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Georgia Governor Declares State of Emergency Due to Drought; Big Brother in Big Apple
Aired October 20, 2007 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. SONNY PERDUE (R), GEORGIA: That's why we filed an injunction yesterday with the Middle District of Florida to immediately restrict water flows from leaving our reservoirs. That's why this morning I signed an executive order declaring a state of emergency. And that's why just this morning I've sent a letter to President Bush asking him to declare a major disaster area in this section of Georgia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: The White House responded to Georgia's request for a -- with a definite maybe today. CNN's Elaine Quijano is traveling with President Bush on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: White House spokesman Dana Perino says the Bush administration has been in frequent communication with officials in Georgia on this issue and says the administration will review the governor's request. In a written statement, she went on to say: "We have already begun drafting interim rules to use procedures and flexibility to address the endangered species requirements. And the Army Corps has started the process of revising the operations manual for the river basin."
Now these concerns come on a day when President Bush tried highlighting his environmental policy, specifically dealing with wildlife. Early this morning, the president visited Laurel, Maryland, to tour the Patuxent Research Center where he outlined efforts aimed at preserving and restoring habitat that migratory birds use as stopovers in the United States.
He then traveled here to St. Michaels where he signed an executive order that the administration says is meant to conserve the populations of two types of fish, rockfish and red drum fish. Environmentalists though question what impact the order will have and commercial fishermen say the order puts the interests of recreational fishers over their own.
Then after a trip out on the bay to do some fishing himself, the president and first lady Laura Bush, out of sight of the cameras, went to a private lunch with Vice President Dick Cheney at his home here in St. Michaels. It marked the president's first visit to the vice president's weekend home here on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Elaine Quijano, CNN, traveling with the president in St. Michaels, Maryland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: So this is what it looks like just west of Atlanta in Douglas County, Georgia. The drought has gotten so deep, outdoor water use is banned. And if you've got a green lawn, that can send up the red flags. CNN's T.J. Holmes rides along with the water police.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL GRIGGS, DOUGLASVILLE, DOUGLAS COUNTY, GA.: They come out and put pesticides on your lawn.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Michael Griggs (ph) is on patrol. He is on the lookout for green grass, a sign that people are watering their lawns.
GRIGGS: It's like this yard right here, really, really green.
HOLMES: He's also checking water meters.
GRIGGS: Should be no use on your irrigation meters.
HOLMES: Douglas County in suburban Atlanta is under a total outdoor watering ban. It's Griggs' job to find violators and take action immediately, shutting their water off. So far nearly 20 households have had their water turned off.
PETER FROST, DOUGLAS CO. WATER & SEWER AUTHORITY: If property owners want the water back on in the morning, it's $1,000. If not, if they want to wait until we were able to schedule for the turn-on, then they'll only have to pay the trip charge, which is $25.
HOLMES: Future violations only get more expensive. A second violation is at least $350 and a third is $1,000. Peter Frost, the executive director of the local water and sewer authority says these drastic steps are necessary.
FROST: We're trying to stop the reservoir from getting into a critical condition.
HOLMES: This is the county's reservoir or what's left of it. And like most in the Southeast U.S., it's drying up. Because of the low levels, the water district is now piping in 60 percent of its water from a neighboring county, but that water supply is also nearly gone.
For now, authorities are making plans and doing what they can to keep the water they have from going down the drain.
GRIGGS: It's real pretty when it's on, but don't need to be on right now.
HOLMES: T.J. Holmes, CNN, Atlanta. (END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: All right. What do you say we drill down on this little deeper? Bonnie Schneider is standing by in the severe weather center.
And, Bonnie, I see you have your map up and you're going to show us this severe -- oh, boy, everything in red and maroon.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Look how dark this color is, that's as extreme as you can get, unfortunately for the Southeast, for the city of Atlanta, much of north Georgia and especially into Alabama. You know, when you break down the numbers of the rainfall deficit, it's really, really severe, especially for Huntsville, Alabama. Look at this, 23.97 inches. That's the deficit because normally we'd get about 44 inches of rain.
Looking ahead, we're looking and looking to see if there's any rain in the forecast. Only a slight chance of it, at least a few days we have that here in Atlanta. But 30 percent is not much. And when you're 20 inches behind in the deficit, 30 percent isn't going to make that much of a difference.
The same holds true for Nashville, where we a better chance of rain on Wednesday, but we are looking at, unfortunately, no big drenching rain. It would have been nice to get a tropical system come through, and that would have brought some rain to this region. But we just are not seeing that right now.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Bonnie, appreciate it. Thank you.
