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American Morning

School Rampage: New Details on Teen Gunman; Cold Medicine Recall

Aired October 11, 2007 - 08:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Warning signs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You get pushed and pushed and pushed, and sometimes you go over the edge.

CHETRY: Insight into the teen behind a school shooting. We talk with a victim who made it out alive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Oh my god. My god. I got shot."

CHETRY: Unprecedented. An extraordinary new recall of children's cold medicine. What you need to know.

Plus, by the book. One man's vow to literally live by the teachings of the bible.

The robe, the bear, and the Ten Commandments on this AMERICAN MORNING.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: I'm sure people looked twice when they saw him jogging down the side of the road.

Welcome once again. It is Thursday, October, 11th. Thanks for being with us.

I'm Kiran Chetry.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm John Roberts.

Good morning to you.

Cleveland's public schools are closed today, a day after a shooting rocked the SuccessTech Academy High School. Police say 14- year-old Asa Coon, who was suspended earlier this week for fighting, returned with two guns, firing eight shots. Two students and two teachers were wounded.

The gunman then turned the gun on himself and pulled the trigger. He is dead.

Police released some of the calls to 911, including one from a student's mother. (BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

OPERATOR: 911, what is your emergency, please?

BEATRICE BROWN, STUDENT'S MOTHER: Yes. There is a shooting at SuccessTech Academy, and my son is trapped in one of the back rooms.

OPERATOR: OK, ma'am. We have cares on the way over there, OK? Your son is trapped in a room you said?

BROWN: Yes. Yes in a classroom.

OPERATOR: OK, I'm sorry -- calm down, OK? Where is he calling you from?

BROWN: He's calling from his classroom from a cell phone that only 15 minutes on it.

OPERATOR: OK. Ma'am, does anybody know who's doing the shooting there?

BROWN: No. He's in the back, but they just shot somebody in his room. And he doesn't want me to come up there because he doesn't know where the shooter actually is.

OPERATOR: OK. Do you have any idea what room he's in?

BROWN: No. I forgot to ask him.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

ROBERTS: And imagine what she was going through.

Police say the 14-year-old gunman had a juvenile record, including an arrest for domestic violence last year. And according to juvenile court records obtained by the Cleveland "Plain Dealer," Coon was suspended from school last year for trying to injure a student. Yesterday's shooting is just the latest in a weeklong series of gun incidents involving students at Cleveland schools.

Earlier, we spoke on the phone with Jean Dubail of "The Plain Dealer" about the lack of metal detectors in the school district.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEAN DUBAIL, "PLAIN DEALER": The parents group had repeatedly asked the district to install a metal detector and been turned down. The problem here is that, several years ago in Cleveland, they passed a huge bond issue for school construction and they were going to divert a large part of money -- a large part of it for what they call a warm, safe and drive program. And certainly the "safe" part seems to have been neglected to some part.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Last year, Cleveland schools had more than 300 incidents involving possession of dangerous weapons.

This morning, we're also hearing from neighbors of the young gunman. They were clearly stunned, but they didn't seem overly surprised that the 14-year-old had snapped.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was a good person. He never -- I don't know why he did what he did. Couldn't tell you. Pushed too far, that's all I could think of. You get pushed and pushed and pushed, and sometimes you go over the edge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joe (ph), why did he do this?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. I ain't justifying nothing. I ain't saying he did the right thing, but I'm saying he got pushed for a long time and asked people, help, help, help, and nobody helped.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who did he ask help for?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. I ain't saying that. I'm just saying I know him hs a person.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What about the guns, Joe (ph)? Do you know where he got the guns?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, that's what I just said to him. I would like to know where the hell those guns come from, because that boy should have never had access to any.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: That is one of the questions just about everyone is asking this morning, where did 14-year-old Asa Coon get the guns that he carried into school? This morning, a lot of people are taking a close look at one of his family members.

Reporter Matt Stevens of our affiliate WOIO talked with Anderson Cooper about that aspect of the story last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT STEVENS, REPORTER, WOIO: He also has a brother, an 18-year- old brother who has been in and out of jail, and neighbors tell us that he has been known to carry guns. In fact, two nights ago, there was an incident where two teenage girls who had been having a feud with the boy's older sister, a 15-year-old sister for some two years now, saw her on her porch. She yelled something at them.

