[Daryn Kagan, Cnn Co-anchor:] How about we get started.
[Rick Sanchez, Cnn Co-anchor:] Let's do it.
[Kagan:] Take a look at what's happening right now in the news. President Bush is embarking on his second day of campaign-style stumping for his Social Security reform. This morning he's pushing his voluntary privatization plans in Omaha, Nebraska. Live picture there for you from Omaha. Then he travels on to Arkansas and Florida. Yesterday, Mr. Bush made his pitch in North Dakota and Montana. The nation's new attorney general has arrived at the Justice Department for his first full day on the job, as we look at live pictures once again from Washington, D.C. Alberto Gonzales took the oath yesterday, becoming the first Hispanic to hold the title. Gonzales's Senate confirmation was opposed by three-dozen Democrats, who questioned his role in the administration's policies and the abuse of prisoners and terror detainees. In Afghanistan, the search is on for a passenger jet, like this one, carrying more than 100 people. Three American women, employees of a Massachusetts company, are believed to have been aboard. The Boeing 737 disappeared from radar east of Kabul during a snowstorm. The Vatican says Pope John Paul II is recovering well from a respiratory infection and throat spasms that led to his being rushed to the hospital earlier this week. They say he's eating normally and may even be able to deliver a Sunday address from his hospital bed. And good morning. A happy Friday to you. I'm Daryn Kagan.
[Sanchez:] And I'm Rick Sanchez. The manhunt is under way, we should tell you this morning, for a Florida couple accused of a heinous abuse of their children. It turns out that they used pliers, and a hammer, and a stun gun. Investigators are saying those are some of the tools of torture in the hands of this Florida couple you're seeing right there. That's John and Linda Dollar. And authorities in Citrus County are saying that some of these children were so malnourished that, quote, "They looked like pictures from Auschwitz." CNN's John Zarrella is joining us now. He's been following the story and he picks it up from here. Good morning, John.
[John Zarrella, Cnn Correspondent:] Rick, still a lot of unanswered questions. Probably more unanswered questions than there are answers surrounding this entire story. But again, a manhunt is under way nationwide looking for these two people because they are believed to have abused five of the seven children who they were guardians of. A lot of questions surrounding their whereabouts. They originally came from Tennessee perhaps three or four years ago, lived very quietly in Florida until all of this emerged. And they have been charged in Florida with counts of child abuse and torture of five of the seven children.
[Zarrella:] Friends and neighbors in this Florida town are stunned by the allegations.
[Unidentified Male:] We can't understand anybody abusing children. It's just very difficult to fathom that someone would do that.
[Zarrella:] Fifty-eight-year-old John Dollar and his 51-year-old wife, Linda, are accused of torturing five of the seven children in their home, ranging in age from 12 to 16. The allegations include: malnourishment, electric shock, pulling toenails out with pliers, binding the kids with chains, and using a hammer to smash their feet. Police began their investigation two weeks ago, after one of the kids, a 16-year-old boy, was treated at a local hospital. He was bleeding from cuts on his head. And doctors noticed bruises around his neck. But what concerned them most was his weight, just 59 pounds.
[Gail Tierney, Spokeswoman, Citrus Co. Sheriff Dept:] I've seen pictures of the children that have been taken in connection with this case. And you know, I mean they have very sweet faces. But when you look at their bodies, I mean it looks like Auschwitz.
[Zarrella:] Two of the children, 14-year-old twin boys, weighed less than 40 pounds each; the weight of a typical 4-year-old. The Dollars are not the children's biological parents, but they are their guardians. The children are now in the custody of Florida's Department of Children and Families. Now, police have told us that two of those children were not abused because they were considered the favorites. Now, what you're looking at there are the one of the vehicles that authorities are looking for. That's the gold Lexus with Florida tag DH41D. It may be being pulled behind a motor home. And the motor home's tag number is also a Florida tag U06YAC, also a Florida tag. Police want to get their hands on these people very quickly. And again, still lots of unanswered questions as to where these children originally came from. In Tennessee, we believe, but that's at this point totally unclear. Did they fly below the radar here in Florida for the three plus four years that they were here, unknown to authorities as to what they were doing? This morning the police in Citrus County, the sheriff though, did tell me that they believe these children had been abused for several years. Dating back to when though, is unclear at this point. Again the children are all in the custody of Florida's Department of Children and Family Services right now. Rick, again just an awful terrifying story here in Florida.
