Selling the Girl Next Door

CNN’s Amber Lyon Investigates Teen Trafficking in America
Amber Lyon Reports for ‘Selling the Girl Next Door’ for Sunday, Jan. 23 at 8:00pm ET & PT

Selling the Girl Next Door takes viewers into the world of underage American girls caught up in the violent sex trade. Hundreds of thousands of girls under the age of 18 are ensnared into lives of prostitution annually, according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Many are runaways or “throwaways” trapped in “the oldest profession” by pimps who sell them using modern sales and marketing techniques.
In a year-long investigation, CNN correspondent Amber Lyon reveals the devastating realities of the business of underage sex – speaking to a young teen runaway sold online from a Las Vegas hotel, the men that obsessively seek Internet sex connections, and women long into careers as sex workers who were trafficked as teens or children.
Selling the Girl Next Door debuts Sunday, Jan. 23 at 8:00p.m. ET and PT on CNN/U.S. Selling the Girl Next Door will debut on CNN International on Saturday, Feb. 5 (please check local listings for airtimes).
Along the way, Lyon interviews well-known brothel owner Dennis Hof. Hof’s sex workers describe their own dark pasts and the frightening underworld of underage sex trafficking.
Lyon also goes undercover herself, posting an online ad, and taking calls from solicitors – and Internet pimps – to understand more about how girls are victimized by traffickers.
An interactive map on CNN.com shares Lyon’s coast-to-coast journey – from Maryland, Missouri, Tennessee and Nevada – trailing runaways, finding their families, meeting sex workers, and visiting a “Johns’ school” where convicted solicitors are forced to face the social and criminal consequences of their actions.
Video previews are available at CNN.com/backpage.


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Beltway Sniper

Next week, Special Investigations Unit revisits the DC Sniper. Can you believe that its been five years since this happened? Having lived in the area that nervously awaited an arrest in the shootings, I remember the undercurrent of fear that people had during those weeks.

Below are excerpts from the CNN Press Release:

The shootings began in early October 2002 and lasted for nearly a month – a series of sniper killings that exploited the fears of a nation still uneasy from the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 only one year earlier. Five years later, anchor and special correspondent Soledad O’Brien reports the CNN: Special Investigations Unit – The Mind of the DC Snipers about how two men, John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, came to know each other and began their reign of terror. O’Brien also dissects exclusive video of Muhammad taken in prison.

The Mind of the DC Snipers will premiere on Wednesday, Oct. 10, at 8 p.m. and will replay on Saturday, Oct. 13, and Sunday, Oct. 14, at 8 p.m., 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. All times Eastern.

The documentary reveals how Malvo spent most of his early years in the tiny Jamaican town of Endeavor. O’Brien learns through exclusive interviews with the boy’s aunt, Jean Lawrence, and his father, Lesley Malvo, that Lee Malvo was a gifted student, whose troubled years seemed to begin when his mother, Una James, assumed parental custody. James, who worked as an itinerant beach vendor, appears to have been neglectful and physically abusive to the son she ultimately abandoned when he was 14 years old. Soon afterwards, Malvo met John Allen Muhammad.

Muhammad, a former U.S. Army combat engineer, who converted, along with his family to Islam, was unpredictable and temperamental, and was, by now, a fugitive. According to his ex-wife, Mildred Muhammad, he abruptly left their home in Tacoma, Wash., for Antigua with their three children without informing her. In addition to these custody issues, Muhammad appears to have supported his children by selling counterfeit passports. Muhammad’s children, speaking for the first time and exclusively to O’Brien, describe how their father integrated Malvo into their family and began training him to be guarded, distrustful of authority and eventually, a killer.

DC Snipers features interviews with law enforcement investigators who worked to solve the case under intense media scrutiny, witness reports which led to dead ends, and mishandled and leaked evidence that may have enabled Muhammad and Malvo to evade detection. Charles A. Moose, former chief of Montgomery County Police Department and now a beat police officer in Honolulu, recounts the pressures investigators felt to deliver results in this case that captured national attention.

“We’re all people; we all make mistakes,” says Moose, in his first television network interview in more than three years about the subject.

O’Brien contacted both convicted killers during her investigation. Although Malvo retracted the interview offer, O’Brien speaks to his prison social worker about his stated remorse and his on-going fears of rejection and abandonment. From Muhammad, viewers get an exclusive look at the mind of a sociopath as he describes his continued struggle for freedom.

Mildred Muhammad tells O’Brien that Malvo never had a chance against her manipulative yet charismatic husband.

“That boy was a victim before he even knew it,” she says. “His life was over when he said, ‘Hi’.”

