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Hurricane Dean Heading for Dominican Republic and Haiti; Update of Utah Mine Disaster; Americans Search for Toys Not Made in China; Increase in Military Suicide Rates; President Bush OKs Pre- Landfall Emergency Declaration for Texas; Reverend Billy Graham Hospitalized; NASA to Land Space Shuttle a Day Early

Aired August 18, 2007 - 17:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where is it from? Canada. No, made in China. Which means we'll have to discuss it with mom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TONY HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So what is mom going to say? With the second week of toy recalls in full swing, she'll probably say no. What are the Uncle Sam and the U.S. toy industry doing about all of this?

First Karl Rove, now Tony Snow. Is he leaving the White House to spend more time with his family too?

And our top story tonight, Hurricane Dean. It's got disaster written all over it. We have live reports from Haiti, Jamaica and St. Lucia. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

ANNOUNCER: CNN, your hurricane headquarters.

HARRIS: Jacqui, what do you need? I'll get it for you. You tell me what you need. Good evening, everyone. I'm Tony Harris here with Jacqui Jeras. Whatever you need tonight, I'm going to make sure it happens for you. As we talk about Dean, take a look at this map here. Do you have a real - if you don't, I know you're getting close to having a real firm fix on the track and the speed and intensity of this storm, aren't you?

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: All right, we are hearing reports out of Miami, of Jamaicans flying home into the jaws of the coming storm to protect their property. Air Jamaica, we understand, has cancelled flights into and out of the country scheduled for the country.

In Houston today, NASA officials are making preparations to land Space Shuttle Endeavour a day early. That's just in case mission control has to shut down if Dean threatens the Texas coast. In addition to declaring a state of emergency, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco has asked federal officials for a presidential emergency declaration. That's to ensure the state could draw upon federal assistance even before possible landfall. Let's keep in mind Dean's path is still a bit -- well, far from certain. Our viewers in the Caribbean have sent us a bunch of i- Reports. Michael Sabourin is one of them. He saw Hurricane Dean up close. Michael is an executive chef at a resort in St. Lucia and he joins us by phone. Michael, good to talk to you.

MICHAEL SABOURIN, CNN I-REPORTER: Good evening.

HARRIS: Hey Michael, you know the drill. We're going to take a look at some of your pictures. Tell us what it was like, what you experienced, what you felt, what you heard?

SABOURIN: Well, definitely a lot of rain, a lot of wind. We were up all night. We had to ensure everybody was safe where we were. And some scary moments at times, but I was impressed how everything here was well organized.

HARRIS: Michael, you knew it was coming, didn't you? Did you know the storm was coming? You had to know.

SABOURIN: Oh, yeah, definitely. We had briefings about it I would say 48 hours ahead of time and it just kept on going, even at work every three, four hours we would get updates, meetings regarding it. So definitely got a lot of information.

HARRIS: So Michael, tell us about the decision you have to make as to whether you stay or whether you go, it had to be a consideration of yours. What is it that finally factored into your decision to stay and weather it?

SABOURIN: Well, I think first of all, not everybody can leave. So there's a limited amount of seats on the planes. Of course, working here, we had to stay to ensure that the safety of our guests were number one. But it was, I guess, a decision of wanting to go through it and making sure everybody around was safe.

HARRIS: How would you describe the experience? Would you do it again?

SABOURIN: With a Category 2, I guess was scary, but yes, I would. But it had some moments where I would think twice, I suppose.

HARRIS: Michael, we appreciate your time and happy that you weathered the storm and came through it safe, you and your family. We appreciate it, thank you.

SABOURIN: Thank you very much.

HARRIS: Monitoring conditions on the ground as Dean swirls closer. We've got CNN's Karl Penhaul in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti and Susan Candiotti in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Karl, let's begin with you. If you would, good to see you first of all. Tell us about the preparations there.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: First of all, this is the picture from Port-Au-Prince, the Haitian capital right now, Tony. The storm clouds are gathering but right now there's little more than a breeze. Certainly no heavy rains yet. In the course of the next 12 to 24 hours is when we're really expecting the brunt of those winds to kick in and certainly there is a hurricane warning in force for the whole southwest peninsula of Haiti and that includes the capital Port-Au-Prince.

