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Disciplined to Death?; Iran Making New Moves in Persian Gulf; Radiation Risk: Unnecessary CT Scans
Aired November 29, 2007 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: A bear named "Muhammad" means a stint in jail and a one-way ticket out of Sudan for a teacher from Liverpool, England.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: It could have been worse, but the Brits say it shouldn't have happened at all. Crime and punishment Sudanese style, this hour in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
PHILLIPS: Osama bin Laden speaks and the world listens, if only to marvel at whatever brazen claim the al Qaeda leader will make next. Today, Al-Jazeera aired an audio recording said to be that of bin Laden. We're working to authenticate it and we don't know when it was recorded, but the message is textbook Osama. He rails against European nations, urging them to get out of Afghanistan and reiterate that he and nobody else is responsible for the attacks of 9/11.
LEMON: Torture -- thrown on a floor and fatally beaten, her body then tossed off a bridge in a case of discipline that went way too far. That's how her lawyer says the mother of Riley Ann Sawyers, the toddler believed to be "Baby Grace," is explaining the little girl's death.
Nineteen-year-old Kimberly Trenor and 24-year-old Royce Zeigler are charged with injury to a child and evidence-tampering. Trenor's attorney says Zeigler was upset because the 2-year-old didn't say "please" and "Yes, sir." The attorney also says Trenor is pregnant and being held in the maternity section of the Galveston County Jail.
"Heart-wrenching," that's how Riley's father describes his daughter's last few hours of life. Riley's biological dad and grandmother spoke to us earlier about the little girl they loved and what they may have -- what may have led to her beating, allegedly at the hands of her new stepfather. Sheryl Sawyers says her granddaughter was a special little girl.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERYL SAWYERS, RILEY'S GRANDMOTHER: She, you know, was a very wonderful child. She loved to sing. She loved to dance, watch movies. Her favorite was "Cars."
You know, she liked to sit and read books, you know, or just sit with you in a chair snuggled up. Loved to be outside. When it was nice outside, she wanted to be outside, didn't want to come back in the house. But, yes, I mean, she was -- she was the light of my life.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: When was the last time that you saw Riley?
SAWYERS: May 25th.
COLLINS: And I know it had been some time after that where you had not seen her. In fact, a couple of months. What were you thinking in that time? Were you worried about her?
SAWYERS: Yes, I was worried about where she was, you know. We couldn't locate her. We couldn't locate her mother. And that we had visitation that was set up, you know, my son, and we'd go to pick the child up.
She was never there. You know, we didn't know where she was and, of course, family, her family, was not helpful in us finding where she was.
When I first saw the sketch, you know, on the Internet and I looked at it, you know, that's what kind of first drew me to it, is a little blonde-haired little girl who, you know, kind of resembles my granddaughter. And as I, you know, read through the story and realized it was a toddler who was found in Texas, which we found out the end of August finally that Kimberly was in Texas, I just -- you know, I didn't want -- I didn't want to believe it could be her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, investigators say they expect DNA will confirm Baby Grace's identity. Riley's mother and stepfather are each being held under $350,000 bail.
PHILLIPS: New developments involving Iran today, and U.S. commanders in the region are concerned.
Let's bring in our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr -- Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, U.S. commanders have known for some time that Iran is making new moves in the Persian Gulf, but now they are publicly talking about it. Yesterday the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, said for the first time in public that Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps now is running all of Iran's naval operations inside the Persian Gulf, and that is of great concern, Admiral Mullen says, because that Revolutionary Guard Corps, of course, some elements of it have been designated a terrorist organization.
It has been alleged to be responsible for shipping weapons into both Iraq and Afghanistan. And, of course, earlier this year it was the IRGC that was behind the seizing of those British sailors in the Persian Gulf waters.
So the U.S. Navy had not talked about this until yesterday, but now it is being openly discussed and officials say it is something that concerns them a great deal -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: And let's talk about Bush meeting with commanders at the Pentagon today. These issues obviously at hand.
STARR: Well, absolutely. You know, President Bush will be here this afternoon in the Pentagon for a couple of hours talking to the joint chiefs in the tank here just down the hallway from where we are, and the what they are going to talk about is some of the future problems facing the U.S. military -- Iran, China, all of it.
