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Prince Harry on the Front Lines; Texas Voters Concerned about Gas Prices; Nevada Clinic Caught Using Unsafe Injection Practices; South African Students Under Fire for Racist Video

Aired February 28, 2008 - 13:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: The heir to the throne in the line of fire in Afghanistan. It's breaking news, official confirmation that the Britons' Prince Harry is a front-line soldier in the Afghan war and has been since December.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Brianna Keilar, in today for Kyra Phillips. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

LEMON: Well, they said it was too risky for Britain's Prince Harry to fight in Iraq. Apparently, nobody said anything about Afghanistan. Brits are reacting to stunning news today that a prominent member of the royal family has gone to war.

CNN's Paula Newton joins us now, live from London, with the very latest on this -- Paula.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Don, I didn't think the secret would last this long. We have known since the end of December, and we have chosen, CNN has, along with other British broadcasters and newspapers, not to report it. Why? Because they said it would jeopardize Prince Harry's safety and those of his fellow soldiers.

The fact remains, he's been on the ground, fighting in combat in Afghanistan, taking on the Taliban since late December.

And, Don, the video is just extraordinary. Have a look for yourself.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON (voice-over): He's been dreaming of it for years; it's been rumored for months. Now finally, Prince Harry is a front-line soldier serving in Afghanistan.

PRINCE HARRY, UNITED KINGDOM: All my wishes have come true. I've managed to get the job done.

NEWTON: Getting him here was a top-secret operation: deploying a member of the royal family to Taliban country, a measured risk.

PRINCE HARRY: Everyone's on your spot now (ph). It should be yellow 1-5, yellow 15.

NEWTON: Prince Harry's fellow soldiers were sworn to secrecy, but now the secret is out. And the pressure is on.

British forces continue to endure intense firefights and ambushes with the Taliban, as did Harry on this day in South Helmand province.

PRINCE HARRY: It's as close as I can get.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it a safe place for a prince?

PRINCE HARRY: No, not really.

NEWTON: Still the deployment is a savored victory for the prince, who has said he would quit the army if he was held back from serving in war.

But for months, that's exactly what happened, as his fellow soldiers were sent to Iraq without him last summer. Prince Harry had been assured he would go, too. But his commanders backtracked, saying he was too much of a target for insurgents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There have been a number of specific threats, some reported, some not reported, which relates directly to Prince Harry as an individual. These threats expose not only him, but also those around him.

NEWTON: It's thought the risk of that isn't quite as high in Afghanistan. There are more bases, more soldiers, a better chance of keeping him under Taliban radar.

PRINCE HARRY: I think -- come out here, it's proving the point that, if it's done the right way and kept quiet in certain areas, then it can be done. And as far as I'm concerned, I'm out here as a normal JTAC on the ground and not Prince Harry.

NEWTON: JTAC, or Joint Tactical Air Control, is Prince Harry's main role here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

PRINCE HARRY: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

NEWTON: The prince holds the lowest officer rank, known as Coronet Wales (ph), as he is tasked with the job of being a forward air controller. He has to call in air strikes and air support when necessary, guaranteeing the accuracy of bombing on the ground, guarding against incidents of friendly fire in the air.

PRINCE HARRY: You've got jets flying all over the place, and you're trying to control them while looking at the screen, while trying, you know, to show a presence of force with the jets to get the enemy to go to cover and to keep your guys in one piece and keep safe.

NEWTON: But keeping the prince safe is still a problem. He knows he's a marked man. His fellow soldiers call him the bullet magnet. The Taliban has him in its sights, eager to use even a close call against him as a propaganda coup like no other.

Still, if he stays safe, this could be a redeeming mission for the prince. After building a reputation as dirty Harry, the party prince, he will finally get the experience he's been training for and just maybe the respect he's been craving.

PRINCE HARRY: No, I don't miss booze, if that's the next question. It's very nice just to be here and be with all the guys. And just sort of mucking in (ph) as one of the guys. Here in a day, I like to sort of, as you know, as I keep going about, it's very nice to be sort of a normal person. And for once, I think this is about as normal as I'm ever going to get.

