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Russia-Iran Alliance; Nevada Police Arrest Suspect in Videotaped Child Rape; Civilians Helping U.S. Gain Ground on Al Qaeda in Iraq
Aired October 16, 2007 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.
Developments keep coming in to the CNN NEWSROOM on Tuesday, the 16th of October.
Here's what's on the rundown.
An accused child rapist in jail this morning. Police say Chester Stiles videotaped his assault on a 3-year-old girl.
Police lay out a weapons hall of machine guns and silencers. Our guests on rap star's T.I.'s growing rap sheet.
Waterlogged Texas keeps getting rained on and, boy, the neighbors sure could use that water.
Going under, in the NEWSROOM.
A landmark trip for the first time since the Stalin era. A Russian president is in Iran today. Vladimir Putin in Tehran for a five-nation summit, despite reports of an assassination plot. Among other things, he's defending Iran and the country's nuclear ambitions.
Our Brian Todd has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Russia is building Iran's first ever nuclear power plant. Iran claims its for civilian energy, but U.S. officials are worried it could be used to make nuclear weapons. And the two have just completed another huge deal that worries the United States.
CLIFF KUPCHAN, EURASIA GROUP: Russia sold about a billion dollars worth of Tor-M1 missile defense systems to Iran over the last year. That has been a real sore in U.S.-Russian relations.
TODD: A former U.N. weapons inspector tells CNN many of those air defense systems are being installed around nuclear facilities in Iran. An Iranian official at the U.N. would not comment on that. Putin has resisted America's efforts to slap Iran with tougher U.N. sanctions over its nuclear program.
PRES. VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIA (through translator): If you think you can get Iran to comply by scaring them, that is not going to work. The government and the Iranian people, they are not scared, believe me.
TODD: But analysts say there are cracks in this alliance.
ANDREW KUCHINS, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: The main concern on the Russian part is that they don't want to see Iran become a nuclear weapons state. And they also don't want to see a military conflict in the Middle East. And their concern is that Mr. Ahmadinejad is not going to compromise with the international community on his weapons program, thus increasing the likelihood that a conflict will take place.
TODD: In fact, that nuclear power plant the Russians are building was supposed to be up and running two years ago, but it's been delayed repeatedly. And we're told the Russians have almost stopped construction completely.
(on camera): Russian officials have said that's because Iran hasn't been paying them on time. The Iranians deny that. Analysts say the real reason is because Putin is in no hurry to be associated with any nuclear program in Iran if tensions boil over to possible military action.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Border on the brink of crisis. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki dispatching a high-level delegation to defuse rising tensions with Turkey. He met with his crisis group this morning.
Iraq's vice president already in Ankara for urgent talks. Yesterday, Turkey's government asked its parliament for permission to go into northern Iraq. Turkey looking to put down a rebellion by Kurdish separatists there. The U.S. has urged Turkey not to send in troops and to try to resolve the crisis diplomatically.
"I'm sick of running," he said. Those words from a man suspected of raping a little girl and videotaping it. Chester Stiles behind bars this morning.
CNN's Chris Lawrence is outside the Las Vegas jail now this morning.
Chris, what can we expect to happen from here?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, we're hearing that Chester Stiles could appear in court as early as tomorrow morning. Prosecutors are expected to charge him with up to 21 counts, including sexual assault and using a child in the production of pornography.
Some of the investigators are also going to be keeping an eye on trying to answer the question of, are there any more alleged victims out there? They don't know that at this point. But we do know that Chester Stiles was already wanted on state and federal warrants for allegedly groping another little girl four years ago -- Heidi. COLLINS: All right. So what about the videotape that started all of this? What happens with that?
LAWRENCE: This videotape was shot about four years ago, but it was just turned over to the police last month. The man who turned it over to the police said it had allegedly been in possession of it for five months and he showed it to other people.
COLLINS: Right.
LAWRENCE: He says that he hesitated in giving it to the police because he had run-ins with the police before and he was scared. The police -- prosecutors plan to charge him with possession of pornography.
This is the tape, of course, that shows the very graphic rape of a little girl. That little girl is now seven years old. She's living with her mother, and her mother had no idea this had even happened four years ago.
