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American Morning

Imus Off the Air; Beverly Hills Fire; White House Says Missing E-mails Were Erased; Partisan or Prayer Breakfast?

Aired April 13, 2007 - 08:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. It's Friday, April 13th.
I'm Soledad O'Brien.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Miles O'Brien.

Thanks for being with us.

We begin with the end of a radio era this morning. For the first time in three decades, you won't be hearing Don Imus. He's off the air and out of a job.

The other shoe dropped yesterday. CBS firing him the day after NBC dropped him from his TV simulcast. This, as Imus met with the women of the Rutgers University basketball team whom he offended. He apologized to them.

The pressure on Imus seemed to grow every day after he made the racist and sexist remark. His program brought in $20 million a year for CBS. Now, the coach of the Rutgers team says the meeting with Imus was very productive.

CNN's Deborah Feyerick was at the governor's mansion, not inside, but right nearby as the meeting took place.

Good morning, Deb.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.

Well, the conference may have been -- the meeting may have been productive; however, the conference champions not quite ready to forgive Don Imus. At least they weren't last night.

Following the meeting, they stayed inside the New Jerseys' governor mansion for more than an hour after Imus's limo pulled away, figuring out what to say. And when they came out they appeared tired and drained from what a source tells us was a somber, emotional meeting.

The source says that some of the players cried, repeatedly asking the shock-jock, "Why us?" Don Imus listened to the players and their parents for more than two and a half hours. His wife, who was by his side, hugged some of the players as she left. And the team coach indicated both sides had had a chance to talk about the issues and, in her words, really dialogued during the face-to-face. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

C. VIVIAN STRINGER, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY BASKETBALL COACH: Hopefully we can put all of this behind us and look forward to a much more productive society. So, we'll look forward to things, and that's really what we'd like to do, is to go forward and to let the healing process begin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: So, what now? Well, likely at least one more statement from the Rutgers champs about Imus's apology last night. The team now hoping that they can finally put all of this behind them and maybe celebrate what was a phenomenal season -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, there was an Imus on the radio this morning, actually. Deirdre Imus. Tell us about that.

FEYERICK: Exactly. And this was stunning, because what she said is that -- she called the women courageous. She said that some of them had actually received hate mail. She said if anybody deserved hate mail, it was her husband. So, clearly, while she was by his side, she wasn't exactly defending all of his actions.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Helping him through this, isn't she?

All right. Deb Feyerick, thank you very much.

New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine was supposed to host that meeting between Imus and the Rutgers women, but he never made it. Corzine was seriously injured when the SUV he was driving in crashed near Atlantic City. He had surgery overnight to repair numerous broken bones.

He is in critical, but stable condition this morning. Doctors say his injuries are significant, but they say they are not life- threatening -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: In California this morning, a couple of power lines are blamed for a brushfire that ripped through homes in Beverly Hills. Strong wind took down the lines yesterday, and that created sparks that touched off the flames. At least four multimillion-dollar homes have been heavily damaged.

CNN's Thelma Gutierrez shows us what it was like when the fire ripped into that town.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The wind is just howling. Fire equipment...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at that go. Dude, it's going nuts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looks like that was a direct hit.

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Wind-swept flames outside Ed Ramirez' (ph) home office in Beverly Hills. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wow. Feel that heat?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's get back really fast.

GUTIERREZ: Multimillion-dollar homes evacuated.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now Beverly Hills is burning.

GUTIERREZ: Ed grabbed his camera.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want you to get off the street.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The county captain wants you to hook up off of Engine 7 that's up there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're just trying to do the best we can.

GUTIERREZ (on camera): What goes through your mind when you see the destruction to this house?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's mind-boggling. It's very devastating.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We could have had many, many homes, 200 homes damaged if the wind went the other way, and only four homes got damaged, all with wood-shingled roofs.

GUTIERREZ (voice over): Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Beverly Hills, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: And good news. No reports of any injuries. The Beverly Hills mayor says he wants to write a law that would require homeowners to replace their wood roof shingles. He says they're just too flammable -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: The Iraqi parliament holding a special session today to condemn that brazen suicide bombing, while authorities work on the theory it was an inside job. Very few Iraqi lawmakers were able to attend today's session. Those who were there strongly condemned the bombing.

One lawmaker was killed, 22 wounded in yesterday's blast inside Baghdad's Green Zone. Authorities are detaining and questioning three cafeteria workers.

