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Hate Crime in West Virginia; General Petraeus Interview; Trouble in Toy Land; Healthy Fast Food?

Aired September 12, 2007 - 14:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone, I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Don Lemon, you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Another twist to a horrific story from West Virginia. Authorities now say a young black woman knew at least one of the six white suspects who allegedly kidnapped and tortured her over a week's time. Bobby Brewster was charged with domestic battery against that victim in July.

CNN's Kathleen Koch has more on the case that could lead to hate crime charges from the feds.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Police say these Big Creek, West Virginia buildings were torture chambers where for at least a week, 20-year-old Megan Williams was held captive and brutalized. Six West Virginians, a mother and son, mother and daughter, and two other men are facing charges including kidnapping, torture, and sexual assault. Police went to the site in Big Creek, West Virginia, after receiving an anonymous tip that a woman was being held there against her will.

SHERIFF W.E. HUNTER, LOGAN COUNTY, W. VA: Upon approaching the place, deputies found Frankie Brewster sitting on the front porch. Got to talking to her, she got up and walked toward the door, and a young black lady came to the door and said, please help me.

KOCH: According to the criminal complaint, Frankie Brewster allegedly beat Williams and forced her to perform sexual acts on her. Bobby Brewster, the complaint goes on, sexually assaulted Williams, forced her to eat dog and rat feces, lick up blood and drink from a toilet. Combs allegedly held a knife and forced the victim to perform oral sex, sexually assaulted, and cut her several times. Karen Burton allegedly pulled and cut Williams' hair, choked her, and cut her ankle with a knife while uttering a racial slur. Alisha Burton also allegedly pulled out and cut the victims hair and sliced her with a knife. Police say George Messer allegedly poured hot water over Williams while she was sexually assaulted by another suspect.

HUNTER: She had two black eyes, part of her hair had been pulled out. She had lacerations on her legs, marks on her neck, and she had been physically, mentally, and sexually abused.

KOCH: The six suspects are in jail pending bond. They've asked for court-appointed attorneys. The FBI is investigating whether the alleged torture of the Charleston woman is a hate crime. Why is CNN using Megan Williams' name? Because the family says it wants the public to know what happened.

(on camera): Just how the young woman met the suspects is unclear. The six all have a long list of prior arrests.

Kathleen Koch, CNN, Washington.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Well, he was this week's focus of attention in the House and also the Senate. The commanding general of all U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq, General David Petraeus. He laid out his progress report before congressional committees, met reporters en masse this morning, and now Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has caught up with him for some one-on-one time with CNN.

Take it away, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well Don, we are here at the National Press Club with General David Petraeus, who has agreed to chat with us for a little while today and so we're going to get right to the questions.

General Petraeus, we are all awaiting, of course, President Bush who is going to address the nation tomorrow night about the war in Iraq. And he has now said for many years that the war is important in Iraq in his view because it will prevent terrorism from coming to the United States. Can you help explain to Americans the war which you run, how that war makes any single American family more safe today?

GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, CMDR., MULTI-NATL. FORCE-IRAQ: Well, as I explained yesterday, we have enormous national interests in Iraq, first of all, in helping Iraq achieve its objectives, our objectives of a secure, stable Iraq, connected into the region. Not a regional problem, not a base for al Qaeda which to train and export terror, and certainly that's one of those areas in which we would have enormous concern were our objectives not achieved in that country.

Also concerns about potential Iranian influence, a humanitarian disaster of enormous proportions, and there's already been enormous humanitarian loss there with 2 million perhaps outside the country and perhaps that many more displaced in the country. All of these represent big national interests to us, and, again, this piece of Iraq in the global war on terrorism where we believe the CIA director, the joint special operations command commander all believe that Iraq is the central front for al Qaeda's global war of terror.

STARR: But you actually ...

