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Earthquakes Devastate Parts of the Philippines; Rio de Janeiro Prepares to Host 2016 Summer Olympic Games; New Jobs Number Display Increasing Unemployment; Slain Teen Buried in Chicago; Exercise May Help Slow Onset of Osteoporosis; Man Accused of Blackmailing David Letterman Taken to Court

Aired October 03, 2009 - 14:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Talk about a deadly weather week, not one but two typhoons in the Philippines.

Two earthquakes in Indonesia bury thousands under the rubble as grieving relatives prepare to bury their loved ones from an earthquake in Samoa.

Typhoon Parma hitting the Philippines, a country still reeling from last week's deadly typhoon Kitsana. CNN's Eunice Yoon has the latest from Isabella province.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EUNICE YOON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Eunice Yoon. We're in Isabella province. This is one of the provinces in the northern Philippines that has been worst hit by the damage of Typhoon Parma. I'm here with Paul Fernandez. He's the one who's been coordinating the disaster rescue and relief effort here. How has the day been for you?

PAUL FERNANDEZ, RESCUE AND RELIEF COORDINATOR: For the day, I think we were able to go through the disaster since we were prepared. We anticipated things based on forecast given to us.

YOON: What are some of the ways in which you have been able to really help the villagers who have been in their homes?

FERNANDEZ: OK, -- the pre-disaster activity where we have to come out with advisories and alerts, alerts for local chief executives, the village officials, and the local community themselves because Isabella geographically is a flood prone area.

So we have to continually remind the people that they have to evacuate if only to keep themselves away from danger.

These are some of the relief items that we normally give. This is a family pack. It contains provisions at least good for three days.

YOON: Can you show us what's inside?

FERNANDEZ: Yes. Normally this is ready to eat food like noodles. They have coffee, you have sugar, some canned goods, and a ganta of rice, about two kilos of rice. YOON: So this is good enough --

FERNANDEZ: Yes, this is good enough for a family of five for at least three days.

YOON: Have you run into resistance with the villagers? Have they been reluctant?

FERNANDEZ: Yes. Just this afternoon, I talked one on local executive, one mayor, and he was expressing his disappointment, because there were some people who started only to move today when even days before we had already alerted them that they had to go to higher ground.

And that's the reason why late this afternoon we had to dispatch a rescue team because there are some families who cannot get out from their homes because of the rising flood waters.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: That was Eunice Yoon reporting.

The U.N. says the death toll from this week's massive earthquakes in Indonesia will likely double. Rural communities were wiped out by landslides that buried hundreds of under mounds of months.

CNN's Dan Rivers takes us there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The city of Padang is peppered with destroyed buildings. Some, like this, collapsed like a house of cards. Some remain standing, but severely damaged and structurally unsound. The city's main hospital is also badly affected.

But much of the city somehow escaped the worst of Wednesday's magnitude 7.6 quake.

From the air you get a real sense of how patchy the damage is. There are large areas which are relatively intact, but then you come across the old building that has been completely destroyed.

Like one of the main hotels, the Amercain (ph). It's feared many dozens of people may have died here. On the ground, at the hotel, a frantic operation to find survivors.

PRIYODI KARDONO, NATIONAL AGENCY FOR DISASTER MANAGEMENT: The rescue is still going on, but not many are found for this, dead their bodies. Sill in the hotel, we still are thinking that there are a lot of people missing there.

RIVERS: The operation is continuing around the clock, blow torches being used to cut through the tangle of metal.

A specialist search and rescue team from Switzerland is here using sniffer dogs to check for signs of life, but so far, it's not looking good.

RIVERS (on camera): How possible is it that there are people still alive at this amount of time?

STEFAN CHRISTEN, SWISS RESCUE TEAM: There are examples of other people who survived quite a long time and other earthquakes. (Inaudible) we had a lady which was surviving over 100 hours trapped in the building. So the help is still here.

RIVERS: Elsewhere, though, many people are coping on their own. Away from the city, there is little in the way of help, and for many, little in the way of hope.

Dan Rivers, CNN, Padang, Indonesia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Recovery is also going to take some time in the Samoan islands. Devastated by a powerful earthquake and tsunami on Tuesday, at least 68 people are dead and most of them on Samoa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FALESEU, LEUTE, VILLAGE ELDER: We love our village, but we can't go there now. There's nothing, no homes, nothing.

