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CNN Saturday Morning News

Gas Prices Become Political; Angry Protesters In Nepal Storm Toward Capital; Army Suicide Rates On The Rise; Steven Alicea Honored By "Teen People"

Aired April 22, 2006 - 08:00   ET

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

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TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone.

Now in the news, so much happening with oil and gas prices to tell you about this morning. First, an all-time high for oil prices. Oil is at $75 a barrel this morning. Also today, OPEC oil ministers will meet to discuss these record high prices. And President Bush is pushing his plan to increase spending to develop alternative energy.

It's election day in New Orleans. Polls have just opened -- well, just about an hour now. You're looking at a picture maybe here of people heading into the University of New Orleans to cast their ballots. That's where it's happening today. Incumbent Mayor Ray Nagin faces a huge crowd of challengers in his bid for re-election. We will have live coverage from New Orleans in the next hour.

The CIA has fired one of its own claiming the employee leaked classified information to the news media. The Associated Press identifies the employee as Senior Intelligence Analyst Mary McCarthy. The leaked information lead to stories about a network of secret CIA prisons. McCarthy could face criminal charges.

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CROWD: Hey, hey, ho, ho, Bush and Cheney have got to go.

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ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: Beating drums and loud chants greeted President Bush on his visit to California on Friday. This crowd of more than 500 gathered in Silicon Valley calling for the president to resign. They called him from everything from a criminal, to a liar, to a murder.

VERJEE: And voices of protest are getting louder also in Nepal. Tens of thousands of protestors march in Kathmandu demanding an end to the king's absolute rule. The angry demonstration brought out riot police with tear gas and rubber bullets. We're going to bring you a live report from Nepal in just a few minutes.

In Iraq, what could be a turning point in a bid for power. Shia lawmakers are proposing a new candidate for prime minister. Jawad al- Maliki, seen here, would replace the current leader, Ibrahim al- Jaafari. Al-Jaafari agreed yesterday to step aside. It's hoped that the move will jumpstart the stalled political process in Iraq.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a whole bunch of people that's before, but I just had to do what I had to do. And I need gas, so I had to buy it, I guess, right?

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VERJEE: Biting the bullet at the gas pump. People all over the country feeling the pain. So will anyone pay the political price?

From the CNN Center, good morning. This is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. It's the 22nd of April, 8:00 a.m. here at CNN headquarters in Atlanta, 7:00 a.m. in New Orleans where voters are choosing the mayor. I'm Zain Verjee. I'm filling in for Betty Nguyen.

HARRIS: Yes, and good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris. Thank you for being with us.

VERJEE: What a week for anyone who drives in this country. Spiking gas prices went ballistic. Now it's get in line, open up your wallet and just pay up. Get ready for the political battle. CNN's Bill Schneider takes a look at what's fueling this latest version of the blame game.

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BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST, (voice-over): Gas stations are becoming the hot, new political prop.

SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: The price of gasoline is going up, up, up.

SCHNEIDER: $3.00 a gallon and the peak driving season hasn't even started. President Bush brought the issue up without even being asked about it. He explained that there are three reasons for the price hike.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: One, the increase of price of crude oil. Secondly, there's increasing demand. Thirdly, we're switching fuel mixes.

SCHNEIDER: Sounds like the president's saying, hey, it's nobody's fault. Many analysts are inclined to agree.

DAVID SANDALOW, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: The biggest factor in the price increase right now is supply and demand. There is huge increasing demand in China and in the United States.

SCHNEIDER: Poppycock say Democrats.

SCHUMER: A 30-cent increase is hard to explain strictly by the laws of supply and demand.

SCHNEIDER: They say somebody's up to no good. SCHUMER: I think the price gouging laws could and should be strengthened because I think there's more and more of it.

SCHNEIDER: President Bush was worried enough about the issue to add a fourth factor that might be worth looking into.

BUSH: I'm also mindful that the government has a responsibility to make sure that we watch very carefully and investigate possible price gouging.

SCHNEIDER: The president should be worried. Among voters who say the rise in gasoline prices is not causing them financial hardship, 43 percent intend to vote Democratic for Congress. Those who say gas prices are causing some hardship are voting 53 percent Democratic. Those who say gas prices are causing serious hardship are voting 64 percent Democratic. That includes 44 percent of Americans.

Experts say concern over Iran's nuclear ambitions and instability in Nigeria are driving prices up. It's hard to figure out who's to blame for that.

Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.

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VERJEE: You can expect this story to become more political if gas price remain high. And with that in mind, President Bush today will be at the California Fuel Cell Partnership in Sacramento, which is developing hydrogen technology for automobiles.

That's a long-term solution at best, but what about right now? Are you satisfied with how the president's dealing with the situation? A resounding no according to this ABC News/"Washington Post" poll. Only about one out of four people surveyed say they approve of Mr. Bush's handling of gas prices.