PETRAEUS: That would be an adrenaline shot. Now, yesterday, in fact, I paused over this. I said I don't know, but that was because -- I'm not trying to be the Department of Homeland Security director or the national security adviser. My focus has been as the MNFI commander to focus in that country and to give recommendations on how to achieve our objectives there, objectives that are part of our greater national policy and our greater national security objectives.

STARR: But can you understand as the commander of that war why many Americans and many in congress are expressing their skepticism about that linkage? They haven't, many people say, seen the link between the war in Iraq and, in fact, the president's contention that it relates to America's security here at home.

PETRAEUS: Well, I think, again, we have huge security interests wrapped up in Iraq, in helping achieve the objectives of Iraq and our own objectives in a region that is enormously volatile, and you don't know where that might go. That's why I don't know what the implications could be of an al Qaeda base, of Iranian activity and influence in the country that has the third most -- perhaps second most oil reserves in the world and through which major ethno sectarian faultlines run.

So this is a hugely important endeavor. Make no mistake about it, and I tried to be very clear about that with the various committees that I talked to over the past two days, as did Ambassador Crocker.

STARR: You've mentioned Iran here a couple of times. In addition to al Qaeda, do you have growing concerns at this point then about Iran's efforts inside Iraq and perhaps whether that is their jumping off point for, you know, further troublemaking in the region?

PETRAEUS: Well, we do, and so does the Iraqi government. As I explained to congress, we have learned a great deal more about Iranian involvement, lethal involvement, inside Iraq. The training, the arming, the funding, even the directing of the so-called special groups whose commander we captured.

STARR: Let me stop you there and ask you, many Americans see that U.S. troops are being killed by what you say are weapons brought in from Iran. How long does the U.S. -- many people would like to know, how long does the U.S. military go letting American troops be killed by these Iranian networks and Iranian weapons before something is very specifically done about the Iranian influence?

PETRAEUS: Very, very big question and very, very big issue. We have no question whatsoever about Iranian weapons being used to kill our soldiers, to kill Iraqi security forces and Iraqi civilians. In fact, we have the remnants of a 240 millimeter rocket that hit one of our camps yesterday and caused a number of -- caused the wounding of a number of our soldiers, and our spokesman there, Major General Bergner is going to put those fragments on the podium today or tomorrow and show what has been taking place there.

Again, the explosively formed projectiles or so-called EFPs, these very lethal improvised explosive devices, they come from Iran. There's no question about that. And we've captured a cache of those in the last 48 hours as well. So that has not stopped despite Ambassador Crocker sitting down with his counterpart on a couple of occasions, despite Prime Minister Maliki and other leaders of the Iraqi government with whom we have obviously shared what we have learned in the documents and so forth that we captured, the hard drives, of the head of the special groups, their Lebanese Hezbollah operative and so forth.

STARR: OK, well General Petraeus we thank you for your time this afternoon.

Don, you hear some of the general's latest thoughts and certainly a lot of issues in the days ahead -- Don?

LEMON: And absolutely Barbara, we understand that you're going to continue this interview. You're going to share more with us a little bit later on here in the NEWSROOM as well as "THE SITUATION ROOM."

STARR: Absolutely.

LEMON: 4:00 p.m. Eastern and then again at 7:00 p.m. Barbara Starr, thank you, we look forward to hearing more from General Petraeus. Thank you so much.

Don't forget, the president's speech airs at 9:00 p.m. eastern tomorrow, but you'll want to tune in at 7:00 eastern, 4:00 pacific for a special edition of "THE SITUATION ROOM" right here on CNN.

PHILLIPS: Youssif's story struck a nerve with CNN viewers and prompted a massive effort to get him some help. We're going to get details from the Children's Burn Foundation on putting it all together.

LEMON: And confidential to Rudy Giuliani. An object in your rear-view mirror is closer than you might have expected.

