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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty in Samantha Runnion Case; How Can You Protect Yourself From West Nile Virus?

Aired August 05, 2002 - 17:00   ET

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

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS, sisters in surgery.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The surgery has started. We are cautiously optimistic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Can a marathon operation give conjoined twins separate lives?

D-Day in California: Prosecutors decide whether to push for the death penalty in the case of little Samantha Runnion.

West Nile worries, how can you protect yourself against a mosquito-borne killer?

And to the heart of the inferno, evidence that New York's heroes reached new heights on September 11th.

Hello, everybody it's Monday, August 5, 2002. I'm Miles O'Brien at CNN Center in Atlanta. Wolf Blitzer is off this evening.

We begin with what may be a crucial meeting at the White House this hour. The army general who would be in charge of a war against Iraq has been briefing his commander-in-chief on plans for targeting Saddam Hussein. CNN's Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre picks up the story from there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: President Bush returned to the White House for what administration officials were insisting was a routine meeting of his national security team, but Pentagon sources say Army General Tommy Franks was to brief the president on war planning in Iraq, the latest thinking on how a military ouster of Saddam Hussein might go. One Pentagon official termed it a good proposal for a plan, but Pentagon sources say Mr. Bush will not be asked for a decision and will still be able to issue the same denial he has for months.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As I've said repeatedly, I have no plans on my desk at this point in time.

MCINTYRE: While making no secret of its desire to remove Saddam Hussein from power and replace him with a friendlier regime, the Bush administration is keeping a tight lid on the state of war planning. Sources say only a handful of people in the Pentagon have access to the information but it will be difficult, if not impossible, for the U.S. to mount a surprise attack given the movement of troops, planes, and ships that would be required even for a low end option.

There are currently over 50,000 troops in the Gulf region, in large part because of the current operation in Afghanistan. Pentagon sources say there has been no significant buildup of U.S. forces recently, although the number of ground troops in Kuwait is about 10,000, roughly twice the usual amount.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCINTYRE (on camera): Still, there is no sign that war is imminent. In fact, there's no sign President Bush has yet made his fateful decision to attack Iraq, but there are signs that war is drawing closer. Among them, some Pentagon officials have been told to make sure they get their vacations in this month. Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right, Jamie, thank you very much. A quick question for you before you get away though, what about the possibility of some sort of surgical operation, Delta Force, Special Operations, whatever, to go in and get Saddam Hussein? The assumption has been all along this would be a big, large scale type of invasion.

MCINTYRE: Well, if they had adequate intelligence about exactly where Saddam Hussein was, they could mount that kind of operation. The problem with it is it might not fulfill the goal of regime change.

If they were to snatch Saddam Hussein or even kill him, his place might simply be taken by one of his sons, Uday or someone. So that wouldn't necessarily bring about the goal that the United States wants to achieve here, which is a complete removal of Saddam Hussein and his sons from power.

O'BRIEN: All right. CNN's Jamie McIntyre at the Pentagon, thank you very much.

Let's continue our discussion about the possibilities in this particular realm as it relates to Iraq. We're joined now by one of our analysts who has looked into this matter significantly, Security Analyst Kelly McCann joining us from Washington.

Kelly, good to see you, thank you very much. What about this idea of a large scale invasion versus perhaps some sort of surgical Delta Force operation to target Saddam Hussein? Would that be preferable in your mind?

KELLY MCCANN, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: Well, the first thing, Miles, you'd have to discuss the legality of these things. For instance, post Ford regime, the Church Committee findings, we were outlawed for doing assassinations, and I think that it would be, if we were to do something like that, mount an operation that went inside the country and specifically killed one person. It's, you know, arguable whether you'd be able to deny knowledge of that kind of event, so that might take that right off the table.

As far as a conventional force buildup goes, you've got to remember that for many months now, there has been a significant amount of effort done in that country to gain support for anti-Saddam type of operations, so there may already be partisans who are in motion and things that are already planned for, caches that have already been laid, et cetera, to support such an operation, so although it will take a big mount-up, it is doable.

O'BRIEN: But we never see much evidence of any sort of opposition to Saddam Hussein within Iraq, have we?

