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More Jessie Davis Details; Transgender Difficulties; Taliban Using Young Bombers
Aired June 24, 2007 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Just 30 minutes ago, another arrest in the death of pregnant Jessie Davis. A woman now being charged with obstruction of justice. Hear what the chief deputy had to say just minutes ago.
Bad weather inside at LAX turns into a travel nightmare. We're going to tell you what happened.
And thousands of gays and lesbians are showing their pride around the country today. And then there is the transgender community.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Jesus hung out with all kinds of people. And he loved them all. All kinds of folks, who were excluded, women for one example. It's hypocrisy to exclude from the church.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: He is a pastor who was born a woman. Talk about complicated explanations. We're going to bring you his story.
And hello again, everybody. We're going to start here in B Control right now because there is already breaking news on a story that we've been telling you over the past 48 hours. It seems to have an incredible amount of interest all over the country. A full day now since the body was found, the story of the missing Ohio mom nearly nine months pregnant continues to unfold with some new developments.
You heard it here first within the past half hour that CNN is now reporting there has been a second arrest. Here is the official announcement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK PEREZ, STARK COUNTY CHIEF DEPUTY: ... at 1245 Oxford Ave, NW Canton, Ohio, under arrest and she is presently in custody of the Stark County Sheriff's Office. Myisha Lynn Ferrell will appear in Canton Municipal Court on Monday, June 25th, 2007, where she will officially be arraigned on one count of obstructing justice, a felony three.
Myisha Lynn Ferrell She's charged with obstructing deputies and agents into the investigation and disappearance of Jessie Davis. Investigators will continue to pursue leads developed throughout this investigation to identify any other individuals who are found to have any involvement in the appearance of Jessie Davis.
Anyone with information should contact authorities at the following tip line, 330-430-3818, tips may also be left at www.sheriff.co.stark.oh.u.s. And click on the Jessie Davis Alert.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: That's the chief deputy Rick Perez there in Stark County making the announcement that Myisha Ferrell has been arrested for alleged obstruction of justice.
We've got two people to bring in on this story now. First of all, let's bring in Maureen Kyle of our CNN affiliate WKYC. Also our own Jim Acosta, who you see there, who has been diligently following this story since earlier in the week. Jim, let's begin with you. What can you tell us about Myisha?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rick, Myisha Ferrell - is, I'm sorry, which one was going first? Was that me, Rick? I'm sorry.
SANCHEZ: Yeah, go ahead, Jim, tell us, what do you know at this point about Myisha?
ACOSTA: Yes, we know she's the 29-year-old who lives here in Canton, Ohio. Apparently last night police, along with FBI agents, searched her home, and I guess during that investigation, a neighbor that we talked to after all of this happened did witness those agents and officials, local law enforcement officials going through that home looking for a couple of particular items.
One of those items was the comforter. They talked about a comforter. And coincidentally, that same comforter is also missing from the house of Jessie Davis.
This neighbor that we talked to also heard official there is officials on the scene talking about, you know, wanting to see if there were containers of bleach that they can find, and that was also a clue from that crime scene when Jessie Davis vanished, that there was bleach scattered around the bedroom floor there in the house.
SANCHEZ: Maureen Kyle, help us try to put this together. There were reports yesterday that he called and told someone that somebody had helped him move the body from the house out to the woods. Is it reasonable to conclude -- Maureen, is it reasonable to conclude at this point that Myishia that person?
MAUREEN KYLE, WKYC CORRESPONDENT: From what we understand, the sheriff's deputies here have been looking at Myisha for quite some time now. Of course, searching her home last night. We did hear reports of an SUV parked in her driveway, in Jessie's driveway that Thursday, in between when she went missing. So it can be concluded that, yes, this is probably the person they're looking at.
SANCHEZ: But yet police, when they gave their statement, as far as I can tell, you guys have been monitoring this, Jim, why don't you pick this one up, they didn't give details of that, right? They didn't say specifically why she's been arrested, only the charge?
ACOSTA: That's correct. The charge is obstruction of justice. And all that was said by Rick Davis - excuse me, not Rick Davis, Rick Perez, who is the chief deputy of the Stark County Sheriff's Office, is she was obstructing agents, obstructing officers investigating this case. There was no talk of moving of bodies or any of that sort of thing. And no murder charges here.