SCHNEIDER: Sure.
HARRIS: You know, we have been hearing a lot about the so-called superbug this week with deaths reported in Virginia and Georgia. But this superbug may be responsible for thousands more deaths each year.
CNN's Jason Carroll has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cleaning crews descended on 22 schools in Bedford, Virginia, disinfecting locker rooms and desks, trying to prevent a deadly superbug from spreading. This after it claimed a casualty, Ashton Bonds, a 17-year-old senior at Staunton River High School.
VERONICA BONDS, SON DIED OF MRSA: I was standing beside his bed and I asked him, baby, we're supposed to be having a graduation this year. And I said you've got to come up out of this and get better.
CARROLL: Bonds struggled for a week before dying from the aggressive infection called methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, better known as MRSA, a mutated strain of a Staph infection. Bonds' school had sent a letter to parents warning about the dangers of MRSA.
RYAN EDWARDS, BEDFORD COUNTY SCHOOLS SPOKESMAN: We have been dealing with MRSA for the better part of the last month and we have had cases that appear steadily since then. We have six confirmed cases and possibly seven within the county.
CARROLL: Late today, Weston High School in Connecticut confirmed one of their students was just diagnosed with MRSA. And officials at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland, announced the same.
A new government study shows the infections are more widespread than once thought. The study says MRSA may have contributed to nearly 19,000 deaths in 2005, more casualties than those who died from AIDS that year.
(on camera): The study shows the majority of infections, 85 percent, occurred in hospitals and in medical clinics. But doctors are seeing more and more cases outside medical facilities.
DR. ROBERT DAUM, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO: The communities where the epicenter is now, it has shifted from the hospital.
CARROLL (voice-over): For example, athletes involved in contact sports seem to be susceptible. But some cases seem to defy explanation, like the one involving Simon Marcario.
EVERLY MARCARIO, SON DIED OF MRSA: I remember when he turned 1, I told my husband that I couldn't believe he had passed an entire year without having a sniffle.
CARROLL: But on an April morning in 2004, everything changed. His parents thought he had the flu. Doctors said he was fine and sent him home. Hours later, the 1 1/2-year-old's breathing sounded odd. His mother called the emergency room pediatrician.
MARCARIO: I had her hear his breathing, and she said, hang up the phone, call 911.
CARROLL: Doctors pronounced Simon dead early the next day. An autopsy later confirmed MRSA had infected his organs. Doctors still are not sure how he was infected.
Ashton Bonds' mother also waits for an explanation, she may never get one. There's still much doctors don't know about MRSA, only that for now the cases keep coming.
Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And just today, the latest report of a school-based Staph infection comes from just north of New York City, nine athletes and a coach at Iona College have MRSA. Officials say the Iona College outbreak is under control and that one student who was hospitalized has since been released. Our Dr. Bill Lloyd says a threat from superbugs is very real. In our last hour, he said we should all be aware of its deadly potential and all take precautionary measures whenever possible.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR, BILL LLOYD, SURGEON: Keep your antenna up, keep you hands washed, and if you develop any kind of infection, don't hesitate to ask a health care provider, could this be the superbug?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Crossing the border for class illegally? A school district in California is doing something about it. The full story in 10 minutes.
Plus, paparazzi, a menace for celebrities, you may say, and now kids have gotten the shutterbug bug. Pint-sized paparazzi in about 25 minutes here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
And an amazing survival story, a toddler tossed by a tornado and lives. The full story straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Boy, just a wild week for extreme weather. A camera on the dashboard of a sheriff's department patrol car caught these scenes in Pensacola, Florida, where storms damaged a shopping mall and a Baptist church. And this was the aftermath in Nappanee, Indiana, where a tornado wrecked dozens of homes and three factories.
A savage storm, a possible tornado, a baby in a crib, those might sound like, well, a recipe for tragedy. Instead, folks are calling it a miracle. Randy Conat of CNN affiliate WJRT reports from eastern Michigan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE SOYRING, HOMEOWNER: Next thing you know, the house started shaking. Both of us thought it was an earthquake, it started shaking. And next thing you know, I got sucked down in the basement and I opened and I watched the tornado go that way.
RANDY CONAT, WJRT REPORTER (voice-over): That's what Joe Soyring remembers the tornado struck his Arbela Township home. He and his fiancee, Nicole, found her 3-year-old daughter alive and well right away, but they couldn't find 15-month-old Blake. Their screams brought next door neighbor Jeff Hawks running to help.