PHILLIPS: Plus, he got mixed reviews from the critics, but Jon Stewart gets another invitation from Oscar producers. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: It's a controversy that saw millions of parents rushing to check their kids' toy boxes. Now the head honcho of toy giant Mattel is addressing a senate subcommittee about his company's recalls. 21 million products were pulled from store shelves in the past few weeks over concerns about lead paint and other issues. The source of many of the safety hazards, Chinese subcontractors. Mattel's CEO Robert Eckert says his company is stepping up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT ECKERT, CEO, MATTEL: We have moved aggressively to ensure that we got our arms around the problem. We held all products in Asia. We initiated testing on a massive scale. We conducted sample lead paint testing on even the smallest part of each toy. While we recalled for lead paint less than one half of 1 percent of the toys we have produced over the past 12 months, that number should be zero.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Even as toy company CEOs defend themselves before lawmakers today, parents are left to wander store aisles wondering what's safe to even buy their kids.

CNN's Rusty Dornin is at a toy store just outside Atlanta, she joins us again. She's been talking to a lot of people about all of this.

Hey, Rusty.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, a lot of parents just even want to know where the toys are from and if there are any toys in the U.S. So we sent the toy store owner here in Dunwoody on a hunting trip, she and her husband, to find toys made in the United States, and this is all they could come up with out of this entire store. Now, here to tell us a little bit about her hunt and how frustrating really it was or it must have been an eye opener to find out that so few toys are made here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I have known for a long time, but I don't think customers realize it. I really don't. There's very, very little made in the USA anymore.

DORNIN: Now, you're saying that there are things that they call organic toys.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.

DORNIN: And this is a good example, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a good example of an organic toy. They are made of renewable woods and the dyes are organic. They use vegetable dyes, they're not painted.

DORNIN: Rather than painted on. And Becky was also talking about some of the plastics that are -- you were saying ...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is dyed but before it's extruded. I'm not sure whether that affects the lead or not.

DORNIN: The concern is when it's painted on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, that's metal painted on.

DORNIN: Do you have any way of really knowing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

DORNIN: This was not recalled, but you have no way of knowing. Are you reassured by the CEOs of Mattel and Toys R Us going before congress and saying, look, we're going to make sure this doesn't happen again?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Honestly? No.

DORNIN: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bottom line, dollars.

DORNIN: That they're not ...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The almighty dollar is what it comes down to. It's cheaper to do it the other way.

DORNIN: Now, have you been hurt at all by these recalls?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, we've only had one recall, and that was from Thomas trains, and they did that in June, and they were red and yellow and ...

DORNIN: What do you tell parents when they call and they say -- what are they asking you? Their concerns right now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are concerned with are our products safe and are they from the USA, and I go, no, very little is from the USA.

DORNIN: Do they seem frustrated by that? The ones we've talked to seem concerned

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some of them are -- I think they're genuinely concerned. As to whether they're going to change anything, I don't know.

DORNIN: Thank you for joining us, Becky. Thank you for letting us use your store as our play area today. The parents we have talked to today say they are thinking about for Christmas shopping reading the labels a little more carefully. Trying to find out exactly where these things are assembled and trying to buy things that perhaps maybe aren't from China but are from Germany or Italy and that sort of thing -- Kyra?

PHILLIPS: That's a good idea for parents to know. I mean, one step further there around Christmas time, read the labels.

Rusty, is there a way where you can go -- I know cnn.com had a whole list of various toys and where they were made. Is there any other way that consumers can logon to something or make a phone call about what is safe and what may not be safe?

DORNIN: Well, I mean, here many of Becky's (INAUDIBLE) customers are repeat customers and they're calling her, and she's sort of doing the research for them. But she's doing a lot of reading, even her and her daughters who have been here, have been reading a lot of the pamphlets trying to figure out where these toys are coming from and what is safe, what's not and what to be asking questions about, that sort of thing.

Of course, going online, that's going to help people. That's going to be a powerful tool. A lot of the parents that we've been talking to are saying that's where they're going to do their research basically is online.

PHILLIPS: Great, Rusty Dornin, appreciate it.

