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Florida Coupled Murdered, Robbery the Motive; U.S. Military on the Hunt for Missing U.S. Serviceman Captured in Afghanistan; Consumers File Class Action Lawsuit against Babies "R" Us for Price Fixing; Endeavour Headed to Space Station; Foreign Exchange Students Abused in Scranton
Aired July 16, 2009 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we're keeping a close eye on Capitol Hill and the historic senate hearings for Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor. If confirmed, she would be the first Hispanic and only the third woman to serve on the high court.
This is Sotomayor's last day of fielding questions. The judiciary committee is also hearing from outside witnesses, some of them not so friendly. We're going to break it all down with the best political team on television.
First up though, the killings of a wealthy Florida couple who adopted several special-needs children. Peel the mystery back to its core and you have a case of robbery, plain and simple. It's the layers that are so complex.
Within the last few minutes, we found out the safe stolen from that home of Byrd and Melanie Billings has been recovered along with several weapons, one may be the murder weapon. Eight people now charged, with more people of interest still out there. We also know that federal drug agents are involved in the case. The Escambia County Sheriff said that, don't read too much in to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF DAVID MORGAN, ESCAMBIA COUNTY, FLORIDA: DEA is providing investigative assistance at the request of the Escambia County Sheriff's office. No additional information is being provided at this time.
That's a statement from the DEA. Now, to put that in context is the DEA was called in on the suspects in this crime to assist us in that area, the individuals that are currently incarcerated. So, they're assisting us in any area that developed from that. Additionally, I will restate, which I believe I stated numerous times last night, that the Billings family, to the best of my knowledge, is not the focus of any investigation by the DEA. And I'm not sure where that may have started, but please, today, let us put that to rest.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: But who knows what the DEA is working on. Ed Lavandera takes us back to the scene of the crime.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thursday evening, Byrd and Melanie Billings are at home with nine of their children, the time, approximately 7:00 P.M. Outside, a red van, pulls into the end of the driveway. Three individuals exit the vehicle and burst through the front door. From the woods, more cross the lawn and enter through an unlocked utility door. They're inside the house for less than four minutes. Within that brief time span, the men confront Byrd and Melanie, several shots are fired at point-blank range. Both husband and wife, now dead. So, what were they after?
BILL EDDINS, FLORIDA STATE ATTORNEY: I think the safest, easiest, clearest thing to say that the primary motive in this case was robbery. Home invasion, robbery.
LAVANDERA: But it doesn't seem that simple. Authorities say a medium-sized safe was taken from the home, but won't reveal the contents of the safe, including how much money may have been inside. And as for any connection to narcotics, a federal law enforcement source tells us, quote, "This was not a drug hit. There's no connection we know of to the Mexican mafia. It appears to be money driven."
Another big question, why didn't the killers disable the Billings' security system? The suspects allegedly planned the operation for weeks. Two had military training. Others were familiar with the property. How, then, could they let themselves be recorded on tape? The answer, it seems, reveals the group's gaping mistake.
SHERIFF DAVID MORGAN, ESCAMBIA COUNTY, FLORIDA: I believe that they entered that compound -- and this is the theory we're currently working on to conclude this case, they entered the compound with the belief that they were not under surveillance
LAVANDERA: Sheriff Morgan said this crime was planned out to the smallest detail, except they thought the system was off, and it wasn't. What happened? Authorities believe the person assigned to the task abandoned the mission.
MORGAN: We are now looking at anyone who may have had an involvement with the security system, everyone from the company that installed it on back.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: We'll stay on top of that case. Our Ed Lavandera following it for us.
If you do not release the U.S. soldier, you will be hunted. The U.S. military sends a blunt new warning to the Afghan militants believed to be holding an American soldier. It comes in flyers that the military is now posting and handing out in Southeast Afghanistan. You're seeing one of them right now on your screen.
The soldier disappeared from his unit on June 30th. Now his comrades are stepping up the search. Our Barbara Starr is working her sources at the Pentagon. And, Barbara, let's clarify something first as we look at the pamphlets. The pictures there on the flyers, is that actually the missing soldier? Some people are confused by that.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Kyra, no, it is not. This is a graphic, a series of graphics made up by the U.S. military, to distribute in these pamphlets across Southeastern Afghanistan.
They're going through towns and villages handing these out. There's a series of four pamphlets that we'll put up here, and you see, there's no identifying face or markers or markers or name tags for this representation of U.S. soldiers. You know, this is very serious, because, of course, the young man's family may be seeing this, and they want the family to know this is not a picture of the soldier. Afghanistan is a country, though, where there is not much literacy, so the writing's very minimal, and they're using these graphic representations to communicate to the people of Afghanistan that they are on the hunt for a missing U.S. serviceman. Kyra?
