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So Many Bodies, So Few Clues; Major Day In Space History; 2011 Budget Cuts Revealed; New Homes For The Space Shuttles; Debt Ceiling Armageddon; Silver Lining In High Gas Prices; Sex Slavery & Voodoo in Italy

Aired April 12, 2011 - 13:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Randi Kaye who is in for Ali Velshi. Hey, Randi.

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Suzanne, thank you.

Well, too many bodies not enough clues. A desolate beachfront on New York's Long Island for months, maybe years, a dumping ground for a possible serial murderer.

That's where we start this hour, the scene of the latest grisly discoveries representing at least the ninth victim and maybe even the ninth and tenth victims whose remains have been found since December. All the remains were found on the side of Ocean Parkway, linking beaches and a wildlife sanctuary on Barrier Island (ph), just a few miles from New York City.

And geography isn't all they have in common. The first victims found and identified were all young women who had been missing since as far back as 2007. They also were prostitutes who advertised their services online and whose bodies reportedly were found in burlap sacks.

My colleague, Allan Chernoff, joins me now, for "Two At The Top". He's at Jones Beach where police at the moment are not. Allan, what happened to the search today?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, the police were out early this morning in a helicopter looking overhead to see if there was anything else that they wanted to check out by land. They didn't see anything of interest.

As you said, yesterday, grisly discoveries. They found both a skull and a set of bones, separate areas, about a mile and a half apart. So, the work right now is in the laboratory, the forensics. Those bones are at the medical examiner here in Nassau County, and the other sets of bones are in the Suffolk County medical examiner. The bones that have been discovered over the past two weeks, four (ph) other individuals.

KAYE: Allan, if we could, let's back up to exactly what prompted these searches in the first place. How did all of this begin?

CHERNOFF: Well, this all began with this very woman, Shannon Gilbert, a woman who was working as a prostitute, lived in Jersey City, New Jersey, she had come out here to the town of Oak Beach, it's about 12 miles down from where I'm standing right now along this Barrier Island. She was visiting a client, ran out, came to a neighbor of that client, he called the police, she ran out apparently reportedly hysterical and she was never seen again. The police have not found her. They have not yet identified any of the remains as hers.

KAYE: And in terms of clues, what do we know about what police know about the killer?

CHERNOFF: Well, the first four sets of human remains found back in December, they were all found fairly close to each other, right off the highway behind me. The other remains, they've been in different areas further away, miles apart. So, that's one item.

Also, the first four women had shown signs reportedly of being strangled. So, that would seem to point to a pattern by this supposed killer of killing these -- of how he would kill these prostitutes, and, of course, all of these women had advertised online, so there's a pattern over there. But, again, police don't know if it's one person, several people. They're still working this case, it's been a very tough one, it's been ongoing for almost a year now.

KAYE: Gruesome story to be covering, but Allan Chernoff, we appreciate it, thank you.

And today is a major day in space exploration history. Fifty years ago today, the first man went into space, and 30 years ago today, NASA sent up the first space shuttle.

Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin blasted off into space on April 12th, 1961, and on that same day in 1981, astronauts John young and Robert Crippen took the space shuttle Columbia on its first flight. Let's take a moment and listen to these two amazing moments in history in today's "Sound Effect."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (translator): I am continuing the flight. The overload is somewhat increasing as well as the vibration, but I'm feeling well, and I'm in great spirits. I can see the earth and can distinguish the features of its terrain.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: America's first space shuttle, and the shuttle has cleared the tower.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Ironically, NASA's shuttle program ends this summer after 30 years and more than 130 shuttle missions.

And a piece of space history could be coming to a city near you. NASA is announcing the final resting place of the retiring space shuttles. We'll give you a preview in just about five minutes. We're just learning, North Korea has detained an American man. Two state department officials tell CNN that U.S. diplomats are working with the Swedish embassy in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, right now. Sweden is negotiating on behalf of the U.S. which has no diplomatic relations with South Korea.

The state department is urging North Korea to release the man on humanitarian grounds. Swedish officials have visited the man and are asking for a regular visit. He's apparently been held since November.

Retired Army General Stanley McChrystal is teaming up with the White House to help military families. The first lady and the vice president's wife, Dr. Jill Biden, are launching a program called Joining Forces. The president and vice president joined them to make the announcement just minutes ago at the White House.