HARRIS: Tens of thousands of angry protestors storming toward the capital. That's the situation unfolding today in Nepal. Police say as many as 200,000 people are marching toward the heart of the capital, Kathmandu. The proposal say a proposal by the king to restore democracy is not enough. They say they won't back down until he steps down. CNN's Satinder Bindra joins us from Kathmandu with the latest.

Satinder, good to see you.

And take a moment and talk us through some of what you've seen and heard today.

SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tony, I was out in the streets when this crowd started to surge in towards the heart of the city this morning. They were defying a curfew order and there was a wave of people, as far as my eye could see, to the left and right, just people. They were marching toward the city's center and some of them even saying they wanted to go towards the palace.

This wasn't a happy crowd, Tony. They were hurling rocks and missiles at the police. The police fired back.

Now what has happened is this crowd has turned back. The streets emptied out very suddenly and all because of rain, very heavy thunder showers, and a very dangerous situation still. The authorities are very concerned. They've got security forces all around the perimeter of the palace. And just one sense of how concerned the security force are. All mobile phones have been shut off.

Yesterday the king said he wanted to return the executive power of this country to the people. He called on Nepal's parties, which are leading this agitation against him, to choose a prime minister. Today these parties saying no way. So the situation is yet again escalate and everybody now looking at the palace to see if the king will make another conciliatory gesture. But one thing is for sure, many in this crowd don't want just to see an end to King Gyanendra, they want to see an end to the monarchy -- Tony.

HARRIS: So, Satinder, in real terms, how much of a threat are these protests to the very stability of the country?

BINDRA: Well, if these protests continue, clearly in the words of many analysts, the state itself is at risk. One mustn't forget that these protests are also being backed by Maoist insurgents. They are communist rebels who want to overthrow the state and set up a republic. They want to be setting up a communist republic. So they are dangers and, in the words of the American ambassador, if this situation continues, then possible it could lead to a revolution.

Back to you.

HARRIS: Satinder Bindra following developments in Nepal for us. Satinder, we appreciate it. Thank you.

And still ahead, something the military doesn't talk much about, soldiers committing suicide. Why are troops taking their own lives? We'll examine the issue.

VERJEE: Plus, algebra, trigonometry and the calculus. Remember those painful classes? Well, we're going to meet a 17-year-old who says that kind of stuff is as easy as a, b, c, one, two, three.

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HARRIS: There is a painful trend in how Americans lose their lives in Iraq. The trend is found in the suicide rates. Army suicide rates nearly doubled from 2004 to 2005. CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr looks for reasons behind the trend.

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BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice-over): For a soldier in combat in Iraqi or Afghanistan, the stress is hard to imagine. Last year, 25 soldiers in the war zone could not cope. They committed suicide. That is nearly twice as many that committed suicide in 2004 when 14 troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan killed themselves.

Now three years into the war in Iraq, military research doesn't indicate that combat itself is the sole cause of such tragedy.

COL. JOSEPH CURTIN, U.S. ARMY: The nemesis, in many cases, is failed relationships, financial problems, perhaps it's substance abuse and other factors that are out there.

STARR: As the war has gone on, the army has sent more than 230 mental health councilors into some front-line areas. Commanders now are trained to look for signs of depression in the ranks. According to the latest statistics made available to CNN by the Army, in 2005 a total of 83 soldiers on active duty around the world committed suicide or 12.9 per 100,000.

That is up from 67 in 2004 or a rate of 11.0 per 100,000. In 2003, the first year of the war in Iraq, 76 soldiers committed suicide worldwide, 25 in Iraq. The up and down statistical trend underscores the difficulty for the army itself in trying to assess what this all means.

CURTIN: We really don't know why they go up and down from one year to the next.

STARR: The army rate continues to be significantly lower than the rate of 19.8 per 100,000 in civilian society. The marker that the army says is the closest comparison to its at-risk population, mainly young men between the age of 18 to 24.

The 2005 suicide rate is slightly ahead of the 25-year average. Senior army commanders tell CNN they are watching this troubling trend closely to see if it continues.

Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

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HARRIS: And let's get upstairs now to Reynolds Wolf for another check of the nation's weather.

Reynolds, good morning.

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VERJEE: He had a life of foster homes, group homes and shelters. Now this 19-year-old is on the right track and helping other teens, one of the 20 teens who will changed the world. And we've got his story.

HARRIS: And we will take you live to New Orleans in the 9:00 a.m. Eastern hour where the polls opened just an hour ago and folks are choosing a new mayor. More of CNN's SATURDAY MORNING when we return.

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VERJEE: Most high school students try to avoid math, but Michael Viscotti (ph) took the tough subject to a whole new level. This Einstein in the making won top honors at a prestigious math and science competition scoring $100,000 scholarship which he's going to be using at Harvard.

His winning theorem shows how heat travels across a metal surface. And the amazing part is that he's only 17 years old. He's just one of 20 remarkable young men and women that have been featured in "Teen People's" April issue.