This is a couple of nights ago. The older brother came out and actually fired a shot at them.

They called the police. The police came to that scene and arrested the older brother, but we've been told that no search warrant was obtained to go into the house to try to get the guns. And so there is going to be some questions that have to be answered by the Cleveland Police Department this week as to why they didn't pursue a search warrant to try to get into that house. And maybe, maybe if they had, the questions will be asked, you know, this kid wouldn't have had anything to go to school with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: So what was it like inside the school at the time of the shooting? Coming up in just a few minutes here on AMERICAN MORNING, we're going to talk with one of the teenagers that was shot in yesterday's rampage. The young man and his mother join us live -- Kiran.

CHETRY: All right.

Well, more than 32,000 Chrysler workers will be back on the job this morning. There's a look at the picket lines yesterday.

The automaker reached a tentative new contract with the United Auto Workers Union. That came after a strike lasting about six hours yesterday. It's a four-year deal that's said to include job security guarantees for union workers, a company-funding, union-run trust for retiree health care.

Now, that Chrysler deal comes on the same day that the union's rank and file ratified their new contract with General Motors. The GM deal followed a two-day nationwide strike last month. The agreement similar to the Chrysler deal will protect jobs and wages and health benefits for active and retired UAW workers.

SUVs may not be any safer than cars in a crash. In fact, in some cases, they may fare worse.

The institute -- the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says that SUVs without side airbags got only a marginal rating on the side crash testing. Now, for instance, the Nissan Pathfinder and Xterra come both with or without side airbags.

Now, without them, those models rated marginal. With the airbag they got good ratings. A greater percentage of cars do have side airbags compared to SUVs.

Now, if you want to see how your own SUV model did, you can head to CNN.com/am. We have a link there to the Insurance Institute site -- John.

(NEWSBREAK)

ROBERTS: Well, time now to check in with our AMERICAN MORNING team of correspondents for other stories new this morning, and this one is an important one, so listen up here.

A voluntary recall announced in the last hour, just the last hour, for over-the-counter cough and cold medicine for babies.

CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, at the Medical Update Desk with this.

What's it all about, Sanjay?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've been following this for sometime, this association called Consumer Healthcare Products Association, and they're issuing this voluntary recall of 14 different cough and cold medicines, specifically for children under the age of 2.

There's a whole list of them. You can look at them on the Web site at otcsafety.org. But some of them are ones you're going to recognize -- Dimetapp, Triaminic, Tylenol.

Again, a voluntary recall on these products, basically saying they don't work, they're just not effective in children under the age of 2. They also cite the possible risk of overdosing, using different products sort of in combination.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, John, will take it a step further. They say these medications should just never be used. Even if a doctor uses it under the age of 2, don't use it -- John.

ROBERTS: So what are the problems with cough and cold medications for these young kids?

GUPTA: Well, they can cause some side-effects. I mean, I think that the real issue is that they just don't seem to work.

They've been studied. They don't seem to ward off colds. They don't seem to suppress coughs. But there are potential side-effects of these medications.

As we've heard about in the past, you think about things like sedation. It will make your kids pretty sedated. Some kids may become irritable, sort of have a paradoxical effect to it.

Sometimes allergies. Sometimes heart rhythm abnormalities as well.

These are some of the problems associated with these medications. But again, just really at the heart of it is that after studying this for sometime, if the child is under the age of 2, there's no benefit.

ROBERTS: So a child may have a runny nose, a little bit of a cough. The parents might call up the pediatrician. The pediatrician might say give the child a little bit of cough medicine, certainly not enough for an adult, just a little bit. That's bad advice now?

GUPTA: Bad advice. And you know -- and to be frank, that has probably always been bad advice. Children are not simply little adults. They shouldn't be using adult medication in smaller dozes with any kind of medication probably.

But there are other things you can possibly do, because, you know, I have young children. It can be awful to sit there and watch them suffer. Using things like a hydrator or vaporizer of some sort. Salt water nose drops can take care of a lot of the symptoms. Actually using a rubber nose bulb for irrigation. It's a little bit gross, but it actually does the trick. Chicken soup can work as well -- John.

