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Shots or Jail; Holiday Traffic; Bangladesh Cyclone; Second-Tier Presidential Candidates; Spanish Solar
Aired November 17, 2007 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And hello, everyone. I'm Tony Harris, and you are in the "CNN NEWSROOM." It is not the far-flung third world rife with disease. We're talking about suburban Washington, D.C., here, where a county government is threatening jail time for parents who don't or won't get their kids the vaccinations Maryland law requires.
CNN's Gary Nurenberg has been on top of the story all day and joins us live from Prince Georges County, Maryland, a suburb just outside of Washington, D.C. And Gary, how many children are we talking about in PG County who have not been vaccinated?
GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, about 132,000 kids in the system here. Several days ago, the number who hadn't been vaccinated was 3,200. Then Prince Georges County officials wrote and they called and they wrote and they called and they knocked on doors, and then they got serious.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): The parents lined up outside a Maryland courthouse on a chilly Saturday morning because the school system asked authorities to threaten them with jail for failing to get their kids vaccinated.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The school system started outreach efforts in September with phone calls, mailers, even home visits. Then this became a last resort for parents who couldn't -- who wouldn't comply one way or the other.
NURENBERG: Picketers objected to what they called the heavy- handedness.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the patients (ph) should have a choice. I just don't think they ever should have that much power.
NURENBERG: Others had asked a basic question about jailing parents.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And even after you jail the parents, what are you going to do with the child?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I brought in the shot records the next day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They said, OK, everything -- it was a mess- up. It was miscommunication. I turned around, two weeks later, I just got this letter yesterday in the mail.
NURENBERG: We heard repeated complaints from parents who said the only reason they were here was bad recordkeeping by the schools.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was the school's mistake that she didn't have documentation. This is the second or third time that we've had to have her shot records redone over again because her shot records got misplaced.
NURENBERG: Parents can opt out of the required vaccinations only by signing medical or religious waivers. Citing cases of serious adverse reactions, some parents worry about the safety of some vaccines.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are serious considerations for safety that need to be addressed before compelling people to vaccine.
NURENBERG: Public health officials say the benefits of vaccinations against childhood diseases outweigh the risks. Kendrick Williams (ph) got a shot at the court.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did it hurt?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little bit.
NURENBERG: A judge who signed threatening letters to parents seems glad he did.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this the judicial power of persuasion? I think it is. And the reason I think it is is we've got 1,000 kids back into school just by sending the letter.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NURENBERG: You know, you heard Tony ask a moment ago what the numbers are. Well, in the last 45 seconds, Prince Georges County schools called to say at the end of the day, it is now down to 939 kids who are not in compliance, the lowest number since last January. They're convinced it's working. Now, there are still parents on that list, obviously, who are not in compliance. Officials, Tony, will meet in the coming days to decide if they're going to ask a judge to, in fact, send them to jail.
HARRIS: Wow. Is there a step before jail, perhaps fines, or have the fines already been levied?
NURENBERG: Obviously, they're going to have to make an appearance before a judge. A judge will have to determine whether or not there are mitigating factors. We've told you that it could be 10 days in jail, but that's for the first offense. If it continues, it could be up to 30.
HARRIS: Whoa! NURENBERG: So there's a lot of litigating here on individual cases yet to be done.
HARRIS: OK. Gary Nurenberg for us, upper Marlboro, PG County. Gary, good to see you. Thank you.
We will break this down later in the hour with some healthy debate, to be sure, on personal freedom versus the safety concerns of kids in public schools. Is this too-heavy handed or a needed nudge for parents? At the bottom of the hour, that debate right here in the "CNN NEWSROOM."
And they're off. Right now, you are looking at traffic cams from across the country filled with early-bird travelers. We're going to take a look at this. Well, it's not too bad right now. They're getting a bit of a jump start on the Thanksgiving holiday. But the rush isn't only on the roads. Airports are also busy, bustling with people trying to beat the crowds and avoid those dreaded delays.
Joining us from New York's LaGuardia airport, CNN's Jim Acosta. Jim, OK, they're off, but really, how bad has it been there today?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tony, I've got to tell you the truth. It hasn't been that bad here today at LaGuardia airport. But we know don't be fooled by this illusion behind me, these empty corridors behind me, these lines that seem to not exist at his point. That's all going to change over the next 48 to 72 hours as the Thanksgiving crush will be officially under way.
But this year, government officials say they have a solution for the delays and the cancellations that we seem to experience every year. They're calling them "express lanes in the sky."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): There's a new flight plan aimed at those epic Thanksgiving lines at the airport. President Bush's proposal for easing pressure on the maxed-out Northeast corridor rests on opening the military's training air space to the big commercial carriers.