NEWTON: For a boy who had far from a normal childhood, this front-line role may yet allow him a common experience with other British soldiers, in the knowledge that he's risked his life for his country.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: The funny thing is, Don, he's shuttled around Afghanistan by Royal Air Force helicopters. But the odd time he would be picking up a lift from the U.S. forces, and I'm sure some Air Force officers have done a double-take with him. And now they know, yes, it was him.

LEMON: Yes.

NEWTON: Unfortunately, though, now that the secret is out, Don, a lot of different questions being asked here in London.

LEMON: Yes. And especially from the minister of defense, whether or not he should stay there.

But here's a question. Most likely because he poses an added threat to himself and those around him, most likely they will probably -- not for sure, but they'll probably move him out of there.

Has there been any question about the wisdom of someone of this level serving in a war? I know it's tradition, but in this time, these times of terrorism and what have you, the Taliban, why is it so essential for him to serve?

NEWTON: Basically, because he wanted to. And I have to say it this way. He said it in an interview, because his grandmother let him. It was the queen who first broke the news to him, who said, "Yes, I will let you, the chief of the defense staff, will let you serve in combat." And it's something he so desperately wanted.

But if you go to that family element now, this country, these forces now have gained the experience to know that, as a grandmother, as a father, there were people here back in London worried about him, just like so many of us are worried about our friends and family serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. And that's a great morale booster.

Harry wanted to do this. The ministry of defense here knew it would be a good thing.

The question now is, there are meetings right now. They've got to decide whether or not to put him on the plane. And I think it's 50/50 that he might already be on a plane back home.

LEMON: So, yes, that was -- that's my question, yes. So if you find out any information from the minister of defense, Paula, will you get back to us?

NEWTON: We're trying. We're told that they are in meetings. They will lias [SIC] with the queen and with Prince Charles and with Prince Harry himself, who at this point in time will probably be given a rude awakening in Helmand province.

LEMON: Yes, probably. Maybe seeing -- he got a phone call, we know that. I'm not sure if -- are we sure if we saw it on television or if he got the phone call first that this was going to go out?

NEWTON: He -- they have a complete plan on this. It's exactly military precision. He would have gotten a call, I'm sure. I can tell you from his interviews that he'd be surprised, in the 21st century, that the secret was kept so long.

LEMON: Yes.

NEWTON: I think if they do tell him to go home, he'll be disappointed, but he'll think, "Look, I've got two months of combat duty under my belt. I've, you know, looked at the Taliban eye to eye. You know, I've done well, and it's time to go home and not put my fellow soldiers in any more jeopardy."

LEMON: Paula Newton in Euro (ph) there, in London. Thank you very much for that.

And CNN International and CNN domestic here both following this developing news. And this is new video of the prince there in Afghanistan. As Paula said, he is serving in a fortified army base in Helmand province. So this is new video that you're looking in -- looking at now, coming in from Afghanistan.

Again, he is called a Coronet Wales. That's what he's known in the army. And he has been working as a forward air controller, or FAC, as they call it, responsible for coordinating air support and aviation across the area, calling in fast jets to drop 500-pound bombs on enemy positions. That is what he's doing in Afghanistan as of today. Don't know if the minister of defense is going to pull him out.

Also on our international desk, got our director of international coverage, Roger Clark, who also worked with the BBC and was very instrumental in an interview with me a few weeks ago with Prince Andrew here on instructing me how to coordinate that interview. He's going to join us in the 2:00 p.m. hour of the CNN NEWSROOM to talk about this developing story coming out of Afghanistan and also in London.

KEILAR: From the White House to the campaign trail, the economy stopping today's political agenda.

President Bush says the nation is not headed toward a recession, as he has said in the past. But Democratic hopeful Barack Obama disagreeing. He says things are bad and getting worse. And as we approach the do-or-die March 4 primaries, Obama and Hillary Clinton are going toe-to-toe in Texas and Ohio.

