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Who Shall Shine in CNN/YouTube Dem Debate?; Parts of England under Water

Aired July 23, 2007 - 13:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello, candidates, my name is Daniel Brown (ph). I'm 17 years old and a first-time voter in the 2008 presidential election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Dan is not the only coming out...

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: ... for the race for president. Tonight's Democratic debate sponsored by CNN and YouTube, sorry about the audio, is marking a new day in cyber campaigning.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, it's summer, it's vacation. It is a new twist on a concept as old as democracy itself, you ask and of course, they answer.

Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.

PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Well, tonight's Democratic debate is all about you. CNN is teaming with YouTube for a first of its kind forum. Now six hours away. Beginning this hour, the eight Democratic presidential contenders are expected to start touring our CNN set. And it is on the campus of the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. To set the stage for us, CNN senior political correspondent Candy Crowley.

Candy, I have been wanting to ask you, you are veteran political reporter. We have been around a while, haven't we? But what do you think of this format with the YouTube videos and how do you think it has impacted the race for president?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, I think that the Internet in general has truly impacted this race in a way we haven't seen before. Howard Dean, of course, made use of the Internet in fund-raising. But this is just a whole new level. These candidates have all these forums that they can go to. MySpace, YouTube, their fans can put out the message. So it is like one of the phone trees that you used to have when your kids were little and you know, when there was a snow day, they just kind of go out there and it expands and expands. And they are not only getting a base for fund-raising, what they are getting are people to organize. They are now using the Internet as an organizational tool.

Now if you go to tonight, what's different here? They have town hall meetings where they meet voters in person. First of all, you don't have to be in Iowa, New Hampshire or South Carolina in order to ask a question of a candidate. And second of all, I think when you are in a town hall meeting, you do sense that there is just a little bit of an intimidation factor.

And that is, you are standing up, you are asking a question, there's 400 people there with you. Here's this senator or this governor that you are talking to. Here what we are seeing are people in their own living rooms or in their backyards, really in their own comfort zone asking very direct questions of these candidates. So I think you will get a different dynamic tonight.

PHILLIPS: A little a sidebar. You mentioned snow days. We have come from the two of us listening to the radio, seeing if we are going to have a snow day versus political debates and YouTube. That's a quite a...

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: Exactly. All right. What about the political dynamic, Candy, of the debate? Who has -- does this forum favor anybody's political skill set when you talk about, you know, this way of going at it?

CROWLEY: I think in a certain sense they have all been honing this skill set, which is to say some way to kind of make that connection with the voter. And that's what town hall meet rings all about.

But I would say that John Edwards, who is a personal injury trial lawyer in his first job in his career, is someone who obviously has had the kind of experience you need, sort of empathizing with the jury, empathizing with the client, that kind of thing.

So in some ways, this is a forum that should help him and in other ways, he also at this point needs to kind of get out there and have people see him some more. He has been lingering in third place at this point. And so a breakout moment for him would be a good thing tonight.

I think -- obviously, the others are practicing the sort of thing. Hillary Clinton, I believe you will see if there is a target tonight, if people do go after anyone it is going to be her. Because frankly, she's the front-runner. And people need to go at her in order to kind of move up the scale.

PHILLIPS: All right. Candy Crowley there at the Citadel. We will be watching. Thanks, Candy.

And Anderson Cooper hosts tonight's first of its kind of debate. Live and interactive on TV and online, the CNN/YouTube Democratic debate that we have been talking about tonight, 7:00 p.m. Eastern. You can see the Republican candidates debate on Monday, September 17th.

LEMON: Let's talk about the guy who holds the office now. Test results are in. Five polyps removed from President Bush's large intestine this weekend, they are benign. And that means Mr. Bush is in good condition and he shows no signs of colon cancer. A short time ago, White House press secretary Tony Snow announced the findings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Microscopic evaluations of the polyps discovered and removed during the president's colonoscopy confirmed the preliminary diagnosis, tubular adenoma. There were five such polyps. The president's next colonoscopy should be in three years. The rule of thumb is if you have more than three such polyps, you do your surveillance period for three years.