GEORGE WALKER BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These new routes will help relieve air congestion from Maine to Florida for nearly five full days surrounding the holiday.
ACOSTA: The move comes as the nation's aviation infrastructure is as stuffed as a Thanksgiving turkey.
DAVID STEMPLER, PRES., AIRLINE TRAVELERS ASSOC.: We're basically operating the way we did 60 years ago. It's as if we had the old U.S. highway system of the '50s with two-lane highways. We never replaced it with the interstate highway system, like they did on the ground.
ACOSTA: But not everyone is sure the extra room in the sky will be enough for busy Northeast airports, which account for one third of all air travel in the U.S. PATRICK FORAY, NATIONAL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ASSOC.: The bottom line is you can only land a number of aircraft at one time on any given runway. So the capacity at the end game and at the beginning game needs to double or increase before you start killing (ph) (INAUDIBLE) This is just another gimmick to try and appease the flying public.
ACOSTA: The industry wants to avoid a repeat of the Valentine's Day nightmare, when hundreds of Jetblue passengers sent hours stuck on a runway.
DAVID BARGER, CEO JETBLUE AIRWAYS: As a result of that well- publicized disruption in our operations, we've instituted many changes to ensure we don't ever repeat that performance.
ACOSTA: Travelers in the New York area are demanding improved performance.
DOUG FINKEL, TRAVELER: I mean, this is as bad as it can get. You know, you want to get somewhere, you have something planned, you get to the airport without any advanced notice, and for no reason, no plane malfunctions, you know, they're canceling it. And it is, it's probably because of too much -- too much air traffic.
MATT BATEMAN, TRAVELER: I mean, it's kind of hard, when you live here, to avoid the New York airports. There's nowhere else to really go, I mean, unless you're going to go to Philly or somewhere. One of our friends has a private plane. We can go with him.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ACOSTA: And all eyes will be on these departure and arrival boards over the next several days, as we find out whether or not the government has a solution here for air travelers. If we see those boards light up with yellow and red lettering, meaning that there are cancellations and delays across the country, then we know this hasn't worked. But if things run smoothly, then perhaps the government might have a solution on their hands that might be implemented permanently. Some are saying maybe this should be permanent.
HARRIS: Yes. Yes. It could -- maybe it'll work. We should all be so lucky as to have a friend with a private plane, however. Jim Acosta...
ACOSTA: Yes, right.
HARRIS: ... for us at LaGuardia Airport in New York City. Thanks, Jim.
You know, the biggest factor in the length and how serious these delays get to be is really the weather. Let's check in with Jacqui Jeras at the Severe Weather Center. Good to see you, Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Thanks. Good to see you, too, Tony. So far, you know, there are a couple little things going on out there weatherwise today, but none of which are impacting travel by the air. We had some problems earlier this morning, but it's been pretty smooth sailing since the afternoon. This delay that you see, over an hour in San Francisco, is due to a runway closure, so don't blame you know who.
Anyway, some rain showers across the Northeastern quarter, a little snow into the higher elevations there, so it'll be kind of slow going a bit if you're traveling along I-70, I-80, maybe I-71, I-94.
Into the west, the I-5 corridor starting to clear out a little bit, but I-84 and also I-90 are going to be slow going because of that. I-10, a little bit on the damp side, but really no big deal. Just make sure you've got those windshield wipers working properly.
What about traveling for tomorrow? Here's what we're expecting. Possible delays late out of the New York metro area's airports just because of some rain showers into the afternoon. We think most of the rest of you in the Northeast will be OK, with the exception maybe of Pittsburgh.
Across the Great Lakes and the Midwest should be all right, with the exception of Minneapolis, and we think those delays will be pretty minor. You know, you're used to the snow, and it won't be all that happy. There you can see some delays expected in Houston again with the rain and clouds. That will be the story across parts of the West, and maybe some low clouds and fog in San Francisco and LA in the morning.
And Wednesday, Tony, that is the day when all the people are traveling.
HARRIS: Right. Right.
JERAS: Here's a sneak peek. Of course, things could change between now and then. This is four days away. But your best bets will be out West and right along the Eastern seaboard.
HARRIS: What do you think, are we going to be -- is that helpful, you know, that little squeezeback we do, when we put the delays and travels and everything at the bottom. Is that helpful for folks, do you think?
JERAS: I think it's extremely helpful.
HARRIS: You think so?
JERAS: Yes. And we'll be doing that, of course, on Wednesday and then also next weekend, so make sure you keep it tuned here. We're going to have traffic delays, air and, you know, on the ground.
HARRIS: Yes. Just trying to give you as much information as we can to get you through this and help you navigate it. All right, Jacqui. Good to see you. Thank you.