COLLINS: Hey, Chris, quickly, and you may not have a chance to have learned this quite yet. I know the case is still developing. But Darren Tuck, the man who we just showed a picture of, who initially had that videotape, are police telling you that maybe perhaps if he had turned it over earlier that this could have been solved faster?
LAWRENCE: You know, you could speculate that. I mean, you figure that he turned this tape over about a month ago and the police, you know, made a very bold decision to put this little girl's picture out there because at the time they were very, very concerned that she could still be in danger today.
COLLINS: Right.
LAWRENCE: And they had no idea who she was. So they put her picture out there, and that's how her family came to find out about this, and that's what eventually led to identifying Chester Stiles as a suspect in this case.
COLLINS: Yes, it is so sad. All right. Well, we appreciate the reporting.
CNN's Chris Lawrence, live from Las Vegas this morning.
Hunting for a serial pedophile suspect. The international police organization Interpol finally identified this man. They're not releasing the name, but The Associated Press says he is 32-year-old Christopher Paul Neil (ph). He's a Canadian.
He is suspected of having sex with at least 12 young boys. The pictures posted on the Internet. His face was digitally altered, but Interpol was able to reverse that effect to get an accurate picture. Police say he worked as an English teacher in South Korea but he is now believed to be somewhere in Thailand.
Rapper T.I. will be spending the week in jail. A federal judge ordering him held in custody until a Friday bond hearing.
T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris, is facing federal gun charges. Authorities say he gave a bodyguard $12,000 to buy three machine guns and two silencers. Police say they found three more guns in his car and six other guns at his suburban Atlanta house.
Harris is a convicted felon and not allowed to own guns. His attorney says there are two sides to every story. He says he's confident the legal system will "work in T.I.'s favor".
Rapper T.I. accused of illegally buying those weapons. Guns and violence part of the hip-hop package? An expert will be talking to us a little bit more about this in the NEWSROOM in just a few moments.
Meanwhile, back in class in Cleveland, Ohio, this morning. The high school where 14-year-old Asa Coon went on a shooting rampage last week is open again.
Four people were wounded before the young gunman took his own life last Wednesday. Today, students and teachers were cheered as they entered SuccessTech Academy. Big security changes there. An armed security guard is on duty this morning, and students now have to walk through metal detectors.
I want to show you some of these pictures. Trouble in Texas, as you can see.
Wind and rain pound the northern part of the state, causing flooding and damage. A driver, in fact, was killed when his car slid into a big rig on a wet road in Denton, Texas. A number of other accidents, as well, also blamed on the storm.
And a group of golfers in Garland had to be rescued when a creek suddenly spilled over. A reprieve today, but more bad weather could head to the region tomorrow.
Rivers on the rise across Iowa. Heavy weekend rains causing flooding in Iowa. More than four inches, in fact, pounded some areas. The biggest problems in western and central parts of the state.
Montgomery County has been declared a disaster area. No word of anyone hurt in the flooding, but more storms could roll in tomorrow.
So Rob Marciano, who is in the weather center for us now, let's start there. How do things look for folks in the Midwest coming up?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, we've got, as you mentioned, another couple of rounds of storms to deal with. Not so much today, but there are still high rivers, in some cases flooding around Des Moines, Iowa, down the Nebraska-Missouri border, in through Kansas. Also some flood warnings around there.
So this is a system that brought that rainfall and severe weather. It's lifting to the north, kind of losing its punch. Stretching out. So that's good news for folks kind of downstream of this, but bad news for folks who really could use some of the rainfall, notably across the Southeast.
So there is a problem there. A bit of a catch-22, I suppose.
But Michigan, down through Dayton, Cincinnati, Covington, Lexington, a little bit of Louisville, seeing some action. But then you get toward Nashville and it starts to dry out, as does the moisture plume.
Nashville, east towards Chattanooga, Knoxville, northern parts of Georgia, that's where we need the rain. It doesn't look like we're going to get it.
Here is a storm system that's going to come into play tomorrow. Actually for the next several days. An area of low pressure will dive across the Rocky Mountains. Once it gets over the Rockies, it will pick up some energy.
They typically do this time of year. They kind of stretch their legs and start to wind up.
