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CNN Live Sunday

Parents Can Take Steps to Protect Children from Predators; Vietnam War Vet, Translator Reunited by Chance Meeting; Fathers Share Advice for New Dads

Aired June 19, 2005 - 17:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, HOST: Our top stories. In the Middle East, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in Jordan today, wrapping up a two-day trip to the region. She said she is confident both Israel and the Palestinian Authority remain committed to the peace process, including putting up Palestinian apartments in Gaza, where there are now Jewish settlements.
Rice was highly critical of Iran's recent presidential election on today's TV talk shows. She dismissed the election as insignificant in light of the fact that women candidates were kept off the ballot. President Bush has characterized the election as a cynical power play by the Iranian clerics.

Now a look at the inconceivable crime of child sexual abuse. Convicted child molester Dean Arthur Schwartzmiller is accused in a case involving two boys in San Jose. And investigators say they found notebooks filled with more than 36,000 encounters Schwartzmiller has allegedly had with children. His alleged crimes may have crossed several states, as well as Mexico and Brazil.

It's a frightening story for any parent. With more on how to protect your children, we're joined by Anne Lee, the executive director of From Darkness to Light. She is also a survivor of child sexual abuse.

All right, Anne. So glad you could with us on this very important topic.

ANNE LEE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT: Thanks for having us.

WHITFIELD: It seems we always hear the question how do you start talking to kids about the risks of potential predators out there and how early should you start the process of this dialogue with your children?

LEE: You really can't start too early. In fact, we say frequently talk early, talk often.

Certainly, the media today gives us ample opportunities to find beginning points of having conversations with children. Certainly, you want to make those conversations age appropriate, and as parents you know how to do that. You know how best to interact with your child.

But certainly, talk early, talk often, and have it a part of your ongoing safety dialogue.

WHITFIELD: And how do you talk to innocent kids about details, really, they can't comprehend? How do you break it down to them so that you're not frightening them more than your are trying to help them protect themselves?

LEE: Right. Well, like I said, the media gives us ample opportunities every day to talk about, you know, what child molestation is.

I mean, certainly, within the last month week, year, with Catholic scandal, Michael Jackson, there have been many, many opportunities where parents could at any point say to their child, "You know, this is about someone doing something inappropriate with a young child."

And depending on how old the child is, then you can be as explicit as you feel appropriate. But certainly, you need to educate your children at a very young age -- 2, 3 -- that you can't trust everyone, and that "even if I'm not with you 24/7, that you need to -- that I am the person who can protect you. And so there are times that you need to come and tell me when things are not right."

WHITFIELD: This latest case in San Jose with this alleged child molester Schwartzmiller, it seems inconceivable, unthinkable there could be books documenting some 36,000 alleged encounters. It would seem with numbers like that, it goes beyond children trying to protect themselves, but there were neighbors who apparently said they saw some strange activity in and out of the house of Schwartzmiller.

So how do you convey to communities, as a whole, you know, that everyone has to be involved in helping to protect children, not just their own?

LEE: You're absolutely right. It's not one person's responsibility. It is a community.

And one of the things we say in our seven steps, and I really hope people go to the web site and get the seven steps to protecting your children.

But one of the things we say in the seven steps is act on suspicions, when you see things that don't look right. You know, many of those neighbors reported, "Well, we wondered why all those boys were going in and out of that house." Someone should have taken responsibility to find out. You know, maybe many children could have been prevented right there.

But one of the things we talk about is we all have to look out for our children. We have to act on the suspicions. Many times there's no other evidence but the suspicion that something doesn't look right or why is that adult spending so much time with that child? And so, acting on suspicions is a significant part of keeping kids safe.

WHITFIELD: And part of your steps, you're saying talk about it, stay alert. Does it seem as though there are more cases of suspected child molestation, or is it that more cases are being reported these days?

LEE: Well, you know, it's hard to know. I mean, we think we know that child molestation has been going on since the beginning of time. In fact, a number of studies estimate that there are over 39 million adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse in our nation right now. So this certainly isn't a new phenomenon.

We do think that the media now is becoming much more sensitive to this crime against children.

But one of the things I'm so happy we're having an opportunity to talk about now, is that, you know, it's not just the prevalence and consequence that needs to be talked about. It's how do we resolve it and how do we prevent child sexual abuse from happening?

And all of that is in our seven steps to protecting children. We also offer in-depth training called Stewards of Children training, and all of that information is online. Our web site is over 600 pages of a lot of information that we can't cover here.

WHITFIELD: And that web site address?

LEE: It's Darkness2 -- the number two -- light dot org.

WHITFIELD: All right. Anne Lee, executive director of From Darkness to Light, thank you so much for joining us and giving some very valid, important, potentially life saving tips. Thanks so much.

LEE: Thanks, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Friends separated for 35 years, together again, thanks to a once in a lifetime chance encounter. Their touching story straight ahead in this week's encore presentation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Douglas Wood is finally home. He's the Australian hostage freed last week after 47 days in captivity in Iraq. Wood, a civilian contractor in Iraq, spoke just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUGLAS WOOD, FORMER HOSTAGE: I'd like to apologize to both President Bush and to Prime Minister Howard for the things I said under duress. I actually believe that I am proof positive that the current policy of training the Iraqi Army, of recruiting, training works. Because it was the Iraqis that got me out. That's why I'm proof positive that the current policies of the Americans is the right one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Wood, would you ever go back to Iraq?

