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CNN Live Sunday
Prison Escapes Involve Inside Help; Katrina Doesn't Prevent Mardi Gras; Dubai Ports World Deal; Sectarian Violence in Iraq
Aired February 26, 2006 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Katrina hasn't destroyed the Gulf Coast's enthusiasm for Mardi Gras. Live reports from places determined to party and rebuild.
Also, he fought in Vietnam, now he's off to war again. Meet a veteran with a lot of battle experience and family struggling with his latest assignment.
And does it seem like an excessive number of prison escapes lately? What is contributing to so many breakouts?
Hello and welcome to CNN LIVE SUNDAY. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. All that and more after this check of the headlines.
Evacuation south of Denver: an explosion at a pumping station has sent plumes of smoke in the skies over North-central Colorado. We'll have more on that in a moment.
And searching for the shooter: it has been a deadly day at a church in Detroit. Michigan police are hunting for a gunman who shot and killed a woman and wounded two other people. An update is just one minute away.
Voluntary review: the deal was already done. After the outcry over national security concerns, a United Arab Emirates company has asked for a comprehensive review of its deal to manage six U.S. ports. A live report from the White House is coming up.
Despite appeals for peace, more sectarian attacks rocked Iraq today. Dozens of Iraqis were killed or wounded when mortars landed in Southern Baghdad and a blast at a Shi'a shrine in Basra wounded two civilians.
First, this breaking story out of Colorado: there's been an explosion and fire at a pumping station near the down of Dakono (ph). The fire is now out. KUSA TV reports residents within one mile of the fire are being evacuated. We'll have more details on this story as they become available.
Now to Detroit, where Sunday services end in a hail of gunfire. Police say a gunman stormed into the Zion Hope Missionary Baptist Church today and opened fire. When it was all over, three people were shot. One woman was killed. Two other people were injured, one critically. Police believe the gunman may have been involved in a carjacking around the same time as the shooting. He is still at large. Meantime, Robert Mayers lives next to the church. He saw the gunman leaving. He joins me now on the phone.
Robert, what did you see exactly?
ROBERT MAYERS, DETROIT CHURCH SHOOTING WITNESS (via telephone): I saw him when he came out of the church, carrying a shotgun.
WHITFIELD: You heard the gunfire, and that's what made you look out the window?
MAYERS: No, I was already outside when everybody started running out of the church.
WHITFIELD: You didn't necessarily hear the gunfire, but you just noticed a lot of people running?
MAYERS: Right.
WHITFIELD: He came running out before the crowd of people? What else did you observe?
MAYERS: A lot of people came running out before he did. He just walked out of the church.
WHITFIELD: Holding a shotgun, you say?
MAYERS: Right.
WHITFIELD: Where did he go?
MAYERS: He reloaded and started to try to get people to let him get in their car.
WHITFIELD: You saw him approaching other vehicles?
MAYERS: Yes.
WHITFIELD: What police are now saying allegedly ended up being a car jacking attempt on one vehicle. Did you witness that as well?
MAYERS: No, I didn't see that. He went around the corner. He just walked down the street and went on around the corner talking on a cell phone.
WHITFIELD: This is shocking for anyone to see in anyone's neighborhood. What's your gut reaction as to what transpired here?
MAYERS: I think it's a shame, really.
WHITFIELD: What do you mean?
MAYERS: That he would go in a church and --
WHITFIELD: All right. It looks like we're losing that phone call from Robert Mayers there. He said he was a witness to a shooting that took place at a church in Detroit. Police say the gunman is still at large.
Meantime, turning to Washington now, and an effort to avert a political showdown over a planned takeover of operations at six U.S. ports: an Arab company seeking control of the ports has requested a review to quell growing outrage. Following developments for us is CNN White House correspondent Elaine Quijano.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Fredricka. That's right. That request really came at the behest of lawmakers who were trying to find a way around the impasse over this controversial Dubai Ports World deal. They were concerned about what the transaction would mean for national security. In fact, some lawmakers were so concerned that they were threatening legislation to block the deal. At the same time, you had President Bush threatening to veto any such legislation if it got to that point.