So it's unclear at this point as to what extent she was involved in all of this. It may have been that they were just talking to her and she did not come clean in terms of what her involvement was in all of this. So I think we're going to have to wait and see.
SANCHEZ: Maureen, let me go back to you. Is there any evidence, or anything that you've heard reported through your sources at this time that would lead us to believe that she may have done more than just move the body, that she may actually be investigated for the cause of Jesse Davis' death itself?
KYLE: We have not heard anything about her actual involvement in the actual death, just that Bobby Cutts may have had somebody help him move the body. And this is the only person that we've heard that is charged in connection with this murder.
SANCHEZ: And to either one of you, what is the relationship between Miysha and Bobby Cutts? How do they know each other?
ACOSTA: Rick, according to the ...
KYLE: From what I understand that they were high school classmates.
SANCHEZ: High school classmates?
KYLE: That's what we're hearing, yes.
SANCHEZ: Go ahead, Jim.
KYLE: No. We haven't heard any romantic involvement.
SANCHEZ: No? Jim, to you?
ACOSTA: That's what the Associated Press is reporting tonight, Rick, that she was a classmate of this man. I think she was also described as a friend in one of the local papers here. But, you know, how far that relationship goes, what the nature of that relationship is, all we know is classmate.
SANCHEZ: And do we expect that there could be any other arrest, Jim, at this point? What are police saying besides her?
ACOSTA: Not at this point, no, we haven't heard of any other names to surface so far. And in this latest development in all of this, and of course, they've been very tight-lipped as we know from all along following this investigation. But at this point, no. This may be the extent of it. But law enforcement officials have been telling us, since this disclosure this morning, that this search happened last night, that they are talking to various individuals, that they are still searching multiple locations is how it was described to us.
SANCHEZ: All right. Jim, we thank you for bringing us up to date. I know you're working on this story, boy, it seems to change time to time. Maureen Kyle as well of our CNN affiliate WKYC. We thank you both for getting up and getting camera-ready to catch us up on the story. We really only got this development, we saw the tape of the announcement about 15 or 20 minutes ago, so we turned it around for you.
More on the Jessie Davis story tonight on LARRY KING LIVE. Attorney and legal analyst Harvey Levin is going to be Larry's guest host. LARRY KING LIVE at 9:00 p. Eastern.
It was a despicable plot that thankfully failed. NATO troops in Afghanistan say that Taliban fighters put a suicide bomb vest on a six-year-old and tried to get him to detonate himself near coalition soldiers. But the boy didn't understand and asked the officers on patrol what was going on.
NATO commanders say it shows the lengths militants are willing to go to and their lack of respect, they say, for human life.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
MAJ. DONALD KORPI, ISAF SPOKESMAN: I had the opportunity to meet this little boy and his brother yesterday. At a meeting right here in Ando (ph) District in Ghazni (ph). The little boy basically said this couple men approached him, put this vest on him, told him to walk up to the first security force police, or ISAP personnel he found, and touch the wires together.
He didn't understand these instructions. And he went to the first official he saw, which happened to be an Afghan Army officer, and asked the officer what he should do.
We have seen the Taliban using younger and younger boys for suicide bombers, and for their fighters. And Kost (ph) Province just last month we saw a boy approximately 14, 15 years of age used as a suicide bomber. This is by far the youngest child we've seen used and I think this is just a sign of their desperation.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: It is not clear whether those Taliban fighters who recruited this young boy have been captured. If we hear anything more on this story, we're following it and we will certainly let you know.
The good folks from Middle Collegiate Church just one of dozens of groups taking part in New York City's gay pride parade today. Marchers in New York also celebrating the state assembly's recent move to legalize same-sex marriage. In San Francisco, a contingent of gay police officers proudly marched in a parade broadcast live to local audiences. Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, spoke at a San Francisco gay pride event this morning.
June is gay pride month. So this weekend, we have been highlighting the issues as they relate to the gay and lesbian communities and all the debates that come along with it. However, there's another group that most of us know very little about. We spoke with men and women who identify themselves as transgenders. This goes beyond what you look like on the outside. For some, it's really a battle that started very early on the inside.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: I was born female. And at pretty much my entire life, felt male.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: I've never been a boy. I've been exactly who I am, just as the creator created me to be.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: I think God made me exactly the way he wanted.