McChrystal, who was relieved from duty as the top military commander in Afghanistan last year, will serve as an unpaid adviser to the first lady's initiative. Mrs. Obama said the campaign is a large- scale effort to ensure military families have the support they need and enlist all sectors of society from communities and businesses to nonprofits and charities as well.

Congress lifted the veil today on the details of the budget deal they struck late Friday to avoid a government shutdown. The spending plan cuts nearly $40 billion from a wide range of programs and services, that would make this the single biggest cut ever made to the federal budget in one year.

The hardest hit are the departments of transportation, housing, commerce, justice, labor, and health and human services. They all lose billions of dollars in funding.

Lawmakers also agreed to cut $3 billion in funds for high-speed rail. Another $3 billion for highway construction, social welfare programs aren't spared either. They cut more than $500 million from WIC, a program that subsidizes food for children of low-income families.

But the defense department and veterans affairs both got a boost. We'll break the budget down in much more detail for you in the next hour.

The Georgia state senate passed a bill aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration. It would allow police officers to check the immigration status of certain suspects, but senators removed a measure that would have required private employers to verify the legal status of a new employee.

The Georgia bill is partly patterned after a tough new law that went into effect in Arizona, you may recall, last year. That controversial law in Arizona has triggered massive protests and debate, but a federal appellate court upheld a previous ruling to suspend parts of the law on Monday. That included the requirement that local police officers should check a person's immigration status while enforcing other laws. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a collision between two planes at New York's JFK airport last night. Watch this, you can see an Air France airbus 380, the world's biggest passenger jet, clip a smaller plane while taxiing to the runway. The collision forces the smaller delta plane to spin, there it is, about 45 degrees. Just seconds later, the pilots radioed air traffic controllers.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 553, (INAUDIBLE) just hit us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Super A-380 I understand he believes he hit the regional jet and I understand they're evacuating the regional jet.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

KAYE: Jim Bittermann happened to be on board the Air France jumbo jet heading to Paris.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

JIM BITTERMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the slight rumble and it felt to me like, you know, maybe they hit a rough patch or pavement or something like that, but the pilot immediately stopped the plane.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

KAYE: The accident damaged the airbus's left wing and parts of the Delta plane, but no one, though, was injured.

Speaking of airlines and safety, our social media question for today is would you pay more to fly on a newer airplane? Join the conversation on our blog CNN.com/Ali, and you can also post on Ali's Facebook and Twitter pages and my Facebook and Twitter page as well. We'll share your comments later on in the show.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: NASA is phasing out its space shuttle program this summer, so what happens to all those retiring shuttles? Well, dozens of museums across the country are hoping to get their hands on them and land a piece of space history. John Zarrella is live at the Kennedy Space Center visitor complex for us today, and John, I understand you've got the scoop, you know who is getting a shuttle.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we sure do, and you know, sadly, there just aren't enough vehicles to go around, these iconic winged flying vehicles, and they're going to be a lot of places that are disappointed, some that thought for sure they were getting one. And this is what I've been told by sources at NASA that the shuttle Enterprise which is sitting currently at the Smithsonian, and that was the very first shuttle, it was the one that did drop tests, it never actually flew into orbit. It is going to the Intrepid air and sea museum in New York. Discovery, which is already returned flew its last flight already, is going then to the Smithsonian to replace the Enterprise. Endeavour which is going to go to the California Science Center in Los Angeles, that is a nonprofit organization, private government museum that is going to get the shuttle Endeavour. And the final shuttle, Atlantis, is coming here, to the Kennedy Space Center, and it will fly the final mission later this summer in the space shuttle program.

So, Atlantis is coming here, Endeavour is going to California, and Smithsonian gets Discovery" and Enterprise will go to New York's Intrepid Museum -- Randi.

KAYE: And John, if you could, just put this in some perspective for us, I mean, this is a pretty big deal. This is like getting the Super Bowl, this is a boom (ph) to tourism for a lot of these communities, right?

ZARRELLA: For all of those locations, there's no question about it. Here they expect at least 200,000 additional visitors every year. Fifteen million dollars generated and poured into the local economy. New York expected that they would get something like 300,000 visitors every year, and I'm sure the numbers at the California Science Center will be the same for Endeavour.

I think, you know, one of the big losers in all this, a couple of big losers, the Johnson Space Center in Houston did not get a shuttle, and Dayton, Ohio, the air force museum there, which was thought to be a favorite in the running, did not ultimately get the -- get a space shuttle.