MCCANN: No, but you know, Miles, it's the beaten down and the trodden. For instance, it's kind of, if you were trying to stand on a basketball and maintain your balance. I think that if an operation looked as if it was going to succeed, the people would throw in with it, but for the average person to determine that as he sees different things on the battlefield and it's hard for him to get a grasp whether or not it would succeed and no one's going to want to jump in there thinking that ultimately they're going to be killed because they participated in the effort.

O'BRIEN: OK, but that's a very dangerous strategy to assume that you're going to rely upon the Populous and the Populous uprising against a leader. That has come back to haunt military leaders in the past in the U.S., has it not?

MCCANN: Sure it has; however, I don't think that the amount of effort to get in and work with people that we know are anti-Saddam, has either been conducted. So, I mean this is apples and oranges really. This is...

(AUDIO AND VIDEO GAP)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It took him out but it also killed 14 other people, including nine children. What followed then was a valid revenge in retaliation for Hamas and a string of attacks on Israelis, especially over the last 24 hours. So, this latest attack in Gaza City only four injuries, though Israel confirming that it has in fact fired three missiles into Gaza City -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's John Vause in Jerusalem, thank you very much. Turning now to some domestic news now, California prosecutors made if official today (AUDIO AND VIDEO GAP) from Santa Ana, California. Thelma, what's the latest?

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, the Orange County District Attorney is calling this a (AUDIO GAP) when making his decision. First, he talked with Samantha Runnion's family...

(AUDIO GAP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TONY RACKAUCKAS, ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: A courtyard just steps away from her home and then brutally molesting her and then killing her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTIERREZ: Samantha was kidnapped from her Stanton, California home three weeks ago today. Her nude body was discovered the next day in a rural area about 50 miles from her home. The DA says he did inform Samantha's family before he did go public with his decision to seek the death penalty. All along, Mrs. Runnion had said that she would go with whatever the DA decided; Miles, back to you.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Thelma Gutierrez in Santa Ana, thank you very much. Let's check some more into our Justice Files, those two former America West Airline pilots accused of drinking before a flight face trial on October 21st. Authorities say the pilots failed Breathalyzer tests just before a scheduled Miami to Phoenix trip. If convicted, they face up to six years in prison. A Florida judge said the defendants can return to their home state of Arizona to await trial, but he barred them from traveling to other states.

A Dallas man was arraigned today in what police call one of the worst cases of family violence they've ever seen, bail set at $2 million. Twenty-nine-year-old Abel Achoa (ph) is accused of capital murder in the deaths of his wife, their two young children, and his father-in-law. Achoa's sister-in-law is in critical condition and is expected to recover.

A Pennsylvania woman can have an abortion despite the wishes of her ex-boyfriend. A judge today overturned a controversial restraining order and ruled that Tanya Myers (ph) is free to end her pregnancy. He also dismissed a lawsuit by the woman's ex-boyfriend who had offered to take custody of the baby.

Now here's your chance to weigh in on this story. Our web question of the day: Should a man who helps create a pregnancy be able to stop a woman from getting an abortion? You can vote at cnn.com/wolf, and while you're there, send us your comments. We'll try to read some of them on the air each day, and also read Wolf's daily online column at cnn.com/wolf. It isn't there today. I'll try to substitute on that tomorrow.

An historic recovery mission is going on right now. When we return, we'll take you live over the Atlantic where a Civil War relic is being razed, at least a significant portion of it.

And a life and death operation for two girls joined at birth; find out how that surgery is going so far. It is marathon surgery. Plus, murder at Fort Bragg, did this army wife have her teenager daughter pull the trigger? And, one way to keep your kid from smoking, plaster their faces all over town. We'll hear from one mom who did just that and see if this is right for your family.

First, our "Weekend Snapshot;" tropical storm Bertha was downgraded today. Forecasters made the call after the storm came ashore near New Orleans bringing heavy rain and triggering flash flooding in parts of Mississippi. Formed late yesterday, Bertha drenched areas from southeastern Louisiana across Mississippi and Alabama and into the western tip of the Florida panhandle. There are no reports of injuries or damage.

