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Youth Violence a Continuing Chicago Problem; Quake Devastates Parts of Sumatra; Obama Addresses Democratic Governors
Aired October 01, 2009 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: We are pushing forward now with Kyra Phillips, but, first, Anderson Cooper reveals the first of our top ten "Heroes" finalists.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Anderson Cooper. Each hour today we're revealing on of our top ten "CNN Heroes" for 2009.
From New York, meet Jorge Munoz. Every day, this school bus driver hands out hundreds of free meals he makes at home. I'll be back in an hour with our next top ten "CNN Hero," and join me for a 360 special at 11 p.m. tonight to meet our heroes and begin voting for the "CNN Hero of the Year," who will win $100,000.
ANNOUNCER: "CNN Heroes" is proudly brought to you by the Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing's Future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KYRA PHILLIPS, HOST: If violent crime were an Olympic event, Chicago would be in the running. A day before the IOC awards the 2016 summer games, we're pushing forward on the U.S. entry, the cheerleader in chief, and a hurdle that may get higher with each attack.
Incredible destruction, enormous loss of life. That was before the second big earthquake in two days on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
Lost amid the battles over health-care reform, the piles of paperwork. Insurers say they don't like it any better than you do. Others say it's the industry's secret weapon.
Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Their kind of town, Chicago is, but can President Obama and Mrs. Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Mayor Daley bring the Olympics to the city of "Da Bears," "da blues" and deep-dish pizza? We're going to find out tomorrow when the IOC awards the summer games of 2016 to either Rio, Tokyo, Madrid or Chicago. If only sports and food, art and architecture were the only things Chicago was known for lately.
We are pushing forward on a blight that's hurting much more than Chicago's image. Brutal violence by and against young people. And just last night a 14-year-old North Side boy was chased down, beaten and left for dead. At last report, he remained in critical condition.
And how can we forget days before? A South Side honor student, beaten to death with railroad ties in broad daylight? CNN's Gary Tuchman is in Chicago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's become an agonizing ritual in Chicago: the makeshift memorials to young people killed; angry town halls, this time gathering because of what we're seeing on a cell-phone video camera. Sixteen-year-old Derrion Albert beaten to death by other kids. Four youths have been arrested.
Dr. Steven Salzman knows all about it firsthand. Since we first met the surgeon three months ago...
DR. STEVEN SALZMAN, ADVOCATE CHRIST MEDICAL CENTER: There have been 268 shootings, and of the 268 shootings, 100 of them have been teenagers.
TUCHMAN: And that's just one hospital. Thirty-seven public school students were killed in Chicago during the last school year. That compares with 23 in Los Angeles, which is a much larger city. This has been going on for years. So, "Keeping Them Honest," we asked, why can't Chicago fix this murderous problem?
RON HUBERMAN, CEO, CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS: I think there are lots of things that have gone terribly wrong.
TUCHMAN: Ron Huberman is the CEO of Chicago's public schools, the boss. He said that the schools are about to start spending $30 million in stimulus money for programs that will target at-risk teens, but that's certainly not a quick fix.
(on camera) When you talk to parents whose kids go to some of these schools that have the highest crime activity, could you tell these parents, look in their eyes, honestly, that it's safe for their kids to walk home by themselves?
HUBERMAN: Well, I can tell them that we're certainly doing everything in our power that we can to make them safe.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): City Alderman Carrie Austin (ph) represents the neighborhood where Derrion Albert was killed.
(on camera) How come this is happening in your ward?
ALDERMAN CARRIE AUSTIN, CHICAGO CITY COUNCIL: Well, I don't have a how come, because if I have a how come, I have a solution.
TUCHMAN: Alderman Austin has represented her ward, one of 50 districts in the city, for 15 years. And she has the most pitifully unique vantage point of this crisis. Of the 37 public school students killed in Chicago during the last school year, she says 13, more than one-third, were killed in her district.
What do you do here? You've got so many young people killed in your area, in your ward. What are you doing about it?
AUSTIN: Well, I think that I'm trying to provide as many social services as possible. I think that there is much more that -- I think it needs to be a collaborative effort.
TUCHMAN: But doesn't it need more than social services and collaboration? I mean, we need to take really stringent action here. These are people -- children being killed.
AUSTIN: Stringent action such as what?
TUCHMAN: I'm asking you. I'm the journalist, and you're the -- you're the leader.
AUSTIN: When you say stringent actions, I think that the stringent actions should be more social services so we can reach our children.
TUCHMAN: Are there not enough social services right now?
AUSTIN: I don't believe so.
TUCHMAN: The alderman does say there simply aren't enough cops in her neighborhood.
(on camera) Have you stood up in the city council and said, "We need more police in my ward?"
AUSTIN: Oh, yes. We do that every year.
TUCHMAN: And what happened?
AUSTIN: Every year in our council.
