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Operation FALCON Arrests; Afghan War: More U.S. Troops May be Deployed; Safety in the Skies: New Rule on Airplane Fuel Tanks

Aired July 16, 2008 - 14:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. Welcome back to the NEWSROOM.
I'm Fredricka Whitfield, at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Don Lemon.

You are live, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

You know this, but at the gas station, at the grocery store, new government numbers show how badly we're getting squeezed. The Labor Department says the inflation rate is at a 17-year high. Consumer prices surged five percent over the past year, fueled mostly by record gas prices and higher food costs. Compare that to the average hourly wage, which is up only 3.4 percent over the past year.

That means price hikes are outpacing the typical paycheck. Obviously not good news there.

Fed chairman Ben Bernanke warns inflation could drag the economy for the rest of the year, along with the housing slump, the credit crunch, and fears that more banks could go belly up. But he also says he's trying to give the U.S. financial system a shot of investor confidence. He tells a House panel that mortgage lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are in no danger of failing even though the government says -- has offered to prop them up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN BERNANKE, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: I have no particular concern about the companies, per se, but they are very critical right now to the U.S. mortgage market. And there are people out there who would want to get a mortgage, people out there who would hope the housing market will come back. And that could only happen if there is renewed interest and ability to buy homes. So these actions are intended to make our system work for the benefit of all Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, the headlines are coming quickly, and you can bet investors are paying close attention to every one.

These are live pictures now. You see the Big Board on Wall Street. Stocks at -- let's see, it's climbed just below 150 -- 148 right now, thanks to dropping oil prices and a move by Wells Fargo to boost its payments to shareholders. The Dow is up again about 160 points as we speak.

They're laying off thousands of workers, grounding hundreds of planes and boosting fares, but it might not be enough to save some of the nation's biggest airlines.

(BUSINESS REPORT)

LEMON: More than a decade after one of the most tragic crashes in U.S. history, a new rule aims to keep your airplane from blowing up. Details straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, no longer walking the streets. Fifteen hundred sex offenders, they're among thousands of fugitives from justice nabbed by a nationwide dragnet called Operation FALCON 2008.

CNN's Rusty Dornin is back with us with more details on this.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're calling it, you know, really the most effective roundup that they've had in history. And I don't know if you know this, two million people at any one time are wanted.

WHITFIELD: It's a huge number.

DORNIN: It really is. And as you said, 1,500 sex offenders were apprehended. Apparently, 59 of those were in Georgia.

We also had a producer that went along on a ride-along with the marshals as they apprehended some of these offenders. And it turns out some of them had apparently cut off their bracelets. So they were obviously -- they didn't know where they were.

WHITFIELD: You can actually do that.

DORNIN: Yes. And they really had to track them down.

This was all about a four-week sweep that happened in June. And Michael Mukasey, the attorney general, when he was asked why this couldn't be done more on a daily basis and by local authorities, said, you know, the feds really had to step in with some money.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL MUKASEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL: A lot of these folks who actually worked on the operation put in 16-and-20-hour days. And that's not something you can do 24/7, or even 20/7. However, what it does two is it creates the opportunity for state, local and federal law enforcement officers to cooperate with one another and build relationships that hopefully in the future makes for solving more cases, picking up more people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DORNIN: We just heard two. There were 196 apparent sex offenders arrested just in Texas alone, which is pretty amazing. WHITFIELD: Huge number.

DORNIN: Also, 30 percent of those taken into custody had already been in custody before and were apparently released. And we asked, you know, why are these men or women being released out onto the streets when they're some of the most dangerous fugitives, apparently? He said, you know, they have to have their day in court. If it turns out they can be released on bail and then they skip bail, that's what happens. But they have to be tracked down again, and sometimes again.

WHITFIELD: And so this really is a yearly cooperative movement.

DORNIN: This is the fifth year that it's been going on, but apparently the largest operation. Some 1,600 agencies involved -- DEA, FBI, ATF, you know...

WHITFIELD: All the resources.

DORNIN: All the resources -- state, federal, local, all of them.

WHITFIELD: Wow. We're going to talk further on this Operation FALCON 2008 coming up. We'll look inside the operation and how exactly law enforcement actually are able to pull this off. And we talk with the director of the U.S. Marshal Service.