A 12-year-old Chinese girl missing for two days in San Francisco is in the safe hands of relatives in Massachusetts. The girl disappeared from a youth group after arriving at San Francisco Airport Thursday. An FBI spokeswoman says the agency is trying to determine whether the girl was abducted, unclear whether she was trying to defect.

The National Football League preseason opened with a bang in Japan. New Washington Redskins coach Steve Spurrier is picking up where he left off at the University of Florida. On fourth and one, Spurrier had his quarterback go for it with a 31-yard touchdown pass over the middle; final score, Washington 38, the San Francisco 49ers, 7.

And don't be surprised if the Deadheads are still dancing and singing. Thirty-five thousand of them convened Saturday (AUDIO GAP) concert by the remaining members of the Grateful Dead. Since Jerry Garcia's death (AUDIO GAP). The gig in Wisconsin came two days after what would have been Garcia's 60th birthday, and that's our (AUDIO GAP).

O'BRIEN: ...get help on September 11th. Some new tapes show heroic firefighters actually made their way up to the crash site. The city's fire commissioner joins us live when we return. He's heard a dramatic tape. Plus, trapped for three days underground, now they have a movie and book contract. Did they get a good deal or was it a bum one? We'll talk to their lawyer about that...

(AUDIO GAP)

Every eight seconds, someone in the United States stops smoking. Why? They can't afford cigarettes anymore, they become pregnant, their doctor advises them to, they die? The answer is coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back, I'm Miles O'Brien.

A tape of radio transmissions during the September 11th rescue effort apparently shows at least two firefighters were able to reach the 78th floor of the South Tower. That's the very floor that was struck by United Airlines Flight 175, far higher than previously thought, and the story first reported by the New York Times, indicates the firefighters continued their evacuation efforts right until the World Trade Center Tower collapsed.

Joining me from New York, the city's Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta, who has heard that tape. Commissioner Scoppetta, good to have you with us.

NICHOLAS SCOPPETTA, NY FIRE DEPARTMENT: Good to be here. O'BRIEN: I'm told you're not allowed to tell us specifics about this tape. Why don't you explain that first before we talk about broad impressions of what you've heard?

SCOPPETTA: Well, the U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case against the 21st hijacker Moussaoui has imposed a confidentiality order on all of the evidence that we've turned over, so that means this tape and a whole lot of other things, including oral histories and other things that we've turned over from the department. So, pursuant to that order, and at the request of the U.S. Attorney, we had all of the families who listened to this tape also sign a confidentiality order.

O'BRIEN: All right, so with that said, give us a sense, we're primarily listening to Battalion Chief Oriole (ph) Palmer and Fire Marshal Ron Abucca (ph) who made it to the 78th floor, remarkably. One of them took the elevator. The other one actually scaled all 78 floors as I understand it. What did you hear in their voices? What general sense did you get about the tone of the rescue effort?

SCOPPETTA: Well, I got the same sense that I've had throughout since I've been fire commissioner, listening to audiotapes, reading statements, seeing video shot of that day, and a lot of it raw footage that has not been played over commercial television, and I come away with a sense that words like courage, bravery, fearlessness, enormous professionalism, that's what applies to what these firefighters were doing.

You can hear in those transmissions that they know there is enormous danger ahead of them that they are at risk. Nevertheless, the transmissions are calm, they're focused, and throughout we find these extraordinary men focusing on the business at hand and that is primarily getting wounded civilians out of that building and that is the focus.

At times, you can't help but have an enormous - it's very poignant because we know what's going to happen and, of course, it does and at one point the transmissions stop. That is at the point that the building collapses, so it is...

O'BRIEN: If you could give us a sense of the kinds of emotions you felt and in talking to some of the family members, not just of the firefighters but of people who were killed in the attack, who found it at least helpful to hear that. What were the sorts of emotions you encountered and they encountered?

SCOPPETTA: Well, I think there was a sense of they took comfort in the fact that they knew right up to the end that their loved ones were at the business of being firefighters, doing what they have done every day of their careers in the fire department.