We are about getting more police officers. But we are losing, also, police officers to attrition. We've also addressed this with...
TUCHMAN: So, why don't you say, "We need 'X' number more"?
AUSTIN: That's what I'm saying.
TUCHMAN: What happens?
AUSTIN: We say that.
TUCHMAN: Why doesn't it happen? That's what I'm getting at.
AUSTIN: They -- that would need to be addressed to my superintendent.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Guess what? CNN did speak with Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis. It happened live on "AC 360" last night. Here you go.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUPERINTENDENT JODY WEIS, CHICAGO POLICE: There's never going to be enough police officers to just randomly saturate a city, so we do it based upon information that we receive. Based upon intelligence that we derive. And then we try to put the officers in the key spots to make sure that these kids are safe.
COOPER: Why are things seemingly worse in Chicago for people going to school than in other cities with bigger populations? I mean, do you have a sense of what the problem is?
WEIS: Well, I think you have to look at this recent tragedy. Here a young boy, an honor student, a top-notch kid, he's killed by a mob of his peers, who were filled with such hatred and such violence that they're willing to just snuff out his life. That's so hard to understand.
Anyone watching that tape had to be horrified at the violence and -- and just the anger in which he was struck down at the prime of his life. And I think we have to ask, how did it get like that? I think...
COOPER: Are you saying it's parents? It's families?
WEIS: No. What I'm saying is I think it's society. I think the White House hit it on the head, when it's going to take community involvement. We have to attack this problem with every resource we have.
I think Ron Huberman is right on target. The key to changing this attitude: keep the kids in school. They're safe in the schools. Teach them conflict resolution. You know, we've got kids getting spun up over minor, minor differences, and reaching out and engaging in violence right away.
COOPER: A number...
WEIS: They have to learn conflict resolution. I think that's critical, so they can deal with life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: So, could the Olympics make Chicago safer? Here in Atlanta, host of the '96 games, violent crime actually dropped by a quarter from 1995 to 2000.
William Rathburn was a security consultant for 11 different Olympic games, including director of security for the '96 games. He's a former police chief in Dallas and now a security consultant who joins me on the phone from Minneola, Texas.
William, can you hear me OK?
WILLIAM RATHBURN, SECURITY CONSULTANT (via phone): Yes, Kyra, how are you?
PHILLIPS: Terrific, great. Thanks so much for being with us. It's been a long time since I've seen you on the West Coast.
Let me ask you. You know, that has been the talk lately. If, indeed, the Olympics were to come to Chicago, could it make an impact on the violence that we're seeing, from the increase in teenagers dying on a monthly basis, to the latest video we just saw of Derrion Albert and how it's just really shooken [SIC] up that community?
RATHBURN: Yes. The Olympics can make a difference and -- first...
PHILLIPS: All right. We're having a little bit of a -- of feedback there. Possibly, William, if you can turn off the TV or turn down your TV, move away from it. We'll try and get back to you. Should we give it one more shot?
RATHBURN: I don't have a TV here.
PHILLIPS: All right. We've got some sort of feedback. William, we'll try and hammer that out, and we'll come right back to you. Work with our audio folks for just a second there. I'll come back to you.
You know, Chicago isn't the only Olympic contender, by the way, with crime problems. To the contrary, an IOC report concluded that both Chicago and Madrid are, quote, "capable of providing the level of security and safety required for the games."
In terms of homicide rates, Rio is far and away the loser with 33 homicides per 100,000 people. Chicago's rate, 18 per 100,000. Madrid is 2. Tokyo, 1.
And there's also the issue of political capital. Is winning the Olympics a worthy use of President Obama's time and talent? Tweet us with your thoughts. I'll read some of your comments on the air.
And later this hour, we're going to hear from the president. He's due to speak at a fund-raiser for the Democratic Governors' Association. You'll hear him live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
We're also going to try and reconnect with William Rathburn, also talk about that impact of crime in a city where the Olympics are held.
Natural disaster, you'd never want to add an "S" to the end of that term. But today, tragically, we are. Victims losing their lives. Survivors losing everything else. We're live in the disaster zone.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Everywhere you look, there are victims, and they're getting more desperate by the hour. Indonesia and the Samoan islands rocked by natural disasters.
In Indonesia rescuers are using everything they can, even digging with their hands, to reach earthquake victims buried in the rubble. The death toll from yesterday's big quake has topped 500. And just hours ago, another big jolt came. In Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga, the tsunami death toll has topped 130, and searchers are still trying to get to areas flattened by the killer wave. The tsunami, triggered by yet another earthquake, just hours before the big quake in Indonesia.
Screams of pain on Indonesia's Sumatra Island as rescuers pulled battered victims from the rubble. The island took a real beating in the big quake and its aftershocks.
CNN's Dan Rivers is in the hardest-hit area of Padang.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're outside one of the main hospitals here in the city of Padang, a city that is devastated and that is in almost complete darkness. This is one of the few locations where they do have electricity running on generators, but the hospital itself has been badly damaged.
