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Gore's Nobel Prize; Lead in Lipstick; Cleaning Product Dangers

Aired October 12, 2007 - 08:59   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Tony Harris.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.

Watch events come in to the NEWSROOM live on Friday, October 12th.

What's on the rundown today?

Vice president, Oscar winner. And now Al Gore is a Nobel laureate.

We've got reaction.

HARRIS: An arsenal of weapons. Police say a home-schooled boy planned a Columbine-style attacks.

He is in court today.

COLLINS: Ladies, how safe is your makeup? You may be glossing with leaded-lipstick.

Shades of gray, in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: And happening right now, a Pennsylvania teen in court this morning. Police say he was planning a Columbine-style attack at a nearby high school.

Authorities say they found a 9 millimeter rifle with a laser scope, airguns, and several hand grenades at the boy's home. Police tell CNN the boy's mother bought the rifle several weeks ago at a gun show. She and the boy's father could be charged. School officials say a tip from another teen led them to the plot.

We will talk with CNN's Allan Chernoff about this story shortly. He is in Norristown, Pennsylvania, following this morning's court appearance for the young man. And we will talk to him as soon as the hearing wraps.

COLLINS: A hot-button issue, a prestigious honor. Al Gore wins the Nobel Peace Prize for his global warming campaign. He shares the honor with the United Nations panel on climate change.

Here is the announcement made earlier this morning. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PROF. OLE DANBOLT MJOS, CHAIRMAN, NORWEGIAN NOBEL COMMITTEE: Al Gore has, for a long time, been one of the world's leading environmentalist politicians. He became aware at an early stage of the climatic challenges the world is facing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Gore seized the world's attention with his documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth". Some scientists dispute the film's central theme that manmade pollution is heating the Earth and inviting global catastrophe.

HARRIS: Al Gore issued a statement saying he is deeply honored to receive the Nobel Peace Prize and he's also honored to share it with the experts at the U.N. Gore went on to say, "We face a true planetary emergency. The climate crisis is not a political issue. It is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity. It is also our greatest opportunity to lift global consciousness to a higher level."

COLLINS: Global warming, the science and sizzle of a heated debate. CNN environment correspondent Miles O'Brien takes a look at it for us this morning.

Hi there, Miles, coming from New York today.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CHIEF ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.

Well, you're talking about global warming here. And we're talking about what the real science is.

You know, it's interesting. You just said a few moments ago that some scientists say that there is a dispute over the link between manmade emissions of fossil fuels, of global warming fuels, global warming gases, and the link to climate changes. But the fact is that there are very few scientists that are seeing them. And if you look at the small handful that are still saying this, in many cases they're funded by the fossil fuel industry.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which shared the prize with Al Gore came out with a report in March of this year. This is 2,500 of the world's leading scientists, several hundred reviewers who synthesized all the known science out there. And here is what they said.

Temperature rise predicted between 3.25 and 7 degree Fahrenheit, sea level rise between 7 inches and 2 feet, just about. And now 90 percent certainty that global warming is caused by human beings.

So there really isn't a scientific debate anymore on this, Heidi. This is about what to do about it. And that's where politics enters into this.

A lot of people have been asking me this morning, why the Nobel Peace Prize? Why not a science prize?

Well, science prizes are given, first of all, usually many years after the scientific discovery has been made and you can properly assess its scientific implications. Secondly, the plight of the polar bears is one thing. But also, as time goes on and the climate changes, and the water and sea level rises, the concern is that it could create a whole classification of environmental refugees.

I spoke to a leading climate scientist about this, Robert Corell, not too long ago. Listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT CORELL, CLIMATE SCIENTIST: We're likely to see hundreds of millions of what we'll call environmental refugees, people who no longer can live where they had lived for maybe thousands of years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: So that's where the issue of national security, world security and peace comes in. If millions of people are displaced, if there is a fight for ever-diminishing resources, suddenly you raise the specter of conflict. And that's why the peace prize was given in this case -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Miles, you say there's no more scientific controversy about this. Aren't there a couple of people at NASA who are talking -- and I know you know them very well -- talking about sort of this idea that the world has been around for a very, very long time, man has been around for this amount of time, and there is this change in climate that people are concerned about. There is a contingent, is there not, of people who say, well, maybe right now, we really don't have the best climate, maybe it is changing into something that we don't see right now that could possibly be better?