ROBERTS: With matzo balls. You've got to have matzo balls.

GUPTA: Put that on the list.

ROBERTS: But I'll tell you, nothing quite as miserable as seeing a baby with a big stuffy nose and teary eyes.

GUPTA: I know.

ROBERTS: All right.

Sanjay, thanks very much.

GUPTA: Thank you.

ROBERTS: By the way, Sanjay's going to be back at the bottom of the hour to answer your questions in his weekly mailbag, so make sure that you stay around for that.

(WEATHER REPORT)

CHETRY: Well, it's the inside story about the war, the media and the White House. Our Howie Kurtz joins us with what the real story about what's going on behind the scenes.

Also, a troubled teen suddenly opens fire on a teachers and classmates at a Cleveland high school. We're going to hear from two students who saw it all unfold. One of them a shooting victim.

That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Well, we're hearing about the troubled past of the 14- year-old gunman who opened fire at his high school in Cleveland, and there are also questions for the school, like, how did the young man get in carrying two revolvers? Also said to have a duffel bag that contained knives.

Two teachers and two students were shot. They survived before the gunman killed himself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF MICHAEL MCGRATH, CLEVELAND POLICE DEPT.: We don't have any specific motive at this time. We do know that the shooter had some disciplinary problems at the school and also had some problems, disagreements with other students at the school.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CHETRY: Darnell Rodgers is one of the students who was shot, and he joins us now with his sister, Tayana, as well as their mother, Tammy Mundy.

Good morning to all of you. Thanks for being with us.

TAMMY MUNDY, MOTHER OF STUDENTS: Good morning.

TAYANA RODGERS, DARNELL'S SISTER: Good morning.

DARNELL RODGERS, SHOT IN THE ARM: Good morning.

CHETRY: Let's start with you, Darnell. Tell us what happened inside the school yesterday. You were -- when you were shot. As I understand it, you were grazed with a bullet on your elbow?

D. RODGERS: Correct.

CHETRY: How did the scene unfold?

D. RODGERS: Like, I was walking up the stairs from the third floor, and like a whole bunch of students were running from the fourth floor. And they were saying, "Oh my gosh!" and they were screaming and crying.

And I thought it was just a fight, so I didn't worry about it too much. So I just went to my locker, and when I went to my locker, I heard a gunshot. So I was running towards the classroom.

When I ran towards the classroom, I had -- I got grazed with a bullet. And I didn't realize it yet, so I was still like in shock and I was worried about my little sister and my little cousin.

CHETRY: Wow. Yes, you did end up being OK, thank goodness. I know that they checked you out at the hospital.

But you say you were worried about your little sister.

Tayana, you also were there at the school at the time. You managed to hide. How close were you to all of the violence that was taking place, that shooting?

T. RODGERS: I guess it happened upstairs, so I wasn't that close. We were hiding in a storage room in a classroom. But then when I heard my brother got shot, I ran out of there to go find him.

CHETRY: What was going through your mind when you heard that your brother was hit?

T. RODGERS: A lot of stuff, because I lost a brother before. And like, when you hear somebody got shot, I mean, you're going to go see what happened.

CHETRY: Tell us what you mean. You lost a brother before?

T. RODGERS: I lost a brother before. My brother has been shot before. And he's dead. So I didn't want to lose another one. So when somebody -- when you hear your brother got shot, it immediately just clicked off in my head, and I started running.

And I was going to run up there to go find him, but my principal came and she got me.

CHETRY: Wow. Unbelievable, Tayana.

Tammy, let me ask you about this situation. You know, your daughter was able to give a 911 call. She called while the shooting was happening.

What was your reaction? What did you do at that point?

MUNDY: Well, when she called me, she told me that she was hiding in a closet, her and Shinavia (ph). And she was like, "Somebody's shooting," but she thought they were just playing.

So I said, "OK, I'm on my way." Then I called my son, and he took a long time to answer the phone, but he finally answered and he said, "Mom, I've been shot." And I immediately left my job to go see -- and my heart just stopped.

CHETRY: And you've lost...

MUNDY: I couldn't get to him -- I couldn't get to him fast enough.

CHETRY: You lost another child to gun violence before this?

MUNDY: She had a brother with her father.