[Sanchez:] Let's pick up with those last comments that you made about children in family services in state of Florida. We know they've had a problem in the past. John, is this case in any way related to either state care or foster care?
[Zarrella:] Well, that's the wild card right now. We've got calls out to Florida's Department of Children and Family Service waiting for calls back. We don't know at this point whether they even knew these people existed. They originally came to Florida. According to police saying they moved to Brandon, which is outside of Tampa. Lived there for two or three years. Then in August moved up to Beverly Hills, Florida, which is in Citrus County about an hour north of Tampa. So at this point we don't know any of the details as to the chronology of when they left Tennessee, if Tennessee authorities knew where they went, had they come to Florida? So everything is just a wild card right now as to who knew what when.
[Sanchez:] Yes. How they ended up with custody of these children.
[Zarrella:] Right. Right.
[Sanchez:] Which is obviously what you're getting at. John Zarrella, thanks so much for bringing us that story. We appreciate it. Daryn, over to you.
[Kagan:] Now the latest on the chilling story, the BTK killer. He has been a viewer of Kansas television station for about 30 years now. Like some viewers, he likes to write the station. But unlike other viewers, this writer may be linked to eight unsolved killings. A new post card arrived at K-A-K-E, KAKE-Television in Wichita yesterday. It's believed to be from the so-called BTK serial killer. KAKE anchor Larry Hatteberg joins us from that station's newsroom. Larry, good morning.
[Larry Hatteberg, Anchor, Kake-tv:] Good morning, Daryn.
[Kagan:] What can you tell us about this latest post card?
[Hatteberg:] We received, Daryn, the post card yesterday morning. And it is the second postcard now that we've received in two weeks. In it he talks directly to the news department here at the station. And he says, "Message: thank you for your quick response on No. 7 and No. 8 communications." And he's talking about the communications we received last week. Then he says, "Thanks to the news team for their efforts," talking directly to the news director now. And then he talks to our two main anchors Susan and Jeff. And he says, "Sorry about Susan and Jeff's colds," making reference to last week. They made a comment on the air that they both had colds. And so obviously, BTK is watching our channel as he's been doing now for some 30 year and he is communicating with us.
[Kagan:] What does he mean thank you about your quick response, or for your quick response?
[Hatteberg:] Well, I think in his communication last week, he asked if there was some way that we could communicate with him, to tell him whether or not the police department, or we had received any communication or any package from him. Well, we did receive a package from him that didn't come to the station. It came to a rural location north of Wichita. And we did receive that communication. So we went on the air that night last week and we said, yes, we did receive that communication. But we were still missing one. Because he referred to communication No. 7, up to that time we had not yet received. So we communicated with him directly on the air, and he apparently appreciates that.
[Kagan:] Well, nice to know that. Not that like you're trying to please somebody who is a potential serial killer out there. But to backtrack here, this goes back to the '70s and '80s, these eight unsolved murders that stop in 1986, then nothing is heard from this person until recently.
[Hatteberg:] Right. This is the first serial killer ever to go dormant for a decade or so, and then all of a sudden last March he reappeared. And since last March, with yesterday's postcard, there have now been nine communications with him since last March. But the real question is why did he go dormant for all those years? Did he was he in jail? Was he on drugs? Did he go off drugs? What in his life caused him to reappear? And that's the question that nobody can really answer, of course, except BTK himself.
[Kagan:] Right. Well, and of course, the big, big question is who is this person? And in an effort to look at suspects, I understand there was some question as to whether he might be a journalist. You yourself gave police a DNA test?
[Hatteberg:] Yes. I was asked to give a "swab," as they call it, DNA test to police a couple of days ago. So far here in the Wichita area, they have swabbed about 4,000 men. And the police department told me that because I've been doing a lot of network interviews on CNN and some other networks, that people have called into the BTK tip line, and says well, if he's on the network and he's talking so much about it, perhaps he's BTK. So that's the reason they've been swabbing other journalists including me.