I know, Rusty, you had a pretty lengthy conversation with him. He's going to join us here in Atlanta to talk a little bit more about how this program works and why it's so necessary -- Don.

LEMON: All right, Fredricka.

We have some developing news in. This is just coming into the CNN NEWSROOM.

I just pulled the information here off of the wires. You can see this. These are pictures from our affiliate WPLG in Doral, Florida.

These are three tractor-trailers that are fully engulfed in flames. Now, this is according to Miami-Dade Fire. And I'll read it here.

They said these three tractor-trailers are on fire. If you're in the area, this is located at 7956 Northwest 62nd Street.

When crews arrived here, they were fully engulfed. Again, this in Doral, Florida, where these tractor-trailers are parked. Three of them heavily involved here.

They're working on trying to get these put out. Not exactly sure how this started. And you can see firefighters there at the bottom left of your screen just below our banner.

They are fighting this fire in any way that they can. But really, just amazing pictures coming into the CNN NEWSROOM.

We're going to continue to follow this developing story. But, wow, imagine, you know, exactly what's going on there, the heat that's all coming from this. Again, we're still looking for a cause and more information from Miami, from our sources there on the ground.

We'll get back to that.

Now an apparent shift in U.S. policy towards Iran. President Bush is sending a senior State Department official to a meeting on Saturday between European delegates and Iran's top nuclear official in Switzerland.

Until now, the Bush administration has ruled out direct talks with Tehran until it stops enriching uranium. Officially, though, the State Department envoy will observe, not negotiate. Washington and its allies believe Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons. Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful.

To the Pentagon now. The Pentagon is looking to sending more troops to Afghanistan.

And CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre, sat in on a briefing just a short while ago, and he joins us now with some new details on that -- Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, up until now, the Pentagon has said it doesn't have any troops to send to Afghanistan until next year, after there are troop reductions in Iraq. But today, Defense Secretary Robert Gates indicated, in part because of the desperate situation in Afghanistan, that they're looking for ways to send more troops much sooner than that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We are clearly working very hard to see if there are opportunities to send additional forces sooner rather than later. No decisions have been made. No recommendations have been made.

We have -- the Central Command commander, General Dempsey, as you know, has shifted the Lincoln, I think it is, to support -- provide additional support in Afghanistan. But there is clearly a need both for us to see what we can do to provide additional forces, but also they're clearly looking within Afghanistan to see how to reposition forces, for example, to take advantage of the French troops coming in and to backfill against the Marines in the south so that the gains that we've made there aren't lost.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: Now, two things Secretary Gates says he's not considering. One is extending the tour of duty of troops already in Afghanistan. He's already done that once for some Marine who are there. And he says he's not considering a return to longer tours of duty, going back to the 15-month tour.

Interestingly, or tragically, maybe, the deadly attack on Sunday which killed nine U.S. troops in Kunar Province involved soldiers who were just coming to the end of their 15-month tour. One of the last ones to serve one of those longer tours in Afghanistan. They were in the process of setting up a remote combat outpost when they were attacked by hundreds of enemy fighters, resulting in those nine casualties.

The Pentagon, by the way, plans to release the names of those fallen soldiers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade based in Italy later this afternoon -- Don.

LEMON: Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre.

Appreciate it, Jamie. Thank you -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Wailing and tears on one side, cheers and a hero's welcome on the other. Israelis wept today when Hezbollah handed over two black coffins with the remains of Israeli soldiers. In return, Israel freed Samir Kantar, convicted of killing a 4-year-old Israeli girl, her father and a policeman in a 1979 attack. Kantar was greeted as a conquering hero upon arrival in Lebanon.

The capture of the two Israeli soldiers two years ago triggered the 2006 war with Lebanon. Well, officials had suspected that they were dead, and today their remains were officially identified.

LEMON: The mob, it's been glorified on TV shows and in movies, but the FBI says organized crime is a major threat to the country. Justice Department Correspondent Kelli Arena will take a closer look at that.

And they're hawking a different product from what you might expect here. We'll find out why some Olympic athletes past their prime have jumped on the Botox bandwagon.