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Ian (ph), Lauren (ph), Cydne, three different people with unique personalities, vocations, and interests, but they each have at least two things in common -- all three describe themselves as transgender. And believe that who you see when you look at them is who they were meant to be. Ian was born a biological female. Lauren and Cydne, biological males.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: I came out as a lesbian at age 15, because I liked girls. That worked for me for a little bit as for a while, but I started to say, I don't really feel like a lesbian, either. I don't feel like I belong in this group of people.
SANCHEZ: According to the American Psychological Association, transgender is am umbrella term used to describe people whose sense of themselves as male or female differs from their birth sex.
The transgender community in large doesn't believe being transgender is a psychological issue.
CYDNE KIMBROUGH, TRANSGENDER WOMAN: I think one of the biggest misconceptions we have is that people are confused. Even though we are, you know, out of the stage of being a psychological disability, it's still perceived as being someone not quite right.
SANCHEZ: They say another misconception is that transgender persons are gay. Zack and Christina (ph) are a transgender couple who have been in a relationship for at least seven years. They explain the difference.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: People confuse transgender with sexual orientation.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Gender is between the ears, sexuality is between the legs. SANCHEZ: And so there's no confusion ...
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: In our relationship, he's the man and I'm the girl. It's not -- those roles are never reversed, even in the bedroom.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Members of the transgender community say they want to be respected as the men and women they are without prejudice. Or judgment.
LAUREN STOKELING, TRANSGENDER WOMAN: We need to take another look at transgenderism for what it is. And realize that it's just another segment of people that are discriminated against.
IAN, TRANSGENDER MAN: We're going to come into this world, you know, whether they like it or not. And I'd just like to hope that people will learn to challenge the way they think and to try to live peacefully with us, and maybe learn something from us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ (on camera): Homosexuality is still not wholly accepted in America, and transgender is even more controversial, especially in the church.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Jesus hung out with all kinds of people, and loved them all. All kinds of folks who had been excluded, women, you know, for one example. And it's hypocrisy to exclude from the church.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: This pastor is transgender, a man now. But he was born female. His story, next. In the NEWSROOM.
Later, most people run from tornados. Then there are the storm chasers. It might seem crazy, but without them we'd never see pictures like this. We hear from one storm chaser 10 minutes from now. You're watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: You have been hearing from people who describe themselves as transgender. Women who have -- or men -- who have spent much of their lives sorting out their sexual identity. As difficult as that may seem, imagine what it would be like to have to deal with that very same struggle, but be a minister, a protestant minister. Here's another segment where we "Uncover America."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KIMBROUGH: We've got morality questions. Do you think God made a mistake? No, I think God made me exactly the way he wanted.
DREW PHOENIX, TRANSGENDER PASTOR: We pray for ourselves, God.
SANCHEZ (voice-over): Reverend Drew Phoenix is a pastor here at St. John's United Methodist Church.
PHOENIX: We pray for this community of which we are so part and give so much thanks for each other.
SANCHEZ: He's bonded with his congregation.
PHOENIX: Good morning.
CONGREGATION: Good morning.
PHOENIX: Good to see you all here.
SANCHEZ: He preaches love and acceptance.
PHOENIX: This is a very open, affirming, inclusive kind of congregation.
SANCHEZ: Inclusive enough to accept him. You see, in drew Phoenix's past, he had a different name. He was Ann Gordon. More than a year ago, she had gender altering surgery. Here's how his church has reacted.
PHOENIX: It was one of two reactions. It was either, oh, yeah, we're not surprised. Or, you know, congratulations.
SANCHEZ: He's now trying to keep his job because by church doctrine, they may have to remove him. However, they've also never had to deal with his specific issue.
PHOENIX: There's nothing about transgendered persons in our book of law. Nothing. So it doesn't say that transgendered persons cannot serve as clergy, yet.
SANCHEZ: So now he waits. The official vote to allow transgender pastors or not is in October.
PHOENIX: I'm very happy. I feel very peaceful. It was absolutely the right thing to do to transition. I have no regrets whatsoever.
-- do indeed guide each and every step in our lives as we live more fully into the persons you have created us to be.
