Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Dolly Gains Strength; Obama's Stops: Jordan, Jerusalem; Tweens Posting Personal Information Online

Aired July 22, 2008 - 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: Seventy-mile-an-hour winds, and getting stronger. Dolly eyes the Gulf Coast, the Gulf Coast eyes Dolly.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: In the Middle East, Barack Obama says it is time to act, and act now.

LEMON: And not fit to print. "The New York Times" says no to John McCain's op-ed. The McCain camp fires back.

Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.

PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips, live in New York.

And you're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

LEMON: Churning ever closer to the Gulf Coast and gaining strength, we're expecting Tropical Storm Dolly to be upgraded to a hurricane at any minute now. Some places already feeling the effects, and people are boarding up and stocking up from northern Mexico to south Texas. National Guard troops are ready to help out there, so are hundreds of bus drivers in case people need to be evacuated.

And our Reynolds Wolf is ready to weather the storm in South Padre Island.

How's everyone faring there, Reynolds Wolf?

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's been pretty interesting here, Don. Just a while ago we had plenty of people back over here. We had quite a few umbrellas, people enjoying the sunshine. Then we had one feeder band that zipped through.

The rain came down pretty hard and, boom, they were gone, a lot of people are gone. There are still people though hanging on. The reason being is that they've been planning a vacation for quite some time and they're trying to make the very most of every single moment they can have here on South Padre Island.

You know, this storm is very, very wide. We've had some scattered showers as far as away as, say, parts of New Orleans, all the way to here, and back around into the Gulf. This is a very wide storm and affecting many people, and as you look at this video, you'll notice first some heavy waves that we have in places like, say, Cancun. This was taken just a day or so ago. And then we go from that video in Cancun showing you some -- the situation along parts of the Texas coast, including Galveston, where people stop by their local hardware store, picking up some of that plywood, that particle board. They're going to take that home, tack it up on the windows, and protect their homes the best they possibly can.

Now, let's go back to me for a second. And if you look out, you'll notice you see a few kids out there on some boogie boards. Not exactly the smartest thing to do.

We've seen the waves begin to pile up. They're really starting to increase in intensity. The wind, as I mentioned, also beginning to pick up, which Chad Myers is going to talk about coming up in a little bit.

One big concern that we have here on South Padre Island, Don, is the intensity of the wind. When it gets up to around 39 miles per hour, it gets to tropical storm force, all of the bridges that will be going back to the mainland or back to the island will be shut down, they're going to close them completely.

So, if you want to get out, you need to get out very, very soon. Leave the island as soon as you can, otherwise you're going to be here for the duration.

Let's send it back to the studio -- Don.

LEMON: Reynolds Wolf, South Padre Island.

Those guys over your left shoulder there, you see it every time that, you know, we have these winds. They get into the water, and you guys always tell them not to because it's very dangerous.

Reynolds Wolf, we'll check back with you. Appreciate it.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LEMON: And of course, when weather becomes the news, remember, send us your iReports. Go to ireport.com or type ireport@cnn.com right into your cell phone. And remember, remember, please be safe.

PHILLIPS: Well, for Barack Obama, more face-to-face talks today with leaders in the Middle East. Jordan is the latest stop on his trip overseas.

New video right now of the Democratic presidential nominee -- or candidate, rather, in Amman meeting with King Abdullah. Before that meeting, Obama talked about his previous stop in Iraq, including his meeting with officials in the volatile Anbar Province.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is true that some of the tribal leaders, as well as the local governor in Anbar, expressed concerns about a potential precipitous drawdown of U.S. troops, which is why I haven't proposed a precipitous drawdown. What I proposed is a steady, deliberate drawdown over the course of 16 months, and I emphasized that to them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Now, later this hour, Obama is scheduled to leave Jordan for Israel.

CNN's Paula Hancocks joins us now live from Jerusalem. She's following the trip -- Paula.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Kyra.

Well, the word here in Israel is skepticism. Everybody wants to see what exactly he is going to say.