But as far as preparations, what I saw in a drive around the capital was that people really didn't seem to be taking this threat seriously. People were out on the streets still, street vendors were still selling fruits and vegetables on the street. People were working, there was a lot of traffic in the street.

One of the reasons that may be is because people here are desperately poor. More than 50 percent of the population here survive on less than $1 a day. And that literally means they don't have the money to stockpile food and water. And they certainly don't have money to buy timber to shore up their homes, Tony.

HARRIS: It seems to me, Karl, that puts more pressure on the government there to make sure that preparations are put into place to keep people safe. Have you seen any efforts by the government, tangible activity that you can see that would indicate that that's going on?

PENHAUL: Well, again, there are a number of factors that are working against Haiti here. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. It's also been ravaged by a whole wave of deforestation.

And that not only makes the country's infrastructure feeble and susceptive to high winds, but it also makes the countryside very susceptible to flash flooding.

Those are the scenarios that the government is now looking at. Now there have been public service announcements going out over TV and especially the radio and also the organizers of departmental disaster prevention committees have been doing is trying to encourage people to evacuate from high-risk zones to take refuge in public buildings such as schools and churches. Those are the buildings that they feel are most solid and that can possibly resist this storm, Tony.

HARRIS: Well that's good, that's good to hear. You like to know and hear that the government is actually taking some steps to protect the citizens. Karl Penhaul for us, Port-Au-Prince, Haiti - Karl, appreciate it, thank you.

As Hurricane Dean hits, you might be looking for ways to help the people caught up in its path. We can help you with that. Just go to CNN.com/Impact, click on natural disasters for a link to various relief agencies. Impacting your world now just a click away at CNN.com/Impact.

Possibly tainted, definitely recalled, but still on the shelves. This isn't child's play. Who's doing something, anything about the troubling toys that are still out there? Answers a bit later for you in the NEWSROOM.

Plus, flags in Utah flying at half staff today. A live report from Huntington, Utah and the latest on efforts to free six trapped signers. You are watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: And just into CNN, I want to show you some pictures just out of New York City right now. Take a look at this scene of a Deutche bank building in New York City on fire. We understand it started a little before 3:40 p.m. and we understand that this is a fire where a couple of the upper floors involved, maybe the 20th floor.

No injuries to report at this time. It's currently at two alarms. This is a building that is just south of the World Trade Center site. And, again, pretty dramatic pictures out of New York City right now. The Deutche bank building on fire. We'll continue to keep an eye on those pictures and get you additional information. Good news right now, no injuries being reported.

And right now let's get you to Susan Candiotti. Susan Candiotti is in Jamaica right now. And as you know, that is an island certainly in the path of Hurricane Dean. And Susan, I understand you pretty much literally just landed, just got on the ground there.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on phone): We did, well, a couple hours ago, but it takes some doing to get through the airport and get situated here. But as we started driving down the streets of Montego Bay, I have to tell you Tony, I'm truly struck about how normal everything looks.

Karl was saying the same thing. We saw unboarded up windows and honestly not many of them, particularly among for example hotels, who are facing the Caribbean Sea here. So really struck by that.

Lots of tourists and Jamaicans are embracing for the hurricane and the country's top emergency planner did say that they're preparing the best we can. It's unusual since it could be, frankly a catastrophe. The last time a major hurricane struck here was Ivan back in September of 2004.

We saw a steady stream of people leaving and returning to the island. I talked to a lot of residents, people coming who are here they said to shore up their homes. And believe it or not, Tony, some tourists whose say they are not canceling their plans. They're coming in any way despite the potential of facing a very dangerous storm. Tony?

HARRIS: Wow, OK, Susan, we'll let you get settled in there in Jamaica. We appreciate it, Susan Candiotti for us on the ground and with a wary eye on Hurricane Dean.