NASA administrator Charlie Bolden is going to make the official announcement in probably the next 10 to 15 minutes. He's here at the Kennedy Space Center just a few miles from here. A lot of NASA employees are gathered at that location where the announcement will be made, but you're right, Randi, huge economic impact to the locations that are going to get the space shuttles -- Randi.

KAYE: John Zarrella for us with that breaking news. Thank you, John.

President Obama's big mistake. How is the White House responding to cries of hypocrisy over the debt ceiling? We'll get to the bottom of it with our Ed Henry. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back.

Armageddon. That's the word the White House is using to describe what will happen if Congress doesn't raise the debt limit. And there's plenty being said about Senator Obama's no vote on a similar request back in 2006. So, let's bring in senior White House correspondent Ed Henry, as we do at this time every day.

Ed, great to see you. What is going on at the White House with this ratcheting up of the rhetoric? ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you.

Well, look, the White House is trying to make this as stark as possible and prepare for the president's big speech tomorrow when he makes the pitch, not just for increasing the nation's debt ceiling, lifting that, but laying out some sort of a broader vision on deficit reduction. They're saying essentially the sky's going to fall. Interest rates are going to get hurt. The markets will be rattled if we don't lift the nation's debt ceiling, allow the government to borrow more money and basically have the United States potentially default to its creditors around the world.

What Republicans are shouting now is hypocrisy since, as you say, as a senator, Barack Obama, in 2006, voted against lifting the nation's debt ceiling, said he was lodging a protest vote against President Bush's policies on the debt. Republicans say, look, we're doing the same thing right now and this is why, you know, they don't believe in President Obama's spending policies.

And so the bottom line is, Jay Carney, yesterday, tried to say, look, the president regrets that vote in 2006. He now believes this is the right thing to do is to move forward on this. But I think all eyes are going to be on the president tomorrow to see whether he actually puts some real details on the table tomorrow. Not just broad principles, but is he going to get specific about spending cuts, about tax increases to dig the nation out of this big debt hole.

KAYE: Well, speaking of tomorrow, Ed, I mean how specific do you expect him to get? Do you have any inside information on that?

HENRY: So far, White House officials are keeping it very close to the vest and suggesting that this is going to be about the president's approach, not necessarily line by line details. That could be a missed opportunity if that is how it pans out, because very clearly the nation is looking for some leadership right now on this very issue.

The president has an opportunity here, which is to get up tomorrow and say, look, there are some of his fellow Democrats on the left who don't want any more spending cuts. They saw some of the $38 billion in cuts from last week in that budget deal. They don't want to see any more.

There are some on the right that don't want to see any tax increases on the rich. The president has a real opportunity to run in the middle here and say, let's do a little bit of both because that's the only way, ultimately, to solve the problem.

By the way, that sets him up pretty well for 2012 by saying, look, I'm the grown-up here. We'll see if he actually does that.

KAYE: And I know he's had certainly a busy day today. Tell us about the -- a little bit about the event that the president had and that he was hosting today.

HENRY: Well, it's interesting, he was just -- he and the vice president and their wives were kicking off an event, a new initiative by both the first lady and Mrs. Biden, to help military families dealing with deployments in Iraq, Afghanistan, the situation in Libya, all around the world, obviously.

But what was interesting is, right before this event at the White House, I was at another event on the National Mall at the World War II Memorial, the National World War II Memorial, where Vice President Biden, other senators and whatnot, were honoring Bob Dole, the former senator, who helped really build that memorial, raise the money for it.

There was one quick story that Tom Brokaw, who was the MC, told. I think it was very telling. He was talking about the greatest generation. Bob Dole and others who have stepped up and served their country.

And Brokaw said that a few years ago when Dole was raising money for this memorial, he spoke to a Hollywood mogul who they thought was going to turn over a big multimillion dollar check for this memorial. But instead the mogul said, I've got other priorities right now. And Brokaw said that Dole turned to this mogul and said, you know what, when I was 22, I had other priorities, too. But then I went to war.

That's the kind of service that the greatest generation provided, not just in the war, but then in their public service here in Washington later. We'll see whether this president, whether some of the senators, the speaker, both parties are going to step up in that same way now, Randi.

KAYE: Well, we're certainly looking forward to finding that out.

Ed Henry at the White House on the stakeout for us. Thank you, Ed.