Now, he knows he's walking into a political minefield when he talks about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Israelis here, some are very excited about someone new coming to town, but of course they want some questions answered. What is he going to do about Iran?

They have heard that he has said he may be willing to talk to Iran. This is the one thing that many Israelis are worried about. They cannot deal with a nuclear Iran, and that is what they wanted to hear.

But of course many people knew Hillary Clinton. That is the person that they were supporting. So he will have a tough sell when he comes here to Israel. Many people saying they're going to wait and see what he says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The jury's still out here as far as how people view him, and whether he's going to bring peace in the Middle East and adjust peace also for the Israeli state.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think any president for a Palestinian would do any good, no matter who he is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: Now, that is going to be the one thing that Obama is going to face in the Palestinian territories, indifference, the fact that they perceive any U.S. president to be anti-Palestinian, or more to the point, pro-Israeli. But of course, when it comes to overseas voters, almost a quarter of those for the U.S. presidential election will be here in Israel. So it's very crucial for Obama to make a good impression.

Now, he has a very packed schedule. He is going to go into the Palestinian territories, into the West Bank to meet the Palestinian president and prime minister. That's one thing that the Palestinians appreciate, because when Senator John McCain came back in March, he only spoke by phone to President Mahmoud Abbas. And also, when he is here in Israel, he'll be talking to the president, the prime minister, the defense minister, the opposition leader, the foreign minister. So it will be very jam-packed and people are going to be watching and listening very closely -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, Paula, it's interesting watching Senator Obama walk across the tarmac. He's got his helmet and his bulletproof vest in his hand. It's like, you know, what we have to do when we're covering stories out in that region. Quite a reality check for him.

Has there been concern about his safety, and have you seen extra efforts going into that?

HANCOCKS: Well, it's interesting, Kyra, because there certainly has been an increased sense of security. But of course, just a few hours ago we did have that attack by a Palestinian driving that bulldozer in central downtown Jerusalem.

Now, this is just a couple of blocks away from where Senator Barack Obama will be staying. So, certainly, there is going to be a very increased sense of security considering just a few hours before he got here there was another attack.

PHILLIPS: Paula Hancocks, live from Jerusalem.

Paula, thanks.

And pocketbook issues are much of John McCain's focus today as he campaigns in New Hampshire. But the Republican candidate is also taking more jabs at Barack Obama over the Democrat's stance on Iraq. At issue, the so-called surge of American troops that McCain supported and Obama opposed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And, my friends, that would have been a catastrophe for the United States of America. He was wrong then, he's wrong now, and he still fails to acknowledge -- he still fails to acknowledge that the surge succeeded. A remarkable -- remarkable.

And as you know, he just received his first briefing ever from General Petraeus. And he declared his policy towards Iraq before he left. Before he left.

And so the fact is, we have made progress and we have succeeded, and we will be coming home, my friends. Our troops will be withdrawing, but they'll come home in honor and victory, they will not come home in defeat. They will come home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: John McCain and his supporters aren't happy with "The New York Times." They say the prominent newspaper is showing favoritism for McCain's rival, Barack Obama. We're going to have more on this later in the hour. LEMON: Well, big bank, big loss. Wachovia gets hit by the mortgage crisis to the tune of billions of dollars. Can it turn things around?

LEMON: Osama bin Laden's former driver on trial in the first U.S. war crimes proceeding since War World II. What did he know about 9/11?

We'll bring you a live report.

And a long-awaited arrest. The man accused of ordering ethnic cleansing in Bosnia now in custody after more than 12 years in hiding.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: What are kids doing online? Their answers to a new survey will both shock and comfort anyone who cares about preteens.

"America's Most Wanted" host John Walsh joins us ahead in the NEWSROOM with what you need to know to keep the kids in your life safe.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Well, the mortgage crisis and big banks, the numbers keep adding up, and they get more dramatic by the day.

Wachovia, the fourth largest U.S. bank, has a reportedly nearly $9 billion loss for the second quarter. It plans to cut more than 6,300 jobs and slash payments to shareholders. Wachovia is the largest in a string of banks hit by massive losses tied to the mortgage crisis.

