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Hurricane Paul Heads For Mexico; Search For Human Remains at World Trade Center Resumes; iPod Celebrates Fifth Birthday; Darfur Genocide Requires American Intervention; New Study on College Students' Weight Gain
Aired October 23, 2006 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: It's the top of the hour.
Battening down on Baja California. Mexico's Pacific resorts are bracing for yet another hurricane hit, the third one this season. Paul is a Category 2 storm, and getting stronger by the minute. It's expected to sideswipe the southern tip of Baja some time tomorrow, then veer toward Mazatlan.
Last month, hurricanes John and Lane battered the same areas.
How bad could get -- how bad could this get, rather, this time around?
Our meteorologist, Rob Marciano, tracking Hurricane Paul from our Weather Center -- hey, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Kyra.
The last advisory out of the National Hurricane Center brings it down by about five miles per hour. We're at 105. Before, it was 110, which is right on the cusp of becoming a Category 3, major storm. So, the fact that it appears to be on a weakening trend, at least for the time being, is a good sign.
It is heading into somewhat cooler water. More importantly, it's going to get into some stronger winds at the upper level of the atmosphere. This time of the year, that jet stream gets stronger and further to the south. So, it's harder for these storms to really stay organized for that much longer.
But it is about 440 miles to the south-southwest of Cabo San Lucas. It's heading in that general direction pretty slowly. It is expected to accelerate, and then make that turn towards the north, and eventually northeast.
Here are your stats. We're at 105, gusting to 135. That is a Category 2 storm. It is projected right now to weaken to likely a Cat 1 and maybe even a tropical storm before it makes landfall. It looks like it may very well bypass south of Cabo San Lucas. That would be Cabo on the not-so-bad part of the storm, but that doesn't mean folks here, Mazatlan and into the interior mountains of Mexico, won't get hammered, because they will. And there will be a tremendous amount of rain with this, as well. And flooding is going to be an issue. Rest of the lower 48, cold air in place across the northern -- well, really eastern two-thirds of the country. It's driving down all the way down into parts of Florida. And there are freeze warnings out as far south as central Georgia, and parts of Alabama. And we're looking at snow showers, although we don't expect to see 20 inches of now, like they saw a week-and-a-half ago in Buffalo -- two, three, maybe -- maybe a half-a-foot of snow in some of the more prone snowbelt areas -- Kyra and Don, back to you.
PHILLIPS: All right, we will keep checking in. Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: You bet.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Digging into the past -- more than five years after the 9/11 terror attacks, the search is on again for remains of victims from the World Trade Center. It began after a city crew stumbled upon dozens of bone fragments last week.
Our senior correspondent, Allan Chernoff, joins us from New York City.
And, Allan, what are they finding?
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, they found more than 100 remains thus far, in fact, bones, in some cases, as large as arms and legs, these in manholes and also utility crawl spaces -- as you mentioned, certainly, a surprise finding. Some crews last week were beginning to dig a tunnel underneath West Street, which is all the way on the western end of the World Trade Center site.
In fact, this is immediately below the exact location where memorial services have been held every September 11, a horrible irony. Now, some of the families here, of course, still very upset at the fact that they have not received any remains, and they are now calling for an end to construction at the World Trade Center site.
Mayor Bloomberg this morning said, no.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (R), MAYOR OF NEW YORK: We're not going to shut down any construction. Where construction is taking place are on sites that have been thoroughly gone through and excavated. And we have to build for the future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHERNOFF: Over 1,100 victims have never had any of their remains show up, never had any remains identified. So, certainly, many family members here are hopeful that, perhaps, at least some of the remains will finally be identified -- Don.
LEMON: And, Allan, anybody would certainly hope that these remains would be identified. But, given the intensity of all of this, what are the chances that -- that this -- these remains will actually never be identified? CHERNOFF: Well, there's -- actually, believe it or not, there is good news here, because, very recently, a company that the New York medical examiner has had doing the DNA analysis has improved its technique. So, they are now able to extract DNA from most of these bone samples.
And they have been working on hundreds of these samples from the World Trade Center site. So, they have been finding patterns in the chromosomes of these -- of the DNA. And is then passed back to the New York medical examiner, which is now trying to make matches with samples of DNA from the victims themselves, from combs, toothbrushes, or, in some cases, actually from DNA of their children or their -- or their parents -- so, a very interesting process that is taking place now.
So, there is hope that some of these remains will at least be given back to the families.
LEMON: Very intense. And it sounds like good news.
Allan Chernoff, thank you very much, sir.
PHILLIPS: Bombs, bullets and bitterness -- U.S. forces are dealing with all of it, as they reach a grim milestone in Iraq: at least 86 troops killed in October, making it the deadliest month this year for the U.S. military.
