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Senator Craig Resigns; Popular Gay Subculture "Cruising" Destinations; California Military Family Loses Second Son; Tropical Storm Felix; More Food Recalls; U.S. Marines Accused of Murder; Utah Mine Rescue Ends; District Attorney Nifong Sentenced To Prison; Iraqi Civilian Deaths Increase
Aired September 01, 2007 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Senator Larry Craig soon to be former Senator Larry Craig. What happens now that he has resigned? Hello, I'm Fredericka Whitfield and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
First this hour, the resignation of Senator Craig. A public career spanning 30 plus years crashing today with astonishing speed. The Idaho republican announced his decision in Boise just days after reports of his arrest in a restroom sex sting and subsequent guilty plea. Flanked by family and supporters, Craig said again he is sorry for what he wasn't saying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LARRY CRAIG (R), IDAHO: To Idahoans I represent, to my staff, my senate colleagues but most importantly, to my wife and my family, I apologize for what I have caused. I am deeply sorry. I have little control over what people choose to believe but clearly my name is important to me and my family is so very important also. To pursue my legal options as I continue to serve Idaho would be an unwanted and unfair distraction of my job and for my senate colleagues. These are serious times of war and of conflict. Times that deserve the Senate's and the full Nation's attention. Therefore, it is with sadness and deep regret that I announce that it is my intent to resign from the senate effective September 30th. In doing so, in doing so --
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: We love you Larry.
CRAIG: -- in doing so I hope to allow a smooth and orderly transition of my loyal staff and for the person appointed to take my place at William E. Bora's(ph) desk. I have enjoyed every moment and cannot adequately put into words how much I appreciate what you have given me - the chance to work for this great state. I hope you do not regret the confidence you have placed in me over all of these years. I hope I have served you and our state to the best of my ability.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: The push to resign came from within his own party. Today fellow republicans had statements ready to go. A White House spokesman said Craig received a call from President Bush who said he knew giving up was difficult and wished the senator well. Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican Leader, called Craig's conduct unforgivable. Today, he said Craig had made a difficult decision but the right one. More reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MIKE CRAPO (R), IDAHO: For more than two decades Larry Craig has consistently put Idaho first in his public service career. Today, he did so again in announcing his decision to resign his position as U.S. Senator from the state of Idaho effective at the end of the month. As I have said over the last week, I will accept any decision that my friend, Senator Craig, makes regarding the unfortunate circumstances he presently faces.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: After years of rumors about Craig's sexual habits, the Idaho Statesman did a lengthy investigation, that's the newspaper. Reporters found a man who claimed he had a sexual encounter with Craig in a public restroom in Washington. But the story wasn't published until last week, after the first reports of Craig's arrest. I spoke today to one of the paper's editors.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN RICHERT, EDITOR, IDAHO STATESMAN NEWSPAPER: For us as a newspaper it was simply a matter that these rumors have followed Larry Craig through most of his public service. Now, whether those rumors are accurate or not, that's the essence of journalism is for us to try to get the best information we can get and present the best information we can get to readers. That's what we tried to do here.
WHITFIELD: Have you ever reached out to him directly and if so what did he say? Or, your reporter?
RICHERT: I wasn't there, this was the news-side, and I'm the editorial page, obviously. Our reporter and editors had an hour long interview with the senator in May in which he emphatically denied ever having engaged in homosexual activity. We presented some of the evidence that we had discovered in our reporting; some of the evidence that subsequently appeared in our story this week. We spoke to him and he denied emphatically having ever been involved in homosexual activity.
WHITFIELD: And, so is it too soon for me to ask you what kind of reaction, you know, you all are getting, perhaps even at your website, as a result of his resignation now just over an hour ago?