Listen to just a little bit of what the Pentagon spokesman had to say about this meeting today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEOFF MORRELL, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: This one is expected to take a longer-term, more strategic look at the military. In particular, they are expected to talk about the need for sustained investment in our national defense long after the conflicts in which we are currently engaged have ended.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: You know, and there you really have it, Kyra. What they are talking about is what happens, you know, some day when Iraq is over, when Afghanistan is over, and the military is continuing to face new challenges. Iran, China, North Korea, all of it getting ready for whatever the future may hold -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Interesting statement, "when Afghanistan and Iraq are over." That is something I think that a lot of people question, for sure.
Barbara, thank you.
The president is expected to speak after his session at the Pentagon. Stay with CNN. We plan to carry it live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
LEMON: And we're waiting for reaction from the British government to developments in Sudan where an Islamic court has just convicted a British teacher of inciting religious hatred.
Gillian Gibbons was promptly sentenced to 15 days and deportation for letting her second grade students name a stuffed teddy bear "Muhammad."
Standing by live from Liverpool, England, Gibbons' hometown, CNN's Paula Hancocks -- Paula.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Don. Well, just in the last minute or so we have got that reaction from the U.K. government. We've been hearing from the U.K. foreign minister, David Milliband, saying, "We are extremely disappointed that the charges against Gillian Gibbons were not dismissed. As I said this morning, our clear view is that this is an innocent misunderstanding by a dedicated teacher."
Now, we understand from those on the ground in Sudan, this is exactly what many of the teachers at the school were also saying in front of the judge, the head teacher has been saying in the past few days. He just thought it was a misunderstanding, and certainly there had been hopes here in Liverpool amongst her friends and her family that this would be seen as a misunderstanding, but clearly this is not the way the judge saw it -- Don.
LEMON: All right. CNN's Paula Hancocks.
Paula, thank you very much for that report.
PHILLIPS: Nothing gets primary voters fired up like the debate over immigration. It was issue one at last night's CNN/YouTube Republican face-off, and things got pretty heated from the start, beginning with Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The mayor said, and I quote almost verbatim, which is if you happen to be in this country in an undocumented status --- and that means you're here illegally -- then we welcome you here. We want you here. We'll protect you here.
RUDY GIULIANI (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In his case there were six sanctuary cities.
ROMNEY: The policies of the mayor of pursuing a sanctuary nation or pursuing a sanctuary state are frankly wrong.
GIULIANI: He had a sanctuary mansion, not just a sanctuary city.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: All of the GOP hopefuls joined the fray. Tom Tancredo, with whom he has long been a signature issue, accuses opponents of trying to out-Tancredo Tancredo.
Well, if you missed even a minute of the action or all the tough viewer questions, you can still see what everyone is talking about. An encore presentation of the CNN/YouTube debate will air Saturday night 8:00 p.m. Eastern.
And who do you think won the debate? Check out CNNPolitics.com to watch highlights and get analysis from the best political team on TV. See what everyone is talking about at CNNPolitics.com.
LEMON: Stop the dying. After the death of Washington Redskins player Sean Taylor, a newspaper reporter speaks out about violence in the African-American community.
He's live right here in the NEWSROOM.
PHILLIPS: New fears of a cancer risk from CT scans. Should you be worried?
LEMON: Plus, another disturbing turn in the mortgage crisis.
You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
PHILLIPS: Meanwhile, it's 2:15 Eastern Time here. Some other stories that we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.
A newly-surfaced audiotape said to be from Osama bin Laden. He calls on Europe to end its support for the war in Afghanistan.
A British teacher is convicted of inciting religious hatred in Sudan, but she will get a relatively light sentence. The judge says that she insulted Islam by letting students name their teddy bear "Muhammad." She could face six months in prison and 40 lashes. Instead, she'll get 15 days and deportation.
The mortgage crisis is getting worse compared to last year. Foreclosure filings nearly doubled in October and repossessions more than doubled.
CNN personal finance editor Gerri Willis has details coming up.
