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American Morning
California Teen Killed in Baseball Bat Attack; National Guard Drug Smuggling Scandal
Aired April 14, 2005 - 08:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. It is just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. In just a few minutes, more on that terrible situation in California. A 13-year-old boy is now accused of beating another child to death with a baseball bat after being teased about losing a game. We're going to talk with one of the coaches from that night about exactly what happened.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: So sad, too.
O'BRIEN: Terrible story.
HEMMER: We are also going to continue a story we talked about yesterday. Silicone breast implants could be making a comeback. A surprise decision. An FDA advisory panel saying some are safe for the market. They turned down one company; they said yes to another. A bit of confusion on the conditions, too. And we'll talk to Sanjay in a moment about what's happening on that story.
First, though, the headlines. Back to Carol Costello. Good morning to you.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good morning to all of you.
"Now in the News," the family of Jeffrey Ake is awaiting word on his condition. The Arabic language network al Jazeera aired video of the abducted American. He was taken from a work site on Monday in Baghdad. U.S. officials are said to be working on his release.
Eric Rudolph will be sentenced to four consecutive life terms this summer, this after he pleaded guilty to four bombings in Birmingham, Alabama and in Atlanta, Georgia. As part of a plea deal sparing Rudolph from the penalty, in a statement, Rudolph called his crimes part of a war against abortion, homosexuality and the U.S. government.
Authorities near Tampa, Florida, working this morning to try to determine if there's a possible link between a missing 13-year-old girl, Sarah Lunde and a convicted sex offender. David Onstott is set to appear in court today on an unrelated charge. He apparently once dated Lunde's mother. In the meantime, there are new images of Lunde, showing her with family and friends. You see her there. The search resumes for her this morning.
And after years of telling athletes to drink water, some doctors are now saying don't drink too much. Some research shows some runners are drinking too much water in sports drinks and that dilutes their blood and could cause potentially fatal health problems. Doctors say quench your thirst, just don't guzzle that water. The study appears today in the "New England Journal of Medicine." And that just confuses me further.
HEMMER: I would agree with you. Sports drinks, I get it, so much sugar in that. But water? Come on.
O'BRIEN: Yes, because it's all about the issue of diluting the salt in your body. And there was a runner in the New York City Marathon who died that way. Do you remember the story?
HEMMER: Really?
O'BRIEN: Yes, that's true.
COSTELLO: But many other runners die from not drinking enough water.
O'BRIEN: Right. I think what they said was that there was some of the runners who are actually going pretty fast for me, but slow for them, which would be the four and five hour marathoners. So that they end up almost gaining weight during the marathon, because they're drinking so much much, they drink like 13 bottles of water. Which is way too much.
COSTELLO: Well, they should stop.
O'BRIEN: They need to, kind of, you know, moderate. But yes, it's weird, isn't it?
HEMMER: Counterintuitive.
O'BRIEN: Thanks, Carol.
Well, Palmdale, California, trying to come to grips with a deadly attack that took place in one of the unlikeliest places, a youth league baseball diamond. 15-year-old Jeremy Rourke was killed on Tuesday night when a friend of his, a pitcher for a pony league team, hit him over the had the with a bat after losing a game.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The boy pulled out a bat and he, like, kind of hit him once in the side and once up around the neck, and then he just hit him really with tremendous force to the head. I just -- I saw his head just -- sounded like a pumpkin getting hit with a bat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: The 13-year-old suspect is under arrest this morning. Joining us this morning to talk about what he saw that night is Tony Trevino. He is the coach of one of teams in that game. Mr. Trevino, thanks for talking with us. You just heard that witness' description, which is utterly horrifying. I mean, it sounded like a pumpkin being smashed. Do you have any idea what led up to this fight between the boys?
TONY TREVINO: Well, you know, these are 13 and 14-year-old boys, and there will be teasing and hoorawing (ph) and they like to tease each other at times. And this is a situation where the two boys lost control. Then, this is what happened, the end result.
O'BRIEN: Really, it seems like it was just the one boy who lost control, the 13-year-old who attacked the older boy, the 15-year-old. I understand that the 15-year-old victim played on your team. Is that right? And he wasn't playing that night, right?
TREVINO: No. The victim wasn't playing. He's a junior umpire out here. He was watching with his father, a couple of games. His younger brother, I believe, had been working a game that night.
O'BRIEN: Did you know both the boys involved in this dispute? I want to reemphasize that we're not releasing, of course, the name of the suspect because he is a minor in this case. Tell me a little bit about, though, the boys.
