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Four Killed in News Helicopter Collision in Phoenix; Cheney Surgery; Astronauts and Alcohol
Aired July 28, 2007 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: From the CNN Center, this is Saturday, July the 28th. And you are now in the NEWSROOM with us.
It is 10:00 a.m. here in Atlanta, Georgia, 7:00 a.m. out in San Francisco.
Hello to you all on a special Saturday. It's special because we are able to welcome back our Betty Boop.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey. The globetrotter is finally back.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: We'll be talking a little bit about my adventure overseas in just a little bit.
In the meantime, though, it is great to be here.
Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.
We've got a lot to tell you about this hour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It came down, it was like slow motion. And I couldn't find anybody. I couldn't find anybody.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Two television news helicopters covering a police chase collide. Look at this. We're going to delve into what went wrong. We've got the latest on the tragedy.
HOLMES: Also coming up, do you remember the warnings this week about terrorists doing dry runs at airports in the U.S.? Well, oops. It turns out it was all one big false alarm. We will explain this to you.
NGUYEN: And here is a question for all you coffee lovers out there. Do you know, do you really know how many Starbucks there are in Manhattan? Well, we found a man who knows them all too well because he visited every single one of them in one day.
We're going to talk to him a little bit later. The man hasn't slept in over a year. HOLMES: But first up this hour, we do want to start in Phoenix, where inspectors are now on the scene. Teams from the FAA and NTSB looking into the crash of two Phoenix news helicopters.
They're trying to determine how the helicopters collided while covering a police chase. All four people on board those helicopters killed in this fiery crash.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Saw a couple of helicopters hovering above, and then heard the bang.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was in the air, and then boom, it was dust falling to the ground.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You saw two helicopters that were on fire plummeting to the ground in a trail of smoke. That's all I saw. And just the explosion. I can't believe it.
HOLMES (voice over): Two helicopters from different TV news stations in Phoenix collided on Friday. There was smoke and flames in the downtown park where the choppers hit the ground. The two helicopters had been following a police chase of a stolen vehicle. Authorities say the suspect will probably face charges for the deaths in the crash.
Killed in the collision, a photographer and pilot on both KNXV and KTVK TV helicopters.
MAYOR PHIL GORDON, PHOENIX: In terms of the family members that have lost loved ones, and to the media family that have lost colleagues and loved ones, our hearts, our prayers go out to everyone. And the tragedy that we faced as a community is particularly strong and painful today.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And Christopher Jones is the man arrested in that high- speed chase. He may be held responsible for causing the deaths of the helicopter news crews. Police say more charges could be filed. Right now he is facing charges for vehicle theft, as well as resisting arrest.
NGUYEN: Well, both Phoenix news stations are allowing their viewers to leave their condolences for the families of those victims. KTVK.com has a special look at their crew, Scott Bowerbank and Jim Cox. And there is also a similar tribute set up for Craig Smith and Rick Krolak. For that, you can go to KNXV.com.
In other news, federal investigators are trying to determine the cause of a deadly air show accident in Wisconsin. One pilot was killed and another injured when their vintage planes collided while landing.
The single-engine warplanes had just finished a performance at the air show in Oshkosh yesterday. Witnesses say one plane hit the tail of the other and flipped upside down into a fireball.
HOLMES: Vice President Dick Cheney in the hospital this morning. Arriving a couple of hours ago for what's described as minor surgery dealing with his heart.
We want to turn now to our Ed Henry, who is live outside George Washington University Hospital.
They say this is a minor, minor surgery, but man, some of the details sound pretty serious, Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Good morning, T.J.
In fact, we're learning from other cardiologists that what they actually do is put you into cardiac arrest to test the new device that is being put in to regulate the vice president's heartbeat, just to make sure that device is working properly. So, obviously, that's serious.
It's also always a big deal when the vice president, in line of succession for the presidency, has any sort of surgery, especially Mr. Cheney, 66 years old. A history of heart trouble, as you know.
He arrived here about 8:01 Eastern Time this morning, George Washington University Hospital, with his wife Lynne. This procedure is not expected to last too long, so we should see him soon.
You will remember, back in 2001, Mr. Cheney had a defibrillator implanted to regulate that heartbeat. That year he actually showed CNN a duplicate of it that he keeps in his office to show people how exactly it works.
Just last month, his doctors went in, found that the batteries need to be replaced, but decided rather than just doing that, they would do the whole deal and basically put in a whole new device. Obviously, in the last six years there have been a lot of changes. But even though his office saying it's a routine procedure, take a listen to another cardiologist describe exactly what happens.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. RAMIN OSKOUI, CARDIOLOGIST, WASHINGTON HOSPITAL CENTER: We remove the device, which has been disabled, put on a new device in the pocket, and then actually more deeply sedate him, and then induce cardiac arrest to be certain the new device will work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: But again, medical experts back up the vice president's office. Medical experts say that, in fact, this is relatively routine. And they say the vice president is not expected to be admitted or stay overnight here at George Washington University Hospital. Instead, if all goes well, he's expected to be home shortly resting comfortably as well -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Ed Henry for us outside George Washington University Hospital.