LEMON: Well, doctors are ordering more CAT scans than ever before, but are those tests increasing patient' risks of cancer? That's a very good question. And our medical correspondent, our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, has all the details for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It really is remarkable how many more CAT scans we get nowadays compared to 1980. Back then, there were about three million CAT scans done every year. In this past year, 62 million. So it's gone up 20 times.
The question for some time has been, well, what's the impact of all that? We know a couple of things.
We know that the average person's radiation exposure is about double as what it was compared to 1980. So it's gone up significantly across the board. We also know, we also expect that about one to two percent of all cancers will somehow due be radiation exposure within the next several years.
Now, a CAT scan, most -- a lot of people know what this is, but it's a lot of different x-rays done sort of within this hollow tube that you sit in, and those images are taken with software that can create an image that can be very useful for detecting things like cancers within the body, bone problems, things like that. There are a lot of people who need CAT scans, we know that, but according to the study, about a third of people who get it don't need one. About 20 million adults, and also about one million children a year.
The message here for a lot of people is, talk to your doctor about whether you really need the CAT scan. The message is, don't avoid necessary CAT scans because there is a benefit-to-risk ratio for people who really need these.
There's also some interesting new technology out there, better CAT scans that give you good images and less radiation that. That may be an option there. Talk to your doctor about this.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right. Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
Thanks for that.
(WEATHER REPORT)
PHILLIPS: A hunting disagreement gets Texas Tech basketball coach Bobby Knight pretty fired up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOBBY KNIGHT, TEXAS TECH BASKETBALL COACH: You swore and cussed...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's exactly what I said. I'm asking you now to move down so the pellets don't land on my house again.
KNIGHT: If you ask us politely I'll be glad to do it. You've asked us politely now. You can film whatever you want to film, I don't care. We'll go wherever you want to go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just put it down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Imagine that, Bobby Knight stirring it up again. Get the story behind the birdshot heard around the Lone Star State.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Texas Tech head basketball coach Bob Knight, remember him? He's known for throwing a few chairs and temper tantrums while becoming the winningest coach in college hoops history. But did you know he's also a hunter?
Lubbock's James Simpson (ph) may disagree with the description after confronting Knight and a friend last night for allegedly shooting too close to his home.
Watch and listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I asked you to move down. I didn't call the police on nobody. Don't...
BOBBY KNIGHT, TEXAS TECH BASKETBALL COACH: You didn't ask us to move down. You swore and cussed...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's exactly what I said. I'm asking you now to move down so the pellets don't land on my house again.
KNIGHT: If you ask us politely I'll be glad to do it. You've asked us politely now. You can film whatever you want to film, I don't care.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, Knight isn't commenting on the tape, and the police declined charging him with a crime. One of the Simpson's (ph) neighbors says Knight apologized to her after she was hit by a stray pellet the previous day.
(BUSINESS REPORT)
LEMON: A smile we'll remember, a troubled background some can't forget, and a Philadelphia sportswriter sounds off demanding some attention.
You'll hear from him in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips live at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
PHILLIPS: We take you straight now to Caracas, Venezuela. Live pictures, here. The streets flooded -- we're told tens of thousands of protesters, right now, rallying right here in central Caracas against what they say is President Hugo Chavez' undemocratic plan to change the constitution to bolster his power.
It's a student-led protest right now. I mean, this amount of people you wonder if this is going to move into a type of revolution, but we're talking about tens of thousands of people right now flocking the streets. Students have held running clashes with the police in the past few weeks. This is apparently one of the biggest protests they have been able to put together. The students have been branding Chavez's proposal to do away with presidential term limits, gag the press during emergencies and turn Venezuela into a socialist economy, undemocratic and rushed. That is what they have been saying Chavez has been doing. They want to do away with that, and they are fighting for a no vote in Sunday's upcoming election. Once again, tens of thousands of protesters led by the students there in Caracas, Venezuela, opposed to President Hugo Chavez's undemocratic plan they say to change the constitution in order to bolster his power in that country. We're following it.