As you know, most colon cancer arises from polyps. The progression generally takes many years. Two-thirds of all polyps are adenomas. The vast majority, tubular adenomas. These were relatively small polyps, a centimeter or so. They represent the various -- very earliest cellular changes.

Left untreated, they could progress to more advanced lesions. A small percentage can cancerous. Once a polyp is diagnosed and removed, they cannot become cancerous. So the president is in good health. There is no reason for alarm. A fairly routine diagnosis and also procedure. And again, he will next be -- he will next get a colonoscopy three years hence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right. White House press secretary Tony Snow moments ago. Elizabeth Cohen joins us now to tell us more about Mr. Bush's colonoscopy and what the tests mean for everybody.

Because this is something everyone can learn from, when someone like the president has his done, we can learn from it.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. And it might be a little bit confusing what Tony Snow just said. So let me clarify what it is. As he said, they found that the president does not have colon cancer. However, what they did find was what one doctor termed pre-malignant or pre-cancerous cells, when I was on the phone with this gastrointestinal cancer specialist.

Pre-malignant, pre-cancerous, meaning that there is scientific evidence that those kinds of polyps that the president has are more than likely -- more likely than other kinds of growth to turn into cancer. They have the potential to become cancer. And that's why they want to get them out, get them under the microscope, and give him another colonoscopy in three years.

Now usually if they find nothing, then they do another colonoscopy in 10 years. He is having a colonoscopy in three because they didn't find nothing. They found these pre-cancerous polyps.

LEMON: OK. And then for men, I guess when -- at age 40, you should get it done, is it yearly? I forget.

COHEN: You know, men and women are the same. People for some reason often associate these colonoscopies with men and not with women. But it really is the same for men and for women. For most people it is every 10 years. But for people like the president who are at a higher risk of colon cancer, it is going to be more often than that, so starting at age 50.

LEMON: Got it. All right. Thank you so much, Elizabeth.

COHEN: OK. Thanks.

PHILLIPS: Well, it has finally stopped raining in most of Texas. Nearly a foot-and-a-half fell on South Texas over the weekend, sending as many as 90 people scrambling for higher ground. Emergency crews kept busy with high water rescues of animals as well as people. These baboons were caught playing in the floodwaters, believe it or not, surrounding the Southwest National Primate Research Center in San Antonio. It has been raining constantly in that area for more than a month now.

LEMON: And now to Britain where entire towns are swamped in some of the worst flooding in decades. Tens of thousands of people trapped by the rising water. And CNN's Alphonso Van Marsh is following the rescue efforts. And he is in waterlogged Tewkesbury for us.

Alphonso, man, lots of water around you.

ALPHONSO VAN MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. A lot of water. Don, as you mentioned, some of the worst flooding in some 60 years, two-and-a-half times the amount of rain that would usually be falling in this part of the country at this time of the year. As you may be able to see around me, there are some that are trying to make the best out of what is a very serious situation.

To give you an idea of the context, according to officials here, some 5 million people are living in at-risk areas for flooding. Here where we are, some 50,000 homes are without electricity tonight, another 150,000 homes without water -- I should say fresh water and the clock is ticking. Officials here saying that water is running out. And many places in central and western parts of the country may run out of fresh water within the next 12 to 16 hours.

Now what's interest being this is the prime minister, Gordon Brown, did actually come to visit areas like this where you have water upwards of 15 feet higher than they would usually be. He's putting $1.6 billion to flood relief in this, what is the largest peacetime rescue operation for the Royal Air Force since they started keeping records of this sort of thing. And some worrying signs out here, Don. On our way down to this live shot location where you see here, we actually saw somebody put a sheet outside of their home where they said, if you are not here to help, go home.

Also, some other worrying signs of opportunists in this very unfortunate situation. People buying bottled water, just like this one, and selling it for $10 each -- Don.

LEMON: Oh man. And those sheets with the words on it reminiscent of Hurricane Katrina in the States. Alphonso, what is Britain's emergency services doing to help?