You can see outside the front here, those yellow body bags contain 12 different corpses, just some of the dead that have been recovered. The death toll is climbing all the while as the rescue operation continues here. But it's being hampered by a lack of light, a lack of power, a lack of food and water, as well. Huge long queues for fuel. Many people trying to get fuel for their generators, and the queues, we're being told, are two hours long at the moment.
Through the city, the little I have seen so far, there are quite large areas that are still intact, but there are some big concrete buildings that have come down, clearly with real devastating results.
This city is used to earthquakes. It's been hit before. This is by far the most devastating earthquake here in this city. And now everyone is wondering quite what the extent of this is. We're still waiting to hear from the coastal areas and some of the more outlying areas as to the death toll there.
But it's a pretty grim picture here at the hospital.
And one update, as well, we wanted to give you about one man that my cameraman, Mark Phillips, managed to talk to, who was buried in the rubble. We understand that man from Singapore has now been rescued, and he is in this hospital. We understand he is alive. We don't have any update on his condition, but one good piece of news amid all this misery.
Dan Rivers, CNN, Padang, Indonesia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: In Samoa, American Samoa, and Tonga, countless people are stranded. Searchers are on the move. Search crews still trying to get to remote villages flattened by the killer tsunami. The death toll climbing from the survivors' heartbreaking stories. Just listen to this man, who lost everything when the water rushed in. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROPATI OPA, TSUNAMI VICTIM: If I -- my daughter's in the way. Don't worry, everything is fine. Everything is fine. Thanks, God. We survive. I don't know -- I don't have a house. I don't have a car. I don't have a -- a -- money. I lost everything yesterday. But I'm not worried.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: And now a terrifying new worry in that part of the world. Another typhoon is headed towards Southeast Asia. It's expected to slam into the Philippines this weekend. That country, plus Vietnam and Cambodia, are reeling from a typhoon just days ago that killed hundreds of people. In our part of the world, typhoons, of course, are called hurricanes.
And if you'd like to help the people devastated by these disasters, you can visit our "Impact Your World" page. That's at CNN.com/impact. Just logon to "Impact Your World."
How about a trip to Iran and a tour of the formerly secret place where it's going to enrich uranium? Well, we're getting word from a meeting in Geneva that Iran will cooperate fully and immediately with the U.N. nuclear agency and let it have a look at the place really soon.
Now, leaders of several world powers are in Switzerland, talking with Iran about its nuclear plans. Last week, Tehran revealed its building a second facility where it can enrich uranium. It claims the work is for peaceful purposes.
And the world is watching what Iran does and what it says, especially Germany and Israel. Our correspondents are there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRED PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Fred Pleitgen in Berlin. What you see right there is the chancellery building in the German capital, where Angela Merkel has just won the right to stay there for another four years.
The first major issue on the administration's foreign policy list: Iran. Germany will be participating in the talks in Geneva. But Germany also has major economic ties to Iran. And the question is, will they get tougher on Tehran and allow those business ties to dry up?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Israel is not directly involved in talks with Iran, but you can guarantee it will be watching for any potential progress very closely.
Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has made his views abundantly clear, consistently saying that he believes a nuclear Iran is the biggest threat to the world right now, and time is running out. While Israel has publicly endorsed the U.S. negotiation road, Israel's also publicly said that all options are still on the table. And there are very few experts who doubt that Israel could carry out a preemptive military strike against Iran's military facilities if it believed that time was seriously running out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, another meeting with Iran and world leaders, or world powers, rather, will happen later this month in Switzerland.
They were people's grandmas and grandfathers, someone's sons and daughters now stacked up, as the saying goes, like cord wood. So much for resting in peace in Detroit.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: President Obama delivering remarks at a fund-raiser for the Democratic Governors' Association in D.C. Let's listen in.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: With all the other governors in attendance, Governor Bashir (ph) and Governor Culver, and John Merkel (ph), Nixon, Parkinson, and Perdue, what a great lineup. And I had a chance to talk to all of them backstage, and each and every one of them are leading in the ways that make me proud to be a Democrat. And the diversity that they embody and represent, I think, is also a credit to our party.
I am so glad to be here. Not just because I always spending -- I always enjoy spending time with the kind of outstanding governors and a few aspiring governors that may be in the room, because I'm absolutely committed to making sure that our governors have the support that they need to move their states forward. And I'm absolutely committed to working with each and every one of them in the years ahead to move America forward.
I don't think it's any secret; these are challenging times for America and challenging times for each of the 50 states. Few understand that better than the nation's governors. All of them are on the front lines governing their states in an economic crisis unlike anything that we've seen since the Great Depression.