RICHERT: Well, we get a sense of it a little bit. We're even getting a sense of it Thursday and into Friday because, let's face it, it felt like Senator Craig's resignation was becoming increasingly inevitable with the pressure that he was facing within his own party. So, we were hearing some people feeling that he was getting rushed out prematurely by republicans or others who felt that he lost all credibility. There was some who felt, as we did as an editorial page, that he was just going to be too distracted to possibly be able to represent Idaho's interests on Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Craig's resignation isn't occurring in a vacuum. It follows a series of GOP scandals including the one surrounding Mark Foley, a former House Republican accused of misconduct concerning male pages. CNNs Candy Crowley says the scandals could hurt republicans going into the next election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Generally politics doesn't often come down to one thing. It comes down to a lot of things that feed into perceptions and as you know, many republicans including the recently departed Karl Rove think that in part why republicans loss in 2006 was not just the war, but the whole corruption, the whole thought that republicans came to Washington to clean it up and instead just sort of fell into the cesspool. So, they are so worried in the Republican Party, it's kind of hard to overestimate that and that's part of why the timing of Senator Craig's troubles was very problematic for them because as they kick off the Labor Day, okay now the 2008 election is coming, they wanted to have some positive and some sort of momentum forward instead of all this, you know, sort of stepping back and getting taken blow by blow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And, be sure to stay tuned to CNN tonight for a special edition of "Larry King Live." Larry and his guests will discuss the Larry Craig situation including a look at who may replace him in the senate.
The Craig scandal is giving the public a glimpse into a secretive subculture. A world where gay men cruise for gay sex in restrooms, our Dan Lothian has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's not the primary function of public parks, restrooms and rest areas, but for men in search of anonymous same-sex partners, they are popular destinations.
RICHARD TEWKSBURY, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE: There's also the idea that there is sort of a thrill to the hunt, to the excitement of sex in a public place, of doing something that potentially does have negative consequences for you.
LOTHIAN: Websites, like this one, offer a kind of an adult travel guide including rules of the game and secret signals to make a connection in a public restroom, like waiting in a stall at a farthest end of the bathroom and, when someone approaches next door - quote, "move your foot so that you know the other person can see it and slowly start tapping it." Professor Richard Tewksbury of the University of Louisville has published several studies on this subculture. He has documented about 9,000 locations across the country where, he says this public behavior often referred to as "cruising" takes place, merely because of opportunity and convenience. TEWKSBURY: There's all kinds of places, many times that most of us walk by or walk into in our daily lives and never realize are cruising locations.
LOTHIAN: Anonymous gay sex in public areas certainly isn't new. Remember pop singer George Michael almost ten years ago? He was busted for engaging in a lewd act in a park restroom in Beverly Hills.
GEORGE MICHAEL, POP SINGER: I can only apologize. I can try to fathom why I did it.
LOTHIAN: But law enforcement agencies across the country have been cracking down in recent months. Sometimes using undercover stings to catch men in the act like at restrooms in Atlanta's Heartsfield Jackson International airport where more than 40 men were picked up recently for indecent exposure and public sex acts.
MAJOR DARRYL TOLLESON, ATLANTA POLICE DEPARTMENT: We have arrested college professors, bank presidents, other CEOs, so we, it ranges.
LOTHIAN: And, here's another surprise.
TEWKSBURY: The research tells us that for the most part, we're talking about men who are involved in some kind of long-term heterosexual relationship frequently married, frequently with children.
LOTHIAN: Investigators say critics who argue police should be focusing on more serious crimes are missing the point, that this public behavior is illegal.
TOLLESON: We're there to enforce all crime -- enforce all laws.
LOTHIAN: And, they are finding suspects in the bathroom. Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Coming up, one family mourning the loss of two lives in Iraq. Sons and soldiers in our Heroes Spotlight. And later, you might be a mega millionaire and might not even know it. Come back with us and we'll give you the winning numbers on the latest mega lottery.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Military families know the risks but that's little comfort when the worst actually happens. For a California family, it has happened twice. Two sons killed in Iraq. CNNs Thelma Gutierrez has their story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was a solemn homecoming for a hometown hero. The 21-year-old, Army Corporal, Nathan Hubbard, was just one month away from finishing his tour in Iraq.
JEFF HUBBARD, FATHER: The focus of our most recent conversations with him was getting home.
GUTIERREZ: For parents, Jeff and Peggy Hubbard, the grief is unimaginable.
HUBBARD: Want everybody to remember and celebrate Nate in their own way in the way they want.
GUTIERREZ: Less than three years ago, they buried another son, Marine Lance Corporal, Jared Hubbard, killed in Iraq by a roadside bomb.
HUBBARD: They have a lot of similarities but they're each absolutely individual, terrible instances that you deal with the best that you can as you go forward.
GUTIERREZ: Six months after Jared was killed, Nathan and Jason decided to enlist in the army to honor their brother.