There was a great sense of comfort of knowing where they were at the time of the collapse, and as one of the family members said tearfully at the end of the tape, that was the most enormous show of bravery that she's ever witnessed, been part of. And I think that these tapes, those conversations are the most poignant, most powerful eulogy that any of us could deliver on behalf of those firefighters who were in that tower.

O'BRIEN: Commissioner Scoppetta, we are about out of time, but will the public get a chance to hear these at some point, do you think?

SCOPPETTA: When the U.S. Attorney decides that their utility in the prosecution is over, perhaps when the case is over, but if the U.S. Attorney says that that tape is no longer necessary for the prosecution, that's the most important thing at hand. That prosecution has got to go forward. Then the tape would be made public. I think it is of enormous interest to the families and perhaps to the world to see the courage, the bravery, the competence, the professionalism of those firefighters.

O'BRIEN: All right, Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta in New York, thank you very much for sharing with us that story, a tremendous story of heroism. We appreciate it.

Media credibility is down since the weeks after the September attacks. A poll by the Pew Research Center for the people and the press finds only 35 percent of people asked feel the media usually get the facts straight. That's down from 46 percent last November. Of all the major U.S. news organizations, however, CNN rated highest for believability, ahead of "60 Minutes," "20/20," "C-SPAN," and "MSNBC."

Murder at Fort Bragg, did a mother persuade her 15-year-old daughter to kill her Army husband? A look at the latest case to shakeup this close-knit military community.

And, a true story for anyone whose ever been embarrassed by mom; some Wisconsin teens getting the royal treatment over their dirty habit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back, I'm Miles O'Brien.

Coming up, murder at Fort Bragg. Did a 15-year-old get caught up in a murder plot, but first, a look at some stories making news right now.

With a stroke of a pen, President Bush today gave anti-abortion groups something they want, a largely symbolic law known as the Born Alive Infants Protection Act. It states that every infant born alive is guaranteed full rights under law regardless if the birth was the unintended result of an abortion. The measure is similar to state laws. A leading abortion rights group says the law does not interfere with the woman's right to an abortion.

However, on Wall Street, hopes for a turnaround were dashed today with the Dow closing almost 270 points down. It was the third straight triple-digit loss. Broader stock indicators also fell. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index lost almost 30 points. The Nasdaq dropped almost 42 points to a five-year low.

Some key federal agencies are having a hard time keeping with expensive hardware. A new report reveals hundreds of weapons and laptops have been lost or stolen. Some of the weapons have turned up in the hands of criminals. Agencies cited, the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Marshall Service and the Bureau of Prisons. The items were reported missing between October '99 and January of this year.

A major recovery from the graveyard of the Civil War -- a salvage operation is raising the 120-gun turret from the Union ironclad ship, the Monitor. The Monitor sank in 240 feet of water off North Carolina's Hatteras Island during a storm in 1862. Earlier that year, the Monitor fought the Confederate ship, Virginia, in the first battle of ironclad warships, an engagement that revolutionized naval warfare. Joining me on the line right now, from the barge where that salvage is taking place is John Broadwater, the chief scientist of the Monitor expedition.

Dr. Broadwater, good to have you with us.

DR. JOHN D. BROADWATER, NOAA: Thank you, good to be with you.

O'BRIEN: All right, give us an update. How are things going right now?

BROADWATER: Things are going very well. After having to postpone yesterday because of bad weather, things have improved. We've been able to lift the turret from the seabed, place it on a protective cradle and we are just getting ready for the last phase of the lift. It's now hanging at about 120 feet down, waiting for the crash to be connected up to the final lift.

O'BRIEN: All right, so, you're not going to say anything certain, of course, until it's aboard that barge that you are on right now. But it sounds like you're -- it's just a matter of time before you will have recovered this turret.

BROADWATER: Yes, that's right. We are still keeping our fingers crossed. There is a little bit of sea movement out here, which means that it's going to take some real skills of the crane operator to set it down gently. But we have a lot of confidence in him and we think it'll be safely on deck very shortly.

O'BRIEN: All right, tell us a little bit about this turret as we look at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Web site, which gives us a diagram of this vessel. This turret is very significant, isn't it?