Nature's fury meets grinding poverty. It is leading to a growing tragedy in Bangladesh. Help is on the way, but will it get there soon enough? (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Well, aid is flowing into storm-ravaged Bangladesh -- take a look at these pictures -- and survivors there certainly need it. A cyclone, Cyclone Sidr, left more than 1,700 people dead, and that number is expected to go up. Volunteers are springing into action to help the thousands of people left homeless. But with so many in need, the recovery will take a very long time. Our Dan Rivers is in Barisal, Bangladesh.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is what a category 4 cyclone does to an average house in Bangladesh. The rice harvest is also ruined. These farmers are among the poorest people in the world, and now many have lost everything, among them, Shanima Fakir. Her humble home of 17 years is destroyed. She says she was terrified when the cyclone hit and thought she would die. Somehow, she managed to scramble out with her four children. The whole family is now homeless.
(on camera): What's made Cyclone Sidr so destructive is that many of the houses are made of very flimsy materials. This one's just made of bamboo and wood. In effect, they're made of corrugated iron. None of them stood a chance.
(voice-over): This remote part of southern Bangladesh is criss- crossed by a huge river delta, the shores now littered with the debris of a violent storm surge, which left many villages in ruins. And you can see just how vulnerable this land is to flooding. For many people, there was nowhere to run.
The road into the worst-hit area is littered with huge fallen trees. Clearing them could take weeks. These people lack chain saws or machinery, so much of the work is being done by hand, or by trunk. Although these elephants are experts in this type of work, they are woefully inadequate for the scale of the task ahead.
Repairs to the downed electricity lines are also low-tech. There's talk of the U.S. Marines coming to help. These people desperately hope that talk turns into action.
Dan Rivers, CNN, Barisal, southern Bangladesh.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: You know what? Here's an opportunity for you to impact your world and find ways to help the storm victims of Bangladesh. We're going to ask you to go to CNN.com/impact.
And our news across America begins in Detroit, where a price war at the pump escalated into fatal gunfire. Competing gas station owners apparently argued over lowering their prices. Police believe that argument ended when one pulled out a gun and fatally shot the other in the head. A female officer with the U.S. Capitol Police has been relieved of duty. This is related to a rash of restroom fires set in two Senate buildings. According to CNN's Washington's affiliate WUSA-TV, the U.S. attorney's office is considering the exact charges the officer might face. Seven fires have been set, mostly in women's restrooms, since September.
Staying in Washington, lawmakers are demanding answers into the Crandall Canyon mine tragedy this past summer in Utah. You'll recall nine people died, including three would-be rescuers. And a federal mine official, mine owner and chief executive officer Bob Murray has a December 4 date with a Senate committee.
And from the Texas coast: What do you do with a ship that's no longer seaworthy, like the aged Texas Clipper, decomissioned by the U.S. Navy after World War II? Well, you sink that puppy. That's exactly what they did. But it's not as easy as it may sound. It took 10 years and four million bucks to get to today's burial at sea for the ship. It will now serve as an underwater habitat for marine life and a dive destination.
Well, they're presidential candidates Biden, Kucinich, Richardson and Dodd, but they're also known as the B team, or even the underdogs.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN, MODERATOR: Senator Biden, I want you to weigh in.
Sen. JOSEPH BIDEN (D-DE), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No, no, no, no, no. Don't do it. No, don't make me speak!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: So what does it take for a so-called underdog to get noticed?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: You know, they are sometimes called the second tier. Democratic presidential candidates Dennis Kucinich, Joe Biden, Bill Richardson and Chris Dodd trail the top three contenders in opinion polls around the country. At the debate in Las Vegas on Thursday, they even had trouble getting into the fight.
CNN's Mary Snow takes a closer look at the underdogs who are still managing to steal some of the spotlight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Call them the Democratic underdogs. They're the presidential hopefuls with little hope from breaking out from the bottom of the polls. Senator Joe Biden poked fun at his status at Thursday night's debate as the frontrunners took the spotlight.
BLITZER: I want you to weigh in.
BIDEN: Don't do it! No, don't make me speak!
BLITZER: I want you to. Go ahead.
SNOW: Biden's candor earned him high marks with political observers.
LARRY SABATO, UNIV. OF VA CENTER FOR POLITICS: Biden was by far the most natural and direct. I think he connected better with the audience more than any other candidate.
SNOW: The veteran senator's experience also came through, as with this response to a question about Pakistan.
BIDEN: I have made it clear to Musharraf personally when he called me. And I've spoken personally with Bhutto. Before, I might add, the president spoke to either one of them.
SNOW: Bill Richardson gained notice for being direct, say some observers.