And CNN has the best political team in television. We also have every angle covered in the debates over the economy and the race for the White House.

Looking ahead to March 4, our John king, Candy Crowley and Carol Costello -- you see them there in Ohio. Suzanne Malveaux, Jessica Yellin, Ali Velshi, Ted Rowlands and Dana Bash are tracking the candidates and also the concerns of voters in Texas.

We also have senior political analyst Bill Schneider in Washington, D.C., and CNN's Mary Snow covering from New York.

So let's get started now with Ali Velshi. He is in Texas with the CNN Election Express, talking politics and money and horsing -- or I guess you could say steering -- around, as you see there. He's sampling a few of the local pastimes, and right now he's standing by today in the beautiful city of San Antonio.

What's on tap today, Ali?

ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm here in front of the Alamo, and one might think I'm doing a little history tour of Texas, but I really am talking to people.

Like in the rest of the country, Texans are most concerned about the economy in this election. When we talk about the economy, it's a lot of things to a lot of people. It could be the stock market. The Dow is at about 12,600. We had people thinking it would finish this year at 15,000. We're a long way from that. The housing market, mortgages, jobs.

But gasoline prices come up everywhere I go. Gas prices, on a national average, are up about 17 or 18 cents in the last two weeks, up about 80 cents in the past year. And I have heard from Texans who say why don't we refine more of this?

Let me tell you what the story is here. Gas prices are not only about the price of oil, but they have to go through refineries. And this nation's refineries operate at about a 90 percent capacity. So there's no room for error. We've seen what happened like in Katrina, when some of those refineries go down, either for safety reasons or because they need rebuilding.

President Bush today, talking about the economy, said the country needs more refineries. Listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've got to understand that our energy policies need to be focused on a lot of things. One, renewables, which is fine, which I strongly support, as you know. Two, conservation.

But we need to be finding more oil and gas at home if we're worried about becoming independent -- dependent on oil overseas. And I view this as a transitory period to new technologies that will change our way we live.

But we haven't built a refinery in a long time. We're expanding refineries, but haven't built a refinery in a long time. I strongly suggested to the Congress that we build refineries on old military bases. But no, it didn't pass.

But if you've got less supply of something and demand continues to stay steady or grow, your price is going to go up. Secondly, on oil, we -- the more oil we find at home, the better off we're going to be in terms of the short run. And yet our policy is let us not explore robustly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: You know, President Bush made an interesting comment. We haven't had a new refinery. It's actually been 30 years or a little longer than 30 years since a new refinery was built. They have been expanding capacity. Two major refineries here in Texas will be expanding quite a bit over the next little while.

But one thing Americans don't know, is even if these refineries are running at 90 percent capacity, Brianna, we actually import gasoline. The United States imports refined gasoline. So gas is a problem that is separate just from the price of oil. Nobody wants a refinery in their backyard. They're disgusting. They belch oil. The refineries themselves is a big investment. And why would you invest in a refinery to be able to create more gasoline so that you make money -- less money off of that gasoline because there's more of it around?

So this is a real catch 22 situation. But people -- even people in Texas have been saying maybe it's time we got more refineries. And there are at least expansions of refineries coming along. It's a very touchy delegate, delicate subject, because refineries, Brianna, are not green. They're not environmentally friendly.

KEILAR: And certainly Texans there knowing the cruel irony of having a lot of oil wealth there in Texas but also a lot of concerns about gasoline. Very interesting. Ali Velshi for us from San Antonio, thanks.

LEMON: Forty thousand people will soon be receiving a later from a Nevada clinic. Get this, that letter will warn them to be tested for hepatitis and AIDS.

Six people who were treated at the clinic are known to be infected with the hepatitis C virus, and investigators blame an unsafe anesthesia procedure that apparently has gone on for years.

CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has the story.

Elizabeth, this is very disturbing.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is very...

LEMON: When I heard about it this morning, I could not believe it.