Then tapping moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. And unlike other storms that have tried to formulate -- form this past fall, this one's going to have some better dynamics. It will get a little bit stronger and it will also, because of that, tap more moisture.
So strong storms potential for tomorrow, and again on Thursday, too, as this thing really begins to wind itself up. So tomorrow we're talking across the Plains here and toward Tornado Alley. And then on Thursday, we're talking more widespread, across the Mississippi River Alley and in through parts of the Southeast.
That's where we might get some rainfall, but with that rainfall on Thursday or Friday, Heidi, comes the threat for damaging, severe storms. So you don't always get the gentle, longstanding rainfall that you need to relieve a drought, but at this point...
COLLINS: Oh, I know.
MARCIANO: ... beggars can't be choosers. We'll take anything the folks in the Southeast suffering from drought will get.
COLLINS: Boy, yes, that's for sure. And that is a very busy map behind you, as I see.
MARCIANO: Yes, I think we're going to be busy here.
COLLINS: Good graphics.
All right. Rob Marciano, thanks so much for that.
MARCIANO: OK.
COLLINS: Six black teens accused of beating a white classmate. Racial tensions in Jena now the focus in Congress.
When Mercedes merge. Police book Britney Spears for this parking lot scrape, and now wondering if a judge will throw the book at her.
And bullets fly outside a South Carolina gas station.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is a bunch of shots just inside here. There was a black guy running around, and somebody's shooting the hell out of him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: A gunman picks a fight with the wrong guy, an off-duty police officer.
You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: News as it develops. Only CNN can bring it to you. See for yourself in the CNN NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: New developments in the so-called Jena 6 case. This hour, a House panel is looking into weather federal intervention is needed.
A live picture for you there.
You may recall the case involves six black teenagers in the small town of Jena, Louisiana, accused in the beating of a white student. The incident happened after nooses were hung from a tree at school.
At today's hearing, the Reverend Al Sharpton is expected to call on Congress to expand hate crime laws to deal with racial issues like those in Jena.
We are following today's testimony. You can count on CNN to keep you updated throughout the day. You can also watch it live right now on CNN.com.
Britney Spears booked. The singer surrendered to Los Angeles police last night. She is charged in a hit-and-run accident.
Paparazzi caught Spears hitting another car in a parking lot in August. She is charged in the fender bender and facing charges of driving without a license. Spears was fingerprinted and photographed before leaving the police station.
Double trouble now for O.J. Simpson. Two of his co-defendants have cut deals. One of them is this man, Charles Cashmore.
He and another co-defendant have agreed to plead guilty to reduced charges and testify against Simpson and three other suspects. They are expected to say guns were used in the alleged incident.
Simpson and the others were arrested last month in an alleged armed robbery of sports memorabilia from a Vegas hotel room. Simpson has said no guns were used and he was merely retrieving memorabilia that belonged to him.
The U.S. military pointing to successes against al Qaeda in Iraq, but warning a long fight is still ahead.
Here is CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This cockpit video from an Apache attack helicopter is typical of what the U.S. military is releasing these days. It shows suspected al Qaeda fighters being taken out after local Iraqis tip the U.S. off as to their whereabouts. That is what the U.S. military says has turned the tide. As many as 50,000 concerned citizens, local Iraqis, taking their country back one town at a time.
And it's why, for the first time in a long time many U.S. commanders are guardedly optimistic that al Qaeda in Iraq has been knocked on its heels.
GEN. JAMES CONWAY, COMMANDANT, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Are they crippled? Yeah. Are they still dangerous? Absolutely. And certainly they are not destroyed.
MCINTYRE: The military says there's been a cascade effect, each tip leading to another, each success producing better intelligence. It's how the U.S. says it nailed this man, Abu Osama al Tunisi, last month, with a pair of 500-pound bombs from an F-16. The air strike eliminated a possible al Qaeda number two, and leaves number one, Ayyub al Masri as the only senior al Qaeda leader in Iraq not captured or killed.
But a report in "The Washington Post" suggesting some U.S. generals are ready to declare victory was met with immediate derision by top commander, General David Petraeus. In respond to a CNN fact check, his spokesman e-mailed, "No one here has proposed a formal or informal declaration of victory."