SPEC. JASON HUBBARD, BROTHER: Part of it for us was a healing process, because both of us talked a lot about being able to walk in the shoes of Jared and see what he experienced the last few years of his life.
GUTIERREZ: Nathan and Jason served together in the same platoon. Last week a Blackhawk carrying Nathan and 13 other soldiers crashed in northern Iraq killing all on board. Jason was in a separate helicopter and was among the first on the scene.
HUBBARD: We also had to remove as many of the men as we could out of that helicopter. I couldn't participate in that. I knew my, I knew Nathan was in there. At one point they did carry Nathan by me and that's when I, you know, the reality -- complete reality and complete understanding of the situation came to me and I began dealing with that.
GUTIERREZ: Jason says the army will not allow him to return to war. As for Nathan, he will be eulogized at the same church where Jared's funeral was held.
HUBBARD: I want him honored and remembered and celebrated. He was a great, great young man - wonderful young man.
GUTIERREZ: He will be laid to rest here right beside his brother. Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Clovis, California.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And, in fact, Corporal Nathan Hubbard's funeral took place yesterday.
Big headaches in San Francisco today, the bay bridge closed for repairs. We'll tell you why.
And, three major food recalls just in time for the Labor Day weekend backyard parties. And, Speaking of Labor Day, Jacqui Jeras is in the Weather Center.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, looking like a great holiday weekend for a lot of you travelers but there's one trouble spot, we're going to tell you about that, and we're also going to check in on the tropics. They're getting busy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Lots of I-reporters have their eye on Tropical Storm Felix churning near the Windward Islands in the Caribbean. Felix is the sixth named storm of the season. I-reporter, Derek Pickell, shot these pretty amazing photos last night from his home in Grenada. Pickell says it wasn't scary, just loud. He says, at one point the thunder sounded more like a cannon that reverberated for nearly 20 seconds. Jacqui Jeras is in the hurricane headquarters keeping a close eye on -- can we call it hurricane headquarters yet, even though it's still a tropical storm?
JERAS: We're watching tropical storms, we're watching hurricanes. Call it what you will but we're watching it all out there and it's been very busy too, by the way, Fredricka. We've got several named storms to talk about and one potential named storm possibly even before the holiday weekend is over and done with, and that's when you're really going to want to watch.
First we'll start out with Felix. It's a tropical storm, but this close to a hurricane, you know, what's four miles per hour between friends, right Fredricka? It's got to be up to 74 to be a hurricane, it's70 right now and we do expect it to be gaining strength and become a hurricane in the very near future. It could happen later tonight, possibly by tomorrow morning. It's pulling away from Grenada and now moving toward the ABC Islands. There you can see the heavy showers and also the cloudiness over Aruba already. Things will be really at the worst of it late tonight and early tomorrow morning and then it's going to be pulling over the open waters once again. Now, as it heads westward into the western Caribbean this is where that hot water is, remember from Dean, so we are expecting it to strengthen to a major hurricane, possibly as much as category 3 before making landfall again into, maybe, Central America or up here towards the Yucatan. Cone of uncertainty pretty wide this far out, though. So, we'll be expecting potential landfall for the middle of next week.
Now, coming in behind Felix is this little area of disturbed weather, a tropical wave and the computer models have now been initiated on that. Basically, showing where they expect it to be going and that's right toward, unfortunately, the Lesser Antilles once again. It could be a tropical depression in the next 24 hours or so. Into the Pacific we've got a tropical storm here, too. It's Henriette, it's expected to become a hurricane as well, but it's expected to stay offshore, hopefully. We'll keep a close eye on that one for Baja, California. Back here at home, what's going on here today? Gorgeous weather today across so much of the country, showers and thunderstorms, though, popping up here in the southeast. Could be spoiling your beach weather just a little bit but, boy, do we need that rain because of the drought conditions here across the southeast. The rest of the country really looking good, the only other problem we've got is the heat across the southwest, just unbelievable, one teens back in the picture for Phoenix and Las Vegas. Fredricka?
WHITFIELD: Alright, thanks so much. That's quite a bag of different kinds of weather out there.