Thanks so much, Ed.
And Vice President Cheney will be a guest on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE" on Tuesday. You'll hear what he has to say about the Iraq war, the war on terror, and probably hear something about his surgery as well.
Again, that is Tuesday night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
NGUYEN: Well, President Bush spending the weekend at Camp David and preparing to welcome the new British prime minister. Gordon Brown arrives tomorrow. It is his first visit to the United States as prime minister.
The White House says the two leaders will discuss Iran and Afghanistan. They're also expected to talk about preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons and ending the genocide in Darfur.
HOLMES: Well, news about your security this morning.
Congress approves a bill that includes many of the recommendations from the 9/11 Commission. The House passed a security bill yesterday by a vote of 371-40. The Senate approved the measure Thursday.
The bill provides nearly $2 billion to improve emergency first responder communications. It calls for screening of all cargo coming into the U.S. as well and for creating a privacy and civil liberties oversight board. The White House says President Bush will sign the legislation.
NGUYEN: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice getting ready for a Mideast mission. Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates head to the region on Monday.
And what they're going to do is they're going to visit Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Rice is expected to press the Saudis for help with getting Iraq's government going forward. Some U.S. officials say the Saudis aren't doing enough.
HOLMES: Well, we don't know exactly if a NASA official is going to stand outside the shuttle door with a breathalyzer, but NASA is certainly going to be keeping a closer eye on their astronauts, especially in the wake of a new troubling report that we're seeing, allegations of, yes, astronauts flying drunk.
Not the kind of image NASA is really hoping for here.
CNN's John Zarrella has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If astronauts flew intoxicated, NASA officials say the agency didn't know then, but intends to get to the bottom of it now. SHANA DALE, NASA DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR: We will act immediately on the more troubling aspects of this report with respect to alcohol use and the anecdotal references of resistance by agency leadership to accepting advice or criticisms about the fitness and readiness of individuals for space flight.
ZARRELLA: The allegations surfaced in a report the space agency commissioned in the aftermath of the Lisa Nowak love triangle incident. NASA wanted an evaluation of its mental and psychological screening processes for astronauts.
The most damaging assertions in the study involved alcohol. The report found alcohol was freely used in crew quarters. In two incidents, astronauts were so intoxicated, they were deemed a risk to flight safety, but cleared to fly anyway. Senior flight surgeons felt their medical advice was being disregarded.
But at this point, the U.S. space agency does not know the extent of the problem.
COL. RICHARD BACHMANN, JR. USAF, CHAIR, NASA ASTRONAUTS HEALTH CARE SYSTEM REVIEW COMMITTEE: We don't have enough data to call it alcohol abuse. We have no way of knowing if these are the only two incidents that have ever occurred in the history of the astronaut corps or if they're the tip of a very large iceberg.
ZARRELLA: The panel's report did not provide specific details of the two incidents because in order to get candid information, the panel had to guarantee anonymity. But it was revealed that one of the incidents took place in Russia before the launch of a Soyuz rocket.
The other involved a space shuttle mission. The astronaut did not leave Earth drunk because the mission was scrubbed and he flew back to Houston on a T38 NASA jet that the astronauts use to fly back and forth between Houston and the Kennedy Space Center.
John Zarrella, CNN, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HOLMES: Well, we've got plenty of other stories for you to be watching for this Saturday morning.
NGUYEN: All right, get this. A kitty who sees death as it approaches. Yes, our Jeanne Moos tells the story only as she can.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Get that nasty cat away from me. That is one spooky cat.
Hey, speaking of cats, it's raining cats and dogs in parts of Texas, but it will be a little easier for them today compared to what they had over the last couple of days, and certainly last weekend. I'll let you know where it's headed and who else may be affected this weekend.
HOLMES: And divorced with kids? Well, you need to beware of online dating services. You could be attracting child predators.
That story later this morning, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, have you seen this dramatic rescue video? We're going to put it up for you, because a news crew covering flooding around Phoenix was reporting -- look at that -- when a pickup truck hydroplaned and skidded off the road. The pickup rolled over and landed upside down in a drainage ditch.
Two teenagers and two toddlers were trapped inside. Witnesses jumped in that water, and after a few terrifying moments, they got everybody out. That's the good news. Police say all four were wearing seat belts and no one was seriously hurt.
HOLMES: And Denver hit pretty hard by storms now, dealing with the aftermath of that major flooding. A slow-moving storm dumped torrential rains yesterday. Rushing waters flowed through streets and stranded drivers. One apparent casualty of the severe weather, a jogger was believed to have been struck and killed by lightning.
My goodness.