While flushed with recent successes against al Qaeda in Iraq, no one wants a repeat of the "Mission Accomplished" banner that accompanied President Bush's premature declaration that major combat ended. Just because al Qaeda is on the run doesn't mean it's on the ropes.
CONWAY: I would also add, though, that they have shown an amazing ability to regenerate.
MCINTYRE (on camera): One sign al Qaeda in Iraq is hurting is that the number of suicide bombings, the signature attack of the group, has dropped dramatically this year from about 60 a month to 30 a month. Still, military officials say al Qaeda is killing a lot of people and shows no sign of surrender.
Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE) COLLINS: A swap and a possible sign of hope in the Middle East. Israel handed over Hezbollah prisoners, as well as the bodies of two militants. In return, Hezbollah released the body of an Israeli who died in what is being called unclear circumstances.
Some hope the change will open the door to the release of two Israeli soldiers whose capture sparked last summer's war. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned that's still far off.
A brutal so-called sport, a weekend bust of thousands of birds and dozens of people. Cockfighting crackdown.
Imported food problems. The FDA says it needs more money even as officials pay big bonuses.
We're "Keeping Them Honest".
Political fight. The GOP presidential hopefuls at odds with each other. A closer look at the battle lines.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Quickly want to show you a live picture now of this hearing that we have been telling you about. We're looking at the House Judiciary Committee talking about the Jena 6 students in Jena, Louisiana.
They were arrested for a school fight and then charged with attempted murder. One of them, Mychal Bell, still in jail, now being charged as a juvenile. Initially, those charges were adult charges.
They are talking today, as you see the Reverend Al Sharpton, about possibly expanding hate crime statutes. So this is what is being talked about.
We will continue to monitor this. And if you would like to hear more about it live right now, you can get it, CNN.com. You can check it out as it goes on.
Meanwhile, political bickering. Republicans face off against each other.
Want to get more now from CNN Chief National Correspondent John King. He's part of the best political team on television.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fred Thompson.
(APPLAUSE)
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On Rudy Giuliani's home turf, the latest salvo in a Republican race turning testy.
FRED THOMPSON, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Some people think, seemingly, that we need to defeat the Democrats next year by becoming more like them.
KING: Former Senator Fred Thompson didn't name names. Yet, there is no doubt the target was Giuliani, the pro-abortion-rights, pro-gay-rights former New York City mayor.
THOMPSON: I suggest that it's not time for philosophical flexibility in terms of our principles. That is a surefire way of making sure we don't win.
RUDOLPH GIULIANI (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I promise to keep America safe and secure.
KING: Giuliani prefers to emphasize terrorism and leadership over social issues, and, with the luxury of being ahead in most in national polls, invokes Ronald Reagan when asked about the mounting attacks.
GIULIANI: He used to have an 11th commandment. It was, thou shalt not attack another Republican. So, I'm going to try to follow that commandment as much as I can.
KING: Staying above the fray won't be easy.
TUCKER ESKEW, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: We're going into a real scrap. There is a pretty fluid electorate on the Republican side, as we try to determine who we're going to be. So, get your game on.
KING: Mitt Romney started the latest dust-up late Friday in Nevada.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The conservatives in these states that have heard me time and again recognize that I do speak for the -- if you will, the Republican Party.
KING: Romney's target was Giuliani, but it was Senator John McCain who took issue.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My record of 24 years as a conservative Republican, with a voting record to back it up of consistency on a variety of issues, speaks for itself.
KING: McCain went on to note Romney voted for Democrat Paul Tsongas in the 1992 presidential primary and that same year gave money to Democratic Congressman Dick Swett of New Hampshire.
MCCAIN: We also should examine people's records as to whether they're "real Republicans or not."
KING: The GOP race is wide open in part because none of the leading candidates gets perfect grades from conservatives.
Romney once favored abortion rights. Giuliani, as mayor, supported taxpayer-financed abortions and marched in gay-rights parades. McCain and Thompson oppose a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, saying states should make such decisions, and, in the past, have put balanced budgets ahead of bigger tax cuts. ESKEW: Republicans are a party in transition. We're entering the post-Bush era. So, what are we doing? We're helping reconfigure what is Republican, what it means to be a real Republican. We will actually have an answer to that question when we have a candidate.