S. O'BRIEN: Congressional Democrats are seriously turning up the heat on the White House. At issue, those missing e-mails demanded by Congress, e-mails that the White House says were accidentally erased.

Lets get the latest on the back and forth over this one from White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux.

Hey, Suzanne. Good morning.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

If you look at the actions of this White House, clearly they're very concerned. This is not a White House that admits mistakes here, but in an extraordinary move they did just that yesterday, Soledad.

They have to admit at this point it is a big mess. They have no idea what's in these e-mails or even how much has been deleted.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX (voice over): The White House says they've lost e-mails that they should have saved.

DANA PERINO, DEPUTY WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I will admit it, you know, there was -- we screwed up and we're trying to fix it.

MALVEAUX: But Democrats aren't buying it.

SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D-VT), JUDICIARY CHAIRMAN: I don't believe that. I don't believe that. You can't erase e-mails. Not today. They've gone through too many servers.

They can't say they've been lost. That's like saying the dog ate my homework. It doesn't work that way.

MALVEAUX: Congressional investigators already have White House e-mails from ongoing investigations. But they believe the ones they're not seeing could be key in revealing whether the administration improperly fired eight U.S. attorneys, or whether the White House had unethical dealings with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

LEAHY: I want to see those e-mails. I want them retrieved.

MALVEAUX: The White House says some e-mails could be lost because administration officials may have improperly used outside e- mail accounts to do official work.

PERINO: White House official business should be done on your White House official account.

MALVEAUX: The administration says it set up those accounts through the Republican National Committee for 22 current aides, including Karl Rove, to help them avoid using official e-mail for political purposes, which is against the law. But those RNC accounts automatically deleted e-mails every 30 days.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: So, Soledad, the White House says what they're going to do now is use computer forensics experts to see if they can resurrect some of those lost e-mails. In the meantime, the House Judiciary Committee very frustrated with what has happened here. They sent letters yesterday to the White House, to the RNC, to say, look, we want this information as quickly as possible -- Soledad. S. O'BRIEN: Well, you know, one of the big questions in all of this, Suzanne, is don't those e-mails remain -- even if they're deleted, as you well know, deleted e-mails are never really deleted.

How come it has to go to forensics? Why isn't it just a simple IT person steps in and digs them off the server, digs them off the hard drive.

MALVEAUX: That's exactly right. And that's what the Democrats are saying, look, this is not very complicated. Get somebody in there to get the -- you know, find it from the server.

The White House says that that is exactly watt they're trying to do to see if it's disappeared, if it's lost somewhere. They say on the one hand, there was this automatic delete process through the RNC that happened every 30 days, that it was purged.

They said there was something else that was happening. As you know, you can clear your inbox of e-mails if you do delete, delete, that might have gotten rid of them, as well. But we don't know the answer yet, Soledad, to that question, whether or not there are some out there in the Internet world. The White House says that they are in earnest trying to find them.

S. O'BRIEN: Suzanne Malveaux is at the White House for us this morning.

Thanks, Suzanne -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: President Bush will be speaking at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington in just a few minutes, but not all Catholics are thrilled that he's there. Why?

Well, joining me now is AMERICAN MORNING'S faith and values correspondent, Delia Gallagher. She has the answers for us.

Good morning, Delia.

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN FAITH AND VALUES CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: First of all, tell us about the breakfast, the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast. What's that all about?

GALLAGHER: Well, this was something that was started -- kind of a grassroots thing started by about four Catholics who say they were inspired by John Paul II and wanted to help bring sort of Catholic teaching and culture together in Washington, modeled on the National Prayer Breakfast. The controversy is something that also happens within faith denominations.

Sometimes one side says, you know, this name of Catholic doesn't represent all Catholics. It looks like Catholics are cozying up to the Bush administration, and the accusation then is that this is really a Republican strategy breakfast rather than a nonpartisan prayer breakfast, which is what the organizers are claiming it is. They say they have invited both sides of the aisle to this, anybody is welcome, and it has nothing to do with Republican strategy, it's a prayer breakfast.

M. O'BRIEN: So, this group, Catholics United for the Common Good, feels as if this is too close a relationship between the Catholics and the Bush administration.

GALLAGHER: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: Particularly in the wake of what the pope had to say about the war the other day.

GALLAGHER: Precisely. It's particularly on the war issue that this has caused some division, because they are calling, for example, on some of the bishops.