NGUYEN: And the rains, they keep coming.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: Betty is here. Betty is back. We're welcoming Betty back.
NGUYEN: Oh, it's nice to be back.
HOLMES: We hate to see you go, but we know this is -- it is, it's great work and a great story, and great stuff you do once a year.
NGUYEN: Well, you know, I've really had the privilege of being able to travel back to my birth country, Vietnam, for the past seven years with the charity that my family has founded, called Help the Hungry, and that's where I've been the past couple of weeks.
Here's a map of the area. And what we did is we flew into what is now Ho Chi Minh City. It was Saigon when I was born there.
And we traveled on to the Mekong Delta near the Cambodian border, and we were essentially helping poor and destitute families just living off of the land. And here are some pictures from that trip.
And the group that I go with is called Help the Hungry. It's the organization, the nonprofit that my family founded. And this year we got to help an entire school, along with the hundreds of families living in this village.
And this was just so rewarding to me, because you can see this school here. Back in that picture, there's no electricity in that school. There's just a window. And so that's how they get their light.
And all the little kids came out. And they stood in line for us to pass out the notebooks and the backpacks and the pen and paper and the food. And it was really able wonderful to be able to provide for these communities.
Here is a picture of me with the rice. We provide so much in the form of food, clothing, medicine and hygienic supplies, that these families are able to get back on their feet for at least a little while. And especially in such a poverty-stricken area, it means so much. And I think personally, it just means more than words to me to be able to go back and do a little to help people just like that little boy.
HOLMES: Seven years, right?
You were there two weeks. You're there about two weeks every time, right?
NGUYEN: And it's one of those trips that everyone's like, are you so excited to go? Yes, I'm so excited, but I know it's going to be such hard work. But it's the most rewarding thing that I can do on a yearly basis. I'm so glad to be able to do it.
HOLMES: We love to hear about it.
NGUYEN: Well, thank you.
HOLMES: And we love -- and we're just getting you back, so we'll see more of the pictures ourselves.
NGUYEN: Well, yes. And I just want to thank our volunteers, because if it weren't for the volunteers and the donors, we wouldn't be able to make it happen.
So thanks to all of you out there who have been able to help, help the hungry.
HOLMES: Well, great stuff you're doing there, Betty. And welcome back. Good to have you back.
NGUYEN: Thank you. It's great to be back. We've got a lot going on.
HOLMES: Well, yes, we've got a whole lot more we're going to be talking about here in the NEWSROOM, so stay here.
NGUYEN: Stopped at the gate. An elderly passenger gets detained for hours. What she had that prompted a nationwide terror bulletin.
HOLMES: Also, sentenced to a chicken suit. Yes. Why these people end up here. What did they -- did they steal a bucket of chicken or something and that was the punishment?
We're going to talk about it here ahead in the NEWSROOM. Stick around. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, you probably remember that security bulletin that surfaced this week warning airports about suspicious incidents. The alert said the incidents may have been dry runs for terrorist attacks.
Well, psych. Can we still use that?
Officials now say it was all just a false alarm.
We get an update now from CNN's Brian Todd.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): July 5th, San Diego. Transportation Security Administration screeners find a bag with two icepacks covered in tape, with clay inside them rather than blue gel. It's included in a TSA bulletin warning of dry runs for terrorist attacks. This is the woman who carried those icepacks.
SARA WEISS, PASSENGER: I'm not a terrorist. I'm a 66-year-old woman with a bad back. I was on vacation, going to visit my son in San Diego.
TODD: Sara Weiss says the ice packs she carried like these had clay inside them because they were old and that's the way they were made. Weiss was held for three hours, questioned by San Diego harbor police and two men who she said were in plain clothes and didn't identify themselves. She says one question from a San Diego harbor policemen shocked her.
WEISS: Do you know Osama bin Laden? And my response was, first of all, I thought it was a very ridiculous and strange question, because if I did know -- if I really did know Osama bin Laden, and if I were a real terrorist, do you think I'd answer that question?
TODD: Contacted by CNN, the San Diego harbor police chief said his officers are not briefed to ask that question. Weiss says she also raised suspicion because she carried a report on a survey about Muslim Americans.
WEISS: I work for a faith-based organization. Part of the responsibility is to provide interfaith cooperation and understanding.
TODD: Is she angry about the experience?
WEISS: No, I'm not bitter. I understand that they had to do their job. I think they totally overreacted.
TODD: In fact, a U.S. government official familiar with the investigation now says there were valid explanations for all four incidents in that bulletin, and no charges will be brought in any of these cases.
(on camera): TSA officials first told us the incident with Sara Weiss got put on that bulletin because of a systems error. But they also say they were right to put all four of these incidents on that alert, because whenever they find suspicious objects, they have to run them to ground and tell law enforcement officials to look out for items like that.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: American Airlines could pay hefty fines for workplace safety violations. The Labor Department has cited the airline over concerns at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.