VAN MARSH: Well, they are doing a lot. Again, they have got the fire officials, police officials, the Royal Air Force, the navy, the army, all pulled in. Many of them bringing upwards of 600 tanks of water as well as bottled water to help people. In the earlier hours this afternoon we actually saw dinghies, rubber boats, motorized boats coming up the street, bringing senior citizens and others that need help. We also saw them bringing, of all things, a fish tank, trying to help the pets in this part of the world that are being affected by these serious floods.

But again, we do want to bring to you just how serious this is. Hundreds of people being evacuated from their homes in what, again, it is the worst flooding in some 60 years -- Don.

LEMON: All right. Alphonso Van March in Tewkesbury, thank you for your report.

And can you imagine it might get even worse before it gets better. What are the chances, Chad Myers?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Tewksbury, where he is, is actually a conglomeration of two rivers. They come together there. And it is the Avon and the Severn. And so they are the worst of both worlds because both rivers are actually flooding. And when they get into the main river, into the main channel, then the water has been coming up again.

Another thing you will notice about this area, there are a few hills here. But most of it is very flat. And the water that you saw near Alphonso was not moving. You like it -- although it is a little more dangerous, you like the water to at least get out of the way. This water, because it is so flat, it is slowly making its way down to the south and to the southwest.

The rain for this area is done for today. But I will tell you what. We have flash flood warnings southeast of London for tonight and tomorrow. That's where the rain has moved.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Buried by mud, an entire community in south central Colorado, dozens of people are only now being allowed into Alpine to see what, if anything, they can salvage. Reporter Jaclyn Allen with our affiliate KMGH is in the neighboring town of Buena Vista.

Jaclyn, tell us what it is like.

JACLYN ALLEN, KMGH REPORTER: Well, right now they just finished a briefing at the Red Cross shelter here in Buena Vista, and people got some good news. They get to go home. Most of them will be able to go back in some time this afternoon.

They evacuated the entire town. Almost 100 people Saturday night so this will be the first time most of them get to see the extent of the damage. We got a tour of the devastation yesterday. Take a look at this video, what we saw were cars stuck in four feet of mud, literally stopped in their tracks as they were trying to leave.

Just about every road in the town of Alpine has some sort of damage. We saw a garage pushed off its foundation by the force of the slide. This happened after they got a deluge of rain much, about 3.5 inches in 45 minutes on Saturday night.

People say the mudslides sounding like a roaring rumbling train coming their way. But before they were evacuated, because of the risk of more mudslides, the entire town was trying to redirect the mud. And we walked through it. It was the consistency of cement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAVONNE KOTHE, EVACUEE: All of a sudden people were getting on the radio and said, we need help. We need help. And so within 45 minutes, we were out helping people dig mud away from their homes and trying to keep mud from going in their homes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Yes, they will be digging out for a long time to come. The Red Cross disaster team went in this morning to assess the damage. We don't know yet how many homes are damaged. They are still trying to find that out. And I'm sure we will learn more about it as people go back to see what they can salvage.

Reporting live in Buena Vista, Jaclyn Allen, 7 News.

PHILLIPS: All right. Jaclyn, thanks so much.

LEMON: Another Middle East country, another potential front. The Pentagon mulls U.S. military options in Pakistan.

PHILLIPS: And do you base presidential decisions on reason or religion? We are going to talk to a man who has a provocative question for tonight's YouTube debate.

LEMON: Plus, a routine diagnosis or something to worry about? More on lab results from the president's colonoscopy. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: Seventeen past the hour. Here are three of the stories we are working on for you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. A clean bill of health. The White House now says doctors have found no cancer after they removed a small growth found on President Bush's colon on Saturday.

Parts of western England facing the worst flooding in 60 years. Right now, soldiers are trying to keep floodwaters away from a major power substation that served a half million homes. Thousands of other homes are already without power or drinking water.