O'BRIEN: Well, the chances of this being better for the long run are nil, because as things -- the temperatures increases and as we lose things like the ice shelves in Greenland and Antarctica, which are predicted by scientists to happen, there are all kinds of potentially catastrophic consequences, because millions and millions of people live by the sea. But there's many other ripples that can occur -- the changes in disease trajectories, all kinds of implications that we can't even fully fathom.

But the real key to point out here is when people say, well, couldn't this just be part of some sort of natural cycle? Yes, there are have been ice ages in the past, there have been hot periods in the past.

What is different now is the speed of the change. This is happening in the blink of an eye in terms of the age of the Earth. Previous changes, previous cycles, natural cycles have happened ever so gradually, which have allowed those that are alive on the surface of the planet to adapt. This is happening so quickly, it challenges our ability to adapt.

COLLINS: OK. Miles O'Brien, thanks so much.

O'BRIEN: You're welcome.

HARRIS: Well, the Nobel Peace Prize caps an extraordinary year for Al Gore. "An Inconvenient Truth," the documentary featuring Gore, captured two Academy Awards earlier this year. Last month, Gore won an Emmy, the highest award in American television, for current TV, which he co-created.

COLLINS: Al Gore's film on global warming, like a pack of cigarettes, it's forced to carry a warning. We'll tell you what it is.

And it's your world. We're bringing you the story behind the statistics as well. Tune in for CNN's worldwide investigation called "Planet in Peril," with our Anderson Cooper, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and Jeff Corwin. It premieres Tuesday, October 23rd, 9:00 p.m. Eastern, and Wednesday, October 24th.

You can get a preview of Planet in Peril online. Just go to CNN.com/planetinperil.

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Just throw them out. Package food maker ConAgra now recalling all brands and varieties of its frozen pot pies. They include Banquet and a number of store brands. Health experts have linked some of the pies made at a Missouri plant to a salmonella outbreak.

ConAgra says trash the pies but keep the box. Return it for a refund.

HARRIS: OK, ladies. What's on your lips? An awfully personal question. What is it, 9:00 something in the morning here?

Come on, guys.

New concerns today about lead in lipstick. That's what we're talking about, top brands sold just about everywhere.

Pam Cross with our affiliate WCVB checks it out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAM CROSS, REPORTER, WCVB (voice over): Ask an average woman to open her cosmetic bag and you often find lipstick. Consumer experts warn some of it contains lead.

STACY MALKAN, CAMPAIGN FOR SAFE COSMETICS: The cosmetics companies that we trust and believe in are not looking out for our health. And some of the top major brands are not paying attention to this issue. CROSS: The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics found 61 percent of tested lipsticks had lead, 33 percent exceeded the lead limit allowed for candy. And advocates complain small amounts add up.

DR. SEAN PALFRY, BOSTON LEAD POISONING PREVENTION PROGRAM: When you think of how many times she applies it in a day, how many times she licks her lips, gets it into her body -- and it's the cumulative dose that we worry about.

CROSS: Lipstick ads are staples in fashion magazines, the big seller. Top companies like CoverGirl and L'Oreal had some of the highest lead levels.

L'Oreal responded, in part, saying, "All the brands of the L'Oreal Group are in full compliance with FDA regulations. L'Oreal confidently and proudly stands behind each and every product that we sell."

JOEL TICKNER, UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS: L'Oreal says that they are following the FDA regulations when, in essence, there are no regulations on the toxic chemicals in everyday products.

CROSS: The test involved a small sample of lipsticks purchased in Massachusetts and three other states, leaving consumers to ask...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So how do you decide what the ingredients are in a lipstick to find out if it has lead in it or not?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very disturbing. In fact, I use YSL a lot, and I know it has very high lead content.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, really?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I had read that. But I still use it.

CROSS (on camera): More than a third of the tested products were actually lead-free. And analysts say any company that wants to can create a lipstick that is both beautiful to look at and safe to use.