CHETRY: Oh, OK.

MUNDY: He was a half-brother.

CHETRY: OK.

And Tammy, do you feel secure in sending your children back to the Cleveland school district and back to this school in light of what happened yesterday?

MUNDY: Yes, because this could happen anywhere. It could happen when you go on outside your door. It can happen anywhere.

CHETRY: You know, there seems to be some dispute this morning as to whether or not there were metal detectors at this school, A, and whether or not they were in use. Do you know anything about that? And if not, do you think that should be something that happens, that these metal detectors are there at all of the school districts?

MUNDY: Excuse me? Could you repeat that again?

CHETRY: Well, first of all, were there metal detectors at the school that your kids go to?

MUNDY: I think they had one, but I'm not for sure of.

CHETRY: Darnell, are there metal detectors at your school?

D. RODGERS: No, there isn't.

CHETRY: Would you feel better if there were? Do they need to start putting metal detectors in all of the -- in all of the schools in this district?

D. RODGERS: I mean, either way, sometimes some people still find ways to like fake out metal detectors. It would be better and it would make you more secure, but people could still find ways to fake out, because the way technology is today, or whatever, some people find ways to do what they want to do.

CHETRY: Right.

Well, I'm glad you're OK. You were shot in the arm by this gunman, by your fellow classmate, Asa Coon. Glad you're doing OK this morning.

And thanks to all of you for being with us.

MUNDY: Thank you.

D. RODGERS: Thank you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Twenty-six minutes after the hour now.

Ali Velshi here minding your business.

And we hear from the big three automakers that before they even turn a bolt on a car, the price is going to be about $1,700 more than a Japanese car.

ALI VELSHI, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

ROBERTS: What does this Chrysler settlement do to try to alleviate that?

VELSHI: This is the big problem. And it depends on who you ask. But it's anywhere from $1,500 to as much as $2,400 on a car.

Now, what people don't understand is that the profit margin on a car is not nearly as much as you think. And particularly with the U.S. carmakers. It's in single digits. That's the profit they make on this thing at the carmakers. And the dealer might make money, but the carmaker doesn't.

Their costs are so much higher than their competitors. Take a look at the hourly labor costs.

Now, this is not the wage. Car workers all earn the same kind of money, about $25 an hour. But when you add those costs to the retired workers, you have costs at Chrysler that are above $75 an hour. At General Motors, about $73. At Ford, about $70.

Now you look at Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Hyundai, which don't have a whole lot of retired workers to pay health costs for, under $50 an hour. That's the spread.

You look at all the workers that we're talking about, over 200,000 workers at a spread of $25 an hour, that's a lot of money that could be going into nicer seats, better cars, better engines. And that's the argument.

The problem is, the other way to look at this is that the auto workers didn't get themselves into this mess. They didn't design the cars that people didn't want to buy. So, everybody's got a stand in this thing. But for now, we've got the auto workers at Chrysler going back to work. Ford is up next.

ROBERTS: All right.

Ali, thanks.

A story coming up in our next half hour that you just can't miss, a man who decided to live by the book, the bible, for an entire year. How did it work out for him?

CHETRY: He literally did it. I mean, he following it word for word. And what were some of his experiences?

Well, our own Lola Ogunnaike sat down with him, and she's going to tell us all about it coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Thanks very much for joining us on this Thursday, the 11th of October. I'm John Roberts.

CHETRY: And I'm Kiran Chetry.

You know, there are some big questions this morning about the shooting rampage by a troubled teen at a Cleveland high school. Why did he do it and could he have been stopped? Were warning signs ignored? Cleveland's public schools are closed today. Police say that the shooter was 14-year-old Asa Coon and they this say he appeared to be targeting his teachers after he was suspended earlier in the week for getting into a fight. Two teachers and two students were wounded and the gunman then killed himself. Police released some of the 911 calls

(BEGIN AUDIOTAPE)

911: OK. Where's the student at?

STUDENT: He's in a building.

911: OK. Do you know where at in the building?

STUDENT: No, I ran out the school. 911: Was he threatening somebody with it?

STUDENT: He shot it.

911: He shot the gun?

STUDENT: Yes.

911: How many shots did he fire?