Now, as CNN reported yesterday, there was a flurry of weekend activity: talks with the company, administration officials, lawmakers -- all trying to essentially break this impasse and head off a possible confrontation. Today, Republican Senator John Warner announced a compromise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN WARNER (R) VIRGINIA: It really spells out unequivocally the willingness of this country -- this company -- to give every means of support to help work this thing out. It says DP World and POPNA -- that's the British -- jointly request -- now, they are requesting, that's a key thing -- that the CFIUS process, on a non-precedential basis, to conduct a review -- full 45 days for the acquisitions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: CFIUS is the Committee on Foreign Investment, the government panel that basically looks at such transactions. Now in a statement, the company said, quote, "We are confident that further review by CFIUS will confirm that DP World's acquisition of P&O's U.S. operations does not pose any threat to America's safety and security. We hope that voluntarily agreeing to further scrutiny demonstrates our commitment to our long-standing relationship with the United States."
Now, the Bush administration has not issued a formal response, but earlier, before the announcement was made, the president's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, indicated that the administration was receptive to the offer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN HADLEY, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: We're confident, the president is confident, when Congress really understands the transaction, they will conclude, as he did, that it's the right thing to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP) QUIJANO: He also went on to say that as long as the Congress did not move forward with legislation to block the transaction that, in fact, the White House would be amenable to anything worked out between members of Congress and the companies involved.
Bottom line here, Fredricka, this deal basically allows both lawmakers on Capitol Hill and the White House to save face. Lawmakers get their 45-day review that some of them had been requesting. At the same time, President Bush does not have to back down from his position that no additional review is needed. Remember, he has said all along that he didn't think an additional review was necessary, because, he said, it had already been thoroughly vetted. Now the president can say that he is simply going along with what the companies themselves are requesting.
Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: Elaine Quijano at the White House, thank you.
Security is a concern, not only at U.S. ports, but also at the nation's airports. And a scathing new report finds LAX, one of the country's largest and busiest airports, is extremely vulnerable to terrorism.
CNN's Ted Rowlands explains why.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Long lines and easy access make Los Angeles International Airport an attractive target for terrorists. That, according to the Rand Corporation's latest findings on the airport's security.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL WERMUTH, RAND CORPORATION: You could actually cause a lot of fatalities and injuries with a fairly small bomb in a suitcase.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: The airport is vulnerable, according to the study, because at peak hours, the lines for ticketing, baggage screening and passenger screening are so long that huge groups of travelers are concentrated in small areas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WERMUTH: A terrorist walking up into the middle of a line, a long line or a big congregation of people with something in what would appear to be baggage to be checked on an airplane detonating at that point could kill a lot of folks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: To fix the problem, which was initially pointed out in 2004 by Rand, the study recommends adding more security personnel. The study also recommends establishing a vehicle checkpoint system. LAX, the world's fifth busiest passenger airport, has long been considered a target for terrorism. Investigators believe that convicted terrorist Ahmed Ressam was planning a millennium attack on the airport. Ressam was arrested in late 1999 at the Canadian border with bomb-making materials in the trunk of a car.
Since then, according to the Rand report, some improvements in security have been made at LAX, but more are recommended.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF WILLIAM BRATTON, LOS ANGELES POLICE: Nice recommendations. As to the feasibility, you need to balance the need versus reality versus resources versus actual benefit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton has seen the report, but is not convinced that spending the money needed to implement those recommendations is worth it. And he does not think that this airport is unsafe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRATTON: No, I don't. Los Angeles is probably one of the best policed airports in America, bar none. There's no airport in America that has the level of police visibility and security.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROWLANDS: Airport officials say they plan to review the Rand findings with the airlines and other stakeholders before making any changes.
Ted Rowlands, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Be sure to stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.
Calls for peace in Iraq go unanswered: 15 people are killed, 45 others wounded in a mortar attack today in Baghdad's Dora (ph) neighborhood. In the town of Hila, a car bomb ripped through a bus station, wounding at least five people. And in Basra, outrage after a bomb went off at a Shiite shrine, wounding two civilians. Three Sunni mosques in Baghdad were also attacked by gunmen. Today, radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr joined other Iraqi leaders in calling for an end to sectarian violence. More than 200 people have died since Wednesday, when a Shiite shrine in Samarra was bombed.
