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CNN Live Sunday

Police To Seek Murder Indictment Against Littlejohn; Explosive Device Found at Baghdad Airport; Milosevic Died of Heart Attack; 'The Sopranos' Return; Some Identities of Criminals Secret in Louisiana

Aired March 12, 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 ANCHOR: Like a one-two punch, more dangerous weather brew in the Midwest. Tornadoes leave a trail of devastation and it's still not over. We'll have the latest.
Plus the former Yugoslav president is dead, but his legacy as the butcher of the Balkans still haunts those once detained in a Serbian concentration camp. We'll talk to one survivor.

Also not your tradition college spring break, why this year some students are making a difference along the still-ravaged Gulf Coast. Later, a conversation with two students.

Hello and welcome to CNN LIVE SUNDAY, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. All that and more after this check of the headlines.

From bouncer to prime suspect, New York police say they'll seek an indictment against Darryl Littlejohn in the death of a 24-year-old grad student. Littlejohn's lawyer says his client is a scapegoat. We'll have a live report on the case in a moment.

Heightened security concerns at Baghdad's airport. An airline official says a bomb of sorts was found under the nose of a Royal Jordanian airplane. Airport officials say a pack of cigarettes was stuffed with explosives.

More backlash over the failed Dubai ports deal. Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter says he'll push for legislation requiring U.S. ownership of any infrastructure that's critical to homeland security. Under the bill, the Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security would identify what's considered critical.

Autopsy results following the death of Slobodan Milosevic. Sources close to the tribunal say he died of a massive heart attack while in his detention cell at the Hague. Milosevic was in custody charged with war crimes.

Tragedy at Bike Week in Daytona Week. Three bikers died in separate accidents on Friday, 18 in the past nine days. Florida officials worry this could be the deadliest year since the annual event began 65 years ago. Bike Week wraps up today.

ANNOUNCER: You're watching CNN, your severe weather headquarters.

WHITFIELD: Up first this hour, March is in like a lion in parts of the country. For the second straight day, a new round of powerful storms targets this country's midsection and we're just getting in this new video from Perry County, Missouri. This area saw some of the worse damage near the town of St. Mary along a rural stretch of Highway 61, about 80 miles south of St. Louis. We've got new storms firing up right now. Our meteorologist Bonnie Schneider is tracking all of it from the weather center. Bonnie?

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Bonnie.

Well some of the worst weather came at the worst possible time, during the night. Powerful and deadly twisters left behind a wide path of destruction.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD (voice-over): This bird's-eye view speaks of the horrors, fierce tornadoes ripped through a 20-mile long swathes traveling the Mississippi River from Missouri to Illinois.

Power lines entangled, strewn dangerously on the ground and trucks and cars crushed and overturned. The worst damage was along a rural stretch of highway south of St. Louis.

DEP. CHIEF RAY EARLS, ILLINOIS FIRE DEPARTMENT: Well we have probably maybe five or six houses that have collapsed. Of course this partial one here. We had to get a victim out of here. He was in pretty good shape.

WHITFIELD: Rescuers also rushed to what was once Mike Fieweger's home.

MIKE FIEWEGER, HOME OWNER: My house is right over there. It's the one that has nothing to it now. It's totally gone. We were in the basement. We were watching the forecasts on the T.V. and my wife said, "We should go in the basement." We all went in the basement and about six minutes later, no house. My truck was in my driveway, now it's in my neighbor's yard. And then my wife's career is on there. My one son's car is on top of where our bedroom used to be, is on top of the house now.

WHITFIELD: Fortunately, the Fiewegers are all fine. That was not the case for a husband and wife in a pickup truck on Highway 61. They died when a twister hurled their truck into a propane tank.

