage grain outfit based in Columbia, South Carolina.
You know, in my book, I talked about this a lot but I'm a really big fan of local and then allowing sustainable and then that begets organic. And what that means is I'm buying into my locality. I'm understanding the seasons, I'm understanding that strawberry season is just starting. And that's excitement. You know, we get really jazzed up about these things.
KAYE: About strawberries.
ACHESON: About strawberries? How can you not? You should taste those strawberries.
KAYE: I will.
ACHESON: And you'll get excited about them too. And then (INAUDIBLE) turnips and different greens. All these things have their place in our society, in our community. And so buying them locally means that we're supporting our tax base, we're supporting our local farmer, we're supporting our local chefs and all these things sort of become that natural wheel of the economy.
This is really important to show that food can be this local sphere that we need to encouraged.
KAYE: So it is expensive though. What's your advice to people, should they buy little bits of organic foods when they can.
ACHESON: You know, I subscribed to a CSA box, from a local farm in Athens, Georgia. For $25 I get this really abundant amazing box of vegetables. If I went to Whole Foods, I would probably spend more for that amazing amount of produce, it's local, it's organic, it's amazing stuff. So I think this argument that it's a lot more expensive to buy local and organic, it's not really the case.
I mean, you know, food should be prized food should be more expensive than it probably is. Because we need to revel in it. You know, food has been compacted down to the lowest common denominator for so long, this is not that, this is the bounty of local.
KAYE: These looks - it does look delicious. I mean these are incredible but what I guess, I mean, we are seeing a bit of a trend. You know, the whole farm to table trend. Are you seeing that as well? I mean is it still growing?
ACHESON: It's growing and we tend not to classify ourselves like that. I mean, to me, great kitchens and great restaurants are naturally farm to table. It means that they're understanding of their local environment. They're supportive of their local farmers. They're understanding of the seasons and that's how they buy. So to us, this is not a badge of honor that we wear in a marketing way. It's just a choice that we made a long time ago in how we do great restaurants.
KAYE: And I guess, the less time, less travel time that only adds to the health benefits, right?
ACHESON: Right. Well, and also the carbon footprint impact, and all these things. You know, they all play a toll. So I'm not a zealot for these things, I want everybody to make little tiny steps toward the betterment of it all. If you can buy just your strawberries local, you're going to make that little impact.
KAYE: And what would be your advice for people. What can they do at home to get started doing something like this and eating in this way?
ACHESON: Find a great local farmer's market and start buying there and learning the farmer's name and seeing what they're doing and seeing their excitement at what's coming out of their ground, over what they're toiling over. Farming is never easy, they need our support and they need our dollars. So we have to go there. We need to make sure that food is never a precious commodity that all classes of society have the ability to go to a farmer's market and shop there.
KAYE: Can you taste the difference when you eat like this?
ACHESON: Oh, yes. I mean those strawberries are like hands down so much better. They're dense and they're plump, but they're so moist.
KAYE: And you're still seeing a demand in your restaurant and other restaurants, that people want to eat this, the people want to eat like this?
ACHESON: We're not giving them a choice. This is what we buy and this is what we sell.
KAYE: But obviously your restaurant is full. Exactly.
ACHESON: And I think that's a choice that we have made and I think that people are really, really supportive of it. I think people come here a lot because of those choices we've made so to be great community restaurant. I mean that's the most important thing for us, impact on in our community.
KAYE: Well, here you can cook for me anytime.
ACHESON: Good. Good.
KAYE: Thank you.
ACHESON: Awesome. Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: I tell you that stuff was really good. It was all fresh. It was all locally grown and bought. Good stuff.
The anchor man, Will Ferrell is returning to his roots, his "Saturday Night Life" return, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, HOST "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": Well more bad news for the Secret Service. Yesterday on take your daughters to workday, it turns out the girls they took to work weren't really their daughters. Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Jay Leno from NBC's "The Tonight Show" poking fun at the Colombia prostitution scandal that has embarrassed the Secret Service. The agency is issuing new rules of conduct. The agents on assignment may not bring foreign nationals to their hotel rooms or go to non- reputable establishment. Sources meanwhile have identified the now former agent at the center of the scandal. They say Arthur Huntington had a dispute with an escort over pay.
A former prostitute plans to sue the U.S. embassy in Brazil. The woman says members of an embassy team including three Marines threw her from a van and ran over her after she argued with the driver. She said she had tire marks on her stomach from the December incident and suffered a broken collarbone, three broken ribs and a punctured lung. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says the men involved have been disciplined and are no longer in Brazil. Brazilian prosecutors are considering filing criminal charges.
And we've got some good news for fans of "Saturday Night Live," funny man Will Ferrell is coming back. The former "SNL" cast member will return for his third stint as guest host in just a few weeks on May 12th. And not that he needs it, but Will Ferrell will get a little support from Usher, who is that night's musical guest.