LEMON: I have a history lesson for you about this story on toys. It's our news quiz today. When did the U.S. ban the sale of toys made with lead paint? We'll tell you straight ahead right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. All right, check that out.

Coming up, it's known to keep vampires away, right? Do you know what's in there? That's garlic. But garlic may also keep the customers away from a certain New York restaurant once they learn how it's being prepared. Did we give it away? We'll have more on the stink straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Just before the break, we asked you when the U.S. banned the sale of toys made with lead paint. Tada, the answer is 1978. Kyra was just a mere child.

PHILLIPS: Now I'm an old lady.

The witnesses thought that something smelled funny about that scene behind a Rockland County, New York Chinese restaurant. They saw a worker doing some pretty unusual prep work, pressing garlic. And it turned out, by stomping on it in boots. It's enough to give someone a bit of a stomach ache, especially the poor onlookers who regularly ate at the Grand China Buffet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES PAPACENA, WITNESS: We told the guy, we're like, dude, what are you doing and he starts smiling. We're like maybe he doesn't understand English well. We're like, you can't be doing that.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: No, you can't. After the guys snapped pictures of the worker, they sent them to the county health department. The restaurant was hit with two violations and the worker was reportedly fired.

LEMON: Oh, my gosh, a major fast food player says you really can have it your way when it comes to healthier fare for kids. Susan Lisovicz, hopefully it doesn't involve stomping on garlic in your boots.

SUSAN LISOVICZ: Can somebody tell the Grand China Buffet that you can go to any supermarket and buy those big cases of garlic that's already mashed. Does the work for you.

LEMON: Minced, right? Is that what you call it?

LISOVICZ: Yes, smushed, exactly or smushed. Yes, whatever.

LEMON: Minced or smushed. Smushed garlic. All right, Susan. We digress, yes.

LISOVICZ: OK, yes. You really can have it your way with healthier food for kids. Burger King says it plans to offer more nutritious items for children under 12. Among the changes, flame- broiled chicken tenders and apple fries. What Don Lemon are apple fries, you ask? Well they are sliced up apples cut to resemble French fries, but served skinless and cold, and not fried at all. In other words, they're really not apple fries, they're apple slices. They're being called apple fries.

But they will have 35 calories versus 230 for a small serving for French fries. The meals will be available sometime next year, and Burger King says by the end of 2008 it will advertise these healthier meals in places where the target audience is kids under 12. Fast food chains have come under enormous pressure from the medical profession and consumer advocates who say their food is contributing to an epidemic of obesity and other health problems.

McDonald's and Wendy's have already introduced their own healthier options for kids. And none of the above involves smushing, mincing, mashing or stomping fresh food ingredients with boots -- Don?

LEMON: Yes, and it's a start. The apples and what have you, it's a start, you know, we need to get a handle on this. Yes.

LISOVICZ: That's right, get kids at an early age to start eating differently.

LEMON: So while some are attempting to shrink waistlines, food prices I understand, they're expanding, Susan.

LISOVICZ: That's right, that's right. We're seeing the prices of two key commodities spike. Both could have an impact on inflation. Wheat prices, I mean think about it, pasta, bread, everything, including cattle feed. They are at record levels after a drought in Australia and weather problems in Canada cut production.

Meanwhile, demand worldwide is up of course. As a result, some food companies like Sara Lee are raising prices and others are expected to do so. The trader we spoke to says the next 10 days are critical. That if Australia doesn't get some rain, prices could rise further. Let's get some rain down under.

Another major commodity, oil, also trading at record levels. Crude surging 2 percent, to just below $80 per barrel. The latest inventory report shows crude oil stocks plunged for a six straight week. The market concerned about supply shortages this winter.

Despite that, stocks are rallying modestly. The Dow industrials up 33 points or a quarter of a percent. The NASDAQ is up a third of a percent. In the next hour, anything but fun and games as lawmakers ask the toy industry about the latest lead paint recalls. We'll continue following that important story in the next hour of NEWSROOM.