COHEN: Right. Because you go into a doctor's office to get a procedure, and you walk out with hepatitis C, because they gave...

LEMON: Or something else. But you don't know. Yes.

COHEN: ... it to you or something else. It's a very, very scary thing. And it -- you usually don't think of getting sick at the doctor's office.

So let me explain how this happened. Let me explain why 40,000 people now have to come in and get tested. We actually have some great pictures that explain it.

So you have a syringe and a needle going into a vial to extract the medication, in this case an anesthesia. And then you inject -- here we have the poor woman who's got hepatitis c. So you're giving her -- you're giving her an injection, and some of her cells are going to end up bouncing back into that syringe. It just happens. So you now have hepatitis C in that syringe.

All right. Next, now along comes patient No. 2. You use the same syringe that has the hep C, a new needle but the same syringe. So there is a possibility that you're going to give this guy hepatitis C and so on and so on. And as long as you keep using the same syringe, or even a new syringe going back into that vial, which is now a tainted well, you could possibly give people.

So 40,000 people have to come in and get tested for hep C, hepatitis B and HIV.

LEMON: OK. It is just...

COHEN: Forty thousand.

LEMON: Yes. I mean, in this age -- this age of HIV and all of this stuff that we know about, that we've been educated on, how can this happen? How often does it happen?

COHEN: I would love to sit here and tell you it was just this one Las Vegas clinic.

LEMON: Yes.

COHEN: It was just a fluke. These guys were irresponsible. They're going to go to jail. Don't worry about anyone else did that. But that is not the case.

CNN has been asking around, and what we have found out is that this practice has happened many other times over the years. And in fact, the commissioner of health in New York has written to the FDA saying make this illegal. Make multi-dose vials illegal.

And in fact, I have an article here from a newsletter. This newsletter gets sent out to hospitals across the country, and it says that an outbreak because of multi-dose -- multi-dose vials should serve as a wakeup call. So it was another outbreak like this one, should serve as a wakeup call.

Look at the date on this, Don.

LEMON: 1996.

COHEN: 1996, OK, so 12 years ago these experts were saying, "This is a wakeup call. This is bad. Stop using multi-dose vials and syringes." But it goes on. And even the CDC says "don't do it," but it still goes on.

LEMON: All right. So we have the outrage factor. We've got to get real quick. To keep it from happening -- we've got to move on. But what do you do? Just...

COHEN: There's not a whole lot you can do. You can say to the doctor or nurse, is that a multi-dose vial? Is that a multi-dose syringe? But realistically, how easy is that to do when you're sick and in the hospital. It's not so easy.

LEMON: Oh, my gosh. All right. Elizabeth, thank you.

COHEN: Thanks.

LEMON: Thanks very much for that.

KEILAR: And we are continuing to follow some breaking news here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Britain's Prince Harry on the front lines in Afghanistan, where he has been, actually, since December. A media blackout was in effect, now broken by other media outlets, and Britain's ministry of defense acknowledging that he is, indeed, in Afghanistan.

Will the prince stay there, though? That's the big question. We're going to continue to follow this story here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

LEMON: A racial outrage in a country still trying to move beyond apartheid. We'll show you what happened when some white college students in South Africa found out their dorms were being desegregated.

And...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: ... "few things under Saddam. When I was told to direct for him, I pretended to be sick and went to the hospital. Now look at me. I'm a healthy man. I can see the light."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: They were once enemies of the state. Now they are free to express themselves. Performers with the Iraqi National Theater giving our Kyra Phillips a front-row seat.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Just about 20 after the hour here in the east, and here are three of the stories that we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.

First a surprise announcement from London today. Prince Harry, third in line to the British thrown, fighting on the front lines in Afghanistan.

And President Bush agrees there's an economic slowdown, but he rejects the notion we're heading into a recession. He predicts that recently-approved tax rebates will help.

Police still looking for a gunman who opened fire at a Los Angeles bus stop. Eight people were hurt, most of them children.