SONNY PURCELL, TSUNAMI SURVIVOR: We have been living here, parents, grandparents that were raised from here. So we just come here and rebuild it again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: A ceremony and mass burial for the victims are planned for Tuesday.

And then across the world, 30 people are still unaccounted for in Sicily two days after the deluge heavy rain caused massive and the Italian civil protection authorities say that the official death toll now stands at 21.

One of the worst hit areas is Messina in Sicily. The Italian government has declared a state of emergency as search and rescue efforts intensified for the missing residents there.

(WEATHER BREAK)

WHITFIELD: So let's talk a little bit more about how you might be able to help people who are victims of the tsunami as well as the quakes overseas. Go to impact your world home page on CNN.com. You'll find a list of links to aid groups, including the Red Cross and the World Vision as well. That's at CNN.com/impact.

All right, his death made him a symbol of the violence that often haunts Chicago's South side recently. Today friends and relatives of Darian Albert are sharing their memories of the slain 16-year-old as he is laid to rest. His young life was cut short by a fatal beating captured on a cell phone camera outside of the community center just this past Monday. Police have four suspects in custody for Alberts death. Civil rights leaders including Jesse Jackson and the NAACP chief Benjamin Tonjelas are attending his funeral today.

So the violence problem in Chicago is the topic we are going to be delving into a couple of hours from now at the 4:00 Eastern hour. The entire hour is devoted to examining the problem and hopefully looking towards solution, do you get to the bottom of what is taking place in Chicago and perhaps some other cities while.

We are going to have incredible people with us, including a police officer as well as attorneys who are involved in some cases that involve Chicago violence.

And we also want to hear from you as well to find out what your thoughts are on perhaps stricter regulations as it pertains to guns. That's a case that's stemming from Chicago that's on the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think if gun laws were a little bit more stringent, I would feel safer. It doesn't take a lot to hide a pistol, you know. So, yes, I would feel safer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, because the criminals are going to get them anyway. For me to get myself an AK-47 I have to go through $800 to get myself a license, and then to give me all this, I have to go through all this. But a criminal, all he needs is $500, and goes down to the local crack house and buys one.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes it does, absolutely.

I'm actually not from here. I moved here and came from Toronto in Canada where it was very different. They don't, you know, people don't carry guns around. So here, when I moved, I felt my safety was a little bit compromised.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely. I don't feel like an average, everyday citizen needs to walk around with a gun. What is the point? I feel if you have it, you are more apt to use it. And if you don't have it then violence would decrease tremendously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So that's what people have to say about stricter gun laws, especially as it pertains to a case going to the U.S. Supreme Court follows a Chicago plaintiff, we're also talking about Chicago violence as a whole.

The young boy, Darian Albert, who is being laid to rest today, he was beaten to death. So we want you to be part of the conversation -- "Taking Aim, Chicago Violence." Where do we go from here? Send us your questions, you comments to CNN.com/newsroom/Fredricka, or to my Facebook page. That's "Taking Aim, Chicago Violent," 4:00 eastern time.

Rio, the day after still celebrating after winning the chance to host the Olympic Games. Now comes the hard part, how one of the most popular tourist sites in the world plans to transform itself for the games. Our Josh Levs will be along with us to show us some of the details.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: New evidence that job growth is still stalled in this economy. September's jobless numbers were higher than analysts expected. The unemployment rate now stands at 9.8 percent after more than 250,000 jobs were lost last month alone. So far 7.2 million jobs have been lost since the start of the recession.

Losers last month, construction, 64,000 jobs gone, Manufacturing, 51,000 jobs lost, and 53,000 government positions are no longer there.

So President Obama calls the numbers "sobering." But he doesn't see boom and doom. Instead he has a brighter view on things. CNN's Elaine Quijano is at the White House with more on that.

What else is he saying about the jobs report?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, President Obama is basically saying what a lot of analysts said, and that even as a recession starts to come to an end, even as things start to turn around in an economy, that employment numbers always lag behind.