STUDENT: How many shots did he fire? Two or three?

(END AUDIOTAPE)

CHETRY: Well, police say that the gunman had a juvenile record, including an arrest for domestic violence earlier in the year. And according to a juvenile court record obtained by the Cleveland newspaper, by one Cleveland newspaper, he was suspended from school last year for trying to injure a student. Records also show he threatened to commit suicide last year while in a mental health center. One student said Coon had made threats right in front of students and teachers as late as last week but that no one took him seriously. The school is said to be equipped with metal detectors. There are differing stories about that. Students do say, though, they are rarely used.

High school students are back in class in Crandon, Wisconsin, after a shooting rampage at a party over the weekend. All of the victims and the off-duty sheriff's deputy who shot them went to or graduated from Crandon High School including 17-year-old Leanna Thomas who died in the shooting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW HIGGINS, CRANDON SOPHOMORE: She was a really nice girl, really happy, always smiling and making everybody happy. Not to see her around anymore, we're sitting around trying to help each other cope with this. They're not really throwing anything at us right away because they know how hurt we are.

DR. RICHARD PETERS, SUPERINTENDENT: Don't expect to be teaching geometry or English literature or whatever. Allow the students to have time to talk and process and begin to work out a new reality for them for school.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: 20-year-old Tyler Peterson killed six people at a house party early Sunday morning. Several hours later, he turned the gun on himself.

There's a new report this morning that the marines want to take over the war in Afghanistan and leave Iraq to the army. CNN's Barbara Starr is live at the Pentagon. You know, we were talking about this proposal and then saying in practical terms, is it possible that the marines could leave Iraq? And take over solely in Afghanistan and leave Iraq to the army?

BARBARA STARR, CNN, PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Kiran, that is the question on the table and, so far, it doesn't seem to be very practical in the middle of two wars, that the famous army marine corps rivalry coming to the fore. The commandant of the Marine Corps, General James Conway now has in fact made a proposal to get his marines out of a very unpopular war in Iraq. They would take over the war in Afghanistan for the U.S. military. Leaving the army to the war in Iraq. The army, however, already stretched thin, very reluctant to take on any new obligations. The marines won't confirm any of this publicly, but defense officials are confirming the proposal is on the table. Earlier today in London, Defense Secretary Robert Gates appeared to put a knife in at all.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: I have seen no plan; no one has come to me with any proposals about it. My understanding is that it's, at this point, extremely preliminary thinking on the part of perhaps some staff people in the marine corps, but I don't think at this point, it has any stature.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: Not a staff proposal, Kiran. This is a proposal that came right from the commandant of the Marine Corps and it looks like the secretary of defense is not about to support it. Kiran.

CHETRY: All right. Barbara Starr for us at the Pentagon thanks you.

ROBERTS: Coming up now to 24 minutes to the top of the hour. A fascinating look this morning behind the scenes of the news that you watch with a sharp focus on how network newscasts turn Americans against the Iraq war.

It all comes from Howard Kurtz's new book "Reality Show: Inside the last great television news war." He is host of CNN's "Reliable Sources" and the media reporter for "The Washington Post" and he joins us this morning. Good to see you. Congratulations on another yet good book.

HOWARD KURTZ, AUTHOR, "REALITY SHOW": Thank you.

ROBERTS: So, when you talk about network newscasts turning Americans against the Iraq war. Many people remember back to the 1960s when Walter Cronkite went over to Vietnam, came back and said this is a loser. President Johnson said I've lost Walter Cronkite, I've lost middle America. Was there a Cronkite moment that turns people against the war or was it accumulation of a lot of different things?

KURTZ: NBC tried to have a Cronkite moment last November by using the term civil war to describe the Iraq conflict. They somewhat hyped it up and I don't think it was as important a moment because by that point, most Americans had turned against this war. What happened was it was the accumulation in 2005 and 2006 while the administration said things were going well in Iraq, night after night, we saw this on cable, but the network news guys have the biggest megaphone. We saw the carnage in Iraq and we saw the anchors framing the story in a way that made clear that things were not going well as even the White House now acknowledges.