Kyra and Don, back to you. LEMON: Yeah, can't be too careful when it comes to the kids and the lead paint and what have you. We'll look forward to that report Susan, thank you.

LISOVICZ: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, police say this trucker has admitted to one murder, but evidence points to the possibility of others. On the road and in cold blood, chilling details straight ahead from the NEWSROOM.

LEMON: Plus, the Democrats agree that they don't like the president's plan for Iraq, but what are their ideas? We'll hear from our senior political correspondent Candy Crowley coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon. He's a truck driver from North Carolina. He was arrested for an attack in Massachusetts and charged with a murder in New Jersey.

PHILLIPS: Police say what they found inside his cab makes them worry there could be other bodies somewhere along that route. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

LEMON: A North Carolina trucker is in court today charged with an horrific crime, but police say his trail of offenses could be much longer than a single attack. Our Jason Carroll has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the face of a confessed murderer according to police who say Adam Lane has already admitted to the brutal killing of one woman, but when criminologists look into Lane's eyes, they wonder if he's hiding something even more sinister.

(INAUDIBLE)

CARROLL: Criminologist Jack Levin says like many serial killers, Lane also chose victims he didn't know.

JACK LEVIN, NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: Lane, it seems to me, is motivated by an excessive need for power and dominance and control. He enjoys inflicting pain and suffering.

CARROLL: For now, Lane is charged with murder in the New Jersey case and attempted murder and attempted rape in the Massachusetts case. He has not entered pleas. Investigators are following leads into unsolved crimes along Lane's truck route in North Carolina, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, trying to see if this is the face of not just a murderer, but a serial killer.

Jason Carroll, CNN, Jonesville, Massachusetts.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Top Democratic presidential hopefuls are going after President Bush instead of each other today. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are both criticizing the president's Iraq policy. Obama is unveiling his plan to get U.S. combat forces out of Iraq in a speech this hour in Iowa. Earlier he spoke to CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to have to evaluate what's available, but it appears clear to me that the president is not going to compromise short of the congress forcing him to accept a shorter time table. And absent that, we're essentially engaging in a bunch of symbolic action here.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Obama's rival senator, Hillary Clinton, is also blasting the Bush policy. She says the president's expected plan to start bringing home U.S. troops next summer is "too little too late."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Mr. President, we don't need another mission accomplished moment. What we need is honesty and candor, and honesty and candor that demands that you announce that you will start bringing troops home now. If President Bush won't do that, when I am president, I will.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: All right, let's bring in our senior political correspondent Candy Crowley. So Candy, Democrats are back out there, talking to their base about ending the war. But what can they actually do?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're sort of campaign promises, which I think you just heard, and then there is the reality of what goes on, on Capitol Hill, and the reality is that at this moment the Democrats do not have the votes to end this war in any meaningful fashion.

What they need are Republican votes, and that's why Senator Harry Reid, the top Democrat, Carl Levin, the number two democrat are all out looking for Republicans who are war weary, trying to find out and sound them out as to what exactly they would go for in terms of trying to push the president on this issue.

So, you know, there's a lot of behind-the-scenes things going on now between top Democrats and Republicans trying to see if next week when the defense authorization bill is expected to come up, if next week there is anything around which some Republicans and the Democrats can actually unify. PHILLIPS: The latest CNN poll of Democrats has Senator Clinton with a 20-point lead over Senator Obama. Are there any negatives here for Hillary Clinton?

CROWLEY: You know, it's hard to find them at this point because sort of across the board she leads. When you ask who do you think has the kind of experience that is needed to be president, it comes up Hillary Clinton. She also comes up in the favorables leading all of the others in the favorables.

Even when it comes to the matter of change, and that is the basis of Barack Obama's campaign, is that he best can change America that she is the status quo, even when you ask voters who will most likely bring change, Hillary Clinton comes out on top. So the polls look very good for her. They look closer we should always say in the states. She's looking powerful in those early states, but the numbers are a lot closer.