PHILLIPS: It's taken 17 days, Barbara, for this to finally happen, some type of effort on behalf of the military to search for this soldier. Why has it taken that long?
STARR: Well, let's be very clear, you know, 17 days until we, in the news media, learned and were able to get our hands on copies of these leaflets and pamphlets. The U.S. military started looking for this young man immediately, when he was reported missing.
There has been quite a very secret effort, if you will, a very quiet effort in Eastern Afghanistan, throughout this area, trying to look for him. But what is clear is the military is trying to keep it very quiet, very low key. The feeling is if they can keep it low key, they will have the best chance of trying to get him back. Kyra?
PHILLIPS: Any notion to what side of the border that he's on at this point?
STARR: Well, he was taken in a place that was very close to the Pakistan border, so there has been a lot of concern over this last 17 days that he might have been moved by the militants across the border. They're working, as far as we know, on both theories, looking all over this area of Afghanistan and conducting a lot of surveillance trying to see if they can get a good lead on where he's being held. Kyra?
PHILLIPS: Finally, we haven't heard from his family. Is there a reason for that?
STARR: Well, we don't really know. They have not come out in public. They certainly are being kept informed by the military of any and all developments here. The kind of feeling is that this is all part of this effort, keep it quiet, keep it low key, keep this search effort going on and they may have their best chance of trying to get him home -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, thanks. Another developing story that we're following -- investigators might be closer to knowing what caused a deadly plane crash in Iran. The Caspian Airlines flight went down yesterday shortly after taking off from Tehran. All 168 people on board are dead.
Now Iranian state radio said that the cockpit voice and flight data recorders have been recovered. They'll probably be sent to the plane's Russian makers to analyze. The flight was on its way to Armenia when it crashed. Witnesses say that the plane's tail was on fire before it went down nose first, plowing a long, deep, and fiery trench into some of the homeland there.
Did you pay a whole lot more for that baby stroller than you needed to? Babies R Us hit with some very adult allegations, including price fixing. We're not toying around here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: It's a historic anniversary of the NAACP, and what better way to observe its 100th birthday than to host the nation's first black president. Mr. Obama is shown here speaking to the civil rights group last year when he was still a presidential candidate. He's going to leave the White House in just a few minutes, head for New York and then he'll speak to the centennial gathering tonight.
A federal judge has granted class action lawsuit status to a group of consumers who are not toying around with Babies "R" Us, they claim the store spent five years fixing prices on their products, meaning you may have paid a lot more for that baby bouncer than you needed to. Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange with more. Susan, you just don't expect it from a company like this.
SUSAN LISOVICZ: Oh, yeah, but you're a captive audience, and this is a really big player, Kyra, think about it, Babies "R" Us, they're everywhere, and, of course, they're a division of Toys "R" Us. The case involves Babies "R" Us, accused of fixing prices on $500 million worth of baby products between 2001 and 2006. And there are things that we all buy, things like baby Bjorn carriers, brand names like Batch strollers, many other products. And basically Babies "R" Us accused of being in cahoots with five manufacturers, manufacturers, well-known manufacturers, from all over the world. And we basically lost out on this. Kyra?
PHILLIPS: And so what exactly is the defense here?
LISOVICZ: Well, believe it or not, Toys "R" Us says that the Supreme Court has basically upheld this kind of agreement, packed with the manufacturers, because the consumer can actually benefit from better service, and that that can be actually -- that can outweigh the harm of consumers paying higher prices.
Now, of course, it's the interpretation of this court case that is really going to be the ultimate decision, because the court did warn that these agreements enforced by a dominant retailer could also be anti-competitive. And Toys "R" Us is certainly that, in this particular arena. We're talking about how much money. A University of North Florida marketing professor, Kyra, estimates that we consumers, paid up to $100 million for these products because of these agreements. So, an interesting case and just beginning of it.
PHILLIPS: Always get a second opinion. You got to triple and quadruple your price checks on a number of things, comparative shopping.
LISOVICZ: That's it. That's what the internet's good for, Kyra, let's face it.
PHILLIPS: There you go. Thanks Susan.
LISOVICZ: You're welcome.
PHILLIPS: Secretaries strike it rich with six-figure thank yous from their boss. Why one D.A. was dolling out Texas-sized bonuses. Gary Tuchman keeps them honest.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLPS: Well, there's tragedy in Marseilles, France, where a stage was being built for a Madonna concert. The stage fell apart on top of workers, killing one and injuring six others, including an American worker. No word on the cause yet. Madonna is scheduled to perform in the French port city on Sunday. We don't know yet if the show will still go on.