They're going to have bishops at this prayer breakfast, and they're calling on them to either not attend, or if they do attend, to point out some of the differences between the Bush administration policies and Vatican teachings, for example. But this is a very divisive issue within the Catholic community, whether or not you support the war or not, because there are plenty who say, you know, in Catholic teaching you can support the war, you can make an argument for it, even though the Vatican has come out against it.

So, it's a fairly difficult issue for some Catholics, I think.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, has the Vatican said this is an unjust war? They haven't gone that far, have they?

GALLAGHER: No, they haven't gone that far.

M. O'BRIEN: No.

GALLAGHER: But they have condemned the war from John Paul II to Benedict's comments last Sunday. And I think some Catholics have looked at that and said, well, I wish they would say that there were some good things that came out of it, because Benedict's comment was, you know, nothing positive has come out of this. And I've heard from some Catholics who are more conservative saying, you know, I wish he had said that there were some good things coming out of this, but there are others who say he was right on with that assessment.

M. O'BRIEN: Do you expect fireworks today?

GALLAGHER: No, I think it will just be prayer.

M. O'BRIEN: OK. All right. Thank you.

Delia Gallagher, our faith and values correspondent -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Those Catholics, always a lot of prayer, right, Delia?

Coming up next, our next guest agrees that Imus was way out of line, but he says a much deeper, much larger problem is actually being ignored by African-American leaders. He's going to go head to head with the Reverend Al Sharpton straight ahead.

And they're not athletes, they're baby boomers. So should people be taking human growth hormone? Dr. Sanjay Gupta's series "Chasing Life" is straight ahead.

You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Well, Don Imus, as we've been telling you all morning, is now out of a job. Leading the charge to take him off the air was the Reverend Al Sharpton. But "Kansas City Star" columnist Jason Whitlock says Sharpton's outrage is focused in the wrong direction.

Both gentlemen are joining us this morning.

Nice to see you. Thank you for talking with us.

First and foremost, Reverend, let's begin with you. How do you feel today? I mean, what happened was exactly what you had asked for from the get-go. So is vindicated the right word? Do you feel progress was made?

AL SHARPTON, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: No. I think that it's a lot more to do.

You know, we've been fighting this battle the last couple of years, and it intensified about what's happening on the airwaves, what's happening in many of our communities. National Action Network, my group, two years ago at our convention said we were going after some of these music companies, some of these people that have polluted airwaves. Have had meetings with the FCC.

Imus fell within the whole spear of that, and certainly within the spear of what we fight, civil rights. So when the National Association of Black Journalists came out and looked and called for his firing, we came out right behind them, and the rest became history. But I think it's really sad that we have to address these issues.

This is 2007 and have to still talk about these kind of things. How could we feel good about it?

S. O'BRIEN: At the same time, Jason, you said that you actually thought in all of this Imus was "irrelevant and insignificant". I'm quoting you on that. What do you mean? Why?

JASON WHITLOCK, "KANSAS CITY STAR": To us. To us as black people, he carries no weight in our community. He has no influence over us. He doesn't define us.

He's not the one defining our women as bitches and hos. We know who that is.

Don Imus is insignificant, and we've turned him into this all- powerful figure, and actually have put these young women at risk. They're now being harassed, death threats because people don't...

S. O'BRIEN: So let me stop you there. Are you saying then it was wrongheaded to go after Don Imus in the way that...

WHITLOCK: I think that an apology should have been demanded from Don Imus, and we should have asked MSNBC and CBS, you guys deal with him. He's an idiot. And then moved on from there.

The press conferences, the over-the-top picketing, reaction, all, it just all went way too far. Don Imus doesn't -- doesn't move us, doesn't carry any weight in our community. He doesn't define us.

S. O'BRIEN: Then let me get to the Reverend Sharpton, because, of course, you talk about the picketing and the calls for protests. I mean, he's talking about you.

SHARPTON: Again, my argument is not with him. I think when the young ladies had their press conference they made it very clear when Essence spokes that they were aware of what we were doing and was happy with what we were doing.

So, I mean, again, these girls are very intelligent and speak for themselves. I think the issue now is where we go from here.

Imus was just a portion of preserving the airwaves. And I think you can't, at one hand, as we have, challenge the hip-hoppers and challenged those that are doing this daily in our community, but I'm also challenging others, saying, because you are big and because you have these presidential candidates and senators on your show, we will take you on.

