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Georgia Floods, Clinton Global Initiative, Russian Tabloid

Aired September 26, 2009 - 12:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: And so that gives me an interesting segue because now we can expect more beer because there's more rain on the way, too. All right, well Reynolds, we'll have to get an update on that with you.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN HOST: Do some research.

WHITFIELD: A lot of reporter involvement too, I bet. All right, you all have a great day.

OK, well we begin this hour with a lot more rain on the way. In rain weary north Georgia, this taking place one day after Vice President Joe Biden surveyed the area and quickly pledged more federal aid, but with more rain on the horizon, first things first -- survival. Nearly a dozen people have died in this week's storms. Our team coverage includes CNN meteorologist Reynolds Wolf and live from the flood zone, Catherine Callaway.

Let's begin with you, Catherine. You're joining us from Hiram, Georgia, that's in Paulding County, one of 14 Georgia counties declared federal disaster areas and where volunteers are coming from all over the country to help out families just like the ones at the home or the residence where you are, the Sosebee's, right?.

CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, right. Yeah, the Sosebee family, what a story we have for you here, Fredricka. I'm actually standing on the back deck of their home, clearly no longer attached to their house. It was on the back deck and when the Lick Log Creek, which is behind me, began rising, it rose over the roof of this home and as you can see is filled with volunteers right now helping to clean this home out.

But the back deck literally floated from the backyard to the side of the house, now to the front yard, where it is now sitting. And here is Truman Sosebee and Tina Jones, his daughter and they have been through quite a week, but it's going much better because a group called Samaritan's Purse arrived this morning and began, completely free of charge, all volunteer work, literally cleaning out this home for them, ripping the tiles off the wall, the carpeting out, the wooden flooring so that they can use their insurance money to help rebuild.

And I know, Mr. Sosebee, this has to be so touching for you to see these complete strangers from all over the country coming to help you out?

TRUMAN SOSEBEE, HOMEOWNER: It is -- these words not there. I can't come up with it to, you know, describe it. I've never seen this kind of work before.

CALLAWAY: I know you've lived in this home with your wife for 23 years and it was heartbreaking for you. You barely got out in time because a sheriff deputy actually rescued you out of your home. You lost your vehicles; you lost your home, all of your possessions. Tell us about arriving that day after the floodwaters began to recede.

SOSEBEE: It was heartbreaking. I was just fixing to turn around and walk off. That's all I knowed to. I was ready to just give up and had it not been for our children I would have walked away. If it had just been me and my wife, I walked away from it.

CALLAWAY: And one of your children is here with us, now. This is Tina Jones.

Tina, I know you've been just so much help for your father through this and you said he couldn't even get out of the car and you were really concerned about his health when you arrived at that home and looked at the damage.

TINA JONES, DAUGHTER: Yes, ma'am. Like I said, I had actually came up and I couldn't get really, really close to the property, but -- because it was consumed with water the whole area was. The people next door, they lost everything and, yeah, he couldn't get out of the car. I thought he would pass out and all his mediation was inside, you know, so we couldn't get to it. You know, so, we're all thankful that he's there alive.

CALLAWAY: And thankful that this group is here working on their home. They really did, Fredricka, come from all over the country and this is hard, nasty work. Mold everywhere. Water is there, completely cleaning out this home...

WHITFIELD: And the muck that always comes with flooding. Mud and muck.

CALLAWAY: Oh, muck. They will move from this home to another home before they leave Atlanta, so, amazing, amazing work by these volunteers out here.

WHITFIELD: Well, so glad they are there to help toe Sosebee's. Catherine Callaway, thanks so much from Hiram, Georgia. Appreciate it.

So, we talked about rain weary Georgia and more possibly on the way. Let's check in with meteorologist Reynolds Wolf.

It is unrelenting.

WOLF: Oh, it really is.

WHITFIELD: But surly there's an end in sight this time.

WOLF: Yeah, well, I'll tell you, we're very fortunate that we've had a little bit of a break in action from Tuesday until today. I mean, we have had several rain free days, that's the good news. Now, there's more rain on the way. There's no question about that. And if you take a look at our regional radar, this is a pretty well defined front that is just cruising its way off shore to the east.

So, if you happen to be in Atlanta, you can look outside and you see the cloud cover and with that those clouds are going to bear some rain before long, some of it particularly heavy especially along the I-65 corridor between Decatur northward into Nashville.

Now, what we anticipate is for much of this rain to move into areas that are already under flood watches and warnings, including the Atlanta area, so that's the bad news. Good news that we don't see this rainfall being of the same magnitude of what we had last Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, especially on Monday. So that is certainly some great news for us.

However, what's interesting is the scope of the rainfall, I mean, there's going to be so much of it, especially north of Georgia going up into the Carolinas, into West Virginia, even as far south as say -- far north, rather, as say Pittsburgh and then as far to the west as say spots like, say, Nashville. That's going to be an issue into the afternoon hours.