NGUYEN: Yes. Americans could face more than $23,000 in fines. The safety concerns include electrical issues, trip and fall hazards and blocked exits. The airline says its overall workplace safety record has improved in the past two years and that it has fixed most of the issues noted in that inspection.
Well, with several weeks of summer still left, the travel season is in full gear, but with gas prices averaging almost $3 a gallon, what can you do to keep your tank and your wallet full?
Well, this week's "On the Go" may have just the fuel saving tips that you need.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERIK TORKELLS, EDITOR, "BUDGET TRAVEL": Depending on where you're going, one of your biggest travel expenses this summer might be on gas. There are things you can do to save money, besides buying a hybrid car.
Engines burn most efficiently around 55 miles per hour. In fact, a car driven at 65 miles per hour uses 17 percent more fuel than one driven at 55.
Drive gently. Jackrabbit starts and stops use up gas more quickly. Likewise, your car burns more fuel in coming off a cold start. So try to get a majority of your driving done at one time.
Getting some maintenance to your car can help, too. Change the air filter regularly and keep the tires at the recommended air pressure. Studies have shown that you can lose two percent of fuel economy for every pound of pressure under the suggested levels.
It also pays to shop around for where you buy gas. Enter your zip code at a Web site called GasBuddy.com, and you can find the best prices in your area or along your desired route.
There is some good news for road trippers. "Consumer Reports" found that running the air conditioning does not adversely affect your gas mileage all that much. So keep cool and have fun.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. Want to look ahead now to what's coming up this Saturday morning.
Check this guy out. Don't know if you'll be able to figure it out, but this is not his house. The incriminating pictures and the police hunt, that's just minutes away.
NGUYEN: Maybe that crowbar would tip you off that it's not his house.
HOLMES: Pretty good sign, yes.
NGUYEN: Can't say it enough, though. You want to be careful online. This hour, sexual predators targeting children by dating their moms.
That's ahead here in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Welcome back, everybody, on this Saturday morning. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes.
We're so glad you could be here with us this Saturday morning.
NGUYEN: We do have some stories that we want to tell you about.
Federal safety investigators on the scene of a deadly helicopter collision in Phoenix. Two television news copters collided and crashed, killing all four people on board.
HOLMES: Also, Vice President Dick Cheney at a D.C. hospital this morning. Doctors are replacing the implanted device that monitors his heartbeat. During an exam in June, doctors determined that the battery in the defibrillator was a bit low and they decided to replace the whole device instead of just giving him a new battery.
NGUYEN: We do want to get you a good look at the guy in this next story. OK? Here comes the video.
Police in Orange County, Florida, are looking for a burglar who broke into a home and made off with thousands of dollar of property. We know what the guy looks like because the homeowner caught him on camera.
Jeff Deal with our affiliate, WFTV, has more from Orlando.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF DEAL, WFTV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These pictures show the man who used a hammer to break a window and burglarize this East Orange County home.
THOMAS ARLINE, HOME BURGLARIZED: Here he is again with the bras (ph) in his hand and I'm filming this. DEAL: Thomas knows because he watched the burglar when it happened earlier this month through his new sophisticated surveillance system.
ARLINE: I'd seen him outside, then I seen -- I made the decision and I called 911.
DEAL: But Thomas wasn't in the next room watching the burglary on closed-circuit TV.
ARLINE: I watched him across the Internet on my camera system.
DEAL: That's right. He was miles away in his downtown Orlando office, the cameras in his house sending the images out to his own Web site. The computer network engineer got an e-mail alert from the motion sensor cameras. Then he logged in and watched.
ARLINE: During this whole thing, I kind of got a little crowd behind me of the guys in the office, you know, that -- Wow!, yeah, he does look like he's -- you know, what -- he got the laptop, yes, you know?
DEAL: The suspect shown in the video was still able to get away with $2,000 worth of personal belongings before sheriff's deputies arrived, but Thomas says at least now he'll always know when someone is breaking in and maybe next time they won't get away so quickly.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, despite the footage ...
HOLMES: Yes?
NGUYEN: ...so far no one has identified this burglar. But just imagine that. You're at work, you're watching someone break into your home. The first thing people think of doing is calling 911, but you've got a better idea.
HOLMES: I have an answering machine -- old school, a lot of people don't have these -- that you can hear the message when somebody calls. You just call and start yelling, "Hey! I'm watching you."
NGUYEN: I can see you. You'd better get out of the house.
HOLMES: Yes, and I mean -- but that's a hopeless -- it's a tough feeling to know you're watching somebody rob you and you can't do anything about it.
NGUYEN: Yes. Can you imagine? And they still haven't found the guy.
HOLMES: No.
NGUYEN: All right, we'll keep you posted on that story.
HOLMES: All right, well, meanwhile, this story a lot of people are interested in right now.