JEFF HAWKS, NEIGHBOR: We're looking all over for the baby. I mean, we scoured the whole three acres over here, the whole three acres on my side, and we couldn't find the baby. And all of a sudden, I heard this little whimper, and I told everybody to be quiet so we could hear it and the baby was under this huge pile of debris.
CONAT: He pulled apart the pile and found the baby was very much alive.
HAWKS: And the crib had flipped over, and the mattress was the only thing that saved the baby. The mattress was on top of the baby, but I mean, there was thousands of pounds worth of stuff wrapped over this baby. I don't know how he made it.
CONAT (on camera): They're digging through the rubble, trying to salvage whatever they can. Every item they find is precious.
NICOLE OPPERMAN, MOTHER OF 'MIRACLE' BABY: Blake, that's our -- that's what everybody keeps calling him, "miracle baby."
CONAT (voice-over): Blake had some scratches and bruises on his head, but was otherwise not hurt. He was checked at Covenant Saginaw and released a few hours later. In the daylight they could see Soyring's house was destroyed and Hawks' was heavily damaged.
SOYRING: We're lucky to be alive. I mean, look at it. That's where the house sat. It's a year-old house. I mean, it just got it built a year ago. So, now I'm going to start all over again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Well, earlier today the parents talked with CNN about just what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SOYRING: It was very scary. I mean, you know, to not know where he's at. I didn't know -- trying not to think the worst, but I didn't know if the tornado had taken him, you know, where he could have possibly ended up because, you know, it tore my heart out. When we found him -- when we heard him and we tore all the debris off and found him under his mattress, it was the best feeling I've ever had.
Somehow the crib and him got sucked out of the house because I think what had happened was when he had landed, the crib had landed upside down and when the debris came on top of it, it crushed the crib. So when we took everything off, we found pieces of the crib so we knew this could be the area. And when we pulled the bed mattress off, that's where he was laying underneath.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Wow. Joe Soyring and Nicole Opperman, feeling blessed today after their little boy survived that tornado in eastern Michigan. What a story.
Sex for sale in the newspaper. The ads weren't that blatant, but police don't care. They arrested newspaper employees. Find out what happened straight ahead.
Plus, you could be a star in New York City thanks to cameras all over the place. Big Brother's power is about to get much bigger in the Big Apple. And why a California school district feels it has to keep the cameras rolling on some of its students. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: We are taking about kids so desperate to learn, they're actually sneaking across the Mexican border to go to school. It is a real problem that has turned into a real battle in Southern California. The issue is so contentious; school officials are doing residency checks to see if their students are actually legit.
Christine Dinh with CNN affiliate KSWT has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE DINH, KSWT REPORTER (voice-over): The Calexico School District has battled students (INAUDIBLE) their residency to attend Calexico schools. So they are stepping up enforcement to stop kids who live in Mexico and cross the border to go to school.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, taxpayers pay for the kids in that community to be attending that high school. And simply, if you're not from the community, you must pay tuition.
DINH: The school district is taking extra measures to verify students' addresses, even conducting surveillance at Calexico's port of entry.
DAVID ALVAREZ, SUPT., CALEXICO, CALIFORNIA, SCHOOLS: Well, we have individuals that work for our school district that go there periodically and if a student is wearing our school colors, our school uniforms, if it looks like a student, looks like they go to our school, then we follow that student, take pictures and go to that school and verify that student does live here in Calexico.
DINH: Superintendent David Alvarez says people were proving residency just isn't enough.
ALVAREZ: But we have periodic visitations. We check on students and we get a name of someone to verify, then we go on and verify their (INAUDIBLE). We knock on their door and ask to see if they live here.
DINH: The district also sends out mailers to students' reported addresses to see which ones are returned as undeliverable.
ALVAREZ: We just want to assure all of our residents, the taxpayers of this community -- the taxpayers of our state want to make sure that students who come to school here, that they live in Calexico. And that's just a simple as I could explain it to our community that we're just following the law.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Well, that was Christine Dinh with our affiliate station KSWT. News "Across America" right now for you. A major New Orleans interstate shut down. A truck carrying about 250 cylinders of highly flammable gas overturned on I-10. The truck was engulfed in flames. Some of the canisters ignited, went airborne and hit at least five cars. Amazingly the only one hurt was the truck driver. Police say he had fallen asleep at the wheel. He has been charged with careless operation of a vehicle.