Despite the violence, Iraq's national security adviser insisted today his country will never descend into civil war. Mowaffak al- Rubaie blamed the recent unrest on al Qaeda insurgents, and he expressed confidence Iraqi forces will be able to maintain order.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOWAFFAK AL-RUBAIE, IRAQI NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: I honestly believe that the Iraqi security forces now are capable of handling this issue and fighting terrorism in Iraq. And I believe there are more than 60 percent of the Iraqi security forces are ready and prefer to take on the terrorists. And the level of the training is very, very good. We need the multinational forces to be over the horizon and supporting in the logistic and providing the logistics and continue with the training the Iraqi security forces.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: A dangerous situation outside Kabul, Afghanistan: inmates at a high-security prison are still in control of part of the facility, following a riot there last night. The uprising began when prison officials handed out new uniforms to the inmates, many of them al Qaeda members. Officials say at least seven inmates were killed. More than a thousand Afghan police and soldiers are now surrounding that very prison.
Back in the U.S., officials doubt a whitish-brown powder found at the University of Texas is the deadly poison ricin. The powder was found Thursday in a roll of coins that belonged to a student. An initial test indicated that the substance was ricin. But subsequent tests were negative or inconclusive. Final test results are pending. Officials say it's unlikely the powder is ricin because no one exposed to this substance has shown any symptoms of poisoning.
Also in Texas, a woman accused of killing her infant daughter by cutting off the child's arms may be facing a second murder trial. Dina Schlosser's case ended in a mistrial yesterday after jurors deadlocked on a verdict. Schlosser pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Prosecutors haven't said whether they'll retry the case.
And turning now to some potentially dangerous weather, big concerns about heavy rains and mudslides out West. Meteorologist Monica McNeal is in the weather center with more on that.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WHITFIELD: Despite a little bit of rain along the Gulf Coast, that doesn't matter. Folks are still partying it up in Mardi Gras territory, in the Big Easy in particular.
Susan?
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a beautiful day here in New Orleans. I'll show you the true spirit of Carnival coming up.
WHITFIELD: The call has gone out to soldiers to serve in Iraq. You may be surprised by a few of those being asked to serve.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The beads are flying and spirits soaring in New Orleans today. This is the last party weekend before Mardi Gras culminates on Fat Tuesday. Many are rather upbeat and celebrating with some tasty Mardi Gras traditions. Our Susan Roesgen is live in New Orleans with much better weather than yesterday. That's good.
ROESGEN: Absolutely, Fredricka. It's a beautiful day here. If you want to be a tourist at Carnival, I tell you what you do: you land at the airport, you get in the cab and you go straight to Bourbon Street.
But if you want to be a local in Carnival, then this is where you come. This is St. Charles Avenue at the corner of Napolean. I've got to tell you a little secret, here -- many of these people, mostly families, mostly local folks didn't go to work on Friday and won't go to work tomorrow either, because they are -- Happy Mardi Gras -- because they are staking out a place, a claim to watch the two big Carnival clubs that roll tonight, Bacchus and Endymion. And they're going stay here right through Fat Tuesday and watch Zulu and Rex.
If you want to see the people who have been here the longest, all you got to do is just follow your nose. I've got a whole gaggle of kids here with me, but I want to introduce you to Bobby Marlboro.
Bobby, what you cooking over here, man?
BOBBY MARLBORO, MARDI GRAS CELEBRANT: Right now I'm doing some oysters with a little garlic, little Italian sausage. We've already done some pork ribs, hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken tenders.
ROESGEN: You're not a professional chef?
MARLBORO: No, I'm just a lawyer.
ROESGEN: How long have you been out here this time?
MARLBORO: This time we came out Friday morning at about 8:30.
ROESGEN: Why did you get here so early?
MARLBORO: We wanted a prime spot.
ROESGEN: You'll be right here when the parades make that turn tonight?
MARLBORO: We will be. We'll be here until the last float rols.
ROESGEN: It's really difficult for some people in the other parts of the country to understand our party mentality here.