TREVINO: I've known both of those boys for probably about eight years. My son has played with them. This is a small community, so everybody knows everybody here. This is an unexpected tragedy. And I've known them for quite a while.
O'BRIEN: The 13-year-old suspect, is he a violent kid, is he a kid who had a history of problems like this? Anger problems?
TREVINO: No. No. This is a good kid that made a bad decision. He was a good athlete, a good student. And my heart goes out to all the families involved here.
O'BRIEN: You came running up and you saw the suspect, I guess, sort of leaning against a wall with his family after -- after the attack took place. How did he seem to you then?
TREVINO: He was in shock. He hadn't -- he didn't -- yes, he was in shock. He didn't realize the full -- the full specter of what was going on here.
O'BRIEN: Was he crying, was he talking? What was he doing?
TREVINO: Yes. He was upset.
O'BRIEN: I have to imagine that it's a tragedy, as you say, for both families here, both the family of this boy who's now in custody and obviously, the family of the boy who was killed in such a terrible way. Have you spoken to the families at all? Do you know them?
TREVINO: I know both of the families. I went to the hospital the other night, the night of the accident, and met with the victim's family and did what I could. I just gathered up my kids and my team and, you know, I want to talk to my boys later on during the day and get some closure on this. We have to learn from this. This is a tragedy. O'BRIEN: What can be learned? I mean, there were 30-some odd people, by some descriptions, standing around when this happened. Why did no one intervene when he first started tapping the boy on the legs, as witnesses described, before he then whacked him on the head?
TREVINO: Well, that's why I'm alarmed. I don't -- you know, I know there was a lot of people there. I would say 60 percent of the people had left already because we were the last game. But, you know, some say it happened real fast. And that's, you know, what people are saying. But I had concerns because you know, I've worked in institutions and I know about violence and you know, you have to de- escalate certain situations. And I don't know. You know, the ball was dropped. Something happened.
And we're living in tough times right now. And you know what, I'm a big thing on discipline and structure at this level and respect and accountability. You know, our kids have some not too good role models at times. You know, some of these athletes are way out. And our boys are watching. You know, I asked my son -- I don't know what to say, I went to the padre yesterday and said, you know, I have a responsibility to my community. You know, I haven't slept.
We're giving the wrong message. It's not about win-win-win and travel teams and special privileges and -- you know, this is not a reflection, I have to say this, on our new president or pony baseball. This is a culture. It's not just here in Palmdale, this is throughout the United States, win, win, win.
You know, I love Mike Krzyzewski and Bobby Knight and Tommy LaSorta. I'm homegrown Los Angeles, my role models were Cofax and Drysdale and Ali and the fiercesome foursome. I had decent role models. You know, these kids these days, they're getting a message that is not conducive to reality. You know, we've got to step up to the plate and coach all kids. I don't just coach my kid. I love and provide boundaries for all of my boys and I yell and scream at all of them equally during practice, of course. I don't do it during games, because you know, my goal is to build character so these boys can walk around with some integrity.
O'BRIEN: You raised lots and lots of issues. Coach Tony Trevino joining us this morning, and thanks for talking with us. Obviously a terrible, terrible tragedy to have to report this morning. Appreciate your time -- Bill.
HEMMER: About 20 minutes now before the hour. A pair of National Guardsmen are accused of smuggling drugs during a military mission. The two were charged with bringing millions of dollars of ecstasy into the U.S.
Deborah Feyerick is live in Manhattan federal court.
Deb, what's the accusation?
Good morning there.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Bill. We are talking ecstasy, we are talking 290,000 pills, worth up to $11 million on the street. Authorities say this wasn't the first time, that there are at least three other runs.
Well, who are these guys? Well, you've got Captain Franklin Rodriguez and Master Sergeant John Fong. Both of them are from New York. Both are accused of using an Air Force cargo jet to fly drugs from Germany to New York, and they were arrested yesterday, and they appeared here in federal court in Manhattan.
Authorities say the two Air National Guardsmen were on an official mission. They delivering training supplies to the Republic of Georgia. On their way back, they stopped in Germany. They allegedly went to a hotel room, and there they picked up bags and boxes filled with ecstasy. Captain Rodriguez, the pilot, then flew the plane back to New York as part of his official duties. And the master sergeant, who was part of the crew, unloaded the boxes and bags of ecstasy into the captain's private car.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTOPHER GIOVINO, DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMIN.: They were carrying drugs with them. They were apprehended by members of our strike force, as well as the Department of Defense.