They're witnessing the toll of this crisis that has -- that families, small businesses and neighborhoods are all experiencing. They're being made to govern in a time of shrinking revenues and budget shortfalls, and they're facing tough choices about where to save, where to spend, and how to navigate their states and their people through this economic storm.
I also have to be honest that the tough choices they'll have to make will not end anytime soon. But what I hope has made their job easier and will continue to make their job easier is knowing that they've got a full, committed partner in the White House.
And I know that -- I also know that their job has been made a little bit easier because of the recovery act that was passed here back at the beginning of my administration and that I signed into law. And it's being carried out with their help, an act that's not only broken our economic freefall, but eased the burden on our states and helped our governors get their states back on track.
Let me just describe what the recovery act has meant. Because of the recovery act, we're helping close budget gaps. We're preventing layoffs of teachers and police officers. America is stronger because of it.
We put a tax cut into the pockets of 95 percent of working families, to help them pay for their everyday needs. We're increasing and extending unemployment insurance to 12 million Americans to help them weather the economic storm. And we've lowered the cost of COBRA coverage for people who have lost their jobs so that it's 65 percent lower, and they can keep their health insurance as they're looking for work.
And we're putting Americans back to work, doing the work that America needs done: rebuilding roads, and bridges and new schools, all manner of construction projects across all 50 states. It's the largest single investment of infrastructure in this country since Eisenhower built the interstate highway system back in the 1950s.
So, we know that the recovery act is making a difference. It's made a difference for our families. It's made a difference for our states. It's making a difference for the nation. But I'm not going to rest -- I know the governors and candidates here are not going to rest, and I know that the American people are not going to rest -- until everybody who is looking for work can find a job, until our workers aren't afraid that they'll be the next ones let go, until our markets are not only climbing again but our businesses are hiring again.
While unemployment is usually the last measure to improve during a recovery, we're not going to rest until it does in our cities and our states and across the country.
Now, it's going to take a number of steps to reverse the current job climate and create jobs in this country, and that's why my administration's been working with our governors on a number of different fronts. Under the outstanding leadership of my secretary of education, Arne Duncan, we're working to transform our entire education system. Because we know that countries that out-educate us today are going to out-compete us tomorrow.
We're investing in a clean energy sector that will not only help free America from the grip of foreign oil but create new American jobs that pay well and can't be outsourced. And Governor Schweitzer's been an extraordinary leader on clean energy agendas.
We're working to reform our health-insurance system, because one of the best ways to spur economic growth is to ease the back-breaking burden of health-care costs on America's businesses. This is a point that's got lost a little bit over the past few months during the health-care debate, so let me just talk about that. Over the past few weeks and months, we spent a lot of time talking about how health-insurance reform would offer stability and security for families and individuals who have health insurance, how it would make insurance finally affordable for those who don't have health insurance, and how it would reduce costs over the long term for families and for government. All these things are tremendously important, and I'm glad we spent some time discussing it.
But another important aspect of reform is what it will mean for America's businesses, and particularly our entrepreneurs and small businesses. Our economy is built not only on the hard work of ordinary Americans, but on the ideas and the energy and determination of our entrepreneurs and our small business people.
Now, these small businesses generate half of all new private- sector jobs. They are how millions of our hard-working families make a living. They're what keeps local economies going and small towns and big cities, and they're one of the reasons that America has remained an economic powerhouse in the 21st century.
The states that are represented by the governors here today, as well as every other state in the union, are home to thousands of entrepreneurs of all kinds, with great ideas with potential to create jobs and transform industries and strengthen America's economy. But all too often, these economic pioneers are made to give up on their dreams. Some of them never follow up on them in the first place, because of what it would cost them to provide health insurance for themselves, their families and potential employees.
Right now, the cost of covering an employee can be prohibitively expensive. And a new study came out yesterday from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation showing what would happen in the next ten years if we fail to enact health-insurance reform. Under the worst-case scenario, businesses would see their premiums more than double in 27 states. And even under the best-case scenario, employers in nearly every single state would see premiums go up by 60 percent.
That kind of future's bad for entrepreneurs. It's bad for businesses. It's bad for the United States of America. We can't afford a health insurance system that hampers America's economy in the 21st century. We need a health system that unleashes its potential, and that's what reform will help us achieve.
So, I know some folks say we should focus on fixing the economy instead of on health-insurance reform. And through the recovery act, our financial stabilization measures, our clean energy initiatives, what we're doing in education, we are taking every possible step to spur economic growth and spur job creation.
But I also believe that health insurance reform is absolutely critical to fixing our economy. It's how we'll encourage more entrepreneurs to take a gamble on a good idea. It's how we'll make sure that if they do, they'll be able to cover the costs of insuring their employees.
And we're going to do this by setting up a health insurance exchange, a marketplace, that offers a number of different affordable health insurance options. We'll provide a tax credit to small businesses to help make insurance more affordable.