MARLBORO: Well, we don't look at it as a party mentality. It's about family, it's about friends and it's an opportunity for us to bond together back as a city. That's what it's all about. People who have never experienced Mardi Gras, don't understand what it's all about. They think it's just a bunch of rowdy kids coming down to the French Quarter and doing things that most cities don't do and don't accept. It's really a family atmosphere. That's what we intend to promote.
ROESGEN: You're not going to be at work tomorrow, are you?
MARLBORO: My office is closed tomorrow and it's closed Tuesday. I will be at work Wednesday, because I'll be sleeping all day Tuesday.
ROESGEN: Happy Mardi Gras to you. The sausages smell great. Everything looks great. Thank you so much.
MARLBORO: The oysters are wonderful and the garlic's even better.
ROESGEN: Fredricka, I'm going to have some of those oysters. You'll be glad I won't be breathing on you later. You guys, Happy Mardi Gras. Have a wonderful time. I know you'll be here. We'll check in with these guys I'm sure through Fat Tuesday. They're not going anywhere. They've got this prime spot.
WHITFIELD: Wow. Have a couple extra oysters for me, too.
ROESGEN: You bet.
WHITFIELD: Thanks a lot, Susan.
In neighboring d'Iberville, Mississippi, residents are enjoying a Mardi Gras parade as well. Many felt their losses from Hurricane Katrina were overshadowed by the devastation in other towns, specifically New Orleans. Now six months later, our Kathleen Koch checks on how they're doing.
Kathleen.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): We're in d'Iberville, Mississippi, Fredricka. And it's a very small town that's just north of Biloxi, Mississippi -- very hard hit by the hurricane. They do feel that in many ways they have been forgotten, their suffering. They've been overshadowed not only by New Orleans, but by the other coastal cities -- Biloxi, Gulfport -- that have gotten a lot of attention.
But in this parade, we've seen quite a sense of humor. We saw a float that was covered with blue tarps, the Blue Roof Krewe. We've seen floats that made it through the storm, painted "Katrina Survivor." But it's been a tough six months for the folks here, because so many of them -- especially people, their faith has really been tested. They've lost not only their homes, many of them, but also their churches.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REV. MICHAEL TRACEY, OUR LADY OF THE GULF CHURCH: Everything is gone: pews, floor has been destroyed.
KOCH (voice-over): After Hurricane Katrina, Father Michael Tracey new things wouldn't be easy -- not just repairing Our Lady of the Gulf Church, but healing people's souls.
TRACEY: There are people that came by, parishioners, who just couldn't go in.
KOCH: Couldn't come in?
TRACEY: Couldn't come in. There are people that cannot go and look at the water anymore.
KOCH: Father Tracey lost his home, the rectory, to Katrina, too. He salvaged two family photos.
TRACEY: Not all the people are still recognizable, but it's something I'll treasure.
KOCH: He's taken it all with a strong dose of Irish humor, directing reconstruction on the go.
TRACEY: You go round with a cell phone a notebook and a pen. That's your office.
KOCH: Almost anything goes. A donated liquor billboard tarp replaces the church's missing roof.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to put the Jack Daniel's down, Father.
TRACEY: Good.
KOCH: Volunteers pour in, cleaning the grounds, repairing the community center, where mass is now held. Parishioners who have lost everything and left come back with difficult questions. Why did this happen?
DARLA GOODFELLOW, FORMER RESIDENT: You keep wondering, what did we do wrong? I worked very hard to be a good mother. I worked very hard to do the right thing. Did I do something wrong? Where did I fail?
KOCH: Father Tracey refuses to question his role here. He will stay, though his Irish shoulders sometimes seem stooped by the burden they carry.
TRACEY: And this is where people trust you and people have confidence in you and you can't walk out on them. So, I'm here in the middle of all this rubble and I'm here in the middle of the rubble of their lives.
KOCH: Father Tracey and the parish believe in resurrection. Their ambitious goal? The church repaired in time for Easter mass.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(On camera): The parade here in d'Iberville has just wrapped up. It's interesting: This has been a very family-friendly Mardi Gras here on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. That's how it always is, very down-home, very small town. People we talked to today said no, no debate here about whether or not to go ahead with Mardi Gras. It's really important, especially for the children here who have suffered so much.