NFL star Michael Vick taking another hit in his dog fighting scandal. More advertisers are bailing from the Falcons quarterback, who once was the darling of endorsement deals. Nike has suspended its contract with him and Reebok has taken unprecedented action. It stopped sales of his jersey.
Vick has entered a not guilty plea to the charges.
NGUYEN: Well, let's talk about Nicole Richie now, shall we?
Soon she'll have more in common with Paris Hilton than just their TV reality show. A Los Angeles judge has ordered the celebutante to jail after she pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of drugs. And as part of that plea bargain, she will spend 90 hours in jail and serve three years probation. Well, her former friend and co-star, Paris Hilton, served 22 days in jail. And we all remember that.
HOLMES: Everybody's doing it now. She's, I'm going to jail. Everybody's going to jail.
NGUYEN: No, you'd better not be going.
HOLMES: No, I'm staying.
What, 90 hours? How long is that?
NGUYEN: Four days.
HOLMES: Four days?
All right.
Well, Lindsay Lohan's father -- he's coming under fire from a New York judge. The judge blasted Michael Lohan for failing to pay child support to Lindsay's younger siblings since he got out of prison earlier this year. Also in the courtroom Friday was Lohan's mother. Lohan's parents have been estranged since 2005. They didn't mention Lindsay's latest arrest during their courtroom appearance.
NGUYEN: Sex offenders all over the Internet, some using adult dating Web sites to get closer to kids.
CNN's Allan Chernoff investigates.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "Aloneandlooking396" is looking for love on Match.com. He writes in his profile: "Life is so wonderful. I know I am not meant to spend it alone," adding, "he would like to meet a woman who has children."
What he doesn't reveal is that he's a convicted child molester. His real name is Michael Bradley and five years ago he pled guilty to sodomizing a 15-year-old boy in Suffolk County, New York and was sentenced to 10 years of probation, including a prohibition against socializing on the internet.
When CNN went to the gas station Bradley owns to ask him what he was doing on Match.com, his daughter Kim (ph) told us to leave.
KIM: He does not want to speak to anybody right now. His lawyer has advised him to ask you to leave the premises.
Please leave the premises, OK?
CHERNOFF (on camera): Is he here?
KIM: No. He is not. You can leave now.
CHERNOFF (voice-over): Nor was Mr. Bradley at home.
After getting anonymous complaints about Bradley's profile on Match.com, the child abuse prevention group, Parents for Megan's Law, set up a fictional Match.com profile: "compassionate mom, a single parent of seven and 12-year-old boys." The group says it got a quick response after contacting Bradley through the site.
LAURA AHEARN, PARENTS FOR MEGAN'S LAW: Within hours he e-mailed back, wanting to set up a meet to have coffee or ice cream. Online dating services make it very easy for sexual predators to use their sites. They're candy stores for potential victimizations.
CHERNOFF: Suffolk County's probation office ordered Bradley off the dating site and confiscated his computer. Now forensic investigators are analyzing the hard drive to deliver evidence in court that Bradley violated his probation.
DONNA VIGILANTE, FORENSIC INVESTIGATOR: We're finding more and more of our probationers online using the Internet as a tool to say, groom, victims.
CHERNOFF: Match.com, which declined to speak on camera, says it quickly pulled Bradley's profile after receiving a complaint: "Member safety is and always will be our highest priority at Match.com," a spokesperson told CNN.
It's not only dating sites that present opportunities for sex offenders. Thirty-three-year-old Michael Karis last month pled guilty to raping a 6-year-old girl in Ohio after meeting her mother through the social networking site MySpace.com. He's been sentenced to 10-and- one-half years in prison.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It makes me feel so guilty because I feel like I allowed it to happen.
CHERNOFF: Online dating site TRUE.com, which screens applicants, unlike most dating sites, including Match.com, says it has blocked 30,000 convicted felons and sex offenders so far this year.
HERB VEST, CEO, TRUE.COM: They'll go on and look for women with children and particularly women with children that have photos of those children, so that the fantasy begins to build at that point. CHERNOFF: Good reason for women looking for love online to be very cautious and, experts say, provide few details and no pictures of the kids when first meeting an online suitor.
Allen Chernoff, CNN, Suffolk County, New York.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HOLMES: Well, they are crying foul near Cleveland. A unique sentence for three men convict of soliciting prostitutes in Painesville, Ohio. They were ordered to wear the chicken suits you see there for an hour. They also had to hold a sign saying: "No Chicken Ranch In Our City."
The judge says he got the idea after watching the movie "The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas".
Some people are passing by.
NGUYEN: People were taking pictures.
HOLMES: What do you do? You don't see that every day.
NGUYEN: No.
HOLMES: Some people passing by said the punishment actually was not embarrassing enough, because, yes, they're standing there in the chicken suits but you ...
NGUYEN: You can't see their faces.