Captured on camera, the incident that may have changed Michael Jackson's life forever. "Us Weekly" magazine got a hold of some pretty incredible footage from that disastrous Pepsi shoot back in 1984. CNN's Ted Rowlands reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The video obtained by "Us Weekly" shows Michael Jackson's hair on fire. But as you can see, Jackson doesn't seem to notice until people surround him. The first one there, was Jackson's longtime friend Miko Brando, son of actor Marlon Brando.
MIKO BRANDO, JACKSON'S FRIEND: I just went up to him and put my hands, shook his head. Threw him down to the ground and tried to do the best I could.
ROWLANDS: You can see as Jackson gets up, his head is significantly burned, down to the scalp.
DR. STEVEN HOEFFLIN, JACKSON'S PHYSICIAN: He initially felt a very hot area and couldn't distinguish whether it was the hot lights or something was happening. And after a second or two he felt the intense onset of pain, fell to the ground, and several people came to put out the fire and apply ice to his head.
ROWLANDS: Days after the incident, Jackson unsuccessfully, tried to get the footage released. His record label, CBS Records, released this photo. Pepsi eventually ended up releasing the ad, which featured Jackson and his brothers. Jackson would later claim the accident and subsequent medical treatment led to an addiction to prescription drugs.
MICHAEL JACKSON: As you may already know after my tour ended, I remain out of the country undergoing treatment for a dependency on pain medication. This medication was initially prescribed to feed the excruciating pain that I was suffering after recent reconstructive surgery on my scalp.
ROWLANDS: Possible drug use is a part of the ongoing investigation in to Jackson's death.
(On camera): What, if any, drugs were in Jackson's system at the time of his death is still an unanswered question. The L.A. coroner expects the toxicology results could be back within the next week. Ted Rowlands, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, finally, the space shuttle "Endeavour" on its way to the international space station, but the liftoff last night didn't come without some problems. Foam insulation came off the external fuel tank, not a good thing, and the shuttle was hit at least two or three times. But NASA says the damage looks to be less extensive than what happened on the last shuttle flight. "Endeavour" is hopefully going to rendezvous tomorrow with the space station.
(WEATHER REPORT)
PHILLIPS: All right. We have a few other stories to tell you about that kind of fell under the radar with all the attention on the Sotomayor hearings. Are you ready for this?
CHAD MYERS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: Here's the first one, British Columbia, a 3-year-old boy was rescued after floating down a river in his toy truck. This made me think of your son, Grant.
MYERS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: This is exactly what he would do. He traveled down the river eight miles in two hours.
MYERS: Wow!
PHILLIPS: Did I point out in this red plastic truck? He slipped away from a campsite when his parents were not looking. Oh, can you imagine what they were thinking?
MYERS: No.
PHILLIPS: And then he was rescued by a boater in 30-foot water. And listen to what his first words were when he was rescued. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DON LOEWEN, RESCUER: Only thing he did have a bit of concern when we got him in the boat and they got the life jackets on him and the floater coats and started rubbing him down to warm him up, he was pretty concerned about where his truck was.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: He wanted to know, "Where's my truck?" OK, forget the river, the fact that he was in a diaper, shirtless and cruising down for eight miles, where the hell's my truck, mom?
MYERS: His next truck is a boat.
PHILLIPS: Exactly. My guess is he won't be going into the water for a while.
All right, here's another one. Have you ever learned how to count this high, 23 quadrillion, 148 trillion, 855 billion, 308 million, 184 thousand, 500 dollars.
MYERS: Something from Congress, I don't know.
PHILLIPS: I don't know. I'll tell you, that's a stimulus package right there buddy. Well that, believe it or not, was the charge on a New Hampshire man's visa debit card when he bought a pack of cigarettes. Here's one of the reasons why he should stop smoking, exactly.
MYERS: There's some tax!
PHILLIPS: It just showed up on his online statement, all right? And then listen to this, Bank of America then charged him a $15 overdraft fee. And here's the best part -- he spent two hours on the phone with the bank and said, hey, listen, I got a problem here, this doesn't make sense. Two hours it took to straighten out that mess.
MYERS: You know what I bet happened?
PHILLIPS: What?
MYERS: You know how they have to punch in your number on that little machine.
PHILLIPS: Oh, your account number?
MYERS: I bet, it's somebody's phone number.
PHILLIPS: We should try calling the phone number.
MYERS: Exactly.
PHILLIPS: All right, here's the next one for you. OK? Did you see the video? Exactly. We're going to put it in perspective. The video of that dead basking shark that washed ashore near Jones Beach on Long Island, do you remember this?
MYERS: Yes.
PHILLIPS: This came down actually on a live feed while we were anchoring the other day. Someone said, oh yeah it's an eight-footer. Everyone was like, no, I don't think so. It's about 26 feet possibly.
MYERS: Whoa.