KING: Picking that candidate begins in Iowa in just 80 days. That's why the race is getting more pointed and more personal.
John King, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Want the most up-to-the-minute political news anywhere? CNNPolitics.com is your one-stop shop. Get behind-the-scene details from CNN's best political team on television and see why it's the Internet's premier destination for political news. CNNPolitics.com.
Nevada police arrest a suspected child molester. At first they didn't recognize Chester Stiles.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He finally told us, "Hey, I'm Chester Stiles. I'm the guy you're looking for." And at that time he said, "I'm sick of running."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Police call his crime despicable, videotaping a sexual assault of a 3-year-old. What happens next? We're tracking the story.
From red carpet walk to perp walk. Rapper T.I. staying in jail for a while. Police say they busted him with a stash of illegal guns. Here's a look at what they found.
And the Russian president in Iran waving off a possible threat against his life. And waving off the West in its nuclear standoff with Tehran.
Plus, drug dangers. Why your doctor needs to know about every over-the-counter drug you're taking. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Heidi Collins. Tony Harris is off today.
I want to get you directly to a story we're following out of Michigan this morning. T.J. Holmes is in the news room now watching this one. Apparently a school has been evacuated -- T.J.?
T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A couple of schools have been evacuated as well. It's about 300 residents of Melvindale, Michigan a little to the southwest of Detroit, because of a chemical spill. The chemical spill happened at a place called Reilley Plating there. What they have is about 500 gallons of hydrochloric acid. Some nasty stuff that has leaked into a containment area there at the plant.
What you're seeing is video of some of the children at the school being evacuated -- elementary and middle school actually had to be evacuated. Don't exactly know what the deal was, and what caused the spill itself, but the spill did happen. The issue now, they're concerned that -- there's rain in the area, as well.
They're concerned about the possible mixing of the acid and this rain water, and possibly major vapors going up into the air. And this hydrochloric acid can be some nasty stuff. It can be corrosive and can cause all kind of damage to the respiratory system, the eyes, the skin, the intestines, so they are trying to get people out.
We don't have reports just yet. I do not believe, anybody can correct me in my ear if I'm wrong, but no word of anybody being injured, getting sick just yet, because of this stuff. But they are taking these precautions. Officials there do believe, as well, that it's going to be some six plus hours at least before they are able to get all of this cleaned up and before people can get back into the area.
But at least 300 residents that we know of in Melvindale, Michigan, and also two schools, a middle school and a elementary school -- not sure if they had the number of the students in those schools but all of them being relocated taken out of the area until they get the chemical spill taken care of.
Some nasty stuff, hydrochloric acid certainly nothing to fool with. And a spill that large, 500 gallons. So, it could cause some problems. So, they are at least evacuating that area. We'll keep an eye on that. And again, no word on anybody getting sick just yet, Heidi.
COLLINS: OK, very good. T.J., thank you.
Police say he raped a little girl and videotaped it. Today he's in a Las Vegas jail. Chester Stiles arrested last night during a routine traffic stop. He surrendered without incident despite fears that he could be armed and dangerous. Stiles was pulled over for not having a license plate. Police say he confessed his identity after officers said his driver's license looked suspicious.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OFC. MIKE DYE, HENDERSON, NEVADA POLICE: When me and Officer Gower were questioning him because we didn't believe his story or who he was, he finally told us, hey, I'm Chester Stiles. I'm the guy you're looking for. At that time he said I'm sick of running.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Stiles has been wanted for about two weeks. That's when police identified him on the videotape. The little girl being assaulted was three years old at the time. Police say she is now seven, she's doing fine and has no memory at this point of being molested. Police say the girl's mother was completely unaware of the attack.
A landmark trip. For the first time since the Stalin era a Russian president is in Iran today. Vladimir Putin is in Tehran for a five nation summit despite reports of an assassination plot. Among other things he's depending Iran, saying the country must be allowed to pursue what he calls peaceful nuclear activities.
The Russian leader also warning other countries to reconsider any plans for using a former Soviet Republic to stage an attack on Iran. That warning believed to be aimed at the U.S. Washington has accused Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons.
Border on the brink of crisis. Iraqi Prime Minister, Nuri al- Maliki dispatching a high level delegation to defuse rising tensions with Turkey. He met with his crisis group this morning. Iraq's vice president already in Ankara for urgent talks.