Can they turn things around? Our Susan Lisovicz takes a closer look. She'll do that for us in just a few minutes.

Meantime, Henry Paulson wants to turn things around right now. The Treasury secretary is pushing Congress to pass a government plan to back up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Paulson says the mortgage lending giants might not need the help, but he says having a plan in place might smooth (ph) nervous investors and stabilize a battered housing market.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY PAULSON, TREASURY SECRETARY: Housing is not only important to our economy, it is also the largest factor currently impacting our financial markets. The sooner we work through the housing correction, the sooner home prices will stabilize and uncertainty about the values of mortgage-related assets will be more easily determined. So now, more than ever, we need Fannie and Freddie out there financing mortgages.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: Well, the House takes up the legislation tomorrow. Today, congressional analysts say a Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac rescue could cost taxpayers up to $25 billion. But they also say there is probably a better than 50 percent chance the government won't have to step in.

We also have some more news about the tough economy. It seems to be chasing some women out of the workplace.

A study today from the Joint Economic Committee in Congress finds fewer women in the U.S. workforce. Now, the number declined more than two percentage points this decade, but they aren't dropping out to care for their kids or their homes. They're leaving for the same reason men do -- they're losing money.

The Economic Policy Institute finds the median pay for women in their prime working years was about $15.10 an hour back in 2004. But look at what happened last year. That wage was down by 25 cents.

PHILLIPS: So, should you be worried about what your kids or grandkids are up to online? Well, a brand new survey of kids between the ages of 8 and 12, an age group commonly referred to as "tween," has both encouraging and disturbing news.

Listen to this. According to the survey, 79 percent of them say they tell their parents everything that happens online. But here's what they might not be telling their parents. More than one in five of those tweens surveyed post personal information about themselves online, and 28 percent of them say that they've been contacted online by someone they don't even know.

Child safety advocate and host of "America's Most Wanted" John Walsh joins me now from Washington to talk about this.

John, great to see you.

JOHN WALSH, HOST, "AMERICA'S MOST WANTED": Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Here's what caught my attention. Well, a lot of this caught my attention. But 28 percent of these kids say they've been contacted online by someone they don't even know. I mean, that's 28 percent, if not more, that are at risk of all types of predators online.

WALSH: Oh, absolutely. And another part of the survey done by Cox Communications, which are a pretty responsible media entity -- they're the third largest broadcasting cable group -- cable provider, and they do this every year. This is the fourth year they've done this, tween and teenage survey (ph) -- says that 30 percent of tweens lie about their age and actually have profiles on social networking sites.

So there is a lot about tweens that we don't know. But I think the encouraging news from the Cox survey is that 75 percent of parents out there are getting in touch, getting in step. They can visit the Cox Web site -- it's cox.com/takecharge -- and get some good tips about how to deal with your tween, because they're way more sophisticated than the parents are.

PHILLIPS: Well, isn't it just about constant dialogue? You don't just warn your kids anymore one time and think, OK, they'll be fine, but you've got to constantly keep up this conversation and be in tune to what they are doing in the computer.

WALSH: Oh, you're absolutely right. Truly, I've been talking to these tweens all morning. And we're going to go up on Capitol Hill and meet some of our elected representatives up there.

The kids all agree on one thing -- they're way more sophisticated than the parents are. They don't want to be lectured to, but they do want their parents involved, and they do want their parents to talk about them -- to them about the potential dangers. So, it's not so much about a lecture, you're absolutely right. It's more about communication with your kids.

PHILLIPS: And John, the other part that they talked about here was, one in five 11-and-12-year-olds believe that posting personal information online is safe.

I mean, how can any child or any parent let their child think that putting personal information online is safe? I mean, that's a perfect forum to open yourself up to sexual crimes.

WALSH: Absolutely. Not only for sexual predators, there are all kinds of other crimes on the Internet such as identity theft. And kids, you know, think they're bulletproof.