I'm Pam Cross, News Center 5.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Well, sure, they're tough on dirt, but household cleaners could also be hard on your asthma.

Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here now to talk more about this.

And we have all kinds of cleaning products to talk about in a minute, specifically what is the story pertaining to? Anybody who has asthma needs to be careful with this.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, actually, what's incredible about this, Heidi, is that even people who don't have asthma need to think about this. COLLINS: Really?

COHEN: Because this study looked at people who were healthy and didn't have asthma, they tracked how often they used cleaning products, and what they found was that the more often they used them, the more likely they were, nine years later, to develop asthma. So, specifically, what they found is that folks who use three products, one or more days per week -- so that's just one or more days of week of using three products -- were more at risk for having asthma, and it was very simple. The more products they used, the more days they used them, the more they were at risk, the more likely they were to get asthma.

Again, these people again started out without asthma.

Now, the manufacturers who make these products have said in the past, when studies like this have come out, that nothing in their products triggers asthma, that everything in the products has been reviewed by state and federal government agencies. And also, they say, you know, clean is good when you have asthma, because it's dust and dust mites that trigger asthma.

COLLINS: Yes.

COHEN: So you need to clean up.

COLLINS: Well, that's what I would think. But when I'm looking at some of these products here, what is it that's in them? I mean, is there a specific product that could be worse for you than another?

COHEN: Yes. They did find that folks who use certain types of cleaners were basically in bigger trouble as far as asthma goes.

And what those were, well, those were spray products like glass cleaners and furniture cleaners. And really, it makes sense. When you spray something, all those droplets go all over the air and you breathe them in. So the sprays seem to be worse than just the liquids.

COLLINS: Yes.

Well, what about those people who develop asthma? We say this study was something like nine years later, which is interesting. How do you know that that is why you got asthma?

COHEN: Right, because there are a million reasons why you could get asthma.

COLLINS: Sure.

COHEN: So what doctors say is you need to think about when you're not feeling well. So when you feel that tightness in your chest, when you're having trouble breathing, think, what did I just do or what am I doing now? So if you just cleaned the house or if you're cleaning the house when you feel this way, you can start thinking about, is there a link? And then you can tell your spouse, sorry, honey, you've got to clean up, I can't do it.

COLLINS: Maybe you could get help with you cleaning? That would be nice.

COHEN: Yes, well, give someone else asthma, right?

COLLINS: Right. Really nice.

COHEN: Right.

COLLINS: Really nice.

All right. Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much.

COHEN: Thanks.

HARRIS: And still to come this morning in the CNN NEWSROOM, Turkey and the Kurds of northern Iraq. Tensions on the rise. The question this morning, will they clash?

COLLINS: Al Gore wins the peace prize. Critics step up their battle to challenge his claims.

Global warming, the debate heats up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Former vice president, environmental activist and now Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore making his mark this week. Gore was honored for promoting awareness about climate change and ways to counteract it. He shares the Nobel Prize with the U.N.'s international panel on climate change. The Nobel Committee praised Gore as being one of the world's leading environmental politicians.

COLLINS: The U.S. military expressing regret. An attack kills 15 Iraqi civilians, all women and children. Officials say the operation northwest of Baghdad targeted senior al Qaeda leaders. The military says 19 suspected insurgents were killed. The military blames al Qaeda for deliberately putting innocent people in harm's way.

HARRIS: And how about this? Tensions rising on the border between Turkey and Iraq. Turkey wants a crackdown on the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK.

CNN's Nic Robertson with more on the rift and what it could mean for the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): On the Turkish side of the border, soldiers prepare for a possible confrontation with the PKK inside Iraq. They will cross over only if their politicians endorse it. The threat a deep incursion could happen is riling the Kurds who control northern Iraq. MAHMOUD OTHMAN, KURDISH POLITICIAN: They think it's an attack against them and they feel humiliated. And that is why they -- obviously, you cannot exclude the reaction.

ROBERTSON: A lot is at stake. Kurdistan's vast oil reserves, booming economy and relative stability make the region a major success in Iraq. But that's not all. U.S. troops rely on a stable Turkish/Iraqi border to bring in essential supplies. An escalation of violence would be bad for everyone.