Well, we have several food recalls now to tell you about this Labor Day weekend starting with that summer staple, potato salad. Kroger is recalling two of its store brands because of E. coli concerns. Kroger's southern style and mustard potato salads are the ones in question. They have best if used by date of September 5th. And if you live in the northwest, check your ground beef. Health officials say it might be contaminated, as well, with E. coli. At least nine people have gotten sick, mostly in Washington state and Oregon. None, apparently, is left on the store shelves, that's good. But check your freezer for organic lean ground beef labeled Northwest's Finest. And, salmonella might have gotten into fresh spinach. Metz Fresh decided to issue a warning on its own after salmonella turned up during routine testing at a California processing plant. About 8,000 cartons have already been shipped to stores and restaurants. This includes ten and sixteen ounce bags, as well as, four pound plus cartons. Look for Metz Fresh labels and the tracking codes you see right here on the screen. Try and write those down. If you have any questions, you can contact Metz Fresh at 831-386-1018.
Well, a pretty big day in the Bay area and a pretty big headache too, if you're driving in the San Francisco area this weekend. The San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge is closed the entire weekend for repairs. This is taking place. You are looking right now at some fairly recent taped pictures. Workers are replacing a section of the bridge that was damaged in the 1989 Loma Prita(ph) earthquake. The bridge is scheduled to reopen at 5:00 a.m. on Tuesday.
And, perhaps you're lucky this weekend. One chance in 176 million, some awfully big odds to beat but four people apparently have done it and they are the nation's latest multimillionaires. Check your mega millions lottery ticket, if you haven't already. You could be holding one of those four winning tickets in last night's 330 million dollar drawing. Here are the winning numbers, 8 - 18 - 22 - 40 and 44. The mega ball number is 11. The winning tickets were sold at different locations in four different states, New Jersey, Maryland, Texas, and Virginia. And if you happen to be one of three dozen second place winners, matching five numbers but not the mega ball, you still get a pretty nice chunk of change. Each of those tickets is worth a quarter of a million dollars. Not bad.
Well, coming up in THE NEWSROOM, a CNN exclusive report. U.S. Marines accused of the unjustified killing of Iraqi civilians in Haditha. Also in Iraq, a Shiite cleric calls for his militia to "stand down." We'll tell you what that means in the fight for Iraq when CNN NEWSROOM continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Happening right now in the news, Idaho Senator Larry Craig has made it official. He announced his resignation today effective at the end of the month. Craig's resignation comes after pressure from fellow republicans worried about a scandal dimming their election prospects. He was arrested during a sex sting in a Minneapolis airport men's room. Craig said he makes the decision with sadness and deep regret.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LARRY CRAIG (R), IDAHO: To Idahoans I represent, to my staff, my senate colleagues but most importantly, to my wife and my family, I apologize for what I have caused. I am deeply sorry. I have little control over what people choose to believe but clearly my name is important to me and my family is so very important also.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Craig was up for re-election in 2008. Idaho's republican governor must now appoint someone to fulfill the remainder of his term. And be sure to tune in to CNN tonight for a special edition of "Larry King Live." Larry and his guests will discuss the Larry Craig situation including a look at who might be named the replacement.
Well today is a tough day for the families of six missing miners in Utah. Rescue crews who have been searching for the men in the collapsed Crandall Canyon Mine say they have run out of options. The search has now been called off indefinitely. Dangerous conditions, a deadly cave in, a disheartening setback have all plagued the rescue effort that began August 6th. A robotic camera recently lowered into one of the seven holes drilled into the mine shaft, it showed no signs of life. So, rescuers say there is nowhere else to search.
A man who spent years putting people behind bars will now soon be in jail himself. Former Durham County, North Carolina D.A., Mike Nifong was held in criminal contempt of court yesterday. This was for his actions in the Duke Lacrosse rape case. He was sentenced to one day in jail. The judge said Nifong's decision to withhold DNA evidence from defense attorneys was an affront to the integrity of the judicial system. That evidence could have cleared the three falsely accused lacrosse players. Nifong must now report to jail September 7.
The violence in Iraq taking an increasingly deadly toll on civilians there. More than 1,800 Iraqi civilians were killed in August. That's the second-deadliest month for Iraqis since the U.S. troop build-up began last winter. The deadliest month was May with more than 1,900 Iraqi deaths.
And now a CNN exclusive in the case of U.S. Marines accused of the unjustified killings of Iraqi civilians. We've obtained aerial video showing the fighting in the city of Haditha on the day two years ago when 24 Iraq civilians died. The pictures do not show the actual killing, but they do capture the scene afterward and provide dramatic visual evidence of the level of fighting.