You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Leading our Political Ticker this afternoon, John McCain's attempt to close a huge gap with Barack Obama among African- American voters. The presumptive Republican nominee, presidential nominee, spoke today to the NAACP convention in Cincinnati. Much of his focus, education.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If I'm elected president, school choice for all who want it and expansion of opportunity scholarships and alternative certification for teachers will be part of a serious agenda of education reform.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: National security was front and center for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. A short time ago, the Illinois senator held a forum at Purdue University in Indiana. Obama said one of his goals as president would be a world without nuclear weapons. He also said it's time to look forward instead of backward at threats facing Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The danger though, is that we're constantly fighting the last war, responding to the threats that have come to fruition, instead of staying one step ahead of the threats in the 21st century. This is what the 9/11 Commission called our failure of imagination. And after 9/11, nowhere was this more apparent than in our invasion of Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: In our latest nationwide Poll of Polls, Obama has widened his lead a bit. Forty-seven percent of registered voters now say they support Barack Obama, 41 percent back John McCain, 12 percent are unsure.

At the beginning of the week, Obama led McCain by four percentage points. The Poll of Polls is an average of five nationwide surveys.

And he's on John McCain's radar as a potential running mate. You'll want to hear what former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has to say on "THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer. It is coming up at 4:00 p.m. Eastern, only on CNN.

WHITFIELD: And we told you what they did. Now wait until you hear how they did it. We'll have the inside story on how Operation FALCON produced a flock of jailbirds.

And have you ever seen a fish walk? That would constitute a fish walking right there. We'll explain these bizarre pictures straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Twelve years ago, TWA Flight 800 blew up, killing everyone on board. Well, now a rule aimed at preventing a similar tragedy finally takes effect.

CNN's Deborah Feyerick has details on that -- Deborah.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, it's been 12 long years, but officials announced the new rule, saying it goes a long way to preventing the kind of accident that brought down TWA Flight 800 by closing the door to fuel tank explosions. Remember, after TWA, there were two points of focus. One were the center fuel tanks, the other the wiring.

Well, the wiring was fixed in order to stave off any sort of sparks. Today's rule tackled the other part of the problem, which is the center fuel tank, potentially deadly vapors that can be created if the situation is right. By getting rid of those vapors, you effectively have nothing to detonate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MARK ROSENKER, NTSB CHAIRMAN: A fuel tank design and certification philosophy that relies solely on the elimination of all ignition sources, while accepting the existence of fuel tank flammability was fundamentally flawed. Our investigative experience demonstrated that all possible ignition sources cannot be predicted and reliably eliminated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARY PETERS, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: In the past 18 years, there have been three fatal central fuel tank accidents, including TWA 800. The Federal Aviation Administration has taken a number much steps that are designed to identify and to eliminate the ignition sources in and around the plane's fuel tanks. But the full answer, the full safety answer, lies in not just trying to remove the wires that could short or spark and cause an explosion, but also with inventing a way to reduce the flammability of the tank itself. FAA engineers and scientists have worked tirelessly to develop a practical way to rid the fuel tanks of these flammable vapors.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FEYERICK: Now, TWA 800 exploded off the coast of Long Island, killing all 230 passengers after a spark ignited vapors in that center fuel tank. The plane had been on the tarmac for two hours in the hot sun. Investigators determined that an air-conditioning unit likely heated the vapors, making them highly flammable.

The new device adds nitrogen, effectively creating a safe vapor mix in that tank. Now, the planes will have these devices built in. The old planes will be retrofitted over the next nine years.

The largest passenger planes at greatest risk are going to be taken care of first. And again, there are some 3,000 planes where this is going to be taking place. It could run a cost of about $1 billion over the next 35 years, but officials say it is well worth it.

There is always a risk on every flight, even now, that those conditions could be created. So this effectively neutralizes all that -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Wow, 3,000 planes? That's pretty extraordinary.

All right. Deborah Feyerick, thanks so much.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

WHITFIELD: All right. Gasoline, heating oil, electricity, the list goes on and on. And it's all going through the roof this year. But one constant through this energy crisis is the sun, and so far, nobody has figured out how to make us pay for that. A solar energy company in Colorado is aiming to take itself and its customers as far off the grid as possible.