Back to you, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And Kathleen, just looking behind you, a lot of families there -- do a lot of those families have temporary places to live there or did they travel from far and wide just to be a part of a hometown tradition?
KOCH: A lot of the families are from here. But we were going up and down earlier talking with people. They're from Gulfport, Biloxi, they're from Ocean Springs. They really, in particular, love this parade. It is very special. Just a real small-town kind of celebration. D'Iberville is a small town that suffered quite a bit.
WHITFIELD: All right, Kathleen Koch in d'Iberbille, Mississippi. Thanks so much.
CNN is dedicated to keeping you informed of what we know will be a long and very slow recovery process in Mississippi and Louisiana. Here is a preview of some of what's ahead.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Anderson Cooper, coming to you from Bourbon Street, where Mardi Gras celebrations are well under way. There is plenty of beer, plenty of beads. I just caught these beads, they were thrown to me by someone down on the street.
On Monday on 360, we're going to be coming to you here from Bourbon Street, showing you not only all the Mardi Gras celebrations, but we're going to be taking a look back at the last six months to see how far New Orleans has come and how far this city still has to go.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Prison breaks: there have been a lot lately. Many of them with help from the inside. Why? CNN's Alan Chernoff takes a look at the most recent breaks.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Convicted murderer John Maynard back in custody after 12 days on the run. Charged with helping him escape, Toby Young, director of the dog rescue program at a state prison in Leavenworth County, Kansas.
In Chicago earlier this month, two breaks from Cook County jail. One corrections officer is suspended for allowing convict Juan Mathis to slip into a laundry truck. And Corrections Officer Darin Gater is suspended after initially admitting he helped six inmates escape in an effort to embarrass the local sheriff with an election approaching, a confession Gater now says was coerced.
DARIN GATER, SUSPENDED CORRECTIONS OFC.: I'm innocent. I just want to get home to my family. I'm tired, I'm hungry.
TOMMY BREWER, DARIN GATER'S ATTORNEY: He's the fall guy for the chronic ills at the Cook County jail, and we intend to show that as soon as we get an opportunity to.
CHERNOFF: Indeed, Cook County jail is so understaffed that a federal judge recently ordered the jail to hire an extra 250 corrections officers.
(On camera): But the problem of prison breaks is nationwide and it's persistent. In a typical year, there are dozens of escapes from jails and prisons, according to the U.S. Justice Department. How does it happen? All too often, guards on the inside are helping prisoners get out.
(Voice-over): At the maximum security Sing Sing prison just north of New York City, author Ted Conover worked as a corrections officer.
TED CONOVER, AUTHOR, "NEWJACK": I've got to tell you, I feared for my life every single day. I've had inmates who helped me. And you can feel gratitude toward an inmate.
CHERNOFF: Which Conover says is how friendship can develop between guard and prisoner.
CONOVER: I was offered a watch by a Colombian on my floor. He said it would be a Rolex. What I had to do was go meet a friend of his outside. And I wasn't interested.
CHERNOFF: Ex con, Edmond Taylor who did time for dealing drugs says he saw inmates trying to gain leverage over their corrections officers, many of whom are less than $30,000 a year.
EDMOND TAYLOR, EX-CONVICT: They know what money can do, how money wielded power in their neighborhood. It's no different in the institution.
CHERNOFF: Most corrections officers are able to resist. But even the chief of New York's Corrections Officers Union concedes his members are susceptible to breaking the rules.
NORMAN SEABROOK, NYC CORRECTION OFFICERS ASSOCIATION: You do have bad apples in the system. You have individuals that want to identify themselves to be one of the boys with an inmate. That's not a good thing.
CHERNOFF: To get by in a very dangerous daily working environment, some low-paid corrections officers do end up helping convicts they're supposed to be guarding, a relationship that, too often, makes it possible for inmates to escape.
Alan Chernoff, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Some stories now in the news. An Arab company approved to manage at least six major U.S. ports is requesting a comprehensive 45-day investigation of the deal. The head of Dubai Ports World says his company will continue to take voluntary steps to assure people that the deal won't harm U.S. national security.