CNN has learned the video will be introduced as evidence by lawyers for one U.S. Marine facing 18 murder counts in the Haditha killings. Our senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre has our exclusive report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The bombings and strafings seen on this aerial video obtained exclusively by CNN shows Haditha was a hotbed of insurgent activity back on that day, November 19th, 2005. Early in the morning, a U.S. Marine died in an IED attack and shortly afterward, 24 Iraqi civilians were killed by Marines hunting the attackers, leading to murder charges a year later.
A small unmanned spy plane called Scan Eagle arrived about 30 minutes after the initial attack on the U.S. Marine vehicle, focusing on a house from which the military suspected insurgents triggered the bomb. And showing the aftermath of the blast here, some 1,000 yards away.
Just up the road is a white sedan and the bodies of five Iraqi men who Marines say refused to lie down and were shot while running away. Villagers said the men were students in a taxi, but the Marines say their actions were consistent with insurgents about to detonate a car bomb. The video will soon be evidence in the case of squad leader, Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, accused of doing some of the shooting.
GARY SOLIS, FORMER MILITARY JUDGE: Well, if I'm a juror, I'm not going to be impressed.
MCINTYRE: Retired Marine Lieutenant Colonel Gary Solis, a former prosecutor and military judge who teaches law at Georgetown and West Point, analyzed the video for CNN.
(on camera): You've seen the tape. How significant do you think it is as a piece of evidence?
SOLIS: It tends to prove that this was a violent place where you had enemy fighters, where it was necessary to bring in air support.
MCINTYRE (voice-over): Throughout that day, Marines engaged in fierce fire fights and called in air strikes to level entire buildings often with no definitive idea of who was inside. That could buttress defense arguments that the Marines clearing buildings on the ground with guns and grenades were just following the rules of engagement.
SOLIS: The defense can say, hey, look, we had to do this later in the day. What's the difference between what happened later in the day and what our guys did earlier in the day?
MCINTYRE: And that might help explain why so far prosecutors have had trouble making murder charges stick. Charges have been dropped against two Marines. Another is waiting a decision. (on camera): Is there a tendency to give Marine soldiers in combat the benefit of the doubt when it comes to these kind of split- second decisions?
SOLIS: You have a military jury, probably most of whom, if not all of whom, will have been in Iraq.
MCINTYRE (voice-over): The video shows how the military suspects anyone on the move during combat as being a potential enemy, such as this is motorcyclist who appears to be an insurgent messenger.
But while prosecutors may be having a hard time winning convictions, Gary Solis believes someone should be accountable for the 24 civilian deaths in Haditha.
SOLIS: It would be difficult to say that justice has been served if no one is convicted for Haditha.
MCINTYRE: Asked for comment, military prosecutors said through a spokesman they are prohibited from discussing evidence in the case. Pentagon officials simply declined comment.
Jamie McIntyre, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And of the original defendants in the Haditha case, charges have been dismissed against three men and a fourth dismissal looks likely. That means Staff Sergeant Wuterich would be the only Marine to face murder charges for the event at Haditha.
WHITFIELD: U.S. military says the suspension of the Mahdi Army in Iraq is encouraging news. Commanders say Muqtada al-Sadr's call to suspend his militia for six months will allow coalition forces to focus on al Qaeda in Iraq. The radical Shiite cleric ordered his militia to stand down after nearly 60 people were killed in street battles between armed Shiites factions in Karbala and Baghdad this week.
Britain's Princess Diana, her life honored on the 10th anniversary of her death. A week of events culminated on Friday in a church service attended by Prince Charles and the royal couple's two sons, William and Harry. Here are some of the most memorable moments of that emotional tribute.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are gathered here to remember with love and gratitude Diana Princess of Wales, and to commend her soul to the everlasting care of God.
PRINCE HENRY OF WALES: To lose a parent so suddenly at such a young age, as others have experienced, is indescribably shocking and sad. It was an event which changed our lives forever, as it must have done for everyone who lost someone that night. William and I can separate life into two parts. There were those years when we were blessed with the physical presence beside of us of both our mother and father, and then there are the 10 years since our mother's death. When she was alive we completely took for granted her unrivaled love of life, laughter, fun and folly.