And I think you have to sit down with your kids and say, here's a red flag. If somebody approaches you online, you don't know them, don't respond, but please don't give out your address and information. Or if they ask for dad or mom's Social Security number, or something like that, there are so many things on the Internet that are dangerous. And again, it's about telling these kids that think they're bulletproof that there are lots of dangers on the Internet, and talk to them about those red flags.

PHILLIPS: John, let me ask you, is there anything good about these Web sites where kids are communicating, putting their information, their pictures on? I mean, back when we were kids, you know, you talk on the phone, you hook up somewhere, you go to the movies. I mean, it's a totally different day and age.

Is there anything positive about that for kids, or is it all dangerous?

WALSH: No, it isn't all dangerous, and it is an absolute reality. It's part of our culture today. Places like MySpace, which tries very, very hard to keep Internet predators off of MySpace, are a reality.

All those tweens and all those teenagers at this conference say one thing -- this is how they socially network, this is the way life exists today, this is the social and communicative skills. Lots of these kids learn and do their homework over the Internet. So it's a reality.

The Internet's a great, wonderful place, but it can be a very dangerous place. And I'm a great believer in doing what Cox does, Cox Communications -- knowledge is power. Talk to your kids and arm them with good, good, solid information.

PHILLIPS: John Walsh, great to see you.

WALSH: Thank you.

LEMON: All right. So we talked about your kids. Now we want to hear from you.

We told you the story of a high-profile news anchor who allegedly hacked into his co-anchor's e-mail and then fed information, private information, about her to the newspapers. Do you feel safe looking at personal information at work -- your e-mails, your bank statements, other private information?

E-mail us at cnnnewsroom@cnn.com.

Also, he is a lifelong oilman who made a fortune in black gold. Now he is spending a fortune to get away from it. T. Boone Pickens drilling for alternatives.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Oil and gas a bit cheaper today. Oil prices steadily dropping after word that Tropical Storm Dolly likely won't hurt production in the Gulf of Mexico. Plus, gas prices are seeing a fifth straight drop in five days, but not as much as you'd probably like. AAA says the national average for unleaded is around $4.06 a gallon.

Well, a lifelong Texas oilman doesn't want us to spend less on oil and gas, he wants us to rely less. T. Boone Pickens appeared before a Senate panel today, touting his plan to cut U.S. dependence on oil through alternative energy sources like wind and natural gas. Pickens has already launched a multimedia blitz. You might have seen some of his ads on TV, and today he sent a message to the presidential contenders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

T. BOONE PICKENS, FOUNDER, BP CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: I want to elevate this into the presidential debate, and it's not there yet. OK, elevate it there. By the time we get the elections over, whoever wins, the American people are going to demand they know the truth about energy, they know what they're up against, and they will respond.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Pickens says that his alternative plan would cut America's dependency on foreign oil by nearly 40 percent.

(BUSINESS REPORT) PHILLIPS: Well, could the quick fix to America's energy needs be blowing in the wind, or are green proponents being unrealistic?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips live in New York.

LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon, live here at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.

You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

All right, it's time now to tell you about some of the stories we're working on for today right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

The next stop on Barack Obama's overseas trip: Jerusalem. He's heading there this afternoon from Jordan where he has sent an urgent message on the war on terror. He called Afghanistan the central front in that war and said efforts to fight the Taliban and al Qaeda must be stepped up.

Back in the U.S., Obama's taking some shots from John McCain. McCain questioned his rival's record on the Iraq war in a town hall meeting in New Hampshire, and he credits decreasing violence in Iraq to the top U.S. troop -- to the troop surge, I should say, which Obama opposed.

More than 6,300 job cuts. Fall out from Wachovia bank's big loss in the second quarter, the fourth biggest U.S. bank reports losing almost $9 billion, much of it tied to the mortgage crisis.

Turning 200 miles off the Texas coast, Tropical Storm Dolly is just shy, just shy, of being a hurricane. It is expected to make landfall tomorrow morning, bringing with it a lot of wind and a whole lot of rain as well. It's still clear exactly where it will hit -- it is not clear, I should say, where it will hit. Warnings are out and people are on alert from northern Mexico to southern Texas.