Yesterday Turkey's government asked its parliament for permission to go into northern Iraq. Turkey looking to put down a rebellion by Kurdish separatists there. The U.S. has urged Turkey not to send in troops and to try to resolve the crisis diplomatically.
Big bonuses at the Food and Drug Administration, with all the recent food safety problems, is this how your tax dollars should be spent?
CNN's Lisa Sylvester keeping them honest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Food and Drug Administration has been failing to keep dangerous food imports out of the United States according to congressional lawmakers. Despite the low marks, FDA top officials have awarded themselves generous bonuses.
CHRIS WALDROP, CONSUMER FEDERATION OF AMERICA: A lot of those bonuses are going to the top officials and it's not really going to the people that are on the ground that are doing the work every single day protecting the American public.
SYLVESTER: According to congressional records, FDA annual retention bonuses ballooned from $2.7 million in 2002, to more than $8 million in 2006. One employee alone Margaret Glavin, the Associate Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs received a cash bonus of more than $48,000 in 2005, and then another cash bonus topping $44,000 in 2006. This is an additional to her annual salary of more than $150,000 a year. Glavin did not return CNN's call for comment.
The hefty cash bonuses have been handed out as the FDA has been strapped for cash with an imported food inspection rate of less than one percent.
WENONAH HAUER, FOOD AND WATER WATCH: I think that people would be pretty shocked to know that this is how their taxpayer dollars are being spent. We need more inspections, we need more testing. And the agency said that they don't have the money to do this, but yet they have the money to do bonuses.
SYLVESTER: The agency has requested more funding in next year's budget, but during a hearing last week Representative Bart Stupak who chairs the subcommittee that oversees the FDA demanded accountability.
DAVID ACHESON, FDA DIR. OF FOOD SAFETY: We made requests through the 2008 budget process for an increase in ...
REPRESENTATIVE BART STUPAK (D), MICHIGAN: How much was that increase?
ACHESON: I think it was $10 million or thereabouts.
STUPAK: What was the 10 million going to be targeted for? Hopefully not bonuses.
SYLVESTER: The FDA justifies the bonuses saying it must compete with the private sector. A spokeswoman tells CNN quote, " They could make a lot more money in the private sector ... one of the ways to recruit and retain them is to offer them bonuses."
Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee have asked the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services to investigate the bonuses handed out. And Senator Byron Dorgan has asked for the government's accountability office to conduct a similar review.
Lisa Sylvester, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: When your doctor asks what medications are you taking a surprising number of us don't think to tell us about drugstore pain relievers like aspirin and ibuprofen, and that can be dangerous. We're paging Dr. Gupta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: About 30 million people take these medications every day. We're talking about non- steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. If you haven't heard of that, you may have heard of medications like Aleve, like Motrin, like Naprosyn even aspirin. Those are anti-inflammatory drugs. There's a couple of problems here, only about 20 percent of people actually tell their doctors they're taking these medications.
They should tell them because there's potentially significant side effects from taking them as well. Side effects such as gastrointestinal problems, stomach bleeding even kidney and heart problems. These can all be -- result as a consequence of taking these medications on a regular basis.
How might you know if you're developing any of the symptoms if you take these medications? Well, it's not always easy. Let's say you're taking the Advil or some sort of anti-inflammatory medication because of aches and pains. If you're also getting a lot of problems with indigestion for example, reflux or just pain in the stomach area this is something you may want to get checked out.
If you're taking these medications long-term and you're over the age of 65, you may also want to get your kidney checked out as well to make sure it's not causing any serious side effects. The bigger question a lot of people have is, well what do I do about it? If they can't take the medications on a long-term basis there's a couple of options.
One is that you can switch to an entirely different class of drugs. Like a medication like Tylenol for example, would not have some of the same side effects. Or, if you have to take the anti- inflammatories you may want to take a medication that also coats your stomach so that you're not at higher risk for developing some sort of gastrointestinal bleeding.
Something to talk to your doctor about it, and also remember to tell your doctor that you're taking these medications in the first place.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: To get your daily dose of health news on line you can log on to our Web site. You'll find the latest medical news, a health library and information on diet and fitness. That address is CNN.com/health.