Softball-sized hail caused more damage and heavy rain prompted flash flood warnings across the area. Forecasters are calling for more severe weather through the night.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Remarkable images and experiences. Now to a developing story. There's been a break in the case of a New York graduate student found raped and murdered two weeks ago. CNN's Chris Huntington is in New York with the latest, Chris? CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, a major development in this case that has absolutely gripped New York City for the past couple of weeks. A DNA match to the prime suspect. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly just a short time ago, making this announcement about the evidence linking Darryl Littlejohn to the crime scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAYMOND KELLY, NEW YORK POLICE COMMISSIONER: Today we're announcing a break in this case. Darryl Littlejohn's blood was found on plastic ties that were used to bind Imette's hands behind her back. And a DNA match to Littlejohn was made. As a result of this and other evidence, Littlejohn is the prime suspect in this case and his indictment will be sought for the murder of Imette St. Guillen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTINGTON: Now to hear it from Raymond Kelly that now Littlejohn is officially the prime suspect is important. While the New York media has painted Littlejohn as the prime suspect, it has not been official until now.

He remains under custody -- Littlejohn remains under custody on Rikers Island for a parole violation. When asked, Commissioner Kelly said, "No, that's still the charge under which he's being held, that the Brooklyn district attorney now is in charge of the case and will be seeking an indictment on short order."

We called the Brooklyn D.A. and they had no comment right now about when they could put this new evidence before a grand jury. Darryl Littlejohn was the bouncer at the Falls nightclub where Imette St. Guillen was drinking and then drinking alone late in the evening of February 24th and into the morning of February 25th.

Witnesses now confirmed by Police Commissioner Kelly say that they saw the two of them together and that Littlejohn indeed escorted her away from the bar. What is important about this case, of course, is that the evidence is circumstantial until now. You have a DNA link.

Imette St. Guillen was found in the east New York section of Brooklyn. This is a rough section of New York City. She was found taped over her face, a sock stuffed in her throat, bound behind her back by these ties that now link Littlejohn to the crime scene and she was wrapped in a blanket.

We await word from Littlejohn's attorney, who earlier in the week painted his client as a scapegoat. He has not returned CNN's calls right now. So to cap it up, DNA evidence directly linking Darryl Littlejohn to the crime scene, the murder of Imette St. Guillen, the 24-year-old John Jay College student who died about two weeks ago. Positive murder charges expected from the Brooklyn district attorney in the morning.

Back to you, Fredricka. WHITFIELD: Chris Huntington in New York, thank you so much for that update.

Grounded in Iraq, the U.S. embassy bars all U.S. government employees from taking commercial flights out of Baghdad. This follows a security breach at the Baghdad Airport yesterday. U.S. officials are keeping tight-lipped about it, but a senior airline official is releasing more details. With that, let's go to CNN's Aneesh Raman in Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sources at the airport for Royal Jordanian, they are the main carrier that leaves from here to Amman, sometimes two, sometimes three times daily.

They have told us that explosives were found near a plane that was taking off yesterday afternoon, that once those explosives were found at the final security check, passengers were boarded off the plane, they were checked again as was the luggage. And then two hours later, the flight left. We also know from Royal Jordanian that flight came in and out of Baghdad today.

Now a statement from Royal Jordanian in Amman confirms to us that a pack of cigarettes, with what out of Amman they are saying was suspicious material, was found in the vicinity of a Royal Jordanian flight as passengers were going through the final screening process to board the plane.

They are still at the moment testing what that material is. So a bit of contradiction between the sources for Royal Jordanian in Baghdad and the statement coming out of Amman. Meantime, though, this was a serious security breach. How serious, it's difficult to tell. At one end the U.S. embassy prohibiting travel by government employees. At another end, Royal Jordanian continued its operations yesterday and today.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Aneesh Raman reporting from Baghdad.

Well seemingly extraordinary security measures are actually quite ordinary at Baghdad's airport. CNN's Anderson Cooper found that out when he flew into Baghdad last year.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The flight to Baghdad starts off like any other flight. You fly high above the clouds, endless stretches of sand far below. It's only when you're right above Baghdad you realize this is not a normal flight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The final part of our descent will be from overhead in a spiral fashion. It might feel a little uncomfortable on the body but nevertheless, it's due to safety and security reasons. COOPER: The plane turns sharply, spiraling downward, a corkscrew landing to avoid taking fire, though the insurgents know the maneuver. Not everything goes as planned, however. Suddenly fighter jets appear underneath. There's fighting at the airport. It's too dangerous to land.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are returning back to Amman and we will take it from there, depending on how long the military operation lasts here in Baghdad.