CNN's Josh Levs continues his "Solutions" series.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These solar panel installers work for a company full of bright ideas. Namaste Solar Electric of Boulder, Colorado, aims to make itself zero waste and sustainable. Its new office is believe built under guidelines set by the program known as LEED, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

BLAKE JONES, PRESIDENT, NAMASTE SOLAR: We've committed to achieving the gold certification and hopefully we may even be able to achieve platinum. All the electricity will be supplied by a solar system that we install ourselves.

LEVS: As much wood and construction waste as possible is reused...

JONES: This is a reclaimed wood wall.

LEVS: ... or recycled.

On the job...

JONES: We drive hybrid vehicles, high-efficiency vehicles.

LEVS: They've been known to deliver their solar panels via bicycle.

JONES: We donate one percent of our revenue in the form of solar systems to organizations in the community that we want to support. Those range from the homeless shelter to the local recycling group, to the community-supported radio station.

LEVS: Namaste is looking at a sunny future, due in part to federal, state and city incentives for folks who buy solar systems.

JONES: We're number one in Colorado. We've installed more solar systems than any other company.

LEVS: Josh Levs, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: The pursuit of excellence, the Olympic dream of victory. Does that always apply in the quest for the fountain of youth? Some world class athletes -- and yes, you know their names -- are being paid to promote Botox. They say they have a good reason.

Hear for yourself in just a minute.

And the changing face of the mob and the FBI. Their fight against it coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hello again, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, live at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.

LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

LEMON: A lot of big stories happening today in the CNN NEWSROOM, especially with international news. We're going to tell you about some of the things that we're working on.

First, mixed news from the airline industry. Delta and American are both reporting big second quarter losses, but the numbers are actually beating Wall Street expectations. Meantime, American is laying off 200 pilots as part of an ongoing cost cutting plan.

Is Washington's hard line stance on Iran easing? A U.S. envoy will attend a meeting with Iran's top nuclear official in Switzerland this weekend. A senior administration source tells CNN the trip was previously planned and has nothing to do with Iran's recent missile test.

Colombia's president calls it a slip-up. But legal experts say it could be a war crime. Alvaro Uribe says one Red Cross symbol was used in a recent mission to free 15 hostages from leftist rebels. Red Cross officials say their emblem is protected by the Geneva Convention.

WHITFIELD: Fifteen hundred sex offenders, 161 homicide suspects, 388 gang members are among nearly 20,000 fugitives arrested last month in Operation FALCON. Joining us to talk more about it, the director of the U.S. Marshal Service, John Clark.

Good to see you.

OK, and this does really underscore the collaborative efforts between the federal and local law enforcement. But, hasn't that always been around?

JOHN CLARK, DIRECTOR, U.S. MARSHALS SERVICE: Well it's always been around, but this is a more concentrated effort.

FALCON stands for Federal And Local Cops Organized Nationally. And essentially, during the month of June, you put that concentrated effort into effect and try take down as many bad guys and gals as we can.

WHITFIELD: And why does it happen this way? Why can't it just be that local law enforcement -- they've got the list of folks that they need to go after because they have jumped bail or didn't show up in court, any of those things? Why do they need the U.S. Marshals' help in order to make it happen?

CLARK: Well, whenever you join forces, which is what we do here, we specially deputize these state and local officers, allowing them to go beyond their jurisdictional barriers. Therefore, we make the concentrated effort more globally and more nationally, in this case. So we're able to add an additional work force to them and they are likewise to us.

WHITFIELD: So it's a huge numbers -- some 15,000 that I mentioned of just sex offenders alone. Among them, Roger Alan Chipman. He apparently is one fugitive that you -- and that local jurisdiction were really looking for hard.

Why is this particular capture so significant?

CLARK: Well, that was one of our FALCON 50 Most Wanted. Some of the individuals we were going after, as you know, were the most dangerous offenders in the country. We're not talking about your law- abiding citizens here who were jay walking. These are individuals who are hardcore, seasoned criminals, the kind that we wanted to take down.