A manhunt is under way in the South for two people who allegedly helped snatch a Mississippi baby from her adoptive parents. The baby is safe. And her biological mother was arrested. Police believe a disputed adoption sparked the kidnapping.

PHILLIPS: Still out there, still plotting. Almost six years after 9/11, Osama bin Laden is not just on the run. He has apparently found safe haven, that haven is here, the lawless lands of northwest Pakistan. The U.S. figures al Qaeda and Taliban warlords have been hunkered down there a pretty good long while. And it has been up to Pakistan to root him out. Now though Washington might be thinking of stepping in. Let's get straight to the Pentagon and CNN's Barbara Starr.

Barbara, what type of military action are we talking about?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, the question, you know, is what would the U.S. military be willing to do and why now? Well, that al Qaeda safe haven, according to the U.S. intelligence community, is only growing stronger. And that is a significant concern to the Bush administration.

So they have been pressuring Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to crack down, to move his own troops in. Musharraf, by all accounts, is doing that. But the U.S. military still is very skeptical that he can really shut down that safe haven. So they are offering him assistance and ready to step in if they find a target that they might able to go after without having to put troops on the ground.

We just finished traveling with General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Listen to what he told us just a couple of days ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. PETER PACE, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS: We are working real hard with President Musharraf, offering to work as closely with intel and with kinetic effects as he's comfortable working with us. And we are working through that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: So offering him intelligence where bin Laden and other al Qaeda leaders might be hiding. Kinetics, what does that mean, Kyra? Well, by all accounts, General Pace is not talking about putting U.S. troops on the ground in Pakistan to root out al Qaeda, but perhaps long range artillery strikes from positions inside Afghanistan, perhaps fixed wing aircraft fly overhead, bombing if they find a target, perhaps most likely unmanned drones with precision missiles onboard, again, to go after those targets in Pakistan if they can find them -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Now let's talk about the timing. Why is this happening now? And if we do aid in this effort, what role will Musharraf and the Pakistani military play?

STARR: Well, why is it happening now? Clearly we have all watched this violence mounting in Pakistan over the last couple of weeks. We have the National Intelligence Estimates saying that this al Qaeda safe haven is growing only stronger.

Any agreements Musharraf had with the tribal leaders in Pakistan to try and put a halt to al Qaeda's abilities in that area really has failed. And al Qaeda has simply become stronger there, using it as a potential launch pad to plan attacks perhaps in the United States.

That's something President Bush simply can't tolerate but he has to walk a very fine line. President Musharraf is in a very delicate position with the fundamentalists inside Pakistan. Musharraf cannot be seen as getting too cozy with the United States, especially the U.S. military. So all of this, a very delicate dance.

The U.S. offering assistance. The U.S. ready to do something if it did find a good target in that region of Pakistan. But, again, something that's being handled very delicately -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Thanks.

LEMON: A baby girl found safe. Police say she was kidnapped at gunpoint from her adoptive mother. Now her biological mother faces serious charges.

PHILLIPS: People thought he was attacking her but he was trying to save her life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The door opened, he was hanging onto the car. And she went speeding up the block. And she was definitely trying to throw him off. She was zigzagging all the way up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: A friend trying to stop a friend from driving drunk gets dragged to his death.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Well, straight ahead, your questions for candidates, thousands of them. Thanks so much for asking. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There clearly are questions that we, the journalists -- mainstream media would never think to ask in a presidential debate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead in the NEWSROOM, a Tube questioner puts candidates on the spot about God. You will meet him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Hi everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon. You have got plenty of questions, of course. But will candidates come up with any satisfactory answer?

PHILLIPS: Tonight, YouTube and CNN change the way presidential debates are done. We are going to talk with the man who hopes his question makes the cut. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Well, we are less than six hours from the groundbreaking CNN YouTube debate. Viewers sent more than 3,000 questions for the Democrats running for the White House. Here's one you might see tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOY VICTOR, MEDICAL STUDENT: Hi. My name is Joy and I'm from Berkeley, California. We're currently in the midst of a faith-based presidency. President Bush has said that God told him to invade Iraq and that his faith influenced his decisions he made so far. My question to you all is how much of a role will reason play in your decision making process as opposed to faith and if you had to leave the nation into war, what role would God play in your decision?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: That was medical student Joy Victor. He joins us now live from San Francisco. OK, Joy, you know I have to ask you this. What's up with the presentation? The mood lighting, the books, the voice, the music, are you playing us here?