COOPER: The next day another flight, the plane finally gets permission to land.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, we will shortly be landing at Baghdad International Airport. Kindly return to your seats and make sure that your seat belts are securely fastened and the seats are in the upright position.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: The daily perils at that airport. Well here's more on Baghdad International Airport. It used to be called Saddam International Airport and was renamed when U.S. troops took it over in 2003. About a year later it reverted to civilian control. Right now two airlines operate regular commercial flights in and out of Baghdad, Iraqi Airways and Royal Jordanian airlines. Other airlines fly to and from Jordan, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

Well now the latest on the violence in Iraq. A Shiite slum in Baghdad called Sadr City turned into a killing ground today. Six car bombs detonated in crowded areas nearly simultaneously. Police say at least 46 people were killed. More than 200 were wounded. A seventh bomb was found in another part of Sadr City. It was diffused by security forces.

In a Baghdad courtroom, three of Saddam Hussein's co-defendants testified for the first time, all denied having any role in the killings of Shiites in the 1980s.

The man they call the Butcher of the Balkans and the rumors about his death. The former Serbian leader's autopsy results are in. We'll take you to the Hague, live.

Plus more storms and tornadoes in the Midwest. A live update on the severe weather coming up a bit later on in this show.

And after two years off the air, "The Sopranos" strike back. The most famous and dysfunctional mafia family back in your living room.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Some thought he may have committed suicide, others charged he was poisoned. Now authorities know more about what killed former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. CNN's Paula Newton is at the Hague where an autopsy was performed. PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, CNN confirmed that in fact the autopsy showed that Slobodan Milosevic died of a heart attack in his cell and this is consistent with the way in which he was found. They said that he looked pretty peaceful when they found him in his bed in the U.N. detention center here.

What is interesting here is their reaction to it. They are saying that in fact these are preliminary results, that's the tribunal and they're waiting for more information to determine exactly what triggered that heart attack and crucially, most controversially, what was in his bloodstream when he died. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: So meaning Paula, there will be a series of other tests or they're awaiting more results from the tests they've already conducted.

NEWTON: They're awaiting more results from the tests they've already conducted. They have to go through a very complicated procedure of toxicology. You can imagine with the controversy swirling here, the amount of tests that they are really looking for right now. Those tests take time.

We do expect more trickles of information to come out tomorrow and there should be more information about exactly what triggered it. You know, it's interesting to hear the tribunal speak about this and say, "Look, we're not saying he died of natural causes. We're saying he died of a heart attack." We will wait to see what the toxicology reports say in terms of whether or what actually triggered that heart attack. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: And Paula, upon learning of his death we also know that Milosevic's wife and other family members had put in a request or said that they were going request a separate, independent autopsy to be taking place in Moscow. Is that off the tables?

NEWTON: As far as I understand it is completely off the table, but at some point here, Fredricka, the body will be released to his family. And at that point if they choose to, I suppose they could do something else. They have not stated if they would try and go through another autopsy or in fact they also haven't even stated where his body is going to go. Will it be transported to Belgrade or to Moscow? Apparently that is a matter of dispute among the family. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right and much of his family still living in Moscow now. All right, Paula Newton, thank you so much from the Hague.

Well Milosevic faced dozens of counts of war crimes, including genocide in Bosnia. Coming up at the half hour, meet a victim of the conflicts of ethnic cleansing and a Bosnian Muslim who was held at a Serb concentration camp.

Other news around the world now, the U.S. is looking at ways to return the terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to their home countries. That's the word from the State Department, deputy assistant secretary. She says the U.S. doesn't want to operate Gitmo any day longer than it has to, but adds there are no immediate plans to close the camp.