And he says that MSNBC and CBS should have been told to deal with them. That's what we did. We told them to deal with him.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, at the same time, though, there are certainly many rappers who use those words all the time, all the time, and have for a long time. And those rappers who, in many cases, are, you know, represented by Universal. Universal is owned by NBC.

I mean, there's a big connection. That's a big corporation.

SHARPTON: Exactly.

S. O'BRIEN: So, what's...

SHARPTON: And that's part of two things in both the NBC CEO meeting and the meeting with CBS. We said, we've got to talk about your other side here, your entertainment side. We've got to talk about the fact that many of you are in the business of this whole climate that is devastating our community. And we've got to talk about the lack of inclusion of people of color on the airwaves. I mean, if you look at America and look at most of our primetime shows, you don't even see us. And you don't see us behind the camera, where maybe if someone was in the studios, then Imus would not have gotten away with this for years.

S. O'BRIEN: Let me give a final question to Jason this morning.

And it's going to be about a case that we followed, as well, which are these three young men from Duke University who really had their lives ruined for the last year, to put it pretty simply. Do you think that there should have been people marching and calling for justice for them?

WHITLOCK: Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely.

S. O'BRIEN: In all communities?

WHITLOCK: You must maintain the moral high ground. You must have some consistency about you.

Injustice for one is injustice for all. Those young men were exploited the same way these young basketball players have been exploited by Jesse and Al. They run around the country exploiting these young people, making problems where -- making the problems much bigger than what they should be.

These three kids down at Duke, these basketball players have been used and exploited, and it's unfortunate.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, we're out of time, but I'm going to let you respond for a second.

SHARPTON: Well, I mean, first of all, the young ladies spoke for themselves in their gratitude to us. You never heard people that we fought for. It's always guys that are not in the ring that want to call the fights.

And that -- you know they're going in the ring. You're going to have critics. We try to win on behalf of the people we're fighting for. You can't satisfy people not involved in the fight.

S. O'BRIEN: Reverend Al Sharpton joining us this morning. Also Jason Whitlock from the "Kansas City Star".

Gentlemen, I appreciate both of you. Thanks for being with us -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, some call it the fountain of youth, but does it come at a very high price? Dr. Sanjay Gupta wraps up his series "Chasing Life" with a look at human growth hormone.

And what's it like to be a teen and have your town virtually vanish? We'll show you a video diary from New Orleans in the latest installment of our "Children of the Storm" series coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: I'm sorry to say Tax Day is right around the corner. Millions of people sending the forms in at the last minute. I'm hoping to be one of them, so I don't have to file an extension again.

(CROSSTALK)

S. O'BRIEN: I know.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you've got two days. I mean, it's the 17th this year. It's typically the 15th, but it's going to be Tuesday. That's the last day to postmark your taxes.

You can get an extension very easily. However, you do have to estimate how much tax you owe, and if you owe tax you have got to pay whatever you estimate, and the estimate better be close. But I wanted to tell you about a few things that get -- that delay your returns.

There are a number of mistakes people commonly make which delay getting your money back. And of them is, you've got federal and state tax returns. Send them to the right place. Don't put them all in one envelope. They go to different places.

Put the right numbers in the right lines. That's one of the most common mistakes. The right numbers, but not properly on those numbered lines.

The wrong Social Security number, believe it or not, is one of the biggest mistakes people make, and claiming the wrong filing status, claiming yourself as head of household or things like that. Anything that can slow it down is going to slow your return.

Now, you'll want to avoid an audit, too.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh yes.

VELSHI: A couple of ways you can do that. One of them, of course, if you make under $100,000 a year. If you don't, nothing you can do about that. So ignore that line.

Taking too many deductions. This is where the advice of software or an accountant sometimes comes in handy, or a tax preparer. And failing to report income, that would be one of the big, big ones.

M. O'BRIEN: That's a big no-no.

VELSHI: A big one.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes.

VELSHI: So do that...

S. O'BRIEN: They hate that.

M. O'BRIEN: That's what got Al Capone...

VELSHI: Al Capone got that one, so make sure -- remember, you are accountable for whatever is on your tax return, not your accountant or the software.

And we'll be talking about this some more this weekend on "IN THE MONEY," which you can see right here on CNN on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. and Sunday at 3:00 p.m. Eastern.

M. O'BRIEN: Excellent, Ali.

Thank you very much. You have a good weekend.

VELSHI: Thank you. And you guys get some good rest.