LEMON: Absolutely. And we're also following this. We have more now on the hunt for Sean Taylor's murder, while friends and family plan a funeral no one ever expected. The service will take place Monday at Florida International University. That is in Miami.
And police are now saying Taylor was shot in a random burglary. There's no indication he knew his attacker. The Redskins safety died of a single gunshot to the leg. Police are still trying to figure out whether a break-in at Taylor's home earlier this month is connected to what happened on Monday.
Sean Taylor was 24. His death is senseless, and it's not the only one. A Philadelphia sports writer made that point in an eloquent newspaper column today that I would like to read just some of you.
It says, "We have buried 200 Sean Taylors in this city this year."
He's talking about Philadelphia.
"We don't know what would have come of their dreams and hopes. They deserve our tears, too, for they may have been anonymous to you but they weren't to their mothers and fathers, their best friends, their lovers, their teachers and their mentors."
David Aldridge joins now from Washington, D.C.
David, good to see you.
DAVID ALDRIDGE, COLUMNIST, PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER: Thank you.
LEMON: Wish it was better circumstances. We actually used to work together in Philadelphia.
ALDRIDGE: Yes, thank you.
LEMON: And it was a problem with crime then, even a bigger problem now. Why -- I guess, you're a sports writer.
ALDRIDGE: Yes.
LEMON: Is this a crisis point for you? Or for African- Americans, I should ask -- men?
ALDRIDGE: Yes, I think it is a lot more than sports, Don. Although, I understand that Sean Taylor was a catalyst for all this. But it's bigger than sports or the Redskins, or football. There's a crisis going on in all of our cities in this country, all of our big cities, whether it's Chicago or Detroit or Washington or Philadelphia. They are all having the same thing. There's too many black men dying and I -- and I don't know what to do about it. And that was the frustration that I was trying to express in the column I wrote.
LEMON: I have to say this -- and this is just literally now coming from my director of coverage here in Atlanta, just got an e- mail as you were speaking here, saying that CNN has confirmed that Rodney King was shot last night in San Bernardino.
ALDRIDGE: Wow.
LEMON: So there is another African-American man, don't know the exact details on that, but just getting that e-mail from our CNN super desk and also my director of coverage.
ALDRIDGE: Right.
LEMON: What's going on?
ALDRIDGE: Don, I don't know and that's the problem. And what distresses me is that I think there is such a disconnect that I feel with my own community and it troubles me. And I don't know what I can say or what I can do to kind of show them that there are other ways of living their lives. I just feel like too many young black men feel like there's no hope, like there's no alternative to the lifestyles that they see on some of these cable stations, that they see in the movies, that that's their only alternative in life. And there's more things that they can do with their lives.
I grew up in Northeast, Washington, D.C. I didn't have a silver spoon. My parents both worked, but we had alternatives. And I think too many young black men today don't see any alternatives in their lives.
LEMON: I have to ask you, and we talked about this a little bit before the interview -- just a couple weeks ago I did a roundtable with young black men, college students, high school students, asked about role models, images in the media, what have you. They really couldn't come up with a role model besides an athlete or Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who is no longer with us, sadly.
ALDRIDGE: Right.
LEMON: I wonder what that says about the state of -- of black America, the state of us, being able to come up with mentors, or role models. Or maybe its incumbent upon people like me and like you to do it ourselves?
ALDRIDGE: I think that's part of it, Don. I accept that responsibility. I accept that failure on my part for perhaps not being visible enough or doing enough. It's ironic. I think there's more successful African-American men and women than there ever been in the history of this country. I think there has been substantial and significant progress made, in some ways. But you have this disconnect that continues where a young black child that goes to school and wants to learn and wants to be successful is accused of acting white, and I don't understand that for the life of me. LEMON: We talked about that as well. And we're coming up and it's not really a celebration we're marking World AIDS Day on December 1st, coming up.
ALDRIDGE: Right.
LEMON: Just did a very powerful interview this morning, with someone, that will air tomorrow and this weekend on CNN. And he talked about how in the African-American community it's not OK to be gay. It's not OK to be HIV-positive. No one wants to talk about it. And when you do come out in that way, your family, and the people around you, even the church, abandon you because we have to live a certain way to keep up with the Joneses.