More tensions over Iran's nuclear ambitions. The country today ruled out a proposal to move its uranium enrichment program to Russia. Iran's foreign ministry spokesman says Tehran is considering large- scale uranium enrichment at home instead. A senior Russian lawmaker says the decision destroys the only possible chance for a compromise on Iran's nuclear program.

And Britain's Queen Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip arrived in Australia today for a five-day state visit. The queen will open the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne on Wednesday.

The Whack Pack is back. After a long break, "Sopranos" fans finally get their fix. The show returns to television tonight. But do fans still care? Forget about it.

Also, Katrina evacuees welcomed, but who's really living next door? A local sheriff wants to know and he says he's not get any answers. The story from our Gulf Coast correspondent coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm meteorologist Reynolds Wolf with a look at your cold and flu report for the flu season. If you happen to live in the four corners, say New Mexico, Arizona, back over to Utah, even in Washington state, the flu season has been just a little sporadic for you recently.

However, out among the Eastern Seaboard, entirely different story. You've been coughing and sneezing and wheezing in Florida back over to Alabama, through parts of Kentucky and into the Midwest. And along the Eastern Seaboard, it has been a rough time for you.

That is the very latest on the flu season for you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We will find out, was it worth the wait? After a 21- month hiatus, "The Sopranos" returns to television tonight, but the T.V. landscape has changed and the sultans of whacking now have some well-healed competition, the "Desperate Housewives." So will the fans go for the baddabing or the dames? Jennifer Armstrong is a correspondent with "Entertainment Weekly" in New York. Good to see you, Jennifer.

JENNIFER ARMSTRONG, CORRESPONDENT, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Hi.

WHITFIELD: All right, well it's been a long time. You have to wonder, how loyal fans have been or are they going to be or did "The Sopranos" perhaps lose a lot of interest?

ARMSTRONG: You know, I think that people love "The Sopranos" no matter what and they're going to come back. I mean, the great thing about this show is that it just keeps bringing people back. And they are the only show probably that could afford to wait as long as they did.

WHITFIELD: Well, you have to wonder, you know, is this season, this final season, the sixth season, will the focus be on, you know, who Tony's going to whack or who's going to be out to whack Tony?

ARMSTRONG: You know, I think the thing about this last season is that all bets are off. I mean, the great thing about the show from the beginning is that all bets were kind of always off, but it's going to be even more so this season. So that's going to be what's going to be so exciting to watch, is what are they going to come up with to end this thing?

WHITFIELD: And you have to wonder, too, you know, are people continue to continue to like him because he is the central focus of the show? In a despicable way, people still love him. But you have to wonder if the creators of this show, the writers, David Chase, executive producer want to say, "You really what? We really want people to despise him so that maybe they won't miss him after this season."

ARMSTRONG: Yes it will be really interesting to see I think what Tony's ultimate fate is. That's what everybody is going to be waiting to see and that's really going to tell us what they're trying to say with this show and that's what's going to be such fun.

WHITFIELD: Are any of your insiders giving you any kind of scoop?

ARMSTRONG: You know, they are so tight-lipped about this, it's amazing and most of the cast doesn't even know. But I have seen the first couple of episodes and they're definitely worth the wait.

WHITFIELD: Oh yes, impressive?

ARMSTRONG: Yes, I mean, they start you off a little slow and then bring you up to speed and it's like they were never gone and there's a huge surprise.

WHITFIELD: Kind of reeling you in, huh?

ARMSTRONG: Yes, and there's a huge surprise at the end of first episode tonight so that's going to be a lot of fun.

WHITFIELD: OK, are we talking one hour or is it two?

ARMSTRONG: It's just one hour tonight. You know, they don't want to give you too much all at once.

WHITFIELD: OK, and is it even a factor that it's up against "Desperate Housewives?" "Desperate Housewives" and some of the other shows have dominated Sunday nights. But it sure seems to me like it would be an entirely different audience. ARMSTRONG: Yes, it's absolutely a different television landscape these days, which is what's going to be kind of interesting to see in terms of the ratings. But I think that people are still going to come back to the show. Everyone universally loves this show who is a fan. You know, they just keep coming back and I think they will, regardless of "Desperate Housewives". You can get that on DVD later or you can watch it in repeat.