S. O'BRIEN: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. We will. We'll miss you.

Coming up, could growth hormones be the new fountain of youth? And if so, at what price? Sanjay Gupta still "Chasing Life" this morning. Maybe he's caught up this time.

And we have -- video cameras giving them a glimpse of their lives. We gave them their video cameras, and we've seen -- it's a remarkable view of what life is like in the Gulf Coast after Katrina. "Children of the Storm" Soledad calls it. We'll hear about some of the biggest concerns that they're facing right now.

You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning right here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. It's Friday, April 13th.

I'm Soledad O'Brien.

M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien.

Thanks for being with us.

S. O'BRIEN: Several big stories that are on the radar this morning, including a late-night meeting between Don Imus and the Rutgers players that he insulted. We'll tell you about the tears and some of the tough questions, too, that he faced.

M. O'BRIEN: Also, is the fountain of youth stored inside a needle? Sanjay Gupta shows us the treatment some people say makes them feel younger. But is it safe?

S. O'BRIEN: And we check back in with our "Children of the Storm". Today, the biggest fears they face in a place that's still struggling after Hurricane Katrina. M. O'BRIEN: We begin, though, in Washington, where controversy is on the menu at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast. Live pictures now. President Bush is about to speak any minute. His appearance is what has riled the faithful there, opened up a fissure inside the church. One group is blasting the event organizers for being too close to the Republican Party. They believe the event makes it look like all Catholics fully support the Bush administration policies.

Last weekend the pope said nothing positive has come from the Iraq War. We'll be watching that one for you.

It is the end of an era this morning. For the first time in more than three decades Don Imus is off the air and out of a job. The other shoe dropped yesterday, with CBS making the decision to fire Imus from the radio show the day after NBC dropped his TV simulcast. Both stem from racists remarks Imus mad last week.

Last night he met with the object of those remarks, the Rutgers women's basketball team. He apologized. The team reportedly cried, and asked, why us? The team's coach called the meeting, however, "productive" -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, Miles, it times now to check in with our children of the storm. You'll remember back in January we gave video cameras to 11 young people in and around New Orleans. We asked them to be our eyes and ears on the ground there, to show us what's changing, and in often cases, what's not changing after Hurricane Katrina.

Well, their assignment this time around was to highlight some of the problems. Here's what they found.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN (voice-over): Fifteen-year-old Deshawn Dabney is worried he'll be a victim of a crime.

DESHAWN DABNEY, SOPHOMORE, O. PERRY WALKER H.S.: Someone was murdered on my street. That could have been me.

S. O'BRIEN: At least 59 people have been murdered in New Orleans this year. It's the highest murder rate in the country. Police blame drug-related crime. Deshawn believes some of the violence is bred from boredom.

DABNEY: The bottom line is that we just to have too much idle time on our hands. We used to have the skating rink. I think only one or two of those are open. We still have the movies, but the tickets are sky high.

S. O'BRIEN: He's fighting back. He joined a group that sponsored this march. The group's opening a teen center and hosting monthly events, all designed to give teens in New Orleans something to do. Not far away in St. Bernard's Parish, Arianna Kasar (ph) also feels unsafe, not because of crime, but because of water. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just unbelievable how much moss evolves, and there's just nothing out there to protect us.

S. O'BRIEN: Arianna took a boat tour with family friend Donald Duclenche (ph) to get a feel for just how vulnerable the parrish now is in another massive flood.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The problem that the water is so close to where we live, we don't feel safe here in St. Bernard.

This is the front of my house.

S. O'BRIEN: It's one of the reasons her family is not moving back.

Sixteen-year-old Brittney Ruiz is trying to live normally in the parish, despite abnormal conditions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Behind me is the movie theater we used to go to all the time.

S. O'BRIEN: The parks she used to play in are destroyed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All of that used to be a baseball field.

S. O'BRIEN: Store after store is closed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want some pizza.

S. O'BRIEN: Sixty-five thousand people used to live in St. Bernard Parish. Now the number is more like 25,000.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm the water from Hurricane Katrina. Goodbye St. Bernard!

S. O'BRIEN: And goodbye to many parish services.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right here behind me is the hospital. They don't even have an emergency room.

S. O'BRIEN: Actually, this is a clinic. The parish's two hospitals haven't reopened. The closest emergency room is about 30 minutes away. The sewage system isn't fully operational and giant trucks have to keep it running. They're hard on the roads, roads that don't see much bus traffic.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've been waiting all day because we don't have any buses to bring us anywhere.