I turn right behind me now to our weather expert, Mr. Chad Myers, with the very latest update on Dolly.

It's still a tropical storm.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, but very, very close now, Don. We're splitting hairs here. At 70 miles per hour, you need to get to 74 and it will be a hurricane.

It's looking very good on radar now. We actually can see it from the Brownsville radar. It has a closed eye. The aircraft -- the hurricane hunters are in the storm right now. They are finding winds very close to hurricane strength at flight level. We don't care what the winds are up there, we care what they are down at the surface because that's what you feel. But we do expect this to be a 90-mile- per-hour storm right there at the Rio Grande, right there at about 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. We are calling this the hurricane impact zone. What's the total economic loss for this area?

Well, all the way up even -- almost to the Hill Country, there will be some economic loss, probably less than $1 million. But now that we get into these little zones here from McAllen to Harlingen back into Brownsville, everywhere that you see this dark red, that is more than $1 million, and in some spots more than $10 million, loss. That's economic loss from tourism, from loss of jobs and also, obviously, from damage still to come, Don.

LEMON: All right. Stay safe.

Thank you very much, but stay safe. We want our viewers to send us their I-Reports -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Did Osama bin Laden's former driver have key information about the 9/11 attacks? Prosecutors at Salim Hamdan's war crimes trial said today that he knew the target of the fourth hijacked plane.

CNN's Jamie McIntyre is in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for the trial.

Are they believing him, Jamie?

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, it's been a very interesting first full day of the trial here today. And as you said, in the opening statement, prosecutors said that Salim Hamdan actually made statements and indicated he knew the target, one of the targets, on September 11th, referring to the dome, apparently a reference to the Capitol.

But the prosecutors insist that Salim Hamdan is simply a low- level driver for Osama bin Laden who was not really a part of the terror network. They said that he worked for wages, not to wage attacks against America.

And then the prosecution's first witness today, a U.S. American soldier who was there when Hamdan was captured and testified that he was driving the car that had surface-to-air missiles, SA-7 missiles, that were intended for al Qaeda. But on cross examination, he could not say for sure that Hamdan was the driver of one of the three vehicles that had those missiles in it. So it was a little bit of a setback for the prosecution there.

It shows how difficult it is to prove these cases once you have to meet the criteria of evidence in a court of law. The defense today also registered a complaint about not being given all the evidence that they were supposed to be given ahead of time, the so-called discovery evidence.

The trial is supposed to go on for four to six weeks. As I said, so far, the opening statements have gone off, and the first witness has testified. The trial is resuming this afternoon. But from this early going, I have to say it looks like the prosecutors are going to have their work cut out for them, even though the rules of this proceeding are very liberal in terms of what evidence can be introduced, including, at times, hearsay and even evidence that was gathered from coercive interrogations -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Jamie McIntyre there via broadband there at Gitmo. Pretty rare access. But we'll follow up the trial with you.

Jamie McIntyre, thanks so much.

LEMON: A Serbian judge has ordered alleged war criminal, Radovan Karadzic, to be transferred to the Netherlands to stand trial on charges of genocide. The former Bosnian Serb president was taken into custody in Serbia last night after being on the run for nearly 13 years. Karadzic was in power during the Bosnian war in the early 1990s. He is accused of masterminding the executions of up to 8,000 Muslim men and boys.

Karadzic was known as a butcher of Bosnia. But how did he get that nickname? Our chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, looks back at the events that made Karadzic one of the world's most wanted men.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The international arrest warrant issued for Radovan Karadzic lists flamboyant behavior as his distinguishing characteristic. A self-styled president of the small Serb entity he carved in Bosnia, Karadzic's flamboyance veered from poetry loving silver-haired Serb nationalist, to leader of Europe's most brutal experiment in racial purity since World War II.

The international war crimes tribunal has charged him with separate counts of genocide, crimes against humanity, and violating the laws and customs of war.