WHITFIELD: I have a feeling people have been revisiting their DVDs up until today so that they're, you know, up to date tonight. Jennifer Armstrong with "Entertainment Weekly", thanks so much for being with us from New York. And you know, people will be hitting that remote tonight, popping around trying to make sure they catch it all. All right, thanks so much.

Well the Midwest braces for more storms. Some towns are still cleaning up after twisters hit overnight. Your up-to-the-minute forecast straight ahead.

Also, remember these pictures from the Serbian concentration camps of the '90s? We'll talk to a man who survived and hear his reaction to the death of the so-called Butcher of the Balkans.

Also, spring break in of all places, the Gulf. We'll meet several college students who are using their break to help out in the rebuilding efforts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A look now at our top stories. More dangerous weather in the Midwest. A storm system looming over the region right now could produce extremely strong tornadoes.

Last night, powerful tornadoes hit the same area, killing two people and destroying several homes. A live weather report just a minute away.

DNA evidence yields a prime suspect. New York police say blood found on plastic ties used to bind a murdered grad student's hands belongs to a Manhattan bouncer. This man right here, Darryl Littlejohn, his lawyer says his client is a scapegoat.

U.S. government employees in Iraqi are barred from commercial flights out of Baghdad. That after a security breach of Baghdad International Airport. U.S. officials aren't releasing details but a senior airline official says an explosive device was found under the nose of an airplane.

Also in Baghdad a Shiite neighborhood in flames after six bombs explode almost simultaneously. Police say at least 46 people were killed, more than 200 were wounded. Autopsy results in the death of Slobodan Milosevic. Sources say the former Yugoslav president died of a massive heart attack while in his detention cell at the Hague. Milosevic was in custody charged with war crimes.

U.S. snowboarder Gretchen Bleiler has won another big trophy for her mantle. She won the half pipe at the Snowboard World Cup in Lake Placid. Bleiler won a silver medal at the 2006 Olympic Games.

A 19-year-old University of Georgia freshman has won more than one million dollars at the European Poker Tour. Jeff Williams bested almost 300 other players in Monte Carlo including 38 Americans to take the grand prize.

Now back to our top story. A new round of severe weather after a rough night last night. Let's check in again with CNN meteorologist Bonnie Schneider.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Unfortunately Fredricka, the situation today and tonight will be worse than what we saw yesterday because now we're getting reports of not only Doppler Radar indicated tornadoes, but tornadoes spotted by trained weather spotters and these are people trained by the National Weather Service to recognize a funnel cloud, what it looks like and how severe and serious the situation could be.

I've labeled the counties in Missouri because there are so many of them for you to see. If you see your county labeled and highlighted in red, that means you're under a tornado warning. Notice Cass County is no longer highlighted in red because that tornado warning has expired. Most of these thunderstorms, these strong thunderstorms are moving to the northeast at 45 miles per hour. So these tornado warnings will be in effect for about 15 to about 30 minutes from now.

As we look towards Kansas City, you had some powerful thunderstorms reported. We even had sightings of funnel clouds north and east of Kansas City. Still getting confirmation whether or not there was a tornado but at least right now it's dry for the moment. Unfortunately though, Kansas City back toward St. Louis and further off to the east, we're looking at these watch boxes for tornadoes. This means tornadoes are likely to develop later on today and tonight. Especially the ones to the south that you see over parts of Oklahoma on into Arkansas this region in particular has been labeled as a particularly dangerous situation by the storm prediction center out of Norman, Oklahoma and you don't see those high-risk areas to often when it's labeled at the highest level for potentially severe and damaging winds.

And that's what we're getting reports of with these serious storms. The weather setup is very conducive for more tornadoes to break out. We have cold, dry air and warm coming in most air ahead of the front and a strong upper level disturbance so close to the area where we're getting that severe weather. So it's the perfect recipe for more tornadoes to break out and you saw so many tornado warnings Fredricka over a small cluster of an area.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Bonnie, for keeping us updated on that.