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: In our encore presentation today, a story that you might have to hear twice to believe. A voice from the past helps reunite two Vietnam War era buddies.

From last week's "CNN LIVE FROM," anchor Kyra Phillips explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYRA PHILLIPS, HOST, "CNN LIVE FROM": Wesley Fiske's wife Greta needed toothpaste, so on their way home the couple stopped at a northern Seattle grocery store.

While Fiske was in the checkout line, the man bagging groceries came up to him and finally asked a simple question. Well, the response to that question left checkout clerks crying, brought back memories of a controversial war and reunited two friends who had not seen each other since March of 1969.

Wesley Fiske and the man bagging groceries, Thin Puih join me live from Seattle.

Great to see you both.

THIN PUIH, FORMER VIETNAM TRANSLATOR: Thank you.

WESLEY FISKE, VIETNAM WAR VETERAN: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: All right, Thin, I want to start with you. You were in the grocery store working, and you heard a voice. What were you thinking, and what did you do?

PUIH: When I heard his voice, I thought in my mind that is a friend of mine when we was in Vietnam, since 1968.

PHILLIPS: So you went up to this man. Of course, we're talking about Wesley, who's right next to you, and what did you say to him?

PUIH: Well, I waited for him. When he finished talking with friends, I walked over to the men, and I asked his name. And as I said, "Are you Fiske from Vietnam?" And then he step away. He jolted, because he remember when we were -- when we were in Vietnam.

PHILLIPS: So what did you say?

PUIH: And I touch...

PHILLIPS: Yes, go ahead, Thin, I'm sorry.

PUIH: And I touch his sleeve. We -- when I saw him, I start emotional, and -- and I didn't recognize by his face, when I look in his face because everything is -- nothing in his face. I just recognize it by his voice. That's it. I can recognize.

PHILLIPS: You recognized that voice. Oh, Thin, you have such a sweet soul. So Wesley, he came up to you. He tugged on your arm. He said, "Are you Fiske from Vietnam?" And what did do you? How did you react?

FISKE: Well, he tugged on my -- he tugged on my sleeve twice. The first time he tugged, he said, "You in Vietnam?"

And I said, I turned and I looked at him, and I said, "Yes, I was in Vietnam." And then I turned back to the person I was talking to, who is a retired friend of mine from the Seattle Symphony Orchestra from many years ago. And -- and the next time -- and I kind of ignored him.

But the next -- just shortly, five seconds later, there came another -- another tug on my sleeve, and he says, "You Fiske, Vietnam?" And I said, "Yes, I -- yes." Then he had my attention.

Then I looked and I stepped back. And he had -- I looked at his face and I saw the name tag, and I can't tell you on the air what I said. But I yelled it very loudly! I said, "Holy cow!" And I said, "This guy is my mountain yard interpreter from Vietnam."

And -- and the lady I was talking to, she said, "I don't understand, Wesley."

I said, "This guy worked with me 35 years ago in Vietnam!" And -- and then I just left her, and I opened my arms and I hugged him. And I hugged him and I hugged him.

It was like a guy I hadn't seen for -- I don't know how many years it had been. Thirty-five years means nothing when you see -- when you see the person you haven't seen for so many years. It's like it was yesterday when I saw him, if that's what it felt like. And we just hugged.

And the first thing I said when I backed away from was, "Thin, I need your telephone number," because I wasn't going to let him get away. That was the only thing I was concerned about, was that I had made -- God had helped me make a connection here, and I was going to do everything I could.

PHILLIPS: Well, it's incredible that you two have come together, and coming together in a grocery store of all places. Wes, tell me about your friendship now. You guys have a lot of time to make up for?

FISKE: We do, actually. And I'm going to help Thin as best I can. Thin needs to prove to the U.S. government that he was in Vietnam, working with the Army over there at the 4th Infantry Division. He has no proof of that, because when the communists came in, in '75, they took all the records, and they destroyed them.

I have slides, many slides of Thin and myself in our offices, working together in this intelligence program that we called Medcap. And I have letters, of course. I wrote at least 400 letters home to my folks. My mom and dad saved the letters. PHILLIPS: Wow.

FISKE: So I have information about Thin and the other interpreters in my letters. And we're going to take the slides that I have. My wife and I are going to put them -- we're going to scan them, actually, this weekend. And we're going to put them on discs and present the discs to Thin.

The man saved my life. I cannot tell you how many times he did not come to work. The days he did not come to work we couldn't go to the forward areas. The only time we went to the forward areas, where it was very unsafe, was when he came to work. Those days he did not come to work, there was a reason. I was spared the confrontation with the enemy many times, thanks to Thin.

PHILLIPS: Well, there's a reason the two of you have come together again. And I know you're cherishing everything that's happened in the past couple of weeks.

Thin Puih, we salute you. You're a brave man. We're glad you're here in the states.