Three advertising executives at The Orlando Weekly newspaper are behind bars in Florida. Police say they knowingly published prostitution ads in the publication. The trio is being charged with facilitating prostitution and benefiting from it financially.
Despite a large security presence, some sporadic violence broke out at this weekend's protests targeting IMF and World Bank meetings in Washington. Among the incidents, one young woman was hit with a flying brick and a police officer was pushed from a scooter. Demonstrators say the financial organizations' policies harm the world's poorest people.
In today's CNN "Security Watch," increased security on the streets of the Big Apple. A host of new high-tech surveillance cameras are dotting the Lower Manhattan landscape. They're making privacy advocates a little jittery. But police say the cameras will make the city safer.
Our Jim Acosta looks at the proposed new "ring of steel."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Big Brother is about to get much bigger in the Big Apple. Right now, the New York Police Department is testing what will eventually be 100 new license plate readers, most strategically focused on the city's financial district. They can quickly capture the plate on a moving vehicle and identify its owner.
The readers, along with thousands of new security cameras being mounted across Manhattan, are all a part of an $81 million plan to rapidly expand the city's surveillance capacity over the next two years.
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (I), NEW YORK CITY: In London, they have two or three cameras on every single subway car.
ACOSTA: New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently got a close-up look at London's self-described "ring of steel," a system of a staggering 400,000 government cameras capable of following a suspect's movements at street level.
Comparing that to the 6,000 public and private security cameras used by the NYPD, Bloomberg says it's high time for America's biggest city to catch up, despite privacy concerns.
BLOOMBERG: I do think that in this day and age, if you think that cameras aren't watching you all the time, you are very naive. ACOSTA (on camera): In some ways, New York already has its "ring of steel." There are countless private companies with cameras rolling, capturing images that can be handed over to law enforcement. In many places across this city, you're being watched, you just don't know it.
(voice-over): With the city's new cameras on the way, privacy advocates wonder what the police will do once they're flooded with all of that fresh surveillance material.
DONNA LIEBERMAN, EXEC. DIR., NYCLU: Who has access to these records? Under what conditions can they be released and to whom? How long are they going to be maintained? We don't know the answers to these questions.
ACOSTA: But the founder of the Web camera company EarthCam says it's all about security, noting how the British obtained clear surveillance images of the 2005 London subway bombers.
BRIAN CURY, CEO & FOUNDER, EARTHCAM: Five years from now hopefully we have a lot more cameras in critical areas, to protect critical infrastructure, human beings, major office complexes. We're in the right direction. Where the mayor is heading is a great step, but there's a lot further to go.
ACOSTA: And it's not just New York. Other cities, big and small, are setting up their own camera networks. "United Surveillance States of America" coming soon to a town near you.
Jim Acosta, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And still to come in the CNN NEWSROOM, students by day, paparazzi by night. You think I'm kidding, huh? Wait until you meet two kids who call themselves the pint-sized paparazzi.
And just in case you haven't noticed yet, down there, the left -- why can't I get this right ever? Left side -- there! We will tell you -- there you go. Turn me green. That's easier. There you go. We'll tell you why the CNN logo and Tony Harris, green. That's straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris. Happening now, health officials say a outbreak of drug- resistant Staph infections at Iona College is under control. Ten students, athletes at the New York school were treated. One of them went to the hospital but has since been released. A Virginia student died from this kind of Staph infection earlier this week.
A Michigan family is counting their blessing today after their 14-month-old survived an encounter with a tornado. The boy was tossed about 40 feet, but his crib and mattress landed on top of him, protecting him from other debris. And Georgia's governor has declared a state of emergency in 85 counties due to a severe drought. Sonny Perdue is also seeking a federal exemption so Georgia can stop sending water downstream to its neighbors. Let's talk a little bit more about the crisis in the state that is slowly but surely drying up.
Today, Georgia governor, as we just mentioned a moment ago, Sonny Purdue is pleading with President Bush to keep drinking water flowing to dozens and counties and the city of Atlanta.
Warnings about the area's break-neck growth are on the verge, Josh, of coming true amid the nation's withering drought.
You've been following this story for us. What do you have for us?