SANCHEZ: But what about the Bible? What about remaining a Methodist?
PHOENIX: I believe that we're all made in the image of God. And everybody's loved. Period. No exceptions.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ (on camera): You can get more on "Uncovering America" at cnn.com. Our special report examines the state of gay life in the United States. What do you think? Is American society more accepting nowadays of homosexuality? Log on to cnn.com/uncoveringamerica and let us know what you think.
Raising any child presents tons of challenges, but what if your child is a little bit different.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you're three and a half year-old girl comes to you and asks for a flat-top hair cut, the first thing I think is, the kid's going to get their butt kicked.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: How this mother let her daughter act and perform as a boy. She even put her on the boys' baseball team. That's ten minutes away.
Next, though, Paris Hilton almost out. We're going to tell you where she's going to be spending some of her new-found free time. You're watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: That's the sound of fury. Something rarely seen in southern Canada. This is one of three confirmed tornados that touched down around the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba this weekend. Canadian authorities are tentatively rating the twisters as F-3, or F-4, meaning they have winds up to 260 miles per hour. Four homes were destroyed. A flour mill was seriously damaged. But luckily, no reports of injuries, because it was far enough out.
Now, earlier we spoke with professional storm chaser Reed Timmer who is the one who provided us with this video.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
REED TIMMER, STORM CHASER: I think somebody who doesn't have an experience at getting close to tornados is extremely dangerous. We don't recommend it for anybody. But we've been doing this for nine years. Getting close to them. And it's just kind of an obsession of ours.
And also what we try to do is coordinate with the National Weather Service to help them verify the warnings. That's one of our main objectives out here.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: CNN meteorologist Bonnie Schneider was looking at these pictures with us. When I think of tornados, I don't think of Canada, am I wrong?
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I don't think most people do. But actually under the United States, which has the most tornados annually over any country in the world, Canada comes in second, 80 to 100 per year. Of course, that's nowhere near the numbers in the United States. But they do see tornadoes even as far north as what you saw that one there. Luckily no one was injured in those tornadoes.
Now we also have a tornado watch right now for parts of the United States. This is for Montana and into Wyoming. This tornado watch is in effect until 11:00 p.m. tonight Mountain Time. So be careful. Even though we don't have thunderstorms there right now, we could see stuff develop and it could get strong as we work through the rest of the evening.
Now taking a look at our map for today, what we're watching is the threat of not only the severe weather here, but we also have rain and thunderstorms stretching across much of the country and a lot of lightning happening with these storms. So it is going to be a dangerous situation for those of you traveling across areas into the Midwest or the Gulf Coast.
Speaking of travel, it's another rough Sunday evening for airport delays. We have quite a few to tell you about. In Atlanta, there is a ground stop. Denver, also reporting a ground stop. New York City has had delays throughout the afternoon, 40 minutes now. Las Vegas, departure delays on the increase at about 30 minutes. Rick?
SANCHEZ: Thanks, Bonnie. So, essentially, very few in Canada compared to the United States, tornados, that is, right?
SCHNEIDER: Right. Very few. Nothing is like the United States because of the size of the United States and influence of the Gulf of Mexico. The moisture coming in.
SANCHEZ: Got it. Taking notes.
Think you've heard it all when it comes to air delays? Well, listen to this. Water rained down inside the LAX Airport. That's right. Late this morning fire sprinklers in Terminal One, suddenly came on when the water main broke. Just look at the passengers, they were evacuated.
An airport spokesperson says two areas of the terminal had minor flooding. Seven flights were delayed. Passengers were allowed back about a half hour later.
Paris Hilton's hard time is coming to an end. The heiress turned jailbird is expected to be freed Tuesday. But her mom Kathy got one more visit in this weekend. Perhaps they are using these last few days to plan the mother of all release parties.
Or maybe they're getting ready for one of the most anticipated interviews of the year. Right here on CNN this Wednesday night, a Larry King exclusive. That's right. He will talk to Paris Hilton in her first TV interview since her release from jail. Don't miss the interview that everyone has been waiting for. Well, almost everyone.
Wednesday night, 9:00 p.m. Eastern on LARRY KING LIVE, for the entire hour right here on CNN. Actually, it should be a good one. It's a rite of passage. High school graduation. But far too many American kids aren't making it in the cap and gown ceremony. This is a silent epidemic and you and I are paying the price for it.