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Jeffrey Toobin will be on BookTV on CSPAN2 this weekend talking about his new book, The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court. The program will air on Saturday, October 6, at 10:00 PM ET and Sunday, October 7, at 11:00 PM ET.

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Happy Birthday to Thomas Roberts who will be celebrating his birthday on Saturday, October 6th!

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Mystery Journalist

Can you name this CNN journalist?

Let us know who you think it is and we'll reveal this journalist's identity in Sunday's post.

CNN's Coverage of The Jena 6

A few weeks back I posted about CNN coverage on the Jena 6 case. At the end of my post I said that I was sure Susan Roesgen would be Keeping Them Honest and I was defiantly right on that one. CNN has released the following press release in regards to the up coming coverage they are planning on the Jena 6 story.

CNN, which has led broadcast networks in coverage of the “Jena 6,” will originate much of its programming this week from Jena, La., where people from around the nation will gather on Thursday, Sept. 20, for a day of demonstrations.

On Thursday, CNN’s American Morning, CNN Newsroom and Anderson Cooper 360° will carry live reports from Jena on all of the latest developments. At 8 p.m. (ET), CNN will premiere a one-hour documentary, CNN: Special Investigations Unit – Judgment in Jena, an investigation reported by Kyra Phillips examining the complex issues of this case. In addition to Phillips, the network has moved Sean Callebs, Tony Harris, David Mattingly and Susan Roesgen to the town for live reports.

For Judgment in Jena, Phillips reports on racial tensions within the small Louisiana town where whites and blacks have existed in the sort of separate-yet-civil existence typical of many rural Southern towns. Phillips interviews local residents, who have split largely along color lines in their view of the students. She will ride along with radio personality Michael Baisden and protestors on a bus from Alexandria, La., to Jena.Phillips secured exclusive interviews with District Attorney Reed Walters, who decided to pursue the adult charges for the students, and with family members of the accused. In addition, the investigation includes an interview with the mother of the white student who was beaten, and an interview with U.S. Attorney Donald Washington, who explains the charges against the Jena 6 and why hate crimes charges were not applied against the noose hangers.

“The events in Jena have become a national touchstone in race relations,” said Jon Klein, president CNN/U.S., “As we do with all major stories, CNN is mobilizing massive resources to cover this story from every angle.”

Roesgen was among the first national reporters to investigate events surrounding the “Jena 6” – five Jena High School students and a sixth student who were arrested and charged as adults following the beating of a white student. The beating followed a series of incidents that began with nooses being hung from a campus tree. The original charges against some of the Jena 6 included attempted murder, although some of these were later reduced. Viewers can playback video from the network’s early reporting on this coverage at www.CNN.com/video using the keyword “Jena.”

Also on Thursday, Callebs, one of CNN’s New Orleans-based correspondents, will report on Jena’s preparations for the day’s demonstrations for American Morning beginning at 6 a.m. (ET). Harris will join Callebs at 9 a.m. and co-anchor the morning CNN Newsroom broadcast from Jena. Roesgen will continue coverage from various locations for CNN’s afternoon and evening broadcasts. Mattingly will contribute live reports from Jena for Anderson Cooper 360°.

CNN.com Live will carry all reports throughout the day of the key events.

This week’s extensive coverage is the culmination of CNN’s continuous investigative reporting on these events over the last few months. In July, Roesgen updated her original reporting with the felony sentencing of Mychal Bell of the Jena 6. To view this report, please visit: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2007/07/01/roesgen.la.jena.6.update.affl.

To view Roesgen’s report on Bell’s overturned conviction, please visit: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2007/09/14/jenna.six.overturned.cnn.

On Sunday, Sept. 16, CNN’s Suzanne Malveaux interviewed Bernice King and Martin King III on what the case may indicate about the state of modern race relations. For video of this
interview, please visit www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2007/09/17/nr.king.intv.CNN.

Narco State: The Poppy Jihad

What do you think of when you hear someone mentions poppies? A beautiful flower in bloom?

The Wizard of Oz? Charles Santore. Poppy Field, 1991. Watercolor. From The Wizard of Oz, Jelly Bean Press, Random House, 1991.

For me, its poppies in bloom right before Memorial Day. When I was growing up, that was always the first sign that summer was right around the corner.

CNN's Special Investigations Unit: Narco State: The Poppy Jihad looks at poppies in a completely different way. As reported by Anderson Cooper, it examines the relationship between poppies, the drug war, and the war on terrorism.

Poppies are a $3 billion industry in Afghanistan. That's almost half of its Gross National Product.(source) Afghanistan is the largest producer of Opium in the world. Most of that comes from the Helmand province in the southern part of the country.

Peter Bergen pointed out in an interview that 4 years ago the Taliban was ancient history and now they're back.