President Bush is trying to help those in the storm's path prepare. Joining us with details, White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux joining us from Crawford, Texas. Suzanne, great to see you. My understanding is that Texas Governor Rick Perry has placed a call to the president.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. I mean, they are on this. He placed that call to the president earlier today to the Bush administration essentially asking for what is called a pre-landfall, this is an emergency disaster declaration.

What we were told by the National Security Council Spokesman Gordon Johndroe, it took the president just hours to approve of this. This really what it does is allows federal funds, supplies, resources, people to be in place in Texas, even before this makes landfall, which is really a great advantage, a criteria that has to be met.

Obviously it had to be a greater, hurricane of Category 3 or higher, had to be a state of emergency that was declared by the governor and also a sense that they're really going to need these federal resources. They met all that criteria, so the president signed on the dotted line.

We're also told as well that FEMA is working with those who may need extra assistance in southern Texas, who the elderly, those who may need transportation, that they are set up to do so.

We're told that federal officials are working with their Mexican counterparts, the U.S. ambassador in Jamaica as well, working with U.S. to make sure everything is in place. Tony?

HARRIS: And Suzanne, if I could turn you to the news yesterday. A story that you broke for us that White House Press Secretary Tony Snow will be leaving soon.

MALVEAUX: Well, that's absolutely right. He is leaving the White House and while he will not say exactly when, we have multiple sources telling CNN it could be as early as September.

Now, I talked to Snow via e-mail yesterday. He says "I'm not making any announcements." But I want you to take a listen to what he said, this was the day after Karl Rove resigned to a radio show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your intention to go the distance, Tony Snow?

TONY SNOW, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: No, as I've already made it clear that I'm not going to go the distance, but that's primarily for financial reasons. I've told people when my money runs out, then I've got to go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How long will that be?

SNOW: I'm not going to tell you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Make some news.

SNOW: No.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MALVEAUX: So he's being a little cagey there. He's not going to say officially here, but we've got a pretty good sense of when that's going to happen.

As he mentioned before, he's made it public that he has been, you know, made financial sacrifices for this job. He's undergone a series of chemotherapy treatment and he's got a couple of kids that are about college age. Tony?

HARRIS: Suzanne Malveaux for us -- Suzanne, appreciate it, thank you.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Where are we, over here? Hey, all right.

HARRIS: Hello.

LEVS: What's going on? Well, I'm taking a look at the toy story today and New York officials are now saying that more needs to be done to protect kids from dangerous toys and New York is also taking on Mattell. I'm Josh Levs. I'll be here in the NEWSROOM with this guy. I've got that story coming right up.

HARRIS: Rabbit ears would not be good here, no.

And also straight ahead, trade-in rocket launchers for a pair of sneakers? You think I'm kidding about this. Wait until you hear the whole story, straight ahead for you in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: And the news across America now. An evangelist, Billy Graham is being treated at a North Carolina hospital for intestinal bleeding. Grahams' doctors say the bleeding may have been caused by diverticuli or small pouches that could form in the intestines. But they say his condition has stabilized and does not appear to be life threatening.

Michael Vick's spokesman says the NFL star quarterback will spend this weekend considering his legal options. Vick is accused of bankrolling an illegal death match dog fighting operation. Three of his codefendants have already pleaded guilty to federal felony charges and are implicating Vick. If Vick doesn't accept a plea, he could face additional state charges in Virginia.

And in Florida, it is a police program to get guns off the streets. People turning guns, no questions asked and in return, get a pair of sneakers. Right? But guns were apparently child's play for one. He gave officers a surface-to-air missile launcher. The man told a local paper he found the weapon in a shed.

OK, tracking Hurricane Dean for you, Jacqui Jeras has the update.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: What an incredible storm, Tony, 150 mile per hour maximum sustained winds right now, it is lashing the Dominican Republic and Haiti. It's got its eyes on Jamaica but after, where is it going? We'll have a good idea and give you a forecast coming up.