CAPT. KEVIN KERLEY, NYPD STRIKE FORCE: The investigation is continuing. We believe there's no other military personnel involved in this ring. The investigation is continuing in Europe and in the continental U.S. at this time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: Authorities say that one of the men, the master sergeant, told them he was paid $10,000 for each of the trips. Both men now face up to 20 years maximum in prison and fines up to a million -- Bill.
HEMMER: Deborah Feyerick on that story this morning.
Thank you, Deb -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Well, the so-called death tax could get the death penalty. Andy explains in "Minding Your Business," just ahead. And we're Paging Dr. Gupta. After years of controversy, silicone implants could end up back on the market. The reasons behind the surprising recommendation up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: We're paging Dr. Gupta now for more on the recommendation on one type of silicone breast implants back on the market. Sanjay is at the CNN Center.
Good morning to you, good doctor.
I want, just so our viewers understand here, this advisory panel voted against one company earlier in the week and said yes to another. What was the difference in the product between these two companies?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, it's interesting, Bill. Not all silicone breast implants are the same apparently. There used to be three companies. Most people remember Dow Corning. That company subsequently went out of business after all the lawsuits. Now two other companies, Inamed was told no two days ago, and Mentor was told yes. A bit of controversy over there with the advisory committees.
Here's how one committee member put it:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. STEPHEN LI, FDA PANEL MEMBER: They're two different devices. They're made by two different companies. They chemistries are different. There's all sort of manufacturing differences; they are not the same device.
Second, this implant data, although it was short term like yesterday's, the difference is they had an extremely low rupture rate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm stunned and amazed by a bizarre decision by some of the panel who were members demanding longer term data yesterday and accepted shorter term data today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUPTA: Really interesting, the second person you were hearing from, the first a committee member, the second person actually representing Inamed Corporation, the company that was told no. Obviously disbelief there, because on one hand, they said we want longer term data. Inamed did provide that. Mentor didn't. On the other hand, the data that Mentor did provide was better. Listen, nothing is set in stone as of yet, Bill. We've been talking about this for some time now, 13 years really, since '92, since it first went off the market. The FDA advisory committee making that recommendation yesterday. The FDA still has to decide. They don't always do what the committee says -- Bill.
HEMMER: There were conditions stipulated, though, to Mentor. What did they tell that company, Sanjay?
GUPTA: Significant stipulations. And this is becoming more the norm here with a lot of these sorts of devices that are being implanted. Yes, you can implant it, but there are strings attached. Some of the strings attached specifically now, again, with mentor, if it goes through the FDA talks about educational programs for doctors and for patients, so that they want to make sure that the doctors have educational programs to try to put these in with a lower rupture rates of patients as well, get follow-up on education, continued study, five-year data review by the FDA, saying we want more studies essentially. Independent data monitoring. We don't want the company. We don't want the FDA. We want an independent organization to verify this, patient tracking.
And then probably the most controversial, Bill, MRIs to detect silent leaking. These are expensive, and they want them pretty frequently on all these people that get the silicone breast implants. So it's going to be interesting to see how that sort of plays out.
HEMMER: You are a doctor, not a businessman. However, can Inamed go back and make a different product? Could Dow get back in the game with a different product also?
GUPTA: Absolutely. And I have a feeling that they probably will. This is a huge industry, you know, hundreds of thousands, 200,000 women got these sorts of implants, you know, so people are anxious to get into this business. I think Inamed is going to come back and say, look at our data again, we have longer term data. It's good data. Put us in the game essentially.
HEMMER: All right, Sanjay, thanks for that. Next hour, to our viewers, next hour we'll talk with a woman who fought to ban silicone breast implants 13 years ago. Her story is here on AMERICAN MORNING -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Now on a follow rather on a story we told you about yesterday. The head of the Centers for Disease Control said that most of the samples of that deadly flu strain have already been destroyed. More than 4,000 laboratories around the world mistakenly received samples of the virus that caused the Asian flu pandemic back in 1957. More than a million people died back then. Even so, health officials continue to emphasize that the public is safe. The samples were part of kits that were sent to labs to help scientists identify various strains of the flu.
Andy is "Minding Your Business" this morning. He says Congress could soon kill a controversial part of the tax code. That story is up next, on AMERICAN MORNING.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: The Senate's about to consider a bill that critics say will just help the rich get richer. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" this morning.
SERWER: Good morning to you, Jack. Yes, great news for the wealthiest two percent of Americans. The House yesterday passed a bill that would permanently repeal the estate tax after 2010, when it is banned for one year. As Jack, the Senate still has to consider it to make it law.
CAFFERTY: But isn't that good for everybody, no matter the size of your estate? I mean, if it's $100 estate, it's five bucks you don't have to send to Washington, D.C. Why is it we're playing that as only the rich benefit?