WHITFIELD: One other case that got a lot of national attention -- this taking place in Indianapolis. It was a bank robbery -- a young woman who was pregnant with twins. Her twins died, she was shot. And you were able to locate this suspect, or actually in his case, he was convicted of the bank robbery. But, he was a fugitive. And I'm talking about Brian Kendrick.

CLARK: Yes. Imagine that poor mom having her unborn twins being killed in a violent crime. We, of course, made this a priority case. FALCON investigators deputy (ph) U.S. Marshals went out to look for this individual and fortunately found him.

WHITFIELD: And then what happens in the case of U.S. Federal Marshals, as well as local law enforcement, going after a particular suspect or fugitive? Can it ever be the case where anyone involved in this collaboration could be accused of being overzealous? Do you know for certain that you've got the right person? Because, all these resources are going into this, it would seem as though there is kind of this mantra, we got to get it right.

CLARK: Sure. Well, we do our homework months in advance before this operation even starts. So we know in advance who we're going to target, who we're going to go after. So the local officers, the federal officers, the deputy marshals, when they try to target somebody, we absolutely know who's wanted and who isn't. And so we're able to concentrate our efforts and focus strictly on those individuals. So there is not really a sense of being too overzealous in this.

WHITFIELD: All right. John Clark, U.S. Marshal, thanks so much for your time.

CLARK: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: Thanks for coming in.

CLARK: Thank you so much.

LEMON: "The Godfather," "Goodfellas," "Wise Guys." You know all the movies. Organized crime has been glorified and vilified in the popular culture. Trashed and attacked by the feds in real life. In 2008, though, the FBI says it's still a major threat.

And CNN justice correspondent, Kelli Arena, has more in her series, "The FBI at 100."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mafia boss John Gotti is dead and buried. The old Italian neighborhood has gone global. But if you think the sun has finally set on La Cosa Nostra, forget about it.

MIKE GAETA, FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT: Italian organized crime here in the United States is still the most dominant crime problem that affects American society.

ARENA: Still powerful, yes. But it's been severely weakened by decades of prosecutions and undercover investigations. Just this fear, more than 50 alleged members of Gotti's Gambino crime family were indicted. The rap sheets had a familiar ring -- extortion, labor racketeering, gambling and murder.

The modern Mafia started back in the 1930s with Godfather Lucky Luciano. But it took the FBI two decades to catch on.

MARK MERSHON, FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Well, in truth, Jay Edgar Hoover, the founding director, so to speak, of the FBI, was somewhat resistant, we understand, to accepting organized crime as a legitimate target.

ARENA: That allowed the Mafia to thrive in cities like Chicago and New York.

In the late '60s, the FBI reloaded. Agents received congressional authorization to use electronic surveillance. And in 1970, Congress passed the RICO Act, an anti-racketeering law.

KEVIN HALLINAN, FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT: Rather than arresting one person for a murder, you could arrest the boss who ordered it, you could arrest the captain who supplied the guns.

ARENA: And when the Mafia could no longer provide for the families of its jailed members, wise guys began to squeal.

SEAMUS MCCLEARNEY, FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT: What happens once that person goes to jail, that's it. They are on their own. So in the end you have to choose your real family over the mob family.

ARENA: And there is new competition, primarily from Asian crime syndicates who run extortion racquets in places like Chinatown.

HALLINAN: These markets you see are built by immigrants. The organized crime element here in Chinatown will see that and seize upon that opportunity to extort funds from those businesses.

ARENA: Russians, Albanians and other Eastern-European groups are carving off slices of the Mafia's old turf and taking organized crime into new directions.

DENNIS BOLES, FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT: They have more economic power because of the Internet and cyber crime.

ARENA: La Cosa Nostra, our thing, is now their thing too.

But agents have better tools now and years of experience at infiltrating crime families. They'll need it.

Kelli Arena, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: It was once the bread basket of Myanmar. But the recent killer cyclone has now ruined the farmland. Our Betty Nguyen gives us a rare glimpse at how people in that closed country are coping.

LEMON: And if gas prices keep going up, will you be driving one much these?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The prisoner (ph) swap today between Israel and Hezbollah closes a bitter chapter from the Israeli war with Lebanon two years ago. The remains of two Israeli soldiers captured in 2006 were returned home. But the wounds of that war continue to fester with some Israelis because of the release of Samir Kantar, a Lebanese militant, convicted of killing a 4-year-old Israeli girl, her father and a police officer.