LEMON: Apologies in South Africa today for two of the four white college students featured in a racist and repulsive homemade video. It shows a "Fear Factor" type of competition, reportedly in response to the school's plans to integrate the dorms. The two students' lawyers say they meant no harm and apologize for any embarrassment.

CNN's Nkepile Mabuse has the story. And again, the images are highly disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NKEPILE MABUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a demeaning and degrading video, white students at the University of the Free State in South Africa appear to have filmed themselves using black staff workers to express their disdain of racial integration in the university's residence halls.

The students making the video can be heard referring to "Fear Factor," a popular television show that challenges people to do outrageous things. The cleaning staff are given alcohol, run in a race, and fed what appears to be meat stew. But it is the last ingredient that has shocked and horrified South Africans. The tape shows one of the students urinating in the stew, seemingly before feeding it to the cleaners.

The black staff members are mocked and cheered on by the students, urging them to finish their portions. Some of them appear to get sick.

One of the women is given a bottle of liquor as her prize for winning the "Fear Factor" game. And then a graphic appears that reads, quote, "That, at the end of the day, is what we think about integration."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's like the show, it's very (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's appalling to somebody to treat all the people like that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know. I haven't seen it so I can't say, but it sounds really bad.

MABUSE: The head of the university describes the video as a gross violation of human rights and has promised to take swift action.

FREDERICK FOURIE, UNIVERSITY VICE CHANCELLOR: I'm extremely upset about it. We are having a management meeting at the moment, and this is the strongest condemnation of everybody concerned.

MABUSE: The release of the video sparked protests and demands that tough action be taken against those responsible.

(on camera): It has been condemned across the political spectrum, and the South African media are calling it an apartheid video.

Now calls are being made for the imposition of civil and possibly even criminal charges against those involved to send a clear message that racial abuse will not be tolerated in today's South Africa.

(voice-over): The students responsible have not been named by the university, but officials say the two who are still studying there have been prohibited from coming onto the campus, pending internal discipline reaction. The university official said criminal charges would be filed.

The students have made no public statements. But there are now fears that the damage has been done and that the video may further exacerbate race relations in a country that is still healing from a brutally racist past.

Nkepile Mabuse, CNN, Johannesburg.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Well, the two students who issued the public apology also insist no one really urinated in the black workers' food. The attorneys say that, as well.

KEILAR: And some -- some breaking news that we've been following here in the NEWSROOM. Prince Harry, Britain's Prince Harry, on the front lines fighting in Afghanistan. He actually has been since December, but a media blackout, where media, a lot of different organizations choosing not to report on it for safety reasons. That media blackout has now been broken by other media outlets.

And U.S. government officials weighing in on that. A State Department spokesperson was asked if Prince Harry being in Afghanistan will put U.S. troops in harm's way. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TOM CASEY, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: I have no reason to believe that the British government would do anything that would put their troops or anyone else's in harm's way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: So the British Ministry of Defense acknowledging today that Prince Harry is in Afghanistan, saying that the information, obviously kept secret for security reasons. And at this point, Harry -- Prince Harry's status is being reviewed. So that's still an outstanding question: will the prince be staying in Afghanistan or going back to Britain?

And coming up here shortly, we're going to be having Howard Kurtz, a CNN contributor, "Washington Post" columnist, who's going to be weighing in on this, as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: It looks good, sounds good, as well. Believe it or not, Saddam Hussein thought performances like this were a threat. Our Kyra Phillips will take us inside Iraq's revived national theater.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Well, the president and the Federal Reserve chairman are both weighing in on the economy today and our Susan Lisovicz is on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange with the very latest on that.

This is at top of mind for everyone, Susan.

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

KEILAR: Performance not propaganda -- a new act for Iraqi's National Theater, and our Kyra Phillips is on the story in Baghdad.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: It was political theater under Saddam Hussein; now it's a dramatic change. Revealing a revival on stage here in Iraq, straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We go now back to our top story, Britain's Prince Harry at war in Afghanistan. Harry is a lieutenant in the British army. Officials earlier said it would be too dangerous to send him to Iraq. But today they confirmed he's serving on the front lines in Afghanistan, and has been since December. They tried to keep it a secret for security reasons, but it leaked to the media. Prince Harry is third in line to the British throne, the grandson of Queen Elizabeth, and the son of Prince Charles and Princess Diana.