And here is a story lots of folks in our newsroom can't get enough of. Check out this 200-pound bear dangling from a tree. Well, he was dangling. He was holding on for dear life and then, yes, there he goes, -- there he goes, almost, boom, yes he drops on to a thick mat. It's at the University of Colorado in Bolder, apparently students spotted the sleepy bear, napping in the tree. They called wildlife officials. Rangers came and actually tranquilized it, causing it to fall safely out of the tree. They tagged the bear and they released it into the Colorado wilderness. The bear is fine. Kind of a cutie.
Up next, we are showing you some amazing spy gadgets some parents are using for their children. We're talking sun glasses, pens and even an alarm clock. You do not want to miss this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back. All morning we have been going in depth on this controversial story. Stuart Chaifetz is a father of a 10-year-old boy with autism secretly recorded what he claims were teachers bullying his son. These tapes are shocking and disturbing. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You go to see any books in the library or you just look at sculptures?
(INAUDIBLE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: We spoke with him earlier about why he decided to wire his son.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STUART CHAIFETZ, CLAIMS TEACHERS BULLIED HIS SON: When you hear your child in distress and you can't be there to protect him, it's the worst feeling in the world. One of the reasons why I went forward was to one day show him that people care that what they did to him was wrong. In addition to hopefully reaching out and showing what an epidemic bullying is. You know, what was especially vile about this situation is that all the children in that class were, had verbal impairments and none of them could tell their parents.
And they just (INAUDIBLE) and the staff ran wild, saying whatever they wanted, venting on these children. Which to me is the ultimate act of a coward when you pick on someone who can't not fight back but can't talk back. And my son did actually learn to fight back and he was really a message to me saying help. It was a cry -
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: The Cherry Hill, New Jersey school district say none of the teachers involved work for them anymore. One of the accused teachers say the claims against her are disingenuous. So after hearing about this story, we did some research and found that the use of spy equipment by concerned parents isn't as uncommon as you might think.
HLN digital lifestyle expert Mario Armstrong is joining me now to talk about this. Good morning.
MARIO ARMSTRONG, HLN DIGITAL LIFESTYLE EXPERT: Good morning.
KAYE: You've got your hands on some of these pretty cool gadgets that people are using.
ARMSTRONG: Absolutely.
KAYE: By the way, are you recording me right now? Anything I need to know?
ARMSTRONG: I am recording you right now, but I'm not going to tell the viewers how I'm doing that, we'll reveal that a little bit later in the segment. So keep watching.
KAYE: All right.
ARMSTRONG: I'm a parent myself, I have a nine-year-old son, Christopher. I get concerned about him on things that he's doing as well. So I was just going to show you a couple of things, one of which I've actually use. Now many of these gadgets come from a company called Brick House Security, which a lot of people don't know, you can walk right in and buy these things online and pick these things up, anything ranging from 50 bucks and up.
This right here is a GPS locator. So what I can actually do is I can put this in my kid's backpack. He went on a field trip. I put this in Christopher's back pack and I could actually monitor, I could cookie crumb him through my cell phone and actually see on a map where he is at any given moment.
KAYE: Wow. If I were a parent, I would do that every day.
ARMSTRONG: I would -
KAYE: Just so you know. ARMSTRONG: Just so you know. You're right. $199 is not cheap, and then you have to pay a monthly service for the GPS fee. So that gets a little expensive but you can also use this for teen driving, you can put this in your car. You get an alert if your child drives over a certain speed limit. So a lot of smart uses for this smart GPS. So teens out there, do what you're supposed to do behind the wheel.
KAYE: Good to know. What else?
ARMSTRONG: Alarm clocks. Now this could be say for elderly care or you know, I have an ageing grandmother or say for a child, childcare, maybe nanny cam type of thing. This is an alarm clock, and when you plug it in, it works like a regular alarm clock.
KAYE: And you have a camera in.
ARMSTRONG: It has a camera but you can't see it. You might be able to see real closely inside there.
KAYE: Oh, yes.
ARMSTRONG: You can see there's a little lens but it works, its buzzes, it shows up just like regular time. You will never know there's a camera inside that.
KAYE: Great for a nanny cam.
ARMSTRONG: Great for nanny cam. You can't put in a nanny's room. So the nanny say who lives with you or something like that. It can't go into her room but it can go into common areas or into your kids room.
KAYE: OK. The glasses?
ARMSTRONG: The glasses. Yes, I mean, come on, these are like total spy. The camera is right here in the front. Now what's interesting about this pair of glasses is not only can it record video but it can also record audio separately. It can also record audio separately. You can do just video or just audio and you can even shoot images with a touch of a button.
KAYE: OK. And what about - you want to put those on?