She was our guardian, friend and protector. She never once allowed her unfaltering love for us to go unspoken or undemonstrated. She will always be remembered always for her amazing public work, but behind the media glare, to us just two loving children she was quite simply the best mother in the world.
But what is far more important to us now and into the future is that we remember our mother as she would have wished to be remembered: as she was, fun-loving, generous, down to earth, and entirely genuine.
We both think of her every day. We speak about her and laugh together at all the memories, but quite simply she made us and so many other people happy. May this be the way that she is remembered.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Also coming up, could your kids have high blood pressure and you not even know it? Dr. Bill Lloyd joins me straight ahead to talk about this hidden epidemic.
But first, according to the American Plastics Council, the gap between recycling and throwing away plastic bottles is growing every year. One biotech company is helping to change that.
Richard Lui has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD LUI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Imagine if your soda bottle could naturally be recycled. Well, one company is making that a reality.
DR. OLIVER PEOPLES, CO-FOUNDER, METABOLIX, INC.: Metabolix is a biotechnology company that is really taking the best that nature offers and using that to deliver essentially bioplastics.
LUI: The company developed organisms that convert corn and switchgrass into a plastic-like substance.
PEOPLES: We then recover that. And form them into plastics, which are used in everyday use.
LUI: Unlike other plastics that are petroleum based, this plastic will biodegrade in environments such as soil or the ocean.
PEOPLES: The bio-based plastics really allows you to have that same functionality. But the end of life it can then be biodegraded back to nature as well.
LUI: Dr. Peoples hopes to see this technology in use within the next few years.
PEOPLES: It's exciting mainly to see not only what we are doing but this whole field beginning to take off. And in fact, society beginning to really look at renewable resource based materials as a way to go.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Kids and high blood pressure? Well, not long ago, you never put the two in the same sentence unless you meant your kids were giving you high blood pressure. Well, times have changed and more and more kids are actually getting it. Our Dr. Bill Lloyd joins us from San Francisco with more on what is being called a hidden epidemic.
And so does this have everything to do with the fact that we are dealing with a child obesity problem like never before in this country?
DR. BILL LLOYD, SURGEON: It's a big part of it, Fredricka. This is the second big wave of health problems that are coming along with too many American kids that are overweight. We already know so many chubby kids now get into trouble with that type 2 adult diabetes. Well, now more kids are having troubles with high blood pressure.
But unlike diabetes where you have signs and symptoms and it can be diagnosed quickly, a new study published this week in the AMA says that three out of four children with high blood pressure evade detection. That is, nobody is looking for them. Their blood pressure is being measured, but nobody is doing anything about it.
WHITFIELD: So that means they're not getting medication either, which is the case of many adults who have high blood pressure, they get some kind of medication, right?
LLOYD: Well, they need some kind of treatment. And in children with high blood pressure, specifically if it is related to inactivity or being overweight, well, you get them outside. You get them exercising. You get them on a good diet and you get the weight down. And the blood pressure problem goes away.
You don't want to start kids on medication, but the problem comes when we're measuring the blood pressure. They enter the numbers in the computer, but the computer never tells the doctor that the child had high blood pressure.
So parents, whenever you take your child to the doctor, they measure the vital signs, always ask the nurse or the tech, hey, what was the blood pressure? I want to know. And then you can discuss it with the doctor. If it's any number other than 120/80, and it varies a lot, Fredricka, you can just discuss it with your doctor.
WHITFIELD: One-twenty over eighty. OK. And so simply put, just get your kids out, get them to exercise, et cetera, but at the same time you hear high blood pressure sometimes in adults, that means stroke and maybe even heart attacks. Is that something that people need to worry about the kids?
LLOYD: It will age you so prematurely. These children who are untreated, by the time they are 20, they are going to have a body of somebody who is 50. There is dire predictions about what is going to happen to our society with so many chubby kids.
And it's not just overweight kids, Fredricka. Skinny kids that are playing video games all day, they also can be at risk for high blood pressure. So everybody needs more increased activity and with the start of the school year, make sure your kids are enrolled in a good physical fitness program.
Don't let them skip the P.E. Make sure they do the P.E. and keep them busy.
WHITFIELD: Yes. And that means pressure on a lot of school districts too. Don't eliminate the P.E. Because that's another big problem. But that's another subject, isn't it?
LLOYD: Well, it is, but that's an important way in which the community can respond to this terrible problem of children obesity.