SERWER: Well, because the two percent of Americans are the only people who pay the estate tax. Now, the Treasury gets about $23 billion a year from that tax. So it's about $290 billion that -- over the next decade. And some would say, given the financial condition that are condition is in, that we need those tax dollars. Other people say it creates jobs. That's what the president says.
CAFFERTY: How about they quit wasting the money we already give them instead of trying to take it out of my back pocket?
SERWER: Well, you're one of the two percent of Americans, that's great news.
CAFFERTY: No, no. I'm not suggesting I am, but I mean, there are other ways to save money besides taxing people.
SERWER: I know, I know, you're right.
O'BRIEN: Can I borrow $20, Jack?
SERWER: No, you didn't mean it that way. He did not necessarily mean it that way.
Another story here that's kind of fun. Yesterday are the ASMEs, the American Society of Magazine Editors Awards. It's kind of like the Academy Awards for magazine publishers. Yes, I know, not quite as glamorous. Except we have Martha Stewart there. She came to Waldorf Astoria, rousing applause. She won an award, so she's now an award- winning house arrestee, An award-winning house arrestee, Martha Stewart. Now this is critical, here, because this a full-length picture of Martha in the middle with a couple of magazine editors. And look, can we see any signs of ankle braceletage?
CAFFERTY: There's a picture in the "New York Daily News," where you can see it very clearly. She's taking a step when the "Daily News" snapped the shot. And it's very visible beneath her pant leg.
SERWER: Well, you know, the photographers -- he mentioned the photographers following her around like this, trying to take pictures of her ankle. That's kind of strange stuff.
CAFFERTY: Well...
SERWER: Anyway. No, I know where you're going, actually.
Let's talk about the markets quickly. A downer yesterday for investors. Dow off 100 points plus. You can see here. This morning, though, might have a better start. Gas prices have been falling and also the weekly jobless report came out slightly rosier. So we hope we get a nice start to the trading sessions.
CAFFERTY: Oil's coming down a lot, right? Now 50 bucks a barrel or something.
SERWER: Yes, 58. It's come down a lot.
CAFFERTY: So that's a good deal.
SERWER: Indeed. CAFFERTY: Thanks, Andy.
SERWER: You're welcome.
CAFFERTY: Time for "The File." Massachusetts permits same sex marriage, but not in prison. The state department of corrections has denied permission for two male inmates to get married. According to "The Boston Globe," S.E. Billingsley (ph), I think it is, and Bruce Hat (ph) asked to be married in February, but were denied because of serious security concerns. The prison facility's superintendent explained in a letter to these two clowns, quote, "A marriage between two residents would have a direct impact on the orderly running of the facility."
SERWER: They're probably going to get married, anyway.
CAFFERTY: No kidding. They probably already are.
Scientists have mapped -- this is a good story. Scientists have mapped the human genome and now genetics researchers have begun a five-year project called the genographic project, which will create a map of human migration patterns. Researchers will collect gene samples from 100,000 people all around the world, and they hope to reveal patterns in the DNA that will show the migratory paths of our ancestors and how they populated the planet.
You can take part in this thing for $100. The National Geographic Scoiety offers a genographic project public participation kit. You submit an anonymous sample of your DNA and then you're allowed to follow your geographic origins as the project develops. Pretty cool. New DNA studies say that all humans descended from an African ancestor who lived 60,000 years ago.
That's kind of a neat idea. I like that.
SERWER: Good swabbing footage.
CAFFERTY: Here's one more, in keeping with the usual stuff we do in "The File." Better looking kids get better care and attention than ugly ones. The researchers at University of Alberta in Canada figured this out by watching kids and their parents in supermarkets. The researchers watched to see if the child was buckled into the grocery cart and how often the kid wandered away more than ten feet from the parent.
The researchers graded each kid on a scale of one to 10 in attractiveness. The results are these. Over 13 percent of the most attractive youngsters were buckled in, compared with only one percent of the ugly ones. The observers also noticed that the less attractive children were allowed to wander farther away and more often from their parents, perhaps were even encouraged to do so, who knows.
SERWER: I wonder about that science. I mean, sitting in a supermarket in Canada and looking at ugly kids? What are they doing?
CAFFERTY: Hey, everybody has to be some place. We're here. The researchers are...
(CROSSTALK)
SERWER: That's true. We're ones to talk.