VICTOR: I think I'm just trying to make myself look a little bit more intellectual.

PHILLIPS: You are a med student. I don't think have you a problem with that. There was no motive behind this besides trying to look more intellectual?

VICTOR: Well, I'm sure I had an agenda when asking the question.

PHILLIPS: Well, let's talk about that.

VICTOR: Sure.

PHILLIPS: Why this specific question?

VICTOR: Well, I guess traditionally candidates have had a certain measure of control over the questions that they are asked. Particularly in the debates. I mean, whenever a journalist asks a question, if it is a question that the candidate doesn't like, the journalist can possibly be shut off permanently from the candidate. And I thought I wanted to ask a question that, you know, was important to me and at the same time kind of possibly make -- would make the candidate squirm.

PHILLIPS: Interesting. So you think that that could make the candidates squirm?

VICTOR: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Tell me why.

VICTOR: I think -- well, the democrats right now are kind of pandering to get the religious cultural conservative voters that voted for Bush. On the last two elections. And I think, you know, some people want a person who is a man of faith. And I'm kind of the opposite. I would like someone who is more rational-minded. And bases most of their decisions on thought processes based on facts.

PHILLIPS: Are you say something one who is faithful or religious is not rational?

VICTOR: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Really?

VICTOR: I -- well, I'm a religious person. I'm Catholic. But I think that the definition of faith means believing in something even though you don't have any reason to believe in it based on no facts at all. Yeah.

PHILLIPS: Well, so I let's incorporate that into a president making a decision about war. Are you saying that you shouldn't take faith and together when making that type of decision?

VICTOR: Well, I think faith and reason are mutually exclusive. I mean, take, for example, the Iraq War. I mean, let's not debate on whether, you know, we agree with it or not. President Bush -- it was reported on the BBC, I think, that he said that God told him to invade Iraq. And I think that's something that is a little bit troubling because no one is told by God to do anything.

PHILLIPS: I don't think -- I don't remember that. When did hay say that, do you remember?

VICTOR: It was covered on the BBC. It was during an Israeli Palestinian summit in Egypt.

PHILLIPS: OK. I'm going to have to go back and check my research on that. That's a pretty big statement. Do you think the president should be open about their faith at all because, obviously, we have heard the president of the United States talk about being a Christian and using God in many of his speeches.

VICTOR: Well, I would like to see a return to having religion be a private thing. And I think there's a quote in the Bible about praying in the closets, like basically praying to God personally. And not wearing your religion on your sleeve and the dangerous thing about -- you know, saying -- being, you know, talking a lot about your faith and talking a lot about Christianity, for example, is when we invaded Iraq, they might view, the Arabs might view that as, you know, another Crusade.

And, you know, a lot of these Islamic fundamentalists are still stuck in, you know the crusader-type mentality. They haven't forgotten that. Even though it is like hundreds of years ago. And the only thing I worry about is, you know, Christianity being perverted in the name of going to war. When, in fact the First Commandment says, "Thou shall not kill."

PHILLIPS: Joy Victor, we will be watching the debate and will be interesting to see. Do you know if your question got selected or not?

VICTOR: I don't think so because I haven't been told it was selected.

PHILLIPS: OK. Well, you had your chance right here. Thanks, Joy.

VICTOR: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Well, Anderson Cooper is going to host tonight's first of its kind debate, live and interactive on TV and online. The CNN- YouTube Democratic debates tonight 7:00 p.m. Eastern and you can see the Republican candidates debate on Monday, September 17th.

And even though it is too late to ask a question for tonight's debate you can still make a statement afterwards. Cnn.com can make a political pundit out of you. Just watch the CNN-YouTube debate and send us your I-Report analysis or commentary to cnn.com/youtubedebate. Then your two cents could make it on air for you to hear just after the debates are over.