PHILLIPS: All right, let's switch gears, talk about the Republicans. Our latest CNN poll shows that Fred Thompson gaining on Rudy Giuliani. Now where is Thompson support coming from?

CROWLEY: The south, the south. And evangelicals, conservative Christians, and that would also go along with the south. So this is an interesting time for Thompson. He also polls very well among men, among older voters, all of whom are more likely to vote in these early primary states. So Giuliani definitely has a fight on his hands.

It's going to be very difficult for Giuliani to hold on to a lead if Thompson can draw away those conservatives. We thought sort of immediately that the person most likely to be hurt by Thompson's entry into this race would be Mitt Romney. Mitt Romney is running third in the national polls, but he is doing very well in the early states of Iowa and New Hampshire, and he's leading in those polls.

PHILLIPS: All right, Candy Crowley. We're also waiting for Barack Obama to step up and make that speech probably centered around Iraq and Iowa, correct?

CROWLEY: Absolutely. It's Iraq in Iowa. Obviously this is where they want to go and make their major speeches. For Barack Obama, who on the experience level does not rate very high among voters, it's very important to give these kind of major policy speeches.

PHILLIPS: All right, Candy Crowley, always great to see you. You can see all the day's political news any time day or night at cnn.com/ticker. We're constantly updating it for you with the latest from the candidates on the campaign trail.

LEMON: His story touched thousands of people, including some who can really make a difference. Find out how the Children's Burn Foundation plans to help Youssif heal inside and out. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: This is a definite pay attention to this story, story. As we have been reporting, this is a very big day for a very small boy burned alive in Iraq. Since CNN first brought you the heart wrenching story of 5-year-old Youssif, more than 12,000 visitors to cnn.com have given to a fund set up by the children's burn foundation.

Today, through the foundation's efforts Youssif and his family are in Los Angeles where many months of treatment lie ahead and where the foundation's executive director Barbara Friedman joins us live today.

We thank you so much for joining us. We hear so much bad news coming out of Iraq, and this is some good news that folks can help. Tell us how you feel today when you saw him get off that plane?

BARBARA FRIEDMAN, CHILDREN'S BURN FOUNDATION: You know, I think all of us had the same reaction. We sort of couldn't stop smiling. It was I feel so lucky that -- I don't ever remember sort of seeing people who just showed such pure joy at being here, at being able to provide -- at being able to get just the best treatment for their son.

LEMON: You said to me that, you know, when people say I wish I could be a fly on the wall, and you are glad that you got the chance to do that.

FRIEDMAN: Just to see the pure joy that they had in coming here. They probably thanked us a million times. We picked them up from the airport, took them to their apartment. We've of course bought some groceries before hand.

LEMON: When you're talking about them, you're talking about ...

FRIEDMAN: Youssif's family.

LEMON: Yeah, the mom and dad and also the 1-year-old sister which we have a great picture of them in the airport. And he's playing with her. There it is. Just a gorgeous picture, and he's very much a normal little boy even with all of these injuries. Talk to us about that family. It's not just about treatment. You have to get them set up, they're going to be here for a while.

FRIEDMAN: They are, and just as important as the physical treatment is, experiencing a trauma like a burn injury impacts both Youssif and his parents. It really affects the whole family, and so we really hope to provide whatever they're willing to receive in terms of counseling, information about what the future may hold. Trauma from a burn injury has been described to me as holding a big beach ball underwater. Well you know when you're holding a big beach ball underwater, you can't do much else. So we want to provide counseling, information, and anything else they need to begin their journey of their emotional recovery as well.

LEMON: Also, you know, we see his injuries, the injuries to his face, and I imagine there are other injuries to the rest of his body. I took a look at your Web site and also some pictures of other -- this is what he looked like before, just a real cutie. I still think he's cute now. I still think he's adorable, but of course we can improve his burns or you guys can improve his burns.

I looked at your Web site, saw some befores and afters of children who had been burned pretty severely. How much can Youssif be helped? Can be expected to be helped? How much can his face be placed back to normal before he had these burns, Barbara?