ALDRIDGE: Well, I don't think -- I suspect it's not OK to be gay pretty much anywhere whether you're black or white. I think that that's a problem either way.
LEMON: But there's even more of a stigma.
ALDRIDGE: There's no question, yeah. No question about it and it's very difficult for gay men or gay women to feel comfortable.
LEMON: I'm asking you are if that's part of it. Because we talked a little bit about that.
ALDRIDGE: There's no question that that's part of it, Don. It comes back to those choices that you're allowed to make. And I think that maybe those gay men and women feel even more abandoned, and feel like they don't have any choices either and, you know --
LEMON: And it's not just that, David. We're talking about being HIV-positive which is, you know, we're losing a lot of people because of the down low -- people are afraid to educate other people, especially in the African-American community.
ALDRIDGE: Of course. Now, my best friend died of AIDS. So, I mean, I know this full -- right -- you know, nobody has to tell me about. I know all about it. And that is part of it. I think the stigma, as you said, of being gay in the black community is probably an even bigger burden than it may be in other communities, but I think that's one part of a very, very big problem we have in our community.
LEMON: David Aldridge, time to stop all the dying, and everyone of all races should read that today. A was a very powerful article, very powerful thing that you wrote there. And I commend you for it. Thank you for joining us today.
ALDRIDGE: Thank you.
LEMON: With so many questions surrounded Sean Taylor's death, but one thing is painfully clear, what happened is not unique. Young black men are being killed all across America. We're out in the open tonight, in Miami, tonight to take a closer look. Join Rick Sanchez at 8:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.
PHILLIPS: Let's get back to Fredricka Whitfield. She is working details on the story about Rodney King -- getting reports he was shot.
What more do we know, Fred?
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: Right. Still trying to piece together some of the information. But this is the kind of information that is streaming in here.
Apparently in San Bernardino County Rodney King, made famous during the 1992 videotaped beating of the white officers, who were beating him. Well, fast forward now to today and we're understanding that he rode his bicycle to his home after being shot in San Bernardino County. However, he road his bike with Rialto where he then filed a report with the Rialto police saying that he was shot, receiving some superficial gunshot wounds to his face, his arms, his back, and torso.
It's unclear exactly just how serious these injuries are. Whether he was then taken to a hospital, treated for those injuries, et cetera. But, of course, what's most alarming about this and being brought to attention is that Rodney King's name, his face, his image all made famous during those 1992 -- which eventually led to the 1992 riots. And now we know that in the past over the years there have been all kinds of interesting brushes with the law involving Rodney King. And now this time it's unclear why he was shot, how he was allegedly shot, but just that he reported these injuries to the Rialto police. We don't know how the police are treating this investigation. Nor do we know whether San Bernardino County police are treating this investigation as well.
We're still trying to sort out a lot of details; a lot of confusion involving this. Bottom line, this shooting involving a person, a name being made very famous for the L.A. riots that took place many years ago. When we get any more information we'll be able to bring that to you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: OK, Fred, we'll track it. Thanks so much.
We're also tracking those back-to-back earthquakes. Chad Meyers was following those for us.
Got more of an explanation from the USGS about the plots of those, right?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, we had a 7.3, which is a real earthquake, near Martinique and Dominica. I've actually been to both of those islands down here in the Caribbean, the Windward and Leeward Islands. Kind of a shaky island chain in the first place. You've heard of Martinique, you've heard of the volcano that goes off every once in a while in Martinique. There's Martinique right there. There is where the earthquake was, 7.3.
It was so strong that it shook the earth in such a way that it reverberated and a false-positive so to speak, as it shook through the earth, a false-positive earthquake was reported in Northern California. Now, that's not unusual. If a 6.0 is reported in Georgia. I'd go, wow, I'm not sure that was real. But Northern California, Central California, sure that could be a possibility.
As the geologic -- as the seismologists went back and geologists went back to look at it, they said no, that 6.0 was not real. That 6.0 in Northern California was just a false positive from shaking because the triangulation and the way these computers do it. It thought there was an earthquake there, but in fact it was just part of the shaking that was part of the 7.3 down here in the Windward Islands.