JOSH LEVS, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: The governor was saying this is no longer just about actual problem from nature. It's also about a federal bureaucratic nightmare. Let's take a listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SONNY PERDUE, (R), GOVERNOR OF GEORGIA: We're also mired in a frustrating man-made disaster of federal bureaucracy. The actions of the Corps of Engineers and Fish and Wildlife Services are not only irresponsible, I believe they're downright dangerous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: What's all that about. We want to talk you through this. These two agencies he's naming, what do they have to do with anything? Here's how it works. Some of Georgia's water flows to Alabama and Florida where it helps cool power plants. It also helps keep alive freshwater mussels and sturgeon. Sounds like trivia, but it's the opposite. It's critical here. They're protected under the Endangered Species Act. Georgia says more than 3 billion gallons of water leave the state every day going out partly in order to do those things.
Now, the Army Corps of Engineers, which controls what happens with the water, it says it's legally required release that water because those species have to be protected.
But the state of Georgia says the Army Corps of Engineers is not right. The state of Georgia -- this is where the bureaucracy comes in. The statement from the Fish and Wildlife Service, which is supposed to administer this act that protects the species, OK?
HARRIS: OK.
LEVS: So the Fish and Wildlife Service says in case of a drought, you've got flexibility, you can take expedited action. They don't have to send that amount of water down to Florida every day. Despite the fact that's what the Corps was saying, you have this group saying they don't have to. So that's why the governor is so frustrated. HARRIS: Well, it seems like, if you've got language there, we should be able to work this out. Otherwise, there's a battle between folks, people and animals here.
LEVS: That's what it sounds like. What I learned also is that mussels help purify water. In Florida they need them in order to keep drinking water available in a lot of ways. Mussels play a major role in that process.
HARRIS: If there's no water for the mussels to work on, what are we talking about here?
LEVS: They're still in Florida. The water is still there. What's going to happen from here on out, you know?
HARRIS: What does happen now?
LEVS: Real quickly, politics. The governor came forward and said I need you, the president -- there he is. That's them a year ago. They're friends. When the governor says, Bush, I need this to happen right now, what he's doing is putting political pressure on the president and saying it's time for payback. I've done a lot for you. Make sure this bureaucracy ends right now. Keep water in Georgia.
HARRIS: Yeah, let's get this done. This is a major city in the country. Come on. 80 days? 80 days?
LEVS: Army Corps of Engineer says there could be more. But the state is saying there's only 80-days worth in Lake Lanier, which is the major source of its water for the whole area.
HARRIS: All right, Josh.
LEVS: When is the rain going to come? We're stuck this way.
HARRIS: That's the real answer.
LEVS: Yes.
HARRIS: Josh, appreciate it. Thanks.
LEVS: Thanks.
HARRIS: You may have noticed something a little different on the bottom of your screen today. The CNN logo in the lower left corner has turned green. That's because CNN is going green over the next week. We are digging deeper on environmental issues, covering stories that affect all of us, from the air we breath to the fuel we use. It all coincides with the premiere of "Planet in Peril," a special report from Anderson Cooper with Dr. Sanjay guitar and Animal Planet's Jeff Corwin. That is next Tuesday and Wednesday at 9:00 p.m. eastern, only on CNN.
Let's talk about tree houses. Not just for kids anymore. Actor -- Val Kilmer built a luxury tree house at his ranch in New Mexico, the perfect hideaway when the pressures of Hollywood get too much. Here's CNN's Gerri Willis.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GERRI WILLIS, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From "Batman" to "Iceman," to "Jim Morrison", Val Kilmer's career has been bright lights and red carpets. When he gets away from it all that he feels most at home.
VAL KILMER, ACTOR: As soon as you get in it, you see every adult just immediately -- you just start smiling. It's just fun to be in a tree.
WILLIS: No million-dollar mansion for Kilmer. He escapes to a 300-square-foot tree house tucked in a tiny corner of his 6,000 acre Mexico ranch.
KILMER: Yeah, I lived in New York for ten years and loved it, but I think once you find out what you really want, it's important to live where you pray the best, where you're the healthiest.
WILLIS: For Kilmer, this project was a labor of love.
KILMER: I put every darn nail in this tree house. It's all built with screws you see. That's my little contribution.
WILLIS: The real genius behind in design, tree house designer Roderick Romero, who's built above-ground hideaways for Sting and Donna Karan.
RODERICK ROMERO, DESIGNER: I got a phone call and it was Val. He said I want to have you out to New Mexico. Are you interested in coming? I said absolutely.
KILMER: Roderick would nod and smile and pretend to consider my ideas and then he just did what he wanted.
WILLIS: He wanted a natural design built to complement its surroundings.
ROMERO: Nature is the architect, and we're just trying to figure out how to work within it.
WILLIS: Within it and with it.