John Roberts is embedded with U.S. troops in Taji, just north of Baghdad.
He filed this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We spent some time over the weekend with the 1st Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division. It's been a particularly tough month for them. They have lost at least 15 men, most of those to those improvised explosive devices, the roadside bombs, which continue to be the major threat to U.S. forces here.
The U.S. forces are also facing a growing problem with the sectarian violence that threatens to envelop the entire country. It started in Baghdad, but now it's spreading.
The area of operations that we're in, the Camp Taji services, is about a 500-square-mile area north of Baghdad. There are towns that are predominantly Sunni, towns that are predominantly Shiite, towns that are mixed.
Those towns now, can't really say that they're at war with each other, but, certainly, the tensions are much greater than they were before. But there are some mixed villages now that are either empty, because the militias have decided to make that their battleground, or Shiites are pushing Sunnis out, Sunnis are pushing Shiites out. It's a particularly difficult challenge for the U.S. military to engage and to solve, as well, because this is not something they were trained for. They -- they were trained for -- for -- for frontal assault, to deal with -- with an enemy, not to get in the middle of this sectarian violence.
So, what they do is, they try to spend a lot of times in these towns and villages talking to the elders, talking to other people there, saying, what do you need?
And what we keep hearing from all of these people, the ones, at least, who are not trying to foment the violence, not the radical elements, but the normal townsfolk, is, they need more security.
And the problem is that, in the Sunni towns, they don't trust the Iraqi police. They don't trust the Ministry of the Interior. And the Shiites, on the other hand, think that the Sunnis are always trying to them.
So, this is a particularly difficult challenge for the U.S. military, one that -- one that it appears the current plan may not be able to solve. Major General William Caldwell, the chief spokesman for the multinational forces here, said last week that they are disappointed, dismayed with the amount of violence that continues in Baghdad, despite this clear hold-and-build strategy that they have been engaging in for the last couple of months, that the strategy needs reviewing; perhaps, it needs changing altogether.
That big meeting at the White House over the weekend failed to come up with any definitive plan. The people on the ground here, Iraqis, are desperate for some sort of change. And that's something that the U.S. military will urgently need to address in the weeks to come.
John Roberts, CNN, at Camp Taji, with the U.S. forces.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Well, breaking up, as you have heard, as you may well know, is hard to do. But, sometimes, it's the only way. Some now think it's one way to bring peace to Iraq.
But, if you thought splitting up your books or your C.D.s was hard, imagine splitting billions of dollars in oil.
CNN's Tom Foreman takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With the fighting grinding on and on, some leaders inside and outside of Iraq believe dividing the country into autonomous states could be a reasonable idea.
Right now, the Shia primarily occupy the east and south. The Sunnis are in the west, and the Kurds, the north. And old ethnic differences between these groups have produced some support for official state borders between these regions.
But some foreign affairs analysts warn, splitting up Iraq will almost certainly lead to more trouble. Why?
(on camera): One reason lies beneath the ground. Look at where the oil is. These deposits, which could make Iraq a very wealthy nation if peace ever comes, are located primarily under Shia and Kurdish land. So, unless there is a strong plan to assure nationwide sharing of oil revenue, the Sunnis could be cut out of the windfall.
(voice over): Even some supporters of a partitioning plan, who say a little independence for each region could quiet bitter rivalries, say, the Sunnis must be guaranteed a fair share of the oil money.
LESLIE H. GELB, PRESIDENT EMERITUS, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: And you have got to tell -- we have got to tell -- the Shiites and the Kurds: Look, you're not going to get anything out of the oil you have if there is civil war in that country.
FOREMAN: But the White House vigorously opposes partitioning.
TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Yes, partition, nonstarter.
FOREMAN: Among the apparent fears, if the Sunnis become effectively their own country, they could join forces with Syria, a Sunni neighbor, and no friend of the United States. And the same holds for the Shia. They could cozy up to neighboring Iran, expanding that country's already substantial and growing influence in the region.
Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Tom Foreman, part of the CNN team reporting for "ANDERSON COOPER 360" -- "A.C. 360," weeknights at 10:00 Eastern.
PHILLIPS: All right, straight to the newsroom -- Betty Nguyen working details on a developing story out of Pennsylvania, that mine explosion -- Betty.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right.
Kyra, we're getting more information on that mine accident, is what they're calling it. We understood earlier today that just one person was trapped inside, and that one person was killed. Well, now, according to the Associated Press and CNN Radio, authorities in Pennsylvania are saying four coal miners actually escaped from that mine where the blast occurred today, killing at least one miner -- no word on that accident, what caused it.
But -- so, what we understand at this point is, instead of just involving one person, we now learn, through the Associated Press, that at least four other people were inside that mine at the time of the accident. They somehow escaped, although one person was killed because of it.