Especially what he said yesterday in the Rose Garden when he made some remarks after coming back from Copenhagen, Denmark. It's also what President Obama outlined in his radio and Internet address. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We have certainly made progress on this front since appearing last winner when we release an average of 700,000 jobs each month.

But yesterday's report on September job losses was a sobering reminder that progress comes in fits and starts and that we will need to grind out the recovery step-by-step.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: The president is once again trying to draw a connection between the economy as well as the need to get health care reform done this year.

The president said in his radio address that small businesses, which create a lot of jobs in this country, are really being overwhelmed by rising health care costs, and he believes part of what is going to get the economy back on track, get back on solid footing down the road is to go ahead and get health care reform bill done this year -- Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: And what are Republicans saying about this?

QUIJANO: As you can imagine, Republicans, of course, don't see it that way. They say that these numbers are evidence that the Democrats and the president's plans simply have not worked right now when it comes to the economy. For their address, the Republicans turn to a Michigan Congresswoman, Candace Miller to deliver that address.

Candace Miller represents a state whose unemployment level is well above the national average, 15.2 percent. And she says the stimulus plan, the $787 billion stimulus plan that was passed earlier this year that was supposed to create more than 100,000 jobs for her state alone.

Instead she says and assign of how bad things have gotten, she says that local economists there in the state of Michigan are now estimating that her state will lose some 300,000 jobs this year alone -- Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Elaine Quijano, thanks so much, from the White House.

So exactly what is on the president's calendar next week? Monday, he has to meet with doctors from across the country to push health care reform. That will be at the White House.

And then on Tuesday he plans to visit the national counterterrorism center in Washington.

Wednesday and then again on Friday he'll meet with his national security team to talk strategy in Afghanistan as well as Pakistan.

All right, it was an international showdown, and there is a winner, Rio de Janeiro will host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games after beating out Madrid, Tokyo and Chicago.

Well, now comes the hard part, all the preparations. Our Josh Levs to show us what Rio has planned. Will it be really tough for this city?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: There is going to be a lot of work. And there would be anywhere. It was going to be a Chicago writer where it was going to be, we were talking lots and lots and lots of money that gets spent all as a big investment.

What they have up now, it's pretty cool. They are showing what the venues are planned to look like. I want you to see the site here for Rio. We are right now is really celebrating and then had a message going the happiest city in the world is even happier.

And if I take you over here, what I'm going to do is get out of the way and click on these, and you can see what each of their venues is expected to look like as they have a design so far.

This was what they're calling a national training Center. Over here you have the park that they're planning on setting up. The designs look beautiful, and all this honestly takes a lot of work to put it together.

The aquatic stadium, they set this up right here. Let's take a look over here. It has a village as we know from Atlanta and anyone who has been Olympics, the village is where a lot of the athletes today is one of the most expensive sometimes and most important facilities rebuilt. You can see some of the halls.

All of these designs are for you to check out a website that is set up for Rio.

Now, this is where Chicago is saying thank you, anyway. They say they are really proud of their efforts. Certainly a lot of effort went into this.

Let me show everyone something they're pointing to that they're calling the legacy of the bid, all these efforts that went into China get these efforts.

World Sports Chicago, they say it is a program to help bring major athletics to Chicago, also to reach out to young people, Fred, and try to help get more young people off the streets and involved in sports. So that is what big thing they are pointing to say hey, look, something that came out of this effort even if we didn't get the games.

WHITFIELD: And so what are people saying about the blog?

LEVS: Yes, they are weighing in at the blog big-time about this.

And, as you know, we are talking about Chicago anyway, and we are definitely hearing a lot about the Olympics.

Me show you a few things. I was just over here on twitter. Doug, "The term "overkill" comes to mind." "Oprah's efforts, simple knee-jerk reaction they are saying."

"It's probably good that Chicago was eliminated. With the economy is no guarantee that the Chicago or U.S. will recoup what they would have to give in the first place to host the Olympics."

And over here at our blog I was noticing this, a lot of people saying this, Fred, they believe Chicago's crime "Cost us the Olympics." That one is coming from Alex.

And some people say, look, Chicago wouldn't have gotten it anyway. America had a couple recently. But we are still hearing from you -- here's how you can weigh in. You can reach me at CNN.com/Josh, Facebook and Twitter, Joshlevs.cnn.