FRIEDMAN: Well, his physical recovery will certainly begin as soon as he has surgery. It's really impossible to tell at this point. Dr. Grossman once told me when I asked him about the miraculous changes in children, you know, what does it do to certainly state of the art surgery care, which he will be getting?

But there's really four things. It's the skill of the surgeon, and he has the tops in Peter Grossman. It is his own genes in terms of how his skin heals. There's some luck to it as well as well as the nature of the injury. And so time will really tell how well he will heal, how quickly he will heal.

LEMON: Right.

FRIEDMAN: Sometimes it's two steps forward and one step back.

LEMON: Right, as it is in all type therapy. Listen, I could talk all day about Youssif, but unfortunately, we're running out of time. Is there anything you want to say to the people who helped out to help get him here.

FRIEDMAN: That it is because of the incredible generosity of over 12,000 people that we will be able to help Youssif. One of the first things his parents wanted was for any money that's left over from Youssif's treatment for other people -- other children in similar situations to have the availability of state of the art care as well. So I wanted all those who want to contribute to know that 100 percent of their donations will go to the treatment and care of Youssif and other children like him and our Web site is www.childburn.org.

LEMON: Barbara Friedman with a smile on her face, the executive director of the Children's Burn Foundation. We thank you so much and we wish you the best and of course Youssif the best as well.

FRIEDMAN: Thank you so much.

LEMON: All right.

Since CNN first brought you the story of Youssif, thousands of you have offered to help. You still can, with CNN's Impact Your World initiative, just log on to our Web site, cnn.com/impact, and you, too, can make a difference.

PHILLIPS: Discovering the secrets of the Sierra Madre as the search for Steve Fossett continues. There's still no sign of the missing adventurer, but there are clues to other disappearances. We'll have the details straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

A.J. HAMMER: I'm A.J. Hammer in New York. The next host of the Academy Awards has been announced. We're going to tell you who it is coming up next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Hosting the Oscars is one of the highest profile jobs in television. Today, we learned who gets the chance to appear in front of a global audience. Showbiz Tonight's A.J. Hammer will be the guy -- wait a minute. He didn't get the job, but he knows who did.

HAMMER: No, I don't want the job, Kyra, to be quite honest with you.

PHILLIPS: You would be great. Are you kidding me?

HAMMER: I'm very happy with the Academy's choice, shall I tell you.

PHILLIPS: Tell me.

HAMMER: Jon Stewart is coming back to host the 2008 Oscars. Now, if you remember this is his second shot at hosting the awards show. After his first stint back in 2006, that received mixed reviews from critics. Some of those critics say that Stewart who hosts Comedy Central's show doesn't have a high enough profile to attract new viewers and they point to the ratings. 38.9 million people watched the show the year that Stewart hosted. If you compare that to what happened back in 2005 when 42 million people saw Chris Rock hosting and this year when 39.9 million watched host Ellen DeGeneres.

But Gill Kates, who producers the Oscars, said very rightly he chose Stewart because he's smart, he's quick, and he's funny. As for Stewart's reaction, I love the statement he released, he said he's quote, "thrilled to host the Academy Awards for the second time because, as they say, the third time is the charm." The 80th annual Academy Awards airing on February 24th, so already, Kyra, the ramp up to award season has begun.

PHILLIPS: You know Jon Stewart, he's always making fun of us too. He's always taking bits and pieces of CNN.

HAMMER: Yeah, and our show as well, and actually he usually does a good thing with it.

PHILLIPS: Yeah, he actually does a good job at making fun of us, but that's another story. All right, we're talking Oscars, but the Emmy awards are this weekend, right?