HARRIS: OK Jacqui, thank you. And why are there still toys on store shelves that were recalled a week ago? Toy recall, the anger, frustration and confusion straight ahead for you in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Turning bleak futures into bright ones, Bobby Duval is working to turn the lives of children in Haiti away from despair and toward hope by giving them a real purpose. He is our CNN Hero.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOBBY DUVAL, CNN HERO: In the main center for last two years, the background music that we had while the kids were playing before gunshots, machine gunshots. Some of these kids have witnessed the worst atrocities. They live in the mud and no running water. No electricity. No garbage pickup. No food, nothing.

My name is Robert Duval. I'm the founder of the training center they call L'Athletique D'Haiti. This is the women's team. The kids never miss practice and they're disciplined enough to keep focused on something positive.

I left this country very young and I came back, I had a shock. What happened to my country? You know? I started asking questions and I was thrown in jail. When I came out, I was down to 90 pounds. That means skin and bones. That just turned my life around. This field used to be a dumping ground.

Now it is basically an after school program. One of the driving forces that has made our program so successful is that one plate of food we give them a day, because sometimes if those kids don't get that, they just won't get a plate of food.

We are soccer, track, basketball, table tennis and we have karate now. A hero is a kid who accepts to uplift himself in the most adverse conditions, maintains the course and really does succeed in changing his life. I feel that youth is important because the youth is the future. What I do is a drop in the bucket. A kid, he may have the most immense talent but if you don't nourish it, you never know what he could have become.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And there is a lot more about Bobby Duvall and his work to improve Haiti's future at our Web site at CNN.com/Heroes. You can also nominate a hero you know for special recognition later this year.

And this just into CNN. I'm going to take a look over my shoulder here. The NASA news conference is underway right now. A decision to be made by the managers there at the Johnson Space Center in Houston as to whether or not to bring the shuttle Endeavour down a day early. As you know, it was scheduled to be brought down on Wednesday. But now we're understanding, according to the "Associated Press," that NASA has decided to land the space shuttle Endeavour on Tuesday, early by a day because of Hurricane Dean. This is a story we'll continue to watch for you throughout the evening. We'll send you to break now. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: And news happening right now. Two more suspects arrested in connection with that execution-style schoolyard shooting of three college students in Newark. Authorities say the suspects, two brothers, were captured outside of Washington, D.C. Three other suspects are in custody. And a sixth is still at large.

Hurricane Dean is churning ferociously in the western Caribbean. Its winds now 150 miles-per-hour. That is just short of a Category 5 storm. Dean is expected to cross that threshold before slamming into Jamaica tomorrow.

And on the U.S. Gulf Coast, people are watching but not passively waiting for Dean's approach. You are looking at live pictures out of Miami where many Jamaicans are trying to get a last-minute flight back home.

American and Air Jamaica have already cancelled all of tomorrow's flights to the island. Cruise ships leaving from Miami Beach are also having to adjust their routes because of the storm.

The Associated Press is reporting that NASA has just decided to bring the shuttle back Endeavor back to earth a day early. The space agency is concerned that Dean will threaten its mission control facility in Houston.

And Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco is getting ready just in case. She's declared a state of emergency, allowing critical state agencies to remain staffed through the weekend.

Let's talk to Jacqui Jeras now in the Severe Weather Center.

And Jacqui, you have so much to work through right now. Let me not take another moment of your time.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's a big deal, too. We need to take our time as we go through this storm. What happens throughout the weekend is going to be critical as to what we can expect through the next week and will Dean will end up.

It's an incredibly powerful storm right now. Check out the satellite imagery. That is textbook example of what a perfect eye looks like in a hurricane. And also a very good indicator that this storm is extremely intense, 150 miles per hour, that's the maximum sustained winds in this system. And the worst part of a hurricane, where the worst of the winds are, in the right front quadrant, it's right here, and that's kind of inching in towards the Dominican Republic and Haiti. I think you'll experience some hurricane force wind gusts here but probably not sustained hurricane winds. So looking at maybe some gusts around 70 to 80 miles per hour or so. Rainfall rate also be very heavy, between four and six inches. So we're a little worried about flooding. Rain showers have been relatively light from Puerto Rico, picking up a good handful of inches of rainfall there. There are some of the wind gusts we're getting, Punta Cana, 40 to 70 miles per hour.