And Fred, I will be with you again later this hour to talk about what we are hearing on another front involving Chicago.

WHITFIELD: That's right, we will indeed. Thanks so much, Josh.

The man accused of secretly taping a popular ESPN sports reporter in the buff and uploading the videos online makes his first court appearance.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Indonesia is reeling after two deadly earthquakes. At least 540 people are dead with up to 4,000 more buried under rubble. That figure could climb dramatically. Rescue crews are using chisels, hammers, and in some cases their bare hands to dig through the debris.

A Chicago teen killed in a brutal attack is being buried in Chicago today. The Reverend Jesse Jackson is among the speakers at Darian Albert's funeral. Albert's death was captured on a cell phone camera. Four teens have been arrested and charged in his death.

And the man accused of stalking ESPN sports caster Erin Andrews appeared before Judge in Chicago today. Michael David Barrett is accused of secretly taping nude videos of Andrews while she was alone in hotel rooms and trying to sell them online -- he was trying to sell them online allegedly.

Barrett has another hearing Monday to determine if he will be freed on bond.

Well, certainly not a traditional view of the fountain of youth. But doctors say exercise could protect our bones and muscles as we age. Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen explains in today's "Health for Her" segment.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: 5:00 in the morning and Margie Orrick is already exercising. An avid rower, she's now in her 50s, and she says her passion for exercise made a difference as she's gotten older.

MARGIE ORRICK, ROWER: My body feels better. It gives me a lot of energy. I can lift easily things that is I couldn't lift.

COHEN: When it comes to exercise and ageing, especially in women, there's a catch 22. Exercise is crucial to keeping bones and muscles healthy. However, too much impact can cause injury. So as women get older, it's a matter of finding the happy medium.

According to the American academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, as we age homes change. Around the age of 30, women's bones begin to lose minerals like calcium, making them more fragile.

As women go into middle age they begin to lose actual bone tissue. But exercise can help regenerate bone tissue and minerals slowing the onset of osteoporosis and arthritis.

DR. DAVID JOHNSON, WASHINGTON HOSPITAL CENTER: It's important for those with arthritis and those who are trying to avoid it to cross train to get involved in a number of other sports.

COHEN: Also, muscles begin to shrink the number of muscle fibers decreases. So women should be sure to keep them limber.

JOHNSON: So it's important, even more so in the 30s, 40s and 50s and beyond, to do stretching before you exercise, and stretching after you exercise to prevent injuries.

COHEN: Orthopedists say it's never too late for women to start exercising. Studies have shown that even people 50 and older who have never been active can improve your bone and muscles by taking on moderate exercise, like walking and light weight lifting and even rowing. Just ask Margie.

For "Health for Her," I'm Elizabeth Cohen.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: He's a star on the football field and in the classroom. But this ambitious young man is living a double life.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, sometimes things aren't always as they seem. From the outside, one California teenager seems to have it all. He's a student body president, a star football player, and a straight A student.

But he has secret. Thelma Gutierrez has his story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At 17, you could say Kenneth Chancey lives a double life.

KENNETH CHANCEY, HOMELESS STUDENT: There is times when it gets difficult. I can't let those difficult times bring me down.

GUTIERREZ: He's on a journey many of his friends know nothing about. Kenneth is a starting running back on the varsity team at Helen Bernstein high school. He's a straight A honor student named best overall academic student.

And, he's popular. He's student body president, a big man on campus with dreams of a college education at Harvard.

ALMA FLORES, HISTORY TEACHER: He's an A student. He's definitely into leadership. He's athletic.

GUTIERREZ: But at the end of the day, when all his classmates go home, Kenneth and his 14-year-old sister Stephanie start their journey home to skid row in downtown Los Angeles, where there's no escape from reality.

Kenneth and Stephanie live here at the Union Rescue Mission.

GUTIERREZ (on camera): What would you want people to understand about the struggles of their children?

CHANCEY: There are struggles especially, obviously financially. I would kill to have a house and my own room.

This is my storage area for most of my tracks to my school stuff.

GUTIERREZ: Kenneth, Stephanie and their father Gordon live in a tiny 250 square foot room at the shelter in a special area designated for families with children.