About 21 minutes past the hour. Updating developments in our top stories now. Police are examining what appears to be a human skull found on the outskirts of a bird sanctuary in Long Island, New York. Potentially the ninth or maybe even the tenth set of remains discovered in the probe of a suspected serial killer. The discoveries are about five miles from where eight other sets of human remains were found.

Japan has declared the Fukushima Daiichi crisis a level seven event on the international scale for rating nuclear accidents, putting it on par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the former Soviet Union. Japan's prime minister vowed to end the crisis at all costs.

According to a senior Pakistani security source, Pakistan has temporarily stopped cooperating with American intelligence officials after the upset caused by the arrest and release of CIA contractor Raymond Davis, who fatally shot two Pakistanis earlier this year. Drone strikes have also caused problems in the U.S./Pakistani relationship.

Paying more for gas can be a hardship, right? Well, believe it or not, you may actually be benefiting from those high gas prices. Sounds pretty crazy, right? Well, stick around, we'll tell you more next. And maybe, you never know, you might be convinced.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Gas prices are now at a national average of $3.79 a gallon according to AAA, approaching an all-time high. Well, no one likes to pay more at the pump. But, believe it or not, some say there are benefits to paying high gas prices. Stephanie Elam joins us now from New York.

Stephanie, is there really a silver lining here for high gas prices? I don't believe it.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You may have to look really, really hard and get out your magnifying glass, Randi, and see if you can really see it, but there could be one. And it's not just the obvious one. I was like, I know everyone's going to say fuel efficient cars or oil companies.

But let's start with state budgets, because we know they're facing huge deficits and we know many of them are in dire straits and we're talking about a collective shortfall of $112 billion for fiscal 2012. But a handful of states stand to benefit from higher gas prices because they fully or partially apply general sales tax to gasoline. So the more it costs, the more money they take in. And those higher revenues, well, they can benefit residents in the form of better roads and other state services.

Now, another silver lining here, believe it or not, there are actually fewer traffic fatalities. Think about it, people are driving less. That means fewer accidents and fewer deaths. A study by the University of Alabama and Harvard's Medical School arrived at this conclusion. Listen to this. For every 10 percent increase in gas prices, driving fatalities are reduced by 2.3 percent.

And, actually, that's not the only health benefit of higher gas prices. An economics professor at the University of Carolina says paying more at the pump can actually lower obesity. And the theory here is that if you're driving less, you might walk more or bike more. And if you're paying more for gas, you can't afford to eat out as often as you may like. So according to this professor's study, a permanent $1 increase in gasoline prices will reduce obesity in this country by as much as 10 percent.

Now, of course, there's also the environment, which stands to gain, too. Less driving equals less pollution. But, honestly, Randi, I mean, seriously, none of this is going to make anyone feel better about paying more at the pump and it could have a big impact on your wallet and the economy. Nevertheless, perhaps the next time you head to the pump, especially down there in Georgia where there's a lot of driving going on, maybe you'll think of these silver linings and feel a little bit better about what you're paying.

KAYE: Yes, and I think, you know, I think about my heart and the stress that it causes my heart when I'm in traffic. So maybe if we all drive a little less because of those high gas prices, we'll all be a little bit healthier, right?

ELAM: Yes, well that's the idea behind it. I mean even if you just did it one day a week, I'm sure it would help out a lot of people emotionally as well so they're not --

KAYE: Oh, yes.

ELAM: You know, cussing at the bad driver next to them.

KAYE: All right, Stephanie, I think you did convince me. You found that silver lining. Thank you. Appreciate it.

ELAM: Yes! Sure.

KAYE: Well done, my friend.

Be sure to join Christine Romans for "Your Bottom Line" each Saturday morning at 9:30 Eastern. And don't miss "Your Money" with Ali Velshi Saturdays at 1:00 p.m. Eastern and Sundays at 3:00.

People living in parts of the Midwest are scrambling to save their homes and the flooding, well, it's getting worse. The latest on that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Let's get you caught up on the latest headlines and the stories you may have missed.

In Long Island, police are expanding their search into another county for more possible victims of a suspected serial killer. They uncovered what could be the remains of a ninth or tenth victim on Monday. Investigators are examining what appears to be a human skull found at a bird sanctuary. Since December, they have found the remains of eight women in Suffolk County, just east of where officers are searching today.