Where are the Taliban gaining strength? In the provinces that are producing poppies. The money from the production of opium and heroin funds the resurgence of the Taliban.

So why not go in and destroy all of the poppy fields? Evidently, its not that easy. CNN visited the Uruzgan Province where the governor lives in a compound that is surrounded by poppy fields.

When US and Afghanistan officials talk with the leaders of the province, there is a debate on which farmers will be subjected to having their poppy crops destroyed. In the end, while attempting to destroy a poppy crop, the agents are attached and are not able to continue.

The program outlines the complexity of the issues. On one hand, NATO won't support the eradication of poppy crops. Eradicating a cash crop will cause unrest, violence, and destabilize the area. Some farmers tried raising alternative crops, but were unable to find buyers for them. Land owners force sharecroppers to grow poppies. The farmers get loaned money to support their families in return for growing and harvesting the crop.

The other side of the argument is that the poppies are funding the Taliban & terrorism. The Taliban uses the money to buy weapons. They are already trying to destabilize the Afghanistan government.

Drug enforcement doesn't stop at the poppy fields. DEA agents work with local authorities to train them to seek out and arrest those who are trafficking the drugs.

This is the raw opium that farmers harvest in the spring. The collection is done by hand and the process hasn't change in over a century.

Anderson Cooper interviewed the attorney general Abdul Jabar Sabed. Sabed is attempting to fight the government corruption that allows the drug trade to flourish.

Sabed's willingness to sign warrants for the arrest of corrupt government officials has made him a target. He's been shot at, beat up, and almost kidnapped.

This program painfully points out that although our attention has primarily been focused on Iraq over the last few years, there is still a war being fought in Afghanistan. A fight that in some areas the Taliban is winning.

CNN spent two and a half months working on this story. I was struck by the picture below where a camera man is helping an injured officer after the attack on the poppy eradication team in Uruzgan province.

If you didn't get the chance to see this excellent program, you'll probably be able to catch the repeat of it next weekend. Its well worth your time.

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Mystery Journalist

OK, my Mystery Journalist picture Friday was cropped way too much. So, let me try this again.

Is this a better clue? I'll post the answer in Tuesday night's post.

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Have you ever wondered what's going on behind the scenes during the airing of a live program like The Situation Room? Well, one day last week, Wolf Blitzer wasn't taking phone calls...

The Ellen & Wolf saga continues...

If you want to see the original clip from the Situation Room, its posted here.

Children of the Storm

I came across an article By Dave Walker that talks about the Special Investigation Unit: Children of the Storm with Soledad O’Brien and Spike Lee that aired tonight as part of CNN's coverage for the 2nd anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. I pulled out some bits of the article that caught my eye.

With an assist from filmmaker Spike Lee, CNN's Soledad O'Brien took a chance on some amateurs in hopes of getting fresh perspectives on New Orleans' recovery at K+2.
"Honestly, it was, 'How do we tell the (second) anniversary story?'" O'Brien said. "We'd just come off the first anniversary, and I thought, 'How are we going to tell the story next year?' You just can't go back and stand in front of collapsed buildings and stand in front of a levee and do it again. We might be doing that for the next 10 to 15 years. How are we going to tell the story in a way that's going to capture people and make them understand what the progress is or isn't?
"We just decided to hand out cameras to young people. I, literally one night, woke up in the middle of the night and said to my husband, 'Oh my God, I've got it. We can hand out cameras.' "
About 30 kids made the first cut for the project, O'Brien said, and that number was whittled down to the 11 who got cameras. Four -- Deshawn Dabney, Brandon Franklin, Amanda Hill and Shantia Reneau -- get the spotlight Wednesday. "We picked the right age. They were old enough to be self-reflective and young enough to be very natural. "The one thing that amazed me most of all was that they were so positive," she said. "It was a real sense of hope and future in New Orleans as opposed to, 'We're going to put on a brave face and be hopeful.'

To read the full article with Soledad click here

I found this special to be so well done. Probably one of the best Special Investigation Units done for CNN to date. Here are screen caps from tonight's show. A big thanks to Book Asylum for the caps.


You can see more videos on cnn.com from tonight's SIU

In case you did not catch it tonight, SIU: Children of the Storm will be airing again Saturday and Sunday nights at 8:00PM

Breaking News.....You Can Trust CNN!