Want to get to a developing story now. T.J. Holmes is in the Newsroom once again with word of a missing hiker in West Virginia. What's the story here, T.J.?
HOLMES: Yes, story here -- we've been following here at CNN. It's been two days now, this 18-year-old Jason -- excuse me, Jacob Allen is his name, an 18-year-old. He's described by his parents as severely autistic. He has been missing for two days now in the woods now in the woods there in West Virginia.
He was on a hike actually with his parents and he wandered ahead of them and he -- and they weren't able to catch up with him and don't know where he might have gone. They do say he's in pretty good physical shape but he has been out in the woods now two days. The temperatures dropped to 38, 40 degrees on the night since he's been missing.
He was not wearing a lot of heavy clothing. He did he not have food, did not have water, but hundreds of people now showing up to help in the search. Dogs, helicopters being used. They are searching about a ten square mile area, but still a pretty big area. They go more volunteers showing up, but kind of a scary situation given that he didn't have a lot of supplies with him, wasn't -- didn't have a lot of clothing with him, and again, a severely autistic young man, 18- years-old. But his parents right now have -- pretty confident, saying that he's gone on these hikes before. He has, at least he's in pretty good shape. Good, strong, physical guy. So, hopefully they'll be able to track him down, and there's a picture of him there. But, hopefully be able to track him down pretty soon before he has to possibly spend another night, another cold night out there in the woods by himself.
But a story we've been monitoring here at CNN. Just want to let you know we're keeping an eye on it, Heidi.
COLLINS: Very good, all right, T.J., thanks.
HOLMES: All right.
COLLINS: Gas station shoot-out caught on tape. One of the shooters running for mayor, but not running from gunfire.
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COLLINS: An off-duty officer and mayoral candidate shows he's tough on crime in his personal life. Jenny Fisher of affiliate WCBD reports.
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JENNY FISHER, WCBD REPORTER (voice-over): It looks like a scene straight out of a movie. But instead of an actor, you're seeing off- duty police officer and mayoral candidate Omar Brown in a shoot-out at the El Cheapo gas station.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) Charleston, 911.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma'am. This is (INAUDIBLE) across from the gas station at El Cheapo. There's a bunch of shots just been fired here. There was a black guy running around and somebody shooting the hell out of him.
FISHER: At least six people called 911, to describe this scene.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy (EXPLETIVE DELETED), I thought he was going to shoot me. I was coming by in the truck.
FISHER: This gas station surveillance video played a crucial role in the solicitor's investigation.
SCARLETT WILSON, CHARLESTON CO., S.C. SOLICITOR: I have found that Officer Brown acted reasonably and that he acted lawfully.
FISHER: Scarlet Wilson said South Carolina's castle (ph) doctrine justifies Officer Brown's actions.
WILSON: A person is not required to wait until his assailant gets the drop on him.
FISHER: That's what Wilson says Antonio Rivers, who you see here in green, tried to do. Watch closely as Officer Brown reaches around him to grab his items on the counter, then walks to his car near the door. It's this encounter, which we're playing in slow motion for you, that officials say started the shooting.
WILSON: It is so ridiculous, and I think most of us had in our minds, you know, a shoulder to shoulder bump that can be kind of aggressive. You can barely see any sort of contact.
FISHER: Now, watch as Rivers leaves the counter and rushes to his car.
WILSON: His arms and his hands as he walks.
FISHER: The solicitor says Rivers went to his car to get a gun, then walked to Brown's car with his right hand hidden behind his back. That's when Brown got out of his car and started firing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How many gunshots did you hear?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many shots? At least seven or eight.
FISHER: They're shots, according to the solicitor, that saved Officer Brown's life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: River's attorney disagrees with the solicitor's decision and thinks Brown should be prosecuted. Officer Brown is on leave from his police work, recovering from a gunshot wound to the thigh and working on his mayoral campaign.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange. When NEWSROOM returns, I'll tell you about a victory for consumers looking to buy online tickets at face value.
You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
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COLLINS: Want to get you back to a story that is happening right now, coming to us from Melvindale, Michigan. There's been a chemical spill. Several people have been evacuated from their homes and schools. We're looking at a live aerial picture now of that area.