BLITZER: What you're saying, Governor, is that human rights, at times, are more important than American national security?
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON (D-NM), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes because I believe we need to find ways to say to the world that, you know, it's not just about what Halliburton wants in Iraq.
SNOW: Overall, for the New Mexico governor...
DOUG HATTAWAY, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Bill Richardson stands out for working his resume into virtually every response and, interestingly, for not going after Hillary Clinton. It's like he's running for vice president on his resume.
SNOW: Senator Christopher Dodd's answer in Spanish gained him some attention. Strategists say the moment showed more about Dodd as a person but won't help him much in the polls.
Congressman Dennis Kucinich, say political observers, knows he'll never win, but gets headlines and applause with his blunt suggestions, like this one on how to deal with the president and vice president.
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH (D-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's called impeachment, and you don't wait. You do it now. You don't wait!
SNOW (on camera): While these candidates may have gotten our attention at the debate, it's unlikely it will help elevate them from their underdog status.
Mary Snow, CNN, New York
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Well, it was the most-watched primary season debate ever. If you missed even a minute of Thursday's Democratic debate from Las Vegas, see it again tonight and tomorrow night at 6:00 and 10:00 Eastern.
Global warming in the express lane. It is news that could scare you from the U.N.'s science panel studying climate change. Scientists say that the impact on the planet could be so severe that floods, famine and human suffering would increase. And for the first time, they're saying that some of the changes could be irreversible.
The report singles out the U.S. and China as the world's biggest polluters and warns if the greenhouse gas emissions aren't cut, water shortages could impact millions of people in Africa, Asian coastal cities could see more flooding, species of animals could become extinct in Europe, and the U.S. could see hotter heat waves and more drought.
Talk about intense rays of hope, a town in southern Spain is combining a new type of solar technology with turbines to power a small town. Here's our Al Goodman with our "Tech Effect."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AL GOODMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A most unusual tower, solar panels arrayed below, shimmering and targeting sunlight to make power in a new way.
(on camera): What is happening here? What's happening with this and the tower?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, this is the heliostat. It's a large mirror, beautiful mirror, and it reflects solar radiation to the receiver in the top of the tower. So we concentrate heat at the top of the tower.
VALERIO FERNANDEZ, MANAGER, SOLUCAR POWER PLANT: This is the first time that our (ph) solar tower (ph) is working commercially in the world, so we are demonstrating the maturity of this technology also here.
GOODMAN (voice-over): The intense heat up here, 35 stories high, generates steam, which drives turbines to make electricity. It's new and old technology combined.
FERNANDEZ: This plant is (INAUDIBLE) the emission of about 20,000 tons of C02 every year.
GOODMAN (on camera): This is just the start of this massive solar project. In five years, they plan to have several thousand more solar reflecting mirrors stretching almost as far as the eye can see.
(voice-over): A second solar tower under construction. They're also testing parabolic trough (ph) technology, like that used in California, heat reflected into a central tube to turn turbines. But here they're really betting on solar towers.
FERNANDEZ: In the future, we could expect some more efficiency from the solar tower. GOODMAN: In five years, they hope to generate enough electricity for Seville and its 700,000 citizens. For now, it's just enough for a nearby. A restaurant here owner says fighting bulls once were raised near the solar plant.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The Romans knew there was a lot of sun here, so the solar plant is in the ideal location.
GOODMAN: They're still trying to bring production costs down and boost power storage time when the sun doesn't shine. But they're already convinced of one thing.
FERNANDEZ: It's a (INAUDIBLE) solution. We think that we could supply huge amounts of electricity with these technologies.
GOODMAN: Al Goodman, CNN, San Lucar la Mayor, Spain.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: And here are some of the stories happening right now in the news. Aid is beginning to reach thousands of cyclone victims in southern Bangladesh. Officials say more than 1,700 people were killed when the powerful storm struck on Thursday. That number is expected to go up. A spokesman for the World Vision relief agency says more than 200,000 families are now homeless.
And deputy secretary of state John Negroponte met with Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, today. The Bush administration is urging Musharraf to end his state of emergency decree in Pakistan and prepare for free elections.
And let's follow up on Gary Nurenberg's reporting from the top of this newscast. Now, here's the issue: Your child gets a shot, or you go to jail. That get-tough policy right now in Prince Georges County, Maryland. Today is the deadline for parents to get their children state-mandated vaccinations, prove they've already done it or possibly face up to 10 days in the joint. Hundreds of anxious parents showed up at the county courthouse today for on-the-spot shots. Officials call the policy a last resort. Critics say it goes way too far.