HEMMER: Spring is here and so, too, is the allergy season. Do not worry. You do not have to live with the symptoms. Mr. and Mrs. We've got tips today on how you can protect yourself in "House Call." That's ahead in a moment here. Top of the hour on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired April 14, 2005 - 08:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. It is just about half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. In just a few minutes, more on that terrible situation in California. A 13-year-old boy is now accused of beating another child to death with a baseball bat after being teased about losing a game. We're going to talk with one of the coaches from that night about exactly what happened.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: So sad, too.
O'BRIEN: Terrible story.
HEMMER: We are also going to continue a story we talked about yesterday. Silicone breast implants could be making a comeback. A surprise decision. An FDA advisory panel saying some are safe for the market. They turned down one company; they said yes to another. A bit of confusion on the conditions, too. And we'll talk to Sanjay in a moment about what's happening on that story.
First, though, the headlines. Back to Carol Costello. Good morning to you.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Good morning to all of you.
"Now in the News," the family of Jeffrey Ake is awaiting word on his condition. The Arabic language network al Jazeera aired video of the abducted American. He was taken from a work site on Monday in Baghdad. U.S. officials are said to be working on his release.
Eric Rudolph will be sentenced to four consecutive life terms this summer, this after he pleaded guilty to four bombings in Birmingham, Alabama and in Atlanta, Georgia. As part of a plea deal sparing Rudolph from the penalty, in a statement, Rudolph called his crimes part of a war against abortion, homosexuality and the U.S. government.
Authorities near Tampa, Florida, working this morning to try to determine if there's a possible link between a missing 13-year-old girl, Sarah Lunde and a convicted sex offender. David Onstott is set to appear in court today on an unrelated charge. He apparently once dated Lunde's mother. In the meantime, there are new images of Lunde, showing her with family and friends. You see her there. The search resumes for her this morning.
And after years of telling athletes to drink water, some doctors are now saying don't drink too much. Some research shows some runners are drinking too much water in sports drinks and that dilutes their blood and could cause potentially fatal health problems. Doctors say quench your thirst, just don't guzzle that water. The study appears today in the "New England Journal of Medicine." And that just confuses me further.
HEMMER: I would agree with you. Sports drinks, I get it, so much sugar in that. But water? Come on.
O'BRIEN: Yes, because it's all about the issue of diluting the salt in your body. And there was a runner in the New York City Marathon who died that way. Do you remember the story?
HEMMER: Really?
O'BRIEN: Yes, that's true.
COSTELLO: But many other runners die from not drinking enough water.
O'BRIEN: Right. I think what they said was that there was some of the runners who are actually going pretty fast for me, but slow for them, which would be the four and five hour marathoners. So that they end up almost gaining weight during the marathon, because they're drinking so much much, they drink like 13 bottles of water. Which is way too much.
COSTELLO: Well, they should stop.
O'BRIEN: They need to, kind of, you know, moderate. But yes, it's weird, isn't it?
HEMMER: Counterintuitive.
O'BRIEN: Thanks, Carol.
Well, Palmdale, California, trying to come to grips with a deadly attack that took place in one of the unlikeliest places, a youth league baseball diamond. 15-year-old Jeremy Rourke was killed on Tuesday night when a friend of his, a pitcher for a pony league team, hit him over the had the with a bat after losing a game.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The boy pulled out a bat and he, like, kind of hit him once in the side and once up around the neck, and then he just hit him really with tremendous force to the head. I just -- I saw his head just -- sounded like a pumpkin getting hit with a bat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: The 13-year-old suspect is under arrest this morning. Joining us this morning to talk about what he saw that night is Tony Trevino. He is the coach of one of teams in that game. Mr. Trevino, thanks for talking with us. You just heard that witness' description, which is utterly horrifying. I mean, it sounded like a pumpkin being smashed. Do you have any idea what led up to this fight between the boys?
TONY TREVINO: Well, you know, these are 13 and 14-year-old boys, and there will be teasing and hoorawing (ph) and they like to tease each other at times. And this is a situation where the two boys lost control. Then, this is what happened, the end result.
O'BRIEN: Really, it seems like it was just the one boy who lost control, the 13-year-old who attacked the older boy, the 15-year-old. I understand that the 15-year-old victim played on your team. Is that right? And he wasn't playing that night, right?
TREVINO: No. The victim wasn't playing. He's a junior umpire out here. He was watching with his father, a couple of games. His younger brother, I believe, had been working a game that night.
O'BRIEN: Did you know both the boys involved in this dispute? I want to reemphasize that we're not releasing, of course, the name of the suspect because he is a minor in this case. Tell me a little bit about, though, the boys.
TREVINO: I've known both of those boys for probably about eight years. My son has played with them. This is a small community, so everybody knows everybody here. This is an unexpected tragedy. And I've known them for quite a while.