They ended up here after Gordon or works as a day higher in the entertainment industry, lost his apartment about the same time he won custody of his kids. Even though Kenneth lives in a shelter, he says it's so much better than what life was like before.

CHANCEY: In sixth grade, I lived in a van. My mom used drugs, my step dad used to hit me.

GUTIERREZ: Kenneth says that was the past. Now he's focused on the future. He says he will leave skid row and he wants to go to Harvard University.

CHANCEY: I do have big dreams, but I have to make them come true.

GUTIERREZ: He says has the grades to get in. Now, the hard part, he has to find the money, grants or scholarships, to get there.

Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: OK, so you've just finished college. You have your degree in hand and you've landed your first job. Now what? How do you get ahead?

Debra Shigley is the author of "The Go-Getter Girl's Guide: Get what you want in work and life and look great while you're at it." Good to see you.

DEBRA SHIGLEY, AUTHOR, "THE GO-GETTER GIRL'S GUIDE": Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: Congratulations. You used to work here.

SHIGLEY: I did.

WHITFIELD: And now you're an author.

(LAUGHTER)

SHIGLEY: Yes.

WHITFIELD: So let's talk about this guide and why you felt it was necessary. You have always been a go-getter. You are Harvard educated. You were a senior editor at an Atlanta magazine. You have done it all in a very short amount of time.

But somehow you felt young ladies, guys too, but young ladies need a guide on how to get ahead or how to take advantage of the opportunities.

SHIGLEY: When I got out of school, I had a good education. But I get in the work world, and it's not what I thought it would be like.

So I did reach out to someone back in the day, and they gave you some great advice to start me off on the path.

And over the years, I talked to so many successful women. And they just had great bits of wisdom about how they got to where they got to. And if I want to be great if young woman had had the sort of guide for something a little bit later into transitioning careers to help them on their path to success.

WHITFIELD: Where did this come from? Was it because you felt initially it was a little difficult, how do you sell yourself? How to get your foot in the door? Or did you find a lot of your colleagues or friends were having difficult times and you thought let's compile something? Where did it come from?

SHIGLEY: You get into the work world, and you have a good education. You think that's going to be enough to get ahead. But it's not. There are a lot of other skills that you need to learn. And we can stumble upon them or ask people for advice.

In my own experience, just asking a few different people for some tidbits -- OK, starting at this new job, what should I do? Informational interview with these people, those kinds of things were like -- I didn't know that's what you were supposed to do.

WHITFIELD: Let's go through maybe five of your tips that you offer in your book, particularly to those who were just breaking into the work force.

You say, number one, a nice degree is good, but not everything. Number two, the work world is not a meritocracy. Number three, looks matter at work. Number four, forget so-called work-life balance. Five start asking for more money now, really?

SHIGLEY: Studies have shown that women who consistently negotiate their salaries can earn up to $1 million more over the course in their lifetime. And we women tend to lag behind the guys in terms of asking for more money. And you just have to ask for it if you want it.

WHITFIELD: Whereas a lot of young people are instructed don't talk about money, you just want to take advantage of the opportunity. Why have times change in your view?

SHIGLEY: I think you do need to look at the opportunity itself. But, if you don't ask, you don't receive. And I think you need to start yourself on a pattern earlier rather than later to negotiating salaries and gaining skills, because this was going to help you get ahead in the long term.

WHITFIELD: Do you feel a lot of young girls when they look at the list of five, something as simple as you have to take advantage of your looks or make sure you look the part.

SHIGLEY: Right.

WHITFIELD: A lot of young people today would say, you know what, I just want to make sure that I am recognized for my intellectual attributes. And I just want to go to work and feel comfortable with what I'm wearing, but little do they know that their upward mobility may have something to do with how you pull yourself together.

Is some superficial, but it is a reality. Why did you feel it needed to be in the book?

SHIGLEY: It's two things. First of all, we sort of had this flip-flop culture of the past, ten years where you can wear jeans and tank tops at work and all that kind of stuff and be yourself. It's just about your work product.

It's a lot to ask of your employer to look past your ratty jeans and tank top or whatever it may be, and think her work is going to be on target as well. It's the old saying, dress for the job you want, not the job you have, and people do cast you in a certain role based on your parents and have put together you are, period.