Two State Department officials tell CNN, North Koreans have detained an American man. U.S. diplomats are working with the Swedish Embassy in the North Korean capital right now. Sweden is negotiating on behalf of the U.S. as intermediary since the U.S. does not have diplomatic relations with North Korea. The State Department is urging North Korea to release the man on humanitarian grounds. Swedish officials have visited the man and are asking for regular visits to continue.

Today marks the anniversary of the first human spaceflight and the first shuttle flight. On the anniversary of those two historic events, NASA revealed just a short while ago where the retiring shuttles Discovery, Endeavour and Atlantis will call home. Atlantis, which will fly the last planned shuttle mission in June, will be displayed at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor's Complex in Florida. Discovery is promised to the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum. Enterprise will move to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York City, while the Shuttle Endeavour, which is preparing for its final flight at the end of the month, will go to the California Science Center in Los Angeles.

Parts of the Midwest are under heavy flooding. Red River that borders Minnesota and North Dakota flooded the area around Fargo, North Dakota. In Cass County, north of Fargo, residents placed sandbags along flooded streams and roads, and used all-terrain vehicles just to reach their homes. Three people have died in Minnesota, while the U.S. Coast Guard says it has rescued five other people.

In Egypt, a blogger is sentenced to three years in prison. An Egyptian military court handed down the sentence to Michael Nabil Monday morning. Nabil, who was critical of the army, was arrested last month on charges he had defamed the military and was spreading false information. Human Rights Watch is denouncing the sentencing, calling it one of the worst strikes against free expression in Egypt.

Up next, a possible link between one form of breast augmentation and false readings on mammograms. We'll tell you all about it just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: It was a real-life nightmare for a Nevada woman and it could be a cautionary tale for the rest of us.

The woman says he dropped her mother off at this Las Vegas office for cosmetic surgery, but when she came back eight hours later, her mother was gone. The office locked, and even the furniture inside the office was different.

The mother turned up dead in a local hospital, and police are investigating her death now as a murder.

They arrested this man, and his wife, at the Las Vegas airport preparing to board a flight for Columbia. Police say the husband claims to be a homeopathic doctor in Colombia, but he's not licensed to practice medicine in Nevada.

Let's bring in senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen.

Elizabeth, this is such a terrifying story, but this is a case of an unlicensed medical practitioner, really, it sounds like he was operating out of this makeshift clinic.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: And he was preying on people in his own community who trusted him because they were a part of his community. It sounds like he told them that he was a doctor and they didn't check it out.

And she had what's called a buttock augment, and that involves big shifts in fat and it can be deadly. People so die sometimes in these surgeries when they're not done the right way. This time it wasn't even done by a licensed surgeon. I mean, it's criminal what they did to her.

KAYE: Even thought if you are seeing a licensed doctor, there is some risk. So I s there a way, though, that you can protect yourself from something like this?

COHEN: Yes.

So first of all -- first of all, I should say it's criminal what they allegedly did to her, because obviously this hasn't been adjudicated, so I'll add that there.

So yes, whenever you're going to have plastic surgery, I mean, this goes without saying, make sure they are a medical doctor. All right? They need to have an M.D. after their names, and not just in their office. You need to Google the doctor and make sure they are actually licensed to practice medicine.

And this is actually much easier to do than you think. There are Web sites that have, you know, state-run Web sites that are run by state boards of medicine.

But there are a couple of other things that you need to do. You want to make sure they're board certified. So they should be board certified in plastic surgery in this. You don't want, you know, I don't know, an ear nose and throat doctor doing a breast augmentation. You want to make sure --

KAYE: Right, they know what they're doing.

COHEN: Right, that they're board certified in this.

You want to check the surgeon's record, which, again, you can do through state medical licensing boards. All of them have Web sites.

And also, ask if the doctor has hospital privileges. This part needs a little explanation. The picture we just saw, they were thing operating out of a shack is what it basically looked like.

Plastic surgeons often operate out-patient, in out-patient clinics. Often, that's OK, but you want them to at least have hospital privileges because that means that a hospital has looked at them and said, OK, you're all right, we'll let you operate here. If this doctor does not have privileges at a hospital, run the other direction.

KAYE: And I think a lot of the places are probably -- I'm guessing, but I would imagine, they are probably a lot less expensive than some of the top doctors. So that's probably why a lot of people think, hey, a better deal. But when it comes to something like this --

COHEN: You don't want to get a better deal.

KAYE: -- cheaper is not going to be better.