Also, growing up can be tough enough for any child. But next, one boy tells us why being a girl just wasn't an option. You're watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAUREN STOKELING, TRANSGENDER WOMAN: When Jerry Springer first started his show and the transgender women were in there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a girl.
STOKELING: Of course, most of my friends were outraged. I wasn't. I thought, what a perfect opportunity to introduce this to the general public.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Welcome back. Shawn Pearson says that he knew as early as age 3 that he was a boy. His family says he's always looked like a boy, dressed like a boy, felt like a boy. CNN's Kara Finnstrom has Shawn's story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A family snapshot. Anyone meeting the Pearson family saw two brothers and a sister. But Shawn Pearson was biologically born female.
SHAWN PEARSON, TRANSGENDER YOUTH: People would assume I was male. And I was fine with that. It made me more comfortable.
KIM PEARSON, SHAWN'S MOTHER: He never corrected them.
S. PEARSON: Never.
FINNSTROM: Shawn says he always felt trapped in the wrong body. Never liking the things girls his age liked.
K. PEARSON: When your 3 1/2-year-old girl comes to you and asks for a flat-top hair cut, the first thing I think is, the kid's going to get their butt kicked.
FINNSTROM: But Shawn didn't care, even cutting off long pretty eyelashes and hiding under clothes.
S. PEARSON: I was extremely, extremely, extremely modest and shy.
K. PEARSON: Beyond modest. Secretive about his body.
S. PEARSON: Yes.
FINNSTROM: So the Pearsons let Shawn live as a boy, playing on a boy's baseball team unquestioned until puberty hit.
K. PEARSON: That's when Shawn started emotionally disappearing.
FINNSTROM: Shawn's mom says he started failing school, not eating and even became suicidal.
K. PEARSON: How much longer do you think you could have survived?
S. PEARSON: Not longer than a year probably.
K. PEARSON: Because he was there. He was just at the end.
DR. MARVIN BELZER, CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL, LOS ANGELES: There isn't necessarily anything psychiatrically long. Their just brain chemistry doesn't fit their body.
FINNSTROM (on camera): Dr. Marvin Belzer, here at Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, is part of a small group of doctors across the country now treating children with what's called gender identity disorder. He says this has nothing to do with being gay or straight, these children consistently maintain that they're the opposite sex, long before sexuality develops.
BELZER: Five-year-olds who refuse to wear two-piece bathing suits, who say things like, you know, why did God make me this way?
FINNSTROM (voice-over): Dr. Belzer says it happens early in development. But no one knows why.
BELZER: Whether it's genetic or in utero, or early infant exposure to certain hormones or certain chemicals.
FINNSTROM: He says transgender children who take certain medications before hitting puberty can delay the development of sexual characteristics until they decide whether to pursue other medical options. But treating these children is uncharted territory. The American Academy of Pediatrics had no published guidelines to share with us.
Dr. Belzer does not believe the drugs have serious side effects. He says his biggest fear is not treating transgender kids who left untreated might put themselves in danger.
BELZER: I've seen more transgender kids end up dead from interpersonal violence related to their lifestyle than HIV, than from cancer, all kids from cancer that I've seen.
FINNSTROM: Shawn now travels with his mother, talking about starting high school with a legal name change as a boy. The Pearsons say speaking out is frightening. But they want other families to know there is hope. K. PEARSON: We sort of plucked him from the edge of the abyss. When you're faced with a decision like that as a parent, sorting this all out becomes a lot simpler, because your choices are just kind of so black and white.
FINNSTROM: Kara Finnstrom for CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: So, what can people who are transgender do to protect themselves in the schoolyard when they're kids? To protect themselves in their communities as adults? And then later on, in the workplace? Mara Keisling is good enough to join us now from the National Center for Transgender Equality.
How difficult is it to make the decision to change your sex?
MARA KEISLING, NATL. CTR. FOR TRANSGENDER EQUITY: Well, Rick, it varies from person to person. For a lot of people, it's a difficult decision to do that. For a lot of people, it's difficult not to do it. But as you can see watching what we just saw from Shawn and his family, the courage and determination it takes, either way, to either transition and to live true, or to not, the determination and courage is just incredible.