PHILLIPS: Researchers are still trying to figure out actually what killed the shark. It weighed about one ton and the sharks are considered not dangerous, by the way. I don't know if I can believe that or not. Apparently they eat plankton and they're common in the waters off of Long Island and it's actually going to be buried in a sand dune near the beach. Now, just to put it in perspective, OK, are you ready?
MYERS: I'm ready.
PHILLIPS: This is going to give the folks a little visual here. There's conflict, 26 feet, 20 feet. I think we settled on 20 feet. If we were to say 20 feet just to give you -- oh, it is 26? But my tape measure is 20 feet, right Howie B.?
MYERS: Keep going.
PHILLIPS: Oh, 25. So I'm only going to be short a foot.
Oops, watch your head there Dominique. Oh you think this is funny, don't you?
MYERS: You're only 21.
PHILLIPS: Rick's here in charge of all editorial content, he didn't sign off on this one. Look your brain it's about six feet long there, Griffs. Let's see if we can make you over here to Steve.
MYERS: That was as long as my first car.
PHILLIPS: Was that your first car, that was a hooptie buddy?
MYERS: An LTD I think.
PHILLIPS: Your LTD, your rims were bigger than this, buddy.
But this is how long that shark was, can you imagine that? And that doesn't even include the chops.
MYERS: But it only eats plankton.
PHILLIPS: I tell you, we've got a lot of sharks in this newsroom. We better go to break, because I'm in big trouble!
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: All right. We are being told right now as we watch the live pictures, testimony has concluded in her confirmation hearing. Sonia Sotomayor, her testimony has wrapped up. And you may remember, if you were following this throughout the day, those pretty strong words from Lindsey Graham, "You said some things that have bugged the hell out of me."
The Republican senator actually said that to the Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, on the final day here of her questioning by the Senate Judiciary Committee. But Graham did go on to say that most of her rulings were, quote, "Generally mainstream." Now, earlier, Senator Graham had expressed his colleagues' frustrations over Sotomayor not revealing more of her personal views, and he also honed in on her past statement that a wise Latina might come to a better decision than a white man. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R) JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: The last question on the wise Latino woman comment. To those who may be bothered by that, what do you say?
SONIA SOTOMAYOR: I regret that I have offended some people. I believe that my life demonstrates that that was not my intent, to leave the impression that some have taken from my words.
GRAHAM: You know what, judge, I agree with you. Good luck.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, the questions, the answers, the back-and-forth, the bickering. The best political team on television highlights the Sonia Sotomayor hearings. We're going to push forward next hour.
You've heard the expression, good help is hard to find. Well it must be even harder to find down in Jim Wells County, Texas, because a former county official shelled out more than a million bucks in bonuses to keep three secretaries. Here's CNN's Gary Tuchman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Joe Frank Garza was a district attorney in South Texas who gave his secretaries shockingly large bonuses. He says he had good reason to write them checks totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars.
JOE FRANK GARZA, FORMER D.A., JIM WELLS COUNTY, TEXAS: They were my eyes and ears in the community.
TUCHMAN: Over a five-year period Garza wrote the three women checks worth more than $1.1 million, because he says they were loyal and exceptional workers. The money came from a so-called forfeiture fund.
Certain people suspected of serious crimes must forfeit cash and valuables to the police. Many states including Texas allowed police and D.A.s to spend this money so law enforcement can benefit from such arrests. But D.A.'s are only supposed to spend this money on, quote, "Official purposes." Armando Barrera is the current district attorney of the county, who beat Garza this past Election Day.
ARMANDO BARRERA, CURRENT D.A., JIM WELLS COUNTY, TEXAS: Most of the money that was used by him was for three secretaries.
TUCHMAN (on camera): Most of his forfeiture money?
BARRERA: Most of it.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): CNN has received a report from an auditor hired by the county which indicates that's correct. More than half the forfeiture money went to the secretaries. The report saying between 2004 and 2008, the former D.A. wrote one secretary checks totaling $380,000, another $378,000, a third $376,000.
As for Garza, he also wrote himself $81,000 worth of checks according to the report which he says were for expenses. Look at the checks for just 2007. One secretary received an extra $103,000, another, $108,000, the third $98,000. County officials say these secretaries received base annual salaries of around $35,000 a year. When we met the former D.A. two months ago, he acknowledged paying the women a lot of extra money.
GARZA: I saw nothing wrong with it.
TUCHMAN: Remember, the law says the D.A. must spend forfeiture money for official purposes only. But Garza says it's not as clear cut as it sounds.
GARZA: There's definition nobody can tell you for official purposes.
TUCHMAN: In a written statement to CNN, following the release of this report, the former D.A. said, "There is no question that the operation of the D.A.'s office depends on an effective and competent staff. The whole purpose of paying the salaries that I did was the achievement of getting such a staff. This is the official purpose of the D.A.'s office."