Earlier, I interviewed two experts with opposing views, Barbara Lowe Fisher (ph) is president of the National Vaccine Information Center, an organization concerned about vaccine safety, and Dr. William Shatner (ph), of the CDC advisory committee on immunization practices.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Barbara, you know, the law is the law in this area. I guess we're talking about 2,300 children who have not been vaccinated in PG County out of a population of 131,000 Chicago. So statistically, the number is small, but it does spotlight these parents. What is going on here? Do you understand why these parents are not, you know, following the law and getting their children vaccinated?
BARBARA LOE FISHER, NATIONAL VACCINE INFORMATION CENTER: Well, I think terrorizing parents and throwing them in jail for not getting their child a chicken pox shot is definitely going too far. Some of these children may have had serious reactions to previous vaccinations and the parents are trying to protect them from harm. But whatever the reason...
HARRIS: Do we know that? Do we know that's the reason?
FISHER: We don't know, but whatever the reason is, when state officials use fear and intimidation to threaten parents and force them to do whatever they want to do, this causes parents to fear and mistrust government officials.
HARRIS: Hang on a second.
Doctor, I'll get you in here in a second here.
The school system is saying this has been the policy. You've got kids in the system. Maybe you don't. We've been talking about this since September. What else is the school system to do? What's a better way to handle this?
FISHER: These are two new vaccines that have been added to the schedule. I think it raises the question, how many vaccines are we going to force our children to get in order to get a public education? A lot of parents are asking that question. They think too many vaccines are required.
Hepatitis B is not something you get in the school setting and chicken pox is mild for most children. So that may be part of the issue here.
HARRIS: Doctor, weigh in here.
DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: Yes, sir. Well, I think most of these parents, frankly, have blown it off. There may be some with medical contraindications to their children or even a religious of philosophical objection. But Maryland has a procedure they can go through.
We have eliminated virtually all of these diseases of childhood by obliging all of us to participate. If we all get our children vaccinated, each child is protected and we help protect the others. If we let down our guard, airplanes will bring these diseases into this country again. It's happened.
HARRIS: Come on, Barbara, that makes sense. Come on, Barbara, that makes sense.
FISHER: Well, listen, chicken pox is not small pox. Hepatitis B is not polio. We are looking at vaccines that are now being mandated for school entry that do not fit the small pox or polio model. I think we need to ask every time there's a new recommended vaccine and the CDC recommends it for universal use for our children, are we going to automatically mandate it?
I think people need to take back the power by having elected officials vote on whether a vaccine should be required in a state. Right now, rulemaking authority with public health departments allows public health officials to make that call. And I think parents should have more input.
HARRIS: Doctor, that doesn't sound unreasonable.
SCHAFFNER: Well, there is a process in every state and it differs among the different states. If new vaccines are added to the schedule, there are always public hearings. Some states actually require a legislative vote. So it varies among the states, but it's all public. It's all open. We've all joined together. Let's protect all of our children against these diseases. Hepatitis B...
FISHER: That is not true. In many states, there are pro forma hearings, public hearings. But the power resides with public health officials. And most of them had not met a vaccine they didn't want to. I think we need to have this debate because there are many more vaccines coming. And we need to know whether or not we're going to have the power, through our elected officials, of deciding which vaccines our children are going to be required to take.
HARRIS: I'm curious, if there's a waiver system in Prince Georges County, shouldn't these parents who have objections, whatever the reason, shouldn't they avail themselves to that system?
FISHER: The problem is a medical exemption is very hard to get because there are almost no contraindications now. When a doctor tries to write to write a medical exemption, he or she is harassed by the public health officials if that condition the child has does not strictly conform to the CDC guidelines. Religious exemption is almost impossible to get in many states too because health officials are throwing parents in rooms and grilling them around...
HARRIS: Barbara, the doctor from Vanderbilt there in his lab coat, he just smirked. Why did you smirk, sir?
SCHAFFNER: Oh, I think the medical contraindications are clear. Pediatricians and family doctors recognize them and they're respected. Philosophic and religious exemptions, there's always a process in every state.
Barbara is right. Some states are much tougher on that than others, but there is a process available.
I think the equation is simple. Would you rather have children vaccinated or would you rather have the disease?
The use of vaccines is powerfully successful...
HARRIS: Let her answer that, doctor. FISHER: I think that the ethical principle of informed consent that is applied to every other medical procedure that carries a risk of injury of death must also be applied to vaccination because the one-size-fits-all approach doesn't fit everyone.
We have a lot of children regressing, after vaccinations, to poor health. This is part of the reason this debate is getting so intense.
HARRIS: Yes, yes.
FISHER: We need to have the right to informed consent like we do for any other medical procedure.