ROMERO: This actual tree house is 100 percent reclaimed, all salvaged from various areas within five miles of this exact site. That's what makes it look like the structure has been here forever.
KILMER: Just to share this land and the wilderness and the wildlife with my children is a priceless experience. Just saw a coyote hopping through the tall grass. Not hopping. What do they do? Pronking (ph) almost. Just see him every six or eight feet. It's just strangely satisfying.
WILLIS: His love for nature, particularly trees, has deep roots. His second cousin, Joyce Kilmer, wrote the famous poem "Trees" in 1913.
KILMER: I think I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree. So it's in their blood, the tree house.
WILLIS: Gerri Willis, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: If you're visualizing your perfect world, it's easy to imagine one without junk mail. A new online service aims to give consumers control of their mailboxes. It is called Catalog Choice. Under line that, Catalog Choice. And let's people just say no to unwanted mail, especially those tree consuming catalogs.
Joining me now to talk about it is David Mizejewski. He is the spokesperson for the National Wildlife Federation, one of the environmental groups that came up with the program.
David, good to talk to you. Tell us more about this Catalog Choice. Sounds like a good idea.
DAVID MIZEJEWSKI, NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION: Yeah, it's a great idea. Catalogchoice.org. It's a web site where people can take their names off of lists to catalogs. It may not seem like that big of a deal in the greening of America, but when you consider there's 19 billion catalogs mailed in the U.S. every year, it can actually make a big difference if we are mailing fewer catalogs.
HARRIS: Let me have you expand on that just a bit. How big of an impact -- we get these mailers and catalogs. I just throw them in the recycle bin or whatever else. Boy, if you could just shut this down -- expand on it. How much of an impact could this really have?
MIZEJEWSKI: A huge impact. 19 billion catalogs, literally millions of trees cut down every year. That's habitat for wildlife. That's one reason National Wildlife Federation is involved. But the process of making the paper for the catalogs uses a tremendous amount of energy, the same amount of energy it would take to power 1.2 million American homes for a year. And burning that energy puts out a lot of carbon dioxide.
HARRIS: David, is this kind of a blanket ban like the do-not- call list?
MIZEJEWSKI: No, it gives the user a lot of flexibility. A lot of people like to get catalogs, like to shop from catalogs and the companies need to send the catalogs out to stay in business. So the web site allows you to select which catalogs you want to receive, which ones you don't and you can even request how frequently you want to receive catalogs. Maybe you only want to get it once a year. You can do that through this service.
HARRIS: How do you get involved? I'm looking at you, young guy, you know, with an eye to the environment. How did you get involved?
MIZEJEWSKI: Well, I've been with National Wildlife Federation for a while now, and we're really committed to do combating global warming and saving wildlife. This is one of those consumer choice options that are out there that can actually make a big impact if we support it, and that's how we got involved and how I got involved.
HARRIS: Very quickly, how do you sign up?
MIZEJEWSKI: You go to the web site. It's www.catalogchoice.org. It's as simple as signing in.
HARRIS: Follow the prompts all the way through.
MIZEJEWSKI: Follow the prompts all the way through and it just takes ten minutes.
HARRIS: David, great to see you. Thanks for your time.
MIZEJEWSKI: Thank you.
HARRIS: Still to come in the "NEWSROOM," a bump for Trump or David versus Goliath? How a homeowner in Scotland has, so far, defied the power of Donald Trump. The whole story, straight ahead in the "NEWSROOM."
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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN NEWS SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): We all know that organic foods are good for our environment. Grown without pesticides and fertilizers, they keep the balance of the earth's soil intact. So is eating organic healthier?
DR. ANDREW WEIL, "EATING WELL FOR OPTIMUM HEALTH": Eating organic is wise on the personal level because you're reducing your intake of potentially harmful compounds.
GUPTA: Now some scientists say that removing chemicals in certain foods can actually help people lose weight. That's because the toxins in nonorganic foods are broken down in the liver, which is a key organ in the weight loss process. It's the largest fat burner in the body. If the chemicals aren't in the system, the liver can do a better job of burning fat, keeping weight down.
But food watchdog groups say it's more than just getting rid of chemicals. It's really up to individuals to change the way they eat altogether. If organic food helps them, all the better.