WHITFIELD: All right. Dr. Bill Lloyd, thanks so much. Have a great holiday weekend.
LLOYD: We'll talk again soon..
WHITFIELD: All right. We will indeed.
LLOYD: Thanks, again. Happy Labor Day.
WHITFIELD: Thanks so much.
Tony Harris straight ahead with more of the NEWSROOM. I don't have to worry about you getting your kids out on the tennis court...
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, that's right.
WHITFIELD: ... the basketball court or swimming.
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: ... they're all thumbs here mostly. They're all thumbs. And what they want to do is they want to play these video games. (INAUDIBLE) so it's a little tricky. You know, we made a good living in television and yet I want to get the kids away from the doggone television...
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: How you doing, Fred?
WHITFIELD: I'm good. How about you?
HARRIS: How much time do I have here? OK. I'm running out of time already?
WHITFIELD: All the time you want.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: So coming up in just a couple of minutes at the top of the hour, 5:00 p.m. Eastern right here in the NEWSROOM, OK, Labor Day weekend, here's the question we're asking. Are Americans the hardest- working people on the planet?
WHITFIELD: Oh, are they, you're asking.
HARRIS: Yes. Interesting. You may think we are. But we're working awfully hard. Moms and dads. But -- just to stay ahead, maybe just to stay even. So we'll discuss that coming up at 5:00.
And then at 10:00, I want to play you a bit of what is being called a satirical video on BET. Take a listen, just a little bit.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
HARRIS: OK. So this is BET's attempt at satire, trying to get young people in this hip-hop generation to read a book. OK? And it's using all of these images, you see here. Big controversy, yes, big controversy over this. And folks are saying, you satire what you aren't. BET, this is who you are. So we will talk about that tonight at 10:00.
WHITFIELD: Oh boy. OK. It's going to elicit a lot of conversation.
HARRIS: That's what we do, Fred. We'll see you later. Good to see you.
WHITFIELD: OK. Appreciate it. Good to see you too. Have a great weekend. We'll be watching. Thanks so much, Tony.
All right. Straight ahead, you could say this is a part of New Orleans that frustration rebuilt. Coming up, we'll tell you about some people who got tired, just simply tired of waiting and took matters into their own hands.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Rebuilding after Katrina. In many areas of the Gulf Coast it is painfully slow, but in others like the Lakeview section of New Orleans, signs of progress are all around. Residents are frustrated with the delays in federal help, and so they took matters in their own hands.
Here's our Soledad O'Brien.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORREPSPONDENT (voice-over): We're only five miles north of downtown New Orleans. This is the Lakeview neighborhood. Cosmetically it looks great, but around here they would say that's no thanks to the government.
(on camera): The trees that are planted in the median.
ROBERT LUPO, LAKEVIEW DEVELOPER: Well, that was done by a private individual here.
O'BRIEN: The firehouse?
LUPO: Done by private individuals.
O'BRIEN: The homes with grass cut and fixed up?
LUPO: Done by private individuals.
We can point at FEMA having come in and picked up the storm debris afterwards. We can point to the city, have them put up traffic signals. That's it.
O'BRIEN (voice-over): Developer Robert Lupo is spending lots of his own money to bring back commercial areas he owns in Lakeview. In fact, residents and hundreds of volunteers are doing all that they can to rebuild this community.
Residents complained the city is collecting tax bus isn't spending money to fix their community.
Five hundred-some-odd bucks for fire and police supplemented pay, capital improvements and infrastructure, 209.
LUPO: The bottom line is when they say police and fire infrastructure, well, we don't have police stations.
O'BRIEN (voice-over): Police work out of trailers.
LUPO: We don't have fire stations.
O'BRIEN: In fact, firefighters and volunteers have been raising money to rebuild the fire stations.
LUPO: We can't point to one thing that was built out here.
O'BRIEN: The library is shuttered. Now there's a small book mobile out front. And the local public school is literally rotting.
LUPO: That building hasn't even been touched in 24 months.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If people in the community don't see their infrastructure being rebuilt, they look around and go, why am I going to take my insurance check and reinvest in this community?
O'BRIEN: The city says there's plan to fix all this. And Harrison Avenue, which runs through Lakeview, is at the top of a list for redevelopment.
(on camera): Great news, right?
LUPO: We just don't know what that means.