Looking at some video from the scene today, which can explain why, when I was talking to Don a little bit earlier, why so many emergency crews were on site, if this only involved just one person.
This site is about -- oh, I don't know -- 70, 80 miles northwest of Philadelphia. It's in Schuylkill Haven, Pennsylvania. And the Mine Safety and Health Administration is on the scene, investigating. Apparently, we're getting more information as of this investigation.
To tell you a little bit about the mine itself, it is a -- an anthracite called the Buck Mountain Anthracite Mine. And it's run by R&D Coal Company. We have learned that that company -- specifically, that site, this same mine where the accident occurred today, there was an explosion back in 2004, according to the Mine Safety and Health Administration. That explosion injured four people.
And just a little broader picture of coal mine accidents and deaths -- so far this year, there have been 41 other coal mine deaths in the U.S., but, until today, none in Pennsylvania. That, obviously, has changed. One person is dead. Four people, though, did escape that mine accident -- Kyra.
LEMON: All right. Thank you very much, Betty.
NGUYEN: Sure.
PHILLIPS: Well, what's going on in Congress? Not enough, according to most Americans.
LEMON: Oh, that's right. What is behind their sour mood? And will it have an impact on the midterm elections? That's coming up straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.
PHILLIPS: Plus: defiance about Darfur -- as Sudan kicks out a top U.N. official, echoes of the past and warnings about the future. One of the lost boys tells us his story -- coming up from the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, when you ask American voters, most of them don't think too highly about the work getting done in Washington. In fact, an overwhelming number give Congress a failing grade.
With midterm elections just two weeks away, will the result in a new party in charge? Will this result, rather, with a new party in charge? This week, CNN puts the spotlight on the corridors of power in Washington, what is broken, and how do you fix it?
Today's spotlight is on the short congressional work week.
Here is CNN congressional correspondent Ed Henry.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) TOM DASCHLE (D), FORMER U.S. SENATOR: Senator Lott and I used to joke that, if we really wanted everybody here for every important vote, the only time we could actually schedule it was Wednesday afternoon.
HENRY (voice-over): Congress has become the Tuesday-through- Thursday club, with lawmakers enjoying a work schedule most Americans can only dream of, pulling in $165,000 for what has essentially become a part-time job.
SEN. TRENT LOTT (R), MISSISSIPPI: You're looking good, girl. Keep those arms moving, now.
(LAUGHTER)
HENRY: Former Majority Leader Trent Lott recalls senators routinely lining up in front of his office, begging for their four-day weekends.
LOTT: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. They would just -- oh, please, let me get out of here on Thursday night. I would rather stay until midnight on Thursday, so I can catch the 7:30 flight out. Or, please, don't have votes after about 7:30, so, I can catch that.
And some of them would get pretty aggressive about it.
HENRY: A recent "New York Times" poll found most Americans can't name a single piece of legislation that made its way through this Congress. Social Security reform? Didn't happen. Tougher immigration laws? Nope. Tighter ethics standards? Not a chance.
In the 1960s and '70s, Congress met an average of 161 days a year. In the '80s and '90s, that number dropped to 139 days. This year, Congress will probably end up working just about 100 days.
DAN ROSTENKOWSKI, FORMER U.S. CONGRESSMAN: It isn't a legislative process anymore. Work one day a week? Work a day-and-a- half a week? I mean, it's crazy. It's just crazy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: So, what are members of Congress doing when they're not in Washington? Some of them, admittedly, do go home. They give speeches. They work on constituent business.
Others, though, as we saw in the Jack Abramoff scandal, like Republican Congressman Bob Ney, went to play golf in Scotland. And, also, a lot of members in both parties spend a majority of their time raising more money, so they can get reelected -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. If I'm going to golf, it's going to be in Scotland. But, anyway...
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: ... we have been hearing names like Foley, Abramoff, DeLay, Jefferson, Cunningham. How big will this culture of corruption factor into the election? And we might even see some more names, Ed.
HENRY: Oh, absolutely.
I think it's going to be a big factor. You know, tonight, we take a look at the career of Republican Congressman Joel Hefley. He is somebody who was the Ethics Committee chairman in the House, and really tried to take a stand, tried to clean up Congress, stand up on some of these scandals in both parties. And he paid a heavy price for that, as you will see tonight.
And I think Republicans, in general, they're facing the voters now. They're in power. There have been a lot of Republican scandals. So, they're going to take some heat, obviously, here.
But, as you noted, William Jefferson, a Democrat, allegedly took $90,000 in bribes. He has denied wrongdoing.
Dan Rostenkowski, who we have in the piece there, he -- he went to jail when the Democrats were in power. There were a lot of scandals back then as well.