COHEN: Right. This is surgery. This is not fast food. You want someone who knows what they're doing and who is taking the time to do it right.

So really, one of the gold standards here for figuring this out is ask the doctor if they have hospital privileges. Call the hospital and say, does, you know, Dr. John Smith really have privileges with you, and then you can rest a lot easier. If a hospital lets them operate there, you know that they've at least jumped over certain hurdles.

KAYE: All right, I want to get to our other really important topic regarding false positives when it comes to mammograms for certain types of breast augmentation.

What's that about?

COHEN: Right, there are various ways to do breast augmentation. And one of them, and this is relatively new, is you take fat, usually from the hips, and you put it in the breasts. And it's actually, in many ways, a very clever way of doing it, because you get sort of thinner hips at the same time.

KAYE: What a deal?

COHEN: Right, what a deal, two for the price of one. And it has -- the surgeons who do it says it has a great safety record and the patients are very happy with the results.

But apparently what's been happening is that then, when these women later have mammograms, the mammograms spot something that looks like cancer when actually it's just dead fat cells, that they sort of mimic each other.

KAYE: And we know what happens after that.

COHEN: You have to have a biopsy.

KAYE: Which can be very invasive, right?

COHEN: You have to have an invasive biopsy, another surgery, basically, to check that out. And so this is sort of a downside, if you will, to this particular type of surgery.

Now it doesn't seem to happen all that often, but still, going in, you should know that. If you are going to choose this type of surgery, know in advance that this might happen later on. And make that decision being an empowered patient, being fully informed that this is what could happen later.

KAYE: I know a lot of women who do have breast implants also get an ultrasound. Will something like that maybe help them, at the same time when they get a mammogram?

COHEN: That's an idea, you can talk to your doctor, would an ultrasound help in my situation, would an MRI help. Just lay it all on the table for the doctors. Say this is the kind of breast augmentation I had, does that mean that I should do things differently than other women.

KAYE: All right, Elizabeth Cohen, thank you. Two very important stories, appreciate it. COHEN: Thank you.

A promise of paradise, a reality of forced sex and the fear of black magic. An underside of Naples, Italy that may just shock you coming up right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: What had been feared in Japan and the roast of test of the world is now fact. The severity of the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has been raised from five to seven, the highest level on an international scale, putting it on par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

The move, by Japan's nuclear regulator, was based on the massive release of radioactivity since the plant was damaged by a powerful earthquake and tsunami in March. Officials at Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency say that the amount of radiation released so far equals only 10 percent of the release at Chernobyl.

Others officials say the new rating is based on the initial impact of the accident and doesn't take into account that levels have since dropped. They also say no deaths have resulted from the leaks at Fukushima, and risks to humans are believed to be low.

Imagine if you can a world where women seeking a better life are offered promising jobs in a foreign country only to end up trapped as sex slaves. Add to that nightmare, the fear of voodoo and you have the glimpse of the life of thousands of women in Italy.

Diana Magnay's report is part of a year-long CNN freedom project aimed at helping the fight to end modern-day slavery.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT : I'M Diana Magnay in Naples, Italy.

Now by far, the largest group of women trafficked into this country for sex are Nigerians. They started arriving in the mid-1980s promised a European paradise. And after the fall of the iron curtain, they were joined here by Eastern Europeans, Albanians, especially, Moldovans, Romanians and Ukrainians.

A paradise turned ugly, but there's an extra dimension of fear that those Nigerian women live under that their European counterparts do not, and that is voodoo spells. The Italian police think that traffickers of Nigerian women don't have to exert the same kind of physical force over them because of this spiritual holds that those black magic rituals exert.

It's difficult to put a number on how many women are trafficked into this country, but between 2000 and 2008, around 60,000 women called the authorities asking for help as victims of trafficking and that is only those who are brave enough to ask. But victims of sex trafficking in this country, if they do go to the police, can be granted a six-month residency permit, and that's far longer than many other European countries, something that NGOs that deal with the problem praise as an example of extremely progressive immigration policy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: That was CNN's Diana Magnay reporting from Naples, Italy.

Be sure to tune in each day at this hour for more reports on modern-day slavery and what is being done to end it. You can find out much more about the CNN Freedom Project by going to our Web page of CNN.com/freedom.

Time right now, 44 minutes past the hour, and it is time to update you on so of the developing stories that we're watching.