KEILAR: Well, it may be the start of a new era in Kenya. That's where two men signed a peace deal aimed sat ending a deadly wave of chaos and violence that has washed over that country since December. Now Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki, and opposition leader Raila Odinga, agreed to work toward healing the nation.

The problems started back in December, December 27th, election day, when President Kibaki was declared the winner. That set off an ethnically charged explosion of killing and street clashes that left about 1,000 people dead. Now the U.S. estimate half-a-million Kenyans have been displaced by the violence, and that they're also in need of food, water and medicine.

LEMON: A surge of deadly attacks between Israeli and Hamas. Israeli airstrikes on Gaza have killed more than a dozen people today, and now the Israeli defense minister is warning of a ground invasion. The spark for Israel's show of force cross-border attacks using homemade missiles including one that killed an Israeli to set the scene for us.

CNN's Ben Wedeman from an embattled Israeli border town. He joins us now live -- Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Don, since yesterday, in fact, more than 100 of those missiles have been fired into southern Israel, as you said killing one Israeli. Israel has responded with a series of more than a dozen airstrikes on Gaza, the death toll coming close to 20.

Now they are targeting militants, but along the way, several civilians have been killed, children as well as a 6-month-old baby. Now we were in Sderot, that Israeli town has been the target of thousands of those militant missiles, and we were just starting a broadband live shot when we heard the alarm for incoming missiles.

Let's watch.

And as far as the situation goes, yes, we've heard the Israeli defense minister saying that it appears at this point, given the intensity of the rocket fire from Gaza, that a ground operation into the Gaza Strip is almost inevitable -- Don.

LEMON: Hey, Ben, I got to ask you, anyone saying anything about a possible solution to this problem? I mean, it's horrendous, you said a 6-month-old baby was killed?

WEDEMAN: Well, there are really -- Israelis are of two minds. On the one hand, there was a very interesting opinion poll published in the Israeli papers yesterday, that said that 64 percent of those questioned would like to open a dialogue with Hamas to work out some sort of cease fire.

On the other hand, in Sderot, where we were today, most people said that the solution is a massive ground invasion, but that could result in high casualties on both sides. And that's something that the Israeli military is trying to avoid -- Don.

LEMON: Ben Wedeman, we appreciate your reporting. Thank you. KEILAR: Your doctor is treating you, but how? Be an empowered patient. Find out what the doctor should be doing for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Imagine if the president considered you one of his worst enemies. Well, that's exactly how Iraqi dancers and actors felt under Saddam Hussein. But now, performers at the Iraqi National Theater are savoring a newfound freedom of expression and NEWSROOM's Kyra Phillips is in Baghdad with this story.

Hi, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Hi, Brianna.

I don't know about you, but every time I go to New York, I've got to go to Broadway. Home in Atlanta, I love the 14th Street Playhouse. So when I visited the Iraqi National Theater, I realized what I may take for granted is an absolute gift right now for the Iraqi people. They've been craving their culture.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS (voice-over): Remember that guy? We know him as "Chemical Ali," Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction guru, holding conference in Iraqi's National Theater. That was then, and this is now.

(on camera): So what's different from the theater during Saddam's era and the theater now?

(voice-over): "It's like putting your finger in fire and your finger in water, that's the difference," theater director Shafeek al- Mehdi tells me. "We were forced to do things under Saddam. When I was told to direct for him, I pretended to be sick and went to the hospital. Now look at me, I'm a healthy man, I can see the light."

Rawa al-Nueimi is one of Iraq's rising stars. The daughter and wife of Air Force officers under Saddam's regime, she was forced to leave her home but not the theater.

(on camera): How does it make you feel to dance, to be on this stage, to perform?