LEMON: Biological mother of a baby girl taken at gunpoint. She's facing kidnapping charges. Police say five-month-old Madison Erickson was snatched from her adoptive mother during a home invasion in Mississippi. She was found later unharmed at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina. Under arrest, Jamie Kiefer the girl's biological mother and the girl's aunt, Rikki Swann. The authorities are looking for two more suspects.

Dragged to his death trying to save his girlfriend from herself. More from reporter Holly Hare of CNN affiliate News 12 Long Island.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK MONTANINO, WITNESS: He was somewhat like this here, reaching into the car.

HOLLY HAERR, NEWS 12 LONG ISLAND: Nick Montanino saw the drama unfold outside his home in Centereach Saturday night. A man hanging out after car door as the car drove off Tree Road. He and his wife looked outside when they heard a woman screaming.

IRENE MONTANINO, WITNESS: As I was walking to the door. He said get the phone and call 911. A guy is beating up a girl.

HAERR: But then Nick says he realized it looked like she was fighting him as he tried to take her keys a way.

N. MONTANINO: He was trying to stop her from driving, yelling you are going to get arrested, you are going to get arrested.

HAERR: Then came the fatal ride. You can see the bloodstains next to some of the black skid marks on the road.

N. MONTANINO: He was hanging on to the car. And she went speeding up the block. She was definitely trying to throw him off. She was zigzagging all the way out.

HAERR (on camera): He apparently fell off by that intersection behind me. That's where the skid marks and trail of blood begin. They continue down the road and end by that intersection with the tree on the corner.

(voice-over): Suffolk police say the person under the car, 26 year old Louis Wederer (ph) from Westbury was killed. The driver, apparently his girlfriend, Lucina Vega (ph) of Carlplates (ph), she has been charged with drunk driving.

Neighbors say the two had been in a block party nearby and after the crash some say she appeared to be in shock.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was sitting down. She was hysterical, crying.

HAERR: Many on this end of the street did not want to speak on camera but said they will never forget the sight of him under the car. In Centereach, Holly Haerr, News 12 Long Island.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The driver pleaded not guilty. The district attorney will decide whether to file more charges.

PHILLIPS: Americans have them every day. But when it is the president's colonoscopy, well, it makes news. CNN's Elizabeth Cohen has the latest on the test results next on the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We have new details for you now about the growths removed from President Bush's colon Saturday. Navy medical experts checked keep for signs of cancer as the disease claimed the life of former televangelist Tammy Faye Messner on Friday after a decade-long battle. Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now with more on the president's results and what exactly do those results mean, Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They mean he does not have cancer. But it is not nothing either. It is something in between. What they found is that the president has adenomas and adenomas mean that it's a precancerous polyp or a premalignant polyp. Meaning if it was allowed to stay in there and grow and grow and grow it does have a high risk of becoming cancer. So that's why they removed those polyps and why they are going to keep a close watch on president. He is going to get another colonoscopy in there years. Usually they let 10 years go by in between colonoscopies. But they want to check him out sooner than that.

LEMON: OK. So this early screening then, is that the key? And how important is it?

COHEN: It is so important. If doctors could catch all colon cancers in the early stages, the survival rate would be much better. If your colon cancer is caught in the early stages you have a 90 percent chance of survival. That's huge. But those numbers go way, way down when it is caught at later stages and because a lot of people don't have symptoms, they catch it really late. By the time have you symptoms it has often spread.

LEMON: OK. Then when should you start getting screened for colon cancer?

COHEN: Most people should start at age 50, that's what doctors recommend. Most people should start at age 50. However, if you have a particular risk factor you should start earlier. For example, the president, obviously, has risk factors. If you have polyps in the past, if family members have had polyps or have had colon cancer, your doctor may want to you get screenings earlier than age 50 and certainly more often than 10 years.

LEMON: All right. Age 50.

COHEN: Age 50 or maybe earlier.