So, Kyra, no shaking in California. I guess that's good news.
PHILLIPS: OK, definitely good news. All right. Thanks, Chad.
LEMON: American lawmakers have an idea for you to be doing less of this. Ah, all for the sake of the economy. Going the extra mile.
PHILLIPS: You've probably seen the signs by now, maybe in your own neighborhood, home for sale, and bank owned. How bad is the mortgage crisis and what will it mean for the holidays?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Time for a quiz. When was the last time Congress updated fuel economy laws for cars? Would you believe 1975? That was 32 years ago. And with oil prices close to $100 a barrel, fuel economy is back in style. I think that was during the original like gas shortage. That was a long time ago, Brianna Keilar, who joins us now from our Washington bureau with the latest on this.
Hi, Brianna.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Don.
Yeah, if your commute is taking a big bite out of your paycheck this story might be music to your ears because a non-profit group, the Union of Concerned Scientists says the new fuel economy standards being finalized by Congress right now would save consumers $25 billion at the pump in 2020. That's the first year that this would be fully implemented.
Now the heart of this bill would bump the average fuel economy standard of the U.S. automakers entire fleet up to 35 miles per hour per gallon by 2020. Some cars and trucks could be lower or higher than that, but the average would be 35 miles per gallon.
Right now, the standard is set at 27.5 miles per gallon for cars and 22.2 miles per gallon for trucks that are on the smaller size. So this is not a done deal, but it's very close. Congressional aides say leaders are hoping to finalize the language of this bill as early as today and then get it to a vote on the House floor when Congress is back in session next week.
And backers of this legislation are touting it as a major victory. But even so, Congressman Ed Markey, who heads up the House Select Committee on Global Warming, basically said this is not a cure- all and still other steps need to be taken, Don.
LEMON: All right. Thank you very much, Brianna.
PHILLIPS: Holiday shopping is in full swing or will soon be, but some consumers may not be -- well, they may not feel like celebrating. Just take a look at the latest numbers of home foreclosures. CNN's Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis joins us now from New York.
Gerri, no good news all the way around?
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: No. Let me give you some of these numbers. October foreclosures, twice the level of last year, that's according to Reality Track. Home prices down, is the new government report, down .4 percent marginally. But take a look at this report, S&P/Case-Shiller, prices down 4.5 percent in the second quarter. Those two surveys measure slightly different things. The Case-Shiller survey is broader.
Then, the fewest home sales in eight years, according to the National Association of Realtors, home inventories, at new highs, from the same report. And we're seeing consumer confidence slip here, low numbers there.
PHILLIPS: All right, so the numbers are bad, but what does this mean for people out there?
WILLIS: Well, look, people keep asking me, when is the home market going to recover? When will we see prices get better? It doesn't look like that's going to happen until 2009, according to the sources that I speak to. That means consumers may retrench. Certainly confidence numbers are down. And if they do that there is such a big proportion of economic spending they could take the economy with it. We're expected to have a slow down by many economists now, possibly even a recession.
PHILLIPS: We're hearing that people are coming up with some pretty creative ideas, or ways to deal with the bad housing market, right?
WILLIS: Well, listen to the latest. This is from Marina, California. A broker there in trying to sell 17 homes in a subdivision there, he's giving away cars. And not just any car, Mustangs worth $26,000, some buyers there are opting to take the price cut instead of the car. People are giving away all kinds of things, vacations, clothes, cars, you name it.
There's a family in Pennsylvania that says hey, if you buy our house, when we die we'll refund you the money. I mean, it's getting pretty crazy out there. At the end of the day, if you're selling your house and you're looking for something to give back, you might be best off just cutting the price of your house rather than using gimmicks.
PHILLIPS: Good advice. Gerri Willis, appreciate it.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
LEMON: 'Tis the season at the White House. First Lady Laura Bush gives us a peek at this season's holiday decorations at the executive mansion.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: It's time to see what's clicking with all you dot- comers today. Among those popular stories this hour, Youssif's latest reconstructive surgery. He's the young Iraqi boy who bravery in the face of incredible disfigurement we've been following closely, as many of you have, his latest surgery just wrapped up. It's looking good.