HARRIS: Dr. Schaffner, Barbara, great to see you both. Thanks for the debate. That was good. That was spirited.
SCHAFFNER: Thank you, Tony and thank you, Barbara.
FISHER: Thank you.
HARRIS: Thank you both.
Well, Maryland officials say their get-tough vaccination policy, while controversial, has been successful. The count yesterday indicated about half of the 2,300 unvaccinated children have now gotten their shots. As we saw in Gary's reporting earlier, even more got their shots today.
Fatherly advice from Saddam Hussein? An FBI interrogator talks about his quality time with the Iraqi dictator.
Then, one family's heartbreaking story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RON MEIERS, MEGAN'S FATHER: It's just, like, please, please, Megan, breathe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: The deadly consequences of cyber bullying, all too real for one family. You will not believe the twist to the story of one young girl's tragic end.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): South L.A., more than 95 percent of the people here are minorities. You'll find no large restaurants and few grocery stores. Just fast- food places that dot the landscape with neon signs and billboards. That concerns city officials.
JAN PERRY, L.A. COUNCILWOMAN, DISTRICT #9: There's some stereotypical belief that people either don't have the money or don't want a full-service restaurant, and those things are absolutely incorrect and untrue
GUPTA: Thirty 30 percent of L.A.'s population is in south Los Angeles, but 40 percent of the fast-food restaurants are there as well. The health department says that's unfortunate because one in three people in south L.A. are obese.
Councilwoman Perry says it's because eating choices are limited to junk food.
PERRY: We have issues of diabetes, hypertension, childhood obesity, morbid obesity.
GUPTA: Perry wants to ban new fast-food restaurants from building in south L.A. for at least a year. She hopes to attract sit- down restaurants and more grocery stores.
PERRY: This is an effort to push forward a healthier agenda and to give people some choices that they have not historically had.
GUPTA: And although obesity may not be eliminated entirely, studies show zoning laws are a good first step to fighting the problem.
STEPHEN TERET, CENTER LAW & THE PUBLIC'S HEALTH: You can regulate the kind of food that fast-food outlets are offering. And you can probably set up some ratio between fast-food outlets and other stores that sell fruits and vegetables.
GUPTA: The big national fast-food chains do offer healthy alternatives, but people have to choose them.
Lawmakers say that's not enough, and it's time to upgrade the food establishments in a neighborhood that has gone so long without.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: OK. You know, it seems every teenager today has a MySpace page. If you're a parent or a grandparent and you don't know what I'm talking about, it is really time to get clued in. MySpace is where teens chat, socialize and, yes, flirt.
But for one troubled girl, the social website was used as a wicked game by a person no one could have expected.
Here's CNN's Gary Tucker.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What happened here is horrifying. Why it might have happened will leave you incredulous.
TINA MEIERS, MOTHER OF MEGAN: She was just a good girl.
TUCHMAN: Tina Meiers, of suburban St. Louis, is the mother of Megan Meiers, who had lived a challenging childhood.
R. MEIERS: She got bullied in school. And she had big self- esteem issues. She had struggled with depression when she was in the third grade.
TUCHMAN: Megan's mother and father allowed her to set up a MySpace account under their supervision. And said their 13-year-old swooned when she got her first affectionate note ever from a boy named Josh Evans.
R. MEIERS: He thought she was pretty. Posted comments on her pictures, you know, "This is beautiful. Your eyes are beautiful."
TUCHMAN: For about a month, Josh sent her instant messages, saying things like, "Lucky me and lucky you because you are my number one."
But Megan's mother and father started getting suspicious because, although the notes were not explicit, their parental instinct told them something wasn't right.
T. MEIERS: I did contact the police department and I called and asked to be transferred to the Cyber Crimes Division to see how can I check to see if this MySpace account is real. Nothing you can do.
TUCHMAN: And then one day...
T. MEIERS: It was a whirlwind. Josh saying horrible things to Megan. Megan saying things back to him.
TUCHMAN: Nasty messages from a boy, who just a day before, meant everything to this world. One in particular cut deep.
R. MEIERS: The world would be a better place without you and have a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) rest of your life.
TUCHMAN: Megan was distraught beyond words.
T. MEIERS: This is the part I'll never forgive myself for because she was looking for me to help calm her down like I normally always did and be there for her. And I was upset with her because I didn't like the language that she was using. And I was upset that she didn't listen to me and sign off when I told her to. And so I was aggravated with her about that and told her that she knew better. And she just said to me, "You're supposed to be my mom. You're supposed to be on my side." And she took off running upstairs.
TUCHMAN: It was too quiet for too long in that upstairs bedroom.
R. MEIERS: Tina walked upstairs. I didn't really pay much attention to it. And then I just heard a blood-curdling scream.