I don’t know about you all but I always have a bad feeling when I am watching TV and the “Breaking News” icon breaks during the show I am watching. Well Wednesday night was no different. From the moment CNN broke the news of the terrible tragedy in Minneapolis of the bridge collapsing, I knew I would get the most accurate information possible as it came in and CNN did not disappoint. Through the television, blogs and CNN’s website CNN has had comprehensive coverage since the days following this breaking news

On The Air

In Minneapolis

John Roberts (American Morning - Thursday and Friday Morning)

Anderson Cooper (Anderson Cooper 360 - Thursday Night)
Don Lemon (Newsroom)
Brian Todd (American Morning)

Randi Kaye (Anderson Cooper 360 – Thursday Night)

Greg Hunter (American Morning)

Gary Tuchman (Anderson Cooper 360 - Thursday and Friday Night)

Mary Snow (Situation Room)

Soledad O’Brien (SIU – Road to Ruin – Are We Safe?)
Drew Griffin (SIU – Road to Ruin – Are We Safe?)

In New York

Paula Zahn (Paula Zahn Now - Wednesday and Thursday Night)

Randi Kaye (Anderson Cooper 360 – Wednesday Night)

Tom Foreman (Anderson Cooper 360)

Kiran Chetry (American Morning)

In Atlanta

Erica Hill (Prime News with Erica Hill)

Christi Paul (Headline News)

Fredericka Whitfield (Newsroom Wednesday Morning 1:00AM- 5:00AM)

Kyra Phillips (Newsroom)

In Washington

Wolf Blitzer (Situation Room - Wednesday, Thursday, Friday / Larry King Live - Wednesday Night)

In Los Angeles

Anderson Cooper (Wednesday Night)

Larry King (Larry King Live - Thursday and Friday Night)

Blogs

Not every story can make it on air and thankfully we have blogs that can tell us stories we might not have known about from a first hand prospective. I pulled parts from the blogs that have been posted that really got to me

What the divers might face

When I heard that a bridge collapsed over the Mississippi River, I immediately thought the worst. Growing up in Memphis, which is also on the Mississippi, I have heard the dangers of the river my entire life, including the strong currents and murky waters.

-- By Kay Jones, "360" Producer

Thinking about the families...

The atmosphere on board the flight is strange. Or perhaps I'm just imagining it. I always feel odd when traveling to a place where something terrible has happened. I keep thinking of all those families waiting for word about their loved ones. It must have been an agonizing night for them, and there are many difficult hours ahead.

-- By Anderson Cooper

Expert: Collapse was one-in-a-billion

The surveillance video seen on CNN shows an event he calls one-in-a-billion; it just doesn't happen. And yet it did.

-- By Drew Griffin, CNN Correspondent

Disabled man crashes van to save himself

Marcelo had already escaped death once as a teenager when he'd been shot in a street fight, a fight that left him paralyzed from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair. So unlike all the other terrified drivers on the bridge yesterday, Marcelo had an added problem: how would he get out of his vehicle if he managed to survive?

-- By Jordana Miller, "360" Producer

Families carry photos of missing loved ones

It doesn't take long to spot the family members still looking for loved ones. It's heartbreaking.Some carry pictures, hoping that perhaps someone will recognize their loved one. I spoke to one woman who thinks her ex-husband may be missing; he didn't return any calls. She didn't know where to turn

-- By Mary Snow, CNN Correspondent

I just met Superwoman
Hanson rushed to the scene and then jumped across rooftops to start rescuing people from the Mississippi River. If you were watching CNN's breaking news coverage Wednesday night, you probably saw her swimming in the mangled debris looking for survivors. Shanna Hanson wasn't the only human doing superhuman things Wednesday night in Minneapolis. But one person's heroics can sometimes tell the story of many.

-- By Ed Lavandera, CNN Correspondent

This one hits close to home

I frantically started dialing her cell number and it was busy. I hung up and dialed my dad, my step-mom, my sister, friends, cells, landlines ... all busy signals. I have never heard a worse noise in my life.Moments later, my dad got through to me and let me know that he and the rest of my family were OK. What he said next would become a theme I'd hear from friends and family again and again: "I would have been on that bridge at 6 p.m. tonight if I hadn't decided to pick a file up from the office in the morning instead of swinging by on the way home."
-- By Alyssa Caplan, "360" Associate Producer

To read the complete blogs, click here

CNN Website

Some of the best footage that came through to CNN came from viewers at home who sent in I-Reports right after the bridge collapsed. I-Report is celebrating it one year anniversary today and it is seemingly eerie that this happens to coincide with the Minneapolis tragedy. I want to share just a few pictures that came in from I-Reporters from all different angles as they speak louder then any words I could write.

If you want to send in pictures or videos to CNN you can click here

The last three days have been hard on everyone but most especially the residents of Minneapolis, thankfully we have had their story told with grace and compassion from our amazing team of CNN and Headline News reporters. We at All Things CNN want to thank them for all their hard work over the past three days sharing the stories of tragedy, sacrifice, heroism, loss and hope. What they have seen must have truly had an impact on their lives as it did on ours. When breaking news happens, you can trust CNN will be there and the will be bringing us the story right!!