And I think one of the things we take a look at -- a look at tonight is that, regardless of which party is in power, there tends to be problems, after a few years. And -- and conservatives are now almost joking privately about the fact that it took Democrats 40 years to get drunk on power. It maybe only took them 12 -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Ed Henry, thanks so much.
HENRY: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Well, tonight, on CNN, something you won't want to miss -- as a part of our "Broken Government" series this week, Ed Henry takes a closer look at the do-nothing Congress. That's coming up at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, and it's something you will see only on CNN.
LEMON: A brother's bitter loss laid bare for all to see -- the brother of NFL-player-turned-Army-Ranger Pat Tillman fires off a scathing essay about the war in Iraq -- details coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Well, you got to see this one, the very unusual -- it's awful -- unusual finish at Sunday's Chicago...
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: Oh.
LEMON: Oh.
PHILLIPS: Oh.
LEMON: Whew.
PHILLIPS: Yeah. You kind of gasp.
LEMON: Yeah.
PHILLIPS: Wow.
Let's slow that down just a little bit.
The video actually captures the final seconds, as the winner crosses -- or, rather, slips, then slides across the finish line. Kenyan Robert Cheruiyot did not manage to run through the victory tape, but his torso did cross the finish line. So, race referees declared him the winner. Poor guy.
LEMON: Oh.
PHILLIPS: He was...
LEMON: The guy, Cheruiyot, he hit his head...
PHILLIPS: Yes.
LEMON: ... on the fall. And he was treated at a Chicago hospital.
PHILLIPS: Look, just imagine the adrenaline that's flowing.
LEMON: Yes.
PHILLIPS: Physically, you are, you know, pretty...
LEMON: Yes.
PHILLIPS: ... wiped out at that point. Poor guy.
LEMON: You know, it was terrible. I -- that's one thing I do miss about Chicago, a lot of things, but the marathon would go right by where I lived. And I would go there and watch the finish line.
You know, they would lay those posters out. It may have been, like, wet there yesterday. So, see that?
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: ... took a slip.
LEMON: That's just a...
PHILLIPS: Yes.
LEMON: That's just one of the...
PHILLIPS: That's -- oh.
LEMON: Oh -- one of the posters they have hanging up around the city. And I'm sure they wanted the advertisement for the choppers and all that. But that was not a good idea, unless you're going to... PHILLIPS: All right, he's OK.
LEMON: ... put some rubber on it. Yes.
PHILLIPS: He won. The poor guy is probably just going to be a little sore.
LEMON: Yes.
PHILLIPS: And, hopefully, they won't put those posters down...
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: Yes.
PHILLIPS: ... next time around.
LEMON: I'm sitting here. I have got this -- I mean, look at -- this is my gym bag.
PHILLIPS: You want to -- all right, go ahead and pull out the iPod.
LEMON: Where is it?
PHILLIPS: We got a big birthday to celebrate today. So, who is...
LEMON: Yes, go ahead.
PHILLIPS: ... the guest of honor?
The iPod, of course.
(CROSSTALK)
(MUSIC)
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: Susan Lisovicz...
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: ... iPod.
PHILLIPS: ... am I hearing music from your iPod right now?
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: Is that what I'm hearing?
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You have been peeking into my Pod, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: I have been peeking into your Pod. (CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Susan, I can't even find my Pod. It's hide -- it's always like at the bottom of my bag. And, then, it's -- see, it's on all day.
PHILLIPS: The battery will die.
LEMON: It's all on day. The battery -- and, then, look.
PHILLIPS: Susan, what is your song?
LISOVICZ: You know, I can't even hear it that well.
(MUSIC)
LEMON: Oh, that's Prince.
LISOVICZ: Oh, Prince. Of course. He's an essential.
PHILLIPS: Is that what you listen to when you're on the treadmill?
LISOVICZ: Treadmill. Hanging around. Commuting. You name it. I mean, he...
LEMON: Hey, listen...
LISOVICZ: The iPod is just an essential. It's like the lip gloss.
LEMON: Susan...
LISOVICZ: It has got to be in the purse.
LEMON: ... this -- this is my new favorite for running, because the beat is so high.
(MUSIC)
PHILLIPS: Wait a minute. What -- is that yours?
LEMON: You can hear that.
PHILLIPS: Is that your song?
LEMON: Yes.
(MUSIC)
PHILLIPS: What is that?
(MUSIC)
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: It's Christina Aguilera's new song.
(LAUGHTER)
LISOVICZ: Well, let's see you in action, Don.
(LAUGHTER)
LISOVICZ: You can't just sit still...
LEMON: Well, it's like...
LISOVICZ: ... and listen to it.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: It's so, like, pounding. Like, I'm on the treadmill, or I'm running, and then I -- boom. There you go.
PHILLIPS: Happy...