LEMON: Maybe earlier. Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.

COHEN: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: Well, some say the sport's popularity is spreading. Others say it is barbaric and has no place in the public arena. We're going to take you inside the world of mixed martial arts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Well, they have already hit the NFL and Nike. Now PETA is taking its "Sack Michael Vick blitz" to the Atlanta Falcons. The animal rights group held a protest today at the team's training facility just outside of Atlanta. It wants the Falcons to suspend the star quarterback immediately if the league won't. Vick is the subject of a federal indictment alleging dog fighting at his Virginia home. His arraignment is scheduled for Thursday in Richmond. PETA plans to be there, too.

PHILLIPS: Mixed martial arts. A controversial sport that's gained a following in the United States. But critics call it savage. And they want restrictions. CNN's Brianna Keilar reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is a sport that tests a fighter's endurance and will. It is called mixed martial arts, a combination of boxing, kick boxing, wrestling, judo and jujitsu.

MICHAEL COLES, FORMER KICKBOXING CHAMPION: It's probably one of the toughest, if not the toughest sports, to compete in.

KEILAR: Mixed martial arts was introduced in the United States in the early 1990s with little regulation and was quickly labeled too violent by critics. Back in 1995, Arizona Senator John McCain wanted it banned all together.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) AZ: It appeals to the lowest common denominator in our society.

KEILAR: This style of fighting emphasizes repeated punches, kicks, elbows and knees. All of which became labeled as too savage. But the sport has a fan base. Washington recently hosted its first MMA event with a near sellout crowd on hand.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think I'm in shock. I can't believe people would fight that hard to hurt each other. But I have just got to see it.

KEILAR: Organizers say they take the safety of the fighters into account but medical experts suggest that there is still room for improvement.

DR. CLARKE HOLMES, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: The head injuries are still very high. You look at a recent study, approximately 28 percent of the match stoppages were due to blunt head trauma. That's a very high percentage. We would like to see that percentage go down.

KEILAR: MMA organizers contend they have made the sport safer by using highly trained referees and eliminating some of the more dangerous techniques. The end result, 19 states and Washington, DC now allow promoters to stage mixed martial arts events. And Senator McCain says he's satisfied.

MCCAIN: I don't particularly care for it but I don't have objection to it now that they changed the rules so that it is far less barbaric.

COLES: We are going to have people who are a little, you know, apprehensive about it because -- it is a violent sport. But as long as people want to do it and there is a market for it, I say let it happen.

KEILAR: There are several mixed martial arts brands out there for fight fans. And with annual revenue in the tens of millions of dollars, the sport appears to be here to stay.

Brianna Keilar, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: The International Space Station can't leave its garbage, can't leave it on the curb. So crew members are tossing some of it overboard during a space walk. One of the biggest discards is a 1,400 pound ammonia tank. A refrigerator-sized piece will drift for almost a year and then burn up in earth's atmosphere. It's not expected to pose any dangers to the space station. Just to make sure the station is moving it into higher orbit.

PHILLIPS: Joining us now out of Washington, DC. Apparently a plane with some nose gear problems. Dulles Airport, Kathleen Koch monitoring it for us. What's the deal Kathleen?

KAHTLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, this just in from the FAA spokesperson Alison Duquette. Apparently this is a Canada Air regional jet, a CRJ-2. It's Mesa Air Flight 7458. It departed Dulles Airport near Washington, DC not too long ago, this afternoon. Sometime afternoon. And was headed to Columbia, South Carolina. But at that point the pilot reported it -- plane was experiencing nose gear problems