BROADWATER: Yes, the Monitor's turret was unique. It was the first of its kind whereas most of the ships of the day had guns that sprayed out to the side and couldn't be moved very much. So you had to stir the whole ship to aim the guns. The Monitor's turret could be revolved in any direction, to aim the guns without moving the ship and it also was armored to protect the crew.

O'BRIEN: Dr. Broadwater, I've got to ask you -- there have been several seasons now that they're have been effort states to try to lift up various pieces of the Monitor. Is it really worth the effort in time and money and the risk of lives to do all of this?

BROADWATER: Well, as far as we're concerned, it's well worth it. From the historical point-of-view, the Monitor is usually referred to as the U.S. Navy's first modern warship. It also was such an innovation and such an improvement in naval technology that it got attention for the U.S. Navy and the U.S. government and the European powers. So we feel it's very important.

As far as the risk, these Navy men and women out here who are doing all the diving are getting some tremendous training and they tell me that this is the most useful and realistic training operation that they've had in a long time. So we feel like it's a real win-win situation.

O'BRIEN: Dr. John Broadwater, who is heading up the Monitor 2002 Expedition, we wish you well as that effort to bring up that gun turret continues as we speak. We'll keep you posted. We'll tell you when it's been buttoned up and recovered and put on that barge.

Meanwhile, police in Fayetteville, North Carolina say a Special Operation soldier from Fort Bragg was killed for insurance and military benefits. Facing charges in the case? The soldier's wife and a teenage girl, identified by local media as the couple's daughter. The killing is the latest in a string of murders at the Sprawling base.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN (voice-over): As military bases go, Fort Bragg is among the world's largest. More than 45,000 soldiers are stationed there and more than 26,000 military families make their homes on or near the Sprawling facility. But it's still a small town atmosphere at the U.S. Army's headquarters for Special Operations' forces and the pattern of five murders in a span of eight weeks has the community in disbelief.

UNIDENTIFIED SERVICEMAN: As we go through the investigations, we're going to look to see if there's any common thread that can tie them together.

O'BRIEN: The latest case involves the murder of Army Major David Shannon, a Special Operations officer. Shannon was shot as he slept at his home outside Fort Bragg on July 23. His wife, Joan Shannon, has been charged with the murder. And local police say a juvenile has been charged in connection with the case as well. Joan Shannon was recorded on the night of the killing by a local 911 operator.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

9-1-1 OPERATOR: This is 9-1-1. We just received a call from there. Is everything OK?

JOAN SHANNON, VICTIM'S WIFE: No, I need an ambulance.

9-1-1 OPERATOR: What?

SHANNON: I need an ambulance here. I need the police here now.

9-1-1 OPERATOR: OK, what do you need a police officer for?

SHANNON: Somebody shot my husband while we were sleeping.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Investigators have said the motive for the Shannon killing was financial, possibly involving military pay and benefits. Neighbors say this was not the first time police had been called to the Shannon home.

UNIDENTIFIED NEIGHBOR: It was a troubled family, most of us knew that, wild kids.

O'BRIEN: The other four murders occurred between June 11 and July 29. Four wives of Fort Bragg soldiers were allegedly killed by their husbands. Two of them were suspected murder-suicides. In three of the four cases, the husbands were Special Operation soldiers who just returned from Afghanistan, but Army officials say, in those three cases, they have no evidence of a connection with the suspects' deployment to Afghanistan. Still, officials are trying to determine if the killings were related to the stress inherent in Special Operations units.

UNIDENTIFIED SERVICEMAN: What we hope to do as a result of our investigations is to find out what was going on out there in each one of these families, what was going on in each and every household so that we can determine what it is that we need to do to improve the programs that we currently have.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: With us now to talk a little bit more about the latest murder investigation is Sergeant Anthony Kelly with the Fayetteville, North Carolina Police Department. Good to have you with us, Sergeant Kelly.

SGT. ALEX THOMPSON, FAYETTEVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT: Good evening, Miles. That'd be Sergeant Alex Thompson today.

O'BRIEN: My apologies to you. I have the wrong name here. Sergeant Thompson, good to see you.

THOMPSON: That's quite all right.

O'BRIEN: ...and we'll...