A man shot and killed one person and wounded two others in a Detroit church today. Police say the shooting at Detroit's Zion Hope Missionary Baptist Church apparently stemmed from a domestic dispute. A search is underway now for the gunman.
An explosion rocked a natural gas pumping station near Denver today. Authorities say one worker was injured. Local television news reports say people and livestock within a one-mile area of the fire were evacuated.
Violence claims more lives across Iraq today. At least five people were wounded in an attack on a mini bus in Hilla. A Shiite town south of Baghdad. Religious leaders, including Shiite cleric Muqtad al-Sadr. Today joined calls for calm.
What do you call the kids when granddad gets sent off to war? How one family is coping coming up on CNN LIVE SUNDAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The U.S. military wants to use all available resources in its fight for Iraq, that includes sending veterans back to the battlefield, some of whom haven't seen combat in decades.
Here is CNN's Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: As Ray Johnson leaves for Iraq, there's the familiar uniform, the usual hugs and tears. But look closely. His face is etched by the years.
C.W.O. RAY JOHNSON, ARMY NATIONAL GUARD PILOT: I knew eventually my turn would come. It didn't matter what age.
STARR: Fifty eight year-old Ray Johnson flew Huey helicopters 30 some years ago in Vietnam. Now he is headed back into combat. This time in northern Iraq.
JOHNSON: I'm a Blackhawk instructor and everything, you know, I've trained a lot of helicopter pilots in my years in the service. Now my number has come up. So, I feel that I must serve.
STARR: We met him last year. Flying for the Maryland state police, but always a member of the army national guard.
JOHNSON: As long as I signed up and, you know, received the benefits, I felt that whenever they need me, where they need me, I had to pay back.
DIANE JOHNSON, WIFE: At this stage in our lives, we've been talking about retirement. It never occurred to me that Ray could go to war again after almost 40 years.
STARR: A few weeks ago, Johnson went to Georgia to say good-bye to his four children and five grandchildren. He managed to squeeze in two school basketball games.
CATHY COOK, DAUGHTER: I'll be behind him 100 percent. I don't like the idea of him going. But I'll be here for him.
STARR: What does it say that the stretched U.S. army is sending Vietnam veterans and grandfathers off to war?
ASHLEY JOHNSON, SON: It's a sign that they're doing an excellent job of continuing to train the people that they've trained in the past.
COOK: I wish they would leave the grandfathers home to be here for the basketball games for the grandchildren. I don't like it. I don't think it's right.
STARR: We know Ray Johnson is not the first Vietnam veteran to serve in Iraq. The army cannot say exactly how many who learned their combat skills so long ago in the jungles of southeast Asia are now serving in combat in the deserts of Iraq.
Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: This just in. FBI tests show that that powdery substance found at a University of Texas Austin dorm is not that of ricin.
In other news around the world, a new development in the nuclear standoff with Iran. Russia and Iran say they've made progress on an agreement to create a joint uranium enrichment program. Russia is pushing a proposal to have all of Iran's enrichment done on Russia's soil. It is unclear if Iran has agreed to abandon all domestic enrichment. More negotiations are scheduled.
A sea of people in the streets of Pakistan, all protesting cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. About 25,000 people staged a peaceful rally in Carachi. Elsewhere in Pakistan hundreds of demonstrators clash with police.
In Torino, Italy, it's a wrap. The 2006 Winter Olympics ended today with speed skater Joey Cheek serving as the American flag bearer at the closing ceremonies. The U.S. won a total of 25 medals, finishing second only to Germany, which won 29 medals.
Has your computer been hijacked? Straight ahead, find out how someone else may be using your computer to wreak havoc on others.
He was our favorite small-town deputy. Straight ahead we'll look back at the life of actor Don Knots.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Without your knowledge, your pc could be drafted into an army of Zombie computers and be used for criminal activity. Computer security experts say these networks of computers called botnets are a growing threat. CNN technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANIEL SIEBERG, TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT (voice over): We've all seen the movies like this one "Resident Evil Apocalypse" an army of scary zombies seeking victims. Well a similar concept is playing out in the online world. Your computer could be the next victim. Merrick Furst a computing professor at Georgia Tech has been studying the massive explosion of something called botnets, short for robot networks, zombie computers controlled by a remote master to be used for spam, extortion and fraud.