SANCHEZ: When you're transgender, do you tend to notice the smirks, the stares, the looks?
KEISLING: Well, again, that varies from person to person. A lot of people don't notice them. A lot of people don't experience them. And a lot of us do notice them and are hurt tremendously by it.
SANCHEZ: Well, I guess that maybe the way to ask the question is, how do you cope with that type of reaction which is going to be, you know, inevitable, unfortunately, in our times? Maybe not in the future, but the way America is right now.
KEISLING: Well, I think what all of us know we have to be doing is education, education, education. And as more people in America are getting to know us, are meeting one or more of us, and understanding that we aren't different from them, we are in fact them. We are from the same schools, the same churches, the same towns. We are them. And that makes it -- as more people understand that, that will make our lives substantially easier.
SANCHEZ: Are there physical challenges in terms of access to buildings, the confusion of trying to get through different lines? Tell me about that.
KEISLING: Well, one of the most difficult things trans people face is access to sex-segregated facilities. There are a lot of facilities in the United States that are very much segregated by gender and...
SANCHEZ: Bathrooms, for example, right? KEISLING: Bathrooms, for example. And that can be a real difficulty for trans people sometimes. And by the way, for other people besides trans people, for people who need custodial care and may have a custodian who has to go to the restroom with them who is of the opposite sex, for people who may have certain disabilities, for people who have young children.
There are lots of reasons why sex-segregated facilities really aren't a practical long-term solution for the country. But it is particularly difficult for transgender people sometimes.
SANCHEZ: You know, in the gay community, and in the lesbian community, there has always been this argument about nature versus nurture. Are you born that way or somewhere along the line did something happen or did you make the choice to become this way? If I asked you that question, how would you respond as a transgender?
KEISLING: I think I don't care. What I know is that I am who I am, and I am what I am. And I know that i need to have the right to have a job. I need to have the right to not be a victim of violence. I need to be able to use facilities that everybody needs to use.
So, you know, I know in my heart this isn't something I created for myself because I thought it would be interesting. This is something that's part of me. But again, whether it is or not, we should be able to have lives that we can live to our full potential.
SANCHEZ: Mara Keisling, good interview. Appreciate you being open and honest and candid about something that's obviously very personal to a lot of people.
KEISLING: Thanks so much, Rick.
SANCHEZ: We thank you.
So you think that you are tolerant of homosexuality? Well, how do you feel when your kids are added into the equation? For example, would you leave your young son alone with a gay man if you needed to as opposed to a straight man? Who would you choose? We asked people on the street that question.
And then, a call to service from a presidential candidate, Chris Dodd, wants to make you volunteer. Why? We'll let him tell you. Details ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: As we bring you this special newscast, one of the hot button issues in the so-called gay debates is whether organizations like the Boy Scouts, for example, who work with children, should be forced to hire homosexuals, especially in cases where the children are going to be spending a lot of time with the adults. A politically correct answer is one thing. The core question, and how it hits you when it comes to parents is something else.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SANCHEZ: All right. You have a son. He's about 13 or 14 years old. You have an emergency in the middle of the night. You have to leave, and you have to leave him with one of your neighbors. Your neighbor on the left is heterosexual, your neighbor on the right is gay. Who do you leave him with?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whoever's the better person, who's more responsible, I have no problem with people being gay. I mean, that's not going to have anything to do with somebody watching my child or not.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would obviously choose the normal heterosexual couple first, just because I would probably know them better.
SANCHEZ: Because they're what, more like you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would guess so, yes.
SANCHEZ: How about you? Got an emergency in the middle of the night. You know them each equally, which is not that well. But you need to leave them with one of the two. The gay guy or the heterosexual guy?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know them both equally?
SANCHEZ: Correct.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I might lean towards the heterosexual.
SANCHEZ: OK. Doesn't mean you think the other guy is going to anything wrong.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But -- yes, just because it's my son.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Heterosexual.
SANCHEZ: You would choose to leave him with the heterosexual, why?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just feel more comfortable and safe. I'm not sending my teenager around somebody who likes the same sex.
SANCHEZ: You're not saying they're going to be a pedophile, you're just saying you're playing the odds?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm just saying I'm plain and honest, yes.