Now checking the political headlines. A long-time critic of the Bush administration wants the president censured for spying. Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold says Mr. Bush's warrant less wiretap program violated the law. Tomorrow he plans to introduce a resolution to censure the president though it's given little chance of actually passing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR RUSS FEINGOLD, (D) WISCONSIN: The Congress can't allow that and this is an appropriate occasion to censure the president to say, Mr. President, we condemn you for violating the law. It isn't an impeachment proceeding, but it simply says we still believe in the rule of law and the president needs to follow that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Speaking of spying some CIA undercover agents could have their covers blown by the Internet. An investigation by the "Chicago Tribune" reveals an alarming amount of sensitive CIA information available online. It can be obtained from data brokers who charge fees to sort through public records. The newspaper found the identities of some 2,600 CIA employee, private training facilities and private residences. And it's like reading tea leaves but an informal straw poll puts one man on top among Republican presidential hopefuls for 2008. Senate majority leader Bill Frist. The poll was conducted at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in Frist's home state of Tennessee.

And when you think about spring break you probably think of scenes like this, right? Beaches, people partying and having a great time. Well, guess what? We're going to be talking to a couple of college students who are doing something that's rather untraditional all to help out the people who are suffering from the devastation of Katrina.

Also, one state is taking extreme steps to stop vicious dog attacks. The story a little bit later.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These aren't 100 percent accurate, right?

ANNOUNCER: Ben Stiller worked hard to beat this lie detector test from his future father in law in "Meet the Parents." However a new invention by 16-year-old Trisha Pasricha of Houston can make the old fashion polygraph obsolete. It is an award winning science project that measures stomach activity.

TRISHA PASRICHA, INVENTOR, STOMACH LIE DETECTOR TEST: My father's a gastroenterologist and my mother used to work for the FBI and when you put the two together I came up with the idea of using the stomach for a lie detector.

The lie detector test involves using an electric gastro gram or EGG and it is used by connecting electrodes to the surface of the stomach and it picks up electrical results to see if there is any change when you're lying or telling the truth.

DR. JAY PASRICHA, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MEDICAL BRANCH: This is a subject that's a natural fascination to everybody. Everybody lies or has tried to lie at some point and everybody is also aware of the fact that you get butterflies in your stomach when you're nervous.

ANNOUNCER: Well the study is only tested sixteen subjects. Trisha is hoping this is just the beginning.

T. PASRICHA: (INAUDIBLE) apply for patent and so what will hopefully happen is that we'll get funding for research and maybe one day it will be implemented on a large scale.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Giving criminals an upper hand. That's something no government agency wants to do, but a Louisiana sheriff insists that's exactly what FEMA is doing by keeping the identities of certain criminals in his town a secret. Here's CNN's Gulf Coast correspondent Susan Roesgen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHERIFF STEVE PRATOR, CADDO PARISH, LOUISIANA: If your daddy tells you he is going to follow you on your date you will act different than when you know daddy's not watching.

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN GULF COAST CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Sheriff Steve Prator wants the criminals in Caddo Parish, Louisiana to know he's got his eye on them, but the sheriff is worried about the newcomers in his parish in and around Shreveport. Since the hurricane, more than a thousand evacuees have moved in, some have left, but there are still hundreds the sheriff says he knows nothing about. FEMA says privacy laws won't allow the agency to release the information the sheriff could use to do background checks.

PRATOR: Don't keep the shovel from me and expect me to go dig a ditch and the background checks are the shoves. I mean that is the tools that we need. In law enforcement we work on intelligence and information and that's what we're not being provided. And then you have all these criminal records right there.

ROESGEN: Frustrated by FEMA, the sheriff got the names and Social Security numbers of 37 evacuees from his confidential source. Out of those 37 names the sheriff says 33 had criminal records with a combined total of 340 prior arrests. Armed with the informant's information, Sheriff Prator went to one of the shelters last week and rounded up two parole violators, but the sheriff says he wants to know the backgrounds of all 638 evacuees still in hotels and shelters in his parish, especially the backgrounds of any sex offenders.