ROBERTS: Brian Williams was a little bit reluctant to go forward with that declaration of civil war. Here is what he said, which is quoted in your book, "Williams felt that the news division should not have treated the semantics shift as a major policy announcement. Williams believed that they could invite, that they invited the criticism that followed. However, nobody seems to even begin to argue that point now.

KURTZ: Right. But it was the way that NBC did it as if is it was taking some great bold policy step and then comes back to the business about the Cronkite moment. But yes, I think on the substance of it, it was really almost beyond debate. What was interesting to me, John, is the way the anchors framed this story so Brian Williams, for example, one night talked about how coffin makers in Baghdad couldn't keep up with demand. Charlie Gibson on ABC had a statistics 6,600 Iraqis killed over two month. He said in American terms that would be 75,000 deaths. So, they looked for ways to bring home the impact of the war.

ROBERTS: And of course, we all remember the pressure that was coming down from the administration to try to tell the good things that were happening in Iraq as well. Some correspondents were reluctant to do that while the bad news was going on all around them. You quote Lara Logan, a former colleague of mine at CBS, tremendous war correspondent. She refused a story on how female soldiers kept themselves amused by tending to cyberpets online. You quote her as saying "I would rather stick needles in my eyes than spend one second of my time on that story." But did the networks and media in general unfairly cover this war by focusing on the negative things?

KURTZ: I don't think so. Certainly every news division wrestled with the question of the bombings, the carnage, the IEDs. It was so easy to do that because it was a great visual. Television loves pictures so there was understandably a soft of a push for balance about, well, what are more schools opening, are more hospitals opening in Baghdad?

But a frivolous story like that, that was an e-mail that Lara Logan sent to her boss as saying "We ought to be out with the soldiers telling both the good, the bad, the ugly and not wasting our time. But you know, in terms of the administration pressure, President Bush himself, in a series of secret off the record meetings at the White House with the network anchors made his own case and he was a lot harsher toward Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki in private than he is in public saying well, Maliki has to worry about losing his number one benefactor, George W. Bush, and the anchors could not quote him directly but they could do go on the air and say well the president believes or aides knew that the president is thinking and says and things of that nature. ROBERTS: Yes, I remember being there a year ago. While there were some good things happening, there was so much bad happening all around you, it tended to obscure the good things. Howard, congratulations on another great book. I know you're on "The Jon Stewart Show," "The Daily Show" tonight and I hope he goes easier on you than he did Chris Matthews.

KURTZ: I'm hoping that as well.

ROBERTS: All right. Howie, thanks very much. Kiran.

CHETRY: Well, we've all heard the phrase holier than thou but how hard is it to live exactly the way the bible says you should? Coming up, we're going to meet a man who tried it in the literal sense for a year.

Plus, Dr. Sanjay Gupta answers your questions. Things you sent in to his mailbag that you wanted to know about. We're going to talk more about it. He's going to answer them for you ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome. And it is time now to answer the medical questions of the week that Sanjay gets in his mailbag. He is opening it up today.

ROBERTS: He is at the CNN center down there in Atlanta. Our first question Sanjay today about mitral value prolapse, the heart condition that may have killed a Chicago marathon runner on Sunday in all that heat. Martha writes, are you saying that people with mitral valve prolapse should not run marathons? What do you say?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: We got a lot of questions about this. And the answers we're not saying that. There are a lot of people with mitral value prolapse that actually can live perfectly normal, productive lives. And sometimes as you get older, the problem of the mitral valve prolapse can actually sort of correct on its own.

For those of you who don't remember, basically, we're talking about a valve in the heart that allows blood to sort of pump through and it's supposed to be a one-way valve but when you have prolapse sometimes it allows some of that blood to sort of regurgitate back. What happens sometimes if you're really straining your heart in a marathon or something like that that problem can sort of get amplified which is what may have happened to this 35-year-old gentleman who was a police officer from Michigan running in the marathon. We know it was very hot that day and the conditions were pretty stressful on his heart and his body.

CHETRY: So, all right, in the end you think it might have been a combo of the heat and the condition?

GUPTA: Yes. You know, there was an actual autopsy performed. They said this was a natural death meaning related to the mitral valve prolapse but I think there was no question that an intense activity like that and maybe amplified by those conditions, may have just worsened it or exacerbated it.