HOLMES: ...you can't see who they are, so it's not really a real humiliation, if you will.
NGUYEN: Well, maybe they'll rethink that next time.
HOLMES: And what was the judge watching "The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas?"
Why?
NGUYEN: That's a very good question. You know, we've had calls out. We'll tell you what we know.
HOLMES: The judge won't return our calls.
NGUYEN: Yes, exactly.
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: OK, had your cup of coffee this morning just yet? Maybe your second cup?
HOLMES: Ah, that's nothing. Two, three -- whatever. Meet a guy who has got you beat by a ton. He visited every single Starbucks in Manhattan and he did it in a day. He's going to join us this morning.
Hopefully, he has settled down enough to have -- this might be the quickest interview you've ever done, Betty.
NGUYEN: That's true. I'm looking forward to that.
And this -- a swing, a hit, a homer. Yes, Barry Bonds closing in on that home run record.
HOLMES: Also, we just can't get enough of this story. This scary little kitty, yes, he looks warm and fuzzy and cute and whatever.
NGUYEN: Watch out.
HOLMES: He has a sixth sense. If he likes you, you'd better.
NGUYEN: You're about to die.
HOLMES: Yes, well, plain as put. That's it. This incredible tale coming up. That's in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Talk about a caffeine buzz -- only a true coffee lover could visit every single Starbucks in Manhattan in just one day.
So how many Starbucks are there in Manhattan, you're probably wondering. I'll tell you -- 171. Yes, 171 Starbucks in one day. You heard me right.
And our next guest visited all of them in less than 24 hours. Now, he's turned his java jaunt into a viral video on the Web.
Comedian and filmmaker Mark Malkoff joins us now from New York.
OK, so, did you get your morning cup of joe just yet?
MARK MALKOFF, COMEDIAN/FILMMAKER: I actually don't drink coffee, which makes this thing completely insane.
NGUYEN: Which makes you even more insane for doing this.
MALKOFF: Yes.
NGUYEN: Why would you want to go to 171 Starbucks in a day?
MALKOFF: Well, I'm a comedian and a filmmaker and I go to Starbucks once in a while. And I asked a Starbucks employee how many Starbucks there were in Manhattan. She didn't know. And every other employee gave me a different answer.
I started doing research and I figured 171. And then I -- it occurred to me, would it be possible to go to every single one, all 171, in one day. And I set out to do it.
NGUYEN: OK. So did it ever occur to you, as someone who doesn't drink coffee, what this would do to your system?
MALKOFF: Yes. Apparently I like torturing myself.
NGUYEN: Apparently.
OK, so, let me get this straight.
MALKOFF: Yes?
NGUYEN: You actually trained...
MALKOFF: Yes.
NGUYEN: ...I mean, you timed this out, because you were on a mission.
Walk us through how you trained for this.
MALKOFF: Oh, I was an insane man. I bought a cheap bicycle at Kmart and risked my life in New York City traffic. I was passing bike messengers desperate. I started to drink coffee just to get my body ready for coffee -- for caffeine, rather.
I consulted medical help and they advised me against it.
NGUYEN: Oh, of course, they did.
MALKOFF: And of course they did. And then I started visiting stores to research what time they closed, what time they opened, the ones that had the longest lines. So, really, two months went into research wise.
NGUYEN: OK, so you have your bike and you started out about 5:00 a.m. a little bit after that.
MALKOFF: Yes.
NGUYEN: In the morning.
MALKOFF: Yes.
NGUYEN: And what you did was you would go to a Starbucks, get on your bike and go to the next one -- 171 total.
MALKOFF: Yes.
NGUYEN: But when you got to those Starbucks, the goal was to purchase at least one thing and consume part of it?
MALKOFF: Oh, I had to consume part of every purchase. I had to hit a Starbucks every seven minutes for over 20 hours. And I look at this video on 171Starbucks.com -- I don't remember half of the video because my body started to shut down.
NGUYEN: Because you were high on caffeine. MALKOFF: I was high on caffeine and my body started to shut down at hour 14. And I actually had to bring in a car and my friend Jill from Brooklyn to drive me around. And I was a mess for days, in physical pain for days after this.
NGUYEN: We saw you looking through a notebook there and writing things down.
MALKOFF: Yes.
NGUYEN: What was that all about?
MALKOFF: That was just basically on -- on what time I was hitting certain stores. I have all the receipts to prove I did this, as well. And it was just a lot of research about which stores were going to have the lines and which -- how many stores I have left to hit, because every single second mattered.
NGUYEN: Oh, absolutely.
MALKOFF: Yes.
NGUYEN: And have you heard from the Starbucks folks?
What did they say about this?
MALKOFF: Starbucks actually came to my work last Friday because one of the stores, I actually showed up four minutes late. And in order for them to open the doors, I had to bribe a worker $80 for a piece of pound cake.
NGUYEN: What?