So, although there may not a flooding issue here in Atlanta, further north, especially in the Appalachians on the Blue Ridge Parkway, I definitely would keep that in the cards.

Now, coming up, we're going to talk about what you can expect out towards the west. We're looking at another day of extreme heat. We're going to give you those temperatures coming up in a few moments. Let's sends it back to you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Reynolds, we'll look forward to that.

All right, three unrelated homegrown terror plots, Afghan immigrants. Najibullah Zazi is headed to federal court next week. He's accused of planning to set off a bomb in New York. Jordanian national, Hosam Smadi, is in custody in Texas accused of trying to blow up a sky scraper, and Michael C. Finton is accused of a similar plot in Springfield, Illinois. Each arrest underscores the ongoing threat of domestic terrorism.

Here now is CNN Homeland Security correspondent, Jeanne Meserve.

BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Bomb plots allegedly targeting New York, Dallas, Texas, and Springfield, Illinois, all unfolding in the same week. Although the FBI coordinated the stings in Springfield and Dallas, authorities say none of these cases is related.

Some experts say it is pure coincidence that they broke almost simultaneously, but others say the calendar is a factor.

CHRIS VOSS, FORMER FBI NEGOTIATOR: It is in the vicinity of the anniversary of September 11th. It's also at the same time -- Ramadan was just over. So, there are a variety of reasons that have heightened the fervor, if you will, of the people that would like to do these things.

MESERVE: This week also brought new charges in connection with an alleged plot to attack the Marine base in Quantico, Virginia. That case and the alleged plot in Springfield involved American converts to Islam, proverbial homegrown terrorists who are often hard to detect.

CLARK KENT ERVIN, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY INSPECTOR GEN: I don't think this recent spate of incidents necessarily in and of itself indicates homegrown terrorism is a greater threat today than it was a couple weeks ago.

MESERVE: But at least one analyst disagrees. He thinks this could signal that the domestic terror threat is growing in size and severity.

PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: There are a constellation of cases which taken together suggest this some of the self- congratulation we had, that this was not really such a problem as it is, say, in Britain, maybe we need to reexamine that proposition.

MESERVE (on camera): Some terrorism experts believe we should expect more domestic terrorism cases, that the situation will only get worse, not better.

But they are encouraged that all of these alleged plots were short- circuited by law enforcement before they could be carried out.

Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Denver.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And we're going to look more in depth in the case and charges facing Najibullah Zazi in this alleged terror plot. Our legal guys, civil rights attorney, Avery Friedman, and New York criminal defense attorney, Richard Herman, will be joining us in about 10 minutes from now.

Honoring the men and whom died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and acknowledging the sacrifice their families have made. That's the purpose of today's annual Time of Remembrance ceremony held each September in Washington. The ceremony just now getting underway, you're looking at live pictures, right now.

More than 2,500 family members are expected to be in attendance, there. Among the speakers, joint chiefs of staff chairman Admiral Mike Mullen, former presidential candidate Ross Perot and actor Kevin Bacon who you're seeing right there, who portrayed a fallen officer in the HBO movie "Taking Chance."

So, when is a kiss just a kiss? Bill and Hillary Clinton show some rare affection in public.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: Powerful words and a rare public display of affection. Former President Bill Clinton giving his wife, the secretary of state, a kiss on the forehead. The kiss was planted during a rare joint appearance at the Clinton Global Initiative conference at New York. President Clinton gave his wife a glowing compliment which was promptly returned in kind.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FMR U.S. PRESIDENT: Most of what I know about what I do today I learned from her and she's become the best public servant our family has produced.

HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: It won't surprise you to hear that I'm very proud of my husband and I think what he has invented and brought to life here is extraordinary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The Clinton's, the power couple back in the spotlight and President Obama is he too much in the spotlight? Two things that we're going to tackle with our deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser, here to talk about all the goings on in and outside of Washington.

Good to see you, Paul.

Let's talk about the Clinton's first and they seem to know how to use their power, don't they?

And power, they have a lot of it. You said power couple, this is really the ultimate power couple. You've got the former president who now heads the Clinton Global Initiative and the secretary of state and a woman who came very close to winning the Democratic presidential nomination.

You know Fred, looking at looking at yesterday, it reminded me of the presidential campaign because we haven't seen these two together too much since Hillary Clinton gave up her shot at the White House about a year and four months ago, so...

WHITFIELD: In fact, Bill kind of said that. He said, I think I've spent more time with her now in this moment than I have in a long time.

STEINHAUSER: It's true, so it was a nice picture to see the two of them together and of course the glowing words. They both respect each other, that is obvious. We all remember they had -- their marriage went through some difficult times in the late '90s. But, at least publicly nowadays they are very much, very close and very respectful of each other.