WHITFIELD: Excellent.

It's a great guide. You can sell it with some phenomenal people, including one of our own, CNN's Soledad O'Brien, she's is in the book, and she offers some great advice on how she kind of got started or got ahead.

And you talked to a number of other people who were all willing participants.

SHIGLEY: Yes. It was a great new network of women who are mentoring other women in the stairway.

WHITFIELD: Debra Shigley, thanks so much, "The Go-Getters Girls Guide," that is a mouthful.

(LAUGHTER)

That's a lot of liberation there, but I like it. Thanks so much and congratulations.

SHIGLEY: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Excellent.

You know him. Talk about success -- Tiger Woods. After today, you might want to call him "Daddy Warbucks." We'll tell you what he's done to be so proud now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Top stories right now, another typhoon smashes ashore in the Philippines. It's the second major storm to hit the island nation in a week. The capital of Manila dodged had a direct hit from Typhoon Parma, but more flooding and possible mudslides are feared. The president there has declared a state of calamity.

Police in Atlanta make an arrest in the death of A.J. Jewell. He is the ex-fiancee of Candy Burris, one of the starts of the reality TV show "Real Housewives of Atlanta." Jewell died overnight following a fight with a coworker at a strip club where both men worked.

And in Chicago, friends, family, and civil rights leaders gather to say good-bye to this 16-year-old Darian Albert. He is a high school honor student who was brutally beaten to death by a gang of youths last month, just really earlier in this week, the last couple of days of September. The attack was captured on cell phone video.

Four suspects have been charged in the teen's death.

All right, the latest of deadly violence in the Windy City has really been capped by Darian Albert's death. It is a problem for the whole country. We are talking about violence as a whole.

Many of you say it shows the biggest challenges that we and the nation actually faced. Our 4:00 hour will focus on this today. Our Josh Levs is keeping an eye on your comments and questions mostly pertaining to the Chicago violence and even a Chicago based case that is on its way to the U.S. Supreme Court that involves handguns in the home.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It's amazing, Fred, when you stop and look at how many cases we are seeing. I just went to CNN.com and I was looking at the violence stories that we've had this year, and you can watch the videos. It is stunning how many stories you are seeing.

And it's like you're saying, there is also Supreme Court case coming up. So it's great that we're focusing on this today.

Let me show you some of what we are getting here at the blog. So many interesting reactions from people. We are asking what is going on Chicago, and we are in your questions and comments

Thursday that we've gotten so far -- Andrew says he grew up during what he is coming beginning of the "stop snitching" movement in the '90s, he thinks that the profound effect on the country.

Someone who incidents is responding, Alex saying "I guarantee you if you offer a reward for information leading to the arrest of these bugs, those people afraid to snitch would show up in the blink of an eye to snitch them out."

Let's get in one more here, Brian, who said "Instead of fighting wars across seas, let's send troops into our cities to get rid of all gang activities."

And we are also following you here at Facebook. "What kind of mentorship, fellowship, and activities are the churches and schools offering. The only way to counter the cycle of violence as do offer alternatives." So Fred, we're hearing from so many people in so many ways. List of everyone how you can get us your comments and questions for the four o'clock hour today. CNN.com/newsroom is the blog and Fred's up on Facebook as well.

So Fred, these are the questions were getting, and I know we have some great tester can tackle them.

WHITFIELD: We do, indeed. We're going to be joined by an 18- year veteran of the Chicago police force. At the same time, he's mourning the death of his 16 year old son who died at the hands of street violence.

We'll also have an attorney representing at least one of the plaintiffs in that case that is heading to the US Supreme Court out of Chicago. So we have a host of people who are going to be joining us.

And our own Don Lemon has been in Chicago reporting on it. He's going to join us as well. Josh, thanks so much.

LEVS: You got it, thanks.

(WEATHER BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Golfer Tiger Woods has another big triumph to celebrate. $10 million bonus prize for winning the FedEx Cup has put him over the 10 figure mark now. "Forbes Magazine is reporting that Woods is the first athlete to earn $1 billion, making him the richest athlete in history -- unbelievable.