PETER GALBRAITH, FMR. U.S. AMBASSADOR: The stability of northern Iraq could be at stake. This is the one part of the country that has been stable, that is pro-western, that is democratic. The one success story in Iraq.

ROBERTSON: Underlying tensions between Kurds and the mostly Arab government of Iraq have been quick to surface as Turkey raises the stakes.

KAMRAN KARADAGHI, FMR. TALIBAN CHIEF OF STAFF: They say that they will have a dialogue only with Baghdad, but, of course, this is really not realistic, because Baghdad cannot do anything without the Kurds.

ROBERTSON: Kurdistan's thriving economy may be its best hope of heading off an attack. As angry as the Kurds are with the Turks, the PKK are risking the successes Iraq's Kurds have achieved.

KARADAGHI: The PKK have their own agenda. The Iraqi Kurds at the moment have opted for staying within Iraq. And so there is really a big difference.

ROBERTSON: Despite the differences, convincing Iraq's Kurds to turn on the PKK is unlikely.

GALBRAITH: It's simply politically not possible for the Kurds to fight their fellow Kurds. And they don't have the military capability to do this either.

ROBERTSON (on camera): The flare-up in tensions could not come at a worst time for the U.S. The House Foreign Affairs Committee's decision to label a century-old slaughter of Armenians by Turks as "genocide" undermines their ability to influence the situation. On top of that, the U.S. envoy appointed to deal with the PKK issue, retired General Joseph Ralston, now wants to quit.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Holding cell smackdown. Four handcuffed prisoners repeatedly kicking a fellow prisoner, Lawrence, Massachusetts. Police don't know what started the fight. Police rushed in to break it up with pepper spray.

The four face charges of assault with a dangerous weapon. In this case, a covered foot. The attackers were originally arrested for, get this, a brawl at a baby shower.

HARRIS: Strange payback. A dead man's ex-girlfriend is accused of stealing his remains from the grave.

Maureen Kocot from affiliate WBNS reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAUREEN KOCOT, REPORTER, WBNS (voice over): Sierra Barber was only 17 years old when she got the news she didn't want to hear.

SIERRA BARBER, DAUGHTER: "Your dad just died." And I just -- I lost it. I couldn't walk. I fell to the floor. I started crying. I didn't want to believe it.

KOCOT: Sierra honored her father, Roger Barber's wish to be cremated and buried the ashes in a family plot here at the New Marshfield Cemetery. Sierra was already hurting.

BARBER: I was mortified.

KOCOT: There was no way she could have ever braced herself for what would happen next.

BARBER: I have never heard this happen to anyone. And that's why it's so shocking. Nobody has ever heard of it.

KOCOT: Sometime after Father's Day, a grave robber crept into the cemetery and stole Roger Barber's remains. Sierra says it was too morbid to fathom.

BARBER: Go to a cemetery and dig in the ground and, you know, dig up basically a dead body.

KOCOT: Dave Warren is the Athens County prosecutor.

DAVID WARREN, ATHENS COUNTY, OHIO, PROSECUTOR: I have a category of crimes that I commonly refer to as aggravated stupid.

KOCOT: Body snatching he says is a first.

WARREN: I've been doing this for almost 30 years now. I've never had anyone steal anyone's ashes.

KOCOT: Roger Barber's former girlfriend, Martha LaFollette, who wasn't invited to the funeral, is now facing a felony charge of vandalism for breaking into a crypt.

(on camera): Nearly a year after her father's death, Sierra Barber has never once been able to pay her respects at her father's grave site, and now she'll have to endure the painful emotions of burying her father all over again.

BARBER: I mean, I have to do this all over again. I have to bury my dad and go through it all over again.

KOCOT (voice over): But not until the case is heard in court.

BARBER: Yes, my dad is in evidence lock. They say rest in peace for a reason.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And the ex-girlfriend goes to court next week.

COLLINS: A teen accused of plotting a Columbine-style school attack. New details on the investigation coming up right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

COLLINS: Good Friday morning, everybody.

I finally have the day right now. It is Friday, not Monday. This is a better thing.

I'm Heidi Collins.

HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris.

Welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM.