And while there will be a requirement for individuals to carry insurance and businesses to cover their workers, 95 percent of all small businesses would be exempt from this requirement. We will make it easier for them, particularly because a lot of them are already providing coverage at just exorbitant rates to their employees. Health insurance shouldn't be up to 18 percent more expensive for small firms than it is for larger firms.
And with these reforms we'll help close that gap. So, that's what health insurance reform will help to spur business and foster entrepreneurship and jump-start job creation. And here's what else reform will mean for our states.
It will mean new jobs in community health insurance centers. It will stem rising premiums that cost state governments roughly $95 billion a year. It will mean reducing drug costs by increasing the medicaid drug rebate, a step that will benefit states and federal governments alike, and it will mean curbing the up to $141 billion we're expected to spend each year caring for the uninsured by the end of the next decade, by finally making health insurance affordable for everyone.
That's what it means for states. That's what it will mean for business. That's what it will mean for America.
And we are at that rare moment when we've been given the opportunity to remake our world for the better. That rare moment where we have a chance to seize our future. As difficult as it sometimes is, what is inherent about the American spirit is the fact that we don't cling to the past in this country. We always move forward.
That movement doesn't begin in Washington. It often begins in states. It begins in neighborhoods. It begins in communities. It happens because the American people decide that it's time to bring about a new direction. Because all of you decide it's time for change.
And if you do that now, then not only will we finally pass health insurance reform, not only are we finally going to make this an economy that's not reliant on booms and busts and maxed-out credit cards, but it instead is reliant on the ingenuity and creativity and hard work of the American people and maintaing steady growth. But we're going to do what earlier generations have done and build something that's better for our children and our grandchildren.
That's our project. That's what the DGA is devoted to doing. That's what this White House is devoted to doing. We're grateful that all of you are partners in that process.
Thank you very much, everybody. God bless you. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE) PHILLIPS: All right, president of the United States there delivering remarks at a fund-raiser for the Democratic Governors Association at the St. Regis Hotel in D.C. You heard him talking about health reform, clean energy initiatives, the economy and job creation. Perfect segueway into our "30-Second Pitch," and that's coming up right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Nine million Americans looking for work. Can you even wrap your head around that number?
Well, we're trying to knock it down, letting job seekers tell their stories every Thursday. There's no good time to get laid off, but for Darrien Clyne, the timing couldn't be worse. Right now, he's actually trying to put two daughters through college, and he got in touch with us through our blog.
He's been looking for work for six months, and we're hoping someone out there has a job for him in technology and information systems. And I definitely want to add in, he's a U.S. Marine. We've got to get that in there. Thanks for serving our country, Derrien.
DERRIEN CLYNE, JOB SEEKER: Yes, ma'am. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you.
PHILLIPS: So, tell me, what were you doing? Because you were in the Marine Corps, last stationed in el El Toro, California, correct?
CLYNE: Yes.
PHILLIPS: And then it was time to get out into the workforce. What were you doing? And did you even see it coming that you were going to get laid off?
CLYNE: No, actually, I did not see it because what happened, see, you hear these rumors, and then the rumors go around, and everybody's looking around to find where this rumor's coming from. So, basically, what you're trying to do is say, have I got seniority or anything? and if you don't have seniority, then you kind of have a feeling that maybe, maybe not.
PHILLIPS; Where were you working? What type of work were you doing?
CLYNE: I was working in a huge data center in Alpharetta, and I was doing the work, coming to work every day, doing my regular job.
PHILLIPS: It was a consulting gig, right?
CLYNE: Yes.
PHILLIPS: OK.
CLYNE: And basically, all of a sudden, Friday, which it seems like Friday is the worst time, they said, that's it. We have to downsize, lay off, and as you come down the line, you get a paper, and you're like, oh, no, not me.
I mean, but they don't -- they're not necessarily asking who's got the long term, who's got seniority. It's just basically this is what we have to do in order to cut savings, cost, and they give different things.
PHILLIPS: And you're doing everything you can...
CLYNE: Oh, definitely.
PHILLIPS: ... to find work. I know you've been going to all kinds of job-seeking type events, right?
CLYNE: Yes, ma'am.
PHILLIPS: And you've got two daughters in college.
CLYNE: Yes.
PHILLIPS: I know we've got some pictures of the girls. Let's brag about them for a minute. I mean, hopefully, we're hoping that they get work real soon so maybe they can support you and you can relax for a little while. But tell us about the two girls. What are they doing?
CLYNE: Well, both of them, they're going -- one's going to the Art Institute of California, and one is in Cal State Berkeley in California. And they're basically trying to do what I did. -- you know, serve, go to college, because I'm also a college graduate, and do the right thing in life. So, they just following my footsteps in a certain way, you know, and just making sure everything is right.
PHILLIPS: Right. Which is exactly what you want to be able to do for them so they can continue to get through school.
CLYNE: Definitely.