SANCHEZ: You have a daughter who's 13 or 14 years old, you have an emergency in the middle of the night, you have to leave, you have a female who lives to your right and a male who lives to your left, which one do you ask to take care of your kids while you're gone overnight?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Female.
SANCHEZ: You would choose female.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
SANCHEZ: And again, why?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, now because they're opposite sex.
SANCHEZ: Which one do you choose?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would probably go with the heterosexual guy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANCHEZ: These are core questions. We "Uncover America" at cnn.com. Our special report examines the state of gay life in the United States. What do you think? Is American society today more accepting of this or accepting of homosexuality? Logon to cnn.com/uncoveringamerica and let us know.
It is definitely an indulgence, but does that make it a sin? The Catholic Church used to think so. And what's the problem with owning a Ferrari? There's a non sequitur. That's ahead.
But next...
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LYLE OATES, DROPPED OUT IN 10TH GRADE: I needed the money and school wasn't -- how shall I say, it wasn't telling me ways how to make money. It was just more drilling information into my head that I thought was useless for me.
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SANCHEZ: So he dropped out of high school. We look at the increasing number of kids who are taking that same path. And what we can do to change it. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
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SANCHEZ: Got a breaking story that we're following for you. We were particularly interested in these pictures. Look at these firefighters. They're on top of a roof. This is in Atlantic City. It's the Gaming Control Commission Headquarters there, where there has been a fire, he says, according to officials there, it has blown out six large windows in the second story -- were blown out as a result of this. About 160 of the commission's 330 employees were out of the Tennessee Avenue building at the time that it happened.
But you know what's interesting as you watch these pictures, as you know, last Tuesday, nine firefighters were killed in South Carolina because of a roof collapse. And here, we're looking precariously enough at these firefighters perched on top of this roof as you see flames shooting through openings. And boy, they earn their keep, don't they? We're watching this story there. These are pictures that came in just a little while ago. We understand firefighters have been cooling down the building just to make sure they don't spread. This is Atlantic City in New Jersey. And as this story develops, we will be sharing it with you.
Moving on. A high school diploma is a rite of passage in every person's life. It says you have the skills necessary for college, work and citizenship. But a lot of people never get there. And that has some influential people worried. Trying to do something about it.
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SANCHEZ (voice-over): "Pomp and Circumstance," the sign of the end of a major milestone, looks like happy times here. But only 70 percent of Americans who enter high school graduate. So where are we losing these students? Meet Lyle Oates (ph), who dropped out in 10th grade.
OATES: I needed the money. And school wasn't -- how shall I say, it wasn't telling me ways how to make money. It was just more drilling information into my head that I thought was useless for me.
SANCHEZ: Oates was part of a panel discussion sponsored by MTV, TIME, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Civic Enterprises, and the National Governors Association. He says he made money selling drugs on the street and it looked like he was going to defy the odds of a high school dropout until...
OATES: I got arrested and found out that when I got arrested, I had a possibility of facing two years in a correctional facility. And the choice was either go to jail or get a real job, get an education and be a regular person in society and pay taxes like everybody else.
SANCHEZ: A study by Princeton economics professor shows that a dropout makes $260,000 less than a high school graduate over the span of a lifetime. The Heritage Foundation estimates that taxpayers pay about $32,000 in benefits a year to families headed by a high school dropout. And Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings says that dropouts cost the United States more than $260 billion in lost wages, lost taxes, and lost productivity over their lifetimes.
Like Lyle Oates, many students say they drop out because the information being taught is not relevant to their everyday lives. Others feel like they're not being challenged.
FALLON O'HAGAN, DROPPED OUT IN 9TH GRADE: I was really bored in my classes. I just got bored of it. And eventually I left.
SANCHEZ: And that's another problem. So many like Fallon O'Hagan make it to high school, she dropped out in 9th grade and said she's making ends meet, but...
O'HAGAN: I definitely made the wrong decision by dropping out of school. I really would like to go back to school.
SANCHEZ: The same survey in Education Week reveals many of those who quit after middle school are minorities.
BILL GATES, PHILANTHROPIST: Three out of 10 9th graders do not graduate on time. Nearly half of all African-American and Hispanic 9th graders do not graduate within four years.