We've been provided a 1099 form showing the secretaries did report income to the IRS. CNN's repeated attempts to interview these three women were unsuccessful. Garza says he has talked to them about a report and that none of them want to talk to us. He said this audit it was a witch hunt that was politically motivated.
The new D.A. and the auditor have denied it. And the D.A. says he has sent this audit to the Texas Attorney General's office to investigate these huge paydays for the three secretaries.
Gary Tuchman, CNN, Atlanta
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Well, what was this guy thinking? He speeds away from a traffic stop near the U.S. Capitol, hits two Capitol cops with his car, crashes then starts firing off shots. Just a few minutes of Capitol chaos yesterday. And this didn't end very well for him. Officers returned fire, killing the 35-year-old. The two officers hit by the car are OK. It's still not clear what the man's problem was.
It's the scene of the crime that brought down a president. But not even Watergate hotel can avoid the nation's real estate crunch. The Washington landmark will go to auction next Tuesday. The hotel's owner has defaulted on a $40 million loan. The Watergate complex, of course, was made famous by the 1972 break-in that eventually forced President Richard Nixon to resign.
It's going to take some getting used to, but an American landmark is getting a new name. As of now, Chicago's 110-story Sears Tower is no longer named for Sears. It's officially the Willis Tower. The London-based insurance brokerage Willis Holdings is leasing 140,000 feet of space in that skyscraper. That's enough to get their name on the building. Sears actually moved out of the tower back in 1992.
And if you're going to get a (INAUDIBLE) illness years down the road, well, you'll want to know about it ahead of time, right? You're going to find out what a new study says about DNA testing for diseases.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: As you know, for the past couple of days we have been following the confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor. And those confirmation hearings have wrapped up.
And joining us now, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, with an overview of some of the highlights in the past few days.
I guess, Senator, overall, she has now finished with her testimony. Your thoughts as it wraps up and comes to a close?
SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D), CHAIRMAN, SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Well, I think it's pretty clear that she will be confirmed. She will be the ninth member of the United States Supreme Court when it comes back in September. And I think she will have both Republican and Democratic votes in doing that.
I think the American people got a chance to see -- to see her and learn more and more about her. I said that even though I've known her for 25 years, or almost 25 years, I know more about her after these last three days than I did before that.
PHILLIPS: Did anything surprise you?
LEAHY: No, not really. And we've had, of course, millions of people have been able to see it. Your network, others, we streamed it on the web. 2,000 people came in and out of the committee room and saw it live during that time. And, no, I think we see a very careful, very mainstream jurist, obviously somebody who has a tremendous grasp of the law and a very compelling personal story.
PHILLIPS: And, you know, critics came forward, Senator, and said, gosh, day after day, there was so much focus on the "wise Latina" comment. Do you feel that precious time was wasted focusing on that -- on a continual basis, while maybe more of the precious time should have been focused on other issues?
LEAHY: Well, I think a lot of time was spent on that because they really had nothing else to focus on. It was a red herring. She's sat on or decided 3,000 cases. I think they talked about five or six of the cases out of the 3,000. And spent far, far more time on the "wise Latina" comment, which she explained, I thought, very well. They spent far more time on that than they did any of those 3,000 cases.
I think it was -- I think going into it, a lot of the people knew she'd probably be confirmed. They went through the motions. But there was nothing here to disqualify her.
PHILLIPS: Do you think there will be any reason for Republicans to justify a no? And do you have a feeling that you do know why some will vote no?
LEAHY: Well, I think some will vote no. You know, there's some very strong pressure groups, special interest groups on the right, who are demanding that they vote no.
I've tried to tell senators, do what I've done. I've been here for every single member of the U.S. Supreme Court -- current members of the U.S. Supreme Court. I don't meet with the special interests or pressure groups, either the right or the left. I make up my mind based on what we see here. I wish they would do that.
Some, however, will go along with those pressure groups. I think that's unfortunate. I think this is too important a thing to do that. And -- but every senator -- and I'm not going to question their motives -- every senator, he or she, is going to have to make up their mind how they will vote. But there will be Republican votes for her, just as there have been Democratic votes for the last three Republican presidents' nominees.
PHILLIPS: Senator Lindsey Graham came forward saying, hey, you know, judge on the bench you are pretty level-headed, but, boy, you've got some things that bug the hell out of me. In particular your speeches.
Let's go ahead and listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Your record as a judge has not been radical by any means, to me left of center. But your speeches are disturbing, particularly to conservatives, quite frankly, because they don't talk about get involved, go to the ballot box, make sure you understand that America can be whatever you'd like it to be, there's a place for all of us. It really did, to suggest -- those speeches to me suggested gender and racial affiliations in a way that a lot of us wonder, will you take that line of thinking to the Supreme Court in these cases of first precedent? (END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Senator, are you disturbed by the same things?