LEMON: There's my iPod.
PHILLIPS: Happy birthday to iPod.
LEMON: Happy...
(LAUGHTER)
LISOVICZ: Well, you know, I tell you, it's amazing that, in just five years, it has changed our lives, right?
LEMON: Yes. It has.
LISOVICZ: In five years.
LEMON: It has.
PHILLIPS: And they keep getting upgraded. They started out pretty big. And now, you know, they have it the size of a -- they're -- well, no. That's -- that's how it started out.
LEMON: That is the big one. And, then, this one is a...
PHILLIPS: Yes, I have got the one -- there we go. That's the one I have, the little Shuffle.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: And then "Saturday Night Live," one of the...
LISOVICZ: Old school.
LEMON: ... things -- they had a thing where the iPod was so small that you could barely even hold it in your hands. That's the one I have, that Nano over there.
LISOVICZ: Yes, but you want a lot of gigabytes, right? I mean, you want a lot of actions for storage, right, Don?
LEMON: Yes.
PHILLIPS: Yes.
LEMON: Yes, but you -- you know what? The one with the video, you can't do it. On this little one that I have, and that other small one, there's -- there comes a point where it's too small for video, don't you think?
LISOVICZ: I -- I think so. I -- I -- I'm -- I'm -- I just really want to hear it.
LEMON: Yes.
LISOVICZ: I get too distracted if I'm listening and...
(LAUGHTER)
LISOVICZ: ... and watching. I bump into people.
PHILLIPS: Besides, you and I, we have got those thick, you know, bifocal glasses, Susan.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: We -- you know, we...
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: ... we can't even see what is on there anyway. So...
LEMON: Yes.
LISOVICZ: Well, I am told, Kyra and Don, that I have to move on with this.
I mean, we're...
LEMON: Yes.
LISOVICZ: ... supposed to be talking about the business aspects on this...
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: Sorry.
LEMON: Sorry.
PHILLIPS: Yes, no gives a rip what we have got on our iPod.
LISOVICZ: ... not only our personal -- our personal pleasure with the iPod.
This little device has utterly transformed the way we buy and listen to music -- the iPod dominating the digital music player market, in just five years, accounting for more than 70 percent of sales. And, while it seems like everyone already has one, like Don, Kyra, and I, sales are still growing, up 35 percent in the last quarter -- in the latest quarter, I should say.
And that may be due to the fact that we -- what we were talking about. Apple continues to roll out new variations, from the Nano, to new colors for the iPod Mini, to video iPods with more storage space -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So, what is next for iPod?
LISOVICZ: Well, more models, of course.
Most experts, Kyra, agree that Apple will keep improving battery power and storage capacity, among other ideas, a bigger screen with a virtual click wheel, a combo iPod-cell phone -- that's a concept -- and wireless iPods. Some people would also like to see a subscription model for iTunes, in addition to the 99-cents-per-song model. That's an idea being embraced by Microsoft, which is putting out a competitor to iPod called the Zune, just in time for the holiday season; iPod sales, of course, have -- have -- have helped Apple stock jump nearly nine times higher in the last five years.
Apple traded around $9 a share before the iPod was introduced. Today, it is trading at nearly $82 a share -- up 2 percent on the day.
That's reflecting a big rally for the market overall. Take a look -- the Dow Jones industrials showing triple-digit gains, up 107 points, at 12109. Could close at another record high -- the Nasdaq composite, meanwhile, up half-a-percent.
And that is the latest from Wall Street -- Kyra and Don, back to you.
LEMON: Ah, Susan, that was one of the first things. You know, when you -- those online brokerage things that you could do a trade online when it first came out? Apple was one of the first stocks I bought, the only stock I have ever traded online by myself.
LISOVICZ: Buy what you know.
LEMON: Yes. I'm...
LISOVICZ: Buy what you know.
LEMON: I'm happy now that I did that.
(LAUGHTER)
LISOVICZ: Yes. Good for you.
LEMON: All right. Susan, thank you for all that information.
Defiance about Darfur -- as Sudan kicks out a top U.N. official, echoes of the past and warnings about the future. One of the lost boys tells his story -- coming up in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The search for remains from the 911 terrorist attacks in New York going on in New York. The renewed search was triggered last Thursday, when contractors found remains in an abandoned manhole. More remains were found on Sunday. A city official says several below ground level sites had not been entered since the attacks. A victims' family group wants all rebuilding stopped until a detailed search is done. The city's mayor says that won't happen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK: We're not going to shut down any construction. Where construction's taking place are on sites that have been thoroughly gone through and excavated, and we have to build for the future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, you probably know the story of Pat Tillman, the blossoming NFL star who chucked stardom and the big salary to join the army after 9/11. He was killed in Afghanistan by what was later revealed to be friendly fire. Now Pat's Brother Kevin is speaking out for the first time in a stinging Internet essay.