SANCHEZ: Bill Gates addressed this issue before Congress earlier this year. He and his wife have poured almost $2 billion into high school reform through their foundation. In 2005, Gates called U.S. high schools obsolete.
GATES: Unless we transform the American high school, we'll limit the economic opportunity for millions of Americans. As a nation, we should start with the goal of every child in the United States graduating from high school.
SANCHEZ: At 19, Oates is now back in school, pursuing his diploma. In her 20s, O'Hagan says she worried she's too old to go to high school. There are two faces of what some call the silent epidemic, America's high school dropout problem, one that if improved could be the key to solving many problems our nation now faces.
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SANCHEZ: Interesting. High school students should also have to earn their stripes and give back to their community. That's the opinion of Democratic presidential candidate Chris Dodd. He says if elected, he will propose making community service mandatory for all high school students. Dodd also wants to double the size of the Peace Corps by 2011 and expand Americorps' national programs.
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SEN. CHRIS DODD (D-CT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We will leave future generations a stronger, safer America where children are more invested in their communities, more seniors will retire with dignity in communities that are clean, safe and vibrant. And more people across the globe will once again look to America, not with anger, or with wistfulness for an earlier time, but with optimism and hope for a brighter future.
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SANCHEZ: Which is part of his point, that we can change the way the rest of the world looks at us. Now, I interviewed Senator Dodd and asked him who is responsible for the lack of people taking a more active role in their community?
Here's a snippet..
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SANCHEZ: Do you hold the Bush administration's feet to the fire on this one? Do you blame this administration for that xenophobic feeling that we just talked about that is being exhibited all over the world? DODD: I think, yes, in part I do, and I say that regretfully. But you know, people have asked me, why did I join the Peace Corps back in 1966? I did because an American president asked me to. He asked a whole generation of us to be involved in something large than ourselves.
SANCHEZ: Yes, but that's not my question. My question was, do you hold George Bush responsible?
DODD: I know, I'm getting to your -- well, I'm drawing the comparison here.
SANCHEZ: All right.
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SANCHEZ: We get to it. We get around about it. Join me tonight for the full interview with Connecticut's Democratic senator, Chris Dodd. He is the focus of our Sunday night spotlight tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern, 7:00 p.m. Pacific right here on CNN.
Sin and sports car. A lot of people dream of having a ride just like this one. But does sin come with standard equipment? Ferrari versus the Vatican, that's just around the corner.
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SANCHEZ: Homeowners, take heed, the National Association of Realtors is predicting a 1 percent drop nationwide in existing home prices for 2007. For more financial news, here's Ali Velshi with "Getting Down to Business."
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ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Investors focus on Washington this week when the Federal Reserve meets to decide on interest rates. Wall Street is betting the Fed will hold interest rates steady until at least the end of the year. The interest rate is at 5.25 percent, where it has been for the last year. Fed chief Ben Bernanke continues to caution about inflation and slow growth because of the weak housing market.
And we will get a fresh snapshot of the housing picture this week when both new and existing home sales numbers for the month of May are released. Sales for both tumbled in April while sentiment among home builders is at a 16-year low. High mortgage rates and tighter lending are hurting sales.
And now that the largest private equity acquisition firm has hit the market, I'm talking about Blackstone's IPO, it's one of the largest in Wall Street history, we'll see if others follow suit.
And finally, Apple's highly anticipated iPhone launches on Friday. For those of you not familiar with the iPhone, it's an all- in-one cell phone, iPod and Internet device. Apple CEO Steve Jobs predicts sales of the iPhone could reach $10 million within the first 18 months. Apple has sold about 100 million iPods since it debuted in 2001.
If you want more of this sort of thing, watch me on "Minding Your Business" each week day morning on "AMERICAN MORNING."
That's it from New York, I'm Ali Velshi.
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SANCHEZ: All right. You car lovers, the Ferrari Car Company is now honking back at the Vatican after the Holy See issued its 10 commandments for the road last week. The Vatican says that cars should not be an expression of power and domination. Apparently feeling targeted, Ferrari's general manager insisted that most people buy his cars for the pure love of driving. Still, he said: You should comment at least one sin -- pardon me, "you should commit at least one sin from time to time." Spoken as a true car -- fast car owner, right?
I'm Rick Sanchez. I'll be back with -- the NEWSROOM continues at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.
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