T. MEIERS: I just saw her hanging from her closet. R. MEIERS: When she just screamed, I was right there.
T. MEIERS: I tried picking her up.
R. MEIERS: I held her, and I yanked the whole closet thing out of the wall and Tina got a knife so I could cut the belt from around the neck and then started CPR.
MEIERS: She had tears the entire time running down the side of her face until she passed away.
R. MEIERS: Just like, please, please, Megan, breathe.
TUCHMAN: Megan was pronounced dead the next day. When Ron Meiers came home from the hospital, he wanted to find Josh Evans, let him know what he had done to his little girl. The first place he tried to look was Josh's MySpace page.
R. MEIERS: It was deleted. The whole Josh Evans no longer existed.
TUCHMAN: A month passed as the Meiers struggled with their grief, searching for answers why their daughter went to such extremes and who was the boy who drove her there.
Then a neighbor told them something stunning -- Josh Evans was a creation of the mother who lived on the same block as the Meiers, a mother who actually went to Megan's funeral.
According to an official police report, that mother acknowledged it, saying, in the months leading up to Meiers' daughter's suicide, she instigated and monitored a MySpace account, which was created for the sole purpose of communicating with Meiers' daughter.
The Meiers were told the other family to find out from Megan why she was having a dispute with their own 13-year-old daughter.
R. MEIERS: As if my daughter would have killed herself with a gun, they loaded the gun for her.
TUCHMAN: We are not reporting the name of that other family to protect the identity of their daughter, but did go to their home to try and get their side of the story.
(on camera): Is anybody home?
TUCHMAN (voice-over): The woman's father answered the door. In a soft voice, the grandfather said it was said, but then would not say if he thought the police report was wrong...
(on camera): Have you talked to these people since then?
T. MEIERS: Yes, I have.
TUCHMAN: What have you said to them?
T. MEIERS: Probably things that I can't say on camera.
TUCHMAN: What have they said back to you?
R. MEIERS: Give it a rest.
T. MEIERS: Give it a rest.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Now, at this point, if you're waiting to hear what law enforcement is doing in an effort to get Megan and her family some justice, well, you may be waiting forever. County prosecutors, the county sheriff's office and the FBI say there is no indication whatsoever a crime has been committed. So there are no plans to do anything legally.
TUCHMAN: After initially telling us they were not even investigating the case any more, the prosecutor is now telling CNN is office will review the situation.
But more than a year has gone by since Megan hanged herself. Tina and Ron Meier, who have separated, partly because of the stress, were told by lawyers it was best to stay quiet, but they no longer are. They are angry and feel they owe it to Megan to speak out.
(on camera): Maybe your story could help the welfare of another child.
R. MEIERS: Absolutely.
T. MEIERS: That's what we hope.
Gary Tuchman, CNN, O'Fallon, Missouri
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Well, the wife of an American basketball player now missing in Brazil is begging for help in finding her husband. Tony Harris hasn't been seen or heard from since November 4th. That was just a few days after he went to Brasilia to play for his former team there. Tony's wife said her husband sounded worried the last time they spoke.
Fredricka Whitfield spoke with Lori Harris, last hour in the "NEWSROOM"
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LORI HARRIS, WIFE OF MISSING BASKETBALL PLAYER: He was leaving Brazil because he was distressed.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Over what?
HARRIS: He had some bad feelings about things. He was told that his old coach that he did not get along very well with had said things about him when he left last time that made him feel very concerned. He thought it could put him, you know, at risk.
WHITFIELD: More so than being concerned about his job, but you're saying he felt like his life was being threatened?
HARRIS: I don't know if it was being threatened, but he didn't feel safe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: The family doesn't have much positive to say about U.S. embassy officials in Brazil. Those officials say they're helping Brazilian authorities who have the legal jurisdiction.
Well, did you know Saddam Hussein was a neat freak? It was one of the personal insight the FBI agent in charge of questioning the Iraqi dictator is revealing.
Our Brian Todd has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): War over weapons of mass destruction, but the man who allegedly had those weapons told his interrogator it was mostly smoke and mirrors.
For his new book "The Terrorist Watch," author Ron Kessler interviewed FBI Special Agent George Piro, who questioned Saddam Hussein every day at least five hours a day for seven months.
The former dictator's startling revelations.
RONALD KESSLER, AUTHOR, "THE TERRORIST WATCH": Saddam eventually admitted in the interviews that he was bluffing about WMD, he was afraid of Iran. And what better way than if America thought he had WMDs.
At the same time, Saddam admitted he did plan to resume his WMD program, which he thought he could do within a year when he thought sanctions would be lifted.