Here is the forecast track. Let me show you why we're so worried about Jamaica. Forecast to be a Category 4 as it moves over the island. We've never seen a four or five make landfall across Jamaica. This island, 145 miles across and is about 50 miles up and down. Tony, the hurricane force winds go out 70 miles from the center of the storm. So if we look at a direct hit, the entire island looking at a minimum of 74 mile per hour sustained winds.

HARRIS: And you mentioned that earlier today.

JERAS: Everybody.

HARRIS: That's scary. Jacqui, thank you. If you get any additional information, give us a holler.

Just three years ago, Haiti suffered a devastating blow from Tropical Storm Jean, which killed about 3,000 people. So the country is on high alert for Dean, particularly coastal and mountain areas.

CNN's Carl Penhaul joins us from the capital, Port of Prince, with an update.

Carl, how long before nature turns on the wind and rain machine where you are?

CARL PENHAUL, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a picture right now, Tony. It's really not too bad at all right now. But the storm clouds are gathering. A breeze picks up and then drops off. I guess that is the very outer limits of the effect of Hurricane Dean as it approaches the island of Hispaniola and the southern edge of Haiti. In the next 12 to 24 hours is when forecasters here in the country are predicting the full effects of this.

And of course they're worried about the winds, because Haiti is the most poor country in the western hemisphere. So a lot of the buildings here are very fragile, they're not well-built constructions. But beyond that, what the forecasters are also worried about is the amount of rain that this will bring and that could produce a lot of flash floods, Tony.

HARRIS: All right. And Carl, if you would, give us a sense of what kind of activity you are seeing there. From what you were telling us earlier, it seems to be business as usual.

PENHAUL: It simply does, certainly among the people on the street. Street vendors are out, still selling fruit and vegetables. People seem to be going about their work. We've seen some of the wealthier people head up a hill and check into one of the country's hotels because it is a solidly built building. But, of course, the majority of the population, most of whom live on less than a dollar a day, have no chance of moving up to some of the fancy hotels. What they're being advised to do is take refuge in churches and public schools, some of the stronger buildings, Tony. HARRIS: CNN's Carl Penhaul for us. Carl, thank you.

We have some I-reports shot from that fire we told you about in lower Manhattan.

The first one from Matthew Henalt (ph). You see right there, trying to watch it with you here.

And on the phone with us now is Kevin Weller, another I-reporter who lives nearby and sent some other pictures to us. And these are actually some better pictures there. There are some of the pictures of Matthew.

Kevin, good to talk to you. Give us a sense of what you're able to see and how you discovered -- was it a simple case of hearing the fire trucks on the way to respond to it? Give us some of what you saw and heard.

KEVIN WELLER, I-PHONE REPORTER: Yeah, pretty much. Basically, you know, when I heard the sirens going non-stop for over 15 minutes -- normally when I hear that, being right by Ground Zero, I pop on the TV to see what's going on. And I didn't see anything, so I started looking around and then I saw the smoke coming out of the top of the Deutsche Bank building. And all of the emergency vehicles basically heading right over there. And they're still going over there. There's still more trucks headed in that direction and the smoke is still coming out, but it's less in intensity than it was about 20 minutes ago.

HARRIS: Kevin, did you see flames or just smoke?

WELLER: Well, in some of the pictures I took, it looked like I saw a little orange, but it could have been that safety -- they're working on it and they have that orange stuff up there. I'm not sure if it was a flame or not, but definitely a lot of smoke.

HARRIS: Is there work going on in that building?

WELLER: Yeah, they're taking it down after September 11th. They've been working on it quite a bit.

HARRIS: OK.

WELLER: That was right next to the towers.

HARRIS: I have to ask you what time did this all start to unfold?

WELLER: Well, I noticed it probably just before -- shoot, I don't know. Time's been flying. Maybe an hour ago or so is when it all started.

HARRIS: OK. And everyone in your vicinity, no injuries that you are aware of, because we're getting reports of no injuries.