S. O'BRIEN: In St. Bernard now, if you want a public bus, you need to arrange a pickup in advance. Only six of the 10 fire stations are opened.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Behind me is the fire station, and it's not rebuilt yet, so if the fire would have happened right there they'd have to call somebody and wait probably three minutes while their house burns.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: A little bit of a bleak picture there. Brittney Ruiz joins us. She's in Chalmette in St. Bernard Parish.

Shopping center behind you, Brittney, looks awful in a word.

But I want to talk for a moment about some of the things where you see progress.

Good morning, and nice to see you again.

BRITTNEY RUIZ, SOPHOMORE, CHALMETTE HIGH SCHOOL: Good morning.

S. O'BRIEN: So, tell me, give me a list of where you actually see some positive signs. I know your house is one of those things.

RUIZ: Yes, my house is almost rebuilt. All we're waiting for is furniture to put in my house.

S. O'BRIEN: Good. All right, so that took quite a bit of time. Are you the only people on your street who are coming back, or do you see other progress as well among your neighbors?

RUIZ: Oh, no we have a lot of neighbors who already moved back. Some are still in the process, like us, but some other ones, they're in the house already.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, that's some more good news. You know, sometimes we talk about, is it back to normal. Do you ever think your neighborhood and your community -- I mean, I spent a lot of time in St. Bernard Parish. Do you ever think it's going to be back to normal?

RUIZ: Maybe, I'm not sure. I hope it does. But it's going really slow right now. But maybe it might.

S. O'BRIEN: Gosh, we certainly hope so. Do you feel hopeful, or do you feel, you know, depressed and hopeless about how it's looking right now for you, Brittney?

RUIZ: Well, I'm hopeful if it does rebuild. But I'm also a little depressed because it's not rebuilt yet.

S. O'BRIEN: It is a tough, tough thing. Brittney Ruiz, thank you, Brittney, for picking up your video camera and sending us your tape. We really appreciate it.

You want more about our children of the storm, and there are 11 in all, 10 plus Brittney. You can check them all out on CNN.com. Just click on the AMERICAN MORNING homepage right there.

M. O'BRIEN: All this week Dr. Sanjay Gupta has shown you the different ways people are chasing life. Now he'll show you how some people think they found it. Does the fountain of youth come with a big price tag? We'll ask that question and get an answer ahead.

And if you haven't done your taxes yet, Soledad, calm down. We'll show you how you can still have some last-minute savings as you fill out those forms.

You're watching AMERICAN MORNING, most news in the morning right here.

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M. O'BRIEN: Has Sanjay Gupta found the fountain of youth? And if so, how do I get me some? we're talking now about human growth hormones. People who inject them say they feel younger. Sound too good to be true? That brings us to our latest installment in Sanjay's series "Chasing Life." It's a series. It's a special. It's a book. It's a Web site. It's everything.

It's Dr. Sanjay Gupta, of course, because he does it all for us. And in his spare time, he's a brain surgeon.

Sanjay, tell us about this growing trend. There's got to be concerns about this among doctors, I would think?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: There are concerns. And we're talking about human growth hormone. It is controversial. It is growing in popularity. Its safety is uncertain. But that doesn't turn back a lot of boomers who think they have found, in growth hormone, the fountain of youth.

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GUPTA (voice-over): Like many approaching retirement age, Adam and Beth Lothamer were starting to feel less energetic than they once did, until Beth decided to try a controversial and increasingly popular treatment -- human growth hormone.

ED LOTHAMER, USES HUMAN GROWTH HORMONE: She kept telling me how good she was feeling, and I was getting a little sluggish, but she said, you know, why don't you at least come and take a shot at this.

BETH LOTHAMER, USES HUMAN GROWTH HORMONE: You just stick in it there.

GUPTA: So, now, they each take a shot, every day. Ed Lothamer felt the effects within a month.

E. LOTHAMER: When I woke up I wasn't fatigue fatigued. I noticed in the gym I was much stronger. I had more endurance, my memory was sharper.

GUPTA: Click on the Internet, and you'll find countless pitches for human growth hormone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: By dramatically supporting healthy endocrine (ph) function, research suggests that we can increase energy and stamina.

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GUPTA: Not everyone shares the enthusiasm. Dr. Thomas Perls is an outspoken critic.

DR. THOMAS PERLS, CENTENARIAN PROJECT, BOSTON UNIV.: No one sends me any scientific articles indicating that growth hormone works for combating aging simply because they don't exist.