TODD: Piro, a seasoned interrogator, told Kessler he believed Saddam because of his body language.
According to Kessler, Saddam told Piro he's stayed one step ahead of U.S. forces on the night of the invasion.
KESSLER: Saddam also told George that, in fact, he was at the two locations that the U.S. bombed. Saddam said he was there, but he had left by the time the bombs actually fell.
TODD: Piro told Kessler Saddam was a neat freak who would wash his hands compulsively if he ever shook yours. The former Iraqi president also flirted with an American nurse while in custody, writes Kessler, and had plenty of romantic advice for his young FBI handler.
KESSLER: Saddam said Arab women are better at a certain age because they'll be loyal to you and American women are too independent.
TODD: The FBI would not let us interview George Piro or take a picture because of his sensitive assignments. The agent told Kessler he smoked Cuban cigars with Saddam. Then...
KESSLER: They have the hugged each other in a traditional Arabic way, which made George rather uncomfortable. But then Saddam definitely was shaken and teared up.
TODD: George Piro told Kessler he found Saddam Hussein likeable with a good sense of humor. But Piro never forgot what an evil man Saddam was and said he felt his conviction and execution were fair.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: They are the moments that can make or break a candidate. In case you missed it, here's one of those so-called debate zingers from this week's presidential debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am happy to be here tonight, and this pants suit, it's asbestos tonight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: OK. Hillary Clinton, the Senator from New York, ladies and gentlemen, if this political thing doesn't work out, there's always standup. Maybe not.
More zingers to come, next in the "NEWSROOM."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: You know, when it comes to presidential debates, scoring the big one liner is almost as important as arguing circles around the competition.
CNN's Jeanne Moos explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Electrifying, no, but after more than 20 debates, we've managed to compile the top 10 debate zingers.
MIKE HUCKABEE, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Number 10, by a hair.
We've had a Congress that spent money like John Edwards at a beauty shop, and it's high time...
MOOS: Number nine was out of this world.
CHRIS MATTHEWS, DEBATE MODERATOR: Did you see a UFO?
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I did.
MOOS: The only thing better than a two-word answer is a one-word answer from a talkative guy known for what the "L.A. Times" called uncontrolled verbosity.
BRAIN WILLIAMS: DEBATE MODERATOR: Can you reassure voters in this country to have the discipline you would need on the world stage, Senator?
JOE BIDEN, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes.
MOOS: He may tend to be chatty, but we're giving Senator Biden credit for three zingers.
Number seven, Biden's answer to the question, what do you like about the candidate next to you.
BIDEN: Dennis, the thing I like best about you is your wife.
MOOS: That would be the red head, Mrs. Kucinich.
On to number six, something Senator Biden doesn't like.
BIDEN: Rudy Giuliani, there's only three things he mentions in a sentence, a noun, a verb and 9/11. There's nothing else.
MOOS: Number five was when Mitt Romney compared the debate process to "Law & Order."
MITT ROMNEY, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It has a huge cast, the series seems to go on forever and Fred Thompson shows up at the end.
MOOS: John McCain liked his own witticism so much that he put it in a campaign commercial. He zinged Hillary for wanting to spend money on a Woodstock museum.
JOHN MCCAIN, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now, my friends, I wasn't there. I'm sure it was a cultural and pharmaceutical event. I was tied up at the time.
MOOS (on camera): One of our favorite zingers came post-debate, not from a candidate, but from a snowman.
SNOWMAN: Hello, Democratic candidates.
MOOS: A snowman who asked Democrats about global warming. Then Republican Mitt Romney suggested he wouldn't answer questions from a snowman to which the snowman replied.
SNOWMAN: Lighten up slightly.
MOOS: Our number two debate zinger came from Mother Nature.
RUDY GIULIANI, (R), PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE: A Catholic bishop -- any issues involving...
MODERATOR: That's the lightning that's happening in our system.
GIULIANI: I know.
MOOS: It happened while Rudy was in the middle of an answer about abortion.
GIULIANI: For someone who went to parochial schools, this is a frightening thing.
MOOS: That's sort of what Mike Gravel said about his rival candidates on state.
MIKE GRAVEL, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Some of these people frighten me.
MOOS: He really zapped his colleagues in the Senate. Our number one zinger...
GRAVEL: The first time you get there, you're all excited, my god, how did I ever get here. Then six months later you say, how the hell did the rest of them get here?
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: OK, even you missed a minute, you get the second of the Democratic debate from loss of wages, you can see it again this weekend, tonight in a matter of seconds and then again at 10:00 eastern, then again on Sunday at 6:00 and 10:00 p.m. eastern time.
From CNN global headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Tony Harris. CNN's Democratic Debate starts right now.
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