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was hospitalized a short time ago in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh, that's where he's been reportedly staying since he relinquished power in February. The 82-year-old Mubarak has had several medical problems in the recent past. His condition is unknown at this point.

The medical examiner in Nassau County on Long Island is testing a set of bones found during an expanded search of the area to see if there's a tenth victim in a possible serial killer case. A skull was found yesterday making it nine victims so far. The medical examiner hasn't yet determined if another set of bones found in the search is actually human.

Cisco Systems is getting rid of the once-popular flip camera as part of their plan to refocus the company on service. Smartphones cut into the flip's popularity and profits it turns out. Cisco will also shed a web platform for musicians and media companies as well as more than 500 jobs.

All right, take a look at this. Imagine being able to bend and twist and fold a lightweight iPad or Kindle just like I'm doing here with the cover. Imagine being able to do that to the iPad itself so it goes right into your bag or maybe even your pocketbook. It may sound futuristic, but flexible electronic displays are in development right now and could hit the market as soon as this year.

Joining me for more via Skype is Nick Colaneri, the director of the Arizona State University Flexible Display Center. Nick, this is really cool. Can you show us one of the screens and tell us how it works?

NICK COLANERI, DIRECTOR, ARIZONA STATE UNIVERISTY FEXIBLE DISPLAY CENTER: Sure. I can show you one of the prototypes that we're developing here. I've got a small version -- I think I heard you mention the Kindle, it's the same technology in this prototype. The way it works is that we take out a piece of glass that's in every display, in every electronic device that you can think of. And we replace it with a piece of plastic that we put electronics on. KAYE: And did you come up with this idea, or who are you working with to come up with the technology?

COLANERI: No, the idea has been around for a number of years. I should say that the Flexible Display Center is a consortium of 30 different companies, and so there are lots and lots and different technologies: materials technologies, electronics technologies, manufacturing technologies that all needed to be brought together, and that's the idea of having the center that we can focus that activity.

KAYE: It looks cool, and it certainly is convenient. I mean, how great would it be to sort of bend your iPad or your Kindle and just put it in your bag or your pocket? But there has to be a bigger use than that, right? This will be used in real life in the Army or in the field somewhere?

COLANERI: That's right. And if you think about it, glass is heavy, and it kind of breaks. And the things we do to make it more robust when we put it in electronic devices like an iPad just tend to add more weight. So, especially in the Army, but even in our daily lives, if we want the electronics we have to be lighter weight and virtually anywhere we can think of, then you need to figure out how to get that glass out of there, and that's really the problem we've been focusing on.

In the long run, we're thinking about things like we say The Harry Potter Newspaper, a newspaper that really comes to life while you're reading it, so the whole thing compresses down into a single sheet.

KAYE: So, if you were to drop something like this, obviously, then it's not going to crack like glass?

COLANERI: That's exactly the point.

KAYE: And so, these aren't on the market yet, or are they?

COLANERI: No, they're not on the market yet. There's a lot of pieces of the puzzle that need to come together. But there are a couple of different companies. Big manufacturing companies that are starting to make the screens. And there are a couple of start-up companies that are starting to make devices that incorporate the screens, so I think you'll start to see things using this kind of technology probably in the next 12 months or so.

The thing is, you'll probably be kind of disappointed because you won't actually be able to bend it, because even though it will have a plastic screen in it, there will still be a bunch of other electronics in there that are pretty hard. When we make these things, you know, we build these prototype boards and they have a nice, flexible screen on them, but there's all this other electronics that is still made out of silicon and hard stuff.

So that's kind of the next frontier for us. We're trying to figure out how do you make the electronics out of stuff that is hard but doesn't break? KAYE: I want you to get on that and figure it out.

(LAUGHTER)

COLANERI: You got it. How long have I got?

KAYE: How much will these weigh? I'm curious.

COLANERI: Well, so the electronics are not going to change a whole lot, but you can see the screen that's made out of plastic weighs a lot less than a piece of glass, maybe a tenth of that. If I can figure out how to take all that other electronics and replace it with plastics stuff, then I can get something that's like a piece of paper, as when you said when you started out the bit.

KAYE: All right. Nick Colaneri, this is really cool. We'll continue to follow it. I look forward to seeing it on the market. Thank you very much for the explainer.

COLANERI: You bet.

KAYE: And for more about flexible screens, visit our blog at CNN.com/ali.