PHILLIPS: All right, well, I know you put together your notes. You've got all kinds of terrific background and points to make. So, are you ready to get down to the 30-second pitch?
CLYNE: I am. I'm going to go for it.
PHILLIPS: OK, good. I'm going to have you look right there at camera one, and Otis (ph) is going to start the clock, and you can take it away.
CLYNE: All right. My name is Darrien Clyne. I'm a Marine veteran. I have a degree in electronics and certification in computer networks and electronics. I'm an individual that takes my job very seriously, and I have a desire to make things happen.
I would like to get into the health care, renewable energy or the telecom industry in the private sector, government or nonprofit organization. True hands-on experience, I have inquired in-depth knowledge of troubleshooting and problem solving, which I acquired over the years maintaining many networks in Silicon Valley, New York and Atlanta area. I'm organized, highly motivated and dedicated to the company I work with.
In conclusion, I have a lot of leadership skills that I acquired over the years. I will be a great fit to any organization. You can contact me at dcfuture@hotmail.com.
PHILLIPS: All right, we've got to do one cry-out for the U.S. Marine Coprs.
CLYNE: (INAUDIBLE)
PHILLIPS: Oh, there we go. Yes, you got the -- there we go.
CLYNE: And I salute the guys over there in Afghanistan and Iraq. And I know how it is, because I've been in tent cities. And I know the isolation out there. Everybody just needs to send them some letters, anything because, you know, Christmas and the new year's coming up, because it's a lonely place out there. Very lonely.
PHILLIPS: Darrien, we support you, and thank you so much for reaching out to us. It was great having you on.
CLYNE: And I salute you, ma'am, for this 30-second pitch, all right? Thank you very much.
PHILLIPS: Oh, it's our honor. You bet, my friend.
CLYNE: OK, thank you.
PHILLIPS: Once again, here's Darrien's e-mail. It's dcfuture@hotmail.com. We have that posted also on our blog. That's at CNN.com/kyra.
And if you want to be in part of the pitch, get in touch with -- just like Darrien did, you can tweet us at kyraCNN. And if it's Thursday, well, it's "30-Second Pitch" time. We want you to come on in or join us via satellite from wherever you are.
Top stories now. President Obama acting as Olympic pitchman today. He's heading to Denmark in hopes of convincing the International Olympic Committee to bring the 2016 games to Chicago. The announcement is due tomorrow in Chicago, has stiff competition from Rio, Tokyo and Madrid.
But Chicago seems to be under a pretty bloody siege at the hands of its young residents right now. A 14-year-old North Side boy in critical condition after police say he was beaten up and left for dead last night. Now, just days earlier, you'll remember that South Side honor student died in a midday beating by other kids wielding railroad ties.
President Obama wanted direct engagement with Iran over its nuclear agenda, and today those wheels were put in motion. A senior U.S. official met face to face with Iran's top atomic negotiator. That meeting in Switzerland is the first of its kind in years, trying to get Tehran to freeze uranium enrichment.
Right place, right time, not rightly being called a hero. A New York shopkeeper's just working, doing his thing, when he hears a scream. The building over his store engulfed in flames.
So, Billy Cretan grabs a ladder, goes up just as a firefighter finds a little boy lost in the smoke. He passes the 4-year-old off to Billy, who handles it like a pro. Carrying that kid down and trying, quote, "the little CPR" that he knew.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILLY CRETAN, RESCUER: He was bad. I can't imagine how strong the kid is.
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)
CRETAN: No, he couldn't breathe. I just held his head up. I put my hand underneath his neck so he could breathe better. I felt his heartbeat. It was faint, but he was all right. And I make sure that I protected him with the curtain because they were throwing glass from on top of the stairs. But he's fine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is a bona fide hero.
CRETAN: Oh, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the battle scars. Battle scars.
CRETAN: It's all right. I'm happy it turned out OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm glad. I'm glad.
CRETAN: It could have been much worse. It could be much worse. The fire department...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If he wasn't there today, that kid would have been in much better -- much worse shape.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Great job, Billy. Well, the little boy's expected to be just fine.
You ever tried to sort through all your insurance forms and thought to yourself, Lewis and Clark couldn't find their way out of this? Well, guess what, you're not alone. Too bad your policy doesn't cover paper cuts.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Health care reform, the make-or-break issue. Tomorrow could be make day. The Senate Finance Committee hopes for a health reform plan tomorrow. They've been trying to hammer things out this week, and Chairman Max Baucus says, quote, we're coming to a closure. He expects to have enough votes for the measure to clear the committee by the weekend. Democrats hold a 13-10 majority on the finance committee.
How about the Democratic congressman from central Florida? Alan Grayson said Republicans have no health care plan. They just want you to die quickly if you get sick. The GOP calls him the Democrats' Joe Wilson and wants an apology. Well, Grayson went into CNN's "SITUATION ROOM" last night, and here's that apology.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Republicans are sort of comparing you to the Joe Wilson situation, the congressman...