And Wesley, it's great to see what you're doing for Thin after all these years. What a pleasure to talk to you both. Thank you for sharing your story.

FISKE: Thank you.

PUIH: Thank you. Thanks.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: That was a wonderful way of looking back on the week. Now let's look ahead for the evening. Carol Lin is here with more of CNN SUNDAY, a preview at least.

CAROL LIN, HOST: That's right.

Coming up in the next hour, I'm going to be talking with Natalee Holloway's stepfather about the latest developments in this case. As you know, a judge now, the father of one of the suspects, is -- was questioned by Aruban police last night. So we're going to find out more about that.

And then at 10 p.m., you heard about Douglas Wood, the Australian hostage, released in Iraq.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Remarkable.

LIN: Apparently a Muslim leader in Australia was instrumental in that release. But he's talking with reporters right now, Douglas Wood, and I'm going to be talking with his daughter in our prime-time show at 10 p.m. What a great Father's Day gift.

WHITFIELD: No kidding. It's a riveting story, and he speaks it so eloquently. And he really does talk in great detail how many people he thanks.

LIN: Yes. He is so calm.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: ... too. Yes. The rest of that story. All right, Carol. Thanks so much.

LIN: Thanks, Fred.

Well, when we come back, a little advice for all of those new dads out there. You're watching CNN LIVE SUNDAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: This Father's Day is extra special for all of you new dads out there. Hubby, are you listening?

CNN's own Dr. Sanjay Gupta is a first time father, as well. So he thought it might be a good idea to get some fatherly advice from his CNN colleagues.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I wanted to get the best advice that I could so I could be the best parent possible, so I went to the source, CNN, certainly. There are a lot of fathers here, as I found out. Here's some of the advice that I got.

BRUCE MORTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There aren't very many tricks to being a good parent. Make sure they know you love them. Remember that caring and kindness and things like that are taught by example.

SANJAY GUPTA: I was warned that it wouldn't be easy.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The first two weeks are the hardest, and then the next two weeks, they're hard, too. And then the next two weeks, they're kind of hard. And then after that, like the whole next month, that's a little hard. And then, like, even for the next couple months after that, it's getting a little better, but it's still not that good.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: You know, when you think -- just when you think brain surgery is hard, try fatherhood on for size. Now that is a job!

SANJAY GUPTA: The joys of fatherhood were always mentioned.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: It's worth it in the long run. It's worth it every day, because this is the best, best experience, the most productive, the most wonderful experience that you're about to have in your life.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is going to completely, completely change your life. Only you have no idea what that really means until after the wonderful event. But I can tell you this. It is the best thing that will ever happen to you.

SANJAY GUPTA: Most people tell me to simply forget about sleep.

O'BRIEN: The first thing I would say to a normal dad was, I'd say forget about sleep for a little while, but you know, Sanjay Gupta, my gosh, this guy, he can't sleep. Right? He probably hasn't slept in 23 years.

SANJAY GUPTA: Lou Dobbs, not surprisingly, had some wise words for me.

LOU DOBBS, HOST, "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT": In terms of advice I can give you as a father of four, two boys and two girls. Give them roots, give them wings, cross your fingers.

SANJAY GUPTA: Some do's...

MYERS: The first smile is pretty special. And you need to be there for that.

SANJAY GUPTA: Some don'ts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Never forget Mother's Day.

SANJAY GUPTA: I love this advice from Aaron.

AARON BROWN, HOST, "NEWSNIGHT WITH AARON BROWN": Take a picture every Sunday for 52 weeks, for the first year of your child's life. You will look back on those pictures and be amazed at what has happened in a year.

Five minutes before you go to bed every night, go sit in your baby's room for as long as she'll let you. Just sit there for five minutes and listen to her sleep and think about her life and your life. It's magic.

SANJAY GUPTA: Perhaps the wisest piece of advice I got was this.

SUBHASH GUPTA, SANJAY'S DAD: It's really -- it's not a -- it's limited time. So you're not going to enjoy every moment of -- there are different phases of childhood. Don't put it off, thinking that, you know, "I can do it later." This, once it passes, it doesn't come back.

GUPTA: After all this sage advice I somehow feel better about being a father, especially on this Father's Day.

SUBHASH GUPTA: Congratulations. I love you both. Spend as much time as possible. However, don't spoil him, because that's -- that's the grandparents' job. So -- so don't do my job now.

SANJAY GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Great advice for all those new dads out there. New dads including my husband, John. Happy Father's Day to you and Happy Father's Day to Dad, brother, brother-in-law and all you other dads out there.

That's going to do it for us. Still ahead on CNN LIVE SUNDAY, as Carol said, she'll talk to Natalee Holloway's stepfather. Holloway has been missing in Aruba for nearly three weeks now.

Then at 7, "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS." This weekend's profiles, first lady Laura Bush and chief justice of the United States Supreme Court, William Rehnquist.

And at 8 Eastern, "CNN PRESENTS: NUCLEAR TERROR." Has the threat of nuclear terrorism grown worse since 9/11? "CNN PRESENTS" investigates.

More of CNN LIVE SUNDAY right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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