Global warming puts Al Gore in the world spotlight today. He is sharing the Nobel Peace Prize this morning for raising awareness on climate change, as CNN's Jonathan Mann reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JONATHAN MANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Al Gore could have been remembered by history for the prize he didn't get -- the 2000 presidential election that was decided by a handful of votes, hanging chads and the U.S. Supreme Court. Instead, he transformed himself from former vice president and former candidate into global campaigner. And his campaign to alert the world to the dangers of climate change has now received the ultimate accolade -- in a joint prize with the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change.

PROF. OLE DANBOLT MJOS, CHAIRMAN, NORWEGIAN NOBEL COMMITTEE: The Norwegian Nobel Peace Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2007 is to be shared in two equal parts between the Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change, IPCC, and Albert Arnold Gore, Jr. (ph) for their efforts to build up and disseminate great knowledge about manmade climate change and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.

MANN: Gore traveled the United States lecturing about global warming -- lectures that became the Academy Award winning film "An Inconvenient Truth" and spread Gore's message around the world. The British government even distributed it to every high school in the country. Ironically, just before the prize was announced, a British judge ruled that it should come with a warning that it promotes partisan political views and is wrong about some of its facts. But environmentalists, such as 2004 Nobel winner Wangari Maathai, say the Nobel Committee gave the prize to entirely the right people.

WANGARI MUTA MAATHAI: I think that these two really deserve this prize. They have brought to the fore a very important global issue and I just can't contain myself. I'm so pleased about this prize and the candidates.

MANN: Gore himself said in a written statement: "We face a true planetary emergency. The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity. It is also our greatest opportunity to lift global consciousness to a higher level."

Gore said he'll donate his portion of the $1.5 million prize to the Alliance for Climate Protection. But the most important honor will remain his -- recognition with, arguably, the most prestigious prize in the world.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

HARRIS: And Jonathan Mann joins us.

Now, when are you off to Norway?

MANN: Well, the prize is given out every year on the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death.

HARRIS: Yes.

MANN: That will be the 10th of December, so we have a bit of planning.

HARRIS: You do a great job with that show.

MANN: Thank you.

HARRIS: You get to talk to all of the Peace Prize winners?

MANN: I have met every one of them who is free to travel.

HARRIS: For how many years now?

MANN: Fifteen years we've been doing it.

HARRIS: For 15 years?

MANN: Yes.

HARRIS: No, it's a -- it's a great job that you do on that show. "An Inconvenient Truth" -- do you believe the film had an impact in this decision?

MANN: It had to. "An Inconvenient Truth" won the Oscar back in February.

HARRIS: Oscar in -- yes. MANN: Now, by February, the nominations are in, but the decision isn't made. They have the Nobel Committee until October to actually make the decision.

HARRIS: Yes.

MANN: So they had a good long time to read about the Academy Awards in the newspaper, maybe see the movie -- and I'm sure they have -- and then make up their minds.

HARRIS: I don't know that you know this, but I'm going to ask it anyway. I wonder if there is an opportunity for Al Gore here. He is such a known figure here in the United States, and certainly around the world, as well.

Is there an opportunity for him to get out of the political fray that comes -- and some of the political baggage -- cast it off and maybe recast himself as kind of a global warming environmental ambassador to the world?

Is there an opportunity?

MANN: Well, I think he's done it. This prize proves that he has done it to some extent.

HARRIS: Yes.

MANN: But keep in mind, there really is no Nelson Mandela for the environmental movement. Wangari Maathai, the woman we just heard from, was the first environmentalist to ever win the prize. But she hasn't really become a household name.

HARRIS: Exactly.

MANN: This could be his next job, really.

HARRIS: Jonathan Mann, great to see you.

Thanks for your help on the story.

MANN: My pleasure.

Appreciate it.

COLLINS: And some background now on the Nobel Peace Prize. It is one of the international awards created by Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel. The award includes a medal, a personal diploma and a cash prize -- $1.5 million this year, to be exact. The Peace Prize awards ceremony will be held December 10th. It'll happen in Oslo, Norway.