ARMSTRONG: Yes. You know, they look like - I won't really wear them for my style.
KAYE: You look more hip than usual here.
ARMSTRONG: I look more hip than I usually do.
KAYE: What about this pen?
ARMSTRONG: Yes, the pen. So it looks like a regular pen and it actually - I'm going to roll it out here, it actually does write. It has a ballpoint.
KAYE: OK. And we know it records. ARMSTRONG: It has a camera. We know it records and we know because you were using it.
KAYE: I actually tried this out. This is pretty funny. I tried this out yesterday on Don Lemon who was in the NEWSROOM sitting near us. Check this out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: And you better tell me quick because I'm recording you right now.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: OK.
KAYE: Does that surprise you?
LEMON: It's in the pen. No, it doesn't surprise me, I see the lens.
KAYE: You're not surprise?
LEMON: Why do you think I did that whole thing about I'm working on it. I see your hand and I looked here and I see the lens.
KAYE: It was a surprise, you blew it.
LEMON: Why would I be surprised?
KAYE: Right. I'm turning it around, he's not surprised at all.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ARMSTRONG: You did great for turning that around. There's no monitor or anything on this device.
KAYE: He pointed right at it.
ARMSTRONG: Well, it was hard for you to kind of record him too because you were kind of talking to him while you were holding a pen. But I have an idea that would have worked a little bit smarter for that situation. In my shirt, as you can see this right here, this little black button. Now it would be helpful if I had other black buttons made, but this is a camera inside of this button which actually connects to this device here.
KAYE: Oh wow.
ARMSTRONG: That I just plug into it and I have a little screen so I can actually see. And everything gets put right on to your little memory cards and things like that. So there's a camera right here in my (INAUDIBLE).
KAYE: This is tricky stuff but now I look at all this, and some of it can be pretty costly. Can your iPhone and other devices do what this does? Some of it at least.
ARMSTRONG: Absolutely. You can do the video recording but it becomes a little obvious is you're trying - unless you're going to situate the phone somewhere and maybe cover it with something. But the other thing is that you really need to be around it. Some of these devices actually have remote control options, so you don't have to be with the device, you can just turn it on or turn it off with the remote.
KAYE: It's very James Bond-esque.
ARMSTRONG: Very James Bond-esque at an affordable price. I was really shocked to find out how many parents are really concerned from everything, from their teens, their elderly parents they're trying to take care of, making sure the get good care to their kids and even spouse, abuse and things like that and finding some people. You know, women need to make sure. Check your car, make sure that this thing is in your device if you are in a tough situation at home.
KAYE: Is there a lot of software too that you can use? I mean this is a lot of hardware.
ARMSTRONG: This is a lot of hardware. It's a great point, with software you really can't see, so there are things called key log. So if you're really in a bad relationship or a tough relationship, I would really look into your computer and uncover whether or not you have any key logging software. What it does is it actually captures every single stroke and click. And it can remotely e-mail that. So let's say I go online and I'm looking for a domestic abuse center to help. So I'm scanning for stuff. Well, if I was a bad husband or somebody like that, I could get an e-mail every 30 minutes, sending me e-mails you're doing, what chats you're doing, what web sites you've been to, and I can find out, "Oh, you're trying to get more information about how to leave me or something like that." So it's very, very important, we're talking about good uses of this technology.
KAYE: Right.
ARMSTRONG: And I would do the same thing that that parent did if there was a problem with my kid at school but we have to be aware of the dark side.
KAYE: So what is your favorite. You've tried them all out.
ARMSTRONG: The pen was shockingly crisp video. HD was phenomenal video even though the video folks here said "Wow" and CNN video folks say wow about a camera and a pen, that's pretty impressive.
KAYE: Yes, they're not easily wowed.
ARMSTRONG: No. Not at all. I've tried.
KAYE: Look at Don, poor Don. We're just confusing him this morning. He's loving it. He'll be on later today. He probably be, oh, yes I know. You should have seen him when I came over. He said the only reason he knew something was up because I never talk to him in the newsroom. So he already knew something is up.
It is true, but you know, we're busy. ARMSTRONG: Well, you know, this is really great that you're showing these serious issue, accessible technology can really change people's lives. And what's happening in that classroom is happening in classrooms across the country unfortunately. I love my teachers, but, hey, bad apples, we got to get them out.
KAYE: Mario, this was fantastic. Thank you.
ARMSTRONG: Thank you so much. I hope it helps a lot of people.
KAYE: Great having you here in the studio.
ARMSTRONG: Yes, likewise.
KAYE: Coming up next hour, more of our focus on food. I'll talk to the author of a controversial new children's book, "Vegan is Love, a lesson meant to keep kids meat free." That's ahead in our 10:00 hour.
And I'll be back at the top of the hour. "YOUR BOTTOM LINE" with Christine Romans starts right now.