[Kagan:] Well, I take it the fact that you're here to talk about it. You're in the clear, Larry.
[Hatteberg:] Well, I would certainly hope so.
[Kagan:] That is good news. We do appreciate your updates and your insight from Wichita, as this case continues to unfold. Larry Hatteberg from KAKE-Television in Wichita, thank you.
[Hatteberg:] Thank you.
[Sanchez:] Taking you now to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Jury deliberations have resumed in the child rape trial of defrocked priest Paul Shanley. This case is one of the most notorious in the clergy sex-scandal that shattered Boston's archdiocese for many reasons. Shanley's lawyer argues that the victim's repressed memories of being abused 20 years were planted in his mind by somebody else, and he's just carried them out. The prosecution says the memories are way too vivid to be lies. Investigators today hope to interview the pilot of that corporate jet that crashed in New Jersey that we told you about earlier in the week. The NTSB found no evidence of ice on the wings of a jet that skidded off the highway Wednesday. The plane crossed a busy highway before slamming into a warehouse. The pilot and co-pilot remain hospitalized in fair condition. The passenger in the car hit by the plane is in critical condition. The driver of that car says that he sees the accident as a sign.
[Rohan Foster, Jet Crash Survivor:] And oh, definitely. Maybe God wanted me to do something why He let me walk away from that. Because that wasn't a car run into my car, or a truck run into my car. That was a plane run me over and I'm still alive. So maybe, I suppose I have something to do. That's why I'm still alive.
[Sanchez:] Most people say it was amazing that some passengers were actually literally able to walk out of the plane's wreckage. Some crawled out. Others were pulled out. Witnesses say it was a miracle they all survived.
[Kagan:] On to another story of survival, John Phipps is out of the hospital now. He's alive to tell the tale of the horrific train crash last week in Southern California. Phipps thought he was going to die, so he used his own blood to express what was most meaning in his life. Our Ted Rowlands has his story.
[Ted Rowlands, Cnn Correspondent:] While looking for signs of life in the twisted wreckage of a commuter train crash, Los Angeles firefighters came across John Phipps trapped in the twisted rubble.
[Capt. Bob Rosario, L.a. Fire Department:] To see a live person trapped inside all this rubble and debris was pretty amazing.
[Rowlands:] After pulling him out, firefighters noticed something, a message written in blood on the back on what was left of a passenger seat. "I love my kids," it said, using the heart sign. Below that also in blood, it read, "I love Leslie." Eleven people died in the train wreck but John Phipps survived. And in an emotional meeting with his wife, Leslie and children, Shara, Jeremy and Josh, John thanked the firefighters that pulled him out. John, who still has 24 staples in his head, says blood was all over his hand when he wrote the note.
[John Phipps, Train Crash Survivor:] "I heart Leslie." Then there was a little bar above that. And I thought well, there's plenty of blood. So I wrote, "I heart my kids."
[Leslie Phipps, Wife:] It's moving and it's thoughtful, and it's chilling all at the same time to think that you would think I'm going to die here. I could die here. And to think of somebody else is amazing. It really is. And he thought of all of us. And that's just terrific.
[Phipps:] I got to tell my wife and my kids what I thought were going to be my last words. And God blessed me and made sure that they weren't my last words.
[Rowlands:] Words written by a man who, when faced with death, truly appreciated the importance of life. Ted Rowlands, CNN, Los Angeles.
[Kagan:] Looked like that wife got her early Valentine's present.
[Sanchez:] What a story.
[Kagan:] Man!
[Sanchez:] Well, still to come, another amazing story of survival. Just boars and coconuts; they managed to survive as well. We're going to take to you a remote island where tsunami victims were stranded.
[Kagan:] Plus, what kind of plan do you have for retirement? A look at how the proposed change to Social Security could affect you.
[Sanchez:] Also later, we're going be taking you to the Super Bowl, Super Bowl 39 that is. A look at what you can expect during the half time show. No, not again, you're thinking? We'll clear it up for you.