WHITFIELD: And it seems like they've won a lot of respect on the global stage. President Clinton, of course, he had that a long time ago, particularly when he became president and beyond, but as a duo, the two of them seem to be getting a lot of attention on the world stage and people are quick to want to talk with them, want to be with them and want to perhaps plan with them.

STEINHAUSER: Exactly. And now they are working on so many of the same subjects, like food security is what brought them together yesterday at the Clinton Global Initiative and Hillary Clinton said she had learned a lot from her husband and that's what she models her new program on.

WHITFIELD: All right, now let's talk about the sitting president, President Barack Obama. We're seeing him everywhere from the U.N., G- 20 and beyond. That question is still being asked. Is it too much, particularly after he made air last weekend on fire networks?

STEINHAUSER: Five networks last Sunday. And go back even a week and a half before that and he had that primetime address to the nation in front of a joint session of Congress, so that's got a lot of people asking is he too overexposed, is he diluting the power of the bully pulpit? Well, there were two national surveys that were released this week, one by NBC and "Wall Street Journal," one by CBS and the "New York Times" and they suggest, both those polls suggest that a majority of Americans say no, he's not overexposed, they're seeing just the right amount of President Barack Obama -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Paul Steinhauser thanks so much. Appreciate it.

STEINHAUSER: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: We're going to be talking about another poll or really another study that was released recently and it's asking the question, are men happier than woman? It's really asking who is happiest and it turns out, at least a conclusion in the study is men apparently say they are more happy than women since the '70s. So, in the 4:00 Eastern hour, we're going to examine the results and examine the question, examine all that you are already saying to us on my blog as well as on FaceBook. We'll have a pretty great candid conversation to help answer the question are men happier than women.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Let's go back to what's being called the most serious terror plot in the U.S. since 9/11. He is in Brooklyn today to face terrorism charges, Najibullah Zazi was flown from Denver to New York where he was arrested in Denver, earlier in the week. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday in New York. So, let's bring in our legal eagles to give us an idea of what to expect now. Avery Freidman is a civil rights attorney and law professor.

Good to see you.

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTY: Hi Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And Richard Herman is a New York criminal defense attorney and law professor, as well.

Good to see you, as well.

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTY: Hi Fred.

WHITFIELD: OK, so, this is your backyard, Richard. I'll begin with you. So, not only the charge of lying to the feds, but now conspiracy to make WMD, weapons of mass destruction, but we're talking household products that were used, as well. Is this going to be a difficult case or a fairly easy one for prosecutors?

HERMAN: Well, no case is totally easy, Fred, but apparently there's been an enormous undercover investigation, and kudos to law enforcement, FBI, other agencies of the United States who were tracking these people, who follow them. There were undercover agents involved, there are recordings involved, and all these three cases, all these terrorism cases, based on what I've been reading, so far, they are all going to be going down, life in prison for every one of them.

WHITFIELD: But Avery, does it not concern you that an arrest at this juncture really could preclude investigators from finding out just how wide to cast the net? What about other potential participants, if it's difficult to get them now, wouldn't it?

FRIEDMAN: Well, in the Zazi case there are actually three or four other people, Fredricka, so this is far from the end...

WHITFIELD: But it seems like it would have to be even bigger than three people based on the details we're learning about the scale of this plan.

FRIEDMAN: Well, I think that's right. Although frankly, if you compare Zazi's activity with what we've seen before, either terrorists are getting dumber or our law enforcement, and I think that's the reason, are getting a lot better. Actually, in addition to FBI you've got to give credit to the NYPD because they actually deterred Zazi from moving forward on the 10th, actually slowed him down. But the evidence is so overwhelming here, Fredricka, especially the hydrogen peroxide, unless this guy is going to be the Fredrick Veki (ph) or Shelly Mercer (ph), what's a guy like that doing with all that hydrogen peroxide? It's pretty obvious, trained in al Qaeda on the computer how to make bombs. Evidence is overwhelming.

WHITFIELD: Yeah, but even though, I mean, hydrogen peroxide, that's not an item that is illegal to obtain, but you're saying simply by virtue of the volume, that makes it highly suspicious.

HERMAN: And the different mixtures, Fred. And they have these people on actually emails and phone calls asking for further instructions on how to work this stuff and what type of chemicals to put together to make them explosives. But some of these guys were even going on militant blogs saying how much they wanted to blow up, you know, portions of the United States. I mean, these guys, it's just incredible.

FRIEDMAN: That's what I mean. I mean, it really is not, not high intelligence work, here.

WHITFIELD: Yeah, we're going to be talking about that case I know for a long time. There's another one that really caught my eye and this is about, you know, a Russian tabloid Web site posted a video of an American diplomat and the State Department has already come out and said, you know what, this is phony, this is a fabricated tape and we think this is strictly a smear campaign. Which really brings me to, can't this happen to anyone, particularly, in the world of cyberspace?

Avery, what kind of protections do you have as an ordinary citizen, or anybody, when somebody takes your image and possibly transposes it and voila, you know, a tabloid publication picked it up.