Joining us now with more on this is Octavia Nasr, CNN's senior editor for Arab affairs.

Octavia, this convicted child-killer released to Lebanon was hailed as a hero upon his return.

OCTAVIA NASR, SR. EDITOR, ARAB AFFAIRS: Absolutely. They're looking at him as a hero.

It's a totally different story across the border. Someone who was seen as the face of evil in Israel, someone who is known to have committed a heinous crime. Now, look at those images. He's being cheered as a hero in Lebanon and treated basically like -- with a hero welcome.

The president of the republic, the prime minister, the house speaker, all the political leaders were at the airport welcoming him. And right now, on their way, in downtown Beirut, they have a huge celebration for him. As a matter of fact, the secretary general of Hezbollah himself, in person, appeared at that celebration. And this is the first time that we've seen him since that war with Israel back in 2006.

LEMON: We're talking about (INAUDIBLE), the person that we heard about so much back during that war, right? That's who you are talking about?

NASR: Exactly. The one who basically negotiated this release deal. He's the one who's taken full credit for it as well.

LEMON: It's interesting that he is at that.

Well I have to ask you -- the Israeli's released the remains of a person regarded as the first official suicide bomber. How is this -- the first official female suicide bomber -- how is this being viewed?

NASR: Indeed. In 1978, she was 19. She went to Israel, along with 1 men, and basically they had planned a huge suicide attack, which was -- failed because the Israeli Police basically raided that bus that they were on in order to kill them and kill everybody else who was on board.

There you are looking at her. Basically, they're showing all these pictures, glorifying what she's done. Her remains were returned after really Lebanon had given up on the remains. But the remains returned, along with all those prisoners.

LEMON: Octavia Nasr -- thank you so much, Octavia.

NASR: Any time.

WHITFIELD: A rare glimpse of life inside cyclone devastated Myanmar. Once fertile farmland was decimated in the storm leaving farmers scraping by at that. Myanmar's government doesn't allow Western journalists into the country, but our Betty Nguyen, and her crew, were able to sneak in to bring us these amazing reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Irrawaddy Delta is Myanmar's rice belt. Before the storm, farmers here grew enough to feed the country and exported the rest. Not anymore. Cyclone Nargis ruined rich soil and killed tens of thousands. Farmers fortunate enough to survive are scratching out a living haunted by what they've lost.

This man says he was trying to hold his baby above the tidal surge, but the swift current swept the child right out of his hands. The boy's body was never found. Yet, life goes on in these poor farming villages. But it's a hard row to hoe when their crops are being choked by salt water from the cyclone.

(on camera): Just two months ago, dead bodies were floating in these rice fields. Now, farmers are trying their best just to salvage what they can.

(voice-over): The trick now is trying to plow these fields with just a few water buffalo. Most of them died in the storm. Aid agencies and the government have donated one power tiller per every 100 acres. Since most farmers don't own that much land, they have to share. This man says as many as 30 farmers will take turn using one tiller. No one here expects the season will produce quality crops. In fact, it's already having a trickle-down effect.

Monks who rely on donations are eating bad rice that was battered in the storm, though it's hard to complain when this monastery is one of few still standing.

This monk says reconstruction may take two years. That might as well be an eternity in villages where surviving from day-to-day is a constant struggle. But the people here have always lived a hard life and they will tell you, there's no time to dwell on the past.

Betty Nguyen, CNN, Myanmar.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And of course if you would like to help but you don't know exactly where to start, we've tried to make it a little bit easy for you. CNN has set up a web page, Impact Your World, devoted to disaster relief. Just logon to CNN.com/impact and follow the links to a variety of aid agencies. CNN can help you impact your world.

LEMON: The quest for personal best. But should you get help when Mother Nature and Father Time fail? Is cosmetic intervention a healthy lifestyle choice? Some A-List athletes are board, and details coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: If you see a few more helmets around the office today, here's why. It's Ride Your Scooter or Motorcycle to Work Day. And if you're thinking of joining this scooter craze, get this, the industry is planing a vehicle that gets 140 miles to the gallon.

CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow has our "Energy Fix" from New York.

Did you ride your scooter or motorcycle into work today?

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: No. But I rode on one of our other business reporters, Carrie Lee's, scooter today. Helmet -- and we were going down 58th Street (ph). It was pretty cool.

WHITFIELD: It had to be fun. I like that.

HARLOW: But you know what, Fred? If you travel in Europe, a lot of people ride on scooters. It's a common form of transportation. That's because gas prices in a lot of European cities approach $10 a gallon. We complain about $4; they are facing $10 gas.

Now scooters get 60 to 70 miles per hour, depending on the model. And scooter maker Piaggio thinks that the U.S. is ready for a scooter renaissance of its own.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PAOLO TIMONI, PRES. AND CEO, PIAGGIO GROUP AMERICAS: Here in the United States, this is not yet the case. For the market still in its infancy, is growing very rapidly. It's been booming since gas prices hit $4 a gallon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Booming really is an understatement here. Sales for Piaggio were up 146 percent in June for its Piaggio and its Vespa brands just in the United States. Can you believe it?

WHITFIELD: No, I can't.

HARLOW: I know.

WHITFIELD: But it's encouraging.

HARLOW: Yes.

WHITFIELD: So we've seen a spike in sales of kind of smaller vehicles before as soon as gas prices go up. But it doesn't always seem to be a constant.

HARLOW: No, that's true, Fred.

Piaggio thinks that this is here to stick, in terms of more people in the U.S. buying scooters. They say we've never seen gas prices this high. What they say is that they don't see a return to cheap gas in this country. The company also cites the trend of a lot of people moving out of the suburbs into urban areas where it's easier to use a scooter on a day-to-day basis. And one of the concerns about the scooter, though, that does remain is the safety factor there.

Piaggio suggests definitely take safety classes before attempting drive any of its vehicles. And it's also introduced -- this is kind of cool, a three-wheel version that it hopes will be popular with older folks. And you know what? The company is not satisfied with getting just 70 miles-per-gallon on its scooters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIMONI: So, by the end of this next year, we'll have the same version of this vehicle with hybrid technology. That means it will have a thermal engine and an electric engine. By combining the usage of the two engines, you get more efficiency and you get up to 140 miles per gallon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Isn't that unbelievable? You heard him right, 140 miles-a-gallon meaning a hybrid scooter could be an energy fix for you. I don't know, I rode on the back of one today. I don't know how good my driving skills are to take one out and about in New York City...

WHITFIELD: Well, that's why you've got to take lessons. You mentioned, folks you know, they got to be informed before they get out on the road, if they make this purchase. So, sounds to me like you need a little lessons, too.

HARLOW: Yes. Take the safety classes.

LEMON: And this morning on my way to work, there was someone on a scooter in front of me, the whole way. And I was like (INAUDIBLE) . But they were so slow.

WHITFIELD: But they were saving gas. And what, you're doing in town driving. How fast can you go?

LEMON: Fast.

WHITFIELD: I know where you live. It's not much of a commute, Poppy. So he didn't have that far to go. And you know, it's ordinarily what, like a 10-minute commute for you. Maybe you wanted to cut it down to eight.

LEMON: Yes.

WHITFIELD: All right.

LEMON: Holding the calendar at bay. A lot of folks that like to do that, included. Wait until you see who's out there promoting Botox.

WHITFIELD: And in and out of the store without spending a penny. Smarter than the average bear? We'll take a look at the customer with claws.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: OK, let's face it. Our society is image insane. From plastic enhanced everything to those magic little injections that kiss your crow's feet goodbye. Well, why not? A couple of the world's most celebrated Olympians say, best is best. Inside and out.

Here's CNN's Alina Cho.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She was a perfect ten. He, an Olympic record holder and winner of seven gold medals in 1972. More than 30 years later, Nadia Comaneci and Mark Spitz are traveling the country talking about achieving your personal best. That includes exercising, eating right, and Botox?

(on camera): When you think about Olympic athlete endorsements, you think Wheaties. You think Speedos. You don't necessarily think Botox.