Veronica Sanchez has more from KPNX out of Phoenix, Arizona.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VERONICA SANCHEZ, KPNX REPORTER (voice-over): Brothers in real life and in war. A picture of Pat and Kevin Tillman smiling, confident their decision was the right one.
Two years after Pat's death in the hills of Afghanistan, the first public words from Kevin posted on the Internet, an article called "After Pat's Birthday. He writes, "Somehow the more soldiers that die, the more legislate the illegal invasion becomes," and, "The American leadership lies to its people, and lying is tolerated."
Kevin goes on to write, "Somehow America has become a country that projects everything it is not and condemns everything that it is. The most irrational, belligerent, feared and distrusted country."
Pat Tillman believed in the war. Inspired by 9/11, the Arizona cardinal and ASU alum enlisted in the army. He was the poster boy for a justified war, an early hero whose death hit home and hit hard.
PAT TILLMAN, KILLED IN COMBAT: I've always had a great deal of feeling for the flag.
SANCHEZ: The article, posted just days before Pat Tillman's birthday and election day. In closing, Kevin writes, "Luckily, this country is still a democracy. People still have a voice. People still can take action. It can start after Pat's birthday."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Fallen hero comes home finally. James McGovern will be buried in a military funeral in New Jersey this weekend. McGovern was an Air Force pilot in World War II and flew supplies to Chinese nationalists in their fight against Communists. A six foot, 260 pounds, well, he became a legend in Asia. A bar owner in China nicknamed his "Earthquake Magoon" after a comic strip character. But he was lost in another war. McGovern was piloting a CIA-owned cargo plane that was shot down in 1954, making him and his co-pilot the first two Americans to die in combat in Vietnam. Mcgovern's skeletal remains were uncovered in an unmarked grave in 2002 and were just identified by lab experts last month.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: No more flu shots in Israel, at least for the time being. The health minister suspended the vaccination program after four deaths. All four men had recently gotten flu shots, all were over 50 years old and all have other health problems. So far health investigators have found no connection between the vaccine and the fatalities, but three of the deaths were from the same health clinic. More than 140,000 people have been given vaccinations in Israel so far this year.
It's a go for a bigger, better Panama Canal. Voters in Panama overwhelmingly supported $5.4 billion expansion that will allow some of today's bigger ships to pass through. And this huge project will take years to complete, we're told. It could create as many as 40,000 new jobs, the construction beginning next year.
LEMON: In California, a television legend has died. She was among the biggest. Actress Jane Wyatt is best known for her role as the adoring housewife and mother in the series "Father Knows Best." She died this weekend of natural causes. Jane Wyatt was 96 years old.
LEMON: A 14-year-old who doesn't like President Bush's politics took her opinion online, and that's when the trouble started. ` CNN's Alina Cho brings us that story from Sacramento, California.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fourteen-year-old Julia Wilson is passionate about horses, teenage heartthrob Jake Gyllenhaal and politics.
JULIA WILSON, 9TH-GRADER: I understand that I went too far. And, I mean, teenage emotions, they are at a peak, and just one day I decided to make a MySpace page that just went over the line.
CHO: Julia created this image on her MySpace page, a photo of the president with the caption "Kill Bush" that caught the eye of federal agents who went looking for the high school freshman at her home in Sacramento.
KIRSTIE WILSON, JULIA'S MOTHER: I just didn't have any idea what was going on, because I know Julia. She's a bit of a spirited child, but she's not a vicious child.
CHO: Julia's mom, Kirstie, says she told the two Secret Service agents her daughter was at school, then sent a text message to Julia's cell phone.
K. WILSON: Julia, please come home from school right away. Apparently you've made some threats against President Bush, and they take these things very seriously these days.
J. WILSON: I was freaking out. I texted her, oh, my god, am I in trouble?
K. WILSON: And the next thing I know, I get another text message from her saying they've taken me out of class.
CHO: Julia says what happened next reduced her to tears.
J. WILSON: And they said, like, this is a serious matter. I don't think you understand that this is a federal offense. And they just started, like, yelling at me and I just broke down crying.
CHO: The Secret Service tells CNN, "We have to run out every threat. We don't have the liberty to do otherwise."
Julia's parents understand that, but not the way it was handled.
J. MOOSE, JULIA'S FATHER: If a child at first blush appears not to be threatening, not withstanding having put something bad on MySpace, isn't it a good thing to meet with her at her young age in her home rather than taking her out of class, humiliating her?
CHO: Julia, a self-described, crazy liberal with strong opinions, says she never meant the president any harm.
J. WILSON: I don't actually hate him. Hate is a very strong word. I really dislike him. I should say that I hate his policies.