EDWARD BLAKELY, RECOVERY CHIEF: It means that they're a high priority and we're going to start street improvements in Lakeview very, very soon.
O'BRIEN (voice-over): Dr. Edward Blakely is a recovery expert brought here in January. He says money promised for projects in Lakeview and elsewhere is just starting to trickle in.
MAYOR RAY NAGIN (D), NEW ORLEANS: We all are frustrated. The money has not flowed like we thought. We've had a weak presidential response, a weak governor response. And all of that flows down to the local official, and that's me.
O'BRIEN: Lupo says, enough with waiting for others. He says the mayor is supposed to be a leader and that if he doesn't lead soon, fully a third of the population may choose to not come home.
Soledad O'Brien, CNN, New Orleans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And tonight and tomorrow, a "SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT" presents "Children of the Storm." Soledad O'Brien and filmmaker Spike Lee give young survivors of Katrina a chance to tell their story. That's tonight and tomorrow night 8:00 Eastern.
How about this? Could you get rid of your SUV? One presidential candidate says it just might be a good idea. Jeanne Moos takes this story and runs when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: It's not surprising that Americans scoffed when presidential candidate John Edwards suggested they give up their SUVs. Our Jeanne Moos looks at the top 10 excuses why most motorists refuse to give up their sporty rides.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Here's a shocker, not a single SUV driver we asked said yes to this.
(on camera): John Edwards wants people with SUVs to give them up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I don't think so.
MOOS: No?
(voice-over): So in light of Senator Edwards' suggestion that Americans sacrifice, we've compiled the top 10 excuses for not giving up your SUV. Excuse number 10, SUV lust.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sacrifice, I can't. I love my SUV. I can't give it up, I'm sorry, I love it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love sitting up high. You know what I mean? I love the space and the ride is smooth.
MOOS: Riding is a lot smoother than darting out in traffic.
(on camera): May I?
(voice-over): Trying to squeeze in interviews.
(on camera): May I ask a question? Oh.
(voice-over): Before the light changes.
(on camera): Hi, I am sorry to scare you.
(voice-over): Excuse number nine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I put stuff from Home Depot in the car.
MOOS: Excuse number eight, blame the kids.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm going to keep it because it carries my nine kids.
MOOS: Number seven, blame the kids and the pets.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've got three kids. I got a dog and three cats.
MOOS: Excuse number six. Blame John Edwards.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe he should give his up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Has he given up his?
MOOS: Actually, Edwards drives a hybrid SUV, though the family keeps other less energy-efficient vehicles to occasionally haul things. Energy issues can dog candidates. Mitt Romney launched his campaign in front of an American car.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Here is the Ford Hybrid over here.
MOOS: To make a point about conservation and buying American. But when The Boston Herald went to the parking lot at Romney's campaign headquarters, the paper said it could be mistaken for a foreign car dealership with all of those Mitt Romney bumper stickers on BMWs and Lexuses.
Excuse number five.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It isn't mine. It belongs to the company. MOOS: Oh, we're very familiar with that excuse. News crews love SUVs.
Number four?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I guess it's my money, ha, ha, ha!
MOOS: Excuse number three, who needs an excuse?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because I like it.
MOOS: All this reminds us of the two Connecticut women who got so annoyed at SUVs that they penned this song.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (singing): Ninety-pound suburban housewife driving in her SUV.
MOOS: The number two excuse.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think it's his right to tell us what to do.
MOOS: And the number one excuse for not giving up your SUV?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a rental.
MOOS: This guy doesn't own a car and says why stop at sacrificing just SUVs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anybody that drives a gasoline vehicle should give up the gasoline vehicle.
(DOG GROWLING & BARKING)
MOOS (on camera): Whoa, never mind. He doesn't like SUVs, obviously.
(voice-over): Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The next hour of the NEWSROOM with Tony Harris starts right now.
HARRIS: Have you ever heard of the fire house of ill repute? Stunning allegations to that effect within the fire department in Washington, D.C. The full story here in the NEWSROOM.
Plus, millions of losers but a handful of lucky winners. Who got Mega Million lucky last night? If you're in Texas, Maryland, Virginia, and New Jersey, you had better watch the NEWSROOM to find out if it's you.
And this...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LARRY CRAIG (R), IDAHO: It's with sadness and deep regret that I announce that it's my intent to resign from the Senate effective September 30th.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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