Donald Trump hasn't officially entered the presidential race, but he's already a popular choice, it turns out, among Republicans. Just how popular, you ask? Your CNN political update in just a couple minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: So, Donald Trump seems to be the hot ticket for Republicans, and he has something new to crow about today. National political correspondent Jessica Yellin joins me now from Washington for the CNN political update. Hi there, Jessica.

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Randi. Yes, more signs of the Trump effect. A new CNN/Opinion Research Poll of Republicans finds that Donald Trump's numbers are increasing. Nineteen percent of Republicans say they would support him for president. That matches Mike Huckabee, who until now has been ranking as number one way at the top of the field. So, Trump is tied for first place with Mike Huckabee, followed by Sarah Palin, then Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney are tied for fourth at 11 percent. Of course, Romney just announced yesterday he is officially forming an exploratory committee, so he would like to see himself inching up in those poll numbers. The Trump effect, pretty powerful.

Another issue when we're talking about politics, this year is the budget. It's become incredibly political. And we know that tomorrow, President Obama is unveiling his vision for long-term deficit reduction as part of this year's budget debate. Later this week, we will see the House vote on the House Republican vision on deficit reduction.

And guess what? If there are not enough plans out there, there is another one in the works. The so-called Gang of Six. Six senators, three Republicans and three Democrats, are working privately on a compromise deal which much of Washington believes it could be the solution to all of this. Could be the answer that gets everyone on board or enough people to pass something.

Yesterday, for the first time, two members of this team revealed some of the details, and I got a chance to talk to them, Randi. They said that their plan would reduce the debt - the deficit by $4 trillion over ten years. It would also reform some Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, which will be hard for Democrats. And have some revenue increases -- hard for Republicans -- and some defense spending cuts. So, that would be sort of the Goldilocks budget everybody is looking for. The problem is, they won't say when they will make it public.

And finally, well, here in D.C., our mayor spent is the night in jail. He was arrested. Vincent Gray was arrested, but not for anything scandalous, Randi. It was because he was protesting some of the changes to D.C. rules that were passed as part of last week's budget negotiation. As part of the deal that Democrats and the White House worked out, no longer can D.C. funds be used to pay for low- income women's abortion services for women. And now there's new money for a voucher program.

The mayor says we do not want those terms dictated to us by Congress. We are our own city. We should be in charge, so he went to jail for it. He has been released. Randi.

KAYE: Very interesting story. Only in D.C., Jessica. That's all I'm going to say.

YELLIN: Only in D.C. Yes.

KAYE: All right, good to see you. Thank you.

And your next update from The Best Political Team on Television is just an hour away.

Skipping long lines and making it to that last-minute flight on time. An insider's view of avoiding airport interference, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: CNN is looking into the challenges facing air travelers today in a series we call "Fix My Flight." And today, we are checking in with Bud Workman, who spends his days at the Air Tran's ticket counter in Atlanta. Workman has some tips for a smoother check-in. One being to avoid his ticket counter.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BUD WORKMAN, TICKET AGENT, AIR TRAN: The biggest advantage I can recommend for travel is to do your homework and do your prepared (ph) at home or at your office. In other words, get your boarding pass at home, check the airline's guidelines as far as a bag, bypass the ticket counter, caryy on bags, and go straight to the gate. Give yourself plenty of time to go to the airport. Know what area of the airport you're going to need to drop off yourself to be close to the ticket counter for the flight you are on. Then from there, if you have any questions about the security line, you can go to Web site of the particular airport, and a lot of times they will tell you the wait time.

Most airlines have kiosk machines now. You can get your boarding pass. You can select a premier seat and aisle or window or that type of seat. And you can also check in the bag. You should always put your name tag with your name and your cell phone. Sometimes you can put your home address and you live in one town and you're vacationing in Florida. That is not going help us out very much.

The best thing is to prepare yourself before you actually get in line. For example, take your keys out of the pocket, your cell phone, your belts. Go ahead take those off before you get to the security line and put them your bag so when you can place them on the X-ray machine, they will slide right through. When I go shopping, I look for a belt or shoes that are called TSA-friendly. In other words, my belt does not have to come off because it is made out of a particular plastic. My shoes don't have metal contact in them. You're still going to have to take your shoes off, but it helps.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: And be sure to stay with us for another "Fix My Flight" report next hour. We will get the flight attendant's view of everything from packing for security lines to avoiding that dreaded middle seat.