THOMPSON: That's quite all right.

O'BRIEN: ... try to get it straight from here. If you could just bring us up to date on the Shannon investigation first of all.

THOMPSON: Well, basically, as you might recall, on August 2, Fayetteville police detectives responded to a local mobile home park where they took into detention the juvenile that was wanted in this particular case.

O'BRIEN: Is that the daughter of the...

THOMPSON: The juvenile in detention...

O'BRIEN: Is that the daughter of the victim?

THOMPSON: Well, at this point in time, we're prohibited from speaking about juveniles involved in a particular case such as this. State laws require certain sensitivities and of course, we're abiding by that. Right now, we're just...

(AUDIO GAP)

O'BRIEN: ... tragic coincidence in that...

(AUDIO GAP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Well, you've heard of a happy ending and a Hollywood ending. In the case of the miners, well, they're one of the same. They've sold their rights to their real life drama to Disney, which plans to make it into what else -- a TV movie. Thomas Crawford is the lawyer representing the men. He joins us live from the Pittsburgh to tell us a little bit about it.

Mr. Crawford, good to have you with us.

THOMAS CRAWFORD, ATTORNEY FOR MINERS: Good evening.

O'BRIEN: Are you happy with the deal?

CRAWFORD: Yes.

O'BRIEN: All right, tell us a little bit about it or can you tell us?

CRAWFORD: No, it's basically -- AP reported it, but it's a $150,000 to each miner.

O'BRIEN: Could they have gotten a better deal, do you think, if they held out?

CRAWFORD: They could not.

O'BRIEN: Why not?

CRAWFORD: Nobody else was even offering anything close.

O'BRIEN: All right, what are they -- are they -- is the reaction pretty good among these nine?

CRAWFORD: Absolutely.

O'BRIEN: Yes, well, tell me. Give me a sense of it. CRAWFORD: Well, we're happy to be doing it. They're probably also happy to stop being inundated with Hollywood producers and authors or whatever who have been inundating them since they came out of the mine.

O'BRIEN: Well, tell us a little bit about this inundation. It's a bit tawdry, isn't it?

CRAWFORD: Oh, I think there's a lot of people that wanted to tell the story. Most of them that I talked to are quite sincere. They thought it was a wonderful story and they thought they all wanted to do it.

O'BRIEN: And how did you get involved in all of this?

CRAWFORD: I was asked by the miners to represent them.

O'BRIEN: All right, and did you gladly want to participate in this and negotiate this deal?

CRAWFORD: Sure.

O'BRIEN: Tell us when are we going to see something on this. When will the TV movie be on and how much impact will the miners have on how the script is molded and how the thing is shot?

CRAWFORD: Well, to answer your first question, I suspect it'll come out sometime in November, but I really don't know. And it kind of depends on what ABC and producers do more than what the miners do.

O'BRIEN: Tell us about other things. Are we going to see books, that kind of thing or...

CRAWFORD: The literary rights have been sold. Whether they get an author and write the book or not is truly up to Hyperion.

O'BRIEN: Is this the way it should all end, happy ending and head to the bank?

CRAWFORD: Well, I think, most certainly most of these fellows really have a problem going back to the mine. This has certainly helped them find other skills and other work.

O'BRIEN: I don't think anybody could begrudge them a penny after what they've been through. Thomas Crawford, thank you very much for being with us and good luck to you and your clients as they continue telling their story to the world. We appreciate you being with us.

CRAWFORD: Thank you. Take care.

O'BRIEN: All right, time for us to take a break. Up in smoke -- a mother goes to great lengths to get her sons to kick the habit, but has she gone too far? Has she embarrassed her boys? Plus, a virus that is spreading. West Nile on the move. We'll talk to an expert about this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Earlier we asked -- "Why does someone in the United States stop smoking every eight seconds?" The answer, they die. According to the Anti-tobacco Campaign, TheTruth.com, a smoker dies every eight seconds in this country.