GUPTA: But that depends who you ask. Multiple studies have found that growth hormone reduces fat while building up bones and muscle, but those studies also found a lot of side effects, like joint pain and swelling. And to Perls that's not even the worst of it.

PERLS: It shortens lifespan and it probably increases people's risk for cancer.

GUPTA: Perls says the risk is just too big to take. But to others, the gamble is worth it.

LOTHAMER: I'm sure it's not for everybody in the world, but for us, we think it works and, so we do it.

GUPTA: To be clear, the Lothamers are taking human growth hormone with a doctor's prescription. He diagnosed them with a deficiency. Human growth hormone for anti-aging treatment is illegal.

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GUPTA: So, would you take it? I mean, that's the question a lot of people are asking themselves. There are some approved indications for human growth hormone, children with stature, but the levels sort of drop off as you get older. There a fraction in your 60s of what they were in their 20s, and that's why there's movement to replace it. You might be able to get younger, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: So let me ask you this, how easy to get diagnosed with a "deficiency?"

GUPTA: It isn't easy, actually. This was interesting, as we're researching this you are not actually measuring the level of growth hormone, you're measuring the levels of one of the products, called insulin growth factor. So it gets a little murky right at the beginning, also there's no absolute set upon standards upon what actually constitutes a deficiency. It's a brand-new field, miles. Probably going to get more standards later on. But it's still a little bit murky right now.

M. O'BRIEN: Do you get the sense, Sanjay, do you have any sort of indication, are doctors putting people's lives at risk doing this?

GUPTA: Well, you know, it really -- out of all the pieces that we did for this, I think that this is the most controversial. There are doctors who say, absolutely not. And Then you heard from Dr. Perls there, who say, yes, there's been cancer links in mice and in other animals. Could that also be extrapolated to humans? At a minimum you get some of the arthritic changes? You may get diabetes. So there's a real concern there.

And I think the thing that struck me the most was there's no proven link that it actually extends life. In animals it actually shortens life. So it's not really an anti-aging hormone.

M. O'BRIEN: Finally, what about doctors who, you know, kind of thumbing their nose at the law here and being too cute winking and nodding, could they face charges?

GUPTA: Well, we talked about what constitutes illegal, and despite that, you get on the Internet right now, I did, and within 10 minutes you're probably going to be able to at least order some that could be sent to your home. People are turning a blind eye to it. We found probably a handful of doctors who have actually been punished by five years in prison, $250,000 fine, or getting their license stripped. I actually profile one of the doctors in the special this weekend. But I think for the most part, a lot of blind eyes being turned to it.

M. O'BRIEN: Sanjay Gupta, what a fascinating series. And as you say, there's more to come on it.

By the way, thank you for my book. I complained on the air yesterday about the book. I have an inscribed copy of "Chasing Life," and I'm not putting it on eBay.

GUPTA: I hope you stick around forever, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much. I'm like a bad virus, hard to get rid of me.

Anyway, "Chasing Life," the special, airs Saturday and Sunday 8:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN. Don't miss that. And you can find more information about the special on the Web site, or CNN.com/chasinglife is the place to find that.

Sanjay, thanks.

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S. O'BRIEN: Do you hear a tick, tick, toc, toc, that's the deadline if you're trying to pay your taxes. You've got to file. And if you, as I have, again, this year, waited until the last minute, you'll want to listen to what personal finance editor Gerri Willis is telling us. Crucial information for all of those up against the clock.

Stay with us your AMERICAN MORNING.

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M. O'BRIEN: Calling all tax procrastinators and you know who you are. Your time is almost up. The dreaded deadline just days away now. CNN personal finance editor Gerri Willis is here with her own procrastinator's guide to taxes.

Gerri, well, the deadline, first of all, is not the 15th this year, right?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: That's right, you know this stuff. It's April 17th. If you're wondering when the deadline is midnight you've got to have those taxes postmarked. But, look, if you think your local post office is going to be open late, think again, they may not be. Some of them are closing early because so many people are e-filing. So you want to call 1-800-ASK-USPS to find out if your local post office is going to be open late enough for you.

And, look, If you're filing your taxes online -- I know you're a big fan of the virtual world -- the good news here is that if you hit that button before midnight, you're golden. And one thing people don't know is that if you make some kind of very simple mistake, that the tax system, they send this back to you and you can make a fix and no penalty for being late.