MALKOFF: So I had to bribe one of the workers that much money. And it was a delicious $80 pound cake, by the way. So Starbucks found out about it, they showed up to my work, they gave me back my $80 pound cake money. And they really like the video. They've been supportive.
I'm just waiting for New York stores to honor me with Mark Malkoff Day. So, hopefully that will happen.
NGUYEN: Well, OK, so you've done the Starbucks thing now.
MALKOFF: Yes.
NGUYEN: Are you planning to move on to some different chains?
MALKOFF: I don't think I want to become the Jerod the Subway guy of Starbucks.
NGUYEN: No.
MALKOFF: I think that would be really sad. So I think I'm going to move on.
NGUYEN: That could be a health problem...
MALKOFF: And once my body heals.
NGUYEN: ...there.
MALKOFF: Yes.
NGUYEN: ...if you decided to do that.
MALKOFF: Yes.
NGUYEN: All right, well, keep us posted...
MALKOFF: I will.
NGUYEN: ...if you decide to go on another insane trip, because that's exactly what it was.
MALKOFF: It was.
NGUYEN: I'm glad you survived, though.
MALKOFF: I did survive. My body hurts. I'm still in some pain, but I did survive. So that's a good thing.
NGUYEN: And very, very, quickly...
MALKOFF: Yes?
NGUYEN: After doing all this, were you up for days?
MALKOFF: Yes. I got home around 4:00 a.m. I fell asleep around 7:00 a.m. And just -- just -- people watching it at home, do not try this.
NGUYEN: For the obvious reasons.
MALKOFF: Yes.
NGUYEN: Hopefully they would be smarter to even think about trying something like this.
MALKOFF: I would agree.
NGUYEN: But, Mark, we do appreciate your time.
Thanks so much.
MALKOFF: Thank you so much. It was a pleasure.
HOLMES: Well, we are now looking at that poor guy.
NGUYEN: I know, really.
HOLMES: We're going to be looking ahead to what's happening in the NEWSROOM. A CNN Hero we're going to be talking about, helping others find life after gangs -- a story you'll see only here on CNN.
NGUYEN: And the death kitty -- we're not joking here. You better watch out for this cat because he has a sixth sense and it's kind of weird -- creepy, even. Cat tale ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, our stories for CNN Heroes has taken us to some pretty dangerous places.
NGUYEN: Yes, this morning we're going to head to El Salvador. A former gang member working there to create a life after gangs and for himself as well as others.
Luis Ernesto Romero is our CNN Hero.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Look right into the camera.
LUIS ERNESTO ROMERO: I thought I was going to die at the age of 20 because somebody was going to shoot me. I was living as a gang member and I saw the little kids getting into the gangs because they don't have any other opportunities.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): When you're on the street, every moment you live, you live as if it were your last, because you never know how that day will end.
ROMERO: Something powerful come up when my daughter was born. So I started like, like checking, hey, what am I doing? What am I going to offer to my daughter?
Buenos.
But then I find Homies Unidos in 1997. So I started like educating myself. And now, you know, I help others. We teach them how to empower themselves, not smoke weed, not doing violence, not doing what they do.
In El Salvador, the kids are much discriminated. If he have the tools (ph), if he bow-headed (ph). But when he started looking for a job, they don't give opportunity for him.
We teach them how to do things in other ways. Ji puedo de lion pando no tanucho qui (ph)?
They never thought they were going to have a bakery of their own. Now they have a bakery and they're doing their own business.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we think different. I mean, we don't think going to do violence, doing killings, do other things. Homies is saving a lot of lives. ROMERO: We come from gangs and now we are part of the solution. So it doesn't matter how much I got to spend, how much time I got to be on it, I need to do it for my kids and for the other kids of San Salvador.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
NGUYEN: And if you'd like to make a contribution to Luis Romero's work or nominate your hero for special recognition later this year, you'll find more information on our Web site at CNN.com/heroes.
All right, go ahead, close the door. Seriously, you want to close the door. You can't shut out what this kitty sees.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARY MIRANDA, NURSE, STEERE HOUSE: We've told them, just close the door. He will pace outside that room.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Just how accurate is this cat?
Well, we're going to show you why you want to close that door. Death cab for kitty. That's ahead in the NEWSROOM.
HOLMES: Also, swing, batter. One mighty swing right there by Barry Bonds. And he is now closing in. We'll have the latest in his quest for the most sacred record in all of sports. That story just a couple minutes away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right, Barry Bonds -- batter, batter, swing. And there it goes -- a swing away from history. The San Francisco slugger homered last night for 754th time. And that puts him just one away from one of the most sacred records in sports.
Hank Aaron holds the record and the loyalties of many baseball fans. Bonds has been dogged, as you know, by suspicions of using steroids and other performance enhancing drugs.
Well, Bonds has always denied the allegations.