MERRICK FURST, GEORGIA TECH UNIVERSITY: We've watched bot armies grow to be as large as 350,000 machines. Typical bot army sizes range between 10,000 machines to 100,000 machines.
SIEBERG: First says an army of just 5,000 computers can earn a bot master as much as $15,000 a month.
FURST: A bot master is a criminal who wants to use your computer as a resource in some way. So, he or she buys software and has that software released on to the Internet in a way that's self pop gating, either as a virus or worm, it then finds its way on your computer without you knowing about it.
SIEBERG: Once your computer is unwittingly conscripted into this bot net army, the bot master can steal data or use your machine in a massive attack elsewhere. First showed us one example from Brazil where a bot master was able to see exactly what a person was typing on their banking website, including the passwords and account info. Botnets are a global problem.
FURST: We're pretty sure it's at least 7 percent of the Internet. Numbers, typical numbers range around 75 million to 100 million machines that are currently conscripted.
SIEBERG: Law enforcement officials aren't sure how many generals are commanding all those bot armies. Around the world, authorities are trying to crack down on this rapidly growing crime. First says he helped the FBI track down a bot master from Turkey who spread the mytob/zotob worms last year. And in California in November federal prosecutors nabbed another culprit, 20 year old Gene Enchetta (ph).
JAMES AQUILINA, FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Based on the indictment and the conduct to which Mr. Enchetta (ph) has plead guilty, it's a fair interference that Mr. Enchetta (ph) had compromised over 700,000 computers.
SIEBERG: Court documents show Enchetta (ph) made over $60,000 from Internet fraud and close to a $100,000 from selling his bot armies to others. The zombie computers could be used in all sorts of notorious scenes, from sending out spam, including e-mails that fiche for users private banking information to extortion, threatening to shut down a Website unless the web masters pay up. Bot masters can also use their zombie computers to raise their trust ratings on sites like eBay, all this without the computer owner's knowledge. How do you keep your computer from being drafted into someone's bot army? Well you heard it all before. Keep your anti-virus software updated. Don't click on any suspicious e-mail attachments and try to remove any adware or spyware from your computer. Exports say bot net will be on the increase this year, but law enforcers say they will be hot on the trail of the bot masters.
AQUILINA: The truth is that these folks believe that the government is many, many steps behind them. That is not the case.
SIEBERG: Daniel Sieberg, CNN Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Hollywood is mourning the passing of two of their own this weekend. Veteran character actor, Darren McGavin died of natural causes at the Los Angeles area hospital yesterday. He was best known for a string of roles in five different TV series including "Riverboat," "Mike Hammer" and "Kolchak the Night Stalker." Movie fans will remember him as the grouchy dad in the perennial Christmas classic "A Christmas Story." Married twice he had four children, McGavin was 83 years old.
Many of you knew him as the bumbling deputy Barney Fife on "The Andy Griffith Show." Actor Don Knots died Friday of pulmonary and respiratory complications in Los Angeles. The 81-year-old actor spent his life making people laugh.
Our Sibila Vargas looks at his comedic genius.
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SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Don Knots created the loveable, high-strung deputy Barney Fife on classic '60s sitcom "The Andy Griffith Show." This Mayberry maverick earned the actor five Emmy Awards.
DON KNOTS: Well, I guess you would be happy, too, if you had just been offered an important job.
I have had over the years, I don't know how many hundreds of people, guys come up and say, hey, we've got a Barney Fife down at our station.
VARGAS: A native of West Virginia, Knots was a decorated army veteran for his service in World War II. In a move to New York, the comedian found work in television. He first made a name for himself as the jittery guy on "The Steve Allen Show."
KNOTS: When I started out in the business, I didn't have any originality. I came across the nervous character in "The Steve Allen Show." I actually dreamed that character.
VARGAS: A slapstick movie career followed in 1958. The Griffith Knots deviewed in "No Time for Sergeants" he starred in 1966 in "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" and in 1967's mad cap comedy "The Reluctant Astronaut." On the small screen Knots he became a series regular on "Threes Company's." Then in the late 80's there was a re-teaming of the famous TV duo in "Matlock."