O'BRIEN: The 13-year-old suspect, is he a violent kid, is he a kid who had a history of problems like this? Anger problems?
TREVINO: No. No. This is a good kid that made a bad decision. He was a good athlete, a good student. And my heart goes out to all the families involved here.
O'BRIEN: You came running up and you saw the suspect, I guess, sort of leaning against a wall with his family after -- after the attack took place. How did he seem to you then?
TREVINO: He was in shock. He hadn't -- he didn't -- yes, he was in shock. He didn't realize the full -- the full specter of what was going on here.
O'BRIEN: Was he crying, was he talking? What was he doing?
TREVINO: Yes. He was upset.
O'BRIEN: I have to imagine that it's a tragedy, as you say, for both families here, both the family of this boy who's now in custody and obviously, the family of the boy who was killed in such a terrible way. Have you spoken to the families at all? Do you know them?
TREVINO: I know both of the families. I went to the hospital the other night, the night of the accident, and met with the victim's family and did what I could. I just gathered up my kids and my team and, you know, I want to talk to my boys later on during the day and get some closure on this. We have to learn from this. This is a tragedy. O'BRIEN: What can be learned? I mean, there were 30-some odd people, by some descriptions, standing around when this happened. Why did no one intervene when he first started tapping the boy on the legs, as witnesses described, before he then whacked him on the head?
TREVINO: Well, that's why I'm alarmed. I don't -- you know, I know there was a lot of people there. I would say 60 percent of the people had left already because we were the last game. But, you know, some say it happened real fast. And that's, you know, what people are saying. But I had concerns because you know, I've worked in institutions and I know about violence and you know, you have to de- escalate certain situations. And I don't know. You know, the ball was dropped. Something happened.
And we're living in tough times right now. And you know what, I'm a big thing on discipline and structure at this level and respect and accountability. You know, our kids have some not too good role models at times. You know, some of these athletes are way out. And our boys are watching. You know, I asked my son -- I don't know what to say, I went to the padre yesterday and said, you know, I have a responsibility to my community. You know, I haven't slept.
We're giving the wrong message. It's not about win-win-win and travel teams and special privileges and -- you know, this is not a reflection, I have to say this, on our new president or pony baseball. This is a culture. It's not just here in Palmdale, this is throughout the United States, win, win, win.
You know, I love Mike Krzyzewski and Bobby Knight and Tommy LaSorta. I'm homegrown Los Angeles, my role models were Cofax and Drysdale and Ali and the fiercesome foursome. I had decent role models. You know, these kids these days, they're getting a message that is not conducive to reality. You know, we've got to step up to the plate and coach all kids. I don't just coach my kid. I love and provide boundaries for all of my boys and I yell and scream at all of them equally during practice, of course. I don't do it during games, because you know, my goal is to build character so these boys can walk around with some integrity.
O'BRIEN: You raised lots and lots of issues. Coach Tony Trevino joining us this morning, and thanks for talking with us. Obviously a terrible, terrible tragedy to have to report this morning. Appreciate your time -- Bill.
HEMMER: About 20 minutes now before the hour. A pair of National Guardsmen are accused of smuggling drugs during a military mission. The two were charged with bringing millions of dollars of ecstasy into the U.S.
Deborah Feyerick is live in Manhattan federal court.
Deb, what's the accusation?
Good morning there.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Bill. We are talking ecstasy, we are talking 290,000 pills, worth up to $11 million on the street. Authorities say this wasn't the first time, that there are at least three other runs.
Well, who are these guys? Well, you've got Captain Franklin Rodriguez and Master Sergeant John Fong. Both of them are from New York. Both are accused of using an Air Force cargo jet to fly drugs from Germany to New York, and they were arrested yesterday, and they appeared here in federal court in Manhattan.
Authorities say the two Air National Guardsmen were on an official mission. They delivering training supplies to the Republic of Georgia. On their way back, they stopped in Germany. They allegedly went to a hotel room, and there they picked up bags and boxes filled with ecstasy. Captain Rodriguez, the pilot, then flew the plane back to New York as part of his official duties. And the master sergeant, who was part of the crew, unloaded the boxes and bags of ecstasy into the captain's private car.
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CHRISTOPHER GIOVINO, DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMIN.: They were carrying drugs with them. They were apprehended by members of our strike force, as well as the Department of Defense.
CAPT. KEVIN KERLEY, NYPD STRIKE FORCE: The investigation is continuing. We believe there's no other military personnel involved in this ring. The investigation is continuing in Europe and in the continental U.S. at this time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: Authorities say that one of the men, the master sergeant, told them he was paid $10,000 for each of the trips. Both men now face up to 20 years maximum in prison and fines up to a million -- Bill.