WELLER: No injuries that I'm aware of. I went down stairs and talked to some of the local people because sometimes they know something, and nobody really knows anything. They just see the same smoke that I see.

HARRIS: Kevin Weller, I-reporter for us. Kevin, appreciate it and thanks for taking those pictures. Thanks for sending them in and good to talk to you. Thank you.

WELLER: No trouble, thank you.

HARRIS: In Utah, still no sign of six coal miners trapped under ground. Now the state is struggling with a related disaster, the deaths of three rescuers.

Our Dan Lothian is live in Huntington, Utah.

Dan, I'm curious. It's been such a roller coaster for these families. I'm wondering if they're still gathering at that local school or what if anything you know of what they're doing these days?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, it really has been that emotional roller coaster ride for the family members. They are gathering not at the school, they're gather at a church because the school that they were using will be needed for classes for school beginning on Monday. So they've shifted over to a church and still getting updates -- we'll be getting updates from mine officials, from federal and state mine officials as well as to what kind of work is going on up there on the mountain.

Certainly, this has been such a difficult ride for them. There was some glimmer of hope a few days ago when some sound was detected on the ground. Everyone was advised not to read too much into it. But certainly the family members and the entire community has been very hopeful there would be a miracle here. But of course that becomes much more difficult with each passing day now, almost two weeks since those miners were trapped on the ground.

HARRIS: Dan, any progress in drilling that fourth bore hole? When might we get some results from either dropping a geophone down or even a camera?

LOTHIAN: That's a big question. We should find out in 20 minutes at the media briefing to be held here at the site. The last word we heard from mine safety officials is that they're making some good progress. Now, the question is whether or not they've made it down more than 1,400 feet to the area they were targeting with that fourth bore hole where they believe the miners may have gone for safety. We don't know. We hope to find out soon. But if indeed they did break through, then they will or have already placed a microphone down in that hole. They'll be putting a camera down there to see what they can find. Of course, the hope is they find them alive. If they do, they'll try to get them out.

HARRIS: Dan, your family is in Jamaica. Able to make a connection with your folks there?

LOTHIAN: I was able to make a connection with them. The one thing I advised them to do is get out. They're Jamaicans. They spend a lot of time down there. They're staying put, boarding up the windows. They bought extra water and food and they're going to ride it out. A dangerous situation, but they didn't have a whole lot of time to get out because a lot of flights have been cancelled.

HARRIS: All right, well, we're thinking about them. Dan Lothian for us in Huntington, Utah. Dan, appreciate it. Thank you.

You know, it's all fun and games until another company recalls children's toys. This past week saw millions of parents again scurrying to the toy box to see if they bought any of the made in China contraband. Is that what we're calling it now? Contraband?

Our Josh Levs is here with a reality check on the controversy.

But first, a report from CNN's Richard Roth who talked to some concerned moms and kids.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD ROTH, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The siren of the toy fire engine is a symbolic warning, fire, beware. It's another recall.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You just never know what you're getting. You're kind of at the mercy of the toy manufacturers.

ROTH: It's increasingly difficult for customers to find the right and safest toy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm trying to find something that's not made in China because of the possibility of lead content in the paint. But it seems to be virtually impossible to find anything in the toy selections that are not made in China.

ROTH (on camera): Where is it from? Canada -- oh, no, made in China, which means we'll have to discuss it with mom.

(voice-over): Even mommy can't make recalls stop.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a little concerned about it, but I don't know. I guess there's nothing really to do about it.

ROTH: Some toy shoppers think there is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We should have more products made in this country and not outsource all the products to a place just because labor is cheap.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's good they're checking every single product now and they have to do that legally. But it's just nerve- racking I think for the parents now and for us as buyers.

ROTH: This young girl might have the right idea. Keep it simple.

Richard Roth, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Easier say than do sometimes. Who is taking responsibility to make sure unsafe toys are not on the market? Officials in New York say not enough is being done. So the state is taking some action, Josh Levs. So who takes the lead here, Josh?