Past Nobel Peace Prize receipts have included politicians and world leaders. Among them, former President Jimmy Carter in 2002. You see him there on Wolf's show. Al Gore is not the first environmentalist to win the Nobel Peace Prize, though. In 2004, it was awarded to Wangari Maathai of Kenya. You see her there, as well. She was honored for her efforts to promote sustainable development through, among other things, planting trees.

HARRIS: You know, he says global warming is not a political issue. But there is a political movement to get Al Gore into the presidential race.

Details from CNN's Tom Foreman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Al Gore has said it over...

AL GORE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm not planning to be a candidate again.

FOREMAN: ... And over...

GORE: I don't really have plans to run for office again.

FOREMAN: ... And over.

GORE: I have no plans to run. Thank you.

FOREMAN: But DraftGore.com is not listening. The organization, which describes itself as a group of grassroots Democrats, took out a full-page ad in Wednesday's "New York Times." Their open letter urges the 2000 presidential nominee to enter race, saying: "Your country needs you now, as do your party and the planet you are fighting so hard to save." The ad also says 136,000 people have signed DraftGore's online petition. The group tells us signatures are coming in by the thousands.

Gore's office says the former vice president truly appreciates the heartfelt sentiment behind the ad; however, he has no intention of running for president.

Some Democrats are not giving up hope. Thirteen percent of them supported Gore for the Democratic nomination in our most recent poll. But even if Gore changes his mind, the clock is ticking.

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Gore would certainly shake up the race if he changed his mind and decided to get in. But with less three months before the Iowa caucuses, his window of opportunity to actually make a serious run for the Democratic nomination probably has passed him by.

FOREMAN: Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COLLINS: A Pennsylvania teen in court this morning. Police say he was planning a Columbine-style attack at a nearby high school. Authorities say they found a .9 millimeter rifle with a laser scope, air guns and several hand grenades at the boy's home.

Police tell CNN the boy's mother bought the rifle several weeks ago at a gun show. She and the boy's father could be charged. School officials say a tip from another teen led them to the plot.

HARRIS: What do you say we get a check of weather now?

Where is that Reynolds -- there he is, Reynolds Wolf, where we find him there in the Severe Weather Center.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right here.

HARRIS: Good morning, Reynolds.

WOLF: Good morning.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Still to come in THE NEWSROOM, Al Gore -- former vice president, environmental champion. We will talk to a man who helps run the largest grassroots environmental network in the world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Al Gore on a mission and in the spotlight. Earlier this morning, Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for raising awareness on global warming. He shares the honor with the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change.

Our next guest is a leading environmentalist. Roger Higman is the campaign coordinator for Friends of the Earth International.

Roger, good to talk to you.

ROGER HIGMAN, FRIENDS OF THE EARTH INTERNATIONAL: Hi.

HARRIS: Hey, give me a sense of how much of a lift this is for the entire environmental movement and everyone involved in it.

HIGMAN: It's magnificent. I mean what it does is it shows that the Nobel Committee thinks climate change is a big a threat to peace as any other of the big issues that nations have to deal with, whether it's the Middle East, things happening with terrorism and so on.

And so what we're pleased about is that the committee is looking to the future and saying that if we don't do something to prevent climate change, hundreds of millions of people will be affected. That will lead to flows of refugees, leading to conflict.

HARRIS: All...

HIGMAN: And so that something has to be done.

HARRIS: Yes.

HIGMAN: And that's great news for our message.

HARRIS: You know what, Roger?

You're an alarmist. We hear all the time you're an alarmist. You want to throw the baby out with the bath water. This is -- this climate change, this global warming, it's nothing more than a trend.

Do you know how long, Roger, the planet has been in existence?

We're talking about a pattern, a trend here. In another thousand years, we may be talking about another trend.

What's your response to folks who say that?

HIGMAN: Well, I think the most important thing is to remember who else won the award. And that's the Intergovernmental Panel On Climate Change, which was a network of scientists set up by the governments of the world, including George Bush, Sr. And his -- when his administration was involved in it. And that body, which includes a lot of NASA scientists, a lot of scientists in universities across the States and all of the other countries in the world, they've also won the award for the science behind the case.

And what they've done is they've assessed the evidence and concluded that human beings are influencing the climate and that's going to be bad news.

