Child Found Handcuffed to Porch, Suspect Works for Social Services; Missing Family Found Buried in Desert; The Tiniest Victims of Haiyan
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back now to our live coverage. I'm Don Lemon. Thank you so much for joining us. You're not going to believe this story. We're going to begin with a story that every veteran, even veteran police officers are calling shocking. A couple in Union County, North Carolina in jail this hour after a deputy sheriff found a child handcuffed to a porch of their home by the ankle with a dead chicken hanging around his neck. You heard me right. Dead chicken. CNN's Rosa Flores joins me now. You have some additional information about this and about the mother, but I can't believe this story.</s>ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know. It's like, where do you even begin? There are many shockers in this story, but one of those shockers, Don, is that this mother works for social services. So above everything, she works for social services, and even though she was not there at the time that the deputies arrived, she is accused of being complicit in the mistreatment of those children. Now, take a look at your screen. Here are their mug shots. Dorian Lee Harper and Wanda Sue Larson, both 57 years of age, now facing intentional child abuse, inflicting serious injury, false imprisonment and cruelty to animal charges. Wanda Sue Larson is also charged with willful failure to discharge her duty as a public official. You see, she is currently employed as a supervisor with the Union County Department of Social Services. Here's the back story, folks. Authorities were responding to an animal services complaint next door when a police officer walked up to this, an 11-year-old child secured to the front porch by the ankle by what appeared to be handcuffs. Now, authorities also say that the child had a dead chicken hanging around his neck. Five children were removed from this residence, four adopted children and one foster child. Now, the child that was handcuffed to the porch was the foster child. All the kids are in the custody of social services, and a social services agency outside of this county. CNN has requested comments from the union county government and the public information officer from that government agency tells us that they cannot comment about this incident at this time, because of course all of this is under investigation, Don. And there's a lot here to investigate.</s>LEMON: They arrived, the police got there, it wasn't about the child, it was an animal services complaint. Right? How is that unfold? What happened?</s>FLORES: So here's the lowdown in other words. So, the police officer arrives, the deputy arrives, he sees this child that's been secured by the ankle to the porch. So he approaches and he asks this man, why is the child, you know, secured to the porch? And by the way, do you have an ID? So when this is happening, a child opens the door to the house and dogs come out. This forces the deputy to retreat to his cruiser. By that time, by the time he comes back, the child is not secured anymore, and the chicken is now on top of the barrel that's also on the porch. So then backup arrives. Of course, they look at the conditions of the house, and that's when the children are taken into custody. And so is the parent.</s>LEMON: And all of these and a woman works for social services. So, what happens next? Where does this go from here?</s>FLORES: Well, they have their first appearance in court on Monday, and they're being held on bond. But the details are disturbing.</s>LEMON: Yes. Make sure you follow this. This is unbelievable. Rosa Flores with that story. I hate to start off with such a disturbing note, but it is news. I appreciate it Rosa. We're going to move on to something that we're watching on new developments on that. A California family of four that disappeared in 2010 no longer missing. But this is not a good news story either. Police yesterday uncovered the remains of a mom, a dad and their two boys from a desert grave 100 miles from their home. This awful discovery doesn't answer any of the questions about what happened to them. CNN's Nick Valencia has more now.</s>NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For three years, it's been a mystery that has escaped law enforcement and haunted loved ones. Where is the McStay family? But on Friday, a big development after a discovery in the California desert.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Excavating the site and through the years of dental records, we were able to identify the adult victims as Summer and Joseph McStay. We believe the other two sets of remains are that of the boys.</s>VALENCIA: To better understand this story, you have to go back to February 4, 2010. The last day Joseph Summer and their two boys Gianni and Joseph, Jr. were seen. After ten days, police visited their Southern California home. No signs of a forced entry. Only some food and their two dogs were inside.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MAN: There was no damage to any furniture. No blood, no violence, nothing broken. You know, no indication of a struggle.