FRIEDMAN: It happens all the time. We've actually talked about it on this show when they are superimposition. But what's unusual about the situation in Russia is that at least our people, the diplomatic core and others have figured out it's just a phony deal. We saw this a great deal by the KGB during the soviet era. This is an effort to embarrass the diplomat because of his association with human rights and religious freedom organizations.

WHITFIELD: So, Richard, pretty lucky, I guess, for Brendan Kyle Hatcher that perhaps the State Department is standing behind him and saying, you know what, we can tell that this is not, this is extortion and a smear campaign.

HERMAN: Yeah, lucky for him that his wife is believing that also, because that could have been big problem for him. But, you know, PhotoShop, I mean, PhotoShop, you just Google celebrities, you see their see their names different bodies and just, it's insane. Really, it's wild.

WHITFIELD: We're in a scary world now, aren't we?

FRIEDMAN: You bet we are.

WHITFIELD: All right, Richard, Avery, we're going to see you again. I'm not going to close it out just yet, prematurely. So, see you again in a moment. Thanks so much.

All right, it's time now for our top stories. A new development in Iran's secretive nuclear plans. According to the head of Iran's atomic energy the Islamic Republic will allow international energy inspectors into its newly revealed uranium enrichment facility.

And police and protesters face off the University of Pittsburgh, last night, as the group of G-20 members ended the economic summit. Police say those particular groups did not have a permit, those that were protesting.

And Yale graduate student Annie Le is being laid to rest, today. The 24-year-old pharmacology student was found strangled and stuffed inside a wall of the university's medical lab on the same day that she was supposed to be married. A lab worker is charged with her killing. More top stories in 20 minutes.

So, he's not a rock star, or a movie actor, but you wouldn't know it by the way students greet him at schools. You see Darius Weems is on a mission. We'll tell you all about it. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: So you're about to meet an amazing young man. He's fighting a killer, one that took his brother's life and threatens his own. His name is Darius Weems and this week he turns 20, which in and of itself is a huge milestone.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): He is welcomed like this at schools across the United States. He is not a rock idol or TV star, but he is a man with a mission. Darius Weems has devoted his life to finding a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, the most common fatal genetic disorder to affect children around the world.

The disease causes every skeletal muscle in the body to slowly deteriorate, a fact Weems knows all too well. He has felt the full force of Duchenne muscular dystrophy since he was a child. When he was just 11, he began using a walker while he watched his older brother, Mario, succumb to the disease.

DARIUS WEEMS, HAS DUCHENNE MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY: A 100 percent fatal disease and I lost my brother at 19.

WHITFIELD: His brother's death brought Weems a life changing friendship when Mario asked camp counselor Logan Smalley to look after Darius.

LOGAN SMALLEY, DIRECTOR, "DARIUS GOES WEST": When Mario first asked me to take care of Darius, I definitely didn't understand what exactly it meant, but then it was through our relationship that I -- that's when I realized, you know, how much Darius had in him.

WHITFIELD: Logan and 10 other camp counselors decided to take Darius on the ultimate road trip across the country.

WEEMS: Ah ha!

WHITFIELD: Their adventure to seize life that led Darius to the ocean and the Grand Canyon for the first time also led him to realize what is possible. And the trip became the award-winning documentary "Darius Goes West."

(on camera): Initially, their effort was driven by one goal, fulfill a promise to Darius's dying brother, Mario. After thousands of miles, lots of laughs, film festivals, and awards, a realization that this project had a reach well beyond Darius and his 11 friends.

(voice-over): It also brought attention to Duchenne muscular dystrophy and the quest to find a cure became their cause. With a campaign to sell DVDs of the film, they have been raising funds for medical research through the nonprofit Charley's Fund. To increase their reach and raise greater awareness, they launched an innovative pay it forward campaign.

SMALLEY: You can go to our Web site and you'll see a place where you can click to watch the entire movie for free. You get your own distinct link to the film so if you share it, you can track how much awareness you raise for DMD and you can track how much money.

WHITFIELD: They also created the DGW Know About It program, offering teachers viewing guides, lesson plans and discussion questions. Over 200 schools have adopted this program, increasing awareness and raising over $85,000 from middle and high school students across America.

To bring attention to this program, Darius and his team spent most of his 19th year on the road, visiting as many schools as possible.

WHITFIELD (on camera): So, you've been able to really get the message out in so many different kinds of ways and people are catching on.

SMALLEY: Oh, yes. I definitely say that we, you know, with this RV and, you know, with our leader here, we've started a small fire in a ton of places across the country.

WHITFIELD (voice-over): The extensive traveling is a heavy investment of time for Darius, who does not know how much time he has left. As he turns 20, he thinks often about his brother who never reached this milestone.