Jennifer Love Hewitt is engaged. That's right the lovely lass and Scottish actor Ross McCall have made it official. No word on a wedding date yet, though.
Hacking using your computer for their cyber crime sprees. Well, the FBI warns 2.25 million computers may be affected.
See these stories and more at CNN.com.
LEMON: Did you decorate your house yet, for Christmas?
PHILLIPS: I'm getting there. I'm pulling the boxes out. Nothing like that, I will tell you, nothing like that.
LEMON: Let's call this the splendor of the holiday season at White House. What do you think? The halls are decked and the trees are up and First Lady Laura Bush showed off the mansion's decoration on CNN's "American Morning."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FIRST LADY LAURA BUSH: This year's theme is holidays in the national parks and that's what those ornaments on the big blue tree represent. We sent a big ornament out to every national park, 391 of them. And they had an artist decorate the balls in some way that represent our national parks. And so it's a really beautiful way to show how beautiful our country is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Oh, that's very nice. I wanted to see more of the decorations though. The White House holiday cookies this season are shaped like animals that live in the national parks.
PHILLIPS: Well, stop us if you've heard this one, OK?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When I'm president, it won't be good enough for me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Our Jeanne Moos with the most used phrases on the campaign trail.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: OK, they are all just candidates. We know that. Only one will be president. But all assume victory is theirs, at least in their campaign rhetoric. CNN's Jeanne Moos is part of the best political team on television.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): You probably think there can be only be one president of the United States at a time, right? And how come they are all saying.
SEN. JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When I am president --
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When I'm president of the United States of America --
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When I'm president it won't be good enough for me!
MOOS: They say it without a trace of doubt, in speeches.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When I'm president, I --
MOOS: They even say it in commercials.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When I'm president --
MOOS: Saying, "when I'm president" with such certainty is a mouthful.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Depends on your ego and how narcissistic you are.
MOOS: Spoken like a true psychoanalyst, which she is. Forget humility.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How about "if" I am president of the United States?
MOOS (on camera): What's wrong with "if"?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly. It's not a bad word.
MOOS: If you're running for president it is.
EDWARDS: I'll tell you what kind of torture will be tolerated when I'm president of the United States -- no torture will be tolerated.
MOOS: Even dark horse candidates put their names on administrations that probably never will exist.
SEN. CHRIS DODD (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That I find highly offensive. That will not happen in a Dodd administration. MOOS: Talk about confidence, listen to Hillary's response to Katie Couric.
KATIE COURIC, CBS EVENING NEWS: If it's not you, how disappointed will you be?
CLINTON: Well, it will be me.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good for her.
MOOS (on camera): Cocky or confident?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Arrogant, but she gets that from her husband.
COURIC: I know that you're confident it's going to be you, but there is a possibility that it won't be. And clearly you have considered that possibility?
CLINTON: No, I haven't.
MOOS: Critics gleefully jumped on Hillary once when she mentioned being president again. She was never quite president the first time.
CLINTON: That's what I'm going to try to do as president, again.
MOOS: Maybe she just meant she was making the point again, not planning to be president again. Just think of all the losers who have been proven wrong.
SEN. BOB DOLE, FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When I'm president of the United States --
MOOS: Not.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In fact, could say that more convincingly.
MOOS (on camera): Let's hear it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I'm president --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I'm president --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I'm president of the United States --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And when I'm president of the United States --
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I'm president --
MCCAIN: When I'm president --
MOOS (on camera): When I'm president -- when I'm president -- but our favorite usage dates way back to 1932!
(Voice over): At least Betty Boop actually went on to become President Boop.
BETTY BOOP, CARTOON CHARACTER (SINGING): When I'm the president I'll give you all a great big kiss, when I'm the president.
(CHEERS)
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Nobody can do it like Jeanne. If you miss even a minute of the action or all the tough viewer questions -- we're talking about the CNN/YouTube debate. Well, you can still see what everyone is talking about. An encore presentation of that debate will air Saturday night at 8 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.
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