ALAN GRAYSON (D), FLORIDA: That's not the same.
JOHNS: Well, how is it not the same?
GRAYSON: Because I didn't insult the president in front of 40 million people.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": But you did insult Republicans.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every Republican.
GRAYSON: No, what the Republicans have been doing is an insult to America. They've been dragging their feet. These are foot- dragging, knuckle-dragging neanderthals who think they can dictate policy to America by being stubborn.
And I think it's -- the time is over. We had an election. That's it. Now we have to move ahead in just the way the president wants us to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Think Republicans will be gunning for his seat next year? They've demanded Grayson apologize for his comments on the House floor. And Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the GOP often uses death to make its health care point, so why should just Grayson apologize?
Ever get sick or hurt, try to make a claim and wonder how many trees had to die in the form of paperwork? All the forms, all the (INAUDIBLE) language. You think maybe insurance companies milk cash from confusion? At least one person does.
Tom Foreman found her buried under a pile of forms.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
YOGI YOGAN, INSURANCE CLAIMANT: One thousand two hundred fifty.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here's 1,400 here.
(voice-over): (INAUDIBLE) is fighting mountains of insurance paperwork.
YOGAN: Is that $11,000?
FOREMAN (on camera): Yes, this is $11,000. Here's $1,200 over here.
(voice-over): And a nagging suspicion...
YOGAN: $20,000.
FOREMAN: ... ever since she broke her wrist ice skating and says she was told by an insurance company rep it was not covered.
YOGAN: Do you really mean to be telling me that I had -- you're calling this a pre-existing condition? And she said yes.
FOREMAN (on camera): A broken wrist they called a pre-existing condition?
YOGAN: They absolutely did.
FOREMAN (voice-over): She eventually convinced them otherwise, and the company paid.
YOGAN: Come on, Gus.
FOREMAN: But Yogan is certain without her dogged persistence, her claim would have been forever lost in the paperwork jungle of the insurance trade.
YOGAN: There's a reason for this. It's called money, other people's money.
FOREMAN: Doctors, too, accuse insurance companies of boosting their profits through a baffling claims process that often allows them to keep money that should go to patients. Dr. Val Jones is part of an innovative practice that doesn't even take insurance. It's straight fee for service. Why? Because she grew weary of seeing patients struggle with their health and wealth on the line.
DR. VAL JONES, DOCTALKER FAMILY MEDICINE: They don't know why they're getting these questions asked. They don't know what the forms mean. And they -- their getting compensated is dependent upon it.
FOREMAN (on camera): "Keeping Them Honest," we wanted to know just how much money insurance companies are keeping because people don't know how to collect it or because they get tired of trying and just give up. The answer? No one knows. These are private companies with private records, and they say they pay all appropriate claims.
(voice-over): But some estimate it could be billions. Among them, Wendell Potter, a former insurance executive turned crusader who says, just think of the thousands and doctors and hospitals.
WENDELL POTTER, FORMER EXECUTIVE, CIGNA: And the millions of individuals who are insured in these private plans. That money adds up quickly.
YOGAN: And, you know, ka-ching.
FOREMAN: The insurance industry says it's not true.
ROBERT ZIRKELBACH, AMERICA'S HEALTH INSURANCE PLANS: It's not true.
FOREMAN: Robert Zirkelbach is with a national insurance trade association. He says there's a lot of paperwork because laws require it, and insurance companies are just as concerned as consumers about the confusion.
ZIRKELBACH: We agree that reform is needed. In fact, and that's why we've been working very hard to develop reforms to make the system more efficient.
POTTER: I don't buy that. They've not made it a priority.
FOREMAN: We contacted yogan's insurer today, and they said they could not comment without her permission and more time to study her case. However, "We work diligently with our members to ensure they understand and receive fully the benefits to which they are entitled. But back in the paperwork jungle...
(on camera): ... when you look at all of this, what do you think about in the insurance industry in this country?
YOGAN: They're not here to help.
I better stop going through these. This is depressing.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Depressing and maybe more costly than consumers know.
Tom Foreman, CNN, McLean, Virginia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Pushing forward to the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM, a desperate plan to get his kids back falls apart, landing a Tennessee man in a Japanese jail. And that's where CNN's Kyung Lah managed an exclusive and very sad interview.
Plus, how do you go out for stamps and end up in court? Besides stealing those stamps, I mean? Well, we're going to hear from a bunch of angry folks in California.
It's taxpayer money meant for crime victims, innocent people beaten, raped, traumatized for life. So, why did $10,000 of their money go to a cop who says he can no longer enjoy gardening because of his job, or $1,000 to another cop who got a little bite on the arm from a feisty suspect, and by the way, he didn't even break skin.