WEEMS: It was off my brother's idea telling Logan to watch over me. So, you know this, what I'm kind of doing for the kids that got the same disease I got, so when I leave this world, there's still going to be some left behind to help others kind of like my brother did. So, like I call the young generation my brothers, you know, trying to save them.

WHITFIELD: To help those that will be afflicted with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a life mission bringing these young men and thousands of American children together through one remarkable journey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And the documentary "Darius Goes West" airs tomorrow on MTVU and MTV2. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The documentary "Darius Goes West" got the attention of a lot of schools across the country and MTV. I sat down with some of the key players.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Darius Weems and Logan Smalley with me now and out of New York, MTV's Jason Rzepka . All right, gentlemen, let's talk about this big birthday bash.

Darius, I know you can't wait?

WEEMS: Yes, I can't wait. It's exciting, you know, celebrating my birthday and also being on MTV and also being able to spread the words. So you know, it's the ultimate birthday present. You know, I'm happy

WHITFIELD: And we brought you three together even though this weekend you'll be together in a very big way. "Darius Goes West," this beautiful documentary is going to get its debut on MTV and Jason, that's where you come in.

But Logan, this really is an interesting relationship that came about because it all began with Darius going west to pimp your ride, right? And you were hoping to pimp your ride, but that didn't necessarily happen. But instead blossomed a beautiful relationship now between you and MTV, right Logan?

SMALLEY: Yes. Well, so it all started with Darius's brother, actually. You know, I knew his brother Mario and he asked me to look out for D that turned into a 7,000-mile roadtrip where we tried to get his wheelchair customized. Unfortunately at the time, MTV was unable to do it. But you know, we've been promoting the film and raised about $2 million for Darius's disease and we really appreciate MTV recognizing our efforts by broadcasting -- you know, they're doing our national television premier.

WHITFIELD: Yes, that's fantastic. And so, Sunday on MTV2, folks can watch it at noon, "Darius Goes West" and then again on Sunday 6:00 p.m. on MTVU.

So Darius, what is this going to be like in your view to see this documentary aired at the same time you're having a big birthday party that will kind of sandwich the debuts of "Darius Goes West"?

WEEMS: Well, you know, just like -- it shows like all the struggles that we went through to get to this point. And, you know, it makes you appreciate stuff and it makes you feel like the work that you've put in is, you know, taking off and I can show other people my point of view on how I go -- how I'm living with this disease and I'm trying to cure. So, it just feels good.

WHITFIELD: Jason, you know, this is really fascinating because Darius and Logan, obviously very determined. They were going to make this journey happen. They were going make this documentary happen. And MTV certainly took notice, whether it was pimp the ride or whether it was the documentary. Give me an idea why it's so important for MTV to be airing this documentary?

JASON RZEPKA, VICE PRESIDENT, MTV PUBLIC AFFAIRS: We had known about this and seen it in the past, and we felt that there was a poetic justice in us being able to come in here and really bring this remarkable documentary that they've created and this movement that they've started to a much wider audience. So, I think why we believe this is really important is from the beginning of MTV, we've really been about worshipping at the altar of our audience and also about celebrating the best of youth culture.

And I think what Darius has done and the impact that they've had is the pinnacle of what's possible with this generation and with our audience. And so, I think we have a responsibility to celebrate people like Darius and to bring his story to an even wider audience and do what we can to help accelerate the momentum of this movement.

WHITFIELD: And Jason, what do you think this message is really telling to your audience, mostly very young audience, and these young people have said, you know what? A lot of folks may not know about Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. We're going to teach them and we're going to live by example that it really is about informing people and at the same time not just impacting Darius's life directly, but they are doing this because they want to save other young people's lives.

RZEPKA: I think that the biggest takeaway for the audience is that this is within your grasp, that you absolutely have the technology at your fingertips, you have the ability to go out and effect meaningful change in the world. And that's what we really love about working with young people today is that the drive that we're seeing and this belief that we can conquer anything and we can go out and start a movement and really impact a lot of people, it's not just taking this on in your neighborhood.

It's like we're going to solve the problem and I think that at the end of the day, there's a good chance that Darius and these efforts are going to be what pushes the ball over the goal line in terms of finding a cure for Duchenne's and that's really powerful.

WHITFIELD: And so, Darius's birthday party, all of your closest, nearest, dearest, including you of course, Logan, to be in New York and watching the debut. You're also going to be tweeting. So, what's this dialogue going to be like that you're encouraging people to talk about, you know, their thoughts about your journey going west?

WEEMS: Yes. I think I'm going to be doing most of the partying. I'll leave Twitter up to Logan. But yes, we're going to have definitely a good time and I hope we get a lot of feedback on Twitter about the movie being shown on MTV and stuff. And I think MTV is the biggest, like, biggest logo for the youth.

So, you know, like me being on there, you know, MTV is the channel that -- the channel of the youth and it's a perfect opportunity for me to be on there and showing my story to the youth and showing my story to the youth and showing them, like, you know, it's tough times in life and sometimes you got to stick -- you got to keep going and, you know, keep your head up and just keep living. So, I think it's a perfect channel for me to be on.