CHO: The lesson learned?
J. WILSON: The government is watching your every move.
CHO: The "Kill Bush" Web page is gone. In its place, Julia has started another one. The new message, world peace.
Alina Cho, CNN, Sacramento, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And you can watch more of Alina Cho's reports on "AMERICAN MORNING". Just join Soledad and Miles weekday mornings beginning at 6:00 Eastern.
LEMON: Sent packing. The government of Sudan gives an United Nations envoy three days to get out after he posted critical remarks on the web. Echoes of the past and warning about the future ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: For more than three years, the people of Sudan have suffered through a brutal civil war in Darfur, and the violence is escalating.
John Prendergast with the International Crisis Group has been there and has seen that suffering firsthand. He joins us from Washington.
John, what triggered the conversation once again today was the "60 Minutes" piece we saw last night, probably one of the hardest- hitting pieces I've seen to date with you. We've talked a lot about this. When you went back with Scott Pelli (ph), compared to other times you have been there, what do you think -- I guess, what hit you the most this time around?
JOHN PRENDERGAST, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: Well, the last time we are there was 2004, the last we were there together. And shortly thereafter, the president of the United States declared the crisis in Darfur genocide. And the first time in the 50 years of the use of the term genocide that a sitting president has used about a crisis that was on-going. So it was a very historic moment.
We all thought that much action would follow, but it turned out two years later, going back into the same area with Scott, nothing had changed. The U.S. is not responding. The situation is deteriorating again in Darfur and the people are suffering even more than they were at the time we were there back two years ago.
PHILLIPS: But when a president has mentioned genocide in the past, whether it's Slobodan Milosevic or Saddam Hussein, action has been taken. So why is it not happening in this situation?
PRENDERGAST: I think it's because of this very robust counter- terrorism relationship that the United States has with the government of Sudan. President Bush wasn't kidding around when he said, you're either with us or you're against us. And if you're with us on the counter-terrorism issue, then you basically get a free pass to do whatever you want within your borders. Now, of course, we'll protest genocide. We'll make great speeches about it, and we'll wag our finger and say it's a bad thing you're doing. But in terms of actually creating a cost, making a punitive measure that would actually punish the government that's culpable for these horrible atrocities, nothing.
PHILLIPS: You remember that piece of video that we saw inside the U.N.? And it was the president talking about this genocide. And you saw President El-Bashir and two of his comrades, one sort of smirking, the other one not really showing much expression, the president not really reacting at all -- the president of Sudan. What is the deal with regard to this relationship? And where do you think the U.S. is making the biggest mistake with regard to how much the president, this administration, allows to go on? PRENDERGAST: Yes, I think, you know, it comes down to what your priorities are as a government. And I think that there's no doubt that President Bush and some of the senior officials in the United States government care very deeply that Darfur has experienced genocide, but there are tradeoffs involved in foreign policy. And when we want to try to pressure the government of Sudan to do -- to change it's behavior, we've decided not to pressure them so hard that they will stop giving us the kind of information that we want them to give us for our counter-terrorism imperatives. When we think about whether we want to pressure China to come and help us on the security council with respect to Sudan, we also think we need China on North Korea.
So we're trading off constantly and, at the end of the day, the Darfurian people are getting the short end of the stick. We're not focusing on the victims of this conflict.
PHILLIPS: So basically, if there is not a nuclear threat or an oil crisis, it just won't see the type of response that other countries have seen?
PRENDERGAST: Unfortunately, that's the end result. And I think that at this point we just got to make a decision, are we going to stand idly by while genocide unfolds in Darfur, or are we going to stand up and stop it.
PHILLIPS: I want to read a quote from on of the doctors that you introduced us to in the "60 Minutes" piece, Dr. Brahma, Ashis Brahma. And he's one of the doctors at this refugee camp, one doctor for what, like 25,000 refugees, right, John?
PRENDERGAST: Right. Yes, that's right.
PHILLIPS: All right. And he said:
"They go to the villages, and they burn one village after the other. Then when the people come out, they catch the women and... they rape them... Then they carve up the men and throw them in the drinking water to make sure this place will never be used again... Maybe it's too much to know but that's what's happening right now..."
Interesting, maybe that's too much to know.
Do you think, in a way, the United States just sort of wants to -- we're sort of addressing it, but it's too much right now?
PRENDERGAST: Yes. There's a similar moment in the movie "Hotel Rwanda", when one of the cameraman is talking about people sitting at their dinner tables and they see these pictures on the news screen of genocide in Rwanda unfold, and they turn away and go back to their dinner. It's just so much. But in this case so little is required of the United States. A little more leadership, a little more resource, a little more political pressure on the government of Sudan to get a solution. And I think that if we just would look a little bit longer into the face of this war and say, hey, there's something I can do about it. I can write a letter to my member of Congress, I can make a call. Then a little bit more of this kind of agitation on the part of the American public I think will result in the kind of leadership that the United States needs to exercise in order to end the genocide.