NADIA COMANECI, OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL GYMNAST: It does, because it's a part of your life now. You want to look good. You know, in your age. CHO (voice-over): It's been nearly two decades since the FDA first approved Botox to treat certain eye and neurological disorders. In 2002, Botox got further approval for cosmetic use.

Doctors doled out nearly 3 million Botox injections in the U.S. in the past year alone. A $1 billion industry. Allergan, the maker of Botox is paying Comaneci and Spitz to promote the drug, though neither will say how much.

(on camera): There are critics who say there's just something that doesn't seem right about an athlete promoting Botox.

COMANECI: We like to look good, too. What's wrong with that?

GARY HALL JR., OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL SWIMMER: Botox, you'd have a hard time convincing me that the procedure really made your life that much better or helped you accomplish your goals and dreams, which is really kind of the message for an athletic spokesperson.

CHO: Gary Hall Jr. is an Olympic gold medal swimmer. He's diabetic and gets paid to promote insulin. But he says only because it saves his life.

HALL: At the end of the day, it's the integrity that sustains any value that you might have as a spokesperson.

CHO: Isn't there something to be said for aging naturally?

COMANECI: People expect us athletes to look great. And we have to do everything that's possible to look great.

MARK SPITZ, OLYMPIC GOLD MEDAL SWIMMER: That's kind of a nice concept. But the reality is, is that people are very concerned about their personal looks.

CHO (on camera): A sports agent said he sees no problem with this type of endorsement because Botox is FDA approved and commonplace these days. But, critics worry that other athletes, quote, "past their prime," will see just how much money can be made from this type of promotion and will follow suit.

Alina Cho, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right. So, a bear walks into a Circuit City store -- no this isn't a set-up to a joke. It really happened this week in Colorado Springs, Colorado. They were getting ready to open the store when this bear became a literal door buster. Look at that. Oh my gosh. Breaking through a glass door, the bear looked around and left a few seconds later, maybe heading to another store to find -- look at him -- to find a better deal.

WHITFIELD: He was unbearable.

LEMON: Oh, Fred. Very nice. Ba dump bump. She's playing here all week, by the way.

What's a stranger sight than a bear in a Circuit City store? How about a catfish walking down the street. Folks in Pinellas Park, Florida, woke up to find about 30 of these creatures were slithering on the pavement. The catfish who live in storm drains, came out for a stroll after some heavy rain. Catfish can travel short distances on land as long as they stay moist.

WHITFIELD: I imagine they were speechless because the cat bit their tongue.

LEMON: You are...

WHITFIELD: I got a mission of million of them, I tell you.

LEMON: She's playing here all week, folks.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well on to serious matters now. From fighting America's wars to educating America's future. One program turns retired U.S. troops into the world's best futures.

More from WSAZ affiliate reporter Amanda Barren in Charleston, West Virginia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you been across the world a lot of times?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I've been...

AMANDA BARREN, WSAZ REPORTER (voice-over): Kids.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How many wars have you been to?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Me? I've been -- I've just basically this one of the last wars

BARREN: Are curious.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you have any memories from all the places you've been?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes. I've got a lot of memories from different places. I think the two best places I've been was Panama and Germany. I loved Germany. Germany looks just like West Virginia except there's castles , probably about every two or three miles, large stone castles. And we got time off to go explore a few.

BARREN: Now, troops are being encouraged to explore something else. Answering these questions in the classroom.

STEFAN SMOLSKI, TEACHER: I could have worked for a defense contractor, probably making three times the salary I'm making now. But I wouldn't be a third as happy.

BARREN: That's because Stefan Smolski has 100 percent passion for his ninth grade students.

SMOLSKI: I got the to do a lot of things that they're going to read about in the history books.

BARREN: For nearly 20 years, Stefan flew planes for the Navy. Today his mission is helping children soar to new heights.

SMOLSKI: It's the leadership skills that you learn in the military.

BARREN: That, coupled with the knowledge of math, science and engineering, provide a real-world lesson plan.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have so much experience that we've never had and it would be so nice to learn about it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love to learn and history is like, the best thing of all.

BARREN: A love of country, taught with a deep sense of responsibility. By leaders only the military could create.

Amanda Barren, WSAZ, News Channel 3.

(END VIDEOTAPE)