WHITFIELD: And it seems as though you've stayed positive through all of this throughout. But did you ever envision that it would reach this kind of high point like this and get the world's attention and get the young people, in particularly, involved and conscientious of this in this kind of way?

WEEMS: Not at all. You know, we felt like this was a goal that we should be active towards, you know, like this is a fatal disease, 100 percent fatal and a lot of people don't know about this. And you know, we took it upon ourselves to try to travel out to the West Coast and get my ride pimped, but we had no idea that it was going to reach this level of success, you know. It just showed us, like, when something is important to you, you got to put work towards it and also care about it.

WHITFIELD: Logan, you'll be doing most of the tweeting because that's what Darius said.

SMALLEY: Sure.

WHITFIELD: So, folks can find you on Twitter ...

SMALLEY: Oh, I'll tell you what's going to happen. He's going to tell me what to tweet.

WHITFIELD: Oh really?

SMALLEY: Yes. So, we'll -- as the scenes go along, we'll be talking to the followers that we've gotten from all across the country and hopefully some new followers.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

SMALLEY: I can't wait 'til the guest lobby (ph) scene plays out.

WEEMS: Oh no.

WHITFIELD: So, people can find you on Twitter at DariusGoesWest?

SMALLEY: Exactly.

WHITFIELD: Excellent. And you looking forward to this? You never knew it would come to this, either, did you?

SMALLEY: It's -- I never knew it would to this, but it feels so great. And I want to thank dosomething.org for setting us up and MTV. You know, millions of viewers, all of them the age that lives and dies with Darius's disease and also the generation that experts agree will cure it. That's the bottom line. It's amazing.

WHITFIELD: It is amazing. You all are amazing. Have a great birthday celebration, Darius.

WEEMS: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much for you all's time. Appreciate it.

SMALLEY: Thank you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And we got a chance to be a part of the ride for a little bit, too and it's been an incredible journey.

WEEMS: Yes.

SMALLEY: Same to you.

WHITFIELD: Darius Weems, Logan Smalley, Jason Rzepka out of MTV coming to us from New York. Thanks to all of you and have a great birthday weekend.

WEEMS: Thanks, Jason, and ...

RZEPKA: Thank you. Happy birthday, Darius.

WEEMS: Thanks.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: We'll go CNNNewsroom/fredricka for a link to DariusGoesWest.org or you can also review the film and get information on how to make a donation to his courageous campaign as well as going to dariusgoeswest.org.

All right, the airline industry is struggling to keep customers and you can reap the rewards. Richelle Carey keeps you "On the Go" for less.

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RICHELLE CAREY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Frequent flyers can pick up some good deals right now.

CHRIS MCGINNIS, EXPEDIA.COM: Perhaps the most valuable benefit right now that the airlines offer their elite customers are waivers of those baggage fees.

CAREY: And some airlines are making cashing in your rewards easier.

MCGINNIS: Well, United just recently permanently waived the fees that it charged its frequent travelers to redeem their reward trips at the last minute.

CAREY: Delta revamped their frequent flyer program, allowing elite miles to be rolled over from one year to the next.

MCGINNIS: Delta's also added a new layer to its elite level called Diamond Medallion. These people fly 125,000 plus miles per year. The best benefit there is free membership to its sky clubs.

CAREY: JetBlue is also making some changes, including no blackout dates.

MCGINNIS: JetBlue overhauled it's frequent flyer program and what made it different this time around is that the program's based on how much you spend versus how many miles you fly.

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WHITFIELD: A dog's sense of smell causes a living nightmare for one man.

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WHITFIELD: An innocent man suspected of murder, his accuser -- a dog. It happened to a former sheriff's deputy in Texas. Investigators found the dog more believable than one of their own. And now, they're rethinking the use of dog sniffing lineups.

CNN's Ed Lavandera reports.

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ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is how an innocent man became a prime suspect in a murder investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will begin by putting the scent of Michael Buchanek in one of these cans. The deputy or the dogs do not know which can I'm going to put this one in.

LAVANDERA: Michael Buchanek's scent is placed in can No. 4. Investigators think he strangled and murdered a friend three years ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Going to get the scent from the rope that was taken by Deputy Pikett back on the day that the victim's body was found.

LAVANDERA: Sheriff deputy Keith Piket will use these blood hounds to see if Brushone's scent matches the scent left at the crime scene. Two blood hounds repeat the test.

KEITH PIKETT, FORT BEND CO., SHERIFF'S DEPT.: Jack (ph) alerted on position 4, on can 4. That was James Bond (ph), and he also alerted on can 4.

LAVANDERA: That means the blood hounds have just made Michael Buchanek the suspect in a murder of his neighbor Sally Blackwell in Victoria, Texas. For five months, Buchanek would live under a cloud of suspicion.