MICHAEL JACOBSON, CENTER FOR SCIENCE IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST: So solve this obesity epidemic, people have to radically change their diets to much more fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
GUPTA: Experts caution that organic foods are more costly, because of costlier regulations and smaller harvests. But even getting a few organic items into the diet, can cut out dangerous pesticide residue in the body and help the environment at the same time. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Donald Trump's got money, power, expensive suits, an itchy paint-slip finger and an eye for prime real estate. And he's really used to getting his way, so you might be surprised to learn about his latest rival in a multi-billion-dollar deal.
CNN's Phil Black reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL BLACK, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the shores of the North Sea, along a beautiful stretch of the Scottish coast, Donald Trump wants to build what he calls the greatest golf resort in the world. He describes it as an unspoiled and dramatic seaside landscape.
That's not the sort of language we're used to hearing from the billionaire.
DONALD TRUMP, REAL ESTATE MOGUL: Taking money out of her big fat (DELETED EXPLETIVE). She's always been a loser. You're fired.
BLACK: Few have the courage to defy Trump. Quarry worker Mike Forbes is among the few.
MIKE FORBES, SCOTTISH LAND OWNER: He said he's going to be a good neighbor, but he hasn't showed that yet.
BLACK: Forbes' property is right in the middle of Trump's development.
FORBES: There's going to be a golf course running up this side of me and another running up this side of me.
(on camera): You'll be an island.
FORBES: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It will be my island.
BLACK (voice-over): Trump has offered to buy, but Forbes isn't selling.
FORBES: It's my history. All my family comes from here, you know? They didn't own it, but I own it.
BLACK: It's fair to say this isn't the tidiest property in Scotland. Rusting cars and crumbling barns.
FORBES: Need a little bit of repair, but I'll get around to it someday.
BLACK: Forbes says it's not much, but it's his castle. What does Trump think?
TRUMP: It's a pigsty. I say get your house cleaned.
BLACK (on camera): Donald Trump says your property is a pigsty.
FORBES: Maybe to him, not to me. I always said if I had his money, it could look nice.
BLACK (voice-over): Trump says he can build around Forbes, but he believes the Scotts man's messy ways are a deliberate strategy to frustrate him and drive up the price.
TRUMP: I think he'll probably not want to clean up. His property it it's not cleaned up.
FORBES: I've got everything I need. I don't need no more.
BLACK (on camera): Mike Forbes isn't the only obstacle standing between Donald Trump and his Scottish dream. Other locals have formed action groups to fight for the conservation of this area. Trump must follow a long, complicated process to receive final approval for the development. The battle for these hills still has a long way to go.
(voice-over): Trump says he loves this location because his mother was Scottish born. He's now learning more about the Scottish character.
FORBES: The Forbes clan is known for being stubborn. No, the more he pushes, the worse I get.
BLACK: Two very different men with one thing in common, they don't like being told what to do.
Phil Black, CNN, Balmetti (ph), Scotland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Don't miss our next story. High school students by day, celeb-chasing, shutter-bugging paparazzi by night. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Paparazzi clamoring for the shot that will earn them big bucks in the tabloids or online. It can be a cut through, dirty business. Yet, two prominent faces on the scene are clean-cut teenagers.
Our T.J. Holmes talked to them earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AUSTIN, TEEN PAPARAZZI: That video you just showed was a little over the top.
BLAINE, TEEN PAPARAZZI: Yeah, that scared me there.
T.J. HOLMES: Yeah, we tend to do that every now and again, fellas,
Fellas, tell me here, why, in the first place. Did this start out as something cool to do? Blaine, you answer this one for us. Was it cool and kind of a hobby or did you think you could make this a career?
BLAINE: Yeah, as a career, make a couple cash on the side as well as selling art photos at art galleries and stuff like that.
Austin, you're 14 years old. Celebrities don't always like to see paparazzi coming, and when they see you, a 14-year-old kid, how do they react to you?
AUSTIN: A lot of celebrities, they're either nice or they're not. There's no in between. They're either sweet and hi, what's your name? How long have you been doing this? But the other half, it's, like, eh.
HOLMES: Are they actually nasty to you? Still, you're 14 years old. You're a kid.
AUSTIN: Yeah.
HOLMES: Are they nasty to you still? Treat you like any other member of the paparazzi.
AUSTIN: They treat me maybe a little different.
HOLMES: How so?
AUSTIN: It's not a big difference, but it's a pretty -- I mean, what would you say?
BLAINE: They treat us like...
AUSTIN: We're kids.
BLAINE: Yeah, we're kids.
HOLMES: Do you think they don't take you seriously?
AUSTIN: No, they do.