Michael's going to join us in a few minutes. He's running a little bit late, but someone who is here on time with us is Steven Alicea. He's another teen that's been featured in the magazine for some of his really amazing work done at an HIV/AIDS service organization.

Thanks so much for being with us, Stephen.

STEVEN ALICEA, PEER AIDS EDUCATOR: You're welcome.

VERJEE: You know, and congratulations for all of the amazing work that you've done.

Let's talk a little bit about how you made it there. You were a foster child and you were in something like 17 foster homes and you just went from one to the other to another. Why couldn't you stay at one?

ALICEA: Well, it was difficult. I missed my mother and I was worried about her illness because my mother is HIV-positive. And just the separation was really drastic for me at that point in time of my life. So it was very crazy for me. But basically -- and some of the homes weren't the best homes ever cultural-wise and, you know, it was very differences and everything and I was young as well, so.

VERJEE: You were also taunted by so many kids also at that time who suspected you were gay, right? Describe what you faced and how you handled that?

ALICEA: It was difficult. Some of the kids didn't understand. They made jokes. You know, they threatened me. We also fought and stuff and some of the foster parents were very religious. So it was hard for me. I had to stand up. I spoke to a lot of my caseworker and everything and, you know, from there they proceeded to try to find the best home for me but it just so happened that there weren't very many until my two foster mothers, Denise and Sandra (ph).

VERJEE: Tell us about Denise and Sandra then, your family now, how they came into your lives and what kind of a difference they've made for you.

ALICEA: Well, they've made a big difference. They've actually encouraged me to do a lot of the things I'm doing today. I actually met Denise at Prilangi Services (ph), which is a youth center for gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans-gendered and questioning youth. And I was speaking to her a lot. And just venting to her and letting her know how I felt and everything. And from there she spoke to her partner and they offered me a home. And I took it and it's been amazing. amazing. I've accomplished so much.

VERJEE: Well, let's share some of those accomplishment. Firstly, you raised your grades from F's to A's and B's.

ALICEA: Yes.

VERJEE: Tell us a little bit about that turn and how you were able to do that.

ALICEA: Well, with Denise and Sandra, they were there for me. But also I have a younger brother and sister. I had to, you know, be their role model, be their older brother. It was hard because I wasn't going to school. I missed like a year of school and I tried to -- I graduated on time, actually. I went to day school, night school, school online. So I busted my, you know, my butt to do this. So it was worth it. You know, I'm now in college. It was hard, but it was good.

VERJEE: How have the difficulties that you faced in your life growing up really kind of informed the work that you're doing today to help other people in a potentially similar situation?

ALICEA: Well, I always encouraging people to, you know, do their best in everything. And my experiences actually led me to do what I do to, first, because of my mother, second just because of being gay. You know, there's a whole thing out there that, you know, if you're gay, you're HIV-positive or, you know, whatever. I just want to put awareness and just, you know, show that there's a different side and just educate, you know, and go from there.

VERJEE: And finally, what would you say, Steven, to kids that are in difficult predicaments, in tough spots? What would you say to them to keep them inspired?

ALICEA: Definitely, I'm very -- I'm also religious kind of. I believe that, you know, God wouldn't put anything, you know, that you can't handle. But not only that, I mean, there's reasons you go through what you go through. You never know, you could help someone else going through the same situation. You can't help anyone unless you've been in that situation or give advice or say how you went through it or anything.

You know, definitely my experiences have gave me, you know, opportunities to speak to other youth and just let them know that there is a way, you know, I came from where I came from and look at where I'm at now, you know. There's definitely options. Life is about choices. So that's what I, you know, do your best and not let nobody put you down, because I've been put down plenty of times.

VERJEE: Life is about choices. Some remarkable words this morning from a remarkable teen doing some great work. Thank you so much for joining us Steven.

ALICEA: You're welcome.

VERJEE: We really appreciate it.

ALICEA: Thank you. VERJEE: Michael Viscotti, unfortunately, couldn't make it on the program, but we'll try and catch up with him another time. Each "Teen People" magazine winner receives a $1,000 scholarship also from L'Oreal in Paris.

HARRIS: And we're going to check your e-mail responses. Here's the question this morning. Who do you blame for the high gas prices?

R.Z. writes, the blame falls on the general public of America. If we don't boycott the purchasing of gas, it will continue to go up. We need to stake a stand and demand prices to come down. Oil companies are making billions off of our stupidity.

And Stephen writes, Congress is to blame. If they don't step in, remove your congressman and replace him or her with someone interested in working for the people.

Thank you for your responses this hour. Once again, here's the question. Who do you blame for high gas prices? Our address, weekends@CNN.com.

The Duke rape investigation, lots going on this week, including PR battles on both sides. We'll debate all the details in our legal briefs at 9:00 a.m. Eastern.

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