MICHAEL BUCHANEK, WRONGLY ACCUSED OF MURDER: I've cried myself to sleep enough times and had enough nightmares about it. To finally be able to stand here and talk to you about it, it's hard.

LAVANDERA: Dog scent lineups have become a popular forensic tool for investigators and prosecutors across the country. Investigators wipe the scent of a possible suspect on a gauze pad and put the scents in cans. Dog handlers then walk the dogs past the cans and with the right whiff and signal to their master, investigators say these blood hounds can put them on a suspect's trail.

(on camera): Civil rights groups are ripping apart these lineups and they want the practice abolished. The Innocence Project says an unknown number of people have been wrongly accused or convicted by the blood hound evidence. But both sides admit these dog handlers aren't certified or regulated and that there are no standards to check the dog's accuracy.

JEFF BLACKBURN, INNOCENCE PROJECT OF TEXAS: If anything has ever been junk science, it's this dog scent lineup.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): In Texas, Fort Bend County sheriff's deputy Keith Piket has become a celebrity in law enforcement circles, helping convict hundreds of criminals using this technique. His attorney says if the dog scent lineups are shut down, investigators would lose an important crime fighting tool. Pikett and his attorney refused on camera interview requests but in January, Pikett told a Houston TV station the lineups are extremely accurate.

PIKETT: So, wherever you go, you're leaving your skin cells. They're microscopic, we can't see them, we can't smell them, but the dog can.

LAVANDERA: But the dogs were wrong in Buchanek's case. Five months after his friend's murder, DNA evidence implicated another man who confessed to the crime. What makes this case even more shocking is that Buchanek spent 25 years as a sheriff's deputy with the very agency that suspected him of murder. He's suing, claiming civil rights violations.

BUCHANEK: They even told me they knew I did it and I was going to spend the rest of my life on death row.

LAVANDERA: His so-called friends believed the dogs more than they believed him.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Victoria, Texas.

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WHITFIELD: All right, man's best friend does in man there. So, we had to bring in our legal guys one more time to dig a little deeper. Avery Friedman, a civil rights attorney and law professor, Richard Herman, a New York criminal defense attorney and law professor.

Oh boy, you're both shaking your heads here, which tells me that you suppose the outcome of this case, perhaps, Avery, means that other jurisdictions may think again when it comes to using the sniff test in this way?

FRIEDMAN: Well, that's exactly the issue. The fact is that National Police Blood Hounds Association has now officially said it is junk science, it doesn't work. It's important as an investigative tool, but Pikett and other people who are uncontrolled, uncertified used this to convict people. It absolutely violates the Constitution of the United States. It's time to end Rin Tin Tin in convicting people.

WHITFIELD: No -- yes, go ahead.

HERMAN: And the problem -- the problem, Fred, is it's so -- it's so reliant on the handler and I have seen so many of these cases where the handler's the one that supposedly subjectively says when the dog alerts. It's really horrible, horrible science. Got to abolish it.

WHITFIELD: Let's talk about something else which is pretty horrible. We're talking about grieving parents who are now in the court, in the Bahamas. We're talking about Kelly Preston and John Travolta. They're still grieving this -- the loss of their son, Jett and this is a case of extortion. Allegedly two people tried to extort $25 million out of this family, and is it the case, Richard, that this, I guess, scheme is actually caught on videotape and that might be part of the evidence?

HERMAN: Well, yes. When you go to the videotape, Fred, it's real hard to cross-examine a videotape. A former paramedic and a former senator in the Bahamas were caught trying to extort funds from John Travolta through his attorney. It's on videotape. It's classified information about his son, the circumstances around the death of his son. It's outrageous.

Travolta had to be there in the Bahamas to testify this week and he'll be back next week.

FRIEDMAN: And he'll continue to. Yes, he'll continue to testify, Fredricka. Bottom line, tough -- or good evidence for the prosecution. Prosecution has to be careful, put the evidence on carefully, they're going to get that conviction.

WHITFIELD: Wow, OK. Another case, this one very interesting, too. Howard K. Smith, we're talking ...

FRIEDMAN: Yes.

WHITFIELD: ...about the connection between he and the late Anna Nicole Smith and now some new charges, we're talking about felony charges and it has something to do with her death and something to do with drugs, right Avery?

FRIEDMAN: Well, not only that but evidence in affidavits which surfaced this week actually suggest that pharmacists and doctors had sex with Anna Nicole Smith as a way to get the prescription. This thing is getting bigger and bigger and bigger. Howard K. Smith's in a world of trouble.

HERMAN: Fred, five new -- five new felony charges, obtaining opiates under alias names ...

FRIEDMAN: Right.

HERMAN: ...and actually administering drugs to an addict, which was Anna. Let me tell you something: Steve St. Owl (ph) is a great attorney. He's representing Howard K. Smith, I've worked with him in the past. Don't -- this is far -- this is not a slam dunk case. Maybe a misdeamnor conviction, no felony conviction ...