BLAINE: No, they take us seriously. The first look they'll kind of laugh. And then we'll bust out our $3,000 or $4,000 cameras and business cards and they'll be, like, oh, all right, they're serious.
HOLMES: How did you get your parents to go for this? I assume to get the money shots, a lot of times you have to go to events that are late night. And also, you talk about the $3,000, $4,000 cameras as well.
AUSTIN: The money shot doesn't have to be late at night. It can be somebody running in a park early in the morning, you know, or on the beach in the middle of the day, like Paris or Lindsay. The money shot is literally pretty much only an exclusive, which means just you, of a celebrity doing something that they wouldn't normally do.
HOLMES: And tell me here, fellas, we have about a minute left. I want to get to this part about the money. Now, you guys are 14 and 15. We know a lot of money can be made in this business with those exclusive shots. So tell me what photographs you've taken that have fetched the most money and how much did it fetch.
AUSTIN: I think one of my Britney's sold for $34,000.
BLAINE: He got that, like, this week.
HOLMES: $34,000? What are you going to do with $34,000, Austin?
AUSTIN: Save it.
BLAINE: Yeah, right.
HOLMES: Have you spent some of it already?
AUSTIN: No, no, I haven't even gotten the check yet.
HOLMES: You're 14 years old. What are you going to do with $34,000? You've got to do something fun, xBox 360.
BLAINE: He's already got that.
AUSTIN: And you do too with every game.
HOLMES: What about you, Blaine?
BLAINE: I went and bought clothes, new shoes.
HOLMES: What was the picture of?
BLAINE: Britney spears flipping me off.
HOLMES: Britney spears flipping you off? That doesn't sound like something in his character.
AUSTIN: No, he asked her to flip him off.
HOLMES: Oh, OK, wait a minute. That's not an original shot.
BLAINE: No, no, I didn't.
HOLMES: They just he just told on you on national TV.
BLAINE: Geez.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There goes the friendship.
BLAINE: Yeah, we're done.
AUSTIN: See ya later.
HOLMES: Blaine and Austin, gentlemen, it's a pleasure to get to talk to you. Hope we don't run into you in L.A. Thank you so much for spending time with us. It's been a pleasure to hang out with you guys this morning. Thanks very much.
BLAINE: Thanks, man.
AUSTIN: OK, you too.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: What about school, you might ask? Well, both Austin and Blaine do independent study. Hmm. Dropping off tests and homework to teachers twice a week.
Still to come, he's a comedian, political commentator and now a security guard. Bill Maher blows his top on TV. We'll show you the whole thing next on the "NEWSROOM."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS ANALYST: What if you never had to hear this again...
AUTOMATIC VOICE MESSAGE: Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice message system.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I call you, I leave voice mail, you call me back. We want to break out of voice-mail jail.
VELSHI: Even when you do reach someone on the phone, Bill Gates says you're probably still not getting enough done.
BILL GATES, MICROSOFT FOUNDER: The amount of time you waste calling somebody up, going through some pleasantries, saying please send me this thing or that thing.
VELSHI: Microsoft is counting on unified communications, taking programs and devices that we already use and combining them.
WILL: Hey, Renee.
RENEE: Hi, will.
VELSHI: Using a computer or a hand-held device, unified communications lets you reach someone if they give you the green light indicating they want to be reached instantly, wherever they are and however they want to be reached. Whether it's instant message, e- mail, on their hand-held device or at whatever phone number they're using.
GATES: It's time we brought the magic of software to the whole way we communicate. I want software to understand who I work with, how I want them to be able to get a hold of me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And here you see Francesca is in a meeting. Kevin is available.
VELSHI: And if you're all about the face time...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you mind if I actually add video?
VELSHI: These tools have all been available. Microsoft is betting it will save your company enough time and save you enough frustration that 100 million people will be using unified communications within three years and voice mail...
VOICE MAIL: To page this person...
VELSHI: Will be a thing of the pass.
Ali Velshi, CNN, Redmond, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: And finally, Bill Maher, talk show host, political pundit, comedian and now HBO bouncer? Take a look at what happened on his live cable show last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL MAHER, HOST, "REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER": See, this is the problems sometimes on the government
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible)
MAHER: Hey, do we have some (DELETED EXPLETIVE) security in this building or do I have to come over and kick this guy's (DELETED EXPLETIVE).
Hey, hey, hey, out. Out. Out.
This isn't the Iowa caucus, OK? It's not a debate. It's a debate between us. You're in the audience. Audience comes from the Latin, to listen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: A little decaf, no? OK.
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