HARRIS: Yes.

But you know what, Roger?

Most of the attention on this day will go to Al Gore, as you know.

And are you OK with that?

I mean after all, he's a politician.

HIGMAN: He's a politician. But I think outside the U.S., we just see him as a climate change leader. And we've seen the movie, "An Inconvenient Truth". We've seen him coming and talking. And so he's very much a non-controversial figure. Maybe in America it's different. I don't know. But as far as we're concerned, what this is, is a victory for the arguments about climate change and a message to the leaders of this world that they've got to treat climate change and the environment as an issue that's as big as the other big issues they deal with in terms of war and peace.

HARRIS: And, generally speaking, is there a real opportunity here to broaden the discussion beyond climate change and talk about some of the other environmental issues facing the planet?

HIGMAN: We hope so. I mean, I think we have to be realistic. I mean you've probably seen that some of the people who are in America who are skeptics about climate change, there are also similar sorts of people in this country, who just don't want to know what Gore has to say.

But what we're hoping is that we can at least make the mark on climate, but also then get politicians to wake up to some of the other issues -- like the fact that billions of people in the developing world depend on tropical forests for their livelihoods, depend on water supplies for their livelihoods. And that we need to do something to make sure the environment in those parts of the world is preserved for those people.

HARRIS: All right. And this is as close as I'll get to a political take on this.

Do you see this award in any way as some kind of criticism of the Bush administration?

Critics say look, after all, the president has been slow to even mention the words climate change.

HIGMAN: Well, it may be. I mean I think look, last year or the year before, the leader of the International Atomic Energy Authority was given the Peace Prize. And so clearly, I think the committee is saying that the U.N. (ph) organizations, whether it be on nuclear arms proliferation or on climate, are actually important in tackling peace. And that sums -- and conflict issues. And that's something maybe the Bush administration doesn't want to hear, and may well be a political point.

But I don't think we should get too involved with politics here. I think what we should recognize is that one of the most prestigious American statesmen in the world has been awarded a very important award. And that's great news because of the message that he's been putting over and the work he's been doing.

HARRIS: Roger Higman, thanks you for your time this morning.

We appreciate it.

COLLINS: Trying to figure out a teenage shooter.

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BRUCE CASTOR, MONTGOMERY COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: We know that he did have some disciplinary problems at the school and outside the school. But other than that, not a whole lot. I mean, he wasn't one of these kids that were high on the list as far as a trouble maker goes.

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COLLINS: The Cleveland school shooter -- did authorities miss signs of trouble ahead?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Criminal charges for the mother of a 14-year-old boy who allegedly planned a Columbine-style attack at a local high school.

I'm Allan Chernoff and I'll have details straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: A 14-year-old Pennsylvania boy in court this morning. He is accused of plotting a Columbine-style attack. Now, CNN has learned his mother will be charged. CNN's Allan Chernoff is live outside the courthouse now in Norristown, Pennsylvania.

Allan, what's going to happen here today?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, what did happen in the courtroom just a few minutes ago, the 14-year-old boy walked in wearing handcuffs. The judge asked him, "Are your parents present?" And he did say, "Yes," in a very quiet voice. The judge then decided that the county can continue to hold him in detention.

Also, the boy will be tested psychologically and also for educational achievement. At the end of the proceeding, which was quite quick, the boy blew a kiss to his mother and whispered, "I love you."

His mother right now, as we speak, is in the fourth floor of the building right behind me, in the attorney's office. She is being charged at the moment with criminal charges for having purchased a semiautomatic rifle for her son. Minutes ago, the district attorney described the details of those charges.

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CASTOR: Well, we allege that she purchased the .9 mm rifle for her son, allowed him to have the black powder -- the gun powder and the instruments to make the grenades. And I don't think she had anything to do with planning this attack. But by virtue of her indulgences, she enabled him to get into this position.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: Wednesday night, police arrested the 14-year-old boy, charged him with plotting a Columbine-style attack at a local high school. And in his bedroom, they did find, in addition to that semiautomatic rifle, 30 air powered B.B. (ph) guns, as well as seven grenades, some of them actually live -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Wow! When we talk about the mother being charged in this case, though, Allan, you may not have statistics or anything, but it seems like something that we don't see very often, where the parents are then held responsible for the actions of their children.