For most parents, nothing is too extreme when it comes to keeping their children safe and healthy. But as all parents know, by the time they are teenagers, you can't watch your kids 24 hours a day. And that has prompted a Wisconsin mother to take some rather unusual steps. Jenna Mueller of CNN affiliate, WTMJ, has the story from West Bend, Wisconsin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAREN PAAPE, MOTHER: So I went up to their room with my camera and I said, "Smile boys. If you don't want to smile, that's OK too." "Mom, what are doing now?"

JENNA MUELLER, WTMJ CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Here's what Karen Paape was doing, making this warning sign for anyone who would buy or sell her 16-year-old boys cigarettes. She put up the posters of twins, Gavin and Brad, at area gas stations.

PAAPE: Are you absolutely out of your mind, my dad calls me because I think he thinks that it's going to cause a lot of trouble, you know, rather than help.

MUELLER: It's certainly causing people around town to talk.

CHARONNE KALUZNY, RESIDENT: When I was a kid, I sort of wish my parents would have done that or some of the other people in the community would have spoke up.

JULIE SCHMIDT, RESIDENT: I think it's kind of extreme measures, yes. I think talking to your kid, trusting them, you know, supporting them...

MUELLER (on-camera): This Mobil station is one of the gas stations where Paape put up the poster. She had it right here, but you can see it's not here anymore because one of her sons, Gavin, actually came in and tore it down.

PAAPE: I knew he would. I've got more where that came from.

MUELLER (voice-over): They came from her computer and she's making more until she hears one thing.

PAAPE: That they say, "Mom, we don't smoke anymore. I had a drag yesterday and it made me sick." Good. That's why I want to hear it.

MUELLER: Until that happens, Paape hopes everyone hears this...

PAAPE: You can't mess with a mother and her children.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: And that report came from Jenna Mueller of our affiliate WTMJ and we thank her for that.

We have just gotten some video in that we'd like to share with you. It allegedly shows those two former America West pilots we told you about, a few minutes ago, at the bar the night before they were accused of being drunk before takeoff. The men were with four or five other people who ran up a $142 bar tab. Both pilots are pleading not guilty and are free on $7,000 bail. The trial, as we told you at the top of our program, is now set for October 21.

Confirmed cases of West Nile Virus in Louisiana are expected to increase by 20 or more by tomorrow. And that's the word from David Hood, the state's health secretary. Four people have already died in the -- of the disease in the state and 58 others have come down with it. There are also confirmed cases in Texas and Mississippi. A short while ago, I spoke with Jim Hughes, the director of the National Center for Infectious Diseases. I started off by asking him if the current West Nile Virus season is more serious than previous ones.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM HUGHES, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Well, this is the fourth year that we have encountered West Nile Virus in the United States. So far, this year, we are aware of 88 cases in people of West Nile Virus infection. These cases have occurred in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. This is more cases than have occurred in any of the three previous years.

In addition, cases have occurred earlier in the year, this year. So we are concerned about what the remainder of the year holds in store for us.

O'BRIEN: All right, so larger numbers earlier in the year -- one of the deaths that I have taken note of, a relatively young person, mid 50's. What does this all add up to? For those of us in a lay audience, we might come to the conclusion this is becoming much more serious. Would you agree?

HUGHES: Well, the virus -- we're seeing the virus, this year, in some new geographic areas. And East Texas and Louisiana and Mississippi are areas where we've encountered a good bit of mosquito- born disease in the past, different viruses than West Nile, but this is a part of the country that is particularly susceptible to mosquito- born virus transmission. So it's very important that we work with our state and local partners to strengthen surveillance and ensure that all appropriate action is being taken to minimize the risk of virus transmission...

O'BRIEN: Is it accurate to say that all appropriate action is being taken right now? Is there enough funding out there, enough troops out there doing their job to try to stem the tide of this West Nile?

HUGHES: Well, we're working very hard with the Public Health officials in the three states to ensure that they have the resources and the capacity that they need to address this issue. It is a challenge though and there's much more work that needs to be done.

O'BRIEN: How worried should we all be about this? What can we do individually to protect ourselves?