CHETRY: Let's take in another question. This is Judy in New Jersey. She writes, I would like to know if ringing in the ears is common. I'm in my late 40s and I just started having ringing and buzzing in my ears, but I never had this before. Could you tell me if this is a medical condition?

GUPTA: Well, Judy, there's actually a term for this. It's called tinnitus. It means ringing in your ears, sometimes people describe it as a buzzing or even a sound like of a fan going off in your ears. Most of the time, the good news here is, most of the time, it's nothing to worry about. It's something that sort of comes and goes on its own and it's not indicative of some serious problem underlying that. Sometimes you just got to clean out your ears. Frankly, wax can actually amplify some of that ringing. Caffeine and alcohol can increase the blood flow to your inner ear as well, sometimes making the problem sometimes worse. If it continues, Judy, all the time or it gets worse, that's something you may want to see your doctor about.

ROBERTS: Final question today comes in from Melanie from Clemson, South Carolina. She's weighing the pros and cons of back surgery, something you really wanted to take a close look at before you do.

She says, I've been diagnosed with a herniated disc. I have tried physical therapy, and I've had two epidural injections in the course of the year but the pain still persists. Is there a guarantee that after surgery, the pain is going to go away?

GUPTA: Well, Melanie, in full disclosure this is what I do for a living. As you may know, I'm a neurosurgeon so I talk about this all the time and I could talk for an hour about it right now. But basically a couple of things to consider, most of the times herniated discs do get better on their own. There has been a lot of data showing that and there's no guarantees than an operation is going to make you better but if in fact, the pain is primarily in your leg and your foot is getting weak or your legs getting weak or numb, you may want to think about surgery if the epidural and the physical therapy aren't working. About 90 percent of the time, it does get better on its own.

ROBERTS: How about that?

CHETRY: All right, Sanjay, good answers and some great questions. Thanks to our viewers for writing in as well. Join Sanjay, by the way, for his own show this weekend, "House Call." He's going to talk about how worried we should be about medicines made in China and also the link between stress and heart disease and some ways to help you cope. "House Call" Saturday and Sunday 8:30 a.m. Eastern. Sanjay, good to see you.

ROBERTS: Thanks. See you later. We've heard about living by the good book but how hard is it to live exactly the way the bible says you should? Coming up, meet a man who tried it for a year.

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CHETRY: Well, you've probably heard about walking the bible but how about living the bible? Literally every day? Author A.J. Jacobs transformed his life to live by the good book changing nearly everything about himself, from his beard to his clothes, to how he belt dealt with his wife. He talked with our Lola Ogunnaike about his new book, "The Year of Living Biblically."

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LOLA OGUNNAIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So we're at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, walking through their biblical garden. You know, a thing or two about bibles and gardens and such. You spent a year living by the rules of the bible literally. Now what would possess you to do something like that?

A.J. JACOBS, AUTHOR, "YEAR OF LIVING BIBLICALLY:" Well, i grew up in a very secular home, practically no religion at all. I'm Jewish in the same way the Olive garden is Italian, so not very. But I became increasingly interested in religion and I wanted to know what I was missing, if anything. So I decided to dive in head-first. I got called everything from Abraham Lincoln to Moses to Ted Kaczynski. It was like an extreme religious makeover. I had, you know, by the end I was wearing robes and sandals and hauling a staff.

OGUNNAIKE: You got a hood, too. Right?

JACOBS: Right. Then you really look like Obi-Wan Kenobi.

OGUNNAIKE: Wearing the robe was probably the easiest part. Obeying the Ten Commandments was a different story. Which was the hardest to give up? Because I hear the no lying, no gossiping. I mean, how do you not do it in New York City?

JACOBS: Well, that was the problem. Gossiping and lying and, you know, I work in the media in New York so that's pretty much all we do.

OGUNNAIKE: But despite the jokes, Jacobs had to abide by some rules during his year-long spiritual quest and it was just as tough for his wife. I know there is something in the bible about a man not being able to touch a woman when it's her time of the month.

JACOBS, WIFE OF A.J. JACOBS: He is affectionate and he would go to touch me and all of a sudden, he'd remember what he was doing and he pull away like I was a leper. And I mean, that really works on your psyche. That's why I had to get pregnant? You know, so I didn't have to deal with that issue.