JOSH LEVS, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: That's the big dispute. Everyone is concerned about this, especially parents. So yesterday, the Governor Elliott Spitzer of New York put out a statement saying, quote, "The federal government's limited powers of enforcement and voluntary recalls are not enough to protect our children from the dangers of lead poisoning and other hazards." He said state officials found recall toys are still on the market in some places. Now what New York is doing is it's making this recall mandatory and state officials are drafting a law that would impose civil and criminal fines against anybody who goes ahead and sells these products now that they're recalled.

HARRIS: And that's the case in New York State. But, my goodness, just seems to me you would take a huge P.R. hit if you're a store owner and you don't get these toys off your shelves.

LEVS: Exactly and that's been the pressure over the years. Let's keep in mind that...

HARRIS: It's voluntary, we understand that.

LEVS: Yes, it's voluntary, but there's already a lot of pressure. The store that were to go ahead and do this could potentially be sued if it sold a product knowing it was defective. So what we're hearing from the federal government, the consumer product safety commission is saying it's doing all it can to get the word out. It's sent inspectors out to stores, but they only have 100 inspectors total. So they don't have the resources to check all these places in the first place. This is where the states come in.

HARRIS: Now what do you do? The state of New York is saying, all right, let's get Mattel involved here. Let's send a letter, parents, to Mattel and ask them to step up in a big way, a bigger way than they have so far.

LEVS: That's just it. Not only is the state saying the feds not doing enough, but the states saying we got to go after Mattel. It's basically saying two things about Mattel. First of all, it's telling Mattel that its return process is unfair. It's saying right now it's having people send in stuff for a voucher whereas what they should do is make it so people can go to a store to get their money back. That would put pressure on everyone if that happened.

And as part of that, they put this letter out that they want people to send to Mattel. And within that letter, they say that Mattel is guilty of disturbing lack of oversight of its manufacturing facilities. Let me tell you quickly, minutes ago I heard from Mattel. I just heard from them and they said basically that they have the most stringent standards in the industry, that they've been pushing this. I'll read you this quick quote, very quickly. They said, "The reality is if someone is intent on finding a way around the system they'll find a way." But the fact is, they are putting even stricter standards in place. They're going to keep finding this. So that's where they stand.

HARRIS: As a parent, can I today, this day, grab these toys and take them back to the store and can I get my money back?

LEVS: No, no. You have to go to Mattel's website, find out what you have, mail it in, wait a bunch of weeks, get a voucher.

HARRIS: Josh Levs, appreciate it. Good to see you, Josh.

LEVS: You got it.

HARRIS: Coming up in the "CNN NEWSROOM," Jacqui Jeras joins us with the very latest on Hurricane Dean.

And also ahead, the stresses faced by American troops, a deeply disturbing trend from within the ranks of the military.

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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN NEWS MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's the sound of the new school year, as millions of kids head back to class. But for some young people, school pressure is more than just reading, writing and arithmetic. A new study by the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University finds many overweight kids are avoiding school, setting themselves up for other, more dangerous problems, including increased drug use and pregnancy and poor grades.

DR. GARY FOSTER, TEMPLE UNIVERSITY: Heavier kids were the most absent among all of the kids in the school. This is after controlling for other factors that influence attendance.

GUPTA: The study looks at more than a thousand fourth, fifth and sixth graders from Philadelphia and finds four more main predictors for missing school -- race, age, social economic status and gender.

But in digging deeper, researchers also discovered that overweight children were absent an average of 20 percent more than other kids.

FOSTER: There's a lot of social stigma associated with being an overweight kid, from bullying to teasing to perhaps even some concerns about how they'll perform athletically in P.E. classes.

GUPTA: Just ask Shawna Rubbeck, who went through constant teasing.

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SHAWNA RUBBECK, STUDENT: People would call me cupcake as a joke and I would laugh about it because I knew I couldn't do anything about it.