HEMMER: Deborah Feyerick on that story this morning.
Thank you, Deb -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Well, the so-called death tax could get the death penalty. Andy explains in "Minding Your Business," just ahead. And we're Paging Dr. Gupta. After years of controversy, silicone implants could end up back on the market. The reasons behind the surprising recommendation up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
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HEMMER: We're paging Dr. Gupta now for more on the recommendation on one type of silicone breast implants back on the market. Sanjay is at the CNN Center.
Good morning to you, good doctor.
I want, just so our viewers understand here, this advisory panel voted against one company earlier in the week and said yes to another. What was the difference in the product between these two companies?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, it's interesting, Bill. Not all silicone breast implants are the same apparently. There used to be three companies. Most people remember Dow Corning. That company subsequently went out of business after all the lawsuits. Now two other companies, Inamed was told no two days ago, and Mentor was told yes. A bit of controversy over there with the advisory committees.
Here's how one committee member put it:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. STEPHEN LI, FDA PANEL MEMBER: They're two different devices. They're made by two different companies. They chemistries are different. There's all sort of manufacturing differences; they are not the same device.
Second, this implant data, although it was short term like yesterday's, the difference is they had an extremely low rupture rate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm stunned and amazed by a bizarre decision by some of the panel who were members demanding longer term data yesterday and accepted shorter term data today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUPTA: Really interesting, the second person you were hearing from, the first a committee member, the second person actually representing Inamed Corporation, the company that was told no. Obviously disbelief there, because on one hand, they said we want longer term data. Inamed did provide that. Mentor didn't. On the other hand, the data that Mentor did provide was better. Listen, nothing is set in stone as of yet, Bill. We've been talking about this for some time now, 13 years really, since '92, since it first went off the market. The FDA advisory committee making that recommendation yesterday. The FDA still has to decide. They don't always do what the committee says -- Bill.
HEMMER: There were conditions stipulated, though, to Mentor. What did they tell that company, Sanjay?
GUPTA: Significant stipulations. And this is becoming more the norm here with a lot of these sorts of devices that are being implanted. Yes, you can implant it, but there are strings attached. Some of the strings attached specifically now, again, with mentor, if it goes through the FDA talks about educational programs for doctors and for patients, so that they want to make sure that the doctors have educational programs to try to put these in with a lower rupture rates of patients as well, get follow-up on education, continued study, five-year data review by the FDA, saying we want more studies essentially. Independent data monitoring. We don't want the company. We don't want the FDA. We want an independent organization to verify this, patient tracking.
And then probably the most controversial, Bill, MRIs to detect silent leaking. These are expensive, and they want them pretty frequently on all these people that get the silicone breast implants. So it's going to be interesting to see how that sort of plays out.
HEMMER: You are a doctor, not a businessman. However, can Inamed go back and make a different product? Could Dow get back in the game with a different product also?
GUPTA: Absolutely. And I have a feeling that they probably will. This is a huge industry, you know, hundreds of thousands, 200,000 women got these sorts of implants, you know, so people are anxious to get into this business. I think Inamed is going to come back and say, look at our data again, we have longer term data. It's good data. Put us in the game essentially.
HEMMER: All right, Sanjay, thanks for that. Next hour, to our viewers, next hour we'll talk with a woman who fought to ban silicone breast implants 13 years ago. Her story is here on AMERICAN MORNING -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Now on a follow rather on a story we told you about yesterday. The head of the Centers for Disease Control said that most of the samples of that deadly flu strain have already been destroyed. More than 4,000 laboratories around the world mistakenly received samples of the virus that caused the Asian flu pandemic back in 1957. More than a million people died back then. Even so, health officials continue to emphasize that the public is safe. The samples were part of kits that were sent to labs to help scientists identify various strains of the flu.
Andy is "Minding Your Business" this morning. He says Congress could soon kill a controversial part of the tax code. That story is up next, on AMERICAN MORNING.
Stay with us.
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O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: The Senate's about to consider a bill that critics say will just help the rich get richer. Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" this morning.
SERWER: Good morning to you, Jack. Yes, great news for the wealthiest two percent of Americans. The House yesterday passed a bill that would permanently repeal the estate tax after 2010, when it is banned for one year. As Jack, the Senate still has to consider it to make it law.
CAFFERTY: But isn't that good for everybody, no matter the size of your estate? I mean, if it's $100 estate, it's five bucks you don't have to send to Washington, D.C. Why is it we're playing that as only the rich benefit?