LEAHY: No. I look at a judge who has had more experience than any nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court in over 50 years. The only person who will be on the court to serve both as a trial judge and as a court of appeals judge. I look at the way she's been -- acted as a judge.
I mean, I'd like to -- I'd like to have every senator have to stand up and base solely on what they have said in speeches that are based on how do we vote, what do we do. And with her, by every single standard, both her work as a prosecutor and her work as a judge, you see a mainstream, very careful person who follows the law.
I think it's grasping at straws to look at speeches. And I think the reason they did is they kept going back to the speech because there's nothing in her history as a judge that would signify she'd be anything other than a mainstream judge who follows the law.
PHILLIPS: Senator, before I let you go, I saw you snapping personal pictures in during the break.
Are you putting together a unique album?
LEAHY: Well, no. You know, I've done a few photo shows back home. I try to take things from an angle that other photographers might not. So far I've gotten photographs over the shoulder of half a dozen presidents signing a bill. As far as I know, I'm the only person who's done it. It's a hobby -- everybody's got to have some hobby.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: That's right. Well, that sounds pretty interesting. Let me know about the show. I'd love to see your photos.
LEAHY: Thank you very much.
PHILLIPS: Senator Patrick Leahy, thanks for your time, sir.
LEAHY: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Well, if you want to get tested to see if you're more likely to get an illness like Alzheimer's, would you like to know? A just-released study found it may not be as distressing as you might think.
CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joining us now with more.
What did you find out?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is interesting. This was a study where they took people who had a parent with Alzheimer's disease and so obviously those people were probably concerned that maybe they would be next. And they offered them genetic testing. There's a gene that if you have it, it tells you that you have an increased risk of getting Alzheimer's disease.
Now, they tested these folks and then they told some of them the results and they didn't tell others the results. And what they found is that knowing the results was no more distressing than not knowing the results.
Now, there are holes that you could poke in this research. For example, these were all relatively young people, and so maybe they weren't nervous because they were so far away from the age at which they would get Alzheimer's. But it certainly sort of addresses the question, do you want to know if you have a genetic predisposition to a certain disease?
And, Kyra, it's something we're all going to have to think about because they're coming out with more and more tests for genetic diseases. And you're going to have to ask at some point in your life, do I want that test? Do I want to know? Or, do I not want to know?
PHILLIPS: Yes, that is. I can see -- boy, that's a tough question at some point.
COHEN: Yes, it really is.
PHILLIPS: So, what do you do if you find out you are at an increased risk for something?
COHEN: The interesting thing about this is that there's really not much you can do. So, you find out you have this gene that predisposes you having a higher likelihood --
PHILLIPS: You spend time freaking out.
COHEN: You spend time freaking out. And what you can do is you can do things like stay mentally active, watch your blood pressure, control your cholesterol. These are things you ought to be doing anyhow.
So there are certainly arguments that say, why in the world would you want to know you want to know that you have an increased chance of getting Alzheimer's when there's really not a whole lot you can do about it?
PHILLIPS: Yes.
COHEN: So that's why you should talk to a genetic counselor before you just go off testing your DNA.
PHILLIPS: That's interesting. Now that I think about it, my parents did go see a genetic counselor and they got tested and they were free and clear of all the things that worried them. But you wonder how --
COHEN: But imagine if it had been the other way. PHILLIPS: Yes. That's a good point.
COHEN: Yes. It's a tough one.
PHILLIPS: Whoo!
COHEN: It's definitely a tough one.
PHILLIPS: You have an interesting Empowered Patient column this week, right?
COHEN: We do. It's about doctors saying no to patients when they make unreasonable requests. We got the idea because of all the reporting on the Michael Jackson case and his doctors. So, do doctors feel pressured to prescribe even when they know that prescribing a drug is not in the patient's best interest? And you can see that right now at CNN.com/health.
PHILLIPS: All right. Thanks, Elizabeth.
COHEN: Thanks.
PHILLIPS: They came to this country hoping to live a dream, instead, they have endured a nightmare. What some foreign exchange students are saying about the time that they've spent here in the U.S.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: All right. We're just getting started here in the NEWSROOM. What won't a lobbyist do to get a seat on Capitol hHill? We're going to tell you what they will do -- pay homeless people to stand in line. I'm not kidding.
Plus, he was jailed for more than a year for not paying child support. But he's no deadbeat dad. Heck, he's not even a dad. We'll tell you what's going on.