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GUPTA: Doctors say their research shows being overweight not only causes health problems in children, but psychological ones as well. They say schools need to look at how they can help kids with weight issues overcome these pressures so they'll feel comfortable going to class.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

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HARRIS: A new report from the U.S. military is showing a disturbing increase in soldier suicides. Last year, 101 American soldiers took their own lives. That is the highest military suicide rate in 26 years. Nearly a third of the deaths were by troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Grieving family members are wondering if they could have been prevented.

April Somdahl's brother committed suicide after serving in Iraq. She believes he would be alive today if he was discharged after his first deployment.

April, thank you for taking the time to talk to us.

APRIL SOMDAHL, BROTHER OF SUICIDE: Oh, thank you, Tony.

HARRIS: April, did your brother communicate to the family that he was having some real difficulties with his service in Iraq?

SOMDAHL: Yes, he did. He ran to the family first for help and support when he faced traumatic experiences, and he tried to overcome them with communicating with us.

HARRIS: Was it -- you know, we've heard from some of the reporting on this that there are a couple of things that the service members are dealing with, family stressors, what happens to families because of long deployments. It sounds like what your brother was experiencing were the operational stresses, is that correct?

SOMDAHL: It's that and just the trauma of being thrown into a war-time situation and the stresses that that has on it.

HARRIS: April, did he feel he was prepared?

SOMDAHL: He thought he was prepared, but I don't know what all of his experiences were. So I'm not sure how prepared he was because it drained on him mentally.

HARRIS: What most troubled him? SOMDAHL: The first sign that something was going wrong was when he believed that the world was going to be over once Saddam Hussein had been captured. And after that he wondered why he was still there and why everybody was still suffering.

HARRIS: Did he ask the military for help? You mentioned he indicated it to the family, did he ask the military?

SOMDAHL: He did. All of us in the family told him to turn to the military, that they have a responsibility to help him heal and to fix him after this situation that he had been in.

HARRIS: Talk to us about your brother. What kind of a young man was he?

SOMDAHL: Oh, he was always smiling. He was adventurous. He would tell me, always expect the unexpected. He had a great outlook on life.

HARRIS: Let me stop right there. And let's look at you as you describe your brother, because you're smiling. It's great to see. So talk to us again, pick up and tell us more about your brother.

SOMDAHL: Oh, gosh. He was a great guy, very warm hearted, willing to help with everything. He would show me how to do simple things like start a lawn mower and he was right and I didn't like that he was right because he was younger than me. But we got along great.

HARRIS: Yeah. Are you angry with anyone? Are you angry with -- I guess the obvious would be the military. Are you angry with the military, April?

SOMDAHL: I have a lot of deep-seated feelings concerning the military and how the war situation is being handled. So, yeah, anger is one of those feelings.

HARRIS: And the fact that he volunteered for this, this is the life he chose. Does that mitigate any of the anger that you feel?

SOMDAHL: Not really. You know, he went into this with a hero mentality. He was going to defend his country and I don't believe I was the one that let him down in that regard.

HARRIS: Let's leave it there. April Somdahl, we appreciate you talking to us about this very painful chapter your life and your family's life. April, thank you.

SOMDAHL: Thank you very much.

HARRIS: Watching Hurricane Dean's every move. Take a look at the team at work right now. We are tracking it as the Category 4 rares up and prepare to strike Jamaica. We're following it for you. That track, right there, in the "CNN NEWSROOM."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: And now a page out of the weird and whacked-out file. An Iowa woman attended the state fair dressed to the nine's in her wedding dress. As you can see here. She decided to get out of that $800 dress, so she did. Letting lose, holding on to a pig there, sliding down the slides and rolling in the dirt.

And now the naked truth about global warming, hundreds of people took off their clothes to pose for a photograph on a Swiss glacier to raise awareness about climate change. Let's take a look at a picture at the command center there.

And in Huntington, Utah, we're going to hear from Richard Stickler shortly, the assistant secretary of MSHA. We will get an update on the efforts to locate the trapped miners.

But first a break. You are in "CNN NEWSROOM."

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HARRIS: A little good news from Utah before we go. One member of the rescue team injured in Thursday's collapse at Crandall Canyon Mine has been discharged from the hospital. His name and details of his condition have not been released.

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