Well, this story should outrage you. The "Toronto Star" says cops across Ontario have been dipping into a crime victims fund to the tune of 1.5 million bucks. A dad whose son who was nearly beaten to death calls it unconscionable. I call it just plain wrong. However, Toronto police say, hey, officers can be victims, too, and the law lets them apply for the cash. But how do you compare a bite to a near-fatal beating? What's next, guys? Dollars for doughnuts?
Bodies piled on top of bodies. This is not the aftermath of a natural disaster in some faraway land. This is a major American city. Why can't the people of Detroit bury their dead?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Michigan's government now open for business again after a partial shutdown. Earlier this morning, Governor Jennifer Granholm signed an interim state budget after lawmarkers missed Wednesday's midnight deadline to approve a permanent one. The 30-day stopgap keeps state workers on the job and offices open while state officials try to dig out of a nearly $3 billion deficit.
Well, you can put all kinds of numbers on Michigan's money woes, but the starkest financial reality may be the Detroit morgue. That's where bodies are literally piling up. The City of Detroit too poor to pay even for paupers funerals.
CNN's Poppy Harlow has the grim details. And some of these images, by the way, may be pretty difficult to wash.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM (voice-over): Sixty-seven bodies and counting. At freezing temperatures, they wait, unclaimed, some for up to five years.
ALBERT SAMUELS, CHIEF INVESTIGATOR, WAYNE COUNTY MORGUE: This is our freezer.
HARLOW: Chief investigator Albert Samuels is in his 13th year at Detroit's Wayne County Morgue and says he's never seen anything like it, a record number of unclaimed corpses filling the freezer at 1300 East Warren Street.
SAMUELS: And I have to believe that it's because of the economic problems that we're having. Some people don't come forward, even though they may know the people here. They don't have the money.
HARLOW: Darrell and Cheryl Vickers did come forward. And when we met them at the morgue, they had just identified their late aunt, Nancy Graham (ph). But like more and more people in Detroit, they left their loved one behind.
CHERYL VICKERS, DETROIT RESIDENT: We tried to do everything we can, but the money's just not there.
HARLOW: The money would usually be there, but with Detroit's economic struggles, Wayne County's budget for burying the unclaimed dead has ran out in June. People can apply to the state for funds, but it can take weeks, sometimes months, for the application to be processed.
DARRELL VICKERS, DETROIT RESIDENT: To be pushed to the side and say that, you know, there's no financing or no help available, you know, it breaks your heart to know that you have a loved one sitting there in cold storage, and there's nothing you can do for them.
HARLOW: Dr. Carl Schmidt, the morgue's chief medical examiner, says although such destitution has become a daily reality, its ramifications speak volumes.
DR. CARL SCHMIDT, CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER, WAYNE COUNTY MORGUE: One of the ways that we look back historically, look at a culture's evolution, is how they dispose of their dead. We see people here that society was not taking care of before they died, and society is having difficulty taking care of them even after they're dead.
D. VICKERS: What kind of peace is the body getting sitting in a morgue in cold storage?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Poppy joins us now live from New York. Poppy, has there been any update on the Vickers's situation since you first met them?
HARLOW: Yes, there has, Kyra. We met them last week in Detroit. They were really hopeless then. I talked to them this week, and luckily, their aunt is not going to remain in cold storage. They've been able to scrape together that $695 -- that's all they needed to get her cremated. That money not in their bank account, though. They had to go to Social Services, Social Security and their aunt's church to get the money.
But beyond this, there are still 66 bodies in that morgue freezer. And Kyra, these corpses that you see, that you saw right there, telling us a much deeper and darker story about Detroit's economy than any unemployment number, any government statistic, any empty street or shuttered business ever could, Kyra. Really disturbing what's going on.
PHILLIPS: Well, yes, disturbing, absolutely. And then the problem isn't just in Detroit, right?
HARLOW: No.
PHILLIPS: We were reading, there's a number of other cities like Los Angeles dealing with the same problem.
HARLOW: Yes. I mean, the problem's more pronounced in Detroit because the county ran out of money in June, and the people don't have the money a lot of times. But when you look at Los Angeles, they have more than 200 unclaimed bodies, but what they're seeing is an increase in the number of people that come to their morgue in L.A. and say, sorry, we just cannot pay to bury our loved ones.
L.A., unlike Detroit, Kyra, they've been able to reorganize their budget to deal with it. If you look at a city like Las Vegas, they've had a 22 percent increase in burials and cremations of unclaimed bodies this year. But their state law requires that they bury them.
So it's an amazing and really unfortunate story, more details on "Assignment Detroit," you see it right here, CNNmoney.com/detroit -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Appreciate it, Poppy. Thanks so much.
HARLOW: Sure.
PHILLIPS: And for more on Detroit's struggle for resurgence, make sure to check out "Assignment Detroit." It's a yearlong storytelling project from CNNmoney.com and Time, Inc. Just click on the CNNmoney.com/detroit.