M. O'BRIEN: That's good to know. That's one of the advantages.

WILLIS: They love you to file electronically. They're encouraging that. So, lots of little breaks out there.

M. O'BRIEN: I remember when they first did it they actually made it a little bit harder, but now they're finally getting with the program on this now.

WILLIS: It took a while. It's the federal government.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, indeed.

You're still one of the people who has paper and you're going through the form, what are the big land mines that people should be aware of this weekend?

WILLIS: Well, here's one thing that happened that is not good, you know, these tax forms were printed before Congress put in place some big deductions that you may actually want it use, like the sales tax deduction. You know, you can choose between deducting state and local taxes or sales taxes. The college tuition deduction. And teacher's -- the education deduction. Teachers buy lots of materials for their classes, they can deduct that. So if you can't find that irs.gov will explain it to you.

M. O'BRIEN: Oh, gosh, that's kind of hard to go to that site, though. That could be tough. Well, good luck.

WILLIS: Could be tough. But you know, it's easier to navigate than it used to be.

M. O'BRIEN: Right.

Now, what kind of help is out there if you are in a pickle?

WILLIS: All right, this is great. There's an IRS helpline. They're going to be stay open between 7:00 a.m. through midnight on Monday and Tuesday. Best time to call is early morning, because really aren't on the liens then. 1-800-829-1040. Tax assistance centers offer you real world advice from volunteers. You can find where those are located at 800-829-1040, again. Those are for people with incomes of $39,000 or less. AARP, if you're over 60 call 888- 227-7669.

And I just want to remind people that we will be talking more about taxes on "OPEN HOUSE" this weekend, 9:30 a.m., right here on CNN.

And tonight, I'll be joining Paula Zahn to talk about the mortgage meltdown, and we'll tell you all about the mortgage mess in our Debtor Nation series.

M. O'BRIEN: Gerri Willis, and "OPEN HOUSE," our personal finance editor. Thank you.

WILLIS: Always a pleasure.

M. O'BRIEN: All right -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Here's a quick look at what "CNN NEWSROOM" is working on for the top of the hour.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: See these stories in the "CNN NEWSROOM": Don Imus off the air this morning, fired for racial remarks. Imus' wife urging people to stop sending threatening e-mails to the Rutgers women's basketball team.

Severe weather, a risk of tornadoes across Texas and Louisiana today.

Inside the Iraqi parliament building, a day after a suicide bomb attack.

An apologetic robber. He says he's sorry when the store clerk complains of chest pains.

The NEWSROOM top of the hour on CNN.

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M. O'BRIEN: Welcome back. I've been thinking about numbers on this Friday the 13th. I've been on the show 95 weeks now. Take out vacations, factor in the year-long stint doing the four-hour show -- remember? -- and that comes to about 1,500 hours on the air.

Now to put that in perspective, if we were doing a half hour show each day, how long do you think it would take to do...

S. O'BRIEN: My math was never that good. M. O'BRIEN: Fourteen years, it would take 14 years. No wonder I'm so tired! But at least we're not alone. There are 75 people who work tirelessly and sleeplessly usually to make the people who sit in these chairs look good. And I want to thank all of you for propping me up every morning.

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M. O'BRIEN: Really. And thanks to you, you out there wherever you are, for letting me into your homes. It really has been a privilege. And thanks to my TV wife.

S. O'BRIEN: We're not really married.

M. O'BRIEN: She'S my seventh TV wife, and the only one people think I'm really married to.

S. O'BRIEN: The last name thing.

M. O'BRIEN: It has been a privilege working with you, really.

This business is about number, of course, and it is also about passion. And my passion lies outside the confines of these walls. So I'm looking forward to being out there to telling stories that interest me, and hopefully you.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, I'd would like to add to that, all of what Miles said, but a couple quick notes to our crew. Phil, I know you wanted me to mention you by name. So there, Phil. Hey, Phil. Big thank you of course to our crew, because, we really appreciate all the hard work you have done for us. It's a grueling schedule, and we love you and appreciate you. To our producers, to our staff, absolute pros, each and every one of you. We're grateful for everything you've done for us on the show.

To our viewers, most of all, really thank you so much for watching. You are in very good hands come Monday morning with a new team that steps in. And besides that, there's not much else to say. We'll see you still on CNN. Thank you for watching. Thank you for everything. Thanks for your support.

All that's left to say now...

M. O'BRIEN: "CNN NEWSROOM" with T.J. Holmes and Heidi Collins begins right now.

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