A psychiatrist by profession, Karadzic was born in Montenegro in 1945, but later he moved to ethnically mixed city of Sarajevo. In 1985, Yugoslavia's Communist authorities sentenced him to prison for a fraud and embezzlement scheme. But by the time Communism fell, Karadzic had jumped onto the nationalist bandwagon that already had rolled through Slovenia and Croatia and would destroy Bosnia.

In 1990, Karadzic was selected president of the Serbian Democratic Party, which he helped found. And two years later, he became president of the self-declared Bosnian-Serb Republic, allied with Yugoslavia.

For the next three-and-a-half years, the world would watch the siege and bombardment of Sarajevo, massacres in marketplaces, sniper and mortar attacks on civilians, and concentration camps filled with Muslims. The goal was to carve out an ethnically pure Serb statelet. Throughout most of these years, the international community seemed unable and unwilling to fully engage in order to end the war.

Governments deployed thousands of troops to keep a nonexistent peace and to deliver food and relief supplies. An endless stream of distinguished politicians and diplomats came bearing cease fires and peace plans. But Karadzic toyed with all of them, bombing and besieging Sarajevo, as well as towns and villages all over Bosnia. He always portrayed the Serbs at the real victims.

RADOVAN KARADZIC, FMR. BOSNIAN-SERB PRES.: The West does not understand does not know Serbs enough. Serbs are squeezed, cornered, Serbs are endangered and Serbs are right now in a very dangerous state of mind in terms of readiness for sacrifice. So they are ready to fight.

AMANPOUR: By May 1995, the war had reached a critical point. While talking peace, Bosnian-Serb forces kept bombing. They took 248 U.N. peacekeepers hostage. And in July that year, they committed the worst single atrocity seen in Europe since the Second World War. They overran the small Muslim town of Srebrenitza, which had been designated a U.N. safe area, and they went on an orgy of mass executions.

The catastrophe at Srebrenitza finally convinced the West that it now had to act to end the war. And in August 1995, NATO unleashed its first-ever bombing campaign against the Bosnian-Serb military machine.

Now, Radovan Karadzic appealed for the bombs to stop.

KARADZIC: We are under terrible attacks by NATO. They are bombarding us so severely that it (ph) hasn't been seen since Second World War in Europe.

AMANPOUR: At the same time, the West organized a final peace plan to end the war. Led by the United States and mediated by Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, the Dayton Peace Accords effectively partitioned Bosnia, but under a unified presidency with the eventual possibility for return of ethnically cleansed refugees and Democratic elections.

No one under indictment could participate, and by 1996, Karadzic was forced from public office. He spent years hiding, trying to avoid capture, and according to NATO sources, amassing a fortune on the black market cigarette trade.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: FoMoCo, home of the Kuva (ph), the C-MAXs, the Mondeo. Never heard of them right? I can bare these pronounce them. Get ready, they, and models like those, could be part of Ford's renewed focus in America.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Most Americans will tell you they want cheaper energy. Some might even say they're desperate for it. But are proponents being too optimistic, suggesting the U.S. could harness the wind for our electrical needs in a mere decade?

CNN's David Mattingly checks on the prospects in today's "Planet in Peril" segment.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Al Gore says the U.S. can harness all the carbon-free electricity it needs, he's right. But when he says we can do that in just 10 years, even the greenest energy experts suggest that's too much, too fast.

JOSEPH ROMM, FORMER ASST. SECRETARY OF ENERGY: I think it would be a tremendous stretch to do it in 10 years. I don't think there's any question we must do it over a short period of time if we're going to deal both with the high price of oil and with the danger from global warming.

MATTINGLY: There's no doubt the energy, and the technology to capture it, are there. There's enough sunshine hitting the American southwest to light up every city in the country. There's enough wind blowing across the heartland to do the same. But keeping them honest, when it comes to delivering all that clean energy to consumers under Gore's 10-year timetable, we found that optimism among supporters starts to waiver.

ROMM: Most of the wind in the country is in the center of the country, kind of from east Texas up through the Dakotas. That's not where most of the people are.