So, whatever happened to an apple a day keeps the doctor away? Apparently an apple just isn't enough these days. Get this -- in the U.S. if your kid is between the ages of 11 and 16, they will be coming home with this sex education pamphlet.
Right there in the bold and colorful print, your child is being told that five portions of fruit and veggies a day, 30 minutes of physical activity, three times a week, and, oh, yes, a nice healthy orgasm every day will not only be good for your cardiovascular health, but all this advice will also help your child have an enjoyable sex life. Drew, I'm glad you're listening now.
Have an enjoyable sex life, are you kidding me? OK, I think that we all agree that teens need sex talks, but endorsing enjoyable sex as early as age 11? I don't know about you, but when I was 11, I enjoyed my roller skates, Baskin-Robbins double-scoop ice cream cone and drooling over my Shaun Cassidy poster. Believe me, that was plenty of thrills.
We asked you to weigh in on this one.
Sustainablehero tweeted us, "Do we really need the government to tell us to do this? Doesn't everyone already do this but never talk about it?"
Lafemmelavie says, "Well, kids don't need to be taught to masturbate in school, they need to learn to do math."
And biggestlooser3 writes, "I'd rather the teens masturbate than end up pregnant. It's a good way to delay intercourse."
And kentab writes, "Didn't the U.S.A. lose a surgeon general Jocelyn Elders, due to her suggestion to masturbate? I think it's a fine idea. Bravo."
And Ken, you're right. Elders suggested that schools teach it back in 1994, and was forced to resign from office. Thanks to all of you for the tweets.
We're going to be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, with literally trillions of dollars at stake, lobbyists on every side of the health issue are trying to influence lawmakers everyway they can from TV ads to first person testimonials.
Here is CNN's Jim Acosta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Before Washington takes another step on health care reform, Hilda Sarkisyan wants the politicians to hear her story.
HILDA SARKISYAN, MOTHER OF CANCER VICTIM: If we don't change this now, my story is going to be their story.
ACOSTA: Sarkisyan's 17-year-old cancer stricken daughter Natalie made national headlines when the family's health insurance company denied coverage for a liver transplant in late 2007. The Sarkisyans raised a ruckus and the company reversed its decision. The moment caught on camera.
But, tt was too late. That same evening, Natalie died.
SARKISYAN: Now, she's in heaven.
ACOSTA: Sarkisyan was brought to Washington by Democratic activists pushing for a reform bill that would give Americans the option of joining a government-run plan to compete with private insurers. The options they say, will keep industry honest.
SARKISYAN: This is my message to everyone. Insurance companies cannot decide who's going to live and who's going to die.
ACOSTA: But she will have to win over an army of skeptics from Republicans who are nervous about the price tag --
SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R), UTAH: They're spending too much. They're taxing too much to get us there and they're writing legislation that is totally partisan that isn't going to work.
ACOSTA: -- to special interest groups. Beverage companies are running an ad opposing one congressional proposal that would pay for reform in part with a soft drink tax.
ANNOUNCER: This is no time for Congress to be adding taxes on the simple pleasures we enjoy like juice drinks and soda.
ACOSTA: The president is ready to play hardball.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And those who would oppose our efforts should take a hard look at just what it is that they're defending.
ACOSTA: The Democratic Party has a new ad out aimed at its own senators who are waivering on reform.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's time for health care reform.
ACOSTA: In the message war over health care, Hilda Sarkisyan vows, no surrender.
SARKISYAN: I know I'm going to face Congress. And I know I'm going to meet the president eye to eye. And I'm going to tell them, he got the responsibility to become the president and we're proud of it. But guess what? We need something in return.
ACOSTA (on camera): The president says he wants both the House and the Senate to wrap up their work on health care reform before lawmakers take their long August break.
The halls of Congress may get crowded as supporters of reform plan to flood those hallways with more people like Hilda Sarkisyan.
Jim Acosta, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: It's a story that's gotten incredible attention since we first told you about it in the NEWSROOM yesterday, with more than a million hits on CNN.com.
Foreign exchange students hoping to enjoy the great things about America as they get an education. Instead, some of them claim that they've been living a nightmare, placed with families where they've been abused, underfed and in some cases raped. The exchange program is actually overseen by the State Department. And now calls for reform have gone out.
Drew Griffin with CNN's Special Investigations Unit first broke the story. We were talking about it yesterday. This was something you've been working on for a while. And we had an opportunity to talk about it. We've been overwhelmed by the reaction.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's incredible. Our story is centered in Scranton, Pennsylvania. But since it aired, we're getting calls from around the world, literally, from people saying, thank you for doing this story. It wasn't just me who had this bad experience.
30,000 kids a year come to the United States in these exchange programs. But it was Scranton local district attorney who found out about it and then went on to the State Department. He was going to find out what was going on with the State Department.