From what Duquette says at this point the plane is circling Dulles Airport waiting for permission to land and to go back to the airport. But again, we have seen in the past when either regional jets or even very large aircraft have a nose gear problem they can generally land safely. Even if it is askew, even if the nose gear is not down at all. Much less serious situation than when you have one of these gears, landing gear on either side of the plane or under the wings that isn't functioning or is askew. Nose gear, they can usually handle that pretty well, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. We will keep track of that. Meanwhile, if you are looking -- is that the night tracker, Chad Myers, what we were just looking at? Is that the flight tracker?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That is, Kyra, the ASH, that is the airline code for Mesa Air. That is the flight number 7458. 039 means 3900 feet. There was a down arrow on the last. Now it's just updated. It is just level flight at 3900 feet. Doing 220 knots. No it is going from Dulles to Dulles. IED to IED. That changed from when it decided not to go all the way down to Columbia. It is a CRJ, a Canada Air regional jet, 200. The expected takeoff time was about an hour ago. It actually took off 45 minutes late. So that 1:41 p.m. has no bearing on that flight whatsoever. And it has circled the airport about three times. You are only seeing the last 20 minutes of flight there as it circled Dulles at 4,000 feet in the sky. And it is going to continue to do this. What it is doing now, losing its fuel, burning fuel off because it doesn't want to land full of people and full of fuel.

So that will make the plane lighter. And that will put less stress on the nose gear when the nose gear tries to go down. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Chad, forgive me, did you say you knew where that plane took off from?

MYERS: It took off from Dulles.

PHILLIPS: Took off from Dulles. So where was it headed to?

MYERS: It was going to Columbia, South Carolina. As he tried to put the gear back up the pilot did, didn't go back up right and they didn't go any farther than that. At that point they became 7458 heavy and they started to circle the airport there and did not go any further. They are going to burn the flight off, burn the air off -- the fuel off, at IAD.

PHILLIPS: We will monitor it then. Chad, there were flight tracker and also Kathleen Koch working details out of DC. Thanks to you both. We are going to take a quick break. More on CNN NEWSROOM straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: We are continuing to follow that developing story. Mesa Air Flight 7458 circling Dulles Airport right now just shortly after takeoff. Kathleen Koch working all the details on what's happening right now. She joins us from Washington. What do you know, Kathleen?

KOCH: Kyra, this flight took off from Dulles airport this afternoon. Roughly about an hour or so ago. It was headed to Columbia, South Carolina. It is a CRJ-2 regional aircraft. In wide use in the United States. Holds, my best recollection, 48, 50 passengers.

All we know right now from FAA spokesperson Alison Duquette is it reported ad nose gear problem. We don't know if the nose gear wouldn't fold back up into the nose or if it is stuck in the downward position. All we know is they are having a problem. So they requested permission to return to Dulles and land. Duquette says the plane is circling the airport, waiting for permission to land.

And we were given by FAA its estimated ETA was supposed to be 1:40 that it would be back on the ground. We have not gotten any confirmation of that yet, Kyra, that it's landed safely.

PHILLIPS: We will keep checking in with you. We're going to talk to Miles O'Brien now?

LEMON: We're going to talk to Miles O'Brien but first we're going to get back to the flight tracker and Chad Myers who is checking this from the severe weather center.

Chad tell us , the nose gear down, won't go down or what go up or what have you? What kind of problem does this pose?

MYERS: Miles O'Brien is actually on the line with us too and he is going to get a better idea but we're seeing these numbers change. Now we're down to 800 feet and going down and remember the flight tracker is delayed a few minutes for security purposes. We don't want to know where every plane is well, everybody doesn't want to know where every plane is over the skies of America so they do delay that for us just a bit.

And Miles, why don't you go ahead and talk about that nose gear problem. What does that mean?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on phone): Well, what is interesting about this, Chad, and what people should focus on here is this happened right after takeoff. In other words, they had perfectly good landing gear, took off, tried to stow the gear for the cruise to their flight down to Columbia and were unable to do that.

Now, I don't know enough about whether it was a partial retraction of the gear, which would be of more concern, or if it's just simply the nose gear did not retract at all, in which case it would be in the down and locked position, still, because that's the way it would be on the ground. And so what you would do is put the main gear down, assuming that's all working fine, and then it's just a matter of burning off some fuel to make sure you're at the proper weight for landing and come on in for a landing. So, this really could be, if that's the case, this could be a big nonevent.

MYERS: Absolutely.

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