MATTINGLY (on camera): You can see the dilemma clearly on a map. Here's where the most winds are blowing in the U.S., and here's where you find the most sunshine. Compare that to the big populations in the country and then you can imagine how it would take a huge amount of new transmission lines to deliver all this clean energy on the scale that Gore envisions.

(voice-over): The former vice president himself acknowledges the problem.

AL GORE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We do not have a unified national grid that is sufficiently advanced to link the areas where the sun shines and the wind blows to the cities in the east and the west that need the electricity.

MATTINGLY: But utility industry experts say Gore's timetable for that grid doesn't take into consideration how long it would take to cut through all the legal and regulatory red tape before construction could even start.

JIM WALKER, UTILITY INDUSTRY CONSULTANT: More than 10 years. I think it's out of the order of magnitude of a generation to solve those legal constitutional issues across the entire 50 states.

MATTINGLY: But in the meantime, some states are taking steps of their own. Texas just launched a project to deliver wind turbine energy to big cities like Dallas and Houston. That project alone is expected to take eight years.

David Mattingly, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE) PHILLIPS: Propane that you use to fire up your barbecue grill may soon be powering your child's school bus. In one Texas school district it is already happening. CNNMoney.com's Poppy Harlow has our "Energy Fix" from New York.

Hey, Poppy.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Hey there, Kyra.

Well you think it is expensive to fill up your SUV, imagine filling up a school bus. High energy costs not just hitting us at the gas station, local school districts with their extensive bussing networks are big consumers of fuel. They either stick the taxpayers with the bill or they decide to cut back. But a pretty large school district in San Antonio, Texas, has another solution. It is the first to get buses that run completely on propane.

The district had been converting diesel buses to propane for some time, but now bus manufacturer Blue Bird is making propane-ready buses. The district says propane is better for the environment and it is a real energy fix.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN FOLKS, SUPT. NORTHSIDE IND. SCHOOL DIST.: At the end of school we were buying about $1.73 per gallon of propane versus almost $4 for a gallon of diesel. And with a bus, it gets about eight miles per gallon. Let me tell you, that's a tremendous cost savings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: I'd say it certainly is. The 16 new propane buses will join more than 300, Kyra, that the district has already converted to propane.

PHILLIPS: Well how much do these new buses cost?

HARLOW: Yes, of course, they're more expensive. They cost about 83 grand. That's $11,000 more than the diesel models. But the district -- first of all, it is going to get some help in the form of state and federal grants, and of course huge fuel savings. The district expects about 3,000 more students this year to ride on its buses.

A lot of parents looking to save money on gas wherever they can, they're going to stop giving their kids a ride to school. So parents out there, this may be your energy fix. You may want to put your kids on the bus. I know it's nice to take your son and daughter to school, but this school it district is trying something new. We'll see how it works -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Poppy Harlow, thanks.

LEMON: Got a question for you. Ever gone to Europe and then you see an American car that you have never seen in America? Well you might see those Euro-American cars -- would that be Euro-American or EurAmerican? Whatever. You might them on the U.S. roads soon thanks to high gas prices.

"Wall Street Journal" reports Ford is planning to turn three North American truck plants into car plants and crank out smaller vehicles developed for Europe. Ford is expected to announce the plan on Thursday.

PHILLIPS: The McCain campaign and others are leveling charges of media bias, and this time all eyes are on "The New York Times."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: "The New York Times" recently published an opinion piece that Barack Obama wrote about Iraq, but days later asked John McCain to rewrite his rebuttal.

Here's Randi Kaye.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A nearly 900-word op-ed by Senator John McCain for "The New York Times" said, no, thanks less than a week after it had published an op-ed by Senator Barack Obama titled "My Plan for Iraq."

Instead, the opinion page editor asked for another draft with more new information. It would be terrific to have an article from Senator McCain that mirrors Senator Obama's piece.

HOWARD KURTZ, "WASHINGTON POST": It asks for far more detail and it wanted McCain to address the use of timetables. John McCain opposes timetables for withdrawal in Iraq.