PRATOR: We want to know with the kids that are staying here that there's not a sex offender that lives right next door that decides he'll leave in New Orleans and nobody knows where he is and he might take advantage of some kids or something like that.

ROESGEN: Helen Pierce has three young children in this shelter and she says she welcomes the sheriff's push for background checks to keep her kids safe.

HELEN PIERCE: He should have the right to know who's living here and we have the right to know as people.

ROESGEN: But FEMA says no one has the right to know the evacuees back grounds unless the evacuees volunteer the information.

FEMA representative Steve Deblasio told me it's a privacy issue that ties our hands with a $2,000 penalty per violation. But he also says I believe law enforcement has a right to know who the FEMA evacuees are and I'm trying to do what I can. Deblasio says he's trying to help, but the sheriff says he still doesn't know who is in FEMA paid hotel rooms and shelters.

PRATOR: I lay awake at night frustrated some times and wondering, what else do I need to do to try to convince people that this is what we need to keep our parish safe?

ROESGEN: Susan Roesgen, CNN, Shreveport, Louisiana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Helping hurricane victims may not be your standard spring break activity, but some Howard University students are anything, but standard. They're among hundreds of college students this year spending their vacation in storm-damaged areas of New Orleans and other Gulf cities. Two of those students join us now Ty Axson and Shannon Johnson. Welcome to both of you.

SHANNON JOHNSON, HOWARD JOHNSON STUDENT: Hi.

TY AXSON, HOWARD UNIVERSITY STUDENT: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: First of all, you've both been on the ground just barely over 24 hours, right? After your journey from Washington, D.C., what are your first impressions, Ty?

AXSON: Wow! I can't even put it into words. The news coverage, what you see on TV and in the newspaper doesn't even begin to reflect the devastation and the hurt that we have seen here and experienced here already. So it's inexplicable.

WHITFIELD: Shannon, what were your expectations?

JOHNSON: Well, this was a hands-on experience. I've seen the news also and just really don't know how to respond just ready to go in tomorrow and help out people as much as I can.

WHITFIELD: So when you heard of this idea of college students across the country who have decided they want to give up their spring break to do something non-tradition and that means helping out the people who are in such great need after Katrina, did you right away, Shannon, say, you know what that's something I want to do?

JOHNSON: Well, yes. I automatically wanted to do it, however I had to get permission through my dance program and I enjoy helping people so this is a great opportunity.

WHITFIELD: So, Ty, why do you think it is so important that so many college students are giving up the good time on the beaches and the parties and all that to do something like this and to really get dirty and hammer some nails and try to clear away some of the debris and help rebuild people's homes?

AXSON: I think it's extremely important because people begin to realize where help is needed most. I believe once people sort of get their priorities straightened out they figure out what's important and you can have just as much fun here helping these people and being amongst your friends and meeting new people and to interact with the residents here, you find out that you can have a whole lot more fun here while you learn some interesting things as well.

WHITFIELD: Now what's your understanding, Shannon, about how you're going to tackle this project and for how long?

JOHNSON: Well, we should be here until Friday and as of now everyone's anything to be designated at a specific site. No one knows particularly where they're going to be so tomorrow I think just everybody's open, ready to help out houses, even if it's conversing with people. We're just ready to assist anybody.

WHITFIELD: Well, that's great. You know, I'm sure the people there are so appreciative that you guys are putting in your sweat hours and willing to give up, you know, fun time at the beaches and everywhere else to get your hands dirty and help out the people there. Shannon Johnson, Ty Axson both of Howard University. Thanks so much instead of joining us from Washington, D.C. joining us from New Orleans today.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

AXSON: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Good luck on your upcoming projects.

Coming up next, you may remember these pictures from the Serbian concentration camps of the '90s. I'll talk to a man who survived his time in one of those camps. We'll hear his reaction to the death of Slobodan Milosevic, the so-called butcher of the Balkans.