SERWER: Well, because the two percent of Americans are the only people who pay the estate tax. Now, the Treasury gets about $23 billion a year from that tax. So it's about $290 billion that -- over the next decade. And some would say, given the financial condition that are condition is in, that we need those tax dollars. Other people say it creates jobs. That's what the president says.
CAFFERTY: How about they quit wasting the money we already give them instead of trying to take it out of my back pocket?
SERWER: Well, you're one of the two percent of Americans, that's great news.
CAFFERTY: No, no. I'm not suggesting I am, but I mean, there are other ways to save money besides taxing people.
SERWER: I know, I know, you're right.
O'BRIEN: Can I borrow $20, Jack?
SERWER: No, you didn't mean it that way. He did not necessarily mean it that way.
Another story here that's kind of fun. Yesterday are the ASMEs, the American Society of Magazine Editors Awards. It's kind of like the Academy Awards for magazine publishers. Yes, I know, not quite as glamorous. Except we have Martha Stewart there. She came to Waldorf Astoria, rousing applause. She won an award, so she's now an award- winning house arrestee, An award-winning house arrestee, Martha Stewart. Now this is critical, here, because this a full-length picture of Martha in the middle with a couple of magazine editors. And look, can we see any signs of ankle braceletage?
CAFFERTY: There's a picture in the "New York Daily News," where you can see it very clearly. She's taking a step when the "Daily News" snapped the shot. And it's very visible beneath her pant leg.
SERWER: Well, you know, the photographers -- he mentioned the photographers following her around like this, trying to take pictures of her ankle. That's kind of strange stuff.
CAFFERTY: Well...
SERWER: Anyway. No, I know where you're going, actually.
Let's talk about the markets quickly. A downer yesterday for investors. Dow off 100 points plus. You can see here. This morning, though, might have a better start. Gas prices have been falling and also the weekly jobless report came out slightly rosier. So we hope we get a nice start to the trading sessions.
CAFFERTY: Oil's coming down a lot, right? Now 50 bucks a barrel or something.
SERWER: Yes, 58. It's come down a lot.
CAFFERTY: So that's a good deal.
SERWER: Indeed. CAFFERTY: Thanks, Andy.
SERWER: You're welcome.
CAFFERTY: Time for "The File." Massachusetts permits same sex marriage, but not in prison. The state department of corrections has denied permission for two male inmates to get married. According to "The Boston Globe," S.E. Billingsley (ph), I think it is, and Bruce Hat (ph) asked to be married in February, but were denied because of serious security concerns. The prison facility's superintendent explained in a letter to these two clowns, quote, "A marriage between two residents would have a direct impact on the orderly running of the facility."
SERWER: They're probably going to get married, anyway.
CAFFERTY: No kidding. They probably already are.
Scientists have mapped -- this is a good story. Scientists have mapped the human genome and now genetics researchers have begun a five-year project called the genographic project, which will create a map of human migration patterns. Researchers will collect gene samples from 100,000 people all around the world, and they hope to reveal patterns in the DNA that will show the migratory paths of our ancestors and how they populated the planet.
You can take part in this thing for $100. The National Geographic Scoiety offers a genographic project public participation kit. You submit an anonymous sample of your DNA and then you're allowed to follow your geographic origins as the project develops. Pretty cool. New DNA studies say that all humans descended from an African ancestor who lived 60,000 years ago.
That's kind of a neat idea. I like that.
SERWER: Good swabbing footage.
CAFFERTY: Here's one more, in keeping with the usual stuff we do in "The File." Better looking kids get better care and attention than ugly ones. The researchers at University of Alberta in Canada figured this out by watching kids and their parents in supermarkets. The researchers watched to see if the child was buckled into the grocery cart and how often the kid wandered away more than ten feet from the parent.
The researchers graded each kid on a scale of one to 10 in attractiveness. The results are these. Over 13 percent of the most attractive youngsters were buckled in, compared with only one percent of the ugly ones. The observers also noticed that the less attractive children were allowed to wander farther away and more often from their parents, perhaps were even encouraged to do so, who knows.
SERWER: I wonder about that science. I mean, sitting in a supermarket in Canada and looking at ugly kids? What are they doing?
CAFFERTY: Hey, everybody has to be some place. We're here. The researchers are...
(CROSSTALK)
SERWER: That's true. We're ones to talk.
HEMMER: Spring is here and so, too, is the allergy season. Do not worry. You do not have to live with the symptoms. Mr. and Mrs. We've got tips today on how you can protect yourself in "House Call." That's ahead in a moment here. Top of the hour on AMERICAN MORNING.
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