On the telephone, we have with us Brian Schlieger. He is with the EPA and is at the scene. He's going to give us a little bit more information.
Brian, tell us what you know at this point.
VOICE OF BRIAN SCHLIEGER, EPA: As of right now, it still is contained within the secondary containment on the roof. Evacuation is purely precautionary at this point. The rain coming in, we wanted to ensure that there was no reaction with the rain water and the acid. So, this is just a precautionary measure at this point. We do have ...
COLLINS: OK, pardon me, Brian, back up -- back up for just a moment. We're talking about a spill of hydrochloric acid here.
SCHLIEGER: That is correct, this hydrochloric acid that was on a tank on the roof.
COLLINS: 500 gallons or so?
SCHLIEGER: And as of right now -- as of right now, estimates, we don't have an exact estimate, but -- we just don't have an exact estimate. We have teams that are evaluating at this time.
COLLINS: OK, and forgive me, this has happened at a plant there and you're saying that the containment is up on the roof?
SCHLIEGER: That is correct. That's where the tank was kept, and it's -- there is a metal containment around that tank as of right now. And it is contained as of right now, but being open to the air. That is our concern.
COLLINS: Sure, of course. It can become quite toxic, obviously, if traveling even by air. I know you worried as you said about the rain, as well.
Right now, we're looking at some live pictures of kids evacuating a school in the area. Talk to us a little bit about that. Homes and schools in the area.
SCHLIEGER: As of right now, we've only evacuated as a precautionary measure with the Wayne County Homeland Security, just as a precaution. As I said, we're doing air monitoring in the area as of right now, and we have not picked up anything coming off the site as of this point.
COLLINS: OK, this happened at Riley Plating, it's a metal finishing services that it offers to the automotive and general industry. So, they specialize in barrel zinc, just to kind of let everybody know why we're talking about hydrochloric acid here.
We will continue to follow this story for you, those live pictures still coming in from our affiliate WDIV there.
Brian Schlieger from the EPA, thank you, Brian.
Want to take a moment now to talk business. Our Susan Lisovicz is standing by.
Susan, we have been watching some of those numbers on the big board there fall, at least for the past two days. Still kind of all over the place though, so I know you're going to be watching that along with film and television studios getting pretty tired of seeing their movies and shows all over YouTube. Getting angry, I imagine, too.
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COLLINS: A brutal, so-called sport. A weekend bust nets thousands of birds and dozens of people. Cockfighting crackdown after a quick break.
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COLLINS: Rapper T.I. will be spending the week in jail. A federal judge ordering him held in custody until a Friday bond hearing. T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris, is facing federal gun charges. Authorities say he gave a bodyguard $12,000 to buy three machine guns and two silencers. Police say they found three more guns in his car and six other guns at his suburban Atlanta house. Harris is a convicted felon, not allowed to own guns. His attorney says there are two sides to every story. He says he is confident that the legal system will, "Work in T.I.'s favor."
The largest cockfighting bust in U.S. history. That's how San Diego authorities are describing a weekend crackdown on a brutal gambling sport.
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ERIC SAKACH, HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE U.S.: And it'll just be a bloody, flurry blur of feathers with the birds striking furiously at each other.
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COLLINS: The sting netted an astounding 5,000 birds. Almost all of them were housed at a compound near the Mexican border. About 80 percent of the birds were euthanized. Police slapped 50 people with misdeamonor citations, another 50 suspects are being sought.
Want to let you know you can download the CNN podcast. It's available 24/7. You can find it at CNN.com/podcast. We record the broadcast right after this broadcast. We have a lot of stories in there that we don't normally have on our air from 9:00 until noon. So, check it out, CNN podcast.
Champagne corks popping all over Denver. The Colorado Rockies are going to the World Series for the first time in team history. They did it with a monumental hot streak, 21 wins in 22 games, including last night's final win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Can't tell they're happy at all. Not the Diamondbacks, the Rockies. The Rockies will face either the Cleveland Indians or the Boston Red Sox in the World Series, the big show. Good for them.
CNN NEWSROOM continues just one hour from now. "YOUR WORLD TODAY" is next with news happening across the globe and right here at home.
I'm Heidi Collins, have a great day, everybody, we'll see you tomorrow.
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