PHILLIPS: So final question: do you think that if President Bush pressured the president of Sudan, al-Bashir, to make a concerted effort to take down the Janjaweed militia, that it indeed, could happen?
PRENDERGAST: Right and pressure means specifically that we impose a cost for what they're doing. We impose punitive measures like targeted sanctions, sanctioning the company of Sudan's senior political figures and pressing forward with the indictments of the international criminal court.
If we do those things, the government in Khartoum will feel sufficient pressure, they'll change their policy, the genocide will end.
PHILLIPS: John Prendergast, special adviser to international crisis group. You continue to do amazing things. Thanks, John.
PRENDERGAST: Thanks, Kyra.
LEMON: Well, you can call this one the ride of a lifetime. He knows what it's like to face challenges. Now he knows what it feels like to ride in an F-16. Stay with us. You don't want to miss this one ahead in the NEWSROOM. Don't be jealous, Kyra.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: There is Miller time, Hammer time and then there's Wolf time.
PHILLIPS: How is that for an intro, Wolf?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: It is coming up in a few minutes, Wolf time. We're going to have a lot going on here in "THE SITUATION ROOM." The White House under increasing pressure. The president pushing the Iraqi government right now to step up to the plate a little bit faster. What impact that will have on the ground though?
Also, down and dirty in Tennessee. Very nasty politics in a race the Republicans must win to keep control of the Senate. Plus a seat where the Democrats are facing a major challenge of their own. It's a must win for them. Can they hold on? And the evolution of a maybe. Barack Obama dips a toe in the presidential pool, maybe a lot more. All that coming up right at the top of the hour in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Wolf. Well life hasn't been easy for Gabe Adams. He was born with no arms or legs, but when it comes to facing everyday challenges with courage and a smile, well this 7-year-old has the right stuff. Last week he got a chance to prove it in the cockpit of an F-16. Keith McCord of affiliate KSL in Salt Lake City has his incredible story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEITH MCCORD, KSL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Say hello to pilot Gabe Adams. Today, the 419th fighter wing at Hill Air Force Base made Gabe an honorary pilot, complete with his own pilot's jumpsuit and helmet, the Kaysville Elementary School second grader climbed into the cockpit of this F-16. A dream come true for this little guy who only found out about the surprise yesterday in school.
JANELLE ADAMS, GABE'S ADOPTIVE MOTHER: Oh, he didn't tell us. We've been working on this and we didn't tell him at all. And so until the lieutenant colonel came to his school yesterday and they brought him that flight suit he has on with the call name on it and everything, he was just in shock.
MCCORD: Gabe and his classmates all toured the 419th wing headquarters today. Everyone got to climb in and look at the plane. But Gabe took a ride sitting in the back seat of this jet fighter as it was towed along the flight line, a thrill for him and certainly for all his classmates.
JACKIE POLL, TEACHER: I don't think we wanted to just honor him because of his disabilities, but the way that he's overcome them. In the classroom, he is treated just like any other student. He just does amazing things with his limitations.
MCCORD: Gabe's teacher says he inspires everyone at the school, so how was the plane ride?
GABE ADAMS, SEVEN-YEARS-OLD: Good.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We learned all about the airplanes, didn't we?
ADAMS: Yep.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Told us all about the cameras on him and how much fuel and how they refuel them in the air, learned lots of cool things.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, Gabe's adoptive mom says that he was born with a condition called hand/heart syndrome, but in her words nothing stops him. Our thanks to reporter Keith McCord of KSL TV in Salt Lake City. What a wonderful story.
LEMON: Amazing, huh? Amazing. We could just end our newscast right here, but we're going to talk about -- remember the freshmen 15? Some people call it more than the freshman 15. The freshman 20.
PHILLIPS: The freshman 20 for me.
LEMON: Oh, yes. You pack on that extra 15 pounds in your first year of college. Researchers say not so. There are two new studies, both indicate students are gaining less than that. It's more like five-to-seven pounds in the freshman year and that's the good news. But researchers say students keep on gaining, putting on another two- to-three pounds in their sophomore year, probably more in their junior and then, you know, if you're on the 10-year plan, it just goes on and on.
PHILLIPS: It's all that beer drinking, OK? It has nothing to do with the buffet down in the dorm.
LEMON: Not that girls don't drink beer, but guys are gaining more than girls. Doctors say that the gradual weight gain could spell trouble way beyond graduation. Did you do the freshman 15?
PHILLIPS: I did the freshman 20. Ali Velshi, what about you?
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