OGUNNAIKE: And you actually ended up being fruitful and multiplying? JACOBS: Took that very seriously.

I did make some progress by the end. I'm not Gandhi and not Angelina Jolie but I cut down my coveting by 30 percent, maybe 40 percent so hopefully that stays with me. I think that we have to appreciate the metaphors and beauty and poetry and wisdom in the bible, but not every word should be taken literally.

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CHETRY: Wow! That is really fascinating what he did. There's a lot more of Lola's interview with A.J. on our website which is cnn.com/am. So, after this experience, how did he say it changed his life?

OGUNNAIKE: Well, he was an agnostic before and now he says he's a reverend agnostic. You know, he follows the Sabbath now. He was a workaholic before. Now, he takes at least one day off which his wife loves. He also like I said in the piece, they were fruitful and multiply. He started the project with only one son and they had twins during the process. Very biblical, they thought about, you know, Jacob and Essau. They were thinking about that but they ended up naming them Lucas and Zane. Very cute boys. Also, he says he lies less, he covets less and he (INAUDIBLE) during the process as well.

CHETRY: He did take some of those commandments and found that he was a better person.

OGUNNAIKE: Yes. Exactly. He said the great thing about the bible, he says it's beautiful, it's poetic and there are great lessons in there. He doesn't think it's the best idea to live by all of them literally.

CHETRY: This isn't the first time he's done something like this, right?

OGUNNAIKE: No, it's not. I call him a stunt writer. His last stunt he read the encyclopedia from a to z and wrote a book called the know it all. That book was actually optioned for a film. This book has already been optioned. Brad Pitt's company has already optioned this book. So, this guy is doing well. I asked him what his next stunt is going to be. He said he is waiting on divine inspiration. His wife has some ideas. She says she wants him to take her out to dinner every night for a year and she thinks that should be the next book.

CHETRY: Right. You can write the new restaurant critics guy. Lola great stuff. Thanks a lot. John.

ROBERTS: Turning the water into wine thing is impressive, too.

A quick look now at what CNN NEWSROOM is working on for the top of the hours.

TONY HARRIS, CNN, ANCHOR: See these stories in the CNN NEWSROOM. Angry and troubled. That is how police describe the Cleveland high school shooter. What were the warning signs and why were they missed?

Insurgents attack the main U.S. military base in Baghdad.

New tests rate SUVs on side impact crashes. See the winners and losers.

Several over-the-counter cold and cough medicines for children voluntarily pulled off store shelves. NEWSROOM just minutes away, at the top of the hour on CNN.

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MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Would you believe this used to be this? Used to be this. At this plant near Atlanta, they're performing steel-belted alchemy. It's a solution to one of the most stubborn landfill eyesores of all. The idea is the brain child of Tony (inaudible), founder of company called LeHigh (ph) Technologies.

TONY CIRIONE, FOUNDER, LEHIGH TECHNOLOGY: We look at the rubber feed stock, which was once an old tire as the nation's newest raw material.

O'BRIEN: First, they shred the tires and then freeze the pieces with liquid nitrogen making them extremely brittle. Then this machine pulverizes the rubber to powder and it turns out the power is pretty useful. It's used to improve coat, paintings and sealants.

CIRIONE: The products that it goes into it take on the qualities of rubber. Elasticity, impact resistance. It imparts UV protection, ozone protection.

O'BRIEN: The powder is also used to make new tires. Taking this novel process full circle, so to speak.

Miles O'Brien, CNN, New York.

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ROBERTS: Let's take a look at the final tally of this morning's quick vote. We told you that Phoenix Airport is testing a new screening machine that shows a clear outline of each passenger all the way down to their skivies. We wanted to know would you mind a more revealing airport screening machine for the sake of security?

CHETRY: Well, here is what you said this morning. 55 percent of you said yes you would mind the more revealing machine and 45 percent saying no, it wouldn't bother you. I think also it's one of the things that people may need help deciding is does it make things move faster? Does it mean you have to wait in line less? If that is the case, go ahead and look at my underwear.

ROBERTS: Well, we'll find out because it's tested right now. Maybe we can go down there and do a story and look at how people are thinking about it. Thanks so much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING.

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