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WHITFIELD: Now to the sudden death of Slobodan Milosevic. There's been all sort of speculation about what killed the former Yugoslav president. He was found dead yesterday in his cell at the Hague where he had been on trial for the last four years. A source close to the tribunal says that an autopsy was performed today and it showed he died from a massive heart attack. Milosevic, the so-called butcher of the Balkans faced 66 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes carried out in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s.

My next guest knows all to well about the cruelty and the atrocities of that time. Husein Hadzic is a Bosnian Muslim who was a prisoner at a Serbian concentration camp in 1992 now living here in the states and able to join us. Good to see you.

HUSEIN HADZIC, FORMER SERBIAN CAMP PRISONER: Nice to be here. WHITFIELD: Well, initially when you heard that Milosevic had died in his cell what was your initial feeling?

HADZIC: My initial feeling was -- it was a lot of pressure in the tribunal. What he did (INAUDIBLE)

WHITFIELD: A lot of stress.

HADZIC: A lot of stress, sitting in his cell and asking questions. A lot of questions about Bosnia and Kosovo and Croatia, and justice came to him. No way out. I think a lot of pressure was in his head, what he did, but that's harder.

WHITFIELD: Did you ever have a feeling that he would live to see the end of this trial or did you think this kind of pressure that you're talking about would eventually kill him?

HADZIC: Probably I like to him live and stay through all procedures and tribunal to see what is really justice, what he did for people, for too many victims, thousands and thousands in Bosnia, what he did and he's supposed to be alive through all of the proceedings.

WHITFIELD: Throughout this trial --

HADZIC: And bring more his partners to justice in the tribunal.

WHITFIELD: Is it your hope, still, that they'll be able to locate some of his lieutenants?

HADZIC: Yes. He needed to give more answers about his partners who got information. He gave directions to his partners.

WHITFIELD: This trial has been on again, off again. It's been lengthy. It's been tough for a lot of people to follow but for you, given that you lived the Serbian concentration camp, how much of this trial makes you kind of relive what you experienced?

HADZIC: This trial is really justice. I think from my heart, it's soft for him and for people like Milosevic and somebody else who did it. We can't give him penalties, a thousand years in prison for things what he did.

WHITFIELD: Can you tell me a little bit about your experience in the concentration camps? What nightmares are replayed in your mind over and over again?

HADZIC: The first thing that he talked days before he died in his cell how there was no communication and doctors (INAUDIBLE) don't trust their doctors in Europe and they asked for somebody else, outside doctors what they think why he didn't think. We had in the concentration camp no food, no water and no medication. Enduring the killing and justice came to him, he was asking a lot of help and (INAUDIBLE).

WHITFIELD: Do you consider yourself one of the lucky ones to get out alive and then find refuge here in the United States?

HADZIC: Yes. I think I was lucky. but sometimes not with so many people in my family and my friends, I think, personally better than me died over there, lost family. They didn't have kids and so many like my brothers and my family, my brothers left family behind, kids, young kids, wives their mother crying, their kids crying for them. They never forgot that.

WHITFIELD: Husein Hadzic, thanks so much for sharing your story with us. Best wishes to you and your family.

HADZIC: My wish is to bring those (inaudible) I think the United States can do that. To real justice over there.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much.

HADZIC: It should never happen. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much. Nice to meet you as well.

Well we'll take you back to the Hague in just a moment. Paula Newton is standing by there with an update on the ongoing investigation into the death of former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic.

Paula.

NEWTON: Fredricka the tribunal has just confirmed that Slobodan Milosevic died of a heart attack. That is what we were reporting earlier. They say that as we reported they are waiting for toxicology reports to determine exactly what triggered that heart attack and to see what was in his bloodstream at the time of his death. They do say that the heart attack and what they found so far in the autopsy report shows that it is all consistent with the two prior heart conditions that they knew he was suffering from.

Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Paula Newton, thank you so much.

And we'll be right back.

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