KAYE: "Washington Post" media reporter Howard Kurtz says "The Times" has an obligation to publish McCain's op-ed. "The New York Times" explains it's standard procedure to go back and forth with an author. The paper points out it has published at least seven op-ed pieces by McCain in the last 12 years adding, we take his views seriously.

In McCain's op-ed written in response to Obama's, he criticized the Democratic senator for calling for an early withdrawal timeline.

JILL HAZELBAKER, MCCAIN COMMUNICATIONS DIR.: We wanted to give them Senator McCain's side. Unfortunately, "The New York Times" wasn't willing to accommodate our request.

KAYE (on camera): Politics is exactly what the McCain camp claims "The Times" is playing, accusing the paper of publishing the Obama op-ed and stiffing McCain, and noting that the op-ed's editor was once a senior speech writer for a Democrat, Bill Clinton. Critics say McCain's problem goes far beyond "The Times" op-ed, suggesting the media isn't giving him enough air time to compete fairly.

(voice-over): Consider this. Network anchors and reporters are following Obama's every move in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the last four months, McCain has gone abroad to Europe, the Middle East, Canada, Colombia and Mexico. No anchors tagged along. Some networks didn't even send reporters.

KURTZ: This has been a very cleverly stage managed trip abroad in which Obama is doling out interviews to not just the three network anchors but other television anchors and correspondents. And it is allowing him to dominate the dialogue, dominate the world stage at a time when John McCain is struggling to stay in the headlines.

KAYE: CNN sent correspondent Candy Crowley with Obama, and John King covered McCain on his recent Mideast trip. According to a group that follows this stuff, Obama gets more than twice as much coverage as McCain on the broadcast networks weekday evening newscasts, 114 minutes compared to just 48. Same goes for the covers of "TIME" and "Newsweek."

Journalistic fascination or media bias?

Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: OK. So, check this out. It is the latest fix for dry, scaly feet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This isn't like sticking your foot in with Jaws, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nope. You stick four toes in there, you come out with four toes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK. Well, fish that give pedicures. Will they replace a pumice stone?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: So, would you allow hundreds of tiny doctor fish to nibble on your feet? I don't know, it might feel good. A lot of people are swearing by the fish pedicure.

Derek McGinty of CNN affiliate WUSA, gives it a try.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEREK MCGINTY, WUSA REPORTER (voice-over): Believe it or not these friendly flesh eaters are giving these feet a pedicure, one bite at a time.

(on camera): This isn't like sticking your foot in with jaws. Right?

JOHN HO, YVONNE HAIR SALON: No. You stick four toes in there you come out with four toes. If you have four.

MCGINTY (voice-over): But you also come out without much of the callus and dead flesh you hate.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Feels pretty darn good.

MCGINTY: But which these fish apparently can't get enough of.

(on camera): Fish are actually nibbling on your feet?

HO: They're actually nibbling on your feet.

MCGINTY: Does this hurt?

HO: No, it doesn't hurt in any way. It tickle like (EXPLETIVE DELETED) though.

MCGINTY (voice-over): John Ho traveled all the way to China to learn the art of using these tiny garra rufa or doctor fish, to eat the dead skin off your feet. Smoother and more sanitary than a razor, these particular fish take their meals at the Yvonne Hair Salon, run by Ho and his wife in Alexandria.

HO: They love it. I have people coming back many, many times to try it.

MCGINTY: Ho insists the doctor fish have had their fill of thousands of local feet. And we found more than one customer coming back to offer second and third helpings.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's starting to feel like a massage more than a pedicure.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And this is my first time. It feels great.

MCGINTY (on camera): I knew you guys weren't going to be satisfied unless I took the plunge, so here we go.

Oh! Oh! Oh, man.

(voice-over): But as these fish go to town on my battered tootsies, you got to wonder...

(on camera): Do the fish ever get full?

HO: They never get full.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Derek McGinty, with our affiliate WUSA, says that his feet were noticeably smoother after the nibbling. But he admits, that he needs a few more treatments.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM, starts right now.