CHERNOFF: The district attorney is saying that it appears the parents were somewhat indulgent of the child. The child had complained of bullying. The district attorney is saying that he believes the child felt that he was being persecuted, wanted to get back at the world. And, indeed, the parents had taken the child out of the school system a year-and-a-half ago and had said that they were going to home school him, simply because he was having such a tough time in school. But the D.A. (ph) is saying this was a case of parents simply being irresponsible and he is filing criminal charges.

COLLINS: All right, CNN's Allan Chernoff coming to us this morning from Norristown, Pennsylvania.

Allan, thank you. HARRIS: A town's grief, a week of funerals -- saying good-bye to six young people gunned down in Crandon, Wisconsin.

COLLINS: It's the latest wave in security technology -- a new airport scanning machine bouncing radio waves off your body.

HARRIS: And a shiny red Mustang -- a toddler's prize possession. You won't believe what it did next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: So here's the question -- where would you go if you could retire today?

In this week's Life After Work, Ali Velshi brings a story of one woman who left Wall Street to travel to places you might find a bit extreme.

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ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a sunny day in San Francisco and Alison Levine is heading to the beach -- but not to work on her tan.

ALISON LEVINE, FOUNDER, DAREDEVIL STRATEGIES: I am down here at Ocean Beach training for a six to eight week expedition to Antarctica that I leave for at the end of November. And what I'm going to be doing is crossing the continent, from the Ronne Ice Shelf to the South Pole. So it's about 550 miles of Antarctic ice and it's the coldest, windiest place on earth.

VELSHI: But Levine isn't a stranger to harsh environments. This former Wall Street investment banker has trekked to the North Pole and climbed the highest peaks in the world, including Mount Everest. Still, her biggest challenges have been overcoming her own body's limitations -- a serious congenital heart condition and an extreme sensitivity to cold.

LEVINE: I had one surgical procedure when I was 17 and another one when I was 30. And 18 months later, to celebrate my new state of good health, I wanted to go do something that I wouldn't have been able to do before.

VELSHI: Levine discovered this love of climbing during a vacation in Mount Kilimanjaro and found she was hooked. It wasn't long before she left her desk job for good and took up climbing and lecturing as a new way of life -- one says she can live by for many years to come.

LEVINE: The only way I was going to be able to go do the things I enjoy doing was to be an entrepreneur and start my own business. And I have two or three months that I can go out and do the things that really get me excited about waking up every day.

VELSHI: Ali Velshi, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Safeguarding secrets -- a new effort to keep sensitive material out of the hands of terrorists.

CNN's Kelli Arena reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Night vision equipment, missile and nuclear technology, fighter jet parts -- officials say China, Iran and entities in at least 106 other countries are trying to steal U.S. secrets.

KENNETH WAINSTEIN, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL: It's a threat that's carried out in the shadows and does not raise the same level of alarm as the violence of a terrorist attack or the sword rattling of a belligerent rogue state. But it is a very serious threat nonetheless.

ARENA: Just last week, a case involving the illegal export of F- 14 fighter jet parts widely sought by Iran. And another involving missile and nuclear reactor equipment illegally sent to Pakistan. The Justice Department is creating task forces to crack down on these black market networks.

DARRYL JACKSON, ASSISTANT COMMERCE SECRETARY: Our enemy has openly and plainly stated that they seek weapons of mass destruction. And there's no doubt that if they gain access to them, they'll use them.

ARENA: The first step, train prosecutors who either don't want or don't know how to pursue such complex cases. Gary Milhollin, an arms proliferation expert calls it long overdue.

GARY MILHOLLIN, ARMS PROLIFERATION EXPERT: We have seen a lot of cases where U.S. firms or U.S. citizens have illegally exported things to Iran, to China. And basically we see the slap on the wrist or very little attention or no prosecution at all.

ARENA: Next, tighten restrictions on technology that can be used for multiple purposes -- like this. It's a triggered spark gap, which can be used to blast kidney stones or trigger nuclear weapons.

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