HAMMER: That's right. The prime time Emmy Awards taking place on Sunday night. The smaller creative arts Emmy awards were pretaped last weekend. You may have heard about this, Kathy Griffin stirred up quite a bit of trouble after she won an Emmy for her share, "My Life on the D List."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATHY GRIFFIN, EMMY WINNER: Do you believe this (INAUDIBLE)? I guess hell froze over. (END OF VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: Now some Catholics think that she's headed to hell after her speech. Not because she was in any way profane, it was when she decided to mention Jesus in her speech saying that he had nothing to do with the award and that if Jesus had his way, she never would have won. She also told Jesus to perform an act that, well, I can't repeat here on daytime television.

Now the audience in the show laughed. I should point that out. However, and quite expectedly, the Catholic League called the speech blasphemous. The awards show is going to be broadcast this weekend by E, the speech isn't going to make the air, it's going to be an edited version as E is cutting down the four hour award's show into a two hour broadcast. A lot of Griffin's speech is going to be winding up on the cutting room floor. We're going to be exploring this with the head of the Catholic League tonight on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT."

PHILLIPS: Now, Led Zeppelin getting back together. You know A.J., my first slow dance "Stairway to Heaven." Everybody's laughing. I'm old.

HAMMER: My first long kiss, I mean we're talking a 7 1/2 minute kiss. Under a table at a -- never mind. Led Zeppelin.

PHILLIPS: At least I was dancing at church, OK. And you're right, that's the best part, it went seven minutes.

HAMMER: You just took me back. Forgetting we're on live TV.

PHILLIPS: I want to talk about that.

HAMMER: Let me tell you what's happening with Led Zeppelin.

PHILLIPS: OK, I'm sorry.

HAMMER: We'll talk later. A London charity concert is going to be reuniting the three remaining members of the band -- see I'm all flush now. Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones, getting back together. Original drummer John Bonham is going to be replaced by his son Jason. Zeppelin broke up back in 1980 after the elder Bonham's death, but they have reunited a handful of times over the years.

The last time they played together was 12 years ago. Great performance when they were inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame. This concert is taking place in November. Kyra, and any Led Zeppelin fan, even the smallest most remote Led Zeppelin fan, if you can go, you probably should go. When "Stairway to Heaven" comes on, do what you feel.

PHILLIPS: How about a kiss?

HAMMER: All right then.

Let me tell you what's coming up tonight on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," shall I? The Britney blame game. That's what we'll be playing. The question we're asking, was Britney Spears' disastrous performance at MTV's Video Music Awards, really her fault and should we actually feel sorry for Britney? The controversial questions tonight on TV's most provocative entertainment news show. It's like our own little "Stairway to Heaven." "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," at 11:00 p.m. eastern and pacific on "Headline Prime" tonight.

PHILLIPS: A.J., you and I will be pulling out the album this evening.

HAMMER: My God, that's right I do have the vinyl. I have to go dig that out.

PHILLIPS: Who is laughing? Is that your producer?

LEMON: No, that's me. I just want to know was there a blue light in the basement? A.J., was there a blue light when you were doing all this kissing and smooching.

HAMMER: I'm not saying a word now.

PHILLIPS: He was at the skating rink, Don.

LEMON: Oh, at a waistline party, you remember that?

PHILLILPS: We're just getting ourselves in deeper. A.J., great talking to you.

HAMMER: Yeah, nice talking to you guys.

LEMON: Got a whole lot of love for both of you.

Texas meet Humberto, it's the latest on the newly named tropical storm list. Live from the hurricane headquarters and our very own Chad Myers. The news keeps coming, we'll keep bringing it to you. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: It's not exactly child's play, ensuring the safety of millions of imported toys. But the head of Mattel promises Congress he'll get the lead out.

LEMON: And a small child targeted for ghastly cruelty in Iraq finds compassion and hope in America. Yousiff's story takes a big step forward right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Hello everyone, I'm Don Lemon live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

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

LEMON: It's 3:00 here in the east. How many troops is enough? How soon is soon enough? Does a surge reversal count as a new direction? Iraq war critics and congress aren't waiting for the president's address tomorrow night to shoot down his expected troop reduction plan as too little too late.

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