</s>VALENCIA: The McStays had vanished without a trace.</s>BLANCHE ARANDA, SUMMER MCSTAY'S MOTHER: I want them to come home.</s>VALENCIA: Then surveillance video surfaced, showing a family of four fitting their description crossing to border into Mexico. Their car was also found a couple of blocks away from the border. But that's where the case went cold. With Friday's news, there still remains plenty of unanswered questions, including how they were killed and who did it.</s>MICHAEL MCSTAY, JOSEPH MCSTAY'S BROTHER: It gives us courage to know that they're together and they're in a better place.</s>VALENCIA: But perhaps now, those closest to the McStays can begin to heal. Nick Valencia, CNN Atlanta.</s>LEMON: All right, Nick, thank you very much. It has been more than a week since super typhoon Haiyan destroyed parts of the Philippines. And aid crews are still picking up bodies off the streets. I need to warn you that some of the images here you're about to see are extremely graphic. Families are guarding the dead as more cadaver dogs arrive. The U.S. military has 9,000 troops on the ground delivering supplies and helping the injured, there's also relief coming in from around the world, places like Saudi Arabia, Israel and Australia. As of right now, the official death toll is just over 3,600 people, but that number is expected to grow. And then there's the tiniest victims of the storm. What some are calling storm babies. Infants born immediately after the storm who are holding on for dear life right now. Some of them wrapped in plastic, just to keep warm. CNN's Ivan Watson is in Tacloban airport right now. Ivan, what are you seeing?</s>IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, of course it's been more than a week since this storm, and the city behind me, Tacloban, which has been the scene of so much drama and tragedy, still very much lies in ruins, despite the fact that aid has started to ramp up. Many more flights and ships arriving evacuating people and bringing in assistance. But this town city of more than 200,000 inhabitants and the surrounding countryside have been shattered, Don. It's forcing Filipinos to improvise and it's pushing these communities to the limit.</s>DR. LESLIE ROSARIO, ATTENDING PHYSICIAN: Mostly now, mechanical ventilator, especially for these babies, and then suction machine, incubators for prematures.</s>WATSON (voice-over): Tiny, fragile cocoons. This little girl was born just a few hours ago, and she's six weeks premature. During our visit, some good news. Little James' health has stabilize and he graduates from the ICU to rejoin his mother. (on camera): Is this your first son?</s>CATHERINE PINDOT, NEW MOTHER: Yes.</s>WATSON: How do you feel?</s>PINDOT: Happy.</s>WATSON (voice-over): Doctors say most of the newborns here are healthy. But during what should be a moment of joy, parents also face uncertainty. Many have seen their homes destroyed, so they rest amid the pews. While next to the altar, Dr. Rosario says, baby Mososisa's chances are not good.</s>ROSARIO: Right now, the baby is -- very poor condition, critical condition. So, certainly a poor prognosis for this baby.</s>WATSON: There is little more Jeniah Mososisa can do now but pray for her daughter's life.</s>LEMON: Ivan, when will some of those babies be able to make it to a real hospital with the supplies that they need to survive?</s>WATSON: Well, as I asked the doctor there, the most -- the babies that are in critical condition, she says it would be a terrible idea to move them. They're not stable enough. So, you know, that move could actually kill them. The bulk of the infants in that room, they can move. They're healthy theoretically, so there's nothing really stopping them as long as they're not forced to be out under the hot sun or anything like that, for the near future. But those little children, they can't really move anywhere. You know, we looked into other aid organizations, they've looked into trying to help in this little chapel, perhaps providing a small generator or something. But the doctors there are not the original doctors that are assigned and that normally work in that hospital. Those doctors, their families are also victims of the storm. So the doctors have come in from other cities and they don't even know where the equipment is that you would need to properly treat these babies, even if we could give them electricity from a mobile generator. So unhappy situation, Don.</s>LEMON: It's a terrible situation. Ivan Watson, Tacloban, Philippines. Thank you, I appreciate your reporting. We'll get back to you. You know, it is a terrible thing, tens of thousands of people are homeless, some hungry people surviving on coconut juice alone. If you want to help the typhoon survivors, go to cnn.com/impact for more information. Toronto's mayor vowing to keep his job after admitting to smoking crack cocaine. His city council wants him gone, so do most of the city's residents. We'll going to hear from his brother who is standing by his side, next. And actor Alec Baldwin making headlines twice this week. In the first set of headlines, he's a victim and the second set, he's the accused.