(voice-over): "For the first time, I feel like I've found my character. I've found myself."

And that character matured here at Duke University. Just after the fall of Saddam, Rawa received a modern dance scholarship to the U.S. It changed her life.

(on camera): Do you think all the arts here help Iraqi morale?

(voice-over): "Of course," Rawa tells me, "the Iraqi people are suffering and every poem, every play, every dance, including each role for each actor is needed to help our morale." And morale is everything for Rawa right now. You see her dancing isn't just a profession, it's personal.

(on camera): I know you lost your brother and that was really hard. He was actually supposed to come pick you up from the theater. When you dance now, do you feel his spirit? Do you dance for him?

(voice-over): "Of course. I wish at this moment he was here. I wish he were here to watch every step I take. He wished me all the success at every level, with my home, children and work."

Now, Rawa's and other performances sell out. You see all ages here, Iraqis have missed this.

"The arts are bringing back our trust with life," says Oz Murakfed (ph). New life Shafeek al-Mehdi cherishes.

"Because I'm an artist, because I'm a professor, I was Saddam's No. 1 enemy."

(on camera): So now, you walk in here and there is no enemy. You have complete freedom of expression. How does that feel?

SHAFEEK AL-MEHDRI, THEATER DIRECTOR: I'm human.

PHILLIPS: You're finally human?

AL-MEHDRI: Yes, yes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And you know, Brianna, what made me appreciate these performers even more was the risk that they took just to come to the theater to rehearse. Take a look at this video. You can see that it had been bombed out in many places, they had to put sandbags up, they had to protect the windows and they still showed up to practice, hoping one day they'd be able to perform and now they can.

KEILAR: Yes, and to sold out theaters, very interesting, a beautiful story. CNN NEWSROOM's very own Kyra Phillips there in Baghdad for us. Thank you.

LEMON: We have some developing news to tell you about. Let's go now to the New York Stock Exchange. Our Susan Lisovicz there. Susan, oil trading above $102?

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

KEILAR: Your doctor is treating you, but how? Do you know? Be an empowered patient, find out what the doctor should be doing for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Your doctor will tell you what he or she expects from you, but what should you expect from your doctor, right? COHEN: That's right.

LEMON: Yes, Elizabeth Cohen's here to tell us how to be an "Empowered Patient." Well obviously, you expect good care, but there are certain other things that you should expect from your doctor.

COHEN: Right, you don't expect your doctor to be perfect.

LEMON: Right.

COHEN: You don't expect everything to be smooth all the time, but we asked a team of experts what are some basic things that you ought to expect from your doctor? And they gave us a list of five. I'm going to share two of them now.

One is when you are sick and you call in and say, I feel awful, you should expect a call back within 90 minutes from a doctor or a nurse to assess your situation. And the second thing is that you should expect a call back with test results within 48 hours, not of getting the test, but of when those results come back to your doctor's offices.

There's a big problem with test results sitting in doctors' offices sometimes for days, sometimes it goes on a lot longer than that. They just forget to call. Not acceptable. When they have the answers, you ought to have the answers within two days.

LEMON: And you know, you and I have talked about this before. Breaking up is hard to do, even with your doctor.

COHEN: Yes.

LEMON: You know, I can't even break up with a trainer or someone who cuts my hair.

COHEN: Right, right.

LEMON: So, with a doctor -- so what if you don't get these things? What do you do?

COHEN: Well, you obviously don't want to break up right away.

LEMON: All right.

COHEN: I mean, that's what folks told us. You don't want to just say, oh, it took you six hours to call me back ...

LEMON: Right.

COHEN: ...and I was horribly ill. You don't want to do that. What you want to do is you want to talk your doctor and say look, this is a problem. Three times now, I've been horribly sick, calling you, dizzy and vomiting and feeling awful, and I never hear back from your office or I hear back the next day, that's not OK. Give them a chance to fix the problem. LEMON: OK, this next thing I've heard people do it. I've heard people say tell that doctor my time is just as valuable as his time. What if you're in a doctor's office and you wait and wait and wait and he doesn't get to you, what do you do? Because that's -- I mean, often you go to the doctor's office and you wait a long time.