Woods bank account tallied a cool $895 million going into this year. He made $10 million more on the course this season. Most of the $800 million, by the way, endorsements, plus he earned more than $100 million off the course.

That is crazy. But congrats to him.

Lots of American couples have turned their backs on marriage. Now one university is trying to bring matrimony back in style.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: With the number of people getting married dropping significantly, Hampton University in Virginia is addressing the issue.

As we first told you last weekend, the university brought together a diverse group of leaders to discuss the state of black marriages. More than half of black marriages end in divorce.

Back with me today are Hampton students Jocelyn Watkins and Timothy McCall. So did you all hear a lot and learn a lot about marriages and families -- Jocelyn?

JOCELYN WATKINS, JUNIOR, HAMPTON UNIVERSITY: Yes. The conference provided a wide variety of tips about how to keep the families together, how to look toward marriages having a solid foundation.

WHITFIELD: In particular, I understand you were particularly struck about the panel about religion and faith and families and how that really hit you, in what way?

WATKINS: Because of the fact that there were people from different ideologies. There was a person representing the faith of Islam, Hinduism, Christianity. So there were a variety of viewpoints there.

They all provided their own ideas on how religion contributes. At the end of the day, it was the key basis that provided for values and morals and the strong foundation for a family.

WHITFIELD: And here you are a junior studying psychology and pre-Law. I wonder if your family members or your parents may have been thinking, do I really want you thinking about marriage right now? Perhaps the focus ought to be about you pursuing your career after you get your degree. Is that anything that you heard from your family?

WATKINS: It is. It's something I heard from them in the past and then some issue that was addressed at the conference specifically with reference in my generation and do we pursue a career or do we pursue that marital status and how you balance between the two.

WHITFIELD: And you made an interesting discovery that your generation views marriage differently than your parents or grandparents generation. And in what way?

WATKINS: Our generation looks at it as I'm young, vivacious, I want to do more, see more, be more. Do I really want to get marry and be tied down to this one individual for the rest of my life? And with that mentality they are not really excited or, you know, more keyed in on let me get married.

WHITFIELD: Timothy, you were particularly struck by findings that divorce, marriage, crime impact a child's life for the long term. In what way, and how is this revealing to you?

TIMOTHY MCCALL, JR., SOPHOMORE, HAMPTON UNIVERSITY: I just never really realized how -- how big of an impact divorce can play into how well a child does in school, whether or not they get involved in crime, and the way they carry out the rest of their life, I guess you would say.

WHITFIELD: Does it have you think or rethink anything about your future, where children would be involved, or families, et cetera, and help redefine for you what your role would be as a parent or as a leader of a family and how impactful the decisions you make in life would be for your children?

MCCALL: I guess you could say that, because I've always had the idea that once I did get married, if I were to have children, then I would stay in the marriage regardless of what's going on for my children to try and stick it out for them and just reaffirm that to let me know, if I want the best for my child, then I have to, you know, if the marriage doesn't work out and it isn't the best, I have to try to make it the best it can be so my child has the best opportunity to succeed in life.

WHITFIELD: So you are a sophomore majoring in biology. Has this been a little uncomfortable to be thinking about marriage and family while you have been focusing so much on school work?

MCCALL: Um.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: Yes, I'm putting you on the spot. But it was a conference which marriage and family was a focus, right?

MCCALL: Yes. My mom actually wants me to get married soon.

WHITFIELD: Really?

MCCALL: She says "I'm getting old. I don't want to be an old woman when you get married."

I look at it as when god puts that in my life and blesses me with marriage, that's when it will happen. But rushing it or prolonging it isn't going to help me in any way. Whenever it happens, it happens, and, you know, take it in stride.

WHITFIELD: So you felt they were some pretty impactful lessons you learned?

MCCALL: Yes, ma'am.

WHITFIELD: All right, Timothy McCall and Jocelyn Watkins, thanks so much for joining us, again, one week after we grilled you on marriage and family and all those things under the sun just prior to the conference beginning this week and glad to hear your thoughts now that the conference is over. Thanks so much.

MCCALL: Thank you.

WATKINS: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Well, there is nothing funny about the alleged plot to blackmail David Letterman. Who is the guy accused of trying to shake down the funny man for $2 million?

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