FRIEDMAN: I don't know.

HERMAN: ...against Howard Smith and no felony conviction on Michael Jackson, either.

WHITFIELD: Isn't it amazing to you both that this case seems like it's still the tip of the iceberg and it's this many years after Anna Nicole Smith's death. I mean, we're -- I think about three years now, right?

FRIEDMAN: Yes, two-and-a-half, three years, exactly right. But you know what, give credit to law enforcement. They're going to continue to dig ... WHITFIELD: They continue to dig.

FRIEDMAN: ...and they're keeping -- keeping pushing on this one.

WHITFIELD: Wow.

HERMAN: A little desperate -- a little desperate out there in this case.

FRIEDMAN: I don't know, I don't know.

HERMAN: A little desperate.

WHITFIELD: Oh you think so? OK, well, we're going to talk more on that because it seems like it keeps cropping up.

HERMAN: Hey Fred, are you happier -- are you happier than Avery and myself, Fred?

FRIEDMAN: No, we're happy. No, we're very happy.

WHITFIELD: We -- the three of us, we are happy.

FRIEDMAN: Very happy, couldn't be happier.

WHITFIELD: This is one big old happy trio here.

HERMAN: Right.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much. I hope you tune in for 4:00, though, because it is about happiness.

HERMAN: Oh yes.

FRIEDMAN: Absolutely, oh yes.

WHITFIELD: All right, Richard, Avery, thank you.

HERMAN: Take care.

WHITFIELD: All right, this other story we want to delve into here. We've learned within the past 24 hours or so that Iran says yes, indeed, they have a facility, a small nuclear site of uranium enrichment just about 100 miles outside of Tehran and this discovery and discussion has been taking place involving countries of the U.N. as well as members of the G-20 summit.

And so, we have on the line with us now Iranian ambassador to the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh with us now. So, give me an idea, Mr. Ambassador -- the Obama administration says that it is seizing upon this information that, yes, indeed, there is this nuclear enrichment site about 100 miles outside of Tehran, and that Iran is actually giving the green light to access of inspectors.

So, what would this mean? How many inspectors, because we know in the past, there have been great limitations of inspectors to check out any suspected sites?

ALI ASGHAR SOLTANIEH, IRANIAN AMBASSADOR TO IAEA (via telephone): Well, I salute your all distinguished viewers. Just very simply, I just would say that 21st of September I handed over my letter addressed to director general and he informed me about this new site of enrichment. And while the next day I was working with the DDG and other staff were arranging themselves the inspection as usual in normal practice procedure.

Then, we found out that political show on this work and it was very discouraging. That is such a very simple, technical matter which has to continue without any political tension was, in fact, change to political tension in this work. And it was very discouraging. And as I just tell you simply, yes, we are arranging working with the agency for inspection in the very near future. And as we have said ...

WHITFIELD: You're saying it was very discouraging that it became a topic of discussion, particularly in Pittsburgh during the G-20 summit. Or are you also saying that this puts Iran in a difficult situation or an uncomfortable situation because they are acquiescing to inspectors checking out this site?

SOLTANIEH: No, no, not at all. I'm saying that, in fact, as it was clearly mentioned, if all your distinguished viewers go to Web site of the IAEA and look at document 153, they know that we were not obliged to inform now because we are obliged only to inform six months before putting in nuclear material.

And in fact, we were too cooperative in fact and transparent to -- well in advance. In fact, we had good intentions to pave the way and make a good environment for the meeting that which is going on in 1st of October. In the contrary, now we are in fact facing punitive actions and unfriendly and hostile reaction to our friendly -- in fact, transparent work with the IAEA. This is very regretful and they're accusing being of deception or clandestine activity is unfortunate and ridiculous and we ...

WHITFIELD: So, really quickly, before I let you go, was it the...

SOLTANIEH: ...thinking that (INAUDIBLE) ...

WHITFIELD: Really quickly, before I let you go, was it the plan then perhaps this week or next week in Geneva when Iran is to sit down and talk with other nations about nuclear proliferation, that this conversation was likely to come up?

SOLTANIEH: Yes, of course. As I said, the agency is planning, according to the legality and the suitable time for the inspectors. We have informed them that whatever is suitable that they could arrange it.

WHITFIELD: OK.

SOLTANIEH: We're working with them. As usual, there's no problem and there's no nuclear material by the way there, only the installation and there as it was said. WHITFIELD: OK.

SOLTANIEH: Therefore, they are welcome any time that the time is suitable and be sure to all international community that everything is 100 percent transparent.

WHITFIELD: All right, very good. Iranian ambassador to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh. Thank you so much for your time. Iranian ambassador to the iaea. Thank you so much for your time.

And we're going to continue to keep a close watch on that story. "YOUR MONEY" is coming up next.

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