HOLMES: All right, we've got a real cat story for you here now. This is a scary cat story.
NGUYEN: And you're a cat lover, so.
HOLMES: I like cats. I don't want this cat in the house because...
NGUYEN: At any time whatsoever.
HOLMES: ...he can make sure your insurance hasn't lapsed and make sure you're good to go. But, yes, you do not want this cat curling up next to you on a couch.
NGUYEN: And we'll tell you why.
Here's Jeanne Moos with the news on the grim kitty.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Talk about a feline fatal attraction.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every time this cat shows up, somebody dies.
MOOS: But don't die laughing because this is no joke. Two-year- old Oscar lives on the advanced dementia floor here at the Steer House Nursing Center in Providence, Rhode Island.
According to an essay in the respected "New England Journal of Medicine," Oscar has an uncanny ability to predict when a patient is about to die.
DR. DAVID DOSA, ESSAY AUTHOR: He does a much better job than any of us.
MIRANDA: It's been about 25 times in the two years.
MOOS: About 25 times that Oscar has walked into a room, sniffed around and settled in just two to four hours before the patient passed away.
STEVE FARROW, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, STEERE HOUSE: Oscar stays, curls up on the bed and stays there until death.
MOOS: In the words of one Internet poster, isn't that Dr. Kevorkian's cat?
Now, we've covered plenty of weird cat stories, from the cat with two tongues to the cat who dialed 911 by pressing speed dial.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 911.
MOOS: Dogs have likewise helped their owners.
911 DISPATCHER: 911. Hello?
MOOS: But getting help is one thing, predicting death another.
MIRANDA: It's one of these things where you just go, you know, go hmm ...
MOOS: Animal behaviorist Dr. Nicholas Dodman has two theories. He notes that, "Cats can read body language like we read books," so Oscar may be picking up cues from the staff. And, "Cats can smell things we can't imagine." As we die, there are biochemical changes that could change our scent. Maybe you've seen how dogs can be trained to sniff out cancer from breath samples.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Six times out of six attempts, Kobe (ph) gets it right.
MOOS: And there are anecdotal stories of cats repeatedly pawing at their owner and cancer being diagnosed at that exact spot, leading to jokes about "Mom's cat scan."
Nurses say most relatives of dying patients seem comforted by Oscar, while the patients themselves are generally unaware. And if relatives object to his presence ...
MIRANDA: We've told them just close the door. He will pace outside that room.
MOOS: Oscar's even received an award from a hospice association. Move over Morris.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where were you? I was so worried.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good, always keep owners guessing.
MOOS: But there's no second-guessing at this nursing home when the grim kitty shows up.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Two news choppers collide while chasing a story. Four lives lost. We're going to tell you about that.
HOLMES: And now the NTSB begins to search for the cause there. The latest coming up next in THE NEWSROOM.
Well, it is that time. Yes, time for us to check in with Kiran Chetry for the big stories of the last week and see what's coming up on "AMERICAN MORNING" on Monday -- hello there, Kiran.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, T.J. Great to see you.
You know, each morning this week we've had another disappointing headline about a professional athlete, from doping to gambling allegations to animal cruelty.
And we were left to wonder where have all the heroes gone?
Well, it was real thrill to talk to one of my childhood heroes, Carl Lewis. And I asked him what can be done to restore faith in the system.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CARL LEWIS, OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: But I think the biggest problem is that we don't have consistency in the drug testing and the programs in sports. I mean, if you were in an Olympic sport, you'd get two years if were -- if you tested positive like -- whereas in like football, you get four months.
So I think that what we need to do is have consistency in our testing and then consistency in the way we treat the athletes. And I think there will be more credibility.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: There he was, Carl Lewis, speaking about that.
Hey, we also got a chance to speak with the co-founders of YouTube this week about the Internet site's new role in picking the president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHAD HURLEY, YOUTUBE CO-FOUNDER: I think that the fact that users from around the world had a chance to ask the candidates a question directly, I think, was a -- was a great way for them to address the issues last night.
STEVE CHEN, YOUTUBE CO-FOUNDER: Yes, exactly.
JOHN ROBERTS, "AMERICAN MORNING," CO-ANCHOR: All right, Steve...
CHEN: I mean, I think seeing the backdrop... ROBERTS: Go ahead, Steve.
CHEN: I think seeing the backdrop and the environment of the users expressing the issues that actually face them really brought a sort of personalized view and perspective into the issues.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: So we hope you'll join us on Monday on "AMERICAN MORNING". We're going to be telling you about the government's new plan to ease the passport backlog and why it's literally music to the ears of some passport processors. That's all we've got here, T.J.
Hope you have a great weekend.
HOLMES: Hope you have a good weekend, as well. Thank you so much, Kiran.
And, of course, you all can join Kiran Chetry and John Roberts for "AMERICAN MORNING" beginning at 6:00 a.m. Eastern.
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