HUGHES: Well, there are many things that people can do to minimize their risk of infection with this and other mosquito-born viruses. First, it's important that people not be complacent. I think there's been a tendency in this country over the years to think of mosquito-born diseases as problems in other parts of the world. But we have mosquitoes present in the United States that are perfectly capable of transmitting not only West Nile Virus but Genji Virus, Yellow Fever Virus and even the parasite, Malaria. So we need to take issues related to mosquito exposure seriously and take precautions to minimize the risk of being bitten by mosquitoes.

O'BRIEN: All right, some good words to the wise here. Dr. Jim Hughes, who's the director of the National Center for Infectious Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control, thanks for being with us today.

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Despite years of study, scientists continue to debate the cause of an environmental disaster that killed millions of fish in waterways along the U.S. and mid-Atlantic coast. CNN science correspondent Ann Kellan looks at some newly released research.

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ANN KELLAN, CNN SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hard to forget these (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and the hundreds of millions of fish killed in North Carolina and Maryland during the 90's. At the time, scientists said peristeria; a microscopic organism was to blame, that it released a poison into the water, killing fish. Even some people working around the waters suffered symptoms.

UNIDENTIFIED VIRUS VICTIM: At first, I developed some sores on me. I really didn't think nothing of it. Finally, it took for me to go to my own doctor and I dropped in his office.

KELLAN (on-camera): Five years after the last major outbreak and scientists are still deeply divided about how peristeria kills. Two studies just realized, one in the journal, "Nature," the other in the proceedings of the National Academy of Science has claimed that peristeria based studies did not kill by poisoning fish, but physically attacking them.

WOLFGANG VOGELBEIN, VIRGINIA INSTITUTE OF MARINE SCIENCE: The organism has this intensive swarming response where it is attracted to the fish, actively swims towards the fish. It attaches to the skin by a little structure called a peduncle and then, it actively feeds on the skin. And in a very short order, it can denude a fish completely of the skin.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We set out to find the toxin and we didn't expect to conclude that there wasn't one.

KELLAN (voice-over): The issue has polarized scientists. Joanne Burkholder is a pioneer of peristeria research. She agrees that peristeria can physically kill, but says there is a more deadly strain out there that can poison too.

JOANNE BURKHOLDER, N.C. STATE UNIVERSITY: These two laboratories were using benign strains. They used the wrong strains of peristeria not the toxic strains.

KELLAN: They do agree this one-celled organism, the so-called, cell from hell, is a killer that's been lying low lately. Whether or not scientists can control it when it reemerges depends on understanding how it kills.

Ann Kellan, CNN, Atlanta.

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O'BRIEN: In a moment, we'll have the results of our "Web Question of The Day." Stay with us.

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O'BRIEN: Well, there's truth in advertising and then, there's the naked truth. You could say our "Picture of The Day" combines them both. Nudity Theory, if you will. Or the question is -- the only thing these men wore as they streaked through this rugby game in Sydney, Australia was the logo for Vodafone. The mobile phone company is apologizing to the teams and the fans today, admitting it hired the men to pull off a P.R. stunt. They just didn't realize it would be so wrong, shall we say? I guess you call them the scrum of the Earth.

Time now to hear from you. On Iraq's possession of weapons of mass destructive, Olsen writes, "Explain to me why the U.S. is the only country that gets to have weapons of mass destruction. Why shouldn't every country have the capability to defend itself? Either everyone should have them, or no one should."

Chas points out, "It must not be forgotten that the U.S. and Britain sold Iraq the means with which to produce chemical and biological weapons to use during its war with Iran. Isn't it a little late for the U.S. to say Saddam can't use such weapons?"

We appreciate your input. Keep those letters coming. CNN comes out on top in a new poll on media credibility we have to tell you about. The Pew Research Center asked more than 13,000 -- excuse me, 1,300 adults to rate major U.S. news organizations and once again, CNN ranked highest for believability with more of those asked, saying they believe all or most of what they see on CNN than on any other news outlet. The CBS news magazine, "60 Minutes" came in second. ABC's "20/20" was third, followed by C-SPAN and then MSNBC.

That's all the time we have for today. Tomorrow at 5:00 Eastern, American Flight 587, what really caused that plane to crash over Queens? I'm Miles O'Brien. On behalf of Wolf Blitzer, who's off today, thanks for being with us.

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