KNOTS: Me? No, I'm retired.
VARGAS: Well into his 70s, Knots played the TV repairman in the fantasy "Pleasantville." The next year he published his biography, "Barney Fife and Other Characters I have Known." Two marriages and two children added to his stories. Knots was a brilliant comedian and writer, who spent a lifetime making people laugh.
Sibila Vargas, CNN, Hollywood.
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WHITFIELD: Join "Larry King Live" tonight for a special replay of his Mayberry reunion show. It begins at 9:00 Eastern.
Well they thought they had landed on the bridge to freedom. Instead, it was a one-way trip back home.
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WHITFIELD: Cubans who made their way to a bridge in Florida thought they had realized their dream, making it to the United States. Instead, it seems they only made it to a bridge to nowhere. CNN's John Zarrella has their story.
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JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Junior Blanco Medeo's still has the key to the house in Matanzas it is on the northern coast to Cuba, but he and his family can no longer call it home. The family says Cuban authorities told them it was no longer theirs, not since they tried to flee the communist country in a ricty boat only to be picked up by a U.S. coast guard cutter and returned to Cuba.
JUNIOR BLANCO MEDEO, REPATRIATED CUBAN (via transciber): I think it's an injustice what happened to us, that we were returned after we went through so much to get there.
ZARRELLA: Until now and out of fear, they have not spoken of their ordeal. Now they hope that publicity can help their cause. Junior, his wife, Elizabeth, 2-year-old Michael and junior's nephew, Alexis, were among 15 Cubans found last month by the coast guard, clinging to this bridge in the Florida Keys.
ALEXIS GONZALEZ BLANCO, REPATRIATED CUBAN (via translator): We were told we were on American territory. We were free. And they said get on the boat. You'll drink beer. Study English.
ZARRELLA: But instead of freedom, they got sent back to Cuba. Under the U.S.'s so-called wet foot, dry foot policy, the Cubans could have stayed, had they touched dry land, but the coast guard says that the bridge they were on, while fully within U.S. borders was not U.S. soil.
So, why isn't it part of the United States? Well just take a look. The section of the bridge that connects to the mainland ends right there. The section of the bridge the refugees made it to, right over there, isn't connected to land on either end. Junior, Elizabeth, Alexis and the others were taken back to Cuba before attorneys to could try to stop it. The incident was loudly condemned in Miami's Cuban American community. Ramon Saul Sanchez a leading activist staged a hunger strike, calling the interpretation of the law absurd.
RAMON SAUL SANCHEZ, CUBAN AMERICAN ACTIVIST: What we say to them is that if that bridge is not part of the United States, then the statute of liberty isn't either.
ZARRELLA: Others argue the law is clear.
DAVID ABRAHAM, IMMIGRATION LAW EXPERT: Close only counts in horseshoes. The law is not horseshoes. If you have not reached the land you have not reached the land. It's the job of the coast guard to prevent you from doing so.
ZARRELLA: Ironically, none of this might had happened had the 15 Cubans stopped at the newer seven-mile bridge.
BLANCO: We passed under the seven-mile bridge and thought about climbing it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was very tall.
BLANCO: We had kids with us. And couldn't leave them behind alone.
ZARRELLA: So, they continued on, about 200 yards to the old, shorter bridge, where the coast guard found them. Relatives here filed suit in federal court asking that the 15 Cubans be allowed to seek asylum. Life in Cuba for Junior, his family and the others will be hard.
WILLIAM SANCHEZ, ATTORNEY FOR REPATRIATED CUBANS: They've put them in a very tough spot, sending them back essentially to the lion's den in Cuba.
ZARRELLA: Back in Matanzas Junior and his family now live with his father, they still look with amazement at pictures of their ricty boat.
BLANCO: It's incredible to have made it all that way in such a bad boat. We stepped on American ground. If I am on that wall, I am dry foot. I'm not in the water.
ZARRELLA: In their mind, they will always believe they made it.
John Zarrella, CNN, in the Florida Keys.
(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: Ahead in the next hour of CNN LIVE SUNDAY find out why even a prominent senator from Mississippi is facing hardship after hurricane Katrina.
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