COHEN: Right, you don't want to divorce your doctor over long waits right away. Doctors do have emergencies.

LEMON: All right.

COHEN: And so, if you repeatedly have had long waits with a certain doctor, ask yourself do they come out and say to you, I'm so sorry, but Dr. Smith had six babies to deliver and, so he's going to be late. That's much more acceptable than just sitting there and waiting and waiting.

So, the first question is do they at least give you an explanation. The second question is is this occasional or does it happen all the time. If it happens all the time and they don't give you an explanation, then it might be time to go find a new doctor.

LEMON: Yes, and it's sort of a catch-22 because usually the good doctors, everyone wants to get in ...

COHEN: That's true.

LEMON: ...so you're going to wait to see that doctor.

COHEN: And if they're keeping you waiting because they're helping other patients and spending lots of time with them, one day, you'll need that.

LEMON: Yes.

COHEN: It's all karma, it's all going to come around.

LEMON: It's all going to come back.

COHEN: But if it happens all the time, that's not great.

LEMON: All right, always good information.

COHEN: Thank you.

LEMON: Thank you, Elizabeth Cohen.

And more tips on what to expect from your doctor just as close as your computer, go to CNN.com/help and visit to the "Empowered Patient" section.

KEILAR: Doing the right thing, an eight-year-old saves his buddy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not about living, it's not about dying, it's about living and taking care of people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Aw, he says he is no hero, but we're going to let you decide.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Time to check what's clicking at CNN.com. Our most viewed video this hour, California's house from hell. So nasty, disgusting and in such disrepair, city officials' only answer for it: the wrecking ball.

And critiquing reality TV and one new show in particular where contestants admit such things as their marital infidelity. Is it entertainment or exploitation? Well either way, it's No. 2 on our most popular list.

And a teenage entrepreneur gets the heave-hoe from class for giving the school cafeteria some competition. A California high schooler suspended for selling sandwiches. And that is no bologna. Pudum-pum (ph).

LEMON: Oh man.

KEILAR: You can link to all of our top ten lists from the front page on CNN.com.

LEMON: Did you write that?

KEILAR: No, I didn't.

LEMON: OK.

KEILAR: But I added in the pudum-pum.

LEMON: Pudum-pum. How do you spell pudum-pum?

KEILAR: Debatable.

LEMON: All right, and you were talking about a teenage boy who was suspended.

Well, this is -- he's not even a teenager, he's not suspended, he is eight-years-old, he's from Tennessee.

KEILAR: This is cute.

LEMON: He really had his friend's back. Our reporter Mark Johnson of affiliate KTXA, you're going to want to watch this. He has the story for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It doesn't look like a snake.

MARK JOHNSON, KTXA REPORTER (voice-over): Eight-year-old Corbin Warren doesn't think of himself as a hero.

CORBIN WARREN, SAVED HIS FRIEND'S LIFE: I didn't want him to die. He was my friend.

JOHNSON: That friend was in trouble Friday afternoon at this day care playground. A rock somehow lodged in his throat.

C. WARREN: He was going down the slide. And then I said, are you choking? And then he nodded. So, I gave him the heimlich. After when I -- he spitted out that rock, I said, you OK? He went and got a drink and he said I'm OK.

JOHNSON: That's right. Little Corbin learned the life-saving maneuver from watching his mom teach it to Girl Scouts.

C. WARREN: I didn't have to right anything down. I kept it in my brain. I kept it in there for like two years.

JOHNSON: Corbin's now a Cub Scout and was honored by the Hazelot (ph) Fire Department for his good deed.

GENE WARREN, CORBIN'S FATHER: It makes you feel good. You know, makes you feel like a proud parent when he does something right.

JOHNSON: Corbin's still not sure what all the fuss is about. He's just glad his friend's still around.

C. WARREN: It's not about living. It's not about dying. It's about living and taking care of people.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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