He called in Senator Bob Casey, who is joining us now and leading the charge now.
And Senator Casey, you were just appalled at what you were finding out was happening in your own state?
SEN. BOB CASEY (D), PENNSYLVANIA: Well, it's outrageous when you think of what -- when a student is sent to this country, its not only a student from a foreign country, it's a student that's part of a family.
And to have that trust, that relationship of trust between a member of a family and the place where they're -- they have their placement when they come to the United States, and the trust between two countries, to have that shattered by an incident like this and a series of problems is inexcusable.
We have to deal with it now. The State Department has taken action. But I'd urge them to keep going, not wait for legislation, which I'll offer, if necessary. But it's critically important that they bring some accountability to this program so we don't have this tragedy happen again.
GRIFFIN: And Senator, in holding the State Department's feet to the fire, I that your staff has uncovered what we've uncovered. That there have been violations like this going on for years. These complaints have sat on bureaucrats desks in the State Department.
Are you happy so far with how the State Department has reacted? I'm not seeing any heads rolling over there.
CASEY: Well, I'm pleased that the State Department has recognized the problem, has applied a set of sanctions, including 15 percent reduction in the number of exchange students accepted by this -- that's allowed to be put in place by this company. And also the kind of sanctions that should take place.
But the open question is, is how widespread this is and whether it's larger than the incident in northeastern Pennsylvania, which happens to be my home area. I'm a resident of Scranton. For that reason, as well as the fact that I'm on the Foreign Relations Committee, I wanted to take action on this. But so far, they've taken decisive action but there's still more work to do. The kind of accountability that they should impose upon these entities around the United States is also a question for the State Department. They have to be able to measure up and be able to demonstrate the kind of accountability that this federal agency, in this case, the State Department, can demonstrate to the people of the United States.
PHILLIPS: Senator, Kyra Phillips here. I want to ask you a question.
Because I really want to point out that it's this unit within the State Department, the Educational and Cultural Affairs Unit in the State Department. The two top guys there -- Miller Crouch and Stanley Kobin (ph) -- they both have been there for a while. You said this has been an ongoing problem. I mean, that sounds great that they say, oh, we'll look into this, we'll do something about, we'll monitor this now. But, we're talking about a lot of students that have come through. These guys are still in charge.
What can you do as a senator to hold their feet to the fire and make sure this doesn't happen to the thousands of students that are going to be coming over this year?
CASEY: Well part of ensuring accountability going forward is to give the State Department the tools they need to do kind of audit and reviews that they're not able to do now to the extent they need to.
I've asked Peter Orszag, the Budget Director, to give them those resources to conduct those kinds of audits. That's one way that we can get this right. But this is going to be -- one action and one set of program changes or policy changes will not do it. We have to continually monitor what the State Department is doing, how they've applied these sanctions and what they're doing going forward to increase and expand the scrutiny that's applied to these entities around the country to take foreign exchange students. Because if that trust is shattered again, I'm not sure you can put the pieces back together.
PHILLIPS: And obviously, Drew and I were talking about this. I mean, these are young students coming over here, Muslim students as well, and then going back to their Muslim countries and talking about how they were treated by Americans. Not very good timing to see that going on right now. And it's not just one organization, like Drew uncovered and you also discovered, but many organizations that are getting taxpayer dollars.
Does Secretary of State Hillary Clinton need to step in and do something here?
CASEY: Well, I think the State Department has acted by taking swift action with regard to this particular incident. I think appropriate steps have been taken. But we have to continue to follow up to make sure that the sanctioning and the policy changes is having the effect that it should. In most cases, these relationships work out well. The student comes over here. They have a very positive experience. And it's good for that student and it's good for the relationship between our country and another country.
But when you have one of these or two, or any number, we have to make sure that those who have been involved in this and those who took action or didn't take action that led to the situation we're talking about have accountability applied to their actions. And the United States Senate and the Congress has to make sure the executive branch is doing that.
We do that by way of oversight through the committee work by the Foreign Relations Committee. But so far, I think the State Department has taken pretty swift action.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right.
Senator Casey, thank you. Thank you for your work on this.
And real quickly, the State Department wouldn't come on with us, but they did send us over a statement just a little while ago. They are going to try to get these audits that he was talking about. But I just wanted to point out that in addition to the external management audit, the department is immediately, I guess, setting up an 800 number for these students who feel threatened or maltreated in any way, and setting up a schedule of site visits for State Department staff to go and check how the students are going, especially on these government-funded programs.
So we wanted to get that in. We'd much rather have a live person from the State Department, come on, but c'est la vie.
PHILLIPS: Well, you'll stay on top of it, that's for sure. Someone will talk eventually.
Great work. Thanks a lot, Drew.
GRIFFIN: Thanks.
